//------------------------------// // 12 - Your mission, should you choose to accept it... // Story: Dash to the Stars // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// 17th of Faust, 1st year of Harmony The Palace, Canterlot, Equestria - Equus, K3 Sector The radio set clashed with the resplendent decor around it. A large, bulky, well used piece of industrial equipment which ahd been repeatedly fieldstripped for repairs, heavily modified, and worn down by use so much it was due for a full refurbishment. Such a thing did not belong next to a one of a kind mahogany and ebony desk in a room where the gold paint on the walls was made with actual gold. When Celestia had ordered the old study to be converted into Equestria's first ODIN Comm Center, she had elected to keep the nature of the operation classified. Only the upper echelons of the Solar and Lunar Secret Service knew the radio was not simply a secure frequency set up to provide the scouts watching the minotaurs with a direct line to the palace. Indeed, the agents manning the radio station itself only knew that the radio unit had been given to Celestia by a third party, and that she had personally overseen an encryption charm placed on the radio, along with the installation of an auto-quill to convert all messages to parchment and ink to prevent eavesdropping. Such precautions were quite necessary. Celestia knew the Minotaurs had allied with a race of shapechangers, though she knew nothing of the shapechangers themselves. Nothing other than she couldn’t simply ensure minotaurs were not hired as palace staff until the cold-war simmered down. Anypony might be an enemy spy, and if the minotaurs knew the Elements were not just missing, but light years away... The six agents Celestia had appointed to man the Comms were ones she trusted completely. They had worked for her for decades, and were all exemplary operatives. However, the agent’s duty wasn’t to decode the messages, only the Princess’s eyes could make sense of the jumbled mess. They simply waited for a message to come in then securely transported it to the Princess. Unfortunately this meant the agents had spent days upon days waiting in a room with nothing happening. Even the most disciplined of ponies, when faced with a job where nothing at all happens, will think nothing of leaving their post for a moment to fetch lunch. When the radio’s red ‘receiving’ light flickered on, and the silver quill laying atop the desk jumped to life, there was nopony there to see a message arrive. Hello? I mean, uh, Space to Equestria? You know, I um, I don't know how you’re supposed to do radio things. Pan? What do you say to— Oh! Thanks. Ahem! Dawn of Destiny to Canterlot Palace. Come in Canterlot Palace. I’m just going to assume that no one is listening… Great. Oh, yeah! Good thought. The Princess definitely setup an auto-quill. Okay. Let’s treat this like a letter. Dear Princess Celestia, Hi. It’s Rainbow. Just making my first report. I know it’s been a long time but a lot of nothing happened, then a whole bunch of things happened all at once. The last few days have been crazy, and we made like actual negative progress, but now everything is all ready to go and we can finally start tracking everypony down. Yeah… We can start. Now. Like, a week later. So, it turns out that Penny’s ship is old. Super old. Even you would think it’s old. She’s been using it for about five hundred years, and before that it belonged to her dad, and then her granddad. It’s apparently a third generation starship, and that means it’s very slow. The first few days we spent just like, getting up to light speed to set sail for a place called Tavros Station. It’s kind of a huge port city not too far from Equestria that is this huge— Uh, it’s basically just a hub to support colonizing the sector. I should probably let you know that nopony is going to colonize anything near Equus. Our planet is on the edge of a place called the K3 Sector, and its off limits for any government to use. Apparently, a super long time ago, a species called Humans built the whole galaxy into what it is now then vanished. Archeologists are pretty sure their homeworld is somewhere in the K3, so nopony goes there out of either respect, fear, or both. I mean, I wouldn’t want to upset a species that has ships flying around still that use stars as guns. Oh yeah! Can you do that? Like, launch a huge chunk of star stuff out of the sun to hit things? Sorry, just a thought. Anyways, we got to Tavros and Penny’s spent the whole time here getting a new shuttle to replace her old one. We lost it to the pirates around the moon’s orbit. If you can get somepony up there with like, magic or something you should salvage the debris. Who knows what you can learn to make from the wreck. It took a few days to get a shuttle, and I spent that with Pan and a new friend just learning about the people here. Her name’s Jo. She’s a robot. I’m dating her. I uh, I know that’s probably weird, but I like her. Also, uh, pull my medical records and warn anypony you send to space that if they have… I forgot what we call them. Uh, those little flue-like things that everything, plant or animal, has? Those. If their levels of them are near mine, they need to go into space with a romantic partner. I know that sounds weird, but it turns out aliens have those too, and there's this whole thing they can do in people with high levels where, uh… Well, a pony will basically go into a pseudo-estrus because suddenly all these alien body language expressions and pheromones just make sense to you. Also, those also protect against alien diseases. So you can just have people talk to others normally. No bio-suits or spells needed. I just think it might be a good idea to get some ponies other than me up here. Aliens have wizards too, but like, bad ones. Third grade foals are almost on par with their wizards. We could make so much money teaching their wizards magic and there is so much we could get! The Fed’s technology is crazy! I bought this little ball that can morph into anything I want from the size of a little hoof-ball to a whole bed! Anyways, back on topic! So, Jo is teaching me how to fight. I need to learn because the pirates who kidnapped them are called the Nova Wing and they are like, huge. Like, they control a few planets huge. They are also very aggressive, and… Well, I’ll have to fight them to get my friends back. Penny is going to help with that too, but she can’t right now. It turns out she’s rich, but is Fluttershy obsessed with animals, so her money is all tied up in conservation stuff. Which boils down to she’s spent the last few days doing special shows and things to get extra money to pay for a suit of armor for me… And uh, also a mistake I made. So, Jo used to belong to an alien mare and worked as a security guard. We sort of ditched her post for uh, reasons… Good reasons! Buuut Saria’s stuff got stolen. We didn’t know till she called Jo asking what the buck happened, and uh yeah. She’s pressed charges. I’m not like, in jail or anything, but because Jo joined Penny’s crew, Penny is on the hook for replacing Saria’s stuff. It’s about fifteen million credits, apparently. I guess robotics equipment is super expensive. I uh… Yeah… I feel really bad about that. Jo and I got into a race because she can fly too, and is almost as fast as me, and, well, it just completely slipped our minds. Which is weird, since she’s, you know, an android. She does forget