Prologue
Thousands of miles above the planet a ship was flying, leaving trails of exhaust behind it's engines. It was a small ship, perhaps thirty meters to a side, tapering to a blunt point on one end. The silvery metal exterior was illuminated by the glow of the engines, soaring through the stars faster than light itself. But that was quickly changing. The ship was not so much flying as it was falling. Its engines burned as it hurtled toward the point of space ahead that was soon become a green and blue sphere below.
Far behind another ship chased it. This one much larger, with massive cannons covering much of the forward half of the hull. Each of the guns was focused on one point, the small ship in front of it, and was spraying a stream of metal chunks the size of small houses towards that point.
Aboard the first ship, there was panic. “Extinguishing port fires.” “Diverting weapons' power to aft engines.” “Jump capacitors at 70% charge and falling.” “Pulsing port shields. Pulse success, enemy fire diverted.” “Short jump on vector 6 Alpha Alpha 4. 45% charge remaining.” “We're not going to make it!”
Aboard the second ship there was only a sense of determination and urgency. “We've got them this time.” “All systems fully operational, no damage sustained.” “Long range jumps still being jammed, sir.” “Target shields projected to fail in 50 relative seconds, we're going to lose them!” “Captain, requesting permission to use accelerated light weapons.”
This last statement was met with a glance from the only person in the main control room of the large ship who was not in constant motion. The stout man pulled his antique true-wood pipe from his mouth, placing it in a pocket on his dark blue uniform. For weeks the captain had been chasing this ship down, trying for the bounty that every citizen of the United Terran Nations knew of, but few believed. Nobody would actually thought a Class F personal puddle jumper without any more weaponry than a few asteroid blasters would be able to do half of what it's pilot was claimed to have done.
“Permission granted, lieutenant. This gnat is proving even tougher to squash than anticipated.”
“Affirmative, sir. Charging via antimatter drives. Estimated 10 relative seconds to full charge.” As the crew member spoke, the largest gun yet began descending from the underside of the larger ship, a dark orange glow beginning to emanate from deep inside the barrel.
This latest development had caused quite a stir aboard the small ship. An accelerated light cannon was know to blow uncomfortably large craters in very large planets. It hadn't been used on anything much smaller since its invention, but that was because those using it usually liked something left of their target.
“Sara, they're charging their AL cannon. What do we do?” The man's voice had a definite note of worry to it.
“I don't know. Maybe if we-” *BOOM* Sara cut off as the ship gave a sudden lurch sideways and back. “What was that? Did they fire?”
“No... It looks like we passed through some kind of barrier. But I thought nothing was out here but the two of us. What could have made a field that strong. Our velocity's dropped to under 1% C and we're still decelerating. At least the Hunter doesn't look too good behind us either.”
And it was true. The massive frigate behind them had lost most of its guns, and the few that remained were bent and twisted almost beyond recognition. The massive AL cannon on the underside had vanished as well, leaving a large slot in the great ship's hull where it would have retracted.
More importantly than the state of the weapons was that of the engines. Most of the glowing vents had been stripped away from the sides of the ship and were venting a luminescent green fuel. What few remained were fighting to regain control of the ship as it slowly began to spin, its aft suddenly deciding it wanted to be the prow.
As the Hunter continued its spin the greatengines on its rear that could propel the beast to hyperspeed were revealed as well. Or rather, the part of the ship that was supposed to house the greatengines was revealed. Instead of the city sized, antimatter thrusters there was a network of honeycombed steel and trailing wires.
“At least they won't be getting out of here any time soon.” The woman remarked, trying to make light of the situation. “Church, can you tell us what the damage was to Sheila?”
A mechanical but distinctly male voice sounded from a device on the man's wrist. “Affirmative. Forward port weapons, forward starboard weapons, forward ground weapons, midship port weapons, midship starboard weapons, midship sky weapons, midship ground weapons, aft port weapons, and aft starboard weapons have all taken 100% damage and are estimated unsalvageable. Life support is heavily damaged and will need extensive repairs. Shields are heavily damaged and will need extensive repairs. Jump drives are depleted and will need approximately 236.34 hours of full engine power to recharge, as well as moderate repairs. Primary engines are moderately damaged and temporarily offline. Auxiliary engines are lightly damaged, though they will not be able to sustain orbit for more than 10 hours in a best case scenario.”
