Please, if you can, see this video before reading. See it as a intro for the chapters.
X-Pony Intro
A new pony recruted
1999 January 14th 06:00 - Enlisted Ward, Room 1
Fire Bullet's dream
I walked along a red carpet wearing a fresh uniform along with a new rank patch, I had made it to Sergeant not that long ago, and barely a week ago we had found and destroyed the aliens’ base, defeating them for good. I remembered seeing it hanging over the magma chamber of an active volcano, suspended by metal cabling. Sending it into the molten rock had taken tonnes of explosives, but the explosions had been wonderful to see and the screams of the aliens had been music to my ears as it melted into scrap.
Now that the war was over, I could finally get married to the stallion of my dreams, Bomb Wing. After rescuing him from Stone Tear a while ago, I had him wrapped around my hoof. All that was left to do was to finally have the ceremony to tie the knot officially.
Everypony from the base had been invited to the Treetop church, even the dragon, Ghrathryn, had come, and everypony was in dress uniforms. Somepony had even managed to make a special one for Ghrathryn, designed so he could wear it even with his huge wings. It was something of a riot of colour as each of us wore the uniform of our old unit along with our rank symbols from our time in X-Com, each with the unit icon over the top of it.
When I finally reached the alter, I found Bomb Wing waiting there for me along with the priest waiting to begin the ceremony. After half a year of waiting, nothing could go wrong today.
*****
After all the prayers and sermonising from the priest, he finally got to the interesting bit, the vows. “Do you, Fire Bullet, take you, Bomb Wing, for your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?”
I nodded simply, “Yes.”
“And do you, Bomb Wing, take you, Fire Bullet, for your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?” The priest asked, turning to Bomb Wing.
“I do,” Bomb replied.
“Then,” The priest said, turning his attention to the rest of the room. “If anypony here can show cause why these two people should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“I have a reason why they shouldn’t be married!” I heard somepony yell from the crowd, definitely a pony though; it didn’t have the dragon’s distinctive way of speaking. Turning around, I felt my breath catch in my throat as I saw Stone Tear standing forwards in his dress blacks, holding one of those blue alien guns.
“What are you doing?!” I asked confusion, fear and anger fighting for dominance in my voice.
“I’m waking you up from this dream,” Stone replied grimly before firing a bolt of liquid green energy at me. “Now, wake up!”
I screamed, curling into a ball as the energy struck my flesh, melting it from my bones as tears ran down my muzzle. The last thing I saw was Bomb Wing staring into the distance as if nothing was happening, not moving at all. The only thing I could hear before darkness claimed me was Stone Tear’s laughter.
*****
I bolted upright in an instant, my purple eyes snapping wide open as my breath came in short bursts, just short of a scream of fear. What happened to my dream? Why did it happen and why had it turned into a nightmare at the end? I asked myself, trying to get my breathing under control, only for something else to enter the fight. Sitting up reflexively had jarred and pulled just about every wound on my body, I could feel them aching and burning with pain, forcing a scream out passed my teeth, waking Bomb Wing on the other bed.
“Whu-what’s happening?” He asked, trying to jump out of the bed and make himself ready for combat before he had even woken up properly. “Are we under attack?” He blinked as he looked around, noticing that he was in a different room to normal. “Where am I?” He asked.
“Not with Stone Tear,” I answered shortly, still panting a bit from the pain of my wounds and causing him to jump.
“Fire?” He asked, sounding worried, “You do know the problems we’re going to have if one of the medics finds us now, right?” He asked, sounding like he feared the answer.
“As I said last night,” I reminded him, “I don’t care about that rule at the moment. Nopony deserves to be stuck in the same room as that alien weaponry using and whining unicorn.” I pointed out, stomping a hoof on my bed for emphasis before realising what I had just said. I gasped, putting both fore hooves in my mouth to try to take back what I had already said.
Bomb looked at me, confusion written plain on his muzzle, “Alien weaponry using?” He asked, his ear twitching a little. “What are you talking about?”
“Just… just a nightmare,” I responded, letting out a breath as I put my hooves down again.
Bomb looked at me, frowning, “You had one too?” He asked. “Stone Tear using a blue tube gun with green fire in place of bullets, right?”
I nodded, blinking in surprise. “How did you…?”
“That was why I screamed earlier,” He replied, scuffing a hoof against the bed. “I was about to execute him in my dream and he shot me.”
“O…kay, this is getting weird.” I muttered, getting a nod from Bomb Wing.
“Why don’t you tell me about it?”
I blinked, looking up at him, “About what?” I asked curiously.
“About your dream,” Bomb clarified.
“Oh… uh… he shot me at the end of a marriage ceremony.” I replied a little too quickly, trying to figure out just how much to say.
He gave me a look, “Okay.”
I sighed softly; this was getting really awkward really fast. “We should try getting back to sleep; we’ll need all the rest we can get.” I said, twitching my tail as I lay back down. I wish that my nightmare had been real… or at least what happened before the getting killed part. I thought to myself as I dragged my blanket around me again.
*****
1999 January 14th 09:00 - Enlisted Ward, Room 1
An equine scream of rage woke me up, making me yelp in fright. Looking around for the source of the noise, I found one of the nurse ponies standing near the door, looking more than a little pissed off. I recognised the mare, unfortunately. Nurse Spike Head, for the fact her blue mane looked like a series of spikes coming up from her brown coat. She had a reputation as being all too easy to anger, and being able to tear legs off living cockatrices.
“I-I-I c-c-can explain…” I started, shivering in fright.
“NO!” Nurse Spike Head roared, making both me and Bomb jump back against the wall as far from her as we could get. “He is going back to his own room this instant and neither of you will be getting any food for three days once you are allowed out of here!” She snapped at us, stalking forwards. “You both know the rules!”
I gulped, nodding as she stalked towards Bomb Wing. It was worse than I had expected. It was only supposed to be two days without food, not three.
Grabbing Bomb Wing roughly, Spike Head threw him onto her back, making his wounds hurt again if the yelp he gave was any indication. Grabbing his armour, she stomped her way out of the room and towards the one Bomb Wing and Stone Tear had been assigned. Shaking in fright, I curled up in a ball, not wanting to think about what could happen now.
