//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 -- Reconnaissance [E] // Story: Magi Chronicles: Fires of Equestria // by Xeadin //------------------------------// “That poor boy,” Cadence stared in dismay, shaking her head, as everyone in the room witnessed Asura dashing out the bedroom in a flurry of tears. They heard the spare room door slam shut, and a continual upheaval of crying from beyond the wall. Luna got up and walked toward the doorway, then disappeared from beyond the threshold. “I… I don’t know what to… say,” Celestia muttered. She felt worried, and she, too, followed Luna’s lead out the doorway and to the spare room. Twilight sat in the room, along with her friends, her brother and his wife. Fluttershy flew up in the air, her eyes quelling with tears as she was about to make headway to the threshold. “It’s okay, Fluttershy.” She heard Twilight’s voice as a commandment to stop. “The princesses will handle this.” ~~~~~~ Lying down on the floor at the foot of the bed, Asura curled himself up in a tight ball. He covered his face, with tears rushing out through his hands. He hadn’t been here for very long, yet he felt like he was, truly, at home with the denizens of Equestria. It seemed like he was making terrific acquaintances with everyone that he had met. Now, with the arrival of the military coming for his aid, he couldn’t stand to think about all that he had accomplished for naught. He felt the ground next to him slightly give way. He, then, felt the familiar touch of a hoof upon his arms. He sniffed, and looked up through his hands to find both Luna and Celestia looking down at him. They, too, held expressions of anguish, and Luna knelt down to eye-level, hugging him tightly and wiping away his tears. “There, there, my loyal subject. What troubles thee?” Her voice echoed through his body, soothing his mind and giving him better focus. Her charming figure perfectly flowed across his own, as his sorrows began to willow away from the shroud of darkness. “Why doeth my love wallow in pity?” Another tear ran down his face, making contact with her fur on her shoulder. To her, it felt warm and soothing. He sniffed, breathing in the iridescent mane of the beautiful mare that held him tightly. She swayed to and fro, attempting to coax him from his sorrows. “I… I don’t want to leave…” Luna pulled her head back, as she stared deeply in to his eyes. “Thou doest not want to leave?” Celestia drew closer and knelt down towards the ground—her nuzzle inches away from his forehead. Tears flowed down his face again, only to be met by Luna’s hooves. “I feel like… I am home…” He sobbed. Luna planted a light kiss on his forehead. “My love can choose what thou desire. If thou wish to stay by our side, we hold no obligation against thee.” “If you have to, you can still come back.” “But I…” “Shhhh. Thou must rest before the coming storm.” “I don’t want to go…” His words ran through his mouth before he even had time to think about what he had said. He knew that he had to do what was right for his people, but at the same time he felt awful about leaving all of this behind. The tender care of the two mares before him was enough to convince him of his future, and he began to come to the realization of why he was sent here. Luna gently stroked his cheek, sending another wave of pleasure deep into his mind. “Thou can choose not to. Thou can tread down the path less traveled.” Upon hearing those words, she hit her stride with him. He finally realized that she had placed her heart before him—she loved him so, and she yearned for his love ever so subtly. His tears of remorse became tears of joy, embracing her with whole-hearted sniffs and sobs. After a few minutes of silence, Asura was sound asleep in Luna’s arms. His gentle snoring tickled her senses, as she gently carried him over and on to his bed. He sunk down in the sheets, and Celestia pulled the blankets over him—leaving only his face exposed to the moonlit window. The autumn wind blew across the length of the bed, sliding across his face in a river of bliss. Celestia beckoned Luna to follow her out of the room. ~~~~~~ Pinkie Pie eyed the strange brilliance of the perfectly round sphere that had appeared above the watch. The green wireframe orb had glued Twilight Sparkle’s attention, as she tapped her hoof against her chin, contemplating what in the world it was. It had, suddenly, appeared before them, after it