//------------------------------//
// B.B.T.S. Adventure #2: Inky's Past 
// Story: The Bronies Beyond The Star Adventure Series 
// by Supleted 
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B.B.T.S. Adventure #2



Inky’s Past


“Alright, listen up,” the pink pony on the control screen began talking as First Corporal Inky piloted her ship. “We’ve set your autopilot to Klinon-5. Once you arrive there, you have about 1 hour to evacuate the last two creatures out of there, before the sun in its system goes super-nova, and fry all of you.”

“You can count on me commander!” The dark gray mare responded with confidence. “Although this job seemed like a descent mission… for a lieutenant, don’t you think so, Moshi?”

“I see where you’re getting at….” The pink mare caught on to Inky’s implications. I will think about it…. Once you rescue both of these dare-devils outta there, ya got that? Anyways, good luck on that rescue mission; you have three hours.”
And with a click, the pink pony vanished from the control screen. Inky’s grin went away soon as Moshi signed off. She knew why Captain Moshi picked her for this mission, especially when Conrad-7 is more suited to these “forced eviction” jobs. Klinon-5 was Inky’s birthplace, a place she once called home.

Ten years ago, when Inky was just a little filly, she lived in a tiny village close to the dark side of Klinon-5. The village was set atop a steep mountain, with a clear, running river to the south, and a metallic junk yard to the north. Inky lived by herself in an abandoned house. Her parents had abandoned her before she could remember, most probably due to her strange powers, for you see, this little black mare can make her drawings come to life. Whenever she draws something, if her feelings for it are strong enough, her artwork would peel out of the crude paper she drew it on, and began acting in its intended purpose. Her powers are not absolute however; rain is a frequent sight in her side of the planet, and once her creations comes in contact with water, it will begin to melt away until it is nothing more than a black puddle waiting to be dried in the sun. Of course, not all her drawings are intentional. Sometimes, she would draw things, things that horrified her. She kept those pictures in a small, black box, and locked it up with a small padlock she salvaged from the scrap yard, hoping to never let anyone else see them.

Despite her powers, she made little friends with the “real” people in the village. They were afraid of her power; some says her power came from a deal she struck with nightmare moon; some even went so far as to say she was responsible for turning her parents into ink, and melting them in the drenching rain. All the people she had met shunned her, and tried their best to refuse their service to her, to starve her out. But there are two creatures back in her life that didn’t ignore her; one of them is a light-brown stallion called Earth Star. He was a young street urchin not unlike her; he didn’t see her as a monstrosity, or an evil enchantress. He thought of her abilities as a GIFt, and comforted her when all else loathed her. He would pay frequent visits to her house, and share some of his “daily earnings” with her, so that she won’t starve. In their, the two of them played together in the junkyard. They looked for bits and gears, climbed scrap hills, and built a base deep inside the bowels of the scrap yard. In a way, Inky considered Earth Star to be her big brother, and her best friend, forever. Though times were tough for the little filly, Earth Star made her life just a bit more bearable.

Inky began sprinting toward the two creature’s last known location. The denizens of this planet had all been safely evacuated, except for two unknown being, who refused to leave. At the planet’s final hour, the sky glowed eerily red, as the sun began to lose its gravitational pull on itself, and began to stretch outward toward the doomed planet. Inky briefly wondered the significance of risking life and limb for two simple creatures; Moshi recommended this mission to her the moment she caught wind of it; she was reluctant to take this mission, but she simply couldn’t turn down an offer made by the pony who saved her from-

The inky gray mare’s train of thought was cut short by a large, humanoid figure slouching around inside the scrap yard. It is a large diamond dog with an eye patch one of his eyes. His fur is mostly grayed out by prolonged period of being exposed to light, and his claws are well worn from years of scavenging. He paused his scavenging work, and slowly turned to face her.

“Well, well well! Isn’t this a nice surprise!” The diamond dog rose up from the scraps, towering over the dark gray mare. “After all these years, you came back for poor old Gruff. I’m touched! Is the little missy going to help this poor old man away from this planet?”

“Yes Gruff.” Inky’s eyes turned even colder as she stared into the greedy eyes of her oldest adversary. “I’m here to take you off this Celestia-forsaken planet, and I’m going to lock you away for what you’ve done to me, and to this village; this I promise.”

The diamond dog held his extended stomach as a led out a hearty laugh. “Little miss Inky is going to lock poor gruff in the slammer? Good one!” His expression turned into a mocking grin as he pointed his dirty, dulled finger at the space Corporal.

