5 Billion Years, that’s how long Equestria was expected to last before the sun finally went, but our calculations were wrong. The end of all things came much sooner than expected, our Sun, Celestia’s sun was far older than any of us thought. We’d been preparing for the end of the world for the last few decades now, ushering our ponies into great underground bunkers in hopes they’d survive the coming cataclysm and escape the heat as me, and the rest of the planet broiled. If we could have, we would have run to the bunkers as well. But when the end came, it fell to us, the four great Alicorns to hold back the sun for as long as we could. -From the Journal of Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.

The sun, it had filled the sky like an angry inferno until it had consumed nearly the entirety of space. Only small streaks of angry crimson remained along the horizon, the last vestiges against the oncoming inferno. The once grandiose yellow orb pressed down as a blazing ball of death upon the very word it had cared for and brought life warmth for a millennium. Smoke rose from the blackened wasteland, whipped up into churning maelstroms by the howling winds.

The earth, it glowed like fresh coals under the sun’s brilliance, a light so great, and yet so terrible. All of the planet was burning, breathing it’s last final gasps of life. All save for one location. The Crystal Empire. A tower of inky blackness stretched up high into the sky, where high above the moon hung in seeming defiance of the end that was to come. Luna knew it could not hold forever, but if she died, she was going to do it with dignity.

The Empire blazed with light, the central tower of the grand castle a beacon of shining hope. Though it was well within the eclipse of the moon, the sun could not be denied. Nor would it be stopped by some meagre alicorn. This was a force of nature, something that had been building for years and years, and nothing, not even the Princess of the Moon, Tides, and Dreams could or would be able to stop it.

But she’d be damned if she wouldn’t try, Luna thought to herself as she raised a gauntlet set upon her wrist, and pressed a purple Orb made of some otherworldly crystal down on it. “Say the Change!”, the gauntlet had shouted, and Luna responded.

“Constellation: Draco!” she said in reply, and a purple light covered her body leaving her in a form-fitting bodysuit, with chest armor, and a blazing star set on it. Irony really, given what was fast approaching. There was a legend surrounding this orb, that it had fallen to Equestria from space so long ago, from an age even older than Luna’s. She knew not from where it came from, only that it possessed powers untold. Perhaps it was meant to be used as a tool, with the knowledge it contained to improve all of Equestria and the worlds beyond?

Luna didn’t care about any of that right now, all she cared about was buying herself a little more time. It was a selfish desire, she admitted. But after years of caring for her people, perhaps a little bit of selfishness was allowed was it not?

But it would all be for naught in the end, she mused, even as she watched an ethereal purple serpentine dragon wind around the moon and cover it with its power. Caress it, protect it from the sun just a little longer. Why she was doing this, she didn’t quite know. The planet was burning, and nothing could stop it. Perhaps, Luna mused, she wanted to be a hero just one last time and save what little remained of her former position.

This hell, it wouldn’t last much longer though. Twilight Sparkle took some comfort in that. A small comfort sure, but it was a comfort nonetheless. She was going to die, there was no getting around that. There was nothing she could do. All of those decades of study and creation of both the vaults and what lay within, of sleepless nights and hectic days forgoing sleep and food and liquid at times. She, when she fled to the last holdout for ponykind, she took nothing but what she could carry and that was only a few tomes she had managed to salvage out of a selfish need to be where she belonged in death, with her books which had managed to be a comfort throughout of her years even when everyone else left her side. She had just her books, her memories and one impossible task.

Now that she’d admitted that this was a problem beyond even all of her power, all of her wisdom, somehow it relieved a great deal of stress from her mind. It was a relief, amazingly, to be with who she most cared about in the final days of Equestria. Her sister in Cadence, her aunt in Luna and her lover in Princess Celestia. And who knew, right? Perhaps one day, she’d meet everyone she once knew in some other world. Oriande, the ponies called it. The afterlife. It had other names, Skyhaven in the Hippogriff and Griffon tongues, The Great Hoard in the tongues of the Changelings, and Niflheim in the language of the dragons.