“Planet?” Both man and woman turned their gazes to the forward viewport, for the first time noticing the green and blue planet beneath them.
The man turned to the woman and said, “I thought there were no planets in this region of space. Could there be something down there that put up that shield?”
“It was when I could still get to the updated maps. As for the shield it's certainly possible someone down there has that kind of technology, but they must be underground, because the entire surface looks like forests.”
“Well, we'll find out soon enough. We're going to have to stop for fuel, and according to Church the auxiliaries won't put us in orbit. Church, find a landing site. The Hunter won't be much problem for a while. I just hope we can refuel before they get their repairs done.”
“Spike?” The purple mare dashed through the library, pulling out random books and checking the titles, before throwing each one away. “Spike, where are you? I can't find that book on creatures from the Everfree. Fluttershy wanted to borrow it, and I wanted to have it ready for her tomorrow.”
“Twilight?” The purple dragon's faint call had come from the balcony upstairs. Twilight quickly made her way to the source of the call. “Twilight, what do you know about shooting stars?”
“Well, shooting stars are actually meteors that are burning up in the atmosphere. They often break apart too. Why? Do you see some?”
“How often do shooting stars actually hit?”
“Not that often. Spike, why the sudden interest in meteorites?”
“Because I think that one is coming straight at us!” he yelled, voice rising in volume and pitch as he pointed up into the night. Sure enough, a large circle was quickly growing, easily visible without a telescope. Acting quickly, Twilight grabbed Spike with her magic and sprinted indoors, animal book forgotten. She dove down the ladder, pony and dragon both hitting the floor with a thud.
“Ow... Warn me next time yo-” His reprimand was cut off by Twilight's hoof slamming him into the floor again, this time to match her own prone form in a duck and cover. Several seconds passed, and then nothing happened.
When nothing continued to happen, Spike forced the unicorn's protective hoof off him, and sat up. He carefully brushed the dust off himself, and then stood up. He began to walk back toward the ladder up, and said in an annoyed tone, “Okay Twilight, thanks for the care, but I think you're ov-”
Once again the dragon was cut off, this time by a sudden flare of light shining through every entrance to the library, and a loud roar. As the sound began to fade away, the light more rapidly dimmed, only to be replaced by an even brighter flash and an instant later an explosion so loud that it was probably heard in Canterlot and that shook half the books from the library's shelves. Carefully Twilight sat up and looked around, and concerned look on her face. “Spike, are you okay? Spike?”
At the call of his name, Spike poked his head up from a heap of books next to the ladder. “I'm fine Twilight. Was that really a shooting star? Should we make a wish? Do you think anypony was hurt?”
“Oh, Spike. Making wishes on shooting stars is just a silly myth. Meteors can't grant wishes. We should definitely make sure everypony is alright though.” She placed Spike on her back with her magic, and began towards the door.
“I know exactly what I'm going to wish for. I wish that I could meet an alien! That would be so awesome.”
“Spike, have you been reading those comic books again? I told you there's no such thing as aliens. If there were, don't you think they'd have contacted somepony by now? Please try to at least be a little rational.”
“Come on, Twi. Can't I at least imagine?”
“Whatever. Come on, Spike. Lets go check how everypony is doing.”
When Twilight and Spike went outside it was no surprise to see everypony outside talking. They had gathered in the open square in the center of Ponyville. The crowd had a nervous air about it, and the whisperings were those of a worried group facing an unknown threat rather than a friendly one facing the mundane.
“Everypony!” Mayor Mare stood on a podium at one edge of the clearing the crowd was gathered in, trying to gather their attention. “Everypony! Please calm down! Until we know exactly what has happened we need to remain calm. We need to get a count of who is missing. If anypony sees that somepony is missing, please speak up now.”
Looking around, Twilight thought she saw everypony she new. Despite coming here to study friendship, she hadn't gone too far out of her way to meet everypony in town like Pinkie seemed to do. Speaking of Pinkie she caught a glimpse of the pink earth pony jumping out of the mass of ponies in her usual bubbly fashion, looking around and calling out the names of ponies as she did.
