Dreams of the Sky

by Blackjack488

2: Ambuscade

My eyes blurred slightly as I looked over the night sky. Slowly but surely, I felt my head start to droop and-

“Star! Come on, you airhead, wake up!”

I jerked back to wakefulness, the world snapping back into focus. Frantically, I took a few glances around to make sure I wasn’t being warned of danger, before settling back slightly into my perch.

I tapped the comm crystal linked to the Upper-aft observation bubble, and it lit up in response. “Thanks for the save, Stone,” I muttered into it.

It dimmed as I removed my hoof, before re-lighting and emitting the bass voice of my friend. “Yeah, well, I’m just trying to make sure you keep your damn job.”

“Appreciate it.”

There was a brief moment of silence, which I took to stare out at the night sky. The night was extremely far from clear. Clouds the size of battleships floated aimlessly in all directions, and the Stormwall sat ominously not thirty miles away, stretching to the horizon in both directions and rising out of the Cloudbase like one of those mountain ranges they tell stories about. But between the ominous dark clouds above shone hundreds of stars, with a bright silver moon among them to shine down on the world.

Looking down, I could see the edge of the top deck of the Philomena; a steel oblong floor that bore my observation bubble at one end and Blazing Stone’s at the other, decorated by an airstrip along the middle and six cannon turrets down either side. It was rimmed with the very top edge with the thick reinforced-steel plates that made up the bulk of her hull. Reverberating around the mighty vessel from deep within her core, I could feel the familiar bass throb of her Crystalline Constructs keeping the craft aloft and running. It was soothing, relaxing, and I could already feel myself starting to curl up, my eyelids growing heavier an-

“Dammit, Star! Would you at least try to stay awake!?”

I growled in response, slapping more than tapping the communication crystal. “I am trying! Geez.”

“Uh huh. sure. What’s going on, Star?”

“I’m fine. Buzz off.”

“Come on, Star. I know you. You’ve never fallen asleep on a shift.”

“Hey Stone?”

“Yeah?”

“Do me a favor and focus on your job.”

The line went dead for several seconds, giving me plenty of time to realize exactly what I’d just said.

I tapped the crystal lightly. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

The line was silent a few seconds more, each one weighing heavier on my conscience. Finally, the crystal re-lit.

“One condition.”

“Sure.”

“Answer the damn question.”

I was silent for a long moment, before finally tapping the crystal to send a nearly-whispered response. “The nightmares started up again.”

“Oh. Alright, that’s fair.”

“So…are we good?”

“Yeah. Apology accepted. But seriously, if the nightmares are coming back, you should talk to the doc.”

“I’m pretty sure it’ll get better once you-know-where is behind us.”

“Yeah, but until then, you’re a compromised crewmare who’s falling asleep on her watch. I know you don’t like sleeping meds, but just bite the bit this time, okay?”

I mulled on that thought for a moment, fiddling nervously with my uniform. He was right, of course. If I fell asleep on my watch, that wouldn’t do anypony any good. But…every time I considered that option...all I could see was lightning and panicked screams…

I shook that train of thought away with physical force, before responding. “I…guess you’re right. I’ll talk to the doc once my watch is over. No promises, though.”

“Yah-huh. Just make sure you stay awake, or I will personally come over there and beat that cutie mark off your flank, ya hear?”

I couldn’t help but giggle. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Oh yeah? How about tomorrow afternoon in the Gym? You, me, no weapons, no timer.”

“If you can find a ref. I’m gonna need an audience in case you cheat.”

“Me? Cheat? Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Uh huh. Just like you ‘didn’t dream of it’ during our last little sparring match?”

“You’re just jealous that I won.”

“Hey, do you see—“

“Besides, there was nothing in the rules about using herbal strength enhancers. I was just taking advantage of a very di—“

“Dammit, Stone, shut up for a second!” I used the newfound silence to focus on a nearby cloud. It was just a little smaller than the rest, and really oddly shaped. In fact, it almost looked like…

“Stone, can you confirm something for me? Looks like a cloud, but it’s shaped all wrong. It’s at...357 and 0.” There was a long pause. “See it?”

