XI. Complications
MLP FiM is owned by Hasbro.
All characters belong to their respective owners.
//Recover
Lieutenant Anderson’s heavy boot sunk through the snow effortlessly, snapping the wooden shaft of an already broken arrow. The damaged shafts littered the ground, sticking out from the fresh layers of snow, evident signs of a fight. The area was empty, save for the massive cave entrance in the side of the mountain. Its mouth bore many large scrapes and scratches that showed it had been used before.
And by something big.
There was a moment of silence before his radio crackled to life. “This is it. Officer Ben Charles is in the cave before you.” The pilot said. The dropship hovered nearby, its thrusters humming loudly, keeping the metal bird suspended in the air.
A waypoint flashed in Anderson’s helmet display, marking the location and approximate distance to his target. “I see him. Is he still alive?”
“I dunno. Those security helmets only have the emergency beacon, no vital signs. I can’t get a hold of his radio. Either he’s dead, or the helmet’s damaged.”
Anderson cursed silently. “Alright, Voss, Newman, you two cover the mouth. Victor, Peterson, you’re with me.”
The lieutenant strode forward, the machinery in his exosuit whining softly as he moved. The first two soldiers moved into position whilst the others followed Anderson through the mouth and into the dark. With a high pitched beep, his helmet’s night vision kicked in, replacing the shadows with shapes coloured various shades of green.
“Something big has been in here, boys, keep your eyes open.”
Anderson turned to his right, his footsteps making loud thumps that echoed throughout the cave. There was a gleam in his vision, and the waypoint flashed, showing his rapidly dropping distance. Soon enough, Anderson found himself standing over a broken helmet, or what was left of it. The shell had been cracked, and a sizable chunk was missing. The visitor had been shattered, and it was covered in dark patches. Anderson bent down and picked it up. At least there was no head inside.
“Found it.” The lieutenant turned the helmet over in his hands. “I don’t think Ben’s with us anymore.”
“Damn it.” There was a brief pause before the pilot continued. “Alright, let’s get out of here. I don’t want to be in this place any longer than I have too.”
“Acknowledged.” Anderson grunted.
The marines jumped and readied their weapons when a loud roar echoed from within the cave.
“Boys, you hear that down there?” The pilot asked.
“Yeah, we heard it.” Anderson grunted, “But let’s not stick around to find out what made it. Move!”
The marines hastily made their way back towards the surface, weapons at the ready. They were almost outside when Anderson heard the sound of something moving from within. Something big.
“Come on, move!”
The ground shook as there was another roar, much louder than the last. Anderson slowed for a moment, looking over his shoulder.
A massive reptilian creature surged out of the dark. Rows of sharp teeth lined the beast’s mouth and muscled limbs powered it forward in the charge. Anderson sprinted toward the surface, leaping out of the way as soon as he passed through the mouth.
The other soldiers were right behind him, Victor following Andersons lead. By the time Peterson had reached the exit, the monster was already on them. It lowered its head and smashed into the marine’s back, sending him flying through the air. He struck the ground with a loud thump, but the man’s armour absorbed most of the impact, and he was back on his feet in mere seconds.
The creature bellowed, its cry echoing through the mountains. The other soldiers didn’t wait, unleashing a storm of bullets onto the huge reptile. At that range, the powerful weapons punched holes straight through the beast’s scales. It screamed in pain and scrambled backward to the cave, but the dropship’s mounted gun blazed into life.
With a final scream Kae’los’ life faded away, her eyes locked in a distant stare.
From Skies Above – Complications
The biped sat on the ground, iron shackles clamped around its wrists and ankles. Most of its armour had been stripped from its body, leaving only the green tinted cloth it wore underneath. On a head half covered by a rough brown mane, small green eyes locked onto anything that moved nearby, assessing anything and everything to determine if they were a threat. There were a lot of threats.
