Requiem of Darkness

by ChaosDragoon

Chapter 10

The creatures ran through the forest towards a clearing in the middle of the Everfree. In the middle of the clearing was what looked like a ripple. Like someone had tossed a stone into a pond. The lead creature let out a roar before it jumped into the ripple. The creature flung from a second ripple and skidded across the floor as its claws carved into the metal floor. It shook like a wet dog before it looked around. Its glowing blood red eyes landed on a soldier that sat on a crate with a lit cigarette hanging from his lips. The soldier looked at the creature stoned face before he took the cigarette from his mouth let out a puff of white smoke with a sigh.

'The hell you waiting for: a fucking invitation? You know where to go," the soldier said. The creature growled at him before it began walking towards the back of the complex. More and more creatures came from the ripple like the first. Each one shock and walked towards the back.

A top a balcony was another soldier. He leaned against the railing and watched the creatures come from the large metal circle lying against the wall. He let out a sigh as a woman behind him asked, "Is that recon team C?"

"Yep," the soldier simply said as he turned to face the woman. He quickly stood straight up and saluted her as she walked up to him. She was a slim, curvy woman with ruby red hair that matched her lipstick and dress. Covering her dress was a white lab coat. She waved to the soldier to relax and he leaned back against the railing.

"How many came back commander?" the woman asked.

"Not sure, they just arrived, "the commander said before his watch on his right arm began to beep. He lifted his arm and looked as a hologram list appeared from his watch. The woman lifted her left arm and looked at the watch on her arm as the same hologram appeared. The man scrolled through the list and cursed, "Jesus Christ! That's how many came back?"

"I had expected some to fall, but to only have a quarter of them come back is Ludicrous," the woman said before she turned on her heels and started towards the door leading from the balcony to the hallway.

"You think he's going to blow a gasket?" the commander asked. The woman stopped at the door as it lifted up to allow her into the hallway.

"If I know the Director, he'll throw a small tantrum and then get over it," the woman said before she walked into the hallway.

"Must be nice to not fear his wrath when shit goes wrong." The commander said as he reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette and lit it while mumbling, "Must be the perk you get when you sleep with him."

"I heard that!" the woman called from the hallway just before the door closed.

---

The woman walked down the hall towards the Director's office. When she arrived, she was about to knock when she heard voices on the other end. She lightly knocked and the door went transparent. The man sitting at the desk looked towards her and waved her in. The door slid down into the floor letting her inside the office. The Director looked to be in his mid-forties with thinning black hair and a goatee that had started to fade into white. In front of the Director's desk was a hologram of a table and sitting at the table were three other holograms.

The woman walked next to the Director as the hologram of a man slammed his fist onto the table and yelled, "how long are you going to let us suffer!" the man looked to be in his early thirties and had matted brown hair. His hologram wore a blue lab coat and his right arm looked mechanical. He pointed his mechanical hand at the Director and continued, "You said you'd have results by the end of the month! How long do you think humanity can last? We're on the break of extinction!"

"Technically the reports state humanity has three years before we have an actual problem," a hologram of a woman said. She looked almost identical to the woman standing next to the Director. However, she had dirty blond hair and she was a bit taller than her.

"Do you even see what's happening?" the man with the mechanical arm yelled as he continued, "You can't tell me you don't see or hear the riots!? The government can't contain the riots that seem to happen on a daily basis. Our artificial food and water supply are dwindling. You can't seriously believe those reports!"

"We can't jump into the first universe the Rift Gate gives us. We need to find out if it is a habitual world for humanity to thrive. If we jump the gun we might put our species in a much worse situation," the hologram of the woman stated.

"It might go a bit faster if we just explain our situation to the universe's inhabitants. I'm sure if we come to an agreement. We could save valuable time we waste on sending the Death Hunters to their world to wipe them out," the hologram of an elderly man said. Unlike the other holograms that seem to be sitting in office chairs. He sat comfortably in a large sofa chair as he sipped at his drink.

"Do you honestly think any creature we come in contact with will allow us to stay there when they find out what we've done to our own world," the man with the mechanical arm argued before he continued, "They wouldn't let us near their world. The only way to save humanity is to take a world by force. That's why we created the Death Hunters!"

