//------------------------------// // Clock is Ticking, Twilight! // Story: The D.R.A.G.O.N. Intiative // by Stardust Speedster //------------------------------// Aboard the Ship Fallen Star was panicking. The ship he was on had just been hit by a number of heavy fire that bombarded from seemingly out of nowhere. The other five crew members were sending out an S.O.S, or trying desperately to regain control of the chaos. Sizeable dents pushed deep into the spacecraft, so deep that the cables and wires on the inside were either snapped or leaking whatever was inside of them. Soon, his leader, Red Tail, ran up to him. "Star, get your head out of your ass and go get the suits! I don't know if those Dragon bastards are gonna make it in time! We have to be ready to evacuate in five, so MOVE!" Star quickly saluted as he ran towards the back of the ship to gather the supplies. Red Tail then turned to make sure that the help signal was still working, then began to bark out orders to the others, who gathered important data from the failing computers. As the engines started to falter along with the rest of the ship, Red Tail swore under his breath. "I knew we couldn't trust those freaks to help us out," he spat. Just then, a loud thump was made on top of the ship. Slowly, sounds of walking on top of the craft was heard. The others stopped what they did as they heard more footsteps, sounding lke scampering, coming closer to the door. For a moment, it was quiet. Then, the faintest tapping on a escape hatch to the outside. Slowly, one of the crew members, a Peg, walked up to the door, holding a crowbar he was using earlier as a makeshift club. Peering out the window, he saw nothing outside. He turned around, confused, just like Red Tail and the others. He started to chuckle. "Heh, must of been our imagi-" he started to say, then a black claw broke through the glass of the door and started to strangle him. Trying desperately to escape, he repeatedly hit the hand with his crowbar, until the hand finally let go and dropped the Operative to the floor. The other three began to hoist him onto their shoulders. Red Tail walked up to the Stallion. A nasty black bruise completely covered the back of his neck, making the leader cringe. Nobody noticed the panel on the ceiling slowly open up, or the figures that quickly scuttled to the floor from the opening. It wasn't until one hulking figure landed with a large stomp that the crew decided to turn around to see what looked like a stallion before being mauled by the smaller creatures that had made their way inside. Fallen Star made his way back from gathering the suits needed for surviving the cold limits of deep space.Opening the door to the hold where his team was at, he was shocked to find them all gone, the room extremely dark. "Guys, where are you?" he called out. Walking around in the dark, he felt his way to where the emergency flashlight were kept. As his fingers grasped one, he felt something slick on the wall. Quickly lifting his hand away from the mysterious gunk, he turned on the flashlight to see what his hand had touched. Blood. Dark red blood had covered his entire hand, making his heart skip a few beats. He shakily turned away from his hand to see one figure in front of him. It had pointed blue ears, giving way to a greasy black mop of hair. Within the hair did two horns curl outward from his skull. Instead of fur, this monster had dark blue scales, similar to that of a lizard. It's hand curled into sharp claws, glistening with dark red streaks. Replacing hooves were large toes, each ending with talons. It wore little, having a pair of torn black pants and a jacket, covering a thin blue shirt underneath, as well as a dark brown scarf. The pants gave way to a long tail, covered in barb-like spikes. The scariest thng though was his face. His maw was twice as long as a regular pony's, revealing rows of needle like teeth, snarling silently. His eyes were covered up by a pair of visors, but he could feel their gaze peer into the back of his eyes. "I am D.R.A.G.O.N. Operative Nova," the creature grinned, a rough voice coming out. "Did you call?" Getting Ready It wasn't much after Spike left that Twilight had already began to unpack in her room, instead of going to learn more about her roomates. After rearranging her books for the fourth time, Twilight sighed and flopped on her bed. She checked her clock to see how much time had passed. She groaned as it only had been about five minutes since she arrived in the dorm. Twilight had about fourty five minutes left until class began, but she didn't really want to go back and talk to the other two. "It's not that Rarity and Pinkie are bad or anything,"the mare thought. "I just don't want to be distracted by anyone so I can pass through the Academy. Besides, it's not like my life depends on making friends here."she tried to tell herself. But she knew that was a lie. The real reason she didn't want to go in there was because she was nervous they might think she's not that interesting. Not many kids she worked with did. Sure, she had a few friends back home, but none got into this school, or really ever did anything to hang out with her, unless Spike was involved. Part of her wished her little brother was with her, instead of in some other dorm. Then again, it would be really weird for me to share a dorm with my brother and no one else." "Ugh, why can't I just go to class already?!" she said to herself. "Because, if you went already, we couldn't tell you about your classes!" said a cheery voice. Pinkie came from seemingly out of nowhere, popping up right beside the bookworm. Twilight screamed and fell of the bed, landing on the floor. Pinkie giggled as she offered a hand to the mare, who gladly took it. "Where did you come from?" Twilight asked. "I came through the door, of course!" Twilight just shook her head, frustrated at this answer. Rarity walked in, holding up a piece of paper like Twilight's. "Oh! What Proffesor did you get, darling?" the mare asked. "Someone named Proffesor Speedster," she said, looking down at her paper. Pinkie started to jump up and down next to Twilight. "Ooh, I got that guy too! We're going to be the best of friends, I know it!" the pink mare chirped. "Oh, geez, I have a class with the hyper one?! I hope she'll let me focus,"Twilight thought to herself. Turning her attention to Rarity, she asked,"What Proffesor did you get, Rarity?" "Hmm. Someone called Proffesor Fancy Pants. I heard he's a marvelous teacher when it comes to using Telekenesis." she said, as she gathered her papers, and stuffed them into her bookbag. "In any case, why don't Pinkie and I take you to the Cafeteria for some breakfast before class starts?" "I'm game for that! Come on, Twilight. It's REALLY good!" Pinkie said. Twilight's stomach seemed to grumble on que, making the mare blush. "Uh, sure. I could go for some food." she answered, following the other two out of the dorm. ------------------------------------------------------------- "So, Fluttershy, what teacher did you get?" Spike asked, sitting on one of the beanbags in the living room. The two only had about thirty minutes till the first day started, and they already had everything they needed packed. While they were waiting for time to pass, they disscussed teachers. "A Peg who goes by Johnathan Speedster. He's supposed to be a brand new teacher who came in a few months ago. I wonder how he's like." Fluttershy thought. "No way, I got him too! Looks like we'll be in the same classes," Spike grinned. He wasn't sure, but he thought he could see her cheeks turn red for a moment. "Well, at least I have two friends that will be in my class," she squeaked. "You, and Dash." "Oh, right, you talked about Rainbow a little. Speaking of her, why isn't she here?" the stallion asked, looking around the room. "Well, she likes to take jogs around the city in the mornings. By the time she gets back and takes a shower in the gym, it'll be five minutes to class. She does it every other day, so I don't see her in the dorm as often as A.J." "Huh, a athletic girl. Maybe I should go run with her sometimes. I could always use the excercise." Spike silently said, looking down at his stomach. Then again, my body is already amazing!" Breaking the silence, he asked another question. "What's A.J. doing, then?" "A.J. likes to work in the Cafeteria as a cook in the mornings, to help out with the food rush. She's a really good cook, too! You want to go meet her? I'm starving," the yellow mare said, rubbing her stomach. "Do they have pancakes down there?" "I think s-" was all the shy girl had time to say, as the boy pulled her up and started to head for the door. "Then what are we waiting for? Pancakes await!"