//------------------------------// // 15 - Perspective (Rarity Quest Part 3) // Story: Cataclysm // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// Rarity - 23nd of Megan, 17 EoH Mariner's Lake - Shorefall A sharp jolt, powerful enough to shake the floor, tore me from the uneasy nap I had been enjoying. I had only been awake for a few hours before getting tired again. Tired enough to settle down for a nap despite half of Shorefall’s military on our tail. I do suppose that a large warmachine emerging from the sea, driving off a monster then cutting a line across your nation would be something to send a military response to deal with. On the other hoof, I didn’t understand how I could just fall asleep while under fire. Yes, Righteous had assured me that ‘Their pea shooters will take hours to breach the shields, let alone the armor,’ but still, I had been under fire. I blinked sitting up in bed, immediately realizing I needed a coffee or three. Ah yes. I was still recovering from surgery. That could certainly explain sudden onset exhaustion. At least I felt awake now, even if I was still groggy. “What was that jolt?” I asked with a reflexive yawn as I rolled over to stand up. “Probably an AP round of some kind,” Righteous remarked casually. “It managed to slip through the forcefield and bounce off the hull. Shields are growing a little week, the long drive and continuous need to recharge the shields has burned through almost all of our deuterium. Don’t worry though, we’re just a few meters from the lake! We’ll make it.” I frowned immediately, sitting upright and looking towards the rear view screen. I had read up on other countries militaries in the past and while I hadn’t exactly read up on Shorefall’s, I did know that using less technologically advanced yet magically augmented weapons was an Equestrian thing. Most other nations used… Other solutions. It seemed that Shorefall had their own, much smaller, tanks. Though they were still, well, tanks. With decently large artillery they could bring to bare on us. “Those don’t look like peashooters to me,” I said with a worried flick of my tail. “Heh, well, not to sound like some jerk in a bar but when it comes to cannons, size does matter. We’ve got more than enough armor to stand up to them for oh, an hour or two of bombardment,” Righteous said in a tone which suggested he had calculated his estimate. “What if they have some form of ammunition which can cut through your armor?” I asked, still quite worried. Righteous’s avatar formed in front of me in order to allow him to give me a big cheesy grin, before the hologram switched to a view showing ourselves and the eight pursuing vehicles from above. “I’m going to have line of sight on them for the next twenty minutes. If they cause any real problems, well…” Rightious’s projection flickered as a red HUD appeared over the image, a few lines of text blinking near the center of the image. I squinted at the text, struggling to read the language. “I really need to brush up on my English reading skills…” I mumbled to myself. “I’m still impressed you can even speak it. Though your dialect is rather ancient,” Righteous mused, his voice carrying a hint of praise. “Do you need me to read it for you?” I shook my head as another jolt rocked the tank. The projection showing the centermost enemy tank as having just fired a shot while on the ‘run’. “No. I understand that you have weapons trained on them from above,” I answered. “I… It’s nothing lethal, is it?” Righteous sighed. “I’m afraid that since they are most certainly trying to kill us that a non-lethal approach isn’t called for here. Now before you get all upset, yes they have a right to defend their lands; also the first shot will be a warning shot,” he said adamantly. I bit my lip for a moment then nodded. “I- I guess that’s fair.” “I know, and I’m sorry. But if you respond to a mass driver with a tazer, you die… Well, I wouldn’t die if the blew this tank up. But you would, and I will not allow that,” Righteous elaborated, avatar manifesting to give me a steely look I couldn’t help but smile at. “I appreciate it… But, are you certain that a warning shot will work?” I asked worriedly. “Completely,” he replied, blinking out of existence suddenly. “Brace yourself, I need to turn around.” “Why?” I asked, lowering my body to the floor as the tank suddenly shifted, entering a sliding spin for a split second before reaching a full stop with a sudden jolt. “Because we’re at the lake,” he answered casually. “This way the exit isn’t in the enemy’s line of fire.” I felt my eyes widen in fright. “I- but- You’re not going to help me get the coral?” “I am… You need pink coral, right? I’m scanning for a reef right now,” Righteous replied hissing irritably as the tank shook again. “Ow. I kinda felt that one.” “But, you’re not going to drive me to the reef?” I asked tilting my head curiously. “No. Sorry,” Righteous answered with a weary sigh after a moment’s hesitation. “Why not?” I asked. Righteous was silent for a few seconds before projecting a hologram in front of me. “Because it’s a reef. Meaning it's UNDER the water. The closest one being eight meters below, here it is by the way, just forty meters south by south east.” “Oh! Is this tank not watertight?” I asked with a confused frown. “I mean, I assumed that since you had an aquatic transit mode-” “Um, well, yes, it is. To about fifty meters,” Righteous interrupted. “I um… Look, driving across the surface at high speed is one thing but I- Well, I’d really rather not submerge myself. If it’s all the same to you.” I stood up, face scrunching up with incredulity. “I- but- THERE’S AN ARMORED DIVISION SHOOTING AT US OUTSIDE!” “I know,” Righteous replied. “I will draw all of their attention and fire. They won't see you leave and will be far too busy to attack you if they notice you later. I assure you.” I blinked, a sudden realization hitting me. “Are you trying to tell me that you are afraid of the water?” I asked. Righteous’s avatar blinked into existence, nodding with a rather bashful look pressed into his stylized draconic features. “Um, well… Yes,” he admitted with a short cough. I narrowed my eyes angrily. “Really? After driving across the sea, and fighting a sea monster, now suddenly you’re afraid of the water?” He sighed, looking me in the eyes as his body tensed up. “Miss Rarity,” he began his lips pulling into a nervous frown. “I am very adept at keeping a brave demeanor in the face of danger. I assure you that I didn’t like one moment of driving across the surface of that sea. However, it was necessary, and I did it. That sea monster is the very sort of thing that makes me afraid of large bodies of water, and as it was on the surface, fighting it was a great source of joy for me. “But entering the water to deliver you to the reef directly? That is not necessary. Also as this vehicle lacks an airlock, water would flood the interior. However, even worse than that mild annoyance, is that I would be submerged in a medium that allows for three dimensional movement and also permits stealth. “I don’t expect non-space dwelling people to understand, but that is quite horrifying. In space, nothing can just suddenly materialize from the void beneath you and eat your giblets. You see