Magi Chronicles: Fires of Equestria

by Xeadin

Chapter 16 -- Nightfall

Outside in the arctic air, several crew members of the Atlas vessel set up a temporary camp. Off-white canvas sheets surrounded the carbon fiber wireframe. The strong gusts of the arctic north proved to be a challenge for the members that set the sheets to protect the sensitive equipment. Once all of the sheets were in place and bound, a metallic cylindrical tube was raised on to the trunk of one of the wheeled trucks.

The tube housed a special instrument used for long-range telecommunication. It was designated the HRIC, or the High Resolution Imaging and Communications satellite. The satellite had an array of high-powered visual instruments and infrared communication sensors. The satellite was, also, outfitted with state-of-the-art quantum artificial intelligence. It was important for a satellite to have real-time access to its own controls, especially out in space in unfamiliar territory.

Inside the tent, the canvas covering retained a modest amount of heat, despite the frigid conditions outside. A space heater was set next to a large console that almost doubled as a table, which held a large green wireframe sphere above it—the same sphere that emanated from Asura’s watch. A few of the Atlas crew members surrounded the console, analyzing the images that were on the sphere. A long streak of green and white lined one side of the sphere, which indicated their path of approach during their earlier descent and the drones’ discoveries when they were sent out on their first scouting run.

A long red dotted line was seen from the spot where the Atlas was sitting. The line exceeded the sphere’s boundaries and was encircling the sphere in a circular path a fair distance away. It was the satellite’s plotted trajectory for launch. A mechanical female voice emanated from a small box on the edge of the console.

“This is the HRIC Torus, call sign HSAT One. All systems are functional. High-Resolution lens is active and calibrated. Communications system is set to transmit and receive.”

“Copy that, HSAT One,” Asura’s voice was heard through the speaker on the console. “You have permission to take off at the ready.”

“HSAT One, roger.”

“This is Atlas GHQ to Canterlot Tower. We are monitoring HSAT One’s data. Live feed is active, and long-range communications are on standby. All systems are a go.”

“This is HSAT One, beginning final pre-launch checks. Scanning eco drives and calibrating solar panels to optimal position for atmospheric flight.”

For a few moments, the speaker went silent.

~~~~~~

Asura sat on the couch next to Cassandra and Randan. Celestia, Discord, and Shining Armor stood opposite of the table. They were all fixated on the sphere, which relayed the satellite’s data. Two flat screens hovered just before Asura and Randan. The screen before Randan relayed the satellite’s footage. The inside of the tube that it was housed in was dark towards the bottom. He could see the eco trampoline on the bottom, which would be used to jettison the satellite from out of the tube.

The screen before Asura held essential flight data, which included telemetry, navigation, course trajectories, and communication channels. There was a sidebar on his screen that had a revolving logo. The logo was that of a capital M, with one half of it black and the other half white. A shield was embossed behind the M, with two swords that crossed each other behind the shield. Below the logo, there was a spinning circle, with the words ‘scanning’ above it.

The satellite’s voice was heard from the watch. “This is HSAT One, pre-launch checks complete. Eco drive is at maximum capacity. Trampoline is armed and ready for launch.”

Asura pushed the screen aside and stopped the sphere from revolving. He tapped on the chevron where the satellite was located.

“This is Skyhawk One. HSAT One, I am currently monitoring your position. You are in the clear.”

“Copy that, Skyhawk One.”

“Skyhawk One to Skyhawk Two. How are you feeling, buddy?”

“This is Skyhawk Two. Repairs to jammed turbines are complete. I will be taking off to join you shortly.”

Asura grinned. “Copy that. HSAT One, you are a go for launch.”

“Copy. Countdown to launch in five… four… three…”

The trajectory line dimmed as the countdown got closer.

“…two… one. Launch.”

~~~~~~

There was a slight pop within the tube, and the elongated satellite shot out from the tube to an astounding elevation within only a few seconds. Once the satellite’s ascension began to wane, the drive on the bottom fired and pushed the satellite up toward the clouds. The trail of blue flames that burst down from the drive gave off very little smoke. Surprisingly, the drive was not deafeningly loud even from a short distance to the ground.

“This is HSAT One. Trampoline launch was successful. Eco drive is active. I am currently accelerating to the edge of the atmosphere to begin lunar-synchronous orbital protocols.”

