The Pilots of the Storm Dancer

by Green-Venom

Chapter 1

Author's Note:

My second attempt of writing a story on this site after years of stasis without hearing from me. Let’s see how it will go this time…

—Green Venom back again (Since I apparently can’t fully let go of this awesome fandom. 😅)

A star falls from heaven.

Silently, with nobody but the moon to watch, the thing broke the atmosphere as it tumbled towards the ground below, thrusters roaring, hull on fire.

Soon the inevitable crash could be heard echoing across the landscape as the battle against gravity was finally lost. Silence slowly returned and the world moved on, ignoring the event which had transpired.

One pair of eyes however would remember it, and soon seek out this mystery.

---

The next day…

“Are you sure this is the way towards where that thing came down?“

Applejack gave her sister a questioning glance as she walked after Apple Bloom, cautiously inspecting her surrounding. While she trusted her sister when it comes to the Everfree forest due to her regular visits to Zecora, she still wasn’t fully comfortable with the place.

“We have been walking for a while now…“

“I know I saw something fall down around here. I hope it's a meteor or something.“ Apple Bloom replied with an excited bounce in her step. “To bad Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell are out of town, they’re totally missing out.“

Applejack chuckled. “Alright Sugarcube, even if something fell from the sky, I highly doubt it’s a meteor. It’s more likely that some pegasus transport lost part of their cargo. They nevertheless will probably appreciate it when we return it to them…“

“You’re right, it’s not a meteor… at last I don’t think it’s one…“ Apple Bloom agreed, suddenly stopping dead in her tracks.

“What do you mean?“ Applejack asked confused, although she already had a suspicion about her sister’s sudden change of demeanor.

As she joined her sister‘s side, she too stopped, as they together looked down at a large crash site.

They had found the so-called meteor.

A large pile of scrap and metal was found at the bottom of a large crater and burned-down plants in the area suggested that there had been a fire not too long ago.

Curiously enough, the crater was filled with some kind of fluid, almost like some form of lake. Only that in this case, it wasn’t water that filled it up, but something blue. The scrap metal mentioned earlier freely floated around in it…

Wanting to get a better look, Applebloom curiously approached the strange phenomenon, carefully climbing down the crater.

“Careful Apple Bloom!“ Applejack called after her, glancing at the steep slope of the crater’s edge in worry.

To late.

Apple Bloom yelped in terror, as the ground below her gave way and she was sent tumbling down in a small avalanche of loose pebbles. Before she knew it, she crashed onto the cold metal where she remained, dazed.

She shifted a bit, trying to get up, but for some reason the metal underneath her shifted alongside her, slowly giving way under the filly’s weight.

“APPLE BLOOM! Are you alright?!“

The filly slowly lifted her head, seeing her sister climbing down after her in a hurry.

That was the last thing she saw, before the pile she was lying on collapsed, and she felt herself falling again, accompanied by the sound of thumbing metal and loud splashing.

With that her world turned blue, the liquid they had seen earlier slowly surrounding her. Whereas there had only been a small amount visible from the edge of the crater, there had been an entire sea hidden beneath, the crater being much deeper than you would assume, when looking at it from the surface. She coughed as she felt the stuff entering her mouth and nose, but each gasp for air was only rewarded with her swallowing more of the stuff.

Flailing around in panic, she tried to find her way back to air, but all she could see was blue. The fluid was barely translucent, throwing a blue filter over her vision and making it increasingly hard to navigate.

As she swallowed more of the liquid, she felt how her last bubbles of precious air escaped her lips, when she suddenly felt a strong grab on her leg and was pulled back to the safety of dry land moments later.

Then everything went black.

---

New vessel detected. Potential host?

Scanning… Organic nature… potentially biology compatible…

Main vessel compromised… mobility compromised…

Update directive: Continue search for energy source to restore main vessel…

Transferring data to host… Passiving immune system…

Warning! Host vitals instabile! Scanning for error…

Error found, cleansing host‘s organs…

---

Apple Bloom awoke through violent coughing, blue fluids being forced out of her lips. As she continued to clear the hostile substance out of her lungs, she saw Applejack out of the corner of her eye, caring a look of worry and relief as she was immediately there to support her little sister.

“Thank Celestia! Are you alright?“

“I think I swallowed some of that stuff…“ she replied, whimpering. “I wanna go home…“

Applejack shook her head. “Sorry sugar cube, but I’m bringing you to hospital first.“

Apple Bloom merely nodded as she was pulled onto her sister’s back, staring into the distance as the elder mare galloped toward Ponyville.

---

Later

“Is she alright?“

Nurse Redheart nervously bit her lip at Applejack‘s question.

“Honestly? I have no idea… This is truly a unique condition I’ve never encountered before. I can however tell you what we know so far…“

Applejack nodded, forcing herself to remain calm despite the worry gnawing at her insides.

“First of all, the substance doesn’t seem to be harmful in any way. While it’s visibly present in her bloodstream, it behaves passively and seems neither toxic nor acidic.“

Applejack nodded in relief. “What else?“

“There seems to be no immune response. This is not a normal reaction, considering that a foreign substance is inside her body. We have yet to figure out if the immune system is being repressed, or if it’s simply not bothered…“

Nurse Redheart took a deep breath. “As for the final thing… The ingestion of whatever substance she has swallowed had didn’t go completely without symptoms, and had a single, but still somewhat major impact upon her physic.“

“Didn’t you say that it wasn’t harmful?“ Applejack asked upset.

“It’s not!“ the Nurse quickly corrected. “But while it’s not harmful, it’s a symptom nevertheless. You see, the substance reacts with magic energy, and starts giving off light when exposed to it.“

“I’m not sure if I understand… how exactly does this affect her physic?“

“Honestly, I think it’s best if I simply showed you.“

With that she opened the door allowing Applejack to see her sister, who was lying in a hospital bed, silently staring at her reflection in a small mirror, but looked up, upon hearing her sister entering.

Applejack silently gasped upon seeing her Apple Bloom’s current condition. The eyes staring back at her were no longer the usual orange color she was used to.

Instead, her entire eye, iris, pupil, and all, were now glowing in a soft blue.

Comments

[raven618]

Okay, good start.