Over a dozen armed guards surrounded the alien, all of them ready to leap into action should it become hostile. Its eyes continued to wander, coming to rest on one pony in particular. Shining Armour stared back at the alien for a moment before continuing on his way. The princesses were in the next room, no doubt discussing what to do with the unwanted guest. The guards saluted him as he passed through the door, returning to their rigid posture as soon as he was out of sight.
“We can return it before others begin to search, can we not? If you are wrong about their locating methods then it would take time to find out where he was taken.” Luna’s voice carried over into Shining’s ears, “That is a report from the Stalliongrad Guard, is it not? What doth it say?”
Celestia stood on the other side of the small room, a small parchment in her magical grasp. The princess’ eyes traversed back and forth across the page, her stern expression never changing. “They have been sending pegasi out on reconnaissance missions to keep an eye on the aliens. They’ve been sending out multiple groups of their airships. One of those groups was reported to be on a direct path to Canterlot. That was an hour ago.”
Shining froze at the last statement. They knew that the prisoner was here, and they were on their way. He hadn’t seen first hoof what the aliens were capable of, but rumours were already spreading among the guards; particularly one about two alien airships sending an entire gryphon army into retreat.
Celestia looked up from the parchment, catching sight of Shining. “Ah, Captain.”
He saluted as she lowered the letter to a nearby desk. “I assume you heard that last piece of information?”
“Yes, your majesty.”
“Good, then you know our situation.” She said, “I want you to prepare the city for an immediate evacuation. We don’t-”
A bright flash of light illuminated the room for an instant as a curled scroll materialized in the air before Princess Celestia. She quickly grabbed it in an aura of light, breaking the seal and reading it silently.
A few moments later, Celestia spoke. “This is from the Cloudsdale Guard. They’ve spotted three large, unidentified air vehicles heading directly for us.”
“Cloudsdale?” Shining’s face contorted into a look of shock, “That’s only an hour’s flight away! We can’t get the entire city evacuated in time!”
“Captain Armour.” Shining snapped to attention at Celestia’s voice. “Sound the alarm. As of now, Canterlot is on high alert and all citizens must remain in their homes.”
“Of course, your Majesty!” The guard captain saluted, then took off into the halls, bellowing orders as he went.
*
The gryphon lay as low as he could on the cloud, peering over its edge at the flurry of activity below. Metal airships buzzed back and forth through the air around the ship like bees around their hive, while tiny black figures occupied the ground like ants, their black shapes sticking out against the snow.
On several occasions, airships had broken off from the group. A trio of two smaller airships and a larger one had taken flight and headed south, toward Equestria, and, more disturbingly, multiple ships had flown away into the mountains.
But now something else was happening.
Figures filed out of the huge alien vessel, making their way across the field of corpses toward grounded airships. Once aboard, the metal flyers took to the skies, heading east. More airships joined them, and even the ones patrolling around the crash site began to break away.
The gryphon watched from his vantage point, taking in the sight of the metal airships departing. Soon enough, only three alien ships remained. The gryphon stared at the remaining ships. Two hovered in the air, whilst the third, larger one, remained grounded.
He was confused. They had wasted their time and effort in the task of driving away two armies, only to leave not even a day after their victory? He frowned. Something wasn’t right.
The grounded ship jerked into life as it began to rapidly gain altitude. The other two ships hovered nearby, forming a wedge shaped formation with the larger ship at the head. When ready, the airships set off, their path set to a north east direction, right towards...
The gryphon’s eyes widened. Right back to his clan’s capital.
*
The hall was filled with guardsponies. The would have been over one hundred of them packed into the room, all with their attentions locked on a single stallion occupying a raised platform at the head of the chamber. Royal Guard Captain Shining Armour paced back and forth across the stage, looking down at the guards before him.
“Many of you may already know our current situation.” Shining said, his voice amplified by his magic to allow him to be heard by every guard in the hall, “But for those of you who don’t, allow me to explain.
“Less than an hour ago, survivors returned from a battle in the north, a battle waged between ponies, gryphons and...” Shining swallowed, “...a technologically advanced alien race.”