“Copy, HSAT One. This is Atlas GHQ. We are monitoring your ascent. Keep it nice and steady.”

~~~~~~

“This is Canterlot Tower. We are, also, monitoring your ascension. Everything looks good on our end,” Randan said, analyzing the trajectory path of the satellite. The path behind the chevron became a solid red, indicating the satellite’s previous location. The dim red path in front indicated the approximate path the satellite would take. They were counting on the fact that the satellite would have to deviate from its course by a fraction to maintain optimal range with the eco drive.

“Lunar-synchronous?” Celestia inquired with a curious look on her face.

“It’s where the satellite enters a similar orbit as to another object—for instance, the moon,” Asura said.

‘They must do this all the time where they’re from,’ Luna chuckled. She never heard anyone refer to her moon as an ‘object,’ yet his explanation of that word did make some sense.

“And what does this ‘satellite’ do, exactly?” Discord asked. His eagle talon touched the edge of the sphere, trailing along the path of the satellite.

“It’s an instrument that establishes long-range tele-communications, and it also has an on-board imaging system to gather atmospheric data. Essentially, it’s a scientific satellite that allows us to communicate with our allies back at home,” Randan said.

“What kind of a name is Hsat, though?” Luna said. “Wouldn’t thou want to give it a proper name?”

Asura almost gagged at the question.

Randan spoke. “Well, it’s a convention that we give it so that we can coordinate with several other units at once. If we gave each of our assets a long name, it’d be an arduous task to sort through them all.”

“Huh,” Shining Armor pondered. “That does seem to make sense. Makes my head hurt just thinking about how difficult your task is back at home.”

“Indeed,” Cassandra added. “What you see here is only scratching the surface of what we normally do. What we’re doing here is not standard to our procedures. We were re-tasked here for combat patrol.”

“And part of that task was to secure my location,” Asura noted. “The shuttle that I arrived in had broadcast a distress beacon from its black box unit, where I retrieved this watch from.”

“We hoped that the beacon would be safely retrieved by us. It’s a good thing it did.”

Randan pondered for a moment. He took a long, good glance at the sphere and the satellite’s trajectory. The chevron made it well beyond the boundaries of the sphere and was about to graze the edge of the atmosphere. “I wonder if the satellite will pose any problems.”

“The information sent from the satellite should be well-encrypted to keep them from intercepting it.”

Randan nodded at Asura’s reassurance.

“Them? As in, the aggressors?” Shining Armor inquired.

“Exactly.”

“Pray tell. Who are these ‘aggressors’ thou keep on mentioning about?”

Asura took in a deep breath. “Our aggressors are known as the Rygoliths. They were, once, our allies long ago—serving as the civilization’s guardians. They held a special union with the civilization’s core. They had established a tradition of order and wisdom amongst their kind—the Sentinels. One of their own, however, established a coup and rebelled against us and shattered the Sentinel traditions.”

“Betrayal,” Celestia said.

Asura nodded. “Since then, our relations with them dwindled. Years passed by, and they retreated to the shadows beyond the civilization’s reach. When they regained their strength, they found that our civilization was beginning to weaken. The Dimensional Divide had begun to crack, and they used that as their opportunity to prod our defenses.”

“And that’s what made them declare war against you,” Shining Armor said.

“But why would they do such a thing?” Twilight asked.

“We granted them the right to protect our civilization. In return, we would grant them a place amongst the civilization—a promised land that they had been searching for since their first deep space explorations. Saekar Kor, the one who started the coup, became corrupted by the curse of his own greed. He accused us of failing to provide them with what they wanted. We, simply, did not fully understand all of the galaxies that we had discovered. We did not even know if their ‘promised land’ existed.”

“His own corruption devised a lie in order to assault thee?” Luna said in concern.

“Essentially.”

“Well shoot, Twilight. Ah told ya we’d need these folks to handle th’ situation themselves.”

Randan held up his hand. “Based on the latest readings we had received before we cut ourselves off from General HQ, our current forces are severely underpowered compared to what they’ve sent in this direction.”

Rainbow Dash nudged against Applejack. “See? I told you they’d need our help.”

Asura looked over to Randan. “What you brought is all the firepower we have?”

“Unfortunately, yes. The Atlas only has three Warthog fighter craft and two Stingray helis in our arsenal. The Mother Goose is also outfitted with defensive measures. It’d be enough to fend off the first wave of attack, but beyond that we’d be short on stock.”

“We’ll need to call in reinforcements then, if it pans out towards that direction.”

“Might the Elements of Harmony be enough to drive them back?” Twilight asked in earnest.

Asura rubbed the bottom of his chin. “From what Celestia has told me, it seems like they could be powerful enough. I’m not quite sure if the Elements should be used in that manner, though.”

“The Elements of Harmony can be used to dispel any threat that invades Equestria,” Celestia said. “Surely, you must use your elements in a similar manner within your civilization.”

