Zone of the Equestrians: The Antilia Raid

by Mamoru Kisho

We Are Finally Free In Space

Prologue: We Are Finally Free in Space

Space, a vast and unexplored region that may be ponykind’s salvation or destruction.

The planet of Gaia was facing a major issue regarding its population, energy, and available resources. Many non-renewable fuels were being depleted rapidly with no appropriate substitute to replace them. Overpopulation has crowded major cities to the point of rampant crime and unsafe levels of pollution. The world needed to find a solution lest they stand idly and wait for the inevitable.

In the year 2014 A.C., the government of Equestria and several other countries formed an alliance, one that would bring about a new age to Gaia. Their first project, the “Orbital Transport Concept”, was announced. A space elevator extending from the surface of Gaia all the way into outer space, initially for the sole purpose of transport goods between the planet and several stations protruding from the upper parts of the elevator itself would be one of the major steps in extending the world’s population to more than one planet. However, the manpower and funds required to start such a daring project has delayed it for now.

The year 2020 played a major role in future colonization. The fervor for space development was rekindled as a result of ponykind’s completion of their first lunar foothold. A realm that was only known to one pony, Princess Luna, was now a potential home for many others. However, ponykind still had troubles transporting the necessary materials to and from the moon, which in turn prompted major funding from the alliance and many private investors for the construction of the Orbital Transport. With enough revenue to complete the project now secured, construction of the elevator began in 2027 A.C. The alliance still had another project in mind, now confident in the successful colonization of the moon.

The Ma-res Colonization Concept was next on the agenda. The project was set to colonize Gaia’s closest neighbor planet for habitation of the planet’s rapidly growing population. The plan recycled much of the lunar colony’s concept except for one major detail: the terraforming of Ma-res. If this part of the project succeeded, there would be no use in domes being constructed, as plants would be able to quickly transform the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into breathable oxygen for ponykind. However, Gaia was pressed for time as its resources continued to run out.

2040 marked an unusual discovery. An autonomous space probe has discovered mysteriously flat land on one of Cronus’s moons, Callisto. This seemed rather odd as the surface of the satellite was heavily cratered and uneven.

By 2045, the Orbital Transport was completed, propelling ponykind into a full-scale space age. Resources excavation facilities were built on the surface of the moon to look for any possible resources that it may offer to the inhabitants of Gaia. This called for a new type of work vehicle to be employed. Development of the Laborious Extra-Orbital Vehicle, or LEV, has begun thanks to funding from Rich Enterprises. The LEVs were first designed to help with excavation, construction, and emergency services and were eventually adapted for use in the military.

Ma-res saw its first pony visitors in the year 2052, as ponykind has finally established a minor foothold on the planet. Terraforming of the surface has begun thanks to the introduction of plant life. Ma-res was well underway to becoming the first planet in the solar system, with the exception of Gaia, to successfully sustain life. Gaia’s resources fared terribly, pushing the need for nuclear fusion to power the world’s cities. Worldwide generation of nuclear power was given top priority, but consumption of fossil fuels continued. By 2063, the United Nations announced that fossil fuels of all types have been depleted. The planet faced four years of stagnating progress due to limited application of nuclear power. All hope of moving out toward the stars seemed impossible.

The ponies of Gaia found hope, however, when an occupied space probe landed on Callisto in 2067. A new resource, possibly hundreds of times more powerful than fossil fuels, has been discovered in large deposits just under the moon’s surface. The ore has been dubbed “Celestium”, named after the princess of the sun that gave the ponies hope more than 2 millennia ago. Almost immediately, the ore was put to practical use, ranging from powering electrical technology to the discovery of the effect of spatial compression. With this new and more powerful resource at its disposal, ponykind saw a brand new age ushered in – The Age of Space Dependence.

Celestium, the “wonder ore”.

Since the dawn of history, ponykind has realized various forms of energy. Lives have been improved. Wars have been waged for control over them. Civilizations have progressed with them. These concepts rang true even for the wonder ore.

But where does such energy as Celestium lead OUR civilization?

---

“Ahem. Spike? Would you like to answer that for us?”