*****
1999 January 14th 07:10 - Non-Commissioned Officer Ward, Room 1
When I woke up, my vision was filled with golden scales and the occasional bandage. Jerking back, I blinked as I saw the dragon’s head and remembered what had happened yesterday. Despite his own rather too obvious wounds and the fact he had to have been beyond exhausted, he had made his way here to comfort me, the least I could do was stay with him until he woke up, I had promised him that much. He was the only one of his kind on the base, and after what he had done for me, comforting me, he deserved the same. Shifting slightly, I lay my head on his shoulder again, closing my eyes.
I heard rather than saw the door open, followed by the sounds of something metal clanging against the metal flooring and somepony’s gasp. Shifting carefully, I glanced up, frowning a little when I saw Ghrathryn hadn’t moved. He was probably on the far side of unconscious right now, not that I could blame him. Turning my head, I twitched an ear, seeing the cream-coloured nurse pony trying to back away without making a sound. No surprises there after the reactions of… just about everypony I had seen encounter him.
It was strange and it wasn’t that everypony feared the dragon, even the Commander and the head nurse, a pony called Spike Head, who was one of the tallest ponies in the base and one of the heaviest, most of it muscle from what anypony could tell. Then again, even unconscious he seemed to dominate a room, and there was a subtle feeling of menace from him, like a storm looking for a place to hit.
The nurse managed to make it back out of the door, leaving whatever it was that they had dropped and closed it hard, causing my ears to flatten against my head. Even that noise failed to wake him. Flicking my tail out, I stretched briefly before settling myself again and making myself comfortable. Even though I wasn’t particularly tired, it wasn’t as if there was much else to do with everypony injured. Closing my eyes, I settled in to drowse until something made me move.
*****
1999 January 15th 12:00 - Feallmharfóir Homestead, Ailiaar Home World
I lashed my tail in agitation as I paced around the room I had been gifted in the headquarters of the assassins of this world. The nobles claimed that they were the power of the world, but I knew from experience just how good the assassins were and I doubted many people were brave enough to cross them willingly, especially since they controlled the orbitals with the ship they had found. Unfortunately that was not the source of my agitation, if it had of been, I could have quelled it more easily as I was well used to dealing with politics, even though I didn’t like it. I was Gr’an’tycth of Or’nae, politics came hand in hand with being a princess, and I was already a ‘diplomat’ since I was lifemated to one of the Gr’an’tacth of the Cal’drith.
I sigh escaped my lips as I turned to look out the window, watching the wind tease at the trees in the distance. If I was honest with myself, that was the real problem right now. I was mated to Ghrathryn, and he should have been here nearly a week ago. It wasn’t like him to not show up, unless something had happened. The fact he was missing worried me, a lot.
I heard the door bang open behind me and turned to look, frowning as I spotted one of the locals there, a black-scaled female with large feathered wings, “Somethin’ up, Vanora?” I asked, recognising her as one of the ten Ailiaar that had joined my lifemate and me, along with the rest of our group, in rescuing several diplomats when we had first met up.
She nodded the light glinting off traceries of silver that were showing on her wings and scales, those that weren’t covered by her robes. “Aye, V’rentryth, a message pod from a fighter just arrived at the Meán Oíche. They’re going to send the message down here so we can see what’s going on.”
“Where are they doin’ it?” I asked, twitching my tail. A message pod from a fighter meant that one of the little one-person craft had run into trouble and the only one I knew was coming this way was my lifemate’s… he wasn’t dead, I knew that much, but I could feel a cold knot settle in my stomach, since Ghrathryn was probably in trouble. I just hoped he was making more trouble for the ones threatening him than they were for him.
Vanora flicked her tail, reaching up to scratch her crest before pushing her hood off completely. “In the main study, in about ten minutes,” She replied.
I nodded, moving towards her and the door. “Then let’s be goin’.” I said, flicking my tail. I wanted to know what had happened to my lifemate and the sooner the better. When the other dragoness nodded, I followed her down the stairs, the pair of us joining the flow of acolytes and the like moving through the fortress.
*****
1999 January 15th 12:10 - Feallmharfóir Homestead, Ailiaar Home World
A low fire burned in the hearth as we all stood around the holo-projector, the high tech device looking remarkably out of place amongst the furnishings of the room, ones that had been here for centuries most likely, certainly before my time. I shifted slightly, turning my head to watch the red Franthoryn as Vanora leaned against my side.
“Repeat, this be Ghrathryn Cal’drith… I be under attack near… some alien force issss… donnae know ‘ow many, bu’ I doubt I’m gonnae ge’ outta ‘ere. Damn hedrachin are gonna force me tae… on the planet. I donnae know… if I’ll join ye… soon, bu’… trouble fer them. …Soon as I… gear, I’ll contact ye.”
The message had been filled with static and the sounds of a fight, which hadn’t been a surprise, what was a surprise was how angry V’rentryth looked. Having seen her fight before, I wanted to say I pitied whoever and whatever those aliens were, but… Ghrathryn was a friend, and so was V’rentryth. Somedragon attacking them was like somedragon attacking Vanora or any of the others of our group. You didn’t do that and think you could get away with it.
“You aren’t going out there alone.” The voice caught me off guard, stealing the words right out of my mouth. I turned to see the black, four-winged Rhyl’saar standing forwards. “V’rentryth, I know you want to go tearing off after your mate, but hear me out. When we fought together, we got more done than any of us could do alone, because of our skills. You helped us then, let us help you now.”
I nodded, flicking my tail against Vanora’s. “Noranna’s got a point, V’ren. Let us help, there’s a few of the larger ships near enough ready on the Meán Oíche, we can fix most of what’s left in flight and one of them will let us all come and carry more gear than one of the fighters.”
When she turned towards me with a scowl on her face, I thought she wasn’t going to go for it, not that I would blame her in that case, it was her lifemate that was missing after all. Then her expression softened and she nodded.
“I’d welcome ye all, an’ I’m sure Ghrath’d be glad tae see ye all.” V’rentryth said eventually. “’Ow long ‘til we can ge’ tha’ ship?” She asked.
