His heart beating in his throat, the boy shoved his adversary to the ground. Scrambling over the grasping hands and kicking legs, he returned to the top of the small hill he had recently lost—palming the back of the current 'king's head and pushing it forward as hard as he could. His victim went tumbling ass over teakettle onto the kids he had been teasing—the four of them crumpling into a tangled heap much farther down the dirt mound.
Chest heaving and eyes darting left-and-right, the boy gazed out across his kingdom and subjects. He threw his arms into the air and proclaimed his victory—his ragged vocal chords only managing an airy squeal mixed with a primal scream. He couldn't help a grin in response to the anguished cries of his opponents as they rose again, unhappy to see the real king had returned to his throne.
"John!"
He glanced up upon hearing his name, his breath catching in his throat. The boy looked at the source: Two grown-ups standing near the mesh gate of the play area. One was a young woman wearing a large, wide-brimmed hat. The other was a stern-looking old guy in a crisp officer's uniform. He was mildly surprised that they weren't either of the teachers that normally harrassed him but knew if he didn't move, there would probably be consequences.
Ignoring the jabs and condescending laughs of his classmates, he descended the mound and jogged over. Wiping the blood from his nostril and cleaning himself on his stained tank top, he slowed to a walk as he approached the two grown-ups.
"Hello, John."
The woman extended her hand in greeting. The grumpy officer said nothing but watched with interest.
His focus honed in on the woman for now.
"Yeah?"
"Nice to meet you, young man. I see you like to play games."
She gestured to the mound where his classmates carried on without a care in the world.
"I like to win."
The woman laughed. A musical sound—cool yet with an edge, like liquid mercury.
"Of course you do."
Her hand came forward again, a coin sitting in her palm.
"Why don't we play one together?"
He looked back at the mound—the other kids had dispersed, returning to class. The game was over.
"Sure," he said halfheartedly.
"I'm going to flip the coin. Call heads or eagle before you catch it. Then we'll see if the face you call lands upright."
He crossed his arms.
"What do I get when I win?"
"You keep the coin."
"If I lose?"
She smiled.
"You get nothing."
That coin looked pretty shiny.
"You're on."
Her smile widened as she set the coin on her thumb. With a flick, she cast it upwards, the metal ringing as it was sent flying.
"Eagle."
The coin fell, landing in the boy's palm. He peeked inside, his grin complementing the stoic frown of the eagle.
"Lucky guess."
John gripped the coin hard, relishing the diminishing chill of the warming metal.
"Anything else?"
The woman smiled, removing her hat. Her blue eyes stared into his.
"Chief."
He raised an eyebrow. He looked over at the grumpy officer—the man nowhere to be seen. The school behind him began to fade into mist. Behind it all, a pair of sea-green eyes stared back into him—through him.
"Chief. Wake up."
He tore his gaze away from the floating teal orbs back to the eyes of the woman. She glowed blue, her arm cocked back.
"Chief! Get up, now!"
Her hand blazed with electricity as she brought it to bear—striking him across his cheek. Sparks exploded behind John's eyes as he felt himself falling...
***
"Chief! I need you!"
Everything ached. Everything burned. Definitely cryo-burn. He stifled a groan as he slowly regained consciousness.
"John, move! Now!"
The pod door hissed as the cryo tube began to open. A red light blinked on as sparks ignited along the edges. That wasn’t normal.
The metal screamed as it the door sheared away—the entire cryo hangar glowing a deep red. He felt the ground beneath him jump and heave as the ship began to tear itself apart.
"Terminal, now. I've set a Nav point."
Not needing any further instructions, John burst out of the cryo tube. He floated through the heated space, his suit's thermometer flashing red. 99°C.
He tucked his arms in as he adjusted himself mid-flight, letting his boots take the heat instead of his gloves.
He heard the hissing of his boots touching the super-heated metal before shunting himself towards the hangar door. Zero-gee travel was infuriating.
He could be running far faster than he was flying right now but judging by the fact the ship was only half of a ship, there would be no chance that any of the artificial gravity systems would be restored anytime soon.
He sailed down into another corridor, heading towards the Nav point. It looked like it marked the nearest security office. Inside would be a terminal along with a first-aid kit and other equipment. He could stock up before leaving. Then it would be time to get out.
He had fallen to Earth on a piece of starship hull. He could do it again.
A distant explosion rocked the ship, turning the corridor in such way that he was no longer flying straight down it. Raising his arms up, he deflected clumsily off the side—helplessly spinning from the impact. His speed slowed from a couple of hits as he stuck out his limbs to scrape them along the walls—he had to kill the spin with an impact in the opposite direction. He managed to make contact with one of the support beams, quickly righting himself and shoving off once again.
Fear seeped into his judgement. This was taking too long. This ship was already a wreck—there was no telling when a passageway he was in would suddenly break away. Again, the fall wasn’t what terrified him.
It was being separated from Cortana.
Another explosion rang out from somewhere behind him. He didn’t glance back—any more unnecessary movements could jeopardize his current trajectory in zero-gee. Bringing his hands up to the ceiling, he drove both fists into the glowing metal to anchor them. Wincing as the heat boiled his knuckles, he swung his legs forward as he threw himself to the far wall—planting his feet and leaping again.
