From Skies Above - Epilogue (Part 1)
Four weeks had passed, and quickly too. After the devastating attack that destroyed the crashed ship, there had been no further sightings of the aliens, and the unnatural presence both sisters felt had disappeared. Celestia pulled another report off her desk.
Almost immediately after the biped’s departure, things had calmed along the borders. According to scouts and other sources of intelligence, the Frostwing clan had seen the weakness in its enemy and seized the opportunity. Already they were on the verge of victory, having quelled most resistance with greater numbers and forced all remaining warriors to withdraw from the south to protect their capital.
Without any immediate threats in the area, the crash site had been reclaimed by Equestria, although anything worth studying had been destroyed, the area only left with scraps of melted metals that once made up the ship’s hull.
Yet where one of her troubles had disappeared, another had risen to take its place. The public was tense, and Celestia felt they were almost at breaking point. The sightings of the airships approaching the castle, thunderous roars and echoing screams of battle were enough to make some citizens panic and attempt to flee the city, and the Guard had been stretched thin keeping the populous under control. That she had been unable to keep the deaths of her guards and the unfortunate photographer away from the public eye had not helped the problem.
Celestia turned her attention to another report. Despite the lack of new items to find, there were still the many that the first teams had recovered: Weapons, items of clothing, and strange machinery and devices whose purposes had yet to be discovered.
In spite all the terrible occurrences, Twilight Sparkle had been more than eager to get to work on researching the alien artefacts. The studious young mare had elected to remain in Canterlot on Celestia’s request to help study the leftover alien equipment. But that wasn’t the only reason she had chosen to remain. Her brother still lay wounded in a hospital bed, undergoing rigorous treatments to restore him to his former health. There wasn't much Twilight could do in her daily visits, but Celestia could guess that the company would be more than welcome.
*
Thump!
The sound resonated through the hall as the gryphons holding the great door shut were shoved back. With a loud slam, they pushed forward once more, grunting and heaving as they braced themselves against the wooden surface, preparing for another strike.
Thump!
Again they were pushed back, and again they leapt forward. Muffled scratches and growls drifted through the door, barely audible under the efforts of the warriors keeping it in place. It creaked and whined in protest of its assault, the crossbar slowly weakening in spite of the gryphon’s efforts.
Although he would prefer to die rather than admit it, Banewin could feel a niggling fear in the back of his mind. Strangely enough, it was not the kind of fear he expected. Rather than the deeper, primal fear for his life driven by his will to survive, it was more calm, like simple stress instead. He suppressed a sigh. His time was up, and it had been a long time coming.
Even then, the sound of battle just outside his door was almost relieving. No longer would he be stuck in a darkened fortress bickering with senile old husks, nor waiting to be butchered by enemies of near incomprehensible power. No, this was a proper fight, not one he could win, he was not that foolish, but one where he could die with honour.
Thump!
But not after taking a few of those bastards with me. He grinned maliciously, glancing down at his new weapon.
It was a shame they could not replicate them. If all his warriors bore such fearsome weapons, even with his severely diminished forces, he had little doubt he could beat back the Frostwings with ease, and maybe even show the Equestrians what for.
But alas, their neighbours had sensed their weakness in wake of the aliens' departure and seized the opportunity.
A loud crack echoed across the chamber, causing the few dozen warriors not holding the door to bring their weapons to bear. Banewin looked up from the weapon. It was almost time.
It didn’t take long to figure out how it worked, the scars inflicted on a wall deep in the fortress could attest to that. Banewin had observed some of the testing himself, as targets were filled with holes under the barrage of projectiles the device spat from its maw.
The grunts and growls outside became louder, and the struggling against the door more intense. If one looked closely, they could see the wood begin to inch inward. With the crossbar broken, it was now a battle of strength as each side pushed forward with all their might, waiting for the other to weaken and give.
Of course, after much testing the weapon had stopped working. At first, the gryphons had been confused, but one hen found that the small metallic cylinders ejected from the side of the weapon were similar to those found inside metal containers found with the weapon. One such container had been attached to the weapon’s body.
After a bit of fiddling, the container had been removed. Sure enough, it was empty. Another was slotted into place and it only took a little more experimentation with the switched and levers on the weapon to prime it to fire. It was truly the most elegant and powerful piece of equipment Banewin had encountered. There was even a switch near the grip that disabled the firing lever to prevent misfires.
A loud roar announced the Frostwings' impending victory as the door began to part. A gryphon could be seen through the gap in the door, eyes glowing with determination and his brothers at his sides.
Staring into the face of death, Banewin grinned. They had no idea what awaited them when the door gave in. He only had one full projectile container, but it would be a surprise nonetheless.
With a final mighty roar the Frostwings pushed forward, sending the defenders reeling back and scrambling aside.