“Give us a day to pack and prepare everything, then we can go searching.” I replied, flicking my tail. Breaking away from Vanora, I walked over to the red and put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll get him back, V’ren, and spirits help whoever gets in our way, because there won’t be any mercy from us.” I said, getting nods from the others, followed by several growls from nowhere, making me jump. Looking down, I saw the spirits that had formed into my weapons years ago resume their natural forms and fly up to my shoulders. A glance around at the others let me know what had happened; the spirits were lending their aid as well. We had their support, something that lifted a load off my shoulders.
“Thank ye, Keir.” V’rentryth said softly, putting a hand on mine as the others gathered around.
*****
1999 January 17th 16:43 - Commander's Ward
I had finally been allowed to leave the hospital wing, and without those damn bandages all over me since my wounds had healed fine, though my tail was mostly flat thanks to being stuck in the bandages.
I also had some good news for a change; I had received a telegram yesterday saying that we would be receiving a new recruit in about four days. From the dossier that had been sent ahead, he was supposed to be a moss green earth pony stallion with a blue and black coloured mane and tail. He was also supposed to hail from the northern part of the jungle nation of Amazone, just south of the Southern Mountains. It was pretty close to Equestria, but the mountain range cut it off, splitting the nations. Apparently they didn’t control the weather either, meaning the jungle was a hotter and wetter version of the old Everfree Forest. Of course, how he was going to get here was a question, since it was a long way from there to here and he was supposed to be making his own way here.
We needed to ensure he had a welcoming party waiting for him when he arrived, and that he got a grand tour of the base. I shifted slightly and sighed, I hoped that Bomb Wing, Trip shot and Fire Bullet had managed to recover by the time this greenie arrived, or else I would be there all along and that wouldn’t be good as it would be the same as painting a big bullseye on me for the aliens to take pot shots at.
Putting my armour on again, I grimaced, wrinkling my muzzle at the scent of dried sweat and blood in it. I really needed to wash it, but first I needed to get back to my room, since my clothes were all in my room, along with my spare armour. With the alien – aliens? – around I didn’t really want to go around without armour in case the prisoner attempted to escape, and besides, while I had a dress uniform, it was far too fancy and hard to get into for me.
Putting on my watch and glasses I ran through a mental checklist of things I needed to do as I crossed the room, heading towards the door. We still needed to make a report on what had happened during the Draceville mission and the grey alien was still sitting in the containment block, giving us no information whatsoever. Of course then there were the reports from the scientists on the research they had managed to complete, getting a uniform tailored for Ghrathryn along with armour for him. I also had to check on the injured soldiers, make sure the medical skills tests were implemented and check how much we had in storage along with how much free space there was… and see if there were any facilities we needed to get a crew to start building.
Leaving the hospital room, I hurried to my living quarters, glad to finally see the back of the place for the time being, even if it meant that the stress of my job was just beginning.
*****
1999 January 17th 18:20 - Commander Kim Fareseed’s office
Mission 2 Report, 1999 January 13th
Mission name: ‘Terror in Draceville’
X-COM Commander Kim F.’s Report
Commander’s notes:
The mission was terrible. Of our thirteen active soldiers counting myself, nine have been badly wounded while the remaining four have all been injured, though more lightly than our comrades.
The town of Draceville, while reportedly evacuated before we arrived on the scene, has now been almost completely destroyed between the effects of some very unusual weather patterns and what is likely the aliens attempt at attacking the townsfolk.
Unfortunately I must also report that it isn’t just one alien race we are dealing with in these attacks, there are at least three involved that we have encountered. While the ‘grey’ aliens mentioned in my previous report are relatively tough, they are a lot weaker than the two we encountered at Draceville.
One of the two is orange in colour and has what appears to be a snake-like tail in place of a lower body. The armour it uses is exceedingly strong, strong enough that even using high explosive rounds, our heavy cannons are unable to make much of a dent in it. Like the greys, this type of alien is a tool user. They also seem to have access to very similar weaponry from a personal encounter; their weapons spit green fire in place of bullets, much like the ones we found with the greys.
The first alien was accompanied by a second type when we encountered it; or rather we encountered this type of alien first, then the snakes. This one seems to be more like a crab, maybe with some sort of insect in the mix. They are very fast, but don’t seem to know how to use weapons of their own, however their crab-like claws are quite possibly able to crush through metal. On the good side, they also seem to be very vulnerable to fire based weapons, and electrical shocks of high magnitude quickly kill them.
We encountered a dragon whilst attempting to clear Draceville, one by the name of ‘Gra-th-rin Cal’duh-rith*.’ It seems that he, much like the Pegasus ponies of old, can tame the weather itself, however while they have to physically move clouds, he can call down lightning on a target from several feet away. He saved the lives of several ponies in Draceville, along with much of the population from his own report.
Also from his own report, he may well be an alien himself, hailing from a place called ‘Har-ren-thi-as*,’ which I do not recall seeing on any map of our world. He claims to be a prince – his uncle is apparently the king of a place called Cal’duh-rith* while his life-mate is apparently the daughter to the king of Or-nay*, wherever those are.
From what he told us on meeting him, he is a specific type of dragon, a ‘fran-thor-rin*’ or something like that, whatever it is, and he is different to those we have seen before. He also said he is a ‘joss-or fren-th-rin*’, presumably that means something like ‘storm dragon’, and that he was on a diplomatic recon of some kind.
Survivors: Unknown. Draceville evacuated by Grath-rin
Civilians killed: Unknown.
Aliens killed: Unknown.
Aliens captured: None.
Mission rate by Commander: Worse than terrible.
Soldiers survived: Thirteen, including me.
Soldiers heavily injured: Nine.
Soldiers lightly injured: Four, including me.
Worst injuries: Cracked horns, hooves and broken wings and legs.
Lightest injuries: Burn marks and minor cuts.
Civilians recruited: One. Grath-rin Cal’duh-rith.
Recruit rank: Colonel. I don’t really trust him yet, though he has said that he does not eat pony meat. I gave him a high rank in an effort to ensure he would become an ally and to avoid upsetting him. I don’t particularly wish to find him eating the base staff or myself one day.
