//------------------------------// // 2 - Compound Surprises // Story: Beyond Harmony's Edge // by Shadow Quill //------------------------------// The blue and white streaks of hyperspace slowly folded back in on themselves as the Midnight Song returned to its home dimension. The three mares that made up the crew were sitting in their respective places on the bridge as the light of foreign stars came in through the plated glass, and a collective gasp rang through the air as their eyes widened in awe. Stretched out before them was a new star system, never before graced by pony eyes except from the lens of a telescope. The small red dwarf that called the unnamed system home was far in the distance, casting its weak rays over Applebloom and the others, tinting their fur with hues of red. Closer to the ship was a small rocky planet, with dust brown soil that was shifted to the color of dried blood in the light of the planet’s star. Two rings of small asteroids surrounded the planet in two perpendicular rows, creating an awe-inspiring effect as the boulders tumbled around the planet in opposite directions. Applebloom grinned as she turned her attention to her console, “Well, at least you guys will have a nice view while Ah work on the core.” Sweetie Bell nodded dumbly, her eyes locked on the beauty of the stars and planet before her, “Yeah, a nice view.” Scootaloo snickered as she spun around in her chair to face her friends, “Well what are you sitting around there for, AB? The engine isn’t going to fix itself with you hanging around here.” Applebloom stuck her tongue out at the pegasus but decided not to comment. After powering down the engines, she flipped the rear of her station up and out of the way and made her way into the interior of the ship. A quick stop at her room allowed her to grab her tools, as well as some replacement piping from the cargo bay so she could fix the faulty plumbing in the core. With her tools and parts secured in her saddlebags, Applebloom climbed down the maintenance shaft and into the core proper, although she had to squeeze through some of the sections to get through the tight spaces with her bags. It wasn’t a hard task or even all that tedious, given the piping was easy to cut and the replacement sections were still lit up with residual magic. All and all it was more of a patch than a true repair, although Applebloom knew that the problem would have to be addressed in future ships should the same power core design be used. In total it took the earth pony half an hour to fix the faulty piping, and with a wipe of her brow she stepped back from her work. Fresh welds secured the new pipes to the old, while the worn-out sections lay discarded on the metal plating that made up the floor. Applebloom reached down and picked up the old pipe before securing the rest of her tools in her bags, taking one last moment to check over her work. “That should hold without any problems.” She said to herself as she tapped the welds on one of the pipes with her hoof, “Probably want ta look ‘em over once we get to the next system just to make sure there’s no new magic leakage.” Satisfied that her work was done for the moment, Applebloom climbed back out of the core chamber and into the cargo bay, taking her time to stow the extra pipe in a spare container before making her way back to the bridge. She dropped her bags in her room once more so they wouldn’t be in the way and walked back onto the bridge, only to find Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo staring each other down with mutinous expressions. “What’s goin’ on here?” Applebloom asked as she walked up to the duo, “Why are ya’ll glaring at each other like two roosters fightin’ over a hen?” “We’re having a staring contest.” Scootaloo said without breaking her connection with Sweetie, “Loser has to clean the bathroom for a week once we get to the Fetlock System.” Applebloom rolled her eyes, “Do you two really have ta be doin’ that stuff right now? We’re in a whole ‘nother star system and the only thing you can think to do is have a staring contest?” Both mares opened their mouths to retort but were interrupted by a loud alarm that sounded off from all three consoles. Immediately, the staring contest was forgotten, and Applebloom practically leaped into her seat before activating her readouts to try and figure out what was setting off the alarm. “Looks like it’s the proximity alarm going off,” Sweetie said as she looked over her own readouts, “But what I’m looking at doesn’t make any sense. The objects aren’t moving in a straight line like an asteroid should.” “Put it on screen.” Scootaloo said sternly, “Let’s get a look at what we’re dealing with.” Sweetie nodded before pressing a button on her left, illuminating the bridge with a holographic screen that hovered just in front of the main windows. Applebloom could only gawk in awe at what she was seeing, along with the other Crusaders, as the four objects came into focus. “Are those what