My Little Pony, My Little Pony…
“What…what the fuck is that…”
I used to wonder what friendship could be…
“Is that…do you hear singing?”
A Beautiful heart, faithful and strong…
“That’s definitely singing. Why the fuck is there singing?”
And Magic makes it all complete…
“I’m going to be legitimately sick.”
Don’t you know you are my very best frieeeeends!
“Fuck this, I’m out. Hand me the Melta.”
Three seconds of silence passed before the side of the Olympian Sun was torn open. Gouts of hissing steam simmered off the molten edge of the crater. From within, a looming black shape slowly emerged from the gloom, its armour emitting a faint buzz.
Mk VII Power armour was never quiet, especially not when it was damaged.
The Warrior was taller than mortal men, broader too. His footfalls thudded on the downed Strike Cruiser’s decking, before stepping outside, into the undergrowth. His stature was enhanced, not only by the demigod’s blood that flowed through his veins, but also by the heavy and spiked suit of armour he was clad in, its plates the colour of burnished steel. But this suit was old-chipped and cracked with ten thousand years of betrayal and bitter hatred. In his left hand he clutched a faintly glowing pistol, its coils burning to the touch. His other hand was linked to a larger gauntlet. The fingers ended in yellow and black chevroned claws, and a faint energy field crackled around it. He flexed the Power Fist unconsciously, the need to punch it through living fresh still lingering behind his eyes.
He walked a bit further, before turning to look at the ship. Skulls, other trophies clanked on the chains upon which they were attached to his war plate. One particular heavy spike on his back gave a faint rattle, the yellow helmet the mirror of his own but for the lack of vicious horns sprouting from its sides. The remnants of an old enemy, looted from his motionless body as a memento. The Warrior remembered that moment. It had been a good day.
He examined the side of the ship. It was the same colour of his armour, the colour of dark iron trimmed with bronze, and completed with rows of caution stripes. There were further embellishments, not all of which were wholesome; eight pointed stars, more of the same heavy chains upon which were displayed portions of the broken bodies of its enemies’ vessels, and most tellingly the helmeted skull that also served as the symbol of the vessel’s masters.
The damage was extensive, even before the warrior’s master had taken it upon himself to make his own exit. Much of the outer layer of the craft, including its bladed prow, were scorched and blackened by lance weapon damage. Fires had broken out both internally and on what remained of the Gellar field, and though both still-mortal crew and the cybernetic Servitor contingent of the ship rushed to quell them, they were still spreading. Most distressingly, the entire aft section of the cruiser had been neatly severed by their ambushers, and that included the engines. It had only been by the blessings of the Four, and not a little bit of a luck, that had enabled them to make the warp jump to safety. At the moment, even that was starting to look like a damn mess.
The Warrior gave no response, but continued flexing the talons of his Power Fist. It was worse than the Master had calculated-and he was hardly a soul given over to heights of optimism. At the very least, assuming that the Gods would not lend any divine inspiration-which seemed unlikely, considering how little they had chosen to intervene into the wars of the Warrior and his brothers over recent years-it appeared they were stuck in this place for the time being, wherever that was.
It would have been so very in character for one with the allegiances and history of the Warrior to fly into a blood mad rage, firing his plasma weapon indiscriminately and roaring his hatred of a dead Carrion lord sat upon a Golden throne. Instead he merely sighed, allowed his shoulders to slump and stared at the ground, shaking his head slightly.
“I’m getting too old for this shit.” Muttered Zuko, Aspiring Champion of the Iron Warriors.
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Rainbow Dash didn’t bother to supress her yawn as she reclined lazily on a cloud. It was, by all accounts, a quiet day in Ponyville-no monster attacks, no mad experiments gone awry from Twilight, and surprisingly, no impromptu parties organised by Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash loved her Earth Pony friend dearly, and she made a point of always having a good time at any of her social gatherings, but even the Element of Loyalty had to admit that sometimes just chilling on her own had its own appeal.
She gave a contended sigh, resting her hooves behind her head and nestling lower into the cloud’s fluffy embrace. Yep, nothing to do but just lie here and relax. She opened her eyes slightly, the sunlight making her eyes ache as she gazed into the clear blue skies, but not even that proved able to dampen her mood as warm currents of air caressed her body. She sighed again, smiling and pulling out a pair of sunglasses she had stashed in her makeshift bed. Donning them, she fluffed her cloud up again before turning and settling back down, letting the feeling of doziness fog her mind.
“Hey, hey Rainbow Dash!”
The Pegasus sat up, propped her sunglasses on her forehead and looked over the side of the cloud towards the ground. Below her, Scootaloo was looking back up, an infectious grin plastered across her face. Strangely, she wasn’t accompanied by Applebloom or Sweetie Belle, and although Rainbow was slightly disgruntled at her nap being disturbed, she wasn’t about to get aggressive towards her biggest fan.
“Hey squirt, what’s going on?” she asked, trying her best ‘big sister’ smile. She’d never be Applejack when it came to familial affection, but she had made a promise, and she’d never let anyone say that Rainbow Dash had broken a promise.
In response, the orange filly reached into a saddlebag strapped to her back and extracted a sheet of paper with her mouth, before dropping it on the ground.
“Ms Cheerilee says we have to get this permission slip signed if we want to go on the trip to Appleloosa next month, and I thought that…since you’re my big sister and all now, maybe you could sign it!” she gave an excited stamp on the ground as she finished, her smile widening even further. The offer took Rainbow by surprise, and it was a moment before she could respond.
“Sure, Scoots, I guess I can do that and all, but…why exactly can’t your parents do it?” she asked, blunt as ever. At this, the young Pegasus’ grin turned brittle, although didn’t drop from her face in the presence of her idol. She kicked the ground in a distracted manner, seemingly searching for the right words.
