//------------------------------// // Act II: The Explanation // Story: Snap Ships: Battle for Equus // by Admiral Wyatt Stone //------------------------------// Golden Flare gritted his teeth as he steadied his flying, trying not to lose control as his sabre was starting to give out on him. Fortunately, he didn't have to fly much farther as he found a smooth spot near the edge of the forest, not wasting a second as he slowed the ship down. "Come on, baby, don't fail me now..." Flare pleaded to his ship as he began to land, the ship's landing gear underneath extending out and slowly touching the ground. The ship bounced slightly as it landed, prompting a deep breath of relief from Flare as he relaxed for a second. After finding inner peace for the time being, Flare looked behind him to Aegis, who was examining his console as he spoke to his partner. "Aegis, could you help me in getting the repair pack underneath?" "Sure thing, boss." Aegis replied as Flare looked back to his controls, tapping a button on it before the window above opened, unleashing a wave of fresh air from the planet of Equus outside. Standing up in his seat, Flare climbed over the edge of the cockpit before carefully letting go, landing on his hooves as Aegis hovered out of the ship effortlessly. Looking around, he saw no sign of any creatures, civilian or animal, near their position. Flare smiled warmly at the thought of getting his repair job with no distractions. Unfortunately, that pleasant feeling died as quick as it came as Flare realized another problem. "I may be able to get her fixed, but until she gets more fuel in her system, she won't fly." Flare said aloud to himself, though Aegis had heard his words as he tried to mend the situation. "That repair pack has a distress beacon, maybe we can call for help?" Flare thought on the idea for a moment, then nodded in agreement before trotting over to the sabre's underbelly, tapping a button on the repair attachment behind the laser cannons. "Let's just hope the Komplex don't get the signal too." The stallion added as a section of the repair pack opened up, Flare taking the toolbox in his hooves before mounting it onto his back like he would with a saddlebag. Turning back to the repair pack, he grabbed the portable distress beacon out from it before trotting out to an open spot near the sabre, setting the beacon up on the ground before tapping a few buttons on it, activating the device as a slit just under the antenna glowed a bright blue. Satisfied at the sight of the activated beacon, Flare turned back to the sabre before remembering another minor detail. Trotting over to the repair pack, he looked around inside before spotting the emergency defense pistol he would need while on foot. Taking it with his hoof, he nudged the case carrying the pistol open before pulling it out with his mouth, taking the included holster that was also held within it and slotting his other hoof into it's opening before closing the container. "Just in case things get any uglier from here on out..." Flare said to himself as he took the pistol out of his mouth and put it into the holster. Taking the now empty gun case, he placed it back into the repair pack before trotting around to the other side and tapping another button, opening another section as he pulled out a compact ladder for climbing. Trotting back to the starboard side of the sabre, Flare pressed a button on the side of the ladder, causing it to extend out before reaching a suitable height for Flare to climb up to the top of his ship. Setting the ladder down, the Forge pilot began climbing up the ladder before finally getting on top of the sabre. Then, making his way to the damaged wing, he tapped a button on his toolbox before the top side of it opened, a fancy gun-like tool with a circular slot behind the firing barrel being pulled out as Flare sat down near the damaged spot. Pulling out a cylindrical container filled with a blue liquid, Flare inserted it into the gun before aiming it at the sabre's wound. The blue liquid inside the container was given the term "stakmite" by Forge engineers, due to it's ability to easily connect and repair metallic materials without the many drawbacks that more primitive processes such as welding would attain. Of course, while located throughout the known galaxy, this material was mainly used for minor repairs such as a broken part or scrape on the ship's form. As Flare pulled the trigger, the gun sprayed the stakmite matter all around the damaged spot on the wing, slowly changing from a blue sludge into a light gray metal, almost making the scar seemingly disappear. Satisfied at the job, Flare put the gun back into the toolbox, tapping another button as it shut tight. Then, standing up and trotting over to the engines, Flare looked on at the second engine's empty tank slot in dismay. Aegis, who was taking a fuel check on the ship, flew up to his partner before speaking. "Just as I feared, boss. We'll need another fuel tank after that little scuffle up there." "I figured." Flare said as