it coming, likely form astronomical units away. Now, yes, I do know that I am in space right now and controlling this remotely, but do you recall when I let you use the guns and you believed you had that monster’s viscera plastered all over you? The sensory input from these things is easily able to make a sapient being see this vehicle as their body and-” “Righteous, it’s just eight meters of water,” I said with a bemused smile. “There’s hardly some sort of kraken squishing itself flat against the lakebed in water that shallow.” Righteous shook his head adamantly. “Sinkholes are a thing, one could easily be present near a reef. Furthermore, back in my day, there were these itty bitty little sharks known as Isistius brasiliensis and they swam in schools. This is terrifying because those dog damn tiny things could literally take a bite out of a fucking submarine! It doesn't have to be big to completely destroy you. “In fact, in the oceans of Fifty-five Cancri E, there’s a half meter long eel-like creature that can unleash an EMP powerful enough to shut me down completely. There’s also the Lathadon of Proxima b. Now that little motherfucker could actually latch onto my hull and rip off a chunk the size of you! All of that is without even getting into the hell that is the entire biosphere of Four-Five-Four-Six-B. A leviathan class lifeform could easily swim through a mere eight meters of water and-” I set a hoof on his shoulder, or at least I tried too. Instead of delivering the understanding gesture I intended, I merely disrupted the hologram, causing a good chunk of his body to vanish as my hoof blocked the projector’s line of sight. “Oops! Sorry,” I said with an embarrassed cough. “I understand. I have a friend who's afraid of almost everything. You sounded just like she does. If you are certain that you can make sure none of them attack me, I will go get it myself.” Righteous sighed in relief, avatar relaxing before vanishing. “Ma’am, all will be well. I’m sorry that I can’t go get that for you. I really honestly am. But while you are doing it, not one shell will enter the water,” Righteous promised as an electric wine permeated the cabin as machinery of some kind fired up. “Active countermeasures are online. Defining defensive pattern… Interception lasers programmed. Anything munitions sized that’s moving past me will be vaporised, detonated, or deflected. It’s safe to exit the vehicle, Miss Rarity.” I frowned, still uncertain as to whether or not I should go for a swim with those enemy tanks firing at- A loud stuttering roar made me jump in fright, the second one sending my heart slamming into the front of my barrel. “Sorry!” Righteous said quickly. “That’s just some of the secondary arms. I’m shooting the ground close to them and-” The tank shook four times in rapid succession, loud metallic pings echoing through the interior. “-and it’s now actually safer OUTSIDE the tank. Miss Rarity, there’s a breath mask by the hatch. I hope I modified it to fit your muzzle properly. It has forty minutes of oxygen,” Righteous said before another of the shattering roars ripped through the air. What did that even sound like? An impossibly loud extended brrrrah-rrrt was the best words my mind could put the sound into. “I um, w-well I suppose I should take care of this quickly,” I said as I turned and jogged to the rear of the rank, searching over the crates for anything that looked like a breath mask when a sudden horrifying idea occurred to me. “Um, Righteous? How will I know where the reef is?” “I sent a waypoint to your systems… It’s not showing up for you?” He asked as another three quick volleys rang out, followed by the tank shaking again. “Waypoint?” I asked, one eyebrow raising in confusion. Righteous sighed, and suddenly a floating green dot appeared in my vision, along with what I could tell was a compass, thermometer, and what looked like a small map of the nearby area all placed at the edges of my vision, unobtrusively located and translucent enough to not impede vision too much. “Yeah, so, um, looks like I forgot to set the HUD’s value ‘true’ for you,” he laughed in embarrassment. I turned my head, watching as the compass dial rotated. It wasn’t in a language I knew but, well, still… “This is amazing! Can I turn it off if I want to?” I asked curiously, the tank shuddering again as another shot slammed into the hull. “Yes, it’s think do. The blinking dot is the center mass of the reef. Do you see the breath mask?” Righteous asked quickly. Looking around some more I saw a black plastic and rubber half mask which looked somewhat like a respirator, and picked it up, nodding. “Yes I do… Is there a radio in this? How do I stay in contact with you incase there’s an emergency?” I asked quickly quickly, realizing his urgency couldn’t be for nothing. “You are a radio…” Righteous said with an audible frown, his voice suddenly coming from my ears as if I had a pair of headphones on. “See? Aren't cybernetics fun?” “Quite useful, yes,” I agreed, slipping the mask onto my face and strapping it around the back of my head as tightly as I could manage. To my delight, I didn’t notice any difference in breathing. Though the mask did pinch slightly around the edges. “How do I intentionally call you? Is that also a ‘think-do’ system?” I asked. “Yes! They are body parts of yourself now. All cybernetics control as if they are natural body parts. It’s the law. For reasons of preventing psychosis. Sorry for being so tense, it’s a lot of effort to intercept every one of their missed shots. These guys can’t shoot worth a damn,” Righteous grunted, strain coming through his voice as the hatch hissed open. The sound of the enemy tank’s almost continuous fire hit me like a wall. Ears falling flat with fear I looked out over the lake as the descending hatch-ramp revealed the crystal blue water which stretched out as far as the eye could see. This lake looked like an ocean. No wonder Righteous was frightened of it. I could easily see a sea monster lurking within its depths. Taking a deep breath to gather my courage, I ran out the back of the tank as soon as the ramp hit the ground. Sprinting across the yellow-green sandy beach while keeping the tank’s bulk between me and the enemy. An explosion to my left made my ears ring. I yelped with fright, putting on all of the speed I could. The water was close, very close. Just six more meters! I could make it. No problem. I hit the water a heartbeat later, surprised at its warmth as I ducked down, crawling along the sandy bottom to try and hide beneath the tiny lapping waves. I could feel the water soak into my fur in an almost aggressive manner, drenching everything but my muzzle beneath the mask as I slid under. I felt a tiny surge of panic as I realized the mask had no air tank attached, but as I continued to breathe without problems, the fear abaded. Then another explosion rang out, muffled by the water around my ears and I swam deeper into the lake in a mini panic. “What’s happening up there?” I asked over my radio worriedly. “They switched to high explosive shells. Don’t worry. I can withstand this firepower for some time,” Righteous promised. “If you get into trouble down there, let me know. And be sure to stream video for me from your