REWRITE 8: To the Hunt
“Stay back!”
To her surprise, the creature obeyed—taking a step back and uncrossing its arms. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she struggled to get her breathing under control. Terror gripped her mind in a vice as her eyes darted up and down the biped’s battle-scarred armor plating—almost resembling carapaces of giant insects glued onto a black bodysuit. The faceless visor stared vacantly into her being as she found herself face-to-face with her own horrified reflection.
“Yes, Starlight Glimmer,” came the monotone reply. A deep, gravelly voice. Probably male.
Starlight blinked, her panic abating as she realized she’d recast her compliance spell. Exhaling deeply, she turned away from the creature and began to pace the room.
There was no way that this thing was from this planet, let alone from Equestria. She’d seen yaks, dragons, diamond dogs, minotaurs and sea serpents—this creature was in an entirely different class of technology, let alone genetics.
It was time for some answers.
“Who are you,” she demanded.
“Master Chief Petty Officer John-0117. United Nations Space Command.”
Military, although she probably could have guessed that judging by the dangerous-looking armor. Starlight wasn’t familiar with a rank like that—probably unique to this ‘UNSC’ he was talking about.
“Got anything shorter?”
“John.”
“Great. John, what exactly are you?”
“Human.”
“Would you say you’re an average member of your species?”
“No.”
Thank Celestia. If all of these “humans” were this dangerous-looking, Equestria was in trouble.
“You said you’re a ‘master chief petty officer.’ Is there anything else that might make you more… exceptional than your peers?”
“I am a SPARTAN-II commando. Graduate of the SPARTAN-II project directed by Dr. Catherine Halsey. Classified as a Hyper-Lethal Vector by the Office of Naval Intelligence.”
Commando. Hyper Lethal Vector. This thing was a weapon—and an exceedingly dangerous one, according to this “Office of Naval Intelligence.”
“How many of these ‘SPARTAN-II’ graduates are there?”
“Only a handful of us remain active.”
Starlight felt some relief. As powerful as the ‘UNSC’ and ‘ONI’ seemed, something as terrifying as this could only be produced in such limited capacity.
“What are your intentions regarding Equestria?”
“To ignore it.”
If it didn’t want to conquer them, why had it come?
“How did you get here?”
“My ship, Forward Unto Dawn, crash-landed in a desert one-hundred fifty klicks southwest of here. She was pulled into the gravity well of this planet and was unable to break free.”
A crash landing explained the lack of interest in this place. It also explained why Twilight never returned from watching the meteor shower the night before—she must have seen this Forward Unto Dawn fall from orbit.
“What are your current objectives?”
“Find Cortana and conduct repairs on a craft to fly us to the nearest UNSC system for retrieval.”
Starlight’s ears twitched upon mention of another name.
“Who is Cortana?”
“A third-generation ‘smart’ artificial intelligence construct created by the UNSC.”
Artificial… Intelligence? Had she heard that right? These humans were manufacturing “intelligence?!”
Sapience. Sentience. Life.
“Why do you need to find her?”
“In accordance with the Cole Protocol, it is imperative that I ensure the retrieval or destruction of any smart UNSC artificial intelligence constructs. Additionally, she is a close friend.”
A rock suddenly formed in the unicorn’s stomach. While the voice lacked sincerity, she knew the parameters of her compliance spell demanded any answers be earnest and truthful. Perhaps this creature was not as alien as she thought. And how had it become attached to something as artificial as… Artificial Intelligence?
“Who put you in this room?”
“A joint decision from Luna, Celestia and Twilight.”
“That’s Princess to you.”
“Of course, Starlight Glimmer.”
“Are you here against your will or have you struck a bargain?”
“In exchange for information regarding the history of humans, the Princesses have agreed to shelter me and assist in my repairs to leave this planet.”
That word again. Why would the Princesses be so interested in these “humans,” enough to shelter a potentially dangerous alien and help them leave the planet as soon as they arrived? Was there something they knew that no one else did?
