Thomas woke to blaring alarms. He shook the fog from his mind. He jumped to his feet, his room was small it onky had room for his cot and a locker. The sterile white walls were currently bathed in red as the emergency lights. He turned to his locker and threw the door open. Inside was a white under armor suit which he donned quickly. Next came his armor module the three piece armor suit slid over his head like a linebackers shoulder guards. The other two pieces magnetically adhered to his thighs. The moment all three pieces were in place they began to grow into a suit of armor reminiscent of a knight's his v-shaped visor came to life with a fiery orange glow. He reached in and drew out his last piece of equipment his biofeedback pistol.
"Good morning Thomas." The a.i. in his suit said her voice and image that of a 12 year old girl. She hsd long hsir and wore a hoody with jeans. Her blue shimmering smile helped ease his tension. The image and voice was chosen from his mind for that purpose. "Come on brother let's see what's wrong." She said smiling. Thomas nodded.
He got into the hallway and saw that it was empty all other guards we gone and so were the scientists and other employees. He looked st his heads up display in confusion. According to the data it was displaying the alarm had sounded over a day before. He walked the halls that were empty and devoid of all life. The alarm code showed nothing as its cause it was simply sounding. Thomas lifted his left arm and a holo display and keyboard appeared floating ever so slightly above his forearm. He punched in a few commands changing the lighting back to normal. Thomas stepped back as static shot over the stations intercoms. A voice picked up afterwards.
"I see your finally awake unfortunately I couldn't turn off the alarm or get to you when they sounded." A female voice said over the intercom. "Before you say anything there aren't any escape ships or pods left so we are stuck here untill we are rescued." She said sounding sad. "Oh but we should get together since the lock down my codes don't work. I'm getting a little hungry, you'll find me in the core maintenance bay its where I got locked in." The message terminated after that. His a.i. Sarah inpt the way point. It displayed as a red triangle down the hall on a door to the left.
"Sarah you sure this is wise." Thomas said following his waypoints. He wasn't allowed to interact with other employees aside from other guards.
"Thomas your duty is to protect her just make sure she can get to the cafeteria." Sarah said happily. She knew Thomas's isolation was permanently ingrained after all he had been a guard here since childhood. She pitied him. The corporation he worked for had bought him and his sister. They then had seperated them one being trained as a guard the other given the posh life of a scientist.
Thomas stood outside the doors to the mantainince bay. With a quick punch of some buttons on his wrist computer. The door opened revealing a young woman her long brunette hair falling over her shoulder. She look at him with brown eyes twinkling above a large smile.
"About time though you can remove your helmet." The scientist said walkng past Thomas. He didn't reply it was against the rules. As far as she was concerned he might as well be a robot. "Come on it's just us you can talk." She said concer spreading over her face. "Please talk, please I... I'm alone and scared just say something." She begged tears coming to her eyes.
"Sorry but protocol 7651 is still in effect." Sarah said blossoming to life as he moved his arm up so the scientist could see. "However as his personal a.i. I can talk for him." She said bowing.
The scientist gave her a dirty look. She hated Sarah the program had stolen every thing thanks to the company. With a cynical snear she made her final decision. She walked back into the core room. Standing before a larg computer.
"Before I can go eat I have to make certain that the core is still stable and I could really use your help." She said punching in some commands. 'I must get him out of here only then will I get my brother back.' The real Sarah thought as she activated her last failsafe. Sarah was a partical physicist and had figured out a way to use the stations reactor to cause a wormhole effect. She sighed doing this not only placed them in a random location it could also be dimensional repercussions. "Oh, part of the procedure requires me to drain the atmosphere from the room foreign compounds and all. So can you bring me that E.V. unit?" Sarah said indicating a small pack similar to his armor module.
Thomas did as he was asked and placed the the unit on her back. It microscoped out into a similar armor. She looked at him through her pink glowing visor. She turned from him tapped her chest piece causing an energy tether to attach to him.
"I'm sorry brother but it's time we were freed." And with that she hit the enter key.