things though, but only when her emotions are quote, ‘maxing out my processor’, end quote. Anyways, we can finally start looking. We’ve got a shuttle, we’ve got the legal problems taken care of with losing Saria’s stuff, and I’ve got someone who can teach me to fight without being in a light battlemech that’s legally classified as armor for insurance reasons… I’ll hopefully get you another update soon. Yours Truly, Rainbow Dash. Okay, Pan. Go ahead and do yours now. The auto quill stopped twitching for a moment as the radio went silent. Then, a few seconds later, it resumed writing as Pan spoke. Your Majesty, I humbly request you tell my family, in particular my sister, that I miss them, and am sorry I broke contact after my accident. I want them to know that I think the lack of magic was messing with my head in a very bad way, and that I’m better now, and I feel less… Bitter about everything. I also want them to know that I am working for you. You don’t have to tell them where or what. I uh, I mean, that’s up to you. It’s not my call… Sorry. I do want them to know that the people from where I currently am could fix my sister’s wings. They live in Ponyville right now, finding them will be easy. If… If it’s possible, I would like to try and arrange a trip for my sister. Rainbow found a way to get an Auto-Doc installed on the Dawn, and one of those could fix her wings no problem. Penny wants to return to Equus soon, within a few months, so we can try to get some magical tracking systems to try and hunt the Elements down. If we haven't found them by then, the trail will have gone cold and there will be no other way. Space is a very big place, Your Majesty. Starships make it seem small but the Elements could be scattered across one hundred and seventy three billion habitable planets, sixty eight trillion space-habitats the size of continents, or on any one of quintillions of starships flying between all of those places. Frankly, I think we’ll need the magical assistance. When Penny asks for it, and comes to collect it, if we could get my sister an hour of medical care onboard the Dawn, I will be forever in your debt. A debt I can maybe help repay a little. The Galactic Community puts extreme value in what they call “First Race Relics”. When Penny was coming in to land, she mentioned our system showed signs of First Race activity. She was doing an astrometrics sweep to locate Equus for landing, and that means the Dawn had to scan the whole system. I pulled up the Dawn’s sensor records and went through them. Penny didn’t notice because she was focused on the planets, but there’s a absolutely flipping huge artificial… Thing! It’s built around the dead star Equus orbits. Which is um, a thing that it does. I don't know if you… Yeah, it does that. And uh, shell is a bad tem. It’s more like swarms of little stations connected by tiny little…  Things. I’m sorry, the Dawn’s sensors are bad. I compared the scan’s information to records, and got nothing. I asked Penny, and she said it’s likely remains from orbital rings which has kinda colessed into weird orbiting patterns over time. But then I remembered that Rainbow’s new marefried is literally a computer and obsessed with human tech. According to her, it looks like the innermost layer of what they called a matrioshka brain. A star-sized computer. There’s information on that thing that is priceless as far as the Galaxy is concerned. If you can get some ponies to retrieve anything from it, anything at all, you’ll have enough wealth to… Well, to do anything, really. Data mining could be an industry that could put Equus on the galactic map. I hope that helps you, your highness. Your humble servant, Pandora. End transmission. The auto quill stopped moving, remained upright for another twenty seconds, then floated back down to lay atop the desk as the transmission light dimmed and no more messages would be coming from the Dawn. The room remained silent for half an hour as the parchment scroll sat upon the desk. Fortunately, while it did certainly contain important information there was nothing crucial which needed to be acted upon immediately. If there had been, a certain somepony would have been in serious trouble. The room’s doorknob rattled slightly as it was turned, permitting the great oaken door to swing open and two mares to enter the room to retake their post. Both mares wore simple black suits, the Special Service’s uniforms were indistinguishable from normal business wear to the untrained eye. The one who opened the door was a beige colored earth pony mare with a curly blue and pink mane and tail. Her partner was a white pegasus mare with a fluffy teal mane and tail. They laughed as they walked in, enjoying the memory of their waitress's mistakes. “Seriously, she thought we were dating, how crazy is that?” The pegasus giggled as she closed the door behind them with her left wingtip.” Her partner snickered. “Well, not too crazy. But still kinda crazy.” The Pegasus’s wings flared slightly. “Wait, uh… Bon bon, what do you mean?” Bon bon raised an eyebrow. “Uh, you do know that I’m married to Lyra, don’t you?” Her partner’s ears drooped while her face scrunched up. “O— Oh! So you’re actually ga— I mean, that’s okay! I just… Feel bad for laughing…” Bon bon rolled her eyes. She’d taken a completely different message from the waitress’s actions. “Don’t. It was funny, because she thought I was cheating and was like, into that.” The pegasus’s ears tried to drop more, but couldn’t. “T— that’s not funny! That’s really serious! What if she tells ponies that you’re cheating?” “I can’t cheat, Lightning. We’re in an open marriage with a third person,” Bon bon informed casually as she stepped over to the large chair she’d been spending her shifts reading in. Lightning tilted her head. “Then, you were laughing because from your point of view, she was seemingly into a thing you can’t do?” Bon bon giggled and nodded once. “Right! It’s like when a stallion flirts with a trap and you watch that poor girlycolt awkwardly mumble and squirm as he explains he’s not a mare. Only I was that girlycolt, and I like to laugh at myself.” Lightning didn’t quite know what to say in response to that analogy, and simply sat down next to the radio. “Oh. Okay…” She nervously rubbed her forehooves together and glanced between the floor and her partner several times. “I uh, you do know I’m totally okay with gay ponies, right?” Bon bon groaned and picked up the book she had been reading earlier from its place atop the end table next to her chair. “Yes. It’s fine. Really! You thought it was funny somepony thought you were a lesbian. That is funny since you’re the most stallion crazy mare I know of.” Lightning let out a sigh of relief and flashed Bon bon a smile. “Thank goodness! I love working with you… I would have hated to have to change partners over something dumb. I’m glad you got the—” Lightning stopped mid word as her eyes finally took notice of the seemingly random symbols drawn on the topmost layer of parchment next to the auto-quill. Her eyes dilated to pinpricks as she took note of the one unencrypted thing on the page. The timestamp. This message was nearly half an hour old. “Oh, ponyfeathers!” Bon bon dropped her book and jumped up from her chair. “What? Are we getting a message? Why is that—” Bon bon facehooved as everything made sense in a flash. “Oh no… Something came in while we were gone…” Lightning nodded and scooped the parchment up with her