A small team of brave heroes is shunted into a strange and terrifying new world.
A crossover between My Little Pony and X-Com. Princess Celestia needs the aid of the Elements of Harmony for the final touches on a new experiment she'd commissioned. However, when the power of Harmony overloads the mysterious device, they find themselves trapped on an alien world and forced to choose to either aid the brutal natives, or face the cruel force that intends their total annihilation, all whilst attempting to return to their beloved home.
"Twilight!" the young earth pony called, "Twilight just CALM DOWN!" her cries fell on deaf ears, while the lavender unicorn took the liberty of zipping around the town square, packing everypony's bags for them.
"T-twilight...if it's not a problem, we c-can kinda pack our bags on our own." the yellow Pegasus said.
"Yes, it IS a problem because we've gotta be packed NOW!" Twilight shouted, seeming more frantic with every passing second. She rarely received letters from her beloved mentor, Princess Celestia, and tended to take things literally and assume the worst. In this case, she received a letter telling her to have them ready to go to Canterlot, the capital city, at dawn, and dawn was fast approaching.
"Now hold on suga'..." said the orange earth pony known far and wide as Applejack. "We're all ready, but getting all worked up and in a tizzy ain't gonna do no-pony no-good, no-how."
"But LAST time Princess Celestia summoned us it was to defeat Discord!" Twilight said with no small amount of alarm.
Up above her, a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane fluttered effortlessly down to face her. "Yeah but we'd STILL need to spend the better part of the day getting to canterlot...so we can't get there any faster if we freak out."
"I brought my PARTY cannon!!" yelled certain bright pink earth pony.
"Twilight, you REALLY need to calm down." Spike piped up, "I read the letter, she didn't seem frightened like with Discord, she seemed...giddy." The young dragon shrank back from the purple unicorn's panicked, twitchy glare, breathing a sigh of relief as she calmed down.
"Spike, mind reading over the letter again?" Twilight asked, calming down. "We've still got time before the chariots arrive."
"Ahem.." Spike cleared his throat before reading the scroll aloud. "To my faithful student Twilight,I require your presence in Canterlot, no later then by tomorrow afternoon. I will be sending pegasi chariots to pick up you and your friends."
"Well it don't sound like no emergency but it is kinda strange she wants us there so darn fast." Applejack mused aloud.
"I know, and THAT has what's got me worried..." Twilight said. "LAST time she wanted us at Canterlot in a hurry we had to fight the living incarnation of chaos and dis-harmony!"
"Hey now, say what you will about him being entropy incarnate, at least Discord had a sense of humor!" Pinkie Pie chimed in. "Also CHOCOLATE MILK RAIN!! I could go for some chocolate milk right now! Oh! Or a scone! No-no! A muffin! Muffins for everypony!"
"She's got a point, though." Dash replied, watching as the pegasi chariots arrived. "Hey, guys! So, what's the emergency?"
"No emergency, ma'am." Responded the main guard, "The princess just has something REALLY important she needs you for, no eldritch abominations or whatever this time."
"Oh...good..." Whispered Fluttershy. She didn't particularly want to go to the capital. But her friends were all going and the princess DID specifically ask for them. "I guess I'll..get my bags.." She said, hoping that she could stall for a few more minutes.
"Here I got them!!" Twilight yelled. The elements of harmony's assorted luggage, plus one tiny bag for a certain baby dragon, floated past in a purple haze of magical energy.
"...Oh...good.." Fluttershy muttered quietly.
"RACE YA THERE!!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the Pegasi manning the chariot and she flew off, becoming a multi-colored blur.
"Err..just ignore her. She's a might..showy." Offers Applejack as she climbed aboard.
"I wonder what the princess wants to show us?" Twilight pondered.
"She reused to elaborate so it's either extremely important, or she wants you involved in another one of her pranks." responded the guard Pegasus. within an hour,t hey had arrives at the entrance of Castle Canterlot, one of the most beautifully designed cities in the world.
The Pegasi didn't stop, giving a quick fly by over the elegant streets and spiraling towers of the pony metropolis. The royal guards made a beeline for the greatest and most beautiful building in the capital, the royal castle.
As they landed on the expansive courtyard, Rainbow Dash was waiting for them, tapping one hoof impatiently as they landed.
"GEEZE took you guys long enough!"
"Um...Rainbow..its NOT a competition." Twilight said dryly.
"Life's a competition. I've got gold medals in AWESOME!!"
"Oooooof course you do sugar cube." Replied Applejack as she hopped off the chariot...
And right into the path of a certain princess whom, in an act completely out of character from the norm, was imitating Pinkie Pie.
"My faithful student! You've arrived!" Princess Celestia cheered, apparently whatever was happening was making her either extremely worried...or extremely happy...
"Um, P-princess!" the purple mare stuttered, panicking at this unusual attitude. "Wh-what's wrong?"
"Wrong? Nothing's wrong! You're right on time! Come on!" The regal beauty practically carried Twilight on her back towards the castle, the young unicorn grabbing Spike telekinetically just in time, and followed promptly by the five confused ponies who had been asked to come along.
"Oooh! The Princess is giddy!" Squeals Pinkie Pie. "I like this already!"
"Well, her highness DOES have playful streak but..this..this seems almost joyful.." Adds Rarity with a raised eyebrow.
The Elements of Harmony trotted after the gleeful Demi-goddess as she lead them to a strange tower lined with stars and strange runic glyphs that glowed even in the day light.
Rarity and Twilight felt a strange twisting sensation in the magical energies that permeated Canterlot. Like the eye of a storm, magic was being drawn to the tower and yet begin calmed to form some sort of vortex.
"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Rang out three very LOUD voices, one of which was easily recognized as Princess Luna, whom came barreling out of the room, followed by a gold-furred earth pony colt with REALLY strange hair wearing elongated triangular goggles, and lastly, a large brown hippogriff wearing comically large aviator sunglasses.
"SISTER!" Luna shouted, accidentally forgetting to negate the Royal Canterlot Voice.
"OUR HEAD ENGINEERS HAVE MADE A SUCCESS! COME QUICKLY!" She shouts, practically DRAGGING Celestia and the elements of harmony into the room, followed by the odd duo whom are practically DANCING with joy.
"What..in the name of Hay...is THAT???" Applejack exclaimed in astonishment, her eyes going wide in wonder and awe.
Looming over the gathered ponies and griffin, was a massive, smooth surfaced gemstone the size of a small house. It floated in a globe of rune carved golden bands and to the unicorns in the room, and even to the earth pony and pegasi, the massive gem radiated a strange, unearthly aura that drew their eyes too it.
Within the darkened crystal, tiny flecks of light slowly turned in a lazy orbit and at the center the ponies could see a radiant core of light.
"Ooooh those lights remind me of..constellations!" Spike said as he peaked over Twilight's shoulder. "You know like in your books Twi!"
"Your right Spike..they DO look a lot like the celestial bodies in my star charts.." Twilight agreed with a raised eyebrow. In fact, to Twilight's eyes the flickering lights looked exactly like stars. The resemblance was perfect. And the immense power radiating form the gem seemed to feel familiar.
"Such...a beautiful...gem.." Whispered Rarity, her eyes growing as big as saucers. She let out a wistful sigh and stared at the beautiful gem as Rainbow waved her hoof in front of the unicorn fashion diva.
"Um..I think we lost Rarity." She said with a slight chuckle.
"Well Spotted Spike..in a way..those ARE stars inside the gem..My Little Ponies..meet the STARWAY STONE!" Celestia said in a loud and proud voice, her wing sweeping majestically towards the massive artifact.
"So...what's it for, exactly?" Twilight asked, fairly certain that her beloved princess wouldn't get all frantic about something so simple as a mere stargazing device. As much as she loved stars, there was no need at all for her to be so excited over a new way to see them.
"Well, my faithful student." The lovely Demi-goddess/princess began, "Our head engineer, Mister Clockworx and his friend, Sir Southern Cross of the Griffin Kingdom," she gestures towards the spike-maned, apparently blind earth pony and the brown-feathered hippogriff in the cool shades, "Have been working in unison on a theoretical way to traverse the Void between Worlds."
"Wait...The Void between worlds!?" The purple unicorn shouted, her voice edged with shocked disbelief.
"Yep!" 'Clockworx' interjected, "The Void between Worlds! The Cleft of Dimensions! The endless Rift between realities! We've FINALLY BEATEN IT!" He shouted, downright giddy at the prospect before entering into a ridiculously long, almost pinkie-pie-esque explanation on how it works, talking so fast that no one can keep up and failing utterly t stop for a breath.
"What my pal MEANS is..." 'Southern Cross' interrupted, "Is that it's basically a high-tech teleportation spell. Pump in enough magic and it'll find a safe enough destination and teleport you there. Problem is, we've not tested it yet, and with the best unicorns and tech heads around already here, we're still short. That's where you six lovely ladies come in."
"You see the only problem with the Starway stone is the sheer amount of magic power need to safely turn the sucker on!" Adds Clockworx."Frankly the amount of energy needed would leave who ever tried to use it completely drained! Not at ALL useful if we plan to explore new worlds.."
"However we have seen on two separate occasions, the power of friendship." Southern Cross jumps in holding a small chalk board with dozens of strange magical calculations on it. "And frankly, you six posses enough juice to power the Starway stone and THEN some!"
"So, wait." Applejack spoke, "You...want us...to power this mechanical monstrosity? HOW!?"
"Yes, and I happen to know EXACTLY how!" Clockworks said, before turning to the rest of the room's residents, whom had, so far, remained quiet. "Ladies and gents, let's get ready to rock!"
A nasal voice rang out in the tower as the doors. The voice belonged to a white unicorn with a blond mane, and the sight of him causes Rarity to grit her teeth.
“Aunties! I’m HERE! ....Oh....MORE commoners.” Prince Blueblood said as he entered the room with a grand flourish. He took his place alongside the other guests, which included Lyra, Bon-bon, Octavia and DJ Vinyl Scratch, and as he stood in front of them they collectively rolled their eyes.