Before she could formulate her next question, she was struck by a dizzy spell. Blinking furiously, Starlight took a step back as her balance abandoned her temporarily. Putting a foreleg to her head to steady her wavering equilibrium, she focused on the creature ahead of her—the “human” mirroring her in movement.
Something was wrong.
Her horn flickered, synchronizing with a wave of nausea washing over her. She winced as her grasp on the spell faltered for a moment before fizzling out completely. Her legs gave out as her strength left her—the energy required to sustain her compliance spell having drained her of her unicorn magic. Why? Was the creature resistant? Or perhaps more powerful?
Her mind scrambled as she realized her sudden helplessness. She drew in a breath to yell—but not before her muzzle was squeezed shut by a thick glove. She felt herself being lifted as an armored forearm pressed her against the nearest wall, keeping her weakened body from moving.
“No talking.”
The polarized visor nearly pressed up against her nose, her frenzied breaths fogging her contorted reflection.
“Use any magic and your windpipe gets crushed.”
Starlight could only whimper behind the glove as John stood to his full height, his forearm now starting to hinder her panicked breathing.
“Blink once for yes and twice for no. Do you understand?”
She knew she had lost. For now, she had to cooperate until her magic returned—hopefully it didn’t try to kill her before then. Her eyes searching the featureless visor, Starlight blinked once.
“You used magic on me back then, didn’t you?”
It knew about magic? Starlight blinked once.
“Did you extract information from me?”
Starlight hesitated before blinking once.
“Did it have to do with something other than humans?”
She blinked twice rapidly. She saw the creature’s shoulders briefly relax before squaring up once more.
“Did the Princesses send you?”
She blinked twice. Her body began to shake involuntarily as the adrenaline kicked in.
“Are you doing this for another official of Equestrian government?”
Starlight blinked twice before she felt her windpipe being compressed.
“You can’t expect me to believe this is for your personal benefit. You’re working for the Princesses, aren’t you?”
Starlight blinked twice again—throttled, wet grunts squeaking from her tortured vocal chords. Her hooves scrabbled for purchase on the wall, a nearby painting rattling in its frame from her struggle.
Suddenly the door burst open.
***
“You’re working for the Princesses, aren’t you?”
He watched her watery eyes blink twice. John applied a little more of his body weight onto her windpipe in frustration.
Come on. Admit it, already.
The door to the room burst open. That familiar Pegasus looked over at both of them, surprise and confusion crossing her face. She glanced out into the hallway, “Contact, on me!”
Her gaze returned to the room’s sole occupants, eyes narrowing towards the current aggressor, “Drop the unicorn, soldier!”
John didn’t turn away, the faceplate glued to the unicorn’s tear-stained muzzle, “She used magic to control me and forcefully extract information. I’m taking a precaution.”
“Drop her, now,” the pegasus barked. Hoofbeats echoed from the doorway behind the guard. John watched as the unicorn gazed towards the guard pleadingly.
“Your Princess promised there’d be no more magic.”
“You hearing me, son?! Put her down or I’ll put you down!”
John’s faceplate slowly shifted towards the guard before facing the unicorn. Taking a step back, he allowed her to fall to the floor in a coughing heap. The guard rushed forward, a thick metal ring cradled in one of her wings. With a deft, practiced movement, the ring snapped onto the unicorn’s horn. She winced visibly, her head drooping either with shame or fatigue.
Several more guardsponies appeared at the doorway, dispersing into the room and around the coughing unicorn. The Pegasus regarded the one next to her with a stern look.
“Notify Princess Luna—we had an intruder.”
“What about the creature?”
“What about it?”
“It was gonna kill her, ma’am.”
The Pegasus looked up at John before shaking her head.
“Our orders are to leave it alone.”
“But ma’am—!”