New recruit status: Looks heavily exhausted and injured.
Mission ‘Terror in Draceville’ report ended.
X-COM Commander Kim F.’s report ended.
* - I have only heard these words, so I am unsure exactly how they are spelt; hence they have been sounded out for the time being.
*****
“Finally done,” I sighed in relief as I stretched the kinks out of my muscles. After having galloped to my office, something that had taken about quarter of an hour, sitting in one place writing a report for an hour had made me stiffen up enough that several things had popped when I stretched.
I hated dealing with the paperwork after missions, most of the time the memories were too fresh, particularly the bad ones like this last mission. How we had managed to avoid losing anypony I didn’t know, but it was nothing short of a miracle.
Sighing again, I turned my attention to the pile of reports still on my desk. It looked like I was going to end up being sat here for hours since there was a pile of them. Levitating the mission report out of the way, I took the others, flicking through them and frowning as I noticed that there were several research reports, primarily laser weapons, new medical kits, the alien guns and their craft.
Picking the top one, which turned out to be about the improvements to the medical kit, I made myself as comfortable as I could. Judging by the thickness of the folder, I was in for a minimum of a fifty page report on whatever new drugs they had found, this was going to take a while.
*****
1999 January 17th 19:30 - Amazone, north-east jungle side
As I walked through the jungle towards the Evergreen Forest and Treetop City, I frowned as I heard something moving through the vegetation nearby. Looking around, I frowned, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, just the usual different coloured plants, the parasprites that seemed to spread wherever they appeared, a dead manticore and a green bipedal creature….
“Wait… what?!” I turned my head back to look at the green creature, only to find it turning its hear towards me, making me realise that I had said that out loud, and loud enough that it had heard me, not a good thing.
As it turned to face me, I noticed that its face, unlike the rest of its body, was purple. Purple and scarred, given the lighter line crossing over its right eye. Whatever this thing was, it was not from around here that much I knew, and unfortunately its colouration meant that it would be perfectly at home lying in wait for an ambush in this sort of terrain.
When it finished turning around, I blinked as it grunted, sounding confused. What I had thought was its fur looked more like some kind of body suit, especially with the dark blue blood that stained it in several places, coming from rents in the fabric. Even with that, it still looked big enough and mean enough to break me in half with little effort.
I heard a thump and looked back at the creature, my eyes widening in fear as sweat started to bead on my brow. It was starting towards me, and it was licking its lips. Backing up, I twitched my tail nervously as I looked around for a way out of this mess. The last thing I wanted was to be some over-sized monkey’s dinner.
“Calm down, Bluelight, remember your training.” I whispered to myself, focusing on my breathing to calm myself. Closing my eyes, I focused on the magic that flowed through the earth and through my body, feeling the two bracelets around my forelegs heat comfortably as they picked up on the magical flow. I heard rather than saw the creature stop, then heard it roar as all the nearby plants bent and shifted, trapping it at my mental command.
Opening my eyes again, I let out an explosive breath, feeling sweat on my flanks and dribbling down my neck. “I’m an Earth pony, and I’ve trained my magic for years, but I still end up exhausted whenever I do that, what gives?” I asked the air, panting it out between gulps of air as I looked walled off creature.
Hearing a roar from the other side, I twitched my tail, turning and setting off in an exhausted jog through the trees. I didn’t want to stick around here to find out what that thing would do to me when it got out. As I trotted away, I glanced up at the sky. “Mom, dad… I promise I will find you.” I whispered, “Maybe my new job will lead me to you, but even if it doesn’t, I’ll kill any alien that stands in my way. They will regret the day they took you away from me.” I whispered, a tear trickling down my cheek.
*****
1990 September 7th 08:20 - Timber Town, Bluelight’s home
Bluelight's flashback
When I woke up that morning, I had thought it would be an ordinary day, the scent of cooking eggs for breakfast waking me from my slumber. Hurrying downstairs, I almost ran into the kitchen to find my mother cooking eggs while my father was gathering his tools for work.
Walking up to the larger stallion, I looked up at him. “Dad, when will you be back?” I asked in a small voice, not really wanting to see him leave for work.
“Tonight, I promise I’ll be back for tonight, alright, Blue?” He asked, leaning down to nuzzle me, nudging his head into my side gently, almost pushing me over.
“Really?”
He nodded, nuzzling me again. “Really,” He confirmed.
Grinning, I bounced over to the table to eat while mom packed a few things to help dad with his work. Not long after they left, I gathered my own things and left for school, not realising that this would be the last time we would be a family.
*****
1990 September 7th 16:50 - Timber Town, Bluelight’s home
That evening, as I waited for my parents to return, doodling on a piece of paper, the door to our house slammed open, revealing one of my friends, “Bluelight!” He started, sounding excited by something. “Come on, you’ve got to see this!”
Frowning, I nodded, following him from the house and to the harvesting grounds, where several… things were herding ponies into a strange beam of light. I didn’t know what they were, but just looking at the bipeds made ice settle in my stomach, particularly the way they were making the ponies go into the light. That was when I saw my parents in the herd, both their faces looking… blank, despite the distance between us. “No!”
Even as I yelled, the whole group disappeared along with the light, vanishing into the air. Breaking away from my friend, who was babbling excitedly about ‘aliens’, I ran over to where I had seen the light, pawing at the ground in an effort to find where it had gone.
“No… no… please…” I sobbed, tears trickling down my muzzle. “Please come back… please!” Unfortunately words had no effect on the uncaring ground and sky. I felt something change inside me that day, something cold wrapped around my heart. I would get my parents back, along with everypony else that had been caught by those monsters… those aliens. I would get them back and the aliens would pay for what they had done.
*****
1999 January 17th, 20:30 - Amazone, north-east jungle side
When I finally stopped, I had managed to get a fair distance away from that creature, into a clearing in the jungle, one of the few areas where there wasn’t much vegetation.
Dropping my saddlebag on the ground, I glanced around briefly before taking my sleeping bag out and unrolling it on a dry patch of ground. Lying down on it, I took out some food and rolled around to look up at the sky, taking a bite out of a cake bar. Somewhere out there, my parents were alive somehow, at least I hoped so. I blinked a tear away and sighed. Maybe, with joining this X-Com, I would be able to find them and bring them home safe again.