“Oh what the HAY is that windbag doing here?” Mutters Applejack. Rarity quickly covered the earth pony's mouth with her hoof. “Not in front of said windbag’s Demi-goddess aunts dear.”
“What are they doing here Princess?” Asked Twilight with a confused expression on her face. None of the ponies coming in were experts in the fields of magic, and a few of them couldn’t use magic at all.
“Guests actually. We’re not going to be activating the full power of the Starway stone just yet, but rather using its secondary..but none the less impressive powers.”
Celestia added. “The Starway stone can be used like a telescope but on a vastly superior range to even the magical observatory.”
“A superior..what do you mean Princess?” Twilight asked feeling slightly confused. Pinkie Pie raised her hoof. “Oooh! Oooh! It means that we can peak at other worlds and see if there is a Party going on over there!”
“BLUEBLOOD!! I’m so glad you came!!” Princess Luna cried and rushed forward to hug the arrogant stallion. “Err..wouldn’t have missed it for anything Aunty Luna.” He said with a slight wince as the alicorn of the night gave him a hug. The smaller princess’s strength was not to be taken lightly.
“..why is she happy to be around that looser..?” Rainbow Dash muttered to Spike, who scratched his head. Unbeknownst to the Celestia had snuck up behind them.
“Who? You mean my nephew?” She asked with a innocent smile. Dash and Spike gulped loudly. “Well after my sister returned from the Moon she found herself rather..out of touch..not just with time but with the family. She’s been trying to reconnect with our family for a while now and Blueblood has been trying to make her feel welcome and at home...I know you have your issues with him but trust me...he’ll be on his BEST behavior today.” Celestia said to the gathered Elements of Harmony. “So..for Luna’s sake..be nice hmm?”
“Well..okay Princess if you say so.” Applejack said with a reluctant nod. Spike chuckled. “I don’t know what you girls are getting upset over..this is hilarious!” He giggled behind his claw and watched as Luna powerful “hug of doom” took its toll on the haughty unicorn.
“Aunty? Bones..I’m made of bones..brittle, easily broken bones.” He moaned. His back made a odd pop sound as Luna let go.
“Oh..that wasn’t supposed to pop like that..” Fluttershy said with a wince.
“Hey, where’s the new kid Clockworx?” Asked Southern Cross as she looked around. “She was supposed to help us fine tune this sucker for the big un veil..” There was a flash of light blue, a puff of smoke, and in the center of the room, a blue unicorn appeared wearing a blue cape covered in stars and wearing thick protective goggles. Twilight Sparkle and the gang’s eyes went wide.
“TRIXIE?!?”
“The GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie to you peons!” Laughed the unicorn. “And one of the chief architects of the Starway stone!”
“Um…we hired you to help us fine tune the thing. It was already built when you came here begging for a job.” Said Clockworx flatly.
"Humph, The Great and Powerful Trixie is still vital, for your 'specialist' wouldn't be able to fix the magical flaws without her!" Trixie began, only to be cut off by a clanging crack on the head with a large cello, courtesy of Octavia.
"Thank you, Miss Octavia!" Clockworx said, fishing about for a set of glasses made to help him see while blind. After locating the red, comically over the top, yet simplistic triangle 'Kamina Shades', he spoke again.
"honestly, everyone. While it's clear MOST of us know each other, I feel it's wise, for the sake of posterior, I mean posterity, that we make a full introduction. Then we can roll with the plot."
"Dude, Clockworx, the ass-based puns are MY job." Southern cross interjected.
"Well You all know me and my sister Luna.." Began Celestia. "And we're the ones who commissioned this project." Finished Luna.
"Twilight sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash and Spike are here as special guests of her majesty, AND are hopefully the power source we need to make this thing work." Said Clockworx, pointing at the elements of friendship.
"Great. We're glorified fuel sources." Grumbled Dash. Spike nudges her in the side. "The best part is..if this thing explodes, implodes or transports you to some demon infested nether-realm..I'LL probably be fine since I'm just here to take notes!" "How is that good?" Dash asked with a raised eyebrow. "Its good for me."
"THIS nutjob is Clockworx, the head artificer for this project." Said the hippogriff scientist, while the mad engineer grinned and pointed back at him. "AND this wacko is Southern Cross, the head Astral physicist!"
"And together we ARE!! SUPER TEAM SCIENCE SQUAD!!" They yelled out together.
"Team and squad in the same sentence is redundant." Twilight added with a raised eyebrow.
"Silence or I shall hit you in the head with some science!" Clockworx declared and waved pipe wrench at her.
"Lyra over there is our expert in inter-species biology." Southern Cross continued. "Bon-bon helped us with chemistry, Vinyl-scratch here is the magitek-electrician.."
"Turns out..everyone likes chocolate!" Said Bon-bon. "Even aliens!"
"Its true! Science proven." Lyra nodded her head sagely. Pinkie Pie also nodded her head. It was, after all undisputed fact.
"And my job was to make sure their work didn't explode..to much." Said Octavia with a decidedly annoyed look at the mad-science duo. "TWO of the team's efforts blew up. A lot."
"Some explosions where made in the name of science yes.." Clockworx said in acknowledgement. "But we're trying to make history here..a few explosions are to be expected in new science!" Southern Cross chimed in with "Yeah! Why don't you MARRY safe science if you like it so much!"
"Should I be worried? I think I should be worried." Fluttershy whimpered. Apple Jack patted her back. "Ah am too sugercube...Ah am too."
"All though I must admit..Miss Trixie's contributions to making the Starway stone function where quite remarkable...WHEN she wasn't posturing needlessly." Octavia added just as Trixie was inhaling to begin another boast. The blue unicorn's self congratulation died in her throat and instead came out and grumpy "Humph."
"His ROYAL Highness Prince Blueblood is here because he will be leading future diplomatic missions to alien worlds." Clockworx pointed at the Prince as he spoke, and the Prince puffed up his chest in pride.
Rarity looked like she was about to say something, but Celestia shot her a pleading look and the white unicorn mare sighed and remained silent.
"And finally the crucial team member who helped us coordinate efforts across the land, as well the courier who gathered rare materials for us..Ditzy Doo!" Southern Cross crowed and nodded to the grey Pegasus. Ditzy blinked. And looked behind her. "..that's you sweetie." he said with a deadpan tone. "OH! YAY!!" Ditzy replied and clapped her hooves.
"..Ditzy Doo." Rainbow Dash said flatly. "...was a VITAL part..." Apple Jack continued. "..of..this...project..?" Fluttershy whimpered. "All in favor of running away like scared pixies?" Asked Spike, raising his hand. "......" Twilight looked at the Starway Stone and its immense aura of power, back to her friends. "...Leeeeeet's call that "Plan B."
"Plan B is good." Clockworx interjected, grinning happily. He zips around to nuzzle up to Celestia, winking at her. "Your majesty, will you take the honors?"
"Very well." The Princess of the Sun said, rolling her eyes at the goofy sycophant. "Girls, let's fire it up!"
"You heard the Princess, ladies!" Twilight said, quickly getting into her military mentality. "ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! FORM UP!"
Magically donning the powerful weapons of balance known as the Elements of Harmony, Twilight and her friends called upon the Element they represent.
Twilight Sparkle charged in Godlike Magic.
Applejack drew out pure and refined Honesty.
Rarity poured out pristine Generosity.
Pinkie Pie unleashed unrestrained Laughter.
Fluttershy fed out clear and clean Kindness.
and Rainbow Dash[and spike] let loose indomitable Loyalty.
The six raw forces of Harmony coalesced into the most powerful, most feared, and yet most beloved Weapon of Mass Destruction.
The legendary Rainbow of Light!
The rainbow of light condensed and swirled around the room before encircling the Starway Stone in a brilliant maelstrom of color.
"Readings are coming in, she's powering up! 80% 90% We were right! The elements have all the juice we need and more!" Clockworx cackled. Then he blinked. "100%...120...um...okay girls that enough..."
The Starway stone glowed with a azure light that blinded every pony in the room with its radiance, even the living goddess of the sun herself! The air in the room suddenly sucked into the center of the tower and then the light returned to normal.
The room was empty. No ponies. Nothing but the Starway Stone.
There was a horrible, agonizingly long second of nothing. No sensation what so ever, merely an eternity of void stretched out across the smallest span of time measurable.
And suddenly, all the light and sound of the material world came flooding back to the startled ponies, forcing them to blink and gasp and re-adjust to the real world.
They were in strange, burning ruins. The tall, cyclopean towers around them, fashioned of strange stone and glass were aflame and crumbling as fires raged in the streets and sky.
Over head, the sky was jet black save for stars and smoke. All around the frightened ponies, there were the shrieks of crushing metal, the howls of raging flames and the screams of people.
Clockworx tried to find his happy place and looked upon the scene with the detached logic of a scientist. But the unfamiliar setting, the horrible noises in the background, and the sneaking suspicion that this terrible scenario was, some how, his fault made his usual manic glee simply break his heart.
Lyra and Bon-Bon were not trained for this sort of thing. In fact, besides the terrible day Nightmare Moon came to Ponyville, they have never actually experienced danger in any sort. They did the only thing that occurred to them; shriek and hide behind the larger Celestia.
Luna and Celestia where stunned. They felt their connections to the sun and moon become so distant as to not exist. The very magic in this place was thin. Painfully so for the two sisters, for they could feel their powers slip away form them. There was no way for them to describe the nightmarish sensation as something that was a core part of their very existence, simply ceased to be, but some how they lived on.
"What..in the hay..is going on?!?" Apple Jack demanded out loud, her voice trembling in fear.
"It could be a very, poorly done party." Pinkie pie said with a small, forced laugh.
In the distance, one of the alien towers collapsed under its own weight and shattered, sending debris and dust through the burning cityscape.