There was a loud murmuring amongst the guards assembled before him, and Shining clear his throat loudly, grabbing back the attention of his audience. “I know it sounds preposterous, but it is true. The survivor of the battle managed to capture a prisoner, but unknown to us at the time, the aliens have a method for locating lost individuals.”
Shining bit his lip and paused for a moment, “And they will be arriving in Canterlot within the next thirty minutes.”
There was more murmurs and whispers amongst the audience, but Shining ignored them. The Royal Guard Captain turned to a nearby pegasus. The stallion’s mane was a tangled mess, and his coat bore numerous cuts and other stains from battle. Shining nodded to the pegasus, who proceeded to approach the stage, favouring his left foreleg.
“Captain Valiant Effort, of the Stalliongrad Guard.”
Valiant nodded to Shining before turning to the mass of ponies assembled before them. He cast a stern gaze over them. Many stood tall and proud, but others struggled to hide their fear.
“The enemy we face is not one to be underestimated.” He began, sweeping his eyes over the audience, “They favour ranged weapons, powerful enough to put a hole in a guard’s armour at over one hundred paces. They also use small explosive devices, thrown by the creatures themselves.”
Valiant could see that some of the guards were having trouble believing him. He continued. “And to make matters worse, the aliens appear as empty voids in the magical field, so targeting them is difficult and takes much time. They also appear to be immune to direct magical attacks.”
Looks of disbelief appeared on the faces of many of the unicorns. Many guards were losing their composure, but most still stayed strong.
“But fear not, although these creatures are strong, they are not invincible. On the field, many of their weapons lost functionality, and their armour was insufficient for a full scale battle. Conjured fire bolts were particularly effective. Along with those weaknesses, we have strength in numbers, and Canterlot will be unfamiliar ground to them.”
Shining Armour stepped forward, Valiant spotting the purple armour in his peripheral vision. “That being said, none of you are to attack unless provoked. The Princesses have decided that if hostilities can be avoided entirely, we are to do so. Their prisoner is to be returned to them immediately upon their arrival.”
Shining cast another stern look toward the assembled guards. “The city is being put into lockdown as we speak, so all civilians will be in their homes at all times.” The captain paused for a moment. “I cannot stress the importance that nopony is to attack without first being attacked. The entire city is at stake, and anypony who is defies that order will be punished severely... if we survive.”
Shining thought he heard a guard gulp audibly, but ignored it and proceeded to give out more orders. Time was short, and they had much to do.
*
The doors to the hall burst open, and a panting gryphon dashed into the room. “Sire!”
Banewin looked up at the disturbance, his brow furrowing and the corners of his mouth falling. The elders around him shared worried glances. “Speak.” He commanded.
The gryphon took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Sire, scouts and city patrol have spotted three large, metal airships in the vicinity of the city.”
Hyava gasped, and Banewin felt his own eyes widen slightly, but they quickly narrowed. “Is that all?” he said, his voice just above a growl.
The messenger nodded hastily.
“Then leave us.”
The gryphon scrambled back out the way he came, the doors closing with behind him with a resounding thud. Banewin closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, rubbing his temple with his talons. He opened his eyes to see the elders, each watching him with fear in their eyes.
“Well? Speak!”
“Sire,” Hyava began, “We must prepare out warriors for battle. If we are smart about our strategies, we can distract the beasts long enough to evacuate the city.”
“Why have they come here?” Yalek hissed, “I knew this would happen! Kyarth, you were wrong! They have come to us to wreak their revenge, and your inaction has let them waltz right to our home!”
Kyarth opened his mouth to defend himself, but elder Maelon cut the old gryphon off.
“Enough of this!” Maelon snapped, “Both of you! Your bickering gets us no where!”
He exhaled loudly, “Why would they come here? There are several towns between us and the crash site, if they wanted revenge, why not attack those towns first?”
