• Published 27th Jul 2016
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Harmony Among The Stars - tom117z



The ES Harmony, the pride of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Equestria's first FTL capable starship. It is due to make its maiden voyage to travel further than anypony before it, and yet its first mission... may be its last.

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19 - Drones

Princess Twilight Sparkle’s Personal Log, October 1st, 3382 AD.

This log shall be recorded through magical spell, considering I have no access to the Harmony’s computer. It shall be uploaded into the ship’s database on our return to the vessel. Luckily this planet’s time appears to be only a few hours off our own day-night cycle, so there is no confusion to be had with the date.

Midday is approaching fast, and that is when the slave transfer is due to occur. Teneer and Ronaar will go on ahead with their people, we shall follow behind under the cover of spell of my casting. One that should shield us from the sight of both organic and technological beings alike. Then, while the transfer takes place, we shall ambush them. With the Sha’Du’s assistance we shall overrun the drones overseeing the transfer and free the slaves they hold; then it’s a straight run for J’Poc’s ship.

I’ve seen people like him during my long life. People who force their will onto others, using them to fulfil whatever sick fantasies plague their minds. He shall not be allowed to continue.

He believes he is the biggest and baddest thing on this planet? Well…

He’s never met an alicorn when she’s angry.


Princess Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the bridge crew watch from under the cover of the alicorn’s spell as Teneer, Ronaar and a handful of villagers they were escorting made their way into a clearing among the forest’s treeline. The villagers were the slaves they were swapping out, there were six in total. Two were bulky men built for labour, the rest were young women. Twilight dared not consider their role in J’Poc’s twisted ‘empire’.

The villagers stopped in the middle of the clearing, the two men leading them throwing down their spears into the dirt.

Then, they all waited.

Under Twilight’s direction, the crew began to skirt the edges of the clearing, gaining a good flanking position for when the trouble began. Twilight’s steely gaze remained focused as the others checked and rechecked their phasers, the tension filling the air.

Finally, a rumbling sound replaced that tension’s space in said air. A few stones were displaced as a few trees were visibly moved aside by something coming from the opposite end of the clearing to the villagers. A large, metallic grey truck moving along treads almost like an old fashioned tank came crashing out of the trees, several of the smaller flying drones escorting it.

“Treads? What, couldn’t afford a hover car?” Nimble Star quietly remarked.

“He couldn’t afford drones with full armour,” Silver Wrench pointed out, shrugging.

“More likely its custom built,” Xal interjected. “That’s not a model I recognise. Besides, it has to have been built on this planet, there is no way he drove that vehicle through a scout ship’s airlock.”

The transport slowed rapidly and came to a halt a little ways from the gathered villagers, all of whom were terrified, even if Teneer and Ronaar tried to hide it.

The back of the transport made a sudden bang, and then the ramp began to lower. A contingent of about three dozen drones came robotically marching out and around the sides towards Teneer and his people. Among them were the six slaves that had been released back to their people, all of them looking shaken and worse for wear.

“I count thirty eight in total,” Xal stated. “Not counting the eight smaller drones providing air support.”

“Forty six in total, how many of these things does J’Poc have?” Iynx groaned. “He’s been busy.”

Twelve ground drones formed a line down each side of the truck respectively, the final dozen taking the slaves and presenting them before the elder.

“You have arrived, the transfer may proceed,” the monotone robotic man stated to the Elder.

“You were a few minutes late,” Teneer dared comment.

The drone didn’t shift a single gear. “There were complications with hostile wildlife, hostiles were terminated.”

As they spoke, Twilight spoke in hushed tones to her people.

“Iynx, can you take out the flying ones?” she asked.

The griffon only smirked, priming her phaser.

Twilight nodded. “Good. The rest of you, take the ones on the truck’s left and then secure it. I will deal with the rest and make sure the villagers come out of this alive. Once all is said and done, I want Geneser to check on the slaves that have just returned.”

The Princess received nods all around, confirming their roles in what was about to happen.

They were ready.

“You will begin the transfer,” the drone commanded.

Teneer didn’t answer, only nervously waiting where he stood.