“Barely.”

“Thoughts?”

“That’s not a cloud. I can’t say for sure, bu—“

“Wait!” Recognition slammed into place in my brain, and I brought my hoof down onto a different communication crystal in front of me. “Captain, this is Star Chaser. I’m seeing what looks like a Magistrate Frigate at 357 and 0, about ten miles out. Can you confirm?”

There’s a small gap in time between my sent message and the one I got back. In the meantime, I only got more clues. The thin shapes of masts for sails (which were also decorated with unusual dots on them). The sleek, aerodynamic silhouette, with no visible ram or guns. The cylindrical, toxin-spraying thing those Magistrate ponies called an engine. All in all, once I knew what to look for, it all clicked into place in my sleep-addled brain.

The crystal linked with the Bridge lit up again, filling my little bubble with the captains’ voice. “Confirmed, Star Chaser. We see it. Nice work. Keep an eye on it, make sure they don’t start up with their usual tricks.”

My heart swelled at the praise, while my brain held onto logic. “Roger wilco, Captain.” Taking my hoof off the crystal, I turned my hawk-like gaze to the slowly-drifting vessel. It hadn’t changed any as far as I could see, but I could be wrong. The Magistrate were well-known for their bedeviling Magic tricks.

But the closer I looked at this mysterious craft, the more unusual its design became. It was too small to carry a decently-sized crew. That forecastle left no room for an airstrip. The blade-like rudders and stabilizers that typically decorated Magistrate ships were missing here, instead replaced with more fin-like protrusions near the back. And strangest of all was its angle. It looked like it was coming from the Stormwall, but it looked absolutely nothing like an Imperial ship. Maybe it was experimental?

I tapped the comm crystal and relayed my observations to the bridge. Only moments later, the brilliant spotlights on either side of the bridge cut brilliant white swaths out of the dark landscape, both turning to focus on the mystery vessel. And as they did, I couldn’t help but suck in a quick gasp.

The ship was like nothing I’d ever seen. Where most ships these days were like aerial tanks, this one looked sleek and powerful, like some kind of osprey in warship form. It was shaped like an old Magistrate vessel, but the similarities ended there. The wooden paneling had been reinforced with a thick frame made from some metal I couldn't distinguish from plain-old Iron. Like most Magistrate ships, it had a keel instead of a flat bottom, but this one was decorated with wicked-looking blades. The masts along its deck were incredibly small, barely ten feet tall, with crossbars decorated with incredibly unusual cone-looking things. Larger masts with sails attached, however, were folded up against her sides like wings. The bottom half was barely a half the width of the rest of the ship, the excess bulges shielding the engine and bearing the four cannons per side that made up her (pathetic) armament. But even with all that, the thing that stood out to me the most…that tore the breath from my lungs and made me realize how deep we’d just stepped in it…was the winged sword surrounded by stars that emblazoned her side.

The emblem of the Pegasus Imperium.

I froze in terror as the Philomena roared to life beneath me. I’d never had to fight pegasi before. That was the nice thing about patrolling the Imperial Border: the Imperium never really did anything these days. And yet, here I was, facing down an Imperial warship that, despite being smaller than the Philomena, was crewed by ponies who could fly, walk on clouds, and were probably armed with lightning bolts against a metal ship. Not to mention its unusual nature. Who knew what tricks this thing had up its sleeve? It had a Crystalline Accelerator for propulsion, so it undoubtedly had the speed of Magistrate ships. If it had the agility supposedly attributed to the Imperials…

I shuddered involuntarily as the Philomena’s propellers spun up and got us slowly moving with a gentle gee force. Below me, I could faintly hear the alarms going off, signaling everypony to battle stations.

“ATTENTION, IMPERIAL VESSEL!” the Captain’s voice, amplified by the bullhorn, rang out across the sky. “THIS IS THE R-N-V PHILOMENA! WE WILL APPROACH AND BOARD YOUR SHIP TO NEGOTIATE YOUR IMMEDIATE RETURN TO IMPERIAL AIRSPACE! TAKE ANY ACTION, AND YOU WILL BE SHOT DOWN!”