Asura nodded. The satellite’s voice crackled in the speaker.

“This is HSAT One. I have reached terminal elevation. Beginning lunar-synchronous orbital protocols. Calibrating high-resolution gimbal systems, and authenticating Civil Defense communications.”

“This is Atlas GHQ. Roger, HSAT One. Authenticating communication links and establishing secure connection. Live feed is still active on our end.”

“This is Skyhawk Two. I am at the launch pad. Initiating pre-flight checks and calibrating gimbal system. I will be joining Skyhawk One for landscape assessment and planetary mapping.”

“Planetary mapping?” Twilight said in a curious tone.

Randan pointed out the sphere. “It means that we’ll be able to get a good view of the world. In order for us to get to points of interest quickly, we’ll need to know what the landscape is like before we get there.”

“You don’t want to be left in the dark,” Shining Armor said.

“Right. Analysis of the landscape ensures that we can send in appropriate assets to the trouble zone. Knowing the terrain gives us an advantage when we send in the right equipment.”

The screen before Asura flashed once. “This is HSAT One. Secure connection established. Broadcasting first hail to General HQ under encryption code 003.” The sidebar that contained the revolving logo and the circular icon took up the entire screen. Above the icon, the word ‘connecting’ appeared for several seconds. A prompt appeared below the icon. Asura tapped the small keypad area to the left of the screen. After finishing, the prompt disappeared, and a bar appeared where the icon once was. The bar began to fill up from the left side in steps. When the bar filled up, the screen disappeared, and a larger screen appeared in front of the sphere.

“This is HSAT One. I am receiving General HQ’s return hail. Secure line established for long-range communications.”

The civil defense logo appeared on the screen once again, and another bar appeared below it. The bar filled up much quicker than the last one. The screen flashed once to reveal a briefing room with several figures occupying the space. Asura identified one of the figures to be the general himself.

“This is Atlas GHQ. Live feed with General HQ is up. Canterlot Tower, are you receiving the feed?”

Randan spoke. “Affirmative. Live feed of General HQ is up for us.”

The general’s voice could be heard. “This is General Reichert from the Civil Defense Operations base in Gerushia. Atlas command vessel, I am receiving your feed, and we can hear you loud and clear. It’s good to hear from you again.”

“Copy that, general. It’s good to be back in the loop.”

The general saluted. “I take it that your mission went well? Is the objective safe?”

“Objective is safe and sound. The natives on this planet took good care of him.”

“Excellent. That’s great to hear.”

Asura cleared his throat. “General Reichert, this is Commander Asura Envar of the Civil Defense Force. It’s a pleasure to be speaking with you once again.”

“It’s good to hear your voice again, commander.”

The crowd in the background cheered in response. Celestia grinned affectionately to the cheering.

“General HQ, we would like to inform you of our new allies.”

“Oh? Go on.”

Luna cleared her throat. “Perhaps in person would be a better way to explain.” She winked to Asura, who nodded in agreement.

“Hello, general,” Celestia spoke. “I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria. On behalf of my citizens, it’s a great honor and privilege to speak with you.”

“It is my privilege to speak with you, princess. I extend my thanks to you for taking care of our commander.”

“The honor is ours,” Luna proclaimed. “I am Princess Luna, sister to Celestia, and co-ruler of Equestria.”

“I’m Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard of Cante—” he was stopped short by Celestia, who nudged him with a wink. He cleared his throat. “Excuse me. Of Equestria, sir.”

“It is a pleasure to meet all of you. I’d imagine we’d be having a lot of discussions between us, Captain Shining Armor.”

Asura cleared his throat once again. “General, there are a few things that I need to address beforehand.”

“Go on, commander.”

“First off, we need to address our security protocols more closely. Earlier, we encountered a spy on our fleet.”

“A spy?” The general’s voice grew concerned.

“Yes sir,” Randan spoke. “The spy injured the commander, but fortunately the wounds inflicted were not life-threatening.”

“We have a growing concern that the spy may have made an attempt to communicate with the approaching Rygolith fleet, to zero in on our location. We do not have a lock on their current position as of yet.”

“That seems disconcerting, seeing that the spy may have alerted more than just the approaching vessels as well. We’re seeing massive movement closing in on your proximity, but we did not know why at first. This sort of revelation is surprising.”

Asura’s heart sank. The situation became greatly dire. ‘More flagships approaching Equestria? It’d be the end of all of these citizens for certain.’ “I think we need to re-task several units to provide reinforcement.”

“We’ve already begun rounding up reserve units to be sent your way. A few units of the armed forces have been alerted by the sudden shift in activity.”

‘The armed forces…’ “So, the war has begun to take its turn. Kor’s planning on wiping us out for good.”

“That’s what it seems like, based on their current activity. He plans that by getting rid of you, it’d be easier for them to take down the civilization in one fell swoop.”

