New Breed-Book 2-PreviewBook Two Preview"Something wicked this way comes" The stallion regarded himself in the mirror. Slowly he turned his head, slit turquoise eyes regarding himself in the dim light, carefully examining every inch of his majestic frame. His midnight blue coat, so dark it melted into the night about him, shimmered in the weak moonlight to reveal the muscular contours of his body. With a quick turn of his head, his mane, a mass of mystic energy that appeared like a living star-field, shifted with him. He was amused by the small tuft that protruded from his chin, hanging down only a few inches in a way that resembled a bea
Rescue Mission - part 2 "Well, this looks idill… idiel… quiet, doesn't it Commander?" The little purple filly barely poked her nose out of the bush as she watched a mint green unicorn and cream colored mare saunter past her position, chatting amiably with each other about food and music. "Aye, Captain," she answered for the doll perched on her back in a faux deep voice, "Very peaceful. We cannot assume any individual pony present will know the whereabouts of our wayward navigator." "What kind of conditions could have allowed these ponies to grow so large?" she asked wonderingly. "Low gravity,"
Rescue Mission - part 1RESCUE MISSIONBy: Polecat "Lieutenant, report." The rock shaped alien slowly turned to face her. Its "head" swiveled in a manner she'd long grown used to, the near featureless gray slab facing her. "Cap'n, we received a distress call in sector thirteen," the alien stated, its deep gravelly voice telepathically sounding in her mind. That distinctive "voice" always made her think of the Lieutenant as a stallion, even if he was
A New Breed: AfterwardAFTERWARD"Excuses, excuses…"Well, here we are.For those of you who made it here to the end of this story, thank you for sticking it out with me. I wanted to thank everypony who read my story, especially those who left me feedback on my DA and EqD pages. Without that feedback, I couldn't have continued to improve and write as I have been.I would like to thank Corwyn and The_Mechanic, both of whom acted as pre-readers and editors in helping me track down plot holes, general mistakes, and editing failures. Without their help, this story wouldn't have been nearly as good as it was. Also thanks to my own mother who, while not understa
A New Breed: EpilogueEpilogue"The End of the Beginning" Darkness. Darkness was good, it was soothing, it was comforting… it was easy to hide in. Right now, that was all she wanted, something easy to hide in. The Everfree forest was always good for that, even if it was as dangerous to her imps as it was to any pony who dared wander in. "Stop it," she chided herself, "They aren't your imps anymore." The figure lurched drunkenly into the stone castle, weaving about a handful of fallen stone blocks on the floor. She had shed her imp form in her flight, it was worthless now, and far inferior to her original sh
A New Breed: Chapter 21 Part 2 "Stop fidgeting already!" "Are you almost done?" the mare complained, shaking out her mane. "There, now I am," Tome declared as she stepped back to look over her handiwork, "It's a good material for you, really brings out your eyes." Clockwork grimaced as she looked at the shimmering bodysuit she wore. It matched the one Tome had given her before, but while that suit had been a rubberized material well suited for use with her armour, this suit was flimsy and thin. It was made of an iridescent green material that glittered and captured the light, with gold touches highlighting it. The collar h
A New Breed: Chapter 21 Part 1Chapter 21"The Final Solution" Focus. She tried to focus, but it was becoming steadily more difficult. The sharp pains in her body reminded her that she was still alive; death wouldn't hurt so much. The mare clenched her eyes shut for a moment, then forced them open again, looking over the individuals that filled the throne-room about her. The Nightmare looked almost majestic standing in the maelstrom of activity, despite the
A New Breed: Chapter 20Chapter 20"The Spirits of Harmony" The light exploded about them. No Pony or Imp, save one, knew for sure where the explosion had originated from. Those on the Equestria side of the portal, which remained open only by the will of a single pony, were caught by surprise. Pure light filled both the rocky hall of the portal on the moon as well as the royal throne room in Canterlot. One pony smiled, recognizing the surge of power.