With that ultimatum, the propellers kicked into high gear, accelerating the titanic warship to full speed and turning it to face the mystery craft.

There were a few seconds where the new ship did nothing but float there, obeying our orders as we approached. Then, it lurched forward and began accelerating away, a stream of sickly-green clouds spewing from their engines.

I knew what was coming next, and immediately covered my ears.

All twelve cannon turrets lining the Philomena’s port side swiveled to face the fleeing ship, firing at will with a magnificent BA-BOOOM!

Most of the explosive-propelled steel slugs missed. The ship was small enough and fast enough that it was expected. But two hit home. One bounced harmlessly off the metal keel (!!!), but the other…

“Captain, Star Chaser. Confirmation of one hit to lower decks, maybe even the engine room given how it’s shuddering like that.”

The mystery ship was, indeed, moving a little erratically as it turned to dive for cover behind a nearby cloud. There was a slight rumbling in the floor as I felt the cannons reload, then swivel to take aim (at the behest of the lower observation bubbles, since it had dived slightly in its little escapade).

I covered my ears just as the ship disappeared behind the cloud. And when it should have come out the other side…

…nothing.

Like the ship had vanished into thin air.

BOOM! A single cannon lobbed a deafening shot into the middle of the small cumulus, tearing a nice big hole in it. There was nothing on the other side.

I tapped the comm crystal for the bridge. “Captain, there’s no sign of them. I think they’re using a cloaking device.” Another point that this ship was a Magistrate Craft. A high-end one, no less.

“Roger that. Keep your eyes peeled. We can’t afford to lose them.”

“Yes sir.” I switched to the other crystal. “Stone, you hear all that?”

“Loud and clear, Star. You watch out the front, I’ll look out the back, okay?”

I stared around to the dozens of clouds it could use as cover, particularly the one we’d pulled up more or less alongside. “What in Tartarus are we even looking for?”

“Exhaust trails, you dingus. They can’t cloak those. Or a really shiny patch of air. Either one.”

I swallowed the veteran Watcher’s advice as best I could whilst still scouring the skies. “Got it. Thanks.”

I peeled my eyes as best I could on the surrounding skyscape.

One second passed…

And another…

There-wait…no, that’s just a cloud.

Another second…

My heart was in my throat.

I held my breath as much as I could.

Every muscle coiled in tension.

Another second…

…and another…

…and another…

A tiny flash of motion caught my eye…

Green! Green clouds!

My hoof nearly broke the comm crystal. “CAPTAIN! 270 and 1! Behind the cloud!”

I was just hearing the turrets start to swivel when the cloud alongside us tore in half, revealing the mystery ship in all its terrible glory as it rocketed towards our amidships.

Every comm crystal linked to the bridge suddenly lit up and screamed, “ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPAC-“ CRASH!

The mystery ship sank her keelblades deep into the Philomena’s top deck, ripping through steel as easily as a knife through butter. Eventually, it ground itself down to a halt right in the middle of the deck, turning its cannons toward—

I let out a crazed scream and dove for the ladder out of the Observation Bubble.

BANG! C-CRASH! A powder-propelled shell shredded the room I’d been in only moments before, along with a sizable portion of the surrounding hull.

I was thrown hard against the side of the ladder tube, my hooves torn from the rungs and turning my descent into a freefall. It wasn’t a long one, thank Celestia, but I felt a distinct crack! and a searing rush of pain that signified something breaking. And to top it all off, some of the rubble from the blast found its way down the chute and slammed into my sideways form, eliciting a few more screams of pain than I thought I had in me.

I briefly felt the world around me swim and drift somewhat, before the Philomena’s shuddering brought me back to the world. Then there was a sudden jerk downwards as we tore ourselves free from the mysterious warship.

The ringing in my ears slowly began to subside. I tried to move, only to find that one of my hindlegs was broken. Great.

