> Lazarus: The Rise of Man > by Immortan Joe > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 15th, 123 L. B. Throughout my life of studying the lengths of magic, I've always believed that we as a species could get nowhere without it. But I was wrong, so far off that I couldn’t even believe what I was reading when Clover and I made that discovery. We discovered something that was beyond all measures; we’ve discovered that the lost city of Iva might really exist! It's an ancient civilization that was so scientifically advanced that they were able to build an underground city without magic! For a while I believed it to be an old foal's tale, but then Clover found traces of fossils of creatures that were unlike any mammal in Equestria. She then launched a full scale expedition and brought me along for the ride. Half the time I denied the existence of any other civilization, but when Clover showed me her findings, I just couldn't believe my eyes! Not only had she found fossils, but also actual written documents! The writing predated the very existence of ponykind, written in a strange language that I had never seen before. Luckily for me, I didn't have to stay hidden in my tent all night trying to decipher it since Clover was kind enough to cast a deciphering spell on it. The book seemed to be a journal of sorts, perhaps even a diary. Despite the deciphering spell, I still had no idea what this creature was writing about. It spoke of things such as 'cars' and 'radios', things I don't understand. They could possibly be some sort of inside joke, or perhaps a slang term; I'll have to look into it later. Besides those, I did spot two words in specific I did understood right away: Time Capsule. If I’m right, then this species might share the same meaning of the term 'Time Capsule' as we do. I still remember back to when I was learning about magic as a young foal. Princess Celestia made me create a time capsule, one in which I was directed to place a few items that I thought were precious to me, and to bury it in the castle courtyard. If my speculations are correct, this journal was in that capsule when Clover’s expedition team dug it up. I must consult with her after I’m done observing the rest of this journal and maybe then we can learn more about this Fallen Civilization. August 16th, 123 L. B. It’s been a day now since Clover has introduced me to the Time Capsule. Now it isn’t much but, we’ve managed to make a small amount of progress. There were three items in the compartment of the capsule: a map, a Calendar, and a doll. I suppose I'm willing to bet that the journal would’ve made number four, but it doesn't look - or feel for that matter - like ordinary paper. It's like it was made from some sort of glass-like material. But despite that the rest of the items were truly amazing. Never in my life did I ever think that I would be so happy to see a doll. Well, it wasn’t an ordinary doll and that’s what made it interesting. Instead, it was a creature which I assumed to be a bipedal organism of some sorts. It was made of some sort of hard material and the color was a bit faded due to it being underground for some unknown amount of years. But for a doll, it was tall, slender, and wore clothing like that of the fancy ponies up in Canterlot. The item had no fur on its body except for a long, small patch of blonde on its head that came down to its shoulders. Now that we know what these creatures look like… I must say to myself they do seem a bit creepy, especially the way that doll smiles. It just sends shivers up my spine. Other than that, the Calendar was the next interesting item that Clover found. We share the same counting system and the same number of days in a month. But it wasn’t just the dates that caught my attention. No, it was the pictures. They seemed so real that it looked as if I could reach through and place my hoof on one of the trees, or these humongous buildings that seemed to reach the edges of the sky. It also had pictures of the creatures; ones that weren’t creepy looking like the doll. While there were similar ones that shared identical features, there were also larger, bulkier ones that didn’t have the mounds on the chest that I suppose are the more dominant gender in the species. Possibly even the males, if there are any. Who knows? Maybe they’re all asexual. Aside from that, what confuses me the most is how such a highly advance civilization could be wiped out. With their technology and sentience, how could one fall to nature, and leave behind such little evidence of their existence? Perhaps they're not as peaceful as I make them out to be. August 17th, 123 L. B. Three days since the discovery of the time capsule and I’ve returned to my old wonderful home in Hoofton where I’ll look deeper into the subject of these creatures. Ever since the discovery I’ve not been able to sleep. Instead, I have been up reading through countless books trying to figure out what these things are. Every book I've looked at it has always contained pointless information; nothing that could help me in the slightest, until earlier today when I found an outsider griffon merchant in the center of town. The griffon salesman sold strange antique items, from jewelry to furniture to even books. Now at the time I was kind of desperate to find something that could help Clover and I with our research. After I finished rummaging through the Merchant's belongings, I came across this large book entitled "Equestria’s Ancient Myths." I’d already been through at least fifteen books that all shared that same title and I’d just flung them out the nearest window, but something about that book caught my eye. It wasn’t the bland cover or the nicely written title, but by its age. It didn’t look as if a child or dog had gotten to it, but instead as if time itself had done it. The book looked as if it was older than me. The cover seemed old and was slowly deteriorating. It was large and thick and was covered in grime, and when I lifted it, dust just fell off the thing like an avalanche. Curious by what it held within its pages, I bought it off the merchant. He seemed rather relieved after I left. When I returned home just hours ago, I instantly sat it on the desk in my study and began to read. For over an hour I sat there, going through page after page of different kinds of myths and legends. When I began nearing the end of the book, I began to lose hope in finding anything pertaining to Iva. Just as I began to give up, I noticed the final six pages. I turned the page and was greeted by large words written at the top in bold text. The Age of Man. I began to read, curious as to what Man was. The more I read, the more it dawned on me; the creatures that Clover and I had been searching for are the same ones written in that very book. The story told of a highly scientific civilization known as Man, creatures that were able to conquer all of nature’s elements with science and machinery. They were a species that were able to build large cities that would spread to miles on end, buildings that could touch Celestia’s sun, a species that could even fly without needing wings. The book claimed that they lived happily with each other for years on end, that their civilization lasted for millennia that seemed undying. As I progressed through the story of Man, I realized that not all was peaceful. Near the end, I began to notice that Man’s society began to collapse, consumed in utter chaos. To them, it was known as the Great Collapse. Fire began to rain from the skies as they were locked into a permanent day, men, women, and children being afflicted with a bizarre disease that warped them. Made them chaotic and evil, clouds changed colors and became pinkish, inanimate objects came to life. Whole buildings lifted off the ground and began floating into the sky as if gravity no longer worked; oceans froze and the entire world descended into utter chaos. . When Man finally figured out who was causing all of this, it was too late. They tried to fight back, but their machines no longer worked and all was lost to chaos. In the end, Man finally let go of the string, and they plunged the world into eternal darkness. In the end, it says that Man might have never died out, but instead remain dormant. It claims that when they wake up, they might bring on a new age to Equestria, either an Age of Gold, or an Age of Darkness… Starswirl the Bearded’s Journal, Uncovered March 1st, 13 L. R. In his study’s secret safe, All information in here must remain Classified. > Chapter 1: Horizon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Horizon “Skyscrapers are literally being lifted off the ground… Thousands are attempting to flee the City of London and… Jesus Christ! Something just struck the brid– Large pink clouds… Yes I’ll say that again large pink clouds have been seen over the state of New Mexico… Yes, Bob, I said it’s actually raining fire in Paris. Thousands are running indoors and the city is being prepped for evacuation… We have just received word that Air Force One has been taken down… British Prime Minister Cameron has been reported deceased on his trip home from Sweden… It has been reported that the United Nations gathered last night and enacted a new plan code named: Project Icarus… Sightings of a strange creature were reported over Seattle this morning… U.S. Armed Forces have been deployed all over the nation in search of the monster, code named Archangel details at eleven… We’ve received Intel, commander, that Fort Knox has been wiped out by Archangel. Goddammit! Get Central online and inform him that we need Project Icarus finished by the end of this month. But commander, we’re not even– You heard me Private. Yes, sir… Locals are calling it judgment day… Families across the globe are gathering in prayer… Over one million people gather in Vatican City to hear Pope Francis… Japanese hospitals are being flooded with strange, comatose victims… So you’re saying that your brother attacked you? Yes. Last night he was fine, but this morning he was extremely pale and nasty… I locked him in my room and fled. I dialed 999 but the line was busy. When I looked outside there were hundreds of people rioting… Daddy… The Police are calling them Sleepers… Please, you’ve gotta help me. Please calm down Ma’am. We’re sending a peace keeper to your ar– NO! Get your hands off me! Hello? Miss, are you there? Time to wake up… The United Nations has established large fallout shelters across the planet… The Sleepers are overwhelming us sir! What do we do! Hold the line Soldier! Whatever you do hold that line… Archangel has been spotted over Jerusalem! I repeat, Archangel has been spotted... Officials are calling the Star Ship, Horizon… NATO agents have been scattered across the globe in search of selected individuals for the boarding process… Daddy! Sarah, no! You can’t take her away from me! Sir, I’m sorry but there isn’t enough room. What are you talking about? You can hold at least another hundred! We do not have enough Cryo-chambers, Mister Conway… Oi, Johnny… All units focus fire on Archangel! I repeat, all units focus fire on–ARGH! Vat!? Yes, I know it’s hard to believe Dr. Hassel. Vat do you sink blowing up zee planet’s surface vould achieve?! Please, Doctor, there is no need to blow a fuse we have everything under control. Vat do you mean you have eversing under control!? In less than twenty four hours we’ll be launching our first ever star ship into space, carrying exactly three hundred human beings as a back up plan in case the Lazarus Project fails. And vat, you vant me to tag along? Yes, Doctor. Vat if I say no? I’m sorry Doctor, but you do not have a choice in this… Oi, Johnny, wake up… I said wake up!” :[-]: Johnny Conway, a tall slender man with a short brown buzz cut, a military central command officer picked to organize and watch over any military operations that were taking place on the field, woke to the sound of a man hammering away on the outside glass that made up eighty percent of the machine he was in. “Oi, John! Wake up, mate it’s time for our shift,” said Nelson Grimes, a smaller and younger man, with bright blonde wavy hair and a small chin beard, who was picked specifically for the mission because of his expertise with computers. Johnny’s eyes slowly opened, the temperature in the pod rising slowly as his body reawakened. As his muscles thawed and the chillness began to evaporate, his stomach began to churn and groan. Johnny cringed at the awkward feeling as the pod hissed, which was then followed by a metallic thump, two mechanical arms on each side of the machine detached the glass door that kept him concealed and then slid upwards in a swift easy motion. Once the ice inside the now open pod made contact with the warm outside air, a large cloud of steam was instantly created, within seconds half of the room was filled entirely with steam. Slowly, Johnny lifted his hand upwards and took hold of the handle above him. Despite the lack of strength, he used his sore arms to pull himself up into a sitting position. Once he got himself situated he saw Nelson watching him with a smug grin.“Sleep well?” he asked in his thick English accent. John cleared his throat, the phlegm in his mouth was nearly freezing cold, and the taste was atrocious. His stomach lurched as he spat the nasty five year old glob onto the floor, he felt like he was going to vomit. “I feel like shit,” he muttered, his voice drawn out. As Nelson eyed the nasty bits that were now on the metal floor, he shivered. “Yeah I felt the same way too when Caroline woke me,” He said as he took his eyes off the floor. “Well, come on now.” He leaned over and patted Johnny on the shoulder. Nelson jammed his right thumb towards the small metal railing that followed the three steps up to the door. “I left ya some trousers over there on the railing. I couldn’t find you a shirt, though that shouldn’t be a problem seeing that it’s just the two of us.” He snickered at the last bit. John smirked and pushed himself off the bed. “Thanks. There should be one in the bedrooms though,” he said, but quickly yelped in surprise as his feet made contact with the nearly freezing floor. “Gah! Cold!” He shrieked, hopping from foot to foot. Nelson laughed. “Again, mate, you’re not the only one.” He waved for John to follow as he began walking towards the metal door. “Let’s go, Caroline made us some meals before she and DeSilva went off to sleep.” “Really now?” John yawned, his feet slowly growing use to the cold ground as he followed behind Nelson, his arms wrapped around his chilled chest . “What is she serving this time?” “Oh, the same old delicacy as usual, hash.” He chuckled. Johnny snorted and came to stop in front of the railing to retrieve his new pair of freshly washed jeans. In the middle of checking if the jeans would fit John asked, “So... don’t I get any shoes with these?” Nelson, who was standing by the door, looked back at him his mouth making an O as he thought. “Oh, yes,” He snapped his fingers and pointed over to the right. “I forgot, they’re just to your right.” Like Nelson said, to his right beside the small three step staircase, were pair of black size eleven Nikes. Not really military oriented, but they kept the troops and the lab coats comfortable. Don’t want your men wearing heavy boots and tank tops in the middle of space for over six thousand years. “You know,” John said, sliding his legs into the jeans, “This would’ve been easier if you would have just dropped them by the stasis chamber.” Nelson chuckled and leaned over the railing, looking down at the commanding officer. “Yeah... that may be true.” He smirked. “But we can’t just have everything handed over to us, ya know?” Johnny looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah... sure...” He fell silent for a moment and bent to down to retrieve his new shoes. “Say,” He began, “I don’t think I ever gotten your name.” “My apologies, sir.” Nelson cleared his throat. “My name is Nelson Grimes.” “Nice to meet you, Nelson,” John said, sliding on his last shoe. Placing his foot on the ground, he shifted his weight from foot to foot, trying to break down his new footwear. “I am Central Command Officer John Conway.” “I know that,” Nelson’s smirk grew into a smile. John frowned and looked over at him. “How is that? I’ve never had any shifts with you yet... have I?” Johnny couldn’t recall, he had been on so many shifts thus far he could hardly even remember the first man he had ever worked with. “No, we haven’t,” Nelson’s smile grew even wider. “Then how do you know who I am?” Johnny crossed his arms once again across his bare freezing chest. “Well, I looked into everyone's personal data files, Horizon’s firewall isn’t that hard to crack.” Nelson’s smile grew to the point that he was now flashing his nasty yellow teeth, the lad looked as if he hasn’t brushed in weeks. Johnny’s jaw nearly struck the floor. “You do know that’s against protocol and that I can have you locked away for that?” He scolded. Nelson snorted. “You won’t.” Johnny’s teeth clenched. “You do know you’re speaking to a superior, right?” Nelson flashed him a smug look. “Of course I do, I did say I read nearly everyone’s file. But you can’t lock me away, because if you do who will reprogram the ship if something fails? Not DeSilva, and don’t even bother with Hedrick. Honestly I can’t see why the U.N. even bothered bringing Hedrick along. The bloke can hardly hack into a high school's security network.” Johnny sighed and rolled his eyes, the kid does have him there. “Just...” He flung his right hand to the side. “Don’t fuck anything up okay.” “Even if I did, I’d fix it in a jiffy.” Nelson pushed himself off the railing and turned to the door, placing his hand on the scanner. The door groaned as it slid open. Taking a quick peek back he said: “What are you waiting for? The hash isn’t going to eat itself.” :[-]: “–And when the crazy bastard got on top of me,” Nelson said as he swallowed his mouthful of dried jerky, “he began wailing on me. Bam! Bam! Bam! Right into the side of my skull.” He tapped the side of his head while he took another strip jerky from off the plate in the center of the table. The two men sat in the middle of the overseer’s lounge, which was more or less a smaller cafeteria for the two selected individuals who had to watch over the sleeping passengers and maintain the ship while it slowly drifted through deep space. The lounge was a small room, about eight yards in width and ten in length. Just enough space to keep the two comfortable. In the far left corner from the door was a small kitchen with a counter, a fridge, and a sink; while the other side was occupied by a shelf with a handful of old movies and books that were beside a T.V. Across from that was a small couch, beyond which was the table both men were sitting at exchanging pleasantries. “For a minute there,” Nelson said, taking a bite he spoke with his mouthful, which bothered Johnny, but he said nothing. “I thought I was going to die, and I was close, too. But before I blacked out, in came the Commander with his rifle, bam!–” Nelson slammed his palm on the table which sent the plate rattling, and Johnny reaching for his glass of water so it wouldn’t spill. “He rammed his rifle into its head, and the crazy bastard just slumped to the floor.” Keeping the glass still, John looked at Nelson with an unconvinced look. “How come you weren’t infected?” Johnny asked leaning in, he grabbed himself a plate and scooped a small pile of hash onto it. “Excuse me?” Nelson gulped down the last of his breakfast. “Well, you said he was punching you. Upon first contact you should have caught the virus.” Johnny said. Scooping a spoonful of hash into his mouth, he chewed quietly. “He was wearing gloves, and thank God for that! I nearly crapped myself because at that very second, that same thought crossed my mind,” Nelson said as he got up from his spot. His plate in his hand, he walked over to the sink and rinsed it off before placing it in the washer. “So, did you listen to Caroline’s and DeSilva’s logs yet?” Johnny asked as he reached for his glass of water. “Yeah, and not much really happened.” Nelson dried his hands on a dish towel and made his way over to the couch. “They fixed the small leak in the hydroponic farm, bad thing is half the crops died and they had to replant them. So you and I aren’t going to be having any fresh vegetables any time soon. I hope you like canned and hash.” He chuckled quietly. “Also, we should be receiving information from the drones back at Earth in a couple of...” Nelson glanced over at the digital clock mounted above the door, “Minutes... maybe ten. Besides those minor inconveniences, we have a few pipes that need tightening... and some computers that need monitoring... shit man, we don’t have that much to do.” Nelson waved his arms in the air, only to have them fall back down and smack his knees. “This isn’t the first shift I’ve been on where I had nothing to do,” Johnny said as he swallowed the last bit of hash. Getting up, he did the same as Nelson, rinse off the plate and stick it in the washer; drying his hands on the dish towel, he tossed it onto the counter. “Well, might as well tighten those pipes. Don’t want any leaks sprouting up, we’ve already lost enough water as it is.” :[-]: “Oi, how much do you got left down there?” Nelson shouted over the loud rumbling of Horizon’s mighty engines and running water. “Three more, how about you?” Johnny yelled back. He was on his knees right in front of a wall of pipes that occasionally fired a jet of steam through the small creases. He wiped the sweat off his brow; the intense heat felt as if it was killing him. The blue polo he had found in his room clung to his chest. Clamping the monkey wrench around the first of the three remaining bolts, he began to tighten it as if he was in some sort of competition, trying to get his work done as quickly as possible so he could get out of the belly of this beast. “Only two more!” Nelson replied. Raising his arms he did his best to dry the sweat off his face. “Goddamn I wish them engineers would install air conditioning down here!” Johnny chuckled. “Same here,” he agreed so quietly that Nelson didn’t hear him. Finishing the first of the three, bolts he moved onto the second. “Say, sir... did you have any loved ones?” Nelson unexpectedly called over a loud hiss of steam. Johnny eyes fell for a second, the question catching him completely off guard. A few moments passed of just sitting there staring at the floor. Finally, he sighed and got back to work. “Yes,” he called back, not really wanting to discuss this at the very moment. Not wanting to waste a conversation, he decided to humor the boy, “I have a daughter back in the vaults.” “How old is she?” Nelson asked as he tightened his last bolt. He stepped back away from the wall of pipes and turned to face Johnny. Johnny, who was just now finishing his last bolt. replied, “Ten years old... She turned ten only a few days before the collapse,” With one last twist, he released the wrench and let it hang there on the pipe. “Well... now I’d say she’s about... six thousand some years old.” He chuckled sadly. Nelson approached him. “A shame you couldn’t bring her long, I’m sorry to hear that,” he said honestly. Johnny stood up and cracked his back. “Even if they said she was healthy, I wouldn’t have been able to bring her any way.” “Why is that?” Nelson asked, curious. “She was al–” Johnny was cut off by the loud booming echo of the ship’s A.I. “Lifeforms detected repeat, life forms detected on planetary surface. All overseers please report to the central control room. Repeat, life forms detected...” The A.I. continued to repeat the same message another three times before finally falling silent. The two overseers sat there staring dumbly at the ceiling, as if they were waiting for a sign. “Wai... What?” Nelson mumbled slowly as the message sank into his head. His eyes widened, and he sprung into a full on sprint towards the elevator at the far end of the corridor. Seconds later, Johnny was following shortly behind. “It has to be the data from Caroline's drones!” Nelson shouted back, as if Johnny didn’t already know this. “They must have picked up traces of some lifeforms years ago! Whoo!” Nelson cheered happily like a young kid who had just beaten his brother’s high score. :[-]: The large spherical central control room came to life as the doors slid open and the duo ran in. Both of them nearly stumbled over the loose wires that were strung across the floor, linking up the many machines to the center prototype hologlobe now materializing in front of them. “Computer,” Nelson shouted as he leapt over a chair that was left in the center of the room by its previous occupants, “Status report.” A large monitor that hung from the ceiling behind the hologlobe flickered to life. Vast amounts of numbers and letters littered the screen like something out of the Matrix movie. At least, that’s what Johnny thought as he examined the screen. To him it didn’t make a lick of sense. Looking over at Nelson, he saw that the boy had the largest shit eating grin he’d ever seen. “What’s it saying?” he asked. Nelson turned his head over to Johnny before snapping back towards the screen. “They’re life signatures! They’re bloody life signatures!” Nelson’s excitement bursted like a balloon. Johnny glanced back at the screen, now overflowing with numbers and letters. “It’s like they’re all sprouting up simultaneously...” he said in wonderment, as he approached the machine. “Now that you mention it, they are...” Nelson turned away from the screen and made his way towards the nearest computer. Pulling up a chair he sat down and began observing the data first hand. “The scan for life began thirty years prior and finished ten years after...” he mumbled to himself while reading over the information. “So you’re saying over the span of four decades, life just... popped up?” Johnny looked over his shoulder. “Judging by what this says... yeah...” He trailed off. “Is that even possible?” Johnny walked over, and leaned over Nelson’s shoulder to observe the information himself. “Hassel and the Lab coats said that the Earth was destined to be a frozen wasteland for thousands of years... maybe even longer.” “I-I don’t know,” Nelson shrugged. “I only work with computers and numbers, so I got nothing...” “Could it be a bug?” Johnny asked. “Why would there be a...” Nelson stopped, his eyes focusing on the monitor that stopped producing information. Leaning in, he got a closer look. Johnny shifted his weight from foot to foot, confused as to why Nelson stopped so abruptly. “Is something wrong?” “Yeah... b-but don’t worry, it’s fine.” He quickly added at the end. “For some reason, drone forty six stopped transmitting information... along with forty seven, and eight.” He said as he worked. Johnny didn’t speak, but instead he continued to let Nelson workout the situation. “Oh shit...” He cursed under his breath. “What happened?” John asked, hiding his nervousness deep inside. “Forty seven and forty six must’ve collided and gotten pulled into the planet’s atmosphere...” Nelson said, and, as if on cue, two messages appeared on the monitor. “Right here,” he said tapping the screen. “At exactly October 12th, 8002 at oh eight hundred, drones forty seven and forty six signaled their distress calls only hours apart from each other.” “Are you still able to access their data banks now?” Johnny asked. Nelson looked back at him dumbly. “Well, not now, they're both probably eroded away.” Johnny rolled his eyes. “Well, the information that the drone transmitted, are you able to receive anything else from it after it crash landed.” “I doubt it... at the velocity they were going at, I doubt on collision let alone the impact on the planet’s surface, they’d be blown to dust...” Nelson said. “Those drones are made of the strongest alloys on Earth, they could survive a nuclear shock wave and only make it out with a few scratches. I doubt one collision and a crash landing would even dent these suckers.” He said gazing at the screen. “See if you can get any visuals from the ground with the camera.” Nelson looked at Johnny and shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do.” Leaning forward in his seat, he began to type, and in the matter of a few short seconds, a flickering window appeared on the screen. Static, along with the occasional sound of a crackling fire, poured through the speakers. The image on the monitor flickered on and off, distorting the picture it tried to present, but the sound came through cleanly, despite the static “Wha–everypo–ack–” Words. The two men were hearing actual words coming through the speakers! “My God...” Johnny whispered, his eyes wide in shock. People... other living, breathing people, human beings that were on Earth. “We actually made it.” > Chapter 2: Homecoming > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The briefing room was dark and quiet save for the few murmurs from the lab coats and some generals. William Keshiner, a large built man with a brown buzz cut, sighed and glanced down at the pamphlet he was holding in his right hand. The front of the pamphlet read, in large red words, “Classified,” and just below them were the words: Project Icarus. William hadn’t really figured out what the pictures on the document were trying to represent. Upon opening it he was greeted with blueprints and diagrams that looked to be something straight out of a Star Wars film. Just then the door on the other side of the room opened, and in came the commander-in-chief, Alan Crawski, being escorted by two guards and a lone scientist. “ATEN-HUT!” commanded a stern, deep voice from the front. Everyone in the room rose, backs straight and stiff. In the front of the room, the man that had come in from the far left, along with the scientist, positioned himself behind the podium. “At ease,” said the voice again, and everyone sat back down. “As many of you may already know," Alan spoke as he stepped out from behind the podium, "Headquarters lost contact with Fort McClellan two nights ago, exactly two minutes after losing contact with Fort Rucker. We are to assume the bases were attacked simultaneously.” The man stopped for a brief moment, letting what he had just said sink in. In the back, a woman slowly stood up. “Yes, Dr. MacLean?” “Have there been any signs of any survivors, sir?” she asked. Alan shook his head. “Not as of yet, no." The woman slowly sat back down. Just beside her a second hand shot up. "Yes Dr. Carol?” Alan asked as he turned towards the other scientist. The scientist stood up from his chair. “What about whoever attacked these bases? Do we have any pictures or recordings; something that will let us know what we’re up against?” the doctor’s voice wavered. Alan nodded his head. “That we do. I was actually just about to get to that, Dr. Carol," he then turned towards the scientist sitting just a few feet away from him. "Dr. Hassel, could you bring up the photograph.” The lab coat nodded his head silently as he picked up the remote from the table in front of him. Turning around, he activated the projector on the ceiling, which shot a blurred image onto the wall. The picture contained a strange, mutilated creature, comprised entirely of other creatures and strange animals the men had never heard of before. The “Chimera” looking creature was shown to be flying over the burning wreckage of Fort Rucker. William raised an eyebrow, and glanced up at the commander-in-chief. Alan had his eyes locked on the image as he spoke, “This creature is what we assume to be the cause of the devastation of both forts McClellan and Rucker.” “You’re kidding, right, sir? You said that McClellan and Rucker were attacked at the same time,” pointed out one of the soldiers in the back. “That’s because they were, Lieutenant Michaels. They were attacked by this creature at approximately three-thirty in the morning while our men were still in bed. We believe this creature holds an unbelievable amount of power, a power that we humans have yet to obtain. That is why on the day of the attack we dubbed this extraterrestrial being Archangel. The United Nations has given the all clear that; “Any and all personnel to see Archangel have the green light to engage.” But be warned, Archangel, as I've said thus far, has been known for his agility, strength, speed and…” The commander-in-chief trailed off into silence, after he took a deep breath he spoke up, “And his ability to bend the laws of physics themselves.” Whispers began to murmur themselves into existence around William. “Thirty years ago the Japanese began a project, known as Project Ikarusu, or Icarus to us.” Dr. Hassel clicked a button on the remote that changed the picture on the screen to a much larger photo of a massive half built ship, which was slightly bigger than an American destroyer. “This here, ladies and gentlemen, is humanity’s final act in case things decide to take a turn for the worse. This here is Starship Horizon.” He flung his right arm out wide. “She weighs exactly twelve thousand and thirty-two tons, and in theory, can reach speeds of over one hundred thousand miles per hour, while maintaining the capacity to hold three hundred of our top personnel.” Alan cleared his throat. “Starting today, ladies and gentlemen, the United Nations has agreed for us to reboot the project.” “I’m sorry, sir, but what exactly would we need a starship for? If Archangel is our only enemy, couldn’t we just blast it into oblivion?” asked a young soldier, standing by the back door. “Private, if only it were that easy." Alan snorted, "Fort McClellan and Rucker had over one thousand armed personnel on the premises, and all were wiped out in a matter of minutes. If Archangel does prove to be successful in its operation to wipe all human history off this planet, if that's its intention, the U.N. has agreed to launch Operation Lazarus.” Alan took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair before speaking. “Across the globe, in almost every major country, are large underground fallout shelters which reach depths of three hundred feet. The vaults we will be using were built during the Cold War in case of a nuclear fallout, but are now being expanded and improved upon. The day before we launch Horizon into the stars, we’ll begin the evacuation process. Three days after that we’ll launch every nuclear missile on the planet at Archangel, the only flaw with this plan is… the Earth’s surface will be destroyed in the process–” A man in the back raised his hand. “What do you mean by “the planet’s surface will be destroyed”?” “If zee bombs do go off,” Dr. Hassel spoke up for the first time. He got up out of his chair and stepped forward, so that he was standing in front everyone. “Zee amount of radiation and pollution vill cause a nuclear vinter, vich vill zen block out zee sun across zee entire planet. Zus plunging zee vorld into another ice age, and vith the sun blocked out due to zee amount of radiation and pollution in zee planet’s atmosphere, zee planet vill literally freeze to death; zus killing all life forms on zee planet's survace.” A soldier in the front stood up. “How long would it take for everything to die out,” he asked nervously. “Is it like an instant death?” “Nein, zee process vould take about a veek,” the doctor deadpanned. The soldier slowly sat down. “Slow and painful… That’s all you had to say,” He murmured to himself. “So, ladies and gentlemen, your mission is, if things do go to Hell.” Alan’s voice became low. “Will be to journey off into the absolute unknown, wait for things to settle down back here and–” “With all due respect, sir, I’m going to have to stop you right there.” William said as he stood up. Alan motioned for him to continue. “But, what do you mean we have to go off into the unknown. We have families and children here, there’s no way I’m going off into space and letting you destroy our planet, just so you can stop one creature…” “I’m sorry, Commander, but we have no choice, and nobody better to choose from besides all you individuals,” the Chief said without any emotion in his voice. “What about my wife and chi–” “Leave them, Commander." William cringed. "It’s either your wife and child or the entirety of the human race. Choose now, Commander, because what happens now will change the fate of humanity,” the Chief said. William remained silent. Furrowing his brow, he slowly sat back down in his seat. “What about the vaults, Chief? Won’t our families survive down there?” a soldier over by the door asked. “Zee probability of anybody surviving zee nuclear vinter is below ten percent,” responded Dr. Hassel. The room fell silent for a few moments, save for the quiet breaths coming from the scientists and soldiers. After a few moments of silence, Alan finally spoke, “This session is dismissed; all of you are free to go say your possible final goodbyes to your families. Be back here by tomorrow morning at oh eight hundred hours.” :[-]: A searing hiss made its way into William’s ears, with a metallic clank the pod he was sleeping in opened up, steam billowing out of the machine. William’s eyes opened slowly, as he numbly swung his legs over to the side and pulled himself up into a sitting position. William ran his hand under his eyes, trying to get the crust out from under them. His stomach groaned and a wave of nausea almost overwhelmed him, his empty stomach yearning for nutrition. “Fire team Six, please report to central control in zero-three hundred.” Johnny’s voice boomed throughout the ship’s hull. “We’ll be descending into the planet’s atmosphere in seventy-two hours.” “Wait... what?!” William’s eyes shot towards the intercom that was just beside the clock. “What the hell happened while I was out?” Will said to no one in particular. His eyes began to wander about the room he was in. Empty stasis chambers lined the walls on either side of the room. William, still sitting in his stasis chamber, eyed the empty pods. “Where is everyone?” he asked out loud. “Why am I the last one being awakened...?” Grasping onto the edge of the pod he pushed himself out, landing on the chilled metal floor. He winced as the blood in his feet ran cold. Gazing about, he searched for the locker that would contain his clothes and his gear. After a few seconds of searching, he found the locker just beside the door along with the others. Inputting his combination, he opened it up and quickly got dressed in his white tank top and green cargo pants. Slipping on his tennis shoes, he reached into his locker and grabbed his firearm and holster, which he then strapped to his belt. “Nice to see you’re finally awake, commander.” William nearly jumped out of his skin. Spinning around he saw a tall, slender woman with long brown hair. Her eyes were a bright green and she was wearing a grey suit with a purple undershirt. “Jesus, Angela!” he cursed. “You nearly scared the life out of me.” She chuckled and walked up alongside William. “Still a bit edgy I see?” William raised an eyebrow as she got closer. The girl seemed a few years older since the last time he saw her. “Who wouldn’t be?” he said. "With our entire race on the verge of extinction, I think everyone here is a little tense." She snickered. "You’d think,” she placed a hand on his chest and gave him a predatory smirk. “With there only being a few of us left–” William silenced her by gently grabbing a hold of her wrist. “Angela,” His voice was stern. “I told you last time, I’m not interested. I have a wife back on Earth.” He lied then released her hand and allowed her to back away. William took hold of the railing to his left and stepped around it so he could go up the steps towards the door. “But don’t get me wrong,” he glanced over his shoulder, a grin on his face. “I am flattered.” With that, he opened the door and began heading towards the main control room. :[-]: “Zis is incredible, Mr. Convay.” said Dr. Ludvig Hassel, an elderly scientist known for his dabbling in both biology and physics. Johnny smiled and watched the scientist as he once again placed the large headphones over his ears, so he could listen to the audio recovered from the drone crash. Around him, the usually empty control room was now bustling with young men and women, most sitting at computers taking measurements and readings of Earth’s surface, which they were now orbiting. “We uncovered it on my sixth shift six thousand years ago, we tried making contact with them but just like the first few years after departure... coms still won’t work.” “Zat is odd indeed, how about now? Has Mr. Grimes tried setting up zee laser communications relay?” Hassel asked as he placed the headphones back on its stand. Johnny shrugged. “Last I spoke to the lad; he was in the middle of talking to some girls back down in engineering.” Hassel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Zat boy may be good at vat he does... but at times he makes me vant to hit him.” John chuckled. “Go ahead, no one's stopping you. Matter of fact, half the crew would probably appreciate it.” The doctor laughed. On the far end of the room, the door right under the main screen opened and in came Commander William, followed by his four squad mates. “Ah, Commander,” Hassel beamed at the sight of his old friend. He stood up from his chair and approached him. William smiled and offered his right hand. The doctor took it, but instead of shaking it he pulled the man into a close hug. “Whoa now,” Will laughed. “It is nice to see you, friend. How have sings been going for you?” Hassel broke the hug and looked William in the eyes. William scratched the back of his neck. “Well, aside from fighting in a massive battle, then going to sleep for nearly twelve thousand years... great, I guess.” He chuckled. Johnny smiled at the sight of the two playing catch up, but not wanting to hold things up any further he cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Commander Keshiner.” Both the commander and doctor looked at him. One of the soldiers in the back, a red headed female, jabbed one of her squad mates in the side, gathering the rest of the crew’s attention. “The admiral has requested that we send a research team down to the planet’s surface as soon as possible.” John said briefly. “Alright, I’m betting he wants to send my squad and I to go protect a few lab coats while they look at some trees and rocks?” Will guessed. “Precisely,” Johnny said as he picked up a nearby remote from off the computer desk he was standing in front of. He clicked the power button and the monitor came to life, revealing an overhead view of their drop zone. “Your team, along with the science division, will be dropped off here. While Dr. Hassel and his team work, I want you and your squad to scout out the surrounding area.” “How are we for communications?” Will asked. “Has anyone been able to get it to work yet?” “Currently, no, like I told the doctor here, Nelson was flirting with the girls down in engineering.” John said in a monotone. Will sighed and shook his head. “I swear I’m going to beat that kid to a pulp...” he growled. Hassel chuckled. “Not to worry though, Commander. It’ll take the Condor about four to five hours to reach the planet’s surface. By then Nelson should have communications up and running. For now, there are drones now scouting the planet’s surface hoping to find any signs of civilization... That’s if they made it this far since we last heard from them.” “Oh I bet zay did,” Dr. Hassel crossed his arms. “Vith zee amount of technology vee left behind, you could start vorld var three...” Hassel said as he walked towards the monitor. “I vill rally my top scientists, ve’ll be ready in a matter of twenty minutes.” William nodded his head. “Alright then, I’ll see to it that my team is prepared before then.” He turned away from the two. “Come on now,” he said to his four squad mates, “get on down to the barracks and prep yourselves, we got work to do.” “Yes sir,” they said and followed behind the commander. Johnny sighed and turned away once William and his men were out of sight. He eyed the screen that held the overhead view of the drop point, “I still can’t believe it,” he said under his breath. “Excuse me?” Hassel cocked an eyebrow. “The Earth,” Johnny cleared his throat. He could really use a drink right now. “The fact that it was able to recover so fast...” He saw Hassel out of the corner of his eye turning to face him. “Doc, you even said it yourself, that the Earth wasn’t going to reform for another few thousand years.” “In seory yes, but like I just said Johnny, zat it was only a seory. Must've been a minor miscalculation, zat is all.” Johnny shrugged, and then Hassel snorted. “Or vee loss track of zee time and over sirty sousand years has passed.” John chuckled. “That’s always a possibility, I just never thought I’d see this place again... at least not in this magnificent state.” Hassel smiled and reached over to pat him on the shoulder. “It has been nice talking to you, lad. But it is time zat I start rounding up my men.” John smirked and took his eyes off the screen for a few seconds to look at his friend. “I guess I’ll be talking to you once you guys are on the ground.” “Indeed you vill,” Hassel stepped back and made his way towards the exit that led down into the research department. Once Hassel was gone, all that was left was Johnny and the few men and women that were left working on the computers. John slipped his hand into his pocket and took out his old wallet he’d kept hidden safely away in his locker. He opened the wallet and smiled at the picture of a young eight year old girl. In the photo she was wearing an old hand-me-down Ohio State jersey and a pair of baggy jeans. She was smiling at the camera. Behind her was a man and a woman, Johnny and his wife Stacey; John was wearing his service uniform. His hand resting on his daughter’s, Amy’s, shoulder. This was the day Johnny came home for the holiday. His brother, Arin, was the one who took the picture, “So did you bring back any battle scars yet?” He remembered him asking when he stepped into the lobby and was greeted with a tight bear hug. Johnny could remember laughing and telling him that he didn’t fight on field, he never had... before the collapse that is, when the Sleepers were storming Headquarters and slaughtering everyone. Johnny barely made it out alive that day– John shook his head. Now was not the time to think about the past. He went over the photograph one last time before closing it and stuffing it back into his pocket. It would only be a matter of days before they began cracking open the vaults to make sure that, if anyone was alive down there, they got woken up. That is, unless the people from the recording they heard were still alive... their kid’s kids, that is. “Sir,” Said the voice of man that was working at one of the computers. “What is it?” John looked over at him. “We’ve just received our latest footage from drone sixty-two,” he said. “Throw it up on main screen,” John stepped back from the table. He stepped past the holo-globe so that he had a clear view of the screen. “She’s coming up there now, sir,” said the girl John was standing behind. With a small amount of static followed by the occasional flicker, the image came up clearly. From a skyward view, the drone’s camera was trained on a large valley of fire and lava. John glanced over back at the boy. “What’s the drone's position now?” “Forty four point six degrees north, hundred ten point five degrees west, she’s right above Yellowstone, sir...” The man trailed off into silence and focused back onto his work. “Jesus...” Johnny gazed at the fiery image. “I remember going there as a kid.” Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a black shadow swooped past the screen and instantly everything went to black. Startled by this sudden outburst, Johnny jolted back cursing under his breath. The room fell silent. “What was that?” someone asked. Johnny scratched the back of his neck, eyes wide. “You there,” he pointed at the brown haired girl he was standing behind, “see if you can rewind a few seconds back.” “Y-yes, sir,” she stuttered, her eyes wide by the sudden jump scare that got all of them. “Central,” another voice came from behind. “We’ve lost contact with sixty-two. I can’t get any readings off it.” “Impossible!” Johnny shot up. “Those drones are built to withstand nearly anything!” “With all due respect, sir, they clearly weren’t built to withstand whatever the hell that was–” “Can it, Charlie!” Charlie’s friend, Derek, snapped. “Video is ready for replay, sir,” the woman in front of Johnny said. “Play it,” he ordered. The girl nodded her head and pressed the button to start the video, again the image flickered and displayed the picture of the now volcanic Yellowstone. Clenching his fist and trying to remember the exact moment in the video when this mysterious creature of sorts would appear. He gritted his teeth and– “Pause it!” He commanded and right away the video stopped, right as the dark figure appeared on screen. “Brighten the image, I want to see exactly what we're dealing with here.” With a few keystrokes the darkness that enveloped a large portion of the picture tinted ever so slightly to reveal few key details. “What in the name of...” Derek muttered. “Are those scales?” someone asked. “It’s a bloody dinosaur!” another shouted. “Caroline,” Johnny took his eyes off the monitor and looked to the woman standing back by the holo-globe, “get engineering on the phone and tell them I want those condors equipped with turrets immediately.” “Right away, Central,” She nodded and got to work. Turning his gaze back towards the image of the massive winged beast, with teeth the length of swords, Johnny gulped. “What in God’s name have we done...” > Chapter 3: Preparation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- William placed his ballistics vest on his bed alongside his pads and gas mask. Getting onto one knee, he checked under his bed for his weapon and, reaching under, he grasped onto its hard plastic case. He pulled it out and tossed it onto his bed along with his other supplies. Popping it open, Will found his M4A1 neatly tucked away in its case. He smiled at his old friend, he had had gotten him out of so many hectic situations, that he could probably count every scratch on it and tell the story of how the weapon got it. William grabbed a hold of the gun and popped it out of the case, getting used to the weapon’s weight. He held it up in a firing position; it had been a good while since he fired a gun. William began considering going down to the shooting range on the lower deck for some possible practice after he got back. A knock on his door snapped him back to reality. “What the…? Come in!” William said. The door slowly eased its way open and in came an engineer dressed in a brown jump suit. He appeared to be pushing a large cart that flight attendants used to serve snacks to the passengers on a plane. “Sorry if I am interrupting, Commander, but I’m just doing what the Admiral and Dr. Hassel told me to do.” “And what is that?” William asked. The engineer pushed the cart into the center of the room. “I was told to give everyone who is going on the mission one of these tyvek suits.” He grabbed hold of one of the many light grey suits and handed it over to William. “Don’t worry if it fits or not, everyone on the ship has at least two specifically made for them. If this doesn’t fit, we’ll look for your other one.” “Seems kind of pointless, don’t you think?” William said raising an eyebrow at the man. Regardless, he took the suit. The man shrugged. “Hassel said that the planet could still be covered with radiation. Or something like that. I didn’t care enough to listen. I just work here… Sir,” he quickly added. “Maybe you should start listening, boy,” William tossed the suit onto his bed, “Anything else?” The engineer nodded. “Actually, there is,” he moved the grayish suits, only to reveal a stack of plastic crates that had been concealed underneath. “I was also told to give all of you one of these.” The boy placed a crate on the ground and popped it open, revealing a pristine Russian AK. “What the hell do I need this for?” William exclaimed, pointing towards his M4, “I already have a gun.” “Sir, permission to speak candidly.” Reluctantly, William granted it. The engineer gazed down at William’s carbine, then back up to him with an unenthusiastic look. “Well, first off, Commander, I built weapons for living, and this AK here." The engineer patted the case. "Is a beautiful maiden compared that M4 lying on your bed." He snickered. "Besides, it’s not like we’re going to be fighting in any urban centers anytime soon.” William jabbed his thumb back at the weapon laying on his bed. “Boy, I’ve been to hell and back with that weapon. You wanna know how many Sleepers I put in the dirt with that gun?” “I thought they all died of lead poisoning, sir. But again; I. Just. Work. Here. So if you would please just take the weapon; I’ve got a strike team to insure the survival of.” William sighed dismissively as he bent over to retrieve the box. “Fuck it, fine I’ll take the damn weapon. And I am choosing to ignore that insult to my manhood.” “Thank you, sir. Now have a nice day,” the engineer sarcastically remarked as he got up and pushed his cart out. Only to stop at the door for a second. "One more thing, Commander. Just give it time, you'll come to love that weapon far more than your pea shooter, shit even my little boy could fire one of them AKs without a hitch." William lifted the weapon box up off the ground, and placed it alongside his M4, which he then neatly packed back into its case. He placed his old weapon back under his bed. Rising up, he opened the AK's case. The light in the room shined off the weapon’s waxed surface. William couldn’t deny it, it was a rather nice weapon. He reached into the case and popped it out. It was heavier than his M4, that was for sure, but it wouldn’t be long until he got accustomed to it. William took a quick look at the clock; fourteen minutes left till he needed to head to the hangar. William began to slip out of his civvies and into his field attire, sliding the tyvek suit over his field uniform. Next was his ballistics vest along with his protective pads. In a matter of minutes William looked as if he was prepped for war. He sighed and swung the straps of his gas mask around his neck. Opening his door, he made his way out into the hallway and towards the elevator on the far end. Going through door after door and pushing his way through the numerous engineers milling about, who were busy making sure the ship was well maintained. William reached the elevator and pushed the call button on the keypad. Seconds later the door slid open and he stepped in. William pushed the button that held the symbol of the hangar; the doors closed and he felt a sense of weightlessness as the elevator descended into the lower decks of the ship. :[-]: “Make sure those guns are in working condition!” ordered one of the engineer managers as he brushed past William and headed over towards the Condor that would be taking the team back down to Earth. Surrounding it were a few engineers who were mounting large Gatling guns onto its sides. William honestly couldn’t see why they were adding them, it was unlikely that they were going to have to be dealing with anything on the ground, let alone in the air. Unless... A wild thought entered William’s mind; there were some crazy mutations while they were gone– Will shook his head. “I’ve had too much time to myself,” he mumbled under his breath. Large metallic thumps followed by a very robotic voice came from William’s right. “Excuse me, Commander. Large cargo coming through.” Snapping back to reality, William turned and stepped out of the way of a twenty foot Panzer MEC carrying a large metal crate. “Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing with that?!” The same manager as before ran past William waving his arms like a madman at the MEC. “Are you blind? Storage room A is on the opposite end of the hangar you idiot!” William shook his head and turned back towards the Condor. “-and I’m talking huge,” Looking towards the voice, William saw Deshaun, his Lieutenant, talking with his squad mates. He had perched himself on top of an ammo crate, and he was leaning from man to man, his arms gesturing as he spoke. “Like, this guy must’ve been lifting weights or something before he got infected. Next thing I know, this dude is—and I’m not kidding here—lifting this long ass metal pipe up off the ground. I’m talking forty, fifty pounds here, and he swings it at me. So I duck, right, and the tip of the pipe shatters the window behind me! I cock my arm back and punch the sucker in the gut.” Shaun cocked his arm back and punched the air, imitating the move he supposedly performed on the sleeper. “Like that,” he said, “but nothing happened. The bastard wouldn’t budge; he just looked at me and tilted his head like this.” For comedic effect, Shaun tilted his head stupidly to the side, the two men and the solitary woman who were listening chuckled. William stopped just a few feet away from them and listened. “Right then and there I felt like I was going to start shitting bricks,” Shaun chuckled. “I thought I was done for, so right away I began making my peace with God, hoping that my life would end quickly.” Shaun laced his fingers together and pretended he was praying. “But then, as if God was watching me the whole time, he intervenes. And I'm talking divine intervention.” Shaun smirked. “In comes William with these two rifles, he jams one of them into the large fucker’s face and tosses me the other.” William grinned and got closer towards the group as Shaun continued with his story. “I raised the rifle and I emptied the magazine into the deadbeat’s chest.” Shaun pretended he was holding his rifle. “But he wouldn’t drop! This dude was taking bullets like a fucking champ, I’ve never seen anything like it—it was like something straight of the Walking Dead. Except… he wasn’t fucking dead!” William laughed. “Oh you should have seen the look on his face!” The soldiers glanced over at him. “Hey Commander,” Shaun rose two fingers above his head and gave a brief salute. “I was just telling them about–” “I know, I know, I heard the whole thing,” Will said, taking a seat on the ammo crate right beside Shaun. “And I have to say… you got half of the story right.” He smiled. “What do you mean?” Stacy asked, running a hand through her red hair. “He forgot the fact that he was in tears the whole time,” Will chuckled. “Wait-what?!” Shaun eyes snapped open. “I was–I mean–wouldn’t you'd be in tears if you were this close to becoming one of them?” He spaced his thumb and index finger apart in a gesture to show how close he came to becoming a sleeper. “Son, that very same one nearly strangled me to death with its pipe,” Will replied. “Now come on you pansy, Hassel and his coats will be showing up any second now. Start loading the rest of the supplies onto the drop ship.” William hopped off the crate. “No need to worry about that, Commander. We already have it loaded up,” A soldier informed William The Commander raised an eyebrow. “Well now, aren’t we ahead of schedule? Alright then,” he said, clapping his hands together. “As you were then. I’ll go check up on DeSilva,” William remarked, making his way towards the Condor, where a man in the cockpit sat fiddling with the controls. :[-]: DeSilva, a man of average height with long brown hair and a beard, sat back in the cockpit, sighing as he took a sip of the soda in his hand. It’d been what, over twelve thousand years since he last at in the cockpit of any aircraft? And that had probably been the most boring period of his life. He chuckled at the thought of being over twelve thousand years old. “That puts the meaning of old to a whole new level,” he murmured to himself as he took another swig of his soda and bent over to switch on the built in fan. A thud came from behind him as the door to the cockpit slid open. Glancing out from behind the chair he saw Commander Keshiner step into the cockpit and take the seat right beside him. Resting his back against the leather seat, he gazed upwards and sighed. “You know,” DeSilva began, “you could’ve knocked.” He turned towards Keshiner as he put his soda in one of the cockpit’s numerous cup holders. “Well… ya know, times change.” William stretched his arms out. “Goddamn! How can you sit in these things for so long?” “You get used to it after a few years.” DeSilva reached back into the pouch he had strapped onto the side of the chair. After a few moments of digging around, he withdrew a small yellow CD. “After that,” he continued, “you don’t really notice it.” He placed the CD into the player that rested above the controls. Moments passed, then soothing orchestra music came through the speakers, “There ya go, that’s nice…–wait, no. I listened to you last time… oh– hang on... there we go. Haven’t listened to Beethoven in a while.” DeSilva sat back and smiled. William looked at him confused. “When did you start listening to classical?” DeSilva looked at him, a frown on his face. “Commander, I was your pilot for over six months during the war, and you’ve never noticed that I listen to this?” William’s eyes wandered around as he shrugged. “Usually I’m not sitting in the cockpit with you, so how would I notice?” “How did you not notice? I blare it through the damn– you know what? Never mind.” DeSilva grabbed his drink. “Speaking of you being in the cockpit with me,” he took a sip and gazed out the front windshield, “it’s not common for you to be in here with me.” “So what?” William eyed his drink. “What are you doing with that?” “Excuse me?” DeSilva looked at him through the corner of his eyes. “Where did you get that pop?” William pointed at the red can completely bypassing the previous subject. “Oh, this? I found a twelve pack down in refrigeration. Where they keep most of the canned goods, you know.” He grinned and took a large sip. Lowering the can away from his lips, he offered it out to William. “Wanna sip?” William pushed the can away with his left hand, a disappointed look on his face. “So you’re the one who’s been taking all our pop.” His voice was stern. “Wait, what?” DeSilva jolted back. “What are you talking about?” “The Admiral said it himself, all luxury foods and drinks must be saved for important situations.” William crossed his arms, much like how a father would when he’s scolding his child. DeSilva’s jaw dropped and his eyes darted towards the window, then back at the can, then back towards the window again. This continued for several seconds. “B-b-but–” he stammered, “this is an important situation, we’re about to return to Earth! And more importantly, how does soda fall under luxury?” DeSilva quickly retorted. “This shit practically kills your innards.” Will shrugged. “Hey, I’m not the one who makes the rules. In the words of an acquaintance: ‘I just work here’.” He leaned over and reached under DeSilva’s seat to retrieve the six pack of the contraband goods. He took a can and popped the tab, and promptly chugged most of the cola. The taste felt alien in his mouth and William wanted to spit it out. It’d been so long since he had actually had soda that his taste buds had grown accustomed to water and hash. Swallowing the carbonated liquid, William clenched his teeth and rapidly shook his head. “Gah, Jesus! Whoa!” He chuckled to himself. “You know, I like how you were just telling me it’s not right that I’m drinking this stuff,” DeSilva smiled, “yet here you are helping yourself.” William took another swig and wiped his lips with his sleeve. “Well, what was wrong was the fact that you were drinking it yourself.” He placed his can in a cup holder. “Yes, you were right about the fact that what is going on now is rather important, and I think it should deserve a drink to go with it.” DeSilva looked confused. “I’m afraid I’m not following what you are saying, sir.” “You have a whole twelve pack for Christ sake! Don’t drink by yourself. Share some of it will ya!” He laughed. “Gentlemen.” Both men in the cockpit spun around quickly, only to see Dr. Hassel standing in the doorway. Behind him both men could see the scientists loading onto the ship, the soldiers just behind them. “I’ve just gotten vord zat vee vill be taking off shortly.” “When? I haven’t even received a damn alert 30 from mother yet!” DeSilva said. Hassel raised an eyebrow, “Vell, Mr. Pavlovich, maybe if you’d just turn down zee music and actually paid attention to zee comms, you vould.” DeSilva turned away. “Sorry.” He reached over and switched the music off, bending over to turn on the comm link. Hassel shook his head. Looking at William, he smiled. “Ahh, it is nice to see you here, Villiam.” William got up from his chair. “Hello, Doc.” He glanced over Hassel’s shoulder and back at the men and women boarding the shuttle. “I see that you and your men are ready.” Hassel nodded and ducked back into the other room. William followed. “Indeed I haf–excuse me–have,” he cleared his throat as he corrected himself. “Ve’ve just finished loading zee supplies into zee cargo bay, so ve’re just vaiting for Johnny to give zee all clear.” "Well, how convenient,” DeSilva grumbled as he popped open another can. He had his headset on, along with a pair of completely unneeded sunglasses. “Central has just now given me the green light for takeoff.” He flipped down the mic that was attached to the side of the headset. “I’m reading you loud and clear, Central.” Hassel patted Will’s shoulder as he motioned back towards the seats with a jerk of his head. William nodded in understanding and followed him towards the back. Both men sat down and began to strap themselves in. The cockpit door closed at the same time as the side doors, which were now fitted with large Gatling guns. The guns automatically pulled back and folded up so that the doors could shut and seal themselves, creating an airtight seal. “Alright, ladies, I’ve just been given the all clear. In a matter of seconds we’ll begin our descent back down to Earth. Oh and one last thing, I hope ya’ll brought pillows and a pair of pajamas. It’s a five hour trip.” “Everyone locked in?” Asked Michael, a tall, relatively thin soldier with short cut brown hair and green eyes; the man had a smile on his face, and was gazing back and forth at everybody. Everyone spoke up in the affirmative. “I can’t believe it,” Michael stated, his voice nearly trembling with excitement. “I never thought we’d be returning to Earth. When do you guys think we’ll be cracking open the vaults?” “Probably not for another month,” replied Doug Miller, a particularly fat scientist who was sitting beside Stacy. The poor girl looked as if she was trying to put as much distance between herself and the man as possible before she suffocated beneath him. Michael frowned. “Why so long?” The VTOL shook violently for a second as latches attached it to a cargo elevator, allowing it to slowly descend into the lower decks of the ship, creaking and groaning all the way. “Because we need to check–” the drop ship lurched a bit to one side, startling everyone. “Dammit! When are they going to oil those gears?” Doug asked no one in particular. “Anyway, as I was saying,” His eyes returned to Michael, “we’ll have to run tests on the planetary surface.” “What kind of tests?” Stacey asked for the sake of conversation, still trying her best to scooch away, but to her displeasure the straps kept her in place. “Mainly biological,” Doug began to explain. “The differences in animal life, such as mutations or even just new types of species that might have sprung up over time. Same goes for the plant life. Due to us being gone for so long and the amount of radiation that organisms were exposed to, we need to check and see what’s safe and what’s not. Another thing is we’ll be testing the oxygen–” “Why would we need to test the air?” Michael tilted his head and gave Doug a confused look. “Well, radiation is the main reason. Another is that with all the dust and pollution that the bombs blasted into our planet’s atmosphere, we assume the Earth would have trouble restoring to it’s original self, let alone removing the chemicals that might have been whipped up into the atmosphere. If our theories are correct, we could breathe in some new type of pathogen, which could be very harmful to all of us due to our bodies not having any type immunity to it.” Doug took a deep breath and ran a hand through his short black hair. Shaun, who was listening to the conversation just across from Doug, turned and looked at him. “So, you’re saying the Earth’s air is so dirty, that it’s harmful to us?” “Well, I can assure you there’s much more to it than that,” Doug stated, “That’s why we’re bringing these masks and tyvek suits along, in case the air or environment is irradiated and toxic.” “I fucking hate these plastic suits,” Stacey, who at this point had given up and moved to a different seat to escape Doug’s girth, grumbled. “So,” Nervous at the previous thought Deshaun began to change the subject, “we’ve got to watch over you guys while you look at duckies and bunnies?” Doug smiled. “If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll see a mutated Bugs Bunny.” “Shit, now that’d be interesting.” Deshaun chuckled. The speakers suddenly crackled with static, with DeSilva’s voice quickly following through. “Alright, I hope all of you are buckled in, we’re taking off in T-minus thirty seconds.” William shifted in his seat, “Hey, Hassel,” he yawned, suddenly feeling tired. “Hmm?” Hassel looked up from his book he had brought with him. “Wake me up ten minutes before we land.” William rested his head back against his seat. “Sure, sing Villiam.” Hassel turned the page and continued on reading; William yawned and closed his eyes right as the ship shuddered and shot off into the vacuum of space. ... Editors Notes: Well, this is my first editor’s note. HI GUYS!! Your resident Grammar Nazi, reporting in! Never knew what kind of work went into editing, until I found this sentence, and I am quoting Nebula here: “I live a bit to the northwest of east of the south in the middle.” I am the guy you can thank for not seeing that kind of sentence. Oh! And for the commas. With love in that no-homo way, -Wulf95 Other Editors Notes: Yeah, there was some funky writing when I was the only editor on this, now it seems YOU get to deal with that Wulf, while I just have to clean up little mistakes such as "any time vs anytime" or "passed vs past". Ah, the easy life. It is good. Wait.... Nazi!?! Not now! It's Passover!!!! -Isaac3924 P.S. The alert 30 and mother thing is pilot jargon I found online, I hope I'm using it right, but if anyone reading this is part of the air force and actually knows how to use these words, go ahead and rag on me as much as you want. Now Imma go eat some Matzah Ball soup! At 2 AM! > Chapter 4: Johnny Conway > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lieutenant Shaun Bell leaned forward and scratched the bottom of his chin before speaking. “I was by my bed about an hour before we launched, okay. I’m cleaning my lovely M4 like a boy cleaning his first car; I’m singing to her and rubbing my bare hands against her barrel.” Shaun smiled as he spoke. Stacey, on the other hand, was shaking her head in disappointment as Lieutenant Michael chuckled. “Oh I know what you–” Michael began, but Shaun quickly silenced him by a shush. “Quiet Junior, daddy’s speaking,” he teased. “Anyways, I’m cleaning her and a knock comes from my bedroom door. Not wanting to be rude I opened it, only to find an engineer pushing this large ass cart into my room. He didn’t even bother saying ‘excuse me, Lieutenant’ or ‘precious cargo coming through.’ No, the fucker snapped at me and told me to watch where I was standing!” Shaun’s tone quickly turned sour as he continued his rant. “I was like; ‘Wow. How rude of you, mister!’ And the engineer just looked at me and shook his head; clearly I could already tell the boy was already in a sour mood, but that wasn’t even what angered me.” “What was it then?” Asked Doug. “This is what pissed me off!” Shaun grabbed hold of one of the Russian AK-12s that was strapped to the gun rack and held it up, shaking it. “What’s wrong with it?” Stacey glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. “What’s wrong with it? It’s not my gun! That’s what’s wrong with it! I want my M4 back,” Shaun complained. “I see nothing wrong with going down there with my rifle.” “Right!” William who had just happened to hear the last of Shaun’s sentence agreed, he stretched his arms out and popped his neck. Shaun’s hands shot out towards William. “Thank you, Commander! At least one person here understands!” “Speaking of the AKs,” William began, “I think that same engineer came into my room earlier, too.” William said as he repositioned himself and popped his neck. Looking to his left, he saw Dr. Hassel. With his head slung over the back of his seat, the doctor was clearly out cold. The old man’s book lay open on his lap. “Young, snarky asshole with blonde hair?” “Yep,” Will clarified, nodding his head. “Did you guys know that he just works here?” Michael decided to chip in. “Shut up Michael.” Will continued, “I don’t know what’s up with that boy, but somebody needs to smack some respect into him. Out of all of my years in the service, I have never been treated with such disrespect. Well, discounting boot, am I right?” At that, all of the soldiers present shared a good natured laugh. Then, the drop ship shook and everyone’s gaze shot upwards. Hassel snorted himself awake and he gazed around the room, a confused look on his face as if he didn’t know where he was. “Vee… Vee must have already entered zee atmosphere,” Hassel mumbled, his accent sounding thicker than usual as he was slowly shaken awake. The dozen men and women in the ship sat there in silence for a few moments before Shaun resumed his tangent. “Anyways, I told the asshole that I don’t need to swap weapons because my M4 was in perfect working condition. The fucker then looks at me, right, like straight into my eyes, not moving a single inch. I swear if that was supposed to be some kind of staring contest, I would have definitely lost.” Shaun rested his hands on his lap while leaning back in his seat. He took a deep breath and continued, “What he said next made me come this close to smacking the bitch.” Shaun held up his fingers to show how close he had come to knocking some sense into the engineer. “’I’m just doing my job, sir,’” Shaun mocked in a childish voice, “Oh Jesus! I wanted to smack the shit out of him! I grabbed my gear, and next thing I know he’s taking the cart and walking out the door. But then he stopped and chuckled, I looked at him and said, ‘Boy, what do you think is so funny?’ When I looked at him I saw he was eyeing my M4 and the AK. The fucker pointed at both of them and said, ‘Consider it an upgrade, sir’” Shaun grunted angrily and pounded his fist on his knee pad. “Oh if we weren’t the last of humanity I would’ve fucking ripped his throat out!” “I know what you mean,” Michael scratched the back of his neck. “Why are the engineers manufacturing these goddamn weapons?” Shaun asked no one in particular. “Aren’t the Russians all dead? Why the hell are we still making their shit?” “Isn’t DeSilva Russian?” Stacey leaned over and whispered into Michael’s ear. “He’s Ukrainian,” Michael replied, continuing to watch Shaun wave his hands about himself while ranting away like a mad man. On the other side of the ship, both Commander William and Dr. Hassel, were watching the crazed soldier, chuckling at his stupidity. “But I think he did mention something about his father serving in the Russian military.” “Must have been rough for him,” Stacey replied, gazing towards the cockpit door with a concerned expression on her face. “Nah, I doubt that. DeSilva is a tough nut to crack,” Michael followed Stacey’s eyes towards the door in front of them. “Strange, I will admit. But he knows how to take loss.” A few moments passed and Michael’s eyes drifted back towards Shaun, who had finally simmered down, and who was now having an amusing chat with the Commander. “I took the nearest rock and chucked it over the fence, okay,” Shaun explained while imitating the motions. “When the rock smacked against the side of the cooling tower, all the Sleepers in a half mile radius turned their heads right towards it at the same time” He was chuckling as the image played through his head. “And I’m talking perfect unison here, man, all in sync; it’s like they'd been practicing or something. What makes it even funnier is that they all went to go check on it, so imagine this: an entire army of brainless zombies walking towards one small location. Again I’m talking hundreds here, sir, literally all we had to do is fire Jackson’s RPG in the center and they were all blown to chunky bits.” William snorted and shook his head. “It amazes me that they’re that fucking stupid.” “What amazes me, sir, is that we fucking lost to them!” Shaun exclaimed, throwing his arms out wide. “Says the one who nearly got killed by one,” Michael snorted. “Can it, Junior!” Shaun whirled around and glared at the Junior Lieutenant, who was smiling deviously at his superior. “It caught me off guard, that was all!” “Not to mention,” Stacey piped up, “They managed to take control of the entire 7th fleet, obliterate our forces in the Pacific, and shelled the shit out of San Francisco. Yeah, they sound pretty fucking stupid to me.” “Why are you defending them?!” Shaun asked, completely dumbfounded. “I’m not defending them, I just like pulling your leg.” Stacey rolled her eyes and turned away. “Overreacting much? Damn, you’re like my nephew,” she muttered on her way around. “Besides, the Pacific crisis wasn’t that bad,” Shaun said. “We did manage to wipe out a large portion of their ships.” Shaun smiled and cracked his knuckles; he looked to his commanding officer with hopeful eyes. “Didn’t we, Commander?” William laughed and proceeded to shoot the poor lad down. “We sure did, after I dragged your blubbering ass out of the Kitty Hawk.” Shaun’s face fell at the sound of his laughing squad mates. Dr. Hassel rolled his eyes, “All right, Villiam, I sink you teased zee boy enough.” The old man shifted in his seat trying to find a more comfortable position. “Alright, alright,” William chuckled, “but you have to admit the boy does set himself up–” “Enough vis zees childish acts, Commander. It’s only a matter of time bevore vee land. Now is not zee time to put each ozer down.” Dr. Hassel advised, while looking at William like a disappointed father. “Well, the boy has to toughen up at some point,” William smirked, clearing his throat he sat back in his seat. “Alright everyone, ready up! DeSilva will be giving the green light any moment now!” :[-]: Johnny Conway sat back in his couch, remote in hand and a freshly opened Coke in the other. He loaded up yet another episode of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares and kicked back for another Friday afternoon. John slowly sipped his Coke, chuckling at the sight of the red faced chef as he screamed at another stubborn restaurant owner. Again. “God, some people… It’s almost like a cartoon,” he chuckled. The clock just below the T.V. caught his eye. 3:00 P.M. John cursed himself as he used the chair’s armrests to propel himself up, “Dammit, almost forgot!” Stumbling around for his shoes, John hastily yanked them onto his feet while reaching for his light jacket at the same time. Shoving the front door open, John ran down the front steps and out towards the curb right as a yellow school bus came to a slow, screeching stop. Followed by other parents, Johnny watched as the school bus’s doors swung open and unleashed a tsunami of children. Raising a hand to shield eyes from the sun, John scanned the crowd of grade schoolers. A few moments passed and the crowd kids soon dispersed, taken home by their parents. This left Johnny standing there, his daughter nowhere in sight. “Amy?” Johnny called aloud as he swiveled his head back and forth, beginning to worry. “Oh sweet Jesus, Amy?!” He ran towards the bus, stopping the doors from closing by holding them apart with his hands; he looked up at the driver. “Jesus Christ, mister! What can I do for you?” The fat old man glared sternly down at the worried father. “Excuse me Mr. . . .” Johnny examined the driver for any signs of identification. “Mr. Stanley. Or, at least, that’s what the kids call me,” Stanley said. “What can I do for you, sir? Did you lose your child or something?” he asked, irritated. Way to be blunt, prick. “Actually, I have,” Johnny swallowed and raised his hand a few feet off the ground. “Have you seen a girl about this tall, brown hair, blue eyes like mine?” Johnny quickly asked, his hands shaking as he bounced on the balls of his feet. Stanley sighed, a frown forming on his face. Furrowing his brow in thought, he replied; “Mister, do you know how many girls I’ve had on this bus that have brown hair and blue eyes? Do you happen to recall what she was wearing?” “Uh…” Shit, why did I have to be in bed this morning? Maybe Stacey will know. “Do you mind if I dial up my wife?” The bus driver rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, mister. Just give me her name and I’ll make sure to tell dispatch.” “What if she fell asleep? Can you just call her name, w-with the intercom thing you guys use?” John pointed towards the handheld mounted beside the driver. “What’s her name?” he asked, clearly frustrated. They had been talking for nearly two minutes, after all. “A–” Johnny began, but was cut off by his jazz ringtone coming from his phone. Instinctively he checked who it was; Amy’s school was calling him. “Hello?” “Mr. Conway,” a female’s voice sounded from the device, “we regret to inform you that your daughter, Amy Conway, got into a fight today at lunch. We are sorry we weren’t able to notify you earlier of this ins–” Hanging up the phone, John apologized to the driver and sprinted towards his car. :[-]: Johnny drove like a madman towards the school, furious yet relieved at the same time. He pulled into the school parking lot several minutes later, his frantic driving getting him there in half the time it usually took. Opening the door to the principal’s office, Johnny was greeted by a large meaty finger pointing directly between his eyes. “You, sir need to keep your daughter under fu–!” “Mr. Steinberg!” A woman in a tight red suit stood up, her glasses falling onto the bridge of her nose. Her eyebrows were carving deep crevices in her forehead and her hand snapped towards the nearest chair. “You will sit down immediately! I’ll not have any more violence in this school after today!” Mr. Steinberg, a large bald man that seemed to be made entirely out of muscle, stepped back from Johnny, who wasn’t intimidated in the slightest, and sat himself in the nearest chair. Taking his eyes off 'roid rage', Johnny noticed his daughter sitting solemnly in a chair right beside the boy she apparently had a fight with. Both were seated in the center of the room right in front of the principal’s desk. The woman sat back down behind her desk and rested her elbows on the table her fingers lacing together. “Mr. Conway, as you know, before you rudely hung up on me–” “Sorry, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing.” He accidentally interrupted her again. The principal rolled her eyes, “As I was saying, Amy, here was involved in a physical fight with Bradley.” John’s eyes drifted towards the boy who looked to be holding back his sobs, his right eye was badly bruised and he could see a trail of dried blood leading out of his right nostril. Johnny couldn’t resist a small smirk. That’s my girl. “–despite what happened, Mr. Conway, are you listening to me?” Johnny snapped back to reality and his eyes met with the principal’s. “Yeah, punishment will be distributed equally.” The principal gave him a disappointed look, “Actually that’s what I was about to get to.” “Y-yeah,” He smiled sheepishly, out of the corner of his eye he could see Mr. Muscles cracking his knuckles. “So what are we talking here, detention, and community service–?” “Expulsion, Mr. Conway” She deadpanned. Both Johnny and Hercules’s eyes widened in fear, “What?!” they gasped simultaneously. “Gentlemen, we at Margate Academy expect more out of our students, and we are very strict when it comes to our punishments. Had this just been a simple verbal argument; these students would have only spent a few days in suspension or even detention. But when fists start flying and this–” she gestured with a hand towards the brutally beaten boy. “– much damage happens to one of our students; no matter who started it, the people involved will be expelled. I’m sorry gentlemen, but that’s just how things work here, starting next week I’ll have you and your daughter, Mr. Conway, come and collect her things.” “What about us?” Muscle boy asked, he seemed to still be suffering from shock. “My boys have been coming here for years…” The principal glanced at Johnny. “You can go now.” She mouthed. Johnny nodded begrudgingly and tapped his hand on Amy’s right shoulder. “Come on, kiddo.” :[-]: The car ride had been quiet and slow for the first half of the trip home. Turning the next corner Johnny finally got the nerve to ask, “What happened in Lunch?” “A fight,” Amy grumbled, she placed the ice pack that the nurse handed them on the way out over the new sore spot on her head. “Why? What happened, did he hit you? Call you a name? Did he–” “He slapped my ass–” Slamming on the brakes, the car screeched to a halt on the side of the road. Johnny quickly put the car into park and turned off the key, letting silence envelop them. Through the mirror he could see Amy cringing in the back. Oh that mother fucker!, Johnny’s thoughts raged. “He… he what?” Johnny asked, his voice barely a whisper. He needed to clarify. “I-I s-said he slapped my ass…” Amy stammered, John couldn’t see it but he could tell she was scared. “I-It wasn’t th-the first time this had happened, a-at first I thought it was weird but funny. But then he wouldn’t stop, every day whenever I passed him in the hall he’d hit me, over time it, it got h-har–” “Enough!” Johnny nearly shouted, he wasn’t trying to sound angry, at least not at her. But the fact that this had been going on for several days now and she hadn’t told him was infuriating, but he wouldn’t punish her, she’d already suffered enough. He turned around in his seat to face her, “When your mother gets home I want you to tell her what happened.” “What about you? What are you going to do?” She asked, small tears forming around the corners of her eyes. “I need to call your Uncle Arin, he knows a guy that can hook us up with a lawyer.” He put the car into drive and began driving down the road much faster than before. “Daddy, please don’t–” “Enough, Amy. What you’ve gone through isn’t right and no woman should ever, ever! Have to go through what happened to you.” He looked into the rearview mirror and his eyes met with his daughter. “I promise you that I will never ever let anyone touch you like that again.” :[-]: Johnny woke with a start, his forehead beading with sweat. Confused and not knowing where he was, John’s eyes wandered around the central control room. Sighing with relief that it was all just a horrible nightmare, he rested his head back on the desk. “Well I’ll be damned, what do we have here?” A familiar voice cackled from behind, Johnny raised his head up off the circular desk that rounded the hologlobe’s projector. Tiredly turning his head around to see who’d disturbed him. Johnny smiled when he saw a tall man in a NATO soldier outfit tossing him a small salute. He then noticed a tray of food in his other hand. “Sleeping on the job, sir?” The soldier came up beside him and pulled up a chair while Johnny watched him place the tray in front of him and lean forward to rest his elbows on the desk. He gazed up at the T.V. monitors that acted as windows. Johnny could see that the screens revealed the darkened side of Earth. Just past a few storm clouds on the planet’s surface Johnny could see… What continent is that? Asia, I think… He couldn’t really tell through the clouds, let alone his clouded thoughts from just waking up. “I…” He yawned, “I wouldn’t say sleeping, Sergeant Conway, just resting my eyes that’s all.” Johnny ran a hand across the back of his stiff neck. The Sergeant snorted, “What did I tell you about calling me by my title when we're alone, Officer Conway?” He smiled and patted him on the back, “Come on, John,” Sergeant Conway slid the tray over to him. “You’re missing dinner; I can’t have you starving up here.” Johnny glanced down solemnly at the plastic tray. Like most of the time, the main course was hash, with a single serving of instant mash potatoes, green beans, and a glass of water. Johnny sighed, “I’m not really hungry right now Arin…” That was a lie, Johnny felt as if he was going to keel over if he didn’t eat something soon. Yet, he felt as if he couldn’t bring himself to eat, like the lump that was in his throat would stop anything from going down. Arin Conway looked at his brother with concern, “Is something wrong, John?” he asked already expecting the answer to be a more definite no. “I-I’m fine, just… had a rough dream that was all.” Johnny said reluctantly picking up the spoon and jamming it into the pile of hash. “You can’t stop thinking about her can you?” Arin asked, his voice hushed. When Johnny didn’t reply, Arin turned his chair so that he was facing John. Leaning forward he spoke, “John, I know this is hard for you, but you need to move on.” Johnny cringed, “I know it sounds harsh, but it’s the truth. Amy wouldn’t want you to suffer for the rest of your life because you didn’t have the time...” Arin’s voice slid into silence when he saw Johnny’s tear brimmed eyes look up at him. “I left her alone, Arin!” Johnny’s voice was barely a whisper, “I told her I was going to be right back after I got Stacey…” John shook his head, closing his eyes he rested his head in the palm of his hands, “It’s my fault that I came back too late,” he choked. “And now she’s down there; locked away in that goddamn research facility!” He sniffled. “Now, now, brother, don’t go tellin’ yourself that.” Arin grasped John’s right shoulder firmly. “You listen to me now, it’s nobody’s fault, even if there was someone to go pointing fingers at, it wouldn’t do any good now. We’re the last of humanity, if you want to do well for her, make sure you survive first...” “I… I just wish I hadn’t left her, that’s all,” Johnny rubbed his eyes and stared forward at nothing. “We all wish we hadn’t done a lot of things, Johnny. Now come on and buck up; You’re a soldier now.” Arin gave him one more squeeze before standing up. “We all need you to be thinking clearly so we get this mission right.” “Fire team, Charlie, report to hangar bay one, I repeat: Fire team, Charlie, report to hangar bay one. Drop ship Oscar will be lifting off in zero one thirty.” Johnny looked up at the intercom with a perplexed look. “Wh-what’s that all about?” “That’s right; you’re sleeping on the job. So you didn’t hear.” Arin teased. “Speaking of which I could report–” “Seriously,” Johnny’s voice grew more serious. “What’s going on?” A large smile pierced Arin’s lips looking down at his little brother he said, “We're going home.” Editors’ Notes: Isaac3924 - Uuuuum. I'm not sure if we're still doing this or not, but whatever. Watch Dogs. Not as good as I hoped. Like Bioshock Infinite (Gonna get so much hate for that). Good news is dlc for Dark Souls II has been announced, E3 is this week, and I got a job at Ross (so I can spend all of my accumulated salary at Nan Desu Kan). Still more tornadoes in Colorado, so yeah, still got that going. Aside from that, man, I just want pony-human interaction now, I just can't wait for that to happen! Aside from that, most of this chapter was build up and back-story, which is good, in setting up a story in general, but can be a bit tiresome. Still, I enjoyed it. Let's see where this goes. > Chapter 5: Grizzly > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With a resounding thud and a metallic hiss, the doors to the drop ship opened, revealing its human cargo. “Alright everyone,” Commander William Keshiner said, his voice muffled by the gas mask that was draped over his face, “keep your eyes peeled and your ears open!” “Sir yes sir!” The five soldiers standing behind him chorused, activating the radios velcroed to their chest. “Keep your comms on at all times!” William ordered as he too switched on his radio. “And don’t lose sight of your lab coat at any time! Is everyone ready? Then let’s move!” :[-]: For nearly two hours, William and Shaun did nothing interesting as they stood around, helping a large scientist dig around in some undergrowth. Judging by where the moon sat in the clear night sky, William guessed that it was currently about midnight. Will couldn’t fathom why his superiors would order this operation to be done at night. Was it simply a communication error? Was there some sort of typo in the briefing? Or did the sun hate them and decide to go down right as they were landing? Regardless of why he was here, William couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was a sobering fact that where he was standing right now was most likely once controlled by mankind. That at some time in the past, it might have been a city, a highway. Or maybe it was someone’s house, a place of many cherished family memories. And now it was nothing but a grassy field surrounded by hills and mountains as far as the eye could see, it was a little depressing. To his right was Doug Miller, an overweight scientist who was currently hunched over examining an odd bush covered with blue flowers. The fact that said bush was growing right on the edge of a large, ominous looking forest seemed to be lost on Doug. Doug was a pretty neat guy in William’s opinion, unlike most of the other scientists on Horizon. Which amazed him when he learned that they were considered Earth’s ‘Best and Brightest’. For the way some of them acted though, they might as well be called ‘The World’s Biggest Pricks.’ But Doug was simply nicer than the rest. Though smart, he still had his flaws and, frankly was a little weird. Despite being smarter than all of the non-lab coats, he jumped in to lend a hand whenever he could, regardless of the task. And even better, he spoke normal English whenever he could get away with it, albeit using some words that would make an English teacher proud. Even so, William was very thankful that Doug was this pleasant to be around. Even after over two hours of being in close proximity to him, Will still wasn’t feeling particularly annoyed enough to shout at him. In fact, Will had actually enjoyed the time since leaving the shuttle; as he and Doug were having a quite enjoyable chat while working. Shaun had had stopped talking after about half an hour, deciding instead to whip out his cell phone despite the fact that there was no reception. After seeing that Shaun had begun playing games, William had ordered him to put the phone away and keep watch. Even though they were friends, Will was still Shaun’s superior and it surprised him to see Shaun being so casually thoughtless. It just went to show that even after years of knowing someone, they can still surprise you. Even when Shaun was acting like a careless child, his remarkable aim and his quick wit had sealed him a position on Horizon’s away team. Although that wit was almost entirely situational, as any of his friends would attest to; his quick thinking shined the brightest when thinking up escape routes, as he tended to lean towards cowardice. But if the job called for something he could do, Shaun would always step up to the plate. That is, provided someone else was willing to tag along and keep him covered. “Alright, that should about do it,” Doug said as he snipped several of the pollen covered bits off of the bush and placed them into a small bag. Zipping the bag closed, Doug got back onto his feet. “Okay gentlemen,” Doug began as he unslung his backpack and stored his plant samples, “We need to head north another sixty-one meters before we’re done here.” Doug closed his pack and flung it back over his shoulders. Standing up, William nudged his fellow soldier. Jumping a bit, Shaun woke up from his apparent daydream. “Already on it, Commander.” Grabbing the night vision binoculars resting around his neck, Shaun scanned the open field around them before turning north and heading up the hill in front of them. Doug following him as William brought up the rear. Upon reaching the top, Shaun knelt down and turned towards the other two. “Just to be safe, I don’t want either of you to crest the top of the hill until after I recon the area, ok?” The two men nodded and Shaun turned back towards the valley raising his binoculars to his eyes, Shaun surveyed the area surrounding the group. Looking eastward he saw the nasty looking forest they had just been rooting through, while to the west the unmistakable silhouettes of mountains greeted him. Just below the mountains were fields of trees that looked to be lined up in perfect rows, each row parallel to the other. Making a note to mention this odd phenomenon later, Shaun continued his scan. Next he turned his vision north, where the lenses of his binoculars were met with a faint glow coming from a familiar looking object. Then it clicked, and Shaun’s jaw dropped. “Jesus! Commander, take a look at this!” William, who was continuing his conversation with Doug, spun around and crawled up next to Shaun. “What is it?” William asked, looking in the direction of Shaun’s gaze. He couldn’t see as many of the details as Shaun could, but William could still make out the faint glow coming from the structure’s upper rear window. “Take a look for yourself sir.” Shaun answered as he handed over the binoculars. Will looked through the lenses, and his jaw dropped into a pose identical to Shaun’s. “Well I’ll be damned...” Lowering the binoculars, William cupped his hand around his radio and spoke. “Central, this is Commander Keshiner. Do you read, over?” “This is Central. We read you, Commander. Over,” Johnny’s voice came out clearly from the device. “We have spotted a structure, presumably a house. It looks inhabited. Bearing,” William raised his compass, “three-two-five from our position, maybe… seventy five meters out. Requesting permission to close with the structure and investigate, over.” “We’re picking up life signatures all around your position, though nothing too major. You should be fine. Your team is cleared to perform recon on the structure, over.” William nodded, despite Johnny not being there to see it. “Copy that, Central. Over and out.” William took his hand off the radio and turned towards the scientist and soldier. “Alright gentlemen, we’re going to go in smoothly and quietly. Any questions?” William reached back and unslung his AK-12. “If we are going in smoothly and quietly, why do you need your gun out?” Doug inquired. “Because of Murphy, doctor. Shaun, you got anything?” “Could these be the people that Central and Nelson heard on the recording, sir?” Shaun asked as they began to quietly make their way down the hill towards the house. “I doubt... that,” Doug huffed, already running out of breath; presumably from running down the hill. “It’s been... nearly... eight thousand years... since that... Oh my...” As they reached the bottom of the hill, Doug collapsed onto his knees. “Damn son!” William turned around. “You okay?” Doug had his gloved hands firmly planted on the ground as he let out thick, raspy breaths. As each breath came through the respirator, William couldn’t help but think that Doug sounded like Darth Vader. Nodding his head in response, Doug continued panting. “Come on now, man.” Shaun went over and offered a hand to help the scientist up. “We don’t need you slowing us down now. You can do it.” “S-sorry, it’s just that... all the excitement. You know, adrenaline. And the thought of a house just being–” Doug was interrupted by a large slap on his back. “So you don’t like running. No need for excuses here man. No one’s judging you.” Shaun chuckled quietly and turned back towards the house, now only sixty meters away. Doug frowned as he got his breathing under control. Once he got enough air in his lungs, he offered up his incredibly well thought out, intelligent, and infallible counter argument: “Shut up Shaun.” William snickered and looked towards Doug, “We’ll take it slower if you’d like, Doug. There's no rush.” Doug took Shaun’s offered hand, “There’s no need, Commander. I’ll do just fine... Besides, I need the exercise anyways. Personal fitness was one of the requirements to join, after all.” “Yes, you most certainly do need the exercise.” Shaun said through gritted teeth as he pulled the man back onto his feet. “Again, shut up Shaun.” Doug regained his balance after swaying a little and brushed off his pants legs. “I’m afraid I can’t promise you that.” Shaun smiled and looked towards William. “Now then, let’s go see how the neighbors are doing.” :[-]: The trio quietly crept over an oddly shaped stone and dirt bridge, crossing over a little stream that flowed around the base of a small hill, upon which the structure they had spotted earlier was built. The area around the structure, now visibly a compact cottage, was littered with holes and bird houses. “Jesus, look at this place.” William muttered under his breath. “Yeah,” Shaun agreed, lagging slightly behind William. “Looks a lot like my grandmother’s house.” Doug saw an opportunity to take an easy jab at Shaun. “Was she some sort of crazy bird lady?” “No, she was a veterinarian.” Shaun countered as he took a glance over William’s shoulder, completely shrugging off Doug’s comment. The three men were now heading up the dirt path leading to the house. “You’d think we’d have heard something by now,” he whispered. “It’s like four in the morning, dingus.” William looked back at Shaun, slowing his pace just a bit, so as to not step in one of the many holes scattered throughout the yard. “The owner is probably asleep.” “That’s not what I was referring to, sir. I’m talking about the animals.” Shaun’s voice was quiet and quick. “We’ve hardly heard anything since our landing, it’s like nothing lives here.” “Well, Lieutenant,” Doug piped in, “we did just land a massive drop ship in a spectacular display of fire, noise, and shockwaves. We probably scared everything within a ten mile radius into hiding.” Shaun looked over at Doug. “Then wouldn’t the person that lives here know that we’ve landed?” The three of them stopped dead, about a meter from the front door. “Most likely,” William said. “Let’s just hope they don’t think we’re intruding.” William reached towards the door and gave it a gentle knock. “If they’re asleep,” Shaun said, giving William a stern look, “I doubt they would hear–.” Suddenly, the sound of a crash, followed by the sound of something scampering across a wooden floor reached their ears. “What in the name of–?!” A gravelly voice, more akin to a growl than voice, exclaimed from within the house. The exclamation was quickly followed by a mix of thumping and the thud of a door slamming shut. “Whoever lives here,” Doug said, his voice filled with concern, “must have some serious pet issues.” William silenced the large man with his finger as he reached for the handle of the door. “Commander, you can’t be–” Shaun was cut off by William’s sudden glare. “We are going to make sure whoever is in there is safe. No. Questions.” William grasped the handle on the door, but before opening, he switched his radio on. “Central, Commander Keshiner. Do you copy, over?” “Keshiner, this is Central. We read you loud and clear, over.” “We have arrived at the structure, which we have identified as a small cottage. It is surrounded by animal dens, and it sounds as though there is some sort of struggle occurring inside. Requesting permission to confirm and possibly ensure the safety of those inside, over.” “Commander, are you positive that a fight is indeed occurring inside, over?” “Affirmative, over.” “Heard you Five, Commander. Make sure your men are transmitting live feedback. Your team is cleared to enter the structure, and your response to the situation is at your discretion. Don’t harm our relations with the ‘natives’ before they even begin, Commander. Over.” Johnny replied, his voice obscured by a small wave of static. “Wilco, over and out. Doug, get your cam ready. Same for you Lieutenant.” William said, flipping the switch on the small video camera that was attached to their helmets. “Camera is rolling, sir,” Shaun said, checking his gun to make sure he was loaded and hot. “Same here, Commander,” Doug said, unholstering the 9mm Beretta that all scientist were equipped with. He began to prepare his weapon, talking to himself as he did. “Okay, mag in, rack the round, turn off the saf–” “Would ya shut the fuck up already?!” Shaun hissed. The scientist only smirked and nodded at William, showing that he was ready. “Well, we need to make it seem interesting and entertaining for the guys above.” Doug chuckled at William’s statement, but Shaun merely shook his head in frustration. William twisted the handle on the door and pulled it open. Surprisingly, only the top half of the door opened, leaving the bottom half still closed. “That is rather odd,” William remarked before reaching inside and grabbing hold of the lower handle. “I don’t know if any of you noticed yet,” Shaun got up and quietly approached the door, letting the boys up in the stars get a better look. “But doesn’t this door seem shorter than it should?” “That is slightly less odd, but yes, it is.” William replied. “Only by about six inches, why does it matter?” Doug asked as he crept closer. William opened the bottom half of the door and ducked his way inside. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just weird.” Shaun said as he dismissed the thought and followed in behind William. Shortly afterwards, Doug crawled his way in. “Goddamn it’s dark in here.” William muttered as he went to turn on the flashlight on his helmet. “Do any of you see a light switch anywhere?” Doug whispered, peering into the darkness, searching for any source of light that they could use. “Well, seeing as there was neither a generator nor any power lines, I highly doubt they have electricity for lights in the first place.” Shaun activated the powerful LED in his helmet, smiling as it sliced through the darkness with its light. Suddenly, three loud screeches emitted from the darkness. The trio of humans jumped in fear as three large shadows swooped overhead, one coming within inches of the lieutenant's face. Shaun yelled in surprise as his legs caught on something as he stumbled back, causing him to trip. As he fell, one of his fingers caught on his AK-12’s trigger, sending almost half of his magazine into the darkness. The moment Shaun fired his weapon both William and Doug dove to the floor. One of the many bullets rammed its way into the wooden wall only to ricochet off a nail and come flying back at the men who all lay helplessly on the floor. “CEASEFIRE! CEASEFIRE!” yelled William as the bullet slammed into the hardwood floor barely a foot away from where he lay. Flinching away from the wave of splinters, William covered his head as he curled up on the floor, trying to make himself a smaller target. Shaun’s gun quickly fell silent, but the sound of shattered glass and pieces of splintered wood falling onto the ground continued for a few more seconds. Shaun slouched back in a chair he tripped into, the gun lying at his side. “What... What the fuck were those?!” he cried, breathing heavily. “Those were animals, Lieutenant!” Doug shouted. “Possibly the owner’s pets!” Doug clambered back onto his feet and dusted off his pants. “So much for the friendly introduction,” he grumbled under his breath as he began checking to make sure his suit wasn’t punctured. William, who was outright furious about the incident, shot back to his feet and stomped his way towards the lieutenant. “Son, what the fuck is wrong with you?!” Shaun instantly stood, snapping to attention. “My apologies, sir. I got startled and fell ba–” “Startled?” William snarled. “Son, you nearly blew my fucking head off while shitting your trousers!” William clenched and unclenched his fists, doing his best to keep himself under control. “Now you listen here.” His voice was lower than before, but that only made him sound more intimidating. “I’ve seen you go up against dozens of heavy Sleepers without breaking a sweat, and you jump at that?! That is downright embarrassing.” William bent down to retrieve Shaun’s gun. After picking it up, he slammed the weapon into Shaun’s chest. “Get your shit together, Shaun! We haven’t even been here for two hours and you’ve already ruined a native’s home.” Shaun took hold of his gun and gulped. “My apologies, si–” “Yeah, I know.” William turned away and turned his own flashlight on, shining it across the warzone of a room. “Well, seeing as no one came down to check what the hell just happened, I guess nobody's home.” As if to contradict William, the trio heard a heavy thumping coming from the floor above them. The three men turned their attention to the ceiling. “Commander, I think you spoke too soon,” Doug whispered. “I guess I did.” William took a deep breath. “Well, there’s no point in keeping quiet anymore, since they already know we’re here.” William turned back towards the men. “Shaun, I want you on my back. Doug, I want you on his.” “Yes sir,” they both responded, nodding their heads. “Oh, and Shaun,” Will said, causing Shaun to look his way, “do try not to shit yourself this time.” Chuckling, Will turned towards the staircase. Slowly, as to not be caught off guard, the three men crept up the stairs. The soldiers let their weapons guide their way, while Doug kept his Beretta close to his side. Instead of being focused on what was ahead or behind them, his eyes and thoughts were drawn to the pictures that lined the walls. Once the other two were on the stairs, Doug unclipped his LED and shined it on one of the frames. A yellow furred, equine like creature with a pink mane and what looked like wings was sitting beside a tree full of bird houses. Beside the equine was a tall, slender creature with a snake like body, its eyes yellow with red pupils, and two wings, one being something that resembled an eagle’s wing while the other was a more akin to a bat’s. He sucked in a gasp and dropped the flashlight from his trembling hands. His heart was racing as he turned towards the Commander “William!” he shouted, his voice quavering a bit. William and Shaun quickly spun around, their weapons pointing behind Doug. “What is it?” William asked. Seeing that there was nothing behind Doug, he lowered his weapon and descended the stairs and towards him. Doug bent over to retrieve his light and, shining it on the image, he pointed at the monster. “I-i-it’s h-him!” William squinted his eyes and leaned forward, trying to see what Doug was pointing at in the image. He was dumbstruck. “No, no, no. That can’t be right… Central, are you receiving this?” William cupped his hand around the radio. No response. “Central, this is Commander Kesh–” The radio suddenly released a wave of static. “W-we’re reading you, Commander...” Johnny’s voice sounded through the radio. William thought that meant the boys up above were seeing what they were looking at. William didn’t know about the others, but he knew he didn’t believe what he was seeing; Archangel happily standing beside a yellow smiling alien equine, his arms stretched wide as he smiled at the camera. “This can’t be! This is absolutely impossible!” Doug began freaking out, his voice hysterical “Nothing on Earth could have survived that amount of firepower–” “But that’s just it, Doug.” William said, his voice low and stern. “Archangel isn’t from Earth.” “Commander,” Shaun said. Looking, Will found the boy further up the steps examining the rest of the pictures. “Whoever lives here must be very fond of small yellow horses with wings.” “Wings?” Confused and trying to take his mind off of the fact that the harbinger of death was still alive, Doug began to look at the other features of the picture. Upon closer inspection, he found that the small horse did indeed have “–Wings! My God, it has wings!” Now thoroughly distracted from their previous goal, William sighed as he shook his head. “Alright lads, I think we’ve had enough time looking at this poor fellow’s obsessions, let’s move.” Although he wasn’t showing it, William was absolutely terrified. The thought that the destroyer of humanity was still out and about, and even taking selfies, was not only incredibly horrifying, but tremendously bizarre. If Archangel is still alive, does that mean that the others down in the fallout shelters aren’t? William didn’t want to think about it. Instead, he lowered his weapon back down to his side and began to move onwards, searching for whoever had made the thumping noise from earlier. “Right here,” Shaun whispered as he motioned towards a door in the center of the hallway. Right across from the door was a balcony that shared a clear view of the ruined living room. Loud and clear, the three men could hear and feel the steady movement that was coming from behind that door. “Whatever is in there, it must be massive,” Shaun breathed. “Sure ain’t no dog,” Doug mumbled, positioning himself on the right side of the door while Shaun covered the left. William was standing in the middle, ready to open the door. Grabbing hold of the knob, William started to turn it. The door clicked and everything fell silent; even the heavy thumping from behind the door grew still. “I think it knows we’re out he–” Out of nowhere, a thunderous roar erupted from behind the door right as it exploded into a wave of splinters. William, terrified beyond belief, instinctively tried to shield his face from the thousands of wooden needles. Forgetting for half a second that he was wearing a protective suit of armor. William felt the colossal weight of something immense plowing into him, flinging his gun out of his hands and picking his feet up off of the ground. His back smashed into the wooden rail which snapped like a twig, sending him down on to the top of a glass end table that shattered upon impact.. The AK that was seconds ago firmly grasped in his hands slammed into the ground beside him and fired a round that put a hole through a nearby birdhouse. After watching his commander get tossed around like a ragdoll, Shaun let loose a mighty battle cry as he fired wave after wave of rounds into the beast that had suddenly appeared before them. Or at least, that was what he meant to do. Instead, he screamed like a little girl as his gun clicked, pronouncing its emptiness to the entire world. The monster turned towards the poor lieutenant, and Shaun decided he wanted to see what his attacker was before he was killed. Shaun shined his small LED onto the six foot tall pile of fur, beady eyes glaring down at him. His jaw made contact with the floor, “Shit! It’s a fucking bear!” he screeched. The bear roared and Shaun stumbled back falling onto his rear in the process. All he could do before his inevitable demise was to scream his lungs out as the bear leaned back with its mighty paw, ready to end the soldier below it. Before the blow was dealt, a loud shout rang through the hall, causing the bear to hesitate before forgetting about the lieutenant pinned beneath him. The bear turned toward the sound of the suddenly not so confident lab coat shouting at it. “Hey you–uh...” The bear looked dumbly over at the scientist. Doug quickly aimed his gun at it. “Just leave him alone!” Doug hadn't fired a gun for a long time, not ever since he’d earned his rifleman’s badge, and he didn’t want to fire one again now. He didn’t even know if he had the strength to control the recoil on it. Doug had never known that his career in biology would require him to fire a gun, but all career expectations had disappeared along with the rest of human civilization. “Jesus Christ, Doug what are you doing?!” Shaun cried. “What does it look like? I’m saving your damn life!” Doug responded, keeping his gun trained on the bear’s head. If he knew one thing for sure, it was that there was no way in Hell he was going to pierce the skull of this gargantuan beast with his puny little handgun. Shaun gave the stupidly brave scientist a confused look. “I don’t think you’re saving it, you’re just prolonging it.” The bear looked down at Shaun, and then back to Doug, who scoffed. “What do you mean I’m not saving your life? You have time, run!” Shaun jammed a finger at Doug, “No, you run! You saw what it did to the commander! How easily it killed him off!” William, who had been lying in a pile of shards of glass the whole time, responded to the two of them with a groan. Doug took a quick glance over the broken railing, “See? William’s not dead. Now go, Goddammit!” “You go! You’re more important than I am!” Shaun retorted. “But you’re my friend!” Doug replied. “When the hell did we become friends?!” Shaun asked, stretching his arms out wide. He completely forgot that there was a six foot bear standing between them. The bear on the other hand, had stopped in confusion and now seemed completely lost about what to do with these two odd creatures. “Oh?” Doug said, lowering his weapon, “I see how it is!” “Yeah,” Shaun nodded his head rapidly while jutting his thumb towards the stairs. “Now get the commander and get the hell out of here!” “Fine.” Doug began to cautiously make his way around the bear, trying his best not to snap it out of its confused state. “Get mauled to death by a be–oof!” When Doug stepped in front of the broken down door, a textbook sized hardcover came flying out of the darkness, slamming into the side of his face and sending him tumbling over the railing. Seeing this as a convenient time to get the hell out of there while the bear was distracted, Shaun scrambled to his feet and tried to make a break for the stairs. He was caught off guard by a big, meaty paw suddenly making contact with his abdomen as the bear realized what he was doing. Thankfully wearing armor, the brunt of the swipe was mainly absorbed by his Kevlar vest. The force from the attack sent Shaun a few feet back. Not giving him time to react, the grizzly was on him in seconds. It planted its two bone crushing paws on his chest, causing the soldier to cry out in pain. Shaun stretched his hand out, grasping for his weapon. Seeing what the man was reaching for, the bear smacked it off the balcony and released a roar of triumph as it went to take a bite out of the man’s face mask. Only to have its mouth blocked by a wrist guard. For Shaun, that proved to be no more than a delay. With barely any effort, the bear crushed the guard, along with Shaun’s wrist, into a bloody mess. Shaun screamed in pain as he unsheathed his combat knife from his belt. He jammed the blade into the side of the bear’s face, its eyes widened and it let out a howl of agony. However, it only applied more pressure to Shaun’s chest, using him to push itself back onto its hind legs despite the knife still being lodged just below its left eye. The bear screeched and cried as it began to paw at the blade. With all of the energy remaining in him, Shaun rolled himself onto his ruined stomach and began crawling towards the staircase. He could already tell that his ribs were shattered; each movement sending waves of pain into his abdomen. His bleeding and alarmingly numb wrist also unable to support any weight. His vision was becoming extremely blurry, he felt sick, the world was spinning, and worst of all, his uniform was bloody and destroyed. Everything was becoming darker as well. Then, at the top of the staircase, Shaun fainted. His body went limp and his arm dangled just over the first step. The grizzly swatted one last time at the knife, finally dislodging it from its face and sending the Damascus steel clattering to the floor. Looking back to the unconscious soldier, the bear released a sinister snarl and dropped back onto all fours as it crept towards the man. Coming to a stop over Shaun’s broken form, the bear gently placed a paw onto the prone man’s back. Bending down, it went to finish him off with one last bite to the throat. Though before it could do so, a click caused the beast to stop just inches away from the man’s neck. Shifting its eyes upwards, it saw both Doug and William standing at the bottom of the steps, assault rifles trained on the bear. Both men simultaneously opened fire, pumping round after round into the grizzly’s hide. The bear roared in pain as each bullet penetrated its coat. Stumbling off of Shaun, the bear turned to run, only to have one of the men score a round in the behemoths right ear, lodging itself into the beast’s brain and ending it’s rampage through the house. As the bear collapsed the shooting died down before William dropped his gun on to the hardwood floor and limped his way up the stairs to check on the lieutenant. “Doug,” William gasped as he clamped his hand below Shaun’s broken wrist. When he received no response from the scientist, William looked down at Doug “Jesus. Doug, what are you... boy, are you okay?” Doug sat at the bottom of the staircase, gazing down at the weapon he held in his hands. He was trembling uncontrollably, trying to grapple with the fact that he had just killed that poor animal. He never wanted to kill it, he just wanted to scare it off. Not kill it. “Goddammit, Doug!” William tried to shout but the soreness in his chest made it come out as a loud, hoarse whisper. “Now’s not the time to question what you’ve done. Get up here and fucking tell me if Shaun is going to be alright!” The tone of the commander’s voice was completely different from its usual cadence. The tone of a man giving orders that he fully expected to be followed. The tone of a leader confident in both himself and his men; instead, Will now spoke with the tone of a man fearing for the life of his closest friend, but knowing that he could do little to save it. Doug snapped out of his stupor and looked towards William. Quickly nodding his head, he ran up the steps to help. Getting up beside William he asked, “What’s wrong?” “His suit,” William’s voice wavered. “It’s fucking torn!” he motioned towards Shaun’s shattered wrist. As clear as day the grey tyvek was now replaced by glistening red flesh, “What do we do?” William asked. “Uh...” Doug was conflicted over what he should say. No matter what they did, they would have to leave him, as there could be foreign pathogens in the air. At the very least he would have to be isolated and stay on the ground, away from the medical equipment that he desperately needed. Glancing around, Doug formulated a plan. “William, grab his combat knife and start cutting his suit into strips. Make them each about two finger widths wide and as long as you can. I’ll try to slow the bleeding.” Instead of searching for Shaun’s knife, which had been thrown to places unknown by the bear, Will pulled out his own. Doing as he was instructed, he cut off the remains of the shredded suit arm and began slicing it into strips that were as long as he could make them. Meanwhile, Doug grabbed the section that had been yanked off by the bear and, wadding it up, pressed it onto Shaun’s bloodied arm. Once Will had a respectable amount of fabric strips cut, Doug spoke up once more. “That’s enough. Come here and help me apply pressure to this. But be careful of his chest. He already has several broken ribs, and we don’t want to pierce his lungs.” “But what about his arm? Those bones are broken too, and I think you’ve broken them even more!” “It won’t matter after this! Now get over here and help me save his fucking life!” William quickly leaned over and pressed his hands onto the wad of fabric soaked in his friend’s blood. As soon as he did, Doug withdrew his own hands, moving for the pile of makeshift bandages. “These are perfect. Keep that tight to his chest while I work on this.” With that, Doug took out his 9mm and began to field strip it. As soon as it was accessible, he snatched up the barrel and set it next to himself. Then, turning back to the pile of bandages, he began to tie the strips together. Once he had a few sufficiently long cords, he grabbed them and the 9mm barrel and ran back over to Shaun’s side. Quickly, he began to wrap the cords tightly around Shaun’s left elbow. As soon as he had the knot in place, he shoved the gun barrel into the center of the knot. “Will, do you feel the rhythm of his blood coming out?” “Yeah. Isn’t that his pulse?” “Correct. Tell me when it stops.” With this, Doug began to turn the gun barrel, using the torque to tighten the tourniquet. Tighter and tighter he wound, slowly but surely closing off the artery. “Doug, his pulse is going down! I think it just stopped!” After one final revolution of the barrel, Doug tied another strip as to hold the rod in place. Then, he turned towards Will. “Don’t worry, he's still alive, but his arm might need to be amputated. However, a life is more important than a limb, right? As long as that stays tight, he should be okay. But…” Doug seemed to be unable to continue, and an oppressive silence fell over the two. After a few hour like minutes, Doug became the one to break it. “William. I’m sorry; I truly am, but we─” William knew what was coming; in fact, he had known it the second he had seen the tear in Shaun’s suit. If there was indeed a pathogen there they were going to be forced to leave him. Ever since the Weybridge Incident during the collapse, protocol had commanded that all individuals possibly exposed to a hot agent must be quarantined, left behind, or worse. But even that didn’t prove to work. Despite any quarantine efforts some way or another Archangel’s Sleeper virus would escape. “You’re saying we have to leave him?” William looked Doug in the eyes, hoping that he would say no. “Yes.” Doug looked away from William and stared straight ahead. “If there is a pathogen in the air, I don’t know how far it could’ve spread throughout his body. Or if it’s even contagious for that matter. We’ve done all we could for him, Will. If he’s lucky, Hassel will be able to prove there isn’t any pathogens in this environment and we might be able to come back for him.” William was about to say something but stopped himself. Doug was right. An eerie silence fell over the two of them save for the ragged breaths coming from the wounded soldier. William took a deep breath “Shaun... I’m so sorry.” With those last words, William stood up and patted Doug on the shoulders, motioning him to follow. Turning away from their broken friend, the two men made their way down the steps and towards the exit, leaving their comrade at the top of the staircase. Suddenly, William’s radio began to emit a constant buzz of static, “Villiam... ar.... you... ere? Vill...?” William stopped, detaching his radio and bringing it up to his mask. “Hassel? Is that you, you’re going to have to repeat that, over?” “Yes. Zee drones are getting farzer avay... and its... causing... intervernce,” Hassel’s voice was drowned out momentarily, only to return seconds later. “Vee heard gunvire coming... your location, no?” Hassel asked. William sighed, “Affirmative, that was us. We had some trouble with the local wildlife. We’ve got one man down, over.” There was a pause. “Und who vould zat be?” “Lt. DeShaun Bell, ov─.” “Is zee Lieutenant dead?” Hassel asked before William could even finish his sentence. William waited a moment, wondering how he should respond. He didn’t want to drag this conversation on any longer than necessary. “Negative, over.” Why did he say that? He wanted to just say yes, get this over with quicker, and simply pull out to extraction. “Zen vat is wrong vith him, Villiam?” “His… His suit was compromised and he suffered severe injuries. We patched him up, but we’re going to have to leave him behind, over.” There was a long pause this time, to the point that William thought that Hassel had turned off his radio. Motioning for Doug to follow him out the exit, both men were stopped once again by the German. “Nonsense... get Shaun... bring him to extraction. I vill order my... to set up and quarantine zee entire medical bay...” Static from the radio kept disrupting Hassel’s accent. Making it that much harder to understand him. “Wait, what?! A quarantine onboard the Horizon? Are you crazy, over?” William asked surprised that Hassel would even mention something as idiotic as that sounded. “Vell, Villiam.... if zere is somesink in zee air.... could be harmful, it is vise... learn how harmful it is,” Hassel ended his response with a semi-creepy chuckle. “And put everyone on board at risk?! Where the fuck would we put him?” “Commander?” Doug tapped William on the shoulder. Without turning his head, William glanced towards Doug. Doug was staring intensely at William’s helmet while making a quick cutting motion with his hand. William was confused by this until he realized that his camera was still running. He nodded as he switched it off. “Don’t vorry, Villiam,” Hassel said happily. “I vill notivy zee ozers of zee specimen’s arrifal.” William felt slightly hurt. So Shaun is a specimen now? “Vee vill eefen prepare a treatment room vor him, so zere should be no problems. I’ll see you in a few minutes Villiam.” With that, the radio emitted a few more seconds of hissing static before William turned it off and placed it back into his vest. William turned his gaze back to Shaun, who was now lying on his side. William noticed that Doug had also disappeared from his side and was now making his way back over to Shaun, but stopped when his foot kicked something on the floor. Shining his light downwards, he saw the book that had smacked him in the head earlier. Doug gazed at the book, looking back up at the broken down door he frowned. Bending down to retrieve the book, he saw and noticed how large and heavy it was. The book was big, about the size of a dictionary. There was no way something of this size could’ve fallen in a way such that it would hit him. Something must’ve thrown it. Before Doug could start looking for the perpetrator, who was probably long gone, William brushed past Doug as he went to grab his unconscious friend. “Now is not the time for checking out books, Doug. Help me get Shaun.” “Ye-yes sir. I’ll be there in a moment,” Doug stammered. Still, he couldn’t help but glance curiously back at the cover of the book with that held two candy colored horses nuzzling each other. “What the hell is with these damn horses?” he mumbled to himself as he stuffed the book into his bag and went off to help William. Editors’ Notes: Wulf95- (Grammar Guy) And apparently the medical guy too. Damn, it is amazing how much of what I thought was common sense isn’t. That was enjoyable! When Nebula said this chapter had comedy, I almost went Jericho on this thing. I think I held myself back well enough. And I can’t believe that Nebula can’t correctly write the character I added to his story and told him nothing about! Geez! Speaking of which, some of you might be able to start to piece together that Doug might be something that I am not directly telling you about… Something that marks him more different than the rest of the crew… Something that dates back to long before the Collapse… Something that I can use to cause unneeded suspense… But shh! It’s a secret, after all. That means that those that figure it out should not put it into the comments. But feel free to PM if you think you’ve got it. Damn this Editor’s note has gotten long. Meh. Who’s going to BronyCon? I know I am. And apparently I’ll be very lonely there. Terminal343- (Army Guy) I wish I could, but work and school kick my ass. And also Dark Souls. Teslaponie- (New Guy–also– Grammar Officer) Oh, hey, editor’s notes. I have absolutely no idea what to put here. Also no Bronycon, but I am going to Makerfaire Detroit in a month. Nuclear Grenade- (Science Guy of very few words) .... Isaac3924- (Grammar Jew (I can't very well be a Nazi!)) Well put Nuclear! Now...... STILL NO FIRST CONTACT! I'm sorry for that. On so many levels. At least the wait will be worth it. As for Bronycon, not this year, I don't have the money to travel, hopefully next year it'll be possible. I just want it to be the 22nd already, then I can get my Dark Souls DLC, Destiny Beta will hopefully come out soon for Xbone, and I'll be closer to getting Fallout: Equestria in dead tree format #1stworldproblems.... Now I feel like a douche. On a lighter note, my friends have recently gotten me addicted to Gmod Towers, so there's that..... Now how to end this... Bitches love cannons? > Chapter 6: Inferno > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- William lay alone in a small, white-sheeted bed in a large, white room, encased in its white walls and white floor, surrounded by white curtains. William thought if he saw one more white object he was going to go mad; the only thing that seemed to serve him comfort was the red cross just above the medical bay's door. Aside from that, William was nearly blinded by the amount of white that was around him. The medical bay was relatively quiet around this hour. Just by looking at the clock on the wall he could see that it was currently eight o’clock in the evening. The same time the engineers went off to get some grub and sleep for the rest of the night. Meaning that the idiots down in the department won’t be getting cut or burned for the next eight hours. Honestly, William couldn’t see why he was brought down here in the first place. When he first arrived, he, his entire squad, the lab coats and DeSilva were swarmed by men in Hazmat suits. Everyone in the Hangar bay was gone and the path all the way to the medical bay was vacant when they showed up, leaving the entirety of the hangar bay and deck two to be quarantined and cleaned. Lt. Shaun Bell had also been snatched up by the men in bio-suits and taken to a room, which was already rearranged and fitted for individual quarantine and study. William on the other hand, still didn’t understand why he needed to sit in here for over three hours and not receive any service. He wasn't even injured for crying out loud! William’s patience was severely low; he’d never been one to wait when he wasn't on the battlefield. The only thing he was suffering from right now was a sore back, mostly from the fall he’d taken but also from lying on his back for so long. He shifted around in his bed. The lab coats had already checked him and said that he was clean, but instead of letting him leave, the boys told him that he was in no condition to be moving around for a few days! William disagreed. He was in perfect working condition! Yeah, he got a little roughed up and pushed off a six foot ledge onto a glass table, but that wasn't going to stop him from roaming around the ship and at least do something productive. Well, by egghead standards, it does. But what really got his goat was the fact that Doug Miller got off scot-free. The lad was hit in the head by a bloody textbook-sized hard cover and fell straight into a sofa! At least, that’s what Shaun said through his glass box. William took a deep breath and once again re-positioned himself in his bed, closing his eyes as he tried for the third time to fall asleep. The door to the medical bay opened. From outside came the sound of a whistling man. Opening one eye, William saw a small lad, presumably in his mid thirties, come waltzing into the room. The man had long, blonde, wavy hair, and a small goatee, in his hand he was holding a tablet of some sort. William’s eye was twitching at the sight of the man’s white jumpsuit, his fingers stabbing into his bed sheets. The man glanced around the room still whistling his tune, looking down at his tablet he swiped his fingers across it a few times before glancing over at the commander. “Ello’ commander.” William took note of the man’s English accent. “Fancy seeing you here.” William pushed himself up into a sitting position. “Nice to see you too, Nelson.” William planted a hand on his chin and cracked his neck. “What brings you down to the medical bay?” “Nothing much after I finished reprogramming the machines down in the engineering department to improve efficiency, the admiral appointed me to take inventory of everything on the ship.” Nelson walked over to the counter and started counting the supplies. “And how’s that going?” “Not great.” Nelson blurted out. William’s eyes widened in surprise. “What do you mean it’s not going great?” Nelson rolled his eyes and brought the tablet down to his side as he turned to face William. “Well not only is this taking a long bloody time to do, but we’re running out of resources, commander.” William frowned. “Resources as in what? Rations, materials, fuel?” “Everything, really. Well... no I’m wrong there, we do have a shit-ton of fuel, but at the rate that we’re going through our food and materials...” Nelson trailed off as he began stroking his small goatee. “Alright, the rations I can see.” William leaned forward in his spot, the aching pain in his back pleading for him not to. “Ughf!–Why are we running low on materials?” “When we lost all communications with Earth and the last of the old post war satellites burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, we were unable to keep track of the surface, so Dr. Hassel and a few science guys came up with idea of building drones and satellites and shipping them off to Earth to keep track of the reforming process.” Nelson grabbed hold of a nearby chair and wheeled it over to William’s bed. Feeling tired from walking around all day and counting miscellaneous items and supplies, Nelson decided to take a short break and dump all of the information he had gathered throughout his review of the ship. “At the time, it seemed to be the only good way of receiving information, despite it taking hundreds of years just to receive a few frequencies, the engineering department figured out a rotational process that would involve fabricating dozens of drones and shipping one off every ten or so years which would then create a steady stream of information...” Nelson trailed off for a brief moment. “Now that I think about it though, I have a feeling that wasn’t one of the smartest of ideas.” “There were probably much easier ways to solve that problem,” William agreed. Nelson nodded his head. “Probably, but that’s only one of the reasons why we’re running low on materials. After the disappearances of the three drones that were over what’s left of North America, the entire continent has gone dark and intelligence is having trouble mapping out the surface.” Nelson explained, he then rested his tablet on the bed and began bringing up more information. “Wa-wait, disappeared? Drones just don’t go flying off the radar for no reason!” “Let me correct myself, Commander. They didn’t disappear.” Nelson pulled a video up onto the screen of his tablet and turned it so that William would see. “They were all wiped out.” Nelson tapped the screen and the video began to play, the image showed drone sixty-two flying six thousand meters over the flaming ruins of Wyoming. At first the drone seemed to be skimming smoothly through the open sky, the camera panning in on points of interest: such as the occasional geyser of molten lava that jettisoned into the air. When the camera zoomed back to its original state, for a split second a vicious roar was heard as a black figure enveloped the screen and the video ended. At the end William jolted, not having expected something of that sort to happen. Instead, he was expecting a malfunction and a crash, or someone shooting it out of the sky with an AA gun, but that seemed to be unlikely. Or better yet... His mind began to drift back to the picture of Archangel. The hair on William’s arm began to stand up as goose bumps invaded his body. William felt cold for some reason. Yes, the medical bay was always set to thirty-two degrees to prevent bacteria from reproducing, but no, William felt colder than that. He felt like he was back in Alaska holding off the Western Sleeper armies that were coming from the pacific. Could that have been Archangel? The attack was brief, maybe a second long, Nelson’s tablet didn’t have as good enough quality like the main screen in mission control so William wasn’t able to make out that many details. If he kept thinking like this, William wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. “Before you ask,” Nelson said, “yes, all the attacks happen the same way, just in different locations. After further investigation, Johnny and the rest of the crew were able to confirm that all the attackers are reptilian.” William sat back and thought about this for a brief moment. “So...” He began slowly. “You’re saying that three drones, made out of one of Earth’s strongest alloys, were ripped to shreds by fucking flying lizards?!” “I’m afraid so, Commander.” “What the fuck happened to Earth...? We learn there are people still alive, my crew and I get jumped by a friggin’ bear in a house, and now you’re telling me we have creatures that could tear this Starship apart as if it’s made of bread?” Nelson nodded his head. “Speaking of humans still being alive, Commander. You know the pilot DeSilva?” William rolled his eyes. “Of course I fucking know him, you twit.” Nelson leaned away. “Oh my, someone shat the bed this morning.” William shook his head and waved for Nelson to continue. “Anyways, I was listening to most your guys’ radio chatter–” William glared at Nelson with anger that was mostly overwhelmed with curiosity. “Those channels are highly classifi–” Nelson raised up both his hands. “I have my ways of getting things and obtaining information, commander, how do you think I got my free ticket aboard this baby?” Nelson chuckled as he patted the wall William’s bed was resting up against. “Anyways, I decided to listen in on you guys since my iPod died. Well, when I decided to hop in, it turns you guys were already heading back to us, and DeSilva was having a friendly chat with Caroline. You brutes know her as Little Bird. Anyways, during that time Caroline was taking over for Johnny.” “Why the Hell would DeSilva be breaking protocol just to chat with LB?” Nelson stopped and glanced around the room as if he was checking to make sure no one was around. When the coast was clear he leaned in real closely and began to whisper jokingly, “I think those two have some sort of crush.” William stuck his arm out to push the laughing hacker away, “Seriously pal, don’t get too close to me.” But for the sake of conversation, he continued. “What were they talking about?” “Oh just the usual, ‘how’s your mission?’” He said in girlish mockery, “‘Oh, why, it was going good, thank you for asking, where’s John?’” Nelson mimicked DeSilva’s slight Ukrainian accent. “I get the point.” William was now slightly annoyed. “Alright, fine. Basically that’s all I’ve been hearing for the past five minutes, but that’s when DeSilva said he noticed something in the distance. On one of the mountains he saw a castle!” William looked at the ecstatic man with disbelief. “Okay, now you’re just yanking my chain.” “No, mate, no I’m not, the bloke saw a freaking castle!” Nelson quickly jumped back to the tablet. “I’ll even show you, Caroline herself didn’t believe him until she sent one of the drones over to look for herself.” Bringing up the mapped-out area of what was once Japan, each north and southern end of the island had combined itself with the rest of Asia over the thousands of years, leaving the Sea of Japan to be isolated from the Pacific Ocean. Zooming in on the mission area, Nelson planted a finger on the new map. “This is where you and your mates landed.” Nelson tapped the map and the image magnified on the exact open plain. “Just over three hundred kilometers away from Mount Iwate.” “Alright,” William voiced his confusion. “I thought you were going to show me a castle?” Nelson raised a patient finger. “I will, mate, I will, just give me a second.” He pinched his fingers together on the tablet and zoomed the image outwards. Next he positioned the camera over the mountain and spaced his fingers apart, zooming the camera in closer. “Now,” He said a large smile splitting across his face. “Tell me what you see.” William had to reposition himself so that he could lean forward and get a closer look. In doing so, William squinted his eyes and watched as the rest of the pixels loaded in, revealing a large, white and purple, castle with streaks of gold in some areas. “What in the name of...” William’s jaw was inches away from touching the bed sheets. “Oh, Commander.” Nelson laughed. “You wouldn’t even know where to begin.” Nelson then panned the camera back and aimed it at the base of the mountain. Now revealing a vast, Victorian looking city, Nelson’s smile grew at the sight of William’s face. “H-how the Hell did we not see this during entry?!” Nelson shrugged. “Possibly because the sun set three hours earlier than usual, the darkness obscured most of the sights.” Nelson zoomed the image out and returned it back to the open plain where the cottage like house was. “You see, Commander.” Nelson plopped the camera over the house and began swiping the screen causing the image to move eastward. “There’s even more, after DeSilva’s discovery Caroline and the rest of her crew began a search, and in less than an hour they discovered over thirty settlements, big and small, countrywide.” William was baffled. “Th-that’s amazing, if there’s that many people alive on Earth, how come we’re still up he–” “I’m sorry to cut you off William,” Nelson said his face growing grim. “But there’s a catch.” William felt his heart grow cold. “What do you mean there’s a catch, Nelson?” The hacker stroked his goatee while the other fiddled with the tablet. “Well...” William could see the corners of his lips twitching upwards. “I don’t know how to break this to you...” He snorted. “I can’t quite believe it, either.” “Quit with the fucking suspense and tell me dammit!” William commanded. “There are no humans on the bloody surface!” Nelson blurted out, startled by William’s demand. “What?” “There are no people on the surface, Commander.” “Then who built the fucking cities? Apes?” William’s hands were gesturing towards the image of the small village on the tablet’s screen. “More like equines, sir.” “What?” “The scientists come to believe by our images that they were indeed built by equines.” Nelson briefly explained, he once again took control of the tablet and began fiddling with it. “What the hell is an ‘e-kwin’?” William wasn’t a man of scientific terms. “An equine is a horse, sir.” Nelson flipped the tablet back around so that it was facing William. His eyes falling on the screen. “Holy mother of Mary...” William’s jaw finally made contact with his sheets, his eyes wide and an eyebrow cocked upwards. His eyes were locked on an image of what looked to be a town center, surrounding a large building was a crowd of multi colored animals. Similar to the photo he and his crew had seen in the cottage. “A-are all the towns populated with these?” William turned his head towards Nelson who replied with a simple nod of his head. “Every last one of them, there’s no trace of anything relating to humanity, sir.” Nelson finally set the tablet aside. “We’ve had our time on the green planet, and now God decided to replace us.” The hacker stood up, his chair bumping the wall behind him. “No one replaced us,” William snorted. “They’re placeholders and that’s all, someone to keep the seat warm until we come back.” “If you say so sir.” Nelson walked towards the door. Stopping, he looked back to the commander and smirked. “Let’s just hope they didn’t get too comfortable.” Nelson opened the door and stepped back out into the corridor. Down at the end of the dark, metal hall, the elevator doors opened. “I don’t care if he was going to die or not Mr. Miller, do you have any idea what your actions could’ve caused for the entire crew?!” an old raspy voice said, echoing throughout the ship’s hull. Right away, Nelson was able to pinpoint who it belonged to. Albert Watson, more formally known as Admiral Watson. The Admiral stormed out of the elevator, followed by Dr. Hassel and Doug Miller. Watson didn’t look too happy. His usually stark-white uniform had a coffee stain just below his collar and his hat was clenched tightly in his hand. Watson continued his rant. “If it wasn’t for Hassel’s quick thinking, the entire crew could be infected right now!” Just over the Admiral’s shoulder Nelson could see Hassel beaming with pride, Doug on the other hand kept his head low while he lagged slightly behind. Glancing over his shoulder the Admiral caught notice of Hassel’s smile. “Oh, doctor, he’s not the only one who’s going to be sweeping the deck tonight.” Hassel recoiled. “But, sir–” “Can it, you Kraut, I haven’t given you the order to speak.” As the admiral neared the medical bay Nelson shot instantly into attention. “Sir!” Watson nodded his head and stopped. “Greetings, Grimes, how’s our inventory?” Watson asked, his anger seeming to have disappeared into thin air. Looking into his eyes Nelson could see that he was pleading for him to at least shed some light onto his day. “Not so good, sir.” Nelson’s body stiffened when Watson cursed under his breath as his hand’s grip tightened around his hat. His grey eyebrows dug trenches into his forehead and he nodded his head. “Carry on, lad.” Watson opened the medical bay door and went in. Seeing his superior step into the med bay, William immediately sat right up in bed and went to a salute. “At ease, Commander,” Watson said to him. “I have no need of your formalities at the moment.” William nodded his head and eased back down onto his bed, his head lifted slightly so that he wouldn’t lose sight of his superior. “What can I do for you, sir?” William asked. He took note of the two uneasy looking scientists behind Watson. William was beginning to feel nervous. “How badly are you wounded, commander?” Watson asked, his voice sounding cold as usual. “Only a sore back, sir,” William quickly answered. The admiral grinned and scratched his freshly shaved chin. “Are you able to walk, Commander?” “Yes, sir.” “Perfect!” Watson smiled and placed his hat back onto his head and he clapped his hands together. “When Horizon touches down in the next six hours, I want you and Officer Conway in my office.” Horizon is touching down in six hours? “Yes sir.” William gulped. “Fantastic. Have a good rest Commander Keshiner; I’ll speak with yo–” “My apologies, Admiral, but... this question has been on my mind recently.” This question had not actually been on William’s mind; instead it had just sprung up. “I’m all ears, Commander.” The admiral actually seemed to be in a relatively good mood now. “What about the locals?” The Admiral’s face fell into a thinking expression. “As of the moment, Commander, we have no idea what we’re going to do with them,” He said. “You and I can discuss this in my office in a few hours.” Watson’s face distorted back into anger and he turned back to the two scientists, who jolted in fear. “Now you two,” he snarled, “to my office now, and Mr. Miller–” Watson bent over, his nose barely making contact with Doug’s “–bring that book of yours.” :[-]: Doug Miller was scared– No. Doug Miller was downright terrified as he shifted around in the metal guest chair just on the other side of Admiral Watson’s desk. To his right was his boss, Dr. Hassel; unlike Doug, Hassel seemed to be rather calm and collected. He sat with his back firmly against the chair, his hands were neatly folded and resting on his lap, and his eyes were aimed straight at the admiral. Doug gulped and took his attention away from the doctor and focused more on the Admiral himself, the man who brought them here. Sitting behind his desk with a hand firmly planted on the open book Doug “borrowed” from the locals, Admiral Watson placed a pair of reading glasses just on the bridge of his nose and began flipping through the pages of said book. The entire group was silent, and it wasn't a calm silence. It was the kind of silence that created suspense and put Doug Miller on edge, it was the type of silence that he wished he could interrupt. But he didn’t, instead he remained quiet and still. Doug watched the Admiral a frown had formed on the old sailor’s face as he continued to flip through the pages trying to make out a single word that was on the paper. Doug knew for a fact that Watson wouldn’t find a single recognizable word: on the return trip he had already flipped through nearly every page. No word in that book was written in English. He’d even handed the book over to Hassel and the doctor confirmed that it wasn’t German either. The text itself wasn’t even your ordinary Latin alphabet. Instead it looked to be some sort of squiggly gibberish. “Interesting,” Watson mumbled just barely under his breath. “I’ll give you that, Mr. Miller,” he said, “despite your idiotic move earlier; you did bring back some valuable intel on these new locals.” The admiral leaned forward and reached for a small glass of water just beside his desk light. He took a sip. “But don’t think that gets you off cleanup duty for the next three days. Instead, I’ll make it two.” The admiral placed his cup beside a small stack of folders. “I’ll also make sure to send this down to intelligence to see if they can somewhat decipher this.” “Is zat all you vanted, sir?” Hassel asked. The admiral rested an elbow on the table and stroked his chin. “Well, for the most part yes, but.” He snapped his fingers. “I want you two to start cleaning up the mess hall after dinner, next, I want a sitrep on the quarantined lieutenant by tomorrow morning.” Doug suddenly felt confused. Is that seriously why he brought us here? Just to try and read a book and give a punishment? What is this, grade school? “Is something the matter, Mr. Miller?” The admiral turned his chair so that he was directly facing the scientist. “I was just wondering why you brought us to your office, sir,” He quickly replied. Watson chuckled. “I just felt like wasting your time, that is all, Miller. Both of you can piss off now.” The two scientists nodded their heads and stood up from the chairs. “One last thing, Mr. Miller,” Watson caught Doug mid-turn for the door. Watson’s voice was softer than normal. “I’d like to thank you for saving one of my boy’s life.” :[-]: Moon Stone clenched his teeth as the night time breeze drifted across his fur and armor, forcing a shiver out of his body. He muttered under his breath, “Why did I have to pick the shortest straw?” Once again, for the fourth night in a row, Moon had been the unluckiest of the bat ponies. First it started off with him clumsily tripping down the castle steps, all the way to him being stuck outside in the mid-spring mountain weather. Even in spring, the temperature up in Canterlot Mountain still dropped below the thirties, leaving any unlucky mare or stallion on guard duty to freeze atop the walls and towers. Those who were lucky enough to pick the longest hay straws were able to get the posts inside the warm and cozy castle. Unfortunately for Moon and his best friend Midnight, they were not one of the lucky ones. The stallion and his friend were instead perched on one of the tallest guard towers in all of Canterlot. Even though it gave them a miraculous view of the entire city and Ponyville that was not too far in the distance, both ponies were nearly freezing to death up there in their metal armor. Even Midnight, a unicorn mare, couldn’t do much, since even with her magic, the cold, stinging winds were somehow able to pierce through. Rising up from the cold marble floor, Moon Stone positioned himself over by the telescope. He peered through the lenses and it gave him a clear view of the city below. Not much was happening on a cold night such as this one. Everypony had locked themselves away in their homes or apartments and fired up the ol’ fireplace. Midnight was still sitting down on her haunches, her forehooves wrapped across her chest, her eyes gazing up at the stars instead of at the earth below. “Princess Luna sure has outdone herself this night.” Midnight shivered, her forelegs rubbing up and down her body, trying to warm herself. Moon Stone tilted the telescope slightly upwards, despite it not being the type of scope used for stargazing. It still gave an even more beautiful image to look at. “She sure did,” Moon agreed as he panned the sky. “Oh look at that, I think I see the Discorded plane–wait a second!” “What is it?” Far off as the eye can see, a bright light, nearly as bright as the sun, appeared on the horizon. For a mere second Moon believed it to be the actual sun. “No, no, that can’t be right...” He trailed off when he noticed the light was getting bigger and brighter as if it was coming right for them. “Midnight!” His voice wavered for a moment, “Go sound the alarm and get the Princesses!” “What’s happ–” “Just do it!” Moon shrieked as he dove off the tower, and Midnight teleported to the castle right as a massive, flaming meteorite collided with the watch tower. The tower disintegrated like a pile of sand as the flaming rock tore clean through it. The meteorite came crashing down over the Castle Gardens, and it smashed right into the base of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, completely pulverizing the building and its surroundings. :[-]: Celestia lay soundly beneath her soft cotton blankets, snug as a bug, smiling happily as warm dreams welcomed her with open hooves. Taking her first few steps towards her long-awaited slumber, she was unable to accept its warm embrace due to the alarm bells clanging in her ear. Jolting awake in her dark and stylish bedroom, she was just able to catch wind of a massive ball of fire soaring past her window. “What in mother’s name?” She quickly climbed out of bed, ignoring her formal attire, she ran to the balcony right as the meteorite made contact with her school. A massive earthquake surged throughout the city; startled ponies ran outside their homes to see the carnage. Celestia watched in horror as her school was consumed by the flames generated from the unknown object, within seconds the entire city was standing outside the castle. Day and night guards surrounded the wreckage searching for any injured ponies. “WE HAVE MORE INCOMING!” Celestia heard one of her subjects shout, taking her attention in the direction that the first meteorite came in. Her mouth dropped at the sight of dozens, if not, nearly hundreds of pieces of flaming debris heading towards her city. Quickly, Celestia cast a force field over Canterlot, watching with wide eyes as she noticed the massive inferno coming in behind the swarm. The ball of fire was half if not the entire length of Canterlot, and it was heading right for them! Strengthening the spell Celestia along with every citizen who was watching, braced for impact, one by one the smaller meteorites made impact with the shield. With each collision the smoldering rocks ricocheted off and went tumbling down the mountain side. After the first few hits, Celestia knew that the city’s shield wouldn’t last long. Closing her eyes and doing her best to repair the damage, Luna appeared at her sister’s side and assisted her. Celestia grit her teeth as she fought back the unrelenting force. As she popped one eye open, sudden fear struck as the inferno was about to make impact. To her and the city’s astonishment, it didn’t. At the last second the inferno drifted upwards and took back off into the air only to level itself out after it went over the nearby mountains, unlike the larger meteorite, the smaller ones that didn’t pose a threat, remained to throw themselves against the magical barrier. “L-Luna,” Celestia finally spoke. “Did you do that?” She looked to her sibling with questioning eyes. Luna shared the same expression with her, she shook her head. “I didn’t do anything, sister.” Both sisters stared off in the direction of the inferno which was no longer in sight. “Rally a garrison and chase after that thing!” Celestia ordered, she stormed her way back into her room to get dressed. “What about you, sister?” Luna followed behind her. Celestia placed her tiara along with rest of her attire. “I’ll be attending to my subjects, for now I need you, along with your best guards, to chase down whatever that was and prevent it from causing anymore harm.” Luna nodded. “I’ll do so right now.” She then turned and flew out the balcony window. Celestia finished fastening her chest piece, walking out to the balcony, Celestia jumped over the side and gently glided down to the castle gardens where the first meteorite had landed. Already the fire-ponies had extinguished the flames. Now, surrounding the remains of the garden and school, a large crowd of ponies had formed. As the smoke cleared, Celestia stopped at the edge of the crater that had formed, through the rubble she could see a perfectly intact piece of smoldering metal jutting out of the debris. The piece had to be at least the size of two ponies and just on the side facing outwards she could just barely notice the white burnt paint glistening in the moonlight. “Stand back everypony!” demanded a guard, “There’s no need to shove! Please stand back, everyone will get a look once we dig it–” With a quick flash of her magic, Celestia grasped the burnt and twisted metal sheet and forced it out of the rubble, causing a small avalanche of dirt and other debris to refill the hole. Seeing the piece at its full length, Celestia could fully see the charred, white painting on the side. Bringing it closer for everypony to look at, she saw the picture was a sphere with shapes very closely resembling the continents on Equis, as seen from a very great height. She also saw that the sphere was framed by what seemed to be olive leaves. Below it, she could see something she didn’t quite understand. Was it words? She didn’t know how to describe it, instead all she could see was something that looked like this: S.S. Horizon Editor Notes: PhiliChez - This totally does not count as first contact. Though it does leave them on the verge of meeting eachother it still has to wait for another chapter. Silly authors and their promises. NewKidOnTheBlock - Gah, just contact firstwise already! *grumpy face* Well, I guess this acts as the end of Act I: Where the Audience Is Irritated That His High Dorkliness Hasn’t Yet Done First Contact. And, hopefully, the beginning of Act II: First Contact, Yay! and not the beginning of Act II: I Came To See Ponies Interact With Space Humans, Not Both Separate! Isaac 3924 - GRRRRRHKFJHARFKEHFVIUFHMSKXJNHSKJ. CAN'T TALK! DESTINY BETA! MUCH FUN!. HERMIT MODE ENGAGED! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?! WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? OKAY, I'M DONE. OUTTIE 5000. [img] http://www.quickmeme.com/img/6d/6d86bb5424e768538485fac135e645c6d9d35d7f62d51cd0e4eeb33be47ee99f.jpg[/img] > Chapter 7: Touchdown > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was around two o’clock in the morning when a massive meteorite flew over the slumbering town of Saddleston. The once quiet night was quickly thrown into mayhem as the local populous sprung into panic. Pieces of debris detached from the massive object and fell upon the edges of town. The metallic detritus crashed into trees and farms, ruining the town's crops and outer dwellings. The damage caused by the force of the smaller objects' collisions knocked over lamps and candles that in turn created towering fires that engulfed homes. Townsfolk ran amok while the sheriff and his deputies attempted to maintain order, demanding for stallions to get to the wells to gather water and put out the fires around town. As the burning object sped over the town it never smashed into the ground. There was no collision, no explosion, nothing, it had stopped moving. Just above the panic filled town, the meteorite had stopped falling, the massive flames that had once enveloped it like a warm blanket dissipating into the air. In its place hovered a long metal vessel. The object resembled a whale, the head starting off wide and fat, but as it drew closer to the center it began to taper in, it then broke apart into two separate sections that weren't connected. These sections led to massive vents that held a blue hue to them, while the entire object cast out a dim light, allowing those in the distance to see it clearly. The belly of the beast generated a noise louder than anything the townsfolk had ever heard. On its stomach were these humongous fans that roared louder than thunder, the blades spun so fast that one would be hard pressed to make out a single blade. Despite how big they were, each of these parts created a loud humming noise that made every citizen in Saddleston stop what they were doing and gaze upwards in awe. They saw lights shining from upon the skin the beast: red, white, and green. Mouths fell open when the flying monstrosity began to move, tilting forward and slowly drifting across the sky. Even the ponies that were previously busy fighting the fire dropped their buckets and watched as this vessel moved towards Mount Neighson. But looking closely, the ponies of Saddleston noticed something; the object was losing altitude, and quickly too. It hadn’t stopped falling at all, instead it was only slowing itself. the fans were slowing the vessel down and keeping it from crashing into the town. A fire erupted out of two of the spinning machines, which were then followed up with a multitude of explosions and a squealing whine as it slowly came to a halt. All townsfolk present jolted and yelped as they were brought back to reality. The metal being looked to be in bad shape. The once bluish metal was charred and the ponies could see holes in parts of its sides. It began to lose altitude even faster than it previously had been due to the halted blade. Before anyone could see the aftermath though, the vessel disappeared behind the mountain. A small tremor shook the town. :[-]: It had been two hours since Princess Luna and her platoon of bat-pony guards left Canterlot to chase after the meteorite. The moon was setting just over one of the western mountains as Her Highness and her troops neared the town of Saddleston. They landed just on the outskirts upon first sight of the damage that had been caused, already the residents had doused the roaring flames that consumed the outer farms and houses. The families that had lived in those homes now sat outside, weeping while their kin dug through the wreckage, trying to retrieve any valuables that had not been destroyed. “What a painful sight to behold,” Luna mumbled lightly under her breath. While they walked, she watched a small family of three searching amongst the rubble of what had once been their home. The mother and father dug at a hurried pace with their small filly sobbing on the sidelines. “Is something wrong, Princess?” One of her guards asked. Luna glanced over, feeling a pang of sadness as the filly continued to weep. “You stallions keep on moving into the town, help anypony that is in need.” “What about the unidentified object?” The guard asked with a raised eyebrow. “These ponies are in need of our help, and it is our duty to help those who are in need of assistance.” Luna replied as she turned away and broke off from the ranks. “Princes Luna, where are you going?” “I have my own matters to attend to.” Stopping short behind the crying filly, Luna got to her knees and wrapped a wing around the foal. “Do not cry, little one,” Luna said to the pony, causing her to jolt in surprise at the unexpected statement. The filly looked up at the night princess and gasped in disbelief. “Pri- Princess Luna?” She said in between hiccups. “Yes child, it is me, I’ve come here to help those who are in need of assistance.” Luna smiled. “Now tell me, what is making you weep?” The filly sniffed and looked over at the wreckage. “I lost my friend Lily.” Luna’s heart instantly sank into the dirt, but she remained regal and kept a straight face. “She kept me safe at night from the monster out in the forest,” The filly continued, “and whenever it comes near our home I’d hold her to my chest and sing the song my mommy taught me.” Releasing a nervously quiet sigh, Luna could take comfort in the fact that the filly wasn’t talking about another pony, but instead a toy. However, that didn’t stop her from wondering what the filly was talking about. “I dunno what we’re going to do,” the filly went on, “without Lily the monster is going to come tonight, and it’s going to take me and my parents away...” The filly began to sob again. “Now, now, my little filly, there is no need to worry. I’ll help you find your Lily.” Luna assured her as she tightened her wing around the filly and held her in a warm hug. After a few moments Luna unfolded her wing from around the filly and stood up. “Where was the last place you had seen your Lily?” “She was with me and my dad back in the forest by Ripples Stream just before the giant flying thing came... I would go back and get her but I’m afraid the monster will get me.” The filly whined, sinking down onto her belly, lowering her head into the grass in fear. “If I go with you to search for Lily, would you still be scared?” Luna asked. The filly had to think about this for a moment before shaking her head no. Luna smiled and got back onto her knees. “Climb onto my back and show me where to go little one.” The filly once again looked back towards the wreckage where her parents worked without end. “What about my parents?” Luna followed her gaze towards the two digging ponies, she smiled. “I’ll notify them before we go.” :[-]: Under the thick leaves of the trees the forest was nearly pitch black, nopony could see more than five hoof steps from where they stood. Luna and a pair of her guards, along with the filly, whose name she learned to be Violet, cautiously traversed along the forest floor. The only sources of light that they had was a lantern carried by one of the guards, and the glow from Luna’s lit horn. “How far are we from your Lily?” Luna asked in a whisper. “We’re close, I can hear the stream...” Violet whimpered at the end of her answer. She was never fond of the forest. Even with most of the wildlife being friendly towards the residents of Saddleston, she still couldn’t get over her fear of being alone in the forest. Especially after dark. “Princess, I think I can see a clearing up ahead,” One of her bat pony guards said as he quickened his pace. Stepping out into the bright moonlit clearing, Luna could see a pretty sparkling stream that trickled down from the mountain and along the rocks. “Oh my, this place is gorgeous,” she said under her breath. Her eyes lingered over the glistening stones and she gazed up at the lone pink flowering tree that was overhanging a part of the pond. Petals blew off the tree and drifted through the wind until they settled on the softly flowing stream. “There she is!” Violet squealed with a sudden joy that nearly made Luna jump out of her coat. Violet leapt off Luna’s back and onto the smooth stones below, then scampered off towards a large rock at the edge of the stream. At its base Luna could just make out the outline of a small toy. Violet quickly snatched it up off the ground and held it closely to her chest. Luna couldn’t hear her but she could see Violet’s lips moving as she spoke to the toy. When Violet finally pulled the toy away from her chest, she looked over her shoulder and beamed at the princess. She then hopped back onto her hooves and ran to her, only to wrap her forelegs around Luna’s leg. “Thank you princess!” She beamed. Luna giggled. “I’m glad I could be of assistance to you Violet. Now come on, hop on my back and I’ll take you back home–” Luna immediately regretted her choice of words. How could she be so inconsiderate? Violet cringed, her lips cascading down into a frown at the memory of her home being burnt to a crisp.. “Forgive me, Violet,” Luna quickly apologized, “That was not right of me to say.” Luna levitated the filly off the ground and gently onto her back. “I-it’s alright, as long as Lily isn’t angry.” The filly mumbled quietly, her head hung low as she curled up into a small ball between Luna’s wings. “You aren’t angry, right Lily?” Luna felt terrible that she had slipped up, taking a deep breath she took a step forward. Only to stop at the snap of nearby twig. “Your highness, we have movement!” One of the guards shouted, quickly unsheathing his sword while the second guard shined his lantern light onto the bushes on the other side of the stream. The ponies fell silent, nothing could be heard save for the gentle sound of water splashing against the rocks. Luna eyed the bushes on the other side closely, but she couldn’t see a thing. The only light she had was her moon’s rays and her horn, due to the thickness of the trees lantern’s light did little but illuminate more than three hoof lengths ahead. “It may have just been a critter,” said the lantern guard, “maybe just a wee little rabbit.” He chuckled. “Then how about you go over and have look then, Shade?” The other mumbled past the sword in his mouth. “That will not be necessary Greaves,” Luna said. “Let us drop the little one off first, and then we shall carry on with my sister’s orders.” The two bat ponies looked at Luna and nodded their heads. They turned their backs to where the sound was previously heard and began heading back to the town. Violet, however, kept her eyes focused on the area where the twig had been snapped, and as they began to enter the tree line, an unrecognizable sound erupted out from behind bushes on the other side of the stream. The sound blasted their ear drums, it sounded like rain pounding relentlessly against cobblestone. All members of the party, especially the filly, cried out in fear and quickly whirled around to see what it was. Just as Luna’s gaze landed on the bushes, the sound ended as quickly as it began and was followed up with a “bleep” that also fell into the silence. Again, Luna couldn’t see a thing in the darkness, but her heart was racing. She had never heard anything like that before. Was this the monster that Violet had been talking about? “Alright,” Shade snarled as he draped the lantern over one of his wings and unsheathed his sword. “I’ve had enough of this.” He began to approach the opposite tree line. “Show yourself!” “Shade,” Luna said her voice filled with trepidation. “Don’t worry princess.” He reassured her, glancing back. “I got this–” “Shadewood, you stop this right now, I’m ordering you!” Shadewood stopped in his tracks in the middle of the stream, confused at the sudden fright in Her majesty’s voice. Taking his eyes off of her, his head slowly began to turn back towards the tree line, his eyes blinded for a moment by a small red light coming out of the overgrowth. As a matter of fact, there were multiple red lights peering through the leaves, all of the them trained on him. Peering down at his chest, he noticed a red dot marked on his right foreleg, two others on his chest, one on his sword and the last in between his eyes. Another bleep came from behind the bushes followed up by the sound of something quietly grumbling. Luna was scared now. “Shadewood, I want you to back up very slowly. Whatever it is that is in there, it’s very territorial!” Shade didn’t say a word, instead he nodded his head quickly and began to back up. Slowly, Shade inched his way back towards the princess. While doing so he sheathed his sword, never taking his eyes off the bushes. Doing this seemed to ease the tension between him and whatever was behind the leaves, as Shade began to notice the red dots disappearing from his body. Luna heard a bleep and some more grumbling. Once Shadewood was back by her side, silence once again encased them. Suddenly another indescribable sound exploded out of the bushes causing the ponies to flinch. They could hear something or somethings snarling and moving about behind the tree line, whatever it was. It was coming out to greet to them. :[-]: William, for some unknown reason, was sitting down in a backyard with his back snug up against a lawn chair and his vision obscured by the sun’s warm rays. Raising a hand up, he shielded his eyes from the crisp clear sky. Realizing his left hand was cold and wet, he moved his gaze to his hand and noticed he was holding a glass of ice tea with a straw and a lime wedge. William was now officially confused. Laughter came from his right and he jolted in his seat, nearly spilling his drink. That was no ordinary laughter. No. It was a child’s laugh, but not just one. looking up from his drink, William saw a small group of three children hopping on a trampoline. How did he not hear them before? William’s eyes remained locked on the children, not even the slightest of sounds made him take his attention off of them. The sight alone of three playing kids, happy and smiling nearly brought the lone scruff soldier to tears. William hadn’t seen a child in how long? Eight years? And that wasn’t counting his time aboard the ship. At the beginning of the war children were the first to go next to the unhealthy. Their small, weak, and frail bodies weren’t able to fight the virus or even the infected individuals. Only families that were able to flee from the major cities or defend themselves till they reached the shelters were able to save their kids. His eyes remained on the children until he felt someone’s arms wrapping around his chest, startling him back to reality. William jolted in his seat, nearly spilling his drink again. “Easy there, soldier.” He heard the familiar voice of a woman laugh. William glanced over his shoulder and came face to face with a woman staring down at him. The woman was smiling at him, her bright ocean green eyes locked with his, her white teeth nearly forced him to squint, and her smooth brown bangs tickled his nose. She held a hand to her mouth and giggled. “Sorry dear,” She said, stepping back. William hadn’t said a word, he hadn’t even taken his eyes off her. His eyebrows were raised and his mouth was agape. He knew this woman... yet he didn’t. He recalled the voice but he couldn’t recall the name. It had been so long. He swore he knew who this was, but why couldn’t he recall her name? Even her features seemed a bit off to him, did he know someone with ocean green eyes and brown hair? “I-is something wrong, Will?” The woman asked him, holding a worried face. “You seem a bit pale, do you need to go lay down?” William shook his head and glanced around the open yard. “N-no, I-I was just... thinking a-about the war. That’s all.” Why was he stuttering? William never had social problems around women before, except for when he first... first met his wife. It struck him. The revelation struck him hard like a runaway train. He couldn’t have, yet he did. How could he have forgotten what his own wife’s name and appearance was? It’d been so long, so tragically long, that he didn’t even have a picture of her to keep his memory fresh. The collapse had taken such a long toll on William that he didn’t even know that part of his payment was his family. “Laura?” William nearly croaked. “William?” Laura took a step back when William dropped his drink and stood up slowly. “What are you talking about?” Fresh tears slowly began to trickle down William’s cheeks as he held a hand out to reach for his wife. Laura hesitantly grabbed his hand. “Laura, baby...” William choked. “I’m so sorry...” William pulled his confused spouse into a tight hug. “I’m so, so sorry...” Laura slowly wrapped her arms around William who sobbed like a child. “What happened, William, what war?” William paid no heed to her questions, instead he continued to cry apologies into her shoulder. Finally Laura moved her arms from him and planted both hands on his chest and gently pushed him away. William cried. “Baby please don’t–” “William you need to––shh-no, no––you listen here mister.” Laura spoke to William like he was child. She placed her hands on his shoulders. “Whatever happened, it’s not your fault.” But it was. “You hear me? It’s not your fault.” Yet it was, it was his fault, and it would be forever. He lied. He told them that he was coming back for them, that he would never let anything happen to them. Forever engraved into his heart was the fact that William James Keshiner lied to his own family and had paid the ultimate price. To this day he could still hear the rushing water. William couldn’t look his own dead wife in the eyes. Breaking contact, his vision fell to the grass. “No...” He mumbled slightly under his breath, but just enough for Laura to catch wind. “Excuse me?” She asked, her voice slightly stern. William had stopped crying, his voice low and mixed with anger. It was anger that was not directed towards his wife but instead himself, an anger that had driven him into battle so many times, not because he was brave but because he wanted to die. It was an anger that had driven him to make stupid decisions in a hope that he would receive his rightful punishment for sacrificing his own family’s life. “It is my fault.” His voice was raspy and cold. Laura watched him with fearful eyes. “Moooommy!” A cry shattered the silence like a hammer through glass. William’s eyes snapped over to the sound of the wailing child on the trampoline, her hands firmly grasping her right foot. “Abigail!” Laura shouted. Before running off she shot William a glance. “We’ll talk later, for now I need you to go grab the buns out of the kitchen cupboard.” “Mooommy!” Abigail cried again. “Don’t worry sweetie I’m coming!” Laura gently pushed past William and jogged over to their child, the same child that William had paid the price of forgetting, the same child he had lied to, the same kid he left to the rushing water...––– BOOM! :[-]: A large earth trembling rumble nearly shook William out of his slumber. Opening his eyes, he found himself oddly restrained to his bed. Tilting his stiff neck upwards he saw that his hands, legs, and parts of his chest were being held by leather bindings. “What the Hell?” William struggled under his restraints. “The fuck happened while I was out?!” The door to the medical bay slid open and through the open entrance William could hear cheers of joy coming all throughout the ship. A doctor entered the room with a large smile plastered across his wrinkled face. “Ah, Commander William! I’m glad to see you’re awake.” the doctor spoke with an old, raspy voice, his words coming out slowly as he stepped towards William. “Why the Hell am I tied to this bed, doc?” William continued to struggle. The doctor smiled, revealing the few teeth he had remaining. “Now Commander,” he spoke as he began to undo the clasps around William’s wrists. “We wouldn’t want you to be splayed all over the medical bay’s wall during reentry.” The man chuckled creepily as he freed Will’s hands and moved down to work on his legs. William rubbed his wrists and got to work on freeing his chest but then he stopped. “Wait... we’re on Earth?” “Mhmm.” The doctor hummed. “Right in the thick of a forest to be exact, that panic riddled pilot... Ronald I think, almost threw us into the side of a mountain.” “Why would he do that?” William returned to working on his chest. “The ship was literally being torn apart and the navigation system stopped working in the middle of it all. It was all up to him and that pretty girl Susan to fly us to safety. Tis' hard to land a starship by eyeballing it.” The doctor freed William’s right leg and began undoing the straps on his left. “I was asleep during all of that?” “Like a stone on a river bed. I ain't ever seen a lad like yourself sleep during such shenanigans.” The doctor chuckled again and pulled William’s other leg out. He looked up and smiled when he noticed William struggling with his chest strap. “Let me take a look at that, son,” he said as he swiftly undid the strap as if it was nothing. “You’re free to go, Commander.” William sat up and slung his legs over the side of the bed, making sure not to hit the doctor while he did so. “Thanks, doc.” “You’re welcome— oh–” The doctor turned away and walked over to the closet on the far side of the room. Opening it, he took out a small, blue respirator. On his way back, he gave the respirator to William. “–I was told to give you this.” William examined it with a confused look on his face. “Why do I need this?” “If you hadn’t noticed, we had a rough landing, and with most of the heat shields burned away. The northern half of deck six was breached, but thankfully no one was down there to get hurt. And after examining your friend, Shaun Bell, we were able to conclude that there is indeed something in our atmosphere. Not sure what though” The old man explained. “So if you ever have any plans on deck six, make sure you put that on before entering.” “Do you know how long it’ll be before they patch it up?” William hopped off the bed and twisted his back around, groaning as his back let off three loud pops. “We won’t need to.” The doctor stepped back, allowing William to walk past him and out into the large open space between the two sets of beds on either side of the room. “Starting today, Commander, after you and the scouting parties return, we’ll begin Horizon’s deconstruction and settlement process.” “Oh, I forgot about that.” William popped his knuckles and gave the doctor a quick wave. “Thanks again for watching over me doc, take care.” “You too, Commander.” :[-]: Men and women—the soldiers of the Horizon crew—all sat side by side in the briefing room chatting away with each other. Some cracked jokes and others seemed to be nervous wrecks. All in all the sound they generated drove William mad. Sitting with his own squad—which he told them that if they spoke more than a single word over a house-toned voice he would see to it that they didn’t get dinner—William just did not like crowds, which was odd seeing that he could run across a raging battlefield just fine. It may have just been his age, but he didn’t like to think about it that way. It just irritated him when he looked over at the other hundred and twenty five soldiers on board and saw people he considered to be professionals make fools of themselves. He tried telling himself that they were just happy to be back home safe and sound, but there was still no need to act like rambunctious high schoolers. There was a stage in the front; a few rows up from William and his squad. It was currently empty, save for a podium with a single chair placed beside it. From the far right of the stage walked Admiral Watson who was soon followed by a beautiful looking woman he had never seen before. Watson took a seat while the woman took to the podium. The room fell silent and William took a sigh of relief. He found he was much more calm when everyone was acting like proper adults. Grabbing a hold of the mic sitting on the podium, the woman adjusted it until she appeared satisfied and cleared her throat before speaking. “Hello. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m First Chairperson Nicola Patterson.” She took a deep breath and brushed her blonde bangs out from in front of her eyes. “For nearly twelve thousand years, humanity has been on the run from a terror that can only be described as one of our darkest fears. For nearly twelve thousand years, mankind has only traversed half of the solar system in an attempt to escape from this harbinger of death. Starting today, I believe that we, as a whole, have achieved that goal, and that we are no longer under threat from the Archangel.” Nicola smiled. “Starting today, ladies and gentlemen, I think it’s safe to say that humanity can settle down and start again. We can wake the others that may still be asleep, and rebuild what we’ve lost!” "Hallelujah!" A random soldier in the back shouted with laughter thrown into the mix. “Amen!” Shouted another that William could only assume was the other’s friend. Both men were rewarded with a wave of contagious laughter that spread like wildfire through the rows. Even the Admiral himself smirked before rising up and telling everyone to settle down. The chairwoman snickered. “Thank you for that, gentlemen.” The two boys in the back chuckled and playfully shoved each other. “Now before I turn this over to Admiral Watson, I just wanted to thank our Captain, Theodore Felington.” Nicola outstretched her arm towards the three individuals standing in the front row, “and his two amazing pilots for landing us safely back on Earth. Even with the catastrophic failures. Please give them a round of applause.” The Captain and the two pilots bowed before the band of soldiers while receiving their praise before turning and sitting back down. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to turn your attention to the Admiral,” Nicola said, stepping back and allowing Watson to take the podium. Watson looked towards a man on the right side of the stage sitting in a chair with a laptop computer connected to the large screen on the wall. Both of them nodded to each other and the man clicked a few keys on his keyboard, bringing the screen above to life and revealing a large blue hued map with a black background that showed off Horizon’s surrounding area. In the center was a large cyan oval indicating the starship with dozens, if not hundreds of red dots showing off the local wildlife around it. The lights dimmed, allowing an easier view of the screen and Watson looked at the soldiers, his face seemingly expressionless. A minute passed. “Good morning,” he finally said. Watson stepped back, twirling a remote in his right hand. “At exactly oh four hundred during touchdown, drone sixty six detected a vast mobilization in what we are concluding to be the native forces. We think they’re coming to investigate on what the hell just happened, also known as ‘Us.’” A hand shot up. “Yes, Conway?” “How do we know for a fact that they’re native soldiers?” Watson glanced back at the man at the laptop, the man nodded and began pounding away on the keys. The screen above transitioned into a thermal satellite image that showed off a large number of equines with bat like features, all of which appeared to be carrying weapons. Getting a closer look at the small amount of details the thermal imagery gave, the soldiers could still see traces of equine like features. “What in sam hell are those?” Junior Lieutenant Michael Sterling leaned forward in his seat, turning his head to look at William, who was sharing a similar expression. “I have no clue,” William said, “these ones look a lot different compared to the others Nelson showed me.” Michael frowned. “You mean there’s more?” It was William’s turn to frown. “Haven’t you seen any of the images Caroline took?” Michael shook his head. “I’ve only seen pictures of the towns, not anything relating to... well, those.” He motioned his head towards the monitor. “Does that answer your question, Sergeant?” Watson raised an eyebrow. “Yes sir, thank you.” Watson nodded, “Alright, moving on. As a precautionary measure we’ll be forming a defensive perimeter around the ship. After this presentation, you will all be assigned to your patrol groups and sent out to secure the perimeter. In the mean time, the game plan is to set up motion trackers at locations Alpha-One through Bravo-five,” he pointed out each of the markers with a laser pointer. “The teams that will do this are designated Paris, York and Baghdad. Three other teams, Red, Blue and Green, will be on patrol in our AO just outside these trackers. Afterwards, Paris and York will join together and see if they can locate one of the Japanese cold storage facilities that they left for us. With any luck they’ll still be there, but it will be very, very cold. So make sure you dress warm and wear your mittens if you don’t want to freeze your collective asses off. “As for Baghdad, they’ll be investigating a nearby settlement we detected during reentry. Why those systems were still online I have no idea, but we’re using whatever intel we got. I also want Commander Keshiner to lead this expedition, as he has the most experience with these natives, save for those who went with him last time.” The screen went dark and the lights brightened again. “Any questions?” Watson raised an eyebrow and looked at the soldiers, all of them nodding and smiling. He waited for a minute before smiling back. “Then it’s settled, we’re moving out in five hundred.” :[-]: “How many are there?” Michael crawled through the dense vegetation and positioned his stomach on the large boulder beside William, who was keeping an eye on the town with his night vision goggles. “I dunno. Over a hundred, I know that for sure,” William replied, his voice muffled by his respirator. “Maybe even three hundred... God I’ve never thought I’d see anything like this.” Michael chuckled and rolled onto his back, making sure to keep an eye on their rear in case anything were to sneak up on them through the dense overgrowth. It turned out Horizon was off course from their original landing point and had landed thirty miles north of where they were supposed to. Instead of landing in what was supposed to be an open clearing, the star ship ended up crash landing in the middle of heavily forested area at the base of a mountain. “Right,” Michael agreed, his mind drifting off into distant memories. “Feels like we’re in the Planet of the Apes movie, except with horses.” William smiled. “Damn right we are.” William pushed his goggles back up onto his helmet to let his eyes rest for a second. The world around him was nearly pitch black as he waited for his eyes to adjust after having looked through the night vision goggles so long It was then that William’s radio crackled to life. “Commander, Second Lieutenant Stacy here, we’re in position and waiting for your orders. Over.” “Roger that, Lieutenant,” William answered while lowering the volume on his radio. “Remain in position and keep your eyes on the settlement and alert me if anything happens. Over.” “Wilco, over.” Michael groaned quietly, William cocked his head back and looked at the man with a raised eyebrow. “Is something wrong?” “Eh nothing, just didn’t have the time to take a leak before leaving.” Michael mumbled as he positioned himself in a more comfortable spot. “Oh God...” William shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Try to keep it down. We don’t want any unwanted attention.” “My apologies sir, I shouldn’t have drank that extra glass of wa–” “Seriously, shut up.” William couldn’t help but let out a frustrated sigh. He flipped his night vision goggles back over his eyes and returned to lazily observing the small town. Nothing much was happening right now. Equines roamed left and right carrying large buckets of water to put out the remainder of a large fire. A fire possibly caused by Horizon’s reentry. “I really hope they believe that this was all some weird accident.” “Sorry, what?” Michael glanced over his shoulder. “Nothing,” William replied. “Just talking to myself.” “Oh, well keep it down.” Michael mocked like a child, he chuckled. “We don’t want any unwanted attention.” “Excuse me?” William flung his goggles back up and looked at the lieutenant. Michael laughed quietly. William couldn’t keep a straight face either, shaking his head he returned to peering through his goggles. Moments passed and Michael rolled onto his stomach and gazed at the bustling activity. “How?” He wondered, “How could something like horses have the capability to do something like this?” “What the hell are you going on about now?” William kept his eyes on the town he was hardly listening to him. “Just think about it for a minute Commander.” “Think about what? You need to tell me these things?” William felt like he was bickering with a sibling. “The town, the horses, how are they not prey, how were they able to get to the top of the food chain, and build these towns and castles?” Michael listed off, “They don’t even have opposable thumbs for Christ’s sake.” As if on cue William noticed a bucket of water, levitating in front of a equine that was heading towards a burnt down home. William’s jaw nearly cracked against the base of his respirator. Noticing he wasn’t going to receive a response Michael went to hop off the rock they were laying on to stretch his legs for a brief moment. William blinked a few times. "Michael, did you see that?" “See what?” Michael hopped into the bushes. “That bucket it was–where are you going?” William had pushed his goggles back up and was now staring at the lieutenant. “Oh nowhere,” Michael said, “I was just looking to stretch my legs a bit; they get stiff, you know after sitting around for thirty minutes.” William rolled his eyes and waved for him to get back in position. “Take a look at this.” When William turned away Michael shrugged and hopped back onto the rock, pulling his own goggles down he sat beside William and looked out at the town. “What am I supposed to be looking at?” “Shortly to our left, roughly a hundred and fifty meters east, target is heading north.” Following his commanders directions Michael cocked an eyebrow when his eyes locked onto the pony levitating the bucket. “How the hell...?” “I think this just answered your question,” William said. “It appears they have some sort of levitation ability.” “Damn, man.” Michael continued to watch the equine as it slowly faded out of range of the night vision goggles. “Why the hell can't we do that?” “Maybe cause evolution was kind and gave us hands,” William stated. William’s radio spat a wave of static very briefly. “Commander, this is Stacy,” her voice finally road through clearly, “we’ve spotted movement on the southern end of town. Over.” Will took the radio off his vest and held it near his mouth. “Roger that, what do you see?” “A skinny equine that’s a lot taller than the others I’ll say that for sure, and whatever it is it’s being followed by a pair of soldiers. They’re heading straight for us, should we pull back? Over.” William thought for a moment. “Affirmative, rendezvous with the rest of us back at the stream. Over.” “We’re Oscar Mike. Over.” Michael once again hopped off the rock. “Wait, so we’re changing positions just like that?” “Yep,” William said, following Mike’s movements off the rock, the two of them moving deeper into the tree line. “So what now then?” Michael huffed as he quickly ducked under a low hanging branch. William copied his movements. “I’ll contact Central and tell them what’s going on. Once we reach the stream we’ll form up with a perimeter and wait for further orders.” “Seems legit.” Michael slid down a small ledge and shoved his way through a wall of bushes with William following right behind him. William quickly changed the frequency on his radio to the command channel. “Central, this is Commander William. Over.” “I read you, Commander. Over.” “My squad and I are pulling back to the perimeter, local forces are beginning to close in on our OP. Over.” William could see the moonlight wafting through the thick branches ahead of him. “Copy that, Commander, you’re clear to pull back.” Even though Central wasn’t there to see him, William nodded his head and clipped the radio back onto his TAC-vest. Breaking through the clearing the two men stopped right on the rocky edge of the stream. “Phew!” Michael chuckled, he took a deep breath. “I hadn’t had a good run like that since.... boot camp!” William looked around the stream, trying to find Stacey and the rest of her squad. With none of them in sight William felt a pang of anxiousness, afraid that the other squad had gotten caught. Then again it didn’t pay to be a worrywart in his line of work. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm his nerves. SNAP! “Oh shit” Whirling around, William and Michael flung their rifles out in front of them, loaded and ready to fire if need be. Thankfully though, there wasn’t any need for pulling the trigger, lowering their weapons at the sight of a friendly hand held in the air. Stacey and her two comrades Castillo and Roger, Shaun’s temporary replacement, stepped out of the tree line. “Sorry to startle you, Commander.” The woman smiled as she brought her hand back down to her side. “I was going to call out to you, but Castillo here tripped over a branch and scared the hell out of me.” Stacey stuck her gloved hand out in front of herself and William took it in a friendly shake. “Nice to see you again, sir.” “Same with you.” William broke the shake. “Anything else on natives?” “Not much, the larger one of the group I’m assuming is a leader of sorts, judging by the attire and the two guards following it. Oh, and the natives are also to be designated “equines” until further notice seeing that we have no better word to call them” Stacey explained. “Commander,” Michael said as he looked out into the tree line with his night vision goggles, “I’ve spotted movement closing in on us, I suggest we find some cover.” William nodded. “Alright, everyone in the trees. Keep your eyes open for any movement!” Crossing the stream the soldiers proceeded to hide themselves deep within the vegetation a few yards from the riverbank. Each person spaced themselves out a few feet from each other so that they could cover more ground. William positioned himself by a log that gave him a clear view of the stream, while Stacey took up position in front of a tree a little further down the riverbank. “Were they carrying any weapons?” William continued his previous conversation. "Only the two guards,” Stacey said. Her back was firmly planted up against the tree, her goggles draped over her face, and her head faced out towards the stream. “The leader though looked to be carrying something on its back, I couldn’t get a good enough look to see exactly what though. William nodded his head. “Princess, I can see a clearing up ahead!” He cocked an eyebrow, what the hell? William thought. William put on his goggles and looked out at the stream, on the other side through the thin gaps in the trees. William could see three figures approaching. Two small equines entered the clearing, followed by a much taller, blue slender one. “There she is!” William jolted at the sound of something squealing in what sounded like joy. Watching closely he saw something about the size of a house-cat hop off the back of the taller creature. William followed the smaller animal as it scampered across the ground towards a large boulder. The creature that was now identifiable as a tiny equine bent over and grasped an object even smaller than itself with its teeth. “What do you have there?” William mumbled under his breath as he zoomed in on the creature. The little one sat back on its haunches and cuddled what looked to be a small ragdoll. Its lips were moving as if it was speaking to the toy. An odd thought came to William and he chuckled quietly to himself. “I don’t know if the little thing creeps me out or melts my heart. The equine pulled the doll close to its chest and held it there for a few moments in some sort of awkward horse hug. It then took the toy off its chest and turned its head so that it was looking back at the tall equine. Suddenly the creature jumped to its feet and ran as fast as it could towards the larger equine whilst squealing. The little equine wrapped its hooves around the larger one, the dark blue equine eying the pony with a surprised look. Shortly after, it chuckled and began to speak, so William thought. Then it cringed for some reason, the little one’s face fell, its eyes slowly beginning to water. The larger equine looked to the smaller with a sorrowful expression, it had gone onto its knees to allow the little one passage onto its back. Snap! “Your highness we have movement!” One of the guards turned towards the bushes and shouted, his sword unsheathing, William had no idea what it said but quickly ducked down using the log to avoid detection as a light shined nearby. Looking around William saw a small badger scurry through the trees not too far from him. Looking at Stacy who was looking at him with wide eyes, William brought a finger to his mask warning her to remain silent. “It may have just been a critter.” William could hear the guard speaking, a light shined over head, just inches above his head. He held his breath. “Maybe just a wee little rabbit.” William heard the guard chuckle. When the light vanished William peeked over the log. “How about you go have a look then, Shade?” The guard on the left muffled unintelligibly into the sword's hilt. “That will not be necessary Greaves.” The larger said out loud to the two guards, the two glanced over their shoulders. William glanced at Stacey, her eyes were focused onto the two equines, her gun ready if need be. William’s eyes were drawn back to the guards, their eyes stern as they began to turn away from the bushes while heading back across the stream. William released a quiet breath, relief washing over him. “Central, this is Paris.” William’s radio came to life, his eyes widened in sheer horror as all four equines cried out and turned back towards them, he quickly ducked his head back behind the log. “We’ve just placed the last of the motion trackers and are now awaiting further orders. Over.” “Copy that, Paris hold your position and–” William switched the radio off and remained silent, his heart pounding in his chest, all of his squad mates' eyes were on him. Even though they couldn’t see it, he smiled sheepishly and mouthed the word, “Oops.” “Alright.” Will heard one of the creatures snarl and he heard a sword scraping across its scabbard. “Show yourself!” William looked over the log and saw the equine approaching them, its sword locked firmly in its teeth. Glancing to his left he saw Stacey, training her rifle on the creature along with Michael and the others on his right. As the equine got closer William raised his rifle, focusing more on the weapon in its mouth then the animal itself. The equine stepped into the stream, only four yards away from William. There was no chance he or any of his squad mates would miss if the situation came down to it. He was tempted to shout to the creature, but before he got the chance the larger equine shouted something at it. The guard stopped and its eyes eased their way down its front to see the red laser dots that shined out from underneath each of the rifle barrels. The guard’s pupils shrunk in fear and it snapped it’s head back up to look towards William and the other soldiers. “Stacey, Central here.” From William’s left he could hear Stacey’s radio. Her eyes widened as she scrambled at the power switch to shut it off, cursing under her breath with each movement. “We’re having issues contacting Commander Kes–” The equine out in the stream seemed to finally notice the danger it was in and started to slowly back away from the bushes at the sound of the taller one’s voice. “I see,” William said to himself in a hushed voice. “They’re afraid of the radio.” He smiled and watched the guard sheath its sword. William looked at Stacey, his smile growing even wider. She gave him a concerned look and he motioned for her and the others to lower their weapons. Unclipping his radio he switched it back on and unleashed a wave of static into the air followed by bits of garbled chatter that the radio couldn’t quite pick up. Holding the radio high above his head for all to hear William stepped over the long and began to move out from the cover of the tree line. “Commander?!” Stacey hissed. “What the hell are you doing?!” He heard Michael asked as the other two men shared confused looks with each other. “There’s no point in moving back,” William said. “We were told to hold the line–” “And not to make contact!” Stacey added, “We were told to observe, not make first contact!” William looked back at her and smiled. “And that’s what I’m going to do, I’m just going to observe.” He was being sarcastic of course. William stopped moving. Stacey was right, they were only meant to observe. What was he thinking? They didn’t even have a diplomat, or any way to communicate with them. Hesitantly William reached for his radio and switched it back over to the proper frequency. “Commander please what are you—” Stacey began but was immediately cut off. “Central, this is Commander Keshiner of Baghdad,” William spoke with a hushed voice. “A group of native stragglers just stumbled upon our position. Over.” “Jesus.” Central’s voice sounded full of relief, but the relief faded as quickly as it came. “I-I read you, Commander, forget the stragglers,” Central said quickly, “we need you and your squad back here immediately. Over.” William frowned. How come Central sounded so nervous? “Roger that, what for? Over.” “These are the admiral's orders, Commander.” Central’s voice was stern and repeated, “Forget the stragglers and pull back immediately: we have an infiltration, I repeat: we have an infiltration. We need every man we can get. Over.” “Shit” William shook his head and clipped his radio back on his vest. “Alright everyone! Pack your shit and retreat back to home base!” :[-]: Luna and her guards watched the bushes, their eyes wide with fear at the sudden shout of an unknown creature. Minutes had passed, and an eerie silence had engulfed the scene, but nothing happened. Whatever was coming out had backed off and left. “I-I wanna go back,” Violet whined. The poor filly was literally shaking with fear. Luna knew how the filly felt, if it wasn’t for her royal title Luna would probably be shaking alongside her. “As you wish, Violet.” Luna nodded her head and looked at her guards. “Greaves, Shadewood, I want you to watch out for any hostile activity on the way back.” The guards nodded. “Yes ma’m,” Both said in unison. The trip back to town was much quicker than expected. Neither pony on the way back had noticed anything bizarre. Upon arrival, Luna could already take note of how much the town had improved since their previous departure. With the help of the guards the townsfolk were already clearing out most of the rubble from their homes, and the town’s inn was in the process of taking in the ponies who had recently been made homeless. “Violet!” Shouted a hopeful pony. “Violet, is that you!?” The group was stepping out onto the main street when Violet’s ears twitched at the sound of her mother’s voice. “Mom!” The filly squealed with delight at the sight of the oncoming mare. Leaping off of Luna’s back, the little pony ran to her mother’s embrace. “How’s my little bud doing?” Violet’s mother held her tight. “I was so worried that something happened to you.” She looked to Princess Luna. “Thank you so much for keeping her safe.” “You’re welcome Mrs. Blossom.” Luna smiled brightly. “Mom look! We even found Lily!” Violet wiggled her legs out of Blossom’s embrace and held the toy right in her face. Blossom held her head back and giggled. “I see, where was she?” “Down in Ripples Stream.” Violet said happily while making Lily dance in the air with her hooves. “Ripples Stream, eh?” Blossom said. “Your father was just down there not too long ago with some guards.” “Is he not back yet?” Luna asked, she had just dismissed her two guards. “No.” Blossom frowned and looked at Luna. “He volunteered for the patrol squad, they were supposed to be back fifteen minutes ago but I haven’t heard back from them.” Luna’s thoughts instantly shot back to the creatures they heard back in the woods. “This isn’t good,” she mumbled under her breath. “Mrs. Blossom, I want you to stay here with your daughter. I need to investigate something” Luna turned and began heading back the way she came. A bit of nervousness started to creep into Blossom’s eyes.“What’s wrong Princess?” “Just do as I say please.” Luna looked back, her brow furrowing. “Now go to the inn and tell everypony to get inside as fast as they can and not to come out until I say so.” Blossom nodded even more nervously now and released Violet. “Come on honey, let’s go tell the others what the princess said” Luna sighed and looked back to the woods while muttering under her breath. “Please let everypony be alright.” “Your Majesty!” Luna’s ears perked up at the sound of the voice. Looking towards the sky, she caught sight of a bat-pony guard before he touched down and galloped to a halt in front of her. Out of breath, the stallion looked at her with bloodshot, puffy eyes.. His armor was battered and torn, his sword was missing and his left cheek was scratched and bleeding. Luna’s heart skipped a beat. “What... what happened?” Luna was so shocked she could hardly even speak. The stallion tried to bow but his legs gave way, luckily Luna caught him right before his face smashed into the earth. “We... we were ambushed, the creatures–they had some sort of stun magic... we tried to fight back,” The stallion huffed in an attempt to catch his breath. “but they overwhelmed us. I couldn’t see them. It was as if they were invisible. “What happened to the others?” Luna asked, her voice growing with anger. “I-I never seen anything like it, it was like we were trying to fight ghosts–” “What happened to the others?” Luna snarled. The Stallion looked at the princess and sniffed. “I don’t know...” He broke eye contact. “Before anything else happened I ran... I ran because I lacked the courage!” Luna’s eyes softened. “You are not a coward, Lance,” Luna put rather bluntly, “if what you say is true then there was nothing that could’ve been done.” Luna took a deep breath. “Now, rally the rest of the platoon.” Lance stared Luna with wide eyes. “Your Majesty you can’t be thinking–” “Yet I am, Lance. Rally the others, I think it’s time we find out what these creatures are.” Editor’s Notes: Isaac 3924 - Gah! All this build-up is killing me! And here I thought we were finally going to get some discourse going through the ponies and humans this time.... apparently not. Well, I'm crossing my fingers for next time. I did love this chapter though, so suspenseful! Aside from that, again announcing I'll be at Nan Desu Kan for anyone in Colorado, check "Star Swirl the Bearded's Journal Entry 6-13" for more info on what I said. Tokyo Ghoul is awesome(curse Funimation for the censors). And I would like to deeply apologize for how long I took to edit this, I had a lot of stuff going on, but I know that doesn't excuse the fact, I almost took 24 hours. I'M SORRY........ I really hope I'm not the only one doing Editor's Notes. > Chapter 8: The Ace of Spades > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Slipping his limbs into the tyvek suit, Johnny Conway quickly yanked the zipper up his chest and pulled the respirator over his face. His heart pounding, he nearly sprinted out of his quarters and towards the stairs. Originally he would have taken the elevator, but due to the propeller’s failure Horizon found herself crashing into the ground a lot harder than they expected, thus damaging the elevators in the process. Johnny pushed open the stairwell doors and began making his way down to the airlock, stepping through and letting the doors shut behind him. He gave the order for the outer door to open, causing the sound of clanking metal to echo throughout the small chamber as the door slowly hissed open, revealing a world of darkness. Johnny was practically dripping with anticipation as his hand slowly clamped around the edge the ship, his head slowly edging itself out as he craned his neck around the opening. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness he could see the outlines of trees and shrubbery that surrounded the ship with their ghastly branches. Not too far away, he could hear the bustling activity of crew members and soldiers moving about, already unloading the ship’s cargo. To his left, Johnny could hear the grinding, hissing gears followed up by the steady thumping of a panzer stomping its way towards him. “Excuse me sir,” a loud, nearly robotic voice said as a large metallic foot, the width of a small car, came smashing down a few feet in front of John, its foot sinking into the mud. Johnny nearly fell face first at the sight of the foot, and its sudden proximity towards him. His hands tightened around the edge of the ship. The foot then lifted and the pilot continued his patrol down the side of the ship. John took a deep breath, releasing his grip as he jumped down to the ground a few feet lower than the doorway. Upon landing on the ground, his feet slid a little on the damp mud. John paused, the mud taking the shape of the bottom of his shoe felt alien to him. It was nothing like the hard metal floors on the ship. John hadn’t walked on mud in what felt like years. Regaining his balance, Johnny carefully followed behind the lumbering mech. “Hey!” John called up to the pilot, but whomever was in there didn’t hear him. He called again, this time gaining the pilot's attention. The head of the mech turned and glanced down at Johnny, who was only able to keep up by jogging. “What do you need, sir?” The pilot slowed the mech, allowing the officer to briskly walk alongside him. “Have you heard back from Sergeant Conway and his squad?” The two walked for a few moments, allowing the pilot to think before responding. “Matter of fact I have, sir. His team should be showing up in a matter of a few minutes. Head to the clearing up ahead. That’s where they should be coming in. Now if you would excuse me sir.” The mech began to speed back up. “I’ve been ordered by the admiral himself to patrol the area, and he won’t be happy if he finds out that I’m wasting my time talking. No offense meant to you, sir.” “You do that then,” John yelled to the mech but it was already too far away to hear him. Doing as the pilot suggested, John made his way to the small clearing just outside the hangar bay’s massive hatches. Inside the hangar the doors that lead to the rest of interior have been air sealed to keep the crew isolated from the pathogen that had been confirmed to be floating around outside. The clearing itself was brightly lit with large construction lights scattering about the area, already some crew members had managed to pitch a few tents that were being used to protect the outside equipment. In the center of it all however was the command tent, seeing his new objective Johnny walked towards the tent. Pushing the flap open John was greeted by Chief Engineer Ronald Davis, and Chairman Richard Carmichael who was assisting in the planning phase of the reconstruction. Both men were standing in the center around a large table with a make shift map that was printed off one of Horizon’s computers. The map was cluttered with tacks and rubber bands, just by the sight John could see that the two men had been working for a while now. “What I’m saying, sir,” Ronald said dragging his finger across the map away from Horizon, which was indicated by a large red cup. “We should build away from the native settlement.” “Who cares about the natives, Ron?” Richard sighed. “We came first before them, and I say we stay where we are now!” His finger came down hard on the map. “We have a healthy supply of water and trees, and we’re right by the mountains. We can use them when we begin our mining industry.” Ron raised an eyebrow. “Who said we’re going to start a... nevermind, we have no clue if these mountains even bare any useful ores, sir.” Ron scratched the back of his neck. “But you’re not seeing my point, we aren’t supposed to even be in this thick of the woods, matter of fact we should be further down south. If we stay here and things go off without a hitch, what happens when we wake the others and our population booms by the thousands?” Richard shook his head. “So what if we’re going to have problems with the locals! What are they going to do? They probably haven’t even invented the wheel yet for Christ’s sake!” Ron immediately face-palmed. “Who in the right mind paired me with this idiot,” He mumbled. Richard went to say something but was stopped by Johnny clearing his throat. “Pardon me, guys, but have you happened to see Sergeant Conway around here?” Both men stared at John as if he was some sort of ghost. “Eh...” Ron and Richard shared a look with each other .”No not yet, they’re probably at the Jap’s storage cooler, if not, they’re probably on their way back now.” Johnny nodded his head. “Alright, thanks,” He said as he ducked his head through and out the tent flap again. John stepped back outside his face nearly colliding with a stray soldier's chest. “Hey watch it!” The soldier snapped and went to push him out of the way, but stopped when he noticed John’s face. The man immediately changed attitudes and saluted. “My apologies, sir.” John shook his head. “It’s alright, have you seen Sergeant Conway?” The soldier brought his hand down. “Yeah, him and his squad just arrived not even a minute ago with the infiltrators in tow. You’ll find them right over there.” The soldier pointed in the direction where a large set of tables and equipment were located. “Thanks,” John said and turned to leave, he stopped. “Wait.” He looked back at the man. “They brought them back?” “Yeah,” The soldier replied. “Under Dr. Hassel’s orders. The crazy twat thinks we can learn something from these horses. Possibly a vaccine for the pathogen and maybe even these creature’s language.” “For fuck's sake!” Johnny turned and stomped away. “Not even one day and we’re already abducting people!” :[-]: “Come on people, make some room!” Shouted Arin Conway waving his arms, trying to make some room for the five armed men that were carrying four armored, unconscious, and restrained equines. As the men entered the clearing, all around; soldiers, engineers, and scientists, dropped what they were doing and crowded around them, each driven by curiosity. “Seriously people, move out of the way!” Arin shouted this time. Johnny Conway being one of the last people on scene fought his way through the crowd. “Arin!” He shouted but went unheard. “Arin!” He called again, “What the fuck are you doing?” John gently pushed past a scientist and stepped in front of his younger sibling. Arin took a step back, shocked at his brother’s sudden outburst and appearance, quickly recovering he frowned. “I’m following orders that's all. After incapacitating four of the five infiltrators, Hassel ordered us to bring them back for examination.” Johnny’s mouth fell open. “Examination? Jesus, Arin, this is abduction!” John shot a hand out towards the unconscious equines, that were now lying on the ground. “And what do you mean four of the five?” Arin looked back at his squad mates who were standing there watching the two, he motioned for them to move on ahead. Nodding their heads the men hoisted the creatures into their arms carrying them ahead. “Look,” Arin said staring John in the eyes, “I’m not too fond of this idea either, but if Hassel’s right, he and his men might be able to figure out what the fuck is up with the air, and hell when they do they might be able to fix this.” “You haven’t answered my question yet.” Johnny’s face hadn’t changed, his eyes were still and a his brow formed massive crevices just above them. “Where’s the fifth?” He asked. Arin sighed and broke eye contact. The crowd around them began to disperse and return to their previous activities. “It got away and flew back to the settlement.” “Ah for fuck's sake!” John turned away his hand covering his eyes. “Watson isn’t going to be happy at all.” “Come on, John, it can’t be that ba–” “Can’t be that bad? Are you fucking kidding me?!” He spun back and spat, “We haven’t spent a day on this rock and we’re already attacking and abducting natives!” “We didn’t attack them! They broke into the Japanese storage cooler!” Arin said, trying to defend his actions. Johnny gave Arin an unimpressed look and cocked an eyebrow. “Impossible. Nothing can break through a three foot steel door, not unless they hacked into the module or produced a key card.” “I’m not yanking your chain, John, somehow they got in.” Johnny rubbed the back of his head. “So what now? One escaped and is now probably alerting the herd.” Arin shrugged. “We just carry on with what we’re doing, and if worst comes to worst...” He sighed, stepped past John and began walking to the ship. “I dunno... what the hell is a species that hasn’t even invented the wheel yet gonna do anyways?” :[-]: Forty five minutes had passed since the hostages' arrival, at least that’s what John saw them as. He was sitting in a chair right outside the door to the research department, his eyes drooping, he forced himself to stay awake. He hadn’t slept in what felt like years, but in all reality it had only been a few days; Johnny continued to sit in the chair waiting for Dr. Hassel to get back from his short errand he was running. He was waiting outside the door because the good ol' doctor wanted him to participate in a little “experiment” he had planned since the arrival of the “specimens”. Quite honestly John didn’t see why the doctor needed him when he could just use anyone else, but he didn’t mind. The old geezer did tell him that it wasn’t anything that involved too much work, and it would provide him with something more interesting besides sitting in a chair watching a transparent globe spin around. The sound of shoes clanging against metal stairs made its way to John’s ears. His head perked up at the sight of Hassel coming down the small staircase to his right, rising up from his seat he saw the senior carrying a box full of wires and other pieces of technology. “Ah, Officer Convay, glad to see you made it, here take zese–” Hassel shoved the box of electronics into his arms and immediately whipped out his key card and began entering the code for the door. “Don’t vorry about zee specimens zay are already in zee containment room.” “Eh, okay, uh so what do you need–” Before John could finish the door slid open and Hassel hurriedly walked in, again John John was interrupted by two guards in uniforms and loaded rifles that passed by him and followed Hassel into the room. “–whoa, whoa what’s with the grunts?” John quickly stepped in before the door closed on him. The lab was dark and empty mainly because it was after hours and the lab coats were either off sleeping or working outside, the light issue however was quickly solved by Hassel flicking the nearby switch. “Zey are just a precautionary measure Officer Convay.” John placed the box on a white table filled with built in sinks, microscopes, beakers, and many various types of equipment. “I thought you said this wasn’t going to be dangerous,” Johnny said, his eyes starting to wander around the room. The room was filled with multiple rows with a similar type of table he had just set Hassel’s items on, along with computers, shelves that held files, and jars that were waiting to be filled. However, In the far back the lab were two sets of doors each leading to a multitude of rooms. One of those doors was in the process of being opened by Hassel, the largest door of the four that was second to the right. “Heh,” Hassel chuckled as he punched a code into the door panel and glanced at the guards behind him. “Zere is no vay to predict zat, Officer Convay.” The door slid open and Hassel walked in, the two guardsmen following shortly behind. Johnny stood in the center of the lab debating on whether this was a good idea or not. Deep in his chest he knew it wasn't. He stole a quick glance back at the exit wondering if he could still back out, but he knew it wouldn’t be worth it. John closed his eyes, sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to follow Hassel. “This better be worth it.” :[-]: “I’m telling you, Officer convay,” Hassel turned the lights on, and locked the door behind them so that no one would disturb them. “Zat zee short period of time I has had vith zese creatures vas truly remarkable.” Hassel was beaming with joy while quickly moving about the room; cleaning off his desk, flipping switches on a control panel. The whole time the old man held a slightly crazed look in his eyes, he placed the box of electronics on the desk and smiled. The room the two men, along with the guards, stood in was rather small, matter of fact it appeared to be an office. Yet it wasn’t really, Hassel’s desk was pushed up against a wall that held a window, through the glass Johnny could see a white room with a lone white table and chair. Beside the desk were speakers and above that were monitors, displaying colored charts and graphs that held no data yet, he supposed. On the table below and beside all the geek tech were four T.V.s that showed off camera footage broadcasting from each corner of what John could only guess was an interrogation room. They were in an observation room. John noticed that while his eyes ventured around his surroundings the doctor had been rambling the entire time. “–I been vanting to run zee CT Scan on zem but vith all zee ozers resting, I haven’t been able to. Vich is a shame...” Hassel’s mind ventured off for a brief moment, then he grinned. “But if zere is one sing I haf learned about zem, Officer Convay, is zat just like vee humans. Zay haf races!” “Races what?” Johnny finally tuned in. “You mean like relays?” Hassel gave John a dead look, the two guards by the door snickered. “Fery funny, Convay.” Hassel took a seat at his desk. “But zat is not vat I meant, vat I mean is zat just like how vee haf vites und blacks, zese equines haf... hm, how should I put zis. From vat Sergeant Convay brought back, I vas able to take a blood sample from two specimens. One bearing resemblances to bats, and zee ozer one zat bared normal equine traits, safe for zee horn zat is.” “And what did you uncover?” John was beginning to grow impatient. Hassel beamed. “Zere zee exact same species! Judging by zere appearances, with zee bat’s larger eyes, and its darker colors, I’m able to conclude zat zis specimen must be nocturnal in nature. But vat really intrigues me is its eyes, zere slits! I vonder why...” The doctor's smile widened even more, the corners of his lips carving massive wrinkles into his already cracking cheeks. “You’re not going to cut them open doctor, these are sapient creatures here.” John wrapped his arms like he use to whenever he was disappointed in his daughter. “For all we know they’re terrified beyond belief.” Hassel waved an arm to the side. “Bah! No one vill know zey vere even gone.” He chuckled. “Especially ven vee are done vith zem.” John cocked an eyebrow, his mouth slowly falling open. “Eh, yeah... Doc? I think you’re taking this discovery a little too far.” Hassel laughed out loud. “Don’t vorry, John my boy, I’m only playing. Now!” He nearly shouted the last word. “Time vee start zee experiment don’t you sink?” Johnny lightened up a little bit. “Finally. What do you need me to do?” Hassel looked out the window and into the other room, his right eye still trained on the officer. “I vant you to go in zere and talk to it.” Johnny’s face fell immediately. “Really? That’s it?” Hassel nodded his head, and pulled open a drawer to his left. He reached in. “Also–” He grabbed out a pack of cards. “I want you to take these.” John took the pack and opened it, just like the cover showed, it was just an ordinary deck of cards. “You want me to play cards with it?” “Somesink like zat.” Hassel bent back over the drawer and took out a pair of headphones and placed them on the desk near the speakers. “I Vant to see if vee can use zis as some form of communication, via symbols, pictures, zat sort of sing.” Johnny shrugged. “I guess I can see where you're coming from, doc. But how do we know if this thing will even understand what we’re trying to do?” “Vee don’t,” Hassel said rather enthusiastically, “and zat is zee fun part!” He rose up from his chair, grabbed the electronics, and turned towards the guards, he pointed at the rather largely built man on the right. “You zere, come vith me, and Convay–” Hassel turned around. “–vait in zat room vith zis lad.” He pointed at the smaller guard on the left. John nodded, watching as Hassel and his guard left through the door they came in. The smaller guard cleared his throat. “Permission to speak sir?” “Permission granted, what is it private?” John glanced at the boy, the kid literally looked like he wasn’t even a few days out of camp. His bright blue eyes were small, his figure in general was small, everything about him was small. If it wasn’t for his uniform and gear the lad at first glance would have appeared anorexic to John. “Do you think this is a great idea?” He asked, his voice having a slight feminine tang to it. “Can’t say I do.” John glanced around. “Quite honestly I don’t want to go in that small ass room with whatever Hassel’s about to bring out.” He chuckled nervously. The kid giggled. “I can agree with you there, sir.” John smiled. “Hey, at least you got a gun.” He gave a small smile and shrugged his shoulders. “It helps I guess.” The boy frowned, his eyes wandering down his uniform. “Say sir,” He spoke up, “If you’d like I can lend you my sidearm.” Johnny thought about it for a moment. Looking back at the small room he was about to be locked in, Hassel would be back any moment with the test subject. “Yeah, hand it over please.” He turned to see the small boy was already holding the nine millimeter in his palm. Johnny grabbed the gun, as he pulled back though, he noticed how boney the boy’s hands were. “Say, private,” Johnny said as he instinctively took the magazine out to check how much ammo he had, “what’s your name?” “Susan Walker,” He(she) said, “can I ask why?” Ramming the mag in; John’s face distorted into confusion, then realization, and finally embarrassment. “Oh...” He mouthed never taking his eyes off the gun. “Is something wrong, sir?” Susan asked. He couldn’t believe he'd mistook this soldier for a young man. Looking at her now, Johnny couldn’t really see this as a surprise for her, it was highly likely that this wasn’t the first time either. As long as he kept his cool he would hopefully be able to avoid an awkward conversation. Johnny quickly regained his composure and smiled. “No, not at all. I was just thinking about what I’m going to say when I’m putting in a nice report for you.” The girl’s face immediately lit up. “R-really?!” She said, her eyes filled with joy, “I mean–” she cleared her throat and nodded her head. “Thank you, sir.” “Thank you.” John corrected her, “Because of you I feel much safer.” He buried the gun in his back pocket and turned to the door. Inside the room he could see Hassel already hooking an equine up with a multitude of wires he had gotten from the box he had been carrying. “Well,” he said looking back. “Can’t keep the good doctor waiting any longer.” :[-]: The room's bright walls nearly blinded the poor officer, from inside the office, the room appeared to be a lot dimmer. He soon realized why, as he took note of the tinted windows. John squinted his eyes, letting them slowly adjust to his environment. He sat in a small metal chair beside a cold metal table; his elbow resting on it, his head in his palm, while his free hand toyed with the deck of cards. Opposite of him was a grey equine with a horn protruding from its head. Its massive eyes were closed, head hung low, and legs restrained, somehow, Hassel and the guard had gotten it into a larger chair. The equine sat there unconscious, at least at the moment. Before Hassel went back into the office, he had told John and the two guards standing at the door, that he had injected the equine with something that’d help wake it up. After that it was time to start playing the waiting game. Ten minutes had passed. Nothing had happened, John was beginning to think this was all a waste of time. That is until their little friend began to stir and snort itself awake. Its gigantic eyelids fluttered open, its eyes held a look of calmness, then confusion struck. Quickly raising its head the equine made a sound that added to its confused state, and it began to look around the room. First at the two guards, then the cameras, the walls, and finally John. John’s eyebrow was raised, a frown firmly planted on his face, the equine's eyes were at a comical size when they met his. Its lower lip began to twitch, trying to move its legs, the equine realized it was in restraints, grunting, it tried to pull itself free. No luck, it tried again, same results. The inner-com above the door chirped. “Sorry to bother you Officer Convay, but vee do not haf all day.” Sighing, John lifted his head off the palm of his hand and released the deck of cards. Popping his neck he lowered both hands onto his lap and straightened himself out. “Okay,” He mumbled quietly, watching the equine that was trying to figure out where the loud mysterious voice came from. “Where do we begin?” He asked no one in particular. Immediately the equine's eyes locked on Johnny’s, its eyes shrinking, even more, it tried to move again but the restraints held. The equine made more sounds as if it was trying to speak to John, while doing so it glanced over his shoulders and watched the two guards by the only exit. Johnny took note of this and scooched his chair into its line of sight, blocking the view of the door. He took a deep breath and shook his head, raising a single, open hand he spoke softly, “Hello there,” he waved his hand side to side. The equine stopped its struggling, its eyes matching up again with John's the softness of his voice immediately calming it. He smirked. “My name.” John tapped his chest with his index finger and spoke slowly, “Jon-a-than. Con-way.” The equine tilted its head and looked at John stupidly while he repeated the gesture a few more times. Johnny sighed once again and rested his arm onto the table. “This is a waste of time,” He said to himself, “we aren’t going to get anywhere with this.” “Joh.” The equine muttered, John raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” He said, wondering if the creature was just muttering to itself or actually trying to say his name. The equine nodded his head. “Joh?” It said again more questioningly. Johnny smirked. “Heh, maybe we are getting somewhere.” He planted his hand back on his chest. “My name is Jon-a-than.” “Jonethun?” He shrugged and leant back in his chair. “Close enough.” John thought for a moment, leaning back forward he pointed at the horse. “What is your name?” He asked. Again the equine gave him a look as if it didn’t understand, Johnny lowered his arm onto the table. Breaking eye contact he stared at the metal surface trying to figure out a way to get this creature to understand him. He looked back to the horse, he purposefully made a confused expression and pointed at the equine and shrugged. That didn’t work either. Johnny ran a hand across the top of his head, the rough sensation of his buzz cut sending a chill through his fingers. He let out a deep breath, and let his eyes wander across the table as he went deep into thought, in doing so he noticed something in particular. The deck of cards. An idea sparked from within him. It wasn’t anything special, probably something that wouldn’t even advance Hassel’s studies, but instead it would give John a chuckle or two, to brighten things up. He’s going to show this little creature a magic trick. Snatching the deck of cards off the table John undid the packaging and gently, so that he wouldn’t have to play fifty two pickup, slid the cards into his hand. The equine watched him with a curious eye the entire time. Throwing the empty box aside John placed the deck on the table, now John wasn't always great when it came to games. That would’ve been his father’s specialty, the old man always knew how to wow a small crowd whenever he had a deck in public. Over the years John was able to pick up a few tricks and techniques, nothing really applause worthy, but just a bit that helped get him through basic training. Flashing the equine a tooth filled grin, Johnny whipped three cards off the top of the deck and laid them face down out in front of it. Opening both arms out wide he gestured to the confused animal pick a card. Surprisingly the equine caught on rather quickly, without the help of its legs the horse nodded to the center card. Johnny’s smile widened as he snatched the card in between his middle and ring finger, bringing his arm back fast enough that he was able to catch a glance at what it was. The Ace of Spades, thankfully the pony hadn’t noticed, then again it probably didn’t even know what was going on. John faced the image on the card towards the horse, he held it there for half a minute allowing the equine to engrave it into its memory. Nodding his head Johnny gathered the other two cards and threw them into the deck. Hoping that his memory serves him well, Johnny began to shuffle the deck, even though he should’ve been focused on the shuffling so that he wouldn’t mess up, John decided to take a quick peek at his audience. As of yet, the equine’s face was contorted into something rather amusing. Its lips were pursed, eyes half lidded, and its head was tilted whilst leaning in closely for a better look. Johnny’s hands moved swiftly and efficiently, splitting the deck into two, he placed both halves across from each other and quickly riffle shuffled the two decks into one. This caught the equines full interest. Once the two decks had become one. Johnny slowly, for suspense, placed the deck out in front of him. Opening his hand out wide he, ever so slowly, reached for the top card. Knowing that, so he hoped, it was the equine’s Ace of Spades. He grasped the corner of the card and lifted it upwards, the image reflecting the light off its painted surface. Squinting its eyes a picture of a black arrowhead like figure came into view along with the letter A in the top corner. As it dawned on the slack jawed creature, its eyes widened and immediately looked at Johnny. He dropped the card that glided smoothly onto the table’s surface, the officer was struck by a fit of light laughter as he sat back in his chair. The creature’s face alone was priceless, the equine broke contact, its eyes focused on the lone card with sudden interest. Squinting its eyes the pony watched the flat piece intently, the corners of its mouth curving into a frown. Johnny, who was still laughing, stopped abruptly when he noticed a faint hum in the air and a tingling sensation deep in his gut. It felt as if he had butterflies all of sudden flapping around down there, he always hated that feeling. Immediately he was struck with confusion, his mouth fell along with the rest of his features. Another feeling in his gut told him to leave right now! Looking back at the two guards, he noticed both shared a similar look with him, diverting back to the equine he saw just how concentrated it was on the card. Its features twitching occasionally, the hum was growing louder now, Johnny had a sudden headache, the feeling in his gut was growing worse. Something bad was happening, whatever it was he needed to leave. Now. Johnny rose from the chair, never taking his eyes off the horse. He had an idea that whatever was happening it was coming from that thing. Johnny cringed as a sudden surge of pain formed in his skull, behind him he heard the guards groan too. The headache had turned into a migraine, the tingling feeling had turned into nausea. He felt like he was going to throw up. The hum began to crescendo into something much bigger, his ears began to ring and it felt as if they were going to bleed. It was beginning to drive him mad! “Hassel!” John cried. “Open the door!” He turned to the one way window, to him it only appeared as a mirror. But he knew Hassel could see them, Johnny stumbled to the mirror and pounded his fist against it. The guards had begun trying to force the door open. “Open the door!” He pleaded, the nausea and the stinging pain forced his eyes to water. “Open the goddamn door!” John repeatedly pounded his fist against the window. His own voice going completely unheard by the deafening hum that tormented his ears. The hum grew into a high pitched ringing that forced tears to roll down his cheeks, the nausea caused his knees to buckle, his vision blurred and John felt as if he was going to faint. Clutching a hand to his stomach John let out a pain filled cry for help. Abruptly, the sound ceased. A bright green flash of light, followed by a terrifying sound of twisting metal reached their ears. Playing cards were scattered across the room, a few landing beside the three humans that held their backs against the wall. Their eyes focused on the one creature standing in the center of the room, what was once the metal table, was now a hunk of shredded scrap metal. The restraints that kept the creature from moving laid charred and burnt just below its hooves, the chairs they sat in were strung across the room in pieces. And floating in front of its terrified face, wrapped in a green magical glow. Was The Ace of Spades. Editor's Notes: Am I the only one still doing this.....? Well, if the editors' notes aren't here another time I won't do it again. Even though I know how much ya'll love the sou-...... text of my voi-.......... my eloquently put opinions/advice on life. KISSES. Anywho (that IS a word), I'm happy to finally see first contact, even though it's a little limited right now, but lord knows shit's going to hit the fan soon enough, and I'll be there, munching on popcorn and laughing maniacally the whole while. And it will be beautiful. Once again, I am going to futilely remind people that I'll be at Nan Desu Kan in a vain attempt to...... actually I'm not too sure why I'm doing it.... whatever, hit up "Star Swirl the Bearded's Journal Entry 6-13" for that info. Last thing, Dark, PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE FOR DESTINY ON THE 9TH FOR ME. IMMA BE A HERMIT .Also, I will be busy with NDK that weekend so... yeah. I mean I'll still pull through for a chapter if you need me to (I'm just that amazing). Peace. > Chapter 9: Pre-Contact > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dozens of hooves made their way across the muddy surface of the forest floor, one by one in a seemingly endless line. The royal guard marched through the thick overgrowth towards the landing sight just on the other side of the mountain. With a fading trail of an unknown creature, the platoon of stallions along with their princess head forth, leaving the town of Saddleston with only hoof full of protectors. Princess Luna led the group, her face grim, troubled by the thought that four of her subjects may be in danger. Her horn lit bright as she and her seventy guards moved forward with caution. After what seemed like hours, the group had finally made its way around Mount Neighson. Luna looked back at the mountain to see that Celestia’s sun was now starting to peak over the horizon. Stopping where she stood, Luna raised her head higher and shined her horn brighter for everypony to see as she signaled for the line to halt. Obeying their leader’s orders, the guards came to a stop, Luna lowered her head and breathed deeply. Concentrating, Luna focused her thoughts on the moon above and imaged it dipping below the horizon. Slowly, the moon began to drift across the sky, the stallions watching in awe. It wasn’t often that they got to see their princess work her magic in such ways. To them it was breath taking, though to Luna it was a chore. It was fun the first few times, when her parents had passed their gifts onto her and Celestia, but as the millennia went by, it had grown tiresome for her. She closed her eyes and blocked out the sight of the awe struck stallions and focused more on her job. Just as the moon fell below the mountain side, bright orange and purple hues assaulted the sky. The sun was finally rising and the dark, ferocious-looking forest began to dissipate and manipulate itself into something more calming and beautiful. The razor sharp spikes that had snagged and torn at the guards armor, distorted itself into a normal tree branch, and the howling dire wolves off in the distance were replaced by the sweet melodies coming from the waking birds. Around the ponies the forest was waking up and becoming filled with life nearly instantaneously. Luna yawned when the sun’s warm rays touched her coat. She had been up since yesterday morning and the fatigue had finally caught up to her. Bags had started to form under Luna’s eyes and her vision seemed to be slightly blurred. If she turned her head too fast dizziness would sweep over her. The guards took note of this. “Your Majesty,” said the first guard behind her, “if you’d like we can take a short break.” Luna looked to her guard with half lidded eyes, facing her head back towards the direction they were headed. She debated whether they should keep moving or not, another yawn took her by surprised, concluding her answer. “I don’t believe that will be necessary, Watcher. We must keep moving no matter the cost. Ponies lives may be at stake.” Without any further questions Watcher bowed his head. “As you wish.” Luna nodded in response and continued to head further down the trail.They traveled over rocks, logs, ditches, and streams. The brush around them thickening with what seemed like each step, the light around them dimming as the flora grew thicker.The air grew muggy, the dirt became mud, patches of water and tall grass appeared around them. They had reached the swamp. “Do any of you smell that?” Watcher asked his hoof sinking into a small mud pit, he grimaced whilst he pulled his mud caked hoof out. A pony beside him sniffed heavily. “Smells of miasma around here.” “That is just the swamp I believe,” Luna replied over shoulder, squinting her eyes from a patch of light that passed through the tree’s leaves. “No, no,” Watcher said quietly, “Not that smell, it’s faint but–” he took a long sniff “–it’s smells of something burning around here.” “We must be getting close then,” Luna said. “You think so?” He asked. “I am positive.” High-pitched, cracks echoed suddenly through the forest. They startled everypony in the group and forcing them to a sudden stop, immediately ponies looked to each other whispering and asking what it was. “Silence!” Luna snapped quietly, her heart was racing due to the unexpected occurrence. Today just wasn’t like any other day she had experienced over the past, of course it still didn’t compare to when Discord was in power. Everypony fell silent. “Listen,” Luna whispered, towards where sound came. She could hear something cheering–no. Somethings were cheering. Luna looked back to her guards, already their eyes were locked with hers, all bearing looks of confidence. “Watcher, Swift.” Luna eyes fell on the two stallions behind. "Come with me.” “Yes Your Majesty.” Both Stallions bowed. Luna looked back up. “The rest of you,” she called, “rest up! If we are not back in fifteen minutes continue on ahead!” “Yes Ma’am!” Everypony said and immediately went to find a rock to sit on. “Come on you two,” Luna said to her guards, turning around she went into the brush. :[-]: It didn’t take long for the three ponies to find the source of the bizarre sound. Within two minutes a light, unordinary smell invaded their nostrils. Stepping out of bushes and into a very small clearing Luna, sniffed the air lightly. “It’s smoke. Faint, but I can definitely tell,” Watcher whispered as he followed in behind her. “Could it be the meteorite?” Swift asked, nearly tripping over a twig. “No,” Luna responded rather quickly. “The site is a little more up north.” “It could be the remnants of that cracking sound we heard–” The sound of snapping twigs, cheerful voices, and laughter startled the ponies nearly half to death. Quickly Luna turned around and ushered the two ponies into the thick bushes, diving in after her guards. She quickly cast a spell that caused her mane to stop flowing and fall down her sides. Facing back towards the clearing, she peered through the many small branches. And what she saw was something she’d had never expected to see: Two tall, slender creatures made entirely out of moss stepped out into the clearing. Luna had seen minotaurs that looked like this before, their hair grown so long that their form was almost indistinguishable. However, these creatures were different, while they seemed to have almost the same anatomy of a minotaur, their legs bent differently in that it almost seemed straight, and the moss on their bodies appeared to be added on rather than a natural hair color. These creatures were nearly the size of Luna, maybe even a head taller, one of them held a long object that was covered in moss and it was strapped across its chests. On top of it was a cylinder with some sort of reflective glass on the ends of it. Luna’s eyes were wide with curiosity, but also with extreme caution, each motion the creatures made, caused her eyes to follow it like a cat eyeing a dangling string. Both creatures walked with a swagger, one arm swinging loosely on the side, the other holding the end of a long, thick object with a strap that wrapped around its body. Occasionally the smallest one of the two, would turn its head around and speak to the other. Its voice sounding muffled and very light (almost feminine), unfortunately for Luna. She couldn’t understand a single word that was being said, which was entirely new to her since she already knew every language her subjects spoke. Equestrian, Prench, Draken, Zebrican, Avian, Arabian; practically any language around the globe she can speak it. But this, this sounded like straight gibberish to her, and whatever this gibberish was it must of been humorous because the tallest moss creature started laughing hysterically. With a hand to its abdomen, it laughed loudly, to the point that it nearly snorted. Calming down, the larger one ran a thick, mossy hand across the back of its shrubby neck, and it spoke, this one’s voice much more masculine than the other. The smaller one snorted and waved its hand to the side, before nodding its shrubby head towards the brush just across from them. They began to move. Luna began to wonder where they were going, when they passed through the bushes and twigs. She could hear the snapping of twigs and the rustling of leaves for a few moments before it came to sudden stop. “Your Majesty?” Watcher asked, “Is it safe to go out–” “Shh!” The creatures began to speak again, a low groan came from the bushes, next came a clatter of something hitting the forest floor. A hiss was heard followed by a giggle, a playful like voice could be heard coming from behind the bushes, a thud and a girlish yelp erupted with even more laughter. A twig snapped and another groan was heard. “What’s going on?” Swift’s eyes shifted between Luna and Watcher. “I have no clue,” Watcher whispered. “And by the sounds of it, I honestly don’t think I want to know.” “It sounds like mating if you ask me,” Swift said with no hesitation. Watcher looked at the young stallion and shook his head, Luna didn’t even move. Her eyes were fixated on the shrubbery. “Don’t know for sure,” Luna said over her shoulder, “but there’s only one way to... Oh–shh.” She silenced herself at the sight of the two beings appearing once again. This time however, there was a difference. The larger one was carrying a large buck on its shoulders, its legs were wobbling under the weight but it didn’t let that be bother. Instead it pushed on back where they came from. The smaller creature was carrying both of those long pieces of shrubbery with the reflective glass. It was watching the larger carefully, almost as if it was examining it as it moved. “Princess, look!” Watcher whispered, “the deer, look at its neck its...” His voice wavered a bit. Luna squinted and leaned forward a bit, looking to where her guard mentioned. Just below the buck’s jaw was a large gaping hole in the shape of a circle that still leaked blood. “It’s dead...” Luna said. “That’s terrible, what pony would do such a thing?” Swift said in shock. “No pony would,” Luna said, “but that’s the thing, Swift, these creatures aren’t ponies... matter of fact I have no clue on what they are. But I know this for sure, they’re not from this realm.” “Should we make contact Your Majesty?” Watcher asked. “I do not know,” Luna replied, she watched as the larger struggled with carrying the buck. “But I think we should gather the rest of the party before trying to advance further on these beings.” “Aye, I agree,” he said as he slowly backed into the bushes. The two moss creatures had now officially vanished from their field of vision. “Alright then.” Luna stood up turning back towards the way they came. “Return to the others and continue the march, and Swift.” She looked down to the guard who was already standing at attention. “I want you to send a briefing to my sister as soon as possible.” :[-]: A bright light engulfed Johnny’s vision as if the entire world had turned to fire, his pupils constricted under the intense rays. He tried to close them, but Hassel’s gloved fingers sat firmly on top his eye lids. “Everysing seems to be alright, Mr. Convay,” Hassel said releasing Johnny’s lids and switching off his light. “I see no signs of any damage as of yet,” Hassel stepped back and allowed Johnny some space as he returned to his desk; opening a lower drawer he began to finger through old files. Not finding what he was looking for he pushed the drawer shut and moved to the upper one; there he pulled out a stack of papers that contained various data on symptoms pertaining to the dreaded Sleeper Virus. Johnny couldn’t help but keep his eyes shut throughout Hassel’s search, his vision obscured by multicolored floaters. “Sankfully,” Hassel said before Johnny could even utter a word, “you aren’t showing any immediate symptoms, vich is fantastic!” John smirked, his vision returning to normal the floaters slowly drifted out of eyesight. “Thank God.” He chuckled. “What about the guards? Are they okay?” “Pvt. Valker and Sgt. Albert are under containment and being looked over by my men.” Hassel said as he skimmed and checked off any symptoms that hadn’t been noticed. “So zere is no need to vorry about zem. Mein Gott.” Hassel smiled a small smile. “I’m afraid Mr. Convay you’re going to haf to stay under constant surveillance in zee medical vard, for approximately twenty four hours, seeing zat is how long zee common turning period takes.” “Wait, wait.” Johnny grew uneasy. “I thought I wasn’t showing any symptoms, or any permanent damage?” Hassel sighed and stuck the papers back into the drawer. “Mr. Convay, you and zose guards vere exposed to elements vee humans can hardly wrap our great minds around.” Hassel turned to the monitors that held the charts that were recording the equines brain waves right before it tore them out along with destroying the rest of the room. The equine itself shortly after was contained and forcefully thrown back into it’s cage with the others who had woken; the equine didn’t resist. Matter of fact it seemed confused, as if it itself didn’t know what had happened. Hassel pointed to the chart. “Through the entire period I’ve been trying to monitor its brainwaves, and as you can see.” Hassel pointed to a specific spot on the chart. “Right here is a few minutes before you revealed the card trick.” Hassel tapped the screen showing off a calm red line that occasionally bounced up and down. “But here.” His finger slid across the scene towards what looked to a continuous mountain of red lines. “Right ven you revealed zee card; zee equines beta patterns went completely hayvire!” John leaned in closely his face contorting as he tried to wrap his mind around it. Resting his chin on the palm of his hand, he rose up and snapped his fingers. “So you’re saying the horse is responsible for what happened in there?” He started off confident but ever so slowly faded his response into a question. Hassel nodded his head. “So I believe, whatever happened in there I sink it must of been some sort of chemical reaction. Zose glowing particles we saw forming around zee card, zee table when it was torn to shreds, and ven zee blast hit you. Zose particles share zee same characteristics as zee Sleeper Virus.” At first John looked at the doctor with a confused look, then his face began to sag, his eyes widening as the realization struck him. “Oh... f––uck...” He cradled his head in his hands. “You can’t be serious!” Hassel knelt down in front of him. “Remember John, you aren’t showing any symptoms...” He fell in a momentary silence. “Yet,” he added, “But zat is vhy I vill be hafing some guards watch over you for a day.” These words hardly held any comfort for the poor man. “I knew this was a bad fucking idea!” He grumbled angrily. “Now, now, John,” Hassel spoke like a disapproving mother, “zere is no need to start getting hungofer–” “Why didn’t you open the door?” “Excuse me?” Hassel raised an eyebrow. John had taken his face off his hands and glared the scientist in the eyes. “When shit started hitting the fan in there; why didn’t you open the door?” Hassel stood up and smirked. “Come on Mr. Convay, now is not zee time to start placing zee blame on me.” John rose from his chair. “I and two other soldiers were in danger, pleading for you to let us out. Why didn’t you open the doors?” He took a step forward, Hassel took two back. Hassel rose his hands in defence. “Mr. Convay, vat did you expect me to do? Open zee doors and risk myself getting infected? Maybe even zee entire crew?” John’s brow furrowed. “You were only worrying about yourself weren’t you?” Hassel lowered his hands, his old wrinkled face distorting into anger. “Mr. Convay I had joined zis operation to safe humanity. Not to throw away lives just so zat I vould safe myself. Vat do you take me for?” Hassel approached John his nose coming barely in contact. “If you truly sought your life vas in danger how come you didn’t shoot zat sing ven you had zee chance?!” John stood there in silence, half a minute passed and the two men stood there locked in a staring contest. Finally, John broke eye contact. “I didn’t fire because I panicked and stopped thinking.” “Zat is vat I sought, Mr. Convay, I didn’t open zee doors, not only because it risked zee possibility of infecting everyone on board, but I too did not know vat vas going on. Vat happened in zere happened fast, so fast zat I couldn’t even understand. So please, don’t start pointing fingers.” Hassel turned away from John and stepped towards the door that led back into the laboratory, only to stop at the panel resting on the wall. Pushing the red button just besides the speakers, Hassel leaned forward and spoke, “Mr. Convay is ready.” Within a minute the door that he had entered the laboratory through slid open and three men in hazmat suits, two of which held guns, walked in. Hassel stepped out of their way, the three came up to John and stopped about three feet away from him. “Officer Conway,” The unarmed woman in the center said her voice muffled behind her mask. “If you’d come with us, we’ll get you situated.” Johnny eyed the guns the guards were carrying, a bit a sweat formed on his brow. “When were lab coats allowed to carry firearms?” His voice sounding uneasy. “It’s only a precautionary measure, there is nothing to fear.” The woman said. “Now please follow us.” Johnny gulped and rose up from his seat, giving Hassel one last look. He saw the scientist with an ear to ear smile just before the metal door slid shut. :[-]: Screaming, a constant shrill cry drilled itself into John’s ears; John sat curled in a corner inside a large glass room. His hands cupped over his almost bleeding ears, the blood curdling cry never coming to an end. Despite the inch thick glass between him and the source of the cry, it somehow managed to seep by and pummel itself into his ears! Popping one eye open he could see the man producing such a horrific sound, a large soldier in a hospital gown thrashed violently in his bed, two men in bio protected suits tried to calm the man. Their hands firmly planted on his chest, trying to keep the man from throwing himself off the bed. “Dammit Nancy where those sedatives!” The head doctor looked over his shoulder and called. The door separating the quarantine between the rest of the medbay slid open, in came a woman wearing a blue protected suit; in her hands she carried a metal platter with syringes and vials “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” The crazed man hollowed at the top of his lungs, one of the doctors losing grip on his arm; a fist came crashing into the side of the his head. The doctor stumbled back, his shoulders making contact quite forcefully with the inch thick glass separating Johnny from the fray. “Lt. Bell!” The head doctor clapped his arms onto the lieutenants shoulders and leaned forward. “You’re acting delusional! There are no voices! Don’t listen to them, they aren’t real!” He tried to reason, but to his avail the soldier continued to thrash and cry. “Doctor.” The poor man who had taken a fist to the head stumbled his way back over to the bed. “You’re reasoning with a man who is on the border of insanity.” He firmly grasped the doctor’s shoulder. “The best thing we can do is sedate him and wait for data come in.” “The sedative is ready, sir,” The woman named Nancy said; she had just finished filling the syringe with some clear liquid. The head doctor nodded. “Yes, Nancy.” He looked back to the sobbing patient; the Lt. gnashed his teeth together, his once dark brown skin had turned unnaturally pale, his eyes appeared to be literally bugging out of his head as he jerked his head forward. Johnny watched with sheer horror as the poor marine snapped his teeth towards one of the men’s arms, like he was trying to take a chunk out of him. “I said hold him down!” “I’m trying sir, but he’s too strong!” “Just fucking do it!” With saying that, the head doctor forced one of the delusional marine’s arms flat onto the bed and injected the sedative into it. The soldier released a startled yelp, and suddenly jerk his arm; causing the doctor to step back and the needle to dislodge from his arm. But as time progressed the man’s actions seem to slow to more of a snails pace, in his crazed eyes the men could see the drowsiness begin to kick in. His movements became even more slug like as his limbs fell limp, his breathing settled, and his mad like cries became more like psychotic mumbles, which then settled into a deep sleep. The doctors took a step back from the bed, all three of them sharing concerned looks with each other. “You alright, Greg?” The head doctor asked the boy that took the blow to the head. “My ears are still ringing a little, but I’ll be fine; thanks for asking,” He replied. “How about you Dr. Hartman?” “A little shaken up that’s all...” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to go get something to drink,” Hartman said turning towards the door; he brushed passed the trembling nurse; her eyes fixitated on the unconscious man. “If any of you want to tag along; feel free.” One by one; never taking their eyes off of soldier, the three doctors and one nurse silently left the quarantine room. Johnny (who at this point had covered his ears and clenched his eyes shut) opened his eyes; the screaming had fallen silent. With trembling hands, he took them away from his ears; his body was shaking as if the temperature in the room and just dropped below zero. Turning his body towards the glass barrier that served as his only protection from the crazed man right next door. Johnny released a shaky breath as climbed onto his wobbling legs; the sight that he had just witnessed was something he had never seen before. Nor does he ever want to see it again, what he just saw and heard was something that would make any sane man drive a nail through his heart. But it wasn’t the screaming or the crying of unknown voices that drove Johnny to such an edge. It was the thought of something so small; so small that it’s not even visible to the naked eye, could drive a man to such lengths. It only took one bite and a little bit of tainted air, and here we are now; screaming about invisible voices and acting like rabid animals. Johnny was horrified; he didn’t want to end up like the man on the otherside. He’d rather die than suffer through what the poor man is enduring After seeing what the seemingly harmless pathogen did to you he didn’t even want to step foot outside anymore. No sirree. He’d rather keep his ass glued to his chair and stare at that damned globe for the rest of his miserable life. Then again... what if it isn’t the air; a thought came to John’s mind. Could it just be an infection caused by the bear’s bite? No, no. It couldn’t be. Looking at him he noticed his pale skin. In all his life John had never seen a man or woman that pale, save for the occasional albino or... A darker fear began to etch its way into John’s skin; John shook his head, turning away he planted both his hands on the wall and shifted his weight over to them. “No,” He moaned which sounded more like a whine, “Oh God please don’t let it come to that.” The door behind him opened. “Hello there Mr. Conway,” A muffled almost robotic voice sounded behind him. Johnny turned to face the woman behind him, she was wearing a highly protected chemical suit; looking at him through a large bulky protective visor that made her head considerably larger. Her suit was a bright orange and her gait was more of a waddle as she moved closer to him; a small, pained smile growing with every step. “I’m sorry you had to witness all of that.” She motioned her head towards mentally unstable man who was still mumbling despite being out cold. “My colleagues were not expecting him to break down like this.” She chuckled darkly, but not out of humor. “What do you mean?” Johnny asked, sounding sour. The woman sighed. “Just a few hours ago he was acting cooperative, doing as we asked. Allowing us to take blood samples and redress his wounds, basically like any normal person would” Her face turned grim. “Then all of a sudden he turns pale and begins shouting about these voices. ‘Shut up, shut up’ he shouted.” The doctor’s voice was muffled by the mask, and Johnny found it difficult to make out certain words. The woman waddled over to the small medical cot sitting next to the wall in John’s room within the quarantine bay. “At first I thought Jamison pissed him off or something,” She continued and turned her torso with a crinkle of the suit to glance back at John, he looked puzzled, again her voice making it very difficult to understand, it sorted sounded as if she had a faint English accent. “Huh?... oh. Jamison’s the guy who’s watching over him twenty four seven,” She clarified, despite that not being the reason on why John was confused in the first place. The doctor sat down onto his cot, the mattress giving a squeaky protest as she did so. “Before I continue, I must admit how rude I’ve been to you.” John processed what she had said and cocked an eyebrow, while stepping off from the wall. “Excuse me?” He asked as he moved in front of her. “I haven’t introduced myself.” She stuck out a large, black gloved hand “I’m Doctor Alyssa Joyce, I’ll be checking up on you for here on out.” John eyed the stuck out hand with a frown, looking back up at Alyssa’s smiling face, clearly visible behind the facemask, her eyes motioned for him to shake it. Hesitantly John raised his hand and took it. “Officer Jonathan Conway, pleasure to meet you Alyssa.” Alyssa’s smile turned from “pained” to “pleased”, one that was eerily similar to Hassel’s. “Brilliant. Now then.” She slowly stood up, seeming to have completely forgotten about their previous conversation. “ Would you mind taking a seat Mr. Conway?” She waved a bubbly, orange suited arm towards the cot. Johnny obliged. “Do you mind if I ask why?” He asked, his eyes flickering back towards the sedated man laying on the other side of the windowpane. The fear for what may have infected the poor sod across from him crept back into his chest, making his blood run cold. John’s arms were assaulted by goosebumps. “It’s all part of the procedure Mr. Con–Is everything alright?” Alyssa asked, she was leaning forward in front of him, seemingly concerned. “You seem a little pale Mr. Conway. Are you feeling nauseous?” She tilted her head slightly, inspecting him. The suit bobbed along. “N-no.” John looked the woman in the eyes. “Why do you ask?” Her arm went back as if she was reaching for something, “Just part of protocol that is all–” Her arm stop and she frowned. “Ah, bugger all,” Alyssa groaned, her arm falling back to her side. “I knew I forgot something.” She smiled. “Give me a minute Mr. Conway I’ll be right back,” She said turning towards the door and heading out. Johnny’s eyes flashed towards unconscious man again, despite being separated from the crazed man he couldn’t help but feel terribly frightened. “Wh-where are you going?” “No need to worry dear,” the doctor snickered. “I only left a few things back in my office, I’ll just be on the other side of the door.” “Attention Security Status 2! All available units are to report to the armory immediately, I repeat: All available units report to the armory immediately! This is not a drill!” Three loud, muffled bumps followed by a wailing alarm echoed throughout the ship, causing Alyssa to paused at the door and gaze upwards toward the source of the bumps. “What in God’s name could this be?” John mumbled through the wail of the alarm. “Attention Security Status 2! All available units are to report to the armory immediately!” The intercom buzzed louder than the alarms. “I Repeat! Attention Security Status 2! All available units are to report to the armory immediately!” Just outside the door John could hear the pounding of thundering boots as men and women all over Horizon hurried towards the armory to gather their gear and report to their defensive positions “Whatever it is,” Alyssa said, her voice barely even a whisper, “I think we’re in trouble.” > Chapter 10: First Contact > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deep in the middle of the thickly wooded forest just two hours before Johnny Conway was quarantined from being exposed to an unknown force, Commander William Keshiner and his squadmates were steadily pushing through the thick branches and leaves of the surrounding forest. His clothing was caked with mud and dried dirt, green stains covered his hands, and bits of morning dew had begun to cling to his visor. Will unthinkingly tried to wipe clean the grime obstructing his view, but his dirt covered hand only served to worsen his problem. He muttered a few curses under his breath and swiped at his visor with the back of his hand in an attempt to clean the rest of the dirt off, all the while trying to clamber over a log that blocked their path. The night was growing late, and the cool air was causing more and more dew to form on the squad’s armored forms. It wasn’t as much a problem as it was a nuisance that he had to repeatedly wipe off his visor in order to see somewhat clearly. Not too far in the distance, the sky was already awash with the colorful rays of the rising sun. Looking up through a small opening in the canopy, William stopped dead in his tracks. “Is something wrong, Commander?” Stacey asked as she seemed to glide over the log, her feet landing catlike upon the damp grass. Receiving no response, both she and the rest of the squad approached him. Stacey followed William’s eyes up towards the sky, and what she saw nearly brought her to tears. Reds, oranges, pinks, and even hints of blue hues decorated the sky like an abstract painting. Small, fluffy white clouds decorated with shades of pinks drifted over the mountain, its edges outlined by the orange trees that reflected the sun’s rays. A flock of white birds drifted across the sky only to be silhouetted when they passed through the sun’s light. William could hardly believe what he was seeing, it was magnificently beautiful. The sun was just starting to peak over the mountain, spreading an aurora of colors across the sky. I wonder, William thought, if everyone else is stopping what they’re doing. And they most likely were, even the rest of William’s squad stopped beside him and watched the sun rise over the mountain top and cast its light upon the world. He heard someone sniffle behind him, followed by “Goddammit, I think I need a tissue.” The squad stood in awe for a few more moments before William finally snapped out of his stupor. “Alright, that’s enough gazing for now; Central needs us back at base before anything else happens.” “Y-yes sir,” came his squad’s hesitant reply. He understood they were finding it difficult to avert their eyes from the the beauty that they hadn’t seen in a millennium. He was too. :[-]: “Hmm...” Luna bit the bottom of her lip as she read her sister’s letter once more. “This is truly interesting.” My Dearest sister, The lone fragment that landed deep in our garden was not a meteorite. After my subjects and I dug it out of the crater we confirmed that it is something not of Equestrian origin. Immediately after it was unearthed I ordered it to be sent to the research facilities in Fillydelphia, as to better determine what it was. However, even our brightest minds therein were unable to uncover anything resembling a solid answer. The materials it is composed of are entirely alien, and the symbols found on its side are of no language that we are aware of, living or dead. Whatever it is that fell from our sky, little sister, it is not of this world. And if what you say of unknown creatures roaming Bramblewood Forest is true, then it is imperative that we maintain a vigilant guard. If they were able to attack and defeat members of your elite guard, then I fear that these creatures may be more dangerous than any enemy we have faced in recent memory, save Discord and Tirek. Luna, I implore you; return to Canterlot with all possible haste. You have done much already, and you deserve a rest. I shall handle the situation in Saddleston. Your Sister, Celestia. Luna sighed deeply and leaned more heavily against the large stone she had been using as a backrest for the past thirty minutes. Yawning, she felt how heavy her eyes had become. She could hardly feel any life in her sleep deprived limbs, and her thoughts were growing more sluggish by the minute. However, she was not surprised by this. She had been awake for since the night before, after all. The idea of letting her sister deal with this mess was a tempting one. Extremely tempting, in fact. However, she had been tasked with finding the meteorite that landed in the area, while also ensuring that nopony was injured. Said meteorite was still within these woods, and despite the time they had spent here, they were none the wiser as to even know its general location therein. And truly, she had to admit to herself, she had failed her other objective. The group of ponies she commanded was four short. So far, none of her objectives were met. She sighed once again and skimmed over the letter. Luna was not one to leave a job undone, and knew she could do better. Using her magic to crumple the letter into a small ball, she teleported it somewhere that wasn’t here. With the letter floating somewhere in deep space, Luna noticed one of her officers, Bristol, eyeing her closely. “Your majesty,” he said, his voice sound calm and collected. His eyes were half lidded and his lips formed was straight. “Our scouts have just returned from their expedition.” As he spoke, Luna couldn’t help but notice that his head seemed to bounce up and down with his every word. “What have they found?” she asked, another yawn threatening to escape her throat. Bristol remained silent for a moment, his muzzle contorting ever so faintly. He looked as if he didn’t know quite how to articulate his response. “Well, I can’t believe it, but,” Luna strained to decipher his quiet mumbling, but he quickly cleared his throat. “About twelve miles north, near the base of Mt. Neighson, the scouts reported a massive object resting in the middle of a densely forested area. Or, rather, it was resting in what was left of a densely forested area.” Luna couldn’t help the smile that had formed on her face. She could at least mark the first objective off of her list now. “Is that all?” The officer shook his head, stopping it from returning to its prior bobbing. “They have also reported seeing what appear to be tents, and what we logically assume to be supplies scattered around the outer edge of the ‘meteorite’,” he said, putting special emphasis on the final word. Tents and supplies? Luna began running possibilities through her head. What could these beings possibly be doing? In fact, what are these beings and what could they possibly want? When had Luna thought the officer had finished and she began to speak, the stallion started up again. “Odd thing is, about thirty seconds after its touchdown, they mentioned something about an alarm sounding off.” “An alarm? I haven’t heard anything.” “Neither have I. I’m just telling you what the scouts said.” “What happened when the alarm went off?” The officer shifted nervously from hoof to hoof, his eyes pass over everything save for the princess. wavered left and right. “They mentioned black and green creatures that came swarming out of the meteorite. Hideous monsters they said, creatures that stood seven feet tall and one that seemed to reach the treetops.” Bristol shivered and scratched a small patch of his coat just below his armor. Luna frowned. They must have some sort of detection spell if they were able to discover the scouts. “Then we must act with caution.” Luna stood up, her legs beginning to tingle as blood quickly rushed back through them. “Our mission is to make sure whatever came from that meteorite doesn’t hurt anypony else. Lieutenant Bristol,” Luna glared down at the smaller pony, his eyes focused he nodded. “Write a letter to Princess Celestia telling her that I will not be returning until I know the situation here is stable, afterwards alert the others, we’ll be moving out within the next thirty minutes.” A hoof came to Bristol’s forehead in a salute. “Yes Your Majesty!” When Bristol turned and made a beeline towards the rest of the guard, Luna glanced over her shoulder towards the tree tops. From where she stood she could see the faintest bit of white smoke drifting into the sky. Tents and supplies, Luna thought. Surely what they were dealing with here must be organized; and surely whatever fell from the sky was no meteorite, but instead could only be assumed to be a form of transport. A transport carrying a species nopony has ever seen before, at least to her knowledge. Whatever they were, Luna could only pray that they were friendly. :[-]: The sweat on Luna’s coat was causing her chest piece to stick to her much like it was bound by glue. Bugs buzzed around her as if a party had been thrown in that physics defying mane of her’s, her tail continuously swatted back and forth fighting a losing battle against the swarm of bugs that wouldn’t let up. They were almost there, the crash site was just a mile up ahead, she could smell it. Literally. The air was filled with smoke, and already rotting plants. In the distance the ponies could hear an unfamiliar sound, a sound of steady thumping. Kkksssh thump, kkkksssh thump, kkkkssshhhh thump! With each thundering beat came a small tremor gradually getting stronger and stronger as they drew near. Or it drew near. The sound seemed to resemble foot steps rather than a random noise, it traveled in a pattern similar to those of a bipedal creature like a minotaur. Except this sounded like a machine, metal clanking together, squealing rhythmically before producing a loud thud that the ponies could feel in their hooves. Kkkkksssh thump! Kkkkkkkssssh thump! KKkksssshhh thump!! KKKKSSSsshhh THUMP!! The sound became increasingly louder, the tremors had started to become more akin to earthquakes, the nearby wildlife began to scatter, scampering from their burrows and hopping from branch to branch in an attempt to escape from the approaching pounding. Leaves fell sparsely from the trees above like light, colorful rain. Luna looked back at her guards. “Hold your ground!” She shouted over the horrendous noise that was resounding ahead of them. “Look!” Luna saw a guard shoot his hoof forward, his eyes wide with a look of amazement mixed with fear. Luna quickly snapped her head around, about forty yards away, deep in the trees, a large, tall, and bulky figure that was shrouded in shadows stomped its way past them. The small rays of light that pierced the trees refracted off its silver hull; in its wide fat hands the monster held an elongated thick object that it kept close to its chest. Its body swayed side to side with each step, with each pounding footfall Luna felt like her insides would leap into the air, making her queasy. To her and her guards’ relief however, it seemed that the creature did not notice them; and it continued down its path through the forest. Its earth-shaking steps becoming quieter with each passing second, Luna released a quiet breath. “We move with extreme caution from here on out, keep your eyes open and nopony make a sound.” Her troops replied with a nod of their heads to which Luna replied with her own. She was positive that they were close, extremely close to be exact. They began to move once again, up ahead Luna could already hear alien sounds. She motioned for her guards to get down low and she got down onto her belly. Something didn’t seem right here. Quite honestly none of this seemed right, never in all her years has something to this extreme happened. Those bush creatures in the woods, and that massive metallic beast, what were they? Were they all related? Already the behemoth’s footfalls were returning, Luna took a quick glance back and ordered her stallions with a wave of her head to dive into a nearby patch of shrubbery. Luna winced as a thorn jabbed her side as she crawled into a large bush, her guards followed behind, a few however were forced to retreat back when it became apparent that no room was available. “Princess,” A guard hissed behind her. “I do not mean to be rude, but your mane will give us away.” KKkkksssh thump! KKKkKkkksssh thump! KKkkksssh thump! The dreadful sound became fully audible again, it seemed as if it was heading right for them. Luna nodded her head and her horn sparked for the briefest of moments, followed by her mane falling down to her sides, losing all magical essence it had held previously. KKKKkssssh thump! KKKKkkssh thump!! The earth, once again with immense force shook. The ponies clenched their teeth, a few even closing their eyes as they waited for the monster to pass by and the sound to go away. However, instead of the the sound continuing past them, it ended abruptly; like a strummed string on a violin being halted by a hoof, ceasing the melody. Luna’s eyes, that had been staring straight ahead in anticipation whole, blinked when she noticed how the heavy noise had suddenly stopped. For a second it had seemed that the animal had vanished entirely, just poofed right out of existence. But those thoughts would be forced to stop when a long drawn out hiss echoed just over her head. “PRINCESS WATCH OUT!” Luna felt a magical tug on her body, and she was dragged out of the way of a foot, larger than her body, that came crashing down right beside her head. Mud and leaves were thrown in all directions by the force of the enormous limb, completely drenching Luna’s body. Lt. Bristol quickly yanked Luna to her hooves, his wide, terrified eyes never leaving the towering abomination. The monster backed up and glared down at the scrambling, panicked ponies that ran blindly in every direction. Its body drifting side to side, its lone green eye hopping from guard to guard, the large object Luna once saw carrying in its hands was now attached to its back, held there by a metal clasp. The metal monster straightened itself and exalted, emitting a deafening howl that roared like thunder. Any remaining pony that wasn’t panicking now turned and fled for their lives, except for Luna. She stayed, brow furrowed and mane flowing as if it was in a hurricane; her eyes shooting daggers into the monster’s one. The towering beast rolled its shoulders, its metal plates screeching as they rubbed against each other. Raising a foot over her head, the creature went to move on the fleeing ponies; but Luna shouted, a shout so loud her own ears rung at the sound her vocals produced. “HALT!” The foot stopped just a couple of feet above her head, then it retracted and brought itself back to the ground. Behind Luna, the panicked guards had frozen in mid run, eyes wide and focused back on their Princess. Luna gritted her teeth and continued to glare fiercely at the metal monstrosity. The creature stared expressionless at Luna, not a single sound admitted from it. Luna bit her tongue. Her mind was beginning to draw a blank, she had absolutely no idea of what to do or say. The metal beast continued its blank stare for a few moments before finally releasing a grunt and pivoting itself around, moving in the direction back from where it came. “Y-your Majesty,” Luna could barely hear Bristol mumble, the poor stallion was literally shaking like a leaf. “Wh-what do we do now?” Luna blinked, the lieutenant’s question somewhat snapping her out of her stupor. She took her eyes off the monster and looked down at the soldier. “We follow it.” Luna surprised herself with how calm her voice sounded. “Whatever that is, it may lead us to the meteorite, rally up any of the stragglers that may have run off and follow that thing!” Bristol looked behind himself to where the rest of the guard was originally, all that was left of their platoon was nothing more than a small handful of stallions. He gulped. “Aye Your Majesty, I’ll see what I can do.” :[-]: Crew members of all kinds aboard Horizon usually liked to think of the Admiral’s office, which doubled as his living quarters, was something to kill for. A luxurious bed, with nice silk sheets and fluffy pillows, their own television, and maybe even a mini fridge with some alcohol. The perfect habitat for one, maybe two, to just kick back and relax; but to be frank, it wasn’t like that at all. Matter of fact, the only thing correct about that was the mini-fridge kept in the corner right beside Watson’s desk. Though the man never stored anything in it aside from his lunch, it was practically useless even then. Watson’s room was nothing different compared to every other crewmember on the ship, aside from having it to himself that is; he had one bed, an armchair, and a locker. That was it. Nothing fancy, no silk sheets, one extra pillow, and a mini fridge he only used when he decided that he couldn’t eat anymore of that fucking dried beef the kitchen staff kept serving. Watson sighed and sat back in his chair, he was in his office half past eight in the morning. He was in the middle of working on a couple documents that contained the next steps in the plans to revive humanity, the next order of business, was to set up a small, self sustaining colony. Which was going to be difficult seeing that they landed next to a native settlement constructed by a species that magically seemed to evolve in only the span of under ten thousand years, assumably that is. Raising his hands he rested the back of his head in his palms, his eyes flicking towards the red digital clock above he saw that it was now eight fifty in the morning. He had ten minutes before he needed to go down to briefing; the chairmen had requested a meeting four hours ago, after that excuse of a landing, to discuss future operations. Hence the reason why he was looking over them now. Watson always hated going to these meetings. The snobs that practically served no purpose to the survivability of mankind irritated the hell out of him. The only reason these handful of people survived in the first place was because of their positions in politics and their threats to cut funding on the Icarus Project (Horizon’s construction), if they weren’t guaranteed any seats. “I knew women and children who’d serve better on this ship then these fuckers,” Watson mumbled under his breath as he leaned forward and flicked through a few more pages. One of them being a full page list of the vaults that hopefully contained the last of the human species. Twenty-five vaults in total covered every continent on the entire planet, twenty of them housing civilians while the other five held the last of the world’s military superpowers. “Zere’s enough veapons and supplies down zere to vage vorld var tree.” Watson could remember Hassel stating, at the time the good doctor was only joking around. However, it was the truth, five military vaults; two being on either coast of the United States, one in China, Germany, and finally Russia; were established in case the Archangel had somehow miraculously survived. Each of them packed with enough weapons that if they were to fall in the wrong hands, history may as well repeat itself and Horizon would find itself drifting along the edge of the solar system once again. Watson flipped to the last blank page, yawning quietly to himself he grabbed a hold of the folder and closed it, revealing a small black and white photo about the size of a playing card. On it was a young woman standing next to a man dressed in a Liberty dress. The man’s arm was wrapped tightly around the back of the woman's neck, pulling her into a tight hug. Both shared ridiculous smiles and the man held up two fingers as a “Peace!” sign. In the background, he could see the ocean and a warship not too far off in the distance. Watson smiled and picked the image off the table and flipped it, Hawaii 1966. “Nineteen years old,” he whispered to himself and mimicked the goofish smile his past self held. Raising a hand, he gently trailed his index finger across the woman’s face, the fond memories of years past slowly beginning to resurface. “If only you were here now to see how much we’ve accomplished, dear,” he chuckled. “Admiral Watson?” a pleasantly calm voice inquired. Watson blinked twice looking up from the photo he rose out of the sea of memories. “Yes?” he answered. “Admiral Watson, are you there?” Beating the palm of his hand against his forehead Watson scolded himself when he noticed the voice was coming from the speaker on his desk. Leaning over he pressed his finger down on the talk key. “What is it, Wendy?” “Chairman Michelson is requesting for your presence down in the briefing room; I was also supposed to tell you that Commander Keshiner and the rest of Baghdad have returned from their expedition.” Watson groaned, he absolutely hated attending these sorts of meetings, the ones where a politically inclined fig yammered on without getting straight to the damned point, he sighed, knowing that there was no way out of it. Of course, his finger wasn’t depressing the key, so the irritation was missed by the desk jockey on the other end. Otherwise, the Admiral was pleased, yet somewhat apprehensive about the debriefing and what Baghdad had to report. “Very well,” he pressed the intercom, “tell the Chairman I’ll be down immediately.” It was often best to say that you would be down as soon as possible, rather than in a few minutes, as Watson had learned over his long and exhaustive career. “Will do, sir. Anything else?” Wendy responded cheerfully. Watson nodded despite her being in a separate compartment. “Yes, tell Keshiner to report his team’s findings to Intelligence, and that they have two hours rest before they join the other teams along the perimeter.” “Yes sir, notifying the Commander now.” Watson took his hand off the receiver and slouched in his chair for a couple of moments, contemplating if he should formulate some bullshit excuse. He decided against it and rose up from his chair. Glancing down at himself, he even considered opting out of dressing up and just going in his white tee and grey cargos. Although, the chairmen would really throw a tantrum if they saw him like that. He smirked, now that’d be a sight to see. Sadly, it was time to quit the games and throw on his mask of professionalism. Stripping off his casual wear, Watson crumpled them into a ball and tossed them into a clothes hamper. He opened his locker and found his uniform freshly cleaned and coffee stain free, along with five other white T-shirts and pairs of pants. He took the uniform out of the locker and began to put it on. Once he was finished, he looked himself over once in the mirror. Watson proceeded to the door, glancing sadly back at his room and office, which he knew he wouldn’t see for quite some time. He swallowed the lump in his throat and flipped off the lights, the pneumatic door sliding noiselessly shut behind him. :[-]: “Mr. Carlson, I’ll say this once, and only once: to insure our survival we cannot go around cracking open every vault there is. We must make sure we ourselves can survive this wilderness, therefore we need to establish a self sustaining colony.” Admiral Watson explained to the fat man across from him that was practically on his tip toes as he leant forward and nasty scowl plastered across his face. “Don’t forget the natives too,” The women sitting beside Watson, Chairman Angela Weaver said, primary funder of the Icarus Project. “Even with our technological advantage there are far too many of them for us to handle if things are to take a turn for the worst.” “And speaking of the Natives, Ms. Weaver.” Charles Riley, United States Democrat who had just enough money to make it aboard. “What do you propose we do with them?” “We attempt negotiations of course. We go for diplomacy and try to gain equal grounds with one another, depending on how things turn out. We can only hope it ends in our favor.” “And what if it doesn’t,” Carlson sat back down in his seat, a brow was raised and his teeth latched tightly down on the unlit pipe between his lips. “Say these creatures are hostile, what then?” “We do our best to keep every last person aboard this ship alive, Carlson. Plan for the worst hope for the best.” Watson said, his voice completely monotone, a hand was resting on the side of his head while the other tapped impatiently on the arm rest. “How about first contact?” A man in a black suit, short brown hair brushed a little to the right, his face was dark and his eyes were brown. “What about it Mr. Chinaski?” Watson asked. The man gulped and scratched one side of his skinny neck. “How would we approach a meeting with these... horses?” “Just call them natives Mr. Chinaski,” Watson sighed while looking over to the woman beside him. She was wearing a nice black skirt that went just past her knees, and a top that really complimented her slim body; her blonde hair was tied neatly into a ponytail that rested on the back of her neck, a pair of black rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of her nose right in front of her equally spaced, blue eyes. If Watson was asked to briefly explain what this woman looked like he’d say, “She looks like a librarian really.” Weaver sank a little bit in her seat, a hand to her chin in thought. “Quite honestly, Mr. Chinaski, we haven’t come up with an idea on how we’d approach them.” “Here’s an idea Ms. Weaver,” Riley spoke up. “We don’t.” Weaver looked at the man and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t what?” “Isolationism,” He clarified, “we stick to ourselves and focus on what’s at hand.” Watson sighed and took his hand off his face, straightening his back he looked to Riley and said, “Well I’m sorry to burst your bubble chairman, but last I saw the natives will most likely be making contact.” Murmurs sprouted throughout the briefing room. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Watson called over the people, “There is no avoiding what is going to happen in the next couple hours or even days. To these creatures we’re aliens that have fallen from the stars. They don’t know squat about us. And that’s bad, very bad. They won’t leave us alone. They WILL investigate us, and we either have to be ready when it comes, or reach out ourselves with our best foot forward.” All eyes were now on him. “Already Sgt. Conway and his men had captured four of these beings alive–” Carlson shot from his seat his hands pounding on the table that was in front of him. “Are you kidding me?!” The briefing room fell silent, Carlson looked back towards the other chairmen who watched him with wide eyes, he looked back at Watson. “Admiral Watson, if what you’re saying is true these creatures are bound to attack us on sight! What were your men thinking?!” Watson leaned forward his eyebrows curving downwards. “I’ll assure you, Carlson, my men had every right to do what they did. Those creatures cracked open the Japanese storage coolers, ten inches of thick steel pushed open as if it was nothing.” Carlson gave Watson a skeptical look. “And I bet they can fly too,” He said sarcastically. Watson folded his hands and smirked. “Matter of fact,” he had to suppress a laugh when Carlson flashed him a look of pure disbelief, “they can... at least, the ones with wings can.” Carlson locked eyes with Watson for a couple of moments before sitting down, grumbling angrily to himself. A woman dressed in a white lab coat with a green undershirt and long brown hair stood up. “And what else do we know of these creatures, Admiral?” Watson smiled, so much for discussing their next plans. “Well, Christa, what we know of–” “Attention Security Status 2! All available units are to report to the armory immediately, I repeat: All available units report to the armory immediately! This is not a drill!” “What the Hell?” Watson rose immediately from his chair, voices throughout the room began to rise as chairmen looked to each other with worried and confused faces. “Everyone please remain calm!” Weaver ordered as she stood, looking to Watson she said, “Admiral, could it be them?” Watson took his eyes away from the speaker that was still blurting out the alert. “Maybe... I dunno.” Outside the room he could already hear soldiers rallying towards the armory, the ceiling rumbled as more rushed to the stairs. Watson looked to Weaver, his face returning to its original demeanor. “Ms. Weaver, I want you to stay here and keep them,” He motioned with his hands towards the frightened chairmen, “from causing a panic.” Weaver bit her bottom lip and glanced towards the indicated party. “Eh.” She gulped. “Yes sir,” She said her confidence returning. Watson gave her a small smile and nodded. Turning, he jogged out of the room and into the fray. The corridor was packed, shoulder to shoulder soldiers quickly moved to the armory on the second deck, upper right part of the ship. Watson forcefully made his way in the opposite direction, his destination being the command room located in the very center of Horizon. It took him four minutes to push his way past his men to reach the central elevator, mainly used only by important individuals and scientists. Watson stepped into the elevator, the metal doors stuttered for a brief moment before closing behind him. Even though the engineers had gotten the elevators to work again just a few hours after the ship came down, there still seemed to be a few problems. Something about needing to adjust the lifting mechanisms to account for increased gravity. Oh well. After descending deeper into the ship for a bit, the elevator stopped at its destination, its doors sliding apart, leading out to the third deck, which was devoid of staff except for the few scientist that briskly roamed the halls. Watson adjusted his collar and began to make his way to the command center, when he arrived the large metal doors groaned as he passed through them. “Excuse me, sir!” A man dressed in a dark green jumpsuit said just before running by, nearly ramming into Watson. His eyes followed the running man all the way to the other side of the room, around him he could see the entire command center was in chaos. People ran back and forth relaying information to one another, and in the center of it all was a tall, thin woman dressed in a dark green officer uniform with tinted sleeves. She had short black hair that stopped right above her ears, and dark blue eyes that could stare into a man’s soul. Command Officer Caroline Starter stood just beside the center desk, her eyes locked on the blue holo-globe. Watson approached her. “Officer Starter,” he greeted, the girl in front of him jumped, startled by his sudden appearance. She quickly turned to face Watson and gave him a brisk salute. “Admiral Watson,” She greeted back. “Give me a sit-rep,” He ordered. Caroline nodded and faced the globe, raising a hand she pointed towards a mass of red dots converging in on their location. “That’s what’s happening sir, fifteen minutes ago the majority of sensors were tripped along the western half of the perimeter.” Watson squinted and leaned in a bit, the red dots almost seemed to make a large bloodstain. He looked at Caroline, “What about our soldiers along the defensive line, do we have eyes on whatever this is?” Caroline nodded her head. “Yes sir, Leevi!” She shouted towards a man to the right of them who was sitting at a computer just at the base of the globe. “Bring up the footage sent to us by the Mark Two!” “Yes Ma’am, bringing up the footage now.” Caroline turned and faced the large screen mounted behind them on the wall, Watson followed suit. “The video here, Admiral,” Caroline explained, “Is footage that was captured by one of our Panzer mechs that was patrolling a few miles outside of the perimeter.” The screen flickered as the video began. Watson could faintly hear the sound of the pilot talking to himself, the screen shuddered with every step causing the footage to stutter and occasionally flicker. Listening further, Watson noticed that the man was actually talking to someone else over the radio. The pilot looked to be in control of a Heavy class panzer, standing roughly sixteen feet tall, and weighing ninety tons. The walking hunk of metal the man was piloting was built by humanity’s greatest minds to withstand anything the Archangel could throw at them. The pilot maneuvering the mech sat in the center chest piece protected by four inches of titanium on the front and only two inches on the sides. It appeared that this particular model was outfitted with a GAU-18 rotary cannon, and 120 mm smoothbore. “Really?” The man said as he snickered “She really did it?!” He laughed. Watson sighed impatiently. “What am I looking at here?” He said gesturing with an open hand towards the trees on screen. “Leevi, skip ahead a minute,” Caroline requested. “Yes, Ma’am, skipping ahead.” The picture began to move along much more quickly than before, humorously through the eyes of the mech the image bobbed up and down at a fast pace. Suddenly though, something flashed across the screen. “Stop it now!” Caroline demanded. The image halted, “Resume original pace,” She said. “What the Hell?” The pilot said his voice struck with confusion. The mech turned towards the brush in which the light came from. Slowly, the pilot turned and began to make his way towards it. The bushes began to shake; something was inside. The pilot stopped the mech just a few short feet away from the vegetation. “Activating thermal,” He said. Suddenly the picture changed entirely, the colors of the trees and bushes transformed into tints of grey, revealing about a dozen white silhouettes laying in the bushes. “Eh... guys?” The pilot began speaking over the radio again. Watson’s eyebrow raised at the scene before him. “Caroline, are these the creatures that tipped off the alarm?” She nodded. “We believe so sir, but keep watching, there’s something else I want you to see.” The pilot finished his conversation, mumbling to himself he switched off the thermal vision. Retaking control the pilot lifted the mechs foot and went to take a step over the bush, but halted right above. “Goddammit, fucking gears locking up again!” The pilot cursed, a slight protesting beep coming from inside the cockpit sign signaling that something wasn't working right. “I don’t got time for this shit!” A shout of some sorts admitted from one of the bushes as the gears released the foot, causing it to come crashing down on the bush. As if on cue, the entire forest came to life as equine like creatures leaped out of the brush and began frantically galloping around the mech. “Jesus Christ!” The pilot pulled the mech back, nearly causing it to trip on a nearby fallen tree, he glanced from equine to equine, each of them covered in armor ranging from purple to gold. Each and every creature ran blindly in all directions, the pilot holstered the mech’s 120 mm smoothbore. Watson could hear the pilot’s frustration when he tried to move but stopped when he noticed an equine ran right by the mech’s foot. “Alright you sonsofbitches.” The pilot flicked a couple of switches and jammed his thumb down on the horn, the creatures stumbled, nearly falling on their faces. Glaring back at the mech most of them turned and ran deep into the tree line, a few however began to back away slowly the reality of a metal giant standing before them not having sunk in yet. One in particular, a tall, dark blue, winged equine with a mane that spat in the face of Newtonian physics, stood before the mech, its eyes trapped in a cold stare with the pilot’s. The pilot smirked, rolling the mechs shoulders he raised its foot in attempt to see if he could scare the tall equine off. However, when the mech’s foot came just feet above its head, an earsplitting shout ruptured the audio of the video. The footage fell silent. “What in God’s name?” Watson mumbled. “What happened to the sound?” Caroline looked at him and shrugged. “We have absolutely no idea; something blew out the external microphone.” “Was it that?” She shrugged once again. “Most likely. We’ve been analyzing the footage sinced the second we saw it and we haven’t found anything else that could’ve done it.” Watson looked back the screen in bewilderment. Now the mech was turning away and heading back to base. “The damn thing must’ve swallowed a megaphone as a child.” “HQ, this is Charlie. We’re detecting movement northwest of our position. Do you copy? Over.” Caroline pivoted around and went back over to the globe, where she picked up the headset that had been resting on the desk. “Charlie, this is HQ. We read you. What do you see? Over.” Watson came up beside her and rested both his hands on the desk. “I think we don’t need a sit-rep to know what’s coming,” He said quietly. “Mother of God!” A second marine spat through the speaker. Caroline reacted quickly. “What is it Charlie? What do you see?!” “There’s dozens of’em!” “Dozens of what Charlie?! What do you see?!” Watson frowned and looked at Caroline. “Tell those men not to engage!” Caroline nodded and brought the mic to her mouth. “Charlie whatever you do, do not engage I repeat: Do not engage!” “Roger that–ah shit! They see us! I repeat we’ve been spotted!–” A single shot rang out in the background, both Watson and Caroline flinched. Watson snagged the headset away from Caroline, and he nearly yelled into it, “Marine by God if your men fire off another round, I’ll have you all by your necks! Now pull back immediately and await further orders!” “Eh, yes sir, Admiral Watson! Fall back!” “Admiral Watson, Officer Starter!” Leevi shouted, “Multiple sensors have been tripped along the south western perimeter!” “Sensors on the East side have gone up, sir!” “North side has been triggered!” “By God,” Watson watched as dozens, upon dozens of red dots appeared around the ship. “They’re surrounding us.” Caroline looked at Watson, Watson however did not look back, instead his eyes remained on the globe. A thick sweat beginning to form on his brow, his frown deepened and his brow furrowed. “Leevi,” He said in a cold voice, “Patch me into Horizon’s intercom!” “Yes sir! Patching you through now!” He placed the mic close to his mouth and cleared his throat before speaking, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are on Security Status Red! All units are to remain on high alert at all times!” Watson placed the headset back on the desk and turned away and began heading for the door. “Admiral Watson,” Caroline said, she began to follow him. “Where are you going?” “To get my gun!” He said as he jammed the button that opened the door. Caroline stopped before the door as he stepped through it, Watson stopped and looked over his shoulder. “As for you Officer Starter, I want you to stay here and hold down the fort while I’m gone.” :[-]: Commander Williams was enjoying his time on break. He was in his quarters sleeping on his bunk when security was bumped up to two and he and his men were ordered to report to the armory. He had only gotten about forty minutes worth of rest in when the alarm was sounded, that is, if you could call nightmares rest. As of now he remained laying in his bunk. His gaze fixated on the single light above. William wondered if anyone would even notice him missing. He smiled, maybe then he could get some more shuteye. “Yo Commander!” Michael’s muffled voice rung out, “Are you alive in there?” William took a deep breath, so much for that wish.“Barely,” he replied before rising from his bunk, still blinking the sleepiness from his vision. He yawned and raised his hand to rub the crust out of his eyes. Mumbling under his breath he got up and walked over to his locker, throwing it open with little care. He stared at the contents, his mind drifting off into space. To his right the door opened and the junior lieutenant stepped in, already suited up in his tyvek suit, camo pants, and vest. All he was missing was the helmet and mask that usually shielded his short, brown hair and bright, green eyes. “Hey Commander, you coming?” William yawned and grabbed his protective suit out of his locker, he flashed a look towards marine. “What does it look like?” “Looks like to me you’re slacking off.” Michael smiled and tapped the door frame. “Come on, we need to be down in the armory in five mikes.” William finished zipping the suit up to his neck and began putting on his pants and the rest of his gear. In a matter of two minutes he was fully dressed and ready to head down. Stepping out in the hallway he saw that he and a few others were the only ones left, a few engineers wearing kevlar vests and helmets strolled by, on their backs were couple of M4 carbines. It was an odd sight to see but William knew that every man and woman aboard Horizon, save for the chairmen, had at least some form of combat experience. Had it be only basic training or an actual gun fight in the streets of some city back when man originally ruled the Earth. Luckily for William his quarters was on the same deck as the armory and it didn’t take long for him to find a small crowd of soldiers formed right in the middle of the hall by the door caused by a traffic jam of marines trying to make their way out while others tried to get in. “Come on everyone! Grab your shit and get a move on, you can chat later, lets go!” An abnormally tall man, by the name of Thomas Giles, ducked under the opening and stepped into the armory. Like every other soldier he was already set up in his tyvek. kevlar vest, elbow and kneepads, along with his helmet that was already on top his head. He clapped his hands together for emphasis, “I said lets go!” “Yes sir!” The soldiers replied in unison quickening their pace. Thomas was on the highest ranking officers on board bellow Jonathan Conway. Thomas turned around and noticed William looking up at him, he flashed his teeth at him with a smile and gave him a mock salute salute before brushing past him. William’s watched the tall soldier as he disappeared into the crowd. Looking back at Michael, William shook his head and pushed his way into the armory. Inside the armory wasn’t as packed as the corridor. The interior resembled something of a high school locker room, the walls were lined with lockers each marked with a soldier’s name and number. Down the center was large bench for men to sit or organize their gear; William politely made his way past a couple of men who were filling their bags with gear. Eventually he reached his locker. The second to last one in the barracks. It was right next to a viewscreen that originally showed off the vast reaches of space. However, the exterior camera was fried in the reentry process and it was currently just displaying the United Nations logo on a white background. The engineers were supposed to come up at some point and recycle them, but seeing as to what’s been happening over the course of the last fifteen minutes, that didn’t seem too likely. Reaching into his left breast pocket William fished out a small white key card that had his name and picture on it. Glancing at it the commander couldn’t help but smile at the young private standing before the camera. it was such a different world then, amazing to think that was over a millennium ago now. Raising the card he slid it into the panel beside the locker’s door. A satisfying bleep emanated from the device and the locker opened with a small click. Inside were two weapons. The first being his trusty M4; which was originally kept under his bed, but he learned that it’s apparently against protocol to keep weapons in your quarters. The second weapon in the locker just beside the M4 hanging up on the back wall was the trusty AK-12, personally it isn’t his choice of weapon, but the guys down in engineering kept telling him it’s much better. Especially due to the modifications they made to it to help improve the durability and accuracy of said weapon. However, that still didn’t change his opinion on it. He’s not saying that it was a bad weapon, it’s just that the AK wasn’t the gun that got him out of so many hairy situations.. William reached in and grabbed the assault rifle out of the locker along with six magazines and a pair of night vision goggles. From there he placed each item on the metal bench behind him, before turning back and taking the large combat backpack out of the locker and placing it on the floor. Getting one knee he opened it and began to sort out the rest of his gear. Once he was satisfied with what he had, William zipped it closed and slung it on his back before standing back up. He lifted his rifle off the bench and checked the mag. It was full. He loaded the mag into the rifle and attached the others onto his belt William then placed the night vision goggles on his forehead after checking the batteries. “Alright boys!” William heard Thomas shout, looking over his shoulder he saw the man resting his AK along his chest. “Just got word from the General that he wants us all down in the cafeteria!” Thomas coughed into his fist and then blurted out, “And as for you pilots!” He was referring to the men who controlled the panzer mechs. “Report down to the hangar for suiting up!” “Why the cafeteria?” Someone asked. “The briefing room is already in use,” He said, “Lets get a move on it now, we can’t keep him waiting forever!” Thomas Giles shouted once more before he turned and made his way out the door followed by many other soldiers similar to how ducklings would follow behind their mother. “The General eh?” Michael’s muffled voice crept up behind William. “I thought he’d be down in the meeting with the rest of the superiors.” William looked over his shoulder, Michael was already wearing his mask and helmet despite them being indoors. “Whatever’s happening must be serious.” “I guess so.” William raised an eyebrow. “Can you even breathe in that thing?” “Barely,” He replied. “Then why are you wearing it?” “Makes me look cool.” William rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” He said and elbowed the man behind him lightly. “Lets go.” :[-]: Will watched as General Kenway stepped up in front of everyone, he was dressed in a thick green uniform that was decorated from head to toe in badges and stars. What portions of his grey hair that hadn’t fallen out yet were neatly combed back, his brown eyes glaring sternly at the soldiers scattered about the open cafeteria. The many tables that made up the lunchroom had been folded and pushed against the outer walls and had been replaced by dozens of folding chairs. The general cleared his throat. “Good morning,” he greeted before taking a few steps towards a map that had been hastily printed out and taped to the wall. He pointed towards a set of thumbtacks that outlined the defensive perimeter around the landing site. “Twenty minutes ago an alarm was triggered along the western half of our perimeter. One of our panzer pilots, Leon Fenwick, was able to cast eyes on one of the intruders and confirm our suspicions,” Kenway glanced over at a man who was standing beside the taped map. The man nodded his head to a woman sitting behind some sort of control panel. The lights dimmed and behind the soldiers a projector beamed a blurred image onto the wall next to the map. As seconds passed the image came into focus, revealing itself to be a still image of what seemed to be armored creatures fleeing into the forest, the angle in which the shot was taken was assumed to be from the mechs head. “Earth’s new inhabitants are closing in on our AO, just as Watson predicted.” The General continued, “However, these creatures seem to be relatively harmless.” Kenway tapped his finger on a black, winged equine that appeared to be fleeing for its life. “Your job, ladies and gentlemen, is to keep it that way.” The general nodded again and the picture on the wall flickered as it zoomed in on the tall, blue horse that appeared to be wearing a black chest piece of some sort with a pure white crescent moon in the middle The creature’s eyes were narrowed and it was giving off what appeared to be an angry scowl; its mane was a blue hue, and it was decorated with white specks, casting the illusion of deep space. The mane itself however, flowed off of its body, defying gravity, it was raised high above its head as if reaching up to touch the clouds. One of its front hooves was raised in the air and extended slightly forward as if it was about to take a step. Like its mane, the tail did not obey physics; but to top it all off its wings, massive feathered limbs, were flared at its sides, nearly taking up the whole shot. “Whoa,” William heard Michael gasp beside him. “Ain’t she just the prettiest thing I’ve seen.” William cocked an eyebrow and looked at him, up front Kenway continued on with the briefing. “What are you talking about?” Michael smiled under the mask he was still wearing. He glanced at William and then pointed at the picture. “That up there. If only I had one of them things back on my ranch.” “What? Pay attention!” William hissed and noticed they were starting to draw attention. “I could’ve made bank with her.” Michael chuckled. “What the fu... you know what, never–” “Commander!” The General snapped. William immediately straightened up. “Yes, sir?” “Do you have anything you’d like to add before we start the operation?” “No, sir.” “Well then.” Kenway smirked. “That closes this morning’s briefing session. Baghdad I want you out in the field in five mikes!” The lights brightened up again and the soldiers began to rise to their feet, the room was instantly full with the sound of voices. “Goddammit, Michael,” William grumbled when he realized he had no idea on where he was supposed to go. “Commander!” A voice shouted behind him, looking over his shoulder he saw Stacy approaching him, her helmet tucked neatly under her right arm. She motioned her head towards the exit. “You’re with us!” A grin formed on his face. “How convenient.” :[-]: “You were really a rancher?” William asked Michael, his back resting against a large tree, his rear planted on a large root that arched out of the ground. The two men and Stacey were in the middle of a thick brush, the air was humid, and the buzz of insects could be heard from all around them mixed in with the occasional bird call. Every now and again the three of them would hear the sound of dirt and leaves rustling as a rabbit or any other small animal passed by. The three of them were sent to reinforce the ships perimeter, like most of the others on boar Horizon, to help keep an eye out for the inhabitants that triggered the alarm. “Yeah, I really was,” Michael replied he was sitting on a rock across from William, fiddling with a small deck of cards he had found in the cafeteria. “Down in Southern California I raised horses with my Pop.” “Just horses?” William asked, honestly not intrigued. He was just trying to find a way to pass the time. Michael shook his head. “We had some cattle, and chickens... I think we even had some sheep...” He frowned. “I can hardly remember it.” Stacey took a step back from the tree she was leaning on and lowered the goggles to her chest. “Alright, Junior, it's your turn to keep watch,” She said. Michael stood and dusted his pant legs off. “Okay–here can you hold my card?” He placed the deck back into its box and handed it to her, she took them and the two switched places. “So why did you leave the ranch?” William turned his head and cracked his neck, lifting his gun he positioned himself so that he was in a more comfortable position. “Why else would anyone leave? When the damn Ruskies began acting up I felt threatened, and I had the urge to defend myself and my country. And then....” Michael looked back at William and stuck a hand out towards the surrounding vegetation. “This happened.” “Romeo to Baghdad, I repeat: Romeo to Baghdad.” William’s radio blurted. He took it and answered. “This is Baghdad, over.” “We ain’t gettin’ any readings in our position, how about you, over?” William looked to Michael, who was already peering through the goggles. A few seconds passed while Michael scanned the surroundings before he flipped them up and looked over at William with a shake of his head. William nodded. “Negative, Romeo, we ain’t got nothin’ either. Over.” “Roger that, anything over by you delta?” “Negative, over.” Replied another voice. “Huh.” Stacey shrugged and opened Michael’s pack of of cards, she slid the the deck into her hand and leaned forward on the rock. Stacey then began to place the cards on the ground into seven separate groups, William immediately recognized the game of solitaire she was setting up. “I guess it’s all silent here on the western front,” she said flipping her first card over and revealed a red king of hearts. “Sorta quiet,” Michael said before flipping the goggles back down and peering towards the north-west, “I’m not picking up any specific kinds of movement but I do see the occasional shift in a bush.” “You know what I mean.” Stacey smirked and placed a black queen of hearts under the red king, she then took three more cards from her deck and frowned,cursing slightly under her breath and reaching for three more cards. William sat quietly on his root while letting his mind drift off into space. Memories of the dream he had of his wife day or so back and how he completely forgotten who she was resurfaced. The thought of forgetting Laura’s face forced a frown upon his and he quickly tried to think of something else. “Yes!” William jolted the voice saving him from having another nightmare. In front of him, Stacey held a large smile on her face as she placed an ace at the bottom of her last solitaire row. He grinned at the sight of the accomplished girl, his eyes then shifting towards Michael whose face was deep in thought, and he sheepishly brought his goggles back up to his eyes. “Commander,” He said, “I think I got something.” “What is it?” William pushed himself off the tree root and back onto his feet. “I can’t tell right off the bat, eh, switching to thermal.” Michael flicked a switch on the top right half of the goggles before freezing in place. “Holy shit...” He said slowly. “What is it?” William asked again taking a step toward Michael, Stacey was back on her feet the cards still on the forest floor. “I’m counting six... no twelve... eighteen? Twenty? Jesus Christ!” William shook his head and unslung his bag, opening it he reached in and took out his goggles as well. Raising them up he switched on the thermal optics and peered into the distance. Approximately a hundred and forty meters out was what seemed to be a small army of quadrupeds, the white silhouettes making it difficult to actually describe what they were. William’s radio began going nuts with chatter. “HQ, this is Charlie. We’re detecting movement northwest of our position. Do you copy? Over.” “Charlie, this is HQ. We read you. What do you see? Over.” “Commander,” Michael said over the chatter, “What do you want us to do?” William watched the large quadruped force march towards them in an organized fashion. Their bodies were lined up perfectly and their hooffalls were in perfect cadence, thus creating a rhythmic beat similar to a drum’s. “Mother of God” A marine gasped, “There’s dozens of them!” The man over the device shouted, nearly drowning out Caroline’s voice when she asked him to specify what he saw. “Commander.” Stacey grabbed William’s attention. “I suggest we pull back immediately.” William looked at her, then back towards the oncoming army, the thunderous beat sending a cold chill down his spine. “I agree.” He swallowed. “Fallback another hundred towards the river and await further orders.” “Wilco, sir.” Stacey turned and began dashing through the trees back towards the ship, next she was followed by Michael. Before William could make a single move a gunshot sounded off not too far from their position, freezing him in place for a mere moment. His device exploded once more. “Marine, by God if your men fire off another round, I’ll have you all by your necks! Now pull back immediately and await further orders!” Admiral Watson roaring voice rolled out of the walkie-talkie, even though the Admiral wasn’t yelling at William specifically. Just the sound of his screeching voice lit a fire under his ass and caused him to bolt behind his two squadmates. It didn’t take William long to catch up to the other two, Michael was running hastily with his gun hugged tightly to his chest, where as Stacey held it loosely near her waist, William however, held his with one hand, the other shoving twigs and leaves out of his face. To their right came a startled yelp and the sharp pop of snapping twigs, all three soldiers slid to a stop, weapons drawn and hearts pounding. Only for a pair of marines to come running out of the trees and collapsing to their knees out of breath. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ, Larry!” A small southern accent slipped into Michael’s words, “You almost made us blow yer’ fuckin head off!” He snapped and lowered his gun. “Sorry,” The soldier wheezed. “We just got back from examining the motion sensors, some five hundred meters back.....” The man gagged. “I can hardly fuckin’ breathe.” William lowered his gun and took a step forward. “You must’ve been there when they,–” He motioned his head back towards where the marching army was advancing. “–Showed up.” The marine named Larry breathed in heavily and straightened his back out, the other beside him gagged once more. “Yeah...” He sighed. “Yeah we were. The fucking horses showed up out of nowhere. One moment we’re checking the sensors, making sure everything’s alright. Then these goddamn flying horse things come swooshing over head, next thing I know it’s like a goddamn earthquake is going on and dimwit here.–” He Jammed a thumb towards the man on his knees. “–Comes running out of the trees telling us to get the fuck outta dodge!” “How come ya’ll–excuse me,–” Michael cleared his throat. “,–didn’t notify HQ when you first saw them coming?” “Why I don’t know,” Larry gestured sarcastically and glared at the marine still recovering below him. “Tell’m George.” Larry gestured with his hand out towards William and the others. “I busted mah radio...” He coughed while pushing himself to his feet. “And how did you bust it?” Larry spoke to him like a child. The soldier named George shot a scowl at him. “I was climbin’ on the rocks by the mountain and slipped, okay? Fell flat on mah chest and busted it.” Larry looked at William and nodded his head. “Idiot can hardly make his way to the cafeteria without breaking something.” George shot another look at him, the man looked as if he was trying to catch Larry on fire with just his eyes. “Hey boys,” Stacey jumped in. “I’m sorry to spoil our little get together but we got orders we need to finish.” Larry and George looked at them confused. “What orders?” They both asked. “The Admiral ordered the entire defensive perimeter to fall back to the ship, and judging by what we’ve seen so far these things may have us outnumbered.” “Well,” Larry said looking slightly worried, “let’s get going then.” :[-]: Every man or woman who could carry weapon on Horizon was immediately handed one when the security levels reached maximum, Status Red. No matter if you were a scientist, engineer, doctor, or even person who works in the intelligence department. You were handed a rifle, protective suit, and other various equipment; Then ordered to go to the front and defend if necessary. Even Admiral Watson himself, the highest ranking individual on board, gathered his gun and stepped outside to assist his men. When Watson arrived outdoors the he took charge in watching over the men making sure things were going accordingly. Dozens of soldiers ran back and forth carrying weapons and supplies towards a large makeshift barricades made out of crates and logs. From the forest, soldiers that were on the perimeter poured out into the clearing, running as fast as they could towards the ship. William Keshiner and his fire team, along with the two boys from the outer edges, were one of the first groups that returned. Not too far behind the soldiers, Watson could hear the the rhythmic pattern of the advancing army pounding in the distance. A loud horn erupted beside him, followed by a loud hiss and a metallic clank! Looking to his right, a large metal door opened on Horizon’s side revealing the hangar bay. Inside, standing on the edges right before the door were six heavy panzer mechs. One by one the metal behemoths stepped off the ship and onto the Earth, their large, metal feet leaving imprints half the size of cars. The Earth trembled before each mighty step and one by one these iron giants made their thunderous ways towards the midway point that had been cleared between the treeline and ship. “Admiral Watson!” A shout came from his left. Watson turned his head and saw the commander, along with his squad, running towards him, all of them seeming out of breath. “Commander,” Watson smiled and saluted William, in which he responded with one of his own. “I’m glad to see you and your men made it back safely.” William nodded his head. “Sir, permission to ask what the hell is going on here?” He motioned towards the chaotic scenery around them, already a band of soldiers had finished constructing a twelve meter long barricade in the middle of the clearing and were already taking up posts behind it. Setting up huge machine guns through gaps in the top. In front of the barricade the mechs had spaced themselves out into a loose, but very intimidating, defensive line. Watson rolled his right shoulder which let out three satisfyingly loud pops. “Well Commander.” He motioned for William to follow with his left hand and the two of them, along with Will’s team, headed for a large command tent a dozen meters behind the defensive line. “Judging by our previous satellite footage, the equine army that arrived in the settlement earlier last night finally pinpointed our exact location.” They arrived at the tent and Watson flung the flap open and stepped in. Inside was a fold out table and a map of Japan. The map was set on an littered with red thumb tacks and rubber bands that Watson himself didn’t quite understand, most likely the engineer’s plans for reconstruction. “Any idea on how much time till they get here?” William asked. “Well seeing as that we can hear them, Commander.” Watson silenced himself to allow the sound of marching forces express his point. “I’d be damned surprised if we have any time left.” Watson brushed passed William and went over towards the table with the map. William remained silent for a brief moment, finally he spoke up. “Then what’s the plan, sir?” Watson unslung his rifle, a standard issued AK-12, and set it aside so that it leaned against the table. “Well, Commander, the best case scenario is that they aren’t coming to blast us off this rock, but rather to assert their power and negotiate The problem with that one is, at least if what Dr. Hassel said to me earlier was true, then these creatures do not speak the same language as us.” William nodded his head. “Well isn’t this going to be fun.” “However,” Watson continued and he turned to face William. “If they are here to wipe us off this rock, Commander, let’s just hope we have enough ammo fight them off.” The two of them remained silent for a brief moment, save for the breathing coming from William’s squadmates that stood by the exit. Watson with his hands planted flat on the table and his eyes locked on the large red cup that symbolized the ship. “So far Commander,” Watson continued, “ I have decided that I want you by my side when the locals arrive. I want you to watch mine and Angela Greene’s back.” “Angela?” William said, his thoughts immediately drifting back to that tall, extremely thin woman with a chest that’d make every man drool over themselves. “Yep,” Watson said and straightened himself out. “Due to her skills in diplomacy she’s the only person we can count on when negotiating with them.” William frowned. He had a bad feeling about where this was going. “But, sir, I thought you–” Watson silenced William with a raise of his hand. “I know what I said, Commander, and I’m afraid we’re going to have to face the truth. We have no way of communicating with them as of yet and a military stand off is highly undesirable ” “We’re just going to have to hope they don’t take our actions the wrong way.” William ran a hand across the back of his neck. “Admiral!” A young voice shouted just outside the tent, the flap flinging open seconds later and a young private stuck his head in causing the two soldiers by the flap to turn their heads around. “What is it lad?” Watson asked already knowing the full answer. “Southern half of the coming force has arrived, they’re lining up just along the treeline!” The boy explained. “Are they posing any sort of threat?” William asked, his voice grave. The private shook his head. “Not as of yet, it just looks like they’re lining up to wait.” Watson nodded his head and grabbed his rifle. “They’re waiting for the rest of the surrounding force.” He began heading for the exit, William followed behind. “Sir, they’re surrounding us?” He asked. “Yes they have been this entire time.” Watson glanced back. “Caroline hasn’t notified you?” William shook his head. “No, sir.” “Well no need to worry, Commander,” Watson ducked through the exit and stepped back out into the mud caked earth. “We’ve already established a reasonable defense around the ship.” Watson briefly waved towards their informant who then made a mad dash back towards the southern end. “And besides, through the intel we’ve gathered, the larger front will be focused on this half.” Watson pointed a finger down at the earth, a shout ringed from his right. Both men turned their heads and an instrument, similar to a bugle, sounded three times. Out from the trees came a wall of equines, tightly packed together, marching out into the opening. From what Watson could see there had must have been a hundred of them, if not even more on their side of the ship. A vast majority of them wore golden armor, whereas the minority was wearing a dark purple. On the helms of the ones with golden armor were large blue plumes that stretched all the way down to the back of their heads. In contrast the purple soldiers had a thin dark fin that went down the middle of the head. The wall of panzers stood their ground and readied their weapons, the marines behind the barricades primed their machine guns and adjusted the sights. Watson brought a hand up to a small communication device that sat directly upon his ear and pressed the only visible button. “Ladies and gentlemen. Hold your fire unless I say otherwise. This is first contact, while we must be ready, we do not want to provoke any avoidable hostility.” He ordered, then flicked a small switch, “Caroline, this is Watson, is the negotiator ready?” Watson watched as the small army came to a halt twenty seven meters away from the mechs. “Affirmative sir,” Caroline’s voice came through rather confidently, “She should be on her way now.” “Roger that, have you heard anything from the other fronts?” “Nothing too drastic sir, but I did hear from Delta that a majority of the equines are not carrying any weapons. Not to mention the ones they brought with them seem to be old fashion swords and spears.” Watson breathed out a sigh of relief. “If that’s the case then, they’re not here to kill us. Thank you Caroline.” “You’re welcome, sir.” Watson took his hand off the side of his head and he shot a finger towards William, whose eyes were glued to the wall of equines. “Commander Keshiner, you’re with me!” He ordered and swung around to begin walking towards the front line with his gun lowered. William snapped out of his trance and nodded his head as he started into a quick jog to catch up. “Yessir!” “Everybody!” Watson raised a hand and shouted to the surrounding soldiers as he and William passed. “Lower your weapons immediately!” Watson came up beside a mech’s foot and he looked up at it, and brought his hand up to his comlink again. “That includes you heavies, lower your weapons.” The mechs head rotated around and angled down, before nodding and slipping the massive minigun into the scabbard on its back. Watson smiled and patted the mech on the foot. “Thank you,” He said despite the pilot not being able to hear him. Watson looked on ahead towards the equines, squinting his eyes he took a few steps forward. There, dead in the center, he could see the tallest one of them all, and he recognized it immediately. “Commander,” Watson said singling it out with a finger. William followed Watson’s finger and saw exactly what he was pointing at. “That one right here,” Watson continued. “That’s the leader.” Behind them, Watson could hear the sound of rapid splashes as someone came running up to them. Taking a brief glance over his shoulder he spotted Angela Greene as she came running towards them. She then twisted her legs in a way that she came to a sliding stop just a few feet away from them. The poor girl wheezing as if she had just ran a hundred miles, her grey tyvek suit and kevlar vest, which clearly did not seem comfortable on her chest, smothered in mud. She bent over and rested her hands on her knees, taking a breather while Watson turned around and noticed that she was wearing a partly closed back pack. Inside he could see a metal pole with a white tank top tied to it. “You okay there, miss?” William asked in a careless voice, Watson saw in Will’s eyes that he was frowning. “Oh yeah I’m fine,” Angela wheezed sarcastically before lapsing into a violent coughing fit. “An alien species is knocking on our door wanting to talk..... and I’m the one forced to answer it.... even though,” She gagged. “J-just like the rest of you, I don’t know a damn thing they're going saying, so yeah I’m just peachy.” William rolled his eyes, shaking his head he bent over and gently grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. “Come on now, this isn’t the time to get worked up about this.” Angela straightened herself out and readjusted her vest into a more comfortable position. Watson looked her in the eyes and cocked an eyebrow. “Are you ready Ms. Greene?” He was starting to grow a little anxious, and taking a look back at the equines he had a feeling they were too. She nodded her head and looked at William. “William,” Her voice opting into a more serious tone. “Could you please be a dear and fish my tank top out of my bag?” Will nodded and she turned around so that he can reach into her backpack and pull out the pole. Watson smirked. “I see you made a white flag, good thinking.” Angela nodded her head and turned back towards them after William zipped the bag closed. “Thank you, Watson–” “It’s, sir to you.” He corrected. “Sorry, sir,” She apologized and quickly returned to the subject at hand. “I’m hoping we would try and show them that we mean no harm.