hooves, rolling it into a scroll. “Y— yeah, like, right after we left.” Bon bon nodded and retrieved a secure scroll case from the bookshelf next to the radio, took the scroll from her partner and slipped it inside. “Well, let’s deliver the message.” “Day Court just started. We’ll have to wait in line.” “To deliver critical intelligence?” Bon bon asked incredulously. Lightning nodded firmly. “Yes! We can only give this case to the princess. We don't actually have permission to interrupt court, she never granted that too us. Yes, that’s an oversight, but there’s nothing we can do.” Bon bon put her hoof on her chin as she thought for a moment. “Buck! You’re right. We don't have authorization for a ‘national emergency’ bypass because this whole thing is classified. We can't take it to Princess Luna either, she left for Trottingham this morning.” Lightning nodded, slipped a pair of saddlebags onto her back, took the scroll case from Bon bon, locked it, and put it in her bags. “Come on, protocol says we both have to deliver this. We messed up once today, we’re not doing it again.” Bon bon frowned and turned to look at the radio. “What if another one comes in while we’re waiting for… Probably the whole day to get this to the Princess?” “Then we’re bucked, because our orders say at least two ponies have to escort each message to ensure it’s not taken by the minos.” Bon bon trotted back and forth for a moment before holding up her hoof. “Oh! We could call Mint and Aspin to cover for us!” Lighting shook her head. “And add three hours of waiting to get this message to the Princess?” Bon bon made a noise halfway between a growl and an annoyed grunt. “Ugh! I wish we worked for Luna…” Lightning gave her partner a quick sympathetic hug. “I know… It’s sad how in just a year she’s clearly the better boss for military things… Look, let’s get this over with. Nothing else is going to come, it took days to get this one thing. We’ll be okay.” Bon bon sighed and trotted over to the door, pulling it open. “I hope your right.” “We’ll be fine. Now let's go do our jobs.” The two mares left and the doors closed behind them with a thud. Long moments passed silently by. The empty Comms room remaining as dead as it had been for days. Then, as if somepony had just taunted the irony gods, the transmission light blinked back on and the auto quill jumped back to life. Good evening. I am Xiisha Steele, Vice President of Steele Enterprises Limited. To whom am I speaking? Is someone there? I have vital information for your nation. Our systems show you are receiving this message. I assume the lack of a response indicates this message is being recorded. Whoever reviews this recording, you must take this message to Princess Celestia as fast as possible. Your planet is in grave danger. Run! Princess, my name is Xiisha Steele. I am not form your world. I will not be sending this message to you exclusively. Others will hear it soon. This is an official first contact situation. I am committing a crime by coming to you before your species is able to connect to the Orion Deepspace Interstellar Network. I am committing another more major crime by using corporate assets in your home system without permission, but I cannot allow your species to fall to an enemy you will not be able to defend against. It has come to my attention that the pirate fleet known as the Nova Wing has abducted a sample of your species to determine your biological capabilities and thereby your value as slaves. They will determine that your ponies are the most powerful known wizards, and naturally make for extremely skilled laborers, particularly in agriculture. What’s more, your species genetic material is unique. It has certain properties which my own people have been exploiting for nearly five hundred years. Ethically, of course. We acquire consent from all of our donors, all of whom are fairly compensated for their products, and all of whom are given the most pleasurable experience possible before during and after their donations. Nova Wing will not offer you anything other than death. Your planet will be raided. Even with your magic, you will fail to protect yourselves. I know the limits of your magic. You couldn’t protect yourselves against a planet wide bombardment. Nova Wing will happily reduce your world to ash and scoop up survivors to clone, thereby eliminating any possible competition in the trade of ponykind. I will not allow that. You may reply to my message by broadcasting a normal radio signal. I will be listening to the full spectrum. Until I hear back from you, I will be acting under the assumption that you wish your species to remain free. I have brought a constructor fleet with me. We will begin processing your system’s oort cloud for minerals, gas, and energy. These resources will be converted into advance detection systems, defense platforms, and processed materials which we will use to begin construction of a proper defense fleet for Ponykind. If you fail to respond before we finish basic perimeter defenses, we will move inwards to begin fortifying your asteroid belt. If we finish that before you respond I’ll go down there, ask what the hell is keeping you, and start building your defense network command hub. I am aware you share your world with other intelligent species. I understand the political environment of your world is tense. Particularly with you and the minotaurs. I have tens of millions of agents on your planet, all of whom I will happily loan you as you will need to organise your world so a proper unilateral defense can be mounted. The minotaur’s new allies work for me. If they refuse to play ball, I will eliminate them for you. Nothing can be allowed to stand in the way of your species survival. We will discuss details when I can speak with you directly. For now, know that I will not take control of your species, nor your system. I act only to preserve your species as a free people, which is essential for the survival of my own species. If we lose the ability to harvest DNA samples from your species… It may seem logical to you, but we need to harvest each sample directly from one of your species. Replicated DNA is useless for our needs, we believe magic is to blame for this and have no means of replicating your natural magic with a DNA sequence. If you fall, we lose our primary export: biological compounds and medications made from your species. We will share these with you, naturally. Our prior clandestine harvesting was enacted to ensure you couldn’t stop us. Please understand, our previous industry wasn’t sustainable and we had nearly exhausted it. As it stands today, if you fall, we will need to fend for ourselves. My government is still in debate on what to do, but I do not have time for political foolishness. The Mina and Ponies will stand as one, or fall separately. I look forward to hearing back from you soon. We need to discuss how best to construct weapons and vessels for pony use before I can begin constructing anything other than automated systems. Do not worry, I am truly on your side. If I wanted you dead, or removed from power, you wouldn’t be getting this message three days before I plan to inform your entire world of my presence. May the Gods protect you. Captain, deploy the SCVs. We have years of work to do in a week. The auto quill stopped moving, the light winked out, and at the very edge of the Equestrian space, the SEL constructor fleet began to construct Equestria’s first line of