“If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to join our new prisoner in the dungeons, Corporal. It’s treason to oppose your Princesses.”
The corporal glanced up at John with a mixture of anger and fear. Wordlessly, he turned and departed the room to fetch Luna.
The Pegasus sidled up to John’s side as they stared at the disheveled unicorn hanging her head.
“She got us both, huh?”
John gave the Pegasus a sidelong glance but chose to say nothing. They stood in silence as they glared at the source of their woes that evening.
“Sorry.”
John looked over at the Pegasus, noting her sullen expression. He went back to staring at the unicorn. For a moment, he debated on whether he should reply.
Before he reached a decision, the rapid approach of a runner’s footsteps pulled John’s attention to the door. The insubordinate corporal rushed through the doorway, his eyes wild.
“The crash site is under attack!”
***
“Princess Twilight. I’m surprised to see you.”
The Princess of Friendship bowed her head respectfully, “Good evening, Captain Brightsteel. Could you help me look for something?”
The captain raised an eyebrow but nodded, “What will we be looking for, Princess?”
Twilight grinned, “A friend.”
Both of Brightsteel’s brows shot up before he nodded to the two guardsponies flanking him—both of whom took off to return to their posts. He turned back to Twilight, “This way.”
This was the first time Twilight had entered the ship—the last time she was here, Master Chief and Pinkie Pie were the only ones to enter. While she figured Pinkie knew some things about the layout, her next actions would require some secrecy, and everypony knew how Pinkie was with secrets.
As the old saying went, telegram, telephone, tell Pinkie. She had never figured out what the ‘telephone’ part was, but it somehow just made sense. Everything simply attributed to Pinkie being Pinkie.
“Let’s stop here.”
Brightsteel paused mid-step, glancing back at Twilight. The Princess had already closed her eyes, her horn aglow as she began to weave the spell in her mind. She imagined herself drawing the diagram in Old Equuish. A freshly-sharpened quill dipped in a rich dark ink with a red base glided and scribbled the circular pattern on the imagined parchment as she breathed her magic into it.
Show me life.
Her horn flashed as her eyes scanned the environment. In the maze of the ship’s interior, she saw a number of small flashes—motes of light representing her spell’s search parameters. Over the next few minutes, she identified lizards, scorpions and even a few snakes that had taken residence here within the past couple days. Nothing that seemed likely to be any of Chief’s friends. Her lips curled into a frown of annoyance.
Brightsteel leaned forward expectantly, “Any luck?”
“Not quite. Perhaps…”
She trailed off as she discovered a group of new motes had joined the rest—not even a thousand feet away. Puzzled, she focused on these new stimuli—six dots moving in a single line. The sizes of their motes were comparable to Twilight and Brightsteel’s. She dropped her voice into a low whisper, “Captain, do you have patrols inside the ship?”
Brightsteel cocked his head before whispering back, “Yes, although we only patrol in the daytime.”
Twilight gulped, “We might have some unexpected company.”
Brightsteel’s eyes widened momentarily before narrowing in concern, “Are you sure?”
“The spell I’m casting detects any life in a certain radius. I’m seeing six creatures moving together. They’re close. One-hundred feet and closing fast.”
“Understood. Follow me. We need to link up with my contingent outside.”
The sudden scrabbling of claws on metal made both of their ears twitch and swivel. Turning towards the source, they crouched low as they faced the darkened hallway. The rasping of metal punctuated a quick flourish of Brightsteel’s sword—an elegant silver rapier with an ornate basket handle depicting Luna’s cutie mark. Twilight dropped her divination spell, trading it for a powerful light spell that bathed the entire hallway in a harsh purple glow. The noise stopped as soon as the light filled the hall, a series of whispers echoing down the corridor.
“Reveal yourselves, tresspassers,” Brightsteel barked as he glared at the nearest darkened alcove—some thirty feet away.
Twilight was surprised to hear a gruff voice answer, “We’re friendly! Don’t attack us!”
