The shuttle teetered from side to side as it soared through the mangled corridors that once comprised the starship's internal structure, dodging the debris which floated within its desecrated shell. With the failure of simulated gravity it was beyond a doubt that the Iopteryx was too far gone for anyone. It was truly lost to the clutches of space via the unreasonable aggression of a celestial titan that defied logic and comprehension.
Phineas' forelegs were in the rubbery sleeves which connected him and the small craft and allowed him to pilot the thing almost as quickly as he could think. That was due to the neuro-synchronization with the pilot as soon as he got into the seat. Together with the projections around him, Phineas was able to dodge the fragments of metal and machinery that lingered in what used to be hallways and corridors. To get such performance however, he had to stay focused on flying -on escaping alone. An errant thought and distraction could mark the difference between jetting out into the star dotted blackness or crashing horribly and adding to the floating wreckage within the destroyed starship. Any other worry, such as nourishment and extended duration of life support systems had to wait until he was far, far away from the Iopteryx, both wreck and monster alike. He would have to deal with the basics of his continued survival long past the point of no return.
Phineas was breathing hard, sweat appearing on his forehead while his gaze hardened. He stared right ahead out of the shuttle's cockpit, paying no mind to the floating cables extending from the walls, floor and ceiling that he rocketed past. It was a good thing too, for while he was shooting down the length of the starship, the decks above had started to collapse, the six tendrils of the cosmic horror wrapping around the ship in full and constricting it. The little air pockets which remained in the wreck were no more as the walls crumpled like tin cans. Entire rooms were flattened, metal beams and spanners bending with the greatest ease under the otherworldly strength of the blue terror. The topmost and bottom hull bulged inwards, as did the sides, warping the ship in seemingly impossible ways. Metal which could not bend any further broke violently, spitting sharp shards and fragments about which peppered the shuttle as it zoomed down the treacherous straight.
At such incredible speeds, impact with the tiniest stray rubble would have torn right through the shuttle, had it not been for the craft's magical shielding. Like the Iopteryx, it too had an energy barrier. Rather than being raised and maintained, it was a passive low energy system. While it protected against small particles of space debris, attempting to bust through a meteor or anything larger with it would only result in a pancaked ship and a very dead pilot. At various points of impact, red light rippled across the shuttle's hull, eventually revealing the egg-shaped forcefield that encompassed the immediate space outside of the ship's hull.
The ceiling and floors became one at tens of meters at a time; Phineas was in a literal race against time! The section of the ship that the shuttle passed through would be utterly crushed and obliterated seconds later. There was no reprieve for the silver stallion. The mental strain was almost intolerable as he had to restrain his most basic instincts and emotions. His fear was the biggest one. Fear had to be kept in check for the mind could take a rational worry and magnify it many times fold. Fear of being crushed to death in the forlorn wreck of a starship an unbelievable quantity of miles away from his homeworld was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of things he would have to fear once he made it out alive.
And by Celestia and the sun she governed; he planned on making it out alive.
***
The shuttle shot out of the hold ahead of a cascade of wreckage, which was cast out when upper levels met the lower ones in one monumental impact. A crash with forces of such magnificent scale...that was absolutely silent. Phineas Startrot, Chief Engineer had done it. He made it out of the Iopteryx and was now shooting off into space! But this trial was not over yet. Phineas did not revel in his triumph, he only kept his concentration and wits about him, directing his ship and weaving through the obstacle course of debris which littered the former starship's vicinity. He did loops and banks and on more than one occasion flew through whole segments of hallways, the purple light of the engines shining out of the frames of shattered windows. In one dislocated passage the silver stallion thought he saw corpses of his former crewmates drifting in his peripherals and he had to do his best to keep his mind on one track. He couldn't even have spent a few seconds to assure himself he had only been seeing things. There was no time to think when going this fast, and this was no time to spare by slowing down.