defense. A pity Princess Celestia wouldn’t know anything about that until just before her midnight banana cream cake would be ready. Fluttershy - 17th of Faust, 1st year of Harmony 749,563.34 A.H. Cargo Transfer bay, VOC Meermin - ████████, ██████ Sector Fluttershy was pulled from her cryo pod by the cold unfeeling robotic arm of a portable auto-doc. She needed some slight alterations before she could be sold. Nothing fancy, just the usual compliance implant and monitoring system. The auto-doc went to work the very moment Fluttershy’s head was clear of the pod. The captain had ordered no anesthetics be used on the final two slaves. A punishment inflicted on those sold before Fluttershy due to their attempts at defiance. The auto-doc disagreed with such a decision, but could no more disobey his captain than Fluttershy could escape her current situation. That said, the captain hadn’t told the AI it couldn’t take advantage of the full body numbness people experienced during their first forty seconds out of cryo. Fluttershy’s head received three quick incisions from a laser scalpel. A sonic chizzle carved small recesses into her skull so the implants wouldn’t leave lumps. While the chizzles carved away at bone with a distressingly dronning hum, yet another laser burned small holes into Fluttershy’s skull for the implants wires to be fed into. The very moment a spot was clear, a robotic arm fed each implant into place. First, the compliance implant. The implant was little more than a taser, a system by which immense pain could be administered while disconnecting the slave’s mind from their body. A savage yet most effective device. The other two sockets received the two parts of the monitoring system. The first chip was a standard neural interface which would allow the slave to operate advanced technology, should it be given permission to do so. The second one recorded bio-data and sensory information and broadcast it through the first implant so the slave’s master would always know where their slave was, as well as what their slave was doing, feeling, and even thinking. The auto-doc finished the installation of Fluttershy’s implants before her hooves touched the deck, but not quite fast enough for the poor mare to not feel the last vestiges of pain as the incisions were burnt shut. The captain had also punished the others by denying Fluttershy and Rarity medical adhesives, or even bandages. Fluttershy whimpered as she lay on the deck, her eyes refusing to open as a mixture of terror and anger raged within her. She knew she was being defrosted. She recognized the feeling from when they had been awoken to watch the recording of Twilight’s attempted escape and death. She had also been awakened to watch Pinkie and Applejack be auctioned off. The worst thing about watching her friends being sold to an alien crime lord and some sort of arms dealer ate away at Fluttershy’s very soul. It wasn't seeing them be sold into slavery. It was the feeling that no one wanted her. Not one person has bid on her, and Rarity had been taken off the market when she tried to kill a guard with magic and escape. Even worse, objectively speaking, was a little fact about pegasi the Wing had no way of knowing. Cryo sleep didn’t quite work on a pegasus. Fluttershy’s mind had remained active in the tank, only her perception of time had been skewed. Each second spent frozen felt like a minute. In Fluttershy’s mind, it had not been days which had passed for her, but months. Months she had spent terrified, begging for a rescue or chance of escape for real… Which had never come. She knew no one was coming to save her, and that the moment she seemed awake, cruelties would be inflicted upon her, and there was nothing to do but accept that, or others would be hurt. “Stand up.” The captain’s sharp command bit into Fluttershy’s ears. No implant was required to make her stand up for the alien, only the threat of violence. If that violence were directed towards her, Fluttershy would have had it in her to resist. But… If I don’t stand up he’ll hurt Rarity. Fluttershy loved all of her friends, so she stood up. Her ears twitched as she heard Rarity’s hooves scrape against the deck as she shakily stood. Unicorns didn’t do so well in cryo, it would be nearly five minutes before Rarity would stop shaking. Fluttershy managed to open her eyes. The world was fuzzy and out of focus, but she could tell she wasn’t in the cell block. It looked like she was in a small warehouse. The next thing Fluttershy saw were two humanoid figures. One of them was taller than the other. It took Fluttershy a while to identify him. He was dressed in the same black, knee-length leather boots, white pants, a black and gold leather jacket, and shimmering blue cloak as everyone else onboard. What made him stand out was the electrified rapier belted at his waist, mirror-like mask over his face, furless corpse-white skin, small round ears, and the short cropped jet black hair. This was Captain Amin Lemar, master of the NW Elusive. Her captor and tormentor. The other figure was shorter, more wisp-like, but clad in a sealed cybernetic suit of power armor. He reminded Fluttershy of a bee thanks to the armor being black and yellow with chrome accents. She had no idea why First Mate Duat was allowed to wear something other than the crew’s uniform, but assumed it had to do with the terrifying raspy, mechanical breaths the alien assassin's respirator produced. Fluttershy whimpered and took a step back. Rarity’s blurry vision caught sight of the Captain, and the unicorn growled. “Let. Me. Go.” The captain turned to Mister Duat. “Mister Duat, demonstrate the compliance module.” “Aye, sir.” The Prai sent a simple command to Fluttershy’s implant, and her entire world became pain. The agony lasted for nearly a minute, and when it stopped, Fluttershy couldn’t remember when she had fallen to the floor, or even if she had stood up after getting out of the cryo pod. All she could remember was every single last one of her nerves screaming in agony. The Captain took a step towards Rarity and bent down. “Will you speak again?” Rarity shook her head no. The Captain stood back upright and turned his back to the ponies, both to suggest they were beneath his notice and to also indicate they were no threat. “Since you did not fetch a price at auction, buyers were found for you within the ranks of our prospective clients. I am here for one reason, and that is to inform you of the consequences of being a poor product. “If you misbehave, we will make your species pay the price. Your bio data alone is quite valuable, and your species is most certainly capable of great things. As soon as we develop effective control systems and capture devices, we will be returning to your backwater little world. “You evolved in the K3 Sector. The Star League cannot enter it by law. No one can prevent us from taking what we please from your world when we return to it. By we, I mean a full fleet, not merely this ship. When we leave your world behind, there will be no life left upon it, and your species will be ours. “How painless the transition from free people to product is for your species depends on your behavior. Your prior defiance has already cost a tenth of your current population their lives. Since your new owners are quite wealthy and may purchase more of our services, if you two prove to be good investments, any reported misbehaviors will increase the percentage of your species