The Director sighed and rubbed his temples. He waved his hand as the hologram of the table and its three inhabitants disappeared from his office. He sat back in his chair and looked at the woman standing next to him and said, "They've been arguing like that for three fucking hours. Please tell me you have some good news, Rebecca." Rebecca didn't say anything as she tapped his desk with her left hand.

A hologram of a list appeared over the Director's desk and in front of him. The Director's eyes scanned the list before he let out another sigh and slunk back in his chair and said, "You're telling me that the Death Hunters. The weapons we created to survive and fight anything. I mean we made it so they adapt to their attackers. Couldn't handle whatever was in that world and only a quarter of our recon team came back?"

"The report doesn't lie," Rebecca said.

"Have we gotten any videos or pictures of what the Death Hunters were fighting?" The Director asked. Rebecca shook her head and the Director let out another sigh. He touched the hologram and several more images appeared in front of him. He pressed one of them and a live feed of a man looking at his computer screen appeared in front of him.

"Al-Alexander sir. How are you?" the man in the screen stuttered before Alexander waved his hand to make him stop.

"Forget the formalities, Jason. Do we have the pictures and records from the Death Hunters yet?" Alexander asked.

"Almost sir. We're decoding them now and will send them to you shortly," Jason explained. Alexander nodded and with a flick of his wrist. The image of Jason was gone.

"You need to relax Alex," Rebecca said.

"I know, but humanity falls on the shoulders of this project," Alexander said before he continued, "Humanity can't last much longer."

"Maybe we should try Steven's idea," Rebecca said.

"That'll never work," Alexander said before he added, "Ron made a good point: what creatures are going to willing allow beings that nearly nuked themselves to fucking oblivion into their world?"

Before Rebecca could respond another hologram appeared in front of Alexander. He tapped on the hologram and cocked his head at the image that popped up. He examined the picture for all of three seconds before he asked, "The fuck am I looking at?"

Rebecca leaned in and looked at the picture before she said, "It looks like a Unicorn."

"A what?" Alexander questioned.

"A Unicorn. It's a mythical creature that's usually described in Greek mythology even though it can be found in Indian and Chinese mythos as well as in the Bible," Rebecca explained.

"So these horses with a horn took out nearly all our Death Hunters?" Alexander asked.

"According to the myths: Unicorns are said to use magic," Rebecca explained.

"So they were destroyed by card tricks?" Alexander asked.

"Think more like witchcraft magic. Like conjuring fireballs and lightning," Rebecca said before she added, "Think of the same magic in those games you're son likes so much." Alexander nodded and swiped to the next picture. He raised an eyebrow at the next picture in front of him.

"And now we have flying horses," Alexander sighed.

"It's a Pegasus," Rebecca said before she looked over at Alexander and noticed his quizzical look. She sighed and explained, "It's another mythical creature that usually seen in Greek mythology."

"So this world has nothing but mythological creatures?" Alexander said with a sigh and ranted, "So our top weapons got destroyed by horny and flying horses?" Rebecca rolled her eyes and swiped to the next picture.

"And it looks like we also have regular horses with," Rebecca said before she cocked her head to figure out what kind of weapon was between its teeth. She squinted and added, "What looks like a meat cleaver."

"So our greatest weapons can't kill simple horses?" Alexander ranted.

"Ponies," Rebecca corrected. Alexander looked at her quizzically before she explained, "looking at the height and stature of these equines. They're more like ponies than normal horses."

"A pony with a meat cleaver? Sounds like a really shitty horror movie," Alexander said before he sighed, "Maybe we should have sent a walking glue factory. At least it would get some results." Alexander started sifting through the pictures. Each picture showed a Unicorn, Pegasus, or Earth Pony fighting with the Death Hunters. Some pictures had all three fighting one or more of the Death Hunters.

After swiping through twenty images, Alexander sat up and stared at the image now in the hologram. He pointed to the picture and ranted, "The hell is that? I can deal with horses with horns and wings, and weapons, but now we got some bird lion hybrid?"

"Guess this world is filled with mythological creatures," Rebecca said before she added, "I've only seen Griffins depicted in books. Never would I imagine seeing one in real life."