“I’m afraid that the civilization is now torn between two medians of impending doom. I have discovered that the rift of the Dimensional Divide is beginning to collapse once again.”

The general could only groan in concern. “That rift is what keeps the civilization in one piece. If what you say is true, and he does attempt to get rid of you, there won’t be anything to stop it from shattering.”

“I fear that he may be using that as a way to destroy the civilization and beyond, exhausting it as a weapon of mass destruction.”

“If that’s true, then he and his forces must be stopped at all costs.”

“There might be a way for us to halt the destruction of the rift.” Asura paused for a moment, thinking heavily about the memories that had reappeared not too long ago. “There are some questions that still need to be answered while I’m here. This world might serve as the key to the civilization’s survival. With the help of the Equestrians and their power, I might be able to re-seal the breach somehow.”

“Seems like a risky gamble; however, you are the guardian of your faith, and I will respect your intuition. Do what you have to do to maintain the civilization’s well-being.”

---

Peering out from the other side of the moon, a lone starship quietly loomed in front of the planet, designated EQ-519. The solitary flagship was crafted and assembled in a way to make it appear as an asteroid. It was an effective form of camouflage that the Rygoliths employed upon their adversaries. The rough armor plates that patched the outside of the flagship reflected a modest amount of light, but it still retained its stealthy presence, as though it was nothing more than a mere rock in the field.

In the command bridge, just at the front of the ship, Isara, the Rygolith clan leader stood tall with her arms crossed against her chest. She held her chin up with a clenched fist. Studying the planet before her, she drew up several plans for her team to make an attempt to pull Asura out of hiding.

A doorway spiraled opened, and a large scorpion-like creature clattered its way in. The Rygoliths did not always hold humanoid appearances. Certain creatures specialized in different tactics based on how they were conceived at their birth. The scorpion excelled in surprise attacks and brute force, with its massive pincers doubling as drills for it to burrow through soft ground. The desert was its favorite environment.

The scorpion knelt down toward Isara. It spoke in a high-pitched grumble. “Your excellency. The troops are ready to depart, at your command.”

Isara smiled. “Right on schedule.” She turned to face the beast. “We will send them out once we have a few more garrisons trailing our lead. It shouldn’t take long for them to arrive.” She tapped a talon upon her violet cheek. “Perhaps you could soften them up, beforehand—provide a distraction so that we can gain the upper hand against him and his forces while we finalize preparations?”

The scorpion looked at Isara in earnest perplexity. “You want me to hunt down the boy?”

Isara tilted her head. “It wouldn’t do us any good if they were able to, somehow, strike us now.”

The scorpion nodded. “Very well.”

Isara rubbed the top of the beast’s head and scratched behind its ears. “Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

Satisfied by the leader’s words of assurance, the scorpion proceeded to march its way back out through the open doorway.

“One more thing…”

The beast stopped in its tracks, eager to hear what needed to be said.

“Try not to hurt any of the civilians down there. We only need to rid of his forces, and to retrieve him for my master’s 'plans.'”

The beast proceeded through the threshold of the doorway, which closed up in the same spiraling fashion. Isara returned her gaze to the lush planet. Within a few moments, the streak of metal shot past the canopy of the bridge, which was headed straight towards the surface of the planet.

“Time to play a game of Cat and Mouse, little boy,” she chuckled menacingly.

---

Asura stood out on the balcony from the main hallway just outside of Celestia’s quarters. He breathed in the cool night air that tickled his cheeks. The starlight above helped with straightening out his thoughts that were littered with doubts and uncertainty. The energies he had willfully absorbed into his own soul had shown him a massive clue as to how and why Cosmos disappeared—in fact, it was one of the answers he was looking for.

It still troubled him that the clues he was presented with did not hint towards any indication of how to find Cosmos’s spirit, let alone awaken the shard of the overlord’s spirit that resided within him. Was there an ancient gathering place where Starswirl and the princess’s parents had gone to in order for them to connect with the World Builders? Where would that gathering place be?

He continued to look up at the stars, contemplating his own resolve. He still could not answer the overbearing question that loomed over him like a veil. Why Equestria? That inquiry clung to his mind like a tumor, continuing to embitter his thoughts with unsettling doubts.

He felt the gentle touch of a hoof on his back, which sent his mind reeling in a dazzling display of pleasure. Luna rubbed her hoof down along his spine, and back up along the back of his ribs and shoulder blades. His physical anatomy mesmerized her, and she felt herself gravitate towards him every time she made eye contact with him.

She cooed next to his ear. “What dost thou see in our night sky?”

