//------------------------------// // The Message // Story: STAR-BOUND: REBORN. // by QueenMegumin //------------------------------// "Earth is doomed without this Ranger, Take this." The old woman said, passing a signal holder towards me. "Thank you." I said. "But why would I need it?" I asked. "Protect,Defend Ranger." She said. I woke up on the floor next to my bed. I was tossing and turning last night. I guessed. I checked the alarm towards my left. It was currently 3AM Earth time. I grabbed the small Signal holder on the side of my bedside table. "Well. Lets see why she sent me this." I said, looking towards the small portable Signal player. Signals are sorta like those old CD things that humans used to use thousands of years ago, except they can take Terrabytes of space, and show a full 3D colored picture of the message. Its perfect for movies. I quickly put it in and pressed play. The old woman appeared again, this time she was wearing some sort of robe. "This is to The United Federation Defense Force, a alien race is heading towards Earth and will arrive in a few weeks. You need to prepare. This race is called Cyborkrats and will destroy everything in their path. Please listen to me and defend Earth. Its all we've got." She said, just as the image flickered and turned off. I quickly checked that date. I had about a month to get towards Earth before these things arrived. I was currently at Station 042 near the Polaris System. Unless I somehow got stuck somewhere, I should be able to reach Earth with weeks to spare. I grabbed my T.W (Tactical Watch) and headed towards the main hallway. I was about to open the door when I completely forgot I was still in my PJs. After a quick change into my SRDS (Star Ranger Defense Suit) and grabbing my Pulse Blaster and Rifle I was ready to head out towards the door. I doubled checked if I left anything behind and headed towards the Hangar. "Alright Everypony!" Princess Celestia said. "Thank you for coming to the new Festival, Celebrating yearly the meteor shower that hits Equestria every year. This will help inform us the reasons why we should always stick together and stay strong!" She said in a cheerful tone. Everypony cheered. "Thank you all for coming. I announce the Rockfall Festival.. OPEN!" Everypony cheered and clapped their hooves together. All of the rides and shops opened after that, everybody was extremely cheerful. Spending a lot of bits towards everypony. Even though the Meteor shower was supposed to happen at midnight, everypony was happy to wait the day to see it. I was jogging down the hallway. I could see the other Rangers waking up, they looked through their door and moaned. "Sorry!" I whispered. I arrived at the main hangar and started to look where I parked my ship. Someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Jay, my partner. "Sky, its 3 in the morning. Go back to sleep." "But." He looked me in the eye. "Alright. But i'm getting up later." I said, heading back to my room, I would of started a conversation with him, but we were both tired. After heading back to my room I locked the door and took out the Signal player. I wrote down everything the woman said,writing theories and times. Then it hit me. "Its not a month. Its a week!" I said, panicking. I pocketed it again and bolted out of my door and sprinted towards the hangar. I ran towards the end of the hangar to see my ship. The Aphelion. Custom built Pulse Cannons, Pulse Torpedos and a Pulse Drive. She was a red ship, small, but can sure put on a damn fight. I opened the cockpit and hopped into my seat. I pushed a few buttons and twisted the key and the Aphelion was online. "Hello Sky." APS Said. Aps is my AI System, been with me since I was 6. "Morning APS. We need to head to Earth. Fast. Turn the Pulse Drive into Overdrive and make us get there as quickly as we can." "Exiting Station 42." Aps said as the ship took off. "Buckle up Sky." APS said. "Yeah yeah I know." I looked towards the small display screen in the middle of the control panel "Show me the path, please." I said. "Displaying path." It showed 4 stars we had to travel towards Earth. "Put the drive into Overdrive. We need to get there fast." I said. "Activating Pulse Drive in 3... 2... 1..." The ship took off at incredible speeds. "Sir. We've detected a unknown ship in this sector." The Tracker said. "Keep a eye on it. Keep the cloak system online." The Commander replied. The Cybrokrat Dreadnought ship was carrying millions of battleships, fighters and destroyers towards Earth. "Sir! This ship appears to be apart of the UFDF!" The Tracker replied. "We can't take any chances, Fire!" The Commander shouted. The pulse cannons fired, sending the ship down towards the planet. "Sir, were still detecting a signal from the ship." "Send a drone down. We need to make sure he doesn't signal the rest of the UFDF" He looked towards the main window "For years, we've been ignored. Mistreated, killed! Its time we fight back!" The entire crew in the bridge cheered. Everypony was watching the sky in glory. It just turned midnight and the meteors were starting to fall. Celestia was watching it as well. She saw something a bit bigger then the Meteors that fall. "Bring the Scientist." Celestia said. The white pony ran over carrying her saddlebags. "Yes Mistress?" Marshmallow said. "Keep a eye on that Meteor." She said, looking at it more closely. "Mistress. Thats not a meteor." Marshmallow was looking through her binos that she attached onto her saddlebags. "Will it burn up in the Sky?" Celestia asked "It might, its a 50 50 chance." Marshmallow replied "Keep work on that sickness cure with Zecora." Celestia said, trotting off. "Alright Mistress!" Marshmallow said, galloping towards the Everfree forest. "I just hope it doesn't hit Equestria." Celestia said, walking over towards the Royal Guards. "Keep a eye on that thing in the sky. If it gets to serious get the Wonderbolts check it." "Yes Princess Celestia." They replied. She looked towards the sky, seeing the Meteors flying through the sky. The one she told Marshmallow about was falling slower then the rest of them. "Lets hope Marshmallow was right." She said, trotting off.