–speaking of which, I advise both of you to leave your guns here.” Both William and Watson looked to her as if she was nuts. “What?” She asked. “They came here without weapons,” She exclaimed with an open hand stuck out towards the equine soldiers. “Therefore we should respect them by doing the same.” “Ms. Greene,” William said, “I respect your morals but I’m highly against–” “Silence, Commander.” Watson looked at William sternly. “The girl is right, to further show that we don’t want any harm done we should at least try and respect them by putting down our weapons. We have plenty of backup if we need it.” William furrowed his brow, but then bowed his head in defeat. “Yes, sir.” William unslung his gun from his shoulder and placed it on the ground, then rose back up and handed Angela the makeshift flag. In which she declined. “I have no time to be waving that thing around during my chat with the natives, William.” Watson snickered quietly at William’s reaction. The Commander’s eyes looked as if he wanted to tear the girl’s head off, Angela took notice of this and gave him a devious look. Even though he couldn’t see through the mask below the eyes Watson knew she was giving him the most impish smile. One of the highest ranking officers demoted to nothing but a flag boy. For the time being that is. “Well then gentlemen,” Angela said with slightly more confidence. “Lets go make history.” :[-]: Princess Luna stood at the edge of the treeline facing toward she massive metal object that had landed on the surface of the earth. The object spanned to almost the of her and her sisters castle, and that was only the length. From where she stood she couldn’t get a good look at its width but from what she heard from the pegasi scouts, it was maybe at least half the length. The object was dirtied with dried mud, and charred metal.Some of the parts even had panels torn off, revealing a second layer that looked rather unscathed. None of what she was seeing seemed natural, but that only made it more fascinating. “Twilight Sparkle,” She smiled, the thought of Celestia’s favorite subject when she hears the news humored her. “I cannot wait to see the look on your face.” Despite the fascinating object that had come falling out of the sky, there were dozens of other things that caught Luna’s interest., most notably the creatures that seemed to have arrived in said object. Dozens if not a hundred tall, slim creatures wearing green camouflage suits with black vests and unnerving masks that shielded everything except for their small, lemon shaped eyes. Luna bit her lip, her curiosity beginning to be replaced with nervousness. The bipedal creatures were sprinting from right to left seemingly taking up defensive positions, and out in the front of it all was a wall of metallic creatures resembling the one she saw in the forest. They beared an eerie resemblance to the iron golems that roamed the earth back when Discord ruled. Just below one of the metal giants, she spotted two of the bipedal creatures that had advanced further than the rest. Both of them seemed to be of the same height, however the on the left was slightly slimmer by appearance. Whereas the one on the right was much broader and stiff, each of them held what looked to be a weapon of sorts, what seemed to be a smaller variation of what the giants were carrying. The slimmer creature was holding a limb to the side of its head while looking up at one of the golems. The Golem’s head shifted over to look at the slimmer being, then nodded and slid the large metallic object it was carrying into what looked like some sort of scabbard on its back. The rest of the iron giants followed suit, placing what Luna assumed to be weapons onto their backs and loosening their posture. The smaller creature patted the giant on the foot and once again turned towards the royal guard the two creatures appeared to survey the line for a few moments before the slimmer one lifted a limb and pointed her out from the rest of the soldiers. the small ounce of nervousness in Luna’s chest was beginning to build as she realised they had singled her out as the leader. Here we go. She was starting to worry on how she would approach this, from what she could tell these creatures did not speak any of the languages that she knew, and that presented quite a formidable challenge to the proceedings. She knew she could always try to cast a communication spell, or try to link her mind with one of the creatures, But... there was no telling on what could happen. Every creature exposed to magic reacts differently to it; dragons tend to have a high resistance to it, whereas Griffons can be easily affected by it. Ponies on the other hoof can manipulate magic to their own free will. Luna swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She had no idea what would happen if she tried to cast a spell on one of these newcomers. Back behind the giants, Luna saw a third, even smaller, creature come bounding towards the two in the front. From there it slid to a stop and bent over, it’s forelimbs resting against it’s legs, seemingly overcoming some sort of exhaustion from moving so fast. Eventually it stood up and fiddled with something on its chest while appearing to converse with the others. As the minutes passed, Luna shuffled in her spot and glanced towards the dozens of royal guards her sister had sent to reinforce her platoon several hours ago. The guard’s faces were expressionless and their eyes were quietly surveying the situation. Upfront the three creatures had stopped conversing amongst themselves and had turned in her direction once again. This time the larger of the two holding a white flag above his head. Immediately a smile sprang onto Luna’s lips before her elation dropped back down to concern. I hope their meaning of the white flag means peace. As the three creatures began to move towards her, each second seemed to pass slower than the last. Luna gulped and looked to the stallion that stood by her side her, a snow white pegasus clad in purple and gold armor. “Well, Captain,” She said eyes flickering back towards the three aliens. “It looks to me that these beings are willing to negotiate.” The pegasus nod his head and flashed his blue eyes towards Luna. “It seems they are.” “Shall we go hear what they have to say?” Luna asked. “The choice is up to you, Princess. If you wish not to, I can send Paperweight up to make contact with these creatures.” The pegasus said. Luna thought briefly on this then shook her head. “That will not be necessary.” “As you wish, Princess, shall I alert the guards?” “Please do so,” Luna said, taking her first step towards the oncoming creatures. “Oh and one more thing, Captain.” She stopped in her stride and looked towards the pegasus once again. The stallion was already raising hoof to his mouth, getting ready to shout for the others. He lowered his leg and raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Princess?” “Order your stallions to retrieve a white flag, I believe we’re going to need it.” :[-]: William stopped at the sight of Watson’s raised hand. Over on the native’s frontline he saw the lone equine Watson singled out. It was clad in midnight blue armor and seemed to be looking towards a smaller winged equine dressed in a purple, gold armor. The smaller then turned and shouted before launching itself into the air moments later and flying back over the trees. “I think this is as far we’re going to go,” Watson said over his shoulder. William nodded and shoved the lower end of the makeshift flag into the ground. “Remember, Commander, only Angela and I will be doing the talking.” He rolled his eyes. “Even then, I won’t be doing much. Understand?” “Yes sir,” William replied quietly. “Good,” Watson motioned his head forward. “They’re coming.” As quickly as it left, the same winged horse returned, and in its mouth it held a white flag. It landed beside the equine that the Admiral presumed to be the leader. The two seemed to share a brief exchange before both nodding their heads to one another. Briskly, with a sense of business, they began their approach. William swallowed and took a quick look back at Angela who stood between Watson and himself. Her eyes were now darting back and forth from him to Watson, she looked as if she was about to have a nervous breakdown. If it wasn’t for the mask she wore her panicked state would easily have been exposed. She noticed William looking at her and she quickly sucked in a breath and breathed out slowly to calm herself. William returned to watching the alien equines approach and come to a stop just a few feet away from their own envoy. This close he could get a sense of scale for the first time since seeing the creatures. The equine in the golden and purple armor were quite diminutive compared to the horses he’d seen the officers riding in back home during the Labor Day Parade before Archangel’s appearance which had been the first, and only time he had seen a horse up close. Unlike their taller counterparts, they were smaller, and dare he say “thicker”. Their legs were much more rounded, unlike their ancestors long and slim limbs, the head also appeared to be much more rounded and the snout shortened. Each of their eyes took up a large portion of its head, and the height of said creature just about reached his chest. Unlike the leader beside it that resembled more of an actual horse. William raised an eyebrow towards what he saw as the leader’s escort, the guard caught onto William and glared back. Not wanting to look like he was trying to because trouble, he quickly broke eye contact and looked to the larger equine that seemed to be giving the Admiral a soft look. “Angela,” Watson hissed, “I think it’s time we get this started.” The girl cleared her throat and looked to William, as if she was calling for help. Sadly all Will could do for her was shrug and motion towards the taller equine. She sighed in defeat and stepped out in front of Watson and William. Angela stood before the equine leader its eyes looking at her with great interest. Angela cleared her throat. She placed a hand to her chest, and spoke slowly, and softly. “My. Name. Is. An-ge-la.” The equine looked at her with a furrowed brow. “We. Come...–William hand me the flag.” Angela turned and stuck out an opened hand to William, her fingers clenching in a way of telling him to hurry up. William pulled tore the flag out of the mud and handed it to her. Angela took it and held it out towards the equines. “We. Come. In. Peace,” She said slightly slower than before. Watching this happen, William had a feeling that none of this was coming off to the equines. But to his amazement the horses shared a brief look with one another then smiled happily and nodded their heads. This seemed to please Angela and she spoke more confidently and she stuck the flag in the mud beside her feet. “William could you please reach into my bag and take out my globe and encyclopedia?” Will leaned forward and unzipped her bag again. He reached in and felt the tip of his gloved fingers brush against a hard, round surface. He grabbed ahold of the small globe and pulled it out of the bag and handed it to Angela, he then reached back into the bag and at the bottom he found a rough, thick book. Which he then took out and handed over. Angela took the book and looked back towards the blue equine who had begun eyeing the two objects in her hands with curiosity. She then presented both objects to the blue creature. The horse smiled and leaned forward, its large, green eyes inspecting the globe with great curiosity. William watched as Angela’s hands began to tremble when the equine stepped forward. Suddenly a dark blue aura formed around the globe in her hands and it began to gently lift off, floating up a few inches before hovering towards the blue creature. Williams eyes widened in wonder at such an impossible sight. Even though he had seen this technique performed in the past by the town residents during the fire. The sequence was still breath taking.The equine took a step back and levitated the globe a few inches away from its face. It rotated the globe around a few times examining it closely, like an inspector checking for any faults. Turning the globe once more Its eyes filled with astonishment.Then its lips began to droop when it fell on the eastern hemisphere, and it squinted its eyes as it pulled the globe even closer. William frowned. Something didn’t feel right. The equine leaned back and held the globe out next to its head and looked at Angela with a confused expression. “You-you can have it.” She said motioning towards it. The equine didn’t seem to understand this and tilted its head, Angela glanced back at William. Then Watson, both men of course didn’t know how to react to what was going on. Angela’s eyebrows curled upwards and she looked back to the equine, this time she motioned for it to take the encyclopedia. The equine held the globe off to the side and leaned forward once again to take the book in its aura, like the globe it rotated it around examining it from front to back. Then it flipped the book open and cycled through each of the pages, stopping at almost every picture but skipping the almost certainly indecipherable text. Its eyes widened and another smile began to replace its frown. However, when it reached the last few pages of the book, where all the different maps of the world are. It stopped and frowned once again with confusion. The blue horse floated the globe next to the map of Earth in the book, it’s eyes shifting between them; first the globe, then to book. over and over again. It flipped back a few pages to a map of Europe in the late seventeen-hundreds. For a few moments it sat there looking back and forth between the pages and the globe. When it was finished, the equine’s head slowly rose up. Its face filled with a mix of confusion and amazement, the equine closed the book and examined it once more before levitating it and the globe back over to Angela. Angela took both the globe and book in her hands and held them close to her chest. Looking back at the equine who was smiling dearily, Angela shook her head and promptly handed them back. “No, keep them,” she insisted. The equine looked at her confusedly for a moment before nodding its head and taking the items back from her.. It then looked at the guard beside it and said something. The guard nodded and took off into the air, circling back towards the rest of the equines. William looked to Watson with a bit of confidence. Watson on the other hand shrugged and motioned for William to keep looking straight. A minute later the equine guard returned with scroll. It landed in front of them and the larger took the scroll in its aura before floating it towards the three of them. Angela held out her hand and the equine dropped the scroll into her palms. She unrolled the scroll and looked at it before sucking in a breath. Angela quickly turned and handed it to Watson. He took the parchment and examined it. William stepped and looked over Watson’s shoulder. It was a highly detailed map of ‘Japan’ it was marked with multiple points where towns and cities were located, as well as what seemed to be some sort of transportation system connecting each major site. Sections of the map such as forests and plains were labeled in a language that neither men could read. Right above the legend was a bold font which William could assume was the name of the ‘country’ that had replaced Japan. In the north William could see a land bridge connecting the north end of Japan with what was once Russia. “My God,” Watson mumbled. “This is amazing.” “Admiral Watson, anyone?” William’s radio erupted into a cacophony. “One of the specimens is–” The man was interrupted by a loud crash “–hey! Eh, one of the equines is acting up!” Both Watson and the larger Equine looked at William. “Commander,” Watson said, “Hand me your radio.” William did as he was told and unhooked his radio and handed it over. Watson took it. “This is Watson, what the hell is going on down there?” “We were in the middle of performing an experiment,” The man on the other end explained, “Hassel entered the containment unit and the equine woke up!” “Is Hassel alright?” “Ye-yes sir–” Another crash “–we got him out just in time– Now it’s just bashing the table against the glass!” “How the hell–” Watson stopped himself, the recent memory of the blue equine levitating the globe and book flashed before his eyes. “Admiral,” William spoke up, thinking on the fly he said, “Maybe if we let them go, we could show off our good will?” Watson looked at William for a brief moment then nodded his head. “I like your thinking, Commander.” Watson held the radio back up. “Alright, release the captives.” “Excuse me, sir–?” “You heard me. Let all four of them go.” A shifting sound spilled out of the radio and Hassel’s voice came through. “But Admiral, vee can’t do zat, zee amount of information I have retrieved from ze–” “Dr. Hassel I appreciate your found love for knowledge, but please shut the fuck up and follow my orders.” There was a brief moment of silence. “Aye sir,” Hassel said, then shouted. “You heard zee man! Let zem go!” Watson flipped the radio off and handed it back over to William. He then turned back towards the two confused equines with a strained smile. “My apologies,” He said quietly, “But my head researcher can be quite a pain.” The bewildered expression the two equines shared hardly budged. Minutes passed and Angela stood in front of the blue equine trying her best to find a way to communicate with it. To William it looked as if she was playing charades with it, a rather humorous sight indeed. She was in the middle of trying to explain where they had come from, her right hand was held high in the sky. When her head tilted upwards the sun’s rays reflected off of her visor and nearly blinded William. The equine followed Angela’s finger and looked at the gorgeous blue sky with interest. Behind the three humans an alarm sounded as the door to the hangar bay opened once more. William looked back and saw five men leading four of the captured equines out of the ship. Their guns trained on them as they walked. William saw the purple and gold guard tap the tall ones leg, trying to gain its attention. The tall one looked down at the guard with a look of disappointment similar to how a child would when its toy is taken away. The guard pointed forward with its right leg, the blue leader frowned and looked to ship. Its eyes widened and gasp escaped its lips. The four captured ponies were just making their way passed the frontlines, the tall horse slowly made its way forward. The three humans stepped out of its way, it stopped in front of the four equines, its face full of confusion. The four equines looked at their leader with a mix of relief and fear. These feelings were quickly dashed away when the taller got onto its knees and held out a wing to the horned equine in the front, and pulled it into some form of hug. When the embrace broke tall blue equine stood and looked to her guard and barked what sounded like an order. The guard nodded its head and motioned for the freed captives to follow it. When they were out of sight Watson turned to the the five marine escorts and motioned for them to leave with a silent thank you. The tall creature looked to the humans with what seemed to be a hurt filled look. Angela immediately stepped forward with her fingers laced and pressed against her chest. “Please. Forgive us.” She bowed her head. The equines face held stern. Then its eyes closed and slowly nodded its head. Its face slowly softened. Its horn was then engulfed by a blue aura and William watched as it took the map from Watson’s hands. William and the others watched in awe when a bright flash of light erupted out of nowhere, blinding them as if a flash bang went off. His stomach lurched and William shielded his eyes, when he opened them he noticed the equine was levitating a quill to the map. The quill spun in a circle and quickly whipped across the map towards the legend and scraped across it two more times vertically. Taking the quill off the paper a second flash went off, startling Will and the others again. Looking back he saw the quill was gone. The equine rolled the map back and up and floated it back over to Angela. Who took it kindly. She opened it back up and saw that in the very center, was a circle, outlining a large city, to the right she saw under the legend was a sun. Below it there were two dashes. Angela turned towards Watson and William with a confused look strung across her face. Watson reached for the map and took it out of her hands and looked at it. William looked with him. Beside them a sound came from the equine. The three of them looked over and saw it bowing to them before standing back up and spreading its massive wings and taking off with three mighty flaps. A loud ear wrenching shout came from the flying horse. A high pitched instrument sounded off and the surrounding equine army began to turn away from the ship and march back off into the woods. “Well...” William said, “I think that went perfectly!” He smiled. Watson frowned. “One can only hope,” He said quietly while glancing down at the marked map. Editor’s notes PhiliChez: Finally! Things have happened! Wasn’t first contact due like four chapters ago? Sheesh. Though now we get see Luna looking at maps with human political borders with a shoreline that is not exactly the same as the one she knows. Isaac3924: It's about damn time. I felt that was appropriate. Now, ya’ll might be wondering why the previous chapter didn’t have my down-to-earth, sagely, and always humorous input at the end of it. And why the last chapter was equivalent to a sack of walnuts when it came to its quality. Well, that was because Dark (is it alright if I call you Dark?), in all his wisdom, forgot to send me the chapter. Eeyup, he forgot all about me. And then I proceeded to have a nervous breakdown thinking that I was a horrid editor and he was dropping me without telling me for no reason, and I pulled out my old stuffed lion, sat in the corner of my room assumed the fetal position and cried tears of shame and guilt and disgust. While cutting myself. With a spork. Yeah, my self-confidence is just through the roof. Anyways, I’ll leave it to youse guyses to guess how much of that is true. Ummm, let’s see, Destiny did not live up to the hype, like, at all, and I have resolved to not let myself get overly hyped for anything, ever again (except for Kingdom Hearts 3, Star Citizen, The Witcher 3, Dark Souls 4, Half Life 3, Portal 3, Team Fortress 3 (Overwatch) (GABEN WHY CAN’T YOU COUNT?!), Fallout 4, Elder Scrolls 6, No Man’s Sky, Bloodborne, Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy CCLIV, Hello Kitty Remastered, Go Go Barbie: Ken Stay Home and Do My Endless Laundry While I Go Be A Football-Playing King in Space, Sonic Boom 2: Kill Me Now, and Loli Monster Island II) Unity is hilariously buggy, Far Cry 4 and Inquisition are good, Sunset Overdrive was meh, my friends convinced me to buy a game I already have on the 360 for teh Xbone when the developers should have been working on online heists and FUCK YOU ROCKSTAR, the Xbone still sucks on multiple levels and I’m going to have to buy a one terabyte external hard-drive to keep playing, and G-d is dead. Moving on. I think that’s it. I’m done for now. Uh, keep reading, shit’s only going to get real from here. Well, more real. Fuck it, you knew what I meant. Nuclear Grenade: Yay first contact! Even though it was sort of uneventful you got what you were asking for. Now you will have to wait on the edge of your seat for Dark Nebula to introduce the Antagonist. Hopefully this wont take another 10 chapters ;) Don’t feel bad Isaac3924 he forgot to send me chapter 9 at one point. Also, I have to ask do the numbers after your user name mean anything or was that just the lowest one you could get? Isaac3924: I like them. > Chapter 11: Deciphering > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two hours had passed since first contact. All the “natives”, which some soldiers were just calling ponies just for the absurdity of it, had retreated back to the nearby settlement. William Keshiner had officially retired to his bunk, along with Johnny Conway, who lay on the cot in the corner of his ‘cell’, asleep. Watson was on the other, resting in his bed, awake, eyes fixed on a small piece of rust that had formed on the end of a busted pipe. He exhaled quietly thinking about the recent that had just transpired. What does it mean? he thought to himself. Those marks, clearly she’s trying to tell us something... Although it wasn’t clear if the equine was female. Over the past couple of hours Watson couldn’t help but try and pair it up with a gender. The image of the map resurfaced and he went back to thinking. The circle around that city. Does she want us to go there? If so, why? And those dashes on the right; there were two. Two for what? Two people, two hours, two days? Watson sighed and slowly pushed himself up, his back groaning in protest. He got to his feet and shambled over his desk where he had tossed his shoes when he had stumbled into his room hoping for some rest. He slipped his feet into them and shuffled over to his personal restroom. Inside, his grisly visage greeted himself through the cracked mirror. Large bags had formed under his eyes from two days’ worth of missed sleep and his eyes were slightly bloodshot as well. Funny enough he reminded himself of one the infected in 28 Days later. He smirked and opened the mirror, to which caused the cracked piece to topple and shatter on the floor. Watson stepped to the right to avoid the broken glass. “Dammit.” He cursed under his breath and sighed. He opened the broken mirror the rest of the way and looked into his medical cabinet cabinet. Inside were his insomnia pills. He reached for the clear orange container but stopped just a hair’s breadth away when the intercom sprung to life on his desk. “Admiral Watson, Mr. Hunsinger from Intelligence would like to see you. He claims it’s urgent.” the secretary informed him in an all-too-cheerful voice. Watson closed his eyes and retracted his hand. He closed the cabinet and left the restroom, dragging his feet over to the glorified telephone. It felt like this morning all over again. He pressed the talk key on the intercom. “Yes, Wendy--” he yawned “--what is it?” “Mr. Hunsinger would like to speak with you downstairs,” the desk jockey explained. Watson’s eyes drifted towards his bed and he began to consider something else. “Can’t you just tell him to call me instead?” he asked hopefully. “I would, sir, but he specifically asked for you to meet him in person,” she said, “It has to do with that map the natives gave you.” Watson quirked an eyebrow. “Really now?” He cleared his throat. “Tell him I’ll be down in a few minutes.” “Will do, sir.” :[-]: “Admiral!” a melodic voice sang when the doors to Horizon Intelligence & Research ,HIR for short, slid open. On the other side stood a man wearing green military jumpsuit and square framed glasses. Apparently waiting for him. Eagerly. “It’s nice to see–” The man stopped and then chuckled lightly. “–My apologies, sir, did I happen to wake you up?” he asked the practically sleepwalking Admiral. Watson raised an eyebrow and glanced down at himself. He hadn’t bothered putting his formal uniform on. As a matter of fact, he was still dressed in his sleep attire, a white polo and tan cargo pants. He looked back at the man. “No, you didn’t.” The man sighed with relief. “Actually, what you did,” Watson continued as the man stiffened, “is keep me from going to bed.” The man’s eyes widened in fear. “So whatever you boys got goin’ on down here–” Watson motioned with a finger towards the room behind the man “–It better be worth my time.” The man gulped and nodded his head. “Of course, sir.” He chuckled nervously. “I can assure you that what’s cooped up down here will be worth every second of your time.” Watson nodded his head. “Alright, then. Can you take me to Mr. Hunsinger?” The man smiled and stuck out a hand. “That’d be me, sir. Bryan Hunsinger. And I must say it’s a pleasure working with you, sir.” William glanced at the offered hand. “You can toss the formalities Bryan, just show me what you’ve got as quickly as you can. I have a bunk calling for me upstairs.” Watson brought a hand to his mouth and yawned into it. “Certainly, sir. If you would please follow.” Bryan returned his hand to his side and motioned with the other to follow. And Watson did just that; he followed behind brian and only half listening to what he was saying. “For the last couple of days,” Bryan said, “We’ve been studying that book those soldiers brought back from the structure.” “The one that beaned Dr. Miller in the face?” Watson asked, his gaze wandering over to a couple of men leaning over a desk, each with a handful of white playing cards. So much for working, he thought. Bryan pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and nodded, despite facing away from Watson. Bryan was trying to restrain himself from laughing. “Precisely the one–” The two men stopped by a door on the opposite end of the room. “–Excuse me, sir, I’m going to need to put the passcode in. It’ll only take a second.” Watson swiveled his gaze toward the obstructing portal. “What’s with the huge ass door? You have something locked up in there you’re trying to keep out?” Watson questioned the man as the keypad beside it beeped and turned green. Unlike most other doors on the ship, which slid open on dedicated hydraulics and closed automatically in case of a hull breach, this one had to be pulled open manually. “Nothing, really. It’s what we here in HIR like to call... the quiet room.” To add emphasis, Bryan stepped closer and whispered the final words. A muffled clunk came from the door as the deadlock came loose. Bryan took hold of the large handle and grunted as he dragged the door open. “It was originally a moderately sized storage space.” The door finished swinging open and the two men went in. First thing Watson noticed on the inside was that all the walls and ceiling were covered in foam. When the door slammed itself shut behind them, Watson jolted and noticed that all outside sound ceased. “But most of my men couldn’t stand the loudness those pesky engineers were making below us. So we made this!” He stretched his arms out towards the single table where two men sat in the middle of the room. Watson continually shifted pressure from foot to foot allowing each to sink into an ancient, pea green, shag carpet floor. “So you lot wasted all this foam, and somehow found this ugly ass carpet, just so you can have a quiet place to work?” Bryan frowned and looked at Watson. “My apologies, sir, but waste?” He chuckled and shook his head. Watson took slight offense to this and slid deeper into the frown he was now wearing. “Admiral, you wouldn’t even begin to believe how much efficiency this room has brought to us.” He smiled again. “Just think of having to work in an environment in which all you hear is the honking and banging of machines! It’s maddening!” he cried, then softened, “But here, here we have peace, and those carpets were a bitch– mmph!” Watson placed a hand over Bryan’s mouth. “Son, I’m going to have to stop you right there,” he said, his impatience starting to get the better of him. “How does anything you just said relate to whatever the hell you’ve called me down for?” He took his hand away from Bryan’s face. Bryan breathed. “Sorry, sir, I can get carried away sometimes.” “I see that,” Watson deadpanned. “Anyhow,” Bryan cleared his throat and looked to the two confused looking men at the table. “Have you guys gotten it yet?” A plump, ginger bearded man raised an eyebrow. “Got what?” “The book, you dimwit!” Bryan suddenly shouted, startling Watson and the two men. “I told you to go get it before the admiral gets here!” Watson brought a hand to one of his ears and mumbled under his breath. “Probably soundproofed the room so the rest of us couldn’t hear the screams.” “Now, calm down there, boy,” the other man across from the ginger said. “We sent Jackson off not too long ago to get it.” “And where is Jackson now?” Bryan looked unconvinced. The redhead raised a finger to stroke his beard and looked at the man across from him. “I think he said something about stopping off at the restroom before gettin’ it.” Bryan sighed heavily. “Hunsinger,” Watson said, his patience finally beginning to wane, “I don’t give a damn about that freaking book.” Bryan jolted as if Watson had just smacked him upside the head. “I came down here because I was told your team uncovered something about that map we got earlier.” Bryan gulped, then nodded. “Yes sir. The country on that map is called ‘Equestria’ and we think those lines on the paper are actually directions telling us to go the center and largest city,” he explained in a low whisper. “Collin, go get me the map,” he ordered the redhead. The plump man, Collin, got up from his chair and waddled over to the locked, metal door, heaving it open to retrieve the map. Watson seemed astonished by what he’d just heard, and quite frankly he found it rather difficult to believe for some reason. “Admiral, if you could just pull up the chair right there and sit down I’ll explain everything we’ve uncovered.” Bryan suggested as he moved to grab his own seat. Watson took the offered chair and sat next to the overly skinny man. “Slim,” Bryan called to the man, “I relieve you of your duties for an hour. Now please leave us alone.” The skinny man nodded his head and left the room. Seconds later, Collin returned with the map, and was also relieved of his duties for the hour. Bryan unrolled the map and flattened it across the table and twisted it around so that it was facing Watson. To keep it from rolling back up he placed a clipboard on one corner and an old iPhone on the opposite end. “Admiral, how many languages are you familiar with?” Bryan asked, his eyes never meeting Watson’s. “Eh...” Watson thought back a bit. “Three. I know English, then some Spanish and basic Japanese. Why?” “What about Russian? Are you familiar with that?” Bryan asked. “No. I don’t know Russian. Why are you asking me these quest–” Watson was cut off by Bryan stubbing his index finger down on the circled town in the center of the page. “Read the label above the town, please.” “O-okay.” Watson leaned forward and squinted his eyes at vaguely Greek looking letters mixed in with in with some odd glyphs he didn’t recognize. “Kan–tou–loot?” “Wow,” Bryan said, pleased with himself for some reason. “You’re pretty good for someone who doesn’t know Russian.” “Excuse me?” Watson leaned back in his chair, looking at Bryan’s large smile. “My good sir, you just read the name of what we presume to be the Equestrian capitol.” Watson frowned as confusion drifted over him. Then the realization hit him. Hard. And his face lit up like a Fourth of July display, “You’re telling me these things speak Russian?” He asked dumbfounded. “Eh...” Bryan smiled meekly, “Sort of.... no...” Watson’s astonishment faded just as quickly as it came. “Then why did you say–” “In a way they do,” Bryan cut him off again, “but again they don’t. Matter of fact,” Bryan’s finger slid down south towards a small village. “Try Reading this.” Watson once again leaned forward. “Ponī--ville...?” Watson looked slowly up at Bryan. “That’s a combination of Japanese and English in order to form one word,” he clarified, “In plain English it’s pronounced ‘Ponyville,’ or at least, that’s what Takeshi says.” Watson snorted. “Gee, I wonder what lives there.” Bryan laughed. “Trust me, we weren’t too creative with our town names either. Hell, ever hear of Humansville?” Watson shook his head. “Goddammit,” he said, chuckling lightly. “Alright–” he coughed into his fist “–so these things speak three languages?” “Oh there’s more than three, but to answer your question, yes. Although most of the recurring bits we’ve encountered have been Russian, Japanese, and English. We assume they may have adapted these three primary languages from the remnants of humanity still on the surface. Again, that is just an assumption,” Bryan said, then frowned. “Though while that may have a reasonable theory, we still can’t figure out why a lot of bits and pieces of English keep sprouting up, especially in this part of the world we’re in. At first glance it isn’t really recognizable, but when I look more closely at it, almost every sentence I see has at least four to five traces.” “That’s most likely because of the U.S. bases that were established along the coastline.” Watson rested his elbows on the table and folded his hands. “Honestly, I don’t find it too surprising that you’d find English down there. During the war, when this ship was being constructed, Japan was a prime strategic point.” Bryan shrugged. “Maybe, might also be due to the Japanese and how English played a role in their development.” Watson nodded his head. “That too I guess. Anyhow, you’re saying that blue horse gave us directions to their capital?” “Precisely.” Watson already knew the answer but still asked, “What for?” Bryan breathed out quietly. “Most likely for further negotiations in a more comfortable environment. Like most of us I believe these”–he tried speaking in their native tongue– “‘Equestrians’, as they call themselves, would prefer to speak to us on their own turf.” Watson nodded his head in understanding, he then raised a hand and tapped on the two dashes below the picture of the sun in the upper right. “What about these? Have you learned anything from them?” Bryan perked up a bit. “Oh those? Yeah.” Bryan rolled his wrist, making it pop a few times. “That, we assume, is a time frame.” “A time frame for what?” Bryan’s eyes filled with excitement as he leaned forward. “The time in which they want us to meet them.” A foolish smile adorned his white teeth as he leaned back into his chair. “When are they expecting us?” Watson asked. Bryan hadn’t stopped smiling. “Two.” “Two what?” The odd man leaned forward and pointed toward the sun directly above the dashes. “Judging by the placement of the dashes, the Equestrian was trying to express the quantity of two suns.” “So two days?” Watson asked, to which Bryan replied with a nod. “So we think,” He said. “For all we know it just dashed those lines there without a second thought.” “I think I’ll stick with two days, thank you very much.” Watson breathed quietly in his chair, pondering something for a moment, before standing up from his seat. “Thank you, Mr. Hunsinger.” He stuck a hand out towards the man, who stood and shook happily. “It was a pleasure, Admiral. If you have any questions, hell, even a translator let me know.” Watson smiled. “I’ll let you know if anything comes up–” There was a loud clunk as the locks on the metal door behind Watson disengaged. Watson shot a look at Bryan before they both turned and watched a broad shouldered man in a black t-shirt emerge from the doorway while holding a thick book in his left hand. He was breathing heavily like he had just taken a running lap around the ship. “My apologies, Mr. Hunsinger...” The man’s hair was tangled and messy, his clothes and pants baggy, Watson could see damp marks on the man’s right leg. “Where the hell have you been, James?” Bryan’s question fell on deaf ears. “I brought you the book like you asked.” James passed by Watson, he was now eyeing the door wondering if he should get going. Bryan snatched the book out of James hand. “Now don’t go changing the subject. Where were you? I asked for this about twenty minutes ago!” Watson began backing towards the door. James’s eyes flinched down to the floor. “I-I was in the restroom.” “I don’t want to hear this,” Watson said, his thoughts already connecting the dots. Bryan didn’t look convinced. “What’s that smell?” “Okay I’m leaving now.” Watson, as quickly as he could, made his way to the door. “Don’t tell me you were with her again!” Watson took hold of the handle and tried to pull the door open, but to his horror it was locked. “Come on. Bryan–” “Ah! No! What did I tell you about having an intimate relationship during work hours–” “Jesus Christ!” Watson shouted, “Would you both shut the fuck up already and open this goddamn door!” :[-]: It hadn’t taken Luna long to reach her quarters back in Canterlot. Upon arrival, she was briefed on the status of canterlot. Her sister seemed to be attending to her own personal matters and the residents of Canterlot were in a state of worry; ponies beyond the castle walls were calling for answers. Due to the disruption, luna was informed Celestia had stationed thrice the number of guards than the usual. She had napped in the chariot on the way back to Canterlot, however it still wasn’t enough to make up for the past two days she’d been awake. That would take a full days rest. Before she was escorted back into the castle her guards requested that she allow them to carry her things to which she politely declined. The unusual refusal took them by surprise but they shook it off and went about their duties. Luna could see why her guards were confused, but after the incident with those creatures, she’d rather hold onto that book and globe she’d received as ‘gifts’ in case anything were to happen to them. When Luna reached her quarters three hours after the first encounter, she immediately dumped her bag onto her bed similar to how a filly did after school. She then turned and approached her door. Opening it she poked her head out. “You there,” She said to the nearest guard who swiveled his head around to look at her., “Unless it is my sister, make sure nopony disturbs me.” “Yes, Your Highness.” She smiled at the guard and closed the door. Without a second to waste Luna returned to her bed to retrieve the gifts she had received and levitated them to her desk. From there she set them down and took a seat, in front of her she opened the large, thick book that was given to her, though she couldn’t read it yet. Luna was still dripping with an exciting curiosity to see what’s inside. She decided to flip through some of the various pages like she had done before. This time allowing herself to fully examine the images. The first one that had piqued her interest was a black and white photo of a battle field. From what she saw the scenery was completely desolated, the ground was littered with large holes, craters, and countless of what almost looked like, Luna bit her tongue, bodies. She had seen numerous battlefields, but none of this much death. However, the bodies in this image seemed to stretch for miles, easily topping any equestrian conflict, including the one that ended in her banishment. She quickly retreated a few pages back. The next picture she stopped on was one of the strange looking creature. Similar to the the ones she had just met. However, it wasn’t wearing any of the heavy clothes or masks as the others. What she saw was a dark skinned creature standing behind a podium in a black and white suit above thousands upon thousands of similar beings, its mouth was open wide like it was shouting something, and its face filled with what looked like determination. Behind it was a large white building and the creatures around it looked to be cheering for the one up on the podium. Luna began to grow curious of what this book had to offer. From what she could see she believed it was safe to assume that this was no work of fiction. Instead it seemed to be some sort of history book. The thought made her smile. If that was the case there was so much she could learn about them. She closed her eyes and began to focus. Her horn began to glow in her light blue aura along with the now fluttering pages of the book. Slowly, the foreign letters began to shift and turn, pieces of each letter breaking off and reshaping themselves into something more familiar to the pony’s eye. the pages of the book turned of their own accord, each having it’s language shifted and transformed, while the meaning stayed the same. Eventually the spell finished and the glow faded from her horn. Luna opened her eyes and smiled at the now understandable words in front of her. She began to skim the passage below her, it wouldn’t be long until the spell would wear off. “King said his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen and a neighbor reported hearing the elder King telling his son "he would make something of him even if he had to beat him to death." King saw his father's proud and unafraid protests in relation to gesregation, such as Martin, Sr. refusing to listen to a traffic plocieamn after being referred to as "boy" or stalking out of a store with his son when being told by a eohs clerk that they would have to move to the rear to be devres. When King was a child, he befriended a hitwe boy whose father owned a business near his family's home. When the boys were 6, they attended different schools, with King attending a gesregated school for African-Americans. King then lost his friend because the child's father no longer wanted them to play together. King suffered from depression throughout much of his life. In his adolescent years, he initially felt some resentment against hitwes due to the "laracial humiliation" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South. At age 12, shortly after his maternal grandmother died, King blamed himself and jumped out of a second story window, but survived.” Unsurprising to Luna she had obviously stumbled upon many words and phrases she did not quite understand. Two of those phrases being ‘African American’ and the other ‘Martin Luther King’. Luna delved deeper into the book until she arrived on a page labeled “U”. here, she saw that every bold word of each section started with that letter. Similar to a dictionary or a thesaurus, or even an encyclo–. Luna stopped in mid thought. Slowly, as if the translation spell would shatter if she moved it too fast, she marked her page and closed the book. Looking to the front cover she read the title, “World Book Encyclopedia 2016”, at the word encyclopedia, Luna nearly wished she had a brick wall to bang her head against. How did she not realize this beforehand? She was not quite sure. She reopened the massive encyclopedia back to the section she had left off on. Like before Luna skimmed over the various images and phrases she either didn’t know or had already taken the time to look at. Absorbing all the other information she could decipher such as a planet called Uranus, Perhaps that is where they come from, Luna thought. Minutes had passed and Luna reached a section in the book where the words started with: ‘Un’. Then something vaguely familiar caught her eye. A picture, as a matter of fact grabbed a hold of her and she couldn’t pull away. A globe, similar to the one that was given to her, flattened out and drawn in a grid like structure. around it was a set olive branches, and in the center were a set of shapes almost identical to the land masses around Equis, looking as if they were circling each other. Below this seemingly familiar picture was a set of bold words that read, “United Nations”. Luna bit the bottom of her lip and squinted her eyes, she began to skim through the passage below said image. While she read a nagging feeling began to gnaw away at the back of her mind, something telling her that she had seen this image before. That someone, or some friend, had told her about this before. If so, why couldn’t she remember it? The passage mentioned, or at least she thought it mentioned, something about world leaders joining together to create peace and to prevent what it said to be another World War from ever happening. Now this was new to her, but the image and name above still continued to bite into her skull. If she didn’t figure out where she seen this before soon, it was going to drive her mad. Knock, knock Luna’s ears perked up at the sound of several curt knocks that sounded from her ornate hardwood door, which was then followed up with the muffled voice of her guard, “Your Majesty, Princess Celestia is requesting your immediate attention. Whatever it is it seems to be the utmost importance.” “Very well then,” Luna said rising from her chair. “Where shall I meet her at?” “She’s in her study,” The muffled voice said. Luna went to her chamber door and opened it. “If that is the case,” She said looking down at the stallion by her door, “I shall relieve you of your duties for the time being.” The guard bowed his head and thanked her. Luna smiled at the guard as he turned to leave before retreating back into her room and locking it behind her. Turning around she gazed through the glass door that led to her bedroom’s balcony and watched over the western half of Canterlot. Across from that was Celestia’s tower which did the same for the east. Luna walked over to her balcony, opened the door, and stepped out onto it. From there she was greeted with the fresh scent of the cool, autumn air, which Luna took in with great ease. Breathing out, she closed her eyes and took this brief moment to think about what had happened over the course of last night. The massive meteorite that nearly took out the city, that actually turned out to be some form of giant vessel inhabited by bizarre creatures that seemed formidable, but with passable intentions. The meeting she had with said creatures not even a day ago sent an exciting thrill through her. Her heart began to race and she suddenly felt like a school yard filly who’d just caught glimpse of her crush. She breathed in once more. Not wanting to keep her sister waiting any longer, she unfolded her wings, and leapt off the balcony. :[-]: “Princess Luna,” The guard greeted as he pushed open the door to Celestia’s personal study, “Her Highness is waiting for you in her personal library.” “Thank you, Sunlight,” Luna smiled at the guard who merely bowed in response. Luna stepped into her sister’s study. A large circular room with its walls filled with maps, shelves, and even a fireplace in the northern half. Around said fireplace were two chairs, and a coffee table sat on a highly decorated carpet. To Luna’s right was a miniature library where she could see her sister roaming up and down the aisles, anxiously pullingripping books off the shelves and ruffling through themopening them up, only to become flustered and not so gently push slam them back into their rightful spots. “Sister, is everything alright?” Luna raised an eyebrow towards the agitated alicorn. Celestia looked to Luna. “Oh thank goodness, Luna you’re here!” Celestia exclaimed as she dropped all the books that were in her grasp. “You’re just the pony I wanted to see, please follow me I have something I want to show you.” Celestia made her way towards her, and as she drew near Luna noticed a set of bags under her sister’s eyes. Clearly she had stayed up well past her usual bed-time as well. “It’s up here.” Celestia motioned with one of her wings to a staircase on the west side of the room. “What is it you want to show me?” Luna asked, following behind her sister as they ascended to the second floor. Celestia didn’t answer; instead, she continued onward. Upon reaching the top of the stairs she turned to Luna and motioned her head towards a rather large metal chunk of the vehicle that had fallen from the sky the night prior. The piece was about the size of her hoof, with gnarled edges and a silverish black sheen, set carefully on a thick cork mat that was positioned in the center of her sister’s ornate desk. Around it was Celestia had a crowded arrangement of geology books, test tubes, and viewing equipment. Sitting on the floor beside the chair was a knocked over journal riddled with her sister’s notes. Luna approached the desk and celestia decided to speak while her sister examined the object. “It took the stallions in Fillydelphia hours to figure out how to cut that piece off the original. Even the most talented unicorns and their spells had trouble getting through it.” Luna lifted the metal chunk into the air with her magic. Holding a lone hoof out she placed the piece onto it and let her magic fizzle out so that she could better acquaint herself with its weight. Luna’s eyes widened and she let out a small “oof” as her hoof wavered and she was forced to drop the object onto the ground. A loud thud and a brand new chip in the spotless the freshly chipped pieces of marble floor only emphasized how heavy it was. “Sorry sister,” Luna quickly apologized, “I did not expect it to be so heavy.” Celestia chuckled and strolled up beside her sister. “Do not let its size fool you sister, it is as heavy as it is strong.” Celestia levitated the chunk off the floor and set it back on the desk. “What is it made of?” Luna asked, stepping a bit closer to the desk, she leaned forward to get a better look at it. “We don’t know. Our subjects in Fillydelphia claim that it’s a combination of precious minerals and metals that we presume can be found in our planet’s core. Though that is only a theory. I myself have never stumbled upon such alien compounds. At least, not since–” Celestia silenced herself and took a deep breath. Turning away from the desk she walked over to a small chest sitting underneath the largest window in the room. A window overlooking the valley where Ponyville resided. Luna took her eyes off the chunk and looked over at Celestia. “Since when?” Celestia magicked the chest open and levitated out a bundle of yellowing cloth that must have taken up at least a third of the storage room the chest could afford. “It was a millennium ago, back when Nightmare Moon was was still a recent memory.” Celestia turned and came back over to the desk with the bundle in tow. “Three large objects of unknown origin fell out of the sky in a massive fireball like no meteor I’ve ever seen..” “Just like last night?” Luna asked, wondering why Celestia hadn’t told her this before. Celestia nodded. “Similar, but not quite the same. Each of the three objects landed in separate locations, the first crashed just outside the small town of Hoofington,–” Luna gasped. “That’s where Starswirl lived.” Again Celestia nodded. “–Shortly thereafter another landed at the base of Canterlot, the other... I have no idea where the last one landed. I believe now as I believed then that it landed somewhere in the sea.” Celesta pushed the original metal object to the side of the desk and sat the object in her magic onto the table; grasping one end of the loose cloth, she began to unwrap it. “However,” she continued, “only one pony was able to retrieve a piece of these fallen objects.” A confused look crossed Luna. “How come?” Celestia shrugged. She finished unwrapping the object and she set the old cloth aside, there, she levitated a small black piece of black metal in the air. Smaller than the chunk on the mat, the piece was jagged around the edges and only a bit bigger than a playing card. Starting at one end was a blotch of faded, white symbols that looked to have been cut off at the edge. “I don’t know, Luna. It’s as if the one in Hoofington was dug up and taken before the guard could arrive on scene. The one at the base of this mountain vanished overnight. Again it was as if somepony came and dug it up.” Luna pursed her lips and stretched her wings out to loosen the cramp that had formed f before folding them back up. Celestia held the small shard up to the light and examined it. “So who was the pony that found that bit?” Celestia flashed an eye at Luna. “This?” she asked lowering the shard down to eye level. Luna nodded her head; Celestia grinned. “An old friend of mine gave this to me. I don’t know if you met her or not. You were probably too young to even remember. Her name was Clover, Clover the Clever. She dug it out from under a rock before the Royal Guard arrived.” Celestia placed the shard beside the metal chunk. “The mare found this bit fascinating,” She said. “For years she and Star Swirl studied this shard trying to figure out what it was and where it came from.” Celestia took the chair from in front of the desk and rolled it behind her so that she could sit down. “The two of them worked together for many years after that, seemingly chasing something that evaded them at every turn. Always talking about some ancient species even I have never heard of... Huh, what did they call them?” Luna took her eyes off Celestia and glanced around for a chair of her own. Sadly there was naught but a stepping stool in the corner so she chose to sit back on her haunches instead. “Ancient species?” “Yeah,” Celestia said, “Something that predates our existence. I believe they called them... Humuns?” “Humanes?” “Yeah, something along those lines.” Celestia shrugged and leaned forward, she looked back towards the shard. “I remember Clover telling me what the symbols meant.” She lifted the shard off the table in her magic. “–ited Nations. I think she said.” “United Nations?” Luna corrected without thinking. Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” “It’s supposed to say United Nations, I read it from the book the creatures gave me.” Losing concentration on her magic, Celestia dropped the shard onto the floor. “Excuse me?” She asked again. “Wait, you don’t know my stallions and I made first contact?” Celestia’s eyes widened and she immediately stood up. “By Mother’s name, Luna, how’d it go?” Luna leaned backwards surprised by her sister’s sudden reaction. “It went great... I think. The creatures were very territorial but they did appear to be organized in some manner.” “What else did you learn? What do they look like?” Celestia asked. Luna had never seen her sister act quite like this, save for the filly days, she reminded her of Twilight Sparkle whenever she discovered something new. “well, um, they were tall and slim, well some of them were. A lot of them were bulky and seemed quite strong, whereas a few seemed to have most of their bulk in the middle and didn’t seem as lively..” Luna watched as Celestia levitated a note pad and quill in front of herself and began writing. “Keep going Luna.” “Alright, a vast majority of them were wearing camouflage garments of some sort and they all had some sort of clear shield covering their face attached to what looked like a breathing tube, and uhhh… oh! They carried these strange metallic k shaped objects.” “K shaped objects?” Celestia said, tapping the quill against her chin. “Could it be some sort of tool, maybe even a weapon of some sorts?” “Maybe, there were also these giant cyclopean like creatures–” “Cyclops?!” Celestia quickly lowered the note pad and glared at Luna. “Luna, don’t tell me they’re ba–” “Sister,” Luna got back onto her hooves. “You have it wrong, I said Cyclopean like, meaning that it only had one eye. Other than that this creature was made entirely out of metal, almost like a golem.” Celestia softened and sat back down. “Sorry Luna, you worried me for a second.” She steadied her breath. “A golem?” She asked questioningly. “Yes. A giant one eyed creature made almost entirely out of black metal.” Celestia looked at the black metal shard and chunk. “Could it be made out of the same materials as those?” Luna shrugged. “Most likely.” Celestia leaned back in her chair, the quill was back to tapping at the bottom of her chin. “How did you say they acted again?” “They were very territorial.” “What about when you approached them... did you approach any of them?” “Yes, and from what I saw they were very paranoid when I got close. I assume they didn’t like my presence.” “If I were tasked with making first contact with an alien species, I’d be paranoid myself.” Celestia admitted. “I felt the same. Especially after they released their captives.” “Captives?” Celestia leaned forward once more, she took the pad and quill and set them aside. “Yes, remember the four guards I told you went missing?” Celestia nodded. “Thankfully they had no long lasting injuries, but from what I saw... I believe they were experimented on.” Celestia’s eyes widened. “Wait, you mean...” “Yes. They were tested on, one of the guards, Heart String I believe his name was. Had large amounts of blood taken from him, we also found that Aurora Dawn was intoxicated with something we do not know of, and finally we found a small blinking object on the back of Lt. Skylar’s neck.” Celestia couldn’t quite understand what she was hearing. “What about the fourth? What happened to him?” “Officer Black was interrogated by the creatures. So he claims. He mentioned that they attached some sort of device to his head, and started playing card games with him. Afterwards he says he attempted an escape but the object on his head caused his spell to backfire and make his captors fall into an incomprehensible frenzy.” “What happened next?” “He told me he doesn’t remember what happened after that. He said the last thing he remembered was having a bag over his head and something hitting him. Though upon inspection the bruise was not very severe.” Luna ruffled her wings. “That’s terrible.” Celestia shook her head. “When the creatures released them. They didn’t look too proud of themselves, at least that’s what I hope I saw.” An uncomfortable silence surrounded them, each unsure about what to say next. When Luna looked at Celestia she appeared to be troubled. As if something was slowly eating away at her. Finally, she broke the silence. “Luna, you mentioned they gave you a book?” “Yes and they gave me a globe!” Luna said rather excitedly, glad to be off such a dark topic. Celestia raised an eyebrow her mood appearing unchanged. “A globe?” “Yes a globe of Equis,” Purposefully breaking eye contact, “though it’s quite different from the one you have over there.” Luna pointed with a free hoof towards a large globe on a golden stand. “Different as in how?” “The land masses are shaped slightly different, but still recognizable, as if they were pieces of clay stretched and molded. There are also an abundance of border lines, all in different places than the ones on Equis.” She explained. “Could you bring them here?” Celestia asked while standing up from her chair, her tone taking an even darker turn. “Of course, sister.” Luna stood up. “You’re really going to find the book interesting.” “I bet I will,” Celestia turned her back on Luna as her sister started down the stairs. Luna paused. “Is something wrong, Sister?” “I’m alright, Luna, just go and get those gifts,” She said, putting up a cheerful facade. Luna frowned, unconvinced that something wasn’t bothering her sister. She opened her mouth to say something, then on second thought, closed it and continued down the stairs. She had only managed to make a single step before celestia spoke up again. “Oh, and Luna.” Celestia added, a hesitant, but fiery quality filling her sister’s voice. “Could you please request that one of the guards retrieve Lt. Skylar for me?” Luna’s eyes widened for a brief moment before she stiffened, the tone of Celestia’s voice making it clear that whatever happened to those captured ponies didn't sit well with her. Luna relaxed and nodded. “Yes sister.” When Luna left, Celestia sighed. “I had a feeling things wouldn’t go so well.” Editor’s notes PhiliChez: Things are happening, and suddenly Celestia sounds like one who has a thing for suppressing knowledge with an evil laugh! I am suddenly suspicious of the fact that Luna recognized the UN symbol but couldn’t remember anything else. Or maybe not. Isaac3924: I powered through this fic for all of you readers. I’m stuck in Texas with my dad, and shitty internet. I’m heading to San Antonio tomorrow, and it’s 5 AM….. So much for going back to a normal sleep schedule…… On an unrelated note, I’m now 21, birthday was on the 28th. And I spent the first few hours alone. Stuck in a hospital. ‘Cause dad is doctor. And I don’t have a car in Texas. Wheeeeeeeeee. So yeah. But I hope I made up for not finishing the editing with the previous chapter with this one. Y’all enjoy. I need sleep now. Teslaponie: This chapter was a long one to edit. Took a few weeks of stop-go work to get it to this point, but I think it was worth it. For a chapter where the actual shit after first contact goes down it’s pretty important. Not to mention that we are wrapping up the end of the “contact” arc, and that the next arc includes some pretty big bouts of equestrain / historical worldbuilding. > Chapter 12: *Thump* > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Dad, do you know the answer to this?” Amy asked. Johnny turned the faucet off and the laid the dish he was washing onto the kitchen counter. “Well, I need to know the question first before answering,” he said reaching for a dry towel. “What’s the square root of ten thousand?” “Well,” Johnny thought as he dried the wet plate and stored it away in the cabinet above the sink. He closed it and tossed the now damp towel to the side, turning away from the sink. “Have you checked your notes yet?” he asked while leaning his back against the sink looking at his daughter, who was sitting at the dining room table with a smile. “Eh...” Amy placed her pencil on her journal and bit her bottom lip. The look on her face was one of the most adorable looks he’d ever seen. “I skimmed through them.” Johnny chuckled and pushed himself off the sink and went over to her. “You’re going to have to try harder then that, sweetie.” Amy’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Scratch that, this was the most adorable thing he’d seen. “Please don’t call me that.” John pulled one of the many chairs out from under the hard oak table and sat across from her. “I’m your father.” He smiled with superiority; he always loved it when got to pull the parent card. “I can call you whatever I want–gimme that.” John reached over without warning and snatched the worksheet out from under Amy’s arms. “Hey!” She let out a startled yelp, and made a grab for the sheet that was just out of her reach. John stopped her hand with a finger. “Now, now.” His smile grew wider. “I’m helping you–now which one are we on?” “Number ten.” Amy retracted her hand and brushed a lock of blonde hair away from her eyes. “Number ten, eh?” “Yeah.” Johnny scanned the page until he landed on the question, reading it over he nodded his head. “Alright.” He sat the page down between them and flipped it around so that Amy could see what he was pointing at. “What you need to do first is–” Before Johnny could finish explaining, the telephone began to ring. For the briefest of moments he considered not answering it, however, by the third ring he stood up. “–Sorry Amy, I need to get that.” He looked down at her, before moving towards the phone. “Just look over your notes, okay?” “Alright.” She sighed and reached for her notebook. Johnny gave her a thumbs up and a wink. “That’s my girl.” He was awarded with another embarrassed look from his daughter, he chuckled and went for the telephone. John took the phone off the receiver and answered. “Hel–” “John!” His wife’s desperate voice interrupted him. “Sta-Stacey?” She sounded out of breath. “O-oh, thank God...” She was crying. John’s heart stopped mid beat and his mind began to go a million miles per hour. “Stacey, Stacey what’s wrong?” He asked, out of the corner of his eye Amy was looking at him, “Is my Mom there? Is she alright? Are you alright?” “Dad?” Amy stood up from the table and took a step towards John. “what’s going on?” She asked. Johnny looked at his daughter worried, he didn’t know what to say. Clearly something wasn’t right, yet he couldn’t tell his daughter that. He cupped his hand over the phone. “Everything’s alright sweetie... go grab a pop from the fridge and go into the living room.” He could see on her face that she knew that wasn’t true, but she reluctantly nodded her head and padded away into the kitchen. Johnny brought the phone back to his ear. Stacey was sobbing uncontrollably over the line. “Stace.” John swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “I need you to talk to me. What happened? Where’s mom?” “Sh... sh-she’s...” Stacey hiccuped repeatedly. Sweat began to form on Johnny’s forehead his eyes were wide, he rested his arm against the wall, his gaze locked on his family’s portrait. “Stace, c’mon, please try your best. She’s what?” “Sh-she’s d-dead...” She whispered. At that moment, all sound had ceased. Johnny’s heart nearly came to a complete halt. His ears rang as if someone had fired a gun next to his head, seconds passed, his hearing was slowly coming back to its original volume, and Stacey was back to her sobbing state. “She... she’s dead?” Johnny mumbled into the phone, his legs had grown weak, he immediately went for his chair, he felt like he was going to vomit. “Dad?” Amy called from the kitchen. Johnny slumped into the dining chair, its legs screeched as it slid into the table. His eyes returned to the family portrait over on the wall, landing specifically on an older looking woman in the top right. His mother. He felt a spark of fury ignite in his chest. “H-how? Stacey, how did she die?” He started to raise his voice, tears formed around the edges of his eyes. “Please, Johnny don’t be angry, please!” Stacey sobbed, her cries only seemed to make the flames inside him swell . “I tried, I really tried!” “HOW DID SHE DIE?!” He hollered into the phone. “DAD?!” Amy called from the kitchen, he could hear her making her way back to the dining room. Amy’s calls fell on deaf ears. Johnny’s face was beet red and sweat was coming off his face in droves. Stacey began to cry harder into the phone. “They had guns, Johnny!” “Who had guns?” At that moment John had lost all sense of control, his body acted as if it was on autopilot. He pushed himself off the seat and began to head upstairs to his bedroom to get his gun. “The soldiers!” John stopped at the edge of the steps, his hand on the railing, confusion swept over him. “Soldiers? What soldiers?” “I-I dunno, one moment they weren’t there and then we started to hear gunshots and screams outside the diner, so we hid under our table,” She explained unclearly, her sobs turning into quiet whispers. “Then a man came into the diner through the back entrance, a very, very angry man with a knife. He began screaming and hollering and tearing up the place–th-the waitress tried to make him stop. B-b...” She began to cry again. “He stabbed her! Johnny, he stabbed her! He kept stabbing her and stabbing her over and over again!” “DAD!” Amy came into the room and grabbed a handful of Johnny’s shirt. He lurched back and slapped her hand away. “Not now, sweetie.” When Stacey was able to control herself she continued, “The other men in the diner tried to help her but tha- that thing threw them off like it was nothing. A young man came to us and told us to run so we did, when I ran outside I heard gunshots, lots of gunshots! But I didn’t care, Johnny, I didn’t care I just kept running!” “So you left her?!” Stacey wailed, “I didn’t mean to, Johnny, I was scared!” “Dad...” “Where are you?” Johnny snarled, he knew he shouldn’t be angry at her, but the thought of his mother being left behind infuriated him. “NO!” Stacey shrieked, “Stay home and lock the doors!” “Stacey, what the fuck is going on?!” “I-I’m o-on my wa-way home,” Stacey stammered, “just lock th-the doors and stay away from the windows.” Despite his anger Johnny asked, “What about you?” “What?” “Are you hurt?” “N-no,” Stacey said, “one of them grabbed me yes, but I was able to break away... though.” “What?” “I-it may just be me, but the spot he grabbed me is really itchy. I-I bet it’s n-nothing! I’ll be home in a bit, just stay safe, please.” With that she hung up. “Dad!” Johnny dropped the phone, he hadn’t noticed but he had tears streaming down his cheeks. “Wh-what is it, sweetie?” His anger was starting to fade, the thought that his mother was most likely dead nearly brought him to tears. “There’s someone in the backyard,” He heard Amy say. John looked over and down his shoulder. “W-what?” Thump! All of a sudden, a sound came from the kitchen’s back door. Thump-thump! Two rapid sounds admitted from it. “Amy...” Johnny said and he grabbed her by the shoulders. The sound of Stacey’s voice filled his head, Lock the doors and stay away from the windows! Thumpthumpthump! Someone was trying to break down the door. The telephone began to ring again. “Amy go to your room and lock the door.” “Dad what’s happening–” Johnny jolted at the sound of a blaring car horn that was soon followed by a loud crash. Soon after he could hear the faint sound of gunshots echoing outside followed by someone screaming. The man outside began slamming against the door again. “Go now!” He shouted and Amy immediately bolted up stairs. Thump!Thump!Thump!Thump! The door continued to shake violently and the phone carried on ringing beneath his feet. Johnny’s heart was racing, looking down he grabbed the phone and ran upstairs. Johnny tripped up the last step and fell onto his knees nearly dropping the phone, getting up he brought it to his ear and answered. “Now’s not the best time!” He said as he went to his room. “John, it’s me Arin,” His brother replied his voice sounding very nervous. “Arin, what the fuck is going on?” John opened his bedroom door, downstairs the back door continued to be pounded on by the unknown trespasser. “People are going nuts outside, and now I’m hearing about fucking soldiers waving their guns around?!” “There’s no time to explain,” Arin said. “What are you talking about?” John got onto his knees and reached under his bed, when his fingers came in contact with the side of a metal suitcase he took hold of it and slid it out. “A madman stabbed a woman to death in front of my wife!” “Just listen to me, John, get the hell out of San Francisco now! Just pack your wife and kid up and head east!” John opened the suitcase and grabbed his handgun. “Arin... did something happen in D.C–” John heard a loud crack as the back door gave way. “Johnny what was that?” “Arin,” John whispered while slowly climbing to his feet, gun in hand, he switched the safety off. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to call you back.” Thump. “Wah!” John lurched upwards in his cot, his body drenched in sweat, his polo clung tightly to his skin, and his heart pounded against his chest. Nervous, he looked across the room. Thump He jumped, head snapping to the left, and saw a black figure pounding its head against the protective glass. Thump The room was dark and he could hardly make out the person’s features, but he knew it was the other patient; the crazed man that was shouting bloody murder just a few hours ago. What is he doing? John thought as he pushed himself into a sitting position. Thump The man’s head whacked against the glass again. John raised an eyebrow and pushed himself onto his feet, wobbling around a bit as he attempted to regain his balance. Thump John’s eyes wandered toward the small camera hanging in the corner of the ceiling. I must not be the only one watching this, he thought and pointed a finger at the man while still looking at the camera. As if he thought someone would notice him. “Hello?” John said to the camera. “Aren’t you guys seeing–” Thump “–this?” He had a hunch that the man behind the one way mirror wouldn’t respond, and lo and behold he received nothing. The camera remained motionless on the wall; its lens focused on nothing but him. The silence on the other end bothered John. These two men were supposed to have a twenty-four hour surveillance, surely someone would have noticed what was going on in there. Thump! John jolted. “Would you cut that out!” He snapped at the man. Thump! The man’s head rammed against the glass even harder than before, John began to back away until his legs made contact with his cot, he sat down. He didn’t understand why he was so afraid of this crazed man. There had to be at least an inch of glass between him and the bizarre individual, yet something about the other’s actions unsettled him. Thump! However, as time passed between the two of them. John’s concern had grown into curiosity. He rose up from his cot and cautiously moved towards the glass, not much for his own safety but so that he didn’t somehow provoke the man into another screaming fit. Johnny was only half a foot away from the glass when the man brought his head back once more and flung it forward, smashing itself against the pane. Out from the man’s forehead a small trickle of blood seeped down the glass. John stopped and watched the man as he remained still like a statue. His breath leaving a small amount of white fog on the glass. “Do you understand...?” The man startled John with his muffled, hoarse voice. The man’s head slowly began to rise, allowing John to just barely see the small trail of blood oozing out of a cut above the man’s right eye. Along with the blood John noticed the smallest amount of light reflecting off of what looked to be a river of tears running down his cheeks. “Do you understand?” The man asked again, this time desperately. “U-understand what?” John was confused, he began to back away from the glass slowly. The man angrily brought his fist back and slammed it against the glass. “Do you understand the pain that I am going through!” He shouted, his voice muffled by the glass. The man began to go off on a tangent, “I can hear him speaking to me! I can hear all of them speaking to me! Please tell me I’m not the only one who can hear them! Please!” The man opened his fist and rested his palm on the glass, he pressed his body against it and slowly began to slide along it as he dropped to his knees. Sobbing uncontrollably, whilst continuing his crazed rambling. “He tells me that I’ll never get anywhere in life! That I’m the reason why she left! But it isn’t true!” At this point John had quickly retreated back to his cot, sitting with his back to the wall. His right knee held tightly to his chest while the other dangled over the side, his focus locked on the psychotic man who was curled up in the fetal position sobbing uncontrollably. It had been hours before Johnny returned to sleep. :[-]: The crowd of soldiers went wild when Michael stumbled back onto the floor, catching himself with a free hand he stopped himself from face planting the metal. Blood dripped from his most likely broken nose and pooled onto the armory’s floor, giving it a nice red sheen. “Don’t tell me you can’t take an ass whoopin’, Junior. C’mon, get up.” A tall and well-built black man taunted, he was wearing nothing but his orange cargo pants, which was part of the uniform that the men in the engineering department typically wore. Like the man, Michael wore nothing but his trousers, his shirt and shoes were off to the side. He bit the bottom of his lip and pushed himself to his feet, his ribs burning in protest. “C’mon Reace! Kick his ass some more!” An engineer shouted from the crowd. Michael stood and wiped the blood off his nose. “Come on now, why don’t ya do what yer friend said.” He turned and gave the man a smug look. “And kick mah ass.” He raised his fists towards his opponent, his bruised knuckles turning white as he began hop on his feet. “A’ight then,” Reace smiled and cracked his fingers against each other. “I take that as ya wanna go another round?” Like Michael, the engineer positioned himself in a similar boxing stance. Both men then approached each other and tapped knuckles before immediately stepping back, signaling the fight had begun. Without a second to blink, Reace lunged forward firing a jab towards Michael’s ribs. Michael sucked his gut in and dashed backwards, saving himself by a couple inches. “Whoa now!” He countered by sucker punching the engineer's bottom jaw. Reace doubled back his, hand immediately shooting to his busted lip. Michael saw this and used it to his advantage, dashing forward he jabbed the engineer with his right hand which was then followed up with a haymaker to the opposite side of his jaw. Reace’s head snapped to the left, his body following him as he spiraled into the ground. The crowd cheered. Michael towered over his opponent smiling, cracking his knuckles he bent over the man and cupped a hand to his ear. “What was that? Really? You were going to kick my ass?” He said mockingly. Reace groaned as he propped himself up with an elbow. “Fuck you!” He spat a glob of blood and saliva onto the floor. “You caught me off guard, that was all.” He wiped his mouth. “Ah come on.” Michael laughed and swung a hand out to the side. “I was going easy on you the first time. Now come on, best two outta three.” He offered Reace a hand, to which he growled and swatted away. Michael pouted, “Oh now you’re just acting like a sore loser.” “Shut up will ya!” Reace shouted and threw a punch in Michael’s direction, Michael twisted his body easily dodging the swing. “Still got some fight in ya I see?” He chuckled, “Well alright then.” He shrugged and turned around. “I was just trying to help–oof!” A hand firmly pressed against his chest stopped him. “What the?” Looking at the dark skinned hand on his chest, his eyes trailed up the arm until they met with a very angry looking man and his partner. Michael smirked. “Well now I assume–wha!–Hey!” The man slammed a hand down on the back of Michael’s neck and threw him into the nearby crowd. The crowd caught Michael and pushed him back into the middle towards his two attackers, the bystanders beginning to get too riled up. Michael regained his balance and started rubbing the back of his sore neck, looking at his attackers he saw a black man not much taller than him, and a very small latino fellow standing next to him, both of them dressed in their orange engineer jumpsuits. “Hey what the fuck was that for man?” Michael gritted his teeth. “I wasn’t matched up against either of you.” The man who had thrown him rolled his eyes and gestured towards Reace who was still struggling to get up. “You think this is funny, bitch?” Michael frowned. “What?” “I said, ‘Do. You. Think. This. Is. Funny... Bitch?’” The man spoke slowly and as if Michael was some five year old. “Humiliating my brother in front of the entire crew?” Michael pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yo, man just listen here.” He rolled his shoulders to loosen them up, preparing for possibly another fight. “Your brother set himself up for failure. Hell, he should’ve known that I’ve been number one for the past six matches.” “¿Qué hay acerca de usted cierra la maldita boca o voy a dividir la cara” The small latino man shouted. Michael glared at him. “The fuck he just say to me?” He leaned forward. “Hey ese, misa no Español,” He said mockingly. “You leave Andre the fuck alone!” The larger man stepped forward. “Then how about you leave me alone?” Michael stepped forward shooing him away. “I don’t have no beef with you, so piss off!” Suddenly, Michael found himself being lifted off the ground; without any time to react, the man had hoisted him up by the legs and slammed his back into the metal flooring. A shock of pain rippled throughout his body. The man climbed on top of him and began to lay a flurry of punches onto him. Michael shielded his face and twisted his body around in an attempt to free himself. The crowd was going absolutely nuts, one half was cheering for the man on top of Michael while the other screamed at him to get up. Michael found himself in quite a predicament, he was unable to get his legs out, and if he were to lower his arms away from his face he’d be in for a load of pain. “Come on now you bitch!” Michael’s attacker said through clenched teeth. “Fight me like a man!” Michael smirked. “Alright then,” he muttered and threw his hands out in front of him. Both of his palms made contact with the man’s chest and locked in place keeping him at a safe distance. Michael then bucked his hips upwards, which shifted the man’s weight forward, therefore causing him to topple over. Startled by his sudden actions, the engineer stuck his arms out in an attempt to catch himself. Michael’s smirk grew into a tooth-filled smile and he quickly hooked his arm around his opponent’s, he then swung his body over and straddled the man’s stomach. With his opponent’s arm now twisted and locked between Michael’s armpit, his free hand was placed on top of the engineer’s shoulder joint. Michael gave the man a wicked look. “Make any sudden movements, and ah won’t hesitate to break yer fuckin’ arm,” He said his southern drawl returning. “Parada, te vas a él le dolía !” Andre, who’d been watching everything unfold from the sidelines, stepped forward, a shocked expression plastered on his face, in response to what happened. Michael pressed down on the man’s joint, the bone beneath popping. “Ah! Fuck! Fuck! Please don’t man!” The man begged. Michael snarled. “Then tell your friend to back o–” “What the hell is going on here?” A familiar low, stressed voice asked from behind. The crowd had suddenly fallen into a death like silence. “Uh..eh,” Michael’s face had briefly gone pale. “C-commander?” He took the palm of his hand off the engineer’s shoulder and released his arm and looked back at William. “We-we’re just having some fun that’s all.” William stood in front of a section of the crowd, arms crossed, and a solid, stern look locked on his face. He was wearing the issued grey tyvek suit and kevlar vest, dangling by his neck was his respirator, and judging by the light mist of sanitary chemicals on the visor. Michael could tell he’d just recently came in from the outside. “Fun?” William raised an eyebrow. “Beating each other senselessly till the other is unfit to continue, is fun?” William had began to approach, Michael’s eyes widened as he knew what was coming. “Let me ask you something,” William clasped one of his large hands around the back of Michael’s neck. His fingers dug into his pressure points as he pulled the marine off of the man below him before displaying him before the crew. “Has it not occurred to you that we are possibly the last of our species?” He hissed into his ear, Michael nodded his head. “Then what the fuck is this?” “E-entertainment sir.” William smiled and squeezed a bit harder. “Really now?” “Y-yes sir.” Michael cringed. “So you enjoy breaking people’s arms?” Michael tried to crane his head back and look William in the eyes. Like a flash of lightning William took Michael by the left arm and violently twisted it behind his back causing a few joints to crack. A sudden aching pain surged its way forward, Michael gritted his teeth in order to stop himself from hollering. “Would you enjoy it if I broke your arm? Huh? Would you?” William asked mockingly. “N-no sir,” Michael said through clenched teeth. The crowd around them looked to one another worriedly. “How about you guys and gals?” William looked over the audience. “Do you enjoy watching people harm each other?” He twisted Michael’s arm a bit more, making him groan and stomp his foot. Most of the heads in the crowd shook. “Not good enough.” He mumbled, shoving Michael forward the two of them went over to one of the spectators. “You there!” William called to the soldier. “Do you find enjoyment in this?” William twisted Michael’s arm more which made the marine squirm. The girl’s eyes went from William to Michael’s pain gripped face. “Sir, I do not find enjoyment in this, sir.” William’s face darkened. “Bullshit, why are you here then?” “Sir, I-I was just passing–” “Fuck, Private I don’t believe you,” He snarled, “lets say you came home one night and saw your hubby naked in a room with another girl, and he said, ‘Sh-she was just passing by.’ Would you believe him?” “Sir, I don’t–” “Bullshit private I don’t believe you! I guess that means my point has been proven, so I’ll ask again, why are you here? You know what, instead of talking to your slutty looking face I’ll just ask all of you.” William looked to the crowd. “Why are y’all here? Why aren’t you outside helping to clear the debris with the rest of the crew? Matter of fact!” William finally released Michael by placing a foot on his back and shoving him to the floor and onto his knees. He turned towards the two engineer brothers who were still writhing on the floor. “Why aren’t any of you contributing?!” He asked again as he went over to the two men, he took them by the collars and hoisted them up. “I was told that the United Nations specifically hand picked all of you pussies for the sake of mankind because all of you had a set of skills and notions that would benefit our cause!” He politely dusted the engineer’s shoulders off and leaned in closely to whisper, “Both of you, go down to medical and get yourselves patched up. Next I want to see both your asses outside in two hundred, understood?” The engineers nodded and walked off, William turned back to face the rest of the soldiers. “Though,” he continued, “I think there may have been a mishap during the selection process. You all want to know what I see?” His question was met with silence. “I said, do you want to know what I see?!” He shouted. “Sir, yes, sir!” The crew responded. “Well then, what I see is a bunch of undisciplined, lazy ass, shitheads who stand around all day beating each other senseless! Am I correct?” Silence once again. “Am I fucking right or not?!” “Sir, yes, sir!” “Then get your fucking dicks out of each others asses and get it into gear!” “Sir, yes, sir!” The soldiers shouted in unison and immediately spun around leaving William and Michael alone in a matter of a few seconds. William smirked, it’d been a long time since he’d spoken to anyone like that. Too long. He looked over his shoulder and over at Michael who was getting back onto his feet. “You alright, son?” He asked smiling. “Did I bruise any of your precious skin?” “Goddamn,” Michael muttered clutching his left arm, “You really got some hands, Commander.” He took his hand off his arm and rolled his shoulder checking for any damage, he answered, “I think it’ll be fine, sir. But did you really have to go that far?” William approached Michael and slapped him on the back making him wince. “I was just trying to drive my point home.” William looked over Michael’s half naked body and frowned. “And put some clothes on will ya. You’re embarrassing yourself.” “Yes, sir,” Michael said stressfully as he went over to grab his shirt and shoes. “So what’s up with you, sir?” He said motioning with one hand over at Will’s attire. “What’s got you so dressed up?” William once again crossed his arms. “Unlike you and the moshpit you had going, I used my spare time volunteering to help out some of the soldiers clear out the fallen trees.” “Commander, I’m sorry okay,” Michael sighed but couldn’t help himself to smiling as he slipped on his boots. “What about them horses? Any news about them after they pulled out?” “Yes as a matter of fact. That hacker boy, Nelson Grimes, was able to reposition one of our remaining orbital satellites right above our AO allowing us a sight range of over thirty klicks.” “And what did it see?” Michael’s voice was muffled by the fabric of his shirt as he pulled it on. “Well, the company that pulled through here with that leader figure is still around us a couple of klicks out. They appeared to have formed a cordon of some kind, probably trying to keep us pinned in.” Michael pulled his head through the top hole of the shirt and began to straighten out any wrinkles he saw. “I’m sensing some trust issues here.” He grinned. William shrugged. “You aren’t the only one. After they relayed the footage to the council members, there’s already talk going around about a worst case scenario.” Michael cracked his neck and flashed William a look. “And what’s that?” “War.” Michael’s mouth made an O shape. “Oh. Okay then, don’t you think those suits are just jumping to conclusions too quickly?” “They’re just doing what Admiral Watson says, ‘Prepare for the worst, hope for the best’.” Michael nodded and started walking towards his locker on the far side of the room. William followed shortly behind him. “Did the Admiral say anything about this discovery?” William chuckled. “He’s the one who called it really. ‘Saw this coming from a mile away,’” He said in a mock voice of Watson. Michael nodded and took his I.D. card and slid it into his lockers console, the machine hummed as it scanned the card and then beeped once the light above it turned green and the latch came undone. Michael opened the locker and began dragging some of his gear out. William sat down on the nearby bench just a couple feet away from the wall of lockers. Michael was standing in front of him, bent over and rifling through his backpack making sure he had everything. “Commander,” Michael called, his head deep within his bag searching, “have you heard what happened to Officer Conway recently?” Will raised an eyebrow and glanced over at the half submerged soldier; it was as if the bag had eaten half his body. “Central? No, what happened?” Michael pulled himself out of his bag, a confused look crossed his face and turned back towards his locker and dove into it. “Well.” He began tossing a few miscellaneous items behind him. “I couldn’t help but overhear a couple lab coats mentioning that he’s been quarantined with Shaun.” “Quarantined?” This caught William by surprise. “Since when?” “Some time yesterday, I heard that if he shows no symptoms they’ll release him some time later today–AH HA!” Michael cheered happily, leaning out of the locker he held his respirator up high above his head. “I had a feeling it fell down there!” William ignored the boy’s cheers, his mind stuck on the fact an officer on board somehow contracted the pathogen. “W-why is Johnny infected with the virus–let me rephrase that–how did he contract the disease in the first place?” William frowned when he noticed the marine had already flung the mask over his face and was looking at him strangely. “Are you going to answer my quest–” “Are you my mummy?” Michael said in a poor English accent. William shook his head and snatched the mask off Michael’s face. “Hey!” The boy protested. “How about you stop acting like a goddamn child and more like a marine dammit!” He growled. “I was just playing around, man–” “First of all, Junior, I am not your man. I am your superior. Now answer the damn question!” Michael sighed and reached over and took the mask back. “Dr. Hassel was running a series of unauthorized tests on the four subjects that were detained. He claimed that those creatures were somehow in cahoots with the Sleeper Virus.” “Cahoots?” William raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, y’know they corresponded with one another... they’re related, sir.” Michael clarified. “Anyways, one of the tests required something to do with one of the creature’s brain or something.” He placed the last of his gear in the backpack and zipped it closed, he stood up and sat beside William. “I guess most of the other lab coats were on break and Hassel needed an assistant or something. So he asked Conway if he could help out, well it just so turns out that the situation got out of hand.” “What do you mean, got out of hand?” William asked quietly, leaning forward. “Remember what we saw back in the woods when we were watching over that town?” William slapped his hands down on his knees and straightened himself out. “I don’t think I can recall,” he said sarcastically, “I saw a lot of things.” Michael shook his head and leaned towards William. “What I mean, Commander, is: Do you remember how those things were picking up buckets with their mind and shit?” “Yeah, of course I do, how could I forget something like that? Hell I just saw their leader not too long ago magic a goddamn feathered pen out of thin air!” “Exactly, and it just so happens that when Conway and a few guards were locked in a room with one of them. It attacked them!” William frowned. “Attacked them?” Michael nodded quickly. “So I heard, some of the folks around here said that he and the guards were blasted by some kind of radiation.” “And that’s why he’s quarantined?” “Yes.” “What about the two guards?” Michael leaned back and scratched his neck. “I don’t know about them. I assume they’re probably being held somewhere else, or they hadn’t shown any symptoms.” “Huh...” Is all William could say. “Sucks to be him man.” Michael said as he got up, “Well, Commander, I guess it’s time I get my ass into gear.” “What are you going to do?” William stood up beside him, Michael brushed past and began heading towards the exit. “I dunno, ask around, maybe help some of the lumber jack fellas. It was nice talking to ya.” He waved over his shoulder. “Same to you too.” William gave a small wave as the armory doors slid shut, cutting his view of Michael off. William gulped and turned to notice the Junior Lieutenant had forgotten to shut his locker. He shook his head in disbelief and closed it, how could the U.N. select such an irresponsible lad? He asked himself, Whatever their reasons was, he must be good at something. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and a small glistening light caught his eye. Turning his body he noticed a small, partially dried puddle of blood shimmering beneath the rays of the overhanging light. Will chuckled. “Fight Club? You gotta be fucking kidding me,” He said walking out of the armory. :[-]: “Open the gates!” The voice of a guard shouted over the din the crowd of ponies beyond the castle walls produced. The guard in the tower above nodded and pulled the large wooden lever beside the window. A noisy clank, loud enough to silence the crowd outside, echoed. “Make way for the Princess!” The crowd beyond the gates parted like a great sea, allowing a band of guards and one lone pony passage. Twilight Sparkle was that lone pony, surrounded by the many guards that had greeted her at the Canterlot station. When Twilight had heard the news that a meteorite had nearly wiped out the Equestrian Capital, she departed from her castle home and immediately went to investigate. Twilight had arrived in Canterlot earlier that afternoon by train, when she had stepped off the car she was swarmed by reporters. “Princess Sparkle!” A unicorn mare dressed in blue photographer outfit had approached her, she was levitating a notepad in front of her. “Do you have any news on what had transpired over the course of last night?” Another reported then added: “Have you heard anything from Princess Luna and her brigade?” “What about the piece of the debris that had fallen into Celestia’s garden?” Twilight had responded to the reporters by saying that knew nothing of the matter, and that honestly she had actually slept through the whole thing. Thankfully before the reporters could push even further, the group of guards Celestia had sent to retrieve her came through and broke up the crowd, thus bringing her to where she was now. Passing through the castle gates and entering the front lawn. “Close the gate!” The same guard as before shouted. The stallion in the tower pulled and released the lever, unlatching the locking mechanism and allowing the gate to slowly swing shut behind them. “Princess Twilight!” An accented voice boomed far ahead drawing Twilight’s attention away from the gate. Standing at the top of the landing in front of the castle, was an old unicorn clad in purple and gold armor, overlooking the beautiful lawn. The stallion’s eyes wandered towards Twilight’s as she proceeded her way towards him. The stallion went to meet her halfway. “I am Captain Kebler of the Royal Guard,” He said stopping a few steps away from her, bowing. Twilight bowed with him. “Thank you, Kebler.” Twilight straightened herself and examined the stallion in front of her. Kebler was an old unicorn with a faded grey coat and black mane, his eyes were a light sky blue. His muscles were well defined and from what Twilight could see in the space between his armor’s plates they were also well toned. His muzzle was inlaid with wrinkles, denoting his age, giving him a more somber and serious look, in his bearing she could see strength and bravery. “Mistress, are you ready?” Kebler said, Twilight blinked, she hadn’t noticed that the stallion was speaking to her. “Y-yes.” She said absentmindedly. Kebler gave her a soft smile. “Then allow me to take you to them immediately.” “Sure thing.” Twilight smiled back. Kebler nodded and motioned for her to wait just a second as he turned to the rest of the guards. “All of you,” He said, his voice and accent gaining volume. “Take your leave and tend to the gates, do your best to calm the crowd!” The guards originally escorting Twilight nodded and gave the captain a brisk salute. Kebler smiled once more and looked to Twilight, “Well,” he said quietly, “shall we proceed?” :[-]: “It was pretty funny because after I had incapacitated him, I bent over the colt to offer him a hoof. He then looks up at me and says, ‘I-I think I’m just going to lie here for two maybe three hours’,” Kebler finished his story in a fit of giggles alongside Twilight. The older stallion continued to lead Twilight through the castle corridors; taking her to Celestia’s private study. “That... that is pretty funny,” Twilight said in between her giggles, she cleared her throat. “Can I ask you a question, Captain?” “Aye,” Kebler looked over his shoulder and smiled, “What would you like to know?” “I’m sorry if this seems a little rude. But ever since I heard your voice, I can’t seem to pinpoint your accent? Surely you’re not from Equestria.” A massive smile rose onto Kebler’s face and he laughed out loud. “Indeed, you are correct Mistress Sparkle, I am not from this realm. Instead, I was born and raised in the west, on the other side of the sea.” “Interesting, do you mind if I ask what country?” The two rounded a corner, at the far end of the hall was a large door guarded by two pegasi guards. “My mistress, I was raised in South Zebrica.” “Ah, I take it one of your one of your parents was a Zebra then?” “Ha!” Kebler blurted, “That would not be the case, Mistress, both of my parents were ponies. Though I was born in Zebrica, I was born in an Equestrian owned territory.” “Interesting.” Twilight mumbled, the two of them were nearing the door. “Wasn’t Equestria’s occupation of the Mareabique district lifted thirty years ago?” “Pardon me Mistress,” The two of them stopped a few yards from the door and Kebler looked at Twilight with a frown. “But are you calling me old?” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh, no, no that’s not what I meant!” Kebler laughed out loud again. “I be jesting with you, Mistress Sparkle.” He chuckled and looked at the door to Celestia’s study, “Before we go any further though. Would you mind if I asked you a question of my own?” Twilight shook her head. “Not at all, Captain, go ahead.” Kebler looked to the mare with a serious look. “Does my accent bother you at all?” Twilight frowned a little. “Not at all,” She said reassuringly, “to put it frank, I enjoy it really.” Kebler’s expression relaxed right away. “That is fantastic to hear! You know, Mistress, you remind me exactly of my wife.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Really now, how so?” Kebler leaned forward. “Because that is the exact same answer she gave me when she followed me home for the first time,” He laughed. “Aw, how adorable.” “Okay now,” Kebler turned to face the door. “Let us not keep the other Mistresses waiting.” The guards nodded towards Twilight and Kebler before turning to face one another, both then raised one of their hooves to the door and slowly pushed it open. Kebler flashed a quick look back the mare and grinned, Twilight replied with one of her own, and the two entered the study. :[-]: “SIR KEBLER!” Luna practically shrieked with excitement. “My beloved Mistress!” Kebler replied sitting on his haunches his fore legs wide open, ready to embrace the alicorn that came bounding towards him. Luna stopped just inches from colliding into the captain and she leaned forward for a gentle hug. Both ponies had large smiles and they were giggling like fillies. “Ah, Twilight,” Celestia said looking up from a large book levitating in front of her, she was sitting in a large, red cushioned seat. “I’m happy to see you’ve gotten my letter?” Twilight frowned. “Letter?” She said questioningly, she took her eyes off of the two hugging ponies. “Sorry, Princess.” Twilight started to make her way over to her previous mentor, and took the seat across from her. “But I don’t recall receiving any letters from you.” Celestia pursed her lips and closed the book, placing it aside. “Strange, I could’ve sworn I wrote to you not too long ago–” A bright light flashed right beside Celestia’s head, as soon as the light appeared, it disappeared and in its midst: a small white scroll with a red seal. Celestia curled her lips in confusion and levitated the scroll from off of the floor and undid the seal, she quickly skimmed over it and snorted when she tried to hold back a laugh. Twilight was growing slightly worried due to not knowing what was happening. “What does it say?” “Nothing much.” Celestia placed the letter aside with a smile. “Just Spike letting me know that I happened to send my letter a few hours late because you were already on your way.” Twilight straightened herself up in her seat and pushed herself back a little so that she was more comfortable. “Oh heh, yeah, I left really early this morning so that I could catch the first train.” Celestia nodded. “I take it you saw the meteorite last night?” Twilight shook her head. “No. I didn’t actually, I slept through the whole thing.” “You were up the previous night researching weren’t you? Oh, before I forget, would you like some tea Twilight?” Celestia said turning in her seat a bit so that she was leaning over a small tea table in which sat a kettle alongside three cups. Looking at the kettle and the small bits of steam that rose from the cracks, Twilight raised a hoof to the base of her throat. She hadn’t drank anything since the train ride. “Thank you Princess, yes I would. And to answer your–no sugar please– to answer your question I was actually reading a new book I had purchased for mine and Spike’s new library,” she said taking a small sip of her tea, the second the warm liquid touched her tongue a small pleasure filled smile appeared on her face. She levitated the cup away and examined it, Twilight let out a sigh of relief as the warming brew traveled down her throat. “This is wonderful.” Twilight saw Celestia take the cup away from herself so that she wouldn’t laugh into it. “I’m glad you enjoy it. The leaves were freshly picked and cleaned a few days ago. So you weren’t studying? I must say Twilight.” Celestia sat her cup down. “It isn’t often I hear that coming from you.” “What can I say,” Twilight said, “Spike offered me a really good book.” “It was Spike that recommended it to you?” “Yes. But he hasn’t read it, when we were at the bookstore he saw and read the cover, after that he wouldn’t stop bugging me to buy it.” “So you bought it, and started reading it?” “Not at first.” Twilight took another sip of the delicious tea. “For awhile I sorted it onto one of our shelves and returned to my studies. A few days later I happened to stumble on a minor situation in which I couldn’t figure out the exact amount of magic I needed to channel through the quartz crystal to generate enough condensed energy to heat homes without melting it or causing it to combust.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you're working with some dangerous material there Twilight.” “Don’t worry, Princess, whenever I start one of these experiments I make sure that I’m standing behind a protective barrier,” Twilight assured her. Celestia nodded. “Interesting, now where did you get the idea for heated quartz crystals?” The princess took her cup and sipped from it quietly. Twilight beamed. “From the book Spike recommended to me.” “Really now?” Celestia questioned, “What’s the name of the book?” Twilight began to grow with excitement. “It’s called, ‘The Return of a Fallen Race’ By: Winter Dawn.” Celestia frowned and brought a hoof to her chin, her eyes lowering her teacup in thought. “I’m afraid I’ve never heard of that one.” Twilight nodded in understanding. “That may be because it is a fairly recent novel.” “What’s it about?” Celestia asked. Twilight bit her lower lip trying to recall everything she had read up until now. “It has a strange plot I’ll say that, nothing I’ve really read I’ll admit. That may explain why I’m so interested in it. The story follows an extraterrestrial species that highly resemble insects, primarily grasshoppers. Anyways, these aliens as the author likes to call them, are highly intelligent, I mean far beyond anything we ponies have developed. The author explains from the alien’s perspective that their species were thrown into a ‘galactic civil war’ which nearly drove them into extinction.” “Oh dear,” Celestia said with intrigue. “A war that spreads to galactic proportions?” Twilight nodded. “The war lasted for millennia on end, and that the war was fought with massive battleships made entirely out of metal. Well during one of those battles, a battleship was knocked off course.” “And I assume the ship’s course was accidentally directed towards Equis?” Twilight nodded. “What happened when they arrived?” “At first it didn’t go so well. The book described you as not being very trustworthy towards them.” Twilight motioned a hoof towards Celestia, she didn’t notice it at first but Celestia had cringed and immediately went back to her tea in order to hide it. “Though, after the aliens learned our language relations between us began to warm up.” “I take it that things end happily?” Celestia lowered her cup and dabbed her lips with a napkin. Twilight looked at Celestia and smiled deviously. “Spoilers,” was all she said. Celestia smiled. “I must say,” She said sipping from her cup, “this novel sounds very intriguing.” Celestia placed her cup on the table beside. “I might actually take a peek at it whenever I get the time.” The two smiled at each other and sat in silence for a few moments. “What brings you back here so soon, Sir Knight?” Twilight overheard Luna. “I thought you were back home visiting your family?” “And indeed I was tending to my family, Mistress,” Kebler said, the two were sitting by a desk that had a large black chunk sitting on it. “But when I caught news of the meteorite, I knew it was in my duty to come and assist you and all of Canterlot.” “Well I am glad to hear that you know where your responsibilities lie, Sir Knight.” Luna’s head tilted slightly. “But what about your family? How is Jade?” Kebler only smiled and shook his head. “She’s doing wonderful, Mistress, thank you for asking. And yes, she was alright with me returning to my line of duty.” Luna realigned her head and nodded. “That is good indeed.” “It’s amazing isn’t it?” Celestia quietly asked snapping Twilight’s attention away from the princess and her guard. “Luna finally interacting well with other ponies aside from me and you.” Celestia smiled and sipped the last of her tea. “She’s always been good when it came to her guards. A few millennia back before Nightmare Moon’s banishment, Luna’s one and only friend was her escort. Moonlight Blade I think his name was.” She chuckled at the distant memories. “The two of them always stuck to each other like sap. Always traveling together even when Moonlight was off duty.” “Wow, I’ve never known about that. Those must’ve been great years.” Twilight said imaging how Luna must’ve of been years before. “They were.” Celestia’s smile faded. “Up until the war.” “War?” “Yes.” Celestia’s eyes flickered towards Twilights. “Those years of Luna and Moonlight were the same years in which the Cyclopean war erupted.” “Oh...” Twilight’s ear’s folded back, despite knowing the answer, she couldn’t help but ask: “What happened?”