For now though, I needed sleep, I had a long way to go before I reached the base. Finishing my meagre meal, I closed my eyes and settled down to sleep, hoping that I had evaded that green alien and that I would find my family again.
*****
1999 January 18th 07:23 - Commander Kim Fareseed’s office
I woke up in my office with my head buried in research reports. Blinking sleepily, I rubbed my eyes with a hoof and looked down at the one lying open. This would be an almost perfect example of why I didn’t like heavy reading late at night, since it almost always resulted in me waking up with my muzzle in the literature. A hundred pages of scientific jargon on our new laser weaponry certainly counted as ‘heavy reading’, not only for the size of the document but for the fact that it involved wading through things only a physicist could really understand without a science-to-Equestrian dictionary, a map and a compass... okay, maybe not the last two, but certainly the first.
After shaking the cobwebs out of my head, I slipped out of the chair, groaning as my back started aching both from the position I had fallen asleep in and from the armour I was still wearing. Stretching out, I grunted as several things popped or snapped, settling back into their proper places, shaking myself out, I reached up a hoof to adjust my glasses as my stomach decided to let me know I hadn’t eaten since lunchtime yesterday by growling at me. Glancing at the reports, I grimaced at the state of them, whatever I had been dreaming about had apparently left me sweating, or maybe it was just my armour. Either way, I decided to leave them to dry out while I went to get something to eat.
I needed to get out of this damned armour first though. Sighing, I headed for the bathroom to clean up and dump the stinky armour in favour of something a bit fresher. Celestia knew, I would need it the next time we detected a UFO and it either landed or was brought down somewhere over Magica, but for now I could afford to at least let it be cleaned and mended.
Half an hour later and freshly showered, I made my way into the mess hall, just in time to have missed the morning rush, or at least what there was of one given most of the soldiers were probably still recovering from their injuries. Walking through the rows of tables, I flicked my tail as I approached the serving area. We had been lucky so far, we were one up in terms of how many people we had, granted we had lost one, but we had gained two with the dragon and the new pony that was supposed to be arriving in the next three days or so. Even with the Skyranger filled to capacity, we still needed more soldiers, who knew what other monstrous creatures the aliens would send at us next.
“Commander, what can I get you?” A voice asked, breaking me out of my own thoughts to see a dusky blue-grey stallion standing behind the counter.
I sighed, leaning against the counter. “The usual, Bjarne,” I paused as my stomach growled at me. “Actually, make it double,” Considering how long it had been since I had eaten, I probably needed the food, particularly after the hospital crap... though that brought up something. “And since you’re here... have you been able to get in any fish or meat?” I couldn’t recall whether I had told anypony that the dragon ate meat or not, but it seemed like a good idea to inform the head chef about the issue while I had him here in front of me, hopefully before the dragon in question woke up starving and decided to devour everypony he could catch.
I watched as the chef prepared my meal in silence, chewing my lower lip as it stretched on, only to jump as the plate of sandwiches was set down in front of me. “The CMO told me, Commander.” Bjarne responded, making me let out a breath of relief. “It has been... difficult to get such within Equestria, I have had to get in touch with the Iolaireans, we received two crates yesterday, more will be coming, though it is expensive to import... and an offence to the senses.”
I nodded, picking up one of the sandwiches with my magic and taking a bite out of it. “I can imagine given what I’ve seen, and smelt on the battlefield.” I responded after swallowing the bite. I could picture the chefs’ responses to opening supply crates to find meat packed into them all too readily given how the sight of those bodies in Draceville had affected Trip Shot. “However, I have seen this dragon in action, and I would much prefer that he stays well fed enough that he doesn’t start looking at us for food... particularly given I saw him tear the arms off one of the aliens in the last mission.” I shuddered at the memory. “That thing was a lot bigger than we are to him.”
Bjarne nodded, twitching the tail-knot he had as he turned to scowl at his staff as they worked on what would probably be lunch. “I understand that mission could have gone better, given you are one of the first soldiers to eat here since it occurred.”
I snorted softly, finishing my second sandwich. “That... is an understatement, still next time we will be better prepared,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt.
*****
1999 January 18th 10:15 - Non-Commissioned Officer Ward, Room 1
Waking up to a raging headache I expected, waking up to hear some unknown yelling about something I hadn’t. I took a moment to let my mind figure out just what was going on with my body, only to hear somedragon yell at the loth I had joined before falling unconscious. “I don’t care what he wanted, either he should not be here or you shouldn’t and frankly that monster deserves less than it has been getting so get out, now!”
“No,” That was the loth I knew, Trip Shot I believe her name was. “I promised I would stay with him, I won’t go back on that promise.”
There was an equine scream of rage, followed by a squeal and the feel of – what I believed to be Trip Shot – bumping into me. Enough was enough. My injured arm went around Trip Shot, making her yelp in surprise, even as I threw my uninjured arm out in the general direction of the other voice, the one that had called me a monster, a thought sending electricity coursing down it to arc across the room. “Back off!” I snapped at the other. “I donnae care jus’ who ye think ye are, ye donnae call anydragon a monster ‘less ye be wantin’ tae face the consequences, an’ ye donnae try tae force anydragon tae go back on their word.” I growled, my voice rumbling like a storm as it dropped into the quiet between the Lothrae.
Opening my eyes, I shifted carefully, sitting up, but still holding Trip against my side as I glared at the new lothryn, this one brown with a spiked blue mane. My lips pulled back from my teeth as she actually cowered under my glare. “Trip Shot was doin’ what I asked her tae do, lothryn,” This time I made the word a curse. With a cousin’s lifemate actually being the head of our stable and my family’s love of rearing Lothrae, I had seen plenty, both good and bad, come through our doors. This one seemed more of the latter than the former.
“Then you w-w-won’t get a-a-any food f-f-for three days.” She stuttered, trying to glare at me. “Neither of you will.” She added, falling back on threats.