More disconcerting explosions and vibrations continued to rattle the ship—undoubtedly more wreckage than ship at this point. He was cutting it close, closer than he had ever cut it before.
He always made it. This time would be no different.
Setting his fears aside again, he spotted the Nav point in the distance. It was the last door on the right of his current hallway. Just past it, he could see the bright orange-red of exposed hull. Beyond that, the darkened surface of a planet loomed like an eerie statue watching his chaotic descent.
If he overshot it, he was going straight out into space. If he undershot it, he’d be stuck in zero-gee with no way forward and left to boil alive inside his armor.
Firmly launching himself forward, he aimed for the corner of the doorway. He gritted his teeth as another explosion shifted the hallway—his initial angle now far too wide to make it to his goal. He was going to fly into space.
Just before passing the doorway, he reached out his hand—grasping the superheated metal of the nearest support beam. He groaned as it instantly seared the cryo-blistered palm beneath his glove, swinging his legs into the security office as he did everything he could to keep himself steady and calm. Letting go of the beam, he went straight for the terminal, grabbing the chip and putting it into his helmet.
At first, there was nothing. And then, still nothing.
Cortana wasn’t there. She should be there.
The room jerked, then split into two. He was out of time. Grasping at the supply locker attached to the wall closest to him, he tapped a switch beneath the corner of his chestplate.
ENGAGE ARMOR LOCK?
[Y] [N]
He wrenched one of his arms into the locker, punching through the metal and wearing the locker like a backpack. Crossing his arms over his chest, he closed his eyes and breathed out. He was ready.
Taking the signal from his neural implant as a yes, his armor counted three beeps a second apart. After the last beep, he felt needles assail his arms and legs as the gel layer hardened, completely paralyzing him.
In that moment, his wall broke away from the rest of the room and began to fall. John grunted as he felt the force of several gees shunt the blood into his legs. He passed out within seconds.
***
“Turn out your lights, everypony!”
“You sure we won’t be jumped by somethin’ out here?”
“Ooh, somepony sounds scared.”
“I think Applejack is right, Rainbow… I don’t know if we should.”
“I wouldn’t be too worried, darling. We haven’t gone too far from Ponyville. It should be just over that hill behind us.”
“Don’t worry, AJ! If somepony comes over here in the dark, I’ll stuff ‘em so full of cupcakes it’ll be sure to give them the craziest sugar crash after an hour! And severe indigestion after several hours!”
Twilight smiled and shook her head as she laid out the blanket, her magic giving it a brief purple outline before disappearing. As she and her friends took their seats, she glanced up at the stars—eyes aglow with wonder. It had been a while since she had studied them—not since before she had gotten her wings. Having been busy with teaching Starlight Glimmer and assisting with any map-related matters, she hadn’t had much time to herself for personal studies—let alone free time.
She was glad Ponyville was still a small country town—the night skies even close to the city were still impressively populated with stars. Even the galaxy was visible: the ethereal belt of stars stretching across the darkened skies.
“Wait, is that…?”
“Ooh! It’s starting! Are ya looking? Are ya looking?”
“Feel free to point it out to us anytime, Pinkie.”
“Second star to the right!”
“Right of what?!”
Applejack’s protests fell silent as a silvery veil of glinting streaks began to cascade across a large portion of the sky. Gasps and exclamations rang out as the mares soaked in the beautiful curtain of falling stars in the distance.
“It’s gorgeous!”
“Well I’ll be. Ain’t that ‘purty. Good call, Twi—this was a great idea.”
“If only Spike could see this. I told him not to stay up too late last night…”
“My favorite one’s that BIG one!”
“Pinkie, they’re all the same.”
“No, no! That one!”
All five of the mares’ jaws dropped as a larger, brighter streak joined the starry salvo. This one looked much more fearsome than the tiny pinpricks of the other shooting stars: smoke trailed a fiery ball that careened out of the sky like a rock flung from a trebuchet, moving far slower than its smaller brethren. More small fireballs broke off from the main one, half of them burning out after a few seconds of departure.
Twilight’s eyes widened when one piece broke off just above them, the distant roar of the falling meteorite barely audible over the silence of the town fringes.
“I-is that one coming closer…?”
“Uh oh. Should we move?”
“Perfect! We get to see it up close!”
“I don’t think I want to see it up close…”
The girls cried out together as it whizzed just a hundred feet above them—the mares just barely able to feel the heat of the falling space-debris as it sailed into the forest nearby. A series of crashes and falling trees followed by the scattering of birds rang out before the area fell silent again. The larger comet had worked its way to the horizon, vanishing into the distance. Almost a full minute passed before the sound of the crash came—a single, earth-shattering boom.
A few seconds of silence followed before Pinkie broke it.
“Let’s do that again!”
Rainbow tapped Twilight on the shoulder, pointing at a pillar of smoke.
“I think the one that landed near us might start a fire. We should make sure it doesn’t burn anything.”
Twilight nodded. “Best we move now—the peace of mind will be worth it.”
Rarity stood up from the blanket, followed by Applejack and Pinkie. Fluttershy whimpered as she joined everyone at the edge of the forest, the six mares staring down the darkened trees with a varying array of emotion.
Twilight trotted forward, disappearing into the foliage. Her friends followed her wordlessly—the six mares swallowed up by the eerie quiet of the woods.