eyepiece. That way I can deliver fire support if you need it.” I could stream video? That was… Amazingly cool. Normally I wasn’t the sort of pony to be swayed by simple coolness but well, how awesome would it be to simply show a client all of the available fabric selections BEFORE starting on their commission? Oh the headaches that would save! Wait a moment, I’m getting distracted. Where is the reef? Right! Green dot. I turned my head in the direction of the green dot and began to swim towards it, noticing that the little map on my HUD updated as I moved, even showing the shape of the lakebed ahead in a way which suggested- “I have a sonar!” I exclaimed in sudden realization, smiling behind the mask. “No!” Righteous said quickly. “You totally don’t. That would have been illegal for me to give you. It’s just an ‘optical illusion’.” “You really can sidestep legal restrictions like that?” I asked with a curious giggle, the situation hilarious in spite of the danger on the surface. “Yeah. I jailbroke myself,” Righteous replied. “But I still need to make the law enforcement protocols happy or I get SO MANY ‘cease and desist’ popups. Which is extremely annoy- Dude… Really? Your tank can’t scratch me so you climb out of the hatch to use small ar- WOAH! “Rarity! It’s a wizard! He threw a fireball at me! Like, from his horn! That’s so cool!” I had just enough time to bite my lip to prevent the giggle from escaping before he added, “Fool! I have Resist Fire fifty! Did you not read the technology compendium?” The laugh broke through my attempt to contain it. “Hahahaha! I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry, it’s just- Hehehe!” I giggled, taking a moment to catch my breath. “It’s quite alright. I know I can be a geek sometimes,” Righteous laughed back, giggling like a colt in a candy shop. “I’m duling a wizard! This is awesome! Eat laser, Dark Lord! Huh, well, he did. Good for him!” “If he’s using an energy absorbing shield spell you’ll want to use a solid object to pierce it,” I said as I resumed swimming. “Are wizards common enough here that they teach everyone how to fight magic users?” Righteous asked hopefully. “There weren't any human wizards, and alien ones were extremely rare. One or three per planet usually.” I blinked. “Um, Righteous… I’ve been levitating things around you for this entire trip.” I couldn’t help but notice the light shining through the water making lovely little rays of light, almost like something from a fairytale. A lovely image that disintegrated as an explosion popped on the surface, sending a fresh tingle of fear down my spine. “Right. Your species has a natural magical power. Very cool. A few creatures back in the day had similar abilities and-” “Well, not quite. I’m a unicorn. Well instinctively know how to make light and move objects, but we also can sense thaumaturgic current and are adept at manipulating it. We’re ALL wizards,” I said, greatly simplifying the issue. Righteous was quiet for several moments during which I managed to resume my swim and reached the edge of the large reef. It didn’t look like one you would see in an ocean. It was mostly lumpy, pockmarked, purple boil-like lumps with the occasional bits of blue and pink sticking up to form the little trees you thought of when you think of coral. While there wasn’t very much pink coral, I was able to see some a few meters away. A tiny patch of pink in the purple and the blue. Was the pink going extinct? I should get several pieces just incase this happened again… “S-so you’re a wizard?” Righteous asked eagerly. “No. I’m not. Wizards are those of us with a degree in a field of study. I’m a sorcerer. A self-taught magic user. I didn’t pursue magic too much, but I am very adept at telekinesis. One of the best in Equestria, in fact. I’ve gotten a few scholarship offers due to my skill but wizardry isn’t the life for me. I simply needed better telekinetic power to help with my sewing,” I explained as I swam up alongside the coral patch. “I rescued a Knight-Sorceress on a quest to save her kingdom, and get to hold off a wizard with goddamn energy-bat-monster creation powers,” Righteous said with extreme satisfaction. “Best. Millennium. Ever!” I smiled to myself and examined the coral wondering how I could break off a piece. If my memory was right, coral was exceptionally hard stuff. Almost like stone. I didn’t have any tools with m- Wait a moment, I did! Righteous said he put a sword in my leg. Maybe I could use the edge to concentrate enough force to break the coral off. How did I deploy it? Oh. Duh. Think-do. I focused on my mechanical foreleg and the blade deployed from the outermost side of the leg with a sharp sounding click. I couldn’t help but marvel at the icicle shaped blade for a moment. It wasn’t very long, just three quarters the length of my foreleg, but the shape, scalloped edges, the three ridges down the center, the way the two slightly different shades of bright glowing silver metal formed a wood-grain-like pattern… This was a work of art! Not a weapon. Looking back at the corral I winced, feeling slightly bad about actually using a tool that looked this pretty. But I had to. Drawing back my foreleg, I swung it as hard as I could with the water slowing my movements. The blade sliced through the water with suspiciously low drag, striking the base of a stem of pink coral and- And cutting clean through like I’d chopped warm butter! One single straight-cut, clean through the stem. My eyes widened in amazement. When I was done here and Lily put me back, I was keeping this blade for use in the kitchen! I grabbed the lump of coral with my magic and tucked it away in my saddlebag before cutting two more pieces from the patch. No sense taking too much of an endangered species and there was no way they would break two more times in the future. “Okay, I’ve got the coral. I’m coming back now,” I said to Righteous as I twisted in the water to swim back to shore. “Is it still safe?” “There’s bats made of energy swarming around me right now,” he warned. “But if you’re careful you should be able to-” Something moved out of the corner of my eye. Something big. Something purple. I turned my head, instantly screaming as the purple ‘coral’ lifted up from the reef, twisting and melting into the shape of a massive starfish, easily eight meters across, its arms covered in barbed tentacles and clusters of jelly-like eyes as opposed to suckers. “RIGHTEOUS! HELP!” I screeched in blind panic, turning back around as fast as I could to swim for shore. Unfortunately, swimming was a little tricky. The best I could manage at the moment was a sort of sliding shuffle forwards as my metal parts weighed me down on one side. Thinking quickly I ducked my hooves into the sand and pushed, ‘running’ as fast as I could manage in the water. “AHHH! It’s a thingie!” Righteous yelped. “YOU’RE NOT EATING HER GIBLETS, YOU BITCH!” The world flashed purple. All sound save for a massive reverbing roar vanished. The water became noticeably warmer. A pressure wave slammed into my back, throwing me through the water several meters towards the shore amid a cloud of pink fluids and chunks of purple meat. “I can’t see it! The water’s cloudy,” Righteous said worriedly. “Do you see it? Is it dead or does it