BA-BA-BANG! The rippling percussion of cannonfire tore through my eardrums, and I nearly began crying as I pressed my hooves as hard as I could against my ears, the rattling of cracking steel sending flurries of pain through my broken limb.

‘Those are powder cannons!’ my brain screamed at me. ‘Stars above, those are way more powerful than anything the UPR has! Just who in Celestia’s name are these ponies!?’

The Philomena bucked and turned under me, trying to get a fix on the much more nimble airship. Though how they could aim without any observation bubbles with a line of si—

My heart dropped.

They couldn’t. Even if the bridge had a line-of-sight, they couldn’t get an accurate heading and angle. And with all the confusion, the captain might not even know the Observation Bubbles were down. Oh, those crafty little Proto-Discords…

I started pulling myself to my hooves, trying my best to limp over the debris on only three limbs. The Captain needed to know. Otherwise we’d be flying blind. Maybe if we could get above them, we’d have a chance. All I needed to do was find a comm crystal linked to the bridge, and if memory served me right, there was one just one floor down.

I stumbled, falling flat on my face, breaths coming quicker as another burst of gunfire tore into the Philomena’s steel hide. Her engines were chugging and throbbing harder than I’d ever heard before. I could almost hear her screaming with pain and protest.

I wasn’t scared. The UPR designed ships to be damn tough, and the Philomena was no exception. She could take the punishment.

I silently made a prayer I wouldn’t be proven wrong as another volley of cannonfire pulled a long, pained groan from the depths of the ship.

I pulled myself back to my hooves, struggling and stumbling and feeling really lightheaded. My breaths came hard and fast, which did little to help the bruises on my side.

Suddenly, my vision doubled and blurred, and I collapsed onto the ground, hyperventilating the whole time.

I tried to reach the crystal attached to the collar portion of my uniform, but my legs had stopped responding. I could swear these frantic breaths were my last ones, as my blurred vision filled with red and…

Oxygen filled my lungs the instant the red blob pressed a hoof against my collar. I gulped in a deep breath, coughing hard, and watching the world return around me.

“I swear,” that familiar voice muttered, shaking his returning-to-focus head. “First you marry a pegasus, then you try to breathe like one. What’s next? Trying your hoof at flight?”

I took a few deep breaths, confirming my lungs still worked, before moving my hoof to replace his on my collar. “Nice to see you too, Stone. Appreciate the save.”

“Yah-huh. And one of these days, I’m gonna give you some nice long lessons on how to keep your own damn flank alive.”

I struggled back to my hooves, using him for support. “Then you’d –cough- put yourself outta the job.”

He smiled briefly, his orange eyes glittering from his dark maroon coat. He had one hoof planted firmly on the collar of his uniform, standing and walking on only three. He caught sight of my broken leg, and his cocky grin turned into concern. Then, wordlessly, he laid down on the ground and gestured for me to hop on board.

I took the gesture without question as another shell shook the ship around us, reminding me of my quest.

“The Bridge…we need to tell the Captain about—“

“Already told him, right before I ran over here to save your sorry flank.” I was hit with a faceful of close-cropped grey mane as the other Earth Pony stood to his full height.

“Gee, now I feel kinda useless.”

“Well, once we get that leg in a cast, you can hop into a Mini and feel a little less so. How’s that?”

“Sounds good to me.”

There was a sudden rush of air as Stone hauled open the bulkhead door, the pressurized air inside blasting out at us in a sudden gust of artificial wind. Stone had to fight more than a little to get us through, sealing the bulkhead behind us with a sharp hiss. Both of us took our hooves off our collars as the air around us re-pressurized.

“I’ve got it from here,” I muttered into Stone’s ear. He nodded wordlessly and squatted down for me to disembark.

“ATTENTION ALL HANDS!” The Captain hollered through the linked crystals, “ABANDON SHIP! MOVE TO THE SECONDARY VESSEL AND PREPARE FOR EVACUATION IN FIVE. IF YOU ARE NOT THERE, YOU WILL BE LEFT BEHIND!”