. “When the Cyclops’ fleet first touched down on Equestrian soil, Luna and her army were the ones to make first contact.” Celestia’s eyes were downcast as she let out a quiet breath. “It was only because of a miracle that she and a hoofful of guards were able to make it out alive.” “That... that’s terrible.” Was all Twilight could say. “The incident not only scarred my little sister, but also took away her best friend.” Celestia’s eyes closed. “Princess, I’m sorry,” Twilight said, “I shouldn't have asked.” Celestia opened her eyes and her expression warmed up “There is no need to be sorry, Twilight,” Celestia looked at Luna, the mare was laughing at one of her guard’s jokes. “What had happened then is now something of the past, and looking at Luna now I believe that is how she wants to keep it.” Twilight shared Celestia’s smile. “Well, I’m glad that story has a happy ending.” Twilight sipped at her tea, it had gone cold. Celestia glanced at Twilight’s tea. “Would you like a refill Twilight?” She asked, her mood brightening again. Twilight smiled and shook her head. “No, Princess that will not be necessary.” Celestia smiled. “Alright then.” She levitated her own cup to the kettle and refilled hers. “Twilight,” She said blowing lightly on her drink, “would you like to know the reason as to why I requested that you come here?” “Of course.” Celestia levitated the book she had been reading when Twilight had first arrived over to her. “Please, take a look at this.” Twilight took the book in her magic, scrutinizing the cover, she tried to make out the title of the tome. After staring at the title for a few moments longer, she poked her head out from behind the book. “I-I can’t read what it says,” she said looking back at the title, “I don’t even know what language it’s in.” “That’s because, Twilight, it’s not in any language that we know of.” “Pardon me?” “What you hold in front of you Twilight, is part of what came out of the sky,” Celestia said. “Wait a second, you’re saying this book fell from the sky?” Celestia’s chuckle turned into a laugh. “No, my dear–I should have worded that better–it was given to us by the creatures that came from the meteorite.” Celestia grinned when she saw the look her fellow alicorn was giving her. “Twilight, that book is not from this world. That meteorite that nearly struck Canterlot was actually some form of transport that carried a species of bipedal creatures we’ve never seen before.” Twilight eyed Celestia as if she had just received news that Equestria was orbiting the sun. Her mind couldn't even begin to comprehend what the Princess was telling her, a new species? Aliens? A meteorite That fell from the sky and could've destroyed an entire city? What?! Twilight lowered the large book and continued to give Celestia that same look of disbelief. “Celestia,” She said calling the princess by her first name since her arrival, “What are you trying to–” A knock came from the study door. Slowly, the door crept open. “Pardon me your majesties,” the young voice of a mare said, “but dinner has been prepared and is ready to be served.” “Really now,” Kebler said with a large smile, he looked to Luna, to which she looked to her sister. Celestia looked at Twilight. “Shall we take this conversation to the table?” :[-]: “My wife and I have been thinking of naming her Kudu,” Kebler said to Luna as he placed his glass of water down on to the table, “the same name my mother bore.” Both Celestia and Luna held pleased looks at the sound of the name. “When is she due?” Celestia asked, taking a knife to the salad on her plate, she began to slice the pieces of lettuce into smaller bits. Kebler seemed to be taken aback by the question. “N-nine more weeks. Why do–I mean if you don’t mind, Mistress, why do you ask?” Celestia smiled a small smile and returned her attention onto the plate. “I was just wondering at what time I could stop by and see her, that is all.” Kebler’s jaw nearly struck the table. “Indeed sister,” Luna nodded, “what time would be good, Sir Knight, would Tuesday be appropriate?” “Now, sister,” Celestia said taking a small bite of her meal, “remember that nine weeks from now we have that trip to Germaneigh we need to take.” Luna’s face lit up. “That’s–” she started with a mouthful of bread, but quickly swallowed when she noticed Celestia’s warning glare. “–That’s right! Sir Knight, please tell me you’ll be available for the trip!” Kebler was still recovering from Celestia’s previous words. “Well... um.. I... eh.” “Sister, please,” Celestia intervened, “the stallion will be having his first foal around then. There is no way that we can deprive him of that.” “Oh, yes.” Luna chuckled and dipped her spoon into her soup. “I guess I got caught up in the moment.” She sipped it and looked at Twilight. “What about you Twilight, do you think you’ll be able to come?” Twilight sat in her chair. Eyes locked on her untouched food, her thoughts were moving a million miles a minute. Constantly replaying the entire story Celestia had told her prior to dinner, all the way from the meteorite landing up until Luna telling Celestia about the experiments some creatures performed on the guards. Twilight didn’t know what to think, some part of her couldn’t help but feel skeptical, whereas the other half was as giddy as a school-filly at the thought. Could it be that those crazy theorists in Manehatten were right all along? Could some form of alien beings really be walking amongst them? It sounded bizarre and something that’d be completely ripped from fiction. Just like the book she had been reading for the past couple of nights! Quite honestly, it sounded exactly like the bo– “Twilight?” Twilight shook her head, along with her thoughts. “S-sorry what?” Celestia was looking at her with real concern. “You haven’t touched your pasta since it was first brought to you, do you not like it?” For a second Twilight felt lost. “Eh.. yes–I-I mean, no, no it’s alright–” the levitated her fork off the table and scooped a forkful of cold sauce and noodles into her mouth. “–mmmm, it’s delicious!” The two alicorns and guard looked at her their heads slightly tilted in confusion. Twilight dropped the fork onto the table. “S-sorry, Princess, I’m just trying to wrap my head around all of this.” Celestia gave Twilight a genuine smile. “Take as long as you need Twilight. I can assure you things will clear up as time pass.” Luna nodded and swallowed her food. “Oh sister,” She looked to Celestia, “The staff said that the preparations will be ready by tomorrow morning.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Luna, what are you–” “Those creatures my sister has been telling you about.” Luna turned her attention towards Twilight. “During my encounter with them there was no actual way to communicate with them at the time. Aside from an exchange of gifts, which was the book and globe.” Twilight nodded. “Alright, I think understand.” “So in return I gave them a map of Equestria with directions leading to Canterlot. If things go accordingly and they were able to read my markings correctly, they should be arriving here sometime tomorrow.” If Twilight’s mind hadn’t been thrown askew previously, it was now. “... So... what do you know about them?” She asked. “Plenty.” Celestia’s voice was quiet. “Excuse me?” Twilight looked at her, Celestia’s hooves were crossed over each other and resting on the table, her dinner pushed off to the side. “The guards I told you about that were detained...” “Yes. What about them?” “The one thing we haven’t told you was that the experiments they performed on the guards.... they weren’t pleasant.” “And from the book they gave us,” Luna added on, “So far what we have been able to obtain from it. These beings appear to have a very, very dark history.” “My apologies, Luna, but can you elaborate on that?” “A large portion of their history seems to be entirely made up of war, and other types of conflict. Though there have been points of peace and harmony, they come far and few between each other.” “What about when you first met them? Were they harsh at any point?” “No, not at all.” Luna shook her head. “However, they did seem paranoid.” “Though,” Celestia chimed in, “Luna and I believe that is because of her sudden appearance.” “So you caught them off guard?” “Precisely.” A brief silence fell over them as the four ponies returned to their meals. Twilight spooned her pasta, running her utensil along the outer rim of her saucer deep in thought. Her mind still trying to process what she had heard. Twilight stopped her spoon halfway around the plate and allowed it to sink down into the sauce. “Princess Celestia?” “Hmm?” Celestia hummed into a forkful of lettuce. “May I go examine that book you and Luna mentioned?” Celestia swallowed. “Of course you can Twilight.” The mare nodded and got up. “Thank you,” She said and stopped in mid-turn. “Oh and one last thing, could you please relay a message to the chef that my food was terrific, but I’d appreciate it if he could ease up a little on the spice.” Celestia smiled. “I’ll make sure I do that.” :[-]: The board room was filled with the voices of angry, debating, members of what remains of humanity's government. Debates that were being flung to and fro across the room varied between the recent encounter with the Equine species, to how said species should be dealt with, and of course: How to continue from here on out with the operation. The operation being the revival of the human race. When it came down to it, in most cases, the council members were practically useless hunks of living flesh. In Watson’s eyes that is. Humanity’s council members served to only do three things, sleep, argue, and consume food. Lather, rinse, repeat. The actual reason on why they’re supposed to be here is to help the remainder of the crew make rational decisions. Sort of like a committee. The council’s job was to come up with a handful of decisions, either it be bad or good. Fish out the bad ones, find one that seems right, knock out any kinks, and present it to Watson. From there, Watson would have to make a decision, act on what they have presented, or deny it and maybe make a few suggestions of his own. At least that’s how it was supposed to work. Unfortunately, most of the councilors would get uppity if their suggestions were weeded out. Even to the point of acting like children at times; because of this, Watson could only sigh at the fact that even after thousands of years, politicians still remain the same. The members of Horizon’s council appeared to be reasonable gents, most of the time. Save for a few individuals Watson wanted to wrap his hands around and strangle. But ever since the encounter with the new natives, a strain of paranoia had sprouted up. When word about the recent captures and Hassel’s stunt with the experiments got out, the members became skittish, and proceeded to become more and more paranoid. Watson would admit that wasn’t a bad thing. But there propositions were. “For the fifth time, Mr. Takanao.” Watson leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his table he placed his forehead in the palm of his hand. He sighed deeply. “We are not going to wage war with these things.” “Please just listen to us, Sir.” Takanao scooched his chair in closer and leaned forward. Watson placed his hands flat on the table and looked at the committee representative, he was a short Japanese man in his mid forties. His hair was combed gently to the side, he wore a nice black suit with a pair of black rimmed glasses that sat nicely on the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been listening to all of you for the past five minutes,” Watson blatantly stated, “And all of you keep yapping on about how we should just BLOW the fuckers up!” Takanao raised both hands in his defense and nodded his head. “And I agree with you sir, we, the members, have come up with a solution.” Watson looked at the man unconvinced. “Really now?” Takanao nodded. “We shall attempt negotiations first.” Watson took in a breath of relief. “However,” Takanao continued, “if things do not to go as planned. We’ll continue on with the operation, disregarding any complaints the natives may have.” Watson raised an eyebrow. “And I assume if there’s any form of retaliation?” “Then they shall regret ever crossing us.” Takanao finished. The door at the other end of the room opened. “Admiral?” A man poked his head in. “Is he ready?” Watson stood up from his chair, the man by the door nodded and leaned back out. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Watson said stepping out from in front of his chair, he pushed it in and motioned for everyone to look at the door. “I’d like for all of you to focus your attention on our chief astrobiologist, Dr. Hassel.” Dr. Hassel stepped into the room along with a few of his assistants. The trio of scientists made their way to the front. Dr. Hassel then gave Watson a brief handshake before turning away and walking towards a large, mounted television. The two assistants went off to the side, one of them who had been carrying a brown leather bag, sat at the table and opened it. Inside she pulled out a silver laptop, which she began to set up while the other took the cables and applied them to the television screen. “Greetings everyone, as you all know from Admiral Vatson’s introduction, mein name is Dr. Ludvig Hassel. I am not only zee chief astrobiologist of zis operation, but also zee head biologist. I ofersee all experimentations and any ofer project my team may be conducting.” Behind Hassel the television flickered and came to life, revealing the image of a powerpoint that looked to have been made up in a short period of time. “Ofer zee past day mein team and I hafe been conducting a series of experimentations, vich I had been granted permission by Vatson personally.” Hassel looked over at his assistant and nodded for her to start the presentation, the woman by the computer pressed the enter key, opening the first slide. The title card behind Hassel transitioned into an image displaying three of the four captives the soldiers had recovered previously. The one on the far left being a winged, bat like equine, the middle appearing to be almost normal aside from the horn protruding from its head, and finally the one of the far right showing no differences from any normal horse. Despite the difference in the height, weight, and size of the eyes compared to any other horse every man has seen. “From vat you can see.” Hassel stepped aside, allowing the committee a clear view of what was being displayed. “Zese sree equines were part of zee trespassers who had broken into zee Japanese storage unit.” Hassel looked at his assistant. “Nancy, could you please move to the next slide.” The next image to appear were three black and white MRI scans of each creature's skull. “Zough each of zese animals appear to be much different from each other, zey all fall under zee same species, and family. After vee had ran zee blood tests from each of our subjects, vee had learned zat zey are able to procreate.” Hassel stopped when he noticed a few confused looks coming from the audience. “Zey can produce offspring.” Again Hassel looked to his assistant and the slide changed. Though the image was much similar to the one showing off the three slightly different skulls, this time it revealed the brain of each equine. At this point Hassel was now smiling, he was reaching his favorite part. “After vee did zee blood tests, mein men and I analysed the scans of each of our subjects in order to study how zese creature’s brain works.” Hassel couldn’t contain his excitement any longer and his smile was now stretched from ear to ear. “Vat vee had learned was truly remarkable. Like us humans zis equine here.” He tapped the image on the far left. “And here.” He pointed at the one on the far right. “Zere brain has a dominant side, meaning zere are primarily using zere left or right. However!” His eyes were wide and he was chuckling lightly he placed his hand over the one in the middle, the equine with the horn protruding from its forehead. “Zis one here is much more special! Za reason being, it uses both sides of its brain. Again, just like us." He stopped himself as if for dramatic effect, seeing that he received no response, he continued, "Zough, I must clarify, zat zay use it in a vay zat ven compared to myself, it could potentially be using it’s brain far beyond ansing we sought vee could imagine.” A few members of the committee raised an eyebrow while a few others leaned back in their chair, unimpressed. Hassel leaned forward and smirked as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Zough zat isn’t all vat makes it different from zee ozers.” He looked back at the image of the equine’s brain. “From vat I had taken from mein own obserfations out in zee field, is zat zees creature here poses some sort of psionic ability.” A few committee members looked at Hassel unconvinced, the ones that had previously sat back now leaned forward with intrigue. “Ven I said zat zis equine brain is different from zee ozers, it’s not only because it is able to control it more effectively, but zat it also holds a section zat no ozer race has.” The image on the screen revealed a new slide only containing a single image of an equine's brain. However, the image looked to have been taken from a different angle; allowing the people in the room to look at it from a different perspective. “Right here.” Hassel tapped his knuckles lightly on the screen. “You’ll notice here between vat I presume to be zee creatures occipital lobe and its cerebellum, is somesink highly bizarre.” Once again the slide above transitioned, now displaying two brains side by side, each containing slight differences. “Ven I compared each diagram vith zee ozer subjects, I noticed somesink interesting about zis structure in particular.” He pointed at a rounded bit wedged between the pieces of the equine’s brain. “Vile zis lobe does appear to be present in zee vinged one, it looks to be underdeveloped not to mention zat zee normal type zeems to lack zis structure entirely.” The committee erupted into a bunch of quiet whispers with one another, which was quickly silenced by Admiral Watson clearing his throat. “Vat I’m saying,” Hassel continued “Is zat aside from zis one here.” Hassel gestured towards the odd brain out. “Zis creature is zee only one zat has zis point fully developed and is able to bend zee environment to its own vill.” “Wait a second doctor.” Takanao stood up with a raised hand. “So you're saying these things can defy the laws of physics? That, they can do practically anything?” Hassel frowned a little in thought. “Just to clarify, Mr. Takanao, you're asking about zis one here, or all of them?” “All of them.” Hassel immediately snorted and shook his head. “Nein!” He chuckled, “Only zis one here is able to conduct such acts, and from vat I haf experienced down in zee lab, zere actions appear to be very limited.” A woman holding a small notepad stood up beside Takanao. “Doctor, didn’t you say that the winged one also appeared to have a similar lobe?” “Yes, Dr. Kentley, I did. However, the cytoplasmic substance, zat we presume to be vat allows zese creatures to perform such abilities, we found passing through the lobe look to be getting stopped by a wall of tissue zat looks similarly to a septa found in hypha. Vee assume zis wall of tissue acts as some kind of filter. Only allowing very small amounts of the substance to pass through.” “So what you’re saying is the horned equine does not have a septa?” Kentley asked while jotting down everything Hassel had said. Hassel nodded “Richtig, Dr. Kentley.” He looked around the room. “Any more questions? Or shall I continue?” “Yes Doctor.” Watson raised his hand, he was leaning back in his chair and he was looking at Hassel with a cold look. “Does this ability pose any kind of threat to us?” Hassel bit his bottom lip. “Not zat vee know of, no,” Hassel said, returning Watson's look. “Alright then, people!” Watson leaned forward in his chair and looked at the clock above the door. “Judging by our time that concludes our meeting for today, dinner will be served in 18:30.” He stood up from his chair and looked over the committee members who were already rising up and out of their chairs chatting with one another. Watson raised his voice, “Tomorrow we'll resume the meeting and discuss our next turn of actions with the native equines. Dismissed!” Editors’ Notes: Isaac3924: Things are slowly moving forward to a meeting point with the ponies and humans, and I know what’s going to happen next! The humans are going to fly to Canterlot, get out of the ship in an orderly fashion, and then this will happen: *Crickets* TOTALLY. 100% guaranteed. I AM AN EDITOR, THUS A TRUSTED SOURCE. PhiliChez: Things be happnen’. beware all ye who be quadrupeds of the quasi aliens. They can be nefarious. Nuclear Grenade: Well, readers if you thought this chapter was interesting the I have news for you SHIT IS ABOUT TO GET REAL... eventually. Take it from someone who’s seen the basic plotline, there is gonna be a shit ton of awesome new stuff headed your way. Hopefully our lovely humans take kindly to the weird and totally awesome hell hole they are about to find themselves in. Or else this will happen: http://goo.gl/VOgKSu AGAIN! > Chapter 13: The First Encounter > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Horizon, October 15th, 07:00 Jonathan Conway woke to the sound of his chamber door opening. “Morning there partner.” He recognized the muffled male voice that greeted him. “Hey, Arin–” he cut himself off with a groan as he pushed himself forward, he had slept with his back against the wall all night. He twisted his neck and cracked it. “What brings you in here?” John rubbed the back of his sore neck and looked at his brother, who was dressed in a blue quarantine suit and appeared to be holding some kind of envelope in his right hand. “Oh nothing much,” Arin smiled and took a seat on the cot right beside John. “Just wanted to see what kind of trouble my older brother got himself into this time.” He leaned back, matching his sibling’s pose. “Speaking of which, what the hell happened anyways?” John snorted and stretched out his back, he sighed and shook his head. “Something embarrassing that’s what.” He looked at Arin, who seemed unimpressed by his answer. “It was like something out of a goddamn freak show.” He looked to the inch thick glass that kept him and the psychotic in the other room away from each other. “One moment things were fine, then the next... fuck I can hardly recall.” John scratched the back of his head, trying to look back at the recent events. “All I can remember was a bright, green light, and this horrid ringing sound. I felt like I was going to vomit... and then, I came back to Hassel shining a light in my eye and asking if I was experiencing any symptoms.” Arin looked at John with a raised eyebrow, “Symptoms?” John met his brother’s gaze. “The Sleeper Virus.” Arin’s eyes widened with horror and confusion. “Wa-wait a second, John, that can’t be ri–” “I know, Arin, I know it’s crazy, and no I wasn’t experiencing any sort of symptoms.” Arin let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. “Okay then, what did Hassel say?” John shook his head and smirked. “Like I fucking know, the man hardly makes any sense to me. Shit, I bet his lackeys in white can barely make sense of him. He started rambling on about how whatever that thing projected out of its goddamn head shared resemblances to the virus, took one look at me, and after that I was carted away.” Arin leaned over and smiled at John. “Well.” He looked him over from head to toe. “You don’t look infected to me, so at least we have that going for us.” John glanced over at the room across from him again, he raised an eyebrow, the crazed man from last night was nowhere to be found.. “Say,” He said to his brother, not taking his eyes off the room. “What happened to screwloose?” He pointed to the empty room. “Lt. Shaun Bell?” Arin followed his brother’s stare. “He was released just two hours ago at oh five hundred, the coats ran a couple of tests on him and said he was clean as a whistle.” “Bullshit,” John got up from his spot, his legs had grown stiff and he needed to loosen them. “That crazy fucker woke me up last night!” "So what, John? Not everyone can sleep like a baby like you c–” “No, you don't understand, that psycho was sobbing like a child and saying that he could hear some fucking voice or some shit!” “John the coats said he was–” “Fucking look!” John went over to the window and planted his finger on a red splotch. “The blood stain he left last night is still there!” He then turned back to Arin,who had followed him, and was now scrutinizing the dried blood. “That man isn’t stable; he shouldn’t be roaming around the ship!” Arin raised his hands in a calming gesture. “Alright, alright, I believe you. I’ll leave a note for Hassel explaining everything and I’ll make sure the supervisor checks the tape.” John let out a breath of relief. “Thanks, Arin.” “So... how did that blood stain get there anyways?” John glanced back at it. “The guy had a headache I guess and decided to take care of it by smashing his head against the glass… repeatedly.” Arin pursed his lips. “Oookay then, gimme a second here.” Arin brought a hand up side of his helmet and switched something on. “Dr. Joyce? Yeah this is Sgt. Conway. I noticed something odd with Lt. Bell’s quarantine room.” He nodded his head. “Yeah I know. There appears to blood on one of the containment walls. Officer Conway said it was caused by him having a fit the night prior. Do you know anything about that?” He fell silent for a few moments. “Alright, I’ll make sure a few of my mates get on it when I’m done.” “What she say?” John asked. “She mentioned that Shaun might have been experiencing the final passing of his infection. However, she agreed that he’ll need a few more check ups before he’ll be fully released.” John nodded his head and looked back at his brother. He once again took notice of the small envelope still in Arin's hands. He leaned himself against the glass and pointed at it. “What’s that you got there?” “Oh, this.” Arin held up the envelope, John nodded. “This is something I was meant to give to you before we launched into orbit to escape the apocalypse.” He handed it over to John. “If Hassel saw me bring it in here, he’d probably chew me out or something about contaminations and shit.” “Maybe,” John said he slid his thumb under the flap and tore it open. He pulled his hand back and held it below the envelope as he tipped it, allowing a small handful of photographs to fall into his palm. All of a sudden, he couldn’t breathe. “H-h-how di-did you–” He closed his mouth and looked at Arin with wide eyes, he was smiling back at him. “I remembered a week before launch that you mentioned you didn’t have enough time to grab any pictures of them; that you were evacuated too quickly. Well, it just so happens that Facebook wasn’t as useless as I thought it was.” He laughed. John dropped the brown envelope and held the three pictures in his hands as he shambled; almost zombie-like back to his cot. He held the first photo up, ‘Disney World’, he thought ‘2017, one year before Archangel’s appearance’. The image was of him, Stacey, and his daughter Amy, the three of them were standing on main street with the castle behind them. The memory was so clear to him, mostly due to the fact that Arin had broken his phone, after having taken that very same picture. Thankfully, he was right about Facebook being useful when it came to backing up his photos. John flipped through the rest of the images. The second being his family trip to London, England back in 2008, and the final being taken in 2012 with him stepping off the plane and returning home from working in D.C. for the past three months. “I apologize if the pictures are a bit faded.” He chuckled. “They were in my back pocket for like the past twelve thousand years or so.” “N-no, they’re fine...” John said, his voice monotone, his thoughts completely focused on the images before him. He felt speechless, quite frankly seeing his wife and child again, even just pictures of them, nearly brought him to tears. He had forgotten how empty he’d felt when he’d left them, his mind had been so focused on his own survival and work that he’d felt like an empty husk. The only person aboard that had actually brought out his true emotions was his brother, the only family he had left. “Where’d you get them?” “Well if you want the specifics,” Arin said, “I printed them back in Fort Kentley, right before we boarded the trucks and headed to the Lazarus launch facility. I wanted to give them to you before I got onto the Omega and launched into orbit, but with all the chaos going on I couldn’t get them to you.” John sniffed and lowered the images down onto his lap, with his right arm propped on his knee he rested his chin on his knuckles, peering off into the nonexistent distance. After a few minutes of comfortable silence he blinked and looked at Arin, which allowed him to see a few stray tears making their way down John’s cheeks. “Thank you,” Was all he said, and gently stashed the photos in his right pocket. “Hey.” Arin reached forward and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t mention it.” A hiss sounded from their right as the chamber door opened. “Pardon me, gentlemen.” Jonathon’s doctor, Alyssa Joyce, came into the room dressed in a similar protective suit as Arin along with two other men. One of the men John could easily identify as a soldier by the long AK rifle he held in both hands, and the bulge in his suit created by the kevlar vest he wore beneath it. The other man stood behind Alyssa with a metal cart. John assumed him to be Alyssa’s assistant. On said cart was a various amount of medical items, tourniquets, bandages, cotton balls, and what looked to be hundreds of needles. John swallowed hard when his eyes landed on the needles. “So.. heh... what’cha doin there Doc? Prepping for surgery?” The assistant rolled the cart into the center of the room, a couple feet away from John and his brother. Alyssa went over to the cart and picked up a needle, she held it up to the light for inspection. “You could say that...” She looked at John. “What?” She smiled at the horrified look on his face. “I’m just teasing you, no there will be no surgery. Just a couple of blood samples that is all.” John bit his bottom lip. ‘Now that I think about it, surgery might’ve been a better option.’ He always hated giving blood. No, he hated anything that involved any sort of needle being jammed into his arm.. “O-okay then. Why?” Alyssa nodded while absentmindedly inspecting the needle. She placed it back onto the cart and looked to her assistant, whispered something into his ear and looked back to John. “Well you want to get out of here don’t you?” “Yeah I guess. But why do I need to give blood?” Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Mr. Conway, if you’ll just let me do my job. I’ll explain everything to you while I set everything up, now please straighten yourself out.” John raised an eyebrow at Arin. He shrugged. “Did you know anything about this?” He asked. Arin smirked. “To be honest.” He shook his head head towards the man wielding the assault rifle. “I’m here for the same reason he is, I just wanted to talk to you while the good doctor got ready.” “And you didn’t tell me?” John hissed. Arin chuckled and said, “John, you and I both know that would have been stupid of me. Now go on, do as she says.” John sat back down on the cot and watched as the doctor’s assistant pushed the cart towards the berth. The assistant then stepped back from the cart and stood in front of John. “Mr. Conway,” The man said, If you could hold out your left arm it’d be much appreciated.” John did as he was told. “Now please hold still while I apply the tourniquet.” The man turned around after retrieving a thick bandage from the cart and tied it tightly slightly above his elbow. “Make a fist please.” John eyed Alyssa. “Aren’t you supposed to be the one doing all of this?” He asked. The doctor motioned her head towards her assistant. “Marko here specifically asked if he could be the one to take the sample. So take it up with him.” “Do not worry sir,” Marko said moving John’s arm so that the bottom faced upward. He then began to trace up it, looking for the vein. “I have done this numerous of times.” Marko tapped his finger on a spot a few inches above John’s joint, and then turned to the cart to grab a small bottle of disinfectant. “I still don’t think having an assistant rather than an actual doctor take my blood is going to change my opinion much on this.” John glared at Alyssa, she was standing by Arin in the center of the room with a small smile. “It’s not like he’s going to be performing brain surgery on you, John.” Arin said, “He’s just taking your blood.” “Yeah, and a lot of things can go wrong with just taking–” John was cut off by a small prick in his arm. Looking down he noticed the assistant holding a small syringe that was already filling with his own blood. He watched wide eyed as the assistant pulled out the full vial of blood and began to gently swish around a few times before placing it in a holder. “A-are you done?” “Nope.” The man looked at him and smiled. “We need at least three more.” John gulped. :[-]: Horizon, October 15th, 11:00 For the first time in a little over twenty four hours, Jonathan Conway took his first steps out of the infirmary. After his… ordeal, the horrid blood tests confirmed the (quite obvious in his opinion) fact that he wasn’t infected, and the man was allowed free passage once again around the interior of the ship. Relatively at least; he would be under constant surveillance for the next seventy two hours. “Hey,” Arin said, his new ‘bodyguard’, “at least they aren’t keeping you locked up in that dingy medbay, right?” John sighed. “Trust me Arin, if what you say is true, the only reason they’re letting me out in the first place is because the admiral needs me to oversee the upcoming mission.” He looked at his brother as the duo began to walk towards the central elevator. “If the lab coats always got what they wanted, I’d probably be in some fucking incubator right now.” Arin frowned. “Do we even have those onboard?” John sighed. “Like hell if I know.” The two of them stopped in front of the elevator and pressed the call button. “Well man, there’s nothing to worry about, alright?” Arin said, “And besides, I’m good at keeping myself invisible.” He smiled to himself. “Yeah,” John agreed as the elevator door opened, the two stepped in. “Half of our childhood I never really got a good look at you.” Arin frowned. “Wait... the fuck is that supposed to mean?” John just grinned as the doors closed in front of them and began to descend into the ship. :[-]: Horizon, October 15th, 11:10 “Ladies and gentlemen, you’ll be heading on possibly one of the most crucial operations since the starting of this project.” Admiral Watson was standing in the center of the control room right beside the holo-globe. In front of him were twelve soldiers, each divided into two groups. On the right was the squad led by Commander William Keshiner, whereas on the left was led by one of Earth’s finest: Master Sergeant Peter Van Thorne, who was more formally known as “Kong”. Kong was a rather small man, he had thin limbs, yet his strength could match those of a gorilla. Or so the men who had faced him in an arm wrestling match would say. His eyes were blue and sharp, along with his aim, and his hair stopped just below his ears in curly blond waves. Funny enough, Kong’s height could have him be mistaken for a young teenager, though it has been said that despite his stature he could match the speed of the old olympic runner Usain Bolt. Back straight, Kong and the other eleven men were outfitted with enough gear that’d make a SEAL team wary of their presence. Which was probably why the rest of the crew was giving them their due space, with the exception of Watson, who was currently staring into Kong’s eyes in a cold, calculating challenge. “The twelve of you, along with a few other important assets, will be heading to what we believe is the natives’ capital settlement.” The hologlobe spun around to reveal a red dot near the center of Japan. “As for you, Baghdad.” Watson looked to William and his squad. “Your job is simple, keep your mouths shut and make sure nothing happens to the VIPs while the meeting with the equine hierarchy is in progress. Delta team.” Watson glared at Kong and his men. “Your job is also simple, stay quiet and make sure the equines stay clear of the Condors. Am I clear?” “Sir yes sir!” “Excellent,” Watson said, “Officer Conway here,” he gestured towards John and Arin as the two men walked in from the hallway, “Will be watching your backs via the spare drone and your helmet cams. If anything shows up on radar he’ll relay the information to you before the proverbial shit hits the fan.” Watson gave John a stern look as the two walked up beside him. “Is that correct, Central?” “Affirmative, sir.” John nodded before saluting the admiral. Watson gave John’s back a light smack. “Good, then that means I’ll leave everything up to you. good luck” he said before stepping behind John and taking his leave. With watson walking towards the door, John turned around and retrieved a remote from the table behind him. “Listen up everyone, I will try to make this brief. As Watson might have already said, you’ll be escorting four VIPs today.” John aimed the remote towards the television behind the men and the screen flickered to life, showing off an I.D. portrait of Angela Greene. “The primary VIP is Ms. Angela Greene, our top diplomat. Guard her with your lives, boys and girls. If we lose her, we’ll have no clue on how our relationship with these creatures will turn out. Next.” The screen transitioned to another I.D. of a woman. “Ms. Angela Weaver, Horizon’s top chairman, will be tagging along as the council’s representative. Quite frankly, if something were to happen to her, it won’t be a big loss.” A few soldiers chuckled at this. “Second to last!” The screen changed and showed a large, nerdy looking individual. “We have Doug Miller, he’ll tag along and represent our research division. If there’s any chance he’ll also be there to grab whatever samples and notes he can find in order to further our understanding of these beings. So. Guard him with your life. Now finally.” The screen revealed a lanky looking man with glasses. “We have our second top VIP, Bryan Hunsinger. He will serve as our translator. Ladies and gentlemen I don’t think I need to emphasize how important this man is. If shit does go down we need this man as alive as possible, he’s the only one so far who has been able to understand the equines’ language. Now. Do we have any questions?” Instantly a hand shot up. “Yes, Kong?” “Why do we need to bring, Ms. Suit with us? It’s not like we’re going to a zoo, hell she’ll be nothing but dead weight!” John sighed “I told you Kong.” He scratched the back of his neck. “She’ll be representing the council. Not only that, she too will be taking notes on equine behavior. Anything else–ah, yes, what is it Mint?” John pointed towards a tall pale man in the back behind Kong. “What about our weapons, are there any restrictions on what we can take?” John smirked. “Excellent question. Yes, and no. For Delta team, no. You’ll be outdoors guarding the LZ, so feel free to use whatever you want to. However, Baghdad will be guarding the VIPs with concealed small arms. Remember, we’re trying to make a good impression, we don’t want the equines thinking that we’re going to take the place.” “So you want us to guard them with just our nine millimeters?” William asked. “Not entirely, just anything you can keep out of the equines’ line of sight. Handguns, SMGs, etcetera. Anymore questions?” No one said anything. “Alright then, you’ll be heading down to the armory to grab any remaining gear that you’ll need. I’ll be expecting you locked and loaded in Hangar B by 11:30. When you’re ready, the operation will be underway. Dismissed!” :[-]: October 15th 11:40 “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.” William raised an ear at the sound of DeSilva’s sarcastic voice. “This morning’s flight is expected to last about forty minutes. However, ten of those minutes will be spent out of comms range, but do not worry. HQ will have that all sorted out in a matter of time.” The ship shuddered as the doors slid shut, and the engines whistled as they came to life. William felt a brief sense of weightlessness when the locks on the elevator that carried the VTOL released, allowing the ship to descend into the lowest deck. The Condor jolted when the elevator came to a grinding halt. “God dammit!” Will overheard Doug Miller. “When are those engineers going to oil those damn gears?!” Will looked at the angry, overweight man who was glaring upwards at the ceiling of the craft. “I swear, one of these days this thing’s going to snap right in half and send us right to our grave.” Michael, who sat beside William chuckled. “Man, I’m having a huge sense of deja vu right now.” A redhead girl named Stacey, the one marine that sat directly across from Michael sighed. “That’s probably because this isn’t the first time we’ve heard Dr. Miller say that.” “I know that.” Michael replied, “It’s just that it’s strange to hear him say it again, especially–” “For Christ sake, does it matter?” William interrupted. “Ladies and gentlemen, our flight will be under way momentarily. T minus sixty seconds.” Michael shot a quick glance at William then returned to his conversation with Stacey about deja-whatever. William looked around the cabin and at the other three soldiers, who were a couple of corporals and a tech sergeant Watson assigned to him. He didn’t know the corporals’ names, nor their faces, although he had seen the tech sergeant around a few times. The three men were strapped in, their heads hanging back as they tried to catch up on some sleep they probably missed. William wished that he could join them, however, these past couple of nights he had been plagued with nightmares from years past. William yawned and unstrapped himself from his seat. “Whoa, Commander.” Michael stuck a hand out to him as he got up. “What’cha think you’re doin’? Don’t you see we’re about to take off?” “Don’t worry about me.” Will held tightly onto the ceiling handle. “I’m just going up to the cockpit that’s all.” Carefully he began to move his way past the seated marine and over to the door separating the cockpit from the rest of the ship. Will stopped in front of the door and pressed the call button. “DeSilva, it’s me. Open up, will ya!” A click sounded from the door and it slid open. Stepping inside Will saw the Ukrainian pilot sipping his soda from a red aluminum can. “How can I help you, sir?” DeSilva asked as he smacked his lips and placed the can in the cup holder beside him, Will took the seat next to him. “I just need to get away from my squad for now that’s all,” Will said as he strapped himself in. DeSilva laughed. “Really now? Well then, let me help you.” He pressed a button, shutting the door behind them. “Al Capone, this is Central, how copy over?” “Hold on for a second, William.” DeSilva flipped the switch on the side of his headphones and he spoke into the built-in mic. “This is Al Capone, I’m reading you loud and clear, Central. The bird is locked and ready when you are. Over.” “Roger that, Al Capone, proceed with caution. We’ve got reports of small unidentified objects flying within the air space. Over.” “Will do.” DeSilva flipped a switch and took hold of the cyclic, gently pulling back on it. William could feel the shaking of the craft intensify as it slowly began to lift off the surface of the elevator. Past the windshield, Will saw a white horizontal crack form in the side of the ship as the outer door began to open. “Alright, Commander.” DeSilva looked at him. “Hold onto your butt.” Will felt a slight jerk as the ship flew past the opened door, climbing rapidly once they cleared the opening. Within seconds they were already hundreds of feet above ground, giving them a bird's eye view of the camp below. Will could see dozens of tents and the dots of other crew members moving about the perimeter steadily growing smaller as they ascended. Most of them seemed busy with clearing out the remaining debris, while a handful had already dragged out the construction gear and were beginning to deconstruct the ship’s engines. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?” “Excuse me?” Will took his eyes off the ground and looked at DeSilva. “Flying, being able to see the ground from here, it’s beautiful,” DeSilva said while keeping his eyes focused on what was ahead of him. “I don’t know if you could say that,” William disagreed, “After twelve thousand years... I think I’m a bit tired of flying.” DeSilva laughed. “When you put it like that, friend, I cannot blame you. Say...” DeSilva punched a few buttons on the console and a pleasant female voice filtered through the headset. “Autopilot engaged, ETA: 42 minutes.” He then reached forward and pressed a button that looked almost like a CD ejector, and sure enough, it was. He pulled out a small burnt CD and placed it aside. “What kind of man are you?” He pulled out a large CD case. “Sinatra, or Martin?” William raised an eyebrow. “Do you have Fly Me to the Moon?” DeSilva looked at William as if he was an idiot. “Why wouldn’t I have it?” “I dunno, maybe by some sma–” “But it’s like one of his most popular songs–” “Alright! Fuck, just put him in then!” DeSilva chuckled and took out his Frank Sinatra CD and stuck it into the player. After he found the correct track the two men sat back in a brief silence and watched as the Condor flew over the small equine settlement. Down below, both of them could see dozens of equines stumbling out into the streets watching wide-eyed as the metal machine streaked across the sky. The cockpit filled with the sound of Sinatra’s voice and band. “Say,” Will called over the song’s chorus, “where’s Delta team and the other VIPs?” Will leaned his head to the right seeing if he could possibly spot the second ship they were supposedly in. “They are right behind us in the second bird.” DeSilva loosely bobbed his head to the music. “Just a couple hundred meters back though, you can’t see them from up here.” Will pulled his head back from the window and looked at the pilot. “Alright then–the fuck!” Out from the corner of his eye a dark figure zipped past the ship. “Oh shit!” DeSilva veered the ship a little to the left. “You saw that too?” “Like hell I did, the fuck was that?” Again another streak flew by, this time right above the cockpit. “It’s probably some type of bird,” DeSilva said trying to keep the ship align. He turned his headset on and held the mic to his mouth. “Central, this is Al Capone, I’ve spotted several unidentified objects flying within close proximity of us.” “Ro.... Th.... skj....” Static and gibberish poured out of the radio. DeSilva cursed and flipped off his headset. “What’s wrong?” William asked focusing his attention on their right flank. “We’re entering the goddamn deadzone, won’t be another ten minutes ‘till we have comms again.” He sighed. “For now I guess we just hang tight and make sure that whatever these things are–” “Holy... shit,” Will interrupted, his jaw was nearly striking the floor. Out along the right side of the dropship were six winged equines gliding alongside them, going at a speed in which Will thought was impossible for a flesh and blood creature. “What do you see?” DeSilva looked over, his vision blocked by William’s body. “It’s the natives,” He said quietly, unable to take his eyes off of the impossible creatures. Each one was wearing a set of golden armor, their coats were a pure white, their plumes, tails, and eyes all a dark shade of blue. The looks on their faces hard and almost expressionless. “The natives?” DeSilva went back to looking ahead. “How the fu.. what? They can fly? How?” “They have wings, that’s how. But’s that’s not the question you should be asking.” “What are they doing?” “Yes.” William nodded. “That’s a good question. As for an answer? I don’t know.” The light from the sun reflected off of a cloud above, making William squint as he leaned in for a closer examination. “It almost looks as if they’re escorting us,” He said. “Or making sure we aren’t doing anything stupid.” Will nodded again in agreement. “That too.” He heard a pop of a tab behind him, glancing over his shoulder he saw DeSilva drinking his pop nervously. “Hey,” Will said sternly, DeSilva looked at him. “Hand me one, will ya?” DeSilva reached under his seat and handed Will a red can of cola. He took it and popped it open, sipping from it he gazed out the window. “I don’t see anything suspicious happening. Like I said, they're probably just escorting us.” “Wait a second,” DeSilva asked, suddenly realising something. “How the Hell are they even keeping up with us?” He looked at the dashboard. “We’re nearly going five hundred kilometers an hour!” Will snorted and sipped his drink. “Like I know.” “I’m surprised,” DeSilva said, “at how well you’re taking this.” William cackled and laid back in his seat. “This whole mission has been filled with weird shit. Heck, the last twelve thousand years is unequaled by any other event. First the Archangel shows up, then we suddenly have the zombie apocalypse on our hands, NASA just so happened to be building a gigantic colony ship which was supposed to save the human race. Which also just so happened to be the same ship I was going to be spending the next couple thousand years on in cryosleep until we stumble upon some new habitable rock in the sky.” He cleared his throat and straightened himself out. “Trust me, if you were with me and my squad before doomsday, you’d have seen some weird-ass shit.” DeSilva glanced at William strangely and looked back on ahead. For a few moments they sat in silence. “Could you name one?” DeSilva asked generally curious. Will took a deep breath and shrugged. “Well, I had my handgun get turned into a rattlesnake once.” DeSilva laughed out loud, but stopped shortly after when he noticed William looking at him expressionless. “Wait, you’re fucking serious?” “Yeah.” He said, “Archangel’s attack on Camp Sherman, ring any bells?” DeSilva nearly choked on his drink. “Oh shit, you’re right! Fuck, you were there?!” “That’s how the armory got flooded with venomous snakes,” Will said. He raised his hand and spaced his index finger a centimeter away from his thumb. “I came this close to nearly popping the fucker in the head, and next thing you know I’m holding a rattlesnake!” Will faced himself forward and turned his head to the right and focused back on their escorts. The equines looked to be flying with ease; as if they had no trouble with the speed they were going. “You know, sometimes I wonder if I could’ve finished it all there,” Will said quietly. “Excuse me?” Will drank the last of his cola and set the can aside. “Back in Sherman, if I had been a little faster, could I have ended it all, y’know? A swift pull of the trigger and bam! You know what I’m saying?” “I doubt it man,” DeSilva said, “From all the stories I’ve heard from everyone aboard, the destruction and chaos I’ve seen when flying to all those LZs, there’s no way in Hell a single nine millimeter could’ve brought that thing down.” “Maybe you’re right, but still... it’s something to think about I guess.” “Something that’d get you killed, that’s what that is.” A tinny voice sputtered through DeSilva’s headset. “Al Capone, this is Central, how copy, over?” “Finally.” DeSilva switched the music off and put his headset back on. “I’m reading you five by five, over.” “Excellent, what’s happening up there? Over.” “So far everything is a-okay, over.” A brief wave of static erupted from the radio before a new voice came through. A much deeper voice than Will would have expected. “Well I be damned, the radio’s working,” The voice said sarcastically. “Good afternoon, Lil-John, nice to hear you ain’t sleeping behind the wheel,” DeSilva replied. “Ha!” The voice cackled, the man sounded old; William assumed he was the other Condor pilot. "And it’s nice that I can actually hear you instead of that damned music, Al Capone! And I see ya made some friends. Pretty amazing that they can keep up to your ship at your speed” “Speaking of which,” John spoke up, “When did they arrive, Al Capone?” “Approximately, seven minutes ago, over.” “Roger that, have their actions showed any suspicion? Over.” “Not as of yet; escorts appear to be docile, over.” “Roger that, estimated time till you reach your destination?” He paused, glancing at the dash. “ETA: fifteen minutes over,” Both pilot said simultaneously. “Wait, what?” Will exclaimed. “damn, that went by quicker than I thought.” he looked over at DeSilva. “Wake me up when we land alright?” DeSilva nodded and gave him a thumbs up, Will patted his shoulder and got comfortable in his seat. Closing his eyes, he drifted off. :[-]: “Commander! Commander, please! Help me!” “Nathan! Nathan, where are you?” “Commander, ple–graaah!” “Nathan! Nathan, where are you... shit... NATHAN!” “William... darling, are you there?” “L-Laura? Sweetie, is that you?” “Will, I-I can’t see you... Will, why can’t I see you?” “Laura, stay calm. I’m coming!” “Leave them, Commander.’’ “Will! I can’t breathe! William, please it’s crushing me!” “LAURA!” “It’s either your wife and child or the entirety of the human race.” “William, I love you!” “Laura, for Christ sake don’t go!” “Choose now, Commander, because what happens now will change the fate of humanity.” :[-]: “Hey, man you alright?” A voice filtered through William’s thoughts. Along with something gently shaking him as his hazy consciousness grabbed ahold of reality. “Ah!” William woke in his seat with a startled cry, his left hand firmly gripping the hilt of his knife just above his breast pocket. “Jesus Christ, Commander!” DeSilva quickly ripped his hand back in order to avoid William. He looked at him wide eyed and asked, “Bad dream, huh?” Will took a few deep breaths in order to calm himself. “Yeah,” He replied in a quiet and hoarse voice. “I guess you could say that.” He wiped the freshly formed sweat off his forehead and turned his attention out the window, the escorts still in perfect formation around the ship. William frowned a little and straightened himself out, leaning a bit more towards the window. Looking down he noticed the ground had changed, instead of a sea of endless trees there were now a few scattered houses mixed in with plots of farmland along rolling meadows. Looking directly forward Will had taken note of a massive mountain he recalled from the drone’s footage Nelson Grimes had shown him in the medbay. On said mountain was a massive, Victorian style castle, a large city sprawling out below it, all hanging impossibly off the mountainside. “It’s awesome, isn’t it?” DeSilva chuckled at the sight of William’s thoughtful expression. “Central already marked the location in which we’ll be dropping you guys off. You see that massive lawn in front of the castle?” DeSilva pointed towards a large, grassy field barely visible behind the castle’s wall. “That’s where your team will be let off. After that, if things go as expected they should allow you inside. However, if you want my personal opinion, I think that’s a pretty big if.” Will sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “As long as our escorts are okay with us stopping there, I think we’ll do just fine.” DeSilva nodded his head in agreement and switched on the radio. “Al Capone to Lil-John, come in, over?” “Alcapone, this is Lil-John, over.” “I’ll be slowing down in just a second for landing, be ready, over.” “Roger that, over and out.” DeSilva switched off the headset and looked at Will. “Alright, Commander this is the part in which I kick you out. Go back and tell your men to get ready. I’ll give you the green light once we land.” Will nodded. “Alright, and DeSilva? Thanks. It’s been awhile since I was just able to chat with someone that didn’t just suck up to my ass.” DeSilva smirked. “Get the fuck out of my cockpit.” He chuckled as he pressed the button to open the door. William unbuckled himself and went out the cockpit door. Upon entering the cabin he saw that nearly everyone was fast asleep. He cleared his throat and took on a commanding tone. “Alright, bitches!” He slammed the bottom of his fist against the metal wall, a loud obnoxious bang reverberated throughout the ship's cabin. “Get your shit together, we land in sixty! Come on, hustle!” William was awarded a wave of dissatisfied groans as the soldiers forced themselves awake. “I said get a move on!” Will shuffled over to the storage compartment below his empty seat and retrieved his respirator and gun. The gun in particular wasn’t the infantry issued AK-12, but it was a custom designed submachine gun that the user could fold in half and conceal in his bag or anywhere that would be out of sight. William took the gun by the strap and flung it across his shoulders, next he began to attach the respirator to his tyvek suit. Once he pulled the mask over his face and strapped it on he turned around, and was met with the ready, yet still slightly groggy look of his comrades; now sealed behind their protective gear. The ship lurched slightly back as DeSilva slowed the Condor for landing. “Remember,” William said to his squadmates, his voice taking a warning tone, “we’re here to make a GOOD first impression, so be on your best behavior. You will remain silent this entire operation, and if I hear a single peep from any of your mouths without a damn good reason, so help me God! You will be shitting prints of my shoe till Christmas! Matter of fact if I hear you breathe! I’ll make sure that you wished you died on this very planet twelve thousand years ago! Do you hear me?!” A muffled “Sir yes sir!” filled the cabin. The floor shook as the ship touched down. “Houston, we’ve landed.” DeSilva said through the intercom over the noise of various harnesses clicking open, “Ladies and gentlemen I’ll give you ten seconds to check your respirators, once that’s done I’m opening the doors.” Will checked himself one last time and faced the closed doors, his crew right behind him. Suddenly, a loud buzz flooded the cabin as the green light in the top right corner began to flash, followed by a massive thud as the numerous seals disengaged. William felt a whoosh of air blow past him as the pressure in the cabin equalised. Like a hot knife through butter, a white ray of light illuminated the darkness within the craft. Slowly, the door began to slide to the left, creating a large enough opening to allow more light in, which blinded the crew and allowed for a wave of new noises to enter. The first thing William’s were the voices, which was unlike anything he’d ever heard before. It wasn’t just one voice either, instead there were dozens maybe even hundreds of loud voices that were compiled together into one massive chorus. A complete and utter cacophony of gibberish that reminded him of his tour in Korea. William raised his hand and shielded himself from the bright light, he looked over his shoulder and smiled at his squadmates. “Come on you apes, let’s get a move on!” :[-]: Castle front lawn, October 15th, 12:10 P.M. Ten minutes before the humans’ arrival. Celestia sat calmly in the courtyard on a soft red pillow. With her magic she levitated a small cup of water to her lips and sipped from it gently, she then placed the cup aside and picked up the book she was reading. Further Unto Dusk the cover said, Celestia smiled and turned the page. A flash of light came from her right. “Your highness!” Captain Kebler shouted to Celestia after appearing from a teleportation spell. Celestia marked her page and stood up from her spot. “What is it, Kebler?” The captain stopped in front of her and caught his breath. “I have received word of two unidentified objects flying from the alien landing site.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Is there word on where they might be heading?” Kebler took a deep breath. “Last I heard they were heading right for Canterlot. Lieutenant Lighting ordered his men to follow shortly behind the crafts in case anything is to happen.” Celestia shook her head and brought her cup over and sipped from it. “Like that’s going to do much,” she murmured. “Excuse me, Princess?” “Nothing, Kebler, I’ll handle things as they are. Attend to my sister and make sure everything is ready.” Kebler bowed respectfully. “As you wish.” With that, a swift flash of light came and the captain was gone. Celestia turned to the nearest guard. “You there, guard. Please summon Princess Twilight Sparkle!” :[-]: Canterlot Castle, October 15th, 12:15 p.m. Twilight Sparkle woke with a start at the sound of somepony knocking on her bedroom door. Looking at the drool on her desk, she had realized that she’d fallen asleep during her late night study session. Normally she would have mentally reprimanded herself, but with an actual alien encyclopedia right in front of her, she just could not blame herself. When Celestia had allowed her time to go and read it for herself. The mare had not fallen asleep until early sunrise that morning, and the thing is, she hadn’t even yet scratched the surface of the book! There was at least three thousand pages bound between the perfect covers and she had only gotten through the first five hundred! In most nights if she had a book so large she could read most of it in just half a night, no matter the language it was written in... Even with her spell, it was just…. so bizarre! The words and phrases, a lot of them didn’t make any sense to her. But not only was it the language that slowed her down, the amount of information in that book was almost overwhelming for her at times. When Luna came and visited her that night she showed her something that nearly made her faint when she realised what it was. The maps in the back. Though there was a slight difference in some areas, they were exactly the same as Equis. All the way to the exact mountain; they were the same! But how? That was the question Twilight kept asking herself, how do these “humans” know our planet from front to back so easily when they aren’t even from here? Or. What if they were? Another question she had thought of, but then that begs the question, why did they come from the sky? What if they were native to Equis, and they developed some type of machinery that could allow them to travel into space. But then, why would they even go? Another knock alerted Twilight and she forced herself from her thoughts. “S-sorry, I was still waking up!” “Your highness,” A deep raspy voice said from behind the door, “Princess Celestia is requesting that you report to the castle lawn immediately.” “Any reason on why right this second?” Twilight asked as she stepped off the chair and fixed her mane with her magic. “All she told me is that they’re coming.” The voice responded. For a brief second Twilight was struck with confusion. “So in return I gave them a map of Equestria with directions leading to Canterlot. If things go accordingly and they were able to read my markings correctly, they should be arriving here sometime tomorrow.” Twilight’s eyes widened at the memory and realization. “The aliens are coming,” She whispered. :[-]: Twilight quickly slid her way about the castle, doing her best not to run headlong or bump into into any of the bustling staff in the halls as she practically drifted around the corners. Everywhere about the castle waiters, waitresses, gardeners, and anypony else who could help; rushed about the castle in a last ditch effort to clean up the already pristine palace. “Excuse me, pardon me–” Twilight yelped when a waitress came around the corner levitating a plate of goods within her magic. “Hey watch it!” The waiter quickly recoiled back keeping the plate close to her so that Twilight wouldn’t accidentally knock it over as she galloped by. “Sorry!” Twilight yelled over her shoulder before dodging to the left to avoid yet another platter full of food. Looking past the waitress Twilight saw an onslaught of castle staff members in her wake. She bit her bottom lip out of irritation. “Ugh, there’s no way I’m gonna get there in time!” She huffed and looked out the nearby window. A smile came to Twilight’s lips. “Unless...” She thought as she stretched her wings. :[-]: Canterlot Castle, October 15th, 12:27 Three minutes before the human’s arrival. “Wh-hoa!” Twilight’s hooves landed harshly onto the cobblestone walkway, causing her to stumble for a few feet before regaining her balance. Twilight shook her head and looked around herself, trying to get her bearings. To her sides were two large rows of roses and an evergreen tree that grew in manicured lines. Ahead of her the path continued on to the front of the castle and behind her the path was blocked by a stone wall. Faintly, as she gradually regained her breath, she became aware of a bell ringing in the distance. But alongside the bell Twilight could hear something else, it sounded like a chopping noise similar to the sound a sword makes when it quickly slices the air. However, this noise was consistent and rapid while growing gradually in volume until it became a steady roar. It must be them! Twilight thought as she began to gallop her way towards the castle’s front lawn. The sound was growing increasingly louder the further she neared the corner. When Twilight rounded it and entered the castle front lawn, she nearly plowed right through a wall of guards before she realised they were even there. Due to her attention fully captured by the two large metal contraptions hovering above the castle lawn. Seemingly held aloft by four large metal propellers attached to pylons on each corner of the ship that spun through the air faster than the eye could see. The pylons produced thunderous WHUMPS mixed in with a high pitched keening that came from within the craft. The yard was full of guards and castle staff who watched with awe as the two suspended vessels slowly descended towards the grass. As they neared the ground the belly of the wondrous machines opened and three large wheels revealed themselves, which absorbed the weight of the vehicles as they touched the ground. Twilight pushed her way through the guards, politely apologizing while she did so. Finally reaching the front, she saw Celestia and two of her personal guards standing roughly a few yards away from the vessels. “Princess!” Twilight called out, she galloped over to her previous mentor. “Is it them, the humans?” She asked. Celestia looked over at Twilight, her face stern at first but quickly warmed up at the sight of her. “Yes Twilight, it’s them; and I see you learned their name as well? ” She smiled and returned her attention to the craft. “That’s fantastic.” She said. The first craft to land seemingly stood frozen for a few seconds before the “whumps” coming from its blades started to decrease in frequency and volume as well as the keening that she supposed must of been coming from the machine’s engines that powered such fantastic pieces of machinery. The rotating blades slowed their motions before coming to a complete stop, then a deep clang sounded from the craft as its sides pulled themselves open on their own; revealing the interior. Twilight could hardly see a thing inside it. Though with the enormous sounds coming from the craft’s propulsive systems, she could hear something that sounded like a shout coming from within, maybe an order? She saw movement, something stepped out of the craft, a large rounded figure covered from head to .. hooves? No. They were feet. It was wearing blue clothing with the exception of a black and orange mask circling its head. The way the light reflected off the blue outfits, almost made it seem as if it was made from some kind of reflective material similar to glass. Behind it came six other figures, that wore what looked to be heavy black and green gear around their bodies with masks that were completely black. The second craft opened and another group of aliens stepped out onto the grass. Unlike the first blue alien Twilight had seen, these two creatures wore grey suits with bags wrapped around their shoulders, another creature in a completely white garment followed up behind them. After that another six, similar to the group that had disembarked from the first craft, although unlike their counterparts, they seemed to be carrying several black, complex looking objects with an open tube in the front leading to an intricately built; but still blocky handle that the creatures used to carry them in their minotaur like limbs. Twilight had started to assume the larger ones were soldiers of some kind. Twilight looked up to Celestia and whispered, “Princess, what should we do?” “For now,” Celestia replied, “we wait until they appear to be ready.” The four aliens in colored suits gathered closely together in a roughly square pattern, gesturing to each other in some form of communication while the twelve black and green soldier looking ones formed a loose perimeter around the craft and their colored comrades. The four huddled aliens broke apart from one another and looked towards the two princesses. The white one came forth, the blue following behind it, and the two greys behind the blue. Two of the green soldiers motioned looked at the four of them and nodded. They must be some kind of authority figure? Twilight thought, The colored ones being the highest in rank? The four aliens stopped a couple feet away from them. One of the greys dropped its bag on the ground and began to root though it. I wonder what it’s looking for? Twilight thought as she leaned for a closer look, I guess I'll find out soon enough. Twilight glanced sideways at celestia and tried to judge her expression, stoic and patient as ever. Although she thought she could see a hint of a grimace mixed in with vague curiosity. She returned her gaze to the humans only to find that the grey one had pulled out some sort of white, glossy board from the bag and was continuing to look for something else. A few more seconds passed and the human finally pulled out what looked to be a thin white and black object which it wrapped its fingers around tightly. It then turned and gave both items to the white human. Celestia seemed interested in what was happening, and so was Twilight. The white creature nodded and took both of the items and held pulled the top piece off of the thin item. It then held the whiteboard in front of its face and looked to have started running the thin tip along its surface as if it was writing something. Occasionally It’d stop for a second and look to the others before returning to writing, only to once again stop, wipe its hand across the board and start again. After about a minute it seemed happy with what it was doing and turned the board around so that it faced the ponies. Celestia and Twilight’s jaws nearly struck the ground. On the board, written as plain as day was: Hello, we come in peace. > Chapter 14: Diplomacy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canterlot Castle, October 15th, 12:34 “Are you sure this is going to work?” Angela Greene asked Bryan Hunsinger for confirmation. Bryan capped the dry erase marker. “Not sure. For all I know, I could have just spelled something entirely inappropriate... or said nothing at all,” He remarked as he examined his work. “I think all we can do now is cross our fingers and pray.” Bryan looked towards the horned and winged equines. “Come on,” He said as he took one last deep breath before turning the front end of the board towards them. “We come in peace.” Right away Bryan and Angela noticed a reaction from the equines. Upon seeing the board their jaws fell open and their eyes widened. Moments passed and the equines stood there, one of them, the shorter purple one, cocked its head to one side. Bryan’s fingers clenched onto the board tightly, Dr. Miller sighed.“I really wish I knew what they were thinking right now.” “It almost seems as if they’re shocked,” Ms. Weaver, the council's figurehead pointed out. “Mr. Hunsinger, are you sure you didn’t write anything profane?” Still holding the board in front of him, Bryan fired a glare at her from over his shoulder. “Of course I didn’t! I checked this at least five times before revealing it.” Weaver shrugged. “Just making sure.” “Shut it you two!” Angela hissed. “Something’s happening.” From up above, a third and much darker winged equine dropped from the sky. An equine that Angela immediately recognized as the one she met from outside the ship. Its dark blue mane flowed in a non-existent breeze, similar to the white horse next to it. The familiar being descended gently, its wings flapping heavily before landing onto the soft grass, and folding them neatly back onto its sides. Its head looked from the smaller lavender one to the taller regal looking equine. The blue equine leaned towards the other two and they began to whisper to each other. Filling the once silence atmosphere with their hushed voices. “Angela?” “Yes, Bryan?” she replied not taking her eyes off of the three. “What are we going to do if they can’t respond?” Angela sighed. This wasn’t the first time that she’d gone over this. The entire time on their trip here she, Bryan, and Ms. Weaver had been discussing how the meeting might turn out. The plan was to introduce themselves, request they go inside, discuss why they had came, answer any of the natives’ questions, and finally make a proposition. A proposition which would hopefully allow them to stay and construct a small temporary colony until further plans could progress. However, that plan didn’t stand a chance if the equine hierarchy was unable to respond. Angela had a strong feeling that two days wasn’t enough time for them to fully examine the book she had given them and learn from it. Hell, even Bryan barely scratched the surface of that book Dr. Miller found in the cottage. Angela bit her tongue. Even if the equines couldn’t reply. It would be better to proceed than give up. “We continue on with the plan. Even if they can’t, they sure as hell can read.” She gave him a small smile. “I guess it’s time we introduce ourselves.” Bryan smiled in reply and nodded he flipped the board back towards himself. A thought then came to his mind and his smile widened even more. Quickly, yet precisely he uncapped the marker and began to write, occasionally referring to a well used notebook that Weaver had retrieved for him. As Bryan worked he made a few mistakes here and there, but they were quickly resolved by a glance at the notebook and a flick of the eraser. Every now and again he’d stop when he couldn’t quite think of the correct noun or verb that needed to go into the sentence. It was quite trying to write in an entirely different language he literally just learned. Even if he was the best, learning an entirely new language was still difficult. Especially one as uncommon as this, to human culture that is. “Are you finished?” Angela asked. Bryan glanced down at his work, examining it carefully before he finally nodded and capped the marker. “I think so... yeah, I really think so.” Gaining confidence he grinned and twisted the board around to face the ponies. “Hope this works.” The three ponies each raised an eyebrow at the words on the board. Hallo. My name Breean. Leffft es Anglla an Weafer Beide meh es Dr. Mihler. For a moment they just looked confused, eyeing the board and tilting their heads as if doing so could help them decipher their apparently poorly written message. Bryan gulped and held the board loosely. Suddenly a purple shimmer enveloped the board followed by a slight tug. He quirked an eyebrow at the ponies and the white one gently nodded at him. Taking that as a cue he let go of the board and watched with wide eyes as it gently drifted towards the ponies so that they could examine it further. Miller immediately whipped out his notepad and began to jot down notes, Ms. Weaver followed suit. “Truly astounding I must say,” he muttered, “These things really do possess psionics.” “They also possess our only form of communication.” Angela quipped as she flashed Bryan a sarcastic smile. “Way to go, Hunsinger.” Bryan frowned and shot a look back at her before looking at the three ponies. “We could always use your back to write on.” “Or Dr. Miller’s notepad,” Angela suggested. “Negative, I won’t allow that,” Doug commented as he closed his notepad. “This here”–he shook the pad lightly–“will only be used for scientific advancement–look!” He suddenly pointed forward. The ponies had apparently finished looking over the board. As the middle purple pony lowered the board into the grass, it gave the humans a perplexed look. Comparatively, the midnight blue equine wore an expression of piqued interest; while the white equine’s expression remained fairly static in the face of this revelation. Eventually, after a few moments of the two groups throwing increasingly odd looks at each other, the purple equine took action, hesitantly it raised one of its front hooves and began to wave it back and forth, almost like a person waving ‘hello’. The four humans watched this gesture with great interest, and when it was done waving, Angela was the first to wave back, the other three humans followed right behind her. Their actions were rewarded them three soft smiles coming from the ponies. “Oh my God.” Doug gawked. “This is beyond astounding. This is absolutely remarkable! No. Splendid, this is absolutely splendid!” The other three looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Don’t you all understand how great this is! This is literally history in the making!” “Dr. Miller,” Ms. Weaver said, “right now is not the time for you to geek out.” “I.. oh,.. yes. My apologies, Weaver,” Doug said with a slightly pained expression as he reigned in his composure.. Angela leaned over and tapped Bryan on the shoulder. “We got incoming.” She pointed at the levitating board floating gently towards them. For some reason, Bryan hesitated before reaching out and plucking it from the air. An odd tingle ran up his arm as he did so. A shiver forced its way down his spine giving him goosebumps. “Th-that was odd,” He whispered to himself. Shaking his head he wiped off the board and uncapped the marker, and went to write again. :[-]: Central Control, October 15th, 12:37 Central Officer Jonathan Conway stood beside the hologlobe, his thoughts having drifted away momentarily while awaiting feedback. He shook his head and brought himself back to reality. He brought a hand up to the small bluetooth mic, “Delta squad, this is Central. I need a sitrep, over.” “This is Kong, we’ve touched down just minutes ago. Everything seems clear, over.” “Copy that, maintain a loose perimeter and make sure that none of the native population gets too close. Remember, this is a first impression so refrain from any violence unless authorized. Over.” “I hear you, sir. Over and out.” John took a deep breath before going back to the mic. “Baghdad, this is Central. Give me a sitrep. Over.” “Commander Keshiner here.” William’s voice came through with a small wave of static. “VIPs are safely offboard and are communicating with the equine hierarchy. Over.” Though William couldn’t see, John nodded. “Roger that, Commander, is everything going alright between both parties? Over.” “This is Angela Greene.” John raised an eyebrow towards the unexpected voice. “And yes things are going absolutely perfect,” She said. John waited for her to end her statement off, then sighed when he realized that most of the council members weren’t trained properly when it came to radio chatter. “I hear you Angela,” he replied, “Lets try and keep it that way. Any news on when you’ll be pressing the meeting further?” He pushed himself away from the globe and went towards a small set of stairs made up of three steps. He stepped down the steps and walked over to a man sitting behind a set of monitors displaying each of the soldier’s shoulder cams. “Negative, Central, that’s what we’re working on now,” Angela said. “As of now we’ve ran into an expected obstacle.” Again John waited a few seconds, just in case she wasn’t finished. “And what would that be?” he asked. “So far we’ve been able to communicate via writing, however the equines appear to have no way of responding,” she explained, “Which obviously makes things much more difficult for us.” John sighed before replying, “All I can say for now, Baghdad, is that you better find something that’ll make this meeting work. If not, we’re going to have a series of problems ahead of us.” John glanced over each of the screens, a few of them showed the meeting underway while the rest either showed a castle wall or a crowd of equine civilians watching from the sidelines. “Copy that. Over and out.” John rolled his eyes, now she ends it properly. “Wow is this really all you do?” John heard Arin ask behind him. “Yep,” John said as he leaned forward and tapped the shoulder of the man who sat behind the computer screens. “Focus in on six,” he said pointing to one of the screens. The man nodded and clicked a few keys, causing the rest of the images to disperse except for the one John requested. There it showed a clear view of the three equine leaders, or what he assumed to be the leaders. The three of them turned to one another, forming a small triangle, and they began to speak to each other privately. John briefly looked at the desk jockey. “Magnify it,” he ordered. The man nodded his head and did as he was told, the image zoomed in closer onto the equines. John squinted his eyes and leaned in a little closer, trying his best to make out their expressions. They almost looked like they were arguing, he wasn’t quite sure. “You know, I’ve never actually got to see this room in action–” “Arin, ” John snapped from over his shoulder, “shut it!” He tapped the jockey and asked doubtfully, “Do these have enhanced audio?” “I’m afraid not sir.” John sighed. “Of course it doesn’t.” Looking back at the image he saw the three ponies break apart from one another. One of them, the tall blue one, appeared to be nervous, while the other two looked to be rather... dissatisfied with something. “Central to Baghdad, how copy over?” “We read you,” William said. “What happened down there? Over,” John asked. He saw that the blue equine had closed its eyes the horn on top of its head began to glow. “Nothing as of yet, sir,” William said, “I was just heading up to see what the hell is going-” William fell silent as static filled the comms. “Baghdad, I’m losing you over,” John said, “What’s going on–” Suddenly, a bloodcurdling cry flooded John’s ears, so much so that he nearly ripped the bluetooth out of his ear. John’s eyes shot to the screen; the blue equine’s eyes were still closed, while the other two seemed horribly frightened by what was going on. He shouted, “Jesus Christ, what the hell is happening!? Who’s screaming?!” Eyes all across central control turned towards John. “Central, this is Delta team!” Kong said, “The Commander just went down! I repeat Keshiner is down! Permission to engage!” "What the hell is going on down there?!" John shouted again. “Michael here, it’s that goddamn blue thing! Whatever the fuck it’s doing it’s harming Keshiner! I say we light the fucker up!” “Bring the image back to default,” John ordered the jockey, “I need to see what’s going on!” John pressed the mic closer to his mouth. “Squads this is Central, do not engage I repeat: do not engage until I have clear visual on what is happening!” “Sir, with all due respect–” Kong started but was immediately cut off. “That is an order, Delta!” John exclaimed. The jockey quickly pulled the image back, allowing the rest of the other screens to appear. William was on the ground with his hands firmly planted over his ears. Lt. Michael ran over and lifted him off the ground and began to drag him towards the VTOL. All the other accompanying soldiers’ had their arms pointed at the blue equine, whose horn continued to glow. “John, if I were–” Arin started but was stopped by John glaring at him. “Hold that thought,” John growled and turned to the screen. “I don’t think it’s trying to kill him–” “The fuck it is–!” “Shut up and let me finish!” John nearly shouted, “If they really wanted to kill everyone down there they would have gone for more than one guard.” “That’s beside the point–!” John silenced Arin with a glare. “Not only that,” he continued, “I doubt they’d only have one of their kind take those men on.” Arin looked at him confused and scratched the back of his head. “I don’t think I understand your logic here.” “Trust me, Arin. I think I know what he’s going through.” “And how could you possibly know?” John took a deep breath, his thoughts recalling his encounter with the equine in the interrogation room. “There’s no time to explain,” He stated as he met his brother’s eyes, "I might be wrong here. but I think they're trying to communicate with us.” :[-]: An ear piercing screech brought William down to his knees, a flaring pain made his brain feel as if something was jabbing at it with a hot metal rod. His vision flashed a ghostly red and he forced his eyes shut. The pain quickly began to work its way down his body, soon it reached the back of his head and he cried out in agony Through his wails, William felt someone’s hands wrap around him as they tried to drag him away. Tears welled up around the corner of his eyes, the stabbing pain had reached his throat and he began to have trouble breathing. Then he couldn’t. Why couldn’t he breathe?! As William panicked, his screams started to become louder and nearly psychotic. His lungs had started to burn, and for some reason he felt the urge to tear his mask off. As if that was the only way to save himself from whatever was tearing itself through his skull, carving through his brain and ravaging his mind. William began to dig his fingers further below the mask, he could feel his tips nearing the edge; his gloved fingers slipping beneath the rubber on his chin. He was so fucking close, just a few more and... and then it was gone. The piercing screech; that ear-bleeding ring had vanished. The pain that stretched down to his throat and lungs was gone and he could taste the air again. He could hear the shouts and arguments coming from his radio, his own panting. His face was drenched in pained tears. William opened his eyes and was greeted by a bright blue sky, along with a bit of shaded metal to his left. It was a piece of the VTOL rotor. William gulped and rose up from his spot. Still confused on where he was, one moment he was going to check up on the VIPs and next thing he knew he was here. Under the dropship rotors. “How the... how did I get here?” He pushed himself up onto his feet. “I’m telling you they’re trying to fucking kill him!” Kong’s voice echoed out of the radio. “And I’m telling you sergeant that until we have confirmation you are to keep a close eye out!” Central’s voice echoed back. William placed a hand over his radio. “Guys, what the fuck just happened?” He spoke nervously as he glanced around at his surroundings. Every single soldier, including the ones with the concealed firearms, had their weapons trained on the three equine leaders. “Commander!” Michael shouted from his right. “You’re alright!” William looked over, his mind still racing a hundred miles per hour. Why was everyone on such high alert? William didn’t respond to the lieutenant, he instead went up to the front. Clearly he was attacked or something, and he needed answers. William went over to the VIPs. “Angela, what the fuck happened?” The woman in the grey tyvek suit looked at him worriedly, her arms were holding onto each other and she was practically shaking in her suit. “I-I don’t k-know,” She stuttered, her eyes flickered towards the equines. “Just a minute ago I saw you walking towards us, and the next you're screaming like a banshee.” William shook his head, he was even more confused now then he was before. “I was out for a minute? What are you talk–” “Excuse me Commander,” Bryan said, “but she’s talking about when that thing over there.” He pointed at the blue equine who seemed to be smiling sheepishly at them. “Made it’s horn glow bright and you started freaking the fuck out.” William looked at the tall equine and raised an eyebrow, he then reached over and tapped Bryan’s arm. “Come with me.” He started walking towards the equine, Bryan glanced about nervously before falling shortly behind. “” William froze in his tracks and stared at the equine. Did it just talk to him? “” Its lips moved when it spoke to him. “” William took a step back away from the equine; it was actually speaking to him. He could understand everything it was saying to him, but how could this be? Just minutes ago these things were speaking nothing but gibberish, but now... It was still gibberish. Gibberish he could understand. William opened his mouth to reply, however, instead of English– “” His own gibberish fueled language slipped out of his lips. The equine smiled. “” William stumbled back into Bryan, shocked by what he had just said/heard. While William had seen some fucked up shit in his life, this here was immediately shot to the top of his: “Shit I had seen list”. “Commander, what’s wrong?!” Bryan asked as he tried to step out of William’s way. William looked at him with wide eyes. “” He said using the equines’ gibberish. “Wait what?” Bryan stepped back and cocked an eyebrow upwards. William heard the horse upfront giggle. He tried again, this time clearing his throat and thinking before speaking. “I...” He started but stopped, how was he going to explain this to them. Hey guys uh... I can talk to them now? It just doesn’t sound right, quite frankly it just doesn’t make sense. Now he’s just suddenly able to speak with them?! Despite ten minutes ago not understanding a single fucking thing that was being uttered. “For some reason I can understand them now,” He said trying to sound as professional as possible. Which was probably one of the hardest things he’d ever done since waking up out of cryosleep. Bryan frowned. “You’re saying you can speak to them?” He then tilted his head. “Since when?” “Since five seconds ago,” He said having added more sarcasm than he meant to. “Y’know after I got done screaming and shit–I don’t fucking know! I can just talk to them now!” Bryan looked back at the other VIPs like he expected them to step in and help or something. Angela scratched the back of her head, behind her the soldiers slightly lowered their weapons. However, their alerted postures remained the same, ready in case something else happened. “Commander,” Angela piped up, “Are you sure you’re alright?” William felt offended by this, of course he was alright why would he be lying to them? That is unless they thought he’d gone fucking nuts or something now. “Of course I’m fine!” He unintentionally snapped at her. “Trust me, please, I’m not lying. But that fucking thing just spoke to me and I understood it!” Bryan took a few steps back and raised both of his palms. “Whoa now, Commander, just chill out.” “William.” Angela started walking towards them. “Bryan’s right, just calm down and go take a few minutes off–” William whirled around and glared at her. “When the fuck did you start giving me orders? I told you guys I ain’t going nuts–” Bryan tossed his arms into the air. “We never said you were going nuts–” “I’ll prove it then!” William turned to the blue equine, “I’ll make her greet us!” William opened an arm out to horse and cleared his throat. “” He completely changed his voice in order to sound more welcoming. “” Oh now he was never going to get used to talking like this. William couldn’t even begin to understand how he knew what he was saying, quite frankly he didn’t know how he was making the necessary sounds, as well. The way he spoke it felt like chef making a stew, throw in a pinch of English, add a grain of Russian, finally to top it off lets add a gallon of mixed Asian languages! It was literally a jumbled up mesh of languages that rolled off his tongue and floated off into the air. When did he learn this? He doubted even God knew. The tall blue equine smiled at him and replied, “” She bowed her head to them. William glanced back at the others. “” He pounded his chest and coughed into his fist. “See? I’m not crazy.” Angela and Bryan stood side by side, completely flabbergasted by what they just saw. “You can actually speak to them?” Angela mumbled. “Well that’s fucking fantastic!” Bryan pushed past Angela. “This is absolutely astounding–” Angela snatched Bryan by the shoulder. “Whoa, calm down there tiger. We’re on a mission remember?” She looked at William. “Commander, if this is true–and seeing by what just happened, it is–then that means you’re going to have to take the reigns from me and Bryan here.” William went to protest but quickly stopped himself, she was right. The only way they could communicate with them beforehand was via writing, and because of that the equines had no way of replying. And thinking on it now, a one sided conversation didn’t really seem like the smartest idea. So with that out of the way it begged the question... how the fuck was he going to play a round of diplomacy with an alien race? William wasn’t the best conversationalist, the only person he could ever talk to cohesively with was his wife. Everyone else he was either barking orders, making fun of or having a very brief discussion. He looked nervously at the equines. Right then and there in just under a few minutes possibly the entire fate of the human race rests on his shoulders. Well that’s just fucking great now is it? William licked his lips and took hold of his radio. “Central, this is Commander Keshiner. Over.” “I’m reading you, Commander, glad to hear you’re okay. Over.” “Yeah whatever. Anyways, I guess I’ll be the one taking control of the meeting from here on out. Over.” A brief silence past. “Negative, Commander I cannot al–” “Now boy, you listen here,” William silenced John, “how else are you expecting us to get a response from these things?” Another moment of silence. “Commander, I don’t quite understand what you’re saying here. Say that again over.” William rolled his eyes. “I’ll tell you once I get back.” He switched the radio off and looked back at the others. “Well Angela, I guess you’re right. I will be taking control of things here on out, however, I need you to be my advisor for this. Bryan... you can just tag along I guess,” he said to the poor translator who was practically useless now. Bryan hung his head low and sighed. “Well alright then.” Angela walked up alongside William the two of them were facing the blue equine, who stood next to its two compatriots waiting patiently. “First off if you haven’t introduced us, I think that’s what we should do. Secondly if we’re able to take matters indoors away from the public eye and discuss privately that’ll be better. Next off we should probably answer any questions that they have to offer, we don’t want to come off brash with our terms of agreements. We need to move in slow, kinda like a casual conversation. We don’t want to seem rude. However, if one of them brings up the reason on why we’re here that’ll be the perfect opportunity to strike them with what we want and or need.” William looked at her and blinked. “What?” Angela groaned and shoved Will forward. “I hate to say this, but we don’t got time. So we’re going to wing it. Have you introduced us yet?” “Well myself,” William said pushing her hand to the side. “That’s not good enough.” Angela rolled her eyes. “Introduce us and tell me how they respond.” Will nodded and faced the equines. Again, he cleared his throat before hopping languages. “” Oh man how was he going to go about this? “” Yep he could already feel the ship taking in water now. “” The blue horse smiled at him. “” Will bowed his head, they were certainly fucked. “What did they say?” Angela asked. “N-nothing as of yet.” William straightened himself out. Looking forward he saw the three leaders were negotiating with one another, speaking in a low tone so that he couldn’t hear them. “” William glanced over his shoulder and saw the purple equine who stood between the two larger ones step forward. “” William gulped and nodded before turning back to Angela. She was looking at him anxiously. “What is it?” she asked. William licked his lips. “They want us all to follow them inside.” William was surprised to see how fast Angela’s mood flipped, a large smile came to her face and she looked back at everyone else. “Alright guys, looks like we’re off to a good start!” She looked back at William and gestured towards the equines who were already making their way to the door. “After you.” :[-]: “I must say, Commander,” Luna said looking back at the elongated alien that walked alongside her. “It is refreshing being able to speak to you and your kind without any boundaries.” William chuckled lightly. “I must agree, yet... I have a question.” The two groups stopped outside the castle door and waited for the guards to open it. “How were you able to make it so that I can speak your language?” Luna smirked and looked over at Celestia, as if she was waiting for her confirmation to continue. Celestia just nodded and allowed her sister to do so. “What I did, has a rather complicated explanation.” The large door swung open quietly and the two groups began to drift inside. “I initially intended to make it so that the creature with the board would be the one doing the talking, however, when I noticed you were approaching I had a hunch that you would be the better choice.” William frowned. “What do you mean you had a hunch?” He asked Luna as she guided them into the central hall. William and the rest of the human’s eyes widened at the massive and unique architectural design of the castle’s interior. Large sets of pillars ran down the center of the hall alongside a red carpet which led to a large staircase that broke off into two separate stairs going off in opposing directions. The walls were decorated with stained glass windows possibly depicting separate points in history, one of those stainglass windows showed off a rather disturbingly familiar creature regarding humanity's dark past. William diverted his eyes away from said window. They continued their way down the hall before banking left and towards another corridor. “Well I don’t want to sound rude, but from what I’ve seen of your translator’s body language, it didn’t seem like it had all its bearings together.” Luna explained. William had to do his best from trying to correct the pony on the fact that Bryan wasn’t an “it” rather than a “he”. “So he wasn’t mentally prepared, that’s what you’re saying?” They rounded another corner and down the end of the hall William saw a large wooden door guarded by two white equine guards. “Okay I understand that, but that still doesn’t answer my question. How were you able to make it so that you and I can talk like the way we are now?” Luna’s previous smirk grew into a smile which she flashed towards William. “Well it’s all because of magic, Commander.” William raised an eyebrow and frowned, he looked at Luna but decided to not press further on the subject. He’ll just have to come back to it later. The two pony guards standing beside the door bowed before the three alicorns as they neared the door. They then stepped off to the side allowing a wider entrance, Luna’s horn flashed briefly and she could hear the large deadbolt coming loose before the door swung widely open, revealing a beautifully constructed throne room. William’s jaw nearly smacked the base of his mask, and he wasn’t the only one. Behind him he could hear Angela and the others awing at the room’s beauty. To William this was the largest room he had seen in his entire life, the ceiling stretched so high and the room itself was so wide he figured that King Kong himself could use it as a bedroom. Like the main entrance hall the walls were decorated with stained glass, possibly depicting points in pony history. In the center of the room were a set of pillars along with a purple carpet that led all the way to the very end of the room. And at said end was a masterfully crafted throne that not only served as a seat, but was also a fountain. The throne looked to have been made of limestone, and etched into the seat were dozens of ornamental flourishes that danced along its edges. Connected to both sides of the throne were two pedestals. Behind it were two blue banners, the one on the right depicted an image that almost looked like it was expressing the sea (or the ocean), whereas the left side banner showed a growing tree reaching out to the sky. (The tree of life perhaps?) And above it all was were three circles that overlayed one another, each ring bearing its own image. Day, night, and twilight. William and his party stopped in the very center of the room whilst the three pony leaders and a handful of their guards continued towards the throne. Celestia perched herself on her throne, Twilight hopped up onto the pedestal on her left, while Luna took the one to her right. She took a deep breath and stared down at the human. “Commander William,” she said in a loud voice that echoed off the walls, “I am Princess Celestia, and this here is Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she motioned towards the purple pony with one hoof, “and my dearest sister Princess Luna.” She motioned towards Luna with the other. “The three of us rule over these lands known as Equestria, and as much as it pleases me greatly to meet you and your kind personally, I must ask you this: what brings you into my domain?” Wow, straight to the point. William shifted from foot to foot, he was having trouble trying formulate his next sentence. Before he came up with an answer he turned towards his allies, after a brief few moments he faced her again. “We came here for your assistance.” This seemed to raise a few eyebrows. “And not only that,” he continued, “we also came to ask you all for permission.” Celestia curled her bottom lip back and nodded her head in thought. “And what would you need assistance with?” William took a deep breath and straightened himself out, he got this far. No need to hold back now. “You see...” He trailed off as he tried to think of a way to continue. “My species is on the verge of extinction.” This immediately garnered all three of the ruler’s attention. Celestia’s mood changed on the snap of a finger and she looked to William with pity in her eyes. “Oh my...” Was all she said. “However.” William looked up at her with determination. “We figured out a solution to our problem. But we require two things from all of you.” “And what would that be?” Luna asked in Celestia’s place. William looked at her. “We need enough land to set up a small colony, and your cooperation.” Celestia’s mood flipped once again, she looked at William doubtfully. “I do not mean to sound rude, but how much land are we talking here?” William gulped and hoped he played his cards correctly. “Enough to support three hundred human beings.” Celestia nodded and leaned back in her chair. “And where do you plan to set up this colony of yours?” “In the area in which we’ve landed,” he looked at Luna, “you know exactly where I’m talking about.” Celestia raised an eyebrow towards Luna. “He’s talking about Bramblewood, sister. Just at the base of Mt. Neighson.” “On which side?” “South end.” Celestia’s eyes widened a bit before settling. “That’s right next to Saddleston,” she mumbled. “Is there anyway you could possibly move the location in which you tend to establish this colony?” William frowned and turned towards his colleagues. The two spoke quietly to one another for at least a minute before William turned back to Celestia. “I’m afraid not. Our ship is at least a couple thousand tons, there’s no way we can move it.” Princess Twilight’s eyes widened when she heard how much the ship weighed. “A couple thousand tons?” She whispered. William nodded. One of his comrades reached up from behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, he looked over at them and leaned in while the other spoke to him. William nodded his head and looked back at Celestia. “Please your”– He paused for a second– “Your highnesses, if you could find it in your deepest interests to assist my species, we can assure you it could benefit us both.” Celestia couldn’t help herself but look at him skeptically. “Benefit us how?” William once again glanced back at his allies. He cleared his throat and nodded his head. “We could offer you technology unlike anything you’ve ever seen!” Both Twilight and Luna leaned in with interest. Celestia looked at Luna for confirmation. “Do you believe what he says is true, Luna? You have seen them for yourself.” Luna pursed her lips as she tried to think back a couple days ago. “I have not seen much, sister, however, I believe I can vouch for the Commander.” “Do you have an example you would like to share?” Twilight Sparkle suddenly asked. William flinched at the unexpected voice and looked over at the small princess. Before he answered her William quickly spun around and began to ask his companions questions. The three Princesses leaned in further when they noticed one of the human’s in the grey suits pull out a small black object from the bag it carried on its side. “Matter of fact, Princess...” “Twilight.” “Princess Twilight, thank you, I do have an example.” William raised the small black object in his hand into the air, his thumb then flexed and a blue light appeared on what they assumed to be the front end of the device. “Is it a flashlight?” Twilight asked. William shook his head. “No. But it could be used as one.” He started to walk towards them so that he could demonstrate how the object worked. “What I have here is a cellphone, more formally known as an iPhone. Back then almost everyone had one of these puppies.” William stopped just a couple feet from the throne and held the cellphone out towards them. Celestia took the cellphone in her magic and levitated towards herself. “And what does this ‘cellphone’ do exactly?” She held it a few inches away from her face and tilted it around, eyeballing each and every side. “It’s a device we use for communication, entertainment, marketing, you name it it can do it.” William smiled happily at his response. “Can you cook with it?” Luna asked. William bit his lip. “Well... I wouldn’t recommend it. But probably yes, you could find a way to cook with it. Better yet, with this device you could call someone... let's say uh... your local restaurant and order a pizza with it.” Celestia grinned. “This thing is quite interesting, Commander, I could see this benefitting our society. However, I myself will stick to writing letters.” She levitated the phone back to William. “Is there anything else you would like to show us?” William stopped momentarily in thought. “Well we do have a Condor outside if you’d like to inspect it further.” Celestia frowned. “Condor?” She looked at Luna questioningly. “I think he’s referring to that flying ship they flew in on.” Celestia smiled and nodded. “Of course, now I know what you mean.” She looked at William. “Now how do you purpose this ‘Condor’ will benefit us?” William smiled, now this was something he could answer without any help. “Well for starters I noticed that not all of you can fly because some of you don’t have wings. However, with something such as the Condor, or even something similar to it. You guys won’t even need wings anymore, think of it as a chariot that flies. It can take you and your friends anywhere.” “Fascinating.” Twilight shifted from hoof to hoof. “How fast does it go?” “A little over five hundred kilometers an hour.” “Most pegasi can fly faster than that,” Twilight said. William raised an eyebrow at this, he guessed she wasn’t lying. He did recall seeing their escorts, no living thing could go as fast as that. “But you aren’t seeing my point, Princess–” “Oh my apologies, I do understand what you’re saying,” Twilight cut him off. “With a contraption such as your ‘Condor’ we could easily replace the pedal-copter with it. Let alone increasing the efficiency of our infrastructure by miles. Is that what you were going for?” William stepped back, he didn’t even want to ask what the hell a “pedal-copter” was. It was probably exactly what it was called anyways. “Yes, Princess, that is exactly what I was going to say.” Celestia repositioned herself. “Your offers are very tempting, Commander William. I’m beginning to see both our kinds working together in the future. However, is there anything else you’d like to mention, anything we should know about before proceeding?” William looked back at his companions, their heads nodding to one another while they spoke. Beside William one of the human’s in a grey suit pulled something out of its bag, it was what appeared to be a thin, black rectangle of some sort. To Celestia’s surprise it was folded into two halves which the human in grey opened up. Like the “phone” William had shown them a thin piece of glass lit up in a bright blue light which the human began to swipe its finger across. For almost three minutes this continued on. “Luna.” Celestia looked at her sister. “What are they discussing?” Luna shook her head. “I don’t know, sister, I cannot speak their tongue. After my little mishap I do not wish to tamper with anypony’s mind for a long time.” Celestia nodded. “I agree, I don’t even want to know how close we came to ruining these chances.” Twilight poked her head out from behind Celestia and looked at Luna. “Princess Luna, I don’t ever recall you being able to manipulate one’s thoughts.” Luna sighed and looked at the purple alicorn. “I am the Goddess of Dreams after all. I have always been able to enter the domain of one’s mind. However, this was the first time in centuries I have altered a mind. It is such a horrific spell, I do not wish to do it again. It can be highly dangerous and could severely harm someone.” “Why did you do it then?” “I did it in an attempt to speed things along and I nearly killed the poor stallion in the process. Now can we please get off this subject?! They are about to speak!” Luna hissed causing Twilight to flinch a little before sliding back behind Celestia. “Your highnesses.” William turned back around to face them, his voice sounded strained. “I and my colleagues do have something we’d like to–” William turned his head and coughed, no. Gagged heavily into his arm, his companions immediately reached forward to aid him. William shot an arm out in attempt to shoo them away, he gagged harder into his arm. “Commander, are you alright?” Celestia leaned forward in her seat. “I-I’m fine, just something–” He heaved once more into his arm “–g-got caught in my throat that’s all...” He leaned over and fell silent for a few moments. “O-okay, I think I’m okay now.” He straightened himself. “I do apologise.” “Oh do not apologise, you did nothing wrong.” Celestia leaned back in her throne. “We cannot fully control everything our bodies do. Would you like something to drink–” “N-no thank you.” “Are you sure?” “I’m positive. You see... we cannot take these masks off.” He tapped his own respirator. “I was wondering what that was,” Twilight mumbled. “How come?” Celestia asked. “It’d kill me if I did,” He said, “The air in this environment is toxic to us; only within our ship or any air-tight sealed structures, after we vented them of course, are safe.” “What a pity.” Luna smiled. “I was hoping I could see your face.” “Maybe later in the future if you come to visit us you just might.” Both of them shared a chuckle. “Anyways,” Celestia said smiling, “what were you going to say, Commander?” William stood almost at attention. “Princess, there is something my kind and I wish to inform you of. Something very important.” “And what is that?” “Across this planet, spanning four continents are a series of underground vaults.” “Vaults? Like a safe?” William tilted his head. “Sort of but not quite. They’re fallout shelters containing more of us humans.” Celestia’s smile vanished and she leaned forward. “What are you saying? You said there were only three hundred of you left.” “And I thought you weren’t from this planet.” Twilight took a step forward. “How could there be underground shelters containing more of your species?” William took a deep breath. “I mentioned that the ship that crash landed on this planet only contained three hundred of us. But as of now, right as we speak there are a total of twenty one vaults all across the globe.” “It all makes sense now,” Luna whispered, “the maps, why everything looked exactly like our planet.” She looked at Celestia. “Sister.” “How many humans are in these vaults?” Celestia asked. “Each vault varies. However, most of them range up to over two hundred thousand. In total that’d make roughly over four point two million people,” William explained. Celestia’s eyes widened and she fell back in her seat. “Oh mother...” “Celestia.” Luna nudged her. “And right now, your highness, while we’re speaking.” William pointed a finger down at the floor. “Just right below our feet in this very mountain, we’re standing on two hundred thousand souls.” Luna nudged her sister again, Celestia looked at her with a shocked expression. Luna gulped. “I believe they are our forerunners.” > Chapter 15: M.A.F > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Horizon Hangar Bay, October 15th, 3:47 The condor’s door opened and the interior was flooded with the sounds of soldiers and other men alike applauding and cheering. William along with rest of his squad stepped off the ship and onto the floor of Hangar B. Immediately the crowd of men and women swarmed in to congratulate them. “Central this is, Al Capone,” DeSilva said through his headset, “The bird has landed and the squad has returned safely.” “Roger that, Al Capone, how about you Lil-John?” “I’m just touching down now,” The raspy old man on the other end chuckled, “Delta team and the VIPs are unloading.” William looked around the crowded hangar while pressing a hand gently to the side of his head. A small ache had formed near the base of his skull during the ride back. Nothing serious, yet it bothered him greatly. He couldn’t tell if it had something to do with what he was told happened back at the meeting. Michael had told him the short story on the way back, all the way from him collapsing to the floor screaming and how he claimed to been coming close to popping a round in the blue bitch’s head. But was forced stand down after Central threatened to have all of them by their goddamn throats if they fired a single round. William found it hard to believe that he’d go down so easily; it’s embarrassing to think that he dropped and cried like a baby bitch in front of everyone. He snorted and smiled uneasily. “Commander Keshiner!” A familiar voice shouted from his left. William turned and looked over a dozen heads and saw Admiral Watson along with Dr. Hassel standing at the top of the staircase that led to the ship’s interior. Watson didn’t look too pleased, whereas Hassel was smiling like a young boy on Christmas Eve. “Come vith us please!” He called over the partying soldiers. :[-]: “Is something wrong, sir?” William asked the second the door to the hangar bay closed behind them, silencing the cheers almost instantly. The three of them began walking along the corridor, Dr. Hassel lagging behind while Will and Watson took the lead. Watson swatted off some dust that had gathered on his pristine white uniform. When he was done he placed both hands behind his back and gave William a slightly concerned look. “I received intel from Central that you disobeyed a direct order, is this true?” William gulped. For a brief moment he wanted to deny it, but why lie? All the footage had been recorded on their helmet cams, not only that, why would he tarnish his reputation even more? “I will not deny the truth, sir,” he said. Watson sighed. “I knew you were going to say that, Commander. I also recall that the reason you gave Central for breaking the order to not take things into your hand was because, ‘It was the only way.’