I think they are?” Sweetie asked in shock. “If they are,” Scootaloo replied, “then this adventure just got a whole lot more interesting.” Flying straight towards them, was a quartet of ships, each outfitted with a set of wings for atmospheric flight and armed to the teeth with what looked like cannons at each wing base. Three of the ships were a dull red color while the fourth was painted a dark yellow green, marking it as the assumed leader of the squadron. Before anything else could be said about the alien craft, another alarm went off, this time with much more urgency and at a higher pitch. Scootaloo’s eyes widened in terror, “That’s the weapon’s lock alarm! They’re going to shoot at us!” She spun around to face Sweetie, “Get our shields up now!” Sweetie nodded, punching a string of commands into her controls before a high-pitched hum echoed around the ship. Applebloom watched as a rainbow-colored bubble formed around the Midnight Song, covering the ship in a barrier of magic just as the cannons of the alien ships opened fire. The ship rocked as the blasts of what had to be bright blue plasma impacted the shield, knocking the ship to the side as the hull shook from the blow. “Shields are at eighty percent and falling,” Sweetie cried, “We need to get out of here or else we’re not going to survive for very long!” Scootaloo turned to face Applebloom, “We need those engines up and running yesterday!” Applebloom nodded her agreement, flicking the engine switches to online as the powerful thrusters growled to life. “Engines at full power. Hit it Scoots!” The pegasus slammed the flight sticks forward, knocking all three mares into the backs of their seats as the ship shot forward. However, a quick look at the screen showed the four craft easily keeping pace with the Midnight Song, their cannons lighting up as more plasma charges impacted the shield. “Shields at sixty-four percent and falling,” Sweetie called out, “We need to do something or they’re going to drain us dry.” Applebloom ground her teeth as she activated another switch on her left, a holographic dome forming around her station as a set of joysticks popped up in front of her. She gripped the controls and spun her seat around, tilting herself back as a set of crosshairs formed on the holo-display. From her seat she could see the four ships falling in behind their own, their cannons lighting up as plasma shot past the ship and impacted against the shield. Applebloom sighted in against the far-left ship, her telekinetic magic holding firm on the trigger as the crosshairs leveled against the ship’s left-wing base. “Here’s a gift from Equestria you crazy alien freaks!” She cried as she squeezed the trigger, the camera shaking slightly as a stream of blue magic bolts shot out from the ventral cannon. The alien craft either didn’t see the shots coming or was unable to get out of the way in time, because the condensed magic impacted the cannons under its left wing, causing the weapons to explode and rip the craft into several large pieces. Applebloom smirked in glee but was unable to do anything more as the three remaining ships split off in three directions. The leader even dove down below the Midnight Song, leaving Applebloom with nothing to shoot at as the other two came in from the left and right. “I can’t shoot the leader!” Applebloom called out to Scootaloo, “Get me a better angle!” Scootaloo grunted as she jerked the controls this way and that, “I would if I could avoid getting us blasted in the process!” She growled as another collection of plasma blasts impacted the shielding over the right wing, “The way things are going I don’t think I’m going to be able to out-fly these plot-holes!” She jerked her head over her shoulder to address Sweetie Bell, “How are we doing on our shields?” Sweetie’s expression was filled with fear as she looked over her readouts, “Twenty percent and getting worse.” She screamed as another blast shook the ship, “Make that sixteen percent.” “Get the coordinates for the next jump ready,” Scootaloo yelled, “we need to jump out of this system before we get blown to bits!” As Sweetie punched in rapid commands, Applebloom looked at her own readouts from the corner of her eye. She frowned as she took another sweeping shot at one of the ships, only to have it swerve out of the way at the last second, leaving the leader an open chance to come in from behind to strafe the top of the ship with plasma. “The hyperdrive is still warming up after the power-down of the engines!” Applebloom yelled as she tried once again to shoot the enemy craft, “We need another forty-five seconds for it to be ready!” “We don’t have another thirty seconds before the shields fail!” Scootaloo retorted as she jerked the ship into a swift corkscrew turn, “Do whatever you need to do, but get the hyperdrive up and running before we get vaporized!” Sweetie screamed and covered her head with her hooves as another stream of blasts rocked the ship, “Shields are at eight