“Huh?” The young dragon snapped awake as he heard the teacher speaking to him. Shaking his head, he focused his thoughts as best as he could and spoke. “I’m sorry, Ms. Cheerilee. Can you repeat the question?”

Ms. Cheerilee, a fuchsia-coated earth pony, sighed. “Alright, but please try to stay awake during the lesson. What year marked the discovery of the spatial compression properties of Celestium?” The young dragon racked his mind thinking of the answer.

“Oh, right!” exclaimed the student. “The year was 2093 A.C.”

“Very good. Now class…” The instructor’s voice trailed off, continuing the lesson plan. Spike, the young dragon, looked out the window. Taking up most of the space colony’s view was the planet Cronus along with one of its moons, Europa. The colony of Antilia was just one of five stations past occupied by living beings, and is also the farthest from the planet of Gaia. Even if Spike never knew the beauty of a planet with an atmosphere, he would always have the colony and its amazing view of space.

“Alright everyone, that concludes today’s lesson. I’ll see all of you on Monday. Enjoy your weekend.” The classroom erupted into a din of voices and chairs scraping against the floor. Spike stood up and made his way outside of the room and eventually the building.

Walking down the familiar streets was an all-too-easy task for the dragon. He didn’t even have to pay attention to the street signs. His legs had the way home memorized. Back to the orphanage.

“What’s wrong, Spikey-wikey?” said a voice with a slight sarcastic tone. “Don’t you like that run-down ‘home’ of yours?” Spike hadn’t bothered to stop and find the source of the voice. He knew all too well who it belonged to. A small, pink earth filly made her presence known, flanked by two pegasi who appeared none too bright.

“I’m not in the mood for this today, Diamond Tiara” answered Spike. “Don’t you have some other sap to terrorize?”

“Unfortunately for you, those blank flanks gave me the slip. But I think you’ll make a suitable replacement for a little game.” The devilish sneer in her voice warned Spike that it wasn’t an innocent or fun game. At least not for him. He quickened his pace a bit, trying to lose her and her lackeys as soon as he could. However, the two pegasi took flight and circled him as he ran. Eventually, he realized that they wouldn’t let him escape; any attempts at doing so would just be thwarted by the pegasi simply by knocking him down from their flight. Eventually, Spike decided to stop running in an open parking lot. At least it would give passerby a better chance to spot his oppressors should they try anything to harm him.

Diamond Tiara joined the others, slightly annoyed at being left behind. “Dumb-bell, Hoops! Didn’t I ask you before we approached him to keep him within view? I had run the rest of the way here! Don’t you know how tiring that is?”

“Well, excuse me, princess Tiara”, answered Hoops, the dull orange pegasus with the basketball cutie mark. “Why don’t we just ask him to slow down next time? I’m sure he’ll take your poor little feet’s pain into consideration.”

“Yeah, if you can’t keep up, go back to that other friend of yours. What was her name? Aluminum Fork?” Dumb-bell, the dark brown pegasus, was next to answer.

“Is that sarcasm I hear? Don’t forget that my dad practically owns both of your dads! He can fire them right on the spot and force them to work on Callisto mining for Celestium!” With that in mind, the pegasi kept their mouths shut. Diamond Tiara walked up to Spike and gave him the most menacing smile that a filly can produce. “Now, how about we show our new dragon friend how we play?”

---

“Out of all the residents on this colony that you could ever terrorize, why did you go with the dragon?” Spike asked out loud, tied to a lamppost in the same parking lot. It seems as if his earlier plan went awry, as there was no one around to witness his capture.

“Terrorize? Moi?” Diamond Tiara circled her prey as she spoke. “Don’t be ridiculous, Spike. What would I be able to do against such a ferocious fire-breathing creature as you?” She laughed as she witnessed his predicament. A dragon with a weak fire as Spike’s wouldn’t be able to burn through the rope used to keep him still. “Now the question remains: what should we play with you?”

“How about we make him eat a bug or something? That should be gross enough for him.” Hoops gave Dumb-bell a high five for his suggestion.

“Don’t be stupid! We didn’t go through the trouble of binding him just so we could watch him eat…..bugs.” She shuddered at the mere utterance of the word escaping her lips. “No, what we need to do is something that would embarrass him. Something what would teach him a lesson once and for all.”