"Griffin?" Alexander said before he added, "Is this another myth?"

"Yeah, it's one of the mythoi that stems throughout many cultures like Ancient Egypt, Persian, Roman, and Greek. Usually, it has the body, tail, back legs of a lion and the head, wings of an eagle; and an eagle's talons as its front feet. However some have been depicted with other types of birds of prey and large cats," Rebecca explained.

"How do you know so much about these creatures?" Alexander asked.

"Ashley," Rebecca said before she continued, "She teaches Cryptozoology at Crossing Field Academy. It's amazing to learn all about these creatures and what different cultures thought of them. Image being able to get your hands on one or more of these creatures and figure out how they can be two different species!"

"Calm yourself," Alexander said before he pointed to the corner of his mouth and added, "You're drooling a little." Rebecca's' face flushed and she wiped the small line of drool from the corner of her mouth.

Alexander continued swiping through the images of ponies and now Griffins fighting the Death Hunters. After sifting through twenty more images. He stopped on the next image and uttered, "Holy Shit! They got the mack-daddy of all mythical creatures." Rebecca's mouth dropped as she looked at the image of the dragon ready to breathe fire.

"Jesus Christ! They also have dragons! No wonder a small amount of them came back. We never prep them to fight something like a dragon," Rebecca said.

"How could we? Just like the rest of these creatures in this world. We thought dragons were a myth," Alexander said. Rebecca took over and began to swipe through the images. After swiping through another round of images of ponies, griffins, and now dragons fight the Death Hunters. She stopped and stared at the newest creature shown in the images. Alexander cocked his head and asked, "What. The. Hell?"

"It looks like a combination of a horse and a fly," Rebecca said.

"Is there any myths about something like that?" Alexander said.

"I've never heard anything about a horse fly hybrid," Rebecca said as she shook her head before she added, "I'll have to show this to Ashley and see what she thinks about it." Before Rebecca could swipe to the next picture, an alarm went off. The images were replaced by a man yelling at someone off camera before he turned to both Rebecca and Alexander.

"We have a problem, sir," the man reported before he went on, "One of the Death Hunters is reverting back." Alexander and Rebecca exchanged a look before turning back to the man in the hologram.

"We'll be right down Ben," Alexander said. Ben nodded and the hologram sunk back into Alexander's desk. Alexander grabbed his cane that hung from the right corner of his desk. He used it to help himself up before he started to head towards the door. As he limped towards the door the metal gears and cogs in his left machine leg twisted and turned.

"How can one of the Death Hunters be reverting back?" Rebecca asked as she walked with Alexander towards the hanger.

"Not sure. Mary said she injected enough Death Angel serum into our soldiers to keep them in the Death Hunter state for at least ten years," Alexander explained. As they neared the automatic door they hear muffled yelling on the other side.

The door slid up to reveal a large group of soldiers around a Death Hunter convulsing as foam covered its mouth. As the two walked towards the crowd, a soldier turned towards them and quickly announced, "Director on deck!" the group quickly parted and saluted Alexander before he waved his right hand to have them relax.

"What's happening?" Rebecca asked.

"This Death Hunter came through the portal and seemed confused. I tried to help it, but when I approached it. It began convulsing and foaming at the mouth," a soldier explained.

"Get Mary," Alexander ordered another Soldier who nodded and rushed towards the Science wing. Alexander then turned to another soldier and ordered, "Get the medical staff down here at once. This soldier may need medical attention when he converts back." The Soldier quickly did as he was told and Alexander turned to the convulsing Death Hunter.

The Death Hunter let out a roar of pain as its pitch black skin began to crack. Small chunks of its skin began to float up and fizzle away like paper caught in a fire. As more and more of its skin began to float off Mary and the medical staff arrived to see a massive chunk of the Death Hunters skin break off and reveal a white leg.

"I thought you said the serum lasted ten years," Alexander asked Mary as she walked up next to him.

"It should," Mary said in astonishment before she continued, "I analyzed the human anatomy to calculate the right amount of serum to use. No matter the weight or height of the soldier. The serum should last ten years at most."

"Then how can this soldier be reverting back? We administer the serum every five years to make sure we keep ahead of them reverting back," Alexander countered.