The drone stepped forwards. “I repeat the directive, you will begin the trans-”

A blast of lavender magic reduced the drone to spare parts, even those melting into slag a few moments later.

“Move!” Teneer shouted to the villager, him and Ronaar grabbing their spears and proceeding to move their people back.

Within a moment all of the drones swivelled around and began firing plasma bolts in the direction of the lavender beam, orange phaser beams being returned as the crew were unveiled and quickly began to spread out.

The eleven remaining drones at the front turned their sight away from the group and towards the slaves they had just delivered, who were trying to break away and flee with the help of Teneer and Ronaar. As the Sha’Du scampered away Teneer and Ronaar jointly took out one directly in their path before escorting their people towards the forest. Ten drones raised their weapons at the villagers and unleashed a scorching torrent of plasma to the undefended group, the Sha’Du being helpless against the weapons fire.

Luckily, a shield formed around the group and effortlessly absorbed each and every single bolt. The alicorn who cast it strode forwards, eyes a pure glowing white.

Ten weapons trained in on her, twelve more joining the others as the drones from the transport’s right side came running around to reinforce their brethren. It was twenty two of them versus a single pony.

As the Princess rushed to help the villagers, the crew ducked away and returned fire towards the twelve ground drone and eight flying ones that had opened fire on them. Iynx extended her wings and shot into the air, nailing two of the drones on the way upwards. With the griffon now up there with them, they all turned to face her.

“Come on you tin cans, let’s see if you can take a griffon warrior!” she shouted.

They fired on her, the griffon diving the left to avoid the incoming torrent.

On the ground, three drones fell under phaser fire. As his allies continued to fight, Xal managed to make his way to the back of the transport and hop onto the ramp. Carefully moving up to the interior, he saw a large cargo area within with more than enough room to hold the drones and villagers it had been carrying. A small door sat at the other end leading into the cabin. It being clear, Xal quickly made his way towards it, coming to a stop once he reached the doorway.

He quickly located the control to open the door, pressing onto it immediately. As the door opened a metal figure lunged outwards, the drone who had been driving the transport.

He tackled Xal, bringing the sharin to the floor with an audible grunt. The drone kept one metallic hoof on Xal’s phaser, preventing him from utilising it. On the plus side, the drone wasn’t armed itself.

Xal grappled with the drone, slowly prying the thing off of his body, when he had enough breathing room he bucked out and sent the thing sprawling back into the cabin. The drone smashed into the console, trying to get up a moment later. However, Xal greeted that attempt with a phaser blast to the chest, disabling the bot.

Outside, Iynx shot out of the sky one of the final two aerial drones, glancing at it as the bot crashed to the ground. She turned to face the last one, bringing up the phaser she held in her talons.

Then it got a lucky shot.

A bolt of plasma skimmed her claw, eliciting a shout of pain as Iynx dropped her weapon which fell from the sky to the ground below.

The drone adjusted its aim, hoping to make the killing blow. However, a griffon isn’t defeated so easily, and they don’t need phasers to kill. Iynx darted forwards and grabbed onto the thing with her talons, the claws digging into gaps in its chassis and into the inner workings below. In a few short moments the enraged griffon tore the drone into several sparking chunks, before chucking them nonchalantly away.

The bridge crew brought down the final drone opposing them, Silver Wrench’s phaser beam striking through it and destroying the automaton.

“That’s them gone!” Silver Wrench shouted. “You alright, Commander?”

“Fine!” Iynx shouted back, landing to retrieve her phaser. “Just a slight burn.”

“Well, we can’t sit about,” Nimble reminded them. “We still got two more groups to deal with.”

“I must look at Iynx’s claw when I can, but he is right,” Geneser stated. “Come, we don’t have all night.”

The two ponies, zebra and one griffon nodded, quickly rushing around the transport to assist the Princess.

Their bravado quickly vanished at the sight that awaited them.

A small lake of molten slag made out of twenty two former robotic drones sizzled and popped just a few metres from the transport, at its edges Princess Twilight Sparkle examined the remains with not a hair out of place on her entire body. The Sha’Du stood a little ways behind her, staring at the alicorn with a mix of shock, awe and even a little bit of fear.