“Apple Bloom, Applejack, Big Macintosh, Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake, Pound Cake, Pumpkin Cake, Lyra, Bonbon, Caramel, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash, Derpy, Twilight, Colgate, Berry Punch, Cheeilee, Twist, Snips, Snails, Little Pip, Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, Mr. Rich, Vinyl Scratch, Diamond Mint, Aloe, Lotus, Blues, Nurse Redheart Carrot Top, Roseluck, Daisy, Lily, Mayor Mare. Seems like everypony is here. Wait!” She gasped, somehow pausing in midair. “Where's Pinkie! Oh wait that's me.” She grinned at her own joke, and resumed bouncing. After a few more seconds she stopped again and called out, “Wait, where's Fluttershy?”
The crowd's murmuring rose to a crescendo as they realized that the yellow pegasus was not among them. “She's probably at her cottage!” Called one pony. “We have to make sure she's alright!” Yelled another.
“Alright, everypony settle down. It seems that Fluttershy is the only one missing, but we should all try to stay here. I think we should have a few ponies go to check on her. Do We have any volunteers?”
“I'll go.” Said Twilight.
“I'll go to!” Chimed in Pinkie Pie.
“Ah'm coming too.” Applejack put in.
“I can't bear the thought that Fluttershy is hurt. I'll go too.” Said Rarity.
“And don't forget about me!” Yelled Rainbow Dash, shooting over the crowd.
“Alright. You five go check on Fluttershy. Everypony else just stay calm.”
When the five ponies arrived at Fluttershy's cottage everything was a mess. The chicken coop had fallen over, part of the cottage was caved in, and most of the fence had fallen over. What's more, a large furrow could be seen beginning from a couple hundred feet beyond the cottage and extending far enough into the Everfree forest that its end was lost to the shadow of what trees still remained.
Thankfully, despite the destruction, Fluttershy seemed alright. She was fluttering around the ruined yard with a panicked expression on her face, pointlessly trying to appease the plethora of panicking pets. There were chickens squawking as they stumbled around and mice squeaking as they scattered. Currently Fluttershy's attention was taken up by a ferret with a cast on one of its front paws. “Please Mr. Ferret, you can't be running around with your leg hurt. You could make it even worse. Besides, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about now that the meteor is gone.”
Unsurprisingly her words had little effect. It was a wonder that her meek voice could even be heard over the ruckus the animals were making. Regardless, she continued on, darting from animal to animal saying what she could to calm them down, no matter how little it helped.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight called. “We didn't see you in town. Are you okay? Do you need some help?”
“Oh, yes please, Twilight. If you wouldn't mind...”
“Alright. Girls, lets round up the animals!”
Working together the 5 new ponies were able to herd all the animals still nearby into the yard. They quickly set up the fence again, even if it wasn't quite as sturdy. Fluttershy quickly set about calming the animals again. Maybe it was the lack of space, or maybe the animals were worren out, but this time Fluttershy was able to keep them calm and inside the fence.
After all the animals were back asleep or soon to be Fluttershy flew over to where the others had gathered.“Oh, thank you all so much, girls. I don't know if I could have done this without you.”
“You're welcome, Fluttershy.” Twilight said. “But come on. Everypony is gathering in the square in the center of town. We should go back and check in with them. After that I would love to get a closer look at that meteor.”
When the six mares returned to town everypony had calmed down some. The mob had devolved into merely a crowd and was talking amongst itself. Mayor Mare had taken a report of damages. Apparently Fluttershy's cottage wasn't the only building damaged by the star, but it was the only one that was seriously hurt. Nopony had actually been injured by the star, though everypony was understandably shaken. Wasting no time, Twilight joined the Mayor in planning repairs for the town. When this was finished she returned to her friends.
“Well, girls, I don't know about you but I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep tonight. Also, I'd really like to get a closer look at that meteor. It's very rare for one so big to hit. Would any of you like to join me?”
Looking amongst themselves, 4 of the five all nodded their heads, murmuring assent.
“This is going to be awesome! I bet it'll be super cool with space-metal or aliens or something!” Rainbow dash put in.
The one yellow pegasus who had withheld her enthusiasm now voiced her fears. “Um. I'd really rather stay home and care fore the animals. I'm sure they need some help and I don't think I-”
Rainbow Dash cut off her failing voice. “Come on Fluttershy, this'll be so amazing! We get to see an actual object from space. You don't want to miss that, do you?”
“Oh, um, uh- Ok. I guess I'll come if that's alright.” Despite her agreement, the little pony still seemed very afraid.