percent! Please, by Celestia and Luna’s mercy, I DON’T WANT TO DIE OUT HERE!!” Scootaloo growled as she spun the ship into a dive, heading straight for the planet below and swerving into the asteroid belts that orbited the dusty rock, “How much longer until the hyperdrive is up and running?” Applebloom jerked her head away from her crosshairs just long enough to see the engine timer, “Another twenty seconds.” Alarms and a horrendous screech of rending metal echoed through the ship as red lights began flashing on the walls. Sweetie Bell cried out in terror before announcing, “Shields are down and there’s nothing I can do to get them up again. The generators have been overloaded.” Applebloom abandoned her weapon in favor of the other controls, the holographic display dissolving as she began flipping switches and levers to try and control the damage. “Bulkheads have been activated in the cargo bay and along the top of the left wing. We aren’t leaking air, but we won’t be able to take much more of this.” She powered up the weapons system again, only to find the remaining ships were nowhere to be seen. She spun around in her seat, hoping to spot an ambush coming in from behind, only to be left with empty space and tumbling asteroids. For a brief moment there was nothing but the alarms to keep them company, before an even bigger explosion rocked the ship and nearly made the Midnight Song crash into one of the larger asteroids. More alarms went off as Applebloom’s console lit up with red lights and flashing displays, and her eyes widened in terror as her eyes fell onto the main power readout. REACTOR BREACH! POWER FAILURE IMMINENT! AUTOMATIC SHUTDOWN IN SIXTY SECONDS! Applebloom turned to face her secondary power controls, and her eyes widened further as her terrified face took in what she saw. HYPERDRIVE DISABLED! MAIN POWER CUPLINKS SEVERED! For a moment, time seemed to stop for Applebloom. The blaring alarms grew silent and the frantic movements of Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell slowed to a halt. No hyperdrive means no jumps, she thought to herself, and with the core about to shut down it’s our only hope of getting out of here. Ah must do something to fix the hyperdrive before the core shuts down. We won’t be able to control the jump with the core inactive, but at least we’ll be away from those alien ships. Time resumed as Applebloom leaped to her hooves, “The hyperdrive is out! Ah‘m goin’ to head down to the core to fix it before those ships blow us to bits!” She turned to face Scootaloo as she slipped a communicator into her left ear, “Be ready to jump as soon as Ah get the coupler hooked up. We’re only goin’ to get one shot at this, and we need to make it count.” Scootaloo saluted her as she raced out the door, calling for Sweetie to monitor the core shutdown timer while Applebloom fixed the coupler. Applebloom raced through the halls as fast as her hooves could take her, stumbling every so often as Scootaloo jerked the ship into another tight turn to avoid enemy fire. One particularly hard turn to the left and upwards made Applebloom lose her grip on the smooth floor of the mess hall, forcing her to her knees as she tried to avoid hitting the floor with her face. Applebloom grumbled to herself as she forced her hooves back into motion, “If Scoots wasn’t keeping us alive with that crazy flying Ah’d buck her into next week for doin’ these crazy stunts while Ah’m workin’.” She dove into the cargo bay, taking a second to notice the bulkheads covering the holes in the right wall and the floor. She winced at the damage the ship had already taken, only to stumble as another explosion rocked the ship downward. Applebloom’s communicator cracked to life as she stumbled over to the reactor core hatch, What’s taking so long AB? We just lost one of our starboard engines. One more good hit and we’re finished! Applebloom reached up to tap the communicator with a hoof as the other turned the lock of the hatch, “Ah’m goin’ as fast as Ah can! Try doin’ some of that fancy flyin’ yer always braggin’ about to avoid getting us shot!” Apparently Scootaloo had no reply for that, because the comms went dead as the hatch finally unlocked with a thud. Applebloom flipped the latch open and climbed down into the core, feeling the raw magic of the breached reactor already flowing through the air around her. Even without the attuned magic senses of a unicorn, Applebloom knew that the closer she got to the core, the greater the danger. Raw magic could have unpredictable effects on inanimate objects, let alone what it could do to an unshielded pony. Unfortunately, time was not something she had very much of right now, so she pushed onward even as her fur began to stand on end from the magic charge. As she climbed into the core chamber itself, Applebloom was met with a rather dismal sight. Pipes were ruptured all over the place, and wires hung free from the paneling as sparks shot from their severed ends. At the end of