“But what did he do? If anything, we should be tied up on that post receiving a punishment.”

“Are you going back on your word to help me?” While the bullies bickered amongst themselves, Spike managed to loosen his bindings slowly and carefully, taking absolute precaution not to alert them until he made it far enough from them.

“C’mon”, he whispered to himself. “Almost there, just a little more…..got it.” The rope went slack in his hands and he lowered it slowly. He made sure their backs were still turned while he slowly slinked away, again making sure not to attract unwanted attention.

“Hey, he’s getting away!” Hoops noticed Spike already halfway out of the parking lot area. He gave chase and quickly flew to follow him. Suddenly, he was stopped in his tracks.

A large metallic pillar blocked his view of Spike. Structural failure was common in a colony as far out as Antilia, but never has a part this large come loose. The pegasus looked up, expecting to see a faulty piece of the colony’s frame many meters above his head, but what he saw wasn’t the ceiling of Antilia.

A large, bipedal robot focused its optic camera at the young pegasus. Standing several meters tall, the mech had a bare-bones appearance with equally short arms, and although its lower half had a more robust look, the frame itself was mostly skeletal.

“W-w-what is that thing?” exclaimed Diamond Tiara. Just as she finished her question, the sound of klaxons filled the air. The skies of the colony were dotted with similar mechs as the one staring Hoops down.

“Attention, attention!” said a voice through a loudspeaker system. “The colony is under attack! I repeat, the colony is under attack! All civilians make their way to the nearest shelter until further notice!”

The orange pegasus, now flying back toward the other two bullies, yelled at the top of his lungs. “We gotta get out of here! I don’t want to deal with this--!” His sentence was cut short as the frame lunged at him, only to be knocked back by a powerful explosion that also sent Hoops on a collision course with Diamond Tiara and Dumb-bell. As the three got up and shook of their daze, they noticed another mech in the vicinity, this time the all-too-familiar pony-like suit of a United Nations Space Force LEV unit.

“Attention, civilians! Please evacuate the area immediately! The UNSF is not responsible for loss of life caused by disregard of the colony alert system!” The mech was attacked by the frame just as he finished his message. Soon, the two machines were in locked in combat, the children standing around dumbfounded as the units clashed and shot at each other.

“Hey! Didn’t you hear that other guy? We gotta get out of here!” Spike motioned to his former captors. Despite all of the plans they made to ruin his day, he still couldn’t leave them in the middle of a battlefield. Instead of letting their pride get to them, the bullies followed the young dragon, leading them away from the parking lot.

“You know, I’m glad you got loose from our bindings!” yelled Diamond Tiara. “If you hadn’t, we would’ve been crushed by now!”

“We can talk later! Right now, we have to get as far as we can or--” A loud explosion drowned out the rest of Spike’s answer. The LEV was struck down and was catching fire due to the other mech’s superior combat skills. As it focused on the children again, another LEV stepped in and began its assault on the unoccupied frame.

“What are those things?” Dumb-bell said as the sound of battle died down.

“I don’t know. But I do know that we have to get to one of those shelters. If we stay up here, it’ll only be a matter of time before one of those things finds us.” Spike stopped the group in an alleyway and looked around the corner. He motioned to them that it was safe before leading them down the alley. It wasn’t long until another mech found them, already priming the laser mounted near its camera eye.

“Quick, get inside!” The group pushed their way into an old warehouse near their previous locale. “We’ve got to make it to the other side before--” Yet another loud noise interrupted them. The frame crashed into the warehouse, shooting its arsenal all around the compound. The group ducked behind an old storage container. The frame lost sight of the children during its frenzy, forcing it to scan for them while its weapons recharge.

“Oh man, did you hear that announcement? What the hell is going on out there?”

“Keep it together, Hoops. We just need to make it to one of those shelters that dragon-boy here mentioned and we’ll be alright.”

“I know, but….what about our families, bro? Did they get out alright?”

“Will you two keep your traps shut?” Diamond Tiara looked around the corner of the container, nodding as she does so. “Alright, that thing must’ve given up scanning this side of the building. If we can make it to the door and back outside, we’ll be able to get far away enough to lose it.”

