Thing a Day

by Rennoc215

Raid on Shetland

Thing a day: Raid on Shetland

Sometime in the fourty-first millennium...

The soft hiss of the powered door signaled the commander's presence on the bridge, causing everypony in the room to turn and saluted the bleary eyed unicorn. "First mate Stormy Gale, you better have a good reason as to why you woke me up two hours into my resting time." She demanded, voice slightly slurred from lack of sleep.

The fully armored solar marine bowed. "Terribly sorry, captain, but we have just recieved a distress call from Shetland." The gray faced stallion said.

She rubbed her eyes a little longer, before responding. "Contacts?" She asked, shaking her head.

"Unreported. I can brief you on the way there, captain." He said, turning to the helmsman. "Engage the warp engine, Techpriest. Also, could you get the captain a cup of coffee? She's going to need it." The pipe-ridden pony nodded, before whispering something to the computer terminal in some arcane language. Afterwards, the priest, bowed, and left to acquire a cup of coffee.

"So, Stormy, what does it look like we'll be up against?" The captain asked, sitting down in the chair desegnated specifically to her use.

He smiled, and took his seat beside her. "It's most likely a chaos cult, as this is a rim-world, far from the God-Empress." The captain let out a collossal yawn, and nodded. "But, there are a few other possible options. With all the hive fleets converging nearby, there's a possibility of it being a splinter fleet, distracted by the ecological eden this world is. Also, the planet was terraformed before we arrived, meaning it could be one of the elder races."

"What of the raiding races?" The captain asked, messing with her purple mane. The pink stripe running down it just wouldn't go into place, and she huffed in annoyance.

"There's little recorded activity in these regions, since they don't have anything of value on them." He replied eyeing the captain in her disheveld state. "Captain, permission to speak freely?"

"Granted," she replied with a grunt. Her hoof had found a particularly unsavory knot in it that wouldn't give up.

"Go back to your chambers and get yourself dressed up. I will alert the others and get them ready for what lies ahead." He said, standing up.

She just weakly nodded, turned, and went out her door. Moments later, the techpriest entered the room, only to see the captain was not present. Stormy Gale chuckled, and then pointed to the captain's quater's door. "Thanks," the priest said, and then followed the captain.

-+-+-+-+-+-

Captain Dawn Shimmer stared at herself in the mirror, and sighed. Everything was in place, even though it felt like nothing was. She glanced from the mirror down to the holophoto floating below it, and the two were exact. If you didn't know better, you might have believed that the mare in the photo was the same as the one standing before the mirror.

Oh how wrong you would be. The two lived more than thirty millennia apart, and had nearly mirrored lives. One was a paragon for peace and friendship, the other was a brutal commander, calculating and powerful, with a record to back it up.

Twilight Sparkle... Probably her most famous ancestor. A might to be reckoned with during her time, and wielder of the most powerful psychic artifact ever known. "Dear ancestor, may I walk in your favor." Dawn Shimmer said, bowing to the picture, before turning around and seeing the techpriest standing there, waiting, holding her cup of coffee. "Thank you, Roger."

The tech priest bowed. "Would you like my assisstance in getting suited?" He asked, motioning to her inactive terminator armour.

She smiled, and nodded.

-+-+-+-+-+-

The surface was nice, but dark. Dawn looked around, and opened her com. "Open communications, then read in."

"Stormy Gale here." Said the first mate, fully suited up beside her. Although he acted with total duty, and a no-nonsense air, everypony knew he would be the one who would keep their spirits up.

"Apothecary Soft Wing here," said the quiet voice of the team's apothecary. She was a nice, butter yellow pegasus mare who knew just how to heal any wound. The poor thing was against violence, though, so it was a pity she had been chosen for the solar guard. Poor mare wasn't cut out for it.

"Scout Prism Raid reporting in!" Shouted the lightly armored pegasus scout. Why the mare chose to stay a scout was a mystery to everypony except her team, who all knew her life revolved around flying, and speed. Had it not been for Prism Raid, Soft Wing probably wouldn't have ever joined the force.