She fought back a sob, accepting she was of her death, she was not infallible. She thought of Spike, of ages long since past when he was just a simple baby drake and an assistant helping her out with various tasks that she couldn’t handle herself. But every child had to leave it’s nest, and as Spike gradually grew throughout the years, Twilight soon figured this out. Her heart broke when she had to send him away to the dragonlands, but she knew that’s where he belonged, with his own kind and not ponies. She took a small comfort in the fact that he’d gained two loves there, the Dragonlord Ember, and the wily young dragoness and fellow student of Friendship Smolder.

It had been so lonely in her home after those painful first few days, she found herself checking Spike’s room every so often just to wake him up, only to remember that he’d left. Starlight left as well in time, going on the road with Trixie. Twilight smiled, she remembered their wedding. It was as grand as you’d expect it to be when one of the newlyweds in question was a stagemare.

Perhaps it was during all of this and maybe because of it, Twilight gained a certain desire to be a mare, and not just this Princess that was closed off from the world in her castle with nothing but her books for company. But who? Most ponies only wanted to be with her just because she was a Princess, and nothing else. Her friends, they either weren’t interested in romance, or had fallen in love with somepony else.

Perhaps it wasn’t surprising then, she turned to Princess Celestia and became enveloped in a whirlwind romance with her former mentor. The Princess of the Sun -Now the very object of their doom ironically enough- knew exactly what it was like to be placed atop a pedestal, and to be seen as this unapproachable, godlike figure. And given their many years together spent in close proximity as master and student, there were already suitable foundations for a romance. Sure, ponies talked, and of course they would, with some calling Celestia a cradle robber. Personally, both Twilight and Celestia laughed this off, given that Celestia was older than anybody else and anyone she romanced would look young in comparison to her.

Twilight head’s swivelled up from looking down at the streets of the Empire, which once bustled with ponies going about their day to day jobs as she heard a cry ring out. Her ears perked up, she knew that voice. Then, she saw the massive dragon that encircled and wrapped itself around the moon protectively, shatter like glass. The sun reached moon, and wrapped its flares around the smaller body and hugged it tightly. And then, the moon began to melt, turning into thick globs that rained down upon Equestria. Some would probably hit the vaults, she suspected, and Twilight hung her head in mourning for the ponies inside them.

Twilight broke off into a sprint and ran towards Luna, who was sobbing as she lay prone on the balcony, the purple bodysuit that covered her fading away. The orb that once rested on her wrist gauntlet, it popped off and rolled away, off the balcony into the streets below.

“T-The Sun!” Luna choked out through her tears. “It… it killed her! It killed my moon!”

As Cadence rushed to embrace her aunt, Twilight ran towards the throne room and towards Celestia. She ascended the dias up to the throne and looked at her lover, whose face was physically strained, pulsing orange veins beginning to show. Her magic aura glowed as bright as the sun itself, as she pushed all of her power into holding it back just a little longer.

“Twilight…” Celestia coughed out, her throat raw leaving her voice barren as a desert. “So… There is nothing more we can do?”

“None. You know something, I’ve realized one thing,” Twilight commented, as she watched Cadance carry Luna into the room. “I’m old enough to know that a longer life isn’t always a better one. In the end, you just get tired; tired of the struggle, tired of losing everyone that matters to you, tired of watching everything you love turn to dust.”

“I’m just being realistic,” she clarified. “The ground beneath our hooves is spinning at… Oh, 1,000 miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour, and I can feel it. We can feel it. The planet, groaning out in pain and crying for mercy. We’d like to think think it’ll last forever: people and cars and concrete. But it won’t. We knew this, and yet we believed we could save ourselves. We tried tuning the mirror portal to other worlds, for our ponies to flee. And some did, but others couldn’t bear to leave their world behind and so that’s why the vaults and bunkers were built over the last few decades we had left. Underground cities, for protection from the coming fire. Our child… he’s inside one of them just outside the empire. He’ll never know us, except for our journals and memoirs that we left him. It would have been selfish to keep him with us, but…”

“Our legacy, it must continue. The ponies, they’ll need someone to guide them,” Celestia sighed sadly, wanting to embrace her child one last time. “This world… it was never meant for us to keep was it?”

