Of Gods and Demons: One"The Rookie"CoffeeGruntPonykind had always dreamed of the great beyond, the pale moon and fiery sun that dominated the starry sky. Ever since the first Pilohippus scratched out the beginnings of civilisation in their caves and huts, the never-ending will to explore every crevasse, bridge every river, and climb every mountain drove ponykind to dominance and prosperity over their planet. As the last blank spaces on the map filled, and the population grew to bursting point, ponykind looked to the stars to find new answers.The first tentative steps into orbit grew into leaping bounds around the system. Every planet in the Sun's warming rays
Of Gods and Demons: Two"One-Way Ride"CoffeeGrunt"Ship decelerating ma'am, we'll exit into normal space in three...two...one."On the edge of the Epsilon Indi system, a corona of energy appeared. It widened, a huge flare of pent-up magical energies revealing a hole in space itself. It was out of this hole that the UESC Everfree came, a massive destroyer ship bristling with weaponry and armour, ready for combat. A clang reverberated through the ship, the metal structure almost rippled as the electromagical engine released its grip, and it fell back into normal space. Admiral Celestia glared at her viewscreen, they were a few hundred miles out. Close as pony scie
Of Gods and Demons: Three"O.N.I."CoffeeGruntThe Office of Naval Intelligence was a strange place to make a career. Here the fashion to function ratio was much more lenient than mainstream military architecture. Gone was utilitarian corridors and grey metal decking every surface, the employees at O.N.I. enjoyed modern facilities, top of the range even. The main lobby was a gargantuan hall, painted in soft, cream shades. Steel and glass walkways criss-crossed the ceiling as ponies went about their daily jobs on the various levels of the Hive facility. The floor was glass, with lighting panels underneath. It gave Rarity the impression of walking on the sun's surface
Of Gods and Demons: Four"Bits and Pieces"CoffeeGruntDash's mind began to fade back into reality. Her ears pricked as they caught muffled speech, too distorted to decipher. Her eyes blearily opened to slits, giving her a faded letterbox view of the room. Dim fluorescent light invaded her retinas, and she slowly sped up on the road to consciousness.She stretched her body, legs, wings, necks, enjoying the slight relief and pleasure from working the refreshed muscles. Dash managed to pull herself up to a sitting position and spotted her two comrades staring at her, a pair of cards levitated before both of them. The dark grey coated one gave her a sly smile and a w
Of Gods and Demons: Five"Special Delivery"CoffeeGruntTwilight restarted her main routines that had been left on standby while her subroutines navigated the tangled web of slipspace. Her processor accelerated, taking in the ship's surroundings as it fell back into real space. She had navigated with the best precision ponykind's understanding of slipspace could muster, right into Equestria's orbit, arriving only around twenty kilometres from the nearest space elevator. Perfect, as always.She flooded her processes through the ship, testing each system from the auto-cannons that served as point defense, to the toilet facilities in the barracks. Everything was inta
Of Gods and Demons: Six"Overture"CoffeeGruntCelestia found herself going deeper into the ONI facility than she had ever ventured, Luna leading her far out of her comfort zone, into her world. She felt the word 'catacomb' spring to mind as they navigated the obscure corridor system that made up Section Three of the organisation, ONI's secret project wing. All pretence of airy, light design was gone. The corridors were dark and dimly lit; even the glossy allure in which Luna's office was decorated was absent. It was a black place for black ops, and Celestia was about to meet the chief of ONI's sinful researchers.Dr Haylsey's reputation preceded her. A long tim
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