the room was the core itself, pulsing with magic as streams of multi-colored power shot out in arcs to impact the walls and floor. Applebloom knew the coupler for the hyperdrive was next to the core itself, to allow for the largest amount of magic flow from the core as possible during hyperspace flight. Yet that worked against Applebloom now because she had to get past all the naked wires and burst piping to fix it. Taking a second to calm her racing heart, Applebloom took her first step into the gauntlet, ducking under some wires and stepping over a busted pipe with careful movements. She froze as another shockwave jerked the flooring under her hooves but regained her balance in time to avoid falling into a gap in the paneling. Step by careful step, she worked her way across the room, doing her best to avoid thinking about the time limit set against her. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Applebloom made it up to the reactor itself, although the raw magic pumping from the rupture was nearly enough to make her sick and high at the same time. She forced her way past the arcs of magic and up to the core itself, taking a second to regain her breath as she searched for the break in the coupler. Just as she found what she was looking for, another explosion rocked the ship under her, tilting the floor far enough that had she not grabbed onto the piping in front of her, she would have slid all the way back to the hatch and through countless lethal hazards. Applebloom grunted as the ship slowly righted itself, allowing her to loosen her grip on the piping long enough to get a good look at the coupler. What she saw wasn’t encouraging. Instead of it being a simple disconnection, the coupler had been severed between joints, meaning she was going to have to weld the pipe back into place. Something that would take too much time with how little she had to have left. She tapped the comms in her ear and called out, “Scoots, the coupler is too damaged to repair as it is. Ah’m goin’ to have ta hold it in place by hoof until we can make the jump to hyperspace.” Scootaloo’s voice was frantic as she replied, Are you crazy?! That much raw magic could kill you if you don’t hold the coupler tight enough! We’ll just have to think of something else to get away from these aliens. “We don’t have time to think of something else!” Applebloom yelled back, “We have seconds before the core shuts down and we’ll be sittin’ ducks once we lose power. Ah’m not betting on those aliens bein’ nice once we lose power, so if Ah’m goin’ out Ah’d rather go out with a bang!” A sigh could be heard on the other end, Fine, but we’re waiting till the last second to make the jump so it doesn’t put you at as much risk. How much time till the core shuts down Sweetie? There was a muffled reply, You’ve got ten seconds until we make the jump. Pray to the Maker that we do this right. Applebloom nodded as the line cut off, pulling herself up to the coupler as she worked her hooves around the severed pipe. Luckily, the jagged edges of the break allowed her to fit it up against the other end so that it would at least stay in place if she put enough pressure behind it. She sucked in a breath and held it as she counted down in her head, bracing for the surge of magic that would power up the hyperdrive. Two seconds before she reached zero, the core flared to life, nearly blinding Applebloom as the raw magic poured through the pipe in her hooves. Masses of power jumped through the gaps in the pipe as she struggled to hold the ends together, singing her fur in multiple places as the raw magic arced through the air. Applebloom ground her teeth as she forced the pipes together with all her earth pony strength and held it there by some miracle as the core began to dim. Applebloom gasped as she dropped the coupler, the core shutting down completely as the pipe fell to the floor with a loud clang. Yet to Applebloom it was little more than a dull thud to her frazzled mind. The raw magic had addled her brain and fried every nerve in her body, leaving her shaking and barely able to see straight as she stumbled back towards the hatch. Luckily, the power-down of the core had cut the electricity to the wires sticking out of the walls and ceiling, although Applebloom paid them little mind anyway as she forced her hooves to move. Finally, she climbed out of the hold and into the cargo bay, pausing just long enough to see Sweetie racing into the room before darkness overcame her sight. She vaguely remembered Sweetie calling her name before her head hit the floor, and her world went black. Border Relay Station: Alpha Seven Date: October 5, 2825 Local Time: 1500 Hours The commander of the station watched the viewing screen as the small craft seemed to jump from its position just outside the second asteroid belt, vanishing from sight as the three remaining pilots circled and radioed to each other in confusion. His second in command turned to face him with a concerned expression