Chapter Eleven
Nebs turned on the vidscreen, and was greeted by a zebra dressed in rather plain attire, unlike most captains in the Equestrian navy, it lacked any real embellishment, save for four jagged golden stripes across the breast. He was an older equine, old scars marred his face, and wisened blue-green eyes gazed from beneath his bushy eyebrows.
“Are you alright?” he asked, concern in his voice.
Nebs inhaled deeply.
“I...,” she started, “No, I'm... not.”
The zebra nodded thoughtfully. Turning, he spoke in zebra to someone off-screen, then returned his eyes to her.
“You are welcome aboard the Crimson Dragon,” He said.
She thought for a few seconds. Could she trust these zebras? Could she trust anypony anymore?
“Thank you,” she said, bowing her head slightly, “I don’t suppose you could take me to Eridani.”
The zebra grinned, “It happens that we are headed to the same place.”
“Thank you.”
A large black and white striped ship pulled up to the port side, and fired a Mag cable towards her ship, and pulled it into one of the hangar bays. The ship shuddered as it latched on to one of the docking clamps. The Dragon’s captain waited below, watching. As she walked down the access ramp that had raised from the floor, she noticed another zebra watching her, she was clad in a form-fitting black outfit, and purplish sun glasses.
“Welcome aboard, miss?”
“Nebula Dusk,” She bowed.
“Lord Admiral Zengwei” He said returning the bow.
Nebs was suddenly very glad she had paid attention during social studies. Lord Admiral was the highest rank in the zebra navy. This had to be the zebra flagship.
“Admiral,” The sunglass wearing zebra said, as she approached, “This ship belongs to Isov Arcturus.”
“Does it?” Zengwei asked turning to face her, ”I never would have guessed.”
A quiet electronic whir accompanied the zebra mare’s eye-roll. He looked back toward Nebs.
“It would seem we have matters to discuss.” He said, “Baozhui, you are dismissed.”
“Sir, that is against protoco...”
“If we followed protocol all the time, nothing would ever get done.”
Baozhui saluted and turned to leave, muttering under her breath in zebra.
“Now, miss Dusk, why were you on this ship?” He spoke in a casual non-inquisitive tone. She wondered how much she should tell him. Lying crossed her mind briefly, however, that seemed wholly unwise given her situation.
“Captain Arcturus sent me to deliver a message to General Strafe.” She said, deciding honesty to be the best policy.
The Admiral nodded thoughtfully.
“It would seem our goals are more closely aligned than I expected,” He said, “I assume the captain will not be meeting us at Eridani?”
Nebs looked to the floor shaking her head softly.
“I don’t think so.”
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The Crimson Dragon wasn’t as different from the Luna’s Wrath as Nebs would have suspected. The decor was the biggest thing that stood out to her. The ship was furnished with a wood veneer, rather than the painted metal of Equestrian ships. It didn’t lack the utilitarian information signage, however, those were more elegantly designed, and were written in both pony and zebra script.
Another difference was the quarters. They weren’t small by any means, but they were more compact than the Wrath’s. Her room anyway, was divided by a thin partition into a kitchenette and small living room, and bedroom.
One thing that was the same, however, the ship had a bar. A nice one. Nebs sat at one of the stools, staring into her drink. The weight of her situation bore down on her. How the hell had she gotten tangled up in all of this? This damned crazy conspiracy theory nonsense. ONI, Insurrectionists, Greyhorn, Isov. She was a logistics technician, not a spy! She should have been headed back from Starswirl Station with another paycheck, and a job well done. At least she was headed home.
For all her past desires to leave it behind, to make a home amongst the stars, she wanted nothing more than to be back under the Eridanian sky.
“You told me I’d always come back,” She muttered to herself, “Well, here I am, dad.”
She looked out of the large window at the front of the bar at the green sphere. Eridani. Home.
How long had it been, six years now? Six years since she bought the Mercy and never looked back. Sure, she was proud to be from Eridani, but she had longed to leave. Wanderlust, she thought, feeling a bit immature.
“Are you alright?” the zebra bar keeper asked, breaking her from her thoughts.
She sighed. She was so passed alright, that she’d need a telescope to see it. A big one.
“I’m still breathing, so there’s that.”
“That reminds me of a funny story.” He stated.
“You’re a storyteller?”
The zebra laughed loudly
“No,” He replied, “If you want a storyteller, you need to find a zebra of the Wandering Tale. I just mix drinks.”
She understood that zebras were divided into a number of clans, beyond that, she was clueless in the matter. now she wished she had paid more attention in social studies.
“Wandering Tale?” She asked, eager to get something else on her mind.
“You’re not familiar with the great zebra houses, are you?”
She shook her head.
He cleared his throat and began to explain. The houses were a number of coalitions formed from zebra clans that had similar cultures and were relatively close together. There were seven great houses and several lesser. The houses were similar to the corporations, and scattered nations that united pony kind some fifty years ago, though far older. Zebra kind had left the origin planet decades before ponies decided to stop killing one another.
The House of the Dragon was one of the great houses as was the House of the Wandering Tale. The Dragon was perhaps the greatest house, at least according to him, of them all. All great warriors and philosophers, bound to a code of honor. The Wandering Tale was an oddball among the houses, it accepted all, zebra, pony, even other races like the griffons. Most houses only accepted zebras with at least one parent from that house. The Wandering Tale also did not have any territory of it’s own, instead they lived nomadically. once a year the houses leaders would converge to discuss house politics.
He was about to explain the friendly rivalry when he was interrupted.
“Nebula T. Dusk?”
She turned her head towards looking over the small crowd of zebras, before spotting Baozhui standing in the doorway. She downed her drink, and thanked the bar tender, as she headed to the zebra mare.
“The Lord Admiral wishes to speak with you,” She said as Nebs neared.
“Alright.”