“The body.” Hyava’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“What?” Yalek squawked.
“The body the hunters brought back.” Hyava hissed, “The alien corpse.”
“How would they know it is here?” Kyarth asked.
“They can make metal wagons fly and incinerate airships with a single strike.” Yalek spat, “I for one would not surprised if they could sense their brothers at such a distance.”
“But,” Banewin’s voice was far more youthful compared to the raspy speech that the elders used, yet still held a hard edge. “That still leaves the question of what we are going to do.”
*
Pegasi guards retreated to a safe distance, giving the trio of metal flyers plenty of room as they entered the airspace of the city. Not a single pony inhabited the streets below, all scared into hiding by the alarm bells and bellowing guards. Two smaller flyers hovered to the sides of the larger, centre ship. On the sides of the larger, alien forms could be seen, hanging out the sides as they directed mighty cannons mounted on the airship.
They slowed as they approached the castle, pausing for a moment before changing course, heading directly for a large courtyard. The courtyard hung off the edge of the castle, one side stopping in a massive drop down toward the city below. Tall extrusions of castle surrounded the remainder of the yard, and dozens of guards took positions along the many balconies overlooking the yard. The only defining features in the yard where the wooden benches resting under the shade of two tall trees growing out of large marble boxes of dirt that extended through the floor of the yard.
The two smaller airships remained back as the larger turned side on and drifted into the courtyard. It lowered itself, small metal supports folding out of its hull ready to carry its weight. On the other side of the courtyard, two ornate doors opened, and several guards strode out. Shining Armour paused, taking a deep breath before leading the small group out of the castle toward the alien ship. In the centre of the group of five guards walked a biped, his hands bound behind his back with iron shackles.
The large airship’s sides slid open, revealing a mass of figures inside. Shining stopped at the centre of the yard, the guards and prisoner behind him following suite. He glanced toward a tower to his right, where he knew the Princesses and his sister would be watching the encounter, and listening via several magical wards arrayed around the courtyard. Movement in the alien ship drew his attention, and his heart began to thump faster in his chest as the first of the aliens started to emerge.
A massive figure, completely encased in near black armour stepped down out of the ship. It definitely wasn’t what Valiant Effort described. Standing at what must have been around two and a half metres tall, the giant figure stomped away from the ship, its weapon raised should there be any attack. With more loud thumps, the rest of the alien soldiers began to disembark, the ground below the soldiers beginning to crack with each landing.
Soon enough, there were over a dozen heavily armed and armoured alien soldiers, creating an arc around their ship. The bipeds flaunted their weapons, clearly having an effect on the surrounding guards. Shining turned his attention back to the drop ship, as several other figures emerged. Another two bipeds stepped down, leading by a limping unicorn stallion and a pegasus mare with a bandaged wing.
The stallion, Shining recognised immediately. Emerald Haze’s mane was dishevelled, and walked with a heavy limp, favouring his right hind leg. Several white pads had been attached to his side, and Shining realised that there were several small blood stains on the fur around them. The guard captain didn’t recognise the pegasus mare, but he was sure she had been part of the relief force from Stalliongrad.
The two ponies, along with three alien soldiers, broke away from the ground, heading for Shining Armour and his group. Shining could hear the alien behind him shuffling on the spot. The group of bipeds stopped about ten or fifteen metres from Shining.
One of the aliens stepped forward. It pushed its weapon over its shoulder, somehow attaching it to its back. Reaching up with a both hand, it began to fiddle with the back of its helmet, and soon enough it hissed loudly. The black shell came free, and the biped pulled it away, revealing a pale head with a close shaven mane. The biped stared at Shining with its small eyes.
For a moment, neither side moved. The alien appeared to be muttering to itself, or maybe even communicating with its fellows. After a minute, the biped made the first move. It raised one hand, curling its digits into a fist, save one. It pointed its hand at the pony prisoners, then at the biped behind Shining. The Royal Guard Captain understood immediately.
