Sweetie Belle ducked under a barrel as a barrage of fire came her way. Skidding to a stop, she poked her Plasma Carbine up over the battlements, and fired off a stream of plasma at an approaching alien. It was blown onto the ground, but more crawled over it and closed in on them.
Sweetie Belle leaned over to Scootaloo. "How did we get into this mess?”
"I don’t know!” Scootaloo shouted back, firing off some more shots from her Pulse Laser. "I suggested that exploring an abandoned space station might not be the best of ideas, but Apple Bloom just had to land us on it!”
One hour earlier...
The USS Crusader sailed through the blackness of space, it’s mission of exploration and adventure. This spaceship was commanded by the bravest of crew, for it had only three people onboard. Their names were Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom.
"Control, we are approaching’ the target, over,” Apple Bloom radioed over.
"Good work Apple Bloom,” the voice came back. "Dock with the target, and proceed to assess for recoverable cargo.”
"Thank ya control, USS Crusader out.”
"So, what is it that this station was doing?” Gunnery Officer Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie Belle brought up her display. "It seems the station was doing research on a number of things. Plant development, research into thermodynamics, the Hydrofluoric Reactor project-”
"What’s that?” Apple Bloom inquired.
"It was a power source run by reversing the polarity of the neutron flow,” Sweetie Belle replied, in her best technobabble. "But what is most intriguing is that there is an entire section about bio-research. It’s completely redacted.”
"That generally bodes badly,” Scootaloo noted. "Remember the last time we had that?”
"That’s true,” Sweetie Belle added. "It was full of lava people, right?”
"Yeah, the sort that just got mad if you shot them.”
"Quiet please!” Apple Bloom called. "We’re comin’ inta land!”
The large spacecraft touched down on the station. It was this massive oblong with three mighty towers standing tall and free, which had once been filled with people. The docking bay closed, and the three adventures stepped out onto the station, clad in their armored spacesuits.
Sweetie Belle’s was pink, whereas Scootaloo’s was purple. Apple Bloom’s was green. The plating was sleek and modern, and fitted their bodies well. Long gone were the bulky designs of the past. In were sleek, modern pieces of equipment suitable for the new age.
They stepped through the station, their weapons primed. There was no sign of life, and the place seemed to be in perpetual state of disrepair. Panels were hanging off walls, great claw marks ran through the walls, and there was a green substance across most of the walls.
"What happened here?” asked Scootaloo.
"Sweetie Belle, scan fer any signs o’life,” Apple Bloom commanded.
Sweetie Belle brought up her scanner, and looked around. "No signs here,” she said. "This place is a ghost town.”
"A ghost town, you say?” Scootaloo asked. Sneaking behind Sweetie Belle, she leapt up and shouted "BOO!”
Sweetie Belle shrieked. "For heaven’s sake, Scoots, it wasn’t funny!”
"Well, you said it was a ghost town.”
"Quiet, you two,” Apple Bloom whispered. "There’s somethin’ up ahead.”
A loud scuttling noise could be heard, and a small creature moved through the corridor in front of them.
Apple Bloom aimed her Boltgun. "No lock,” she said. "That thing were movin’ too fast.”
Scootaloo kicked down a door, and entered another room. Before her was a console, and she accessed it.
"There’s some text on here,” she said.
"Should we read it?” asked Apple Bloom.
"It may give us a clue as to what happened here,” Sweetie Belle pointed out.
Scootaloo brought up the text and began to read.
"Journal entry, day one.
"The shipment of creatures was safely moved onboard the station. These creatures are currently eggs, and so hopefully can be easily molded to do as we see fit.
"Preliminary testing will begin tomorrow.”
"Journal entry, day fifty.
"The creatures respond well to light and sound, but have shown little interest in the human prey we have brought them. They can be sluggish in low-oxygen environments, and are also vulnerable to fire.
"They are easy to keep under control, as they can be incinerated if need be.”
"Journal entry, day one hundred and two.
"The creatures are getting increasingly unpredictable. They frequently throw themselves at the observation windows and have a worrying appetite. They chewed through the test subjects at a terrifying rate, leaving nothing left of their victims.
"We may be looking at incinerating them.”
"Journal entry, day two hundred and forty three.
"The creatures have broken loose and are devouring everything in their path. This station is no longer safe, and has been quarantined until further notice. I have no idea if colonial authorities will respond, but it is crucial they do.
"I only hope God will forgive us for what we did.”
"Journal entry, day three hundred and thirty seven.
"I am the last human left alive on the station. The creatures had killed the rest, and it is clear that the authorities will do nothing to stop them. I hereby issue this warning; do not come here, and if you hear this message, then please destroy the station.”