A New Breed: Chapter 19 - pt2 "How do I get myself into these messes?" The mare asked herself this for the umpteenth time as she slunk along the wall. Her grey coat was lost amidst the grey-white rocks, but her dyed pink and lavender mane stood out like a spotlight. What seemed to be worse was the sheer lack of any deep shadows, as if the entire network of caves and hallways glowed with a silvery light. This lead Flourish to wonder, perhaps for the first time, if the moon was just a weaker sun. Were conditions different, would this have been the sun? The idea of burning to a crisp caused the mare to shiver slightly before shaking her
A New Breed: Chapter 19 - pt1Chapter 19"Escape" "Your turn." Clockwork shook her head and yawned, "Sorry, I must've dozed off…" She blinked owlishly at the Monopony board on the table, the board pieces glinting in the overhead light. Only a slight turn of her head allowed her to see the warm wood paneling and thick cream carpeting. The nearby window was partially open to allow in the crisp evening breeze. She rested on a lush red couch that gave gently under her hooves when she stretched, and a nearby radio added some light background music that threatened to lull her back to sleep. A droning floated past her from the other room, where he
A New Breed: Chapter 18Chapter 18"Under Siege" The City of Canterlot. The central hub of the world as known by Pony-kind. Perhaps not the most centrally located in Equestria itself, but it was the central point of the lands currently resided upon by all of Pony-kind. At some point in the distant past, the central seat of power moved from the castle within Everfree forest to this cliff-top city. Upon the cliff-side itself, built there in such a way that it seemed to defy the very laws of gravity itself, resided Canterlot Palace. This was the home of the Sister Princesses: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It was also the s
A New Breed: Chapter 17Chapter 17"Caught in the Trap" "What's your ETA?" "Approximately five minutes, Princess," Spectrum responded over the mental link. The group was assembled currently above the cloud cover as they flew along as sub-sonic speeds. Spectrum had volunteered to pull the chariot along and, according to Flourish, she was doing a much better job than the last pilot they had. Spectrum politely declined to ask who that had been. Galaxi leaned over from inside the chariot, trying to catch a glimpse of the town below through the cloud cover, "With the pegasai in this area gone there are just too many clouds, I can't
A New Breed: Chapter 16Chapter 16"Know thy enemy" She just wanted to cry… She knew she couldn't, not anymore, but that didn't stop her from wanting to. There was something wholly unsatisfying about sobbing when your body can't create tears. Her own heat boiled them away the moment they formed, even when she struggled to keep her powers turned off. Her blonde mane and tail flared with heat as her emotions refused to listen, swirling out of control. Pyre couldn't cry, so she would do the next best thing; she would get angry. Angry at the Imps who "retired" her friends with so little effort. Angry at the team for not savin
A New Breed: Chapter 15Chapter 15"All in the Family" Luna sighed and looked out her office window for a long minute. With a sharp motion, she pulled the curtains closed against the glare of her sister's sun. A pair of lights sprung up, activated magically by the Princess as she turned to look over the ponies assembled. All six of them looked worse for wear, but considering what some of them had just endured, Luna was happy they were standing at all. On the far left stood Spectrum, Rainbow Star, with her soft white coat and rainbow colored mane and hair. She'd naturally taken charge of the group the moment she'd gotten in ran
A New Breed: Chapter 14Chapter 14"Descent" She sighed and looked up at the stars. The moon hovered overhead so large that the mare felt as if she could just reach up and touch it, feel the grit of the lunar rocks under her hooves, and find her home amongst the stars. Weightless on the moon, drifting away from all the worries and thoughts that plagued her … Her literal mind kicked into gear, demanding to know what she would breathe, since there was supposedly no air on the moon. The khaki colored mare growled at herself, finding the fantasy slipping from her hooves, and settled back down on her flank. The cushion beneath her was at l
A New Breed: Chapter 13Chapter 13"Release" "How are we feeling today Miss Key?" "Better, Doctor Violet," the short mare answered, stretching slowly beside the bed. Her khaki colored coat caught the mid-morning light streaming in through the window behind her. "Are you ready to leave us tomorrow morning?" the violet unicorn asked with a broad smile, watching as the other mare stretched and flexed her still sore leg. She was able to walk and trot alm