“No, it was not,” Twilight admitted sadly. “So Celestia, just let go. You made a world, you and your sister for ponies to be proud of, but our age is over. Please, just let it go. The ponies, they don’t need us. When they emerge when the fire has passed and the world’s cooled down, it’ll be up to them to decide how to live. Now it’s time to let go, Luna could use her big sister right about now…”

Celestia chuckled. “When did the student surpass the teacher?”

Finally letting go, relenting at Twilight’s words, she gave her lover a long, last kiss, and after what seemed like far too little of a time, she let go, and pulled her niece and her sister into a hug. The world became ablaze with light, and in a few seconds, it was all over in a blinding flash. Fire consumed everything around them, and howling winds sent the castle crashing to the ground and it shattered. As Twilight fell into the fires below, she closed her eyes and welcomed death’s sweet release.

Eventually, the world was to cool down, and rebuild, as a whole new circle of life began. The world became like glass, covered in snow and ice as ponies hid away in their bunkers developing new sciences to survive in the frozen hell that lay miles above them. Geothermal was the new way to go, with power coming from Equus’s very core itself. Volcanic heat now powered everything, from simple appliances to entire electric grids. New life on the surface evolved, with nudges from the planet’s natural magical field helping them along the way. Creatures great and small made of pure crystal thrived in this wasteland, showing that even after all the lights went out and a planet was subjected to eternal night forever more, life would find a way.

However, everyone knew it was a dying world, with temperatures slowly dropping by the day. Soon or later, temperatures, which were already reaching -100 at times, would drop even lower, and in probably a few hundred years it would be -400 degrees up top. Even with volcanic heat powering everything, it was soon becoming evident that the world was no longer capable of sustaining the natural Equestrian life form in it’s current state. And nobody was planning on evolving fast enough to survive in a frozen hell.

So, eyes turned to the stars, and to the mirror portal. Expeditions were planned to leave the world via this way in a matter of days and hopefully find a new Eden. However, as with any great ambitious plan, there were a few hitches. Everyone knew the Mirror Portal was a long shot, it’d be amazing if it survived all of these years and was still functional in any capacity, so eyes turned to the stars.

Great ships had long been planned and constructed to carry the ponies to the worlds beyond, and expedition leaders had been picked out. Paladins, they were called, Equus’s best and brightest. Paladins to lead and protect the natives to the uncharted lands beyond the skies. And of course, every knight needed their steeds. But how were these steeds to be powered, and what would they do? Well, one pony, who we’ll get to in just a brief second thought he had an answer.

Nobody quite knew how, but in the rubble of the Crystal Empire the Draco Constellation Kyutama had been recovered. Somehow, it had survived Equus becoming scorched by solar flares, and from it, new technology was derived and slowly developed over the years. Other Kyutamas, developed from the same general magic of the stars, were created by a top scientist called Stripped Gear -The many times great grandson of Lyra Heartstrings and Bon-Bon- and his crew. Some he called Skill Kyutamas. These were to convey simple powers like the Cancer or Gemini Kyutamas. Others, were far more powerful. Six different Kyutamas, along with the original Draco Kyutama, powered suits of armor built to withstand the heat of combat and the pressures of deep space exploration alongside powerful mecha/fighter craft called Voyagers.

The lead of which, was based on the Cerberus Constellation. This massive three-headed sea green-toned ship powered by the Cerberus Kyutama and flown by the Prench pony Flashfire was designed to be the star of the show if you will, the greatest Voyager fighter craft ever built. Some wanted Celestia and Twilight’s son Stardust for the role, but it was eventually decided he was better suited leading the ponies on the massive colony ships that the voyagers were to be protecting.

Other ships were designed as well. The Wolf Voyager, the Bull Voyager, the Eagle Voyager, the Swordfish Voyager and so on. Each drew power from a constellation, like the Cerberus Voyager before them. In order, they drew power from the Lupus, Taurus, Aquila, and Dorado constellations respectively.