Oh God, I can hear them in the vents. They’re coming for me. If you are hearing this, stay away, STAY AWA-”
Scootaloo disengaged the monitor. "That’s all there is,” she said.
Sweetie Belle had gone pale. "Sweet mother of God, what have we walked into?” she asked.
Apple Bloom looked out of the window. "If we don’t destroy this place, there’s no telling where those things could get to.”
"What if they find us?” Sweetie Belle asked.
"We can blast them,” Scootaloo pointed out. "According to this map, there is a central station with a control box. If we go there, we can overload the reactors and blow this place to kingdom come.”
"Then whatta we waitin’ for?” Apple Bloom asked. "We need ta take those things down!”
The three of them crossed into a narrow passageway and walked forward. Hell awaited as they found more of the green stuff secreted onto the walls.
But then, a creature jumped forward and grabbed Apple Bloom.
"Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle cried, firing on the monster with her plasma carbine and blowing it back into a wall. It crashed into the wall and lay silent and still.
Apple Bloom stepped closer. The creature was made of chitin, and had large mandibles and biting claws. It was almost ponylike, and had glassy eyes that glowed in the dark.
"Changelin’s,” she groaned. “Why does it have ta be Changelin’s?”
"If it’s Changelings,” Sweetie Belle whispered, "what chance do we have?”
"Our guns still work,” Scootaloo noted. "So we can take them down. Let’s go!”
They finally arrived at the central control chamber. Apple Bloom walked over to the monitor, whilst Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo took up defensive positions. The apple girl opened up the monitor and clicked on the access button.
Access reactor temperature system Yes/No?
Apple Bloom tapped yes with her gloved hand. Another option came up.
Initiate Reactor Meltdown Sequence? Yes/No?
Apple Bloom tapped yes.
Secondary authorization required.
"C’mon you two, we need two more people ta initiate the sequence.”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo walked over and placed their hands on the activation panels.
A loud siren sounded in the air and a warning flashed up on screen.
Warning: Reactor meltdown sequence initiated. This sequence cannot be overridden. The reactor will detonate in T-minus 10 minutes. Repeat, the reactor will detonate in T-minus 10 minutes. Please get clear of the station.
"Let’s go!” Scootaloo called.
Through the corridors they ran, back to the docking platform. But a horde of the creatures charged at them just as they were about the escape the station.
Sweetie Belle ducked under a barrel as a barrage of fire came her way. Skidding to a stop, she poked her Plasma Carbine up over the battlements, and fired off a stream of plasma at an approaching alien. It was blown onto the ground, but more crawled over it and closed in on them.
Sweetie Belle leaned over to Scootaloo. "How did we get into this mess?”
"I don’t know!” Scootaloo shouted back, firing off some more shots from her Pulse Laser. "I suggested that exploring an abandoned space station might not be the best of ideas, but Apple Bloom just had to land us on it!”
"Stop it!” Apple Bloom shouted. "We got bigger priorities, and dyin’ ain’t one o’them!” She fired her Boltgun again, the mass-reactive round throwing several more aliens back.
At least, they cleared the path to the spaceship, and ran aboard before more of those creatures could swarm out. The panels above them opened up, and the craft flew outward, ready to escape the station which exploded behind them in a fireball of red and blue.
"We did it!” Sweetie Belle chorused. She and Scootaloo high-fived.
Apple Bloom looked back. "Remind me ta never explore an abandoned space station again, will ya?”
"That was fun!” Scootaloo exclaimed. "Great scenario Apple Bloom!”
"Ah thought you’d enjoy it,” Apple Bloom replied.
"Sci-fi is fun,” Sweetie Belle admitted, "but maybe if we don’t have aliens next time.”
"If ya want clean Sci-fi, that’s good by me,” Apple Bloom finished.
Just then, a truck pulled into the car park, with Grand Pear at the wheel.
"What’s happened Grandpa?” Apple Bloom asked.
"Yer father’s had an accident with one of the machines,” he groaned. "He hit his head on the shaker and it knocked him out.”
"Is he OK?”
"He’s fine, but he’s got a bit of amnesia,” Grand Pear replied. "He’s got most of it, but there are some gaps.”
Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom nervously. "I hope he’s OK, because my family owes him a lot.”
"We fixed the hole where the rain got in, right?” Apple Bloom asked.
"Did you?” Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah.”
They arrived back at the house to start setting up for the evening. Down the basements, assembling some racked seating for the cinema effect was an early objective.
Next came assembling the screen.