“Enter our hallway slowly. Hooves and claws where we can see them!”
Twilight watched as six hooded figures rounded the corner. Their vicious-looking claws extended in front of them for Brightsteel to see—empty and open. They were tall, their hoods about a foot away from brushing the tilted ceiling. Tufted tails and lion’s haunches peeked out from beneath their long cloaks, shiny yellow beaks poking out from under each hood.
Griffons.
“What business do you have with this place? My guards should have spotted you, so don’t bother lying about wandering here by mistake.”
The tallest of the hooded griffons stepped forward, “We were sent to investigate the meteorite that crashed in Equestria. We promise that our only intentions were to observe.”
“Then how and why did you get past my perimeter?”
One of the smaller figures pulled their hood back, revealing a younger female griffon beneath. She gestured back at the tunnel behind them, “There’s something out there swiping away your precious guardsponies. We ran in here before it got to us.”
Before Brightsteel could reply, everyone felt the ship rock to one side. A muffled cacophony of metal shearing and a series of accompanying vibrations rang out from further inside the wreckage. The distant trumpet of a guardspony demanded a call to arms.
Brightsteel glared at the griffons, his sword hovering dangerously close to their beaks, “All of you will follow me to the ship’s exterior.”
Twilight balked, “You don’t mean to send them out there…?”
“No, ma’am. But I can’t let them out of my sight,” he glanced between each of the griffons, “You will do as I say until I release you from my custody. Is that clear?”
The griffons looked at each other before all starting to nod in unison.
“Good enough. Now move.”
As they began to pass between Twilight and Brightsteel, the Princess went to follow—stopping suddenly as Brightsteel shook his head.
“I need you to stay here, Princess.”
“Acknowledged and ignored, Captain.”
“Princess…!”
“Before I was the Princess of Friendship, I was the Element of Magic. I will also have you know I am not some frail mare who will sit on the sidelines and wait for my rescue.”
Brightsteel regarded her with his steely gaze—one she met with a hardened stare of her own. He sighed as he turned away, “As you wish, Princess.”
The two moved to the exterior as Brightsteel directed the griffons back the way he and Twilight had entered the ship. The shouts and calls of the guardsponies became clearer and clearer as they came upon the exit, the group moving out into the open.
The small camp that had been erected near the entrance had been completely destroyed. Embers of the campfire still smoked in the sand next to dozens of hoofprints—telltale signs of mobilizing troops. The tent lay in tatters atop a girder embedded in the sand like a rotting banner of a long-forgotten castle. A few scattered pegasi had moved towards the wreckage, huddling in recesses as if hiding from something.
“It’s coming back round! Get down!”
A feathery mass slammed into the wreckage behind them, the structure shuddering from the impact. Screams echoed around Twilight as the griffons and Brightsteel hit the sand below. Reopening her eyes, she stared at the headless corpse of one of the cloaked griffons—their blood soaking into the sand next to her foreleg. She watched the globules of crimson in wonder as they dribbled from the ragged stump, her eyes following the trail of splatters to the giant bird crouching on the wreckage behind her.
It was huge—the wings spanning almost a third of the ship’s width. Thick, sandy feathers coated most of the body, a single strip of teal iridescent plumage draped around its neck like a scarf. It turned to face them—its vicious beak stained red with its previous victims.
“Roc!”
“Orders, Captain?!”
Twilight looked up to Brightsteel—the unicorn’s head swiveling around as he desperately scanned his surroundings.
“Sergeant! Sound off!”
A stocky khaki pegasus with brilliant red eyes popped up from one of the recesses in the hull, “Captain!”
“Take half our remaining chalk into the air above the wreckage! Get it to ram itself into the structure!”
“Shoots! Arrow! Get your guards in order and on my flank!”