"Aaaaand some one forgot to put out the candles..."
"This is no joke, everypony! Keep close and lets find shelter!" Twilight shouted. "Keep together and keep calm!"
"EEEP!! I'M TO HANDSOME TO DIE!!" Squealed Blueblood, hiding behind his smaller aunt Luna.
"Okay..everyone ELSE keep calm!" Twilight yelled.
"Everypony! Follow me!" Princess Celestia commanded and gestured towards a pile of crushed metal and stone. It would do for now as cover for the startled ponies while they gathered their wits.
They had, literally, just reached the apparent sanctuary of the ruined pile of rubble, what had at one time in the past been one of the massive towers.
Looking out into the hellish wasteland, it was hard not to be chilled to the bone. However, Trixie had been keeping her eyes open wide, hoping to spot something useful and be the hero.
What she saw, however, was something that would give her nightmares for decades to come....
"Wh-what's that!?" She shrieked, a purple hoof clamping over her mouth. Off in the distance, a tall, bipedal creature was running along the streets. Not dressed in the armor of a warrior, the creature seemed female, with her soft peachy skin covered by softer clothing. But what was truly horrific, not the alien woman, but the massive, insectoid, black hominid chasing her, a glowing manic grin locked on it's face, and unleashing a horrific chattering sound, as if laughing in glee.
The creature was blindingly fast, only the keenest of eyes catching it's details. To most of the helpless ponies, it looked like naught but a laughing black blur. But once it caught it's prey, the real horror began.
The creature yanked the female off its feet with one of its horrific crab like arms and threw her to the ground roughly. The woman gasped and shrieked, but the monster straddled her body and extended a spiked, segmented stinger form its mouth.
"..stop..." Whispered Twilight, her body frozen in horror.
The stinger plunged into the woman's open mouth and gagged her as it forced its way down her throat. Her esophagus budged as the stinger slid deeper and deeper.
"...stop it..." Twilight said in the softest of tones.
The slime dripping tendril bulged unnaturally as something was forced down it's internal length and into the woman's throat. Whatever foul delivery was made caused the woman to spasm and jerk about like a fish out of water.
"STOP IIIIIIIIT!!" Screamed Twilight and with a flash of light, she summoned all her magic to hurl a girder at the monster. The metal mass barely budged and Twilight felt as if she had done the full "Running of the Leaves" at a full gallop!
The creature retracted its stinger. And turned its gaze towards the new, warm blooded prey. It's beady eyes scanned the dim light, only to spot the small team of ponies[and dragon]. It charged immediately after them, even as the woman rose, her body horrifically distorted, green ooze dripping from every hole in her body.
The ponies all screamed in horror, many attempting to fly away, and not even making it off of the ground, dreading that their first moments in a new world would be their last...
Until, at least, a string of rockets impacted upon the massive insect's body, blasting chunks of armor from it and forcing the beast to be shoved into a spike of exposed rubble, killing it. What had once been a woman followed suit soon enough, getting blasted so fast that the ponies could only watch in horror as her flesh was ripped away, revealing ANOTHER of those horrifying bugs beneath, it too slain by the massive blast.
"Fucking Chrysallids!" Someone shouted, "WHY does it take so much to make those fuckers stay DEAD!?"
From the shadows stalked another creature. Tall and hulking and clad in dark gray armor. Smoke poured form the barrel of a strange and alien weapon. On its shoulder plate, a golden X was inscribed inside a circle. The most terrifying thing about it, was its face. There was no face, merely a pair of misshapen eyes of glass and a "mouth" made of metal grill plating.
Behind the hulking brute, was another two legged creature. This one was clad in a slim, form fitting suit of strange armor and carrying a smaller, but none the less strange looking weapon in its hands. It however had a face underneath its helmet. Pale, hairless skin that was covered in nervous sweat and green eyes peered at the ponies worriedly.
The duo stopped at the sight of the gathered ponies. Celestia and Luna spread their wings and lowered their horns, ready to charge if necessary, for all the good it would do.
For what seemed like forever nether side moved. Until the large figure with a big gun spoke, his voice crackling with static.
"Mac?" he said in a low voice.
"Yeah Reaper?" Said the smaller man.
".......I think I'm crazy now."
"Your not going crazy because...say...a bunch of..small...colorful...animals are looking at you per say..are ya?"
"Ya-huh. You?"
"Yeah...yeah I'm looking at them."
"Oh...good...we both gone crazy."
"Um...excuse me?" Twilight said timidly. The two creatures raised their weapons and looked around nervously.
'Who said that?" Demanded the big creature called Reaper.
"Yes...yes she did." replied Reaper. "We...are so very crazy."
"Um..your not crazy..we're right here." Said Luna.
"Please stop talking figment of my imagination. Telling me your real just makes it worse.." Reaper moaned.
"...No..I really think their real." Said Mac.
"What?" Reaper looked at his smaller companion. "They CAN'T be real."
"We just fought off a bloody alien invasion."
"Yeah but..the aliens....were..real enough to get shot! Ha!"
"I'm gonna touch one."
"This is a bad idea on every level."
"..and what makes you think we're going to LET you touch us." Demanded Celestia, drawing the attention of both soldiers.
"Um..because...we want to know..if we're insane or not..or if this is a trap or something?" asked Mac. Celestia looked unconvinced. Then Mac said the magic word. The one word of power that resonated between difference races and cultures.
"...Please?" He asked.
Celestia was still for a moment. Then she nodded, causing gasps form the assorted ponies. Mac nodded back and slowly he put down his gun. Careful not to make any sudden motions, he reached out to Celestia. His outstretched fingers touched the soft and silky white hair on the Princess's muzzle. Mac's eyes went wide.
"...she's real..." he whispered.
First contact was made.
"As are you..." Celestia spoke, her voice regal, yet nervous. "I...wow...this is more than a tad creepy."
"Real aliens...." Twilight whispered, "Real, honest to goodness ALIENS!"
"Not just aliens!" Lyra gasped, "HUMANS!!!!!"
"....Humans...aliens..." Bonbon whimpered, "I'm in hell, aren't I?" She curled into the fetal position, watching in horror as Lyra began bounding around happily.
"Uuuuhhhhh....." Southern Cross began, him and Clockworx glancing at one another before speaking. "OK, question number one. Is there anywhere safe around here?"
"And question number two!" Clockworx said, "Do you have giant robots!?" He starts hopping around, like Lyra, having always wanted a giant robot....
"No." Celestia said, "You are not getting a giant robot, even if they have one....ESPECIALLY if they have one!"
"Okay..their really real.." Mac said to Reaper as he backed up. "Now the more pressing question; what are they?"
"Brightly colored." Reaper said with a static filled cough. "Also; impossible."
"Well they can't be aliens...I mean..they MIGHT be but all the aliens we've encountered until tonight where horrific and violent." Mac pointed out.
"Yeah..and these are small, cute and snuggle-able." Reaper as he put his hand to the side of his helmet. "Mother Goose, this is Bravo-team. Mission completed...and we got some..friends you'd like to meet."
"Copy that Bravo team. Mother Goose confirms battle casualties were high. We've lost bios on all but six agents..make that five." replied the voice in Mac and Reaper's helmet. "The Interceptors are prepped for departure and for your captives."
"Ummmm..yeah..about that.." Mac said into the radio uplink. "Um..well..we're not sure..um..y'know what? You HAVE to see this for yourself Mother Goose." Mac pulled out a small camera and took a picture of the ponies. "Sending now.."
"...what the hell am I looking at Bravo team?" The voice in their radios asked back.
"We..have no earthly idea?" Mac offered.
"We're ponies!" Lyra shouts, apparently a tad TOO eager to meet more humans.
"We came here by accident, testing a dimensional viewing portal." Spoke Princess Celestia, her voice regaining it's regal tone, "As ruler of Equestria, I humbly request safe haven until we can find a way home. I'm willing to offer my services to aid your endeavors n any way until that time."
"As our sister speaketh, Thus shall We!" Luna's response was much quieter than normal, but her archaic method of speech helped reinforce the ambiance of royalty.
"As shall I!" Responded Twilight, her friends promptly joining her, though after barely stopping one of Pinkie Pie's one-breath-ramblings. Everpony else, ESPECIALLY Lyra, Clockworx, and Southern Cross, joined in....except Blueblood and Bonbon.
"BUT WHY!?" Apparently Blueblood hated one thing more than the antics of the Mane Six from the Gala. And that was risking his pedicure for anything, ESPECIALLY working to aid the people that would be, hopefully, putting a roof over his head in this war-torn hell world.
"Oh, stop whining, ya big baby!" Clockworx snarled, his good cheer rapidly evaporating. He shut himself up at the glare Luna gave him, though Celestia seemed unfazed...
"Clockworx is right, Augustus." Celestia said, "We are their guests, and they have every right to simply toss us out to die at the hands of those vile monsters that apparently wish to kill without mercy.... Do you want to risk being in an alien world, unarmed, alone, with those THINGS roaming about? Even if there is a risk, better a risk with a reward than a guaranteed death."
"D-...death?"
"Yes, you doofus!" Clockworx hissed, "DEATH! D-E-A-T-H! DEATH! As in dying, as in 'Not living anymore' as in 'Your bloody corpse will match that tattered shred you call 'Royal Pride'! So suck it up, quit your whining, and for once GET OF OF YOUR IMAGINARY THRONE!"
"What! How DARE you address a royal in such a disrespectful tone!" Blueblood bristled, preparing to let the commoner have a verbal lambasting when Mac held up his hand for silence. Luna covered Blueblood's mouth with a hoof as the two soldiers listened to their command post's message.
"Royal..oh for the love of..Reaper. Mac. Get them in here ASAP. The commander is not going to believe this unless she sees it for herself.."Said Mother Goose into Bravo team's head sets.
"I'm looking right at them and I STILL don't believe it." Reaper replied with a flat tone of voice.