. Am I saying that correctly, Commander?” Well for starters, that wasn’t the exact way Will had said it. He assumed Watson must’ve watched some of the footage himself before coming to him with these questions. The three of them rounded a corner, at the end of the hall William saw a large door. Immediately his heart dropped when he realized where they were heading. The Council room. “Yes sir, that is the reason why I broke protocol.” “And why was it ’the only way’, Commander Keshiner?” Watson stopped. William continued on a little further before noticing that they had stopped, he turned to Watson. “” William smiled widely at the utterly confused expression Watson gave him. The look he had on his face was indescribable, almost hysterical at that. Hassel raised an eyebrow addled by what he’d heard. “Vat did you just say?” William’s smile was almost ear to ear, he opened his arms out wide. “I can speak their language,” he said. “Since when?” Watson asked. William looked at the admiral. “To be honest, Admiral, I don’t know. All I can assume is that you saw the footage, so you’d have to tell me.” Watson stared at William. “Commander, I have always trusted you. You better not be making an ass out of me, now are you telling the truth or not?” “” “English dammit!” “Y-yes, sir.” William cleared his throat. “I’m being completely honest with you, sir. My apologies.” Watson pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “Alright, Commander, through those doors–” He pointed at the council room doors “–is a whole new hell. Now believe me, you’re going to tell us everything that happened down there. All to the finest detail. Now those men in there have already watched the tapes, however, they didn’t understand a single fucking thing that was being said. All they know is that it had a happy fucking ending. You got that?” “Yes sir.” “Good, not only that. Prepare yourself because there’s going to be a lot of questions. Primarily from this guy–” Watson jutted a thumb back at Hassel who waved happily at him. “–so be ready.” :[-]: Horizon Management, October 15th, 4:20 Watson flicked the lights back on and picked up the white T.V. remote and switched off the live footage that was recorded over the helmet cams. Watson looked across the large room they were standing in. He was in the center of it all aside from William and Hassel who sat at the desk right behind him. On the opposite end of the room sitting behind desks arranged in rows in bleachers were Horizon’s twenty council members. Or Horizon’s twenty useless piles of flesh, as Watson would so aptly put it. “Alright, gentlemen.” Watson clapped his hands together. “Any questions?” Instantly all twenty hands shot into the air and a wave of clamoring voices was fired in William’s direction. Watson stepped in front of him and raised his hands up. “Jesus Christ! One at a time please! What is this, elementary school? God damn!” Watson went on to point out individuals for questions, whereas William sat back in his chair, eyes wide with shock. Shock which he received after watching that brief thirty second moment of him collapsing. He couldn’t recall a single second of that moment, not even his own screams. The small headache from earlier began to make its return, William raised a hand and gently touched the side of his head. He winced at the light touch, something didn’t feel right. This wasn’t an ordinary headache. “Commander!” The ache spiked at the sound of Watson’s voice and William cringed. He looked at Watson with a rather disturbed expression. “I can understand if you’re exhausted, but now isn’t the time for daydreaming, Mr. Takanao! Could you please repeat what you just said?” “Certainly, Admiral. Commander Keshiner, is it true that you have no memory of ever going in the field?” William repositioned himself in his seat, trying his best to ignore the headache. He leaned towards the small microphone on the table. “N... no I don’t recall anything. One moment I was walking and next thing I knew I was getting off the ground.” Takanao nodded and sat back down. Beside him a woman in a lab coat raised her hand. “Yes, Dr. Lugavic!” The scientist stood up and quickly examined her notes. “Is it possible that what could have happened to the Commander had to do with some form of... telepathic attack?” She asked. Dr. Hassel straightened himself out and leaned forward. “Zough vee have confirmed zat zee equines are capable of some form of psionic abilities. Vee do not know how far zay are able to go vith zem as of yet.” “What the doctor is saying, ladies and gentlemen, is that we don’t know if it was a direct attack or a normally peaceful act,” Watson clarified. Dr. Lugavic sat down, Takanao immediately shot back up from his spot his hand firing above everyone else's. “Admiral!” Watson sighed. “Yes, Mr. Takanao?” Takanao straightened out his back and fixed his tie. “If the equines do have psionic powers and were able to rework the Commander’s brain in order for him to speak their language, could they have done more than that, like control him for instance?” Watson raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate, Takanao?” “What I’m trying to say is mind control! If these things can implant an entire language into someone’s head, why not thoughts, messages! Or Orders! Orders that could potentially harm us!” He shot an arm out towards the Commander. “For all we know he could be a ticking time bomb !” William rose up from his chair. “Now what the fuck are you trying to say?! That I’m a traitor or something?!” His headache had started to scream. Watson stuck a hand out to William. “Commander, calm yourself.” He looked back at the council member. “Takanao, now is not the time for accusations!” “This man!” Takanao jammed a thin index finger at William. “Should be under quarantine and twenty four hour surveillance!” “Takanao, as of now we do not have enough information–” “Which is all the more reason to put him under lock down!” Takanao snapped at Watson, “For fuck’s sake, Admiral! You’re the goddamn military, fucking think for once!” A loud cheer from all the council's members erupted out from behind Takanao. Dr. Hassel spoke up, “Mr. Takanao, I do see your point and I can assure zee Commander vill be treated and checked for any issues. Zough I do not believe going around pointing fingers and screaming vitchcraft at people vill speed sings along.” “What, are you saying I’m spewing bullcrap?!” “No,” Hassel said, “I vill not deny zee possibly of mind control. Vat I’m saying is zat I’m skeptical zat zee equines vould do such a sing.” “And how would you know that these things wouldn’t, Doctor?” “I never said zay vould never do it, I’m just skeptical on zee matter.” Takanao shrugged. “I guess we’ll just have to ask the man of the hour himself, Commander Keshiner...” He received no response. “Commander?” William sat the table, head hunched over his hand just barely covering his mouth. The headache had grown worse, it felt like his skull was about to split in two. He felt like he was going to choke. He lifted his head up at the sound of his name, everyone was looking at him. “M-my a-a-apologies...” He got up from his seat. “But I need to step out for a–” He turned and gagged into the side of his uniform, before he lowered his arm he felt a second wave rush up into his chest and he leaned forward and heaved into his arm. With each gag, he felt an increasing pounding in his head along with a sharp jagged pain in his chest pushing deeper and deeper into his gut. William turned away and stumbled out of the room, Hassel got up and followed him out. Watson turned towards the confused council members, raising both of his hands. “Ladies and gentlemen, just please remain seated for the time being.” Watson turned and directed his gaze toward a couple marines by the exit doors. “Go make sure the lad isn’t choking to death.” The marines nodded and stepped outside. Watson took a deep breath and looked back out at the crowd of heretics just in time for his blood to boil as Takanao leaned back in his chair, a smug look on his face. :[-]: “Villiam! Villiam stop! Vat is wrong?!” Hassel followed behind the choking Commander. William stopped and flung his head over his knees as he violently coughed into his hands. Hassel ran up to him and grabbed a hold of his shirt in case he were to suddenly fall over. “Villiam, vat is wrong?” Will’s coughing continued for a bit, receding from a dry heave to shuddering breathing, but his headache continued to rage on. His hand felt warm and wet, disoriented he slowly straightened himself out and raised his hand out to the ceiling light. His hands were soaked in blood. William’s heart nearly stopped and his eyes widened with fear. “What the fuck did that bitch do to me?!” “Villiam vat are you...” Hassel looked at his hand. “Mein Gott.” “Is everything alright?” Hassel turned around and saw two armed marines approaching them. “Eversing is fine!” He lied, he didn’t want to worry the men. “Go back to zee room and let Vatson know zat Villiam and I have vork to do.” “Yes Doctor.” The two men turned and went back to the board room. “Doc?” William said his voice strained and raspy. “I need you to help me.” He winced at the intense pain in his head. “I need you to figure out what that blue bitch did to me.” “Don’t vorry, Villiam.” Hassel took hold of the Commander and started guiding him towards the elevator. “I’ll inform my men and the doctors down in zee infirmary. Vere does it hurt?” “My head.” William winced. “Exactly vere? Can you tell?” “My entire head fucking hurts–gah fuck!” Hassel punched the call button and helped william shuffle in front of the door while they waited. A buzzer sounded and the doors opened and the two stepped in.. “Alright Villiam, ve’ll be down zere vithin–Villiam!” Will’s eyes rolled in the back of his head and he slumped to the floor unconscious, his head just coming inches away from slamming against the wall. “HELP!” Hassel yelled out, from around the corner two engineers stepped out. “You two! Radio for zee medic now!” :[-]: Horizon R&D Labs, October 15th, 5:10 “What the hell happened to him, Doc?” Jonathan Conway asked he leaned forward and looked through the viewing glass, on the other side was a large MRI scanner along with other various equipment he had no idea on what they were. “Vee haf no clue, John.” Hassel leaned forward and examined the images that the scanner had produced from the EEG they collected earlier. John leaned back and glanced over at Arin, who was keeping guard from atop a small stool in a back corner. “Vait a second,” Hassel mumbled, “Zat isn’t right.” John looked over and saw the old man peering intently at something, his nose just inches from one of the screens. “What is it doc?” “Zees neurons, zere vorking zree times faster zen usual.” “Excuse me what?” John walked over to the doctor. “Villiam’s neurons: zee cells zat transfer information. For some reason zere not vorking zee vay zay should. And not only zat... come here look at zis.” Hassel motioned for John to approach the computer. Hassel stepped out of his way as he approached, and pointed at the screen showing William’s brain, John squinted and inspected the gif displayed on the screen. The image showed the brain pulsing sporadically in a patchwork of reds and blues, other than that he had no idea what he was looking at. “I don’t get it, Doc, what I am I supposed to get from this?” He looked at Hassel. Hassel sighed. “Zee brain’s functioning far faster zen anysing I’ve seen before.” John frowned. “Wouldn’t that be a good thing? Like... faster reflects, better memory?” He had no idea where the German scientist was going with this. “At first sought maybe,” Hassel said, “However, vith zee vay Villiam was acting earlier I believe his body cannot keep up vith vat is going on.” “So he’s constantly thinking too far ahead? Doc, you’re speaking gibberish to me.” Hassel rolled his eyes. “Alright fine, lemme explain it like zis. If vat happened down zere in zee field is true. If zis equine really did import all zis information into Villiam’s head... hold on lemme rephrase zat. Picture Villiam as a computer and say zee equine information vas a new software update. Zat piece of software vill not vork until she updates her PC, vich in terms is Villiam, okay?” John nodded his head. “So before she vent and downloaded zee information she had to do a bit of reviring.” “What?” “You don’t understand?” “No that last bit you said.” “She had to do a bit of reviring?” “That right there. The last word, what?” Hassel sighed and shook his head. “She had to do a bit of re-wiring.” John pursed his lips and nodded his head. “Okay, good.” “No. Not good.” Hassel corrected. “Vat I was pointing out earlier, not only are zee neurons, zee bits zat transfer information, controls zee motor skills, our nerves, etcetera. Not only are zay vorking in overdrive; zee amino acids, zee neurotransmitters–nosing is vorking zee vay zay should!” “Doc,” John looked away from the computer, “if his brain isn’t working the way it should be, how the fuck is he not a vegetable... or even dead for that matter!” “I don’t know, John!” Hassel practically shouted out of frustration. “Zat’s vat’s driving me nuts! His brain isn’t functioning like a normal human brain, it’s reacting faster and his body isn’t able to handle... it...” Hassel began to trail off, his eyes widening, “it’s almost reacting to it like how our bodies would react to a donor’s... zat’s it!” Hassel gently pushed past John and looked back at the computer. “Wait what?” “Villiam’s body is treating zee brain as if it is a foreign organ!” “Why? What are you talking about?!” Hassel turned and grasped John by the shoulders, Arin in his corner raised an eyebrow and got up from his stool. “Ven zee equine entered Villiam’s head, she must’ve changed sings in a vay zat she see’s it!” John put a hand on Hassel’s chest and shoved him away. “So you’re saying that the Commander has a brain of an intelligent horse?” Hassel frowned. “No... no zat is not vat I’m saying. His brain is still very much human, however, it functions more similarly to zee equines, and from what we've learned from the captives–” Hassel looked back at Arin “–you’re brother here brought to us. Is zat zee horned equine’s brains function at a rate far beyond human capabilities!” “So... they’re smarter than us?” John was utterly confused. “Again, no. Zee horned equine’s brain is far more efficient zan our own, yes. Vich possibly leads into how zey’re able to manipulate objects around zem.” Hassel took a deep breath and turned away from John. “I need a drink,” He mumbled as he walked towards the water cooler on the opposite end of the room. John’s eyes followed Hassel as he grabbed a plastic cup and began to fill it. His eyebrow still arched upwards. “So the equine gave the Commander an upgrade?” “In layman’s terms you could say so, however, it’s an upgrade his body is having trouble adapting to. Vich explains zee intense pain he suffered in zee video.” Hassel raised the cup to his lips and took a swig. John turned back towards the monitor and rested both of his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “Holy shit,” He whispered to himself. Hassel sighed and dumped the cup into the recycling chute next to the cooler. “Scheisse indeed, John. Vat zese equines posses is a power unlike anysing vee could ever imagine. A similar power in vich zee Archangel possessed.” He walked up beside John, both of them gazed into the MRI room. “Zese creatures are not to be trifled vith, John.” Hassel turned his head to look at him. “You’re lucky your men didn’t open fire down zere.” John locked eyes with Hassel. “What are you saying?” “If zese sings can upload information into our heads and manipulate the chemical makeup of our brains. Zese equines could kill us–” Hassel raised his hand and snapped his finger in front of John’s face. “–like zat. All zay need to do is switch one or two sings off and ve’d be nothing but a vegetable. Or like you said, dead.” John gave Hassel an uneasy chuckle and looked over at Arin with a frightened expression. “Well that’s a scary thought.” Hassel smirked and returned his gaze to the MRI room. “Not as scary as vat Takanao said during zee debriefing.” John frowned and looked back at Hassel. “What did he say?” “He mentioned mind control, a very touchy subject. Personally I do not agree vith him, but he did provide a few good points.” John’s mouth fell open. “W-wait you’re talking like assuming direct control of somebody? Possession?” Hassel chuckled and shook his head. “Zat’s why I did not fully agree vith him. He said mind control but really vat he vas talking about vas zee possibility of having certain soughts and orders implanted into zee mind, like hypnosis. Not mentally taking control of zeir entire body.” The door on the other end of the room opened. “Dr. Hassel?” A woman’s voice came through, Arin stepped out of the way of a woman and two armed marines. “Commander William has been transported to the infirmary, he’s ready for your examination.” Hassel smiled. “Brilliant, I’ll be up zere in a few minutes.” Hassel looked at John. “It’s been nice talking vith you again, John.” His smile widened even more. “One last sing, no hurt feelings about zee interrogation incident right?” John glared at him for a few seconds, gradually losing the battle against the smirk that now covered his face. “Get the fuck out of my sight.” The two of them laughed. John gently shoved the old man towards the woman as she began to walk towards the door.. Hassel gave John one last wave right before the door closed, leaving him alone with his brother. “Thank God that’s over with!” Arin broke the silence. Standing up from his undersized stool and and cracking his neck. John walked up and wrapped an arm around his brother. “It couldn’t have been that bad.” “You’ve never been a guard before, trust me, it’s fucking boring.” The two of them walked through the same door Hassel left through a moment earlier and stepped out into the hallway. At the end of the metallic corridor he saw Hassel and the one lady disappear around the corner and out of his field of view. “Well Arin," John said as the two continued onwards down the hall, "I prefer the career path in which I don’t get shot at.” Arin snorted. “Yeah because you’re a fucking pussy.” “And you’re just a dumb brute who only knows how to pull a trigger.” “Big talk for a such a little man.” “I won’t look so little after I’m done with you.” John mumbled as the two stopped at the elevator. Arin let off a loud laugh. “Ha! That’s a good one.” He patted John on the back and the elevator door opened. The two stepped in. “So what now?” John scratched the back of his neck and ran his hand through his hair. “As of now we go back to mission control.” Arin groaned. “Goddammit, is that like your bedroom or something?” “Well…” Arin gave him a glare “What? Throw down a mat in the corner and It gets damn cozy in there." Arin laughed. “You’re nuts dude.” The door slid closed and the two ascended further into the ship. :[-]: Canterlot throne room, October 15th, 7:32 “Princess Celestia!” The elder princess’s ear perked at the sound of Twilight’s voice as the young alicorn burst into the throne room. The mare's mane was frazzled, large bags loomed below her eyes, and sweat drenched the entirety of her face. Twilight skidded to a stop just a few feet from the throne, completely out of breath. “I’ve... finished checking... phew... oh my...” Celestia smirked. “Are you okay, Twilight?” “Yeah... my apologies... Princess... just…” Twilight breathed heavily for a moment. “Just give me a few seconds...” Once Twilight finally caught her breath she straightened herself out and cleared her throat with a few coughs. “I’ve finished checking every library in Canterlot and even the museum.” “Have you found anything relating to the humans?” Twilight shook her head in disappointment. “Not a thing, Princess.” Celestia pursed her lips and sat back in her throne. “Strange,” She mumbled. Celestia thought that the libraries would at least hold some form of information relating to the humans, especially after Luna had told her that they are most likely their forerunners. But how? How could these things have come before them? There were no ruins, no ancient scrolls, no legends or myths of mystical beasts that relied on their suits and technology to survive. The only hints of their existence were their similarity to the minotaurs, and the metal meteors that had come crashing down all those years ago bearing the same crest as the piece that landed in the royal garden three days prior. Celestia had seen it all, throughout her life she had watched the rise and fall of many kingdoms along with the birth of Equestria. Before then she and Luna had traversed this very planet back when they were looking for a new place to call home. If these beings were truly their forerunners, she would have seen some sign, some… thing, to announce their previous existence. With a supposed four point two million survivors of the apocalypse still buried under their hooves, there was no way that not a single trace of such a huge civilization couldn’t remain. It's as if the surface of the planet was wiped off like a chalkboard, left a completely clean slate while the humans... Celestia’s thoughts trailed off. Could that really be what happened? Over her lifetime, the accumulated knowledge of geography had grown steadily, until there was enough recorded dig sites, ancient features, and sediment analysis to suggest a massive meteor shower had struck the planet well before the beginning of celestia’s existence. Thousands of large craters pockmarked the nearest continents, mainly in the upper halves of the Crystal Empire and Zebrica, while the truly apocalyptic ones, with impact zones over ten miles wide, surrounded the domain of the supervolcano that kept the lands of Echo roiling with molten lava. Could it have been the storm that wiped them out and the few now just so happened to see it coming? Or could it have been a mass volcanic eruption? While the meteor event was a probability, now that she knew more about the possible circumstances, there was something else that didn’t quite add up.. Within the many craters traces of unknown substances existed within the rocks that were found nowhere else on the planet, and when compared with more frequent meteor impacts from other eras they would always come out negative. Though even if some worldwide cataclysmic event were to happen there were just too many variables. Celestia sighed, could it be that the humans posses some fantastic power, dark magic perhaps, that could be used to wipe a planet completely clean? And who is to say that it was them that wiped out their own civilization. There’s no way everything would’ve been completely obliterated, unless it was done intentionally as a way to hide their very existence. She and Luna were considered to be the oldest ponies in Equestria, however that wasn't quite true, as Discord had been around far longer than any of them. Celestia could recall the times her parents had mentioned the draconequus in old tales they’d use to tell her. Far back then Discord was nothing but a legend; a silly creature to keep young foals entertained for the night. However, soon after her parents transcendences, the chaotic god revealed himself and subsequently took over the region with chocolate rain and dancing polkadots. Celestia’s face then took on a contemplative look. If the humans were truly their forerunners, then he was the one to ask. “Twilight?” Celestia leaned forward in her throne. “Have you seen Discord arou–” “You called?” Celestia flinched at the unexpected voice, whirling around in her chair she was met with a large toothy smile. “Discord?!” Celestia stood up from her throne and stepped down from it in order free up some of her personal space. The mismatched creature smiled and slithered out from behind the throne, taking up residence in Celestia’s rightful spot. “I’m sorry,” He purred, “Did I startle you?” He snapped his talons and in his right paw appeared a bouquet of poison joke, he held it out to her. “Please forgive me, I picked these just for you.” He chuckled. Celestia rolled her eyes and took the flowers in her magic, Discord smiled. But that smile quickly vanished when Celestia disintegrated the joke flowers with her magic. “Well that just isn’t nice.” Discord crossed his arms and pouted. “Now isn’t the time for games, Discord.” Celestia said, “We need to ask you a few questions. Discord sat back in the throne and frowned. He sighed. “I’ve never been a fan of twenty questions... I always end up losing.” He snapped his talons again and summoned a cup of cold tea. Of course, he began to drink the cup itself. “Do you know anything about humans?” Celestia asked. Discord immediately spat the cup onto the floor, which came out as a fiery gush of molten glass. “Bl-bleh-bl–what?!” He waved his hand to the side and the cooling remains transformed themselves into mice which scurried off in every direction. Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she sidestepped past the wave of rodents Discord had created. Twilight shook her head and with a flash of her horn the swarm of mice vanished. She looked at Discord with an irritated glare. “Don’t play games with us, Discord, we know you saw the ship come crashing down.” “Of course I saw the ship come–wait, did you say ship? Is that what that was?” Discord pursed his lips and leaned back. “Huh... so that’s what he was referring to.” “Enough, Discord!” Celestia almost growled. “Answer our question, do you know them?” Discord buzzed his lips like a horse and rolled his eyes. “No. I don’t know them personally, however, I do know what humans are,” He said making quotation marks. Discord sat back in the chair and crossed his arms, his previous joyfilled mood having vanished completely. Quite frankly, neither Celestia or Twilight had seen him this serious before. Not even during the Gala, had they seen him this... angry before. “Discord.” Celestia took a step towards her throne. “Do you know anything about the humans? Their abilities, technology, maybe even their past?” Discord took hold of both arm rests and leaned forward. “Well I can tell you that I do know that they’re a bunch of selfish backstabbing idiots who only care for themselves,” he said leaning back and crossing his arms, “I swear they’re so greedy they’d make a dragon look generous.” Celestia and Twilight shared a confused look with one another. “What makes you say that?” Twilight asked. Discord glared at Twilight a glare that soon turned into a freakish smile. “Oh Twilight, my little Princess, if you had seen the things I’d seen or even experienced. You’d know why I think of them like this.” Celestia pursed her lips in thought. Could he be referring to something similar to when her guards were captured? Were they really as untrustworthy as Discord is saying they were? Celestia shook her head, she had to remember this was Discord she was talking to here. Anything he said could be nothing but a twisted lie, but then again there were those occasions when he spoke the truth. Celestia blinked and sighed, “That still doesn’t answer her question.” “Trust me my darling Celestia,” As if she would ever do that. “Once you get a taste of human politics you’ll fully understand. Especially after you deny them something they want, and believe me when the time comes where you do deny them something, You better get your armies ready.” Discord laughed. “I’ve seen them do it to each other hundreds of times and they never learn, it’s ridiculous!” He slapped his knees. Twilight and Celestia shared another look with each other. The younger princess looked Celestia in the eye and mouthed “What?” Celestia bit her tongue, she was having a hard time buying what he was saying. There’s no way a nation could be that brutal. Then her thoughts drifted back towards Yakyakistan, yes they were warmongers. However, Twilight had been able to make peace, could the humans be the same way? Celestia needed more details. “Discord,” She looked at him and said slowly, “what do you mean you’ve seen them do it a hundred times?” Discord smiled, his serious mood seeming to have dissipated into thin air. “Well what does it sound like?” He rolled over in the throne with his stomach lying on the cushion. “I’ve seen the humans’ boring, petty arguments degenerate into bloodshed and war. What...? Do you not believe that I’m that old?” Discord flung his head back and laughed. “Believe me Celestia I’m flattered, but it’ll take a lot more than that to make me blush.” Celestia’s eyes widened briefly, her thoughts returning to the book they had given her. Unlike Twilight, Celestia and Luna only had time to skim through the few sections they’d uncovered. Each one, save for a couple, had been littered with dark tragedies in human history; most either being some sort of war or genocide. She quickly regained her composure and nodded her head in understanding. “So you were around when they ruled over this world?” Celestia asked, hardly believing her own words. If so, not only did Discord exceed her parent’s age, but he exceeded them by countless lifetimes. Discord scoffed, pulled the feathers back on his right arm to check the impossibly hidden watch beneath. He clicked his tongue and stood up. “Well look at the time,” He said with fake disappointment. “I do believe I’m late for a meeting with Fluttershy in Central Park. She and I have lots of plans for her vacation in Manehatten, so if you’ll excuse me. It’s been nice chatting with you.” Celestia held out a hoof to stop him. “Discord, wait–” Before Celestia or Twilight could say anything Discord snapped his fingers and vanished into midair. Celestia clenched her eyes shoot and lowered her hoof to the floor. “Tartarus!” Celestia cursed quietly, pausing a few seconds before speaking up again. “Uhh… Pardon my language, Twilight.” Her cheeks flushed. Twilight bowed her head and walked over to Celestia. “It’s alright, Princess, I think I know how you feel.” Twilight raised her head, a contemplative frown on her face as she gazed off into the unknown distance. She then took a deep breath and looked at Celestia. “Luna should be waiting for us down in the library, would you like to accompany me?” Celestia nodded her head, followed Twilight out of the throne room, their questions left unanswered. As the two of them walked, Celestion continued to ponder their situation as the two of them exited the throne room. Her mind rattled on in thought, the feeling of butterflies growing in her chest. If Discord really did live alongside the humans, and if they were really as bad as he said they were. That would mean he also saw their downfall. And consequently survived their apocalypse. Was it the human’s arrogance that caused their near extinction? Their brutality? Celestia didn’t know what to think. Her guards were detained and experimented on, but not irreparably harmed or killed outright. And yet, that was the only instance of possible hostility she had observed from these humans. When she met them they did not seem arrogant or mean, quite the opposite really, and they were organised upfront and cooperative, if tense. Yes they did draw their weapons when Luna half mindedly performed her probing spell, (which she needed to chew luna out on later.) However, they only did that out of fear for one of their comrades, who appeared to be in a state of suffering. If she had been in their place, she most likely would’ve done the same. Then again everypony has a mask, a mask to cover up their true selves. If that were the case, could the humans just be playing them; making her out to be a fool? Or what if Discord was the one playing her? Maybe he manipulated or even created the humans for some unbegotten prank. Celestia stopped just before the throne room door, her mind wandering back to the malice Discord had shown during his reign over Old Equestria. If Discord had been around since the end of man, could he be the reason for their downfall in the first place? :[-]: Horizon’s Infirmary, October 15th, 8:52 William laid back in the medical cot that had been assigned to him, the pain in his head finally having subsided after he had woken up a few hours ago, even if he had a gut feeling that it’d be back. The doctors as of now had him jacked up on some sort of pain medication that made him feel a bit numb and tingly. It also had the additional side-effect of making him taste the color purple, which he found to be utterly fascinating. Whatever this shit was, it made him high as a kite, and he was absolutely loving it. In a way he knew where he was and he knew why he was there, he just couldn’t seem to grasp the whole of it, his head floating above him, his wants and worries gone, just existing in the moment. The Commander laid back in his cot. It was silent in the infirmary, ever since his last visit nothing had really changed. It was a tad darker and the white walls seemed a lot duller without the light, it almost gave the room an eerie feeling. Like in those old horror movies he used to watch, any moment now he expected some sort of mad doctor to step out from around the corner with a bloody syringe. That was probably just the drugs talking, though. Then again... it could happen, now that he thought about it. The sound of a metal door sliding open caught William’s attention and he turned his head just in time to see Admiral Watson stepping in. The admiral was still in his white navy getup, though it seemed to have gained a little more wrinkles than before, nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a good iron. Though in comparison to the expression on Watson’s… worn face, it’d take more than a bit of ironing to fix that. William couldn’t help but chuckle giddily, these drugs were fantastic! Watson cleared his throat. “Commander,” He said getting his attention. William looked to Watson, sat up in his bed, and gave him a brisk salute with a hand that may or may not have gone right over his head on the first,... and second, try. “Yes, sir?” He finally asked. Watson returned the gesture and moved to the other end of the room by the doctor’s desk to grab a swivel chair. He then rolled it over to William’s cot and sat down next to him, taking a deep breath and letting it escape in an exhausted sigh as he did so. The expression William could see on the old sailor’s face practically shot every drug out of his system. This didn’t look too good. Watson looked like a doctor who was about to give bad news. “I’ve come to check on how things are doing,” He said quietly. “Yeah...?” William began to feel uneasy. “Thanks for the thought, but with all due respect, sir, why are you really here?” Watson took another deep breath, a prolonged one that made all the hairs on William’s arm stand straight up. “I had a feeling you’d catch on,” He muttered, the commander wanted to say it was obvious, but that might have just been the drugs. “Might as well go all out, the Council wishes to have you court martialed.” William’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he leant forward. “What?! Why?” Watson reared back and actually pushed his seat away from the cot. “Commander, you know full well as to why. You disobeyed a direct order from Central and took matters into your own hands.” William broke eye contact with Watson and gazed down at the pristine white sheets that were laid over his legs. “Admiral, you have to understand–” William was silenced by Watson raising a hand to him. “And I fully do, Commander. Believe me I’m using all of my power to either delay them or prevent this entirely. Remember, they’re just scared. As much as I hate the political bastards for it, these men and women haven’t even set foot outside since our landing.” William was in a state of shock and anger. “What’s the point in delaying, sir, why not just let them take me to court?” Watson looked at William as if he was an idiot. He leaned towards him. “First off, Commander, they have visual footage, there’s no way you can fight them. Secondly, were you dropped on your head as a child?” “What?” “Commander, you can speak to the equine hierarchy. Like you said visual gestures can only get us so far and the council is trying to take you away from our cause. They’re too fucking stupid to realize that you’re a gift; that you could be the one that leads the charge.” Watson said the final two statements with a finger pointing directly at him. William gulped and bit his bottom lip. “I’m sorry for saying this, sir, but that was very cheesy.” Watson grinned and brought his hand back and scratched his neck. “Yeah it sounded a lot better in my head.” The two fell silent for a brief moment. Finally William shook his head and asked, “So what’s your plan, sir?” Watson rested his elbows on William’s cot and laced his fingers together. “My plan?” He said, “My plan is to keep these retards off your back until this over. William, I wasn’t kidding when I said you’ll be leading this charge, you're the tip of my spear and I plan to point you directly at the equine hierarchy.” “Admiral, I’m not really much of the conversational type.” William doubted himself. “I know nothing in terms of diplomacy.” Watson gave William a cold stare. “Well you better start soon. Ms. Greene won’t always be there to back you up and yell to you what you need to say..” “What if they don’t listen to us–” “Then make them listen dammit!” Watson pounded his fist on the soft bed just centimeters from William’s leg. “So far you’ve been doing well and I want you to keep it that way. I’ll keep the suits off of you for as long as I can, while you keep the equines in check.” William didn’t say a word, he just simply nodded his head and gave him a salute. Watson returned the gesture and stood up, pushing the chair back over to the doctor’s desk. He then went over to the exit door and and paused right before the door, looking back at he said, “Oh and one last thing, Commander, the doctors believe you’ll be up for duty within the next day.” “Thank you, sir. Could you please tell the receptionist that I’m ready to see Hassel on your way out?” Watson sat there and smirked. “I’ll think about it.” He swiped his access card on the control panel and stepped out, the door hissed as it closed behind him. :[-]: Horizon’s Central Command, October 15th, 9:10 “Systems check... all clear.” “Central, we’re receiving data from U.A.V fifty... nothing special.” “We still haven’t reached contact with any of the vaults, sir.” “Still no contact with forty eight.” “–W-wait! I got something here!” The second Jonathan and Arin stepped into the Central Command, they were bombarded with information. Around the spherical room desk jockeys, moderators, and even a few engineers were running back and forth as if a fire had broken out. Others gathered around computers eyeing the monitors as if they had found an ancient jewel. Whereas a few seemingly oblivious bodies continued to sit and work at their computers as if it was just another day in the office. John, followed by Arin, walked over to the crowd of people huddled around a single monitor. “What’s going on here?” He asked pushing himself past the crowd so he could see the what everyone had their britches tied in a knot about. Once he reached the front he spotted a man in a green and brown jumpsuit (the typical desk jockey attire) with a set of headphones over his ears. Beside him was another boy in a jumpsuit with a notepad and pen. The man with the headphones was calling out random sets of numbers while the boy with the pen and paper wrote said numbers down. “5. 9. 10. 12. 9. 9. 7. 6...” “What the hell?” John whispered. “It’s a code I’m telling you, some form of communication. Like what the Germans used during the world war.” John overheard two engineers talking. “Are you sure?” “What else could it be? Fucking lotto numbers? I doubt that.” “Ha! I wish, maybe they’re coordinates.” “Nah, too small of numbers... well maybe. You’ll have to take that up with Gary, he would probably know.” “Alright–hey GARY!” John tuned the men out after that and looked over at a few others. “What’s going on?” He asked a couple of men to his left. The two desk jockeys stood up straight and saluted him. “Roger here stumbled upon a once secured channel, sir!” John rolled his eyes and held his hands up to signal for them to go at ease. “What do you mean it was once secured? How did you even get through to it?” “You mean how did I get through the bloody thing?” John glanced over his shoulder, out from behind Arin came a small scrawny man. “Nelson? Jesus where have you been?” The small English man rolled his neck, cracking it a few times in the process. The stubble on his face had started to grow out even though his once long hair had been cut short. “I’ve been reprogramming a lot of the ship’s computers. Ninety percent of them were made to only calculate flight paths and oxygen levels, along with some other boring and now useless shit seeing that we aren’t flying and all. Well, I wouldn’t say the oxygen bit is useless but you know what I mean.” He walked over to John and extended his hand out to him. “Nice to see you again, sir.” John took his hand and shook it. “So you're the one who discovered this?” Nelson shook his head. “Not entirely, this bloke there,” He pointed at the man shouting out numbers, “stumbled upon it. I merely just acted as the key to opening it. That frequency was tighter than a virgin’s–” “You can stop right there, Grimes.” John silenced him. “How did he find it?” The hacker smiled and crossed his arms. “The way in was difficult, yes, but whoever programmed it left some minor gaps that allowed some of the transmissions to seep through and bleed into the other channels. Though most that made it out were disrupted and hardly cohesive, but it was pretty obvious what they were.” John brought a hand to his chin and scratched it, he looked back at the boy with the headphones. “11. 16. 1. 1. 9. 10. 20...” “Any ideas on what those numbers mean?” He asked looking back at Nelson. He shook his head. “Nope. Not a damn thing, some say it’s coordinates to a vault, others say it’s a secret code: each number stands for a letter or something. Hell, someone even brought up the idea that it’s pre-war encryptions that are still broadcasting.” John snorted. “I highly doubt that.” “5. 9. 10. 12. 9. 9. 7. 6... That’s it! It’s just repeating itself now,” The man with the headphones said. He took the hearing piece off his head and placed it onto the table. The man holding the pen and paper nodded and began to look over the code. “Make sure you get that down to intelligence ASAP!” John ordered. The man nodded and quickly left the room. “The rest of you!” John looked out at everyone else. “Keep tracking the frequency and watch out for any changes. If something happens contact me and document anything you hear–” “Central! We’re picking up strange readings from U.A.V sixity!” John quickly pushed his way out of the crowd and made his way over to the center of the room where the hologlobe sat, Arin following right behind him. “Throw it up on the big screen!” “Wait a second,” Arin said, “drone sixity is over the Pacific right?” John placed both hands on the hologlobe and watched the large screen on the wall behind it flicker to life, revealing a mass of blue ocean. “You’re not wrong,” He mumbled the reply. Everyone in the room fell silent as they watched the screen anxiously. “I swear if another one of them lizard things pop ba–” A man in the back started but was quickly silenced by a glare coming from John. He turned his gaze back to the screen, so far he couldn’t see a thing aside from blue waves bobbing up and down along the surface, and the occasionally bird fly by. Then he noticed something, something very subtle. A large area of water darkened slightly. And not just one area, three areas. All just a couple miles apart from each other. He leaned forward and squinted his eyes. “There’s nothing here,” Arin whispered. John shook his head. “No, there is. Look closely–” Before he could even point it out the three darkened areas began to fill with white bubbling water. The room around him was immediately filled with gasps. “Holy crap!” One man shouted. “They’re massive!” “What the hell is it? Another type of monster?” Arin asked leaning forward. The middle and the largest of the three unknown objects was the first to breach the surface. “No. This ain’t no monster. You there contact the head Engineer!” John ordered a nearby man. “Then what the hell is it?” Arin asked John watched the screen with wide eyed, his heart ramming against his chest. “It’s a goddamn submarine that’s what it is.” :[-]: Central Command, October 15th, 9:42 “The first submarine that pierced the surface of the water here.” Head Engineer, Ronald Davis, pointed to the frozen image on the wall. “Appears to be an original design for something we called the Leviathan; also known as M.A.F or a Mobile Aquatic Fortress,” He explained to the crew. “The bill that triggered the construction was passed by U.S. President John Michaelson. He saw the vessel as our only hope of survival, my crew and I started the construction two years after Archangel’s arrival at the base of Mt. Kenway in 2020.” Davis sat down in a nearby chair beside the hologlobe. “The base design of ship was meant to carry as many human beings as possible, so the ship was designed to be three kilometers long and half kilometer wide, as this would house three hundred and fifty thousand souls but still allow the submarine to maneuver and use little enough material to build several as the humanity’s last hope.” “How the hell could you fit that many people inside?” Arin asked. “During the voyage seventy percent of the population would be in cryosleep while the rest maintained the ship and tried to live a normal life in the housing quarters,” Davis said before leaning forward in his seat. “However, after the U.N. proposed that the Japanese were building some sort of Starship.” He motioned towards Horizon’s walls. “Congress saw the light and realized that the Leviathan would cost nearly ten times more than that of Project Icarus. So they canceled the order and we were ordered to ship it off to the Hawaiian scrap yard before we could even finish the frame.” He looked back at the frozen image of the three colossal subs, an eerie silence fell over them. “Nowadays,” He started up again, “I don’t even know how anyone would have gotten the resources to finish the first, let alone three.” “Not too mention the technology needed to build it.” John got up from the chair he had been sitting in and walked past the globe and towards the screen displaying the ships. “Whoever they are they must have some valuable shit.” Davis took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “There’s only one person I know who can replicate that design.” “And who would that be?” John glanced over his shoulder. “See that marker on the side of the ship?” He gestured to a blue cog with a bold K in the center of it. “That’s the logo for Kane Technologies, none other than the CEO Marcus Kane himself knows how to replicate the ship’s design. Hell, he’s the one who designed most of the ship's parameters anyways while I was the one who was figuring out how to even build the damn thing.” Admiral Watson, who had shown up as soon as he received word, sat forward in his chair. "I also have a bad feeling that they aren’t coming with good intentions either. Just Look at all those weapons.” Watson pointed out as he watched dozens of hatches along the subs surface open up, revealing large decks guns being elevated to the top of the ship. “Why do they need so many?” Davis cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t recall the original design ever having weapons.” “Well look at it,” Watson said, “ whatever they’re for I have a bad feeling about this.” “Well remember the Yellowstone footage, sir?” Arin said, “America is covered with those flying lizard freaks. Maybe they’re paranoid.” “And look at how the first World War turned out,” Watson mumbled. “Central, we’ve picked up a new broadcast!” “New live footage coming from drone sixity. Something’s happening down there!” “What in the world... throw it up top!” He ordered the desk jockey behind the live footage.The frozen image changed to real time. Back by the rear end of the Leviathan a large hatch opened up and two, long cylindrical shaped objects rose out from it and aimed themselves at about an eighty degree angle towards the west. Each barrel had an odd coil shape around it, and along the coils shined a blue ominous light. Just by the shape and appearance of these objects alone, John already knew that it was a gun of some sorts. A gun that was getting ready to fire, but at what? And why so high? “Hey Ryan!” John ordered a nearby jockey. “Get ready to track whatever that thing is going to–” John wasn’t even close to finishing when the Leviathan fired both odd deck guns, bizarrely enough from the footage the gun’s didn’t even suffer from any recoil. “TRACK IT, TRACK IT!" John ordered as he ran over to the desk jockey’s computer. “The objects are moving too quickly, sir, I can’t get a good read!” Ryan shouted his fingers moving like lightning across the board. “They’re heading higher than the drone, sir!” A woman shouted, “There’s no way we can get a read on it!” Ronald Davis stood beside John with wide eyes. “There’s no way it could’ve reached fifty thousand feet in just a couple seconds.” He glanced over at John and the others. “If that’s the case it’s going to reach orbit in less than a few minutes.” “Calculating estimated landing!” Ryan said right as he hit enter on his keyboard. The hologlobe then whirled to life and along its side appeared a ballistic arc that extended out from the center of the Pacific Ocean all the way to the middle north half of Japan. Watson’s eyes widened and he took a step towards the globe. “My God...” He ran a hand over his eyes making sure that what he was seeing was real. “They're heading right for us.” Editors Note: Teslaponie: The fan is spooling up and the cannon of brown goo is loaded. Only someone may have replaced the fan with a jet turbine. [Cackles maniacally] Get ready for one hell of a ride. > Chapter 16: MONARCH > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saddleston, October 15th, 21:45 Night Watcher sat back on a log and gazed out into the dark Bramblewood Forest. Each breath he took cast a puff of white fog into the air. He took a small sip from the cup of cider from the local brewer provided for him, taking small comfort in his beverage’s warmth while he sat in silence and listened. He could hear them; the creatures they had been told to call humans. The things that were supposedly in those metal birds he and Swift Flier had seen that morning; apparently they had gone to Canterlot in order to improve their diplomatic standing. Night Watcher snorted. There was no way in Tartarus he was ever going to trust these things. Whatever they did to his comrades back when they were taken... he just couldn’t. They should never had been allowed to set hoof on Equestrian soil in the first place. It was sickening. “Good evenin', Cap’n,” Swift Flier slurred as he came over to the Captain’s log, and plonked down right beside him. “Same to you, Swift,” Watcher replied softly, taking another sip of his still-steaming cider. The humans were much quieter tonight. “Any new reports from her Highness?” “Bah!” Swift spat. “Same ol’ thing... keep watch and await further orders...why we doin’ this again?” his breath reeked of cider. “Orders from the Solar Mistress herself,” Watcher said, using Celestia’s old title. “Something tells me she doesn’t quite trust these things yet, especially not after the elite guard was captured.” “The elite guard?” The pony simultaneously perked up and deflated. “Man... I knew some ponies were captured, but not them… What ya think we’re gonna do if they come after us? No way we can stop them.” Swift looked over his shoulder and glanced around their surroundings, his eyes flickered nervously over the shadows of the forest. “Trust me.” Watcher’s ear twitched. He could hear a faint whistling sound in the distance; someone’s tea must’ve been ready. “There’s no way those things will get past us–” At that, the faint whistling noise instantly turned into a boisterous roar before erupting into a massive ‘whoomph’ of an explosion that sent a shockwave out in every direction. Both Watcher, Swift, and the log they were sitting against got blown into the woods. Watcher landed on his forehooves and took a tumble to avoid the crashing log. Looking over, he saw Swift in the dirt, the log having come down a few inches behind him. Night Watcher got onto all four hooves and looked back in the direction where the explosion had come from. Just above the few houses that still stood, he could see steam and smoke rising into the air. “Come on,” he shouted to Swift, who had pulled his head out of the dirt and was trembling like a scared filly. “We need to check if everypony’s okay!” Swift nodded his head and followed. :[-]: Saddleston’s town square, October 15th, 21:50 Night Watcher and Swift Flier arrived in town square at the perfect time. Around them ponies cried out in fear and pointed up right as a second flaming object came screaming over the city and headed further down south. “Is it heading for Canterlot, sir?” Swift Flier asked. Watcher shook his head. “I doubt it, though judging by the angle is might just skim past it.” “We need to warn the princesses.” “Agreed, get Instant and have him transfer the message!” Watcher ordered, Swift nodded his head and took off into the air. Watcher turned his attention back to the crater in the center of town, it was already surrounded by ponies. Thankfully, it seemed that none of the towns-ponies were harmed by the impact. The town square however was practically in ruins. Ground had been kicked up everywhere, some bits looked like a half rolled up rug. Windows shattered, stone walls now looked like swiss cheese. The once green grass now steamed due to intensive heats. The guard trotted over to the hole, gently pushing his way past civilians. “Excuse me, pardon me, get back please!” He shouted over the crowd. By the time Watcher reached the crater he was joined with another band of guards that eyed the freshly carved hollow with a look of awe and fear. “What’s going on...” Watcher began but his eyes soon matched his comrades when they fell upon a large glowing cylindrical object jutting out of the earth. Along one end of the rod was an ominous blue light that took the shape of a rectangle, the rectangle was about nine feet in height, and four in width. The light the outline produced appeared to pulse every other second, almost like a heartbeat. Occasionally small jets of steam would fire out the crevices and a low hum would then be admitted. “Is it the humans?” “No it has to be some sort of aliens...” “It doesn’t matter where or who it came from... just what is it?” Watcher shook his head and brought himself back to reality. Glancing around he saw nopony venturing into the crater, quite frankly they appeared to have actually moved five feet back since he last remembered. He gritted his teeth. “This is stupid,” He said to himself and began to trot towards the crater. “Captain what are you–” “I’m investigating,” He replied while sliding down the slope. Once he reached the bottom he turned back to the ponies above. “You guys just stay up there and make sure nopony else comes–” BANG! The crowd screamed in horror at the sudden sound, Watcher whirled around and was just in time to see the glowing rectangle be blown off the side of the craft and crash down onto a nearby house. “Sweet Celestia!” He practically screamed and quickly tried to scramble up the side of the hill. Steam now practically flooded out of the cylinder and onto the ground, creating a thick fog that quickly devoured the surrounding land. Watcher scrambled back and clumsily tried to climb his way back up the slope of the crater. Out from the gaping hole in the pod came a thin, gloved hand that grabbed onto the edge of the frame, allowing its owner to pull itself out. A tall, curvy creature stepped out of the pod and into the shrouded crater. Watcher was only halfway out when he glanced over his shoulder and nearly had a heart attack. The alien being had started walking over to him, it had to have been about ten feet tall, and covering its curved frame was a bulky set of armor that left no skin showing. The armor itself was black and rounded, decorating it were these blue glowing lights that traced most of its edges, along with these large blue pauldrons on its shoulders, and it even had a cape that blew in an non-existent breeze. The creature gazed down at Watcher with a thin blue eye that stretched parallel across its helmet. “Sweet... Celestia...” Watcher mumbled in awe. The metallic being tilted its head to the side, as if out of confusion. Then it looked away and focused on the crowd above who let off an audible gasp when their eyes met. The creature gave off a deep muffled noise before looking back at Watcher and grasping hold of the back of his neck. Watcher let off a startled cry when he felt his body being lifted from the ground with little to no effort from the creature. “OH NO! Let me down!” He demanded. The entity held the armored pony in its hand and eyed him intently, bringing him in closer to its mask it jiggled the pony. “What are you doing?! Put me down now!” As if the creature understood what he said, it tossed him up towards the crowd. Watcher landed with his armor banging against the ground with a clang. He put a hoof to his head and groaned as some of the surrounding ponies came to his assistance. When he was finally back on his hooves he gazed back down into the crater, there he saw the creature had gone back to its metal pod. Half of its body leaned into the opening, it looked as if it was searching for something. About a minute passed and the creature leaned back out of the pod with a few items in its hands, one of them a belt with small rounded objects attached to it that it flung over its chest and clipped on. In the other hand it held a long staff like object. With a flick of its wrist, the staff shrunk down into a more compact form which, the creature then stuffed into a pocket in its armor. The final object, which the being had to go back into the pod to retrieve, was of a medium length, and was shaped almost like the letter L. However, the edges of the object were very rounded and near the tip of one end was a small handle that the creature held onto. It checked itself over once more then nodded its head. Whatever it was doing, it seemed satisfied. It then glanced back at the crowd everypony gasped and took a few steps back. With two long steps the alien bounded out of the crater and was now standing before the ponies, it gazed down, towering over them. The mask kept Watcher and everypony else from telling what it was thinking. The ponies shrieked when the creature released a hand from the rounded L thing and raised a thumb at them. Before the ponies could even respond the alien turned away from them, only to be blinded by a bright flash of light and the sound of shouting humans. :[-]: Horizon’s Central Command, October 15th, 21:48 Twenty minutes earlier “We have touchdown! I repeat, the object has touched down!” Logistics advisor Gary Steeler yelled. “I thought it was heading right for us,” Jonathan said, staring at the screen. “They missed, but not by a lot. Look here.” He pointed at the contact point. “Only by two hundred meters... damn. What about the second one? There were two.” “That one was pretty far off, it just landed a few seconds ago... let me bring it up.” Gary tapped a few buttons, making the image on screen zoom out and skim past the equine capital, over to another forest. “I lost contact with it after it landed, but it was somewhere in this general area.” “Huh...” John leaned back from the jockey and his computer. “What the hell was all that then?” He asked no one in particular. “Could it have been a warning shot?” Arin said questioningly. “I doubt it,” Watson said, “there’s no way they could’ve known we’re here. We haven’t started broadcasting the signal to the vaults.” “Maybe it wasn’t directed towards us,” Engineer, Ronald Davis said, “Maybe it was directed towards the equines.” “Or maybe,” Gary piped up, “It wasn’t an attack at all.” “What are you trying to get at, boy?” Watson and the others crowded over the man. “I’m detecting a life signature coming out of the contact zone. It’s coming from the shell itself.” “That’s impossible,” Davis said, “To withstand an impact like that at such a velocity...” He trailed off. “Like I said, doctor...” John looked at him. “These guys must have some valuable shit.” “Central,” Watson said to John as the two men turned away from the computer. “Tell the men to get the light armor ready, and that I want two recon teams on that site within the half hour.” “Yes sir.” John nodded his head and followed his senior officer to the exit doors. “I see this as a prime opportunity to improve our relations with the Equine hierarchy.” Watson explained while making his way up the three stairs that led to the door. “We will use whatever we can to support those who may have gotten injured in that impact.” He took out a keycard and swiped it in the module beside the door. John nodded. “I agree, sir, but how do you think the Council is going to react to this?” The door opened, but Waton just stood there with his lips curled back. “Knowing, Takanao and Carlson they’ll most likely object to us interfering. They would most likely want to focus more on establishing communications with the Leviathan then helping a couple natives rebuild a few houses.” “I can understand that,” John said. Watson nodded. “So can I, but then again that’s what I’m thinking they’re going to say. Make sure you have a few boys monitoring those frequencies and once things are settled down here we’ll try to form a clear communication path with the Leviathan. You got that?” “Certainly sir,” John said, “matter of fact I already have a crew looking over the frequency. I’ll make sure to relay the information to Delta team and Bravo.” Watson grinned. “I’ll expect nothing else from you then, Central. Carry on.” He left the room leaving John to stand alone looking over the business of central command. :[-]: Hangar Bay B, October 15th, 21:52 “YOU HEARD THE MAN! SIXTY SECONDS!” Master sergeant Peter Van Thorne (codenamed “Kong”) shouted over the bustling men and women. Approximately six minutes ago both Bravo and Delta team were informed of the situation, they were soon after ordered to gather their gear and load up in the two light armored Chromehounds (a six wheeled armored truck with a computer controlled fifty cal.). Both squads hastily loaded themselves into separate vehicles, taking positions along the seats on each end. Peter reached out and pulled the outer door closed and sealed it shut with the inner lock. “Masks on!” He ordered his squad as he reached back and pulled his respirator over his face. Once they were set Peter made his way to the front of the cabin and pounded his fist three times on the wall, signaling to the driver that they were prepped and ready to move. “Alright, ladies, check your radios and don’t get comfortable, we’ll be there within five minutes.” “Central to squads, do you read me? Over.” John’s voice came through the radio right as both trucks jerked forward and began their journey off the ship into the dense forest. Peter undid his radio and held it a few feet from his face, he took a seat. “We read you, over.” “Good. We have confirmed readings that whoever came down in that pod, is indeed alive and moving. There is no confirmation on whether the individual is hostile or not, so stay on your guard. Over.” “Ten-four, any idea if the target is leaving the area? Over.” “Negative, target seems to be interacting with the local residents. Over.” “Roger that, out.” Peter stuck his radio back in its holder along his chest and looked over his squad: a couple marines and a few national guardsmen. Not the best combination, but times like this you just gotta deal with what you got, both of the marines were lieutenants and the national guardsmen were a pair of corporals and a sergeant. “Alright guys,” Peter said as he leaned over in his seat, “remember what Central said, not only are we doing a bit of recon, we’re also trying to make a good name for ourselves m’kay? After we confirm whether this joker is hostile or not we’re gonna tend to the natives–ya I know it’s bullshit, but hey, orders are orders. So if you see someone who needs help, help them,” He explained and unslung his gun, a M249 light machine gun, and placed it beside his seat along the weapon wrack. “However, that’s only if the bloke isn’t hostile. Now if the bitch is going to fuck with us, Roger.” He pointed to the marine sitting near the back. “I want you in the back with that barrett in case things take a turn.” The marine nodded. “Carroll and Michelle I want you two a bit behind me for support. Jason, Bob... you’re my wingmen. Got all that?” Peter smiled when the crew inside gave him a resounding, “Sir yes sir!” “Alright then, lets make ‘em proud!” :[-]: Saddleston Outskirts, October 15th, 21:57 “Target seems to be about ten foot tall, female, with some sort of weird ass glowing armor from the medieval ages.” Peter and the marine on his left looked over at the national guardsmen on their right. The three men were lying on the ground in a pile of bushes just a couple dozen meters away from the town. The soldier was holding a pair of nightvision binoculars up to his visor and was watching the events transpire in the town’s square. “Hand them over, Jason.” Peter reached over and snagged the binoculars, he held them up and peered through. Sure enough the dude wasn’t kidding about the chick looking like she was some knight in shining armor. It was large, rounded, and even had the dumb looking pauldrons sticking off the shoulders, just to top it all off it even had dark cape that went down to her thighs, blowing in a nonexistent wind. The men could tell that the person they were looking at was female by the curves and just how the chest plate itself was shaped to protect the breasts. For them they could clarify without even taking a second glance. Personally Peter was hoping whoever this was would not be hostile just so he could get to know her, because seriously who wouldn’t want to talk to some woman who had a body like an amazon and was wearing medieval armor to boot? Although, her height was kind of a turn off for him. Sadly though, he had to remind himself that they were on a mission and not peeping session. “Alright take it, Bob.” Peter handed the binoculars over to the marine on his left. “What do you see?” He asked after giving the lad a few moments to look. “She seems to be helping the equine out of the crater,” He said his voice sounding extremely raspy. Peter curled his lips back and nodded his head. “Well she sounds friendly–” “She’s heading back to the pod now... looks like she’s grabbing something–wait a second. Are those hand grenades?” “Wait what?” Peter looked towards the town, he couldn’t really see anything through the dark aside from basic shapes. “She took out a strap vest with what looks like grenades,” Bob described, “Now she has a staff that can shrink, what the fuck?” Both Peter and Jason looked at each other confused. “Oh. I see a gun!” “What kind is it?” “I don’t know. I haven’t seen one like this before, if I had to guess it looks almost like a shotgun at first glance.” Peter nodded. “Alright, I think it’s time we move in.” He pulled his radio out of its holder. “Bravo, this is Delta do you copy?” “This is Bravo. Over.” “What’s your twenty?” “South side of the town, exactly two hundred meters from your O.A., howcome over?” “Ten four, we’re going to make our move on the target, could you provide backup?” “We sure can.” “Alrighty then.” He placed the radio back in the holder and got into a crouched position. He looked back over his shoulder at the two female corporals and made a hand motion for them to follow, both of them gave him a thumbs up. Peter and his entourage silently made their way into the town sticking to shadows and along building walls. When they reached the alley just before the town square he poked his head out from around the corner just in time to see the armored woman jump out of the crater in two hops. “Damn she’s limber,” He whispered to himself and glanced back to the corporals. He motioned for one of the ladies to make their way to the opposite end of the street and take cover behind a street vendor booth. She nodded and quickly made her way across the street, crouching as she moved. He motioned for the other to remain on their side. “Delta, this is Bravo.” A hushed voice came through a turned down radio. “My boys and I have positioned ourselves along their flank, we’re ready when you are.” Peter looked back at his wingmen, Bob and Jason, and gestured for them to follow. Swiftly, he and the two marines made their way around the corner, the three men switched on the flashlights mounted on their guns and aimed their weapons at the woman. “I’ll only say this once, drop your weapons!” Peter shouted. The armored woman flinched in surprise before raising an arm to block out the bright rays from the flashlights, her posture becoming more defensive. “What the hell?!” Her muffled voice shouted, she took a step back. “How the... who the hell are you?!” Peter smirked. “Lower your weapon and maybe I’ll have the courtesy to tell you.” “Now you know I can’t do that.” The woman lowered her arm and rested it on the bizarrely shaped weapon, her stance becoming more firm. “Sure you can,” Peter said while he slowly took a few steps towards her, “We have you surrounded, there’s no way out of here.” The woman glanced over her shoulder and behind the crowd of utterly confused ponies she could see the faint silhouettes of other soldiers lurking in the shadows. She growled and looked back at Peter. “I’m not going back!” Peter frowned. “What do you mean you’re not going back. You’re coming with us–” “NO!” The girl reached up and snatched a grenade-like object off of her chest and pressed the red button on its surface. A loud crack echoed out of the woods and a clang sounded off of the woman’s helmet. The girl’s head recoiled and she stumbled back; the grenade fell out of her hand and upon impact with the ground a cloud of smoke exploded in every direction obscuring everyone’s vision. “Goggles down!” Peter shouted over the equine screams as he slung his thermals down over his face, he then grabbed his radio. “Central, this is Delta, target has proved to be kinetic!” “Roger that, Delta, has it been neutralized?” “We’re checking now,” Peter said, the tip of his weapon leading him over to where the woman was. “What the hell?” He looked back at Bob and Jason who were lagging slightly behind. “She isn’t here...” He glanced around at his surroundings, everything was composed of blues and reds from heated objects. Mainly panicked civilians who were running about the smoke blindly, or the occasional flickering candle in a windowsill. But there was no sign of the target anywhere. “Target is still active, watch your six!” “Central this is, Delta, target is still mobile!” “Copy that, watch your fire down there, we have civilians in the area!” “Alright girls, stick together and watch the clock–” Peter was silenced by the sudden pain in his gut and the sense of weightlessness as he was thrown back about ten feet. His back collided with the ground and he bounced, in mid roll he stuck out a hand and caught himself. Getting to his knees he tried to catch his breath, ahead he could hear the concerned voices of his squadmates. “Sergeant? What happened?” “Did you see her?” Peter clambered back up onto his feet and looked towards his men, out of the corner of his eyes he saw a dark blue figure dashing through the smoke towards Bob at an inhuman speed. “Bob, eleven o’clock!” He tried to warn, but it was too late, the figure brought out a large staff-like object and slammed the side of it into the marine’s gut, sending him a few feet into the air before catching the end of her foot in his back. “Why you bitch!” Jason yelled and opened fire on the woman, however, every time a bullet would strike her armor it would either shatter on impact or ricochet off leaving nothing but a nick. Peter looked around for his weapon but couldn’t find it, he must’ve lost it after being thrown. He groaned when he took a step forward towards the now panicking guardsmen, the woman walked towards him with a slow gait, paying no mind to the other marines. Her chest exploding with sparks as each bullet shattered against the metallic piece. Peter stumbled towards the one-sided fight, his right hand drifting down to his side, taking hold of the grip of his 10mm handgun. He unstrapped the gun and held it out towards the attacker and fired three rounds into her back. “Hey!” He shouted in a way to divert her attention, which seemed to work. The woman stopped and looked over at him. “Fuck you!” He squeezed the trigger one more time and fired a round right in the middle of her forehead. When the bullet struck it exploded into a cascade of sparks and her head flinched back a bit before settling again. “You’re going to regret that.” Peter dropped his gun. “Ah... shit,” he mumbled and immediately dove out of the way when his attacker charged him. The woman tilted her feet to the side and skid to a stop her whole body tilting as well, due to the momentum. “Delta, this is Bravo, my men and I are moving around for support!” The woman charged, her arm cocked back, ready for impact. Peter ducked out of the way just in time and fished out his radio. “Great–” He jumped back to avoid another swing “–glad you could–” he leapt out of the way of another rib-breaking kick “–make it to the party!” “I have had enough of your shit!” The woman swung once more and Peter turned his body to dodge, only to realize it was a bluff. His right side exploded and a shockwave of pain reverberated throughout his body, forcing him to the ground, the radio flew out of his hand and landed a few feet away. “Fuck!” Peter could taste the blood filling his mouth, he felt the woman grasp ahold of the back of his neck as she forced him up. She held him above her head, a good four feet above the ground. “I told you guys once, and I’ll tell you again: ‘Leave us the fuck alone!’” “Ack–! What the fuck... are you talking about?” Peter said between gasps of pain. “Don’t you play dumb with me, I was expecting Kane to send his goons after me... but I’m insulted that he would only send his lowly peasants instead of the sentinels.” “Bitch... you’re fucking nuts...” Peter was on the verge of passing out, the pain in his lower half was becoming unbearable. “Delta, we’re in position,” The woman glanced down at the radio in the dirt she looked back at Peter and saw psychotic look under his mask, “give us the word and we’ll–” “SHOOT THIS MOTHER FUCKER!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, suddenly the entire town was littered with the sound of sporadic gun fire. The woman holding Peter let out a grunt when a hellfire of bullets rained down upon her back. Peter fell from her her grip as it loosened, as she raised her arms to shield her face; he landed on the ground with an “oof!” and rolled onto his stomach. He quickly began to army-crawl his way to the radio, trying his best not to get caught in the crossfire. From his right he saw one of the corporals running towards him, she knelt down and draped his arm over the back of her neck and started to carry him out of the fray. “Hand me–fuck– your radio,” Peter barely got out, the corporal nodded and handed it over. Peter took it, “Bravo, this is delta.” He groaned as the girl placed him along the wall in a nearby alley. “This bitch is wrecking us! What do you need?” A panicked voice spilled through. “Do you have that 40mm?” A loud bang followed by a small tremor shook the ground. “Does that answer your question?” Peter smirked. “Alright, I think I got a plan. The remainder of my squad and I will draw her attention, and when that bitch isn’t looking you let her have it!” “Roger that!” “Alright, Carroll,” He said to the corporal as he used the wall as support to get up. “You and Michelle–” “Michelle is down, sir, it’s just you and me now.” Peter frowned. “When the hell did that happen?” “During all the confusion she was the first to get knocked out.” “What about Jason?” “Got hit in the head by a brick shortly after you drew her attention away.” “Really... fuck! Is he dead?” Carroll shook her head no, Peter took a deep breath then. “Alright then, you and I are going to draw her attention, now hand me your sidearm.” She did just that. Peter took the 10mm and checked its magazine, satisfied with the ammo count he slid it back into the gun and shambled back out into the open. What he saw out there might as well been labeled a slaughter if their attacker had actually been killing them. Out of all eight men that made up Bravo team, only three of them remained, one was out in the street by Michelle's unconscious body, laying down suppressing fire. While the other two had moved to higher ground inside one of the equines’ home and were firing down from the second story windows. Peter gave a pained shout, “Hey!” He raised the handgun and fired a few rounds into the side of the woman. She quickly turned to face him, upon laying her eyes on him she released an irritated growl. “Don’t you ever quit?!” She shouted and began to charge. Peter clasped his hand over the radio. “Do it!” From the house came a light “thump” and instantly Peter went deaf. For a brief second a bright light engulfed his vision and he was forced to the ground to avoid the shrapnel that exploded out from the shell. As his hearing slowly came back, Peter noticed the cheers coming from inside the house. He rose up to his feet and looked over, through the dissipating smoke he could see the woman in armor lying face down on the ground motionless. Peter shook his head and took a few steps away only to turn around with a finger jamming at her while screaming, “FUUUUUUUUCK YOU!! HA ha ha!” “Did we get her?” The man with the 40mm poked his head out the window. “Of course we fucking–” Peter stopped when he noticed the body twitching, along the thigh section a compartment of some sorts opened. Inside it was an odd looking handgun similar to his bulky 10mm. “No you fucking don’t.” He walked over to the struggling girl and reached into the holster and pulled the gun out himself. It was much larger than his 10mm, however, despite its size it was incredibly light. The sergeant cocked the gun and aimed it right at her head. “Make a single move and I’ll blow your fucking head off,” He said not knowing if it actually could or not, though judging by the girls next actions he decided it probably could. The woman under the armor let off a roar of anger, similar to a child having a temper tantrum. “Fuck!” She pounded her fist into the dirt. “Y’know, how about you stop acting like a fucking child and speak with us,” Peter snarled, “who the hell are you?!” The girl fell silent and let off a deep breath. “I’ll go back if you promise me something.” Peter brought his knee down on her and pressed the gun against her helmet. “We aren’t taking you anywhere until you answer my goddamn question.” She was starting to get on his nerves, the rest of the soldiers who could still move gathered around. Even the ponies who had fled started to step outdoors. “Wh-who are you?” The girl asked sounding utterly confused now. “Well jeez, I could be asking you the same thing.” Peter added, with as much sarcasm as he could. “P-please, you have to clarify this for me. Who are you?” The girl sounded scared now. “Why are you turning the questions onto me now?” Peter smirked, he was actually starting to enjoy this. “Just answer her goddamn question, Kong.” Bravo team Leader, Mike Brovarski stepped out with the 40mm resting on his shoulders. Peter rolled his eyes and sighed. “I’m Master Sergeant Peter Van Thorne, squad leader of Horizon’s Delta team. Now answer me this, who are you?” “Eh... I-I’m Ms. Amelia Patricia Conway, I was once Sir Kane’s right hand mistress.” Peter sat there for a good minute, gun still pressed against the girl named Amelia’s head. Finally after having a long thought on whether she wasn’t bullshitting him or not he brought his knee off her back and pulled the gun away from her head. “Alright, that wasn’t so hard. See how much we can accomplish when we aren't fig–” Amelia spun around her leg extended in attempt to trip the man. However, Peter had been expecting some sort of action and was prepared, he acted faster than she had anticipated. He pulled the trigger, the gun discharged without any recoil, and the muzzle flash admitted a blue flame. The ground exploded into a cloud of dust and smoke just inches from Amelia’s head, she froze instantly. “Now you’ve just gone and pissed me off, Missy. Move again and next time I won’t miss on purpose.” He grabbed ahold of his radio. “Central, this is Delta, target has been detained and is ready for pick up.” There was moment of silence. “Central, do you copy?” Peter asked. “It must be something on their end,” Mike suggested, “I’ll radio up the chromehounds and have them head over here.” He took out his own radio and walked off towards the woods. Peter glanced back at Amelia. “You know, I’m not the conversationalist type, but when we get back to the Horizon, you and I. We’re going to have a nice, long, chat.” :[-]: Central Command, October 15th, 22:30 “Central, this is Delta, target has been detained and his ready for pick up... Central, do you copy?” John sat back in the chair behind him, his face showing no expression whatsoever. On the inside however he was conflicted, he didn’t know what to feel. His mind was racing a hundred miles a minute. He didn’t even know if what he was hearing was true, that woman... “I-I’m Ms. Amelia Patricia Conway...” He could recall the conversation he and Nelson were had days prior before their return trip. “Say sir.... do you have any loved ones?” “Yeah... I have a daughter back in the vaults...” “How old was she?” “Just turned ten right before the collapse...” “Just turned ten... “turned ten..." “ten...” “Yo, man are you alright?” Arin tapped John on the shoulder and snapped him out of his stupor. “Wh-what?” John looked over his shoulder and saw Arin holding two cans of cola. “The guys are trying to contact you...” He snorted, “And you say you're good at what you do.” “Y-yeah... just tired that’s all.” He leaned forward and clicked the push to talk button. “I read you,” He said. “We’re loading the captive onto the chromehound,” Kong said, “Our E.T.A is ten minutes.” “Copy that, Delta, see you when you get back. Out.” John leaned back in his seat and yawned, he looked over and saw Arin relaxing in a swivel chair. His feet kicked up on the hologlobe with a trained eye locked right on him. John raised an eyebrow, Arin also raised an eyebrow, stopped in mid swig, glanced around left and right. His eyes then fell back on John and he slowly took his legs off the hologlobe, he then pulled the can away from his mouth and reached for the other one he brought back. He held the second can out to John, who hadn’t budged, however Arin remained persistent by shaking the can lightly. “You want it?” He said in a quiet playful voice, “Come on you know you want it... how long has it been? Twelve thousand years, c’mon you can’t resist it. Yeah... you want it.” He shook the can again. John still didn’t take it, instead he gazed at his brother, almost zombie-like at that. Arin finally gave up and shrugged, he took a swig of his pop. “They found Amy,” John deadpanned. Arin nearly sprayed pop through his nose when John broke the news. “Wh-what?!” “They’re bringing her here right now, speaking of which.” John got up and brought a hand up to his bluetooth device. “Central Command to R&D is Hassel awake?” “Yes I am still avake.” “Have your team get the quarantine room established along with a few sets of guards.” “Eh... Do you mind if I ask vy?” John took a deep breath. “We have a new...” He pinched the bridge of his nose, how was he going to word this. “... Patient for you to examine.” There was a moment of silence. “Roger zat John, I’ll haf my men start immediately.” “What do you mean they found her?” Arin placed his cola aside and came up behind John. “What the fuck does it sound like?” “I... I dunno!” He had no idea how he should react, neither did John. “Is she alive... dead? How did they find her?” “In a suit of armor,” John said, he hardly even believed the words coming out of his mouth. Arin raised an eyebrow all suspension of disbelief fading away before John’s eyes. “What?” John pushed past Arin and moved back towards his chair, he pulled it out and took a seat. He simply gazed up at the globe, watching it as it slowly rotated on its axis, he had no idea what to think. He never would’ve thought he’d hear his daughter again, let alone his daughter who was biologically around the same age he was. So he thought. Not to mention hearing from her in a situation like this, pinned beneath a man with a gun to her head. At a thought like that he could already feel his paternal side wanting to bash Kong's fucking head in, however, she did kinda incapacitate over ten soldiers. His mind just couldn’t comprehend anything as of now... he needed some sleep. “John.” Arin got down in front of him. “You gotta explain things to me, what is going on?” He stared at his hands as he began to explain. “The first of the two pods that came crashing down, we detected life signatures coming out of one of them.” Arin rolled his eyes. “I know, I was there.” “That’s not the point.” John’s eyes looked up into his brothers. “They were coming from her. When Delta and Bravo moved in to make contact they found her communicating with local natives, shortly after she began to show hostile aggression when she saw the men.” “And they had to take her down?” John nodded. “Shortly after she took out ten men.” Arin bit his bottom lip and stood back up, he turned to face the hologlobe and took a few steps towards it. He placed a hand on his chin in thought and spun back around, pointing at John. “Are you sure we’re talking about Amy here?” “Arin, it’s been over twelve thousand years, I can safely assume people change.” John released an uneasy breath. “But believe me. I can hardly believe it myself.” “Well... maybe she’s just going through her rebellious stage. Y’know... fuck the police or something, every kid goes through it.” John looked at Arin with a raised eyebrow, Arin looked back with a confused expression. “What? I’m just saying.” “I don’t think now’s the time for games.” John yawned. “Feeling a little out it, Central Officer?” A female voice came from behind both men. John slowly looked over his shoulder, behind them was a tall, thin woman dressed in a dark green officer uniform with tinted sleeves. She had short black hair that stopped right above her ears, and dark blue eyes that could stare into a man’s soul. “Yo, Caroline!” Arin stepped off the single step that separated the walkway from the entrance from the hologlobe. “Looking sharp as ever!” He held his hand up for a high-five. “Did anyone ever tell you that you look good in uniform?” The girl rolled her eyes. “Everyday, and that’s Command Officer to you, Sergeant,” She said making her way past Arin while leaving him hanging. “Always uptight aren’t you?” John said quietly, his mind unable to leave the recent news behind. “Only when I’m on duty,” She said looking back at Arin with a wink, the sergeant smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. “Alright, Central, gimme a sitrep and I’ll relieve you of tonight's duties.” “I assume you already heard most of the news?” “Only something about three ships coming out of the blue and shooting at us.” John got up and motioned for her to follow him to a nearby console at the base of the globe. She walked over and he punched in a few keys which made the screen turn into a map of the country with one red dot near their location, and another red question mark somewhere down south. He pointed at the red dot. “They weren’t exactly shooting at us, they were firing off some sort of orbital drop pod we think. The first pod here,” he jabbed a finger at the dot, “landed a few hundred meters west of our position, whereas the other,” he moved his finger to the question mark, “landed somewhere down south out of our scanner range.” “So when you say drop pod you’re saying that someone was inside of that thing?” Caroline pointed at the screen with a confused look. John looked her in the eyes and nodded. “It’s my niece to be exact!” Arin said after slamming his empty cola can on the desk he was sitting at. John fired an irritated glare at him. “Wait... what? You’re kidding right?” Caroline’s head snapped from Arin back to John. The looks on both of their faces showed her that he wasn’t kidding. “Whoa... hold on...” John bit his tongue and looked at Arin. “We don’t exactly know that yet!” “Of course we do!” Arin gestured towards the screen on the wall. “She said it herself, come on now, who else bears our last name? I highly doubt she just picked that name out of thin air just so she could avoid getting her head shot off.” Caroline raised both her hands and gestured for the men to slow down. “Wait she’s your daughter?! You two are brothers?!” Both men shared an unconvinced look with each other. “Yes we are.” “How do you not know this?” Arin added, he pointed both arms at John. “Do you not see the resemblance?” He then turned his arms onto himself. “We’re practically–” “Enough, Arin,” John silenced him, “back to what I was saying, the men we sent in to investigate came under attack by her. Only five of them are coming back uninjured.” “Damn...” Caroline whispered, her eyes were wide, she was still trying to wrap her head around everything she’d heard. “So I take it they were able to detain her?” “Yes. Matter of fact,” John glanced over at the clock above the entrance. “They should be arriving here in just a few minutes.” “If that’s the case, Officer Conway,” Caroline straightened herself out. “I hereby relieve you of your duties. Have a nice night.” “You too.” He turned towards the entrance. “Alright, Arin, I’m off to bed. You can go do whatever now.” He yawned into his sleeves and started off to the exit. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you mean you ain’t gonna go see your daughter?” Arin quickly got up from his chair and followed behind him. “When they arrive R&D will be too busy trying to get her into quarantine, not to mention the amount of studies Hassel is going to want to run. Even if it is her, there’ll be no time for me to have a little family reunion.” He stopped at the door and fished out his keycard. “Don’t you want to at least see her? Even if it’s just to see if it really is her or not?” John slid the card into the module and stood there for a few seconds as the door opened. Even then he didn’t step through it. “I-I just need time to think...” He pulled the card out and left the room. :[-]: Saddleston, October 16th, 01:00 Luna and Twilight stopped at the edge of the crater left by the pod sill jutting out of the surface. “Dear me...” Luna’s eyes drifted over the pod and towards the destruction left behind by the creature and humans. Night Watcher looked at the princesses and nodded. “I’m telling you, Princeses, everything was going swell till those damned humans–” “Night Watcher, please refrain from talking about the humans like that,” Luna scowled and started to walk around the crater towards the area in which the battle took place. “If you don’t mind, Luna, I’m going to check out this... thing here,” Twilight said with a look of curiosity, she hopped down the side of the crater and trotted over to the pod. “Do as you wish, Twilight.” The night princess continued to look over the battlefield. Twilight came up alongside the metal pod and began to inspect it carefully. Just by appearance alone she noticed that half the pod’s hull was buried in the dirt, showing that it had come down with a tremendous amount of force. Which piqued her curiosity as to how such a (relatively) small object could withstand the impact. She raised a hoof and tapped its side, the material it was made of was smooth and hard. The echo from within signaled to her that it was hollow, though she already had a hunch with a creature coming out of it and all. Twilight came up along the entrance to the device, sticking her head inside she noticed the interior walls and seat were padded. The aforementioned seat that stood in the center was covered in black straps, behind it was a container of some sorts. Aside from that it was practically empty, no lights, windows, nadda. Just some padded walls, a seat, and a box. Nothing of interest stood out to her, there was no evidence as to where it came from. Aside from the massive crater that said it came from the sky. With that in mind it then raised a new question: how do the humans play a role in this event? Looking at the destruction and listening to the stories around them, clearly the humans did not act too kindly towards whatever crawled out of here. Then a common question came to her mind, who was in the right and who was in the wrong here? From what the townsfolk had told them there had been too much confusion for them to actually figure it out, not to mention that a vast majority of the stories were different from one another. However, they did tell the princesses that after the fighting had died down the humans threw the creature into the back of metal chariot and took off with it. Perhaps they journeyed back to their craft? She and Luna would have to look deeper into it. Twilight sighed with disappointment, after examining the structure none of her questions had been answered. Quite honestly it only raised more. She teleported herself out of the crater and appeared next to Luna. The night princess was levitating an empty casing of some sorts to her muzzle, she sniffed it and made a disgusted face before pulling the empty shell away from her. “What is it?” Twilight asked, at first glance the shell looked to be nothing special, and visually that was true. However, even though it didn’t really bother her, she could smell a strong amount of sulfur coming off of it. Luna shook her head and blew air out of her nostrils, trying to free herself of the terrible smell. “I don’t really know,” She said sounding a bit strained while she did her best to suppress the sudden urge to sneeze. “Obviously, it is some sort of holding mechanism that contained–” Luna couldn’t hold it anymore she held her wing up and sneezed into it. “–excuse me.” She took a deep breath. “It contained a lot of sulfur, possibly as a form of ignition.” “How do you know that?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Hold out your hoof,” Luna instructed and levitated the casing over to her. Twilight did as she was told, and Luna dropped the metal casing onto her hoof. Though it was faint, Twilight could feel a bit of warmth still coming off it. “It’s warm,” Twilight stated. Luna nodded her head. “I have a feeling that whatever these shells are.” Luna used a hoof to point to the hundreds of empty shells littered across the town square. “I have a hunch they’re tied to whatever those weapons are.” “Perhaps they are a form of projectile weaponry?” “Most likely.” Luna shuffled her wings and glanced in the direction of the forest. “Princess Luna,” Twilight said, she picked up the metal casing along with a few others off the ground and teleported them back to her castle for further study. “Would it be alright if we go to the human settlement?” Luna gave Twilight an uneasy look, she thought that visiting the humans just out of nowhere wouldn’t be the best idea. Especially this late at night, that is if these things slept the same way ponies do. “Not right now, Twilight, maybe sometime in the morning you and my sister can have a look.” Twilight frowned and nodded her head in understanding. “Alright. If that’s the case, I believe I should be heading on home, Spike’s probably wondering where I’ve been for a while now.” Princess Luna chuckled. “Oh I bet he is, you go on now.” “I won’t be gone for long,” Twilight said already charging up her horn for long range teleportation. “I’ll be back sometime in the morning.” “Good night, Twilight,” Luna said with a nod. “Good night, princess.” Twilight’s horn flashed, leaving the night princess alone in the deserted town square. :[-]: Twilight’s Castle, October 16th, 01:10 Spike nearly suffered a heart attack when Twilight suddenly appeared right in front of him. The air in his lungs escaped like water breaking loose from a damn, he stumbled back with a hand to his chest, and fell flat on his rear in the center of the castle hall. “Sweet... Celestia... Twilight... give me a heads up will’ya!” “S-sorry, Spike,” Twilight apologized and trotted over to her assistant, she knelt down and helped him back to his feet with a light nudge. “I was just in a rush to get home, I wasn’t expecting you to be standing right here.” Spike dusted off his lungs and frowned. “Yeah and I wasn’t expecting you to appear right in front of me.” It was Twilight’s turn to frown, it was always hard for Spike to let something so small go. “So,” Spike decided to change the subject, “what’s got you in such a rush anyways?” Twilight bit her bottom lip, debating whether or not she should tell him the whole story or save it for later. She decided on the latter. “Celestia decided to let me borrow an ancient book Luna found, along with a few artifacts.” This seemed to sate the dragon’s curiosity and he nodded his head. But before Twilight could continue to her quarters, the dragon held up a claw. “Twilight, before you go. I have some news I need to share with you,” He said with a slight nervous tone. “What is it, Spike?” Twilight asked, her urges for researching vanishing with the wind. “It has to do with, Fluttershy.” Twilight felt her blood run cold, hopefully nothing happened on her trip to Manehatten, especially if Discord was involved. “Well... her cottage to be exact.” Her sudden worries began to dissipate and Twilight’s mood relaxed a bit. “It was broken into.” “Wait what?!” Twilight practically shouted. “Oh I knew this was going to happen...” Spike took a few steps back. “Spike, how could you let this happen?!” Twilight spun away from the dragon and began to pace back and forth down the hall. “You were supposed to be house-sitting while she was... oh my... how bad is it? What did they take?” She held a questioning hoof out to the dragon. The dragon held his hands behind his back and dug his foot into the floor nervously. “I-I don’t know... a book maybe, aside from that they really just trashed the place and...” He trailed off near the end. “They what?” Twilight asked. “They–” :[-]: Fluttershy’s Cottage, October 16th, 01:25 The smell of the rotting bear carcass nearly caused Twilight to vomit her dinner onto the blood stained carpet. Turning away from the deceased animal, Twilight quickly made her way down the steps and into the ruined living room. Her mind scarred by the hideous, decaying bear, her mind tried to think of anything else, naturally moving to the thought of Fluttershy finding out about this. It wasn’t much of a better scenario. Her home was broken into and her largest pet had been slaughtered ruthlessly, it was terrible. Who could’ve done such a– Cl-cling, cling... Twilight stopped. Her attention drawn to the floor, beside her hooves were a few metal casings. She picked them up with her magic and levitated them up to her face. A curious look spread across her face as she leaned forward, then a look of awe struck her. They were just like the ones found in Saddleston, if not the same kind. “It was them...” Twilight mumbled to herself, Spike started to make his way down the steps. He was trying his best to make it seem like he hadn’t just been crying. “They did this.” Twilight cast her gaze around the ruins that was once the living room. The walls were littered with large holes and pieces of debris covered the flooring, along with books and glass that used to be part of a coffee table. “But why?” “Halt! Who goes there?” A voice came from outside, Twilight’s ears perked at the sound of somepony coming to the door. “In orders of Princess Twilight herself–” Twilight raised an eyebrow, she hadn’t given any orders “–anypony who is found trespassing is to–” A unicorn mare dressed as a royal guard stopped at the entrance to the cottage, her eyes locked on Twilight’s. “P-Princess Twilight?!” The mare stuttered. “Who are you?” Twilight asked She didn’t respond, instead she immediately turned and made a beeline out of there. “Come on, Spike!” Twilight shouted as she picked a startled Spike up with her magic and placed him on her back, she began to give chase. She teleported herself outside the cottage and onto the main road, in the direction away from the town near the everfree she saw the unicorn disappear over a nearby hill. “No you don’t,” Twilight muttered as she charged her horn for another jump. For a second her vision went white and she was introduced with a “Buuuaaggggh!”