“I might be old, but my memory is still sharp as wit! Now, let me refresh your memory for a jig; you might want to forget about that nasty business you did back in that bloody stormy night, but old Gruffy remembers it all too well. It was you who destroyed the village! You, and you alone are the one to blame, little girl!”

	There were two creatures who didn’t shun Inky as a filly, and unfortunately, one of them was the diamond dog named Gruff. A scavenger by trade, Gruff spent most of his days scavenging for food at the junk yard. When he caught wind of Inky and her powers, he began sneaking into the village, and tried, times and again, to steal her away in the dead of night, and sell her in the space market for a fabulous amount of money. No one cared about her enough to help her in that time of night; however, he underestimated Inky and her little “pets”. Inky’s drawings can live, and fight for its master. These drawings gain power from Inky’s emotions, and when she is threatened by the diamond brute, their powers amplified by leaps and bounds, which gave them the strength to repel the bandit times and again. However, the sly bandit learned with time. He began brining water buckets with him, and launches his nastiest of attacks during the rainy season. This forced Inky to stay indoors, and keep as much ink and paper on her as possible. Although, Inky knew, deep down in her black little heart, she couldn’t hide forever; one day, that darned diamond dog will claw through the walls of her house, and take her away to be sold as a mere object of someone else’s affection.

“You want to know why I chose to stay on this dying planet my lil’ ducky?” The old diamond dog walked over to a crudely disguised lever, and pulled on it. “There’s a group who put a handsome bounty on every mercenary and bounty hunter on the whole bloody galaxy, and I simply can’t let this money-making opportunity pass me this easily!” Gears began turning amidst the junkyard as mechanical cranes from the top of the scrap piles lowered down a mechanical scrap monster.

“I was going to hand over whoever blunt enough to save little old me to the hands of the syndicate, but I believe you’ll fetch more than a pretty penny down at the auction house in quadrant nine!” The old dog hopped into his mechanical beast, and the machine began coughing up plumes of soot stacks as it marched, rather, bumbled toward the dark gray mare.

“I’ve fought with you a good portion of my life, and I’m onto all your little tricks, love.” The mechanical beat bellowed as streams of molten steam filled the surrounding area. The heat from the dying star only fueled the steam, making everything hot and moist. “Sorry about the fumes, but your little toys won’t be able to help you when the whole bloody yard is dripping wet! Once you are tucked away nice and cozy in the trunk of my bot, we’ll have a grand time at the auction house, and I guarantee you; once you are sold to the highest of bidders, we won’t ever see each other again!”

The black gray mare affixed her stare on the greedy dog. With calmness and composure, she spoke:

“So, are you telling me there is a syndicate who put a bounty on every mercenary in the galaxy?”

“Ay mate. I have no bloody idea why they put so much money targeting the mercs, and I have no idea what they have against them; but there are money to be had, and I for one, aim to collect!”

The menacing scrap giant bellowed out soot and steam as it marched toward the lone pony. The gray mare stood firmly on the group, arching her body for an attack.

“One. Last. Chance.” The mare calmly warned her attacker. When she received no response from her opponent, she leapt to the side, and vanished into the steamy mist.

It was a stormy and thundering night, possibly the biggest storm Klinon-5 had ever seen. Inky sat in a corner of her room, trying her best to avoid the drips of rain leaking down her thatched roof. Gruff came at his usual hour, and began pounding on her door. Only this time, He climbed up to the roof of her house, and began tearing away at the poorly lined straw roof. Piece by piece, Inky’s roof fell into the house, and the rain began pouring into the house. Her drawing began getting wet as the creatures she conjured up melted away in the downpour. Inky screamed as the rotten mutt dropped down into her houses, dripping wet with greed and desire. Inky could no longer defend herself as the diamond dog inched closer to grab her; at that moment, the poor mare felt her personal space being invaded the likes of which she had never experienced before. For almost the first time in her life, Inky panicked. She screamed for her life, crying out for any help that she could get. Suddenly, the mad dog stopped dead in his track, turned around, and fled for his life. Inky sat in the pouring rain, and paused for a moment to assess the situation, before realizing that the padlock on her black box is broken.

