The door to the bridge opened. There, Dinky saw her mother still sitting strapped in her chair. Derpy’s head was hung low, as though she were ashamed. Dinky approached her mom, and wrapped her in a hug. In a delayed reaction, Derpy limply returned the gesture. They stayed like that for several moments. Out of the front view port, Dinky saw Carrot dock the shuttle at the Rebel ship and hop out into what was once the oxygen room, propelled and directed by small jets in her environment-suit. Carrot toggled her magnetic boots, rooting her to the floor with no fear of drifting off, yet still allowing her to walk without much impedance. Forcing open the door leading to the rest of the ship, Carrot disappeared inside.
Dinky sighed, and hugged her mother tighter. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Mom. He was just trying to get to you.”
“Luna buck me to the moon if he didn’t. I’m just thinking…” she trailed off.
“Thinking?”
“How terrible of a mother I am. I put you in situations almost daily where none of us might make it back, and I think ‘what would happen if I lost Dinky, but I don’t die myself?’ I would be just so… I—I don’t even know what to say anymore. Just, I don’t think I should keep putting you through this. I mean—”
“Mom. Stop. You are not the one putting me through this. I volunteered to come. I mean, hey, you didn’t even want me to come in the first place! If anything, it’s my own fault.”
“But I allowed you to come! 'If anything,' that makes it worse. I can’t go on, thinking about how much danger I’m putting you through. Between being concerned with you, and everything that… that Rebel, Razor, said before, I can’t help but think that we’re doing more harm than good. Or, at the very least, I am.”
“You did not do anything wrong by ending that life. You know the goals of the Rebellion: chaos. Their long term goal is literally to prevent peace, and you know that. Anybody who supports that can’t possibly be a life worth keeping in this universe."
"And if I lose a life that was worth keeping, most notably you, in the process of stopping the chaos?"
"A sacrifice well worth it."
"How can you possibly say that? How, when you know what's at stake?"
"Because stopping the Rebellion is a cause worth dying for. Look, you've had a long couple of weeks, Mom. Let's get you to your bed, we can discuss semantics when we're all sitting at the bar on the next station." Dinky unbuckled her mother and helped her to stand.
Derpy, who was nearly in tears at this point, gave a ghost of a smile as they began walking to the sleeping quarters. "Like I'd ever let you drink."
Dinky smiled back, already knowing how this would end. "Why not? I'm old enough."
"'Old' enough does not mean the same as 'mature' enough. No alcohol for you, young lady."
"Awwww," Dinky responded, good-humoredly.
At last Derpy and Dinky arrived at the sleeping quarters. Along the left and right walls were a total of ten identical bunks, five on each wall. A small footlocker sat at the end of each cot, with a tiny shared metal end table separating them from each other. The decor was spartan at best, but the beds themselves were actually quite comfortable. Dinky led her mom to her bunk. She knew, despite the beds' identical appearances, which was her mom's thanks to the pictures that faced it.
First was a collage of numerous small shots of Dinky throughout her life. Newborn, foalhood, fillyhood, getting her cutie mark, her teenage years, graduating the Society of the Silver Moon military academy, and finally into the mare she had become. Whenever Derpy showed pictures of Dinky to any guests they ever had, Derpy would always say, much to Dinky's chagrin, how "if nothing else, her special talent would have been smiling."
Next was a picture from a couple of months before Derpy and Carrot joined the Society of the Silver Moon's military, years ago. It showed a young Dinky, her cutie mark of a small cluster of stars showing prominently, standing on Carrot Top's back, her right foreleg extended in an "onwards to victory!" sort of pose. Carrot Top herself, meanwhile, was in mid-gallop running towards the camera. Both were laughing.
Lastly, and always the most painful to look at, was a picture of Derpy's late husband. The stallion in the picture gave the sad, almost knowing grin that he always wore in life.
Derpy clambered onto the bed, and when she was comfortably positioned, Dinky sat on the floor next to her, resting her head on the end of the bed. They stayed like that for a while, mother and daughter enjoying both the company and quiet of the other. Nothing needed to be said; they had each other, and that was enough for now.
About an hour later, the door opened, and Carrot Top trotted quietly in. She smiled at the sight of both Derpy and Dinky asleep. They deserved some rest. Unfortunately, Carrot Top had no idea how to pilot the ship, so one of them needed to wake up. Falling asleep for an extended period of time this close to an FTL beacon while they were being tailed was not a very clever move. Carrot Top gingerly prodded Dinky awake. Dinky mumbled incoherently about "space zombies" before adjusting her neck and falling asleep again.