"Alex, I don't think this is a soldier," Rebecca said as she placed her hands over her mouth and pointed towards the Death Hunter. Alexander looked towards the Death Hunter and his right eyebrow rose. The back leg of the Death Hunter had lost all its pitch black skin and revealed a white leg attached to a hoof. Alexander looked at Rebecca who nodded towards him.

The Death Hunter let out one more roar of pain before all its pitch black skin erupted into the air and fizzled away. The soldiers suddenly stepped back and stared at the white pony lying in front of them. Alexander started to limp towards the pony and crouched down. His right leg let out pops as the joint in it cracked and the gears in his left leg twirled and spun to allow him to crouch down.

Shining Armor groaned and wheezed, "Wh-where am I?" Alexander stood up and looked back at Rebecca whose mouth dropped at his question.

"It can talk?" Rebecca said astonished.

"Did Ashley say any of the mythoi talked about Unicorns speaking?" Alexander asked. Rebecca shook her head before Alexander looked towards one of the medical staff and said, "Stacy. We could use your help."

"Me?" Stacy said before she added, "I'm a doctor, not a damn Veterinarian."

"Then get one," Alexander ordered.

"Isn't victor a Vet?" Rebecca asked. Stacy folded her arms in front of her and sighed.

"We're not on speaking terms," Stacy admitted.

"Then get on speaking terms," Alexander ordered. Stacy narrowed her eyes at Alexander before she submitted and stormed away. She wasn't particularly happy she had to contact her Ex. Alexander looked back down towards Shining Armor and saw he was slowly opening his eyes. He turned towards the group of soldiers around him and ordered, "Step back, give him some space. And would someone get me some water for this horse!" one of the soldiers rushed to grab water while others moved back.

Shining Armor slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus on the bright light above him. As the blurriness started to subside, he stared at the light fixture hanging high above him before he groaned again and started to get to his hooves. He looked around at the soldiers standing around him and frantically asked, "Where am I? Who are you? What are you?"

"Whoa there," Alexander said as a soldier walked up to him with a water bottle. Alexander thanked the soldier and took the water bottle from him and handed towards Shining Armor and offered, "Here. Have some water first. We don't want you passing out on us." Shining Armor looked at the bottle of water wearily before his horn glowed and his magic wrapped around the bottle. Alexander quickly retraced his hand from the bottle.

He stared at his hand in complete shock. When the magic wrapped around the bottle he felt some of it around his hand. It felt like he had stuck his hand into a spring that had a jolt of electricity coursing through it. Shining Armor brought the bottle to his face and examined it. He hesitantly brought the water bottle to his muzzle and took a swig. After that: he was chugging the water like he hadn't drunk in several months. After several seconds the bottled water was completely empty. Alexander chuckled before he turned towards one of the soldiers and ordered, "Bring our friend some more bottled water." The soldier nodded and quickly went to grab more.

"Thank you," Shining Armor said before he added, "But where am I? I remember fighting those creatures then I woke up here"

"Creatures?" Alexander asked.

"Yeah, these weird creatures showed up and attacked Equestria. I was fighting one of them before I felt a searing pain in my back and then nothing. After that I woke up here," Shining Armor explained before he added, "Where ever hear is Mr…?"

"Where are my manners," Alexander said before he introduced himself, "My name is Alexander Crane." He extended his right hand towards Shining Armor.

"Shining Armor," Shining Armor said as he extended his hoof. Alexander shook his hoof.

"To explain where you are might be a bit more complicated, "Alexander said before he began to explain, "I believe you've come to us from another universe. Here in our world: Horses aren't able to speak English."

"So how are you able to understand them?" Shining Armor asked.

"We just assume what they're thinking," Alexander shrugged. Shining Armor looked at him perplexed before Alexander continued, "As for where you are: this is Chrono. One of 24 domes that house the last remnants of humanity."

"Humanity?" Shining Armor asked.

"Think of humanity as hairless monkeys," Rebecca spoke up before she introduced herself, "I'm Rebecca Skye. I keep Alexander in line for time to time." Alexander chuckled at her statement.

"Yes, think of humanity as that," Alexander said before he added, "You're in Hangar 6 of Chrono. Each dome is given a set task to complete and ours is to create more advanced inventions to help humanity from becoming extinct."