“Well,” he pondered, tilting his head sideways. He felt the fur of her nuzzle resting against his neck. “It’s quite different seeing the stars from another world. The constellations are different.” He pointed up to a slightly light grouping of stars and hazy light. “Right there is where the bulk of our civilization lies.”

Luna sighed in awe. “That is your home?” Her horn lit up and her magic traced the outline of a constellation just before them. The outline took the shape of a crab. The brightest points of the outline were over the patch of light he pointed out. “Thy home lies on the constellation by an old memoir of a long lost friend. She believed that there would be a world beyond the stars that yearned out for us just as much as we yearned for the stars themselves.” Asura turned his head toward Luna. “Thou art the embodiment of that belief. We have yearned for the stars for many centuries, pinning as we did for something to become of them.”

He blinked. “You’ve been waiting for me?”

“We did,” she crooned. “Our connection with the stars expressed to us of the untold wonders of the world beyond Equestria, yet we could never quite reach them. They were simply too far away for our spirits to touch. It soon became tradition to honor those that have perished with constellations to reach out to the worlds beyond our own—to reach out to the stars. We would hope that one day those calls would be answered.”

He looked down in anguish to her words, but was met with her hoof pushing against his chin. Her eyes bored into his. “Thou shalt not feel pity. With what thou hath showed us in your stay, we now realize that the worlds beyond are closer than we had thought. They are not just dreams anymore. Thou may have a point when thou said that our worlds may be connected in more ways than one.”

Asura could only gaze back, but he understood what she was saying. “I would agree. Our worlds share the cosmic connections between one another. Our guardians tend to the elemental energies to ensure that the bonds remain tied together.” He chuckled, feeling her breath tickle against his cheek. “I’ve also been reaching out toward the stars, hoping to find a world away from the chaos that ensnared us—a world where I could rest and find peace. I think… I may have found it.”

A sensual aura could be felt hugging against him. Luna pressed her muzzle against his nose. “We finally get to touch the stars. It hath been so long since we had dreamed of what lied beyond our gaze.” She rubbed her hoof against the back of his neck. “Now, those dreams have become a reality for us…” She turned her head to the side a bit, her eyes half-ajar. She inched herself closer to his lips. Asura pressed two fingers on her lips, catching her by surprise. “Is there something that burdens thee?”

“I just don’t know if that’s right for us to do that…” he stuttered. “We haven’t gotten to know each other very well, and you’re a princess—a ruler of this world. I am only a guardian of mine.”

She giggled at his refusal, further confusing him. “Min confused star child, we are both guardians. We are the guardian of our precious night, and we safeguard our subjects’ dreams.”

‘A dream walker? So that’s how she’s able to reach into my mind.’

She continued to gaze into his eyes. “We know more about thee than thou think during our trips within thine memories. Thou need not worry about our affection to thee.”

‘What? She’s peered deep into my mind?’ His heart pounded at the thought. As though she sensed his distress, she tenderly planted her lips against his, cooing lovingly. His mind went wild, conflicting itself with doubts and pleasures. The mare’s touch was more delicate than he had realized, and his thoughts began to slow down. He began to fall into Luna’s loving embrace, and she wrapped her wings around him. He took in a deep breath, which only caused Luna’s lips to clasp onto his even tighter.

In that heartfelt moment, Asura encircled his arms around Luna’s neck and closed his eyes. It was the first time he had shared any feelings toward another person, let alone another being. It felt alien to feel loved and to share his love with another being. He heard Luna’s voice at the back of his mind.

‘Our love is only as natural as a stallion and a mare is to a filly and a colt. We may have our differences, but in our hearts we share similar desires for one another. We hope that thou will accept our affection and our security for as long as thou remain in Equestria.’

As the two lip-laced lovers continued to share their affections, the night sky twinkled with brilliance. The stars above outlined the shape of both Luna and Asura in their love-locked kiss. The outlines of small hearts appeared just above the main shape. The outline was interrupted by a streak of light that arced across the sky. The shooting star got close, and its brilliance shot out upon the castle walls and the valley floor.

A few moments later, a faint howling sound trailed behind the star, and the landscape beyond the lower valley hills to the south erupted in a dazzling flash that lasted for only a mere second. Several moments pass when the shockwave of the star’s impact could be heard. The sound tore Asura and Luna from their deep kiss. They both looked out in the general direction from where the sound originated from. Luna could tell that it came from the direction of Ponyville.

Asura saw the faint plume of dust in the distance. ‘Could it be…?’ His thoughts were torn apart when he heard his watch emanate an audible alarm from within Celestia’s room. Asura quickly turned himself around and raced down through the hallway and into her quarters, with Luna trailing behind.