vibrated constantly for a few minutes. Fluttershy was still on the opposite corner of the room, keeping her distance from the orb that floated, harmlessly, from the watch. Pinkie Pie, then, begun to wave her hooves around the object, making strange and ominous ooo’s while stepping from side to side. “The Ball of Strangeness has beckoned forth its call, Twilight!” She, playfully, taunted. “Oh, great ball of mystery! What is your will?” She poked her head to the side, as Twilight continued to stare blankly at the orb. “Yoohoo! Twilight! Are you even listening?” She flailed her arms wildly, as though she were attempting to try and fly. “Ah ain’t too sure wha’ that thing’s all about, sugarcube. Seems t’ me like it’s just ‘n atlas of some sort.” Applejack looked over to Rainbow Dash. “Whaddaya think, Rainbow?” Rainbow Dash studied the ball, inching herself towards it, as she slowly revolved around it. “Beats me. What do you think, Rarity?” “I’m not sure I know what it is doing.” She spotted a pulsating yellow dot that appeared on one side of the orb. “Maybe that yellow dot might have any indication?” Twilight saw the dot appear before her eyes, as the orb spun on its holographic axis. “I think it may have something to do with what Cadence and Shining Armor saw.” She looked up at them, who were also locked on to the orb. “Don’t you think?” Shining Armor tilted his head. Cadence only returned a nod of possible agreement. Fluttershy slowly shied her way back towards the group, cowering over the smooth linen carpet as she dragged her hooves across. The watch emanated a loud beep, which made Fluttershy shriek. She hid herself behind her fore-hooves and shut her eyes. A small light blinked rapidly on the top of the watch. Pinkie Pie was mesmerized by the, somewhat, blinding tiny strobe. “OoooOOOooo! It even has its own lights to boot! It’s a party in here now!” “Not quite,” Twilight said. She scowled at the sight of the sphere freezing, as Pinkie hovered her hoof just before it. “Pinkie! Don’t touch it!” As Pinkie retracted her hoof, the sphere spun around at a quick rate. After a few moments, it began to slow down, and soon continued spinning at its normal rate. Twilight regretted telling Pinkie not to touch it, as she figured out what just happened. “Never mind. I guess you are supposed to touch the orb if you wanted to get a better view.” Pinkie grinned, and swiped her hoof across the sphere, forcing it to revolve at a rapid speed. She laughed in joy as she swiped her hoof against it once again. “This is fun!” The orb stopped spinning, as Shining Armor stuck his hoof out onto it. “Let’s see what that yellow dot is all about.” He clamored at first, trying to get a better spot for him to comfortably kneel down at. Once he was satisfied, he held both hooves out and brought them apart around the yellow dot. The sphere expanded, and soon its edges were no longer visible. The only things they could see were the wireframe lines that criss-crossed the view, and the expanding yellow dot. Twilight and Pinkie were astonished by the way the orb reacted to Shining's gestures, as much as he was. It was surprisingly simple to reorient the orb to whichever direction it needed to be. "I could get used to this," he chuckled. An image began to render on the view. A snowflake-like formation appeared, as well as large tracts of forestry and tundra. Cadence almost immediately recognized the snowflake. “Is that the Crystal Empire? I’ve never seen it from that view before! It looks… stellar.” “Almost like a perfect snowflake,” Shining Armor added. He noticed that the yellow dot was far up in to the frozen landscape. “Looks like they’ve made it past the glacier to the far north. They don’t want anypony disturbing them.” ~~~~~~ Luna and Celestia made their way to the end of the hallway, where an outdoor balcony loomed just before the valley below. They had an absolutely grand view of everything from north to south, in a western orientation. Lights broke the darkness to the far west, signifying the townships of Phillydelphia, Trottingham, Manehattan and Appleloosa. Luna looked above to see Cloudsdale looming just above the mountaintop, partially obscuring the moon’s glorious rays of light. Celestia walked over to one side of the balcony, while Luna walked to the other side. Celestia crossed her hooves on to the railing. “I never figured I’d get to see the day where a strange being shows up in