The two armored pegasi in question began shouting orders as Brightsteel turned to the heap of griffons and Princess at his hooves, “Salvage weapons from any nearby bodies and meet back at the entrance in one minute. Try to run, and I’ll personally be hunting you down. Try to kill me or the Princess and consider our nations at war. We both know how that will turn out.”
The remaining griffons glanced at each other, grinding their beaks at the Captain’s harsh words before moving off into the darkness.
Brightsteel turned back to Twilight—her wide eyes locked onto the headless corpse bleeding onto the sand.
“Princess? You okay?”
Twilight blinked before turning to face him, her jaw set and eyes watering, “Captain, a word?”
He nodded towards the wreckage—the two ponies ducking into the alcove the Sergeant once occupied. Twilight took a moment to wipe her eyes, exhaling shakily before taking a deep breath.
“If that creature is a Roc, you’ll find that normal weapons are ineffective. Their feathers grow bigger than most dinner tables. Best to put that sword away unless it can cut through stone.”
Brightsteel winced as he sheathed his weapon, “Can’t you use your magic to hold it still or shoot in down?”
The Princess shook her head, “Rocs have a natural resistance to magic. Combined with their size, restraining them or injuring them with magic alone is impossible.”
“Then what do we do,” Brightsteel asked distractedly, his eyes darting up towards the Sergeant shouting and waving his forelegs to draw the Roc’s attention.
Twilight forced a smile, “I have an idea, but we’ll need to get the Sergeant and his guards out of the way for a moment.”
The captain nodded, gesturing for her to break cover with him. The two darted towards the entrance, arriving just in time to see the Sergeant escape being disemboweled by the Roc’s bloodstained claws. Two fresh pony corpses lay still at the base of the wreckage, their armor glittering in the fading light of the dying campfire.
“Now’s the time, Princess.”
“When I give the signal, have your Sergeant and his team break away.”
She squeezed her eyes shut as she searched for what she needed. Her magic prodded and probed any protrusions on the ship’s battered hull, quickly finding her weapon of choice.
“Now!”
Brightsteel raised his head, a red flare bursting from his horn and ascending into the sky. The Sergeant braked mid-air, steering away from the Roc as his squadmates began to put down some distance. Twilight’s horn sparked bright purple, a ragged chunk of hull yanking itself from the wreckage and flying towards the Roc blindingly fast. The trajectory looked good as the space-metal flew true—piercing the Roc in its side and exiting at the base of its wing.
Founts of blood burst from the entry and exit wounds as the Roc toppled soundlessly from the sky, slamming into the desert below in an explosion of sand. A chorus of ragged cheers broke out from the Sergeant and his squad as they converged on the fallen beast.
Brightsteel nodded with approval, “Using magic to enhance a nonmagical projectile… Not bad, Princess.”
Twilight opened her mouth to reply—her voice throttled by a sudden impact on the back of her head. She slammed into the desert muzzle-first, the forward momentum from the slam sending her spinning and tumbling several feet before she rolled to a stop.
Brightsteel’s muffled cries barely reached her peripheral senses as she lay there, warmth trickling down the back of her neck and a coppery tang stinging her tongue. The world moved as if submerged in molasses, her blurred vision making out the backside of another Roc. A mated pair, she mused. She remembered that Rocs would spend one week together to mate before parting. While rare, it had been observed once or twice in the wild by researchers. Her eyes slid closed as drowsiness washed over her.
She hoped Brightsteel would be okay.
***
Greta frowned at the proportionately small spear in her claws as she waited by the entrance along with her companions. The sounds of battle had died down somewhat after the Princess had finished off one of the Rocs with her telekinesis. The griffon had admittedly underestimated her.
“Storms, that was close,” Gaius grumbled. The tall griffon sat down in the sand as he leaned back in relief.