“Yee-Haw!” a voice proclaimed as a sea green ship rocketed past several of those same towers of ice, glittering and twinkling in the lights that the ship emitted.

“Easy there, don’t want to overdo it.” Stripped Gear’s voice crackled through the comm systems. “New upgrades I installed to the thrusters and afterburners, I just want to make sure that they work. Don’t push it, we don’t want to overcook the engines.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s just… this ship you made, and the Kyutama that powers it, they feel so alive!” Flashfire commented as he used the controls to turn his Voyager on its side so that it would fit through the very narrow gap in an icy canyon, before turning it skywards and rocketing back down towards a large hole in the ice that led deep inside the planet’s interior. All around him, crimson red crystals of every shape and size that comprised the cavern walls. “It’s just that they give this ship a… je ne sais quoi.”

“Next thing you’re going to do, is get married to it eh?” Stripped Gear joked. “Now, test the other systems, I want to see how well the new upgrades affect the ship’s maneuverability.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing, acting like some sort of clown de cirque?” Flashfire asked, as he sent the ship around a very tight corner, dodging and weaving between the blood-red crystalline structures all the while before he engaged the thrusters and rocketed out of the cave through a very tight hole. He shot across a wide open plain, as a bunch of ice crystal comprised foxes sniffed the ground for their latest meal, which was usually very small worms burrowing in the ice. They strained their heads upwards as the Cerberus Voyager shot over their heads, its pilot smirking all the while.

“Yeah, I’d say the systems are certainly and definitively tested. Come back to base.” Stripped Gear ordered.

Coldcast, the pilot of the Wolf Voyager found himself atop the headquarters of the Galaxy Garrison headquarters late one night. Now, the entire headquarters was surrounded by an energy shield, or barrier dome if you preferred made of hexagonal plates of magic and powered by like everything else on this damned world geothermal energy. Protected the entire structure and the grounds from the biting cold and windchill.

Coldcast, he was an interesting sort. From the Griffon kingdoms, -at least that’s where his family tree was supposed to lie- fancied himself an explorer and adventurer and general all-around action hero. The reality was far from it. He had only managed to get himself assigned to the Wolf Voyager because both Flashfire and Flurry Heart (One of the only two remaining Alicorns left alive) took pity on him really.

He did hold a love for the stars and was quite the astronomer though so he had that going for him. Often times, he suspected that’s the only reason aside from Flashfire that he was the pilot for the Wolf Voyager and the holder of the Lupus Kyutama. Didn’t really get along with anyone, as he preferred to keep to himself. More often than not, he’d been approached by a mare or hen or some other type of female who’d ask him out for drinks, only to be swiftly rebuffed.

Flurry often suspected it was because his parents died on him at such a young age, and he grew up in his vault’s orphanage. He wanted to make something of himself, and didn’t want to rely on anybody to help him along. Or hinder him.

The snow-white griffon found himself looking up to the stars, and smiling as he raised his telescope to the stars, and his eyes wandered through the sea of the inky black night. Here, alone amongst the galaxy’s greatest work of art was the only place he could find a sense of peace and belonging.

“So, I’ll be up there soon huh?” Coldcast mused as his eyes drifted towards the Ursa Major constellation, and for a brief moment, one of his crystal blue eyes drifted towards his gauntlet or Kyuchanger as it was called. For a moment, he wondered if there was a Kyutama based on that. He knew the Ursa Minor got one, so it was possible it’s big brother had a Kyutama created to draw on that constellation’s mystical powers.

You may wonder why the constellations were thought of to begin with, to create powerful suits, mechas and abilities. It was said, and Coldcast only knew of this because of his classmate Jabari who was half zebra and half horse, that long ago they were believed to be the creations of the gods themselves and held ancient mystical powers. Jabari took this belief seriously, and wouldn’t waver on it. Personally, Coldcast dismissed this as hogwash and found it especially ridiculous coming from a stallion who was otherwise well versed in various areas of science. But then again, if the Voyagers were any indication maybe he wasn’t quite so cracked in the head after all…

“Well, the final frontier it is then I suppose…” Coldcast murmured to himself as he retracted his telescope and pulled out a small little box and some headphones. It was then, having finally been distracted from his stargazing that he finally took notice of the fact that someone else was up there with him. Jabari, he knew it to be in an instant from the gold fur and the black stripes. He wore a black leather jacket, and was wearing headphones that were connected to a small laptop computer with what looked to be a satellite attached to it.