"Okay ladies..um..gentlemen..we have a ride ready to get us out of here." Mac said and gestured for them to follow. "The Commander wants to have words with the lot of you..and make sure your not aliens..." Mac explained.
"Technically we are." Twilight said. Mac gave her a flat look. "Let me correct myself; aliens who have come to kill us all."
"Is..is that what happened here?" Bon-bon whimpered and looked around the ruined city.
"Yeah..this WAS the city of Tokyo. Its seen better days.." Reaper said and gestured for them to follow. Bonbon however was frozen in place.
"Bonbon..w-we need to go.." Lyra whispered and nudged the terrified pony. Bonbon collapsed."I..I can't..my..my legs won't work. I can't..I caaaaaayeeeeep!"
Bonbon yelped as Reaper picked her up. "Up we go..lets get you lot outta here..seriously, this place is NOT safe."
Thankfully for our equine heroes, the Skyranger VTOL drop ship arrived right then and there, landing with it's cargo bay doors facing the group of equines. The massive steel doors slowly opened wide, revealing the mysterious Commander.
Standing in the doorway was a hulking man, clad form neck to toe in green and grey camouflaged armor not unlike Mac's suit. His chin was broad and strong like a granite cliff face, his skin tanned and weathered by years in the wilderness, his hair a regal silver color. From his steely blue eyes to his stance, every inch of him looked the part of a warrior born, a general who had seen much and accomplished many heroics in his time.
Then he stepped aside to let a petite five foot Asian woman in a grey-blue uniform walk forward. Unlike the large man, she was youthful and bright eyed, with neatly combed short black hair and dark hazel eyes behind silver rimmed glasses. However she walked with a sense of purpose, with a calm dignity that mirrored the Princess of the Sun eerily. This caused the ponies to blink. Though to be fair, the appearance of so many colorful and cute and obviously real ponies caused the older man and the young woman blink.
"...........what the HELL am I looking at Dragunov." Whispered the Commander to her hulking aid.
"I am thinking some one let ze cartoons loose? Like in Amerikan movie 'Who framed Roger Rabbit?'" Answered Dragunov in a thick Russian accent. "Iz ponies, Commander. Ponies."
"Please tell me you're not talking about THOSE ponies, Dragunov!" The commander growled, hoping against all hope that these weren't the same colorful equines the mountain of a Russian soldier constantly hyped up.
Sadly, fate was against her, as Pinkie Pie, ever the fourth-wall-breaker, leapt up and gasped at Dragunov, her eyes briefly turning into gold-hilted daggers before returning to normal. She practically tackled him, moving him all of not-in-the-slightest and began blathering at a breathless pace, the Russian warrior grinning happily through it all.
".................PERMISSION TO SPEAK COMMANDER!" Mac yelled as he saluted the smaller woman.
"Granted." She said even as her eyebrow developed a nasty twitch.
"SIR!! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON SIR?!" Mac yelled, his eyes confused and pleading for something resembling sanity.
"...I have no idea any more Corporal." She said with a loud sigh. Reaper meanwhile was inching away form Pinkie Pie and Lt. Dragunov. "Dragunov is smiling..he's smiling and that means some one is about to get hurt...namely me." he hissed, the static form his suit's speaker covering up the terror in his voice.
"GUYS!! GUYS!! Its super commando Dragonoff!" Squealed Pinkie Pie. "He's JUST like in the books!" She squealed again and hugged the large Russian's head.
"Wait...books..you mean those silly, campy sci-fi comics your reading all the time?" Twilight asked. Rainbow Dash and Spike's eyes lit up. "Oh! I know those ones! Its all about this squad of friendly aliens who fight and protect this..alien...world..wait.."
"But...iz not possible..." Dragunov replied, "Little ponies are cartoon, having happy adventured and fighting evil monsters in Equestria..."
"HAH!" Southern Cross interrupted, "PROOF! Proof that the imagination links alternate realities to one another! PROOF I SAY! PROOOOOOOOF!"
"Dude, calm down." Clockworx deadpanned, knowing that cross had a bad tendency to be just as hyper about astral physics as he, himself did about engineering...or Miss Sparkle about magical theory.
"So, wait." The Commander and Celestia both began, "In our world, you're just fictional heroes...and in YOUR world, we're just fictional heroes...."
"I don't like where this is going." The Commander deadpanned.
"I absolutely LOVE where this is going!" Celestia countered, "Love the comics, by the way. I'm a big fan." She then produced a copy, or more accurately, the FIRST copy of the first edition of the series and held it out to Dragunov, whom promptly signed it, pecking a kiss on Celestia's cheek in response.
"OKAY!" Twilight shouted, "Your Majesty, I don't mean to be rude but...WHY are you acting so...strange!?"
"Strange?" Celestia mimed, "Luna, are you acting strange?"
"She means you, Celly..."
"Does she, Lulu?" Celestia raised an eyebrow, pushing her face closer to Luna's, "DOES she!?" Her eyes prodded out repeatedly, unnerving Luna with the cartoonishness of the action, especially after Officer Dragunov said that they were a cartoon in this reality....
"S-so..." Spike piped up, "Does this mean we can get the chance to join the team?"
"YEAH!" Rainbow shouted, "I wanna join, too!"
"Me too!" came the continuing chorus from Pinkie Pie, followed promptly be the rest of the assembled ponies piping up, many having at least passing knowledge of the comics, at least enough to know what they were getting in to. Though the only one scared was the only one to say no. Blueblood.
"Do I have too, Auntie?"
"Yes, Augustus." Celestia said, finally regaining her composure.
"But WHY!? They're commoners! I'm not even TRAINED to be a soldier!"
"Iz true." Dragunov supplied, "But most of our troops are inexperienced, we get lots of rookies, high turnover rate."
"That's why you began using cloning, isn't it!" Pinkie pie leapt into the conversation, "Too many falling to the aliens, no one had the guts to join!"
"Miss Pie iz correct. Iz difficult job, fighting alien scum."
"Then why would you want US!?"
"They've not said if they did or not, Augustus." Celestia continued, regaining control of the conversation. "Think about it. They're the best in their fields, with an army of scientists and engineers at their disposal. What they lack in troop numbers, they make up for in technological skill. If ANYONE has what it takes to get us home alive, THEY do!"
"Hm. That is true..." said the Commander. "We DO have access to tech that's light years ahead of the rest of the planet and we get first dibs on the best scientists and engineers and general know-it-alls."
"Then its settled!" Pinkie Pie said happily. "We're joining the team!"
"Err...its kinda up to the Commander.." Mac said, gesturing for the lot of excited and colorful critters to calm down. "And even if she did..what exactly could you guys do in the field?"
"We're a mite tougher then we look. You tell us what needs doing and we'll git it done!" Declared Applejack.
"At the very least darling let me make you a new outfit..no offense dear but...yuck." Rarity said as she looked at the Commander's uniform. The white unicorn visibly grimaced at the thought of being forced to wear a suit like that. The commander's eyebrow twitch got worse.
".......Very well. FOR not you are all top secret guests of the Terrestrial defense and research initiative. Weather or not you will actually JOIN will depend on your aptitude and your ability to complete our organizations rather Rigorous entrance examinations." Said the commander as she adjusted her glasses. "Or at the very least until we find a way to send you all home...."
The Commander gestures grandly and behind her the lights of the room lit up as one, revealing a vast hanger filled with sleek and powerful craft of all kinds, while a small legion of men and women in uniforms rushed about preparing for the next deadly mission.
"Ladies and Gentlemen..on behalf of myself, Commander Li Yoshimura, and the people of the planet earth...Welcome to X-COM."
Due to a lack of time writing, no ability to contact my co-author, and being unable to locate a willing co-author or ghostwriter for this endeavor, nor for From Nobody to Knightmare, I'm forced to bring Squad Equestria to an end, at least for now. I may continue it later but I will give SOME closure by posting the battle logds I was using as a basis.
yes, it's based on a playthrough from the original X-Com game.
Opening: Celestia, Luna, the Mane 6[Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity], Trixie, Blueblood, Lyra, Bon Bon, Octavia, and Vinyl Scratch arrive on Earth. They're detained by X-Com but reveal their extradimensional origins. Knowledge of the alien menace prompts them to join X-Com as Squadron Equestria. Celesia and Luna lead the two halves of the Squad. Celestia leading the Mane 6 as the 'Assault' squad, attacking ships, while Luna leads the rest as the 'Sweep Squad', dealing with other aliens.
Mission 1: Team arrives, small ship, farmland. Two aliens are near Skyranger, one in wheat field, Trixie's aim SUCKS! Octavia gets first kill. Second alien is direcly below, killed by Lyra, lucky shot. Last alien in ship, Celstia makes final kill.
Post Mission: Nopony died! Celestia and Luna now sergeants.
intermission 1: Laser weapons available, laser pistols being manufactured, 4 available by second mission, Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and, oddly, Blueblood get first laser pistols.
Mission 2: Night mission, farmland + 2 houses. Cruciform ship. Trixie throws electroflare, spots alien, still sucks aim. Vinyl gets frst kill of mission. Sweep squad exit's ship. alien in garden sneak attacks, Vinyl killed by headshot, Applejack snapshot's 5 times, 3 headshots, alien dead. Sweep squad continues, Octavia kills 2 more aliens, royally pissed. Lyra shot in chest by alien in ship, fatally wounded, dead in 2 turns. Outside sweep nearly done, assault team setting into place. EVERYONE pissed and out for blood, especially octavia and bonbon. Lyra lunges at ship, spots alien, gets woozy. Pinkie panics, tries to kill alien. Lyra dead. Rainbow Dash and rarity try to make the shot, extremely tricky, both miss. Celestia gets ROYALLY pissed! Takes shot, accidentally kills pinkie, who didn't move, succeeds in killing the alien. Everypony is feeling like morons. Temporary assault squad made of Celestia, Luna, Twilight, applejack, rainbow dash, rarity, and fluttershy ready to attack. Sweep almost done. Assault team enters ship, rarity makes lucky snapshot, last alien dead! Mission Complete
Post-mission: Vinyl, Pinkie, and Lyra KIA, cloning begins immediately. Applejack now a Sergeant. Celestia upgraded to Captain.
intermission 2: Alien containment finished. 10 Laser Pistols done, 4 remain. Clones yet to arrive. terror mision in Tokyo. Squad under-equipped. We're fucked.