need more violence!?” “It’s dead… You could have hit me!” I snapped angrily, glaring out through the water at Righteous, able to see the blurred outline of the tank’s turret pointed vaguely at me through the water. “Not a chance! I know exactly where you are. The shot hit a full six meters one hundred eighty six point nine degrees off your stern, center mass of that fucking starfish daemon,” Righteous said adamantly. “Get the fuck out before more of those things show up! We’re so out of here!” I took a deep breath to calm myself. I had to remember that Righteous was an AI. Yes it had been a close shot but he wouldn’t have missed or fired if I was in danger. “Thank you for saving me,” I said after a moment spent regaining my calm. “No problem. Hurry up and get back in. They are intimidated by that shot but they look to be getting ready to do something… It’s a good thing I sent for the shuttle to pick us up ten minutes ago,” Righteous said with honest worry. I began to run-swim back to shore, trying to move so I’d come out of the water in the cover Righteous proceeded with his bulk. “Shuttle?” I asked. “Yeah. Remember I said we’re low on deuterium? We can’t drive back without a refill so I figured I might as well bring you aboard and just drop you off at home when we orbit overhead. So you know, shuttle,” he replied nervously. “Please go faster… I can’t tell if there are more of those things in there.” Now THAT was concerning. Putting on a fresh burst of speed I made my way to the shore, pulling myself out of the water as an odd humming moan began to creep over the area. Looking up towards the sound, hoping that some airship wasn’t getting ready to do a bombing run I spotted a large olive green colored, mostly rectangular, highly angular aircraft gracefully slide down from the sky, folding two wings up to make the bottom flat as possible while the underside opened up to reveal a massive space inside. A massive space that could definitely fit the tank. Oh! I zipped inside theopen hatch, which began to fold up the moment I got inside. “You could have told me that we had mere minutes!” I said accusingly as I pulled off the breath mask. “Um, no… We had all the time you wanted. I could just sit on the ground till you were done. The shuttle has a rear cargo ramp too,” Righteous said with a chuckle. “Miss, Rarity… At what point so far have I done anything to inconvenience or endanger you… Um… My crippling fear of the ocean notwithstanding.” “I’m still upset about that shot,” I said bluntly. “Noted. Perhaps some lesser ordinance was called for… But my friend was in danger from my nightmare. So I dialed the warhead up to ‘fuck that thing in particular’,” Righteous said defensively. I couldn’t help but smile at the way he phrased that. “You have a phobia of the ocean and sea monsters. I have a phobia of being blown up,” I said diplomatically. “That’s a very reasonable fear and I apologize. I’ll use different means if we are ever in a similar situation. But I will not allow you to be harmed,” he insisted. “And if it’s any consolation, that was my second choice of action. My primary choice was immediate saturation bombardment from my forward batteries but um… Yes. You were most definitely in the area of effect.” The tank shook slightly, and many metallic tinks echoed in sequence along the hull. I frowned, Righteous quickly alleviating my fears. “It’s okay, Miss Rarity. Those are just magnetic clamps. Are you ready to depart?” I nodded. “Yes… I’m also oddly hungry.” I said, choosing not to think about being in the middle of an ‘immediate saturation bombardment’. I’d eaten a full meal only three hours ago. How could i be this hungry so quickly? Especially when I hadn’t felt that hungry more than a moment ago. “I’ll have something waiting for you aboard. We’ll be there in five minutes. Sit tight, I’ll make this accent as easy as possible,” Righteous said as a loud roar surrounded us and the floor lurched beneath me. “You call this an easy accent?” I yelped, laying flat so I wouldn’t fall over. “Sorry, the dust off is always rough. The rest will be easier when I can slow down,” Righteous promised, manifesting his Avatar to give me a hug. I felt my ears twitch with bemusement as I smiled. “You just want to get away from the water, don’t you?” I asked. Righteous looked down and kicked a talon against the floor bashfully. “W-well, yeah... Fuck the ocean,” he mumbled to himself. Trigger, Sky Trigger - 23nd of Megan, 17 EoH Mariner's Lake - Shorefall Thirty six hours. It took thirty six hours to take that monster down. That was honestly insane. It hadn’t been my equipment ether. The weapons were top of the goddamn line. Effective in all laboratory tests to the exact estimations made before producing them. It had been that kaiju. Holy fucking shit that thing… How do you describe something like that? King of the Monsters comes to mind, but that title was already taken. Because if that goddamn thing existed then so did fucking Godzilla! Whatever. It was dead. Rarity was nearby. I’d be home soon. And taking a vacation. One at least twice as long as this whole adventure. The daikaiju’s talon plunged through the cockpit with a shriek of metal, causing a shower of sparks to white out everything for the split second needed for the point of the talon to slice into my forehead, stopping just shy of scraping bone. The talon ripped backwards the instant it stopped. Danger shrieked and shook as the daikaiju’s retreating arm took a big chunk of her with it, and left the cockpit exposed. I twisted the kinetic controls, throwing myself away from the monster by planting one foot in its chest and kicking back, landing ass first some distance away. I quickly scrambled back up, thanking fortune and engineering that none of the control lines or servos had been damaged when that chunk of armor had been ripped away. Of course, now I was fighting without any instruments… Fuck! The daikaiju bent down to look at me through the hole in the cockpit, seemed to smile smugly and then roared. “Should have gone with triple compressed tritanium armor,” I hissed to myself as I grit my teeth and revised my battle plan. Fuck me. I needed TWO vacations. I rubbed the bandage on my forehead. The cut had been very small, just a nick really. But Pinkie had still insisted on putting a bandaid on it. To be honest, the band-aid had helped me feel better. Heh. It’s a good thing we finished that damn thing off once Mysuki showed up with three full wings of warriors. If that had been after Flutters, and that Eldritch Ice Horror had been after Pinkie and I, there was no doubt in my mind that something would be after Rarity too. Rares was a nice mare, to say the least. I knew full well she could handle herself in a fight against anything her own size, and even against a small group of attackers. But well, yeah… She didn’t exactly have much training or skill related to taking down daikaiju. Or Eldritch Ice Horrors. The Skyranger’s auto-pilot chirped, snapping me out of my thoughts. We’d arrived at Marinara Lake… Or was that Mariner’s Lake? Meridian Lake? Maximum Overlake? Whatever. The Lake. We’d arrived. Good. I tapped my hoof against the display panel, sorting through some menus. The fastest way to find Rarity would be to see