This prompted Carrot's usually stoic facade to break slightly. With a small grin, she whispered into Dinky's ear, "Diiiiinky Dooooo, I am Professor Zomboss, here to eat your braiiinnnnssssss!"
"Mmnh, no, don't..." Dinky mumbled before trailing off.
If scare tactics wouldn't wake her, Carrot decided to try something more sinister. And, frankly, annoying.
Leaning as close as she possibly could, she whispered into Dinky's ear once again, "Psst. Dinky. Dinky. Hey, Dinky. Dinky. Dinky. Dinky." Carrot punctuated each word with a gentle poke of increasing force.
This incessant manner of alarm finally roused the unicorn from her sleep. Dinky gave Carrot an annoyed glare, as the yellow earth pony continued to poke away, unhindered by her target's awakening. Having had enough, Dinky swatted Carrot's next poke attempt away.
Dinky had a crick in her neck and her back ached from falling asleep in such an odd position, but otherwise all was well. If anything, she felt good. That was the most time both she and her mother had spent together in the two or so weeks since they had been on the run from the Rebels. Carrot Top pointed to Dinky, to herself, then to the door. She then pointed at Derpy, still sleeping, and put her hoof to her mouth in the universal gesture of "quiet." Dinky nodded. They silently left the sleeping quarters, leaving Derpy to rest.
When they were well out of range, Carrot Top turned to Dinky as they made their way to the bridge, "I picked up a decent haul from the ship. Nothing too major, but enough to make a good amount of credits."
Dinky spoke, "Why can't we just use bits? I like bits. Credits are stupid."
"Hey, I'm not the economist who made the system. Don't yell at me."
"I'm not yelling, I'm saying it's stupid. Using bits makes much more sense."
"I'm sure other recently-accepted-into-galactic-society races thought that their respective economic systems were better, too. Probably because it was what they grew up with. And, hey, we can still use bits, same way other races can use their own currency. We just need to be aware of the conversion ratios."
"But I hate conversion ratios!"
"You only hate them because you failed economics in school, Dinky."
Dinky grumbled incoherently in response. They entered the bridge, and Dinky sat down in the pilot's seat. She turned her head to Carrot, "Hey, Carr, check the next jump beacons for any repair stations."
Carrot approached a console to the left. After a few button presses, she found what she was looking for.
"Our luck is improving! Got one right on the next jump. I'll set the destination, you just make sure we don't explode or something."
"If we explode, it won't be my piloting that causes it, it will be your sloppy repair job on that engine," Dinky joked.
"You're forgetting that you helped with the engine, too, so it will still technically be your fault if we explode."
"Bah. Set the destination already, I'm getting bored of space. I need to get some real food and see some ponies who don't want to kill us at first glance."
Carrot Top tapped away at her console, setting the destination, as Dinky prepped for the jump. "Destination is set, FTL drive charged, and we're ready for the jump," Dinky said. "I just hope my patchwork in the bathroom holds up."
"Why wouldn't it? You used Quikpatch, didn't you?" Carrot asked. "That stuff has been proven to withstand FTL jumps."
"Nope, we didn't have any, so I had to work with something else," Dinky responded.
"Something...else?"
Dinky said, offhandedly, "Eh, it's nothing really. Just some duct tape, is all. Should be fine."
"YOU USED WHA-"
They broke light speed. All other noises were drowned out in the din of the whirring FTL drive. Dinky made a few minor adjustments, ensuring a safe exit, as Carrot Top passed out. Out of the view port, Dinky saw streaks of bright lights fly across the view port, the wonders of space flying past in an instant.
As the FTL drive began to decelerate, the ship came into place very much intact. The streaks of light eventually became the telltale pinpoints of far off stars again. Not too far off, Dinky could make out the station where they could get their repairs orbiting a small moon. The planet below was a yellowish brown ball; arid and nigh-uninhabitable, orbiting a red dwarf sun. It was not the planet which interested her, though. It was the blocky form of the station.
Theta Seven was an oddly shaped station, with numerous square protrusions sprouting from the center of the cuboid construct.