Terror Mission 1: Mission begins in late day. Bright out. Everyone but blueblood equiped with laser pistol and stun rod. Blueblood given extra rifle reloads. Enemy still unknown. STILL haven't re-ordered the damn skyranger. Enemy located, FLOATERS! Fuck. Trixie opens fire with laer pistol. It's a miracle, she hits itin one shot and kills it. Fluttershy spots reaper near convenience store. Fluttershy nearly shoots Trixie in the head, misses reaper with every shot. Everyone refuses to leave the skyranger. Rarity and Celestia check the windows. We're in the center of the battlefield. Double Fuck. Applejack opens fire on the Reaper, 3 shots hit, it's still alive! Fluttershy down from unseen enemy fire! She shall be AVENGED! Trixie exits Skyranger, goes batshit on two floaters, one of which killed Fluttershy. Their deaths were swift and brutal. 2 Reapers spotted, Trixie and Applejack open fire. Applejack kills one. Luna and Rainbow Dash kill second, spot third reaper in alleyway. Twilight fires on third reaper, misses every shot. Dumbass Floater lobs grenade at ally's corpse, harms no one. Applejack and Rainbow Dash move to track and kill dumbass floater. Luna succeeds in killing Reaper 3. RainbowDash vaporizes half of someoen's house with laser pistol. Trixie makes for warehouse with hole blown through it by alien grenade, barely dodges unseen enemy fire from west. Floater lobs poorly-aimed grenade tot he west of Twilight Sparkle, whom is busy rounding the southwestern block. Bonbon shot and killed by Floater that attacked Trixie. Trixie avenges Bonbon. Luna spots another Floater and kills it, likely the second grenade-thrower. Rarity moves to second floor of civilian building to provide cover fire. Twilight locates a floating floater, opens fire, misses horribly. Rainbow Dash locates first grenade thrower, kills promptly. Applejack located 4th Reaper, misses half her shots. Reaper 4 still alive and in attack range of Rainbow Dash who is unaware. Floating Floater attacks civilian and flees, Twilight unharmed. Luna fired upon by unseen floater, it misses badly. Twilight locates floater, kills in first shot. Twilight fired upon by another Floater, dodges. Celestia locates another floater in factory, dodges enemy fire and kills with laser pistol. Luna blind-fire's through smoke, kills Floater. Mission Complete.
Post-Mission: no new ranks. Fluttershy and Bonbon dead. Blueblood STILL useless.
Intermission 3:
New clones for Pinkie, Vinyl, and Lura arrive. Laser Pistols done. Research on Heavy Plasma nearing completion. Grenades purchased[FINALLY] Reordered Skyranger seating[FINALLY] 3rd UFO spotted, destroyed over water. 4th UFO spotted, it escapes. 2 Auto Cannons purchased + 30 belts of HE ammo for the princesses. Large Radar System in progress. second lab and workshop nearing completion. Second base built as radar relay in Alps begun. Alps base named 'Durandal' Fluttershy and Bonbon Clones arrive. Cruciform ship lands in Alaska, Squad Equestria goes to investigate. Smaller, 'square' ship shot down over Mexico, it can wait.
Mission 3: UFO 5: Prep Squad prepares new assault kit for the attack. everyone has electroflares. everyone but the princesses has a grenade. Princesses have HE-Autocannons +1 reload. everyone has stun rod and laser pistol.
Mission 3: Begin everyone checks windows. Southwestern corner, good. Blueblood throws Electroflare, no aliens. Blueblood moves from the plane, no sudden attacks. Trixie drops from plane, thros electroflare. Still no aliens. Area secured so far. Remainder of sweep team begins exiting, tossing out electroflares. Vinyl 2 locates enemy ship, STILL no aliens. Sectoid spotted in small valley, wielding heavy plasma. Second sectoid attacks Vinyl with HP. Sctoid2 has shitty aim. Vinyl moves over hill, spots Sec-1 Vinyl opens fire, kills Sec-1 in one hit. Octavia moves to support Vinyl, spots Sec-2. Octavia kills Sec-2, field clear so far. Bonbon tosses electroflare near Sec-2's corpse, sees nothing. Lyra moves around shrubbery to look for ambushes, none spotted. Trixie and Blueblood move to join Sweep Squad, nopony hurt so far. Luna tosses Electroflare to approximate location of ship entrance. Bull's eye. Sweep Squad commences assault. Lyra and Bonbon move around northern edge of ship, nothing spotted. Vinyl, Octavia, Blueblood, and Trixie move across southern pass. Luna gets to high ground, possibly to pepper ship with HE-rounds[damage may pass through]. Sec-3 leaves ship, fires shot, misses, returns to ship. Lyra and Bonboncontinue around northern face, nothing so far. Trixie spots Sec-3, opens fire. Sec-3 killed by laser pistol. Trixie's aim is improving! Blueblood fumples an electroflare toss, promptly begins wetting himself as he realizes he's alone in the dark. Assault Squad begins disembarking and moves straight to the ship. Luna peppers the southwest side of the saucer, just in case. Sweep Squad finishes sweeping and preps to join Assault Squad. Luna makes a poorly aimed shot, Vinyl scratch is killed.... ...again. Octavia is fataly wounded, 9 rounds to death by bloodloss. Trixie enters ship, kills an alien immediately. Trixie is beginnng to earn her title, now. everyone mourns for Vinyl, except Blueblood. Blueblood begins crying and complaining. Luna tempted to fire at blueblood. Octavia begisn scouting ship. Entrance clear. Everyone begins piling in but the pricnesses. Everyone considers it wise to ditch the autocannons on next mission. Everypony equips stun rods. Everypony hopes for a navigator. Sec-4 located and stunned by near-dead Octavia. It's an engineer. Octavia is pissed, passes out. Mission Complete.
Post-mission: Vinyl scratch dead[again]. no new ranks.
Intermission 4: Vinyl clone #2[Vinyl-3] due to arrive in 3 days. Octavia out of commission for 42 days. Autocannons sold off immediately Octavia requests being 'put down' and cloned. order for Octavia clone done immediately, due to arrive alongside Vinyl clone. 16 more scienticsts called in for work. New living quarters and general stores begun immediately. Wreckage lost due to delays, secondary mission failed.
New Month: China is displeased with our work, however our funding is increased by $670,000. New funding allows to becin expansion of secondary base. Graph spike in southeast asia suggests high alien activity. Interceptor 2 sent to investigate. Interceptor 2 incapable of reaching location. Clones have arrived. Octavia 2, and Vinyl scratch 3 are in duty! sending Skyranger to investigate southern china. UFO 7 located over norht america. Interceptor 1 sent to attack. UFO7 crashlands over water. Recovery impossible. Skyranger unable to locate anything of note, returning to base. Preparations for second relay base have begun. Location will be southwest of Tokyo. Rebuilding X-Com base 0: Kiryu. new laboratory complete, scientists beginning work immediately. UFO 8 located over USA, sending Interceptor 1 to attack. UFO 8: Cruciform 'Small' ship, crash landed in midwestern USA. Interceptor 1 under-equipped, altering to 'Stingray' missiles. Interceptor 2 fully un-equipped, will be used as test bed for new weaponry. Skyranger sent to crashsite of UFO 8.
Pre-mission Prep: Team fully equipped. 1 laser pistol, 1 grenade, 1 stun rod for everyone.
Mission 4: Begin West of center battlefield, immediately to the west of the enemy ship. fuck. Sweep Squad begins immediately. Grenades are used to clear out nearby buildings. Assault Squad preps t disembark. Sweep team lobs all grenades, nearly levels one house. Sec-1 spotted, unharmed. Sweep team prepares to open fire with laser pistols until house is only rubble. Assault team disembarks, grenades primed. Sec-1 flees in panic. Lyra rushes to stun. remainder of sweep team equipps stun rods, just in case. Assault team begins demlishing a barn in the way. Sweep team continues chasing unarmed sec-1 Octavia stuns Sec-1. Sec-1 is an engineer. Slowly, everyone surrounds the ship. Blueblood enters first, spots 2 sectoids. Blueblood stuns Sec-2 Sec-3 kills blueblood. Pinkie kills Sec-3 rarity moves to inspect Sec-2 Sec-4 shoots at Rarity from blindspot. Rarity dodges and spots sec-5! Trixie, Bonbon, and Celestia alla ttack Sec-4. Sec-4 is killed. Vinyl charges sec-5 before it can attack and shoots. the shot is non-lethal, Sec-5 is stunned. Mission complete
Post-mission: Blueblood dead[FINALLY!!!]
Intermission 5: Research on heavy plamsa finished. Beginnign research on Heavy Plasma Clip. Blueblood clone due to arrive in 3 days. General stores complete. Small ship located DIRECTLY overhead! Interceptor 1 sent to attack. Small 'Cruciform' ship crash lands in florida. Wll attack once Blueblood clone arrives. Blueblood clone arrives. Purchasing 28 'Hi-Ex' to replace pitiful grenades. launching immediately to attack downed craft. X-Com base 'Kiryu' reinstated. Repairs begin immediately.
Mission 6 Pre:
Grenades going 'out with a bang'. All 28 are equipped for the last mission they're gonna be used on. Sweep team gets all grenades.