"Devestator Hesperides ready." The Straw maned marine called. Strong as his armor, Dawn was glad he was on their side, as he was truly relentless.

"And Librarian Plenty at your service," answered the fifth member of this merry band. An even mix, two of each species, albiet tipped in the favor of females. But this is the average gender ratio in the solar guard, nowadays, Dawn thought, so I guess it really is balanced.

"Alright, team. Distress call is from the north. Heads up displays should be up, since we can't see past this blasted cloud layer." Dawn commanded. "Prism, take point, Gale keep close behind her. Hesperides cover our rear, and the rest with me in the center. Let's get to that beacon."

-+-+-+-+-+-

The woods grew darker and dimmer as they went through it, and then they reached a steep incline. The path was narrow and dangerous, and it began to arc downwards towards a zig zaging pattern. At the base, the path turned off, heading to the woods, edged by a sheer cliff face. It was only after they passed the fourth turn that the path literally turned for the worst.

As Dawn shimmer set her hoof down, an avalanch began, and it took each member off their hooves, aside from Prism Raid and Soft Wing, who instinctively darted up into the air. "Prism! Soft Wing! Grab who you can and fly them to safety!" Dawn commanded, recieving salutes she hardly acknowledged.

She was too busy trying not to die, clutching desperately at anything within reach. She slid all the way to the edge, when Hesperides reached out from his perch to grab her. Dawn hung from the edge, barely being gripped by Hesperides. "I can't hold you forever, captain. That Terminator armor is heavy. Can you make the fall?"

Dawn looked down and gulped. Easily a hundred meters seperated her and the spiny floor. "Let go." She looked back at Hesperides when something strange happened. Her senses became blurry, and then came back, although muffled slightly.

She looked and noticed her HUD wasn't operational, and then noticed she wasn't wearing her armor at all. Then, a voice distracted her. "Let go." It said, and Dawn looked at her once male companion. However, instead of the hulking devastator marine, lay a bare earth pony mare, strikingly similar to her companion. All the way down to the color of her mane.

"Are you crazy?" Dawn shouted. Then, mere seconds after, she felt her lips move. "Are you crazy?" she asked again, in a voice slightly higher than her own. And then the violet tinted vision ended, and she was looking at Hesperides.

"I promise you'll be safe." He said, strict determination on his face. "What I'm saying to you is the honest truth." He continued. Why do I feel like I've lived this before? Dawn asked herself. "Let go, and you'll be safe."

Dawn took a deep breath, and nodded slightly, before letting go. She fell for a few seconds, and in those moments, she pondered what had just happened. But she didn't get very far, as her fall was abruptly stopped. "Jeez," Prism Raid groaned. "They're serious when they say terminator armor is heavy."

Dawn looked down to see Prism Raid and Soft wing holding her, and slowly falling down, where they set her down. "Uh, Ladies? A little help?" Hesperides called from the top. To his obvious relief, the two pegasai came up and lowered him to the ground. "Thanks. Shall we continue?"

-+-+-+-+-+-

It was a little ways further when a new obstacle blocked their path. Trapped in a ravine, the team looked on to see an enourmous scorpion. Easily standing the size of a small tank, the insect's armor probably was as strong, if not stronger. It let out a long rattle, clicking it's claws and tapping it's tail against the stones, causing Soft Wing to pause, but the others pressed on.

"Easy," Prism Raid stated, before darting forward at near-supersonic speeds. But just as quickly as she was flying, the scorpion's tail intercepted her, knocking her aside.

"Excuse me, everypony." Soft Wing said, unnoticed by her team. Plenty grinned, and closed her eyes, focusing a large amount of power into her horn. When her eyes fluttered open, her smile dissappeared, and a bolt of warp lightning struck the creature. But all that managed to do was singe it's thick body armor.