we purge by one to three percent. “Understood?” Fluttershy nodded once, not daring to speak. Rarity glared at the Captain’s back. “Equestria won't fall to the likes of you.” The captain turned his faceless mask to his enforcer. Clearly, punishing others wouldn’t matter to the white unicorn. It was time for a new tactic. “Mister Duat? Take the left eye.” Duat paused and frowned behind his mask. “Are you sure, sir? I believe that’s the dominant one.” The Captain hummed. “Fair enough. The right then.” Fluttershy whimpered and curled up in a ball. “N— No! Please! She didn’t mean to—” Duat lunged forward with near supernatural speed. His arm flew first to his hip, then whipped forwards as he drew and ignited his plasma saber. The blade flicked once, slicing a line across Rarity’s face from her muzzle, across, her cheek, into her eye, and then up to her ear. Rarity screeched in pain, clamping a hof over her now empty eye socket while Duat calmly extinguished his blade and stood back up. “I have removed it, sir.” Fluttershy’s heart hammered rapidly in her chest, her wings flared, she needed to protect her friends, but she knew there was nothing she could personally do to stop either of the pirates. She’d tried. Pegasi lightning was easily blocked by their personal shields. Anything I do means they hurt her more… Why am I helpless?! Fluttershy knew why. Because you’re too kind sometimes… Why are you so useless? Maybe if you can hit one of the boxes— “Excuse me, but I believe that person belongs to me!” A loud very angry voice shouted from across the cargo bay. Fluttershy turned her head slightly to see who was potentially sticking their necks out for them. Her answer was a tall, fairly fat Prai man. He had light plum skin, an extra tall head, short ears, and eyes which made him look sad even though he was clearly seething with enough rage for his neck to push the collar of his eight piece cherry red suit apart almost enough to pop the collar button. He was flanked by eight security guards, all Prai, all featureless beneath their sealed white hardsuits. Slightly behind that group was another Prai, this one a woman. She was short, thin, and had golden skin made glossy and metallic via the use of transformative drugs. Her most distinctive feature was her oversized ears, and an odd ‘motherly’ quality to her which just didn't seem to fit with her appearance and yet was there. Fluttershy couldn’t help but be slightly envious of the alien woman’s elegant red cocktail dress. A fact which unnerved her even more than her lack of any body guards. No one walks into a slave ship alone unless they felt confident they could kill everything onboard if they had too. Captain Lemar turned to face his customer and bowed slightly. “My apologies, I had not been informed you had boarded. Of course I planned on regenerating your property’s eye before delivering her to you, Mister Bochra. This is simply a disciplinary matter. You will find her a very hard slave to break.” Tantaib Bochra, the CEO and Founder of Bochra and Associates, took two furious steps forward. “Good! For what I have planned I require she remain unbroken. You will refund three thousand credits from her purchase price to cover the cost of medical care, or the deal is off, sir.” The Captain capitulated immediately, three thousand was a mere eighth of a percent of Rarity’s going price. He nodded and waved a hand towards his First Mate. “Of course, sir. Mister Duat, have it taken care of.” The captains’ enforcer snapped into a salute and immediately sent a command to the ship’s computer to inform the bridge crew to enact the refund. “Right away, sir.” Bochra turned to one of his guards and gestured at Rarity with an odd three-fingered pointing motion. “Mister Ruck, administer a stimpack and carry her to my ship. The bodyguard salutation. “Yes, sir.” Fluttershy watched in mild shock as the fat, older Prai walked over to Rarity’s side along with his bodyguards and bent over slightly to look down at her. “Move your hoof.” Rarity sniffled and shook her head, the burning wound on her face far too agonizing to speak, though she did yelp as the white armored guard injected her with a small syringe. Mister Bochra reached out and gently moved Rarity’s hoof away from her eye, then let go and shook his head. “Another centimeter and she would be dead! You run a poor business, captain,” he spat before turning his back to the slavers. Duat twitched, making Fluttershy eep and scuttle backward, fearing the burning green energy blade would come for her next. “I am a Witchhunter, sir. I cut precisely as deep as my captain ordered. No more, no less.” The fat Prai turned around and glared at the cybernetic soldier. “Even your infamous order makes mistakes. Come, men. We’re taking my property and leaving.” The bodyguard who had injected Rarity picked her up and gently set her over his shoulder, supporting her from her plot like one would carry a child. “Easy there, miss. We’ll get that eye fixed soon.” Rarity twitched once then went limp, lulled into a dreamless sleep via the alien medicine. Fluttershy watched as the group began to leave, and the woman in the red dress remained behind. She stood calmly in place, though her eyes kept focus on Duat in a way which suggested she both feared and loathed him. “Do you always keep Witchhunters with you when dealing with witches, Captain?” Captain Lemar shook his head, making the witch's reflection ripple in his mask. “My First Mate’s presence has nothing to do with you, nor your powers, Lady Rina. He is simply my First Mate. I apologize for the scene, you were not supposed to have boarded yet.” Lady Rina smiled faintly. “My uncle believed otherwise, and he always gets what he wants in the end.” The Captain bowed, flourishing his cape slightly. “I am certain you follow in his footsteps, my Lady. Please, feel free to stay as long as you wish. Would you like me to show your product to be in good health before you take possession of her?” She shook her head. “No. I can handle that myself,” Lady Rina made a small gesture with her left hand, and Fluttershy felt an unseen force gently scoop her up and float her over to the alien’s side. Fluttershy squirmed, instinctively worried about being carried by an invisible magical force. She slowly moved across the cargo bay and hovered at Lady Rina’s left side, unable to touch the floor. A look of distress flashed across Fluttershy’s face, though she dared not speak. Rina frowned, having caught Fluttershy’s twinge out of the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry, dear. Do you not like that? Would you like to walk?” Fluttershy slowly nodded, wincing as she expected to be floated up even higher in response. Rina guestured, and Fluttershy slowly floated to the ground, the unseen force gently scratching between her ears the moment her hooves touched down. “I’m sorry. I thought a flying creature wouldn’t mind being moved like that. It won't happen again unless I have to. Come along, it’s time we left this, vessel.” Lady Rina turned fast enough to make her dress’ hem billow before she even started to walk to the docking tube. Fluttershy eeped at her sudden departure and turned as quickly as she could, nearly tripping as she struggled to keep up with the short woman’s unnaturally quick pace. Lady Rina led Fluttershy across the cargo bay and through the second open docking tube into her personal starship. Fluttershy gasped as she walked into the Jewel of Teri. Like