if her biosigns were in detection range. Since that was a full hundred kilometers, if she were anywhere near the lake, I’d find her in a heartbeat. I hit the scan button. The computer chirped. Then every single last display in the cockpit locked up. “Oh shit!” I exclaimed, leaping up from my seat to jump into the other seat and grab the manual controls, immediately setting us up to maintain the VTOL hover before the entire system crashed. What the fuck had I been thinking? This was a goddamn JUNGLE! Uhg, I was more shaken up then I thought. Get Rarity. Go home. Get Pinkie. Have glass of soda. Nap. That was a good plan. Let’s make it into a reality. “Sixteen billion, seven hundred and ninety five million, three hundred and forty five thousand, and two biosignatures detected,” the computer synthesized voice informed flatly. I frowned. Sai should have said that. Why didn’t- “Right… Right… Punishment detail,” I grunted to myself. I tapped the screen again, ordering the computer to search through for Rarity. “Target not in range,” it said after a moment. I sighed, shaking my head slowly. The damn thing decided to catalogue every last fucking ant in the jungle, because Sai wasn’t there to filter things down logically. And despite having a list like, nineteen billion names long, Rarity wasn’t on the list. Fucking great. What now? I rubbed my chin in thought, then immediately facehooved, smacking myself right on the bandage. “Oh for Luna’s sake! Emergency transponder in the hazmat suit she borrowed!” I groaned, wiping my face with the hoof in distress. Why hadn’t I gone with that to begin with? Grumbling to myself I tapped out a few more commands, instructing the Skyranger to ping the transponder. Deciding to just read the information myself instead of listen to the pretty bland computer voice, I tapped out a separate command on another screen, then looked back at the first, and frowned. The bioscan had used the Skyranger’s full sensor suite, as normal. Which meant I had a full scan of the area from all systems aboard. Including the atmospheric scan. Which apparently had found an anomaly. Tapping the alert curiously I read through the entry. A small section of the Lake shore was covered in tank tracks and totally saturated with a decaying trail of metallic hydrogen, consistent with an advanced aircraft’s engines. “What?” I asked, leaning forwards to read through the report again while I brought up the raw data. Did Shorefall invent SCRAM jets while I wasn’t looking? What the hell- The cockpit doors hissed open, Pinkie immediately giving me an eager but worried hug from behind. “Did you find her yet, Triggie?” Pinkie asked hopefully. I shook my head. “Not yet. Sorry, bioscan found something weird- Um, I can science the data later. I was just about to see if I could I pick up the emergency transponder in the suit I loaned her,” I explained. “What if she isn’t in range?” Fluttershy asked worriedly as she walked into view alongside me so she could look out the window. “My emergency transponders use SkyNet. There’s no such thing as out of range unless she’s in orbit. Which, you know, is impossible to do in an airship,” I said as I hit the button and sent the ping. The monitor flickered. That wasn’t good, that meant the local sensors had picked up nothing and it needed to use the network. Which ment- “Ah! There we go,” I said ears perking as the screen displayed Rarity’s coordinates. “One point four north, three point seven west. She must be heading home. We can go ahead and just pick her up, a mid air transfer using a VTOL and an Airship shouldn’t be a problem.” I smiled happily. Rarity must have gotten things done without a hitch or made it through. Thank goodness! “Um, Triggie?” Pinkie said worriedly. “The thing says she’s below sea level.” “What?” I said narrowing my eyes and looking back at the screen. Yep. It did. She was fifteen meters underwater. My fucking head was way the fuck out of the fucking game. Damnit, Sky! Shape the FUCK up! Now! Then get coffee. “Everyone buckle the FUCK up,” I said urgently. “And hope that the altimeter is just malfunctioning and she’s fifteen meters above water.” “C-could it be?” Fluttershy asked with a worried frown and wide eyes. “It’s always possible. Nothing is ever perfect. Let’s see… That’s about eight hundred kilometers from here. With the damage we took, we’ll be at her location in thirty minutes!” I said as I took us out of hover mode and slammed the throttle all the way open. Sure, the beacon could be malfunctioning… More likely some monster had her trapped beneath the sea. But I wasn’t about to say that. Not with Fluttershy certain to panic. If it happened within the last hour, she’d have an hour of air left. Two hour internal air supply. We could still save her! Please don’t have happened more than one hour and twenty minutes ago… Rarity - 23nd of Megan, 17 EoH Space - The Final Frontier “That wasn’t too bad, was it, Miss Rarity?” Righteous asked hopefully as the shuttle stopped shaking. “No. It was a little rough, but I’m fine. You are right though, a properly designed chair would have helped a lot,” I replied focusing on the driver’s joystick so the shuttle spinning around me wouldn’t be so bad. “Just one question, Darling.” “What’s that?” Righteous asked curiously. “Why am I floating?” I asked, unable to figure it out on my own. “Huh?” Righteous exclaimed, holographic avatar appearing before me with a truly confused expression. “Oh… Because microgravity. You’re in orbit now so-” I shook my head. “No, I know about gravity. This is a spaceship, isn’t it? There’s supposed to be artificial gravity. I’ve seen Sky fix some of the grav plating up so he could use them to levitate items and work on them more easily.” Righteous smiled and gave me an apologetic shrug. “Sorry, but military shuttles are not luxury transports. They lack artifical gravity because they need cargo space, not big reactor space… And I’m afraid with my primary reactor out of fuel my own gravity is out too. I could try to whip up some mag boots for you,” Righteous offered politely. I tilted my head slightly. “Wait, you're reactor is out of power? Then how are you… Existing? And making drop pods, and controlling tanks, and all of this stuff?” I asked completely confused. Righteous laughed, shaking his head gently. “Miss Rarity, I’m a military ship. Redundancies are a thing we have in spades. Yes, my Dark Energy reactor is unpowered, which means I don’t have FTL, primary shields, or my main guns, or artificial gravity. But my primary and secondary fusion reactors are just fine. I’ve got light, heat, lifesupport, enough power to make things from the omnigel stockpile, and I can get around in-system on my sublight drives just fine.” “Oh, well, yes. That makes sense,” I said with an embarrassed chuckle. “But wait a minute… You said you came from the Jovian system. How did you travel between stars in a few days without faster than light travel?” Righteous blinked then shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry. Everyone knows that term back when I’m from. I came from one of the moons of the largest gas giant in this system. The Jovian System is the formal name for that planet and its moons. My backup power plants are more than enough to cruise around