Bang! Bang!
"What was that?!" Twilight whispered.
"Shh!" Chmone was not using the translator, but shushing was a universal sign.
Twilight leaned her head on the wooden wall. She tried to listen. She tried to hear what was going on outside.
"Xul failed. They're fighting. If it's not over soon, we'll have to fun." Zeck said. Chmone drew out some type of knife and crouched. Waiting.
"Warrior!"
A faint yell from Xul reached the box. The lead lining muffled it, making it sound like Xul was underwater.
"Warrior?" Twilight asked, "Aren't they-"
"Tell you later," Zeck said.
Chmone cut through one of the walls with his knife. It fell to the floor with a thud, and they stepped over it as they ran out.
What's going on?! We need to help! Twilight thought, as they crept through the hallways. Zeck was leading now, and they had to stop at every corner. If there's a Warrior here, and I remember them correctly, then we need to stop hiding and go help our friends!
"Stop." Zeck put out his hand right before they turned the corner. He peered around the corner and brought his head back almost instantly. Prison guards from Terram had flooded the ship. Each was carrying a weapon of some kind. The ex-prisoners were there too, but they weren't fighting.
Zeck motioned towards the exit. Chmone looked around the corner briefly, then nodded. They both drew weapons.
Twilight watched them prepare to sprint out from the corner. She mirrored them but wasn't sure what they were going to do once they got to their destination. Should she make a shield? Open the door? What?!
Bang!
Someone shot off their weapon, and Zeck and Chmone started running, with Twilight following. As their feet pounded on the floor, guards heard and turned towards them. Chmone threw something at a group of them, who scattered and ran. Unified shouts ran throughout the room, and a loud, surprisingly unemotional voice cut through them.
"Nwodkol," It said. The lights turned off, and save for a few small electrical lights, everyone was plunged into darkness.
Twilight tried to follow the shadowy figures of Zeck and Chmone, but she bumped into someone on the way. She let out a grunt and fell backward. Then, she put up a shield as projectiles rained down on her.
From the glow of her shield, Twilight could just make out the face of the creature she bumped into.
"Xul?!" She shouted over the others. Xul stood, unmoving, even as the shield began to crack.
Bang!
More cracks appeared on the shield. Twilight had forgotten about the powerful weapons the Sectanium had. They pounded on her shield, and Twilight panicked. She forgot about Xul as she shrunk her shield down to only fit herself. Then, she rapidly expanded it and knocked everyone back, including Xul.
The guards were quick to get back on their feet, and Twilight didn't want to be around when they started shooting at her again. She spread her wings and flew up into the air. She had gotten a good leap, but forgot that the gravity was different here. Twilight felt her stomach drop as she swiftly glided downwards.
"Ungh!" Someone grunted as Twilight landed on top of them. She felt a strange vibration as she made contact, and quickly jumped off of the creature.
The shouting in the room grew louder and more chaotic. More creatures had joined in the fighting. Twilight lit her horn to see who it was. She saw that the ex-prisoners had started fighting now, but she also saw someone disappear out of the exit. Was that Chmone?
The vibration from the creature Twilight had knocked down increased enough for her to feel it even from a few feet away. He stood up, and Twilight saw he was a prison guard, but he had a small eye-shaped pin on his shoulder.
"Uh..." Twilight said. Did Xul tell her what the eye meant?
"Run!" A creature from the crowd addressed Twilight, before being shot by a guard.
Twilight took the warning and flew into the air. This time she remembered to adjust her flight for the different gravity.
The guards continued shooting at her. The light from her horn was making it all too easy for them to see her. However, the creatures couldn't fly as she could, and Twilight guessed they had never fought an airborne enemy before.
As Twilight dodged attacks, she watched the creature with the pin. He stood up and shook his head, before turning to face the crowd. Then, all of the ex-prisoners stopped moving. A few guards continued to shoot at them, before realizing what had happened. Some positioned themselves around the creature with the pin. Others continued shooting at Twilight, who had put up a large shield around herself. A few even ran after Zeck and Chmone.
Twilight's shield was shot down very quickly. Seconds before it broke, Twilight dropped to the ground and threw a spell at the creature with the pin.
Zap!
Twilight felt herself get thrown backward from the strength of her blast. Guards surrounded the creature as he fell to the ground. Did I kill him!? Twilight thought.
Bang! Something hit Twilight in the hoof. She recoiled and threw up another shield.
Blood was coming out of her hoof now, and the shield was once again beginning to crack and weaken. Twilight clenched her teeth and stared at the shadowy figures in the crowd. The ex-prisoners were moving again, but they appeared to be loosing. If nothing happened to change this, the guards could easily take over the ship.
Twilight took a risk and sent out a spell.
A sphere of light expanded out of Twilight's horn and engulfed the room. Everyone stopped moving and shouts quickly died down.
"What the hell?" A guard said.
Twilight had frozen armies before, but aliens were larger than ponies. She unfroze any creature not in uniform to save strength. Once they could move, they started to shoot at the others. Twilight gagged as the smell of blood reached her. She lost her focus and freed the guards.
Some fell to the ground, but got up again and began returning fire.
A few guards yelled something, and the guards shifted their focus. Many ran for the exit, including the hurt creature with the pin and the ones surrounding him. The rest moved slowly backward and shot at the ex-prisoners. As they were leaving, the lights turned back on and the shouts died down.
One of the guards shot at a light, which exploded in a bright flash and sent glass raining down around it. Twilight shut her eyes as some of the fragments hit her.
When the guards had all left, everyone stood in stunned silence for a moment, before hurried murmurs took over as the healthy creatures attended to the wounded. The adrenaline from during the fight started to wear off, and Twilight felt a sharp pain in her leg.
"What... did they retreat?" Someone said. Twilight turned and saw that Chmone and Zeck had returned.
"Yes. They did. And where were you?!" Twilight yelled. She wanted to run over to them, and maybe even blast them, but she knew that she shouldn't move her leg.
"Where were you?!" Zeck replied, angrily. "You could have gotten yourself killed! And then we- well. It was a terrible idea!"
"Tohs tog ehs. Kool," Chmone said, pointing at her leg. He didn't seem very concerned, but he left the conversation.
"Chmone's going to find medical supplies for that wound. Do you have any organs there?" Zeck asked. He now sounded more tired than angry.
"No."
"You're lucky that's all you got. Warriors are brutal and impossible to fight against. You're lucky to be alive. Don't disobey us next time. We can keep you safe."