Finding Serenity

by M1ghtypen


Interlude: Baggage Claim

Commander Shining Armor, leader of the Royal Guard and universally recognized public face of the Imperial Navy, had spent the majority of his adult life protecting the Solar Empire. The rest of his time was divided between administrative duties, caring for his family, surfing, and tending a small herb garden that he insisted would one day produce something useful.

More than a decade of military service had turned him into a very dangerous pony. He was rated with nearly every projectile weapon in existence, skilled in two forms of unarmed combat, and considered in most circles to be a tactical genius. His physical stature added to his imposing presence, to the point that most of his karate class was afraid to spar with him.

It seemed strange that such a tough pony was afraid of his little sister’s friend. True, his sister was an absurdly powerful lesser alicorn that might one day become an actual goddess, but that didn’t make her friends any more frightening than the average pony.

Except, somehow, for the pink one. Shining Armor had never been able to form an opinion of Chancellor Pinkie Pie; she was bizarre and completely unpredictable, two things that any battlefield commander knew could be dangerous. This was offset by her endlessly cheerful attitude, which provided her with enough energy to fuel a small star for a year. The hyperactive public relations specialist had always managed to unnerve him simply by being so very odd. This, naturally, made talking with her a problem.

After the Firefly vessel preformed its absurd vanishing act, Shining Armor had attempted to contact Captain Dash. He was instead greeted by a disturbingly wide grin that filled his terminal’s entire screen so that he could see almost nothing else. He was sure that most ponies didn’t have that many teeth.

Pinkie Pie had insisted that she was filling in for the Captain, which wasn’t at all how the chain of command was supposed to work. Shining Armor had reluctantly given her all the details, up to and including the suicidal tactics used by the fugitives to escape his fleet. “May I ask for more information about our targets?” he had asked when he was finished. “Why are we chasing them? What did they do?”

Pinkie giggled as though he’d told the funniest joke in the ‘Verse. “I don’t know, silly!” she said. “This isn’t like hunting Reavers or bandits! Somepony really important wants to be sure that they don’t get away with whatever they took. It could be anything, but it’s super duper extra secret!”

“I understand,” Commander Armor said, though he wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth. “I request permission to follow the enemy as soon as my ship is operational, ma’am. I’ll bring them in alive if possible.”

Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her chin and pretended to think very carefully. “Hmm, nopey-dopey! The Defense Council already called somepony else. This is a matter of galactic security, so the Harmonious Senate is pretty much in the dark. They aren’t even talking to Dashie! The thingy they stole is super important, so keep it super quiet.” She put her hoof to her lips. “Shhh!”

“Very well, ma’am. I’ll await further orders.” Shining Armor killed the connection and sat back in his chair. His cluttered desk had nowhere to bang his head, so he had to settle for covering his eyes and sighing. He heard somepony laughing at him and the sigh became a groan. “Shut up, L.C.”

“I can’t help it!” the blue pegasus giggled. “You look so uncomfortable. You really don’t know how to talk to politicians, do you?”

“The problem isn’t that she’s a politician,” Shining Armor said. “It’s like talking to something out of an H.P. Lovecraft novel. There’s no way for any sane pony to understand her.”

“Follow me,” Lieutenant Commander Soarin’ said with a chuckle. “I’ve got something to show you that might brighten your day.”

*****

After Sereneighty preformed her remarkable vanishing act, Blueblood had watched the golden trail of light from her engines disappear with a sense of crushing finality. His time aboard the old cargo vessel was over for good. He didn't think he would miss it, but there was an odd feeling of melancholy that came with ending a chapter of his life.

Thunderlane had been kind enough to leave him a communicator with enough range to signal the SES Warhorse. Blueblood radioed for a pickup as soon as Sereneighty was gone, but it was a long time before anypony paid any attention to him. When the commanding officer of the fleet finally answered him he almost wished he hadn’t escaped at all.

“Well, isn’t this an interesting turn of events?” Shining Armor asked. “I can’t believe I thought this was going to be a slow day. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you that obnoxious nuofu that nearly got my wife killed?”

Blueblood snorted scornfully into his radio. “Just get me off this pathetic rock,” he ordered. “I have important information and it is not for the ears of commoners such as yourself.”

Shining Armor chuckled gleefully. “Oh, I’ll give you a lift. Just don’t expect it any time soon. I have to get my ship in order first.”