“Don't worry Fluttershy, there won't be anything dangerous. The meteor will have scared away any animals in the area, the most dangerous thing around will probably be Zecora.” The unicorn blinked in realization. “Oh my gosh! Zecora! I completely forgot about her in the excitement. The meteor landed in the Everfree, what if she got hurt? Come on, we don't have time to lose.” With this last statement she took off running back towards the edge of town, the other five trailing in her wake.
When they arrived at the forest, the six mares could see the meteor's smashed and burned trail through the forest. Thankfully it seemed that it wasn't close to Zecora's hut, but they decided to check on her anyways.
The trip to Zecora's house was decidedly creepier in the near silence of the deserted woods. As Twilight had predicted, the forest was devoid of animals. Nothing rustled in the underbrush but the wind, and no birds chirped from the trees. Little could be seen beyond the small path, with the faint shadows of trees only darkening the night. Celestia's sun wouldn't rise for another few hours yet. By the end of the trip, Fluttershy was looking around frantically, and was practically being dragged along by Rainbow Dash.
Zecora's hut appeared to be intact and undamaged, but also unoccupied. “She's not here. I wonder where she is.” Twilight thought aloud, only a hint of her earlier panic remaining in her voice.
“Well, she didn't leave a note or anything, maybe she went into town?” Applejack suggested.
“But we would have passed her, wouldn't we have?” Rarity pointed out.
“Well then maybe she went to take a look at the meteor too. Probably wanted to see how cool something from space would be.” Offered Rainbow Dash. “We should go check. You know, just in case.” Rainbow started edging in the direction that the meteor had crashed.
“Alright, Rainbow. We can go check out the falling star.” Twilight relented. “I just hope that Zecora is okay.”
From Zecora's hut they could just make out a clearing in the distance where the star had caused a crater. Walking towards this was in some ways better and in others worse than the walk to the hut. For one thing, there was no path, and Rarity complained constantly about her hooves getting messed up. On the other hand, the view of rapidly lightening sky ahead at the crater provided a goal for their quest, preventing it from feeling endless for anyone but Rarity and maybe Fluttershy, who was looking even worse off now that they were off the path.
Approaching the clearing, they found a ten foot ring risen around the outside of the very large crater. Climbing over it there came into view a tall, striped quadruped and a large metal box several times the size of Fluttershy's cottage.
“Zecora!” Twilight called in joy at seeing their friend apparently unharmed.
For her part Zecora turned at the sound of her name. “Hello there Twilight, my dear. I was examining this object here. It made quite a noise to hear.”
“Yes, it did.” Twilight agreed, trotting up with the other five in tow. “It's a shooting star. But I've never seen one like this. Usually they are much smaller, and irregular instead of boxy.”
“So this isn't what a normal meteor looks like?” Asked Rainbow Dash excitedly. “Well, maybe it was sent by aliens then. What do you think it is?”
Twilight looked at the box. It was certainly very large, half the population of Ponyville could probably fit inside it. It was made of a metallic substance, and as pointed on the end towards the larger part of the forest. That side also had a large black strip along the upper edge, and a few burns. The rear end had a few triangular projections off of it, one of the top and another digging its own furrow in the ground. The back side had several large but flat cylinders, which were more severely burned, and a much darker metal even where they weren't burned. The entire thing was covered in shallow grooves which made geometric patters around the thing, as well as clear circle which were made of the same black material as the strip on the pointed section.
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but before she was able to a loud hiss came from the thing, drawing everypony's attention. Steam was issuing from some of the grooves along the top edge of the ship. As the stunned ponies watched a panel swung up from where the steam had been issuing. They watched, mouths agape, as two figures pulled themselves out of the thing and onto the top of the thing. They were apparently bipedal, with two legs and two more appendages on the upper part of a chest-like section. The top of them had a fifth projection, this one thicker but stumpier. Both seemed about the same height, roughly as tall as Princess Celestia, though one was slightly shorter, and were almost entirely a seamless orange. One side of the top projection of each had a panel made of the same black material as on the ship.
Rainbow Dash was the first to react. She brought her hooves up to her face, as if holding it up. “Ohmigosh. Aliens!” Then Fluttershy fainted.
Author's Notes: It's done! I'm sorry this took so long, but as I mentioned in the description it is my first story. I'm not a real writer, and it shows. It seems as if the only time I can write anything decent is after midnight when I have to get up early for school. I'm not really satisfied with the opening scene here, but I don't really know how to fix it. Any advice would be appreciated. I already have a start on next chapter, but you still shouldn't expect it to be up quickly.