Mission 6: Begin Beginning in Southeats corner. Easy defense, hard to be snuck up on. FINALLY a lucky landing zone. Sweep team heads out in pairs. no civilians, demolish the fuck out of everything! Trixie and blueblood go first. Trixie and blueblood juggle grenades, due to Blueblood fuckign up. Nothing's too thoroughly demolished due to delays. Trixie and blueblood begin demolishing the house via laser fire whilst Vinyl and Octavia prep grenades. Sweep team expends all 28 grenades and forms a tight line, becoming a 'firind squad'. 'Firing Squad' begins treking west, locating and killing sec-1 and Sec-2 immediately. Sec-3 located, luna opens fire. Luna misses, sec-3 returns fire. direct hit, yet Luna is unharmed. Like a boss! Bonbon fires on sec-3 and misses every shot. Octavia fires on sec-3 and kills on the first round. Sec-4 exits the ship nd fires on Luna misses horribly. luna returns fire, ne shot hits, Sec-4 still standing. Octavia steps frward and fires on sec-4, kills on the first hit. Octavia is badass! Assault Squad FINALLY disembarks to attack the ship. Aliens are getting antsy[turn 20 is about to arrive]. Both teams surround the entrance. Sec-5 jumps out and opens fire, Vinyl and Luna Snapshot, both hit, Sec-5 still alive. Sec-5 leaps out and kills Octavia. Vinyl shoots Sec-5 and promptly stops it's corpse into paste. mission complete.
Post-mission: Octavia dead, clone to arrive in 3 days. no more 'nades'. no new ranks. everyone mourns Octavia, resident badass.
Intermission 6: Living quarters completed Hi-Ex arrived. Reserch on Heavy Plasma Clip finished. Research on Plasma Cannon beginnign immediately. New researchers due to arrive soon. Octavia clone has arrived. Octavia 3's stats suggest much badassery to ensue[high bravery, kickass strength and accuracy] only 7 Hi-Ex are equipped, as only the Sweep team needs them. [Emergencies only.] UFO 10 located over USA, interceptor 1 on the offensive. UFO 10 crashlands over midwest, letting US Government get it. we're running out of room in the morgue. Research on Plasma Cannon finished. Building 2 to test on Interceptor 2 immediately. beginning research on alien alloys. Armor has become vital. Clones are fucking expensive. UFO 11 located over pacific ocean! time to test the plasma cannons, Interceptor 2 is launched! UFO 11 is down before it can even HIT! Plasma cannons a success! Princess Celestia is proud, it was her solar magic that helped put the final pieces together. Interceptor 1 fitted with plasma cannons as well, standard weaponry is pointless now. The less we have to rely on purchases for equipment, the better. UFO 12 located and destroyed, will no longer list UFOs that aren't searched. Alien allows researched, working on Personal Armor immediately. Personal Armor researched, production begins immediately. Princess Luna suggests researching Elerium-115 as it's unique 'Magic-Like'[her words] energy may prove useful in future endeavors. Living Quarters #4 being built immediately. Large UFO located over Italy byRelay Base 'Excalibur'! It's heading towards north america! This thing's too big and too fast for our interceptors to take down! Large UFO did several fly-bys before vanishing...huh?
End of Month 2: EVERYONE is happy with the progress! Funding increased by $710,000 no complains so far. Activity in southeast asia has died down since Kiryu was reinstated. Activity over USA continues to rise. Expenditure is still dangeorusly high, but income is growing to meet it. 'Las-pistol factory' diea from 'Rainbow Dash' is workign efficiently to overcome weakpoints in funding, keeping us in the green constantly. UFO 14 located, landed in Autria-area. Squad Equestria sent to attack at nightfall UFO 14 vanished, before re-appearing on visual selecting a new landing zone in northern Iraq.
Mission7: Begin Blueblood wastes his hi-ex on the ship, no breech. Trixie preps hers but saves for later. Vinyl and Octavia locate Floater-1, whom fires on them. Octavia prines Hi-Ex and tosses it to where Flo-1 was. Vinyl primes her Hi-Ex for later. Trixie lobs Hi-Ex near ship entrance, in wheat-field, hoping for a fire to get some light. No light for Trixie, but Flo-1 is down. Lyra and Bonbon disembark just in time to see Vinyl fumble her Hi-Ex. Everypony runs for their lives. Vinyl grabs an electroflare after the blast and tosses it to octavia. Octavia tosses the electroflare further along and spots a Heavy Plasma. Octavia then rushes to grab it. Octavia succeeds in attaining the heavy plamsa. Trixie and Blueblood are prepared to assault the small, one-room ship. Blueblood and Trixie[miracuously] succeed in assaulting the ship alone. An unknown floater tries to attack Octavia, she evades beside a barn Lyra lobs her Hi-Ex into the air in shock, it lands on top of the last floater and detonates. Mission complete!
Post-mission: No one died! no new ranks.
Intermission: Elerium research completed. Now researching alien power supply. The team gets a scare from an utterly MASSIVE ship that flies directly overhead before vanishing. Twilight Sparkle demands retaining Alien grenades and Heavy Plasmas, and reserching the grenades immediately! oh FUCK! The base is under attack![possible cliffhanger]
Base Defense 1: Everypony drops their electroflares and hi-ex, laser pistols and stunrods! We may get something useful outta this. Blueblood was busy cowering in the barracks, while everyone else was either training or doing research. Everypony[even blueblood, whom is getting a backbone] charges towards the access elivator to prepare against the invasion. Sectoids! Sec-1 and Sec-2 are in the access elivator. We may have to deal withmental attacks. Bonbon, twilight, celestia, vinyl scratch, and fluttershy enter the elevator to meet the invaders. Vinyl is killed int he back[again] and Twilight is forced to panic via mental attack. Bonbon stuns sec-1, an engineer....equipped with BLASTER BOMBS! Fluttershy stuns Sec-2, a Navigator[FINALLY!]. Everypony charges towards the elevator to stop the assault and, possibly, locate a commander. Rarity is taking up the rear thanks to being in the bathroom during the attack. Bonbon is shot and killed by Sec-3 Twilight panics again. Luna kills sec-3 and is fired upon by Sec-4 Luna attacks and stuns sec-4, a Leader. She then attacks Sec-5 and Sec-6, killing Sec-5. Celestia attacks sec-6 and kills it. Blueblood spots Sec-7, but has noline of fire. Fluttershy locates Sec-7, and spots Cberdisc-1. She fires on CB-1 and hits once, fleeing immediately. Rarity chooses to stay with Twilight, while Trixie, Rainbow, and Lyra opt to watch the stunned Sectoids. Sec-7 lods a grenade and misses. CD-1 fires and misses. Fluttershy kills CD-1, killing Sec-7 as well. Sec-8, a Medic, fires a stun bomb, knocking Fluttershy and Luna out cold. Celestia opens fire on Sec-8, killing it, and knocking Sec-9 unconscious. Sec-9 regains consciousness, blueblood moves to stun but is fired upon by Sec-10. Pinkie Pie fires upon Sec-10 and kills it. Celestia moves to re-stun sec-9 Celestia succeeds in stunning Sec-9, but locates CD-2. CD-2 opens fire, misses. Pinkie fires upon, and kills, CD-2, but the explosion knocks Celestia unconscious. Twilight calms down and etrieves her weapons, ROYALLY pissed that her mentor/possible lover has been direly injured. Rarity FINALLY joins the battle Sec-11 spotted by applejack, they exchange fire but both miss. Sec-11 fires at applejack and kills her. Pinkie's pissed and fires on an explosive fuel barrle near Sec-11, knocking it unconscious. Pinkie makes a 'Cupcakes' comment before retrieving Applejack's corpse. Mission complete.
post-mission: 4 live aliens. Octavia now Sergeant, Vinyl, Bonbon, and Applejacka re dead and need to be cloned. Celestia, and Pinkie pie are wounded, 36 and 5 days in infirmary respectively. Twilight verbally browbeats Celestia for considering going 'Down for the count' like Octavia did.
Intermission: more Heavy Plasmas in inventory, stockpiles growing nicely, Blasterboms and launchers will be saved for later, personal armor nearly finished. Large ship located.... Terror mission in New York! GODDAMMIT CAN'T WE GET A FUCKING BREAK!!!!!
Mission Prep: going in with only 9 soldiers. Heavy hitters still wounded. Still no clones. under-equipped for a terror mission. we're so doomed.
Terror Mission 2: Begin Luna and Octavia given heavy plasma + reload. battle opens in NorthEast corner. Fighting sectoids Sec-1 out at the gate. blueblood opens fire. Sec-1 killed, nice aim Blueblood and Trixie prime their Hi-Ex for launch. Trixie throws immediately to clear the LZ Sec-2 attacks from nowhere, area caught in fog of war. Blueblood jumps out and lobs Hi-Ex at Sec-2 Sec-2 dead, LZ Cleared. Sec-3, medic, is spotted. blueblood kills sec-3 from behind and swipes Sec-2's heavy plasma and reload. Blueblood fired upon by Sec-4 and returns fire. and both miss horribly. Trixie, Lyra,and Octavia all fire on Sec-4, all miss. fluttershy disembarks and fies on Sec-4, kills in one hit. whole team disembarks immediately. Luna enters a house and is fired upon by CD-1. Luna is moderately injured, not fatally, and returns fire. CD-1 is killed and selfdestructs, killing another unseen Sectoid, Sec-5. Luna steps forward and sots Sec-6. Blueblood follos coordinates and snipes Sec-6 with heavy plasma, one shot, one kill. Sec-7 locates, luna snipes. missed. fluttershy opens fire with laser pistol, killed in one. Fluttershy is badass. unknown sectoid uses psionic attacks, no effect. Sec-8 spotted in shadows. Rainbow Dash locates and is fired at by CD-2. Fluttershy opens fire on Sec-8 and CD-2, Sec-8 returns fire. Fluttershy s down! Luna opens fire, full auto! Rarity and Twilight locate CD-3 and open fire, CD-3 destroyed. Mission complete!
Post-mission: Fluttershy has fallen no new ranks.
