Chapter 6
Twilight wandered the ship for a while, just marveling at the incredible complexity of the machinery that made up the various corridors and rooms. The crew of the ship, though aware of the presence of the ponies, still stared whenever she walked by. It was different from usual for her, but Twilight didn't mind the attention. The humans were just as fascinating to her as she was to them.
In her time wandering, Twilight got a feel of the ship’s layout. She figured that she knew how to get to the most important places with relative ease. The bridge was easy to find, as were the armory and research bay as she had visited them all before. She had some trouble finding the cantina, but when she did she found it a little too rowdy for her own tastes. Something about the cantina bothered her, though. It felt as if someone had been watching her, aside from the crew members unaccustomed to seeing a purple unicorn.
She brushed off the feeling and returned to the halls of the ship. It wasn't long, though, that she ran into somebody else while examining their more advanced technology. The collision sent her to the ground and when she looked up, she saw an imposing figure. He wore a dark suit with lines that ran up and down it that occasionally pulsed red. The suit covered most of his body, save for his head, which was a dark brown tone, and he had even darker hair which was braided into dreadlocks.
“Well well well. What ‘ave we ‘ere?” The man smiled, but it was a sinister smile, the kind of smile of someone who was untrustworthy. It unsettled Twilight, to say the least. “The name’s Tosh. I heard about ya from the captain. So, what be your name, little one?”
“Um, w-well. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” she said, frightened by the man. She could tell there was something different about him, but she couldn’t put her hoof on what it was. That unsettled her even further. “I-if you d-don’t mind, I’m gonna get going.” She tried to walk around him, but Tosh held her back and lowered himself to her level and looked her right in the eyes.
“Now, now, don’t be frightened. This won’t hurt a bit.” Twilight felt compelled to look right back into his eyes. They were pale, but she didn’t have time to truly register this as she felt her magical energy begin to drain. She tried to break away, but was unable to.
They remained this way for several minutes, Twilight getting weaker and weaker with every passing moment. She could feel her heart beating faster to try and make up for the loss of energy, as well as her breathing pace pick up. Twilight could just about see a cloud of darkness overcome the edges of her vision when one of the corridor doors opened up.
“Tosh! What are you doing!”
Tosh broke the connection between the two of them and stood up. Twilight fell to the floor and turned her head, seeing Jim Raynor in the doorway, looking very angry.
“Ah, Raynor. I was just checking somet’ing ‘bout one of our guests here.” Tosh chuckled.
Jim quickly went to Twilight’s side, helping her to her hooves. He turned to Tosh, anger in his voice. “I thought I had told you not to use that on anyone on board.”
The man merely chuckled. “What’s wrong, Raynor? I was just testing her psionic potential. Th’ girl’s got more power than anyone else on board this ship.”
“I don’t care what kind of potential she has, Tosh. You and I both know how dangerous that ability is.” Jim seemed to be shaking with rage. “Sometimes, I think I should have listened to Nova. You can’t be trusted.” With that, he led Twilight out of the hall and into a nearby elevator.
They stood in the elevator silently for a few minutes. Twilight looked up to Jim. “Hey... Jim? Shouldn't we, you know, hit a button to make the elevator go?”
He looked down at her and chuckled. “Yeah, I guess we should.” He reached over and pressed one of the buttons on the touch screen and the elevator lurched into motion.
“Who was that man?” She asked, a little weakly.
Jim frowned. “Gabriel Tosh. Former Spectre for the Dominion and currently a bit of a mercenary. He helped me against the Dominion but I never much agreed with him on certain things. One of which being the way he treats others.” He knelt in front of Twilight. “How are you feeling.”
She took a deep breath. “Like I’ve been drained of all my energy... What did he do?”
“It’s an ability of his that he calls consumption. He drains the energy out of another living thing and uses it for himself. It’s a cruel thing to use and I strictly forbade him from doing it on board.” Jim let out a sigh. “At least it’s good to see that you’re fine now. Come on, lets get you back to your room. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”