//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Shooting Star // Story: Star Wars: ARC Troopers in Equestera // by Alaph-14 //------------------------------// CHAPTER 2 SHOOTING STAR A simple action can change the course of the galaxy Location: Unknown Date:560 ABG Galactic Military Time: 00:00 As Cadence looked at the stars, her hair flowed in the breeze like the thoughts in her mind. Her train of thoughts traveled through her past. First, when Celestia adopted her as her niece, then, she thinks of her time at the Canterlot Academy. Next, the time when she was Foalsitting Twilight. She smiled at the memory, of Twilight called her once the very best foal sitter in Equestria. Then meeting Shining Armor and dating with him all those years and then the proposal that happened a month ago. Now, just in three months, they are going to be married. The Princess smiled at this thought. Then she recalled that dream she had, the dream with strange creatures. The creatures that are screaming in agony. She just knew what they are, she knew, only she can’t place her finger on it. Cadence continued watching the stars when out of the corner of her eye she sees a shooting star. It soared across the night sky, shine very bright among the stars. She looks at the shooting star, wounding of what she could wish for, “I wish…..I wish..” But as she looks at it, it starts to grow bigger and brighter. Then it becomes a great ball of fire, hurling toward the earth. It gave out a fiery roar as it passed through the atmosphere. Her eyes went wide as plates, as she looks at the asteroid coming closer. As the asteroid flew, little pieces seem to break off from the bigger one. They hurled down as the asteroid past Cadence’s balcony, two kilometers above her. But as it got closer she got a glimpse of it, intend of a ball of fire it seems to be more...triangle? “What in Equestria’s name?!” She exclaimed as she stares at the asteroid soaring across the night and head to the Foal Mountain. Then it disappeared in the distance. There was a boom in the distance that rumbled the skies, making birds flying away. The pink alicorn look where the strange asteroid just went, deciding on what to do. Curiosity got the best of her and spreading her wings she took off. She could've teleported to the spot, but there are two reasons: One, she didn’t want to wake up anyone and start a panic. Two, she wants to get a better view of the asteroid. It took an hour when she found a large trail from the object at the foot of Foal Mountain. It leaves quite a mess; the trail is dug very deep, trees in the path are uprooted or smashed to splinters. Rocks are bashed and grounded to gravel. For a couple of minutes of flying, she found the end of the trail of the asteroid, then abruptly stopped. For this is not an asteroid, but a ship! A great ship, bigger than any airship Cadence has ever seen. It was a shape of a triangle and a narrow one in the back that seem to be like a rudder. There was what seems to be a tower on top of the ship that is tall in hight. Cadence hovered at the spot for a moment, she can’t believe what is in front of her! An alien ship that falls from the sky and landed here. The princess didn’t know what to do, except for one thing. Gathering all her courage and wits, she flew forward to the ship. As she got closer, she noticed more detail on the alien ship. The halls of the ship seemed to be made of metal, a metal that she has never seen. She noticed that there are no sails on the ship, in fact, there are no propellers or balloons or anything of the sort, then again, it did fell out from the stars. “How does this even ship fly? she thought to herself as she flies along the right side of the vessel. Cadence started to grow exhausted from flying, so she decided to land on a small mound a few meters away. Her feet touches the cool earth, and she rested her wings while she looked for a way in. As she examined the ship she found a rectangular opening on the side. Still with her wings tried out she decided to teleport there. Cadence close her eyes and concentrated on the spot, using her magic. With a flash of light, she disappeared from the mound. Then appeared in the opening inside the ship, when she opened her eyes to find herself in darkness. The alicorn use her magic and lit her horn to see better. When her horn is bright enough and her eyes adjust in the dark, she froze on the spot, her face went pale. The outside of the ship is rigged and have a few scratches from the crash, but the inside tells a different story. It is a ruin. There is wreckage and destroyed objects all over the place. Smokes from once flames are still rising among the debris. Sparks from strings of metal fly out like dying stars and lights eerily blink in the distance. There are burn marks cover across from walls to floors and ceilings. But that’s not what frightened Cadence, what frightened her are the bodies. Bodies scatter across the ship, crippled, lifeless as stones. She saw a body that loss its head. “What happened here?” she asks herself, dread in her voice as she walked through the carnage. The bodies, Cadence noticed, are bipeds with what seems to be white skin, but as she got closer, it turn out not to be skin but armor. Some of the armor have black scorches on them. They have what seem to be a helmet with a black visor that shape to a T with an upside down V at the lower part of the helmet. Some of the bodies have something in their hand what looks like a black metal stick, some of them are short and some of them are long. Those are not the only aliens, there was also a different one. These are the same size but they are skinnier than the other ones. They look like they are completely made out of metal with skinny arms and legs with a very narrow head. As the princess continued walking, she came upon a group of bodies among destroyed crates. Deciding to check if there are any survivors, she went to the crates. However, as she approached the crates and the bodies, there is something in the back of her mind that kept nagging, like there something she should’ve noticed earlier, something