Equestria: The Vast Infinity

by Teru9133

5: Traitors at Hoof

I opened my eyes to a blur. Not knowing just what was in the world yet. They adjusted eventually, my eyes, and the view before me was one I had not remembered when my eyes closed previously. The white ceiling above me was lit with a brilliant light, but it did not possess the source of it. When I had tried to turn my head, a burning sharp pain entered my thinking process, the pain being somewhere on the back of my head.

I grunted with effort, and I finally managed to turn my head around to the left of my bunk to see the lamp that brightly lit the room. I did not expect to see the teal mare in a white nurse uniform there.

"W- ow," I said after feeling the rocks grinding through my throat, but after a few gulps, I could speak freely, but she explained before I had the chance to ask.

"You're in the Equestrian Space Station's hospital, you were taken here after we found you alone in the CSC."

"Oh okay," I had said turning my head to face the ceiling again and closed my eyes, it wasn't until shortly after that that what she had said sank in.

I opened my eyes wide, and turned my head back towards the nurse violently, ignoring the pain in the back of my head, and asked with no regard for the panic in my voice, "Wait, what do you mean I was the only one there?"

The nurse looked over at me quizzically, then apparently remembered something, and nervously smiled, "I'll let the kind mare here to debrief you, to let you know what they think happened."

"Can you tell me who it is?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"But of course."

The mare finished checking the monitors around me and turned around to head for the door. When she had gone right up to it, she turned around.

"I forgot to mention, there's a folder to the right of you, it supposedly should get you up to speed."

After she had gone through the door, I glanced over to the nightstand to my right, and discovered that she was right. The folder itself was long and slim, which didn't really matter much when the single piece of paper in it was of the same characteristics. The only interesting thing about the folder was that it was midnight blue.

A little curious, I used my magic, with tentative care as to not hurt myself more, to bring the folder over, and to see the paper within it. What it was wasn't anything I had expected at all.

"Starsky:

I understand that you work for the CSA, but as leader and head of the Lunar Intelligence Agency, I am allowed to do as I please in terms of giving information, naturally. What you are about to read is for your eyes only, due to it being extremely classified information for some simple reasons I will not discuss at this moment.

You have a decision here to make however: read the information below and become more involved in something you had thought previously to be a simple mission, or you can close the folder now, forget about this, and continue on with your life. Your choice."

I didn't really enjoy the idea of having to choose according to a paper, but I was curious as to what the nurse meant before about being the only one on the CSC when they found me. On the same token, I generally don't ignore warnings, even if they are somewhat hidden and not meant to discourage me. And I was further curious as to who wrote this letter.

There was no choice, I continued reading:

"Hopefully, you won't regret this, but it was your choice after all:"

Mission status: classified

Crew's status: 3 MIA, 1 in critical

Mission completion: unknown

Crew retrieval: CS Solrun

Report: Due to absence of crew, this report will be written by Captain Snow of the CS Solrun.

At approximately 0800 hours, about 12 hours since the crew's departure, the Solrun had come to retrieve the crew due to failing of returning at designated time. Only the ship's pilot, Sergeant Starsky, was found, the engineer, gunner, and commander were not found anywhere. When the sergeant was found, he was crippled over a console that was discovered as the main console, assumption of his being there was to power the station back up. A blow to the back of his head is apparent cause of been unconscious when discovered. Departure of the CSC was about 1030 hours, it was left with a skeleton crew maintaining it.

Assumptions aren't encouraged, but it's a viable theory that the Nightmare Cult had lured the crew there, and one of the three MIA, if not all three, are members of the organization.

Status of mission: completed

Completion of mission: unknown"

I had set the paper back onto its resting place on top of the folder, wondering how this changed anything. But then I realized there was another paper in the folder that I must've missed.

As I picked up the folder to pull out the paper, a thought came into my mind, "this was not there before."

I set the folder back down, wondering where the paper had come from, and was deep in thought until a soft chuckle came from nowhere.

I looked around, with my heart already in my throat, and my skeleton kept out from my body, frantically trying to find the source.

"Oops, I sometimes forget to reveal myself, especially since you found me out much sooner than I had anticipated."

Immediately the shadows in the room began to shift around, almost as if materializing something, someone. That wasn't nearly as strange as me not freaking out though.

Slowly the darkness swirled and tumbled around, me somehow able to tell it was moving at all, until finally a pony emerged out from it.

Not sure why, but her necklace was the first thing to catch my eye, it was pitch black, and had a white, crescent moon in the center. The next thing to be registered was her black crown rested on top of her head, slightly in front of her horn. Her mane stretched down on the left side of her neck slightly, then went back up onto her back, where it rested. And then finally, after maybe a second, a day, who knows, but I finally realized it was the princess of the night before me.

I was about to jump out of my bed and kneel down before her, but she knew I was going to do that, and deflected my attempt softly with a magical barrier, "I had heard you were hurt, I wish to see you not hurt yourself anymore than you are."

I sighed, knowing her wish was an order didn't help because I still felt obliged to give respect, nevertheless, I laid in bed, now understanding why the nurse hadn't said anything, at least partly.

I tried to ask in reverence, "What is the reason for a princess to pay a visit to see me in my condition?"

The princess of the night smiled softly, as if she was radiated by the warmth of millions of stars, "To see how you are. Oh, don't give me such a look, is that such a hard reason to believe?"

I nodded gracefully once, and with that her majesty had sighed, "I suppose it is a hard concept to believe."

I chuckled quietly to myself, but immediately regretted doing so when the princess tilted her head with a look of mild surprise.