on his young face. “Sir,” the Lieutenant asked, “what was that?” Commander Lance’s grim expression gave nothing away as he turned to face the communications officer, “Kowalski, send word to all systems that there is an unidentified craft entering human space, destination and affiliation unknown. The craft is heavily damaged but can still make FTL if allowed to evade capture. The shields are weak, and the weapons seem to be capable of destroying fighter-class craft but should lack the power to damage larger vessels. Capture is recommended but destruction is authorized if no other options present themselves.” The German man nodded, turning back to his computer and typing in the commander’s words. Commander Lance turned his attention back to the screen, watching as the fighters of his security force made their way back to base. Even though the mysterious craft had lacked offensive and defensive firepower, it had still arrived in the system with no warning, leaving the commander baffled as to how the ship was able to move between systems. As far as he knew, the only viable form of FTL available to the known species of the universe was warp, and the scanners had remained completely inert up until the mysterious ship seemed to appear out of thin air. Something odd was going on, and that uncertainty was making him nervous. “Just what kind of crazy situation have we gotten ourselves into this time?” He asked himself under his breath. The first thing Applebloom became aware of was the soft mattress under her flank. The second was that a constant beeping noise was going off to her left. With a groan and what felt like a titanic force of will, she opened her eyes just enough to take in her surroundings, although she wasn’t able to immediately recognize where she was. The room was small, barely six of her lengths wide and seven long, with two beds up against one wall and a door in the center of the opposite one. In between the beds was a console that was currently lit up with what had to be her vitals, along with several wires that ran from the machine to her chest and left fetlock. “Oh good, you’re awake.” Applebloom turned to her right to see Sweetie Bell sitting in a chair against the wall, “I was hoping you’d wake up soon.” Applebloom groaned again as she pushed herself into a sitting position, her muscles protesting the movement as she held a hoof to her head, “What happened?” Sweetie’s expression turned down in worry as she stood up and walked over to the bedridden mare, “You nearly killed yourself from magic overdose. Had I not gotten you to the infirmary in time the raw power moving through your body would have fried your nervous system.” “Did we make it to hyperspace?” Applebloom pressed, hoping her work had been enough to save the day. Sweetie nodded, “We made the jump, but without the core to keep the hyperdrive running, we’re completely at the mercy of the dimensional flow. We could get spit out in the middle of a star or we might end up in the middle of interstellar space. Right now, all we can hope is that we don’t stay in this jump long enough to make getting back home impossible.” Applebloom nodded, sliding out of the bed and wobbling for a moment as she got her hooves under her. Sweetie pressed her side against her own to stabilize her, and Applebloom nodded her thanks as the duo exited the medical ward. As the door slid open, Applebloom was able to take in the location of the infirmary, given she hadn’t seen it in the initial tour of the ship. Apparently, it was on the opposite side of the mess hall from the door that led to the bridge, making it almost directly to the fore of the engines and the cargo bay. Sweetie helped Applebloom as they made their way up to the bridge, where they found Scootaloo going over the readouts in front of her as the ship traveled through the blue and white tunnel that was hyperspace. “So, we have no idea where or when the ship is going to slip back into normal space,” the pegasus said without looking up, “and we’ve got about six hours of reserve power before the life support and gravity generator shut down.” She turned to look at her friends with a worried expression, “Things aren’t looking very good for us girls.” “Hey,” Applebloom said as she stepped away from Sweetie’s side, “we’ve been in worse situations before, and we came out fine then. Ah’m sure we can figure out a way to get through this mess just fine as well.” Scootaloo snorted, “Yeah, but back home we didn’t have to worry about our air running out or floating around with no control of our movements either.” She turned her attention back to the controls, “Might as well get some rest AB, you’ve earned it after saving our hides like you did.” Applebloom wanted to argue but was cut off by a huge yawn that quickly spread to the rest of the crew, “Ah think we could all use a rest, Scoots. Why don’t ya’ll get some shut eye and Ah’ll keep an eye on the bridge. Ah’ll come get ya if anything happens.” It took some