"Excuse me," Soft Wing repeated, again unnoticed. Hesperides and Stormy Gale looked at each other, and nodded. Stormy ran ahead, distracting the scorpion, while Hesperides readied his heavy bolter. Once it was ready, a steady stream of bullets poured out, but even the heavy duty ammunition had no effect upon the creature's thick exoskeleton.

The two teams stood off, and Dawn grinned. She drew her power hoof, when another hoof was placed on her shoulder. "Wait." The softspoken apothecary said, passing the stunned group as she fearlessly aproached the scorpion. Mid-transit, the fuzziness came back, and this time, the apothecary was again disarmored and now approaching a manticore. "Shh, it's okay." She said, nuzzling the paw.

The vision faded, and there lay the apothecary, sealing a tear on the scorpion's claw. "Now this might hurt for just a minute." She said, as she applied the liquid ceramic. The creature screched for a moment, and then it lay silent. It reached up and grasped her with the newly healed claw, and lowered her to the ground. They stood there, eyeing each other, and then it lowered it's raised tail, and let it's claws fall to the ground. "There there, good scorpion." She cooed, and the others slipped past the living tank.

Dawn stayed towards the back, and waited for Soft Wing to catch up. "How did you know about the crack?" She asked.

"I didn't," Soft Wing replied smugly. "Sometimes, all it takes is a little kindness."

-+-+-+-+-+-

It was a little while before the canopy seemed to cut down on the visible light, until all anypony could see was shadows. "Shoot," Prisim said. "I think my armor got scratched in that fight."

That's when Soft Wing screamed. It was a short affair, but got everyponies' attention. They looked where her gaze was transfixed, and they gasped too. There, in the tree, was a Daemon, peeking it's head out at them. "Boo." It said, and then disappeared.

That's when almost all of them lost it. None of them were equipped to handle a daemon, and when they looked around, they saw them in all the trees. They were about to just surrender when Stormy Gale stood up. "Team," he called. "There's something my family has passed down through generations. Not many ponies see it, but it's a gift."

"Stormy, get back!" Dawn called back, that's when the vision came again. Again, they were trapped in the woods, all of them unarmored, but one stark difference: Instead of the monochrome grey stallion sat a bubbly pink mare. That's when she started to sing. It was a goofy melody, and made Dawn want to chuckle. Then, she got the whole group laughing, and it had the terrifying phantoms disappear. "It's worth a shot," Dawn murmured, and then the vision faded.

And there was Stormy, singing the same tune, albiet in a much lower octave. The whole team had broken apart at his silliness, but Dawn smirked for a different reason. Something wasn't quite adding up, but they had a mission to do. Boy, are we lucky to have somepony who can make us laugh, Dawn thought.

"Onward," she called. "Before we need to make stormy get us laughing again." That drew a soft chuckle from the gathering, and then they pressed on.

-+-+-+-+-+-

After some time, they reached a large, turbulent river. "What now?" Stormy asked. "It's too wide to fly or teleport, and too deep to cross."

They looked upstream, to see a sea spirit, writhing in the river, causing the large rippling. "Woe is me!" He cried, swinging an arm, causing the waves to increase.

Librarian Plenty was the first to approach. "What's wrong?" she asked, fluttering her eyes.

"Oh, it's horrendus. I've lost it! My golden pendant, my treasure, my wedding gift! Gone!" He cried, swinging his arm in wide arcs.

The librarian nodded, and without a word, reached up, and pulled off one of her imperial sigils, designed to protect her from harm. "Librarian!" Prism shouted, but she was silenced with a hoof.

"Here. Take it." She said, causing the spirit to pause. "It may do me good, but it will do you better."

"Oh, I couldn't," He said, reaching out.

"Your wife sounds like a lucky woman. Make her happy." Plenty said with a smile.