~~~~~~

All was quiet in Ponyville. The night sky glimmered above with the moon’s gaze shining down upon the lifeless village. A lone tree house, marking Twilight’s home, stood tall in the middle of the township, a few blocks away from the town hall.

Inside, the chorus of snoring was heard in Twilight’s bedroom. Spike, Twilight’s assistant, slept soundly in his thatched bed, covered by a soft sheet with various stars embroidered on it. Down below, the sounds of an owl could be heard breaking the silence every few minutes.

The peace that surrounded the house was broken by a faint howling sound that grew louder. It also grew, strangely, brighter as the sound drew near. Soon, the piercing howling dominated the air, and the owl’s hoots became frantic. A loud boom shook the house, snapping Spike out of his delusional sleep. He yelped at the top of his lungs, and dove straight underneath Twilight’s bed. The house was illuminated for that split moment, before the air became quiet and dark as it was before.

Shivering, Spike drew himself from under the bed, and proceeded to jump on top of the nearest windowsill to get a good view of whatever it was that made the loud sound. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, yet his senses were still tingling violently. He went downstairs to see Owlicious fluttering around the room, hooting in fright.

“Hey, Owlicious! What’s gotten into you?” he pondered. “Did you hear that, too?”

Owlicious only gave a hoot in agreement, as he continued to flap his wings upon his nightstand. Spike grinned and scratched the owl behind his neck. “Aww, its okay, little guy. I’m sure it was just a thunder strike,” he chuckled. “You never know what Rainbow Dash could be up t—“

He stopped short, as he noticed that it was still dark outside. “Wait a minute… it’s still dark outside. Rainbow Dash couldn’t have done that, could she?” He peered out of the window behind Owlicious and noticed a strange plume of smoke rising just in front of the Everfree Forest.