arguing, but eventually the others relented and made their way back to the living quarters, leaving Applebloom alone on the bridge with all but the most essential systems powered down. She took a seat in her station and settled in for the long haul, knowing full well it could be hours before they came out of the jump. Although with their power in such limited supply, too much longer and it wouldn’t matter if they made it out of the jump or not. They’d run out of air in less than a day if the life support gave out. Four and a half hours later, Applebloom was still sitting in her place, fiddling with the controls to try and conserve some more power, when suddenly, the blue and white streaks of hyperspace gave way to the blacks and pinpricks of color of normal space. Applebloom quickly turned on the comms and called out, “Girls, you need to be on the bridge, right now.” Two minutes later, Scootaloo and Sweetie slid into the bridge, only to stop dead and stare at what they were seeing. Sitting in the center of the window bank that took up the front of the bridge, was a large blue and green planet, with a single silver moon orbiting around it to the right. Scootaloo shook her head to clear it and walked up to the console, activating the holoprojector that displayed their current location in the galaxy. “I don’t know how we did it,” she said as she tried to pull her jaw off the floor, “but that is the planet we came to investigate in the Fetlock System. We somehow managed to bypass our second hyperspace stop and landed right at our final destination after making a random jump with no control on where we ended up.” “Sounds to me like we just got astronomically lucky.” Sweetie said sarcastically as she stepped up and took her place in her chair, “From the looks of things the planet is habitable, only I’m getting a lot of readings that don’t make any sense.” “What kind of readings?” Applebloom asked. “According to the scanner,” Sweetie replied, “the surface is covered with large sections of metal and other non-organic compounds, and the atmosphere has large quantities of heavy gasses like carbon dioxide.” She looked up and squinted, as if that would allow her to see all the way to the planet’s surface, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the planet was supporting some advanced form of alien life.” At those words, all three mares froze in terror, “You don’t think it might be the same aliens we fought back in that other system,” Applebloom asked nervously, “do you?” Sweetie opened her mouth to reply but was cut off as dozens of large masses suddenly came out from behind the planet’s moon. All three mares watched in awed horror as the masses revealed themselves to be ships, and not just little fighters like what they had encountered before. These ships were truly monsters of engineering, matching and even surpassing the largest ships in the Equestrian fleet. Dozens of cruisers spread out to surround them while seven huge battleships moved in formation to create a wedge of metal between them and the planet. Last but certainly not least, the largest ship of them all, easily a couple hundred times their own length, flew up until its hulking form was just off to the starboard bow. Applebloom could see hundreds of point-defense cannons on the sides of the ship, all aimed at them and seemingly ready to fire. All the other ships were going the same, although it was the flagship that captivated the Crusaders’ attention. The massive ship was mostly white in color, with red highlights along the sides. It resembled a seafaring ship in some ways, although the masses of weapons and the enormous engines in the rear somewhat broke the image. Applebloom couldn’t tear her eyes away from it, even though she knew her last moments could be upon her. Yet it seemed for the moment that the ship was just going to observe them. All three mares jumped as Scootaloo’s console began beeping, and her eyes widened as she glanced at her controls, “We’re being hailed on an open channel.” She glanced out the windows as the alien craft, “Apparently they want to talk to us.” “Well don’t keep them waiting!” Sweetie cried, “We don’t want to make them mad with that many cannons pointed at us!” Scootaloo nodded, pressing the receive button with a hoof. Yet, instead of the speaker coming over the radio, the holographic display powered up and took up the available space in front of the bridge windows. Applebloom gasped as an image formed on the screen, revealing what looked like the bridge of the alien craft, along with what had to be the crew of the ship itself. They were certainly different, although if Applebloom had to compare them to anything back home, she would have likened them to short, hairless minotaur. They stood on two legs and apparently had hands like the minotaur, although they were slimmer and lankier in build when compared to the bovine race back home. They also wore enough clothing to cover most of their bodies, with most of those