“Hey, come here to rock out?” Coldcast asked curiously, as he pried the headphones away from Jabari’s ears. “Because seriously, I’ve heard Radio 2’s got some really great tunes!”

Jabari glared at him.

“And here I thought you didn’t take much interest in socializing, especially with someone like me. Didn’t you dismiss me as a nutcase a few nights ago?” Jabari asked in an icy tone.

“Call me curious,” Coldcast remarked simply as he leaned in closer, only to be smacked away by his fellow Paladin. “I have to ask, where’d you get all this stuff? You raid a supply closet or somethin’?”

“I built it, actually,” Jabari replied smugly.

“Right, top of your class scientist…” Coldcast muttered. “So what are you listening to actually, if not rock and roll?”

“Transmissions!” Jabari replied, adjusting his glasses. “With this little baby, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system. Started out as a hobby I admit, probably expecting nothing to come of it, but-”

“But what?” Coldcast finished.

“But why am I even explaining all of this to you?” Jabari continued.

“Eh, I’m an astronomer, so I have a natural interest in space. Not just in stars and the like, but everything else associated with it. Not like there’s much else to be interested in…” he muttered sourly.

“True, everyone’s focused on the stars nowadays, I suppose I just fell in line,” Jabari grumbled bitterly. “I guess if we’re going to be on a team together, can’t have any secrets. And I’ve got a big one…”

“What, you’re secretly a mare in disguise? Cause listen, I won’t judge if that’s the-”

“Not that, you asshole!” Jabari snapped. “Listen, the world as you know it, it’s about to change. I’ve been scanning the systems, and picking up… well, alien radio chatter. I can’t translate most of it, but I can make one or two words out. It’s on repeat. Dark Matter, Dark Matter. That’s all I can really say,”

“Okay, so you are insane. Got it,” Coldcast said, and Jabari simply pressed a button on his computer.

Out of the speakers, came a single distorted voice saying in what was quite possibly the vilest tone possible: “Dark Matter, Dark Matter.” just as Jabari had said.

“What the fu…” Coldcast trailed off, and backing away from the computer more than a little unnerved. On pure instinct, he went for his Kyutama.

“Now now,” Jabari warned. “No need for that, just a message. A very creepy message, I admit, but just a message. Don’t even know how old it is,”

“...And that makes me feel so much better,” Coldcast sighed, pocketing his Kyutama.

“If it helps to make you feel any better, that was about my first reaction as well,” Jabari shrugged. “Nearly morphed into Aquila Pink right then and there!”

“Don’t you think we should, uh, report this to the higher-ups? I think Stardust and Flurry would love to know about-”

Before he could finish, a bright flash lit up the sky, and an orb rocketed high above them, leaving a trail of glowing red and orange fire behind it as it entered the planet’s atmosphere with a loud sonic boom.

“Okay, what in all of the name that is holy was that!?!” Coldcast screeched, leaving Jabari to look at him critically.

“...Maybe you should be the one piloting the Eagle Voyager with a screech like that one.” he deadpanned.

“Er, are your priorities a little skewed right now?” Coldcast asked in a flat tone, eyebrow raised. “I mean, a giant hunk of space rock that’s possibly connected to alien lifeforms just fell from the sky and you’re debating switching Voyagers with me?”

“...What makes you think it’s alien?” Jabari asked, this time his eyebrow raised.

“Well, it probably isn’t, but you pick up a transmission from something called Dark Matter and then that happens!” Coldcast proclaimed, pointing towards the large purple smoke cloud rising in the distance where the thing had landed. Probably hit some magnesium, he mused.