“P-Princess?” Iynx called out. “Did you do that?”

Twilight looked up, her face regal and composed. “I did. They shall not be harming another Sha’Du ever again.”

Princess Twilight turned towards the villagers, looking towards Teneer specifically.

“Are your people alright?”

Teneer nodded. “We are fine. I’ve never seen such a display of power.”

“I don’t like to show off often.”

“And yet I suspect that’s not the full extent,” Teneer replied. “Nevertheless, you have our thanks.”

Twilight nodded, before gesturing a lavender hoof towards the other villagers. “What happens now? Shall you escort them back?”

“I shall wait with you while Ronaar takes them back and gathers our hunters for the attack on that monster.”

“You do not need to place your people in harm’s way,” Twilight stated. “We can handle this.”

“I don’t doubt it,” he said in return. “But you have done so much already, time for us to contribute. Besides, this is our home and we will fight for it.”

“Very well. Ronaar?”

“I’m on it,” Ronaar stated, turning to his fellow villagers. “Come, follow me to safety.”

As the villagers began to follow Ronaar away from the clearing, receiving a quick onceover by Geneser on the way out, the group noticed Xal exit the transport and canter up to them.

“Xal, have some trouble?” Silver asked.

“Only light resistance,” the sharin replied. “The transport is working, and we could probably use it in the upcoming fight.”

Twilight nodded. “A bit of armour never hurts, and he’s bound to have defences set up. What do you think?”

Xal though for a moment. “If he has drones, turrets are likely. Shields too. We shall need to proceed with care.”

Before Princess Twilight could continue on the conversation, Xal held up a hoof to stop her.

“But, there is something else. The transport has a transmitter installed, it can contact the Harmony.”

“A transmitter?” Twilight enquired. “Well then; Iynx, Xal, you two contact the Harmony while the rest of us sort things out here”

“Yes ma’am,” Iynx saluted. “Come on Xal.”

The griffon and sharin quickly moved away from the others, only briefly seeing Twilight begin to quickly clean up the molten lake she had created. They moved into the transport and past the dead drone that had now been unceremoniously chucked out of the cabin and into the cargo area.

“Friend of yours?” Iynx asked with a smirk.

Xal elected not to answer, instead taking his place in the cabin and sitting in the driver’s seat. Iynx stood to his side, examining the controls.

“Here’s the transmitter.” Xal pointed at a blue glowing display just to his right and directly in front of Iynx. “Connecting now.”

A few minutes went by as they attempted to connect to the Harmony’s damaged, albeit more repaired than it was, communications system. Finally, they had success.

“ES Harmony, do you read?” Iynx asked into the console.

“Commander?” a voice returned. “Commander, is that you?”

The Harmony’s First Officer grinned in victory. “Affirmative, it’s good to hear your voice.”

“Likewise, we were getting worried ma’am. What’s your status?”

“Shuttle Two is gone, all occupants KIA. Our shuttle crashed but we’re all fine. A lot has happened since…”

Iynx went on to explain to the crew currently manning Harmony’s bridge what had transpired, from the crash to the recent fight that had occurred.

“We copy that, Commander,” the voice stated. “What are your orders? We are holding standard orbit, but can have security teams coming towards your location stat.”

“Negative Harmony,” Iynx denied. “A shuttle could suffer the same fate as the first two, and a transport could be detected. We want to keep the element of surprise. We can handle this with the Sha’Du.”

“Then, what are your orders for us ma’am?”

“Just sit tight and-” Iynx began, before rethinking. “Actually, keep an eye out for if J’Poc attempts an escape. Should the Interceptor come into range you are ordered to attempt to disable, or in a dire case, destroy her if you can.”

“Aye ma’am,” the voice acknowledged. “We are on standby, anything else?”

“Negative, no more orders.”

“Yes ma’am. Harmony out.”

Author's Note:

Sorry I missed last week, a lot happened. Still, we're back and next time we get to say hi to J'Poc!