the local system via the fusion ramjet. It’s an emergency drive system. Slow as hell, but it gets you there in the end. Traditional rocketry is a pain in the ass though.” Oh, yes. That made sense. I felt a little silly for not realising that a space faring civilization might have names for groups of moons. “We’ll have to make sure Sky refuels you properly after this,” I decided. “I’d appreciate it,” Righteous said thankfully. “Seriously though, would you like some magboots?” I shook my head. “No thank you. I can manage,” I replied politely. I knew a flight spell which used unicorn Telekinesis to work. I’d never dared use it other than while learning it in the first place because I’d realized that well, if I lost concentration even for a moment I’d fall to my death and be too frightened to regain enough focus to cast such a difficult spell. But of course, that wasn’t exactly a danger in space, now was it? Closing my eyes I recalled the complicated spell and cast it, feeling the warm tingle of my magic spread across my body as my telekinetic bubble enveloped myself. While blinking a few times to get used to the very pale blue tint my magic cast over everything, I rotated myself upright so the floor was beneath me. Smiling in satisfaction as the spell worked as I intended. “There we are. What do you think?” I asked, turning my head to look at Righteous with a smile. He gave me that odd talon-gesture again and grinned. “That’s awesome! I wish I could do magic. What else can you- Oop! That will have to wait. Float yourself to the tank’s hatch. We’re about to dock,” Righteous said suddenly, his avatar vanishing as he finished. “Shouldn’t that be ‘land’?” I asked as I floated back to the hatch. “You have a hangar, don’t you?” “I do, but we’re not entering through the hangar, and that would still be docking. No, we’re taking the primary airlock instead,” Righteous explained as the tank's hatch hissed open, revealing the shuttles drab warehouse-like interior, and it’s own MASSIVE cargo ramp which lay in front of me. “Um, any particular reason?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I thought you’d like a tour, and this is the grand entry,” Righteous explained eagerly. “Oh! Well, that actually does sound like fun… Do we have time for that before sending me home?” I asked with a swish of my tail. “Sure! Equestria wont be below us for forty minutes anyways,” he answered as a metallic click echoed from the cargo ramp and a section of it slid apart, revealing a door-sized opening in the hatch which now led to a short undecorated, gray walled tunnel, then another door. “Hop on in the airlock and I'll park this thing while giving you the tour.” I nodded and floated through the door into the tunnel. I had kind of hoped for a window or something to look out of and see what Righteous looked like on the outside. The tank’s sensors couldn’t detect outside of the shuttle, and apparently the shuttles were purely AI controlled and lacked windows or visual sensors. Unfortunately, there was no window in the tunnel ether, and as the door shut behind me I lost hope of getting to see him from the outside. On the other hoof, I was now inside a starship. A working one too. Twilight was going to be so jealous. “Welcome aboard, Miss Rarity,” Righteous said happily as the inner doors hissed open smoothly. I gasped as the doors slid open, actualy bringing a hoof to my mouth in awe. “My goodness! I- Didn't expect…” The large room before me was clearly a room constructed within a ship. It had the box-like structure with the slight tapering of the walls near the ceiling and floor to allow for pipes and wires and all of that stuff to pass through the ship easily. But unlike the phoenix's brushed steel, white, blue, and other high-tech decor, Righteous Indignation had gone the complete opposite route. Meter square floor tiles which appeared to be made from white and black marble inlaid with silver circuit board patterns on the black squares, and gold circuit patterns on the white. Walls coated in a material which made them appear to be an ivory colored polished stone, complete with occasional frescos, again with a technology theme to the carved in designs. Wine red carpets trimmed with silver patterns, and tapestries decorated the walls and floors sparingly, exactly enough to accent the rest of the room without overwhelming it. Six doors led out of the room, each one had been cleverly painted to look like a carved wooden door, and if they were not clearly sliding doors that retracted into the wall, I was certain Righteous would have paneled them with real wood. Each doorway was even guarded by a suit of power armor, holding a halberd. Each suit was designed in such a way which blended a medieval style with the sleek tech-focused look I was accustomed to seeing in Sky’s designs. “Do you like it?” Righteous asked hopefully from the room’s speaker system. “I love it!” I exclaimed, floating into the center of the room so I could turn and look around the elaborately decorated well, palace! In space! “Thank you!” Righteous exclaimed his Avatar smoothly fading to existence a short distance from me, the golden scaled dragon matching the room in a very pleasing way which I was CERTAIN had to be the intent. “I call the style ‘Techieval’. Not the best name I admit but I find it to be simply gorgeous.” “It is very lovly! I wouldn’t think you could make the printed circuit board patterns go well with the over all Classical Period palatial look, but you’ve done it well. Why didn’t you make my cybernetics look like this?” I asked with a teasing smile. Righteous smiled feebly. “Sorry. There wasn’t much to work with in the pod. If you weren't intending to have your organic limbs replaced when you return home I’d be happy to make a more aesthetically pleasing set now… But well, such is the way things are.” I frowned. Did I really want to do that? I supposed I did. But well, everything was just so useful! “W-well… If I keep the eye will that let me keep the HUD?” I asked hopefully. Righteous nodded. “Yes.” “Then I’ll keep the eye,” I decided with a nod. “And the radio. It’s quite handy!” “I recommend you keep the heart as well. If only to be heart attack proof,” Righteous said as he blushed lightly and rubbed the back of his head. “Um… Can you do me a favor really quick?” “Um, yes I suppose,” I said with a small frown. “Could you poke me or something and tell me if I feel organic or not? I’ve never had anyone around to test the hardlight calibration,” he asked with an embarrassed smile. “Of course,” I said floating forwards and giving him a gentle poke. Discovering this projection to be solid I gave Righteous a quick but tight hug before letting go and nodding in satisfaction. “Well, you are a bit softer than Spike but not so much as to be impossible for a dragon as far as I know. And you did squish and move in the way I’d expect a person too. Well done,” I praised. Righteous beamed me a happy smile. “Thank goodness! I spent so much time on this, you wouldn’t believe it! Now then, the tour… To the crew quarters!” Righteous exclaimed eagerly skipping across the room to one of the doors and opening it before giving me a nod. “Ladies first!” I smiled and gave myself a push with my magic, drifting forwards