she should know from the beginning. When she got closer, she accidentally kicked over a corpse with her foot. It rolled over upside, Cadence looked down and forced all the will she have to try not to scream. For the body in front of her was nothing more than a brunt remain of a being. The armor at the chest is in pieces only to expose a very black, coal hard chest. The helmet is destroyed leaving the face revealed, at least what’s left of it, the face is nothing more than a coal skull. As if something burns the life out of it. Suddenly there was a click in Cadence’s mind; those are the same creatures she seen in her dream. Then she looked down at the burned face, then quickly looked away from it, remembering of the screams in her dream. She tried to fight back the tears that are forming in her eyes, whatever these creatures are she felt so sorry for them. But there is nothing she can do; she turned around to leave. When suddenly, she sensed a flicker of emotion in the ship, not much but enough to track it. She looked down the hallway, and without thinking she through the corridor to find the flicker. The hallway is in the same condition as the chamber she once in, wreckage everywhere, burn marks on the walls, loose wires sparking, more bodies down the hall. As Cadence walked down the corridor she heard a cracking sound than a snap. Then a big thud behind her that made her jumped in fright, quickly turned around to find a large piece metal a foot closer to her. She stood there for a second catching her breath, very close to getting flat and Shining doesn't want that. When she recovered, she continues until she stops to a big drop. The flicker she sensed is a couple of levels up, she looked around for stairs which there aren’t any. Then she looked down as far her light shows down the fall, kicking a piece of metal over the edge. Its fall into the shadow and a few minutes later the clank can be heard echoing. “That’s a long drop” Cadence shivered, then she looks up where the flicker is. Since there no way to get up she will simply fly up. Spreading her wings she jumped off the edge and with a mighty flap she pushed herself upward. With a few more flaps she reaches the top before she almost got tangle by a pair of metal ropes. She wondered why the ropes are there. She then flew through the opening she found. Cadence landed gently on the cold metal floor litter with pieces of metal and bodies of metal. As she look around her surrounding, she noticed that the opening she went through seem to be broke open with the same burn marks as others and there seem to be mostly the metal bodies around here. At the end of the hall there large metal double door. The princess walked to the end of the hall and to the double door. With one more step, the doors creak and the slowly opened without any magic. This startled her a bit, then the door stopped a few inches apart. Decided to open the doors she concentrated on using her magic on the door. Her horn started to glow a very pale raspberry color, then the doors are cover in the same aura color. With a few creaks and cranks, the doors fully opened up to a chamber what looks like the quarterdeck. Cadence froze like a statue and same for her heart for a moment. Her face went white, her breathing stops as her wide eyes laid upon the horror. For in the chamber is full of bodies not burned, but gutted. Gutted and chopped, there are some that lost their arms and some lost their legs, there are some that lost both. Cadence saw one that seems to be stabbed and left there to die. She also spots another one that lost a head. The black-red stain of dry blood covers the deck in pools. To make it worse, among the white bipeds there are some that might be the crewmen, no armor and unarmed. “What kind of a monster would do this!?” She thought horrified as she walked in the chamber that is more like a tomb. Cadence is a complete stranger in war, she doesn't know anything about battles or warfare. Expect for few stories of them though there are rarely in Equestria. Her (adoptive) aunt Luna might have some experience of it, although Cadence never asked about it. She walked to the middle where her eye lay upon a biped creature that similar but different from the others. Laying face down next to a metal box with buttons, wearing the same armor as the others but seem to be blue. She moves closer and turns it over with her magic. Now she is able to see more details, it’s helmet have blue painted along the fin and around the T and the lower down. The armor chest has a pair of blue stripes down the middle and blue covering the shoulders and the arms and some down the legs. It also has what seem to be a shoulder pad with light blue, what’s not blue is a black garment with white stripes along the edge wear around the waist what look like a… skirt? She puzzled this for a moment before she senses the flicker again, this time closer...very close. She looked at the alien again, and there is no doubt in her mind that it comes from it. It’s obviously alive but barely, how it survived she don’t know. She noticed that its helmet is loose, revealing the neck. Curious to what is beneath the helmet, she lifted the helmet with her hands gently. She abruptly dropped the helmet, and couldn’t stop herself to let out a loud gasp, her heart thudding like a drum. For beneath the helmet laid a face, not the one that ’s burned nor like a green alien face but a tan face with a nose, ears, eyes and a scar on the left cheek. Its short hair is black and has a firm jaw. At the time she didn’t know what they really are, so familiar but she couldn’t remember, but now, now she knows where she has seen and what they are. A creature she seen in books or heard from tales, a creature she never thought they could exist. A human. She could not believe it! A real live (barely) human here in Equestria! Before she thinks of what to do with him (from the looks of the face, she concluded that it’s a he) she heard something. “You heard that?” a high pitch voice said and there are footsteps coming toward her. She frantically turned her head around