“We’re not out of this yet,” Greta noted. She eyed that unicorn’s sword glinting menacingly in the moonlight—even if they were set free, King Gaspar would have their hides for being discovered by Equestrian forces. The frayed relationships between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom were tested on almost a daily basis as border squabbles and accusations of espionage constantly arose between them. Judging by how easily the Princess had handled that Roc, the inevitable war between them would easily go to those damn ponies and their all-powerful rulers.
She blinked as the Princess was sent sprawling—another Roc swooping from above and managing a glancing blow. The alicorn tumbled several feet before skidding to a stop, the unicorn captain rushing to her side in a vain effort to get her moving.
“Storm’s wrath… There are two?!”
Greta’s heart leapt into her throat as their one chance at beating the beast began to bleed out into the sands she lay upon—the Princess remaining very still.
“If things look bad, retreat into the ship.”
“Have you lost your mind, Greta?!”
“I’d rather die quickly by the sword than be eaten alive by a storming Roc.”
The other griffons crouched low as they watched the spectacle unfold. The unicorn captain stood defiantly in front of the Princess as the Roc turned to face him. It regarded the captain with a single piercing eye, the heavy brow creating the angriest of scowls as it studied its prey.
“Let’s go,” Greta remarked, starting towards the entrance.
“You’re leaving him?”
“You want to watch?”
“Who knows, they might see our inaction as an act of war.”
“Then go and die, Gaius! Die for these ponies who you love!”
Gaius bit back his retort. It was no mystery that he sympathized for the friendship-loving ponies—another hopelessly optimistic recruit from that incident in Griffonstone.
“If you wish to live, then—!”
“Wait, did you see that?”
Greta whirled, her eyes scanning the conflict unfolding behind her.
“What did you see?”
“A flash of light. Somewhere in the sky.”
“A star?”
“Brighter.”
They waited for a few seconds before getting their answer.
The Roc suddenly toppled forward with surprising force as if being crushed. It lay still, unmoving like the Princess it once hoped to consume. The unicorn captain inched towards the corpse, inspecting it for the better part of a minute while the other pegasi began to fan out and secure the area.
Then she saw it.
A biped stood atop the corpse of the Roc, rising as if it had just fallen from a great height. Viscera and gore covered its hands and legs, clouds of steam billowing off ichor-stained limbs as the heated lifeblood met the frigid desert air. It turned to face the captain—its face a featureless mask flecked with crimson.
The creature in the chariot. The alien from outer space.
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
673 users online
729,757 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Nothing beats a massive beast like a spartan falling with terminal velocity🤣
Oh and a smile appeared on my face when he resisted Starlight Magic. She is one powerful unicorn, but Chiefs will is simply that much stronger!
I feel like Chief looked at Celestia and was like "Throw me." Celestia then proceeded to Yeet the chief... Who needs an orbital friendship cannon when you have a Spartan-II you can throw?
RIP Starlight Glimmer. (Why else did it take so long for Master Chief to get there?)
A thought: Might have been interesting if Starlight discovered Master Chief was looking for someone called Cortana without figuring out what Cortana was. Could have made things interesting, as the ponies would assume she's another possible human survivor. Though I don't know if that fits with where you want the story to go.
11404491
Frankly, the fact that he didn't instantly kill Starlight is completely implausible. Given his stated views on magic and the fact that she attacked him, I would have expected him to shoot (or more accurately crush) first and ask questions later. Throw in the obvious conclusion that she's working for the princesses so she'll tell them everything she learned and get off without real punishment if he doesn't kill her, the fact that he has a rock solid self-defense argument they can't argue with, and the fact that killing her will deter future attempts (and that the second half kills any tone-based arguments), and her survival is a story-breaking problem.
Also, killing her is good storytelling because it strengthens the tension between the cooperating parties and sets up an interesting moral dilemma for Twilight, especially in conjunction with his intervention in the roc attack.
11404794
He likely wants to do damage control and figure out what she knows. He thinks the Princesses sent her and so he wants to know what they sent her to figure out. If he kills her he loses his chance to learn that.
i very hapi