Shining Armour stepped aside, gesturing with his horn to the other guards. The alien prisoner glanced between them, and started walking toward the alien soldiers with a gentle prod from behind. After several steps, the helmetless alien gestured to the other soldiers. One of them jabbed the mare’s flank with its weapon. Keeping her head down, she began to trot toward the guards. Emerald Haze, took several steps, but a biped’s armoured hand quickly blocked his path. Shining frowned. What are they doing?
The alien prisoner picked up his pace, passing the mare without a second glance. It rushed over to the soldiers, the helmetless biped nodding to it as it arrived. One of the other soldiers approached, and it a feat of impressive strength and control, snapped the chain of the shackles with its armoured hands.
The pegasus mare approached Shining, trotting fast as the distance between her and her captors increased.
“Inside, go.” He said as calmly as he could.
She nodded, and without breaking stride, continued straight past him. Shining looked back to the aliens. The prisoner had made a dash toward the waiting airship, but the alien soldiers still held Emerald Haze in their thrall. The helmetless biped met Shining’s gaze, a recognisable frown on his face. It gestured to the retreating former prisoner, then held its hand up high, two digits outstretched. The biped opened its mouth and bellowed a string of mostly unrecognisable words.
Mostly unrecognisable.
Shining felt a chill run down his spine as realisation finally dawned on him. The trade was two for two. The alien soldier repeated the command, shouting it louder this time and raising its hand higher.
Shining Armour swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat. One word had stuck out in the barrage of strange language. One single, horrifying word.
Ryan.
Rate it. Comment on it. Favourite it. Tell your friends about it.
Love it.
Stats
Page generated in 0.047 seconds
Total duration
900 users online
333,570 hits today, 2,314,256 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.®
So... you guys like cliffhangers?
1114842 ...Tricky bastard.
How dare you leave us with a cliffhanger
i1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii516/Klutzybear/TheStarecolored.png
1114883
That... is creepy.
1114842 yes, yes I do.
Well, its now official. Canterlot will fall.
Damn you cliffhangers!!! Man the ponies royally fucked now.
Wow, I can sense this ending badly...
DAMN YOU GRYPHONS! YOU ALWAYS SCREW UP EVERYTHING!
Still, eagerly looking forward to updates. And we all love cliffhangers, obviously.
Is that a supersoldier?
YOU FABULOUS FUCKER YOU! NOW WRITE!
but seriously keep it up. dis gon b good!
1114908
Keep in mind ponies screwed up too... possibly worse by burning the body.
Also POWER ARMOR F*CK YEAH!
There is one thing in this story I hate more than a Griffon and that’s a cliff-hanger. (Shakes fist)
Nice one
The Ponies dun goof'd.
That is all.
Well they're screwed!
More goddammit
Awesome, this is so AWESOME
1114960
Some form of powered armor, more likely.
Aw shit.
weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/were-gonna-free-the-shit-out-of-you.jpg
Dragons,Gryphons and Ponies are completely screwed. How will Celly,Luna and Shining gonna explain about Ryan?
Uh-oh. I wonder if the ponies can even explain that Ryan's dead now that they don't have a body anymore? Maybe if they showed them the ashes or something... unless they got rid of those too. Best case scenario? They manage to communicate that Ryan is dead, the humans get upset but release Emerald anyway, then leave. Worst case scenario? The humans think they are hiding Ryan somewhere and start tearing the place apart looking for him. Or someone gets twitchy and opens fire.
As for the gryphons... well, at least they have a body to show (hopefully they haven't eaten it or mounted it on a wall or anything
). The question is if they're smart enough to cooperate.
This is good, please write more
1114842 No, not really.
Not unexpected, either. Every ship's company is listed, and any missing will be noticed.
The Griffons have a lot to answer for, if they learn of the insider before it's too late.
Right about now Shining should piss his non existing pants, if he doesn't come up with a good excuse.
Well there boned.
Finally that wyvern is dead.