Dinky flipped a switch, changing power to the engine from the long-range FTL drive to the short-range impulse drive, and piloted the ship on a course to the station. The radio crackled to life. "Unidentified vessel on approach vector, please present a valid identification."
Dinky responded as Carrot regained consciousness and got back on her hooves, "Weapons Officer First Class/Co-pilot Dinky Doo, of the HMS Lunar Wrath, identification number one-U-N-four-zero-zero-zero-eight-one-three, military vessel second class, in service of the Society of the Silver Moon, subset of the Federation. Requesting permission to dock at a repair bay."
"One moment..." the voice on the other end went quiet, as they heard a few clicks, followed by a beep. It spoke again, "Request granted. Dock at bay 4B."
"I'll take it from here," a voice said from the doorway, causing both Dinky and Carrot to jump. Turning, they saw Derpy, her hair a frazzled mess, and her feathers slightly unkempt. Ruffling her wings to straighten the stray feathers, Derpy yawned, then smiled. She put on her hat, which proudly displayed the Society of the Silver Moon's Captain crest and effectively covered her unkempt mane.
"Well, good morning, sleepy head. Sleep well?" Dinky asked.
"Mornin', Cap." Carrot offered.
"Not really sure this could be considered 'morning'," Derpy responded, gesturing at the digital output of the Galactic Standard Time clock. She continued, "But I'll take it. I slept better than I have in weeks, anyway. And I see you found us a station to get some repairs done, too. Good. I think we can all do with some R and R."
"But, Captain," Carrot spoke, "If we stay too long, the Rebels are bound to catch up to us. We may have bought a little time taking out that scout," Derpy winced at the reminder. Carrot went on, "but only that: a little time. Once they trace our jump path, they'll tear this station apart looking for us. Not to mention either taking or destroying the Wrath here if they catch us without her." Carrot gave two hearty smacks on a wall of the ship to emphasize her point and the ship in question, leaving a metallic ringing in the air.
Derpy sighed, wondering if they'd ever be free of this curse. "We'll either leave as soon as the ship is fixed, or figure something else out," Derpy said.
"If you say so, Cap."
"I could use a good drink, anyway." Derpy finished. Dinky's face brightened—
"None for you," Derpy said, with finality.
—and dimmed again, defeated. Dinky hopped out of the chair as Derpy took over the ship's controls, pulling the ship around the station and into the designated repair bay. Levitation beams locked the Wrath into place, while the airlock in the bay closed, sealing the ship inside as oxygen flooded the room. A red light in the hangar changed to green several minutes later, indicating that the three of them could safely exit without suffocating.
They exited the airlock of the Wrath and approached the doors that lead to the rest of the station. A bald, brown stallion with a goatee entered through the doors in question and approached the three of them. On his flank was a picture of a wrench superimposed over a caricature of a spaceship. He addressed the three of them "Which one of ya's the captain?"
"That would be me," Derpy said. She continued, cutting the stallion off before he could speak again, "I'll need a complete overhaul on the hull. I want every scratch and ding out as well as possible, and all breeches or structural weaknesses patched with the highest quality materials you have. I'll also need complete rewiring of any damaged interior systems."
The stallion nodded, and approached the ship, giving it a cursory glance. He gave a low whistle. "Looks like she hasn't seen a solid repair job in several months, at least."
"Two weeks and four days, to be exact," Dinky added. The stallion gave another whistle.
"What did ya do to this poor thing? Looks like it's flown through Tartarus and back. Twice. Just a quick glance tells me it could run you fourteen to sixteen hundred creds, easily. And this isn't including the inside."
Carrot Top cringed at the ludicrously high price, even knowing that it could have been worse. "Do it," Derpy said.
The stallion shrugged. "Well alright then, it's yer credits. This poor girl could use some good ol' tender lovin' care anyhow. I'll take good care of her, but it might be a few hours."
"Get it done quick and I'll pay double. But don't do a sloppy job." Carrot cringed harder, while Dinky glanced doubtfully at her mother, saying nothing. That was more than twice the credits worth of salvage Carrot had scavenged from the Rebel ship, and that was an above average haul.
The stallion looked at Derpy in wonder. He never overcharged for repairs, despite the fact that he could easily get so much as triple his usual rates and still get good business while underselling the scant few competitors.
"Consider it done."
Derpy nodded, satisfied. She walked to the door, into the station proper. Dinky and Carrot exchanged a nervous glance before hurriedly trotting after her.