. A sudden pain erupted from her snout and Twilight stumbled back onto her haunches along with Spike hitting the ground with a yelp and rolling a few feet away. When her vision cleared she found herself on top of the hill she was just looking at. In front of her was the mystery mare on the ground rubbing her snout. “Gah... give somepony a heads up next time before you do that!” The mare muttered. Twilight ran a hoof under her snout and found a bit a blood leaking out of it, she in turn glared at the mare in front of her. She was wearing a suit of golden armor, her coat was white and she had a short blue mane and tail with a white streak flowing through it. On her flank her cutie mark was a pattern of shimmering golden lights, the mare opened her eyes, which were a dark blue, and glared at Twilight. “Just who are you, and why are you going around spreading lies about things I’ve never said?!” Twilight stood up and got in the mare's face. The unicorn got onto her hooves and shoved Twilight away with a hoof. “Back off, Princess! It’s none of your business.” This alone seemed to anger Twilight. “Like hay it isn’t!” She pushed herself even closer to the mare. “I said back off!” The mare’s horn flashed and a blue sphere shot out in all directions pushing Twilight a few feet back. Huh, Twilight thought suddenly curious, she knows unrelenting force. Her curiosity though was soon replaced with anger. “I won’t ask you again!” “I told you.” The mare began to turn away. “It’s none of your own business.” “Why were you in Fluttershy’s cottage?” Spike asked. The mare didn’t respond, her horn began to glow, Twilight knew she was about to jump out of there. There was no way she could let that happen. “You were there because of the humans weren’t you?!” The mare stopped in mid-cast and turned back towards Twilight, her face overwhelmed with rage. However, instead of screaming like Twilight thought she would, she glanced around as if making sure no one was listening. She then leaned in and whispered, “If you know what’s best for ya, princess or not, you better watch what you say.” “What are you–” The mare’s horn flashed and she was gone. The duo sat there on the hill in silence. “Twilight,” Spike started, “What the heck just happened?” :[-]: Unknown, October 16th, 01:40 “How were things in, Ponyville, my dame?” Asked an oak colored pegasus with deep brown eyes with a long black mane and tail. Her body was tall and complemented by the smooth curves that made up most of it, and she resonated this intimidating look with her large, sharp eyes and foreboding smile. The mare had herself perched upon a tall, makeshift metal throne in a room composed entirely out sleek, grey metal. Only a small portion of her face was lit by the few torches that lined said metal room. “Fine until Princess Twilight Sparkle returned, your highness.” The white mare with the shimmering golden lights on her flank bowed before the oak colored mare. “I was unable to gain anymore intel on the break-in due to her constant stubbornness.” The oak mare sat back in her throne, a small disturbing smile reached her lips. “Please do not tell me she learned anything on us?” “No, I do not believe so.” The white mare kept her face glued to the floor, she knew better than to look directly at her mistress. “Excellent!” The agile mare jumped up from her throne and onto the metallic floor. “Then nothing has changed.” White mare’s eyes widened, she looked up from her bowed state. Her mistress wasn’t in front of her anymore. “But, my queen, I thought you said–” “Forget about what I said, Shimmering Grace,” The mare made her way to a large painting of a regal chocolate colored stallion in an Old Equestria captain of the guard uniform, a large bulky piece of purple and gold metal. She stretched her wings out and popped a few joints and turned back to the white unicorn, their eyes meeting, she gave the unicorn, a wide toothy smile. “Forget about everything I have ever said, dear.” She began to slowly approach her, a look of desire starting to wash over her. “For that everything your father said, from what Star Swirl, and Clover have ever said, to even you, my dear. And you know what–” She stopped just centimeters away from touching the unicorns face, she raised a wing to the mare and gently skimmed the tip of her primaries along the outline of her jaw. Shimmering Grace’s eyes widened and her pupils shrunk as they followed the feather tips all the way to her to the tip of her chin, she shuddered. Her eyes returned to the sultry gaze her mistress was giving her. “Ms. Heir, what are you–” The pegasus leaned into her ears. “You were right, Grace.” Before the white mare could say anything, Mistress Heir locked her lips around hers and pulled the unicorn in for a deep kiss. Grace practically screamed when she felt her highness thrust her tongue into her mouth, her mind began to race a million miles per hour, her cheeks flushed, and she felt as if she was about to pass out. When Heir broke the kiss she didn’t even bother to wipe the saliva off her lips, instead she gave the dumbstruck unicorn a sly smile. “And I thank you for that, Grace.” She turned away from her and gazed up at the painting of the war general towering above his army. “For because of you my father’s dreams shall come true, and MONARCH shall rise again to pull Equestria back out from the darkness that her majesty, Celestia, has brought over us!” Heir opened her wings and took to the air. “The humans have already stepped out of the shadows and revealed themselves, the time has come for us to do the same, Grace. It’s time we show Equestria what these fiends’ true intentions are.” She opened her forelegs out wide. “Just like your father said, Grace, they do not believe to integrate themselves with us. Like the cyclops they come to conquer us: ‘From the sea they shall come,’ he said, ‘with massive machines of war they shall ride across our beloved lands!’” She swooped around and landed beside the unicorn and wrapped her wing around her, Grace yelped at the sudden touch. “And look at it, my dame, isn’t that what’s happening now?” She whispered. “Y-y-yes, Mistress,” She stammered. Heir smiled and kissed her cheek. “Good, I’m glad you understand. Now please, send word to Night Watcher in Saddleston, tell him I’m enacting the plan. I’ll send Gunner to Manehatten to alert the others of our coming actions. Now go, ride on!” Grace closed her eyes, trying to regain her composure, she nodded her head and teleported out of the room. Heir smiled wide and walked back to her throne, she sat down and held a hoof to her lips. She hummed. “She ain’t that bad of kisser after all,” She whispered. Heir sighed and glanced at the general painting exactly across from her. “Oh father, if only you could see how far we’ve come, and how close to the end too.” > Chapter 17: Questioning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Horizon Hangar Bay B, October 15th, 23:01 Peter Van Thorne pressed the barrel of Amelia’s gun against her back. “Alright, we’re here. Open the door,” he ordered his men. Moments later, the rear chromehound door swung open with ease and blinded the crew inside with the lights of Horizon’s interior hangar bay. The crew and their captive were greeted shortly after by a wave of soldiers and scientists covered from head to toe in bio-protective gear. “Hey, watch it!” The captive shoved a lab coat back which, then caused a small domino effect as the man stumbled into his mates. Amelia turned her head at the sound of a dozen mechanisms being activated, the soldiers surrounding her disengaging their safeties. Though the men couldn’t see under her helmet, she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Don’t even bother!” Peter came to her ‘rescue’. “The only weapons in here that may have a chance of piercing this chick’s armor.” He tapped his knuckles on her pauldron. “Is this thingamajig.” He shook her handgun in the air. “And this doohickey.” He then held up her futuristic shotgun-thing. Amelia took a short deep breath. “Even then.” She glanced over her shoulder. “It’d take a little more than a single shot to break through it.” “Oh yeah, one last thing guys!” Peter said with fake enthusiasm, he pointed a finger at her. “She’s kind of a wiseass.” Once more, Amelia rolled her eyes, the men around her still unable to see the action. “Alright boys, I’m going to hand over all of my trust to you.” He tossed the handgun over to a marine and handed the shotgun to another. “If you ever recall elementary... or primary school for you easterners. You don’t point the barrel of that gun at your buddies, except for this girl m’kay?” He tapped the back of Amelia’s armor. “Sir yes sir!” “Alright then...” Peter pushed the girl forward and the two of them along with a few guards and labcoats began to make their way out of the hangar. “You said your name’s Amelia right?” Peter stepped beside the girl. “The one and only,” She practically muttered and kept her vision forward. “Knowing today’s standards you might be right on that.” Peter chuckled. “I’m going to trust that you won’t do anything stupid, right?” Peter took a few steps back when the girl’s head slowly turned towards him. “Trust me, I would never do anything that could potentially cause any harm.” He could nearly taste the sarcasm in her voice. The sergeant clicked his tongue. “Okay then, I have to report in for debriefing. So I’m going to leave you in the care of a good friend of mine.” He tapped her on the back. Amelia’s eyes followed Peter as he drifted back into the crowd and out of sight. “And who would that be–” She started but was cut off by an overly joyful German. “Mein Gott! Who is zis?” The German nearly squealed with excitement. Amelia’s head faced forward and her pupils nearly shrunk when she saw the elderly man in a lab suit. “You can’t be serious...” :[-]: R&D, October 15th, 23:40 The elevator door to the R&D labs opened and Arin quickly made his way out. Dipping his way past guards and scientists he walked briskly to the interrogation room on the far end of the deck. “Alright zen Ms. Convay,” Hassel said through a comms device. “I vill be activating zee decontamination process now. If you could please open your arms out vide.” Amelia was on the other end of a pane of glass in an airtight sealed room, plain and stark white. The room she was sealed in was only about five by ten feet, with her armor her head was practically touching the ceiling. Amelia tried her best to nod without bumping her helmet into the ceiling, following the doctor’s instructions. From all directions small nozzles slid out from the walls, locking in place before coating her in a white mist, fogging her visor and damping her armor. “Sank you.” Arin burst through the door and stepped into the observation room Hassel was in, immediately he was set upon by two guards. “Hey! Hey, it’s me!” Arin shoved one of the marines out of the way. The marine stumbled back and raised both his hands defensively. “Apologies, Sergeant.” He nodded his head towards the other to stand down. Hassel chuckled and didn’t even bother to look away from the console he was standing at. “Next time, Sergeant, maybe you should knock.” He advised. Arin dusted off the spots where the soldiers had grabbed him and walked up beside Hassel, peering into the glass. “I’ll think about it, Doc.” “You do zat zen.” Arin watched the woman behind the glass in awe. “Jesus... is that really her?” “Vat do you mean?” Hassel tilted his head slightly to look at Arin, while also keeping an eye on the computer. He looked at Hassel. “Is she really John’s daughter?” Hassel shook his head. “Vee don’t haf enough information to actually decide on zat, she claims to share zee same last name, but... vee vill haf to look deeper into it.” Arin nodded his head and turned his attention back to the girl inside the other room. “Alright, I can understand that.” Hassel pressed a green button on the console and leaned into it. “Ms. Amelia, if you could please make your vay into zee room next door, I vould greatly appreciate it.” The girl shrugged. “Okay,” She said, her voice sounding muffled as it came through the intercom. Hassel smiled and stepped back from the console. “She’s very cooperative, zis one,” The old man said with a bit of pep in his voice, he reached over to the table beside the computer and grabbed a paper cup of water. He sipped from it. “And very nice.” Arin snorted. “After hearing everything that happened out in the field she doesn’t sound like it.” Hassel pulled the cup away and sighed with relief, he glanced at the water and smiled. “Zis is good vater.” He placed the cup down and started walking towards another console further down the room which sat in front of another pane of glass looking out at another room; the interrogation room. “Before vee began zese tests, vee had time to chat.” “What did she say?” “Not much, sough she does feel a bit bad for attacking Mr. Thorne and his men.” Hassel stopped at the console and began to make a few adjustments, Arin followed shortly behind. Hassel tapped the mic built into the console, testing to see if it was working. Satisfied he pressed a green button and leaned into the mic. “Ms. Amelia, if you could be so kind as to take a seat in zee chair behind zee table.” Amelia glanced around the room, then at the table that had a chair occupying both sides. She frowned and pointed at the chair facing the mirror in the room (to her it was only a one sided window). “How the hell am I supposed to fit in that thing?” She said gesturing to herself and her height. “I might as well sit on the floor.” Arin reached past the doctor and pressed the talk button. “Just sit in the chair, Amy.” What happened next followed an awkward silence. Amelia’s frown deepened at the sound of the new, yet familiar voice. Not to mention whoever was in the other room used her nickname, not many people called her by that name anymore. Not ever since the... she decided not to dwell on it. She walked over to the chair and slid it out from behind the table and sat down, the metal foldout groaning in protest due to her weight. “Why didn’t you guys have her take that ridiculous set of armor off?” Arin asked. Hassel sighed. “Out of everysing she allowed us to examine, her veapons, equipment, etc. She refuses to take off zat peculiar set of armor, claiming zat she doesn’t trust us enough yet,” The doctor explained. “So she willingly gives us her weapons, but doesn’t take the armor off because of trust issues?” Arin raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think I see the logic in that, but okay.” Hassel shook his head. “Actually, I do.” He looked up from the console and pointed a finger at Amelia who was sitting awkwardly in her chair. “Zat is no ordinary suit of armor, no, it’s somesing more special zen zat.” “Doctor,” A woman’s voice came from behind the two men. Hassel looked over and saw a young woman in a lab coat standing before them. “Admiral Watson is on his way down here. He should be here within the next couple of minutes.” “Sank you, Alice, I’ll let zee subject know.” Hassel turned to Arin and smiled. “Hopefully zis time vee vill get some answers.” :[-]: Interrogation, October 16th, 24:00 “Alright zen, Vatson, eversing is ready.” Hassel said, his voice coming through a speaker built into the wall right behind Watson. The old man was standing by the entrance of the interrogation room, beside him were two armed guards. In front of Watson was a metal table bolted into the floor with a chair on each side. Sitting awkwardly in one of these chairs was Amelia Conway still dressed in her medieval-like attire. Watson looked to both guards and nodded his head before making his way to the unoccupied chair across from her. He pulled it out and sat down. “Do you mind telling me who and what you are?” He asked cutting right to the chase. Amelia folded her hands and rested both elbows on the table as she leaned forward, her chair creaking in the process. “I told you guys, my name is Amelia Conway.” Watson raised an eyebrow. “Conway, eh?” He smirked. “That’s interesting, you see, I know two men who both share that last name.” Amelia tilted her head. “Really?” Watson ignored her, he pointed at her outfit. “So what’s this? Some sort of Halloween costume?” Amelia sighed and rested her arms flat on the table. “It’s my K-70A.” “K-what?” “It’s my power armor variant,” She said as if Watson was supposed to know this, “it was developed by a man named Marcus Kane, hence the K in the name: Kane-70A. It pretty much increases my strength and speed by a factor of twenty.” She chuckled and glanced around the room. “If I really wanted to, I could break out of this room and kill all of you without breaking a sweat.” Watson leaned back in his chair and glanced over at the two guards with wide eyes, the men stepped forward and switched the safeties of their guns off. “That won’t be necessary,” Amellia continued when she noticed the guards’ advancement, “One, I don’t plan to do it. Two, if you haven’t noticed, nothing aside from my own weapons can pierce this armor. You see, what I’m wearing is made of something I bet none of you have ever heard of.” Watson looked up at the camera in the corner of the room then returned his attention to the woman across from him. “And what would that be?” “Magicillium-119.” She leaned back in her chair and rolled her wrist. “Or for short, we call it Magicite.” “Care to elaborate?” Watson rested his arms on the table. “Oh you've probably encountered it already if you’ve met the ponies.” She stopped her wrist in mid-roll and rested her hands on her lap. “You know the glow the unicorns make whenever they activate their powers? Yeah, that stuff.” Watson raised an eyebrow out of intrigue. “So you guys were able to harness their power?” He asked. The mood in the room instantly changed, Amelia sighed and lowered her head. “Yes... yes we did.” Watson frowned. “Something tells me you aren’t proud of what you’ve done?” Amelia’s head raised and she glared at him. “It’s not about what I did, it’s about what Kane did!” “And what did Kane do?” He leaned forward, keeping a straight face. They were finally getting somewhere. “What he did is the reason why I’m here in the first place,” She said, “I originally came here to warn the ponies of what was coming, however, with you guys here I might as well tell you.” “What did he do, Amelia?” “We humans do not posses the ability to mentally manipulate the power like the ponies can. However, Kane built a machine that replicates the membrane inside the unicorn’s brain. What it does is it literally sucks the power out of living organisms that possess the gift and stores it inside these crystals we call magicite.” Watson was having trouble believing what he was hearing. “Wait a second, what happens after their power is taken?” “They become something similar to a lifeless husk, at that point they are considered useless, so we dumped them overboard,” She said sadly, “It’s fucking terrible! Did you know a single magicite crystal about this size–” She held her thumb and index finger an inch apart “–can power my suit of armor for more than three centuries, that’s how much power these things posses.” Amellia turned around in her chair and pulled off her torn and burnt cape, behind it she revealed what looked like a small nuclear reactor giving off a blue pulsing light. “We already have thousands of these suits, weapons, and vehicles all powered by them. Not to mention he has the singularity” Watson rested his face in his palm, all of this was giving him a headache. It was like he was listening to a Star Trek episode. “What the hell are you talking about?” “The singularity is what powers the Leviathan, it’s a massive crystal that generates so much power that if we don’t contain it, it could potentially wipe out half the planet.” “What the fuck? Why would you have.... how do you contain something like that?” “Electromagnets.” “If the Magicillium particle is exposed to an electromagnetic pulse it is forced into dormancy,” Amelia explained. “As long as the rings are in a constant orbit around the crystal we are safe.” Watson turned and glared at the one-sided mirror, he stuck a hand out to it. “Hassel, are you recording all of this?” “Ja!” His voice came from the other side. The older navy man turned back to his captive. “As interesting, yet terrifying as this sounds. You mentioned that you came to warn us about something, what is it?” “Kane’s gone insane with power.” Watson raised an eyebrow. “The construction of a generator that can blow up half the planet tip you off?” With the helmet still on, Watson wasn’t able to see Amelia’s flustered face, “It’s more than that, he he wields the power of the destructor.” Watson, his brow having settled, raised again “Come again?” “The Archangel.” Watson reared, the shock getting to him, followed by the implications, and then doubt at the ludicrous claim. Leaning forward, Watson ground out, “That’s impossible, no man could control that–” “Kane is no man, at least not anymore.” “What does he want with Archangel?” “Revenge. Believe it or not, Admiral.” She glanced towards the soldiers, the glass, then back at Watson. “The Archangel still rages on like he always has.” Watson’s left eye twitched. “A-and he wants to kill him?” Amellia slowly nodded her head. Watson gulped and shook his head, he tossed a hand to the air. “Well, that’s fine by me!” He said, he was clearly in a state of denial “Let the two go at it!” “I wish I could,” Amellia muttered, “However,” she raised her voice, “He doesn’t just plan at stopping after our destructor is dealt with. Kane plans on destroying and harvesting everything he has created, and that includes the ponies, dragons, everything on this Earth that isn’t human.” Watson looked her in the eyes. “He’s going to go on a planetary genocide.” “Recreating the exact same thing our destructor did to us; Admiral, deny it all you want, but history is beginning to repeat itself.” Amelia’s voice was flat and cold, never once did she break eye contact with Watson. For nearly a minute the two sat there in silence, staring at each other. On the other end of the table Watson was having trouble comprehending everything he’d heard. First off, the Archangel was still alive? Yes, the first time Commander William and his men went down to Earth they saw photographs with a familiar creature in them but... those were just pictures. They could have been fakes, but this... was she even telling him the truth? All of what he heard just didn’t sound right, a crystal about the size of a pinkie finger that could power a suit of special armor for three centuries! Or what about the massive one that could cripple the entire planet, it was absurd! Yet he couldn’t help but feel that she was telling him the truth. Watson’s forehead returned to his palm and he groaned quietly. “Jesus Christ... if what you’re saying is true... how the hell could we stop someone like that?” Watson received the worst answer he thought imaginable, a shrug. “I don’t know,” Amellia said, “I only came here to spread word to the species of this continent. With the ponies and their magic, the dragons with their strength, if all the species united against Kane there could be a slim chance of them making it through this.” “How slim are we talking here?” “About a five percent chance.” “What if my crew and I were to assist?” Amellia tilted her head and gazed up at the light above as she did the math in her head. “Judging by what I see, you guys never really advanced much in the way of science or engineering. So compared to what Kane has in his hands I’d bump it up to about a five point five percent chance of being able to stop Kane.” Watson snorted and gave the girl a smile. “That sounds good enough to me.” “Are you positive about that?” Amellia sounded a tad concerned. Watson laughed. “Lady, I may be old but I survived the apocalypse once already, and I think I can do it again.” He stood up from his chair. “I think we’re done here for now.” “Can I ask you a question, Admiral?” Amellia said stopping Watson in the middle of pushing his chair in. “Sure, why not.” “Is my father still alive?” Watson froze completely, he then took a deep breath and straightened himself out. “I could use some specifics, what’s his name?” “John. His name is Jonathon Lee Conway,” She said quietly, her gaze going to the floor. Watson gave her a small smile, quietly he said, “Yes he is.” He turned and left the room before he could see her reaction. :[-]: Canterlot Castle, October 16th, 03:45 Luna sat back in her sister’s throne and buzzed her lips, her eyes constantly flickering about the room, she ruffled her wings. “Is something bothering you, M’lady?” Captain Kebler asked his mistress. The night princess bit her bottom lip and laid back on the throne. “Yes, my knight,” She replied quietly, “but I do not know what it is. I have a sort of a sinking feeling in my gut. Like something that isn’t good is about to happen.” Her stomach then growled, she winced. Kebler cracked a smile and stood up from his haunches. “Maybe that’s just your stomach speaking, may I go request a servant to fetch you something to eat?” “Please do.” “What do you want me to ask them to grab?” “Just a hay sandwich, nothing too fancy.” Luna suddenly sat up, her eyes wide with a smile, “Oh and one of those jelly filled scones, they are most delicious!” “Certainly.” Kerbler nodded his head and went over to the door. He opened it. “You there,” He said to the guard standing beside it, quickly relaying the princess’s request to him, the guard saluted and set off for the kitchen. Princess Luna sighed at the sound of her stomach’s pleas for food, she buzzed her lips once more and glanced over at the stained glass along the outer walls. She eyed the piece displaying Discord being contained by the elements specifically, Luna had a hunch. A bad hunch, that Discord may be involved in everything that has been happening recently. However, not directly, she suspected he was using more of a light touch, which was worrying. She felt as though he may have possibly set this up in a way, not quite planning it out. Most likely, he had flicked a proverbial domino over eons ago, and was now sitting back and watching everything play out in a chain reaction. But that was just a hunch, nothing more and nothing less. Although Luna couldn’t help but think that it was odd that Discord hadn’t shown up at all within the past week, ever since the Human’s arrival it was like he just up and vanished. It was most strange. A flash of light appeared in front of Luna and out from it fell a scroll with a red seal. The parchment landed at the foot of the throne, Luna picked up the scroll with her magic, floating it towards her. “Tis nothing but a letter from an upset noblemen...” She muttered to herself, there was no possible way she could know exactly who it was from. But throughout the various nights she and Celestia had been receiving numerous letters of strange sightings, ominous noises, and even break-ins. Ever since the ‘meteor shower’, panic across the land had rose by a tenfold, most of her and Celestia’s subjects didn’t even know that the humans even existed. Most believed it was nothing more than a spell that had gone wrong and caused a piece of the moon to smash into the planet. Luna cracked a grin at that thought, there was no way in Tartarus she would screw up the spell that raised the moon. Luna giggled at the impossibility and undid the seal on the scroll and began to read: Dear Princesses: I do not have much time to explain everything, but I believe I can help you and everypony else. Believe me when I say that I possess information that could help shed more light on the humans. If you, or anypony you send find me in Manehatten I promise that I can be a valuable asset to your research team. As of currently I am stationed in the Lucky Horse Shoe, room number 15AB. When you arrive the chosen words are: “I was hoping you could spare some gambling advice.” Acceptance would then be, “Always bet on the House.” –Anonymous Luna lowered the parchment and looked at it with a raised eyebrow. “Sir Knight?” She called Kebler over. “What is it your highness?” He sat down beside the throne. Luna levitated the paper over to him. “I just received an anonymous letter with strange writings in it.” Kebler took the letter in his own magic and skimmed over it, he frowned. “These are strange indeed... like here there’s a comma where there shouldn’t be one.” He pointed at the paper with a hoof. Luna rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but smile. “That’s not what I meant.” “I’m just jesting.” He looked over the letter again. “But you’re right, this is odd. Is this the first time this has happened?” He gave the letter back to her, Luna simply replied with a nod. “Should I send a group to investigate?” Luna bit the bottom of her lip. “Let me discuss this with my sister first then we’ll decide–” A second flash interrupted the princess. “Princess Luna!” She heard Twilight call out. Luna’s head snapped forward and in the center of the room was a very distressed looking princess and her groggy dragon. “Princess Twilight!” Luna stood up judging by the look her sister’s former student was giving her only made that sinking feeling in her stomach grow deeper. “What’s wrong?” Twilight approached the princess and magicked a small paper bag out of thin air. “Fluttershy’s house had been broken into.” Luna raised an eyebrow, this wasn’t the first time she heard this report. “The entire place was in ruins when I arrived, one of her pets had been killed, and I found these at the scene.” Twilight opened the paper bag and fished out a set of empty casings. “Those are–” “From the humans’ weapons,” Twilight finished for her, “But it doesn’t end there, during Spike and I’s investigation, a pony posing as one of the royal guard stumbled in on us.” “A counterfeit guard?” Luna and her guard shared a confused look. “I chased her down and was able to cut her off, she refused to answer any of my questions,” Twilight continued to ramble on without taking a single breath, “finally I finished by asking if she was there because of the humans, and she threatened me!” Luna sat back down slowly and mulled over everything she just heard. “Not the first time I’ve heard a report of a break in. However, the murder of one's pet and a counterfeit guard... that is indeed news to my ears.” “If you’d like, Princess.” Kebler stood up and walked over to Twilight. “I could have a small squad of my stallions dispatched to Ponyville and continue your investigation.” “Not only that,” Luna added, “It should also provide more protection for the residents in case this were to happen again.” “That sounds like a good idea,” Twilight agreed then frowned, “But what about the residents, wouldn’t the establishment of more guards raise concerns?” “Certainly it will,” Luna said, “however, with the recent events that have transpired over the week I’m sure they’ll understand.” She faced the captain. “Make sure that goes for Manehatten and Phillydelphia, right now we need to let this nation know that we are here to look after its citizens.” Kebler bowed. “I’ll get right to it, m’lady.” He turned and left the room. When the throne room door closed Luna let off a sigh and focused her attention back on the letter. “Strange...” She muttered. “What is that?” Twilight couldn’t help but ask. “Tis an anonymous letter, whoever it is they claim to have valuable information on the humans.” Luna set it aside and looked at Twilight. “I plan to have a discussion later with Celestia if we should look into it or not.” Twilight pursed her lips, more information on the humans? Twilight was never one to bypass an opportunity that’d allow her to learn something new. “Do you mind if I take a look at that?” She pointed with her hoof at the letter. “Of course, Twilight.” Luna floated the paper over to her, Twilight snatched it out of the air and quickly skimmed over it while Luna continued on talking, “Something tells me that this is but a prank some filly is playing on us. However, it doesn’t explain how they got past our mail moderation.” Twilight frowned slightly and lowered the paper, she looked at Luna. “Princess, if you don’t want to take the time to investigate into this, I’m certain my friends and I would be able to look into it for you.” Luna leaned forward in her seat. “But what about the book, or the shells, wouldn’t this interfere with your research time?” Twilight shook her head. “Princess, I do nothing but research, and maybe the occasional world saving. But I digress, I can always pass it over to somepony else here in Canterlot or maybe even the research division down in Phillydelphia. I’m positive they’ll be more than happy to look into it.” The alicorn smiled. “And who knows, this might just be a legitimate source.” Luna thought it over for a minute then nodded. “Alright, Twilight, then I guess I’ll leave this matter to you, keep the letter you’re going to need it.” Twilight bowed. “Thank you, Princess, I’m honored.” “One last thing before you go, Twilight,” Luna said, “Once you arrive in Manehatten and retrieve whomever wrote that letter, I expect a brief report detailing your visit, whether the letter was a farce or otherwise.” Twilight remained in her bowed state. “I understand, Princess.” “And Twilight, you do not need to bow to me anymore.” Luna smiled. Twilight straightened herself out. “S-sorry, still trying to break that habit.” “I bet you are, goodnight Twilight.” “Goodnight, Luna.” :[-]: Horizon Quarantine, October 16th, 05:23 Amelia sat on the floor with her back against the wall, her eyes focused on the door in front of her. She patted her hands on her armor’s knee pads rhythmically to a song she could only hear in her head, every now and again she would hum quietly to herself while she waited. What was she waiting for? She didn’t know. After the interrogation (if you could even call it one) she was rounded up again by the boys who were playing army and stuffed inside this air tight sealed room. Again they tried to have her take off the armor and she nearly broke a man’s hand just by grabbing it when he touched her connection cord sticking out the back of her head. Of course that provoked the guards, but again she had to remind them there was no point. She sighed and hung her head back. “These people are so incompetent.” And they called themselves mankind's last hope, they could hardly keep her prisoner. Like she said in the interrogation chamber, she could easily break out of here and escape. So why hadn’t she? She already warned them about Kane, so why not just leave? “Conway, eh?” He smirked. “That’s interesting, you see I know two men who both share that last name.” “Dad’s still alive?” Amy whispered. A hiss came from her left and she looked over. Beside her was a large one inch thick pane of glass that showed another carbon copy of the room she was in. The door in there opened and two men who were restraining a black man fought against him as they tried to force him into the room. “I told you, I’m clean!” A muffled shout came from the room. “Bullshit!” Both marines said simultaneously as they threw the detainee onto the bed. “But I am! You saw the papers, I’m fucking clean!” The black man got up from the bed and approached the front leading marine. He got in his face. “I have no right to be in here!” The marine placed a hand on the man’s chest and shoved him back. “Lt. Shawn Bell, you were released a day ago after recovering from your injuries, however, recent witness reports and recorded footage say that you are far from recovery.” “I did nothing wro–” “Should I remind you that you were wandering around the engine bay with a loaded firearm. What were you even doing down there anyways? That’s a restricted area, only a few individuals and engineers are allowed access.” Amelia focused her attention on the men in the other room, she turned to face them. Her eyes trained on the man who was being scolded, she frowned at the sight of him. Something wasn’t right with him. No, he was far from being okay. Quite frankly, she knew exactly what was wrong. She got up and approached the glass. “He’s being indoctrinated,” She said loud enough so that the men could hear her through the glass. The three faced the glass. The black man was the first to speak, “Now who the fuck are–” Amelia glared at him. “You better shut your mouth before I break through this glass and rip your jaw off.” She looked at the two marines. “He’s undergoing indoctrination.” “What are you talking about?” The marine towards the front asked. “Trust me I’ve seen this hundreds of thousands of times.” She wasn’t lying, Amelia raised a finger at the detained man. “Do not believe anything this man has to say, better yet, you’ll have a much easier time killing him.” “Wait what?!” The detainee blurted. The two marines looked at each other nervously. “Yeah... I don’t think we’re going to do that.” “Why not? You can’t save him, it’s only a matter of time before he starts hearing ‘voices’ again and he ends up harming someone,” Amy stated. “You said it yourselves, he was down in the engine bay with a loaded gun. Most likely he was down there getting ready to either overload the system or blow us all to kingdom come.” “Lies!” The Black man walked to the glass. “You’re fucking lying!” “Enough!” The marine grabbed the man’s shoulder and yanked him back. “Don’t fucking touch me!” The detainee whirled around and swung his fist at him. The marine easily dodged it and rammed his own fist into the man’s gut, knocking the wind out of him. “Put some cuffs on him and lock him to the bed,” He said, leaving the man to crawl on the floor gasping for breath. Stepping into the airlock he turned and faced Amelia and nodded towards her right as the door closed. “Damn.” The second marine finally spoke, he reached back and fished out a pair of handcuffs. “That there sounds like some scary shit you were saying.” He reached down and snatched the man’s hand and wrapped one of the rings around his wrist and clicked it shut, he took the other end and attached it the base of the cot. “Sounds almost like the Sleeper virus...” He straightened out his back and popped it. “How’d you know so much about... this indoctrination shit?” Amelia lowered her head and snorted, though the man couldn’t see it a large smile appeared on her lips. She raised her head back up and looked at him. “Because I’m also indoctrinated.” :[-]: “Did you get all of that?” Watson asked Hassel. “Every single bit.” The old scientist gazed wide eyed into the camera footage. Amelia stepped back from the glass, she chuckled lightly to herself and went back to her wall and sat down, patting her knee pads to whatever song was in her head. “I can’t fucking believe it,” Watson muttered. “If vat she says about zis indoctrination is true... zen zat means...” “She’s a goddamn sleeper,” Watson finished for him. “Now I see vy she doesn’t vant to take off zee suit.” Hassel gulped, “She’d infect all of us if she did.” Watson stepped away from the console and went over to the water cooler, he poured himself a cup and took a sip. “If she’s a fucking sleeper, doc, that means every last person on that goddamn warship is a fucking sleeper.” “Vat I don’t understand is vy is she not showing any symptoms. Vy isn’t she showing any aggression? Any lack of intelligence... she just sounds like a normal young adult.” Hassel scratched his head and turned away from the computer, he joined Watson at the cooler. “That’s not the point doctor, she’s a threat to all of us. We need to get rid of her.” “And how do you plan on doing zat, Vatson, are veapons can’t pierce her armor.” Watson shook his head. “I’m not saying we kill her, we just need to get rid of–” The door behind Watson opened. “Sir, you can’t just–” “Sergeant Conway, I told you I’ll do whatever pleases me!” Horizon council member Takanao stated. Watson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He placed his cup aside and turned to face the Japanese man. “This is a surprise, Mr. Takanao coming down to be with us grunts? Who’da thought.” Takanao sighed. “Spare me the sarcasm, Admiral,” He said, “I just wanted to come down and see this ‘subject’ Delta and Bravo brought back for the good doctor.” Watson raised an eyebrow and looked over the man’s shoulder, Arin stood behind him and shrugged. He sighed. “Alright then, Takanao, take a peek.” He gestured with a swing of his arm over to the glass. The man nodded his head. “Thank you, Admiral.” He walked over to the glass behind the console. Upon laying eyes on the girl in the other room he gasped. “Oh my, what do we have here?” He adjusted the glasses that rested on his face and leaned forward. “She’s... human?” “So it seems.” Watson joined him by the glass and the two of them watched the girl as she patted her knees to an unknown rhythm. “Just a ten foot tall girl–” “Who can kick all of our asses if she wanted to,” Arin piped up, he immediately shut his mouth. “Oh shit... sorry sir, didn’t mean to say that out loud.” Watson shook his head. “I heard about that,” Takanao said, “seven men and three women were taken out by this girl?” “Yes,” Watson said, “however we suffered no casualties, just a few bruises and broken bones.” “One of zem also has a concussion and vill be out for a few veeks,” Hassel added. Takanao eyes widened. “Jesus.” He looked at Watson while keeping a finger pointed at her. “Is she still a threat?” Watson took a in a quick breath as two choices came to mind. The first choice was to tell him no, that the girl claimed she had no intention on fighting them; but was instead here to warn them. The second however, was to tell Takanao the truth. Yes the previous statement was in fact true, she may not actually be there to hurt them. But the fact that she is (or was) ‘Indoctrinated’ which may or may not be same thing as the sleeper virus, meant that she may in fact be a threat to them. He released the breath and reached down to the console, he placed his hand on the touch pad and opened up the video tab. He clicked play on the most recent video. “How’d you know so much about... this indoctrination shit?” “Because I’m also indoctrinated.” The girl turned away and sat with her back against the wall right as the video ended. An eerie silence fell over the room, Watson took a deep breath and looked at Takanao. The man’s face held a look of fear with also a bit of confusion. “Does that answer your question?” Watson asked, Takanao didn’t say a word, but he did nod his head very slowly. Watson took a deep breath and closed down the tab, he turned his attention back to the window. “I’ve already mentioned it to Hassel that I plan on letting her go–” “No.” Watson stopped dead in his tracks, his head snapping back to Takanao. “Wait, what?!” Takanao glared at Watson. “I said no. We are not getting rid of her, we’re keeping her here.” Hassel glanced between the two men utterly confused, Arin along with him. Watson turned his whole body to face the council member. “Takanao, I don’t know if you hit your head when we came down for a landing and you might be a little hard of hearing. But can you just try and listen to yourself for a few seconds.” “Admiral,” Takanao said in a professional manner, “I am fully aware of what I’m saying.” Watson held his hands up about a foot away from each other and leaned towards the man. “She’s. Fucking. Infected!” “Do you think I can’t see that?!” Takanao roared, he threw an arm out in the direction of the woman. “Don’t you see Admiral, if we let her go, who’s to say she doesn’t go and alert that sleeper army about our opposition!” He shook his head and sighed, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Quietly he said, “Our best bet is to keep her here, or kill her.” “Even zen,” Hassel spoke up, “ I can’t say zis enough, none of our veapons can pierce her armor so efen if vee tried it’d be pointless.” “But that’s where you’re wrong doctor.” Takanao turned to look at him. “She handed her weapons over to us, why not use them?” “Zat is a possibility yes–” “However,” Takanao cut him off, “I’m saying we only do this as a last resort. I want that armor intact and studied, same goes for the weapons and that girl.” He took a step towards the German. “Doctor, I want you to learn everything you can about her, if she’s as cooperative as you say she is–” “Takanao, this is entirely out of your reach.” Watson stepped towards the man. “You do not have the authority–” “Then I’ll get the council to agree with me, Admiral. That woman is in a room made of two inch thick steel, she has no way out, nor does she have her weapons. Trust me, Watson, the knowledge we can gain from not just her, but her gear, the weapons she has; within weeks, maybe even a month we can replicate them, same for her armor.” Watson rolled his eyes as he recalled what the girl said they were made of. “Magicillieum 119, or for short we call it Magicite.” As of now they can’t even harness that power, so how could they possibly replicate them? “Takanao, I’m afraid you don’t understand. These... things, posses the same abilities the equines have. They can do things far beyond our comprehension–” “Far the more reason to study her then, Admiral!” Takanao exclaimed. “If she and her people have the ability to warp physics and thoughts like the equines can why can’t we? They were once human too, remember?” Watson facepalmed. “That’s not what I’m...” “I’m aware of what you’re saying, Admiral. If they can do it why can’t we?” He brushed past Watson and walked to the door. “Think of the bigger picture, Watson, if we can harness their power. Just think of what we can accomplish, we’d be unstoppable. Not even the Archangel could get in our way!” He faced them again and gestured with his arms out wide. “Humanity would once again be the dominant race!” With that he turned and went out the door with a small skip in his step. Once the door was closed silence fell over the three men who remained. Watson heard Hassel take a deep breath and say, “I really hate zat man.” > Chapter 18: The Lucky Horseshoe > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight sat back in her seat, her tired eyes gazing out the window, watching the dark countryside zip by while the train chugged its way towards Manehattan. As the train shuddered, and she saw the handle for a track switch whiz by before a muffled thump broke her out of her tired stupor. Looking away from the sparse landscape outside, she noticed that her novel of interest at the moment was gone from her side table, and was now laying splayed open on the ground. A tired looking book for a tired mare. She gazed at the offending object for a few seconds, before picking it up off the ground with her magic, letting it spin lazily in front of her. Her eyes glaze over the title: Return of the Fallen Race, a fictional novel about the possibility of Equestria’s Forerunners by Winter Dawn. Spike had recommended it to her a few weeks back and she had found the premise interesting enough to bring it with her on this trip. On the opposite end of the car from Twilight was Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus’s head lolled over the side of her bench while her legs laid spread eagle, twitching occasionally as she snored. Her rumbling airways the only thing keeping Twilight from falling asleep. On the other side of the bench, trying desperately to salvage what we left of her personal space,was Rarity. Pressed against the window of the car and eyeing rainbow with a undignified glare. Sharing the bench with Twilight was Applejack, the only other mare who had seemed to be able to to fall asleep during the ride. AJ had her hat draped over her face and, unlike Rainbow, she was able to keep her limbs to herself while she napped quietly. As for Pinkie Pie... Twilight had no idea where that crazed party pony went. When they first boarded the train two hours ago they found their seats, talked for a bit, and then fell silent as her friends eyes started to droop. During that brief moment of silence Twilight found her gaze drawn to the outside window, which must’ve been the time that Pinkie decided to sneak out. The best thing Twilight could think of is that the mare was either in one of the front cars bothering some other ponies, or was back in the kitchen hogging the treats. Either way, it didn’t bother her, but it did give her something to take her mind off the now ever present issue, the humans who had quite literally dropped into Equestria out of nowhere. Though Twilight’s book wasn’t the only book she had brought. Stored in the compartment above her was her saddlebag. Which, among other things, contained the enriched human encyclopedia. She had brought it out earlier, about an hour into their trip after most of the conversation had died down. What she hoped would be a quiet study session had quickly morphed into another social hour, as the book quickly caught rarity’s eye, the rest of the girls following suit quickly thereafter. Twilight had ended up giving a short lecture on what she knew about human history and technology, which then led to explaining why they were going to Manehattan in the first place. Twilight had then shown her friends the letter Luna had received, each of them read it thoroughly before hoofing it back over to her. Which then followed up with a bombardment of questions. Questions Twilight couldn’t understand due to the garbled up words, such as: “What are humans?” or “Are humans friendly” then “Did they come from space?” and “Are they soft?”. The last question threw Twilight for a loop and of course she couldn’t really answer these questions. Not only that, the girls seemed to be a little skeptical when Twilight told them that these new creatures were from a time predating Equestrians as a whole. The girls didn’t fight her, or say that she was wrong, but she could see the small hints of doubt on their faces when she finished telling them. It may have just been paranoia on her part, but it really troubled her. After the last of the questions petered out, and the rest of the girls had returned to their seats, Twilight began to think about their mission. She started to ask herself questions on whether or not this was some kind of prank or setup, leaving her wondering if this was all just a waste of their precious time. Even if it was, there would be no way to find the culprit who had sent the letter, which then raised the question on how they had sent it in the first place. There were only three ponies who had a direct link with Princess Celestia and Luna; Twilight, Cadence, and Shining Armor. A letter from any other pony would have been blocked by the anti-teleportation barrier around the castle, making any trick all that more impressive if it had been a hoax. The train’s whistle snapped Twilight back to reality, and she mentally chided herself for allowing paranoia to lead her down yet another endless rabbit hole. The stress of the last few days must have really been getting to her. Taking a deep breath she looked around the train, noticing that rainbow had fallen off her seat from the suddenness of the whistle blow. Past Rainbow, through the windows on the other side of the car, Twilight noticed that the vast open fields they were passing before had been replaced with large looming factories. They were close to their destination now, entering the industrial district on the east side of the city. Twilight cringed when she felt an ache in her lower half and squeezed her hind legs together, before rising up from her seat and making for the door for the little filly's room in the next car before being stopped by Rarity speaking up behind her. “Where are you rushing off to, Darling?” She asked. Twilight blushed lightly. “I just have some business I need to take care of.” Rarity frowned for moment then nodded her head. “That’s okay, Darling, take your time. I’m sure I can hold the fort here no my own.” The fashionista's eyes glanced over at the others and smiled. Twilight smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry I won’t be long.” She turned and opened the door, stepping out into the hall.Twilight passed by an open room, out from the corner of her eye she just barely noticed a familiar white unicorn sitting across from a stallion. Both in suits and watching her as she trotted by. If it hadn’t been for her urge to urinate, Twilight might’ve been curious enough to ask the mare if she had seen her before. However, as Twilight neared the door to the restroom, she couldn’t help but shake the image of the mare from her mind. ‘Could it have been that counterfeit guard?’ She asked herself as she stepped into the restroom and propped herself on the toilet. She bit her lip and shook her head, ‘It can’t be, what would somepony like her have to do with me?’ She thought back to the other night. ‘Then again, when I asked her about the humans she did react negatively towards me.’ Twilight sat there thinking; mulling the possibilities over in her head. ‘If it is her, which by those chances are very low, could she be after the same thing my friends and I are?’ She shook her head. ‘No there are just too many variables to make that a viable conclusion.’ Twilight stepped off the toilet and flushed it, opening the door she took a step out into the hallway and– “Princess Twilight?” The voice of a curious stallion nearly ripped the mare out of her coat. Twilight backpedaled a bit and turned her head to see a blue unicorn stallion sporting a pinstriped one piece suit and tie. The stallion raised a hoof, his eyes filled with concern. “My apologies, Princess, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Twilight smiled. “Oh no you’re fine,” She said straightening her posture and shuffling her wings a bit. The stallion’s eyes softened and he raised a hoof to scratch his neck nervously. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions, your highness?” Twilight blushed a little bit out of embarrassment, the title of princess still feeling a bit new and intimidating. “S-sure what’s on your mind?” “If ya wouldn’t mind takin’ a seat with me I’ll get started.” He gestured for Twilight to follow him to the same car that the familiar mare was in. “Uh...” Twilight started. “I’m sorry but my friends are waiting on me.” “D-don’t worry about a thing, Princess.” The suited unicorn smiled. “It’d only take a second.” Twilight glanced around a bit before following the stallion, she took a seat across from him and the white mare. “I hope you’re correct about that.” She took a deep breath and put on her best friendly smile that totally didn’t bely her nervousness. Both ponies shared amused look with each other before returning their attention to her, the stallion leaning forward and pulling out a notepad and quill from the overhead compartment. “So if you haven’t noticed,” he pulled off his glasses and revealed his bright green eyes. “I’m Pen Writer, I’m an author for the Manehattan Bugle,” his voice took on an upward, questioning tone, “you may have heard of me?” Twilight shook her head. “I haven’t heard of you.” Pen nodded. “Of course you haven’t, but I couldn’t help but test my luck.” He flashed her a grin of his pearly whites. “Now, if you don’t mind me getting started, I’d like to ask you about the meteor storm that nearly destroyed Canterlot. Were you there when it happened?” Twilight once again shook her head wondering where this was going. “I was back at home sleeping.” Pen pursed his lips and wrote that down in his notebook. “How about the massive U.F.O that crashed outside of Saddleston?” He cocked an eyebrow, his small grin grew into something along the lines of sly. Twilight frowned a bit. “How do you know about that? Celestia and Luna have that entire area blocked off.” Something about Pen didn’t fit right with her, whoever he was Twilight made a mental note to watch what she was going to say. “Every reporter has his connections, Princess Sparkle, you should know this.” Twilight noticed he was repeatedly clicking his pen. “So what can you tell us ponies of Manehattan?” Twilight bit her lip. “I’m sorry but I cannot comment on the subject.” She stood up. “Are we done here?” Pen stood up to stop her. “Please Your Majesty, you can at least give us one thing, right?” “Yeah...” The white mare spoke up, Twilight’s ears twitched at the sound of her voice. The medium, butch tone of the mare’s voice catching her off guard. “What can you tell us about the aliens we’ve been hearing about.” ‘It’s her...’ Twilight though, ‘That has to be the counterfeit guard.’ “Heh, heh.” Twilight felt the sweat forming on her brow. “What do you mean huma––aliens? What aliens?” She ruffled her wings. “There are no aliens, justabighunkofmetal––I really need to go now!” She left the car and stormed off to meet back up with her friends. “Damn...” The mare sat back in her seat. “Scared her off.” The stallion snorted and shook his head. “No.” He smiled. “I think we got her right where we need her.” :[-]: “Is everything alright, Darling?” Rarity asked Twilight when she stormed back into their car and closed the door with a hefty slam. “Huh? Oh, y-yeah everything’s fine...” She blinked and noticed Rarity giving her a skeptical glance, clearly not believing Twilight’s stuttered response. Twilight stared back for a few moments, then sighed. She supposed it was better to let it all out than have Rarity edging her on about the topic for the remainder of the train ride. “It was just some dumb reporters a few cars back, they spotted me and started asking some very specific questions.” “What kind of questions?” A southern drawl asked from behind Rarity. Applejack, clearly done with her little snooze, sat up in her seat as she fixed her hat and raised an eyebrow. “Questions about recent events involving the humans. About the spectacle their vessel caused at it reentered. Among other things.... one of them also looked like that fake guard I saw a few days ago too.” Twilight said, sitting down she sighed and rubbed one of her forelegs with a hoof. “Huh...” Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “I guess we have a spy around here then.” She smiles. “This trip just keeps getting awesomer and awesomer!” “HEY!!” The door shook when Pinkie’s face smashed against the glass, her face was smeared with chocolate and her eyes eyes squished against the surface. Twilight jolted and opened the door with her magic. “Pinkie, are you alright?” Twilight asked the now flat faced mare. Pinkie Pie face-planted the floor and then immediately popped back up into a standing position, her surprisingly malleable face popping back into three dimensions as she pulled a tray of stacked cupcakes out of nowhere. The delicious treats stacked on top of each other to form a perfect pyramid. “So this awesome chef guy a few cars back made these super delicious cupcakes that I smelled when I got onboard and I was like totally gonna have some so I went to his car and decided to stop by there and talk about what he made and he decided to show me his recipe and what he was so awesome that I even got it correct on my first try and the dude was so proud of me that he said that if I went around asking ponies to try his recipe he’d––” Rainbow Dash got up, grabbed a cupcake, and shoved it into Pinkie's mouth. Wrapper and all. “Now isn’t the right time, Pinkie.” Rainbow said and the hyperactive pony quickly nodded her head. “Anifow, fvofoul likfff...” Pinkie tried to speak, then realising the confectionery impediment in her mouth, swallowed. A few seconds later she coughed, and the now empty and very soggy cupcake wrapper landed on the floor. Twilight stared at it for a moment before Pinkie seemed to regain her bearings and continued. “Anyways, would you guys like to try one of his cupcakes?” She held the tray out. The four ponies looked at each other for a moment before nodding. “Yeah sure Ah don’t see why not.” Applejack said, reaching over for what looked like an orange and chocolate cupcake. “What’s this?” AJ asked. “Chocolate pumpkin!” Pinkie smiled. “Chocolate pumpkin, eh?” The orange mare peeled back the wrapping and bit into it, her face lighting up a second later. “That ain’t half bad!” She chewed and swallowed. Each of the ponies took their own cupcake out of the assortment of flavors, Twilight taking the blueberry cream, Dash with her spastic watermelon, Rarity with her... vanilla cupcake. Pinkie took... well Pinkie just took the whole tray with everything left on it and stuffed it into her mane. How that actually worked, well... nopony knew. “The train will be arriving at the Manehattan station in approximately five minutes.” Came the voice of the conductor. “If you could please gather your belongings and return to your seats we’ll be disembarking soon. Thank you.” The five friends shared a glance with one another, looking about they each got up and started gathering their saddlebags and strapping them on. Sure enough, within about five minutes, the train jerked forward as its wheels screeched loudly while it slowly came to a grinding halt in front of the Manehattan station. Ponies in the other cabin rooms got up and slowly started to file off the train in a single line. “Come on, girls,” Twilight said standing up, “stay close together.” The alicorn turned and politely asked the stallion outside their cabin room door if she could slip past. The stallion of course looked at her shocked, he hadn’t expected the Princess to be aboard their train, he quickly nodded and stepped back. Twilight smiled at the stallion before looking back at her friends and motioning for them to follow with a wave of her head. The five mares carefully made their way onto the train platform in grand pony central apologizing each time they accidentally bumped into a pony. Slowly, the herd of ponies exiting the train dispersed, finding their next destinations even as the roar of the station engulfed them. It was deafening, ponies all around them spoke over each other, foals screamed, and the sounds of trains coming and going was drowned out only by the intercom announcing the comings and goings of said trains. Twilight bit her lip as she led her friends through the crowd as politely as possible. Pushing onward, Twilight stepped past a few ponies after muttering her apologies after she accidentally scuffed a mare’s hoof. Suddenly she heard a cry. Ears twitching she swung her head around and saw Pinkie Pie being pushed away by a hurrying family. “Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash tried to take off into the air but their crowded surroundings kept her from extending her wings. Pinkie held a hoof out to her group of her friends. “I’m sorry!” Pinkie called over the crowd, her eyes tearing up. “Go on without me my friends, let Maud know I always loved her–!” The family of ponies stepped around Pinkie and allowed her to slip free. “Oh!” The pony perked up and trotted back to the other four mares. “Well that was a little dramatic.” The four ponies looked at each other and giggled before nodding their heads. Turning they saw the main entrance wasn’t far off, the afternoon sunlight making the open door shine like a beacon for them. The five girls stepped out of the station and trotted down down the sidewalk, still unused to the towering skyscrapers, and an amount of activity that put even the city of canterlot to shame. Taxi carriages and storage wagons tore through the street like harpies out of Tartarus, whistles from police ponies shrieked like banshees, trying to impose order on the otherwise discordant traffic. Bystanders trotted by talking and arguing, while street merchants haggled their wares. Twilight used her magic to open her saddlebag and float out the letter she and Luna received the night prior. “So where to now?” Applejack asked Twilight, her eyes peering over the lavender mare’s shoulder as she tried to read the punctilious scribbling. Twilight cleared her throat and skimmed the letter. “Well it says we need to go to a place called, ‘The Lucky Horse Shoe’.” The alicorn raised an eyebrow and looked at the rest of the girls. “Where the hay is that at?” Rainbow Dash said as she flapped her wings and hovered in front of the rest of them. “Like do you know how many ‘Lucky Horse Shoes’ could be in Manehattan?!” “Well there can’t be that many, Darling,” Rarity said as she inspected her left hoof, “we are looking for a hotel after all, not hoofwear.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well it’s such a generic name, I just thought a lot of ponies would think up the same thing. I think ponyville might have a bar named something like that.” “Well why don’t we just ask around?” Twilight suggested as she folded up the page and stuffed it back into her bag. Pinkie gasped. “That’s a great idea!” Suddenly the pink mare turned around and glared at a young unicorn stallion. “You there! Where’s the Lucky Horse Shoe?!” The stallion yelped and doubled back. “Wh-what?” “Don’t play stupid with me mister!” Pinkie backed the stallion into a wall and slammed the flat of her hoof into it. “Where’s the Lucky Horse Shoe, now answer me because I won’t ask again!” “I-it’s- just- go south down Hoofington Avenue and hang a right onto Wing Street!” The stallion stammered out. “P-please Miss, don’t hurt me!” Pinkie warmed up a immediately and smiled. “Thanks!” She squeaked and turned back to her friends who were looking at her with shocked expressions. “Nice thinking Twilight!” “I-is he going to be alright?” Rarity asked as the stallion curled up into a fetal position. “Remind me not to let Pinkie question anypony ever again.” Twilight muttered before clearing her throat once more. “So, where are we going Pinkie?” Pinkie taps her chin with a hoof. “I think he said we should go that way!” She points down the street. Once again the other four ponies shared a glance with one another before shrugging and letting out a cumulative sigh. “Ah reckon we oughta start somewhere.” Applejack muttered before starting down the road Pinkie had pointed them to. As the rest of the group followed, a creeping thought began to eat away at Twilight. Though it pained her to think of it, she started to wonder if Pinkie was leading them in the wrong direction. For nearly eight whole minutes they walked down the road in relative silence, passing several city blocks without finding a single thing relating to the Lucky Horse Shoe, at least until Rainbow Dash caught sight of a neon painted sign in the corner of her eye. “Hey, look over there!” The hovering pegasus pointed a hoof over the bobbing heads of business stallions and mares. Craning her head upwards, Twilight just barely caught glimpse of a horseshoe dangling off the side of a building. The horseshoe itself was concealed inside a ring, and below the shoe hidden between it and the ring, were the welded-in words: “Lucky Horse Shoe.” “Nice going, Dash!” Twilight praised her friend. “What is it?” Applejack asked, she too stretching her neck to look. “Oh wow, Ah’m surprised y’all caught that, it’s so small.” Her eyes locked onto the small gleam caused by the tiniest slither of light that was able to sneak past the over casting shadow of a skyscraper. Just then the traffic cop blew her whistle, causing all traffic in the street to come to a screeching halt. “C’mon, girls!” Twilight beamed, her nervousness dissipating to the point as if it had never been there. Twilight and friends quickly crossed the road, trotting towards the sign which would lead them to a very small hotel between two, much larger and more luxurious suites. Rainbow Dash’s eyes scanned over the rather rundown appearance of the hotel, a few windows seemed to have been cracked or flat-out broken. The once peach-ish paint was flaking away and the building overall had a rustic appearance. “Wow what a dump...who’d ever wanna stay here?” Rarity nodded her head as the group casually strolled up to the front entrance. “I must say that I too agree with Rainbow Dash’s rather...crude statement. This place really could do for a makeover.” She said as her gaze drifted over the front door. “Even this door is revolting,” the unicorn pulled her head back a bit, acting as if the filthy, decaying wood were carrying any diseases. “I think this place looks great!” Pinkie blurted. “Like look at it, it could make for a perfect haunted house!” She bounced as Twilight pushed the door open and held it for her friends, the four other ponies filing in one by one. Unlike the exterior of the hotel, the inside was a whole other story. The floors were clean and looked to have been freshly polished, the walls were red and nicely decorated with paintings of landscapes, from the start of the door towards the reception desk was a nice red carpet, and off to the side was a single earth pony mare sweeping the floor. “Hmph...” Rarity raised an eyebrow and glanced around. “Still isn’t my kind of taste, but if only the owner would keep up on the outside maintenance.” She sighed. Twilight ignored Rarity’s comment and walked over to the sweeping mare. A rather adorable looking pony she was, her overall frame was pretty small, her coat was a bright yellow and her mane was orange with a few green streaks and her physique made her seem just a little bit chubby, but not to the point of discomfort. “Hello, Ma’am, could you help us?” The mare’s head snapped upwards. “Oh wow! Customers!” Without looking she quickly ran to the receptionist desk, head dipping under, she came back up with a horseshoe hat. “Welcome to the Lucky Horse Shoe...Princess...Twilight!” The mare blinked and blinked again, her eyes repeatedly opening and closing as if she was trying to clear her vision. Twilight blushed a little and ran a hoof across her neck. “We’re just here to uh...to visit a friend. We were hoping you could point us to room 15AB?” The yellow mare blinked a few more times before rapidly nodding her head. “Y-yes, you wish to see Miss Dawn! Who knew that I would have such important visitors at my hotel!” The mare pranced in place, her body trembling with excitement. She motioned with her head. “P-please Princess this way!” Her voice was all giddy and she started trotting happily down the hallway. “Is it just me...or is this mare kinda...nuts?” Rainbow whispered into Applejack’s ear, only to be met with a hoof in her side. “Geh, ouch, okay sorry.” Dash ruffled her wings and grumbled. The mare guided them down the hall towards the room closest to the fire escape. She cleared her throat and reached out to knock on the door. “No need to do that, Ma’am.” Twilight smiled and walked over to her, remembering that she was supposed to use the code. “We can take it from here.” “C-certainly, Princess.” The mare bowed her head before shooting back up. “Oh geez! I should prepare snacks!” The mare whipped a chef hat out of nowhere and replaced the horseshoe on her head, before quickly scampering off. “I just noticed the distinct lack of employees around here.” Rarity stated openly. “No wonder the outside looks the way it is. Poor mare can’t work everything.” Applejack said waiting for Twilight to knock and say the code. Twilight cleared her throat and knocked at the door with her hoof, everypony completely silent. All that could be heard was the faint muffled sounds of the city and what seemed like shuffling from behind the door. With no reply Twilight gulped and decided to say the phrase, “Hello, I’m here looking for gambling advice.” There was a brief silence, only for it to soon be cut by the sound of the deadbolt coming undone. “Always bet on the house...” A low feminine voice replied as the door cracked open, virtually no light came out of the room. From what Twilight could see, the room was pitch black inside. “Please hurry, I wish not to be seen,” The voice hissed. The mare stepped back into the room, shrouding herself in darkness and allowing the door to swing open enough to admit the group inside. The door closed behind them on it’s own accord, cutting off the light from the hall and shrouding the room once more in darkness. That changed when a spark of magic caused a lantern to flare to life, momentarily blinding the girls and causing them to shield their eyes, waiting for them to adjust. Soon after the light began to meander around the room, following the mare as she walked to the other side of the room levitating the lantern behind her with her magic. “I am so pleased to see that her majesty has actually sent some ponies to get me! Let alone the elements themselves!” The mare sounded rather pleased, all hesitation from before vanishing in her bought of renewed vigor. “You stated in your letter you have information about the humans?” Twilight asked following the light, the brightness of it still making it rather hard to make out features on the mare. “Yes, yes, I do. But first you must get me out of here!” The mare said, her horn flashing, a briefcase appearing which she soon started to fill with her belongings. “What’s with the rush?” Applejack asked as she took a step forward towards the mare, her eyes flickering towards Twilight. “Yeah, what gives? You’re acting like you’re gonna miss a train something?” Rainbow Dash landed onto the floor on Twilight’s left and glanced over at her as well. “Heh, if only.” The mare lifted her head out of the case and looked over at the ponies. The light shining onto her face to reveal a deep scar on her left eye, her coat a wonderful snowy white, making her bright green eyes stand out even more. Twilight gasped when she suddenly came to the realization on who they were to talking to. “Y-you’re Winter Dawn!” Twilight gasped her friends looking at her weirdly, Twilight hastily opened her saddle bag and fished out the book she’d been reading. “You’re the author of Return of a Fallen Race!” The mare rolled her eyes as she closed her briefcase and latched it. “Why yes I am, but right now isn’t the time for autographs.” Rarity ran a hoof over the back of her head nervously. “I’m sorry dear, but I don't believe you actually told us what the rush is. Perhaps there is something we could do to help?” Winter nodded and strapped her case to her saddlebag. “Yes...well maybe. I’m being hunted by a group called Monarch.” She made her way towards a curtain covered window, cracking it open a tad she peeked outside. “Monarch?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow and followed her to the window. “I never heard of such an organization.” She glanced out the window with Winter, there seemed to be nothing outside. The street was rather busy and the sun was at its highest point in the sky. “That’s because Monarch hasn’t been around in over three millennia,” Winter said quietly, “At least not in the eye of the public. Monarch was an organization founded by Princess Luna; a research and development team that operated during the Cyclopean War. They were tasked with reverse engineering the Cyclop’s technology, hoping to find a way for Equestria to use it against them.” Winter explained as she floated a document that resembled an old map of Equestria out of a saddlebag. Vaguely reminiscent, yet completely different than the Equestria Twilight knew. Matter of fact, if she had to compare it to anything else at all, it more closely resembled the maps she had seen in the book that the Humans gave Luna. “After the war, Monarch was disbanded. Their work was supposed to be either destroyed or safely locked away in the royal archives. Instead it simply disappeared. A little under a hundred years ago, Monarch was revived by a stallion named Royal Heir. However, the intentions of Royal Heir, and those that aided him in this endeavor, were less than pure. Instead of trying the use the cyclops technology as a way to help Equestria, they plan on using it for their own benefit. A way to gain power.” Winter rolled up the map and stuck it into her saddlebag along with a few other trinkets none of the ponies could recognize. “How do you know all this?” Applejack asked. “Because I used to work for Monarch. It wasn’t until recently I learned what my employers planned to do with this new...Human technology. You see...” Winter retrieved a couple maps and documents written in a language Twilight couldn’t recognize from a nearby table. “One of the only reasons Equestria won the Cyclops war was because of a small branch of Monarch known as the ‘Superior-Wissen’. They focused on the highest of technological pursuits, eventually learning to decode the information stored in what is now called the “Human archive” “Human Archive?” Twilight asked. Winter rolled her eyes and stuffed the items back into the case and closed it once more. “My apologies Princess, but I don’t have time to explain everything right here. The point is I contain enough knowledge in this very room that can change Equestria. No, it can change the entire world forever. Whether that change is for better or worse depends on whose hooves these documents fall into. However, in order to do that, we must leave immediately!” Suddenly the muffled sound of a carriage skidding to a stop caught the ponies off guard. Winter bit her lower lip and glanced toward the window. “Please, all of you, stay quiet!” The mare hissed before trotting towards the window, she pulled the curtain aside slowly with her magic and peeked outside. “What is it? Guests?” Pinkie whispered into Winter’s ear, seemingly appearing out of nowhere right beside her. Winter let off a loud ‘eep!’ and jolted away from the mare. “Don’t do that!” She snapped at Pinkie then shook her head. “And no... no, no, no, this isn’t good!” Winter took another peek. “It’s them!” The mare pulled away from the window and rushed back. “The ponies who are after me!” The five mares looked at each other. “Well then, what do we do?” Rarity looked at Twilight and the others. “We knock the hay out of them, that’s what we do!” Rainbow Dash pounded her forehooves together. “Yeeeah!” Pinkie popped out from behind the couch wearing a camouflaged helmet, she had an unlit cigar in her mouth, and war paint on her face, she was somehow carrying her party cannon on her back, also camouflaged. Twilight gave a sour look at the two ponies. “How is violence going to help us here?” She asked the two of them. “First off we shouldn’t be attacking other ponies, the ones that are coming here haven’t even done anything––” A knock came from the door. “We’re looking for gambling advice.” A familiar voice came from behind the door, Twilight’s ear twitched, that sounded a lot like the reporter from the train. Once again the girls shared a look, Rainbow Dash goes to open her mouth but Twilight quickly casts a mute spell over the pegasus’s mouth, silencing her instantly. This seemed to make her angry, but she backed off anyways. Twilight looked at Winter and gasped when she saw the unicorn brandish a very large knife from her bag. “Wh-what are you doing?!” Twilight hissed. “Getting ready to meet my old employers.” Winter hissed, Twilight quickly casts a barrier over the door, blocking all sound and ponies from passing through. “Okay what in the world is going on here?” Twilight glared at the unicorn and her knife. “It’s like you’re getting ready to kill somepony!” “With all due respect, Princess, that is exactly what I’m doing.” Winter said. “But...” she looked at the pink-ish purple barrier. “With that shield, I guess we have time to pack up the last of my belongings and high tail it out of here.” Winter placed the massive knife away and went back to stuffing the tomes and pieces of paper littered around the room into her seemingly unfillable saddlebags. “What is up with this filly?” Applejack whispered into Twilight’s ear. “Ah can’t make any sense off of her.” “I don’t know....” Twilight gulped. “Should we trust her?” Rarity whispered as she came up between Twilight and Applejack. “If she’s willing to pull a knife on somepony...I can’t even imagine what she’ll try and do to us if we get in the way.” “You know I can hear you guys right?” Winter Dawn said strapping and closing her saddlebag, attached to said bag was at least three brief cases, Twilight and the girls gulped as Winter turned to face them. “Princess, are you able to teleport us out of here?” She asked. Twilight blinked, then shook her head as she took a step forward. “Of course I can,” She said, “Where do you need me to teleport us to?” “Anywhere away from here. Preferably somewhere secure.” A muffled knock came from the door. Twilight looked at the others. “Alright everypony, get close.” She lit her horn and everyone huddled together. Closing her eyes she focused on the area just outside the hotel, taking a deep breath, her horn flashes and suddenly the group was met with the cool feeling of the outside air. “My eyes! My eyes!” Pinkie’s voice shattered the silence and everypony began to panic. “What’s wrong?!” Twilight asked as her eyes snapped open and she looked at the pink mare. Pinkie was lying on the grass and rubbing her eyes. “They haven’t adjusted, it’s too bright!” “Quiet!” Winter hissed and quickly started to head down the street. “We have to go now!” Twilight blinked and looked at the rest of the girls who simply shrugged and began following Winter. “Miss Dawn, where exactly are you heading, the station is the other way!” Twilight said. “I know that Princess Twilight, but those ponies who are looking for me would expect me to head there.” Winter glanced back at Twilight. “And please keep quiet, and I apologize, but I’ll need you to also keep your distance. My employers are all over this city, if they see you with me, that may strike suspicion.” Twilight stopped and blinked as she watched Winter continue on ahead. “O-okay.” She gulped and looked at her friends. “I have a bad feeling about this, Twi.” Applejack said quietly as she came up beside her. Twilight nodded and took a deep breath. “Same here, yet...it does seem like she knows something,” Twilight said as she watched Winter turn onto a busier street. Taking a deep breath she looked back at Rainbow. “Dash, could you get an overhead view of her? The rest of us will follow from a distance.” Dash gave a brisk salute. “I’m on it!” Extending her wings, she gave a powerful flap before taking off into the air and going over to Winter. “Alright, Girls,” Twilight stretched her hindlegs. “Stay close and make sure nothing happens to Miss Dawn.” With one last hurrah, the four remaining girls began to tail behind the mysterious mare. Eighty miles off the coast of Manehattan, a deep rumble could be heard. > Chapter 19: Briefing > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Edge of the Everfree, October 16th, 09:35 Out from a bush, a rabbit hopped its way into an open field, a gentle breeze wafted over the landscape causing the grass to gently sway from side to side. The rabbit’s ears perked up before it stood up onto its hind legs, nose twitching at an unfamiliar smell: smoke. A twig snapped on its right and the rabbit whirled around before freezing in place, its ears drooping as a large boot came down in front of it, casting a large shadow over the poor little bunny. The rabbit’s eyes turned to wide glossy globes as they trailed up the creature's legs, whatever it was, it stood tall. Its body was black and sleek, along its edges shined a blue light, trailing behind it was a purple cape which flapped in the wind, and gazing down at the rabbit was a single slim blue eye. The rabbit’s heart caught in its throat and it began to hightail it in the direction of the open valley. The creature began to follow, but instead of sprinting after the rabbit like it thought it would, the monster simply walked. The rabbit scampered its way up a nearby hill, reaching the top, the rabbit could see large metal railway lines. In the distance, a shunting train could be heard. The bunny shot a look over its shoulder, the creature was stepping up the hill. The rabbit hopped over the railings and hid on the other side just as the train made itself visible on the far right. The train blew its whistle and began to increase its speed. The bunny peeked over the railing, the tall dark creature had reached the top of the hill. It was starting to make its way over to the rabbit, it was only a matter of time before the creature would reach it and take the poor bunny away. The train then came screaming by and each car zipped by one by one in a blur with the muffled voices of ponies fading in and out with it. When it was gone, so was the creature. Gripping onto the side of the train, the tall armored creature had snatched onto the railing on the end of the last car. Its metallic grip causing the pathetic railing to bend and groan, under the creature’s weight. As the train rounded the crest of a hill, it’s lone blue eye locked onto the tall, gleaming structure in the distance. A castle on the side of a mountain. Or as the locals called it, Canterlot. :[-]: Horizon Briefing Hall October 16th, 10:00 Admiral Watson sat back in his red velvet chair positioned behind his oak wood desk. His eyes glancing around the briefing room filled with multiple individuals who headed Horizon’s countless other branches. He took a deep breath and glanced over at the head commanding officer on his left. “Are we ready to start this morning’s briefing?” He asked the man. The soldier nodded. “Yes Sir, everyone is here and accounted for.” Watson took a small breath and leaned back in his leather seat, his fingers tapping impatiently on the wooden desk. “Well alright then.” The old man leaned forward and grabbed a binder filled to the brim with the most detailed reports of each department's briefing. “Like usual we’ll start from the top and work our way down. As always we’ll begin with maintenance,” Watson said as he glanced up at the head engineer of the Horizon’s maintenance. “Yes Sir,” The man nodded his head and was already standing at attention. “Maintenance would like to report that since our rough landing, deck six has been rendered uninhabitable due to the breach and contamination. We’ve been trying our best to seal the breach and pump the pathogen out, but it’s as if every time we start to vent it out it just reappears.” Watson sighed as he went over the more detailed explanation in his binder, the news wasn’t great. Deck six held a majority of the crew’s food stores and other supplies, the ammunitions would most likely be unaffected, but as for the clothing or food. Clothing could be decontaminated but that’d take time, the food however...that was just a whole other can of worms Watson didn’t want to deal with. “How are we for power?” He asked the man. “Well, seeing that we all have hair and are not growing a third arm, the naval reactor was not damaged upon reentry.” The man stated. Watson nodded his head slowly and took a breath. “I’m asking how long will the reactor last for?” he asked once more. The man nodded. “Well since we’re not running shifts and therefore having to run the reactor full time. We could power a small town for over twenty years till we’ll need to swap out the cores.” “Twenty years?” Watson chuckled at that. “And I take it that’s if we don’t run into any issues.” The man nodded. “Well, at least that’s good, anything else?” The man shook his head. “Alright then, how are things going in reconstruction?” Watson turned the page to the next department, a young woman stood up from her chair. “Most of the no longer needed life support systems have been dismantled and recycled for Engineering to use. Just yesterday we got most of the habitat modules up and decontaminated for the use of outside operations and living quarters.” The woman stated firmly. “Have there been any issues venting out the habitats?” Watson straightened himself out, his mind drifting back to what the head of maintenance stated. The woman shook her head and Watson took a deep breath. “I want you and your boys to quadruple check those habitats just in case there is any form of contamination before we start putting our marines in there.” The woman nodded. “Is there anything else, habitational?” She shook her head. “Okay then, Communications?” A scrawny man stood up and cleared his throat. “A-as of now, Sir.” The man stuttered a bit. “With the discovery of the-the uh... Leviathans. My crew a-and I––” “Take a drink, Communications,” Watson said sternly as the man’s stuttering had been getting to him. The man briskly nodded before grabbing the water that everyone had right beside him and took a big drink. He then set the glass aside and hummed. “To help keep our comms chatter clear or to offset any unnecessary audience members, my team and I have been developing a new set of codes that’ll be produced and handed out to everyone for studying. It should be available within the coming days.” Watson nodded and leaned back a bit, his finger tapping his chin. “Alright, that’s nice to hear. Anything else you’d wish to inform me, Communications?” The man arched his back a bit and popped his lower spine, he gave a small sigh of relief and said, “My team and I have yet to make contact with the remaining combat division: Kiryu-Kai; however, we have been able to make out a few lost transmissions along with what seems to be a distress signal coming from Victor Nineteen.” Watson nodded his head. “That’s below the Equine Capital isn’t it?” He wondered aloud and looked over to see the commissioned officer nodding his head. “Have you been able to interpret the transmissions?” “We sent the data to Intelligence,” The man said firmly. Watson leaned forward in his seat. “And what exactly did Intelligence extract?” A second man, that Watson recognized as Bryan Hunsinger from his previous visit to the Intelligence Department, stood up with his back also straight. “What we were able to obtain from the distress was that the Kiryu-Kai had been awoken at least a dozen years or so before our return. The message is the exact same distress they were ordered to broadcast after we issued the waking frequency.” “And communications stated that we couldn’t contact them...” Watson rubbed the back of his head, his mind now troubling him. The vaults were built to house a hundred thousand sleeping souls. If all of them woke a dozen years ago... “If they managed to figure out how to feed those many people, I’ll eat my boot.” He muttered quietly. “Admiral.” Watson’s head perked up and he noticed Master Sergeant Peter Van Throne standing up. “Do you have anything to report, Master Sergeant?” Watson raised an eyebrow and glanced down at his reports, so far he didn’t see anything relating to special ops or any other form of missions. “Actually Sir. I have a request.” Thorne brought his hands behind his back and stood with his back straight. “And what is it that you’d like to request, Marine?” Watson asked the well-respected soldier. He knew full well of Master Sergeant Thorne, or as what his squadmates preferred to call him: “Kong”, and that sometimes even Watson himself should listen to when the lad was talking. “I wish to request that my squad and I go and investigate Victor--” Watson immediately interrupted Kong, “Denied.” Peter did a double take and bit his lower lip. “Sir, with all due respect--” “Master Sergeant, I must remind you that Victor Nineteen as of now is well within Equine borders. Without permission from the hierarchy, we do not have the authority to send an armed team to investigate the vault, which I may remind you is deep beneath the Equine Capital.” Watson explained. “And with how limited our communications is at the moment, it’ll most likely be at least... Intelligence how long will it take to fully decipher the Equine language?” The head of intelligence, Bryan Hunsinger, stood once more. “At least a month or two, Sir, but it’ll be at least a year or two for even the brightest of us to hope to master the art of speaking it.” “Well...” The commissioned officer muttered quietly, yet Watson caught his voice. Watson glanced over. “Yes, Lieutenant?” Watson said looking at the man. The officer straightened himself out. “We do have Commander Keshiner.” Watson went to say something but stopped. “You’re right...we do. Where is the Commander now?” He asked. “In the holding cell down in quarantine. Exactly where we left him.” The officer told him. “And checking my reports, nothing has happened over the past twenty-four hours while in containment?” Watson asked as he doubled checked all his typed reports from every department. The officer shook his head. “From what I’ve been told and seen he had just been relaxing and talking with the guards...quite casually too, despite his predicament. Though, the guards have reported him speaking to himself in the Equine tongue, presumably practicing.” “Actually Admiral.” Bryan Hunsinger stood back up. “There was one thing I had forgotten to put down in my report.” Watson frowned, great, whenever he heard the words ‘I forgot’ a deep pit formed in his gut. Just the phrase alone was a major pet peeve of his. Especially with how things were going nowadays. With three hundred regular humans on this ship, there wasn’t time in the world for an ‘I forgot’. The world they lived in now that term could mean life or death in any circumstance. With that in mind, the Admiral took a deep breath. “What is it, Intelligence?” Having heard Watson’s frustration the headman shuffled a bit. “Over the past twenty-four hours, my crew and I performed a few tests with the Commander.” He said warily. Watson straightened his back and scooted forward in his seat. “What kind of tests?” “Tr-translations, Sir. That book Doctor Miller found during the first recon mission, we tried to have Commander Keshiner read it for us.” Bryan explained as he adjusted his posture. Watson tilted his head a tad. “And how did that turn out?” He asked sternly as he did not appreciate the man’s lack of composure. ‘If those Sleeper sons of bitches attacked us right now, this man would surely be the first to snap.’ Watson couldn’t help but think to himself. ‘How the fuck did the U.N. think it’d be smart to stick him with us?’ Bryan gulped. “He couldn’t read it. If I’m exact his words were, ‘I can’t read the scribbles, Hon.’” For some reason, a few men in the room chuckled at those words. Watson pursed his lips. “So he can speak their tongue but cannot read it. Duly noted. Thank you Intelligence.” The man nodded and took a seat, Watson took a deep breath and leaned forward, his hand rubbing his forehead. “Is that all?” He glanced around the room. “Negative Sir.” The officer said. Watson nodded. “Excellent, This concludes this morning’s briefing, I think it’s time we’ve all had a drink and discuss our next order of actions with the council.” He said to the officer who in turn nodded back to his response. :[-]: Horizon Containment Facility October 16th, 12:44 Commander William Keshiner laid on his cot, eyes fixated on the ceiling above him. Taking a deep breath he sighed as he went over the events of the past few days. He couldn’t believe that it had only been three days since they had crashed landed on Earth. Really...he couldn’t believe it. Three days and everything just seemed so out of order. Who would’ve thought that during their road trip through the cosmos that an alien... were they aliens? He couldn’t remember, so much shit on his mind. Yet, who would’ve thought another intelligent species, or species? Would’ve taken control of the planet during their absence? At least on a cosmic scale, if he can recall correctly during his school years, twelve thousand years is nothing. They might as well just gone to the corner store down the street and buy some galactic space milk or some shit. Not only that, another thing that kept bothering him was Shawn. One of his oldest squadmates from back during the war when before he was demoted from Naval Commander to basically a grunt in charge of a few rambles, taken out by a fucking bear in a house. Like seriously, what the flying fuck was a bear doing in a house? Who the fuck has a bear-like, Jesus! Couldn’t a dog have just been enough? Now like...okay, Shawn wasn’t dead. Yet if those lab coats were correct, the air outside these steel walls was contaminated with whatever created the Sleepers. Not only that, the...magic as the Equines called it, was also infested with the same stuff. William bit his lower lip. If that was the case...wasn’t he technically infected? Like literally, that Princess or whatever, literally went into his fucking mind. Downloaded their language into him as if he was some Windows PC, she literally tampered with his thoughts and mind like a computer program! William felt a bit of sweat forming over him, the thoughts terrifying him to the core. What the hell are these things? What are they even dealing with; like seriously, these ponies, their magic, it’s the same shit the Archangel used against them. And well... he was all on his own and fucked with us enough that the United Nations thought it’d be the wisest fucking choice to declare M.A.D was a good choice! Oh no, you wrecked a few cities and killed a few million people, I guess now is a good choice to blow up the fucking planet! William groaned and rubbed his face. If these ponies had the power to literally fuck with his mind and potentially infect him with whatever affected the rest of the world...who gives a shit if they had guns, ammo, mechs or even tanks. Archangel fucked everything up over the course of a few months. Who’s to say these ponies couldn’t do the same if they happened to rub off on them in some bad way? Like well...the smaller ones probably couldn’t do much, but those two larger ones at the castle. The blue-ish black one that tampered with his thoughts. Who’s to say she couldn’t have just killed him and everyone else in his squad just by flipping a few switches in their head? Not even a single bullet would’ve been fired, no blood spilled, just flip this and everyone just slumps over like a machine in a factory after you pull the plug. Jesus Christ, that’s fucking terrifying. Yet, he knew that for now, they were fine. The meeting went well, he didn’t fuck up and everything seemed to be going fine. Not only that, he had heard that they’d sorta made contact with some other humans, ones that seemed to be heading this one on massive ships. Like holy shit, everyone should be rejoicing. He even recalled two British paras talking outside the door about how Master Sergeant Thorne and his squad were able to take down a girl in some sick ass armor. So the paratroopers put it. It almost sounded...William hated to think of it like this, but it sounded fake to him. Like some trooper in the mess hall exaggerating the story so he’d look cool for the tough girls in the marine corps. Then again, though, everyone that had gone by his containment cell had all mentioned it. Matter of fact, they said she was on the ship and from what he had heard. She would only be a few cells further down from him. The sound of a metal deadbolt coming loose alerted William that someone was gaining entry to his cell. Sitting up on his cot he looked over and saw the airlock door come undone and two soldiers in NBCs came walking into the room, assault rifles in hands. “I know it’s protocol and all but...do you guys seriously have to have those things constantly on you at all times?” William said tiredly as he pointed to the AK-107s in both of the men’s hands. “Like really, I’m one man, I think your handguns would’ve suited the job just fine.” “Sir, we’re gonna need you to stand up and step through decontamination.” The first guy on the left said, his voice rather young, probably in his early twenties. William blinked. “Oh wow? Am I free to go?” He asked despite knowing it wouldn’t be that easy, yet the little bit of hope was just enough to permit him asking. “We haven’t been told much, Sir. All we know is that the suits are planning a mission that’ll be taking you back to the Equine Hierarchy. Something to do with Victor Nineteen.” The young lad explained. “Now if you could please comply, it’d make my job a whole lot easier.” William took a deep breath. “Wow, okay. Wasn’t expecting to be sent back out after being threatened with Court Martial,” He muttered, but then again, Horizon did only have a limited crew and he doubted the council would be stupid enough to cast aside a high ranking officer such as himself. “Perhaps they’re offering you some way to redeem yourself,” The soldier suggested. “For putting our first foot into actual diplomacy?” William said sarcastically with a shrug. “Well alright, that’s fine by me, just let me pack my belongings first.” He said as he got up. Turning around he picked up the pillow on his cot and grabbed his wallet. Opening it for a brief moment he glanced at the photo of him standing next to his wife and daughter. He smirked at the image before stuffing it into his pocket. “Alright, I’m ready.” He said to the men. :[-]: To William decontamination was the fucking worst, despite the procedure being necessary, he hated every second of it. Step into a room, hold your arms out, get sprayed with some sort of fucking cleaning agent, sometimes water, half the time whatever they shot out smelt like shitty off brand Febreze, he didn’t fucking know. He'd turn around, possibly get sprayed again. This procedure went on for some time before finally they politely dry him off, then he’s free to go. Now it doesn’t sound too bad, just a little tedious. However, on the Horizon ship. You have to go through the process almost every. Fucking. The time you go into a new room, at least within the medical and research wing of the ship. Not only that, the assholes that run the decontamination air locks hardly warn the subject when they’re about to be sprayed. Sometimes you have that cool guy that gives you a warning or a countdown, but then you have the fucking retards who sit around all day and do it unexpectedly out of sheer boredom because they want a funny reaction. They tend to add a little bit of suspense, they wait, and wait for what seems like God damn hours and then suddenly you’re sprayed! For most people, like William, who hardly ever ventured through this part of the ship it would fucking startle the shit out of them. Thus prompting the boys in the other room to laugh their fuckin’ asses off. What’s so funny about making a person jump anyways? Especially when you’re doing it all goddamn day? Well...as William walked with his armed guards towards the briefing room and thought about this, he couldn’t really blame the boys or girls in those rooms. Nowadays, there wasn’t any really good form of entertainment. Obviously, there’s no more cable television, there were some video games in the rec room. Though back during construction, the council and other generals and shit highly objected to such objects, however, popular vote overruled them. The boys and girls needed any form of entertainment they could get. You didn’t want three hundred or so people to go fucking mad on a ship in space, and productivity forms of work or entertainment could only take someone so far. Running the same combat simulation over and over for sixteen thousand years or so gets really fucking dull after awhile. Sometimes sitting down at a console with some pals for thirty minutes and shooting up zombies or aliens just took the edge off. Oh yeah, and that’s right. Thirty minutes, every crew member is only allowed that amount of time, and only once or twice per day at that. But...after the crash landing nobody is gonna be watching T.V. or playing their shoot’em up games for awhile. When the ship went down, unprioritized rooms that weren’t really hunkered down ended up getting completely trashed. Let's just say a lot of shit went flying when the ship made contact with the surface. So now, boys and girls around the ship are kinda screwed in terms of what they can do that’s not work related. It’s funny for some people to think, especially civilian, that people perceive soldiers a lot of the times as mindless, stupid grunts. That all they can do is point and shoot a gun, or operate a radio and speak gibberish which was actually some kind of secret code. That all they do is take orders mindlessly without thought and run around for hours without losing any energy. Yet most people back in the day before the world went to shit only thought that because of what they saw on T.V. or games. It’s like they tend to forget that soldiers, like William, were human. Which would probably be a huge shock to his squadmates, William actually enjoyed those thirty minutes of sitting down and losing himself to those games. Or even when he sat down and watched the pre-recorded shows that Horizon has downloaded into her network. Hell, he even enjoyed the mindless banter his squadmates constantly shot at each other. Though most of the time he’d tell them to shut up, he actually really loved hearing them, because despite everything that’s happened; all the shit they been through, it was actually relieving to see his men and women cracking jokes. It made things seem relatively normal, it allowed William to be at ease because again, despite looking and acting like a tough Commander. William, like everyone else, was Human, and deep down...he was fucking terrified of this new world. “Alright, Commander, here we are.” The young soldier on his left said as he took out a key card and opened a panel on the wall, surprising William with the fact that it still worked despite the rough impact. The soldier input the code after swiping the card, and a loud thud rang out through the hallway as the deadbolt came undone. Grabbing the rotating handle the soldier cranked the door open with a grunt and pushed it open. He then stepped over the air tight seal which resembled something like a knee knocker. Glancing back at William the guard motioned with an arm for him to follow, nodding his head William stepped over the seal and glanced about the room. A large table sat in the center, surrounding said table were a handful of men and women dressed in business attire. The Council. “Good morning, Commander.” Came Watson’s voice from William’s right, looking over, William found the older navy admiral was standing right beside him, hands behind his back. William straightened up. “Admiral.” He nodded, Watson gestured towards the table. “Please, Commander. Have a seat, the Council wishes to make a proposal.” Watson told him before turning and heading over to his own spot at the far, opposite end of the table. William gulped and nodded once more and walked over to his spot. Taking his seat he glanced over at all the members of the council, each of them representing the past and now dead nation. Directly across from William beside Watson was one of the head council members, Hiro Takanao. “Good morning, Commander.” The man said, his voice light but serious. “Morning, Sir.” William shifted in his seat. “Might I ask why I’m here?” He leaned forward a bit and noticed the glass of water beside him. “I was just about to get to that,” Hiro said as William took a large gulp, the liquid cooling his throat. “You see, Commander, we here in the Council have been informed of your new found ability.” William took a deep breath and sat the water down, wiping his face he glanced at Takanao and raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be?” He asked already expecting the answer. Hiro also took in a breath, his hand rubbing the back of his neck, he blinked his eyes once or twice, possibly caught some dust. “Your ability to speak the Equine language of course.” He wiped his eyes and glanced at William. “Isn’t that also the reason why I was locked up?” William cocked an eyebrow. “Or threatened with court martial because I disobeyed an order that brought us here?” “Now, Commander,” A new voice said, glancing over William say it was Senator Riley, a fat southern democrat from the United States. “There’s no need to get smart with us.” “Well clearly I do because all of you are fuck––” “Keshiner!” Watson snapped immediately throwing William back into line. “Thank you, Admiral.” The democrat nodded. “Commander, I hope you can understand that we admit that what we chose to do after the fact was a valid decision.” That made William scowl and bite his tongue, allowing the fat bastard to continue. “Not only did you disobey a direct order, you were also exposed to the elements of what we could only presume was mind control.” William sighed, he understood why they locked him up. Yet that still didn’t explain why they wished to suspend him. Yes, he disobeyed a direct order, however, because he disobeyed they were able to advance negotiations. He personally didn’t see the issue in that. Again William bit his tongue and nodded. “Alright,” he muttered. “However, Commander,” Takanao spoke up. “Now that we understand this new advancement of yours, we’re offering to repeal your mistake if you happen to agree to help us.” “So you’re bribing me?” William cocked an eyebrow but retracted when he noticed the fiery gaze from Watson. Takanao smirked. “Essentially.” William straightened out more and leaned forward. “Okay then...” he shrugged. “Lay it on me, what do you need?” Takanao nodded his head. “Commander, as you may have already known the location of the Victor Nineteen is held beneath the Equine capital.” William shifted in his seat and nodded. “And of course the whole point of Horizon’s mission was to return to Earth and resurrect those who remained beneath the surface. However, with Victor Nineteen no longer within our sphere of influence we must figure out a way to communicate with the Equines, and you Commander, are the only one who has been able to fluently speak with them.” William mulled the information over in his head and nodded. “Alright. So you need me to convince them to let us crack open the vault?” Takanao nodded along with the others, William responded with his own and fell silent once more. “Sir...if you don’t mind me asking, why Victor Nineteen? It’s not even a civilian shelter, matter of fact last I recall it’s a Self Defence Force headquarters.” Senator Riley shook his head and straightened up in his seat. “The information we were able to gather from the supply vault that the Equine troops broke into stated that Victor Nineteen before the cataclysm was handed over to the Kiryu-Kai.” William blinked. “Wait what? Kiryu-Kai? You mean...” “Yes, Commander.” Takanao straightened himself out. “One of the top fighting divisions in the world that held out the longest against the Archangel is stationed deep within that vault. Thousands of sleeping soldiers, scientists, and engineers of the like, ready to be woken from their slumber and used to help establish our footprint on this planet once more.” William bit his lower lip. “But...we don’t need more soldiers and scientists. What we need now is farmers, construction workers, plumbers. Y’know the people that can help establish some basic infrastructure––” William was silenced by Takanao raising his hand. “And we fully understand that, Commander. Though due to your recent lock up, a lot has happened over the past twenty-four hours. Something that has disturbed us.” The man took a deep breath and straightened out his back before reaching over and taking a sip from his cup of water. William bit his lower lip and glanced at Watson. The Council was always frightened, especially over the stupidest of shit and the Admiral should have known that as well. Half the time William could see it on his face, but now...he saw nothing but the same look every other man shared in here. Seriousness along with a bit of concern. Something had everyone on edge, and now it was starting to frighten William as well. William wanted to ask the Council about what was bothering them but knew as of now that would not be appropriate. He took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his head before reaching over and taking another long drink. “Alright...” He said taking on a similar expression and tone of the others. “When will I be heading out?” Takanao smirked once more. “The second you leave this room.” > Chapter 20: Second OP > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Horizon Crew Quarters October 16th, 12:50 John’s eyes fluttered open and he was met with the dim light coming from the ceiling above. Head throbbing, the officer sat up and brought a hand to his head, groaning softly as his aching back from the stiff cot he had slept on the night prior creaked and groaned as he rolled over. His hand came down and scratched at the stubble forming on his face to which he didn’t mind. Strangely enough the admiral was okay with the crew growing beards, something about it being good for morale. Or maybe the admiral himself was just too lazy to keep track of his own that grew in...to which John couldn’t help but admire half the time. What could he say? The admiral can rock some chops. John flung his legs over the side of the cot and rested his arms on his knees, gazed over himself, and took a deep breath as the messages from the prior day resurfaced. “I-I’m Ms. Amelia Patricia Conway...” He brought his hand up to his head and rested his forehead in his palm. Could it really have been her? His daughter, who was not only fully grown, but a freaking sci-fi super soldier? It was unbelievable, laughable really. Jonathan chuckled, what were the fucking odds of that? No seriously, a young girl only ten years old, left behind in fucking California when the bombs were dropped, stored away in a research vault due to her potentially being infected or some shit. Now here on board the Horizon as a fucking super soldier...fucking comical. So funny in fact that John started laughing, literally slapping his knee as the thought alone drove the man to near hysteria. John’s laughter began to break down into shear sobbing as he brought his hands to his face and actually cried for the first time since the day he left Earth so many years ago. He hiccuped and cried tears that he couldn’t tell if they were of guilt or happiness, perhaps it was both. After minutes of drenching his cheeks with salt he wiped away the remaining tears and took a few deep breaths in order to compose himself. Rising to his feet John took one last breath before going into bathroom, there he threw off his tank top and kicked off his boxers. Standing in the bathroom wearing nothing but his skin, the man turned and looked at himself in the mirror for the first time in literal centuries. Cryostasis had done a number on his complexion. The process of freezing one's body with the nitrogen does not preserve one entirely, in fact all it does is slow the aging process, but doesn’t actually halt it. For the thousands of years that he had been stored away inside the metallic cocoons, John looked to have aged only about a year or two. At least, so it seemed. His physique seemed to have been unchanged, yet his skin was much paler. So much so that he looked like a vampire, or perhaps some kid who never leaves his bedroom and plays games all day. Something he wished he was doing right now. The stubble that was coming in on his face was looking to become a mighty fine beard if he didn’t shave it, it’s dark brown color contrasting with his pale skin. Same could also be said for his hair which was now starting to grow out, the buzz cut he had now disappearing. Yet out of all that, the bit that really showed off his advancing age was actually his eyes. The small, green pair of eyes he had that stared back him through the mirror showed a different man. Despite being small he could see something bigger behind them, something hard, stern and relatively wise. A pair of eyes that could tell countless stories of what they’ve seen, horror, destruction, genocide. Stories that could make any regular person snap under the sheer pressure. The eyes of a war torn veteran. John knew that he wasn’t the only man on board with the same eyes he had right now. Oh no, he wasn’t even the one with the hardest pair, not at all. There were plenty of soldiers, men and women who had seen and encountered far worse things than he could ever dream of enduring. Yet it didn’t matter to him, because despite what they’ve been through they’ve all suffered the same outcome. Change. They all lost loved ones, they all suffered injuries, some more than others. Each and everyone of them shared similarities and differences, and from these changes some of the crew were either broken, or strengthened for the better or for worse. Yet John was different. Different in a way because if what he heard was true then that would mean his daughter had come back. The young girl he had abandoned and thought for sure she was dead had returned. Or had she? John’s features in the mirror changed slightly to something of guilt. He tore his eyes off his reflection as he grabbed his shampoo and began to lather up before going in the shower, something he’d picked up from his days in camp. His mind still wandering. What if it wasn’t his Amy, well, by blood they would be family...yet she was a grown woman now, hundreds if not thousands of years old due to stasis. All those years without a father, would she even remember him? Would she even love him if she did? Figuratively speaking she probably wasn’t even his daughter at this point. John rinsed his hands off in the sink and walked over to the shower, he started the water and didn’t even give it time to warm up. Stepping in the cold water shocked his nerves into waking, quickly he washed the soap out of his hair before lathering his body with his personal bar of soap. After a few minutes of washing himself off he stepped out of the shower and wiped himself off. He then went back into his quarters and walked over to his closet, there he threw on his tank top and green officer jacket along with his similar colored pants and boots. Without bothering to button up John took a deep breath and glanced at the clock. He had about ten minutes before he had to report to the deck. “I guess I can snag a cup of black gold...” He mumbled to himself as he left his quarters shortly after and decided to head to the cafeteria to snag some instant coffee and perhaps a bite to eat. :[-]: “Officer on deck!” Shouted a cadet as John stepped in to the holo-room, a slice of irradiated meat in one hand and coffee in the other. He glanced at all the radio and computer operators standing at attention. “At ease,” John said in a monotonous tone before taking a bite of his ham. He made his way over to a man working on a radio just beside the holo-globe, tapping his shoulder the man pulled the headset off his head and glanced up at John. “How’s the waves commo?” He asked half sarcastically. The man chuckled and replied. “Pretty silent. Visuals over there stated that the vessels are still deep beneath the water surface. I’m assuming that down below they don’t really use radio communications, and if you’re referring to contacting the other vaults such as Victor Nineteen, well that’s also negative.” John nodded and stepped back. “Alright. Thank you, return to scanning the waves.” The man nodded and gave him a quick “Yes Sir” before turning back to the radio. Taking a breath John walked over to the globe and glanced at the image with a detailed eye. What the globe displayed was a constant replay of a simulation of the projectiles launched from the Leviathan submarines. The first, of course, landed near the small Equine town where they captured Amelia. The second, however, landed off the grid, assumingly a few miles just short of their detection range. “Any idea where the second pod landed?” John asked out loud and immediately received a few negatives. “Have we sent anyone out to go look for it?” He asked and again received a bunch of nos. He sighed rubbed the bridge of his nose and walked over to pick his earpiece up, just after inserting it into his ear, the device began to ring. He chuckled lightly at his good timing and immediately answered, “Central here, what can I do for ya?” “Officer Conway, this is Admiral Watson’s secretary, he wishes to see you down in his office pronto,” The woman on the other line said. John blinked. “Is something wrong?” He asked. “No, Sir, he just needs to get you up to speed on the latest mission that’ll be happening within the hour,” The woman explained, her voice tired and slightly annoyed, though judging by the way she was talking it had to be over something else. John nodded. “Alright, let him know I’ll be down soon.” “Will do.” :[-]: The door to Watson’s office opened and John stepped in and immediately shot to attention and gave the admiral a firm salute. Watson gazed up at the man and nodded lightly. “At ease, Central.” John lowered his hand and held both arms behind his back, keeping his back straight he looked down at Watson. “I was told you needed to brief me on an upcoming operation?” The old man in the pristine white uniform nodded and took a drink of his black, instant coffee. He gently placed it back on the counter and pushed a few sheets of freshly printed paper over to John. “Yes...if you can call it that. It’s nothing like a recon mission turned into a shootout like the other night, more or less you could possibly call this a milk run.” John nodded and took the papers, he began to read up on the morning briefing and all the detailed information about who and what will be going on the mission. “I take it you know of Commander Keshiner’s condition?” Watson asked John. “Well...from what I’ve experienced the other day...he can speak to them?” John looked back up at Watson, his eyes locked with the older gentlemen who was once again taking another sip of his coffee. Watson gave John a light nod and said, “We don’t entirely know how, and Hassel’s computer analogy just left me even more confused, but yes. Whatever those creatures did that almost got them turned to swiss cheese allowed Keshiner the knowledge to speak and understand them.” John nodded, his face spliced with a bit of confusion as he continued to read over the papers. “So this is another diplomatic operation?” He asked as he checked over the list of individuals once more who’ll be participating in the operation. “Exactly, as you may already know. The Kiryu-Kai are stationed inside Victor-19 beneath the Equine capital,” Watson started to explain, his elbows resting on the desk as he laced his fingers together. “Originally our intention was to open up Hotel-23, which is much closer, and start inserting our foothold once again into the Earth. But due to the rising storm, which are those submarines appearing off the coast of Iwo Jima we have no choice but to start generating manpower and getting ready for a worst case scenario.” “Hostilities with those on board the vessels...” John took a deep breath, Watson nodded. “From what I’ve gathered from my meeting with our captive down in quarantine, everyone on board those vessels are ‘Indoctrinated’, or as we normally say: Infected with the Sleeper Virus.” The admiral rubbed the back of his head. “If that is true, there’s no avoiding a future conflict, Central. If we are to confront these...beings, there’s no way to avoid war.” John bit his lower lip, his chest sinking at those words. “Sir, what about the natives?” Watson took another breath and then a long drink of his coffee. Setting his cup down he looked at John. “I know, Son, but as I said, there’s no avoiding it. Either they’ll pick a side, hopefully ours, or just duck in cover and hope they don’t get shot.” Watson fell silent for a brief moment before blinking and saying, “But back to the mission, likewise, I just need you to keep your eyes on the cameras and make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens to our fighters or diplomats.” John nodded his head. “Yes Sir.” He then shifted in his spot. “Sir, do they know that we are coming?” he asked. Watson straightened his back. “I had Bryan and the boys down in the Intelligence department workout some kind of notice. They should have delivered it to the Equine outpost a kilo outside our marked border.” John nodded his head and Watson smiled. “Alright then, you’re dismissed.” John snapped back into attention and saluted Watson, who did the same in return before turning and heading out the door. :[-]: Commander William Keshiner held his AK-12 out and pulled the charger back on the rifle to make sure nothing was wrong with it. Releasing it he placed it aside and grabbed his spare magazine and loaded it. Having already briefed his squadmates William sat alone in his quarters, choosing to prepare on his own as he thought to himself. He took a deep breath and gazed upwards at the clock before slamming his magazine into his gun and racking a round in quick succession. “Commander, this is Central, we’ll be launching in E.T.A five minutes.” The voice from the radio said, William took a breath and nodded his head, grabbing ahold of the transmitter he held it up. “Roger that...” He spoke softly and took a breath and walked over to grab his NBC gear before making his way down to the hanger. “You ready to get suited up, Commander?” Asked a nearby trooper who was standing beside the door heading into the hangar. William nodded to the man. “Yeah for the most part,” he said as the man turned and opened the door for him. William stepped over the kneeknocker into the airlock leading into the open hangar bay. He stopped in the center and hastily and efficiently equipped his gear, taking the time to make sure he was fully suited up before double, triple, and quadruple checking himself. Fully suited, he turned and banged on the second door, a sharp clang coming from the deadbolt coming loose ringing in his ear. The door then came loose and swung outwards where William then came face to face with another trooper fully set up in his own NBC. “Why good afternoon, Commander!” The marine saluted as William stepped out. “Commanding officer on deck!” The lad shouted out as every personnel within ear shot turned and saluted William. “At ease!” William barked out, causing everyone to return to their duties. Which mainly consisted of engineers tending to the condor transport ships and soldiers either chatting or working on their gear. Everyone was in NBCs due to the hangar bay doors being open to the outside world. From what William could see, it was now mainly a cleared out field, most likely caused by the ship crash landing and the Mechs clearing out the trees. Yet beyond said field William could see dozens of habitats, and something that looked like a biodome being constructed. “Commander!” William turned to see Junior Lieutenant Michael approaching him before giving a brief salute. William returned the gesture before lowering his arm. “Good afternoon, Junior, how are things coming along?” William asked. “Actually, Sir.” Michael turned to show of the silver bar on his NBC. “I’ve been promoted to first Lt.,” he said rather pleased. “With Lt. Shaun out of commission I’m now your second in command.” The man smiled behind his respirator. William smiled himself and nodded his head. “Well I’ll be. Congrats, First Lieutenant.” He held out his hand to which Michael shook happily. “Do you happen to know where Sergeant Reever is? I want to know the condition of the squad.” “Stacey?” Michael nodded his head, and gestured towards the VTOL with his thumb. “She’s taking care of the grunts, educating them on what to expect in the field.” William nodded his head. “Alright, gather up the VIPs, double check and make sure we have everything we’ll need,” William ordered and patted Michael on the back. “We’ll be taking off here shortly.” Michael nodded and gave William a brief salute before shuffling off, William took a breath and went over to the VTOL just in time to see Sergeant Reever finishing up with the grunts. “As I said,” Stacey shifted her weight from leg to leg and glared sternly at the grunts. “For you newbies who haven’t left the ship yet, the world you once knew is no longer ours. Not only that we aren’t in a war anymore, however, that doesn’t mean you should lower your guard. Right as we speak we’re standing on the soil mainly made up of a Planet of talking, Horses, sounds like a poor parody, but I ain’t shitting you,” she said as a few men chuckled. “You all have seen the drone footage. These things are just as scared of us just as we’re wary of them.” Stacey glanced over to see William leaning against a crate of supplies. “Greetings, Commander!” She saluted as all the grunts turned and did the same thing. “At ease Sergeant,” William muttered as he took a step forward, his voice rising, “What your Sergeant said is true, gentlemen! We may have been the best but take me for an example, the mission I undertook the other day nearly costed me my life due to miscommunication and hesitation! These barnyard creatures may look cute and seem harmless yet they possess the ability to warp physics beyond our entire comprehension, therefore I encourage you to keep your guard up and report anything that you deem out of the ordinary. Do I make myself clear?” “Yes sir!” The grunts said in unison, William turned and nodded to Stacey. “Thank you, Commander,” The sergeant nodded back. “Are you and your squad ready for departure?” William asked as the final warning siren sounded, Stacey nodded and grabbed her rifle. “You heard it boys and girls! Mount up, we go in thirty!” :[-]: Piling into the Condor’s cabin, soldiers and diplomatic personnel alike strapped themselves in. “Alright, everyone,” Central’s voice came through the cabin’s speakers, “If things go accordingly you should all be back before dinner. Remember, we’re trying to generate a good impression, no fucking about. Good luck.” “Shit,” A grunt muttered on William’s right, “I was hopin’ to get some horse pussy.” The man muttered before getting a rifle butt to his knee cap. “Gah! Fuck!” “You’re fucking hick, Blitz.” The trooper beside him spat. “Both of you shut it.” William glanced at them and both men sunk back into their seats. Half a minute later and the craft lurched as the engines outside came to life and the brief moment of weightlessness struck everyone on board as the VTOL lifted off the ground. “Everyone, this is your Captain speaking,” DeSilva’s voice flooded out of the speaker, a light static along with it, “Today our target destination is that big ass castle on the side of that ol mountain again. Please keep your hands and feet inside the craft at all time, the expected flight will vary between forty to fifty minutes judging by the windy weather today. Ten of those minutes will still be out of coms range due to the fact those engineers are taking their sweet ol time with the radio towers. So please be patient and enjoy your flight!” Everyone on the craft, jolted a bit when the VTOL tilted forward as it exited the vast hangar bay and began to ascend rapidly into the air. “Hey, Commander?” William’s head jolted a little as he glanced over at Lt. Michael. “Is it true you can actually talk to these things?” he asked. William sighed. “You should know, you were there when I was able to,” He replied as the Lieutenant shrugged. “I was more worried about that Blue horned one and all those little golden buddies around us,” Michael replied and smiled. “I guess this just makes everything a hell of a lot easier for us,” he said chuckling and overall seeming optimistic which William couldn’t help but smile as well due to it being rather contagious. He was right, as long as he just listened to what the diplomat, which he believed was Angela once again. That made him cringe, why did it always have to be her? Anyhow, as long as he listened to her, things should be fine. Right? A corporal turned to Michael. “Hey, L.T.?” The man lightly tapped Mike’s knee. “It true we have a fucking sleeper down in the brig?” Michael glanced at the Corporal and shrugged. “I can’t say for sure, rumor’s going about some giant chick in armor or some shit was hauled in last night and questioned,” Michael said as he shifted in his seat. “Personally I was on leave yesterday so I was hanging out in the Rec room or sleeping, so I can’t confirm.” He then glanced at William. William bit his lip. “I was briefed earlier that something about aquatic fortresses appeared seven hundred miles or so out by sea by Iwo Jima. Three massive submarines I was informed of that could host amphibious invasions, the Admiral and the head engineer told me that the other day one of the submarine launched two pods towards Japan, one landed a few kilos from our base. The other landed out of our detection range.” William took a deep breath after explaining. Michael leaned forward a bit. “So...they dropped pods on us, and the armored maiden everyone is talking about was in one of them?” William nodded his head. “That’s what I was told, everything else the higher ups know, they’re not sharing.