he looked to his robot friend. "Keep an eye out for any creatures or ships, I'll put a transmission on the beacon." Aegis saluted without a word as Flare trotted over to the edge of the sabre, jumping down to the ground before continuing on to the beacon. Tapping a few buttons on the side of the beacon, Flare got near a small panel with a speaker on it as he began. "To any ships in range, this is Forge pilot Golden Flare, my ship is currently disabled and we require fuel and weapon supplies. I repeat, to any ships in range, this is Forge pilot Golden Flare, my ship is currently disabled and we require fuel and weapon supplies." Then, tapping a few more buttons on the panel, Flare sent the message through the beacon before looking up to Aegis, who flew over to him before speaking. "Uh, Flare? We've got visitors." Flare's ears perked up as he heard hoofsteps approaching from his right. Looking out towards the dirt path, Flare's eyes widened to see a convoy of chariots parked near his position, several creatures, not just ponies, exiting them all and joining up together. Seeing as they had nowhere else to go at this point, Flare looked to Aegis. "Aegis, stay with the ship, I think we've got some explaining to do." "No problem, boss." With that, Flare's robot companion flew over towards the sabre, while Flare himself slowly trotted over to the approaching crowd. As he approached, the approaching visitors gave varying expressions to his presence, some of them, mainly the dragons and yaks, were staring at him suspiciously, a hint of anger visible in their eyes. Others, such as the pony leading the group, seemed to have a cautious look to him, though at the same time seemed extremely curious and even surprised at his appearance. Keeping his cool in the presence of so many persecuting faces, Flare trotted up to a mare that, while he didn't meet her in person until now, he did recognize her in some of the newspapers from his old hometown years ago. Twilight's tone was somewhat split between questioning and frustrated as she began. "Well, I see that your little greeting up there was less than pleasant." "If anything, your Highness, it was less of a greeting and more of a fight for my life against a pair of invaders." Flare replied as politely as he could before a cyan mare with a rainbow-colored mane zoomed up to him, her face on the verge of anger as she yelled at him accusingly. "Okay, buster, spill it. Who are you, and why did you attack our city for no reason?!" "Rainbow!" Twilight scolded the mare as she looked back to her, then backed away as Flare defended himself. "If anything, I was trying to prevent an attack back there! And as you obviously saw," Flare said as he looked up to the city of Canterlot before finishing. "that didn't end so well." One of the creatures in the crowd, an orange dragon with purple scales on her head, walked over to the stallion before asking a question of her own. "Okay, total subject changer, but what in the heck are you wearing?" "Yeah! You look like one of us under that!" A pink, bouncy mare said as she tried to keep the air positive around her. Flare tried to hide a laugh as he answered the group. "Well, maybe that's because," He took off his helmet before finishing, his hot pink and gold-streaked hair flowing in the air as he held the headpiece in his hoof. "I AM one of you." The group gave gasps and looks of shock and bewilderment as the purple pony examined him further, Flare taking notice and returning the favor before speaking again. "Let's see, Princess... Twilight, wasn't it?" Twilight shared the surprise her friends had as she asked, "How do you know my name?" The Forge pilot looked to the Princess of Friendship smugly as he replied with, "Read the papers, your Highness." "Oh." Twilight said as she forced a nervous laugh, Flare's smug look becoming stern as he continued. "And since I have the opportunity, my name is Golden Flare, formerly a resident of Stratusburg," Flare seemed to cringe a little upon uttering that word from his mouth, but returned his former expression as he finished. "now a member of the Forge." "The Forge?" Rainbow Dash said dumbfoundedly, but didn't get an answer as another pegasus mare flew down, followed by a stallion as the former spoke to Flare. "Stratusburg?" The greenish-white mare asked in shock as Flare raised an eyebrow. "Yes? What makes you curious?" The stallion replied as the mare in front of him answered. "Name's Vapor Trail, this is my friend and fellow Wonderbolt Sky Stinger," Vapor said as she held her friend's hoof in hers before continuing. "We lived there too!" "And we heard about what happened there a while ago. It... It was a rough day for us." Sky said as he held Vapor Trail, who seemed to be on the verge of tears at the mention of their old hometown. "Yeah, and that day was the worst day of my life." Flare retorted, cringing once more as he heard another voice. "Well, maybe you could tell us what happened? I know it probably isn't a pleasant topic, but maybe you could give us closure on that subject." The