A New Breed: Chapter 12Chapter 12"Picking Up the Pieces" "It's good to see you up and around," the doctor said, and smiled her best. The mare did not answer in kind, her gaze particularly acidic as she looked over the lilac coated doctor. The doctor ignored this and used her magic to hover a clipboard at eye-level, her horn glowing gently as she surveyed the treatments and other doctor's notes about this patient. Clockwork could already guess what more then a few of those comments said: that she was surly, uncooperative
A New Breed: Chapter 11Chapter 11"Abort/Retry/Fail?" "This cannot be good." Dust and debris drifted down about the speaker, standing in the remains of the monument. Stars shone down through an unscheduled skylight, reflecting off the partially melted stone. Destruction radiated outwards from this newly created alicorn; the statues that had surrounded her were now vaporized, only leaving the scorched pedestals and the newly tarnished plaques to tell of the lives and deaths of "The Six" (plus a small dragon). Beyond, near
A New Breed: Chapter 10Chapter 10"Apotheosis" "Miss Key, please try to relax." The mare in question, shorter then the average pony of her age, glowered darkly at the nurse. Her green eyes were filmy with worry and exhaustion, but she hadn't moved from the waiting room. Over the past few days she had become an installation piece in the hospital, her disheveled form and dark mane standing out in stark contrast to the pristine white decor. The waiting room was pleasantly carpeted with a few bench-like chairs for ponies to
A New Breed: Chapter 9Chapter 9"Live fire" "Testing, can everypony hear me?" "I've got you loud and clear," Clockwork answered, and the others of the team did as well through Galaxi's psychic link. "Excellent. Time to see how well this works then," Princess Luna said in their minds. Clockwork had to grin, she hadn't expected Luna to take up the role when she suggested they needed a coordinator. "You will be meeting up with a trio of Unregistered ponies known as 'The Crusaders'. They have information of a star-fall in the Northern Reaches. Consider this your first official action as a team." "Why am I pulling th
A New Breed: Chapter 8Chapter 8"Wheels within wheels" The air was thick and heavy like a woolen blanket, comforting and stifling all at once. Marble arches stretched to meet in the center of the spacious room, where a single wrought iron lamp was hung by a chain. Despite this single lamp, the room was awash in light, ensuring each of the eight alcoves were clearly visible. From one alcove a pony could enter this room from the rest of the memorial, a solemn place created to remember those who had fallen in the service of Princess Luna's "Agency", to remember those Specials who gave their lives to protect Equestria from the invading danger of the Imps
A New Breed: Chapter 7Chapter 7"Confrontation" "You couldn't resist, could you?" the dark alicorn asked, her horn glowing softly. On the field, about a hundred or so yards from her, a mechanized pony darted about in the air. Blue-white bolts lanced from her hoof-tips to rip through the illusions seemingly intent on doing her harm. The white alicorn chuckled from the doorway behind her sister, "No, I could not." "If you hadn't, I would have done it myself," the younger sister answered, her eyes remained focused on the field as the green and gold armour of the flying pony flashed in the midday sun. For over a week, Dragonfly
A New Breed: Chapter 6Chapter 6"The show must go on" "You requested my presence?" Luna turned from where she had been contemplating the view from her office window, her head dipping slightly to her guest, "I'm sorry, Thunderhooves, but I must be the bearer of bad news." "He passed," the bison stated, already knowing. The Princess responded with a slow nod. "If there is anything you need…" she started. "There is only one thing I require, Princess," he sighed, "I must ask you to call a replacement to fill my spot in the ranks. I must leave immediately to tend to my family, and bear the mantle my
A New Breed: Chapter 5Chapter 5"Friction" Her body trembled with exhilaration; she was FLYING!! The sensors in her helmet were minimal, but easily tracked her flight speed and pitch as she banked around the oval flight track. The armour glinted in the midday sun, bare steel easily spotted in the shining light, not to mention the quartet of glowing white-blue "wings" that vibrated over her back. The metal form was only hidden for a split second as another cloud-ring was cleared on her way about the track. After four laps, she was growing more comfortable and confidant of her armour's abilities in the air. She reached out a h
Sta.sh