The vision swirled around Dawn, and she saw a more styled version of the librarian slicing off her own tail as an offering to a large serpent. Is that what the librarian looks like under her armor? Dawn wondered as the vision faded. "Such generosity musn't go unrepaid." He said, bowing to the librarian.

"Well, we need to cross this river, and with haste." She offered, and he smiled.

"Allow me," He said, splitting the river, leaving them a dry patch which to cross.

They thanked the spirit, and quickly crossed.

-+-+-+-+-+-

It was at the fifth impass that no vision came. Just a mist covered fallen bridge. Then, after a seemingly long time, Prism Raid flew back across, the other side of the bridge in hoof. "Finally, what took you so long?" Hesperides asked.

"A group of darkly armored scouts approached me, and offered to take me in, and make me their commander. But when I told them I had to help you all get across, they told me it was you all or them."

"And I take you stayed with us?" He replied.

She saluted. "Forever loyal, forever faithful. Scout's mantra." Dawn Smiled, and the group passed through the mists, to the old, ruined castle.

Within lay a pedastal, and upon it five spheres, resonnating enourmous amounts of magical energy. and between them and the artifacts rested a tall, black alicorn. "You have pressed this far, but you shall be your end, Sparkle, not mine." Dawn frowned, and pawed at the ground. "You're kidding. You're kidding, right?"

That's when the fifth flashback hit her, and this time, the result would be the same. Dawn grinned as it phased out, and then she charged. It was a charge that all of the members were shocked about, but smiled at. Right as the two were about to collide, Dawn teleported.

The briefest of unprotected moments in the warp can last any amount of time. Thankfully this one was short, but it held more meaning than Dawn could realize. She hadn't closed her eyes when she launched herself, and so she saw the unbridled power of the warp, writhing about her. But there was one other thing she saw. She saw her duplicate, from all those thousand years ago. A soft smile, and a nod told Dawn all she needed to know.

And then she was out of the warp, and in the circle of stones. "These are the elements, arent they? The Six arcane weapons known to banish evil?" The nightmare lunged for her, and she laughed, throwing up a defensive shield. "But these are just vessels. Yet you know this, don't you?" She continued, watching the nightmare screech and pummel the barrier.

"Honesty, passed down the legendary apple line, and currently housed in Hesperides. Kindness, passed to Soft Wing, descendant of Fluttershy, the first apothecary. Laughter, passed down the Pie line, to our friend Stormy Pie Gale. Generosity, passed to Plenty from her ancestor Rarity. Loyalty, passed down the Rainbow line to Prism Rainbow Raid."

At this, Nightmare screamed, sensing what was coming. Dawn lashed out, and inverted her shield, encasing the Lunar Diarch. "And Magic, the hidden, sixth element, passed down to the reincarnation of the legendary Twilight Sparkle: Dawn Shimmer."

With these words said, the elemental stones shattered again, like in the final vision, and the shards created halos of magical energy around the six ponies. There, they unleashed the collective might of the most powerful artifacts known upon a single midnight mare. She withered under the holy light, and then vanished.

"Let's go girls. I bet the council of High Equus will be interested in these."

-+-+-+-+-+-

Deep within a mechanical labrynth, a figure stirred. One who hadn't moved since her interrment into her living tomb, the high throne. Her attendants scrambled, trying to stop her, but she stood. "The element bearers have been found." She said, with the power of a thousand souls backing her words. As she spoke those around her stopped to listen. "Gather the council. A new dawn is rising. One heralded by myself."

"Celestia Solaris. The God-Empress."

Author's Note:

Got a good one for you today. I was painting my tyranids when I thought of doing this crossover, and so I began it as if it were a battle. But after the first paragraph, I realized that I'd rather do it this way, and I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Comments

[Valhuir]

Ummm, you have Generosity mentioned twice in the listing of elements, once in reference to Fluttershy's descendant...

[Rennoc215]

2921182

Shoot, do I? I'll take care of that.
Curse you eleven-thirty mind-fuddling time!

*edit: got it. Thanks for pointing that out.