being a dark blue in color with white or grey pants. Their faces were strangely flat, with only the smallest of muzzles poking out of the middle of their faces, and their eyes were very small when compared to the rest of their faces. Apparently, the aliens were just as surprised to see them as the mares were to see the aliens, because the eyes of almost every creature in view widened in what had to be shock. The one at the head of the bridge, presumably the captain, stood up from his chair and walked up to the front of the bridge, making itself the center of attention. The creature, with its short blonde mane and more chiseled features, opened its mouth and spoke in what sounded like a very formal tone, although the words it spoke were complete nonsense to Applebloom and the others. After a moment or two, it seemed to realize that that it wasn’t being understood and called over its shoulder to one of the other creatures. The second creature, this one looking a fair bit younger and with a short black mane on its head, threw a quick salute before typing in something on its console. Applebloom was unprepared for the jerk the ship went under as they were suddenly pulled towards the larger ship, and they quickly found out that using what minimal power they had couldn’t break whatever hold the aliens had on them. For their part, the aliens showed nothing but calm expressions as the Midnight Song was slowly pulled into what looked like a hangar on the ship’s port side, the captain saying another short line before the screen went dark. Applebloom and the others shared a nervous look as their ship was slowly lowered to the floor of the large hangar, taking up a space between several very familiar fighter-class ships. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Scootaloo said as she spied the fighters sitting on either side of their ship. “Yeah,” Sweetie replied, “they’re the same ships that tried to blow us up in that other system.” “Well, we now know that these aliens are the same ones that tried to kill us last time,” Applebloom said, “but what Ah can’t figure out is why they brought us aboard instead of just blowing us up?” “Probably so they can take the ship apart and then do the same to us.” Scootaloo replied coldly, “Well I’m not about to go down without a fight.” “Ya do realize that if these aliens can get from system to system with just fighters,” Applebloom reasoned, “then it’s mighty likely that they can do the same with these bigger ships? How long do you think it will take them to cut their way into our ship if we don’t cooperate with them? Frankly, Ah don’t want to find out what kind of tactics they might use if’n we don’t come out of our own free will.” Scootaloo sputtered for a moment, as if trying to come up with a retort, before letting out a gusty sigh and nodding, “I get ya. Although if they try anything I’m going to knock some heads in before they take me out. If I’m going down, then I’m going down swinging.” Applebloom and Sweetie nodded their agreement, stepping up to the windows of the bridge to see that several of the aliens had walked up to inspect the foreign ship in their hangar. A set of doors to the left of their ship slid open and revealed many of the aliens, covered in what looked like black armor, and armed with some kind of small cannon that they held across their chests. The crew below the ship quickly moved out of the way as the armored aliens moved in to surround the Midnight Song, leaving no angle uncovered as they leveled their weapons at the ship. Applebloom knew that with no shields, the hull might be able to stand up against small arms fire for a little while, but depending on what the aliens were using, it could take minutes or hours to cut through the thick plate metal. Although, given the hull had already been breached in several places and had only weak bulkheads to protect them, that might have been an overestimation of how long it might take. Finally, the same alien they had seen in the feed, presumably the captain of the ship, walked into the hangar with another contingent of guards, this time outfitted with what looked like mechanical exoskeletons that ran along their limbs and across their backs with complex piping and metal plating. They too carried small arms, although these ones were much larger and looked to be many times more powerful than the others. Applebloom heard Sweetie Bell gulp in fear as the aliens approached the ship, and Applebloom got the distinct feeling that their welcome was going to be more like a capture than rescue. She turned to face her fellow Crusaders and asked in a hesitant voice, “So do we go out or do we wait for them to come in?” Sweetie looked torn while Scootaloo had a hard expression on her face, although it was quickly turning into one of defeat as she looked over the aliens below them, “Yeah, I think it might be best to go quietly, at least until we can figure out what’s going on.” Sweetie whimpered as she held her forehooves to