Stone and I shared a look, immediately registering this change in plans before starting our furious sprint to the lower decks. Well, his furious sprint. I simply hobbled along on three legs, flailing slightly like some kind of madmare.

With a painful squeal and the powerful shuddering of the Philomena beneath my hooves, I immediately realized they’d attached their ship to ours. Which meant we could probably expect a boarding party soon.

Which meant we probably needed weapons. Sooner rather than later.

“Stone!” He stopped, already lowering himself to the ground as we approached the intersection. “No, Stone! I’m thinking we should grab some weapons!”

“What!? Why? The ship’s being evacuated an’ you wanna look for a gun?”

“They’re clipping themselves to us, which means there’ll be a boarding party.”

“We have three frickin’ minutes!”

“This’ll take thirty seconds, tops.”

“No way in—“ Whatever he was about to say was interrupted as we heard a shout from behind us. Taking a lookin that direction, I quickly spotted a pegasus stallion, light-blue with a messy black mane. He had a thick white-ish scar running along his whole left side, following the contours of his body as it ran from his cheek to his hindhoof, making him look positively wicked. It even seemed to run over his battlesaddle, as one gun-mount was melted into twisted slag. The other side was mounted with a weaponized Accelerator, and was quickly turning to point at us as he followed up the shout with what was likely going to be bullets.

“RUN!” Stone shouted. Not like he needed to. I was already moving.

VRRRNNNNNNNNNNN! Within seconds, a veritable storm of bullets was shooting over and around our shoulders and through our tails as we quickly turned a corner for cover.

“Guns it is.”

“Glad you finally came to your senses.”

As we ducked for the staircase leading down, the turn proved too much for my single hindleg, and I flopped over, rolling to a halt less than a few hoof-lengths from the stairwell. I was just in time to see the ominous-looking pegasus round the corner, clamp his teeth around the trigger-bit, take aim, and…

…nothing…

A puzzled look crossed his face, and he turned to hit his gun a few times. As if that’d help.

Stone took the opportunity to show off his perfect timing, as he reappeared in the stairwell with a pistol in both mouth and hoof. He was just taking aim as the pegasus let out a yelp and fled back into cover.

Bang bang bang! All three shots missed, but that was typical for stone. For a pony with a pair of binoculars on his flank, you think he’d be a better shot.

He took the little lull in the fight to help me to my hooves and shove the pistol in my mouth. My leg was seriously starting to sting, but I took out my pain on the trigger bit, clamping down much harder than what the safety demanded.

“You okay?” he asked as we ran for the stairwell, bullets lighting up the hallway behind us.

I just nodded. While I was in quite a bit of pain, I wasn’t dying, and that was what he meant after all. That wasn’t to say I wasn’t giving him flak about it later.

VRNNNNN! Bullets sparked on the ceiling just above our heads. Geez, when did everypony become such terrible shots? Not that I was complaining, but it was weird.

“EVACUATION IN ONE MINUTE! GET HERE NOW, EVERYPONY!”

There! Stone turned off our landing, and I took the extra momentum to swing around on my forehooves and fire back at the attacking pegasus (with just a touch of magic to keep myself from slipping).

BLAM BLAM! Ha! Shoulder shot! See that, Stone? That’s how it’s done!

The pegasus looked downright furious, but ran for cover rather than pressing the attack. I dived for cover of my own, keeping him occupied as a stallion I didn’t know ran up the stairs and past me towards the Secondary Vessel.

“Star, come on!”

I turned and ran toward the bulkhead just as the other pony’s gun spun up with a loud VRNNNNNNNN!

I could hear bullets pinging into the side of the hallway, but I ignored them in favor of hobbling toward the open doorway, Stone waving me toward him. The nameless stallion thundered in, and I was right on his tai—

Then, right in front of my eyes, the pressurized bulkhead snapped shut. And through its window, I could see Stone screaming something inaudible as the Secondary Ship dropped away out of the Philomena’s belly.

I could only stand there, staring at the pointedly wrong side of the door.

“Horsefeathers.”

That pretty much summed things up.