our neighborhood. I find it quite surprising that he’d, already, find this place comforting in such a short time.” Luna gleamed towards her sister. “Don’t you find that odd?” “Prithee, sister. I do find it quite strange.” She gazed down toward the dark valley below. “He just seems so… sincere, as if he acknowledges our insight as if he were born here.” “That is true.” Celestia drew a playful grin. Luna couldn’t help but notice. “Pray tell, sister. What is on thy mind?” Celestia gazed toward Luna. “Does he strike you fancy?” The question caught her slightly off-guard. “I beg thy pardon, sister?” “Do you love him, Luna?” She looked down, almost in anguish. It was as if Celestia had crushed her soul with a battering ram of solid gold. It took her a moment to recover from such a question. “I… do not understand, sister. What hath compelled thee to ask such a question?” “I noticed when you held him in your hooves not a moment ago. As I recall, you referred to him as ‘my love’ a few times.” Luna blushed. “I…” Celestia continued holding her playful grin. “Luna. We’ve ruled over Equestria together for many thousands of years, and now you’re, suddenly, keeping something a secret from me? Why must you hide behind your own sister? Say what is on your mind.” Luna stepped forth and gleamed her glittering orbs before her mighty sibling. “Yes. I do love him, dearest sister.” Tears trailed down her sparkling mane. Celestia held out a hoof and comforted her younger sibling. “There, there.” She held Luna’s chin up. “Such love is only as natural as a stallion and mare is to a filly and colt. If you value him as a truly remarkable person, then wouldn’t it be safe to say that he finds you just as beautiful?” Luna nodded, willfully sniffing as she heeded the wisdom of her older sibling. There was a reason everyone regarded Celestia as a caring ‘motherly’ figure—even Luna recognized that. “…Yes, sister.” “If you do, truly, love him, you must open your wings and confess your love to him, at the right moment.” Luna smiled toward her sister—a glimmer of happiness sparked within. “Yes, dearest sister.” “Prepare Skyhawk One and Two for immediate departure.” The arctic landscape was proving to be an arduous endeavor for the crew aboard the Atlas vessel. Temperatures dropped to below twenty degrees centigrade, and blistering winds only made things seem colder. Still, the crew were moving around the clock at a fast pace to get the mission going on high gear. On top of the Atlas vessel, a long airstrip was laid along the entire length of the aircraft—essentially, it was a floating fortress. For now, the Atlas had made its landing on the thick ice, as wheeled vehicles of varying sizes were mobilized just outside of the smaller hangars. Two delta-winged aircraft were carted up to the top of the Atlas vessel by moving platforms. These two aircraft were small—only fifteen feet of wingspan in total, but they were, both, engineered by the highest fruits of labor. The Vixen-class Skyhawk drones were the pinnacle of unmanned aerial reconnaissance. The drones had complete automated control, thanks in part to latest developments and breakthroughs with quantum artificial intelligence. Not only could the aircraft control themselves, but they could communicate with extreme efficiency with other Skyhawk drones as well. A team of four drones would be able to compile an accurate scale of a world-wide map within a few days—compared to the efforts of a single high-altitude aircraft taking photos. The drones, also, fell in the VTOL category, sporting four high-power, high-efficiency air circulated turbines, reducing ambient noise and eliminating costly fuel consumption and weight. The drones were fitted with a high-power gimbal-isolated optical lens, which could take high-definition snapshots of areas up to six miles away. The isolated gimbal system made it possible to record high-definition videos without any shaking or blurring. If unsuitable scenarios came to the drones, they would be able to be switched to manual remote control within moments, if they lost bearing of their surroundings or a critical instrument failed. The parked Harmony aircraft loomed above the drones, as they were pulled out in to position. It didn’t take much effort due to their ultra-light weight and extreme durability. They carried a small payload of missiles, and were outfitted with several junction boxes filled with emergency