He stared out at the plume in awe, and he proceeded to make his way down to the main level of Twilight’s study. There, he found the pedestal where he kept his papers and quills. He stood on top of the log stool and dipped a quill into an ink jar. He then began to write on the parchment that was lain out before him, reciting his words aloud.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle…”

~~~~~~

The wireframe sphere was flashing with a red halo. The chevron of the satellite was blinking rapidly. Randan was confused, and Celestia was frightened out of her wits from the sudden exclamation of the watch. Asura sat next to Randan and tapped on to the sphere.

“Atlas GHQ to Canterlot Tower. We just received a ping from HSAT One. Request appears urgent.”

“Alright, bring it up.”

A screen appeared in front of Asura, and he analyzed the data that scrolled across the screen.

“This is HSAT One. I have just discovered a suspicious object that landed several miles south of Canterlot Tower. Requesting immediate re-task of Skyhawk drones to analyze the impact crater.”

The image on the map rendered an area where the satellite saw the ‘star’ land at. Before long, a scroll materialized in front of Celestia in a plume of green flames.

“A message from Spike?” Twilight asked. Celestia nodded, and she gave the scroll to Twilight, who promptly opened it up. She read the contents of the message aloud.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle,

“I know it’s not normal for me to be up this late, but I heard something loud crash just outside of Ponyville. It tore me out of my sleep. I’m not sure what it was, and Owlicious is still frightened by the noise. We haven’t heard anything else from the crash, but it sounded like it was some sort of thunder clap. Everything was bright as day for a moment, and then it was gone. I’m sure just about everypony in town is shook up from it as well.

“I sure do miss you, Twilight. Your home is just not the same without you.”

“Oh, Spike. I miss you, too.”

“Your humble, and somewhat frightened, assistant,

“Spike.”

Rarity gasped. “Oh! Poor Spikey-Wikey! He’s all alone and he’s terrified by strange sounds in the middle of the night!”

“Sounds like Ponyville’s in trouble once again,” Rainbow Dash asserted. “Time for us to move in and clean house!”

“Hold on there, partn’r,” Applejack shouted, grabbing Rainbow’s tail with her teeth. “We still don’t know what this thing’s all about. Who knows, it could just be some ol’ space rock ‘f some sort.”

Asura spoke to the sphere. “HSAT One, I am authorizing the re-task of Skyhawks One and Two for immediate investigation of unknown object.”

“This is Skyhawk One. Re-task orders confirmed; heading to crash site on the double.”

“This is Skyhawk Two. Re-task orders confirmed; moving to the scene pronto.”

“Copy that. This is HSAT One. I still have tabs on the impact crater. Image is still obscured by settling dust.”

“Roger; setting our course to image beacon.”

Asura noted the two yellow dots of the drones making their way westward from a desert at the far corner just before the edge of the arctic north met with the edge of an ocean.

“This is Skyhawk One, making my pass by Canterlot Tower.”

The sound of the drone could be faintly heard from outside the open archway to the balcony of Celestia’s room. The other drone flew closer, and its floodlights could be seen flashing against the night sky.

“This is Skyhawk Two. I have passed by Canterlot Tower. Proceeding to crash site.”

Within a few minutes, the drones met with the chevron, indicating the crash zone. Shining Armor pondered for a moment. “What happens if that turns out to be something more than just some space rock?”

Luna added. “Indeed. We felt the falling star’s presence, and it did not feel like any old rock. It was as if there was a… strange presence within it.”

Randan glanced over to Shining Armor. “If it turns out to be ‘them,’ we’ll have to prepare ourselves.”

~~~~~~

The drones flew over the township of Ponyville, as addressed by the natives from Canterlot Tower. They made their way to the settling dust cloud, slightly illuminated by the moonlight above. It was a remarkable sight, but their work would be cut short when their discovery would come to a striking surprise. One of the drones got close to the plume and attempted to disperse it with its turbines. The other drone hovered just above to catch a good view of the crater itself.

It saw bits of metal dispersed around the edges of the crater, yet there was nothing in the epicenter. An odd mound of dirt jutted upward from the bottom of the crater, leaving the bits of metal to litter the outside. The drones analyzed the metal plates strewn across and came across a striking, and unnerving, discovery.

~~~~~~

Asura and Randan analyzed the feeds of the drones as they scanned the crater.

“This is Skyhawk Two. I have analyzed the metal particles on the crater walls. I’ve cross-referenced upon multiple databases and have come up with a confirmed match.” They awaited the drone’s response. “The metal appears to be of Sarrath origin.”

Randan’s face stiffened. “So, it is ‘them.’”

Shining Armor glanced at Randan, then at Asura. It was obvious that there was a hint of panic in his eyes. “What should we do?”

Asura straightened himself on the couch. “We’ll have to take precautions and take a closer look at the crash site. They've just sent us a knock on our door.”