Intermission: Fluttershy begins cloning immediately. UFO power source research completed. Power suit ressearch began and finished immediately. Luna and Celetia request research in a 'Flight Suit' begin ASAP Applejack 2, Vinyl Scratch 4, and Bonbon 3 have arrived. luna has 6 days in infirmary, Rainbow Dash hs 9, Pinkie has 2 still, Celestia has 33. Fluttershy 2 has arrived. UFO Navigation complete. Research into nw 'Flying Suits' has begun at 90% ability, 10% going towards UFO construction Personal armor is complete. EVERYPONY GETS PERSONAL ARMOR! Hi-Ex is negated from use, too risky. But isn't sold, just in case. Flying Suit Reserch completed! Custom flying suits will be made for everypony, now winged fighters can fly with heavyy weapons, and anyone can hover! UFO constructon researched, researching new fighter craft. Luna, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie are out of infirmary, Celestia has 24 days to go. more engineers hred to speed things up. 2 flying suits completed before funds ran dry, both given to Luna and Celestia, modeled fter their 'Nightmare Mode' armor. Research into 'Firestorm' completed, beginning research on Laser Rifle. Will built a plasma hovertank once flying suits are completed. Medium-sized UFO located on ground, full team sans Celestia sent to attack with laser pistols and stun rods.
Mission: Begin VS Floaters. arboreal terrain. Blueblood launches opening volley, his aim is shitty. Trixie moves to attack, launches volley, is fired upon by Flo-2. Trixie still aims for Flo-1, but hits Flo-2 in the head, kill. Trixie fires upon Flo-1 and hits. Flo-1 turns and counters, killing Trixie. Vinyl scratch disembarks and fires on Flo-1, avenging trixie with a fatal blow. whole team disembarks. Bonbon disembarks after Vnyl and Lyra and spots Flo-3, launches volley and kills it. octavia disembarks, followed by Luna in the new flying suit, who takes to the air. Ship located, it's not 'medium', it's FUCKING HUGE! It's either a research vessel or a supply ship. Lyra is fires at by Flo-4, but unharmed. Luna marches forward to investigate. Octavia snapshots at Flo-4 and can still see him, opening fire. Flo-4 dead. Blueblood opts to stay beside trixie's corpse, to ensure she can be cloned. rest of squad follows Luna to attack the ship. Luna spots Flo-5, bonbon and Ranbow Dash open fire. Rainbow Dash kills it. Flo-6 located by Luna, fired upon by fluttershy. Fo-6 retreats, luna gives chase, everypony else moves toa ssault the ship's 2 entrances. Flo-6 relocated and killed by Fluttershy. Entrance to ship appears empty, seems to be a smaller research vessel. Flo-7 located by Applejack and killed by Luna. Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Octavia opt to be the first to assault the ship and enter. Bonbon is fires at and hit by Flo-8. She counters and kills Flo-8 but is badly injured. Bonbon has 14 turns to live. Rainbow Dash snapshot's Flo-9 and kills it as it enters the elevator room Squad of Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Octavia, Lyra, Fluttershy, and Bonbon assault the ship. 3 doors, 3 teams of 2. Behind door #1, Rainbow and bonbon find another elevator. Doors 2 and 3 both lead to a research room full of corpses, some human some animal. team requests backup to fully explore ship. Flo-10, and Flo-11 are kileld by Octavia and Twilight via snapshot. Flo-12 panics and fires at random, likely trying to destroy research. Teams re-split after regrouping. Lyra, Bonbon, and Rainbow Dash locate the engines, no enemies. Luna and Fluttershy find an elevator. as do vinyl and octavia. Twilight finds a floorless-room leading to a lab, and Flo-12. Flo-12 doesn't last long. Rarity, applejack, and pinkie join Twilight in the lab. Flo-13 is a floater medic, stunned by applejck. Flo-14, a Leader, has panicked. Flo-15 is shot from below by Octavia. Octavia, Vinyl, fluttershyl,a nd luna are about to regroup on the third and final floor of the ship. Luna stuns the floater leader. Mission complete!
Post-mission: Trixie dead. Bonbon cloned.
Intermission: Possible base defence, again. research on laser rfle done. beginnign heavy laser research. flying suits STILL too expensive, but e've got moar. Trixie Clone arrived! Research on heavy laser done. research on sectoid navigator beginning IMMEDIATELY
End of Month 3: +$758,000 Research on navigator complete. Beginning research on Hyper Wave Decoder immediately! everypony has flying suit nao! Celestia requests giving the Autocannon a second chance now that we're not on the ground. Hi-Ex and incendiary rounds purchased for autocannon. LOTS of proxy-grenades purchased in case of base defense mission. multiple ships located and destroyed. Interceptor 2 transferred to Kiryu's newly refurbished hangar. Terrorship located! Interceptor 2 sent to investigate and chance attack. Terror ship downed! Main force sent to attack immediately.
Mission Prep: Octavia and Luna given autocannons.
Mission: Faster than expected, floaters abound. No one died and the mission was over in mere minutes.
post-mission: buh?
Intermission: Study of the Sectoid 'Leader' results in research into psionics. Rainbow Dash makes a joke about Fluttershy's 'Stare' being amplified. SHIT! THREE Very large ships sighted over Durandal! As if things couldn't get worse... all ships seem to have landed, possibly starting an alien base in the vicinity. Alien Base 1 located!
Mission: Begin! Floater base, Reaper-1 located and killed by Trixie! Her aim is getting REALLY good. Flo-1 spotted by Luna's team, killed by Vinyl. Flo-2 located and killed by Applejack. Separated teams will converge ASAP to explore and clear out the base. Flo-3 spotted by Luna and killed immediately. Flo-4 spotted and killed by Octavia. Flo-5 attacks Trixie and is killed by her and Rainbow Dash's reaction fire. Trixie take's enemy's heavy plasma and begins exploring separately. Flo-6 fires on Fluttershy and is promtply killed. Pinkie spots and fires at Rea-2. Applejack finishes off Rea-2. Luna spots and snapshot's Rea-3, Blueblood finishes it. Flo-7 shot from below by Lyra. Flo-8 attacks Blueblood from behind. blueblood returns fire and kills Flo-8 Flo-9 sneaks in and kills Twilight. Celestia's gonna be PISSED! Luna retrieves a heavy plasma from Flo-8's corpse. Octavia kills Flo-9 and retrieve's Twilight's corpse. Flo-10 located by Trixie. Backup too late to provide cover fire. Flo-11 stunned by Blueblood, it's a medic. Flo-10 killed by Trixie via auto-fire. Flo-12 spotted by Octavia, who accidentally shoots Vinyl in the back. Flo-12 killed by Vinyl, who decided to 'Show 'tavi how it's done.' Blueblood gets in one last kill, an engineer most likely. Flo-13 definitely dead. Last floater killed JUST in the nick of time! Mission complete!
Post-mission: Twilight Sparkle dead, clone to arrive in 3 days. Celestia is furious.
intermission Psi-amps completely researched and testers built. Psi-lab begun. new Twilight clone arrived and given personal armor. Ceestia's back! and bonbon. new equipment useable!
End of month 4: +$399,000 UK has made a pact with alien scum. damn. Whole team available for first time in too dang long. Terror mission in south america! aaaand fuck, we missed it. selling excess navigation systems for extra funding. plasma defences are being set up. beginning research on New Fighter-transporter. Hoping to see someting useful. Research on 'Lightning' completed! Beginning research on 'Ultimate Craft'. Psionic Trainign to begin soon. Research has lead to opening a miniscule portal back to Equestria, it's small, but radiowaves can pass through. Second alien base located in north america! Cuba, to be exact. Prepping troops to assualt supply ships for funding and training! once psionic trainign has begun, at least. Avenger research completed! Beginning construction IMMEDIATELY! Interceptors will be modified to Drones and used as assault aid. Interceptor pilots 'spike' and 'Ditzy Doo' will join assault team, + 2 Hovertanks. Avenger will be complete in 22 days. Interceptor 2 destroyed by Battleship! Spike was teleported to Base-1 Canterlot safely. Terror Mission in Lima!
Mission-Prep: Celestia and Octavia given autocannons. Luna and Twilight given Heavy Plasmas. everyone else has 1 medkit, 1 stun rod, 1 alien grenade, and 1 laser pistol. We're starting off in...fuck, dead center. Troops with flying suits will clear LZ. Twilight will remain behind to defend the Skyranger. moving in teams of 2 at all times. FUCK! we're taking on Snakemen. that means Crysallids. Blueblood fires on Sman-1, but locates Sman-2, likely equipped with a small launcher. Trixie spots Sman-2 and S-man 3 and opens fire. what a finely fucked-up opening to a terror mission. Trixie stuns Sman-3 and kills Sman-2. Lyra kills Sman-1. Luna spots and fires upon a FUCKING CRYSALLID!!!!!! CRY-1 recedes into a building....AND THREE MORE COME OUT! Cry-2, 3, and 4 wander around. WE ARE GETTING OFFA THE FUCKING GROUND NOW!!! Celestia opts to remain behind alongside Twilight. Both kneel down and prepare to fire on incoming crysallids. Blueblood and Rainbow Dash begin clearing the LZ with explosives. EVERYONE preps their grenades. No one gives a fuck about civilians anymore! They're just PREY for those damn zombifying bugs! KILL EVERYTHING! Every building will be demolished if necessary, thankfully laser pistols have infinite ammunition. 2 crysallids down! Too damn many to go. Trixie kills another Crysallid with laser fire, while Luna kills one more with heavy plasma. Rainbow dash kills another crysallid, while another snakeman is scared ff by Celestia's autocannon. Rarity tries to sneak up on the last snakeman, only to find a FUCKING CRYSALLID! Everyone tries, and fails, to reach her in time. Rarity is nfested by the Crysallid and will soon become one, her cloning DNA may be affected by it. Rarity and one other are the only remaining enemies, Fluttershy intends to stun rarity in hopes of capture. Infested!Rarity knocks Applejack unconscious. Applejack's wounds were fatal, she'll need cloning. Rarity was captured nearly dead, but can be healed. The infestation can be cleared, but it will be painful. mission complete.