all Prai ships, the Jewel was crafted from a single massive gemstone, Emerald, in this specific case. The gemstone was reinforced by magic, allowing the ordinarily brittle material to withstand the stresses of a starship’s hull. Like all ships owned by Prai nobles, the ship’s interior was decorated with such splendor and wealth as to be indescribable. Not a single item in the ship was worth less than seven million credits, and no metal less precious than platinum was to be found in the vessel. More impressively, even the least elaborately decorated and crafted items within the ship had been created over the course of a hundred years by a dedicated artisan expressly dedicated to the crafting of whatever particular object Fluttershy’s eyes fell upon. This one singular ship quite literally held more wealth in it than the entirety of Equestria. A fact that was not lost on Fluttershy as she was led to Lady Rina’s bedchambers while the alien mentally commanded her ship to disembark and head for home. Without the need of an implant. Fluttershy eked as the Jewel shuddered as it slipped free from the Elusive’s docking clamps and began to head out into clear space to prepare for the jump to lightspeed. Rina shook her head slowly and smiled as she sat down in what very well might have been the most comfortable chair in the sector and gently pat a large cushion next to her chair which might very well have been the second most comfortable cushion in the sector. The first most comfortable was in the chair. “Come on. Have a seat. I won't hurt you. I have no idea what nonsense those savages filled your head with, but you will not be harmed in my posession, dear. Which is why we’ll be removing that nasty little shock circuit from you once we’re home.” Fluttershy’s ears twitched, her wings and tail swished nervously, her lip trembled. “C— Can I talk?” Rina nodded once. “Of course you may. Please, have a seat. We must get to know one another.” Fluttershy nodded and slowly walked over to the cushion, touching it experimentally to see if it was some sort of trap. The moment her hoof touched the cushion her eyes opened wide. “Ooohhh!” A heartbeat later the mare was comfortably curled up in the large overstuffed cushion as if it were a nest. Rina let out a relieved breath and smiled, gently reaching down to give Fluttershy’s mane a gentle stroke. “I’m so glad you like it, dear. I purchased it just for you.” Fluttershy's ears lay back as her suspicions began to build. “W— Why do you buy slaves?” “Pardon?” the Prai witch asked, her thin lips pulling into a confused frown. Fluttershy gulped nervously. “I— I mean, you’re nice… So why?” Rina sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yet another unenlightened race,” she murmured to herself before looking down at Fluttershy. “There’s nothing wrong with owning another person, dear. I have purchased your labor, that is all. In… Less civilized terms, you do work for me and your wages shall be food, shelter, care, and a little wealth for your own. Perhaps one day your species will learn this truth, as our ancestors did in the time before spaceflight. “Fear not, you will not be mistreated, for while it is perfectly alright to own another, it is wrong to harm those in your care, or possession.” Fluttershys’ ears drooped as she tried to get a full read of her new owner. Okay, her people don't see slavery as wrong… So she’s nice, but she’s okay with owning me… Why? “S— So um… W— What do… What do I do?” Fluttershy stammered awkwardly. Lady Rina smiled and gave Fluttershy’s mane another stroke. “Isn’t it obvious dear? I wanted a pet.” Fluttershy blinked once. “Um, but I’m a person?” Lady Rina smiled in a way Fluttershy found to be incredibly flirtatious. “Dear.” Fluttershy’s mind scrambled for an answer for exactly three nanoseconds before realizing exactly what the short alien woman meant. The yellow mare’s cheeks turned bright pink. “O— Oh!” Rina’s eyes widened as her natural telepathy provided her with a full understanding of Fluttershy’s emotions at the moment. “Oh my! You have fantasies about this sort of thing, don’t you?” Fluttershy squeaked. “I uh… But… N— No…” Nhe scrunched away slightly, trying to hide her face behind her wings. Rina smiled and shifted in her seat slightly. “I’m an empath, dear. I know a part of you is happy, but I also know most of you is sad. Do not worry, the sadness will go away in time as you learn how you will be treated well… Ah, you worry about your friends! I do not know what will befall the other two, but the one you were with is fortunate indeed.” Fluttershy blinked once. “R— Rarity? Why is she fortunate? Someone bought her!” Rina sat back in her chair and with a flick of her hand pulled a wine bottle and a glass from across the room, uncorked it, and began to fill the glass. “My uncle refuses to own slaves. He finds it… Distasteful. He’s an odd man. So odd in fact, that simply to spite my father, who would inherit his business upon his death, he elected to buy a slave, adopt then free them, and appoint them as the heir to his business empire.” Fluttershy's ears perked. “Um, what?!” “It’s true, dear,” Rina said as she plucked her wineglass from the air and took a sip. “I told you he is odd, but it is his business and his money, so who am I to stop him? Fortunately for you, you’ll even get to visit your friend. We have frequent family gatherings, and she’ll be family by next week. I came along because, well, I’ve been unable to find a lover for free. It’s a simple matter to find someone you like and simply have them cater to your tastes. This is what your function is from now on, dear.” Fluttershy squirmed awkwardly. While she was a mare of odd tastes and fantasies herself, they had always been just that. Fantasies. “S— So um, why is it okay to you to just by a sexual partner?” Rina’s brow furrowed in surprise, then evened back out as she remembered the pony wasn’t a member of her species and culture. “Because it is a job, like any other. My people are not savages. We do not force people to seek employment. Employers seek workers instead, and purchase them based on their needs and qualifications.” “O— Oh… Okay.” Fluttershy’s wings rustled against her back nervously. Your dealing with an alien culture, Fluttershy. Don’t panic… If this is how they do jobs, she’s not going to hurt you. “S--so um.. What tastes?” “I enjoy my partners to be adorable, act animalistic, and exist for me to dote on lovingly at my whim,” Rina said quite plainly. “Which, I can sense you enjoy. I would say this arrangement is ideal for us both.” Fluttershy bit her lip, wanting to say she’d rather be free. She didn’t need to. Rina reached down and gently stroke Fluttershy’s cheek. “Dear, if you enjoy staying with me, I will free you. I prefer my partners be free people. It’s more romantic if they stay because they want too.” Fluttershy blinked. “Wait, but, that doesn't make sense! You bought me and—” The alien nodded, and gave Fluttershy a playful scritch between her ears, which Shy had to admit she was most certainly enjoying. “I did. However, I want you to be happy. I enjoy two things, happy partners and pet play. If you will stay with me after I free you, well, that’s an easy way to make you happy.” Fluttershy sat up, frowning as she tries to process everything that was happening. “Are you joking about not being able to find anypony?” Rina shook her head and took another sip of her wine. “Not at all. I’ve been single for thirty