"What happened that would cause humanity to become extinct?" Shining Armor asked.

"Let's just say some of our ancestors decided to miss treat our planet," Alexander said just as a small cart drove up with Stacy sitting in the passenger seat. Alexander motioned for Stacy to come meet Shining Armor.

"Stacy, this is Shining Armor. Shining Armor this is our Medic Stacy. While you were unconscious. I had her get this cart to take you to our medical wing here. I wanted her to check your vitals before we figure out a way to get you back home. We just want to make sure you don't have any unknown injuries."

"It's nice to meet you, Stacy," Shining Armor said before he added, "Thank you very much for helping me." Stacy shook Shining Armors hoof and lead him towards the cart. He hopped up on the flatbed on the back. While a couple of the soldiers were talking with Shining Armor. Alexander pulled Stacy towards him.

"Have Vincent take a blood sample and have him send it to Mary. Tell her I'll get in contact with her shortly," Alexander whispered. Stacy nodded before she returned to the cart and it drove away with Shining Armor and Mary

Alexander turned on his heels and started back towards his office as a crooked smile formed on his face. Rebecca quickly followed suit and asked, "What's going on in that mind of yours?" his smile only grew as he continued down towards his office. Once there he walked over to his desk and sat down. Once he sat down he pulled up the images from the other world and began sifting through them. Rebecca watched him for several seconds before she spoke up, "What are you thinking?"

"Come look at these images again," Alexander said as he motioned for her to stand next to him. She nodded and stood next to him as he swiped through each image. After going through several images Alexander asked, "Do you see it?"

"See what? We've seen these images before. What am I supposed to be looking for?" Rebecca asked. Alexander rolled his eyes and swiped several more images. After going through several more images He stopped and looks back at Rebecca.

"The ponies," Alexander said before he continued, "In every image, there are one or more of these ponies in these images."

"So, what's your point?" Rebecca said before she added, "They're fighting the Death Hunters. They're going to be in the images."

"But they're more of them then the dragons, griffins, and weird bug pony hybrid," Alexander said before he added, "They have to be the dominant species."

"If so, then what's your point?" Rebecca said getting a little annoyed she had to ask the question again.

"Think about it! If we can get Mary to get the right amount needed. We can inject Shining Armor with enough Death Angel serum to keep him in the Death Hunter stage. Then we make it so the rest of the Death Hunters can inject the same amount into the other ponies and Voila! We have more Death Hunters to use to conquer that world," Alexander explained.

"I don't know Alex," Rebecca said before she added, "Shining Armor seems nice enough to help us get into his world without the need for force. I'm sure his kind will welcome us with open arms."

"And what if they won't?" Alexander retorted before he continued, "Besides: with the different species living in that world. How can we be sure humanity will be safe?"

"We have 3 years to come up with a peaceful resolution," Rebecca said before she added, "3 years might not seem like a long time, but if we."

"We don't have 3 years!" Alexander interrupted as he slammed his fist onto his desk. The hologram of the image fizzled before it shifted back to normal.

"But you said," Rebecca retorted as Alexander sighed and sat back in his chair while rubbing his eyes.

"I know what I said, but it was a lie," Alexander said before he admitted, "the artificial food and water machines will kick the bucket in a year and a half. When they go: humanity is doomed."

"But the domes will still be functional. Humanity might still have a chance," Rebecca said. Alexander shook his head in response.

"The domes will fail in a year's time. 6 months later, without the domes collecting the solar energy from the sun and absorbing the radiation outside. The machines will fail," Alexander said before he admitted, "I told the board we had 3 years to keep from having an all-out war between domes for recourses. Humanities livelihood rests on this new world."

Before Rebecca could respond there was a beeping noise coming from Alexander's desk. He tapped it three times and a hologram of an elderly woman appeared and said, "You wanted to see me, Alexander?"

"Yes, Mary. Did you get the blood sample from Stacy and Vincent?" Alexander asked. Mary nodded before Alexander continued, "Good. Analyze it and determine how much Death Angel serum to inject into it."

"If it's human I already know how much to inject," Mary said.

"Yes, but this is a Horse," Alexander said.