“Probably just a coincidence,” Jabari commented, being the more logical of the two. “I mean, what are the chances of that actually happening? Million-to-one I say!” he put in.

“Who cares, I’m still going to find out what it was,” Coldcast said, extending his wings, setting his goggles down over his eyes and then putting a small device on his chest which almost at once covered his body in a skintight thermal bodysuit. The griffon then flew down towards the ground to a hoverbike. “Most interesting thing to happen around here in decafebs!” He gunned the throttle, and rocketed off in the distance. Jabari could only sigh and run a hoof down his muzzle.

“...And now I’m going to have to be the one to go in after him and save his sorry butt when a Crystal Crawler decides the taste of chilled Griffon is very appetizing…” he grumbled, before leaping off the roof and going to a hoverbike of his own. “Flurry will probably have my head on a platter in the morning, but right now…?” he sighed, before donning a similar bodysuit going off after his friend.

When they arrived, both Coldcast and Jabari were treated to an incredible sight. A dark purple ship, covered in smooth curves and blinking lights resting neatly in a crater. Small little magnesium fires were surrounding it, each one white-hot and melting the snow and ice around the area.

“See, told you it was alien,” Coldcast replied smugly.

“And I submit to your reality, even if I still reject the theory that it’s related to this Dark Matter,” Jabari replied simply, with a small sniff.

“So who do you think it could be, friendly aliens, coming to drop by and say hi and improve our lives before they eat us?” Coldcast deadpanned.

“You read too many books, you know that right?” Jabari asked in a flat tone. “Besides, Dark Matter, it could be related to anything. Doesn’t have to be a species name or the name of some galaxy-spanning empire. As it is, Dark Matter as we know it is a theorized form of matter that is believed to account for approximately 80% of the matter in the universe, and about 25% or perhaps maybe more of its total energy density. The majority of dark matter is thought to be non-baryonicin nature-”

“Like you said, I read books so I know what it is,” Coldcast cut him off. “Still doesn’t mean that it’s friendly though.”

“You’re really hard to like, you know that right?” Jabari stated in an annoyed tone.

“And you two,” a familiar Prench accent said as a red-coated pony removed his cornflower blue Perseus Kyutama from his Kyuchanger, revealing the form of Flashfire. This particular Skill Kyutama had the ability to camouflage one with his or her environment. “Are in so much trouble. You aren’t even qualified to fly your Voyagers yet!”

“Aw crap…” Coldcast muttered. “Busted.”

“Well, as long as we’re here and I’m stuck with you two imbéciles, might as well make the most of it and have a little look-see as to who’s greeting us…” Flashfire sighed.

A figure, scorpion-like in shape with a humanoid torso and completely metallic staggered out of the ship, with a rectangular head with one gleaming eye shining a searchlight in their direction. All three Voyager pilots quickly ducked behind some ice. Sadly, it seemed this robot could detect heat signatures and fired a beam of energy in their direction.

“Move! Rapide comme vous pouvez!” Flashfire barked as all three ran for it before sharing a look. “Well, it’s not friendly and it obviously wants to kill all, so I say we introduce ourselves eh?” the pony commented, and both Jabari and Coldcast smirked before all three took out Kyutamas and primed their Kyuchangers. All the while, the arms of the robot sprouted twin-pronged blades.

“Say the Change!” the Kyuchangers all exclaimed in unison before three Kyutamas were locked in with a clicking sound and given a small twist.

“Lupus!”
“Cerberus!”
“Aquila!”

Author's Notes:

Okay, I admit, that was a rather dark beginning for a Sentai adaption. Killing off all of our favorite MLP characters just like that, like I just snapped my fingers like Thanos would with his Infinity Gauntlet? I apologize for any tears shed.

I also apologize for the broad strokes taken with everything, such as some of the names being changed, and the fact that this whole story doesn't start off as a space rebellion against an evil empire with nine Rangers and instead starts off with ponies looking to escape a dying world with what they have.

But rest assured, we'll get to epic space battles and the like. For now, comments, thoughts, and critique are welcomed.

Enjoy, what I'd like to believe would be the theme for this series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USXQ758nVBQ