yellow-coated, pink maned pony asked hesitantly as Flare steadied himself, the rest of the flying pegasi above the group landing around Flare as he spoke. "That sounds like the right thing to do, I don't like speaking of it, but seeing the circumstances, I don't really have a choice." The group listened on as Flare began his tale. "Four years ago, unbeknownst to me or anyone at the time, a task force of ships belonging to the Forge were sent here to prevent the success of a mission being carried out by those butchers known as the Komplex, more on them later." He said that last bit as Pinkie raised a hoof to ask about that new word, but lowered it as Flare stopped her. "The battle above got out of hand as a pair of cloaked stealth ships caused the mission to go into disarray, and although most of the Komplex ships were disposed of, one transport and a few escorts got through to the surface." The stallion took a breath as he prepared to remember memories he tried so hard to bury long ago. "...That's where my home of Stratusburg comes into play. On that day, I was preparing to be married to a mare I loved dearly, Swift Light, gorgeous mare, I tell ya." Several mouths in the crowd gaped in awe and fear as they listened to Flare's story, afraid of what he would say next. "But, the ceremony immediately turned into a deathly inferno as the Komplex came. They destroyed everything there and killed everypony but three of us," Flare hesitated as he tried to hold back his emotions, his eyes watering slightly as he remembered the sight that scarred him on that day. "...they even took away my wife. I could only watch her as she died in my arms." Twilight raised a hoof to her muzzle as she took in the horrible news, the pink and yellow mares sharing his sorrow as they both held each other tightly. "But, miraculously, we were saved, two mares, Sweet Star and Dawn Star, along with myself were picked up by one of the Forge ships. At first, they were going to leave us off somewhere safe here, but after we admitted that we were all we had left, they took us in to become part of the Forge." The group shared murmurs of surprise and curiosity as the pink mare wiped her eyes, her and her friend breaking their embrace as Rainbow looked to Flare. "I... I'm so sorry, I didn't kn-" "It's fine, I think I would've reacted the same way back there." Flare replied before Rainbow could finish her sentence as an orange mare with a blonde mane and tail and sporting a cowpony hat spoke to him. "Well, if ya don't mind my askin' what is it that ya do in this "Forge" group of yers?" The mare chuckled with a blush as she introduced herself. "Name's Applejack, by the way." "Well, after we arrived at the Altair system, which was the closest place for us to rest at, I joined the flight academy there to learn how to pilot one of their fancy fighters like this beast here." Flare said before pointing to his ship, the crowd looking on in awe as he continued. "As for my friends, Sweet Star continued her profession as a doctor while Dawn hung out with us." He chuckled as he remembered one of her adorable antics as he finished with, "She seems to look up to me quite highly." "I don't blame her, you seem to be quite skilled at flying, from what I heard on the way here." Rainbow said as one member of the crowd, a blue dragon similar in stature to the orange one spoke up. "Well, while I'm glad we got that situation sorted out, you mind explaining what that scuffle back there was?" Flare held up a hoof in agreement as he answered. "Ah yes, I was going to get to that." Clearing his throat, he began explaining the situation up in space. "During my research, I found that there's been a massive war going on for the past few decades, one started by a sinister power called the Komplex." He said as he looked to the sky, the crowd continuing their focus on Flare as he continued. "During that time, they've conquered countless species across the galaxy, even wiping many of them to extinction." The crowd was filled with gasps and cries of horror as Flare told them of the heinous crimes the Komplex committed. "But, fortunately for us, we've got our own weapons." Looking to his sabre, Flare began explaining what his ship was. "We call them Snap Ships, powerful battle craft capable of being shifted and built with very sturdy objects known as core cubes." Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Shifted? You mean you can change how that ship looks?" Flare smirked with anticipation as he answered the rainbow-maned pegasus. "Indeed." Then, looking to Aegis, he called out to him. "Hey Aegis, you mind showing these guys what our little sabre there can do?" "Absolutely, gimme a sec!" The robot replied as he hopped into the cockpit before closing the window, the crowd's eyes growing wide as the ship lifted up into the air, parts of it coming off as the ship began changing form. Twilight and Rainbow were awe-struck as the vessel reconstructed itself into another design, the wings were pointing down instead of up, and the cockpit was latched in between the two engines, which had been swapped around to seemingly face the other way. The crowd was full of applause as they adored the capabilities of Flare's ship, who watched with a pleasant smile as the ship landed. After touching the ground, the cockpit opened up as Aegis flew out of it, returning to his task of guarding the ship as Rainbow flew over to Flare excitedly. "Okay, you have GOT to show me how to fly one of those things sometime!" "Can't say I'm an expert, but I'd be happy to show ya a few tricks I've learned." The two ponies laughed for a moment before Flare's excitement drained to disappointment. "Unfortunately, we won't be flying for the time being. I had to sacrifice one of the fuel packs to save my hide from that last scarab up there." Rainbow shared the look of dismay as Twilight spoke to the stallion. "That's unfortunate, but we've got plenty of airships to fly in." Flare seemed to beam a little upon hearing those words. "Funny you say that, I used to drive those around back home." Twilight returned a smile at Flare's statement, but the pleasant tone in the air died down as Aegis flew over to Flare. "Flare, my sensors are picking up signatures somewhere over there... I don't think that's good." The group became alert as they all heard a growl from the forest, Flare pulling out his pistol as he looked out to the forest. Slowly trotting towards it, Flare kept his pistol aimed at the forest, two royal guards flying behind him as they prepared to fight whatever was hiding in there. The growling quickly turned into barks as a timberwolf jumped out of one of the bushes, attempting to pounce on Flare, who proved to be too fast for the beast as he shot at it, the green bolt striking it's head, ending it's life. The air grew more tense as Flare heard another, familiar voice. "Hey!" Flare snapped his head towards the forest, eyes widening as he saw his downed wingman running from another timberwolf in pursuit of him. "Sarun! Get Down!" The stallion warned as he took aim, Sarun dropping to the ground as his friend fired, shooting the pursuing creature square in the stomach as it jumped. The shot split the creature into two pieces, both broken ends burning slightly from the shots as Flare galloped over to Sarun, guards in tow. Helping his friend up, Flare examined Sarun for injuries, then punched him playfully in the leg as he laughed joyfully. "Sarun, buddy, you're alive!" "Yeah, managed to separate the cockpit from the rest of the ship just before I crashed." The green humanoid replied as his wingpony spoke again. "I didn't think they'd get you that bad back there, I almost got you killed." "Don't sweat it, bud, we're both okay for now." Sarun accepted Flare's apology before looking to the crowd of creatures in front of him. "I see you made friends with the natives?" "Yeah, took a minute, but it's good now." Then, seeing the raised eyebrows of some members of the crowd, Flare explained his friend. "Everyone, this is my fellow pilot, Sarun. We uh... got into a little accident back up there." "I can tell." A yellow pegasus with a orange and gold mane and tail in a blue suit replied back as she removed her goggles. "What happened up there?" The yellow pegasus asked curiously as Flare answered. "After we pursued and shot down a Komplex troop transport on the way down here, we tried to fly behind the two incoming scarab fighters chasing us. Unfortunately, they used that trick against us very well." "Bladed wings, those scarabs are built to slice into anything that comes at them." Sarun added, eliciting a gasp from the crowd around the two of them before Sky Stinger spoke up. "Well, since you're both together again, you don't mind explaining what brings you here today, do you?" "Yeah, what do the Komplex want with us?" The pink mare said as she zoomed over to Flare, introducing herself. "Name's Pinkie Pie, by the way, expert party pony of Ponyville!" Stunned by Pinkie's fast introduction, Flare shook his head before replying. "Nice to meet you, Pinkie. And yeah, about that." Flare steadied himself as he explained the reason they came to Equus. "Back during those four years ago, we had gotten some intel that claimed there was an UJU device somewhere on this planet." "UJU what?" A blue griffon asked, puzzled. "Ah, I should've explained that too." Flare said as he cleared his throat for another explanation. "Long ago, there was an ancient species who went by the name UJU KON. They had spread their civilization far across the galaxy, creating many incredible pieces of technology and vast cities." Flare's expression became sour as he continued. "But, one day, they mysteriously vanished. And in their absence, they left behind much of their advanced technology across many worlds." Then, looking up to the crowd, he finished with, "And, if that intel I mentioned earlier is correct, there's at least one piece of that tech somewhere near Stratusburg." The crowd gasped in shock as they took in Flare's words, Twilight being the first to speak out of them all. "So that's why the Komplex