flares to dispel of rogue projectiles. The drones flashed to life, as their AI focal units pulsated with oscillating bars. The turbines whirred to life, and, within moments, were moving vast amounts of air through their barrels. Their gimbal systems moved, allowing themselves an unobstructed three-sixty degree view around the horizontal plane. Inside the command bridge, flight personnel and analysts took positions, as they readied the drones for their maiden reconnaissance flight. It was the first time the Atlas had been put to the test as a mobile headquarters, and they did get more than what they had bargained for. Still, it was only a matter of time before someone discovered their location. They had to make this quick. An onboard speaker crackled to life. Two electronic male voices could be heard. “This is Vixen N-24, call sign Skyhawk One. Pre-flight checks are good. I am ready to go.” “This is Vixen S-49, call sign Skyhawk Two. Pre-flight checks are good. Ready to proceed with the mission.” Randan held the monitor in his hand. “Copy that. This is Atlas GHQ. Skyhawks One and Two, you have permission to takeoff.” “Skyhawk One. Roger that.” “Skyhawk Two. Roger.” The drones, already at idle power, only needed to provide a little power for them to hover freely from the launch pad. The landing gear retracted, and both drones held sleek, slim, stealthy profiles. “This is Skyhawk One. Landing gear retracted. Gimbal system active. Live feed coming up now.” “This is Skyhawk Two. Landing gear retracted. Gimbal system active. Preparing to link live feed to you now.” A large holographic screen appeared, showing the feeds of the gimbal systems, as well as two satellite-esque renders and vantage points from forward and rear optics. Randan crossed his arms. “Whaddaya say, fellas?” “I am, indeed, linked to all feeds of Skyhawk Two.” “Copy that. Link to feeds of Skyhawk One successful.” “Proceed with the mission.” The drones, effortlessly, cut through the skies and were, quickly, on their way. “This is Skyhawk One. Currently making headway to high-altitude flight.” “Copy that. This is Skyhawk Two. I’ll be hugging close to the ground. Skyhawk One, keep me posted on any unusual flight patterns.” “Will do.” ~~~~~~ As the drones made their pass over the threshold between the arctic and the forest, they proceeded south toward the amber marker in their gimbal mapping. The drone, designated Skyhawk One, flew at high altitudes to keep aerial patrol over Skyhawk Two, who flew just above the treetops. “This is Skyhawk One. Skyhawk Two, there is a river approaching your current vector. I would advise keeping your flight pattern above that until you reach your target destination.” “Skyhawk Two, roger. River in sight. Does it, really, lead up to the crash site?” “Yes sir. Take it up to avoid visual detection.” “Copy that.” The river loomed ahead, snaking its way across the dark forests below. They did not appear as menacing as the Everfree, but in this light, they seemed intimidating—even to an intelligent machine. “Hoo-wie! I’d sure not want to get tangled up in this mess!” The drone flew feet from the surface of the flowing water, rushing in the direction opposite of the drone’s current orientation. Skyhawk Two had no problems maneuvering the blind turns, thanks in part to the attendance of Skyhawk One—providing accurate details of where everything was and what was coming up. The delta design combined with the thrust-vectoring of the drone’s essential components made them the most mobile aerial vehicles ever created. Skyhawk Two’s exceptional maneuvering in between trees and over river banks proved the success of the engineering marvels of the civilization. “This is Skyhawk One. Skyhawk Two, you are approaching crash site—Alpha 001.” Just as predicted, the scars of fallen trees flashed by Skyhawk Two’s focal optics, and the aircraft executed a midair U-turn, which effectively slowed down the drone’s airspeed to a hovering idle. It came face-to-face with the remnants of the crash site. “This is Skyhawk Two. I have made it to crash site—Alpha 001. Commencing scan for any identities.” Two night guards walked along the edge of the grounds beside the Grand Hall—its magnificent tapestries hanging to the side of two exquisitely-crafted stained glass murals of the princesses. The guards trotted along the walkway toward the castle proper, when one of them noticed an odd howling sound emanated