“Oh…well, my mum and dad-“ She looked up, the grin now dropping entirely dropping from her face as she covered her mouth with a hoof and gave a small gasp. Around them, Rainbow Dash noticed other ponies turning their eyes skyward, fear plastering their faces as they let out terrified shrieks and began to run around in a frenzied panic. A noise rose in her ears; it was the sound of air being pierced and displaced by a plunging spear, the roar of a dying leviathan tumbling from its perch. She turned as Scootaloo raised a quivering limb and pointed behind her towards the sky, and even the usually oh-so confident Pegasus could not conceal her fright.
Something huge and dark was hurtling down from the heavens. Flames licked the side of the beast as it tumbled, and as it came closer and closer to the ground the roar was joined by a screech as pieces that Rainbow could see even with the naked eye even from a distance were torn off and thrown to the wind by the force of the descent. It came smashing down into the Everfree forest a distance off, and the noise of its skid could be heard, and several frees were felled as it demolished everything in its path towards coming to rest. The ground shook with the impact, and several of Ponyville’s residents were thrown to the ground. Scootaloo let out a frightened cry as she stumbled but managed to stay upright, blushing slightly afterwards. For a moment Rainbow Dash could only blink in stunned incomprehension, but her faculties swiftly returned as she began to assess what had just happened.
Fluttershy. The timid yellow Pegasus who made her home on the outskirts of the Everfree forest. It felt like she was scared of her own shadow sometimes; Rainbow could only begin to imagine how her filly-hood friend was reacting to all of this. She rose into the air slightly, tossing the glasses to the side. There was no way she was going to leave Flutters all alone when that thing, whatever it was, had just landed.
“Scoots, go and make sure everyone’s okay, and then round up any of the girls you can find and tell ‘em to meet me at Fluttershy’s place.” She said. Rainbow didn’t wait to hear Scootaloo’s reply; she’d already coiled her body, and jetted off as fast as her straining wings could manage, leaving a trail of multi-hued light in her wake.
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Twilight put her head down and willed herself to run faster as she sprinted towards the periphery of Everfree. Spike clung to her back, only barely managing to hold on. She was flanked by Pinkie Pie and Applejack, with Rainbow flying a short distance overhead. Casting a slight glance to her side, she saw her southern friend pushing herself too, whilst to her right Pinkie hopped along with the same obliviously cheerful smile as always plastered across her face. They didn’t speak, conserving all their energy for the run. Cresting a slight hill, they could see a small wooded area up ahead; Fluttershy’s cottage was situated within.
It was little effort for Twilight to send a pulse of magical energy slamming into the wooden door, blowing it off its hinges as the four friends leaped inside. Rainbow and Applejack balled their hooves and put on their best war face, whilst Twilight let a purple glow shroud her horn as she readied her sorcery. Pinkie, for her part, just kept on smiling.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight called out, walking into the house slowly once she was sure there were no threats lurking inside. Ornaments and furniture were broken and thrown all over the floor, disrupted by the tremor. There was no sign of their shy friend anywhere, and Twilight couldn’t help but feel more and more concerned.
“Hey Flutterbutter! Where arrrrre you? Oh, are we playing a game? Is it Hide and Seek? This one time, I was playing Hide and Seek with Mrs Cake, and then Pound Cake-“Applejack placed a hoof across the Pink Pony’s mouth with an exasperated glare, muffling her friend’s voice, although the word “mayonnaise” could be faintly heard. The group climbed the stairs, trying their hardest not to disturb any more fallen debris. Reaching her room, they tentatively pushed the door open.
Across the room, a shape was wrapped up in the bedcovers, shaking violently. No part of its bearer could be seen, although it was quite apparent who it was. Twilight rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself that her friend was unharmed. The four walked towards the bed, Spike still riding on Twi’s back. The Unicorn placed a reassuring hoof on where she approximated her friend’s shoulder to be.
“It’s okay, Fluttershy, we’re here.” She said. Two blue eyes framed by a bright pink mane emerged, still shaking, emerged from under the covers. Twilight gave another smile, trying to coax her nervous friend out.
“Yeah! And even if there were bad guys, there’s no way anybody’s getting through me…I mean, us!” Dash boasted, visibly relaxing. Fluttershy didn’t respond, beyond a quiet, frightened squeak. She seemed to be staring at the window, even more fearfully than she stared at seemingly everything else. Of all her friends, only Applejack noticed this, her hoof still firmly clamped over Pinkie’s mouth (the Party Pony was still babbling non sequiturs).
“Y’all right thar, Sugacube?” She asked, adjusting her hat slightly. Fluttershy only gave another anxious squeak, and pointed out the window whilst burying her head in her quilt again. Confused, the others walked over towards the opening.
Outside, in the distance, was the broken remains of the fallen beast. Smoke and fire could still be seen emanating from it, and it had carved out a broad path of devastation as it had slid to a halt. Strange symbols that pained Twilight’s eyes as she looked at them were carved into the side, but even with years of magical research and study she still couldn’t decipher what they meant. But, that wasn’t what drew the intrepid Ponies’ gaze.
Outside the craft, in a clearing, five figures were standing in a rough circle. Even from a distance, it was clear they were huge, and clad in heavy suits of wargear. Every clutched a weapon of some sort, whether it was a colossal firearm or wicked blade. One of the group was bulkier even than the rest, though it was hunched over and what was left of its flesh seemed to run freely over it. Their voices were lowered, but from their body language hold on their weapons, one thing was clear to Twilight.
They were arguing.