trying to find a place to hide, her eye laid on a pit. Deciding to use that she jumped into it with the unconscious human and his stuff including the helmet. She stays low, stopped using her magic for her horn and tries not to breathe loudly as the footsteps are getting closer. “I didn’t hear anything. Are you sure your sensor isn't malfunctioning?”, another high pitch voice said. Cadence slowly lifted her head up to see what it was, when her eyes are above the edge and adjust in the dark, she can see two of the metal bipeds walking in the chamber. “Something is fishy,” said one metal creature. “How can you smell?” ask the other one. “No, you buckethead! I mean the doors!” shouted the first one. The other look at the door, “it looks fine to me” it replied. “No! The doors are open” the other said. “So? That what are doors are for” the other one said. The first one facepalmed itself “No, someone is here!” it shouted. “You are here, I’m here, the other droids that remain are here.” the other said as it pointed to the other and itself and moved its arm around. “No I mean- never mind just search the bridge! The commander wants to make sure there are no survivors,” Cadence ducked down quickly, trying not to gasp,”are they responsible for this!?”. The metal beings walked further in.“What a mess” one commented as it looks around at the scraps. “Hey look,” the other said as it picked up the head of one of their own but black. “It’s B1-2351 in his new paint he just got. Why does he even wear it?” the other asked. “Beats me, it's the Overlord’s idea, it supposes to bring fear into the enemy,” the one said. “Well, it doesn’t seem to work enough and I think he should have his “warrior program” installed before going into combat, same for the others,” the other said as it looked around the scrap pile. As they continue to search, Cadence is trying to think up a plan to get out. If she just ran then they will chase her and Celesta knows what they might do if they caught her. Maybe if she could wait for them to move further and at that right moment- “hey, where the body?” her heart froze,”oh no” she thought panicky. “What body?” the first one asked. “The clone body” the other replied. “What clone?” the first one asked. “The clone over there” the other pointed to console where it use to be with a few bodies. “Which one?” the first said. “The blue one!” the other shouted. “What blue one? And how do even know?” the droid asked. “Because I remember clearly in my memory bank that we went in here to the commander. Before he ordered us to prepare for impact, I have seen the entire bridge and I remember there is a blue clone there” the other one pointed to the spot where it used to be. “Well, it’s not like it just walks away,” the other said as it searched around the left side of the room. As the metal beings are searching for the body, Cadence sneaked quietly to the other side of the pit where it's closer to the exit and her escape. Getting ready, she lifted the human with her magic and put it on her back. She almost drops it by the weight, it seems the human is heavier than he looks. She climbs out of the pit while carrying the human and turn to the doorway. But as she about to move, her foot got caught around an arm which on it a metal head fell with a clank. She turned around in time to see the two metal aliens, “What the!?” one shouted. Cadence made a mad dash out the doorway, running down the hall. The two metal beings chased after her in their jogging mode, so the alicorn is ahead of them. She turned around the corner to where she has entered this level but stopped. For what in front of the exit are more metal aliens! Six of them two are the same color as the others she encountered but two are red-black with red eyes and scary looking marks, one of which look like a skull. The other two different from the other, they are little taller, look buffer, have white eyes, black body with blood red on their limbs. One of them looks like other two with a bird-like reptile mark on the chest. They spotted her before she could do something. Angered or surprised she can’t tell from their faces and she can’t sense them, in fact, that what frightened her. Not because of they’re aliens nor they look scary, but of their face, the emotionless faces with no expression and no feelings at all and there’s noting sense like, they’re just empty shells. She might not tell of the feelings but she can tell that she’s not welcome. She turned to go the other way but find it blocked by the two metal aliens. The aliens on both side advance on her their weapons pointing at her. Nowhere to go, her have one option. In a flash of light and a pop, she disappeared on the spot. The droids stand there looking where the intruder was and the black commando droid marched to the two battle droids “what just happened” the commando demanded with a deep voice. “Uuhh...we are searching around the bridge, then suddenly there was a noise and we turn around. Then there was a humanoid with a clone body, then it ran and we chased it down the hall. Then we trapped it, then-” “A what?” the commando asked, ignoring his explaining. “A clone body” the other replied. “And you sure it’s dead?” the droid asked. “Uuuuuhhhhh” the battle droid voiced. “Never mind” the commando dismissed it “even if it’s alive, it’s going to die anyway. The commander wants all of us to regroup at the hanger. The speeders are to pick us up and take us to headquarters. Take all supplies in this ship and bring it to the hanger.” the commando ordered. “Roger Roger” the others replied. “Question,” the droid said. “uh, what hanger are we going to?” Doctor Medicine went through the halls of the Canterlot hospital. It has been a long boring day. There have been any emergency from the patients nor any news out. He is tired out by the boredness of the day, but soon it will be time for him to go home. He looked down at his watch then satisfied continued down the hall. Then suddenly there’s a flash and a frantic princess appeared panting like a dog. With an almost dead creature in her arms. “He..” she said, panting, “needs…..help.”