The dark gray mare looked up. Towering way above her are the abominable colossi she tried to keep hidden from the rest of the world. As the rain beat down on her horrendous creations, they shrieked as the falling liquid melted their skins. The monstrous giants stumbled across the village looking for shelter, knocking down houses like cardboard boxes. As their houses crumbled to the ground, villagers began pouring out from them, and fled in terror as the melting monstrosities roamed the streets. The gray mare watched as the innocent creatures she created tore down the very place that she called home. All that she knew was crushed beneath the soles of their feet. As the mare tried to walk towards her creations of destruction, an injured mare grabbed her by the hoof. Inky turned only to find one injured mare lying on the pool of ink. It was Earth Star.

The hurting mare bled profusely, but somehow managed to utter out words: “Inky… you need to go. They are looking for you. They know it’s you who let those monsters loose. Run, run and never look back Inky. You can live through this. I know you can….”

Amidst the thunder storm, giants and waves of villagers running about, Inky ran. One hoof after the other, she trotted across the ruined village, across her ruined shack, and ran toward the rising sun. She dared not open her eyes, for all she would see would be the leftovers of a ruined dream.

“Oy! Where’d you go little missy?! The Diamond Dog brought his clanking machine to a screeching turn-around seek out her opponent. “It’ no use lass!” Gruff barked at the rising mist. “You can’t ambush old Gruffy without your little ink pals, and the steam won’t let you spawn any of your friends to help ya! You have no hope! Give up now, and let’s go get myself some money, hear?”

Before he could finish his rant, he felt a shadow swooping down from above, and a powerful kick in his neck sent him tumbling down his robot.

“Do you think I really need to make more of my ink friends to protect me just so they could perish? I don’t do that anymore; rather, I refuse to invoke my powers anymore, because I have real friends now. My friends, my…family, gave a roof to stay under, and taught me how to fend for me self. They taught me martial arts, they taught me survival tactics, and most importantly, they taught me to be… a pony. For the first in a long time, I could laugh, I could socialize, and I could sleep in a soft, comfy bed without the fear of being snatched away at any given moment.”

With one swift motion, the mare tore apart the critical clamp that held the top and bottom part of the robot together. She walked toward the diamond dog, and swooped past him. As the dog tried to locate his prey in the thick mist, the mare shifted behind him, and bound his arms behind him with a piece of steel. As the dog tried to take off the piece of steel bound to his arms, Inky swiped his feet into the air, and began bounding his feet and body with the pieces of metal lying around.

“I’m not the same old Inky you saw ten years ago. Even though none of my friends are with me right now, I am not alone. The skills that they passed onto me will remain with me, and make me strong. You will not beat me again, with or without my powers!”

Once again, the old mutt led out a hearty chuckle. “Ay lass! It seems old Gruffy are no match for you now that you’ve grown!” The crafty bandit grinned. “But aren’t you forgetting someone else right now? There’s another pony stranded in this bloody hot planet, and you got less than 25 minutes to rescue him!

Inky checked her trans-communicator. The blue touch screen displayed a timer she set before she landed on the planet. Indeed, she has 23 minutes to evacuate the planet before the dying star swallows them all.

“Let me give you a hint there, since we’re wastin’ daylight, and I doubt I can leave without you!” The dog’s voice is slightly coarse after the hearty chuckles he’s done. “The second one that you needed to save is my superior; he was the one who asked me to kidnap you all these time, and organized all the raids! So please, do go on and save him; he is situated in yer secret base, if you catch my drift! But hurry up though; you only have 25 minutes left!”

Once again, Inky ran. One hoof after the other, Inky trotted toward the expanding sun. The secret base was the last of her sanctuary on this planet. Somehow, she knew the pony that awaits her within this place; only one other pony knew of the location of her base. Gently, she lifted the lid hiding the entrance to her base. As Inky descends into the depth of her lair, pictures of her spare drawings entered her vision. There are various artworks depicting plants, animals, still lives, and portraits of other ponies. She had no time to collect these drawings as memoirs; her trans-communicator warns her of the sun’s impending demise. She has only 14 minutes to collect her final passenger and get back to her craft. She walked over to the curtain connecting the hallway to her main base; that person must be in here, behind the curtains. Without a word, she pulled open the curtain’s cover. The mare siting in the throne room was exactly the pony she expected; although he was not the pony she once knew.

The stallion sitting atop the throne inside the secret base was but a weak, pale sickling, a pony shell, supported only by his fading will power. His gaze slowly turned toward the dark, gray mare as she entered the room. “Why hello there; it’s been too long.”

Despite his rather drastic changes in appearance, Inky recognized him right away. The pale ghost of a mare sitting in front of her was Earth Star. No words was needed to convey the idea to Inky; Earth Star was the one who manipulated her, and got to know her secrets, so his diamond dog lackey can finally snatch her away, and sell her to the highest bidder. Of course, that wasn’t the first thing on Inky’s mind right now. She uttered:

“Earth Star…what happened to you?”