from the valley below. The guards, having superb sense of sight in the darkness, noticed that a strange winged object followed the contours of the river. The guards followed investigation protocols, and departed from their stations toward the unknown object below. ~~~~~~ As Luna and Celestia left the balcony and in to the comfort of the hallway, Luna felt the sudden tugging of a few familiar figures against her consciousness. Her night guards had garnered her attention, and she raced back out to the balcony to get a good view of the commotion. She saw two guards making headway to the valley below—in the direction of the crashed shuttle by the river. She made out, what looked like, a flat solid triangle hovering just above the river. “Sister!” she called out. Celestia rushed up next to Luna, and she pointed out what she saw. Celestia saw the object that Luna had pointed out, and her horn lit up. She felt the presence of one of her guards. ‘I need you to get as close to it as you can, so that I have something to aim at. I’ll see if I can pull it close.’ The drone hovered feet from the wreckage, and made out several disturbing discoveries; first, the entire craft was, forcibly, torn in half; second, the inside of the craft was covered in charred upholstery and electronics, and all of the windows were broken; third, the black box was, physically, moved from its original location. “Skyhawk Two to Atlas GHQ. I have analyzed the wreckage, but there’s no sign of the objective anywhere.” He heard Randan’s sigh over the transmission. “However, there is the slight possibility that he may be still alive.” “Oh? Go on, Skyhawk Two.” “I have discovered that the black box unit has been moved, a significant distance, away from its original location. Upon further analysis, and upon connecting with the black box interface, the portable diagnostics device has been removed, and is being reported as ‘active.’” A marker appeared on the mini-map, indicating the approximate location of the device. The drone turned around and faced its lens up to the direction of the signal. What appeared in the viewfinder was, short of, astonishing. “Oh my god. I hope you’re getting a good look at this, Atlas GHQ.” “Copy that, Skyhawk Two. We see it.” “This is Skyhawk One. Skyhawk Two, I am detecting movement to the east, approaching your current position head-on. Requesting immediate executive to evacuate out of crash site immediately.” “This is Skyhawk Two. Roger. Commencing return protocol to Atlas GHQ.” The drone, quickly, faced the direction of the river flow, and cruised down the length of the river—employing its sheer athletics between trees. Several shady figures followed closely behind—their wings unfurled in full flight. The drone rotated its gimbal behind to catch sight of the figures. “This is Skyhawk Two. Confirmed visual on my pursuers. Figures appear… equine, in nature. They are, apparently, matching my flight velocity.” The gimbal unit rotated forward, and the craft executed its tight turns over the river banks and through the trees in order to keep its pursuers a significant distance away. The night guards continued their speedy pursuit. A single ball of energy shot out from one of the pursuers. "Skyhawk One to Skyhawk Two. One of your pursuers has shot something towards your direction. Take immediate evasive action." The drone flew between two tall trees, shaving off a few branches with its slim wings. The ball of brilliance morphed right through the falling branches and continued to follow. "Skyhawk Two, deploying flares!" The small boxes on the underside of the drone opened up. Tiny shafts of carbon metal dropped out and instantly ignited into blinding red infernos. The ball of brilliance impacted one of the flares, and sent a shockwave that smothered the other flares. The shockwave hit the drone and slightly caused it to lose control. "This is Skyhawk Two. Attempting to recover from the shockwave of unknown projectile." Just before it hit the surface of the rushing water, the drone leveled itself out and continued its trek downriver. At this point, more night guards joined the chase. “Skyhawk One to Skyhawk Two. One of those pursuers is closing in rapidly.” The gimbal rotated back, only to find that the figure the other drone had sighted wasn’t in view anymore. Instead, the drone felt the clanging of metal hooves on the top. “This is Skyhawk Two. Confirmed contact with native