Releasing Trip Shot, I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the pain — it was a lot milder than I had expected, meaning I had been out of things for a while — and stalked over to her. “Jus’ like a bully, tae use wha’ power they think they ‘ave tae try tae force things on others.” I said, kneeling in front of her. “Do ye really think I can be forced, girly?” I asked, flicking my tail.
“Y-y-y-you d-d-don’t s-s-scare me,” The loth started, making me smirk. She might have thought I wasn’t aware of things, but I could see a thousand little things that told me just how scared of me she was, and that was without her scent giving the game away.
“If’n I cannae get anythin’ tae eat here, I’ll jus’ go elsewhere, girly.” I pointed out, flicking my tail slowly. “Do ye really think tha’ t’soldiers here will willin’ly attack somedragon tha’ saved their lives, an’ held a storm fer five hours, fightin’ in it while I was injured tae save more lives than ye’ve e’er seen afore?” I asked, knowing the answer to that. None of these Lothrae would willingly attack me; they knew just how deadly I could be, especially in my element. “Lotsa electricity ‘roun’ ‘ere,” I commented. “I c’n simply draw on it if’n I need tae, an’ it wouldnae take much tae cook a little loth such as ye….” I commented calmly. That seemed to be the straw that broke the loth’s back, so to speak, since she turned tail and bolted out of the room. “An’ send a damn doctor next time.” I called after her, before snorting in amusement, damn bully was just a coward underneath the fact didn’t surprise me at all.
“Wow… I don’t think I’ve seen anypony handle Nurse Spike Head like that.” Trip Shot said in awe as she walked up to me. “How did you do that?”
I grinned, reaching over to ruffle her mane and getting a ‘hay!’ from her. “I was trained tae fight, bu’ I be Royalty, Trip, it comes with the territory tha’ ye learn how tae read another.” I pointed out, getting to my feet and testing things carefully. Nothing seemed to be wrong, and the headache had actually faded without that ‘Spike Head’ around, making me wonder how much of it was from her voice. “Ye get used tae pickin’ ou’ little bits tha’ tell ye what yuir dealin’ with an’ what ye can do tae press. She called me a monster, I played it up, but by bein’ the exact opposite type o’ monster tae the one she was expectin’, the civilised one.” I flicked my tail before tearing the bandages off and stretching out, there was pain still, but it was minor, something that I could deal with awake while the hibernation dealt with the rest… and possibly an unconscious tap into the power lines. “Why donnae ye show me ‘roun’, startin’ with the kitchen, since I could eat.” I commented as my stomach growled, making the loth blush.
“S-sure, this way,” Trip Shot said, trotting out of the room. Smiling slightly, I followed her.
*****
1999 January 19th 11:11 - Training Room
The training room was remarkable quiet today, perhaps in part due to the fact there was a dragon in the room, but mostly because there were so few of us active at the moment. Of the fourteen soldiers still on the base and still alive, it seemed that maybe half of us had recovered from our wounds. So far I had seen Bomb Wing, Fire Bullet, Ghrathryn - I had to snort at myself about that considering I had been in the same room as him - the Commander and Mr. Whiny.
Shifting under the weight of my battle saddle, I glanced over at the dragon again before aiming down the range at a paper target crudely shaped into a pony’s form. In one way, I was glad he was here, since whenever he came into a room, pretty much all conversation ceased, letting me actually think about what I was doing without having to listen to Mr. Whiny, on the other hoof, I was probably the closest thing he had to a friend in this place and I could see how much it pained him at times, even after only knowing him properly for a day.
Taking the trigger reins in my mouth, I bit down on them, sending a stream of bullets into the target for a second before releasing it. Shifting slightly, I blinked, flattening my ears as something thumped into something nearby. In the silence after firing my autocannons, it was as loud as a thunder crack. Looking around, I saw Ghrathryn standing, something in his hands, frowning, I moved to watch him, flexing my wings a little as Bomb Wing and Fire Bullet crowded around as well. As we watched, he pulled a long something out of a pile of similar objects and placed it across what he was holding before raising the entire thing up, bringing one hand back to near his cheek as he looked down the shaft of... was that an arrow?
Glancing down the range, I frowned as he released it, watching as the arrow soared down the shooting range and sank at least two inches into the target he was using. I whistled at the sight, blinking as a third arrow landed right between the other two, sinking in just as much, two more followed in rapid succession before he lowered the bow. If he could do that to our enemies, particularly if he could put those arrows into somewhere vulnerable to attacks, it wouldn’t matter that he didn’t have a gun before long. Combine that bow with his own strength and cunning... and powers, and somehow I doubted the aliens would enjoy seeing our Skyranger around, for the fact they wouldn’t know whether he was aboard or not.
“What is that thing?” Bomb Wing asked, hovering up from where he had been standing beside me to take a closer look.
Ghrathryn snorted softly, “This?” He asked, holding the bow up. “This be a simple bow, nothin’ special, leas’ wise no’ compared tae the gun I did ‘ave afore I crashed.” He flicked his tail, his eye ridges pulling down into a frown. “Tha’ said, bow an’ swords ’ave kept me safe more’n once afore now.”
“It won’t help here, nothing will help here.” There goes Stone Tear with his whining again. I sighed, glancing over at where he was standing away from the rest of us. “Those monsters out there’ll just shoot everypony with their green gunk and they’ll all burn, just like Whirlwind.” He continued, making Bomb Wing and Fire Bullet shudder. I frowned, wondering what the story was with that pair that they were reacting like that. Granted the three of them had been on the team that had gone after the UFO while I had gone after the escaping alien, so they had seen those weapons work but what was with the shuddering?
“Stone Tear, enough, we don’t need your negativity, especially not after the last mission.” I ordered, turning to face the unicorn.
“Ye’re righ’, a bow wonnae ’elp much in a head on attack ‘gainst those ugly hedrachin.” Ghrathryn said calmly. “Tha’ doesnae mean tha’ the bow is useless though, kid.” He continued, flicking his tail. “Thing is, I know meself, an’ I know t’bow, wasnae too long back since I used it all o’ the time, an’ swords are always a welcome addition tae the arsenal fer melee combat. If’n ye shoot a UFO down in t’forest, jungle or mountains, I c’n use the terrain tae me advantage.” I felt a hand drop onto my neck, claws running lightly through my fur and couldn’t help closing my eyes in pleasure at the sensation. “One o’ the wiser dragons in Or’nae once said there be five parts tae any battle, no matter the scale. Yuir side, yuir equipment, t’enemy’s side, their equipment an’ the terrain ye be fightin’ on. Knowin’ how tae use yuir abilities an’ gear to their best while knowin’ as much as possible ‘boot the enemy an’ the ground ye be fightin’ in will let ye win a battle, even if ye donnae claim yuir objectives.”