Celestia looked out her window in Canterlot. She housed herself in the tallest tower of her castle. She saw everything and what she saw disturbed her. Dragons from the south encroached along with diamond dogs to the west Gryphons marched and to the east changlings constantly tried to test her borders. No her kingdom was introuble and all because she had allowed her student to return the elements to the tree. Now it was her people who suffered. She watched as her guards died. 'If only we hadn't dethroned the king.' She thought looking back at where his former seat of power was. Cloudsdale still the weather capital of the world but back when the city had a king none could stand against her. He could cause a hurricane with a thought, and rain devastating lightning strikes. 'I was a fool for trying to control him or his power and now its lost for ever.' She thought looking out over the everfree forest.
To her surprise over the forest a larg storm had formed. It was unlike anything she had seen the clouds roiled sideways as the funnel formed. A hideous black maw with lightning and other energy discharging within. She watched in amazement as two objects were flung from the storm. Each going a different direction as a glowing thread between them snapped. The objects crashed leveling the forest where they did and the storm snapped shut with thunder.
"Hey!" Celestia yelled down at two pegasie guards. "Follow me we have something to envestigate." She took off heading for the forest, and the nearest object which had landed just out side Ponyville. "Let us hope that what ever it is that it will help." She said as the world whipped by below her.
"Wake up stormrider." A voice that sounded like thunder said to Thomas. He stirred and found that his hud was off. He rubbed his head sitting up. "You may be worthy." The voice said quiter now. It sounded apprehensive which is why he looked at where it was coming from. To his shock he was in a forest its trees dark and secretive. "Yes, strong of body and of mind. You will fight me." It said as its voice rang loud again. Storm clouds formed out of nowhere above him. Lightning struck out from the clouds. It impacted right infront of Thomas sending him backwards. He picked himself up and before him was a alicorn made out of storm louds lightning arcing through its body. "To claim me you will defeat me." It said pawing at the ground readying a charge and lightning flashing in its eyes.
Celestia was looking at the second storm of the day. Its was over most of the forest like a dome its gale force winds keeping her and her guards out. She had found one of the objects it was a strange creature nade of metal. 'What about the other one why is the storm blocking me?' She thought fustrated by her apparent ineptitude.
"Lets head back to the castle we can check out the creature we do have." One of her guards said over the winds. Celestia looked at her guard. He was right she had one of them, but the storm was causing doubt it was acting strange. "Slash wait here until the the storm dies then bring the other creature back." The guard said looking to his princess. She nodded and left with her remaing guard and the creature.
Thomas dodged the charging storm clouds. As he tumbled to the side he drew his biofeedback pistol. The moment he touched it's grib he felt the gun begin to charge from his bioelectric field. The storm alicorn rounded on him when it did, it lowered its long horn at him and fired a long stream of blue lightening. With a smile thomas stepped into the bolt.
"Systems online and charged to 100%." Sarah said as his hud came online. "Hello Thomas." She said in her standard way. With out hesitating Thomas levelled his weapon and unloaded the clip. His stored bio energy errupted from the barrel as a bolt of blazing black plasma. It struck the cloud alicorn tearing through like it was striking paper. The beast let out a howl as it was destabilized by the shots. Lightning struck the creature making it vanish. "Ok what's going on?" Sarah said as she began to run her probability programs.
"I don't know I woke up and that thing started attacking me." Thomas said watching as the creature moved through the clouds like water. "Why do we feel sluggish?" He asked as the alicorn charged out of the cluod bank. He managed to dodge the horn but the electrical field shorted out his suit and triggered the emergency release. His armor retracted to its storage form leaving him exposed and without his hud. The creature turned back to him and waited. With out hesitating his survival training kicked in. He dropped low to the ground making himself less of a target. Rather then charge again the beast sank back into the clouds and cirled again. Thomas didn't move he waited watching the clouds in his vision. The hair on his neck stood on end. The alicorn charged from behind him just as Thomas wanted. Spinning on his heel he brought the pistol catching the alicorn on the for head. "Hey charge this!" He called pulling the trigger. The alicorn dispated in a flash of lightning.
As Slash watched the storm collapsed in on itself. Before his very eyes he watched as it converged on a single point. After the storm had fully disapated the guard walked toward where the epicentre of the storm. What he saw there shocked him like nothing else could. Laying there infront of him was a creature a lot like the first but this one wasn't metal. The creature before him was wearing cloths and was primarily without a coat. The thing had a brown mane and was unconscious. But more than that it had wings made of storm clouds and black lightning. It aslo had a horn of the same make shifting in and out of existence.
"Uh how can I get you home." Slash said as he watched black lightening arc over the body infront of him.