Chapter 2: Dark Signs
Year: 2340-Humans
Location: In orbit over Equus; Locale population refers to as Equestria
-Two Hours before the Crash Landing-
“...Admiral. Admi
ral!”
Zephyr jumped out of his daydream with a fright.
“Yes, EO? What do you need?” Zephyr asked while gritting his teeth.
“We are approaching the designated coordinates now sir.” The Executive Officer replied.
“Excellent, put shields on half power and focus them on our front. I want Yellow Alert.”
“Right away, sir.”
The ship jumped out of hyperspace to the planet known as Equus. It was a lush planet, filled with many different species and foliage. According to data and long range scanners, the planet was home to several sentient species, an odd situation for the relatively small celestial body. The Gortoss homeworld was about half that of Sol’s gas giant, Jupiter. Due to the large size of their planet, the Gortoss developed hollow bones and wings to help them cope with their extreme gravity.
“Sir, our scouts have detected odd energy readings up ahead. They say a large number of ships are heading our way.”
“This is not supposed to happen It’s a setup!” As soon as Zephyr said this, twenty-eight Lugolavian Heavy Cruisers came out of Hyperspace.
The Lugolavians, who had been at war with the Gortoss for twelve years now were desperate for victory. They were an invading force from outside the Milky Way galaxy whose goal was to conquer the whole universe. An average Lugolavian was like a bipedal reptilian. They rarely showed mercy and never surrendered.
“Put shields to full frontal power!” Zephyr fell as he said this, the ship rocking violently after being hit by an incredibly powerful shot.
“Sir, our ship can’t hold up against this much firepower! We only have an escort of six frigates!” The EO shouted over the blaring sirens and loudspeakers.
“Shields at 40% and barely holding!” An Ensign yelled.
The lights flickered overhead.
“Sir, all systems are failing! We can’t hold out much longer or we will all die!” The EO shouted.
“...Abandon ship. I want all personnel to abandon ship.” Zephyr said in an angry undertone.
The EO picked up a mic and shouted “All personnel, abandon ship! I repeat, all personnel, abandon ship!”
Zephyr turned and walked out of the bridge then began heading to the Escape Pod bay. No sooner than the blast door closed behind him did he hear a loud explosion and was literally thrown to the other side of the room. He slammed into the wall, and heard an audible crack only seconds before his arm flared with unbearable pain.
“Shit… My arm…”
*Warning, the ship has been breached. Air levels are dropping fast. Immediate evacuation is advised.* The ship’s Artificial Intelligence spoke over the audio system.
“The bridge… they hit the damned bridge…”
Zephyr slowly pushed himself up with his non-injured arm.
Once he was back-up on his feet he doubled his pace. He could literally feel the ship’s destruction around him.
“Tana, how long until the ship goes critical?” Zephyr asked hurriedly.
“At this rate of destruction, total system failure will occur in five minutes. I suggest you hurry.” His AI, Tana replied.
“Understood. Oh, and can you get me the quickest route to Bay A-86-1.”
“The escape pods? I guess so. Uploading to your datapad now, SCL.”
“Thank you, I’m heading there now.”
Zephyr followed the path he was given as the ship deteriorated around him. After about two minutes of full out running, well, as fast as someone with a broken arm can run, he eventually arrived.
“Tana, how many survived the initial attack?”
“Around forty, Commander. But now I only detect twenty-eight signatures onboard. Seventeen of them are heading your way. The others are trapped I’m afraid.”
“...Damn. How long until they arrive?”
“Momentarily, sir.”
Right after she said this, the aforementioned marines burst from around the corner. Upon seeing Zephyr one saluted quickly and then said “Sir, a Lugo boarding party just landed in our main hanger bay. They overwhelmed us, I’m sorry sir.”
“Don’t be. Right now we must focus on getting off the-” Zephyr was cut-off by an explosion that rocked the ship. He suddenly felt himself sliding as the ship was literally ripped in half. In an instant ,eight of the marines were sucked into the vacuum of space, the others barely managing to get a handhold just in time. The ship was now completely vertical and losing altitude fast.
“Everyone, climb up to the escape pods! They should be directly above us!” Zephyr shouted to his men.
They all began to work their way up to the top of the rapidly descending ship, the escape pods only feet away. Zephyr managed to get his hand on the hatch to one of the escape pods when a he heard a loud metallic groan above him. He turned his head upward right before he was-
Zephyr woke up. It was dark outside, the moon hanging in the sky with the thousands of stars dancing around it.
For a moment Zephyr thought he was at home. But after a quick look around him, he realized that he was in the guest room at Twilight’s house.
Just a dream. Zephyr thought.
After his eyes eventually grew accustomed to the darkness, he climbed out of bed. When he tried to stand up however he soon fell back down, only to realize he was still a pony.
Oh.
He walked over to the mirror.
Time to change back. This coverup won’t last forever. Gods, I hate cooldowns.
He closed his eyes and the same oddly shaped symbol appeared on his forehead. A dark mist surrounded him and after about a minute he emerged as his Gortoss self.
Hmm. Maybe I need a haircut.
Zephyr was wearing casual clothes. His brown hair hung loose and covered his one good eye. He had lost his right eye in a fight, and now he wore an eyepatch to cover the horrible wound. His aging body showed the signs of wear and tear.
Rubbing his eye , Zephyr took off everything except his undergarments and then crawled back into the now much smaller bed. Closing his eyes, he fell into his waking dreams.
***
The Music Box emitted a low moan, causing the unicorn to exhale in relief. The three horses turned to leave when one of them heard a slight creak behind them.
“Um, sir? Did you hear tha-” One of the unicorn’s guards began.
“Shh! Quietly head towards the door.” The Unicorn told them.
They slowly backed towards the door, trying their hardest not to make a sound. When they were only about three yards away however, one of the guards stepped on a broken piece of glass. The other two turned to the pony in question.
“You idiot! Now we’re in-” The unicorn started.
All of them jumped when the room started to shake. In an instant every single statue turned to look at the trio. Slowly but surely they began to move towards them, the horses now noticing for the first time the enormous swords and shields the statues were carrying.
“Now what, Shadow Caller?” one of the earth ponies guards queried.
“We run!!” Shadow Caller replied.
On his command, all of them began to run, with the statues surprisingly close behind.
“We just need to get the box safely out!”
“Sir, take the left tunne-” One of the guards was hit by a statue’s longsword, killing him almost instantly. They continued to gallop full-out trying desperately to escape the horrors behind them.
“I can see the exit!” The surviving earth pony shouted.
“Sprint!” Shadow Caller yelled.
They sprinted as fast as they could up the stairs, making it only seconds before the tunnel entrance collapsed behind them.
“We made it…” Shadow Caller huffed.
“Barely. Where are we supposed to meet up with the Hierophant?” the guard asked.
“Anvale, to the east. Run ahead, I have some things to finish up here. Oh, and tell him, He has arrived.” Shadow Caller grinned.
“Yes Sir.”