“It looks like have a massive amount of ink seeped into your blood doesn’t do a pony good.” The frail mare chuckled weakly while shifting to get a better position.

A brief silence befell the cave. Inky tried to form words from her mouth. It took them several tries to convey what she wanted to say.

“So, you’ve been keeping me alive just so you could sell me huh?”

“That would appear to be the case, yes.”

Before Inky could respond, a huge gale blew into the room as a jet craft floated outside, with Eshredder leaning over the passenger seat, with the bound diamond dog in tow.

“Common darling! We have to go! The sun is going to undergo super nova in 8 minutes!

Inky looked into Earth Star’s eyes. “You know, when we were little, you were my best friend. I enjoyed every minute we spent together, no matter what your motive will be.

She paused for a moment, and turned away from her childhood friend.

“Come with me. I need to take you off this planet, and get some medical help.”

The sick mare suddenly looked visibly relieved. With what remained of his strength, he leaned forward, and looked deeply into Inky’s deep, black eyes.

“So, after all this time, after all that I’ve done, causing you all the pain and suffering to you, you will still forgive me?”
“…That would appear to be the case, yes.”

A small grin appeared on the frail pony’s face. It almost seem he had not smiled for the longest of time, until now. “It’s… ta bit late for that now, don’t you think?” He rested his head back on his chair once more, and closed his eyes.

“I’ve lived on this planet my entire life, and I’m not about to leave now. Go on; your friends are waiting for you.”

Eshredder began getting impatient, as she began yelling into the base:

“Inky! Common! We need to go! The sun is about to explode!”

Inky looked away from the pony responsible for her childhood, the good and the bad.

“I’ll see you later then. Good bye, Earth Star.”

Eshredder spotted the gray mare popping out from her burrow. As Inky ran past the hovering space craft, the eager white mare lifted her up into the craft, and closed the air-seal gate. Inky felt the inertia tugging on her as the ship entered hyper-drive propelling them away from the doomed planet.

“Three minutes till super-nova!” Eshredder yelped as she navigated her craft away from the sun.

Inky pressed her hoof on the carbon-fiber pane of the space ship. The expanding sun had begun to heat up her home planet; in a moment’s time, it will ruthlessly engulf it.

“Two minutes till super-nova! Dear Celestia, I hope we can get out of range!”

Inky was rather relived in a way. Before she met the clan, that world was all that she knew. Now, the death of the insignificant globe means would not mark the end of her life, or the end of everything that she had. She has wings now. She can go anywhere.

“One minute! By Luna I think we’re getting out of range!”

Earth Star sat by himself inside the secret base. At the final hour of his home planet, he would be the last pony in the world. His world began to shake as the dying sun starts to expand into his planet.

“Ten years eh? I wonder why I led her go… must be that part of my chest again. Hehehe….”

The gray mare watched as the sun engulfed that tiny pile of rock in its path. She closed the blinds, and headed down to the cabin to get some rest.

Achievement unlocked: eviction notice.

Mission Report:

Dear Clan Leader Moshi:

Today’s mission was a…partial success. We’ve managed to evacuate one out of the two citizens left on the planet before the super-nova destroyed it once and for all. The convict Diamond Dog Gruff is now in our custody, and will be transported to the galactical prison planet shortly.

I had also received news of a syndicate that had put a bounty on every mercenary and bounty hunters in the entire system. It seems we need to be on the lookout for malicious criminals dropping in during our missions, and take us in for profit. I believe this rumor does deserve examination of some kind.

Also… I wanted to personally thank you for saving me from Klinon-5. Today marks the ten-year anniversary from the day you rescued me from my old life; I would have remained on that planet at the moment of the super-nova if you hadn’t come along. So thanks, for everything.

-Inky

PS: I will never attempt to write a fanfic with depth to it, ever. The end dragged on waaaayyyyy to much, and I can swear I used similar sentences with upmost repetitiveness. Next time, I’m doing a happier episode, I swear.

“Spike! Stop breaking the 4th wall! That’s Moshi’s job!”

“Look, you can’t expect me to write your logs for you without me giving my own two cents on the issue! I sucked at gridmark and I’m going to own up to it. Period.”

“Well can’t you do it in your own time? This is my mission log you know.”

“Everybody’s a critic I suppose.”

-END-