Post-mission. Applejack is dead. Rarity was infected by a Crysallid.
End of Month 5: -$1,048,000 Blueblood has opted against psionic training, as has Rainbow Dash, everyone else[sans clones] has begun psionic training. Final Hyper-Wave Decoder online at Durandal. 'Blaster Launcher' researched. beginning research on Blaster Bombs immediately. Blaster Bomb researched. Fusion Missile research available Begginning research on Alien Origins. they may have a way for us to get back home. Contact with Home-Equestria established via K-colt radio. Human and Equestrian scientists and mages are now in communication about a way to open a portal. we'll possibly be going home soon. Avenger will be complete, soon. Ditzy and Spike entering training regimine. Alien origins researched. They're coming from within the solar system, the avenger aught to reach them. We need a leader and a commander to get greater details. Thank goodness we'vego tthat floater leader. and we can raid tht base for it's commander. Floater Leader talks, we're learning more about the alien menace as I type these logs. Awaiting 2 more soldiers due to arrive from Area-51. Building 2 'Plasma' hovertanks to join the team. We should be fully prepared for anything, soon. first thing's first, we need flying armor. Laser pistols and autocannons have outlived their usefulness, upgrading to plasma weapons and larger laser weaponry. looks like we'll need 'em anyway! we're taking on a Snakeman terror ship nd it's gonna get BLASTED outta the sky! Terror ship escaped. 'Martian Solution' obtained, it seems they're on mars! we need to find a commander to learn the whole facts. Time to prep for a base assault! we're gonna get 18 laser rfles to go with our stun rods, minimalism now. terro ship located and crashed! Assaulting immediately!
Mission: Prep: Teams are split by Assaulter[given a Heavy Plasma] and Medic[laser pistol and medkit]. Hovertank 1 and 2 are controlled through the microportal by Scootaloo[HT1 Turret], Sweetie Belle[HT1 Base], Apple Bloom[HT2 Base], and Dinky Doo[HT2 Turret]. Everypony takes to the skies immediately. HT1 scouts and shoots Sman-1 from a rooftop. HT2 scouts towards the east over top of the terror ship. Everyone else disembarks. Snakemen =Crysallids, so nopony is touching the ground no matter what. even if we have to WAIT for the bastards! Cry-1 spotted in northern sector of battlefield. Rarity's clone seems to be doing well[and comments tht the 'alterations' are rather attractive as well as being, mostly, harmless] everything goes fine until we enter the ship itself. HT2 sneaks up on a Snakeman. I've given up trying to keep trakc of all of this. A Crysallid tricks the assault team into trying to attack it, everyone misses. Octavia rushes in to provide back-up for the inevitable attack. The crysallid...attacks HT1, scaring the bejeebus out of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Rarity, furious attacks at point blank range, shoving Blueblood to the burnt ground while she's at it. Blueblood, not wanting to lose what little respect he's earned, attacks a snakeman that tried to attack from above. HT2 attacks and kills a snakeman that tried to escape. all enemies killed, no fatalities. mission complete!
Post-mission: Rainbow Dash is FINALLY a sergeant!
Intermission: Specialists Clockworx and Southern Cross have arrived via airdrop, having been hiding out elsewhere.
End of Month: +$837,000 [!?] Psi-training scores: Celestia: 98[!?] Vinyl Scratch: 87 Trixie: 59 Octavia: 46 Luna: 44[huh?] Twilight Sparkle: 24[WHAT!?] Lyra: 22 Pinkie Pie: 20 Fluttershy: 8[WHAT THE F**K!?] Bonbon: 5 All those under 50 will be removed from psi-training. New 'Drone' interceptors due to arrive as temporary fighters until sufficient Firestorms can be built. They'll be fitted with plasma cannons until decomissioned. Duranda will serve as primary 'funding' manufactory, while Canterlot's manufacturing focusses on what our troops need. everypony has flying suits. all drones equipped for attack. preparing to attack a supply ship.
Mission: Begin! Farmland, night mision. VS Floaters! Flo-1 killed by HT1! Flo-2 attacks Pinkie Pie from below. Pinkie is killed. Again. Spike attacks and kills Flo-2. Rainbow Dash locates alien supply ship to the north. Beta-squad prepares to assault ship immediately. taking no prisoners. HT1 and 2 will continue scouting and clearing outside of ship. HT2 spots Flo-3, applejack opens fire. Applejack nicks Twilight's boot, but manages to kill Flo-3. Flo-4 locates by HT-1. HT-1 fires and kills Flo-4. the team clears out the bottom floors. Octavia kills Flo-5 and Flo-6 after they sneak on Lyra. Fluttershy uses an alien grenade to kill Flo-7. Flo-8 attacks and kills Clockworx. Applejack kills Flo-8 and she, bonbon, and fluttershy surround the control room all aliens dead, mission complete!
post-mission: Clockworx is dead. pinkie pie is dead. cloning begins immediately.
Intermission 1 psi-amp equipped to Avenger for Celestia's use. Celestia given stun rod as well. mission to capture commander begun.
Mission: begin Celestia stays behind with Twilight Sparkle. everypony else works in 2 teams of 7. clearing the base begins NOW! Luna kills Rea-1 with heavy laser snapshot. She and Rainbow Dash opt to locate and defend Celestia along with Twilight. teams now 2 of 6 and 1 of 4. both assault teams have 1 hovertank. HT1 joins Assault Team 1, or AT-1 lead by Octavia. HT2 goes to locate AT-2 lead by Applejack. Flo-1, 2, and 3 inspect Rea-1's corpse. Flo-4 fires upon Blueblood and is killed by Spike. Trixie fires at Flo-2 and kills it. Flo-1 fires a small launcher and misses, possibly knocking itself out. Luna and Ditzy Doo move to locate AT1, which has opted to remain in place. Octavia fired upon and killed by unseen foe, possibly Flo-3. Flo-3 spotted, Celestia attempt mind control mind control fails. HT1 shoots a floater, killing Flo-5. HT1 spots 2 more floaters, killing both. Ditzy spots flo-8, celestia attempts and fails at mind control. they all need more training. alot more. Ditzy kills one flaoter, and spots asecond. Celestia STILL can't do mind control. Trixie tries to fire on the Floaters about to attack HT1 and misses every shot. Fluttershy pops out and kills both in a single autoshot burst. Fluttershy's still badass. Ditzy is still acting like a commando, looting corpses for reloads and grenades. Trixie, inspired, opts to join her while everyone else defends the exit platforms. Another floater attacks HT1, but is killed by a snapshot. Ditzy shows her sniper cred by picking off a floater in a difficult shot. Floater with blaster launcher spotted and surrounded by HT1+2, Celestia still can't MC them. Celestia throws her stunrod to Lyra, who takes it and goes to pass it to Trixie. Unknown floater with blaster launcher is killed by reaction fire. lyra and trixie within tossing distance. unknown Floater uses blasterbomb, destroying both tanks and killing itself. Floater commander still lives!!!! Trixie in range to stun soon! commander located, he's trying to flee! FUCK YEAH WE GOT 'IM!
Post-mission: Vinyl scratch is, finally, a sergeant now! Octavia is dead, cloning immeidately.
intermission All research stops, we're interrogating the commander immediately! Blueblood is wounded and will be out for 5 days. Celestia is undergoing extensive training. EVERYONE wants to be ready for the final mission. Research going smoothly. Researchers on project called 'Cydonia or Bust'. everypony opts for an extreme training regimen for before the research can complete. We WILL be going home after this! with their training complete, now we must wait for the research to end.
Research finished! The aliens are being commanded by an alien 'brain' from within the pyramid-like mountains of Cydonia, on Mars. We may face heavy resistance on the way, and there. Battleships are expected, so the drone Interceptors will provide covering fire on the attack. Celestia, now in gold flying armor and with her mane and tail caught in blue flames, will be amplifying our plasma cannons for the assault. We're ready for anything and will leave immediately.
....after the base defense mission, of course. FUCK!
Base Defense 2: Begin! and over damned near as fast as it began. The training is working perfectly, we begin the mission as soon as everypony has a Psi-Amp. and a heavy laser. everypony gets a Heavy LAser, psi-amp, medkit and hi-ex. next stop, Cydonia.
Final Mission: BEGIN! HT1+2 replaced by rocket tanks. RT2 spots and fires upon a sectoid. the entire team scours the landscape, taking down enemy troops with ease. Eventually, the lift into the main complex is located. the rocket tanks are incapable of following, but everyone in Equestria watches through drones released from the tank, allowing them watch their heroes in another world fight through the base below.
Final Mission: Part 2: Save the world! As the entire crew moves to clear out the alien menace and collect much-needed Elerium, Celestia moves to assault the enemy 'brain' armed with a Gatling Laser and psi-amp The entire base seems....empty. Needless to say, everyone is nervous. VERY nervous. Rarity and Pinkie Pie spot and snapshot an enemy celatid Celestia quickly locates a suspicious room not far away. Celestia spots, successfully mind controls, and kills 3 Ethereals. An unknown foe tries to kill her with a blaster bomb, but the door has shut and took the blast. Celestia opens fire on the last etheral in the room. The alien brain attempts to communicate with her, trying to convince the extradimensional goddess that it is the creator of the human race, the very race that its warriors use as food and target practice. Seeing through its blatant lies, the princess forgoes her gatling laser, and calls upon the sun with such force that a solar flare penetrates the room, incinerating the alien brain. Without their 'leader', the alien menace ceases to function, effectively dead. Upon locating the elerium cache, more than enough to make it back to earth, and fully open the portal to Equestria is located, along with scavenging the now-downed alien warships, to create apositive energy feedback loop, effectively opening PERMANENT travel between earth and Equestria. With a planet full of grateful new friends, the team FINALLY returns home, peaceful and happy.