her mouth, “Oh this is making me so nervous. We know these aliens were the ones who shot at us before, but now they act more like curious animals.” She pressed her hooves harder into her head, closing her eyes in concentration, “Oh, this is so confusing. I don’t know what to think anymore.” “How ‘bout we simply play it by ear and try not to make them mad at us?” Applebloom suggested, “If things get crazy then we do our best to fight them off and get back to the ship. If nothing less, we might be able to learn a bit more about them so we can tell everypony back home what we found.” Scootaloo snorted, “Yeah, like anypony would believe us. But I see your point. Not like we’ll get anything done around here if they decide to wait us out.” Sweetie glanced over her console before making a quick scan, “The air is breathable, so we won’t have to worry about suits if we walk out of the ship. The only thing I don’t like is the fact that the air seems to contain no microbial life, like the entire ship is sterile or something.” “Well, you’d expect the ship of aliens to have some strange things going on,” Scootaloo replied, “I mean, no germs inside of an alien ship? That must be one of the most minor surprises I can think of.” “Alright, enough you two,” Applebloom interjected, “if’n we’re goin’ to leave the ship, then we might as well lock up shop when we do.” Sweetie and Scootaloo nodded, “I’ll make sure the security locks work before we leave.” Sweetie Bell said. With that all three mares made their way into the cargo bay, taking the time to grab their saddlebags and a few bits of food and water for the trip. After all, they had no idea when they would be coming back, so having provisions would be a necessity. Applebloom stood at Scootaloo’s left while Sweetie was on the right, facing the airlock that led out of the ship. With a sharp intake of air, Scootaloo pressed the release button on the wall, allowing the first set of doors to slide open. The trio stepped into the airlock proper and Applebloom winced as the doors slid shut and locked behind them. Without power the locks couldn’t be opened unless the aliens had the passcode, so from here on the girls were on their own. No supplies and no weapons to help them along the way. Applebloom pressed the release for the second set of doors, the opening accompanied by a rush of air as the trio took their first breath of alien air. The aliens were much larger up close than Applebloom had originally thought, standing almost at Princess Celestia’s height if one didn’t count her horn. The weapons in their hands leveled on the three mares, and Applebloom felt Sweetie hide behind her larger body in fright as the mechanized soldiers marched up to the airlock. The captain stepped in front of the hulking forms and gave what looked like an encouraging smile, folding its arms behind its back and speaking in a friendly tone. Again, the words themselves were unintelligible, but the meaning was more than clear. ‘Welcome to my ship.’ Applebloom hesitated for a minute, taking a glance at Sweetie and Scootaloo before making her decision. If these aliens were going to act nice, then she was going to do the same until they gave her a reason not to. Taking a deep breath, she put on a neutral smile of her own and stepped out of the ship and onto the hangar floor. Sweetie stuck to her side like glue while Scootaloo followed close behind. Just as things seemed to be going right, Scootaloo took to the air and hovered above Sweetie and Applebloom. This in turn caused the aliens to jump in surprise and level their weapons at the pegasus. The captain held up its arms and yelled out in a commanding voice, the soldiers slowly lowering their weapons as they eyed Scootaloo with suspicion. The captain turned to face the hovering mare, its blue eyes taking in her movements before making a polite but firm gesture towards the floor. Scootaloo grumbled but complied, landing next to Sweetie Bell and folding her wings before throwing the captain a mutinous glare. The captain nodded, turning to face the doors through which it had entered, and waved for them to follow with one arm. Applebloom and the others shared a nervous glance, taking in the armed escort that had discretely cut off their path to the ship, and slowly made their way after the alien as it led them out of the hangar. “Well,” Applebloom muttered to her friends, “we wanted a new adventure. Ah just never imagined we’d end up getting to see somethin’ like this in a million years.” Sweetie and Scootaloo nodded agreement, the trio falling silent as they were led further and further away from their ship. The doors closed behind them, cutting off their escape completely if something were to go wrong, and Applebloom felt a shiver run up her spine as she glanced at the armed soldiers flanking them on all sides. Somehow Ah don’t think this is going to end well. She thought to herself, Ah have a feeling things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.