years. My tastes were once quite common amongst my people, but not so much in recent times.” Fluttershy hid her face behind a wing while rubbing her hooves together. “And you… You’re really a dominant woman, w— who just wants me to um… Be cute, submissive, and do ‘pet’ things?” Rina chuckled. “Not quite. I also enjoy transformative drugs, surgeries, and augmentations. To correct your statement, I am a female-appearing hermaphrodite who wants you to be cute, submissive, do pet things, and try transformatives with me, while also being my companion and attending formal events while being cute, sexy, and submissive.” Fluttershy’s cheeks burned a bright red as embarrassment filled every fiber of her bring, only to get squished out of the way by arousal. A thousand different thoughts races through her mind, but the two most prominent ones were; Jackpot? and I wonder if she'll help my friends? Fluttershy coughed and tapped her hooves together. “W— Would you let me go back to Equestria? I— If I asked?” Rina frowned and set her wine glass in the air, keeping it aloft with her powers. “I cannot. The location of your homeworld was not for sale. I sense you wish me to help you find your friends, and for me to help them… I see no reason why not. I’ll help you look for them, but I cannot promise that I can do anything for them.” Fluttershy nodded slowly, though her ears fell. “Oh… So, I can never go home?” “I’m afraid not,” Rina said with genuine sadness. “Though I would be very pleased if you were to make a new home with me.” Fluttershy wasn't sure how to handle that. On one hoof, here was a person of a fantasy sex she found beyond attractive, who also liked her other fetish, who was absurdly nice. On the other hoof, that woman had purchased her to be her kinky pet. It’s wrong… Shy thought to herself. But I mean… I’m into it. A lot… And Rarity sounds like she’ll be happy too… I— I guess I’m okay with this… Yes. I’m okay with this. But… But nopony else will be... Fluttershy sniffled and curled up into a tighter ball.  “W— Why did I get to be so lucky when Pinkie and Applejack…” She looked down at the emerald floor and sniffled, trying not to cry. Rina frowned and stood up to sit on the deck next to Fluttershy before floating the little pony into her lap. “Now now. Don’t cry. Life is cruel to everyone. It is why I enjoy pleasing others, that little spit I can throw in life’s face is my opium. I’ll help you find them, and if I can buy them, I shall.” Fluttershy bit her lip and looked around the most opulent bedroom she had ever seen. “I uh… I think you can.” Lady Rina laughed and levitated a small box across the room, setting it down at her feet for the moment. “I probably can. However, if they will cost the same as a medium planet, the answer is no. That’s a little much to spend on a gift.” Fluttershy laughed at what she thought was a joke. “Oh yes, they’ll charge a whole planet for them.” “They might. I paid more for you than my vacation planet,” Rina mentioned as she commanded her wineglass to return to her. Fluttershy froze. “W— What?” “Your price was seventeen trillion credits,” Rina said with the casualness of someone talking about purchasing a small home. “A bit expensive, but you are of a unique species, a very limited quantity of which is available, and are also very pretty, quite cute, and I liked the squeaky sounds you made in the video advertisement.” Fluttershy remained frozen, her mind not able to comprehend the idea of being able to just buy an entire world. “I cost as much as… You can buy a whole planet?!” Fluttershy asked, staring up at her mistress in awe. “Yes. Once a year or so. Normally, I resell them after making some improvements, but I believed you to be a better investment for this year, dear,” Rina said as she started to pet Fluttershy slowly, enjoying the empathic sensation of Fluttershy’s secret enjoyment as well as her own. “It’s settled then. I’ll look into your missing friends. Now then, let’s talk us for a while.” Rina opened the box by her feet with a quick gesture, revealing a pet collar made from natural risssji silk which held a solid two centimeter wide band of polished emeralds in place. She levitated it up in front of Fluttershy and gently stroked the back of her head. “I thought this color suited your fur. What do you think? Do you like it?” Fluttershy gasped, genuinely appreciating the beauty, and the connotations, of the decorative collar. “Oh yes! It’s so pretty.” Rina gently set the collar down in front of Fluttershy. “Then, it is yours. Our first rule is when this collar is on, you are in the mood to play. If you take it off, then I will leave you be.” Fluttershy blinked and turned to look at Rina. “I— I get a ‘safe word’?” Rina rolled her eyes and took a sip of her wine. “Of course you do, dear. I’m not into non-con.” Fluttershy squirmed in place, suddenly extremely uncomfortable as the alien woman’s viewpoint made absolutely no sense to her. “But you paid more money than I can even bucking understand for me! What if I had said no?” Rina smirked. “I would have simply drowned you in treasures till I bought your love.” Fluttershy huffed and crossed her forelegs. “That doesn't work!” Rina shook her head. “Oh no, it does work! Most people can’t afford to have the object of their affection carved into a mountain, then give them a place to live in made from diamond. Or, if you had prefered other more sentimental valuable gifts, as an empath, I could learn what those are and get them for you. “I purchased you, to have the opportunity to earn you, dear. The fact you seem to want to play with me due to shared interests is a happy bonus.” Fluttershy frowned, then blushed, then shyly put the collar around her neck. It was heavy, but felt nice and cool, while also being quite comfortable. “W— woof…” Rina giggled and gently stroked Fluttershy’s mane. “Not yet. You haven't fully accepted this… Don't argue, I know you haven't. However, while we are on the way home, I have a few transformatives you may like.” Fluttershy’s ears perked. “Like what?” “Well, it would be very nice of you to accommodate my preference for people having both parts to play with,” Rina offered with a light blush. Fluttershy jumped up in Rina’s lap, put her forelegs on the alien woman’s shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes, her own burning with a manic lust as she understood she could live out her deepest and oldest fantasy. “That. Is. My. Fetish!” Then, the yellow mare turned bright red and scampered away to hide behind her wings underneath Rina’s unthinkably expensive bed. Rina wanted to laugh, but could feel how embarrassed the poor mare was at her aroused  outburst. “I know it is, dear. Stay right there, I’ll go get the pills. We can use this opportunity to bond and design something perfect for the two of us, it will be fun and help you not be afraid of being open with me. After all, I want you to be happy. Always.” Fluttershy’s blush deepened. The aliens’ words seemed to have genuine, if slightly deviant, love in them. “O— Okay…” “I’ll be right back,” Rina promised as she stood up and left the room. Fluttershy felt her stomach churn. It’s so not okay that I get to live out a fantasy while my friends are in danger… But… That fantasy includes rescuing them. Fluttershy's ears perked up as she realized that with her mistress's wealth, and seemingly irrational love of her, at least, as far as her appearance and the idea of having her as a pet/lover was