"Pony," Rebecca corrected.

"Whatever," Alexander said before he added, "If you need more just ask Vincent and Stacy. Do whatever it takes to make sure we have enough to infect this pony with enough Death Angel serum to keep him in the Death Hunter state." Mary nodded before the hologram disappeared.

"I wish we didn't have to do this," Rebecca admitted.

"I understand your plight, but for humanity to survive. We must do unethical things," Alexander said before he added, "Look at the Death Hunters. We used unnatural DNA splicing to create monsters using soldiers. Humanity cannot become extinct. To survive, we must get our hands dirty."

"I know," Rebecca sighed.

For a long while, the two stood in silence before a knock came from the front door. The door went transparent to reveal a young skinny teenager with pale white skin, freckles and bright orange hair standing outside the door. Alexander ushered the teen in and the door slid down into the floor. He walked in and said, "You wanted me to inform you when Invasion Force F is about to embark sir."

"Thank you," Alexander said before he added, "You're dismissed." The teenager nodded and backtracked out the door. When the door closed behind him Rebecca looked back at Alexander in shock.

"Why are you sending out Invasion Force F? Mary hasn't said she could change Shining Armor into a Death Hunter yet."

"The invasion isn't for Shining Armor's world," Alexander said before he tapped his desk again. A hologram of a list appeared and he scrolled through it before he found what he was looking for and tapped the image. He ushered Rebecca over to show her the new set of images. Alexander began to swipe through images while Rebecca examined each image.

"Buildings? This world has buildings?" Rebecca said before she asked, "Even if they have buildings. Can this world sustain human life? Every other world that had buildings didn't have oxygen or protection from UV rays."

"This one does," Alexander said before he added, "It also has humanoid creatures as well." He swiped to a humanoid looking creature.

"My god it looks human, but with lavender skin," Rebecca said astonished.

"Look at the rest of them;" Alexander said as he swiped through more images and continued, "They're all different skin colors. Not like ours though. These colors seem like something you'd find in a Crayola box."

"Yeah," Rebecca said before she quickly asked, "But why are you sending an invasion force? We could negotiate with them."

"No!" Alexander said before he added, "Whatever changes these things skin tone might have negative effects on humanity. We can't run the risk of that. They need to be wiped out before we can move humanity in."

"But then why are we going to invade Shining Armor's world?" Rebecca asked. Alexander sighed and reached for his cane. He used it to get up and limp over towards the large window that made up his wall behind his desk.

"I'm not going to lie. We need two universes for humanity to thrive," Alexander stated as he stared out into the city. He looked up at the fake sky produced by the glass dome.

"Why though? Shining Armor's world seems big enough to house what little humanity still resides in this world. What purpose would we need for a second world?" Rebecca asked.

"It's a procession should humanity destroy Shining Armor's world," Alexander admitted.

"What makes you think Humanity will destroy it?" Rebecca asked.

"Think about it, Rebecca?" Alexander said before he turned towards her and explained, "Humanity doesn't learn for history. Our ancestors destroyed this world cause they thrived for power and land. With this new world, what purpose would the Death Hunters have? In time they'd be used to fight for power and land like our forefathers used nuclear weapons. We need a backup plan should our decedents need to escape our mistakes."

"Then use one of the worlds to dispose of the Death Hunters," Rebecca suggested before she added, "Once we have chosen the world we want Humanity to reside in. we place the Death Hunters in the other world so we don't use them as weapons against each other."

"Interesting," Alexander said before he moved from the window, back to his desk and sat back down. He tapped his hand on the desk and the images once again appeared in front of him. While he swiped through each image he added, "I think that's what we'll do. Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome Alexander," Rebecca said before she turned on her heels and headed for the door. As the door closed behind her the light in the back corner began to bend as it revealed a man in a lab coat. He had greasy black hair that went down to his shoulder blades. He reached into his pocket and took out a pack of electric cigarettes. He placed one between his lips and the tip glowed red.

"What do you think of her plan Matthew?" Alexander said as he looked over at the man with one eye.

"It's a good plan," Matthew chuckled before he added, "If that's what we intended in the first place." A sly smile formed on Alexander's face as he swiped through the images.