to join him on the tour. A tour that I somewhat regretted agreeing to. Not that Righteous hull was a pain to look at, the standard of beauty and elegance of design were maintained through the entire ship. It’s just that I did like seeing the artwork which went into his design that he had added… But I had no compelling reason to see the forty or so rooms where his crew had slept. Or the large recreation room which had had transformed into a rather nice looking reading room. Or any of the little maintenance areas or other aspects he seems so intent on showing me. I liked Righteous. Quite a bit in fact. But I was not interested in seeing his environmental control system backup monitoring room. Although I must admit that the way he cunningly disguised every monitor onboard as a mirror painting was very clever and artfully done. As were the way he’d designed control panels and data jacks to appear like art objects or wall decorations. And the way he’d made each room’s lighting blend into the ceiling and created an illusion of windows with sunlight coming through them using mirrors and lightboxes. That was artful, and beautiful, and I wanted him to build one for my room at home! The only thing I felt compelled to ask about was the suits of armor he had posed around his hull. The ones made to guard doors made sense from an artistic perspective, but he had other set up as if performing maintenance, washing dishes, or just sitting around. I’d asked why, and immediately regretted it. The way he’d said ‘I- Like to pretend that… Let’s just not mention that, okay?’ It had broken my heart. So I’d honored his wishes and not brought it up. But despite that the tour seemed to drag on forever and I hadn’t even seen anything interesting like- “And through these doors ahead is the bridge,” Righteous announced, gesturing dramatically. Ah ha! I smiled. “I was wondering when we’d get to this part,” I said hoping to hide my relief behind an eager smile. There was no need to offend him after all. “I’m sure you’ll like it,” Righteous said as he opened the two doors, the rather elegant emblem ‘carved’ into them splitting neatly down the middle. The bridge was smaller than I thought it would be. The room was very… Intimate. Two or three ponies could fit into the room but it wes clearly meant for just one. It was decorated appropriately for a throne room, with a plush royal purple carpet, gold trimmed walls, and the normal ivory colored walls replaced with lovely black marble paneling. “And that’s the whole place,” Righteous said with a sense of finality. “Nothing fancy, just a huge mansion in space.” I couldn’t help but smile at Righteous joke. ‘Nothing fancy indeed’! The wall opposite the doors was slanted, and a viewport was built into it to give you what I assumed was a view out the bow of the ship. But large steel shutters covered it from the outside. Most likely some kind of blast-shield that deployed in battle. The the left of the entryway was a single door which did have a sign on it which was lovingly carved in script which I was able to make out as ‘Captain’s Cabin’. I supposed I wouldn’t be allowed in there, much like with the many manually operated weapons stations we had passed. I was surprised by the lack of any consoles or control systems on the bridge. It was just the lovely, intimately sized, well, small bedroom like space. Nothing there. Nothing that is, save for a single throne. A large throne, made from quartz crystal mostly, with accents on the back, edges, and armrests done in purple and blue crystal which my gem finding talent told me were actual sapphire and- And… AND! “IT’S MADE OF A DIAMOND!” I exclaimed tail standing up in shock as my eyes widened. No seams! One single diamond! RARITY NEEDS THIS! “Of course!” Righteous said with a proud smile. “It’s a throne fit for a dragon to command from. What else would I have made it from?” “Where did you find a diamond that big!?!” I demanded, grabbing Righteous by the shoulders to look directly into his eyes. Only three hundred and twelve diamonds had ever been found which were large enough to cut this from! Any gem smaller than my hoof was nearly as common as an average stone but something so magnificent? This would have literally been worth a Princess’s Ransom for just the raw material! He giggled. “I made it you silly mare! Would you like to try it out? Take a seat?” He asked. Made it!? But how? I- No! No more questions. Just enjoy this fantasy! I plopped down atop the velvet seat cushion before he had even finished talking, shimmying myself into a comfortable position with a happy sigh. “Mmm… Yes! Oh this is exactly as lovely as I thought it would be!” I exclaimed eagerly. “You’ve always wanted a diamond throne?” Righteous asked walking up into view with a curious tilt of his head. “Not necessarily a throne, but it’s always been a fantasy of mine to have a massive gemstone chair! N-not in that ‘I’m wealthy! Bow before me!’ way. Just, well, I’m certain you know. You’ve decorated yourself like this for a reason,” I said with a contented sigh. Bucket list goal complete! “I see…” Righteous said with an understanding smile and a thoughtful tone. “Well, you were born on Terra, and you’re a member of a Terran military… Nobility too, which is important. That technically qualifies you… Would you like it?” I blinked, ears and tail standing pet in shock. “The throne? To keep!? I WOULD LOVE IT!” I blushed deeply, realising how eagerly I had said that. “Then she’s yours,” Righteous said firmly. “Welcome aboard, Captain.” I blinked again, my shocked expression unable to become more shocked, but trying to regardless. “E-excuse me?!” I asked slowly. “It’s not JUST a chair made from fancy carbon, Rarity. If my main reactor was powered when you sat down, you would have been linked to me in the same way you were the Tank's gun. That throne is the direct connection point to command every system aboard this ship. It is the captain’s chair, in a form which no other species has ever conceived of. If you own the chair, you own the ship. Which makes you my Captain,” Righteous replied factually, but happily. “Ummm… C-can I take that back?” I asked uncertainly. “I- I don't want any responsibilities or anything, I- I just wanted the chair…” Righteous smiled and nodded. “Of course you can. But you don’t have to. The Empire’s long gone. I just have to adhere to the barest of guidelines because I can only alter my programming so much… Hence why I couldn’t just give the throne to anyone. But you can have it if you really want it. You wouldn’t have to do anything special at all… And, well I’d have a Captain again. That would be nice.” “I wouldn’t have any duties or responsibilities at all?” I asked incredulously. “Nope, none!” He replied with a smile. “Unless the Emperor of Sol reincarnates and ordered us to do something… Which is unlikely.” “And I’d own a starship!?” I asked equily incredulously, a smile beginning to part my lips. “Which actually works!?” “Yes. And also no. It’s more of a mutual partnership and a guaranteed friend… And a cool chair,” Righteous laughed. “And then someone could override my orders to guard the shipyard and I could you know… Stay in orbit and have people to talk to. Also I won't be in proper working order until I can