Then came the thunder.
*
Shining Armour let out a frustrated sigh for what felt like the hundredth time today. He lay on his stomach, staring blankly at the polished white wall of his room at the head of his bed, unable to lay on his sides in fear of aggravating his wound.
The projectile from the alien’s weapon had passed through his hindquarters, not even stopping for the bone. Fortunately for Shining, the damaged areas could be pieced back together, and to some extent, small bits could even be regrown. Unfortunately, as advanced as medical care was, the process was long and arduous, requiring huge amounts of energy and skill. Four weeks had gone by already, and it still wasn’t done. And even when it was, his body would need time to recuperate and strengthen itself. It could be months before the guard captain would be walking again, let alone resuming his position.
Weeks, or even months of lying in a bed unable to leave this moon-damned room awaited him, and that was all assuming the bipeds didn’t come back to finish them off.
There was little activity for him in his current state. Beyond the occasional visits from friends, and the regular checkups by the nurses and doctors, there was only one pony who made sure to be there to brighten up his day: Twilight Sparkle.
Everyday since the fight she would arrive, not always at the same time, but every day. He’d given up insisting that he would be fine, and that she didn’t need to worry about him weeks ago. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy her company, on the contrary, it was practically the most exciting thing he had to look forward to, but the way she worried and fussed over his state and the staff’s activities, often making them double or even triple check their diagnostics.
Along with morale support and the swath of books she brought in with her, she was his main link to the world. She would relay news of world events, progress in her research of the alien’s technology, and even stories and sympathies of her friends, who she remained in constant contact via letters.
Shining sighed. It must be well past noon, and no Twilight. If previous days were anything to go by, that’d mean she’d probably be around by late afternoon. He considered picking up the book on his bedside table, but the will to read just wasn’t there. Reluctantly, he closed his eyes and waited for the warm embrace of sleep.
*
Bodies lay strewn across the hall. Blood-stained blades and other weapons lay still where they had clattered to the floor, and splashes of red painted much of the ground and walls. Amidst the carnage sat a lone gryphon. Blood stained his coat and feathers in crimson streaks and splotches, and his body heaved regularly with every laboured breath. Scattered across the ground around him were tiny metallic cylinders, and beside his form was the mysterious black weapon whose thunder had ruled the halls mere minutes earlier.
Talons clicked against the floor, the sounds clearly audible over the dying battle outside. A gryphon cautiously strode into the room, keeping his eyes fixed on the survivor in the centre, but occasionally darting off to the sides. The warpaint that covered his body marked him as a Frostwing, the icy blue highlights on his feathers were streaked with splashes of blood, some of it his own, but most was not.
“Banewin.” The name rang out across the near silent hall, the only competing sound inside being the haggard breaths of the defender’s leader. The wounded gryphon slowly looked up, meeting the eyes of the Frostwing warrior. His gaze showed no sign of fear, and he even went so far as to smile at the newcomer.
There was a moment of silence as the two gryphons merely stared at one another, one looking into the face of death, and the other into the promise of glory. His end was unavoidable, and fast approaching, that much Banewin knew, so he opened his beak and broke the silence. “Am I going to know... the name of my killer?” his deep, usually firm voice faltered under his pain.
The Frostwing paused for a moment, but soon enough replied. “Garret.”
“Garret.” Banewin repeated, “Well, Garret... you’d better hurry up... I won’t last much longer.”
Garret’s claw rose off the ground, a single talon pointing at the black metal object that lay on the ground nearby. “What is that?” he demanded.
Banewin’s body shook as he chuckled softly, “A sign.”
Garret lowered his head to be level with Banewin’s own. “A sign? A sign of what?” he growled.
“There are things... more fearsome than me.”
A vice like grip closed in on Banewin’s neck, and Garret brought his face in closer. “What things? Speak sense!”
Banewin chuckled again, but was sent into a coughing fit as Garret threw him down. The Frostwing gripped his blade tightly and raised it above his head, reading for the final blow, but he paused when Banewin muttered a few words that were missed by Garret’s ears.
“What?” he barked.
Banewin looked up, meeting his eyes. Garret could feel his enemy’s gaze boring into his heart. His own searched Banewin’s eyes, but he still saw no sign of fear, only acceptance and... pity?
“You’ll see.” Banewin said, his voice barely more than a whisper, as Garret scowled at him and his sword began its downward stroke. “You’ll see.”
If he can't lay on his sides, then why is he doing exactly that?
They have our technology...
...
Who the hell leaves behind valuabe war assets? Even the Predators from the Alien movies/games were smart enough to destroy their devices.
Oh well, they have some weapons. We have several fleets of super powered space travel ships, giant mechs and chocolate.