Welp... this isn't gonna end well for the ponies. But I can't wait to see space helicopters tear apart some griffons!
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/293/590/6f6.gif
1114895 VERY CREEPY. And no stfu you and your cliffhangars
fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/193/8/0/1st_gen_combat_exoskeleton_by_gauntes-d30fn8m.jpg
Depending on "who" exactly the person's taken by the Equestrians and Griffins I don't expect major conflict to erupt when the humans here discover their deceased comrades, I do expect however to see the Equestrians and Griffins sweating bowling balls because now they're are fighting against power armour troops
CLIFFHANGERS FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
Oh no, those ponies are dead meat.
This is all I gotta say.
weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/dis-gon-b-gud.gif
But this is for your cliff-hangers.
t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQq0IUmjdBwfalINyeDMOHfnyMvBYN-E2EG93PBESb5ME-8OX8z
im pretty shure those armored bros are the REGULAR troops and all the other troops during the battle were scouts!!!
Two scenarios:
1) They ponies manage to explain, just barely, what happened. The humans, while upset, understand. They give up Emerald and leave.
2) Communications break down, the power troopers kill everyone, and destroy the castle to try to find Ryan.
3) Communications break, power troopers kill most people, but before total defeat the Princesses manage to convince them to stop and explain. Humans leave.
Either way, Sparklight, Y U WRITE CLIFFHANGERS!?!!?
Well........... Fuck...
And also; WHY THE CLIFFHANGERS!?
... SO MANY!
Once again, the fate of Equestria rests on the shoulders of Twilight Sparkle. She was the only one to talk to Ryan and the only one who might be able to explain what happened to the marines. Because.....yeah.....if she can't, then Canterlot is completely screwed. I mean, the princesses could probably blast the choppers into oblivion, but that probably wouldn't end well in the long run.
Perhaps they could deliver the ashes, along with a brief visual description of what happened. You know, pictures about him being a nice guy up until he was poisoned.
Also: "The visitor had been shattered," I believe you meant visor, as visitors to the wyvern's den usually end up worse than shattered.
nice very nice they want Ryan cant wait for the next
I think you better get out there quick, Twilight Sparkle, before they kill all those guards...
DUN DUN DUNNN
Yes, yeah. Oh God yes.
I must know what happens next, please
Wow. Equestria is gonna get their shit fucked in, if they don't present reasons for Ryan's absence immediately. I suspect war with Equestria. But first, the Gryphons are going to attack, and not even bother with diplomacy, unless they surely don't want to die.
1115558 If so... I don't want to see the Power Armor troops. I can only imagine the wreckage they'd cause...
Damn you suspense building author! I want to know what happens!
i.qkme.me/3ox9d8.jpg
1114842
I love them, but only when I'm sure I'll be able to read what's next within a few days, a week at top. You know what to do.
A part of me want them to attack, only to see Celestia and Luna go All mighty and powerful and block everything with a god-like shield.
Or maybe Twi going berserk protecting her brother?
So many ideas.
1116055 Why do people keep insisting they are Gods? Celestia got owned by Chrysalis. They are strong but not all powerful.
SHITSORM ACOMIN'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1116068
It is not said, nor denied in the show that they are gods or not, so every possibility is possible. It depends more on what the author wants them to be, I simply expressed my opinion on what I would've thought would be epic even if I highly doubt it will happen.
2-for-2,
Shining armor: oh shit
boys: we want both in return for yours
I can see Shining looking down at the ground then try to explain what had happened
1114842 I hate you. I hate you so damn....
Aw, f*ck it. Even if I can't stand those damned cliffhangers, I still love you and this story. Like and favorite for you.
Well, the ponies are gonna be in deep shit for this.
Let's hope they can explain that they didn't kill Ryan. If they can't, well, Canterlot's probably going to be ripped to shreds by a horde of troops in powered armor.
And the Gryphons are fucked once the Humans find out they killed their prisoner.