//------------------------------// // No Masters // Story: Starshot: Bats of the High Wilderness // by Tums Festival //------------------------------// "And you're absolutely sure he had the elongated quills, yes?" Luna said, still astounded.  Spike had just gotten done explaining his meeting with Big Blue. Chipperly, too. For though she felt deeply conflicted about it, she hadn't yet told him about Crescent's potential betrayal just yet. "For crying out loud, Luna, I am one hundred ten percent sure it was him!" Spike cried. "How many blue hedgehogs from Equis with the name Sonic Flash have you heard of?" "Sorry, sorry," Luna sighed. "It's just… wow. One surprise after another, yes? I am... flabbergasted, for the lack of a better word. Just… just how in the world did he end up out here?!” "I dunno," Spike shrugged. "You said he disappeared after running crazy fast, right? Maybe that has something to do with it. Doc Whooves might have an idea." "How he ventured into the void is a question for another day,” Pharynx grumbled. “What matters now is how quickly he’ll be coming here.” Spike shrugged. "I dunno. But he was really eager to. He could be here any second for all we know." Luna shook her head, bewildered. "This… this just made things interesting." Then, almost if on cue, the computer chimed in. “Captain, your presence is requested on the bridge. We are being hailed by a newly arrived vessel. Its occupant claims to be someone called ‘Big Blue’.” “Speak of the… hedgehog,” Spike said. “We’ll be there momentarily, computer,” Luna called. *** The group hurried their way to the bridge, which fortunately wasn’t too far from Luna’s ready room. Delaying them, however, was the surprising sight of Crescent waiting outside its double-doors. “Um, captain,” she coughed. “Could we uh… could we chat for a sec? Preferably alone? It’s important.” Luna eyed her curiously, hoping the topic was going to be what she thought it might be. Nonetheless, it would have to wait. “I’m sorry, Crescent, but it appears we have a very special visitor in our midst.” “Big Blue?” Crescent said, her eyes widening. “H-He’s here? Personally?”  “Indeed,” Luna nodded stoically. “Come, join us, won’t you?” “Uh, yeah, sure,” Crescent said nervously.  And so they all made their way onto the bridge. The usual individuals were waiting for them. On screen was a fairly small ship of a design that didn’t appear Oblivion. It was sleeker, somewhat teardrop shaped; different looking than the odd shuttle their guests had arrived in, but just as unknown. That meant there could be three different ship-builders out there. “Best behavior, everyone!” Luna called. “Not that it needs to be said, of course.” Spike was the first of the newcomers to man their station, jumping over the back of his seat and fiddling with his tiny console’s control. “Putting him on screen…. now.”  Immediately, the screen flickered to the long lost, yet familiar sight of a blue, smirking hedgehog. The second ghost from Luna’s distant past to greet her in under a week. Though fortunately, a slightly friendlier one.  “Well now,” Big Blue chuckled. “There’s a blast from the past. Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night, but also the Princess of Law and Order way back when. A title you apparently dropped, eventually, according to thestral legend. Turns out even you couldn’t resist the immortal dialectics.” “Dia-what?” Spike blinked. “A philosophical notion,” Big Blue said matter-of-factly. He tapped his snout slightly while furrowing his brow. “Hmm… what’s the easiest way to explain it? It’s a–” “The idea that history can be viewed as an eternal series of clashing ideas,” Ocellus blurted out, almost as if involuntarily. “Ideas that synthesize and are met with even more clashing ideas, over and over and over.” Big Blue raised his eyebrows, impressed. “She’s a quick study,” Luna shrugged.  “She is,” Big Blue said matter of factly. “And that synthesis? You’re the result. The contradictions between your care for your people and the system that oppressed them finally got too much for ya, didn’t it? And out of it was born a revolutionary.” “What?” Spike said, before nearly face-clawing. “Oh… you’re talking about Nightmare Moon.” “I’m afraid I have to disappoint you,” Luna said, frowning slightly. “But that ‘revolutionary’ you speak of was not me. And despite popular opinion here, she had no interest in the well-being of her revolutionaries.” Most of the bridge crew looked between Luna and Big Blue, confused. Crescent shifted uncomfortably, but didn’t speak. “Mmm but the legends say you turned into this ‘Nightmare Moon’ character,” Big Blue said, a twinkle in his eyes. “Shame I wasn’t there to see it in person. Princess Luna finally letting loose? Stepping out of her sister's shadow and fighting for something she believes in? Would have been one hell of a sight.”  