Sweet
1970971
Fix'd
1970991
But you are mistaken, for they also have chocolate!
We can has sequel perhaps?
Are you telling me swordmen defeated modern infantry?
Sounds like some Civ 4 buffoonery here.
Good story btw, it'd be interesting to see if Equestria manages to replicate the weapons.
1971035 Thanks.
How advanced are the humans exactly?
I mean they have high energy ships that can travel through space but no pulse weapons?
I mean civilians can build pulse weapons, not very powerful ones, but still? And then what about heavy mounted rail guns?
Those thing all exist and humans are using conventional weapons...areyoukiddingme.jpeg
Also as fast shadow said. WTF they just left the guns? I'm sorry but this story was epic in the start, then it just kind of got disappointing...
The ponies are not that advanced. We only see primitive magical computers and a dam, though not wide spread electricity. They are medieval, maybe preindustrial so I doubt they will get much progress out of the electronics. Weapon, if they are as moderm fire arms and lack electronics, might be possible to replicate, but who knows if Celestia will go with it.
1971052 You talking about the Griffons beating the rifle weilding one? He simply had 1 magazine, he ran out of bullet before killing everyone. He probably didn't have the discipline to wield it either.
1971148
Something I hope to remedy in a potential rewrite.
1971148, I kind of hate to say it....but I kind of have to agree with you, sorry Sparklight
1971222
I was in the middle of writing a comment for that blog post of yours...so that's one thing I don't have to put in it.
If you want. I'll link you to some stuff about futuristic weapons that people are messing with today. In fact here.
: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun
Read that. I have more. (I like futuristic weapons...I'm kind of a geek...)
1971148
i would go out on a lim and say that humans have the kind of weapons and tech in halo
1971247
Anything you can offer would be much appreciated, but now's the time to do so.
1971280
Aye, but that wasn't the best decision.
1971280
No, they don't.
Re-read parts of this story, they're using normal guns.
Halo has stuff like the Spartan Laser, (a pulse weapon) and Rail gun.
I know that halo has weapons that use conventional bullets, but this is to realistic. In halo, the snipers and guns,(BR) are PERFECTLY accurate. Still futuristic
I think we will continue to use conventional weapons and ballistic weapons for many hundreds of years. They are cheap, reliable, and easy to mass produce. They don't require a lot of energy to use, and can be picked up by any person. Rail weapons and pulse weapons require a lot of energy, and will probably not be used as primary military weapons for many centuries to come.
If something is not broken, why fix it?
1971148 Conventional weapons are really cheap and good enough. That's why we still use them today. I think it's plausible that eventually they'll be completely obsolete but it's also plausible that they won't, at least for secondary things like infantry on a naval vessel. Modern soldiers still carry knives, and how old are those?
They're also seriously low tech, so why would they care if the ponies got hold of them? I mean, they might care a little but nothing in an automatic rifle is going to get the ponies any closer to interstellar travel which is the only thing that would remotely make them a threat, so it's not worth fighting more battles over it. Especially since they were in a hurry.
1971358
Very clever. I never really thought of it in that light.
So they DO have better weapons, they're just not using them.
All your points are valid.
You deserve a
1971358 The ponies attacked them and killed several troopers in full armor with magic alone. Leaving anything behind, especially weapons, to give them a leg up technologically would be retarded beyond belief.
Speaking of the pony attack at the exchange, what happened to the pony that did that? I want to see the consequences of that since she killed humans during a damn cease fire. We see her getting called to Celestia and then nothing.
The humans left the weapons?......and the ponies are researching it.......ugh....that's all I'm going to say.
I was hopeing Shining would die but it looks like that's not gonna happen
1971581
A leg up on who? Us? They do not have any means of reaching us, or even knowing where we are. They just wanted to nuke the majority of our tech and leave, going though their entire world and confiscating/destroying every single piece of our tech would pretty much be going to war with them.
Soooooooo... Ah..... Nuke from orbit?
*passed
*chosen to remain
*aliens'
*waiting for the other
*Frostwings'
*Frostwings
*I won't
Not much else to say, to be honest. This chapter was kinda boring.
Yay update!!!
Really good story though would be nice to see a sequel!
no
Humans are gone though, Gryphon. They may return, but not right away.
AWwww the story is ending! And i liked this one too
Aw well, it was nice while it lasted!
Sequel?
1971320
Actually, judging from that scene from the main human fleet a few chapters ago (I can't seem to find it anymore, but I remember they were assembling to face a Covenant-like threat), the humans are roughly pre-war UNSC level (assuming they're actual parallels, which I also remember the Author mentioning that they were). Back then, Splazers were a lab experiment at best and MACs were so bulky they had to have ships built around them just to fit everything.