habitant. Appears to be a part of some night patrol. Any suggestions?” “This is Atlas GHQ. As per executive ARD-1510, you are not to engage any of the natives. Do not make any sudden moves.” “Roger. So, I should just leave this heavy armored ‘horse’ on me then?” The drone's touch receptors felt a strange shift in air current, and undue stress was soon pressed upon the entirety of the drone's airframe. Suddenly, one of the turbines started failing. “This is Skyhawk Two. I’ve lost power to turbine three. Turbines one, two, and four are suffering from considerable stress. Whoa! Sensors reporting that I am currently climbing at an unknown rate.” “This is Skyhawk One. Confirmed visual on Skyhawk Two and his pursuers. Skyhawk Two is indeed showing strange flight pattern. Okay, this is really not good. Skyhawk Two is apparently moving backwards now.” The drone began to point upwards. “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Skyhawk Two! I have lost control! Turbines one and three have failed! I’m currently accelerating in the opposite velocity! Manual remote recovery protocol is not responding!“ The drone cartwheeled in the air, as it was dragged high and higher towards the unknown source. In certain moments, the lens caught itself moving closer toward the mountain and, oddly, towards the complex that sat on the side of it. “Repeat! I am currently… oh my god…” The drone’s reversed advance halted and stopped its rapid spinning. The gimbal lens rotated itself to come face-to-face with a curious-looking white mare with a radiating Technicolor mane and golden décor—to its side, a dark blue mare with an ethereal glittering mane stood idly by. The white mare’s horn was covered with a glossy golden haze, which also, oddly, surrounded the drone upon closer inspection. Several other equine figures raced out to the balcony to observe the strange object that the mare had brought forth. “Skyhawk Two to Atlas GHQ. I think it’s safe to assume that I am, now, in their custody.” Celestia’s room was quiet, save with the beeping watch and the pulsating white dots that moved around on the screen. Shining Armor was, most, engrossed on the map, perplexed as to what the sources of the new dots were. Scouts? Search party? Upon closer inspection, the dots had a series of numbers and characters shifting along next to them. One of the prompts of the dot closest to the ruined shuttle, which was represented by the amber crosshair, was ‘Skyhawk 2.’ “A name for whatever that is, possibly?” he said, barely audible. He knew that Asura would have an answer, but just as he was about to get up and walk over to the spare room, the sound of rushing wind could be heard, as if a strong gust was beginning to quell against the side of the mountain. It didn’t sound natural. One of the dots was closing in on the mountain, outlined in a red halo. There was a prompt below it that read, ‘trouble.’ The sound of rushing wind grew louder, and it was as if the whole hallway outside was beginning to blow all over the place like a tornado. It was loud, but not deafening. Before long, the strange winds subsided, followed by a strange mechanical whinnying dissipating into the silence of the night. Shining Armor and Twilight were the first to get up, followed by the rest of her friends and Cadence. They went out towards the balcony to find a strange winged metallic object restrained by Celestia’s magic. Judging by the object’s appearance, it looked as though Shining Armor’s intuition was correct. It had a slim contour all along the wingspan in a nearly-perfect symmetrical outline. Whatever it was, it was built for speed and stealth. A large dome on the front end of it whirred to reveal some sort of an optical lens, much like an Omni glass. The object emitted a strange, yet audible, mechanical garble. “Skyhawk Two to Atlas GHQ. I think it’s safe to assume that I am, now, in their custody.” ‘That thing can talk?’ Shining Armor held up an eyebrow in surprise. Before he could step any further, the lights on the object faded, and a set of protruding rods with wheels on their ends came out from on top of the object. It remained silent, and the idle whirring of its fans ceased. Luna looked toward Celestia in modest contemplation. “What is it, and what should we do with it?” Celestia returned a flat look. “I’m not sure. I’m fairly certain Asura might know. We’ll keep it in the throne room until we know for certain.”