The celestial beast released its quarry and floated away from the shredded remains of the starship. Its four metaphysical wings fluttered in a nonexistent wind, the hulking mass that was the will of the stars bringing its tentacles together and channeling a strange energy in the cavity they formed. It released a stream of white light from its bunched limbs, the lumbering monstrosity gaining speed gradually. Phineas and the beast appeared to be heading in completely opposite directions, following paths all their own. For the Iopteryx, what it had been called upon to eliminate was in irreparable condition. For Phineas, all that he had known and held meaning for him was another ghost to haunt the endlessness of space. For the second time in his life, he was a wayward soul. This time it seemed there was no salvation for him.
When he caught himself exactly was something he could not recall as he sat back in his seat with his legs free from the ship's interface. He had removed his air mask and breathing tank, having them off to his side and within easy reach. All Phineas knew was that after some time he felt drained and tired. He activated the ship's autopilot system when he was sure the immediate danger had blown over; its heading unknown. It simply powered on in some direction; whether it was up, down, left or right was completely arbitrary. He couldn't be bothered to care at the moment. Sleep deprived and overtaxed, his body demanded that he take a moment to simply get his bearings. He conceded, but there was little to be gained in terms of new insight. He was out of the frying pan and into the cold, black fire. He started going over what he did know.
"I am alone."
That much was obvious. In his rush to escape certain destruction it had slipped his mind that he may have been able to track down an escape pod and perhaps meet up with the other survivors, wherever it was they were. He could not be sure their situation would have been bettered in any way, but it would have been a lot more favorable for morale if he had others to be around. Even if those others would have been those he would rarely interact with normally.
As it stood however, given the vast reaches of space and the infinite nature of the universe, he was truly and irrevocably at his complete lonesome with the only friendly faces that he could imagine being parsecs away from his location at any given time. The possibility of other friendly faces not from Earth being out there was speculative thinking at best and unreasonably remote at worst. It was part of the reason why Equestria flocked to space; to answer the mystery that was the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos -life that was not in the form of the ferocious Ursa Major and Minor, or in this case, the ravenous Iopteryx of myth and legend.
The starship Iopteryx had flown in between tens of stars in the span of a week and had passed hundreds of planets, each barren and hostile in its own unique way. Be it absent or noxious atmospheres, to unstable geological activity, the worlds beyond Earth were uninhabitable to advanced forms of life as ponykind knew it.
"I have no idea where I am."
Phineas never thought there would be a time when he would miss Lightning Streak and his skills with astronomical navigation. Then again, Phineas never thought he would have been the survivor of a vicious attack by an astral marauder. He went through the shuttle's data displays and indeed found a star map. The galaxy flickered into being in front of him, a projection comprised of soft blue light. A small region of space was contained in a rectangle, a region that was so small in comparison to the rest of the galaxy.
The projection zoomed in on this small section of the whole galactic image. A region which spanned trillions of miles, for it encompassed the known territories of the Federation. Multicolored lines showed popular routes that other ships took on their interstellar journey, the star systems they warped to to get to the next destination. The Iopteryx was in uncharted space when it was destroyed, outside of the rectangle. There was evidence that Lightning Streak was constructing a comprehensive map as the ship went along as shown by the patches of stars present in the projection and the lines which connected each shining dot, but fate would have it that his work not be completed when the starship was torn apart.
Even with a map, Phineas was still lost. While this weighed on his heart, he was determined not to let it bring about despair. He did not oppose death only to have misery in life. He had the resources and know-how to make his own star map and he was going to do just that.
"I have no idea where I am. And that will change in time."
Which brought him to his next major concern: food and water. While he was sure it was not simple malnutrition that made the pony in the pod a living skeleton, it was still a dire matter for the silver stallion. He was to survive in space for an extended period of time as he attempted to decipher the intricate geometry of the heavens to return to Earth. Time that he did not have if he did not have any means to sustain himself.
He undid the straps and got out of the chair, heading further into the shuttle. The utility closet behind the pilot's seat was interesting, but he doubted there would be food supplies stored in it. It looked very similar to the closet he got his emergency gear from. Deciding it couldn't hurt to see what was in it anyway, Phineas put his hoof to the circular plate near the middle of the locker, pressed it in and turned it. The lock released with a ratcheting noise and Phineas opened the locker to see...