have come here?" "Exactly, and while both sides have managed to acquire some of that equipment to assist us in the war, we can't let the Komplex gain whatever lies hidden there. Worst case scenario, they might find something that could turn the tide of the war in their favor." Looking back to the group of creatures listening in, Flare finished with, "That's what we're here to prevent." Twilight grew stern as she gave her thoughts on it. "Well, even if it only helps a little, we'd be glad to assist you in this endeavor." "Thanks, we owe you more than we could give, your Highness." Flare said with a thankful smile before Twilight let out a chuckle. "Don't mention it, and, please, call me Twilight." The two Forge pilots saluted to the princess as Flare replied. "Of course, Twilight." Flare seemed to hold back a chuckle as he bowed in respect to Twilight afterwards, standing up as he began to trot towards the group. His legs stopped however as a low noise could be heard in the air, many creatures in the crowd looking around to see where it was coming from. Flare turned his head to the sky as well when one of the royal guards cried out. "Up above!" Looking up, Flare could see a large ship flying towards him and the group. After closer inspection, he could tell what it was, a Gladius dropship, though it seemed to have another one of those cubical cargo pods that he'd seen some of them carry on occasions. "Don't shoot!" Flare warned as the crowd watched the ship lower itself down to the group, preparing to land near Flare's sabre. "It's one of ours." As the ship's landing gear touched the ground, the cargo container opened up to reveal several Forge officers, a few fuel tanks and missile packs stored inside, and a familiar face on board. Looking to her, Flare galloped over to Sweet Star, who smiled warmly at the sight of him. "Star!" As the two came up to each other, the crowd watched the Forge officers as the two embraced, holding each other tight for a good minute before letting go. As she looked up to him, Sweet Star spoke to Flare. "I was worried you were hurt." "Well, not me, but my friend there was." Flare replied as they both looked to Sarun, who walked over to the two ponies as Sweet Star pulled out her medical scanner. After waving a small device around Sarun, she smiled in satisfaction at the results. "Nothing a little bit of treatment won't fix." As she put the equipment back into her saddlepack, Sweet Star looked to the crowd as Flare trotted up next to her. "Looks like you've made some new friends here, Flare." Flare laughed a little as he replied to his marefriend. "Yeah, started off rough at first, but I think we'll make great allies on the field." Noticing the two, Twilight trotted over to the group as she asked Flare, "I take it you're one of the survivors Flare mentioned." Sweet Star nodded as Flare replied to the princess. "Twilight, this is Sweet Star, one of Stratusburg's doctors back home." The mare seemed to cringe at that name, but shook it off as Flare wrapped a hoof around her back. "It... it was a rough day." "I heard, I'm sorry you two had to go through that." Twilight said with a somber expression before continuing. "But, now that we've gotten everything settled, I think it's best we help you stop the Komplex." "That would be great, Twilight." Sweet Star said before looking up to Flare. "I wish she could have come and said hello, but I thought it was too dangerous for Dawn to come with us down here." "What's going on up there?" Flare asked Sweet worriedly as she explained. "We've managed to dispose of the transports, but that wasp nearly took out the entire squadron. You and Sarun are two of the only pilots that made it!" Twilight seemed stunned at the news, but seemed to gain hope after hearing the rest. "Fortunately, we scared him off for the time being, and we've got two tridents on the way here." "That's good, hopefully we'll be able to find the UJU tech before they get back." Flare said as one of the Forge officers jogged over to them. "Lieutenant Flare, we'll have the fuel tanks installed in a 6 minutes." Flare nodded as he replied. "Thanks, and when we're done, we'll set out for Stratusburg, Princess Twilight and her friends have offered to help." Twilight looked to the officer before speaking. "We'll bring a few of our own airships to assist however we can." "Thank you, your Highness. It's an honor to meet you." The officer said before he made his way back to the dropship to acquire more supplies, Flare looking to Twilight as he thought of something to kill the time with. "Hey Twilight, since we have some time, do you mind introducing us to the rest of the gang here?" The Princess of Friendship beamed at those words. "I'd be absolutely happy to, Flare. If you'll both follow me." The two nodded as they began following Twilight to the others, hoping to make some friends and to get to know how much has changed in their absence while they waited for the repairs to be completed. Then, they could finally unravel one of Equus' biggest mysteries ever discovered.