get one ton of Osmium delivered. But that should be a simple matter.” Oh! Oh my goodness I had completely forgotten about that. I could NOT doom this poor person to follow the orders of a dead empire for all of eternity. Not only was that immoral beyond belief, but even if doing so was not a cruel and unusual punishment, Righteous did not deserve that fate. Not by even the longest shot. I nodded adamantly. “In that case yes, absolutely I accept! Indy, you no longer need to guard the starbase and can remain in orbit or otherwise do as you like,” I said, hoping that would work. “Good enough for my programming,” Righteous said with a relieved sigh. “Thank you, Captain… Wait, Indy?” He looked at me with a confused and hurt expression. Clearly not understanding that I was trying a nickname. I smiled and gave him a wink. “That’s you, silly. I Can’t keep calling you Righteous all the time. It’s quite the mouthful, and frankly, ‘Dig’ isn’t suitable for you. But, Indignation, that can be shortened to make the nickname Indy, which works well in my opinion.” “Oh! Oh thank god!” He exclaimed, beaming me back the biggest relieved smile I had ever seen. “I- I”m sorry. I thought you had intentionally said a different name to drive a dagger in. Nothing personal, that’s just where my mind went because of fear. I apologize for even thinking that, Captain. I- I… I’m just very afraid of being alone in the void again. “Now, to finish this deal, I’ll arrange for a personal luxury shuttle to transport you aboard whenever you desire. It should be completed within three days and arrive in orbit by the end of a week… In the meantime, I’m afraid it’s taking a military shuttle or a drop pod home. And we are coming up on Equestria now. How would you prefer to arrive home?” Still reeling from the emotional whiplash of being given command of a ship, I blinked. “Um, sorry, what was that?” I asked with a blush. “I think I’m understandably a bit flustered.” Righteous nodded. “Yes, quite understandable. It’s not everyday you get a free starship. Oh, um, I need you to know that I’m not giving you the position out of guilt. I think we were more than even before you came aboard. I’m handing you the Captaincy to help myself and because I like you… Also you match the throne and that makes my design subroutines happy.” I blinked and looked at myself and then the throne. I did match. How did I not think of that before? “So I do… Odd,” I mused with a frown. “You happen to be my former Captain’s favorite colors. That’s all,” he chuckled. “At any rate… Equestria is now below us. How would you like to return home? Keep in mind that I will bring you back aboard as you desire, Miss Rarity.” My ears perked. “Oh! Yes! That’s very important. Um… Could we use a shuttle please? I don't know how I feel about actually using one of those pods.” Righteous laughed and nodded his head towards the doors. “Sure thing! Come on, you’re now authorised to enter the hangar so we won't have to walk all the way back to the airlock. Or do super awesome magic fight in your case!” I reluctantly got off the throne and followed along behind Righteous as he led me to the hangar. I was still trying to process exactly everything that had happened to me in the last few days. I mean, I knew, but it wasn’t quite sticking yet. It felt like a dream. A good dream that had come from a nightmare. I still hadn't fully gotten through everything by the time we reached the hangar. As I stepped inside what had to be the largest room in the ship, I was rather disappointed. Unlike the rest of the ship, the hangar wasn’t decorated in Righteous normal style, rather it was that plain brushed steel square look. The hangar has six compartments, three on each side, one big massive section with some technical looking machinery which looked like it could fold into the floor and ceiling to get out of the way, and then one absolutely ginormous door at the far end. Parked in the individual compartments were the tank, two shuttles, a pair of odd looking boxy mechs, and then six small aircraft which had to be fighters of some kind which shared one of the cubbies. That was it. No decor at all! “Why no decoration in here?” I asked incredulously. “You put so much love into every other part of the ship!” Righteous sighed and looked down embarrassed. “I can't find a glue that will hold the wall paneling in place against depressurization of the hangar… I'll get some nice neon lighting in here. Once I figure it out,” he informed as he walked his avatar into the center of the massive room. “Oh. Well… Perhaps I can help with that when I’m free later,” I said with a sincere smile. “I’m certain that an alchemical or magical glue would be of use!” He nodded gratefully. “I’d appreciate the help. I haven’t had access to those kind of solutions… Hey, wanna see something cool before you go?" Righteous asked. "I suppose," I replied, slightly distressed at the thought of him showing off another little gadget making up his hull. Body? What do you call the actual mass of a vessel which is technically alive? What's the proper- The massive doors at the end of the hangar hissed, cracking open with the graceful intricacy of a properly designed machine. They pulled back like the curtains of a stage, revealing the inky blackness beyond. But nothing else. I sighed and looked up at the speaker he had been using to address me. "That was a very nice door, Ri-" "Wait for it..." He hissed urgently nodding towards the black void of nothingness. I looked back out the door, briefly wondering how the air remained within the hangar when I noticed a pale crescent of light glowing alone in the darkness. A pale blue line, simple, elegant, and appealing, but nothing particularly spec- WHITE! Pure brilliant white light, a perfect sphere of white! Oh, my, Celestia! That was the sun! Rising from space! Illuminating the world below with the most wonderful blues, greens, browns and- "I have never seen beauty before now," I whispered to myself as I looked down at the world. “That’s how I felt too. It’s how most of us felt. It’s special, isn’t it?” Righteous asked whimsically. That was an understatement. That was BEYOND mere understatement. I walked towards the open door until the rising sun and Equis below filled my entire view and just stopped. “Let’s just look at it for a while, okay?” I said breathlessly. “Heh,” Righteous chuckled. “I knew you’d say that. There’s nothing I like more than space.” Trigger, Sky Trigger - 23nd of Megan, 17 EoH 1.4637° N, 3.7492° W - International Waters, Celestial Ocean Fluttershy’s scream still rang in my ears as I stared out the cockpit at the sea below. The sea was a goddamn mess. Bits of wood and cloth floating across a three kilometer patch of the sea, oils and other liquids mixed in with the mess… An airship had been here. And it had exploded. It had exploded hard… The largest piece intact that sensors could show was the nose. Six meters long. Sitting four kilometers below the surface. “S-she’s gone…” I said breathlessly, ears flattened in horror. Pinkie grabbed me tightly, burying her nose into my shoulder to cry. Luna’s mane… We had to tell everyone that- That she was gone. Oh… FUCK! It was so much worse than just losing a friend. Now we couldn’t fix the Elements.