To be honest it wouldn't have mattered if they had left behind their entire nuclear arsenals, a fully repaired and refueled star-ship and a gift-rapped instruction manual. Along as we didn't leave behind Earth's coordinates, they would just spend the next billion years flying round trying to find us.
1971035
Willi Wonka SUCKA'!
1975144 I vote for the nuke
Crystal ponies, griffons, it's all the same.
ERMAGERD TWO WEEKS. D: /timetravels
technology has been lost. let us not travel the path of Prometheus and instead recover all lost military assets, personnel included.
LET THE RECLAMATION BEGIN!
1970991
We all know what they SHOULD have done...
Nuke it form orbit.
2074487
Well, let's look at it from economical standpoint. They pretty much established that Equestria has a metric SHITTON of gems and natural resources.
Equestria is like a bowl of nachos. First we have to get rid of the chips and then we can lick off the sweet cheese.
Also that was only 2 weeks? What. Am I living in a diffrenent time contiunium?
HUMANS
COME BACK AND TURN THIS PLANET TO GLASS
NOW
2190475
Many aspects are poorly portrayed?
They're also not military, just security for a civilian ship.
2191011
I think we've already established that I've no idea how modern weapons works.
2192117
Maybe you could do a rewrite and get some help from people who know what they are talking about, I could help.
SO I spent some time reading this story, and despite how it all played out (To the consternation of several readers) it should be taken instead as a simple case of a all-around "What not to do" scenario. (For those who need a more visual representation, watch 28 Weeks Later, its perfect in that instance)
The Griffons in this instance had poor discipline and aggravated the Equestrians, additionally that lack of discipline resulted in losses on all sides, both from the attack and retaliation.
The Equestrians did a decent holding action, but screwed up and attacked the humans during the battle resulting in their being painted as hostile. Good recovery attempt by rescuing a injured one and treating it, but failed to keep it safe. Kudos for the cremation/burial rights.
The Dragons............best analogy is hot-headed.
The Griffons originally started the problem by just attacking without actual diplomacy or any attempt at anything other than being all gung-ho, a side-effect of their culture and training to be sure.
The Equestrians managed to take the crash without bloodshed initially, but were poorly prepared for a attack by the griffons resulting in several mistakes being done, but they did succeed in holding the site so they were better still.
The humans apparently took the road of 'screw it' and didn't even consider a neutral/diplomatic option other than the one taken in for treatment...and somewhere along the line their command was affected with a similar case of 'screw-it-itis'. They do however get props for at least attempting a proper prisoner exchange even if that went poorly in the end.
The Dragons are similar to the idiot kid who throws a rock at a hornets nest and honestly doesn't expect them to retaliate.
That being said in this case the Dragons risked the least and lost only one member, the Equestrians came in second loosing many guards and screwing up two points that would've stopped the bloodshed entirely on their side. The griffons lost it all at the end when their northern neighbors took the obvious and smart route and conquered them thereafter, despite heavy losses at the very end of that campaign.
TL/DR
This is best-described as a 'What not to do' story, everyone screwed up here.
A "Bad Chapter"? No, that was everything an epilogue should be. Banewin's last words? Gold. I loved this story. Sure, it could use some spit and polish, but damn, it was one hell of a ride! It's too bad that you're done with it...
I'd like to formally request that you post the last chapter, unpolished or not. Most people don't have the guts to go through with a first contact scenario where everything goes less than smoothly, and for that alone you are to be commended. The quality of the writing is on par with published books, and it's quite a shame you only wrote one story. However, that story was a doozy, 9.5 out of 10. I'll adjust my score accordingly in a moment.
Pretty good story! It's a shame it will go unfinished. I appreciated the images too! But I also formally request the second half of the epilogue, although it still ended on a good note without it. But knowing that there's supposed to be MORE after leaves me thirsty for knowing!!
Man this was a RIDE! I loved/loave some parts of the story. Specifically the unresolved parts of the griffin assaninations, the trial for that one unicorn that ruined the prisoner guard exchange, and finally how my emotions reacted to this story. You did a great job at keeping my emotions swaying from joy to rage at a FICTIONAL Story!! Well done sir. I loved the firefights between the the many races! This was a great realistic take on the whole senecio, I love on the mistakes and tribulations the equestrian races tried to handle on the situation. I adore the context of what was going on before the crash. This justifies almost every action you have written. And I was wondering if this version of humanity is inflicted by the UNSC from the halo universe due to the specific scene of where Sargent Ross (aka the big black scary exo-armored super soldier) took of his helmet. Specifically the hiss part. Reminds me a lot of Spartans. Also can you re link all of your pictures? The only one that worked for me was the wyvern part. Is there a way to see them? Do you have a deviantart account?
Man that was epic. Would've been cool if they eradicated the Gryphons and the Ponies but still, very awesome story