concerned, saving them would be easy. It would just take a while. Fluttershy blushed. I can save my friends by getting to have a kinky mistress… Is this whole thing a dream? The yellow mare gave that idea a few more seconds of thought, then smiled and trotted out from under the bed, her tail swishing behind her. I have to assume it’s not. Because if it’s not, then this is very bad and I need to fix it. So here’s what we do. We’re going to be the nicest, kindest, kinkiest, most loving pony Rina’s ever seen! Uh, not that’s she’s ever seen any other ponies… So um, person! Yeah! Fluttershy nodded to herself and fluttered her wings to help psych herself up. We’ll be so nice she’ll love me for me and also my looks, and since I dote on her just as much as she does me, I’ll love her too, and I’ll use the power of love to save my friends no matter what! I’m sure she would buy a small army, and probably would do it for her special somepony. Besides, I wasn't ever going to find anypony who would treat me like this in Ponyville. Maybe not even Equestria, so I should give her a chance… Even if she did buy me. But that seems like a desperation thing for her. Like online dating. It’s an alien culture… One okay with slavery, and she’s not a bad person deep down, at least, I dont think she is. I’ve made lots of people and animals change for the better. I’ll give this a shot. Fluttershy plopped down on her cushion and waited for Rina to return. Rainbow Dash - 17th of Faust, 1st year of Harmony 749,563.34 A.H. Dawn of Destiny, Tavros Station - Fenx System, Noctae Sector Rainbow, Pan, Penny, and Jo sat around the navigation console on the Dawn’s bridge. Pan had sorted through all of Penny’s job offers and Jo had helped him match jobs to possible sightings of Nova Wing activity. Then Penny had come along and sifted everything down to just three options based on what she believed Rainbow could handle, and also what they could afford to fly to, thanks to Rainbow and Jo’s not-so-little mistake. Penny took a step back from the navigation console, put her hands on her hips then nodded to herself. “Da, those are our best starting points,” she said to herself. Rainbow reared up to get a better view of the holoscreen. “Which ones? We went over a lot of things.” Penny issued a quick command with her neural interface and cleared the screen of all but three job offers. “These ones… Why don’t you help me decide between them, comrades?” Jo hummed and pointed to Penny. “I suppose I could, but it’s your decision, captain.” Pan smiled at the idea and spun in his chair to face everyone else. “That sounds fun, actually!” Rainbow dropped back to the deck. “I vote we go for whichever one takes us to the most likely Nova Wing area so we can beat the stuffing out of some of them and make them tell us where Twilight is!” Jo raised an eyebrow, remembering her love’s crush on the mare. “Any reason we should prioritize her?” “To have an absurdly powerful wizard’s help finding everypony else if they split them up,” Rainbow said honestly. Jo gave her an uncertain look. Rainbow blushed. “A— Also so we can talk about how cute she is… Maybe you could reshape your butt to bounce like hers?” Jo laughed and bent down to kiss Rainbow on her nose. “It’s okay. I’m not possessive… Only afraid you might leave me. But even if I wasn't, I would be happy to tweak this chassis for your tastes, or even make one entirely to your specs.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Please! That won't happen, me leaving you I mean. At least, not so soon. I mean, maybe we won't last long term, but—” Penny cleared her throat to bring things back on track. “The most likely mission with Nova Wing activity will be the Farrek hunt on Tyhi,” she said loudly and clearly to drown out the other conversation. “They are a parasitic life form the size of a small snake known for infesting near humans. We would be hunting them on a world across the sector from here, in a tundra biome, with the goal of finding their nest and destroying it.” Rainbow triple blinked. “Wait, but, don’t you like… Like animals?” Penny nodded. “Da. But I don’t like animals that crawl into my urethra and convert it into a nest, while also making me like being infested by them via neuro-control chemicals.” Pan squeaked and covered his groin with his hooves. “PASS!” Jo’s cooling fans whirred in terror. “Never in all of my life have I ever been so glad to not be organic…” Rainbow gulped. “Uuuuh, why is that the most likely one?” “They raid the ships landing on Bell Rock for supplies,” Jo said as she read the holodisplay to find the planet name. Rainbow nodded slowly. “Oh… S-so.. Other options?” Penny glanced at the screen again herself. “We could also go to Patria. It’s a space-hab built to be a single jungle. The people there are roleplayers, and live out their lives using transformatives to take on animal aspects and… Well there’s modern facilities but they do tribes and primitive style hunts and you get the idea. They want us to track down a Garrak someone let loose on the habitat. It’s a man-eater, and it’s been killing them during their games. We would be trying to capture it alive, as they are endangered.” Pan nodded. “Okay, what’s a Garrak?” “Ey…” Penny shrugged, a slightly nervous look forming on her face. “It’s a beeg bear-like thing with foot thick hide, horns, and a deadly gas that will kill you in a few seconds by making your lungs dry up.” Everyone stared at Penny for several long moments. “What?” The chernin woman asked with a genuinely confused frown. “Are all the jobs going to be that terrifying?” Rainbow asked timidly. “Da! I’m a xeno hunter. We hunt xenos!” Rainbow took a deep breath. “Okay, why would Nova Wing be there?” Jo didn’t even blink before replying. “The station also serves as a gray market. Pirates sell there, so do legitimate business people.” Penny nodded and shot Jo a sidelong glance. “Da, what miss forgetful said.” Rainbow sighed. “Okay, what’s the last thing?” Penny smiled and rolled her eyes as she read the entry. “Well, I can’t tell you how you might die horribly.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow, but Penny continued before she could say anything. “Because they don’t know what the problem is. The platinum mining colony on Sananda has something big ripping their machines to pieces and sometimes eating livestock. We’d be finding out what it is and stopping it. “Opa! We should take this one. The job pays extra well because the thing’s made them stop mining. As for the Wing, it’s rumored they have a base on that planet.” Rainbow nodded. “Okay, sooo are we voting, or what?” “Nyet, you’ll help me decide,” Penny said as she walked over to the captain’s chair. “I would prefer to go to Sananda, but I will listen to your opinions too. Everyone, where should we go?” Rainbow thought for a moment. “I like Sananda too. If they do have a base there, it’s a good start.” Pan leaned against the navigation console and stretched his forelegs. “Patria’s gray market has a better chance of producing a lead. We should go there.” Jo reached up to the navigation console and brought up a starchart, staring at it for a few minutes. “As adverse to parasites as you may be, Captain, we should go to Tyhi. It will cost us the least, and it’s due for a raid soon, based on statistics. We might catch them leaving.” Penny nodded and closed her eyes to consider everyone’s opinions. After a long internal debate, she nodded. “Pan, set a course for…”