Blueblood shifted his legs and felt the inside of his suit beginning to chafe. “This suit is extremely uncomfortable. How long will that take?”

“That depends. How much air do you have?”

*****

Vinyl had to make a short foray out of the cabin she shared with Octavia to set the ship’s course. The Captain had gotten it almost right, but she made a few tweaks to save them some time. When she was finished she returned to her bunk and found her wife playing her cello.

Most non-unicorns weren’t very musical. It took a lot of skill to manipulate strings with hooves. Not even the captain, a talented musician in her own right, could play her lyre without magic. Vinyl settled down on the bed with a smile and listened to her own private concert.

As the song ended Vinyl happened to notice a paper bag sitting next to the bed. She lifted it into the air with her magic and began unpacking it. “We’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to put away the groceries,” she said. “I picked up a few things on Persepony. Nothing too exciting.”

A new pair of goggles floated out of the bag and onto the bedside table. Octavia rolled her eyes, and in doing so noticed a small plastic box filled with thin strands of something being slipped into the closet. “What is that?” she asked. “Vinyl, what is in that box?

“It’s incense. I thought it might make the room smell nice.” Vinyl floated the box into Octavia’s hooves so that she could smell for herself. “Why? What’s wrong?”

The room was quiet while Octavia tried to think of an explanation that wouldn’t lead to an argument. Vinyl noticed her hesitation and scowled. “Oh, here we go again!” she spat. “I’m not stupid, Octavia. If you don’t trust me then you should just say so. You can come with me next time if you want!”

“I did not think-”

“Yes, you did!” Vinyl shouted. She ripped off her goggles and threw them into the closet. “It’s been two years. I got clean! Stop looking at me like you’re my Gorram parole officer! You don’t have to inspect every package I bring on board!”

Octavia grabbed her wife and pulled her off the bed, her superior strength making resistance completely useless. “I’m sorry! It was wrong of me to make an assumption without talking to you first. I do trust you, Vinyl.” Vinyl didn’t say anything for a long time, and Octavia could tell that she was trying very hard not to cry. “I am sorry,” she repeated. She didn’t know what else to say.

Vinyl resisted at first, but eventually gave up and allowed herself to relax. “It’s okay,” she said regretfully. “Maybe I shouldn’t get so angry. Were my ears playing tricks on me, or did you just use a contraction?”

“I did, but do not get used to it.” Octavia kissed her forehead and tried to avoid getting poked in the eye with her horn. “I do trust you, baobei.”

In her haste the cellist hadn’t bothered to put away her instrument. The two mares lay together in silence for a long time, until finally Vinyl levitated the cello back into its case. “At least we’re already on the subject,” she said. “You know that we’re going to Beaumonde, right? I have to make a trip to a hospital when we get there.” Octavia gasped. “It’s just a sore throat!” Vinyl said quickly. “It’s gotta be nothing. I just want to get it looked at, you know, because…yeah.”

“I will ask the captain about it.”

“That figures,” Vinyl muttered, her dark mood returning with a vengeance. “This is important, ‘Tavi! Can’t you just tell Lyra that we need to go? Every time she asks you to do something you hop to it, but when your own wife has a serious problem you have to–”

Octavia covered Vinyl’s mouth with her hoof. “Allow me to rephrase,” she said in a steely tone. “If you need to go, we will go. There is no force in the ‘Verse that could keep us on this ship. I will ask Lyra because I am polite, not because she had a choice in the matter.”

“Really?” Vinyl asked. “Even if she says she needs us?”

“Do I look like I am joking?”

Vinyl buried her face in Octavia’s neck and sighed deeply. “No. I love you, ‘Tavi.” Octavia disturbed her only enough to make her turn out the light. She then pulled the blanket over them and let the DJ-turned-pilot get comfortable again.

The brash, overconfident mare that Octavia hadn’t trusted at first had a lot more baggage than most ponies realized. She was unstoppable while flying, but she had lived a very hard life right up until joining flight school. She often acted spiteful and temperamental just to hide how frightened or hurt she was.

Octavia didn’t mind. Vinyl had shown immense personal strength in the four years since she’d joined the crew of Sereneighty. In her own way she was just as tough as the ship itself. “Love you too,” the cellist whispered, and drifted off to sleep.