"No, Scoots, the tripod does NOT go on the roof,” Apple Bloom exclaimed.
"I know that!” she exclaimed. "Besides, you don’t seem to be having much luck yourself.”
"Sweetie Belle! How’s the screen?”
"Mounted to the post, but we can’t unroll it yet.”
After Scootaloo had got the tripod in the right place, the projector screen was unrolled and checked for picture quality. But it came up blank!
"There’s no picture!” Sweetie Belle despaired. "This is terrible!”
Scootaloo looked around the front. "The screen lock is engaged.” She pushed the catch back, and the picture came up on the test card. This was really Sweetie Belle’s screensaver, a gif of 611 running past the camera.
"When was that recorded?” Apple Bloom asked.
"The 1994 season, when it was last operational,” Sweetie Belle replied.
Eventually, the others arrived. Sweetie Belle heard Apple Bloom greeting the boys.
"Howdy y’all!” she called.
"We good to go for tonight?” Button asked.
"That we are! We can’t start until after dinner.”
The boys came in, and Sweetie Belle blushed when she saw Button Mash, who sat down next to her.
"How’s your day been?” he asked.
"Good thanks. We had a fun day out in the park. And you?”
"Finally beat Gibson’s high score in Super Mario Brothers 2: The Lost Levels. I’m going for the speedrun of SMB next!”
"That’ll be tough to beat!”
"Luckily, I know exactly how to use the game design to my advantage.”
Sweetie Belle and Button were largely oblivious to the conversation until Apple Bloom spoke to them. "Erm, hello? Earth to Sweetie Belle?”
She shook her head in surprise. "Sorry, Button and I were just...ya know.”
Pear Butter came over. "You know, Mac and I were just like you two when we were dating.”
"We’re not like that!” Button protested.
"Sure ya are,” Apple Bloom snorted.
"Says you!” Rumble exclaimed. "Scoots came across you kissing Pip!”
Apple Bloom went crimson. Pip seemed totally oblivious to this fact.
"Well, I do love her, I admit,” he said.
Another awkward (and dare I say, jovial) conversation later, they trooped downstairs to partake of the evening’s event. Sweetie Belle put the disk in the computer, and set it running. She then started her camera and pointed it at backward.
"Hello, everybody! This is Sweetie Belle!”
"Scootaloo here!”
"And Ah’m Apple Bloom! We are the CMC!”
"The Canterlot Movie Club!”
"This evening, we have some special guests to join us,” Sweetie Belle continued, rotating the camera as she did so.
"I’m Pipsqueak!” said Pip.
"Rumble, at your service.”
"Hi. I’m Button Mash. I’m 12 years old, and I like-”
"Yes, thank you Button,” Scootaloo interrupted. "Today’s entry is What’s Up.”
"This movie has a curious history,” Sweetie Belle continued. "It appeared in 2010, and probably looks like a knockoff of Up, but the two films have almost nothing in common.”
"If everyone’s ready,” Apple Bloom said, with a smile, "let’s go!”
The film was a most puzzling experience.
"That plot made no sense,” Rumble observed.
"Yeah, many of the scenes felt like they solely existed to draw out the runtime, and the audio editing was dreadful!” Button added.
"It could have been animated a lot better,” Pip added. "I’m pretty certain that metal doesn’t bend in that matter. You know, the Eiffel Tower scene?”
"What was with the rampant racism?” Apple Bloom asked. "They were unnecessarily harsh on that French guy, and the Chinese one felt a little...stereotyped.”
"A little?” Scootaloo asked. "That last line was needlessly cruel, not to mention the dialogue sucked.”
Sweetie Belle shrugged. "It certainly had its comedy value, but I wouldn’t watch again. Besides, the studio that made it, Video Brinquedo, solely exists to make knockoff films. It makes The Asylum look high budget, and that’s saying something!”
"Please, I still haven’t forgotten Transmorphers!” Scootaloo begged.
"Or American Warships,” Apple Bloom added.
"The film that parodies was pretty terrible,” Rumble noted.
"So, what do you want us to watch next time?” asked Sweetie Belle to the camera. "Let us know in the comments. Until then, see ya!”
She turned the camera off, and ejected the disk. "I’m thankful that’s over,” she said. "It was awful!”
"Agreed,” Button said.
Suddenly, there was a call from upstairs. "Guys, your parents are here!”
Sweetie Belle trooped upstairs and met her mother.
"Did you have a good evening?” Cookie asked.
"Yes mom!” Sweetie Belle replied. She knew her day was about to get even better. For tomorrow was Camp Everfree, and she intended to go, even she hadn’t necessarily been invited.