“So who said that?” Fire Bullet asked curiously.
Ghrathryn chuckled, his claws managing to find a couple of sweet spots on my neck, making me arch it. “Me life-mate’s sire,” He replied. “He an’ me own sire would have a comment ‘boot the type o’ ground we be in now an’ all. ‘In death ground, fight with all o’ yuir might.‘” I opened my eyes to look up at him, flicking my tail as he leaned forwards. “Make no mistake, Loth, ye be in death ground now, we all be. T’aliens have a fleet up there tha’ it’d probably take at least a couple o’ the flagships from me own group tae eradicate fer sheer numbers, bu’ tha’ donnae mean ye should jus’ give up. They may own t’orbitals, bu’ in a fight, they c’n only send down a certain amount o’ theirs in each ship. I fought t’las’ battle long afore ye showed up, by t’time yuir plane arrived, I’d been fightin’ fer three hours, an’ tha’ on two days o’ healin’ from the las’ battle, which I took down a couple o’ their capital ships an’ I donnae know ‘ow many o’ their lighters afore my fighter took too much damage tae continue. If me message pod made it out-system then in a few weeks, we’ll be gettin’ dragon backup, probably Ailiaar, maybe Franthrae as well, an’ then t’tables will turn. Until then, what we ‘ave here will fight as much as we’re able, an’ we’ll make ’em bleed fer every innocent they harm.”
“Why couldn’t Commander Kim give a speech like this on the first UFO?” Bomb Wing muttered to Fire Bullet, I glanced back at the pair of them in time to catch Fire Bullet shrugging, a twitch of her hide around her shoulders.
“Who cares?” I asked softly, turning to watch Stone Tear actually perk up a bit. “After that mess a week ago, we need this, all of us.” I glanced back up at the dragon before turning to my squad mates. “Him as well,” I added, shaking my wings out. “Let’s make sure the next time we encounter those snakes and crabs, we show them what ponies can really do.” I said, holding a hoof out to the other two, both of whom nodded, placing their hooves over mine. I smiled slightly, then blinked as a tail wrapped around out hooves, squeezing gently. Looking up, I saw Ghrathryn smile down at us and smiled back. Watch out aliens, X-Com was back in business and we weren’t taking prisoners.
*****
1999 January 20th 18:25 - Magica System, Beyond Luna Orbit
I grunted as the ship rocked from another impact against the hull, alarms sounding as the blast of green energy burned a hole through something we probably needed. Swinging the chair I was seated in around, I pressed the trigger on the hand grips I had in front of me, the quad-barrelled gun sending silver orbs out at rapid speed.
The silver disc-like craft that swooped around to try and attack us from that side exploded, “Got ya!” I exclaimed, grinning as I heard the chatter of the other fusion guns in different parts of the ship. Realistically this thing was supposed to fly with about twice the crew we had, but we were doing well enough handling the guns and everything else.
“Donnae be gettin’ too excited, Keir.” V’rentryth’s voice cut over the comm. as she sent the ship into a series of loops and rolls, throwing our aims off as well as the enemies. With the sky so full of ships, most of the largest about as big as the one we were in, I could see why Ghrathryn had had a problem; still he had probably wounded the suckers somewhere knowing that dragon.
“Aim for the big thing, V’rentryth.” Another voice added as another of our attackers exploded under a hail of fusion fire. “We manage to land on it, we can probably take it, and from there we can start giving these clowns hell.” It sounded like Cuetlachtli who was up in the cockpit, handling the defences.
Glancing around, I saw what he was talking about, one of the alien ships looked a lot different to the others, more organic, and it was a lot bigger. If we took that out, we could probably make things hell for the bad guys, particularly since it probably had shields that would withstand their heaviest weapons for hours.
“I be tryin’, Lach, keep yuir plates on.” V’rentryth retorted as I swung around to shoot at a target that skimmed us. “Ren, can ye see where they be comin’ from?”
“I make it two, maybe even three fleets up here.” ‘Ren’ responded, her voice cutting through the sounds of the battle despite its relative softness. “The organics are one, the discs are a second, but I see what might be two styles of the discs, the silver ones and some that look more brown. I can’t give you more than that on them right now, though both disc-type ships seem to be coming from another planet while these organic looking ones were just hanging around in space.”
I flicked my tail as an organic looking ship exploded in front of me, and not from my fire. “Maybe the organic ones are moving in on the disc-users territory.” I suggested, shifting slightly. “That or they’re passing through.”
“I doubt it, love.” Vanora cut in on the channel. “I saw a vortex out-system before we got mixed up in the brawl, I’d bet the organics came through that and were planning on staying, except they ran into the discs. The discs seem more numerous so we should probably take the organics and that’ll end their threat before it starts, then we can deal with the rest.”
“Would one o’ ye kindly open the door fer us then?” V’rentryth asked dryly.
Looking up, I spotted a large bay door above me and grinned. Shifting the turret around, I fired into the doors and saw them glow white for a moment before melting under the fusion cannon. Once the door was wide enough, I fired into the interior a few times to ensure that there wouldn’t be any surprises for us. “Take us in, V’ren.” I said, watching as the red manoeuvred us into the bay. The star fight was over, it was time to armour up and fight in the tunnels of the ship. This should be fun.
*****
1999 January 20th 19:00 - Reticulan Mother Ship, Beyond Luna Orbit
Bolts of yellow energy slashed passed the cover I was hiding behind as I held one of the half-pint aliens by the neck. The thing was barely up to my waist, or rather, down to my waist, since I was holding it off the floor and it was rather too occupied with not suffocating to try attacking. “Alrigh’ shrimp, tell me why ye be ‘ere.” I ordered, raising my other hand to point a pistol right at one of its big black eyes.