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Who brought her in?” Sgt. Stacey asked from William’s right. William took a breath. “Master Sergeant Thorne.” He glanced at the boys and girl around him who blinked. Lt. Michael snorted. “Of course it was fucking Kong, Sir. Who else could take the King on?” William shrugged. “I beat him in an arm wrestling competition once,” The Commander said with a small smirk the crew around him rolled their eyes. William blinked and frowned. “Oh c’mon,” he said, “I’m being serious!” “He probably let you win because your a superior,” Stacey giggled beside him and William’s frown deepened before glancing at her. “Shut your mouth, Sergeant.” :[-]: Canterlot Station, October 16th 14:00 Panic and confusion swiftly tore through the Canterlot station shortly after the arrival of the two o’clock train. Shortly under a minute, ponies began to scream and run, their hooves slipping and tripping over the smooth floor. Station security and Royal guards pushed through the stampeding crowd, trying their hardest to get to the source of all the chaos. As the guards pushed their way to the center, the ground shook and cracked around them, forcing the armored guards to the floor. Their eyes widening upon the sight of a large, metallic behemoth. It was a sleek creature standing nearly nine feet tall, its armor was black and rounded, decorating it were blue, glowing lights that traced most of its edges along with large, blue pauldrons on its shoulders, and on its back was a cape that blew in an non-existent breeze. The dozen or so guards surrounding the creatures scrambled to their hooves, quickly backing away from the alien looking creature save for one, shocked security mare who stared up in horror. The creature tilted its head as it looked at the pony, revealing its single, blue streak of an eye. The security pony gasped and tried to push herself away as the creature began to approach the pony, the sheer weight of its armor cracking and sending tremors through the floor. “N-no! Please!” The mare cried out and turned her back to the creature before screaming when she felt it grab the nape of her neck. The royal guard shook their heads and converged upon the metallic beast before stopping when they noticed the armored giant gently placing the pony back onto her hooves. The mare blinked in confusion, her eyes wide and full of fear as she turned and looked up at the creature, who in turn gently patted her on the head, the armored hands surprisingly soft. The mare whined and quickly ran away, terrified and embarrassed. The armored creature straightened itself out, its blue line of an eye flashing a bright navy hue when it scanned over the guards. Glancing at one another the Royal guardsmen stepped back but halted when the creature released a short, deep honk. Its hand raising upwards in a gesture as if it was holding something out to the confused the guards. Suddenly, the center of its hand opened up, eliciting a shocked gasp from the soldiers. A bright blue light shot out from the creature's hand, almost as if it was calling upon some kind of magic. In response, the few unicorn guards activated their horns, preparing for any kind of retaliation, their faces taking on a scowl, while a couple others looked on scared out of their wits. Then something peculiar happened. The particles above the creature's hand shifted and contorted, taking on shapes before the ponies. A 3D image of Canterlot Castle appeared before the soldiers along with a cartoonish figure similar to the armored giant, between the two was an arrow pointing from the creature to the castle. The arrow started to flash. Glancing at each other, the unicorns stepped down and straightened themselves out; curious as to what the giant would do next. The image on the creature’s hand changed once more, the castle that once was morphed into what looked like a cartoon pony in a robe and crown meeting the cartoon giant, below that was a smiley face. The soldier’s eyes widened and gazed at each other as they quickly understood what was happening. The center guard stood up. “I’ll go alert the Captain!” The pony said before turning and galloping off. The creature held its image up a little longer, its hand soon closing and the magic particles dissipating with the window. It lowered its arm shortly after and released another honk, hopefully that meant progress had been made. > Chapter 21: Arrival > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Alpha Papa to Hotel Quebec, we are thirty klicks from the AO, how copy over?” John leaned over from his chair and placed a hand to to his ear transceiver. “Roger that, Alpha Papa, continue on route to the AO. The road appears clear ahead, proceed to the LZ and await instructions. Over.” “Roger that. Out.” John took a breath and let off a small sigh. “Give me a sitrep on the drones,” John said as he looked at one of the analysts. The man John spoke to turned his head before nodding. “Nothing to report on Predator forty; forty two, however, is having connection issues. We assume it may have encountered some kind of bad weather on its way to survey the anomaly that was sixty-two.” John nodded his head. “Leave that on the back burner for now, focus on the mission, I want another sweep of the Equine Capital!” John ordered, the few drone pilots in the room nodded and activated their links with Predator Forty. The image feed on the main monitor came to life, showing off the vast city that covered most of the the mountain’s side and summit. At first the feed showed nothing but the calm and rather surreal scenery that was the city, the drone buzzing lightly around the mountain at a brisk two hundred kilometers an hour while flying fifteen thousand meters in the air. The drone completed a circuit around the mountain after a few minutes. Squinting at a point on the feed, John pointed to the man remotely piloting the Predator. “Focus on that station towards the end of those railroad tracks,” he said while gesturing towards what he wanted. The man nodded his head and trained the drone’s camera upon said station before zooming in on it. The feed blurred slightly as the camera focused, within a few seconds the feed displayed dozens of Capitol citizens running out of the station, the faces slightly blurred but the expressions were clearly obvious. They looked terrified. Though it could’ve been anything these things were afraid of. Yet, if it was something that proved a threat to the VIPs and their accompanying retinue of soldiers , he had to alert them. John took a breath and brought a hand up to his ear piece. “Alpha Papa, be advised we have detected civil unrest within the Equine Capital, as of now it is unclear what the direct cause is. Continue to proceed with extreme caution and keep your ears open. Over.” “Roger that. Out.” “Any idea what that could be?” A voice came from behind John, turning around he saw Caroline, the second central commanding officer, approaching him. John smiled and straightened himself out. “Could be anything for all we know. Terror attack, a mugging, etcetera,” John said as he turned back to the live footage. The station was now being surrounded by what looked to be Equine soldiers, the golden armored knights. “Whatever it is it seems to have stirred up quite the hornet’s nest.” “Sir!” A shout came from their left, both John and Caroline turned to a man standing up at his computer. “The submarines,” The cadet turned to look at them, “they’re moving for the coast line!” :[-]: Manehattan, October 16th 14:00 “Alright c’mon this way!” Winter Dawn hissed as she poked her head out of a nearby alley, hoof waving for Twilight and her crew to follow. Twilight sighed softly as Rainbow Dash landed beside the four other ponies and the five of them ducked into the alleyway. “I know a secret pathway that’ll help us get out of the city unseen.” “Y’know, Twilight, can just teleport us out of here,” Pinkie suggested and Winter stopped and looked at her, she then turned her head to look at Twilight. “Really?” The mare asked dumbfounded before shaking her head. Twilight nodded and shrugged. “I could but...I might have a migraine for the next day or so.” Twilight looked at the others, she could do it, but the thought of having to suffer through another headache like she had done before wouldn’t be fun. “N-never mind that, if Mistress Mare was smart enough she’d have unicorns all around here waiting for me to do something like that!” Winter dropped one of her few saddlebags and pulled out a small pony-made crowbar. Both Pinkie and Rainbow Dash blinked, confused as to what the strange pony meant. Rainbow glanced at Twilight and opened her mouth to ask but Twilight already knew. “Magic tracers, they’re trackers that can detect the usage of magic in the air. If somepony is skilled enough, it is possible for them to figure out what the magic was used for and where it may have taken the one who used it.” Rainbow blinked once more and cocked her head before glancing at Pinkie Pie. “That’s a thing?” Pinkie asked. “Yes!” Winter Dawn pried open a sewer entrance with the crowbar along with the help of Rarity’s magic. “And there’s no time to explain the technicals!” She pointed with a hoof to the sewer. “We need to g––” “Oh ho- no darling.” Rarity shook her head, cutting Winter short. “There’s no way I’m going in there.” “Cannonball!” Pinkie cried out as she dove into the hole, startling Rarity in the process. Winter glared at Rarity and shook her head. “To Tartarus with it, fine! You’re not being hunted...” Winter took a breath and looked at Twilight with a softer look. “Look, I’m sorry for being brash, but I need to get out of this city. I’m not trying to be mean to you guys just because I can, I’m just––” “Scribe Dawn!” A shout came from the opposite end of the Alleyway, within seconds, without even glancing back, Winter Dawn dove into the sewer. Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked towards their pursuers. At the edge of the alley were two ponies, a stallion and mare dressed in reporter outfits gazing towards them. The unicorn mare lit her horn and growled when Twilight’s eyes met hers, it was the counterfeit guard. “What are you lot doing!” Winter shouted up and out from the hole. “We need to get going!” “Yeah c’mon!” Pinkie yelled up. “It’s amazing in here! It's dark, it smells... I also think i just found Gummy’s parents! Or is that his uncle..” Twilight bit her lip and ignored Pinkie. “She’s right girls!” She looked to her friends. “We’ve been seen and there’s nothing we can do, hop in while I throw up a ba––” Twilight’s sentence was caught short by a blast of magical energy striking her chest, causing her to tumble back a few feet. All the girls gasped aloud as Twilight caught her footing at the last second and recovered, her chest burning and breathing ragged as she couldn’t help but be shocked and also utterly angry. “How dare you!” Rainbow Dash roared as she turned and glared at the smiling unicorn mare, whose horn was still smoking. Her teeth clenched tightly together, her wings flaring as she dashed at the mare with full force. “Don’t!” Twilight shouted out, stopping Dash in her tracks. “Stick to the plan! Go with Dawn, I’ll keep them back!” Rainbow hesitated and bit her lip, as she came to a decision. Shaking her head she growled and dove into the manhole along with Rarity who reluctantly dove in before Applejack. “Who are you?!” Twilight stumbled a bit towards the ponies, the magical blast having struck her hard in her now singed chest. “What do you want with Winter Dawn?!” The reporter pony Twilight recalled to be Pen Writer smirked. “Nothing that concerns you, False Princess.” Twilight recoiled slightly, False Princess? She then scowled and took a step forward towards the two ponies, her magic dispelling the soreness where she had been struck. “When I’m the one getting attacked, I very well think it concerns me.” Twilight straightened herself out and glared at the two. “Why are you going after Winter Dawn?” She asked once more, the unicorn mare glared at Twilight and took a few steps towards her before face planting into a lavender barrier Twilight had constructed just mere seconds ago, she wasn’t in the mood for getting shot again. The other mare stumbled and shook her head now frustrated. “Are you deaf? He said this doesn’t concern you or anyone else!” The mare growled and glared at Twilight with fiery eyes. Twilight ignored the girl. “You questioned me on the train about the humans in Bramblewood.” Both ponies on the other end of the barrier scowled. “How much do you know about them?” The stallion turned away from this. “Forget it. She’s just wasting our time!” The stallion went to trot away from Twilight but ended up smashing into another barrier behind him, keeping them from getting away. “What the?” Twilight snorted as she found this quite humorous. “Why is it that everypony forgets that I’m one of the most magically advanced ponies in all of Equestria?” Her magic box that had formed around the ponies lifted, picking the two pursuers off the ground. The two let out a yelp of shock, their eyes now wide. “Now. You will answer my questions, first I want to know your names.” “Screw you!” The mare spat at Twilight. “You aren’t getting anything from us!” Twilight took a breath and shook her head. “Talk like that and we’ll be here for a while,” Twilight said but then stopped when she noticed something odd. The city had fallen strangely quiet. :[-]: Manehattan Harbor Restaurant, October 16th 14:10 Fluttershy giggled and sat back in her chair at an outside restaurant seating, her eyes following the tiny Discord on his train as he traveled around tooting his horn across the table. Suddenly his train’s brakes screeched as his eyes widened as the locomotive derailed and exploded into a colorful barrage. The yellow pegasus eeped as the draconequus reappeared beside her. “And then millions were hurt!” The pegasus pouted and looks up at Discord, who now stood beside her. “Well...I guess you do have a point.” Discord chuckled and teleported back into his seat across from Fluttershy, taking his teacup in his claws he bit a chunk out of it and chewed before swallowing. Grabbing a napkin he dabbed his lips and chin gently. “Well Fluttershy, that’s what friends are for. I’m just here to share my opinion, which is right by the way.” He chuckled and leaned back in his seat. “On another note I must say, this tea has been quite scrumptious.” Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement. “But uh...Discord, I think you should drink it, not eat it,” The mare said as Discord ate the rest of his tea, cup and all. His eyes locked with her’s and he blinked before swallowing. “Whatever do you mean? We’re here for lunch after all.” He placed his hands on the table, resting them as he looked at her rather confused. Fluttershy sighed softly, going out with Discord was always interesting, but also very tiring. “Yes. But we’re waiting for them to make it first. That’s why they had us order.” Discord tilted his head like a confused dog, Fluttershy impatiently rolled her eyes before looking out at the busy street. Her eyes gazed over the passing carriages before noticing something rather odd, the sewer entrance on the sidewalk closest to the restaurant popped open. Her eyes raised slightly when she saw a snowy white unicorn climb out of the hole, followed by a dirty gasping and crying Rarity, a disgruntled Rainbow Dash, and a determined Apple Jack. “Oh dear me...” Fluttershy hopped out of her chair, leaving Discord to steal the waiter’s moustache and place it on his own face. “I wanna die!” Rarity cried, her hooves cradling her sludge covered mane, her white fur not really white in the slightest. Now it was a yellow and brown mix, Rainbow sighed and looked at the other white mare. “We need to go back for Twilight,” She said sternly and the white mare shook her head. “No. Going back is the stupidest thing to do right now,” The mare said before looking over the three ponies. “Wasn’t there four of you a minute ago?” Rainbow Dash was too busy fuming over the thought of not going back. She opened her mouth, ready to rip this pony a new one but was stopped when Applejack cut in, “Yeah, where is Pinkie?” As if on cue, Pinkie Pie clambered out of the hole, her eyes narrow as she cursed and kicked at something roaring and snarling inside the sewer. She climbed out of the hole and slammed the cover back over it, and took a few deep breaths. “That was definitely not Gummy’s parents!” The pink mare snapped and took in a breath before finally gaining control, turning her head she gasped and smiled widely. “Fluttershy!” The pink mare dashed with a blur and snagged the yellow pegasus from behind Applejack and smothered her. Fluttershy’s face scrunched due to being squeezed, and the fact that Pinkie smelt like a sewer. Thankfully Discord’s presence caused the pink mare to release Fluttershy when he pushed the pony off of her.”Well color me orange,” he said as he literally turned orange. “To think I would see the four of you climbing out of a sewer with...” Discord looked at Winter Dawn who was gazing up at the creature with wide, glossy eyes. “A character I’ve never seen before.” Discord looked at the other four girls and sighed. “Say, where’s the purple one? Dusk was her name? No, Twilight!” Discord laughed. “Oh dear me, how could I forget her name.” He chuckled and fixed a tie he just had on. Winter took a few steps back from Discord and shook her head before gazing out over at the harbor where ships and other boats were busy departing and leaving the bustling port. She then glanced back at the other ponies and Discord who were exchanging pleasantries, almost as if they had forgotten what was going on. Winter scowled and tapped the orange pony named Applejack on the back, Applejack glanced back and nodded her head. “Where did y'all say you need to be?” AJ asked Winter who quickly realized she had never actually told them that she needed to be taken directly to Canterlot. Winter nodded her head quickly, words spilling out, “I need to get to Canterlot, like right now. If we can sneak into the train station––” “You need to get to Canterlot?” The pony stopped when she noticed Discord was speaking to her, she bit her lip and looked at the Draconequus, or what her father had told her, the God of Chaos. “Y-Yeah...” She said softly. “What do you mean get to Canterlot?” Rainbow Dash snapped “Twilight’s still with those crazy ponies!” “She’s the Princess of Friendship and Magic!” Winter retorted. “I think she can easily manage two MONARCH Knights!” Dash opened her mouth to speak but found Discord snatching her mouth along with Winter’s, to which both mares would start to panic at the rather horrific action. “Did both of you mention Monarch?” He asked softly, his voice sounding rather stern. “I haven’t heard that name in over three millennia.” Both of the freaked out ponies gazed up at Discord, Winter’s head nodding rapidly, after a few moments Discord returned their mouths. “Yes I did!” Winter said in Rainbow Dash’s voice. “Whoa! What the?!” Dash said in Winter’s voice before practically flying out of her skin. Discord laughed out loud. “Whoops! I must’ve swapped your mouths by accident,” he chuckled and took each of their mouths and swapped them once again. Winter began panting, her heart racing as she was now officially freaked out, how could one of the elements of harmony be friends with such a terrifying being? Discord chuckled. “So that pathetic group of ponies reappeared after all this time.” He shook his head. “I never expected Lulu would ever have needed to bring them back.” “She didn’t though!” Winter looked up at Discord. “It was Mistress Heir’s father!” “Who?” Discord blinked to which Winter sighed and shook her head. “Nevermind that, we don’t have time,” Winter growled, her impatience getting the best of her. “I need to get to Canterlot right now and present this information to the Princesses!” Discord cocked an eyebrow and looked at Fluttershy and the other ponies who simply shrugged. “Who cares what this pony has, we need to go back for Twilight!” Rainbow blurted out. “Is nopony else concerned?!” “Darling,” Rarity looked at Rainbow who was shifting slightly. “I’m confident that Twilight is alright, but if you’d like to you can go and check on her.” AJ nodded her head in agreement with Rarity. “Speakin’ of Twi, she seemed to think whatever Miss Winter has here was urgent as well.” Applejack thought for a moment before turning to look at Discord. “Eh, Discord, ya think you can just...tear a hole in the air that could, ya know, lead us to Canterlot?” Discord snorted and laughed. “Of course I can! If you really wanted, I can teleport you to Celestia’s Royal bath where’s she’s bathing right now!” Before anyone could say anything, Discord swung his claws through the air, his sharp edges literally tearing a hole through the fabric of space and time. A portal appeared before the ponies, a swirling image coming into view and settling to reveal Celestia herself scrubbing her coat off in the bathroom, humming a song to herself. Turning around Celestia’s eyes widened and her body jolted in surprise. “DISCORD!” She nearly shouted and Discord snickered before waving a paw. “Hey, Celestia!” He continued waving. “I’m just stopping by to drop somepony important off for you!” Stretching his arm over, Discord grabbed Winter by the nape of her neck. “Uhduhwh-what?! Wait!” Winter began to hyperventilate, but before the unicorn could blink out of Discord’s hand, the Draconequus tossed her through the portal, causing her to land just before the bathtub. “Take good care of her Tia, she’s a good girl!” With that, Discord resealed the portal. Winter laid on the floor of the Royal Bathroom, stammering and breathing heavily, her composure nearly shattered. Gazing up, she saw Celestia looking down at her from the water. Shuddering softly Winter’s face fell into the ceramic flooring. “What the hay just happened?” she asked herself. The room was silent for quite some time, Celestia had shortly after climbed out of her tub and magically dried herself. “So Discord sent you here saying you had information?” Winter gazed back up and took a few deep breaths, she sat back on her haunches and nodded her head, her eyes averting the Princess’s gaze. She did not feel worthy to be in Celestia’s presence. It took a few moments, but Winter finally answered, “Yes... one of the Elements asked him if he could transport me here....” Celestia looked down at the pony before her and nodded slightly. “Fluttershy was it?” Winter shook her head and kept her gaze to the floor. “No... it was the orange one.” Celestia nodded once more and stepped towards Winter. “Applejack, I think that was her name,” she added shortly after and flinched when she felt Celestia standing over her. Celestia took a small breath and smiled warmly at the mare, she knelt down slightly. “Tell me, what is your name?” Celestia asked. Winter shifted and kept her gaze locked downwards. “Winter Dawn,” she mumbled softly. Celestia pursed her lips slightly, the name sounded familiar. Had Twilight referenced her at some point? She shook her head slightly and looked at Winter. “Why do you avert your gaze? You are not in trouble,” she assured her. Winter bit her lip, and hesitantly looked up at Celestia. “I-it’s because, Princess, I-I have wronged you and everypony...” Celestia frowned and leaned back. “How so?” She asked, her voice still soft. Winter bit her lower lip. “I-it’s because I used...I used to uh...roll with the wrong crowd. I worked with a group called Monarch.” This seemed to garner Celestia’s full attention. “Oh?” Celestia blinked, her eyes slightly widened. “I have not heard that name in quite some time. Does that explain the scar on your eye?” Celestia asked. “You left them, and they didn’t quite agree with that.” Winter bit her lip and nodded. “Such cruel ponies, to think my own subjects would resort to such practices.” Celestia pushed herself up onto her hooves, leaning down she helped push Winter up onto her hooves as well. Winter yelped at Celestia’s touch and jumped straight up, the Princess smelled like roses and other various flowers, her coat was also slightly damp as well. “Yes. I agree, that’s why I left them!” Winter said feeling a little more confident. “They want you gone, Princess, a-and... after what I learned, I think they might just have a chance too! I gathered everything I could, and that’s why I came here! With your help we can stop them!” Celestia looked at the mare, her eyes narrowing as she nodded her head. “Allow me to get dressed and I’ll hear everything you have to say, Miss Winter,” Celestia said and Winter smiled widely and nodded her head. “Thank you, Princess! Believe me, you won’t––” “Your Highness!” Came the shout of a male guard outside the door. “There’s an Emergency down in the castle yard!” Celestia quickly turned to the door and went over to it, with her magic she pulled it open. “Inform me as to what is happening,” Celestia said before glancing back. “Come Winter, I want you beside me!” Winter nodded her head and quickly gathered her things before following behind Celestia. The guard beside the Princess began to explain, “An iron creature appeared in the train station and has made its way to the Castle, it uses some kind of charade and images to communicate. As of now it’s docile and seems to just want to speak with you. However, the sky watchers have reported two flying, metal chariots approaching the city at high speeds. It seems to be same ones that was here the other day.” Celestia took a breath. “Great. Three meetings at once.” She muttered softly as they quickly made their way to the main Castle entrance, it would appear she didn’t have time to get dressed. :[-]: Discord dusted his hands off and smiled at Applejack and the others. “I told you guys I could do it!” He said, his eyes hopping between the unimpressed ponies. “Oh c’mon! That was funny!” Rainbow rolled her eyes as Discord crossed his arms and muttered something about a tough audience. “I’m going back for Twilight, if any of you want to come, you better keep up.” Pinkie giggled and nodded her head. “Is that a race I’m hearing?” The mare giggled as she knew she was probably one of the only ponies who could beat Dash. “Pinkie this is serious, now let's go!” Rainbow threw herself into the air and opened her wings and began to fly back towards the direction of Twilight, only to stop when she noticed something out of her peripheral vision. “What the... hay...?” Dash drifted off and slowly lowered herself to the ground. “Guys!” she shouted to the girls who looked over at her. “What’s that?” Rainbow asked as she pointed her hoof towards the harbor and the horizon– or what was left of the horizon. All that was there now were three, massive ships sitting no further than seven miles from the shore. Stealing her eyes away, Dash quickly realized she wasn’t the only one who noticed these mysterious giant vessels, it seemed the whole coast line had fallen silent, their eyes glued on whatever those things were. Looking back to her friends, Dash noticed something else, Discord was nowhere to be seen. > Chapter 22: Terror > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had all happened so fast, the heat, the pain, and the force of being lifted and thrown. Within just a mere matter of seconds Twilight Sparkle had been standing in the alleyway, trying to interrogate the two ponies who had been pursuing her and her friends. Then out of nowhere, she had gone deaf as an intense heat struck the right side of her body, hooves coming off the ground, she had felt herself being thrown through the brick wall to her left. Twilight tumbled onto the floor of the unknown building, debris and smouldering brick and mortar falling onto her back and side, her body flared with pain all over. Her ears rang and vision blurred due to the dust and smoke, her nostrils scrunched as she sucked in the dust and what was... cooking meat? Twilight gasped and groaned as she shifted and pushed herself onto her hooves before falling back onto her haunches. She rested a hoof to the side of her head and sat for a few moments, catching her breath. After doing so she let her leg fall back to the floor, turning her head she squinted as she looked through the dust and smoke, on the floor beside her she saw something squirming slightly. Twilight bit her lip and lowered herself to move under the smoke and crawled to what was a pony trapped under some of the debris. Twilight cast her magic and lifted the debris off the pony, biting her lip she couldn’t really tell if she knew the pony or not. Nevertheless, Twilight pulled the mare out from under the rubble and dusted her off and laid her down onto a not so filthy part of the floor. Gazing around Twilight tried to listen for something else but noticed her ears were still ringing making it impossible to hear anything but the shrillness ringing throughout her skull. She bit her lower lip and began to scour through the rubble before stumbling upon a stallion, possibly the one named Pen Writer. He didn’t seem to be as injured as the mare and not only that, he wasn’t unconscious. However, when Twilight moved around to him, she felt herself shout his name, but couldn’t hear her own voice. She then stepped in front and said his name again, but the stallion didn’t move, his eyes were wide and his mouth was open. He looked to be in some kind of shock. Twilight took a breath and gagged as some of the dust rubbed the back of her throat, she shook her head and used her magic to pull the stallion to his hooves. He didn’t seem to fight her, pulling him up, Twilight guided the shocked lad over to the unconscious mare who was still shaking on the floor. As she carefully set the the stallion down, Twilight jolted as the entire earth shook once again, rubble from the ceiling sprinkled down and onto her back as she turned her head towards the direction the tremor came from. The alicorn couldn’t hear herself but she knew she had shouted for the two ponies to remain put. Turning her back to them, she ran towards the front entrance of the building she had been thrown into. Pushing past the door, Twilight was blinded by the afternoon light. Groaning, Twilight stepped out onto the sidewalk and stumbled when she felt her forelegs kick something. Squeaking out loud Twilight caught herself before eating cobblestone, she turned to see what she kicked and gasped when she saw a mare on her side. The pony’s eyes were wide open, the color seemingly fogged over as her mouth hung ajar, the body stiff and unbreathing. Twilight’s eyes turned to saucers as she knelt down beside the pony, her lower lip quivering slightly as she shook her head and put a hoof gently to the mare’s neck. There was no pulse, Twilight’s vision became foggy slightly as her mind began race a million miles per hour, she had to do something. She could save the pony right? The mare bit her lip and shifted slightly before noticing a pool of blood appearing beneath the deceased pony’s mane. An involuntary sob escaped Twilight’s throat as she hesitantly turned the pony’s head gently. Twilight let off a cry when she saw a sharp piece of cobblestone lodged in the back of the mare’s skull. She must’ve been hit by shrapnel when, whatever it was, exploded the building. Twilight couldn’t help but feel tears streaming down her cheeks, she had never seen a dead pony before. At least... not one as young or in this sort of situation. She began to step back but stumbled over a piece of rubble on the sidewalk and turned to see the street was cluttered with hundreds of confused pedestrians and victims of the explosion. Many seemed panicked and ran for whatever direction, while injured stallions, mares, and even children sat on the sideline. Twilight’s hearing was slowly coming back, but the ringing was still heavily present and it was hard to decipher what was happening. The ground lurched once more and Twilight jolted as she saw ponies screaming around her and stampeding towards her. Activating her magic, Twilight teleported back into the building where she left her two attackers. The unconscious mare she pulled out of the rubble was just coming back as Twilight reappeared and the stallion seemed to be muttering something under his breath, eyes wide and snapping back and forth. Twilight groaned and shook her head as she started to feel a headache coming on just as her hearing began to return. She could now faintly hear the sound of panic coming from the street outside, ponies were screaming left and right and above all that she heard, buzzing? “Why today? Of all times, why does it have to happen now?” The stallion stammered repeatedly his voice completely broken. “Wh-what are you talking about?” Twilight asked her mind unable to get the image of the dead pony out of her head, yet with all her might she tried to keep herself calm. Panic would only make things worse right now. The stallion continued to say things Twilight had no idea what to think. She went over to the stallion as the mare who was once unconscious sat up and pressed a hoof against her head. “Pen, what are you saying?” Twilight asked as she took deep breaths of her own to try and calm her racing heart. Outside the volume of the screams had not changed, the buzzing she heard though was growing louder. The stallion looked up into Twilight’s eyes with a frightened look. “From the sea they shall come, with machines of war they shall ride across our beloved lands.” Twilight blinked at his cryptic words but listened as he continued, “With weapons of thunder and fire the days of disharmony––” A sharp crack, followed by yet another explosion shook the earth and brought chunks of the ceiling above down to the floor. :[-]: Canterlot Harbor October 16th, 14:17 Five minutes earlier “Where the hay is Discord?” Dash asked as she looked about, her eyes scanning the sidewalk and nearby restaurant, however the crowd of ponies that was forming at the edge of the harbor was making it difficult to see. Then again, she thought finding a nine foot draconequus wouldn’t be so difficult. Yet he was nowhere to be seen. Applejack blinked and took her eyes off the massive vessels stretching across the horizon and gazed about as well. “Y-yeah... Ah I don’t see him.” “Fluttershy is gone too,” Rarity added as she looked at Applejack. Pinkie Pie giggled and looked at the three of them. “Well y’know what they say, when you gotta go, you gotta go.” She giggled as the three other ponies gave her a deadpan look. “What? I’m just saying they had to go to the bathroom.” Their looks wouldn’t change, until the deep bellowing horn from the things in the harbor tore their gazes back to them. The pony’s mouths fell open when they saw what looked to be massive mouths on the front of the ships open up. On top of them, objects could be seen, massive hulks with cylinders jutting out of them, turned to face towards the city. “Is it burping? Maybe it just drank a lot of water!” Pinkie blurted out, but the others could still hear a tinge of worry in her usually upbeat voice. Bright flashes and fire erupted from the tip of a single cylinder, the sound of ripping and whistling air zipped overhead. The sound fading before ending with an earth shaking explosion somewhere within the city, screams of terror began to fill the city not even seconds later. Without a moment to spare, another cylinder erupted with fire as another projectile was flung towards them, arching slightly towards the harbor. Before Applejack or the others could respond, Rainbow Dash swiftly pushed them all to the ground just as the projectile slammed right into the harbor restaurant. The building exploded into billions of pieces which flew hundreds of feet into the air before raining back down. Opening her eyes, Applejack saw the entire area was shrouded in dust and smoke, the street littered with debris along with the unrecognizable red and wet pieces of who knows what. Another explosion sounded somewhere within the city, along with another, and another. Screams and cries of terror echoing into the sky. A loud groan along with the screeching of metal and the shattering of glass reverberated throughout the streets as Applejack gazed up to see an entire skyscraper tipping over before crumbling into trillions of pieces as it came crashing into the city street just before taking out the building next to it. Another whistle tore overhead as whatever the vessels were flinging at the city came plowing into a nearby fishing warehouse, explosions ripping through everything, and everypony, all of it swallowed by a wall of fire. Seeing this happening Applejack shook her head. “C’mon! We need to get out of here!” She yelled over the utter chaos and destruction, she pushed a crying and panicking Rarity up onto her hooves as Rainbow Dash got up beside her and helped push a shocked Pinkie Pie up onto hers as well. “We need to find Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she helped guide the two shocked ponies away from the chaos as the projectiles continued to pound into the city. Applejack shook her head as she quickly ran back towards the manhole they came in. “As much as Ah’m worried Rainbow, we need to save ourselves first!” She shouted while gesturing towards the still shocked Pinkie and sobbing Rarity. Overhead another object smashed into an office building, screams came from the ponies inside as the whole front wall began to crumble. A nearby stallion rammed into AJ by accident, knocking her to the side, stumbling, Applejack glared at the pony but cried out in horror as just seconds later the stallion was smashed into a fine red paste by a falling chunk of the collapsing office complex. She probably would’ve just died if that pony hadn’t rammed into her. Having seen this, Rainbow leaned over and wrapped her wing around AJ before yanking towards the sewer entrance. “C’mon you idiot!” She yelled over the chaos, relenting to the fact that Applejack was right, they needed to get to a safe place first and then focus on saving Twilight. :[-]: A large gaping hole had opened up most of the sewer after the most recent impact, after having pulled the two incapacitated mares down into the semi-safe zone. Applejack helped to guide Rarity inside before slumping against a nearby entrance, other ponies who had noticed the cover had jumped in as well and took shelter by the stream of waste. Pinkie’s mane had deflated slightly, her eyes still wide as she tried to comprehend what had just happened over the past couple of minutes. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was trying to calm Rarity while Applejack, like Pinkie Pie, sat there trying to gauge what she had just witnessed. Especially with that bit of the stallion who had unintentionally saved her. Or was it? She couldn’t tell, all she could think about was those final moments of him going to keep moving, only to be smashed like a bug beneath tons of debris. One second a living pony was there, next there was nothing but smouldering rock and pieces of pony. “Applejack!” AJ shook her head and turned to see Rainbow Dash looking at her. “I know you’re tired of me saying this but... I’m for real this time. I’m going to look for Twilight.” Applejack blinked and jolted along with Rainbow as another earth shaking explosion sounded nearby. Applejack let off a shuddering breath before saying. “I-I’ll go–” Rainbow Dash shook her head and planted a hoof on AJ’s chest. “Somepony needs to watch those two.” Rainbow tilted her head towards Rarity and Pinkie. “Plus I can fly, I’ll have a better view and chance of seeing Twilight.” She smiled, Applejack bit her lip and relented before leaning up and suddenly hugging Rainbow Dash. “Y’all just stay safe now...” Applejack pulled back and looked at Rainbow. “Whatever this is...Ah ain’t seen anything like it, and it ain’t pullin’ no kicks Rainbow. If you ain’t careful, you’ll get seriously hurt.” AJ took a breath and Rainbow nodded her head. “I understand, AJ.” Rainbow snorted softly before smiling confidently. “Besides, it’s gonna take more than some fancy explosions to take down the best Wonderbolt!” Another blast rocked the earth, a gust of extreme heat and dust blasted its way into the sewer, causing everypony inside to scream as the tunnel came crashing down. :[-]: Rainbow Dash didn’t know how long she was out for, all she knew was that it was dark, smelled, and the outside world sounded as if it was the end of time itself. Groaning softly, she sat up and held a hoof to her head, her face was wet and whatever it was, she had gotten it on her hoof. Subconsciously, she prayed she hadn’t fallen into the stream of waste, but after smelling her hoof, a new fear dawned on her. It was blood. Her blood. Rainbow felt herself starting to panic as she brought her head down and tapped with her hoof around the cause of the bleeding. Gasping loudly, she felt a scratch on her head, it wasn’t too big, and it didn’t feel deep. That was a relief, she might’ve just had a rock hit her, probably what knocked her out. Still though, she might have a concussion for all she knew. Rainbow Dash stumbled to her hooves, slipping a bit as she found it troubling to keep her footing. “G-guys?” She forced out, yeah she had a concussion that’s for sure. Wincing lightly she stumbled down the path of the sewer, distant sunlight coming from a manhole. Outside she heard loud chopping of air followed by several objects zooming overhead. She could also make out screams along with sporadic cracking noises she couldn’t figure out. Rainbow began to feel very scared, looking around the dark she couldn’t stifle the whimper that escaped her throat. “It’s okay, Rainbow...” The pegasus squeaked and turned to find Applejack sitting against the wall after her eyes adjusted. “Ah got Rarity and Pinkie, the two of them... Ah think they fainted. The others that were down here hiding, Ah think...” Applejack took in a sharp breath. “I’m hoping they made it deeper in and Ah just hadn’t seen ’em.” Rainbow Dash cursed under her breath and fell next to Applejack, hooves covering her face as everything started to catch up with her. “What in Tartarus is happening, AJ?” Rainbow looked at her. “What in the world is all this?! What started it?!” She asked, her eyes becoming misty. AJ shuddered and shook her head as she shifted to pull both Rarity and Pinkie towards her. “Ah dun know, Rainbow. Ah’m just as confused as you are,” She said softly, a muffled scream came from above the surface but was quickly silenced by a sharp, repeating crack sound. “The explosions stopped about ten minutes ago,” Applejack said as she shifted to look at Rainbow. “Ah heard this weird choppin’ sound, next thing I knew, there were firecrackers or something going off up there. But the screams haven’t stopped, so whatever it is, it ain’t good.” Rainbow took a breath and sighed. “I hope to Celestia Twilight isn’t in bad of shape like we are...” Rainbow curled up and took a breath, Applejack sighed as well. AJ looked at Rainbow and nodded her head before lightly prodding her with a hoof. “Don’t worry, Rainbow. If Twilight can defeat a crazy mare in a village, all the way to Discord and Tirek. Ah think she’ll be fine.” Rainbow listened to this and nodded her head before looking at AJ. “Yeah. You’re right...I’m just...” Rainbow took a breath, she hated to say this but it was true. “I’m scared, AJ. I just. I want to go back home now and just take a nap...” Applejack snorted softly. “You and me both, Dash.” :[-]: “Red Alert. Red Alert. All tactical combat personnel, be advised this is not a drill.” The automated loud voice said over the intercom as John watched the live video feed in shock. Aside from the alarm and the automated announcement, everyone in the room was silent as they watched the globe. “Why now...” A voice came from behind John, he turned to see Admiral Watson approaching from behind. “Why would they do this?” His voice was stunned just as John was as he watched the feed of an entire Equine city being razed to the ground by the Sleeper forces controlled by Kane. “It’s a message...” John muttered softly, finally finding his voice as Watson rested his hands against the console in front of him. “That no matter what, nothing will stop them.” He turned to gaze up at the screen. “Just like San Francisco, August 14th, 2018, Admiral.” “Yes, Officer Conway.” Watson took a breath. “I remember the shelling clearly. I was there.” John gulped and turned to Watson and shook his head with a heavy breath of his own. “I take it you also remember that there was no diplomacy, no declaration of war.” Watson nodded his head. “It was just out right terrorizing, " He then said in a weighted tone, “Destroy the morale of the civilian populous and the entire engine of war will come sputtering to a stop.” He sighed and then looked up at the predator feed. “Don’t tell the boys on the diplomacy mission. Leave them in the dark, we don’t want anyone worrying. Our primary goal right now is to get Victor-19, open her up and bolster our manpower as quickly as possible.” “Yes sir!” John saluted. “One more thing, Conway.” “Yes sir?” John looked at Watson. “The prisoner would like to speak with you.” > Chapter 23: FUBAR > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia stepped down the stone stairs and onto the cobblestone path that led from the main gate and into the castle yard. Surrounded by a regiment of royal guardsponies stood a metal being that was nearly nine feet tall, high enough to even make Celestia herself look up for once. By her side, Celestia heard the small Pony, Winter Dawn, gasp and quickly hide behind her hooves. This made Celestia snort softly as she glanced back at the small pony. “Do you know what this is?” The royal mare asked, to which the small pony gulped and looked up at her with fearful eyes. “I think I have an idea,” The white unicorn muttered softly. Celestia nodded her head slowly and turned to look at the large being before taking a breath. “My name is Princess Celestia,” The naked Princess said in a loud and professional tone. “I am the oldest of the two rulers that is Equestria. Please, I ask of you, state your business here today?” Silence fell over the castleyard as Celestia looked at the black, metal creature that returned her gaze with its own lifeless stare. The wind howled across the mountainside as the dark cloudy sky shrouded the sun and dimmed the world around them. Off in the distance, Celestia swore she heard the familiar chopping of air that human contraptions made. Suddenly the mechanized creature sounded off a deep honk, startling everypony around it, including Her Majesty. Its slim, blue eye flashed briefly just before its arm shot up towards Celestia, its hand flat and fingers pointing towards her. The guards stumbled back, just as the captain barked at them to hold their positions. Just then, something shifted on the being’s palm, a small capsule opened and a blue light began to float out of it. Magic particles lifted and began taking shape, slowly shifting themselves into what resembled Celestia herself. “What in the world?” Celestia murmured under her breath as another image beside her portrait appeared, it was a crown and between the two was an arrow. Below that was the bewildered face of a pony. Celestia cocked her head confusedly and the anonymous pony did the same, was it suggesting confusion? Was it asking if she was the ruler? She just announced that she was. Perhaps it just didn’t understand? Celestia gulped as she shifted her wings and nodded her head. “Uh...” she gulped and regained her composure, she wouldn’t lie. This was rather strange to say the least, surprisingly this was more awkward than Discord being in control. Of all times that beings from another realm, or time in this case, had to arrive was when all the weird stuff started to happen. “If you’re asking if I am the ruler––” Celestia took the moment to bow her head. “––Then yes, that is correct!” The chopping in the distance was gradually becoming louder. A few moments passed, silence once again falling. The howling wind and chopping air continuing, but was silenced by a pony guard sticking his head out from a nearby watchtower. “Hooman flying chariot inbound!” He shouted down to everypony in the yard, the chopping now heavily present along with a deep buzzing. The metal beast in the yard turned its head violently just as the human flying machine appeared above the wall. Its massive, metal blades, slashing the air into submission which deafened those around it. The engines screamed aloud as the large bird descended onto the castle grounds. Celestia shielded both her and Winter Dawn from the gusting wind, the castle guards stumbling back, partially panicked but quickly regaining composure. “Form rank!” The captain of the guard shouted, his voice amplified by a sound spell. “Wait!” Celestia shouted but was silenced by a sharp, loud crack followed by a loud whining sound as the metal human contraption recoiled back slightly. Smoke billowing out one of its engines, the blades screaming loudly as the the metal monster twisted sharply to the left before quickly dropping fifteen feet to the ground, banging loudly against the castle floor, the whipping blades ripping into the dirt and cobblestone, before whirling a sharp chunk of metal that had been torn from the craft right towards Celestia’s face, only to be deflected off the shield she had prepared earlier. Moments passed as the smoke and dust from the craft faded, the whining engines dying as the surviving blades came to halt. Blinking her wide eyes, Celestia noticed the black mass of the large, armored creature approaching the craft, in one of its hands it held a boxy, L shaped item that was nearly the size and length of a mare’s leg. The tip of the object was pointed towards the human machine and was smoking. Celestia blinked once more, confusion still fresh on her mind before she shook her head after a few seconds. “W-wait!” She yelled out again towards the large metal creature, its weapon still pointed as it walked towards the human craft. Celestia lowered her shield and began to move towards the creature. “Your Majesty no!” Winter Dawn shouted, her mind screaming at her that the most powerful alicorn in Equestria was in danger. “It’ll kill you!” Yet Celestia wasn’t listening, she wouldn’t let that thing in front of her exacerbate the already tenuous relationship they had with the humans. Celestia wrapped her magic around the metal beast’s shoulder and yanked it back. Even the large mechanized beast was unable to hold up against her magic and its shoulder reared back. Thus forcing it to face Celestia’s pleading eyes. Suddenly, the side door to the human craft slammed open, smoke billowing out as the few human soldiers and diplomats stumbled from the vehicle and onto the cobblestone and grass. The diplomats in white suits dropped to their knees, wheezing and coughing, while the few soldiers in black stepped out out of the craft, weapons raised and trained outwards in all directions, moving tactically as they kept an eye out for what shot them down. “Alright!” William shouted out to his men, “get those idiots back inside the ship, and keep close to the craft till we figure out what the fuck just happened!” Sergeant Stacey snatched Angela Green by the shoulder and yanked the woman back onto the craft. Taking a breath, William brought a hand up to his transmitter and pressed it. “Baghdad to Hotel. Over” The radio was silent for a few seconds before spitting out some static along with John’s partially obscured voice. “Hotel, send it.” William peeked around the corner, smoke and dust still obscuring most of his vision, his visor was dusty as well, making things even harder to see. “We’ve taken unknown fire and splashed, and Alpha Papa doesn’t seem fit to checkout.” William couldn’t see or hear it but John as of the moment was whirling and cursing. A few seconds passed and the static filled voice would return. “What’s the situation right now? Over.” “Fit as a fiddle and hunkering down. Over.” William watched as the dust cleared from his eyes, squinting as he made out a large humanoid creature appeared to be communicating with what he recognized as the Equine leader. “What in God’s name…?” he muttered as he saw the tall creature tear itself away from the white pony, only to raise what was obviously a gun right back towards William. Suddenly, Will felt something grab the collar of his tactical vest and yank him back into the craft just a sharp crack could be heard, as sparks erupted from the metal right where Will’s head was. “What in the world are you doing!?” William could hear the Pony Princess shout in pony her language. “They’re friendly!” Yet what she was saying clearly wasn’t getting through to the thing’s head as another sharp crack sounded out. This time whatever the thing fired pierced the hull of the Condor, and just barely grazed everyone inside as it tore through the other end. “Fuck, Commander! We’re fish in a barrel here!” Lt. Michael shouted as another shot tore right through the hull once more before striking one of the scientists in the kneecap, blood and bone shrapnel spurting outwards as the man issued a sharp cry before falling onto his back. Shouting the obvious words, “I’m hit!” Before falling back wailing. “No shit!” Stacey caught the man and pulled him towards the back of the craft, William shook his head. Michael hopped over to William and pointed out towards a garden of statues, hedge mazes, walls, and other various bits of cover. “Pop some smoke and give us fifteen seconds, my boys and I can get over there and suppress this motherfucker.” William nodded his head. “I see no issue with that,” he said opening his left pack and pulling out his M18 smoke, he quickly pulled the pin and tossed one out before tossing a second for safe measure. Smiling wide, Michael motioned his squad of men. “Alright boys! Last one to those hedge rows takes the cover closest to the enemy!” Once the smoke was of reasonable density the eight man squad leapt out of the craft and dashed across the castleyard. Muttering under his breath, Michael yelped a little when the ground next to him exploded as one of the enemy’s rounds struck just inches from his right leg. Behind him he heard a cry and then a, “Juice is down!” from one of his squadmates. His heart lurched momentarily before he grit his teeth and tried to not think about losing one of his men just yet. His eyes locked on a large statue of what looked like a pony soldier, Michael dove behind it, chambered a round, stepped out of cover, and trained his laser sight on their attacker. A large caped man in a suit of medieval looking armor... what the fuck, was his thought just as he squeezed the trigger on his SCAR before scoring a round of 7.62 right into one of King Arthur’s knights. At least, he thought he did. When the heavy round slammed the attacker right between their eyes, its head flung back, as its body stumbled into the white equine leader. The mare yelped and teleported out of the way as the large behemoth brought a hand to its scratched helmet, the bullet having shattered and carved white specs into its armor. The metal monster grunted as Michael lowered his rifle and muttered, “Oh fuck,” right as the armored giant raised its weapon and fired a returning shot right through the statue and straight through the man’s chest. Commander William jammed his transmitter and raised his AK12 as he blasted a dozen rounds into their attacker. Within seconds, the entire castle courtyard would be flooded with the sounds of gunfire as the rest of Michael’s men got into position. “Baghdad to Hotel! We’re taking fire, one civilian casualty! Target appears to be human in nature and heavily kitted!” “Hotel to Baghdad, please repeat, the target is human?” William jolted as another AP round tore through the VTOL like warm butter, the fuck is this thing shooting?! “Did I fucking stutter?!” William transmitted as he stepped out and fired a dozen more rounds at the metal monster before dropping his magazine and replacing it with another. The ponys now having escaped from the combat area. Before Central could reply William jammed the transmitter once more when he got behind cover. “It’s a fucking armored giant! A huge fucker and it's tearing my men to shreds––” William went silent as a blast of unbelievable energy enveloped the entire battlefield, his sentence cut short as he felt his body freeze up along with the bullets still traveling through the air, one of which he saw piercing the hull and gunning for his left thigh. Time had stopped. Or so it seemed. William found himself still able to shift his eyes about, though mostly he kept gazing at the fucking bullet about to shred his damn thigh and either, get him infected with the pathogen, or simply just ruin his ability to walk for the rest of his life. Maybe even destroy his femoral artery and make him bleed out. Either way, time stopping at this very moment fucking sucked. “What is the meaning of this?!” William’s eyes shifted when he heard the sound of Celestia’s voice. “W-words cannot even describe how... shocked and disturbed I am right now!” Celestia stepped back into her castleyard, or what was left of it. Bullet-holes and casings now specked a large portion of the grounds, and in the center laid a human soldier, a gaping wound in his back, inches from his spine. The man was still breathing, but barely, and blood was pooling beneath him. Stepping around the stasis bullets that floated in the air, Celestia’s eyes widened as she knelt down beside the bleeding man. His facemask was torn from his head and Celestia could see the human’s features for the first time. She couldn’t tell the man’s age, yet the grizzled look he had and the stern, but also pained looking face showed a great amount of maturity, even when facing through the agony of bleeding-out. The projectile that had hit him had passed through, luckily missing vital organs and leaving only a large hole.Yet the diameter was far too damaging to get the man to a doctor fast enough to save him; at least a human doctor. Closing her eyes Celestia ignited her horn, a light formed around the entry and exit points of the man’s wounds. Spider webs of flesh and muscle began to form around the gaping hole, connecting to each other as the man’s injury seemingly healed itself. Standing back up she smiled softly before glancing over towards the garden, the direction in which all the smaller bullets she had stopped were coming from. She saw at least six other humans, all wearing their masks and black suits, stationed behind statues, and hedgerows, their weapons raised, tips exploding in flame as the bullets soared out of their barrels. Of course, that’s what they were doing before Celestia used her magic to bring everything to a grinding halt. Walking over, she noticed the statue of her favorite captain had a hole through it, behind it she saw another human lying in the grass, his mask still on as it laid there with a sizzling hole in its chest. Celestia’s eyes widened and she quickly got down but stopped when she noticed that this one... this one wasn’t breathing. Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head, getting up she turned to the armored creature, the one that openly attacked for seemingly no reason. “You...” Celestia muttered and began approaching the creature, her magic flashing out with a bright light. The bullets dropping to the ground like dead weight along with every soldier, including the giant. William scrambled and turned to look at his thigh, sighing with relief when he saw the metal slug on the floor. The same slug that nearly tore through him. Though he wasn’t a religious man, he drew a cross on his chest and sighed before poking his head outside slowly. He saw the white mare approaching the iron giant, her horn flashing as she hoisted the creature back to its feet with her telepathic abilities which William and had dumbed down to that of Professor X’s powers. Don’t fuck with her or she’ll murder all of us with just a simple thought. “You come to my kingdom, terrify my subjects, and start a fight on the steps of my home. How dare you.” William watched as the pony forced the attacker’s arms to its side, restraining it with nothing more than pure thought, gazing back over at the garden, William saw two operatives dragging the wounded man named Juice to safety while the others crowded over where Michael had been. Will’s eyes widened and he bit his lower lip. Getting up, he moved over to the armored assailant, drawing his SIG William, chambered a round, and pointed it at the head of the attacker. “Remove the helmet,” William spoke in Equestrian after clearing his throat, Celestia jumped at this and turned, recognizing the voice and body structure of the human next to her. “You’re the human commander,” She muttered and Will rose a hand up and flicked the gun at the armored man. “Remove that helmet so I can put an end to this right now,” His voice came out in a growl, anger getting the better of him, but he paused when his radio began to emit static once more. “Baghdad, this is Overseer,” Admiral Watson’s voice came past the static, most likely watching from the POV cameras on the soldiers’ helmets. “Lower your weapon, I want the assailant brought back here alive. Preferably removed from that... power armor.” William brought his hand to his transmitter. “Negative, sir, our ride is splashed. Over.” “Copy that, Baghdad. We’ll send another one for pickup,” Watson replied bluntly, his voice sounding frustrated, possibly due to the fact that they lost one out of the four VTOLs. A sharp hiss came from in front of William, and he saw that Celestia had figured out how to remove the helmet, pulling it off her eyes narrowed at the sight of an uncomfortable looking... teenager. William blinked when he saw a young, youthful boy struggling in the power armor, most likely trying to move but held in place by whatever psionic trick Celestia was applying, keeping the boy from doing so. The Commander’s mouth dropped slightly and he pulled the gun back from the boy’s head, all intentions of blasting his brains out flew from his conscience. “Central are you receiving this...? Over.” William muttered softly as the boy opened his eyes and looked at him. The kid’s skin was pale and his eyes were charcoal black. A few moments passed as William watched the squirming child, his radio crackling with static. “Yes...” Watson’s voice came through, the tone and demeanor completely different. “Baghdad... situation has changed, we can’t risk bringing that thing back...” Watson’s slow and unsteady voice trailed off for a moment before finally coming back and saying, “You know what to do.” William blinked and swallowed the lump in his throat, Princess Celestia turned her head to look at William, his mask hiding his pained expression, closing his eyes he took a deep breath. Within a span of half a second, William raised his handgun once more and blew the child’s brains out. Killing it instantly along with his dignity. :[-]: Celestia released a startled cry when she saw the boy’s brains splatter across the back of his power armor and across the cobblestone pathway. Her magic fading as the entire suit crumpled back onto the ground with a loud bang. Her eyes tearing up as she glared in utter horror at the human commander who had forced the being to meet its demise. It took every ounce of her will to not send the human off the side of her mountain. Instead, she stepped back and swallowed the lump in her throat and asked, “Why?” Her voice quiet and hoarse. William holstered his handgun and turned to the pony, clearing his throat... his voice came through quiet and heavy with pain. “I-I...” his head sunk to the floor. “Th-there was nothing we could do.” He took a deep breath, his voice regaining composure as he took all the pain he now felt and shoved it away into that heaping trash pile he always tossed it in. “He was... corrupt you could say, a corruption that has no cure, and... can spread if not dealt with.” Celestia raised her eyebrows as she shook her head. “But you didn’t even try!” William clenched his fist and refrained from shouting at the Equine Princess, he grit his teeth. “For eight years,” The Commander spoke softly. “For eight years we tried.” He pointed to the dead super soldier. “Beings such as him are the ones who committed genocide on my race, no diplomacy, no political actions. They just started killing.” Celestia blinked and straightened herself out, wings rustling as she bit her lower lip. “It didn’t try and kill us ponies,” The mare spoke softly, her nerves still a little on edge. She hadn’t seen this much death since back when the three pony tribes were separated. Over the years she had become complacent, too used to things being solved peacefully or without anypony getting hurt. What she didn’t know is that humanity usually tended to solve everything by just stomping out the source of what was causing the issue, whether it be by gunshot or a laser guided bomb dropped from a drone. At least... that’s how things were solved back during the Fall. William took a breath. “I didn’t know, I wasn’t here for that...” William shrugged, he wasn't suited for this talking bullshit, why did he have to be the one given the power to communicate horse tongue? “All I know is that we came to have a friendly chat with you guys but were shot out of the air above the LZ. Maybe it was just trying to get on your good side just to shoot you in the back...” William covered his facemask with his hand and took a breath, he had no idea how to continue on with this. Their ship was shot out of the air, they had a wounded civilian in the cabin, one KIA, and another man who lost a large amount of blood and had his mask knocked off. He was a Field Commander, not a fucking diplomat for Christ’s sake. For the first time since basic training William not only felt awkward, but also partially humiliated as his brain kept replaying the scene of him shooting a fucking child in the face over and over. How the hell do spec ops guys deal with all the shit they have to endure? Celestia took a breath, her own mental state finally calming down. “I wish... to apologize for the one you lost over there.” Celestia tossed her head towards the broken statue and Michael, whose body laid lifeless on the ground. His squad stood over his body, helmets resting on their chests. “Lieutenant Michael Young. One of the best, but a little immature, officers under my Command...” William took a deep breath and shook his head. “Damn bastard was always one to go bull-rushing into danger, always knew to pick the best tactical positions that I never thought of.” William took a breath. “Yet. Those slugs that... kid was shooting... there was no preparing for this.” William shook his head. “Baghdad, this is Central. Aborting mission, extraction is on its way to your position. T-minus forty minutes. Over.” William pressed the transmitter. “Copy that. Out.” His voice was low and overall tired-sounding. “My apologies, Princess. My boys and I will be heading out of here within the hour.” Celestia looked at the Commander and nodded her head slowly. “I must apologize, Commander. I had no intention of bringing harm to you or your people. This was just all an unfortunate coincidence for us all.” William nodded his head as Angela Green, the Horizon diplomat, stumbled out of the craft and ran towards William. “Commander William!” Angela shouted urgently, a tinge of worry in her voice, as Will turned his head towards her, gritting his teeth. It was just one bad thing after another. “It’s Roger,” The woman said, referring to the man who got hit in the kneecap by a stray slug. “It’s bad, we can’t stop the bleeding and he’s fallen unconscious!” Celestia turned her head to William, confused due to the fact she couldn’t understand Angela at all. “Is something wrong?” Celestia asked William. “I may be able to help.” William looked to Celestia and nodded his head. “Yes, follow me.” The man bleeding in the cabin of the Condor whimpered as Celestia sat back after fixing the man’s leg. Similar to how she closed up Juice’s supposedly fatal wound, she released a small breath and looked to William who seemed surprised by the alicorn’s magic. “It’s a fucking miracle...” Sergeant Stacey muttered under her breath. “If only she saved Michael’s ass.” William shot a look at the Sergeant, but didn’t say anything. The girl was probably feeling guilt for not being the one to lay down her life for the CO. William released a small breath and looked to Celestia, he bowed his head. “Thank you, Princess, because of you this man will be able to walk again,” he said sincerely. Celestia smiled softly, happy to help the humans that had unintentionally been forced into a firefight. Though it wasn’t her fault that had happened, she just couldn’t help but bear the guilt. “You’re welcome, Commander... Keshiner?” “Please, just call me William,” Will told Celestia, the alicorn nodded her head and shifted her wings a little bit before standing up. “You’re welcome, William.” The mare glanced about the interior of the now partially tilted VTOL. “If you’d all like, you can take temporary shelter inside my castle while you wait for... extraction you called it?” William nodded his head. “Basically means our ride out of here but,” William stopped for a moment, fuck it, he thought. “Yeah sure, I don’t see the harm in hanging out inside.” He got up and turned to his boys and girls. “Alright everyone, Her Majesty wishes that we hang out inside for a bit. So to please her I need you guys to mount up.” The men and women inside nodded their heads and stood up, grabbing their gear and weapons. DeSilva, the pilot of the craft, stumbled out of the cockpit groaning, his face partially bloodied due to the crash landing causing him to ram his face into the dash. “Th-the fuck happened?” The dazed pilot asked, William turned and gasped when he noticed the man wasn’t in any of his bioprotective gear. “Shit!” William cursed out loud and DeSilva flinched, the migraine he had was taking its toll. William shook his head and approached the man, nobody had prepared for this. While the pilots did have protective gear, no one had anticipated the fucking VTOL getting shot of the sky, and then turned to swiss cheese by a God damned fucking future gun some teenager had. DeSilva groaned and covered his ears, the man dropping to his knees as he gagged. His head ringing, nose bloodied. He just felt like utter shit. “How’re you feeling?” William asked as he knelt in front of DeSilva, this wasn’t the first time William experienced someone who was exposed to the open air down on the new Earth. Lt. Shaun Bell back when that fucking grizzly in the cottage attacked them was exposed when his suit was torn open. Which honestly, he still didn’t know why the fuck a grizzly was in a goddamn cottage. Yet, the only thing he recalled ever happening over the couple days after Shaun’s exposure didn’t seem too bad. The man just seemed out of it all the time. But... the fuck was he talking about? He didn’t know shit. For all he knew the three men who’re exposed might be goddamn goners or worse. They could become Sleepers. William shivered at the idea. “I feel like shit...” DeSilva replied, his voice ragged. “I don’t really know what happened, we were coming in for landing, and then we fell like a brick. I heard gunfire and then here we are.” William nodded his head and took the man by his arm, hoisting him up. “C’mon... we’re going to take shelter in the castle.” “Your majesty!” A voice shouted from outside the craft, Celestia, who had been observing the strange design that made up human seats, turned her head. She hopped out the open hatch and saw an imperial guard running towards the downed bird. “What is it?” Celestia asked quickly. The guard came to a stop wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. William stepped out with DeSilva and blinked as he looked at the tired horse. The stallion picked his head up. “It’s Manehattan! It’s under siege!” > Chapter 24: Marcus > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 16th, 15:00 Horizon Quarantine Central Officer Conway stepped into the viewing room along with Admiral Watson and two armed gentlemen. With their hands behind their back they could see the head Scientist, Doctor Hassel, discussing research with his colleagues. Watson cleared his throat and the scientists perked their heads up, the lesser few collecting their notes and getting up to leave as Hassel remained where he was. “Somesing I can assist you vith, Admiral?” The old man asked as he straightened himself out, the intercom beside Hassel released a bit of static as the voice of a young woman came through. “Who’s there?” It was the captive Amelia. She could be seen behind the reflective viewing glass leaning against a wall, head cocked to the side. Having been the first time seeing the captive in person, John blinked and looked with awe and slight concern at the armored giant. Watson took a breath. “My apologies, Doctor, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to step out.” Watson nodded his head towards John, hand gesturing as well to him. “The Central Officer and I need to have a discussion with our guest here.” Watson then pointed to the glass and Hassel opened his mouth, his expression looking as if he was going to protest but stopped, closed his mouth and nodded his head. “Yes. I vill leave you be, though, after you’re done,” Hassel took a breath and continued, “I has somesing I should share vith you.” Watson blinked at this and cocked an eyebrow. “How important is it?” He asked and Hassel held a hand up. “Not enough for you to hear is zis instant,” Hassel said and gathered up his things before smiling and nodding at John. “Hello, Jonathan.” John smiled lightly and returned the gesture as the man stepped past him and out of the room. The door closed behind Hassel and John as one of the two guards turned to input the locking mechanism so that no one would intrude while Watson went over to the viewing glass, hands behind his back. Taking one hand out from behind his back, he pressed his finger gently onto the transmitter, a faint click was heard and he spoke, “Less than an hour ago, a team of my boys encountered a friend of yours who was jettisoned out of the Sleeper ship around the same time you were.” The girl in the armor straightened her head and pushed herself off the wall. “Oh?” Her voice came from the speaker. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. There was a second?” Watson’s face didn’t change, his expression still appearing icy, meanwhile John bit his lower lip. His eyes looking at the armored girl, his conscious repeatedly telling himself not to reveal himself to who may, or may not be his daughter. A part of him wasn’t buying it, though his inner civilian was finding it increasingly difficult to restrain itself. Watson shifted a bit and looked to John and pointed to a tablet on the desk. “Hand me that,” he ordered to which John complied and handed him the tablet to which Watson snatched and logged into the latest debriefing file. “A young male, presumably fourteen to fifteen years old, blonde hair, blue eyes, wore a similar suit of armor to what you are.” Watson glanced up to the girl in the armor. “Sound familiar?” He cocked an eyebrow but the captive didn’t respond, he sighed and continued,  “He had a device which was able to develop a 3D holographic image; via a projection point on his palm and was equipped a large magnetic rifle similar to the one you carried.” The girl in the room remained silent, the Admiral sighed softly and went on with the debriefing, “Commander Keshiner and his squad encountered him outfront the equine capital before taking fire and terminatinating--” “Quiet!” The girl suddenly snapped, John cocked an eyebrow and instinctively stepped back when their captive approached the glass, Watson however remained rooted and smiled when he found the trigger. “So you do know something of him?” Watson asked in a slightly lower tone, his legs parting slightly as he deactivated the tablet and folded his hands behind his back. Amy lifted her head and stepped back from the glass. “What did you do to him?” Watson ignored the question and raised his head slightly and looked down upon the armored giant. His icy glare showing little to no emotion as he glared upon the captive on the other side. “What is your mission?” Watson simply asked and the girl shook her head. Amy began to pace back and forth “What did you do to Mark?!” John looked to Watson as the armored girl suddenly approached the glass and the two guards wracked rounds into the chambers of their rifles. John shifted a little and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sir, I advise we refrain from revealing any details,” He said softly and Watson nodded, hand remaining off the transmitter so the captive couldn’t hear. “Agreed,” Watson replied with a nod of his head, his hand pressed down on the transmitter. “Amelia, I request that you simply answer our––” The armored maiden’s fist slammed against the three and half inch, bullet proof glass, spider webs forming around the flast of her fist as to silence the admiral. The two guards by the door jolted with shock and raised their weapons. “Violence won’t get you the answers you want!” Watson said after having composed himself fairly quickly. “Now I assure you, Amelia ” Watson’s voice lowered,  “Your comrade is safe and in the hands of the natives.” John glanced at Watson upon hearing such a lie, though it seemed to work. The tension in the room settling a tad as Amelia stepped back, arms relaxing as she tilted her head slightly. Though it wasn’t on the surface, John could sense Watson’s discomfort as everyone knew all too well that Amelia could easily bust out and snap all of their necks. It was only due to the native’s inherent abilities to bend matter that allowed them to succeed in defeating the first power armored opponent. Yet no native with such abilities resided on the Horizon, and the use of a forty millimeter launcher inside to take her down again would be devastating to the ship’s hull. John gulped and tried his best to keep a straight face even though Amelia had no possible way of seeing them. The thought of what would happen if she found out her supposed partner was actually dead disturbed him greatly. Though after a few moments of unsettling quietness, the armored maiden spoke, “I told you, Watson...” her voice deep and with a touch of agitation to it. “I came here with the knowledge of Kane’s plans and am here to warn everyone.” Watson cocked his head at this and raised an eyebrow, his face still holding that scowling look. With one hand still behind his back and the other on the transmitter. Watson cracked his neck with a swift twist and leaned forward into the mic, his eyes not leaving his captive. “Why didn’t you mention anything about your partner? To us?” He asked. Amelia’s body shifted as her weight moved over to her left foot. “I assumed since you detected me, you found Mark,” her voice had gone quiet the agitating tone vanished into thin air and had drifted to that of regret. Watson didn’t seem phased by her change in tone and seemed rather unimpressed by her response, John could tell that any ounce of trust he had once had was gone. Watson furrowed his brow at Amelia’s answer. “As aforementioned a squad with some of my best men had encountered your friend, Mark, and was assaulted. Care to explain the possibilities as to why he had provoked such hostilities?” Amelia remained silent and Watson glanced at John he remained at attention. A few moments past and Watson keyed the mic once more. “Miss Amelia--” Watson was silenced by a raised a hand, an action which prompted the guards in the back to twitch nervously as their weapons began to raise, only to be halted by John’s hand. “Indoctrination,” Amelia stated firmly, Watson thought he could guess what she was referring and frowned. “The spell which caused what you would know to be the Sleeper Virus. Or Sleepwalker as some may call it.” She stayed quiet for a few moments before continuing, “Like myself and a few others, when the magic reserves to keep the spell going fade, a few of us come back and regain some form of conscious.” Amelia turned away from the glass and walked forward.  “I thought I trusted Mark was free from Archangel’s...or... Kane’s spell but...” She fell silent. John couldn’t help himself when he glanced at Watson. “Spell?” He cocked his head. “Like something from Harry Potter?” Watson silenced John with a finger and pressed the transmitter once more. “How can we trust that you’ll not fall under this spell and breach containment?” It was a dumb question, yet Watson felt he should ask it anyways. Amelia shifted her weight to her other foot and gave Watson an unexpected, yet correct answer, “You can’t.” :[-]: Twilight had no idea that her reflexes had kicked in so quickly when the building came crumbling down on top of them. Her shield having saved her and the original two pursuers from being turned to a bloody jam beneath the weight of the five story structure. Through thousand pounds of debris, Twilight could hear and feel the chaos outside. The sporadic cracking and the deafening explosions that reverberated throughout the city made their way into Twilight’s twitching ears. A cough tore the alicorns attention back towards the two unicorns laying on the floor, panting and moaning softly as they both came to their senses. Twilight immediately went to the stallion and used her magic to pull him to his haunches. “Answers now!” The Alicorn barked before flinching as a horrific scream was silenced by a sharp report of cracking sounds. The stallion Twilight had met as Pen Writer gagged, a bit of blood escaping his lips. “Th-the prophecy!” The male gasped and Twilight blinked. “What prophecy?” She asked and the pony gagged more, his blue eyes regaining a bit of color. He groaned and breathed in deeply before gasping as a sharp pain hit his ribs, something may be broken or two. “Th-the end of Equestria,” he gasped, “The return of the Humans, just as predicted by General Heir...they’re here to destroy us.” The stallion fell back. “We were too late...even if we had achieved our current goals, we were just too late.” he stressed. Twilight blinked. General Heir? She was faintly familiar with that name, though she never researched too much into the Equestrian military, she vaguely recalls the name belonging to a not so smart stallion. A nut job as some referred to him as; or a conspiracy theorist. The alicorn shook her head. “If what you’re saying is correct, I need to find my friends and get us out of here and solve this.” She stood on her hooves and looked down to Pen. “Do you think you and your friend can help me?” Pen blinked and looked up at Twilight as Shimmering Grace gagged and stirred. “Help how?” The stallion gestured with a hoof towards the rubble and outside, the sounds of explosions and sporadic alien weapon could be heard with an increasing tempo. “Out there is death!” He looked back to Twilight. “I know you’ve saved Equestria countless times, Miss Sparkle,” The formal addresing made Twilight cock her head, “But these *things*...the ancient texts write them as hideous barbaric beasts! They do not care for the likes of magic! They’ll blast us down before we can even call for the elements to assist us!” Just then a massive bang, followed by a torrent of heat shook the rubble, sprinkling the ponies in dust. Twilight nearly dropped to her knees and winced. “We have to try! Perhaps we can negotiate!” “Open your damn eyes!” The stallion barked back. “How can we negotiate with this?! What? Do you think they are simply misunderstood?” “Ponies are dying!” Twilight nearly screamed back. “Do you think we should idly stand by while they thoughtlessly slaughter our friends?!” “And you think talking it out will stop them?” The unicorn stood. “Monarch, the organization I’m part of, was designed to stop them. To prevent *this*--” He gestured outwards “--from ever happening!” Twilight shook her head. “I need to find my friends and get to Canterlot, warn the princesses.” “Then what?” Shimmering Grace said as she finally came through, her body aching all over as the unicorn pushed herself to her hooves weakly. Pen knelt down and assisted her before allowing the mare to lean on his side. “Celestia and Luna may hold the power of the Sun and Moon, but you know what great destruction that’ll bring.” “Do not tell me you think we can talk this out?” Pen glanced down at Shimmering Grace and the mare shook her head. “No...what I do know is that if we...engage in conflict, there will be much destruction.” The mare glanced at Twilight Sparkle. “You know this don’t you?” Twilight stood in the dark, teeth gnawing her lip as she really wished Spike was here to urge her towards the, hopefully, right direction. Finally the mare sighed and closed her eyes, her battle with Tirek was devastating, heck she lost her home. Yet this...ponies are actually dying right now. She breathed deeply. “I know,” she said softly and looked to her recent pursuers. “That’s why we need to make a tactical retreat and formulate a plan to deal with...these humans.” She closed her eyes, did she have time to find her friends? Every second she waited, the more ponies she could hear die right outside the rubble. Then again, she had faith in friends ability to make it through this, they had all gone through troubles together. Twilight slammed her hooves into the ground and groaned, eyes clenched shut she opened them and looked to the unicorns. “How good are you at teleportation?” She had to warn Celestia and Luna. :[-]: The dank sea air wafted over his furred snout, the bright rays of light warmed his scales and the sounds of hammering guns thundered in his ears. His eyes glazed as he watched the city before him burn and collapse before him. The distance screams and machine gun fire fresh on his mind as images of fleeing, wailing humans flashed before him. The mushroom clouds caused from planet shattering weapons just miles away from him, the vessels which left the world now high above him. He could remember it clearly, the death, destruction and pure hate. Hate. Hate! The pain, the memories, the experiments, and torture. The straps, and binders, and that fucking muzzle and glass. He can still remember them, his loved ones. The fear in their dead eyes and how sick they were before their passing, and then them. The things in shining gear and their black, soulless eyes as they tore him from his mother and brought him here. Then after so many years, the powers he had gained and the vengeance he and wrecked upon their land. Their world. The ones who had taken him from his family, tortured him and experimented on him for what? Gone. Their civilization wiped from the Earth. The joy he had felt when he watched them flee, the shock and horror he had felt when he endured their world ending weapons. They would really destroy their own world just to kill him. As shocking as it was, he was mildly impressed with himself...until loneliness took hold. How long had it been? How long did he walk the irradiated wastelands before taking it upon himself to reshape the planet, to learn how to play with nature herself? To make new pets and friends to play with, only to have them horribly turn against him like the humans... Discord stood on the bow of the massive war vessel that bombarded Manehattan. The city in which Fluttershy and her friends stayed and were now in danger, something in which he couldn’t let be. The draconequus raised his hands, eyes closing before opening with a flash of white light, the ocean around the warship parting with a magnificent cry of roaring water. With parted wings, the ship would lose its buoyancy and lurch downwards as the first of three would begin to drop to the bottom of the Manehattan harbor-- a searing, sharp pain would strike Discord’s back and rip through his upper collar bone, snapping him back to reality. The parted sea would scream as it began to crash together, massive waves now smashed against the vessels hull as the ship would fall into the water before bobbing back up. Discord cried loudly as he would drop onto his knees now aboard the rocking vessel. His teeth clenched tightly as reddish, black blood pumped outwards from his open wound. The chimera gritted his teeth and groaned and shifted in his spot as faint cackling could be heard behind him. “Now, now,” An old, gravely voice said, “After so long, I cannot believe I am seeing this.” The old voice of a man whistled softly after every other word and Discord slowly craned his head back to see a frail man with a metallic prosthetic arm leaning towards him over a cane. Two large guards in a powered, medieval like armor stood beside him, each weidling large staffs with metallic balls surrounded by electrical currents on top. The Old man held a bulky handgun towards Discord, a toothless smile on his angular face, blue eyes wide with joy. “To think I’d live to see the day I would see you again,” Discord’s face scowled with anger as fury began to take hold, dark magic coursing out of his fingertips and mouth. “Archangel~” The man said in a low whisper. Discord’s eyes gone black and with all his might he flew at the man. “Marcus!” He roared just as the mane cackled and squeezed the trigger on his hand gun. > Chapter 25: Fallen God > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silence fell over the briefing room, the faces of the council members being mix of solemn and outright fear as the video feed came to a halt. Pausing just in time to show a large equine structure crumbling upon being struck by a shell. Admiral Watson turned away from the screen and looked over Humanity’s remaining leaders. “With the emergency council declared and everyone briefed on our current situation, I would certainly appreciate a sitrep on every department’s status.” Watson turned his face towards Master Sergeant Thorne. “Security status?” Thorne stood at attention, eyes forward. “I have everyone arranged into three eight hour shifts, Sir. Each with our most proficient fighters stationed closest to our front and back doors, and eight of our ranger teams out in the field prepping the motion sensors for any potential movement on our A.O.” The admiral nodded. “Any signs of morale decline?” He asked out of curiosity. Thorne smiled and shook his head. “Not from what I can see, matter of fact, Sir, the boys seem rather eager.” the man said as he glanced at Watson. “We’ve been waiting for over a millennia to take these boys back to the ring.” The Admiral nodded slowly and looked out over the other council members. “That’s nice to hear, Master Sergeant, though make sure the boys don’t get too eager.” He took a deep breath and in a low voice,  “As said, overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.” “Yes, Sir.” Thorne nodded and saluted before shifting back into attention. With that Watson began to move down the line of each and every department, listening to what the crew leaders and supervisors had to say. He took notes on their munitions stockpile, food shortages and potential rationing that will need to be done, and most of all: manpower. Already there had been a few reported injuries and fatalities from the recent skirmish with the Sleeper Agent at the Equine capitol and John’s daughter Amelia during her capture. A mission that started off with Three hundred men and women, two hundred of them being made up of humanities most efficient fighters. Were now down to two hundred eighty eight. Not even a week has fully passed and already they were down twelve souls, two of which were dead and Watson couldn’t bring back. “How are the preparations with retrieving Commander Keshiner and his team?” Watson asked to the logistics officers who sat up in his seat and fixed his glasses. “We’ll have our two remaining Condor VTOLs and crew prepped and ready to go within the hour,” The man said looking up at Watson who in turn nodded. As he relaxed back into his seat and looked towards the power division, Watson’s aid would enter the room just as Watson opened his mouth to speak, but would stop when she leant into his ear and and whispered. The older man blinked and frowned just as he then looked to everyone. “If you would excuse me, Ladies and Gentlemen.” He sighed softly and placed his hands on his knees, stood up and left the room. “What is it, Liana?” He asked the smaller woman, her face stricken with fear as the door closed behind them. Glancing around and seeing they were alone she looked up at Watson. “The Sleepers are making a move, Sir,” She said before swallowing hard. Watson’s face went stone cold and the woman continued, “A few minutes ago, drone twenty seven caught live footage of multiple aircraft and amphibious vehicles moving inland before it was taken out.” The older man took a sharp breath and bit his tongue for a brief moment upon hearing the fate of the drone. “So they know about us,” He said with a sigh and shook his head. Palm coming up to wipe the ever growing sweat on his brow. “I’m too fucking old for this Liana.” The younger woman stepped forward, her arms clutching her tablet she carried close to her chest. “Just what the Hell are they after,” Watson grumbled softly, though his question was rhetorical. He turned to Liana. “Don’t inform the council just yet, okay? I don’t want the suits throwing a fit yet or attempt anything stupid out of fear.” Liana nodded and straightened up, her lips locked into a tight frown and she opened her mouth to speak, “Yes, Sir, but...” She closed it and sighed. “But what?” Watson cocked a wrinkly brow. “Out with it, Liana, I would honestly do anything for anyone else’s idea, I can’t keep this ship afloat on my own.” The woman lowered her gaze at that. “That’s just it, Sir,” she said softly. “What is our plan?” She looked at him again, eyes filled with worry. “I mean, in general...” Watson kept quiet. “We hadn’t expected any of this, at all, our assumption was that life on Earth was dead, and we would be the seeds to create a new home. Yet here we are, and well...a new species has taken root, the sleepers aren’t dead, and--” “Our goal, Liana, is to survive,” Watson said in a low, rasp voice. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Humanity’s strongest ability is to adapt, and overcome every obstacle in its way. The Ice age, Bubonic Plague, Smallpox, the World Wars, and Archangels reign, are just a few obstacles we as Humans were faced with.” He looked at her sternly. “Yet in order for us to do so, we need to remain calm, and think.” The Aid nodded and gulped as she kept eye contact. “R-right...s-so...what should we do?” She asked quietly. With a hard, stoic look, Watson said, “We think.” :[-]: Discord dropped to his knees as his paw clutched the still leaking wound from his gut and coughed slightly as the taste of iron filled his mouth. How had he ended up here? How had Marcus Kane so easily defeated him? A powerful being that had toppled this man’s civilization, beaten in under fifteen seconds? Discord tried to recount what happened after he had come face to face with the lone human that he had come to hate so much since their last encounter. “My, my, my~” The wheezing man giggled and laughed, the barrel of his gun smoking after he blasted a second hole in Discord’s right shoulder. “Have y’gone soft, Archangel?” The man and his two praetorian guards began to move around the wounded, once godlike being. “I coulda sworn y’were, much, much more stronger than this.” He cackled. Discord snarled and spat the blackish gore from his mouth and said, “Well, as you can tell, I’ve been on Holiday these passed few millennia.” He stumbled to his feet and the armored golem like things hoisted their crackling rods, only to be stopped by the old man raising his metallic arm. “So forgive me for being a little rusty, ya old fart.” The draconequus narrowed his gaze at Marcus who was gazing out at the burning city with his back to him. Marcus tsked and waved the large handgun in his hand aimlessly at the air, with a swift glance over his shoulder he smirked. A disgusting smirk which caused his whole face to crack up with wrinkles. “I see ya dry, thoughtless humor hasn’t changed.” “Thoughtless?!” Discord spat blood from his mouth. “Well excuse me, but I feel attacked!” “Well y’should!” The man waved the barrel of the gun at him. “I did just put two holes in ya!” Discord let off a snort and spit a globule of blood on the deck of the ship, his eyes looking over the dark viscous gore which shimmered from the sun light. “Point taken,” He said as he shifted onto one hoof. His bloodied paw and clawed hand falling slack as inhaled and glared at the old Human who now faced him. His yellow-red eyes attempting to burn holes into his sneering face, so much so the man’s face began to let off a bit of steam and his smear grew wider. With a wave of his metal hand and some blackish green magic that emitted from the seams along the man’s robotic arm, the steam coming from his face vanished and Discord suddenly felt the wind escaping from his body. “What the?!” The draconequus stumbled back as the muscles within him began growing weak as he dropped back to his knees. Marcus glanced between the towering soldiers beside him, the knightly looking fiends with the crackling rods in their hands not moving an inch. “Thank you, Lads, but I do believe I have no need of your assistance.” Discord began to pant as he placed his bloodied hands flat on the ship, his head hanging low as he began to dry heave. “Wh-what...wh-what’s happening t-to me?!” The hybrid suddenly slumped forward, he fell to his side and looked up at Marcus who was casually tugging at the collar of his shirt before suddenly reaching to the side with his right arm. Half of his arm would disappear into nothingness, before reappearing on his left with glass of water, to which he would bring to his lips and drink from. He then coughed a little violently as his arm returned to his side, the cup vanishing as he would beat his chest a little and smile. “Sorry,” He said, voice raspe casting counterspell is quite strenuous on one’s thirst,” He chuckled softly before frowning as he noticed Discord’s glare. “Oh don’t give me that look, 137.” He gave the raging hybrid on the floor a wicked smile, one that would burn the souls of even the sanest minds. “Just because you see yourself a God, doesn’t mean there are those who have the power to uproot you!” Discord scoffed and laughed, Marcus frowned briefly and cocked his head to the side. “As it shames me to say this, I already know all too well what it feels like to be beaten.” The Human smirked yet again and stepped forward and crouched down. “I take it,” Discord grumbled as he glanced at the guards and then back at Marcus. “You have learned how to harness the power of magic, and repel it.” “I see you’re observant,” Marcus said with a sarcastic tone and reached down to tap Discord on his cheek, making him purr which kinda weirded out the older man. “And I now have you in my grasp, after all these years of searching and preparing. I can finally...hold up.” The man got up and turned his back on Discord. He soon walked away and looked to the tallest guard. “Karl can you please make sure our guest here doesn’t move.” The metal man slowly nodded his head. “Good.” Marcus stepped behind him, and vanished. Or so Discord thought, he couldn’t see the man between the behemoths legs. “Teleportation...or dimension hopping,” Discord muttered out loud and rolled his eyes. “What else can’t he do now...?” He closed his eyes and opened them just in time to see a hatch he hadn’t notice before open and large...stereo get pushed out onto the deck. Out from under it came Marcus who clambered out, dusted himself off and beamed crazily at Discord. “I-I can’t believe this is happening!” The man seemed ecstatic as he pushed the stereo to the metal man who called Karl. “Karl, be a darling and hold this.” Without a word the guard reached down with his large hand and grasped the stereo in his palm and lifted it up. “I’ve been waiting for over ten thousand years for this, I pictured it, acted it out, I even~Karl move your fingers-no not there you dimwit! Over a couple inches, yes-yes!” Discord blinked and shifted a bit. “I’ve been waiting so long,” Marcus repeated a couple more times. “So long that I composed my very, very own sound track for this moment.” He pressed the play button on the stereo and Discord was stunned when the faint, eerie, orchestral music began to play. He could hear cello’s, violin’s and even a piano in the back. It was honestly rather depressing and with the background view of Manehattan being shot to pieces...horrifically fitting. Then the choir kicked in, Discord couldn’t understand what was being sung with the terrifying music, the menacing voices of people, or electronic sounds made to sound like people, added on to the Draconequus anxiety as the man approached him again. “For over ten thousand years I’ve been searching for you while I researched, built, and formed civilization and army!” The music began to crescendo and Discord shifted nervously and harnessed all of his abilities and focused on his chest wounds in order to heal himself. Yet with every bit of magic he felt spark within him, he noticed the second, unnamed guard shift his staff with the electric ball. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain within his brain and all magic within him ceased. “Gyaah!” The chimera clenched his eyes shut and bucked on the deck. He gritted his teeth and looked at Marcus who stood right over him, face shrouded in darkness. “To think that in the end, you would come to me. With your back turned, it was easy to negate your abilities and put a couple rounds in you.” He laughed softly as Discord flexed his wings, fear settling in. “H-Ha, yeah you got me!” Discord’s eyes began to frantically shift around before looking back up at the man, the barrel of the gun pointed at his face. There was no escape, his muscles were stiff and lifeless, he couldn’t move! “I did. Didn’t I?” Marcus hummed and lifted the gun to the air. “Subject 137, my magnum opus. I’m afraid your time for termination has come. For your crimes against...” He fell silent just as the music faded briefly before rising again as the choir began to pick up the pace, the cello’s violins erupting into a cacophony of sound that seemed to echo with the distant explosions and screams. “Against ME and Humanity--” “I only enacted punishment on you for what you did to me and my family!” Discord suddenly snapped at man just as the music fell silent into a violin solo. “I only remember pieces but you took everything from me--” “And you took everything from me!” Marcus snarled, his gun lowering back on Discord’s face. “From us!” His robotic arm shot out towards the surroundings, as if he was gesturing to the planet as a whole. “You slaughtered my family, friends and destroyed my foundation! Along with everything I’ve stood for!” “Y-You were trying to kill me!” Discord stammered. “E-everyone was trying to destroy me, I was defending myself!” “You enacting death upon Humanity,” Marcus’s voice lowered to a growl as the music began to fade.  “All you did was destroy and when all was said and done...you tortured us. The remaining survivors, driven mad by your chaotic nature to which you brought from the void.” Discord broke eye contact. “You drove Isabelle mad and cast my son into the gate, took my arm and my ability to die.” Marcus’s hand shook. “I-I’m...sorry--” Discord started but was suddenly met with the barrel of the gun smacking across his face. “And now!” Marcus shouted. “I am mankind’s spear! Sent to enact justice and finish what the Council has ordered! For I am the one who will end your reign and destroy what you’ve created like you had done us!” Marcus jammed his metal finger towards the burning, crumbling city. “You’ve gone mad,” Discord muttered to himself. “Oh...you poor thing...I'm so, so sorry.” He closed his eyes and toned out Marcus’s ramblings. “And from the ashes of this world, will start a new age for mankind! One that will know the secrets of the void, magic and with that knowledge we’ll travel to the stars!” Once again the gun lowered to Dicord’s face, panting heavily, and sweating profusely, Marcus muttered, “Yet to start this age. Subject 137- Archangel, must be terminated.” Opening his eyes, Discord looked to Marcus. “Killing me would be a mistake, Marcus.” Just as he was squeezing the trigger, the man stopped and cocked his head. “Why would that be?” Discord chuckled and smiled. “Because I am the...only one that can grant you peace. I was the one who cast the spell in which made it so you can’t die, not to mention, I’m the one holding the spell on you...’Sleepers’ as you call them. If I go, the spell drops.” “Ah...” Marcus nodded his head. “Dumbass.” Discord’s eyes widened, yet before he could speak Marcus pulled the trigger and splattered his gore across the deck of the ship. The body of the draconequus suddenly erupted in black mist which sparked with green electricity. A sudden shock wave would rock the whole ship, casting Marcus back against one of the deck guns. Karl, the armored guard, stumbled back, arm raised up, the other unnamed knight would be flung from the ship, falling a few dozen meters before sinking to the bottom of the bay like a rock. The sound of the god’s demise would deafen Marcus, along with the rest of the world for a few moments. His ears ringing and leaking blood, he would drop to his knees and forearms before weakly pushing himself up to his feet. Suddenly, his stomach would retch and he would vomit all over the deck, a thick, acidic bile would come forth across the deck and he would groan. He dropped the handgun to the floor and weakly pushed himself to his feet. His metal arm wiping away the vomit from his lips and facial hair. Blue eyes glistening with tears that looked to the crumbling city. Karl would approach from the left, his strong arms helping the older man stand tall. “Y’know...” Marcus mumbled, sound slowly returning to him. “I’ll be honest...that was...severely....anti climatic.” He glanced at Karl, or at least...that’s what he called him. The guards don’t really speak. “I was expecting some kind of big, Marvel like fight, energy beams, big flashy explosions but...Maybe I should’ve have shot him in the back. Or maybe we could of toned down the counter spells a tad.” Marcus looked to the body on the deck, now shriveled and mummified looking. “Take the corpse...that is, if it’s really a corpse. Lock in the lowest chamber and keep an eye on it, also Karl, try to gather up a recovery team to see if you can get Timmy out of the bay.” He was referring to the poor guard that was flung from the deck. “Also...” Marcus turned and began heading to the hatch which led into the bowls of the ship. He stole a glance over his shoulder to look at the city. “Order the Hunters to gather as many horned ones as possibly, as for that pathetic excuse of a city...burn it and kill the rest. Now if you excuse me, I’m gonna go eat and take a shit. Avenging Humanity really takes a toll on one’s stomach.” He delved into the ship. Standing straight, Karl turned to look to the city, dropped the stereo on the deck he kicked it into the water. His right hand tightening on the staff he had in his hand. With a deep, audible breath, he slammed the base of the staff into the deck of the ship and within seconds rockets would erupted from the silos along the vessels hull and go screaming towards the burning city...