"Y-your majesty, I meant no offense! I was jus-"

She cut me off with her hoof, and my heart had apparently still been lodged in my throat, since it thumped in it once more, "I know you meant no offense, I actually am surprised that you aren't so stiff as to be able to chuckle, few ponies actually get this comfortable."

I gulped a little, "I'm not exactly comfortable here, princess."

And with that, she began laughing, of such laughter I've never seen before. She had landed flat on her back, with her sides apparently hurting.

"Are you okay?" I said as I slowly moved across my bed to get a better look at her condition.

I stumbled a little more, and I was flat on my belly and looking down at her recovering from her laugh, "Yes! Yes I am fine! Oh, Sergeant, I've had few ponies ever try to make a joke to me in such a long time!"

I rolled my eyes a little, "It wasn't exactly supposed to be one."

She had a short burst of laughter, but then stopped herself, and got up as you collected herself. In a short few seconds, the princess of the night looked as firm as she had when she first walked in; I knew what was about to happen next, she was going to ask if I read the folder and it's contents, so I didn't waste time.

"Yes, I did read the folder."

The princess raised an eyebrow, whether in amusement or surprise I can not say, " Do you regret it?"

I shook my head once, just like I had when nodding.

"Excellent. Now I have another question."

I waited patiently, and then her soft voice spoke with concern, "Who do you think is of the Nightmare Cult?"

I shrugged as if I didn't care, although inside me, it did sting, "I can only guess it was Star Twirl, she was new, and of a different upbringing than Skipper and Navi."

The princess of the night tilted her head, confused, and then her eyes went wide as if she realized something.

"Sergeant, did you not understand the question?"

Now it was my turn to be confused, and shook my head.

She sighed, "We can figure out whether one of your friends are part of it, but right now, think about it. How did the CSC become a ghost station?"

It was like being a deer in the headlights, or maybe receiving a revelation from a being higher than the princesses, I don't know, but everything about this turn of event all of a sudden made sense, at least why the Princess of the Night was here.

The CSC had almost 1000 ponies on it, and that's just the crew, who knows how many civilians were on there. An entire station to be cleared out would require an high level position in the CSA or LIA. So that means someone of either organization is of the Nightmare Cult, and who's to say there are more?

The princess looked sternly at me as I pieced more of the puzzle together, "So you're here on a very low profile because you don't know who is the Nightmare Cult?"

She nodded, "Do you know if there are any......." I gulped hard as I said the word, "traitors, in your organization?"

This time, the night princess shook her head and replied, "I had found none to be of the NC cult, although there were a great deal of suspects in the low ranks, none of my high officials were possible to be suspects."

I nodded absent-mindedly, then it hit me that that left one other organization, "So who do you think it might be in the CSA?"

She shrugged, "All I know is that it would have to be anybody with a head position of an embassy or higher."

I let that sink in, there are approximately 56 bases and embassies under the CSA, so that's 56 officials right there, and then you add the other positions above it.

"That leaves a possibility of over 100 suspects...."

The princess nodded once, "And it could very well be one of the stations' commanders, like Aster-"

I disliked disregarding my obligations, but I rolled out of my bed and stood up right squared into the princess's eyes and firmly said, "no."

She blinked, "Excuse me?"

I repeated myself, "No, Aster would never turn his back on the CSA, nor on Equestria."

A few moments of silence hung as I moved back to my bunk and rested my flank on it, and then she spoke again, "Very well, but you must understand I have no affiliation with the CSA outside of my sister, so I do not know who to trust or not to."

"Then why did you trust me?"

That must've built ice between us because she fell silent, and even visibly slouched slightly, not the sad kind, but more of a disapproval one.

She moved over to the desk to the left of my bed, the one where I saw the nurse at. She monitored the screens that were now flatlining because I pulled off the cables and lines on me. Then she turned her head slightly so I could see a bit of her eyes.

"Call me Luna."

My eyes went wide, and she turned fully now, laughing quietly.

"I trust you because you were the only one to have been extracted from the CSC."

I sighed at the relatively stupid reason..... Luna, gave.

She noticed my sourness on that, and added, "That's not all though."

"Oh really?" I said melodramatically.

"Yes, you also were genuinely surprised when I told you to think about the bigger picture."

"How do you know I wasn't acting?"

She gave a smirk, "If that was acting, you should've made it in the film industry and not into the space industry."

I laughed as I said, "Good point."

As my laughter died down, she continued looking at me, and after a few more uncomfortable seconds, she finally spoke.

"The reason I came here....."

At this, my ears perked up and had went back on my hooves and waited for the rest, eagerly, I said, "Yes?"

"My reason was simply to ask if you wanted to temporarily be a part of the LIA."

I stood there, frozen, figuring out that she had offered me a spot in the Lunar Intelligence Agency, the equivalence of the Celestial Royal Army on Equestria.

She cleared her throat, then firmly said, "Close that mouth, sergeant, we are still on business."

I shook my head, and stood firmly again, and took a couple deep and long breaths as I decided.

She raised an eyebrow curiously, "Well?"

I thought about my friends that were now gone, as well the mystery of what the hell happened on the CSC. Then I thought about the compromising of the Celestial Space Agency. There was no choice to it.

..... Luna, raised out a hoof, and I stared at it for a little while.

"Count me...." I raised my hoof, and as it hit hers I finished off, "in."

She smiled, "Good, I am glad my visit wasn't such a waste as my adjutants suspected it may have been."

And with that, my first step in becoming a key player in what was to come was taken, and I stepped into a playing field much larger than I had anticipated. But will I regret it? Of course not, it was my choice after all.