Rainbow Dash watched as another lifeless body was carried by. Ponies weren't supposed to die; not like this, at least. Not in this day and age. It took finally seeing a dead pony, a pony dead due to her failure, no less, to really drive home the point that this was real, this was happening.
"Oh, Luna's Night... There's some more in here! Looks like one of those bugs used a grenade!" Rainbow winced at that. She didn't want to think about what those words meant, didn't want to picture that scene, but she couldn't help it. She was trained to analyze everything quickly and extrapolate from limited data: she was a soldier, after all. A very expensive soldier. Worth more than every single colonist on board this ship combined. She shook her head. 'I shouldn't be thinking like that.'
The battle had gone... poorly. In most cases, the Pfhor had opted to kill their prisoners when capturing them seemed unlikely. Rainbow wasn't proud to admit accidentally (and even sometimes purposely, based on her tactical appraisal of the situation) killing some colonists herself. The Pfhor fought dirty, and Rainbow had had to stoop to their level if she didn't want even more dead colonists on her hooves.
She had imagined she would feel righteous fury after experiencing something like this. Maybe grief, or sorrow, or at least simmering anger. But instead... she mostly felt hollow. Empty. Truthfully, she felt rather indifferent toward her fellow ponies, which scared her a little. She shouldn't feel that way, or at least she didn't think she should. What was wrong with her?
"Hey! You alright there, sugar cube?" Rainbow turned to see a mechanical engineer (her jumpsuit gave her away: everyone on board was color coded for convenience.) giving her a concerned look. Rainbow frowned. She was glad her helmet obscured her face; guarding her expressions wasn't something she felt like putting up with right now.
"Yeah... I..." She wasn't sure how to continue. The engineer gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Name's Applejack. You really saved a lot of lives just now. Just wanted to make sure you weren't beatin' yourself up over... over the others." Applejack had no idea, but Rainbow wasn't about to confess to feeling like an emotionless monster.
"I guess you're right. I just wish I could have done more." Rainbow thought for a second before catching herself. "Oh, sorry. I'm Rainbow Dash. You know, your name seems kinda familiar..."
Applejack just laughed. "I'd think so! It's a pretty popular name in my family. Maybe you're thinkin' of another Applejack?" She winked conspiratorially. Rainbow wasn't sure how to interpret that.
"Yeah, maybe..."
Applejack gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I gotta get back to helpin' the others. Seems like everypony assumes I'm the leader for some reason. But listen, you ever need somepony to talk to, I'd be glad to help you out. You did good so far. Try not to let things get you down too much; Celestia knows we gotta keep hopin' things'll work out. I for one believe in ya."
Rainbow watched her go. She seemed pretty level-headed, for a civilian. Rainbow could see why the others would follow her. She would probably make a pretty good commander. Hopefully she wouldn't need to.
// Decoding message from host "Twilight" @harm.com.ai.core \\
38% of the colonists in the area have been saved. Estimates place 55% killed, 2-3% captured, >1% missing. The number of surviving colonists is suboptimal, but should still prove adequate for intelligence gathering. Initial reports are already in. After cross-checking with Trixie's - admittedly suspect - reports, I now have a basic overview of the alien threat for your perusal:
Pfhor: This species is leading the attack. They are long-limbed, bipedal, and vaguely insectoid, with three eyes and what, upon initial observation, appears to be a chitinous endoskeleton.
Pfhor Fighter: These appear to compose the bulk of the Pfhor attack force. They are relatively weakly armed and armored, but very numerous. They wield strange energy staffs that can deal extreme damage at close range. Some have been observed "firing" bolts of energy from their staffs at range.
Pfhor Trooper: These Pfhor are heavily armed, wearing vacuum suits with internal life-support and advanced shielding. They wield weapons not dissimilar to our own assault rifles. They seem to be very liberal with their grenade launchers.
Pfhor Enforcer: We don't actually know very much about these Pfhor. They have only been observed attacking other Pfhor, utilizing some sort of incendiary/energy bolt weapon. The colonists called them enforcers due to their policing of the other Pfhor.
S'pht: This species is apparently enslaved by the Pfhor. They are cybernetic in nature, seemingly more machine than organic. It is unknown if this is natural for them, or imposed by their masters. The compilers are S'pht that are used to attack computer networks. They can fire slow-moving bolts of energy that seek their targets.
Drinniol: These brutish creatures are another race enslaved by the Pfhor. We don't know much about them, except that they do not use weapons aside from their fists, and that they are very difficult to kill. The Pfhor use them as a form of living tank.
Pfhor Hunter: I am including this entry as a precaution, though I am unaware of any confirmed encounters. There are reports and rumors of heavily armored creatures, presumably Pfhor, that do not take prisoners. Trixie says that there is a class of soldier that is heavily armored, and armed with a shoulder mounted plasma cannon, but will not say whether there are any within the current attacking force. I suggest caution.
\\ Message ends //
Rainbow Dash examined the instrument strapped to her right foreleg. "So... what is this thing again?"
"Seriously? Didn't you pay attention to my explanation earlier?"
She rolled her eyes. "I tried to, but it was all just a bunch of egghead speak to me."
"Alright, I'll try to put it simply: this fusion pistol is a prototype weapon designed to incorporate Pfhor energy weapons technology into our arsenal. It can fire bolts of charged plasma, dealing high damage to machinery and electronics, and organic substances to a lesser degree. It's primary advantage over your current weapons, barring the missile launcher, is it's ability to be fired in a vacuum. This way, you won't be useless if a breach occurs."
Rainbow snorted in derision. "I'm never useless. I could still kick th-" She lurched as the lift she was riding stopped more suddenly that comfort would dictate.
"Sorry about that. I think Trixie might have messed with the lift settings. Anyway, this pistol is not just a precaution. I actually need you to go for a short spacewalk. I won't bore you with the technical details of the magic system in place, but essentially there's a crystal that I need you to charge with that pistol. I need to send a message back to Equestria informing them of the attack."
Ten minutes later, Rainbow found herself sitting out the exterior of the ship, letting her pistol discharge into a large, shaped gem. It was part of a communication array, but it was depleted by the enemy attack. Twilight didn't want to just send a regular em signal because it would take too long. Apparently this setup had some spells or enchantments that would speed up the signal somehow. Twilight had said something about stretching space or something. Most of it went right over Rainbow's head. Even so, it would apparently still take about 30 years to travel the 92 light year distance.
It wasn't exactly a call for help. Win or lose, the Harmony simply wasn't that important in the big picture. It might have been futile, given the fact that the aliens apparently had the ability to move faster than light, but Twilight had expressed hope that, given some warning, Equestria and her colonies might be able to stand their ground.
"Alright, Ms. Rainbow Dash. The crystal is now fully charged. It would be so much easier if we had a unicorn on board, but history seems to have conspired against us. Unfortunately, the S'pht continue to make progress in taking over the Harmony's networks. I'm going to teleport you into a Pfhor controlled region of the ship. Try to create as much of a distraction as possible. If you can draw back some of their other forces, we can recapture key locations."
Rainbow entered a nearby airlock, refilling her emergency air tank; it had been interesting, watching her source of life slowly bleed away, the meter on her visor dropping bit by bit. It really made one think. "Hopefully this fusion thing works against these bugs." She stepped onto a nearby teleporter.
"I'll teleport what supplies I can to your location when you arrive. Good luck."