Luna sighed internally. Flash always did like seeing what he wanted to see. Her financial assistance to the Thestrals? Her willing to cut a deal with him to do it? A prelude to a true revolutionary struggle, of course! At least in his mind. Despite the ignorance of such thoughts, it was nice having somepony believe in her way back when. “And speaking of such…” she started slowly, though with a slight smile. “Your ignorance of what truly happened aside, it is… pleasant to see you once more.” “You too, princess,” he winked. “We’ve always sported the same colors, after all. Literally and figuratively.” “Haw haw,” Luna said, rolling her eyes. “Yet I do not understand how it is possible. You disappeared from Equestria over twelve-hundred years ago. Yet you have not aged by more than ten years. And your presence so far from--” Big Blue chuckled darkly. “Afraid my disappearance wasn’t what it seemed. Wasn’t by choice, either. But that’s a story for another time.” He pulled a small data tablet into sight, reading it over, while leaning back into his rather comfortable looking chair and resting two, white running shoes on a nearby, unused console. “Looks like our stories are parallel: ya’ didn’t get here by choice, either. You’ve been having a lot of fun, too, from what it seems. And now… now you’re looking to make friends, right?”  Luna swallowed hard, preparing herself to lay it all out on the table. “Flash, a month ago we had no idea of what awaited us beyond our humble world. We had an inkling that there was alien life, but the truth has overwhelmed us beyond our wildest dreams. We are lost far from the nearest port, and in unknown, dangerous waters, and half the creatures with me, though resolute and capable, are still quite young. Your people, the NLR, are the first friendly face we’ve met out here. The first we could possibly ask for help from.” “Always did like the speeches,” Flash chuckled. “I get it, though, for real. Felt the same way when I found myself out here. Confused and not sure of anything anymore. Difference is, though, I didn’t happen to jump into the deep end aboard an Oblivion superdreadnaught.” “Do you not trust us due to it?” Luna asked. “No, that’s not it at all,” Flash said, shaking his head. “But hold that thought for a sec, though. Cus I do want to know: what exactly do you want help with, Luna? What’s your goal?” “To get home,” Luna said. Flash took a deep breath. “Well, if that’s the case, I can tell you right now you’re going to have your work cut out for you - more than you know. If ya’ don’t got any Aetherium, you’ll have to use your hyperdrive to get back. Even a straight-shot from here to Equis could take you a year. Things like food and fuel will slow you down further. And all that’s nothing compared to the state of the galaxy. There’s a reason why I never tried to get back home, after all. Well, aside from being a thousand years past my time, of course." “What do you mean?” Luna asked. “Bring up your galaxy map,” Flash said. “Guessing you got one, right?”  Luna nodded, before signaling Doctor Whooves to do it. He complied, a look of pure fascination on him. A second later, the familiar sight of the beautiful, rotating galaxy popped into existence, twirling at the exact center of the bridge. Sonic gazed at it curiously. “Huh. Doesn’t show any of the factions by default. Not that it matters. Even if your computer wasn’t fried, with that ship being five hundred years old, it’d all be outdated. However, still has your location. That’s what matters.” He pointed at a particular section. “Look where you are.” Luna glanced at the red dot that signified their location - still on the edge of the galaxy. Specifically, in the far end of one of the large spiral arms.  “See the arm we’re in?” Flash said. “We’re fighting with the Oblivion Empire over just a small part of it. And believe me, the chunk they’ve planted flags on is bigger than ours. It’s so massive we don’t even know how big." "I thought many of you were deserters," Pharynx pointed out. "How would they not know?" "Good chunk of the Empire's population are slaves. What information they get is usually outdated. Rest get it on a need-to-know basis. What we do know is that they control most of the arm I'm talking about, including most of the inner part of it. AKA, the part you’d need to travel through to get back to Equis more quickly.” “What about other parties?” Doctor Whooves asked. “We’ve heard something about a ‘UFP.’” “Yeah, the changelings,” Flash said. “Well, mostly changelings. They have a chunk of territory further down the spiral arm.” “And aliens?” Spike asked excitedly. “Like alien aliens?”  “Closest thing to ‘alien aliens’ we know about are The Shog,” Flash said. “The Empire’s pet blob monsters. And we’re not even sure if they’re real aliens or just something cooked up in a lab. There is some other force out there rumored to be giving the Empire a run for its money. Some kind of machine civilization. But from what I understand, even the Empire don't know much about em'.” Flash took a deep breath. “All we know is they’re the reason they haven’t squashed us like bugs yet.” He then leaned forward. “But anyway, you see my point, right? To get home without Aetherium is going to be one hell of a challenge.” “Uh, maybe this is a dumb question,” Derpy said. “But… couldn’t we just go ‘upwards’ then back down again?” She traced a hoof from the ‘rim’ of the holographic galaxy to a place high above it, before curving it back towards the center. “Sure, it’d take longer, but we’d avoid all the nasties.” “Far from a stupid question, my dearest Derpy,” Doctor Whooves said. “Why couldn’t we just avoid the central plane of the galaxy altogether?” “Pretty simply: ya’d probably run outa fuel,” Crescent stated. “Higher above tha’ central plane ya’ get, the less stars. Yer’ ship simply doesn’t have the fuel tanks to risk that.” “Oh,” Derpy sighed.  Luna glanced at Big Blue worriedly, almost knowing what he was about to suggest. “So… what do we do?” “You could take the long route,” Flash suggested. “Meaning you follow the spiral arm we’re in all the way to the center of the galaxy. You’ll be heading into super unknown territory doing that, however. Your only other options are to somehow find a way through Oblivion territory or...” “Secure a source of Aetherium,” Doctor Whooves nodded. “Smart cookie,” Flash nodded. “Familiar, too. Can’t tell from where, though.” “Getting a bit of deja vu myself,” Doctor Whooves blinked. “Not the first time it’s happened, either, in recent days.” “Another life, maybe?” Sonic shrugged, before clearing his throat. “Anyway, that’s the gist. Now, the NLR doesn’t have a source of Aetherium. We used to have one, but the Empire took it a century ago.” A grim look crept across his face. “Though taking it back isn’t out of the question.” Luna closed her eyes. She knew he’d ask this eventually. “Fighting a war is not a preferable option.” “I can understand that,” Flash nodded. “Hell, I try to stay away from the front lines as much as possible myself. It’s a necessary fight, but it’s a horrible one. If you say no, it is what it is, and though I don’t have any more authority than the rest of the Civilian Council, I’ll still try and convince them to lend you a claw… hoof… whatever’s the popular term on Equis these days.” “Depends on who you’re talking to,” Spike shrugged. “But if you do choose to help us out,” Flash said. “To help us kick down a few of the Empire’s doors for once; well, you might get more than just Aetherium. You might make a true friend. Like, a whole star nation of a friend. Sound good?” Before Luna could answer, a familiar voice rang through her head. Though one that was now even more manic before. “Star Speaker! Yoinks! Hoi! Don’t mean to be all doom and gloom, but uh..” ‘What? What do you speak of?’  “OBLIVION CONSTRUCTS! FIVE OF THEM APPROACH FROM THE VAST OF NIGHT!”  Luna gasped, drawing confusion from both Flash and her crew.  “Uh… something wrong?” Flash blinked. “Possibly,” Luna nodded, worry shooting through her. “Does Firefall have long-range sensors?”  Flash nodded slowly. “Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with--” Before he could finish, Derpy’s console began to furiously beep, indicating an emergency transmission was being sent to it. Luna could hear the same coming through the viewscreen’s speakers as well. Derpy gazed at it warily, then at Luna. “Should I--” Luna nodded. She tapped her console, and immediately what appeared to be an automated transmission began to play. ‘--SHIPS IN THE VICINITY OF FIREFALL! OBLIVION HYPERSPACE SIGNATURES DETECTED BEARING 352 MARK 53. FIVE VOID CRUISERS. ALL CIVIL VESSELS ADVISED TO EXIT SYSTEM IMMEDIATELY! ALL COMBAT VESSELS FOLLOW SELF PRE-ESTABLISHED PROTOCOLS!’ “What the--?!” Crescent screeched. “How the bloody hell--?! They were never supposed to find this place!”  “Whelp, looks like they found it,” Flash said, keeping his cool despite the circumstance.  “You need to get out of here ASAP, BB!” Crescent shouted. “We cannot afford the Empire capturing you!”  “Let em’,” Flash shrugged. “They’ll only be capturing one hedgehog.” “A hedgehog who happens to be the bee’s knees across the bloomin’ NLR!” Crescent said angrily. “Quit playing hero. You’re not some nobody. If we lose you…” “Don’t let its tiny size fool you: my ship can pack a punch,” Flash said. “So it is technically a combat vessel. That means I’m fighting. Acting like my life is more valuable than anyone else’s undermines everything we stand for. I’m not gonna set that precedent.” Crescent opened her mouth to argue, but didn’t seem to find any retort. “You’re the bloody most stupid smart person I’ve ever met.”  “Thanks!” he grinned. “Next to myself,” she said, a hint of realization in her tone.  “Huh?”  “Nevermind,” Crescent grunted, before sighing deeply. “Captain-- Princess Luna, I have something I need to tell you. But first, we need to get outa here.”  Luna smiled at that. So, Crescent did want to fess up to what they were planning to do. She could be trusted.  And perhaps it was that. Or perhaps Sonic’s nobility. Or maybe she just really wanted to try to make a new ‘friend’. But at the night creature’s words, she made a potent decision: “Oh, we’re not going anywhere.”  “Captain, we are not in any condition for a fight,” Pharynx growled. “I still don’t have weapons control!” “I could get you that,” Crescent yelped suddenly, a fierce look of determination on her. “I brought aboard a program designed to flash your computer system. Basically, reset it back to its original default state. I’m gonna have to work me arse off to fix all the problems this will cause in the long run, but in a pinch..." Luna looked to Doctor Whooves. “Thoughts?” “It humbles me to say, but she knows a lot more than me, my dear,” he said. “Besides, it’s not like we have much of a choice.” “That’s… not exactly true,” Spike pointed out. “We could have Crescent put in hyperspace coordinates… jump like we did before.” “I meant morally speaking,” Doctor Whooves said. “Think of it: how coincidental would it be that these Oblivion nightmares found this place right after we arrived?” “You think they tracked us somehow?” Luna asked.  “Odds are in favor of it,” Doctor Whooves nodded. "Warp Song..."  Luna hissed, narrowing her eyes. "That bastard! I should have seen it sooner! This whole chain of events: from finding Crescent and her crew to being led here… it was probably exactly what he wanted!" "Called it," Spike said, earning a glare from Crescent. "Whatever happened happened," Crescent growled. "All that matters now is we get this ship ready for'a scrap." She gave Luna a pleading look. "And I can do that. Trust me." "I do," Luna said. "Go!" Crescent threw her a quick smile, before rushing off the bridge. Luna then turned her attention back to Flash. “You know far more than I about our chances. Do we have enough friendly ships to win this battle?”  “With just our three Void Frigates, my ship, the station and its strike craft?” Sonic said. “Probably not. But Luna, what you have there is an Oblivion Superdreadnaught. Sure, it’s old as Celestia--” Luna raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure whether to take offense to that in her sister’s name.  “But the Empire kind of dipped out of tech advancements for a long time. Kinda went through a ‘dark age’. I’d say you gotta be worth a modern cruiser at least.”  “Military hardware isn't the only variable here,” Pharynx argued. "Remember who their commander is."  Luna gave him a skeptical look. “I never thought you would want to back down from a fight.”  Pharynx shot her a glare. “I’m not backing down. But we need to keep his strategic abilities in mind.” “Luna and I know a thing or two about Song,” Flash said. “Not that that’s worth much when we’re talking about him. Friggin’ blood sucker’s a total tool, but a genius one.” He glanced between the two of them. “Look, I can’t give you exact odds, and we don’t have time to run a simulation. You’re kind of a wildcard here. If you want to jump away, I wouldn’t blame you. But I know you love a bit of poetry when it comes to a fight. Don’t you?” ‘An old rival teaming up with me against an old friend,’ Luna thought. ‘Poetic, indeed.’ “Maybe try things the NLR way, if you’re not sure?” Flash suggested. “What do your crew want to do?”  Luna paused at that. Did she have any right to-- “I say we stay and fight!” Spike interrupted. "Warp Song played us like a fiddle, but we've beat the Empire before!"  “Yeah, these Oblivion jerks need to be taken down another peg!” Derpy cried.  Doctor Whooves seemed more apprehensive. “There will be a cost to this, and I’m not talking materially. But like I said, this is likely our fault. We have an obligation to do it.” Pharynx narrowed his red eyes. “To test our mettle against one of the greatest warriors of the ancient world? I can’t say no to this.” Luna eyed her nervous looking pilot. “Ocellus?” “I um…” she said, glancing away from her. “Well, what else can we do?”  “Very well, then!” Luna called. “May the night favor the bold! TO BATTLE! HUZZAH!”