“I think we should just stay put,” answered Spike. “It’s just like you said. If it’s not looking for us here, it’ll just fly off.”

“And what if it doesn’t? We’ll be sitting ducks if we wait any longer.” Diamond prepared for a short sprint toward the exit. “On my mark…ready…now!” The children ran toward the exit, determined to reach it.

Spike reached the outside first, encouraging the others to run faster. “Hurry up, before it looks this way!” The young dragon sprinted away from the warehouse, assured that his colleagues were right behind him. Looking back, however, painted a different picture than what he imagined.

Several LEVs had landed near the warehouse, fighting off a group of the unoccupied mechs. The debris from their battle has trapped the other three directly in the middle of the skirmish.

“Spike, help us!” yelled Diamond Tiara. She tried to climb the large pile of junk blocking their retreat, but it was all in vain. The pegasi couldn’t risk flying off either. One wrong move and they would be struck by one of the high-energy rounds being fired at both sides.

“Hold on! I’ll get something to help you out!” Spike’s action was a bit too late. One of the Space Force’s LEVs has been struck fatally, causing the mech to sway as it tried to maintain its balance. The trapped children could do nothing to escape, only wait for their inevitable demise. Spike, at a loss for words, looked on to what he knew would happen. It was already too late.

“SPIIIIIIIKE!!”

---

Hundreds upon hundreds of mechs surrounded the skies of the Antilia colony. Various parts were strewn about this area of space, some of already plummeting toward Europa and Cronus. The autonomous mechs continued their flight toward Antilia, already programmed to provide support to the units already within the confines of the colony.

Among the units in flight, there were several mechs that had a unique appearance, setting them apart from the usual rabble that were the self-operating units. Out of all of the mechs present, there was one that looked remarkably like a regal mare. As the vanguard approached the colony, a voice was heard over the comms system.

“Calling all Orbital Frames.” The voice was male with a commanding tone. “Our mission this time is to secure these two new frames or to destroy them.” The pilot of the mare-type mech studied two new images that appeared on her screen. They depicted two similar mechs, both of them having a dog-like appearance. “To complete this mission, you are expected to make whatever sacrifices are necessary.”

“Even if it costs us the colony”, replied the pilot with a sinister smile.

“Chrysalis”, addressed the voice of her commander. “Caballeron and I will secure target Alpha once we’ve entered through the colony shaft. You go in through the skylight with Slash and Nightraid.”

“I assume it’s my job to carry out diversionary tactics, is it not?”

“Correct. After that, you will confirm target Bravo is secured.”

“Roger.” There was a brief silence in the female pilot’s cockpit before her superior spoke again.

“Chrysalis.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t let your personal feelings intrude. Over and out.” Chrysalis silenced her comm unit and looked upon the colony. With a determined look in her eye, she readied herself for what lay ahead.

“Well…it’s time to play.”

Author's Note:

Hello, and thank you for reading the prologue to my second story, Zone of the Equestrians. Since each chapter has this handy little space right under the story itself, I'll be using this space to share some things either about the story itself, the inspiration behind every chapter, or just simply explain why I did what I did in certain parts of the story. Let's begin with something simple: naming.

For those of you who are a bit confused, the name "Ma-res" is pronounced "Meh-reez". It's a pseudo-portmanteau of the word mare (since everything that has to do with ponies uses pony terms) and Ares, the Roman god of war. I know what you're thinking, and no, there would've been even greater confusion if I stuck with the name Mares, which would be the name Mars ponified. The reason I went with Ma-res was because it was easier to tell that there are two syllables, unlike the latter name, which would prompt people to think it's the word for "female horse" instead of the name of the planet Mars. I feel like this note is getting a little long, so I'll end it here for now. Expect the next chapter sometime around next week, time permitting.

Comments

[steel soul]

Mother Bucker! My most fav of games!
This is going on my fav list as of this moment!

[DARKPHANTOM13]

I've heard about this game but don't know much about it. You have my interest since Spike is going to be a mech pilot.

[Cosmic Mind]

....I love you. I will watch this.

[KARLOS1234IFY]

Awesome!