It warbled something indistinct, its hands clutching at my power armoured arm, causing me to scowl behind my visor. I didn’t know what it was saying, it certainly wasn’t Harren, not that that was a surprise given that we weren’t even in that system at the moment.
Another volley of energy cut through the opening to the room, followed by an explosion against the wall we were pressed up against. Fortunately the wall held, unfortunately the sudden explosion made me jump and squeeze, crushing the thing’s neck like an over-ripe piece of fruit. Dropping it to the ground, I looked at the others. “Keir, Vanora, would ye be kind enough tae remove tha’ pest with the explosive?” I asked the two Ailiaar, watching as they nodded and faded out, becoming barely more than shadows inside their armour.
Unhooking my rifle from where it was locked onto my armour, I grinned as something screamed in the next room before going silent. I probably would have screamed too, if I had seen the shadows literally come alive and try to kill me. Looking up at the pair as they became solid again, I grinned at them. “Nice work ye two.” I commented before nodding to Loranna, who was crouched on the opposite side of the opening in power armour of her own, her life mate standing with her. “Let’s give them somethin’ tae think ‘boot.” I growled, ducking around the door and opening fire with the weapon.
Energy glances off my shields as I ducked back into the shadow of the doorway, more burning the wall behind us as I ducked out again and open fire, hyper velocity rail rounds punching through the thinner cover the enemy is using and shattering on the green shields of one of their more important looking people. At least I’m guessing there’s some rank structure since some wear no armour, others only have some sort of muscle/tendril web armour and the rest have shielded versions in different colours from white to blue, it will be something to figure out once we’ve captured this bucket.
A bolt of green energy singed Ren’s armour, making the ridge-backed Tregun yelp as some of the heat breached her suit; I heard more than saw Keir and Vanora turn and heard them swear. A quick glance at my suit’s HUD told me why, I was still getting used to it, but I could see the orange dots on the edge of my radar’s range, more hostiles, probably from the other fleet. “We’ve got snakes and... something coming up the rear.” Keir growled over the suit comms, confirming my suspicions. “They must have followed us when we landed on this hulk.”
“We can’t fight a two front battle with just the nine of us,” Cuetlachtli pointed out, flicking his tail as he fired down the corridor at the approaching snakes. “I’m sure even the least combative of us learned that trick the last time we fought together.”
I nodded, summoning a ball of electricity to my hand before hurling it into the room we were still trapped outside of. “Then we need tae seal one o’ these groups away from us, leas’ til we can deal wi’ t’other group.” I said, flinching back as more of that yellow energy burned the air in the doorway. “Nor, see if’n ye cannae break t’door an’ get it locked down fer now, we’ll kill t’snakes firs’.”
“Got it,” Noranna responded, signalling the other three on her side of the doorway before grabbing something off her belt and tossing it into the room. As soon as it was in, I saw Noranna’s lifemate, a blue Rhyl’saar by the name of Kalim smack something above Noranna’s head, causing the door to hiss closed, muffling the crump of an exploding grenade.
Turning my attention to the uglies coming up from our rear once more, I level my rifle and fire at one of the big brown things, a single burst of caseless, armour piercing ammunition causing its head to explode even as it attempted to slash at Keir, who dived out of the way.
Green fire cut back through the air, causing my shields to flare for a moment before the shot spent its energy, even though they protected me from the attack, they blinded me just when I needed to see the most. Throwing myself to the ground, I heard other guns chatter and an alien scream of pain as the snake was ripped apart by attacks from several of the others in sequence. I glanced up, seeing another of the snakes moving to attack and opened fire on it, forcing it to duck behind cover. Unfortunately it was one of many, and all seemed to be lining the corridor leading straight towards us.
The air crackled as green energy streamed towards us, forcing us into what little cover was available, while our own fire had the snakes and their mutant allies hunkering down trying to pick us off. More screams from the aliens start as thick shadows whip out of the walls near a couple of them, grabbing them up and squeezing, the sounds of their bones snapping dull under the sounds of gunfire.
Taking a hint from my feather-winged comrades, I focus for a moment, reaching for, and finding, electrical currents flowing through this brute of a ship. Finding a target near the front, I blink, almost losing focus as a massive mechanised beast appears, crumping along the corridor. I grinned as my HUD locked onto it, reaching for the electricity again, both inside and outside that thing. Our guns probably wouldn’t do much to it, but an electrical surge would.
My body blacked out as electricity arced over the armour I was wearing, fortunately the designers seemed to have taken abilities like mine into account, making me wonder once again just who had sent the five ships to seed our worlds. Reaching out with my mind, I Pulled on the electrical currents, resulting in electricity scorching the air around the clanker for a moment before several bolts blasted straight into it, shorting it out and causing it to drop where it stood. “Clanker down!”
“My turn,” Cuetlachtli called, I looked over to see flames licking over his armour for a moment before the entire hallway ahead of us spontaneously combusted, filling with the screams of burning aliens. Things like that made me glad I had some abilities of a Child of Fire, even if I wasn’t true Fireborn the way the N’krondii were. Once the fire died down, we were left facing a pile of burned bodies. “And that is the end of them, time to finish this.” Cuetlachtli said grimly.
Getting to my feet again, I nodded, glancing over at the dozen burned bodies, not to mention the ones we had shot down and the shadow twins had torn apart with their shadows. Turning back to the room, I nodded to Kalim, who opened the door. This time, there was no fire coming at us. Moving in cautiously with my fellows, I frowned as the grey aliens, all dozen that were left put their hands in the air. For a moment, I wondered why, then I spotted the monitors on the walls behind them, they must have been using those to track us, and had seen what we were capable of through them. I lashed my tail for a moment, glancing back at the others. “Cuetlachtli, Keir, Vanora, take them and see if there are any cells we can use to hold them. The rest of you, let’s see what we can find out from this things databanks.” I said, getting nods all around. Today was going to be a long day, and it wasn’t over yet.
*****
To be continued
Thanks to Ghrathryn for making this 120% awsome and for rescuing this chapter from my writhers block. And thanks to Iambrony or Blurlight for joining the battle.