An Extra Vehicular Activity suit, earth pony variant. It looked more like a suit of combat armor than any space suit, but after what he went through, he saw no difference. Space was a hostile and scary place. The helmet was -like a lot of Federation equipment- a dark gray with odd fixtures on either side of it which served as filters for toxic environments. The eye pieces reminded him of Lightning Streak's mask, the golden visors which conveyed no emotion and had a shine to them. The rest of the EVA suit had silver plating over the shoulders and a bit at the thigh armor. It came complete with a segmented metal tail sheath and a utility pack, like those the officers wore, with added booster pack functionality for speedy traveling. Which is why it having energy rifles on deployable hover platforms was not surprising. The away teams were equipped to deal with any contingency. Having weapons to defend themselves in an alien environment was a necessary evil.
Phineas frowned at the implications this brought up for his future. Would his survival coincide with violence? Would there be a time where he actually had to fight for his life?
***
The cockpit was separated from the rest of the shuttle by a single, silver, sliding door with Starfleet's symbol on it. Opening it, Phineas was treated to the sight of crew quarters meant to house one.
"Of course the shuttle I pick was the one meant for a single operator..." he muttered to himself, though it really came as no surprise. Since he entered through the craft's canopy, he knew he was commandeering one of the specialized shuttles... or rather, the last of the Iopteryx's smaller vessels.
The room was plain and utilitarian in layout. That is to say, the only thing defining it as a personnel designated room was a single cot which folded into the wall, its position marked by the text on the metal panel: RETRACTABLE BED: PULL OUT TO USE. Opposite that was something which looked like a sleep pod, but its true purpose was clearly labeled as well. SUSPENDED ANIMATION UNIT.
And just like that, the issue of his continued survival was resolved by the cold unfeeling efficiency of Equestrian engineering. Artificial hibernation with the ship providing all his body needed to keep from breaking down while he slumbered.
The corner of Phineas' mouth twitched. A suspended animation pod implied the shuttle's Spell-core engine was incapable of interstellar warping. If he were to endure a trek through the stars, he would have to be asleep in it for... decades or centuries at a time. For all the time he spent aboard, all he knew of Earth would have aged and died while he remained little changed at all; isolated by the immensity of space. It was a terrible realization. And it was his only option, for dying of malnutrition aboard the shuttle as it rocketed through the void was the alternative.
Continued study of the ship revealed that it did, in fact, possess weaponry. Startrot found general use phaser cannons stowed away in their ports near the shuttle's rear: sleek black guns longer than his body with many orifices which gave off an intense yellow glow. They resided in chutes where the innermost wall could be opened for periodic maintenance of the weapons. Phineas resisted the urge to acquaint himself with the system through his tools to see if there were improvements he could make.
It would have offered a distraction to keep his mind away from that ultimate decision he had to make: trusting his life in full to a machine, a machine which was advanced enough to use its own armaments for the sake of self preservation where its passenger was unable to do just that. As frightening as it was, it was far better than wasting away helplessly. With great trepidation, Phineas returned to the cockpit one last time. There, he brought up the ship's overarching commands, the projected list flickering into his vision.
Avoid confrontation.
Awaken pilot upon detection of anomalies.
He shook his head and wiped tears from his eyes. So this was what all of his efforts led to: his relinquishing of his life to an automaton to wander space for an unholy amount of time, alone and facing mind-rending perils. With one final farewell to those he knew and those lost, he said:
"Some things are better left behind and forgotten."
He took off his PDA and toolboxes and put them in the utility closet with the space suit. Afterwards, he made his way back through that door and stopped at the stasis pod. With one last deep breath, he flipped its curved screen up and crawled in, laying on his back inside it. It was like a very comfortable bed that adapted to every contour of his body. Inside there was a panel.
"Initiate Sleep System," the silver stallion read, then pressed his hoof to it. The panel disappeared underneath folding metal and he felt himself enveloped with a tingling sensation. His body was completely frozen and a blinding white light crept forth from the corners of his eyes.
And thus, Phineas' first life came to an end.