//------------------------------//
// Adrift with My Thoughts 
// Story: Remember the Dawn... 
// by The Crimson Harbinger 
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One day, Starblazer thought, glancing at the dull gray walls of the ship as she walked towards the bridge, I'm going to paint this ship another color. She walked steadily through the narrow hallways and squeezed her way through a door jammed open with a hairbrush. She had gotten tired of punching her code during the first week, and was still amazed that the brush had the strength to hold the door ajar. 
She trotted past the cafeteria, which was where she spent most of her time. She had books and star maps that she had looked at a thousand times spread out all over the tables and desks. She had given up on trying to locate where she was exactly, but she still looked at them, just in case she missed something. She sighed as she passed through another set of doorways with no doors and found herself at the bridge. 
It was a circular room with computer and console lights flashing every shade of green, blue, and red. View screens displayed diagrams of the ship with both engines glowing bright red. She glanced over at a small screen on the wall: Power Levels at 67%. She sighed, her breath floating through the air like wisps of smoke. The engines had failed at 83%, the corridor heating failed at 75%, and the bridge heating at 70%. 
"Good morning ma'am." A cheerful voice rang over the intercom. 
"Morning." She said. She had left out "Good" for a reason. She trotted slowly over to the captain's chair, which was located in the center of the bridge. A good spot for it too, if you didn't mind being where everypony could see you. But these days she would've given anything just to have some company. The ship could hold a comfortable ten ponies, not to mention food and supplies. 
But Celestia herself had assigned this mission to Starblazer and her alone. And so here she was. Drifting through the endless void of space alone. Well, she wasn't completely alone. To ensure a safe trip, the princess had also assigned the AI Ash to her. She ran check-ups on all of the systems while Starblazer focused on the main task, which was to locate the ship Manehattan, which had left two months ago and had not been heard from since.
Starblazer now sat in the captains chair and swiveled back and forth, bored. Ash, who had just appeared on the console to the right of the chair, took notice. "Don't worry ma'am," she reassured, "I've engineered some things to do while we wait for the rescue team." 
Starblazer sighed. "Let me guess," she glanced over at a wall covered in tally marks, all under Ash's name, "you want to play chess." 
Ash, who had already begun to construct a holographic chess board, turned bright red and smiled. "What, chess?" She kicked the hologram aside, sending pixels flying. "Why would I want to play chess against you?" 
Starblazer looked at her. "Because you always win." 
Ash blushed again and laughed nervously. "I don't always win." Starblazer pointed back to the wall covered in marks, and Ash saw the blank area under Starblazer's name. She looked at it curiously. "I didn't realize we had played 47 games in just two weeks." Starblazer sighed again and got up from her seat. 
"I'll be in the cafeteria if you need me." She headed out the door. 
"I'll meet you there!" Ash called after her. 
Starblazer sat on the cold chair and waited for Ash to make her move. They had finally agreed to play "One game and one game only" once Starblazer had put something warmer on, since the temperature had dropped a good seventeen degrees. Ash, having a similar idea, now appeared wearing a blue and green scarf draped around her neck. When Starblazer had criticized her about it, she simply responded with "If it's cold outside, put on a scarf." 
Starblazer watched as Ash moved her bishop into place and moved her knight to counter, her thoughts elsewhere. She thought of her friends back in Equestria, back on solid ground. She wondered if any of them knew of what had happened. If anypony had begun to worry why she hadn't contacted them, or had even begun to think that something was wrong. She continued to ponder on this when Ash shouted suddenly. "Checkmate!" She exclaimed happily and clapped her hooves together, but Starblazer couldn't have cared less. 
She got up from the table, and walked towards the door when Ash called to her. "If you're thinking of going to the shooting range ma'am," she said, "I'll gladly set up the program in advance." Starblazer nodded, then continued on her way. 
When she arrived, she slipped on her black and white armor, which contrasted with her fiery orange mane and body. The helmet had a steel-blue visor that occupied most of the helmet, with a white rim circling the base. She slid it on and watch the stats flicker to life. The armor was self-recharging, which was good, seeing as her ship was slowly losing power. She revved up her rifle, a standard T-240 energy rifle, onto which she had etched two stars circling each other, one red, one blue, her cutie mark.
Ash appeared in the bottom left hand corner of her visor. "The programs all set ma'am," she reported, "whenever you're ready." Starblazer checked her rifles charge level, then nodded. Ash grinned. "Commencing countdown:3,2,1 begin." Six armored pony AI units appeared from thin air, all armed and ready. Starblazer quickly took out two of them simultaneously with head shots before the rest of them scattered. High-powered energy bolts sizzled through the cold air, which Starblazer dodged with ease. She back-flipped over a shot, landed on her hooves, located her opponent, and then returned the favor. Her shot whizzed through the air and came in contact with the AI's chest, sending pixels spiraling off in every direction. She grinned under her helmet. She may not be an excellent chess player, but she was an experienced fighter. Chess just didn't have the same adrenaline rush like combat did.
The three AIs still standing began to fight harder, but were still no match for Starblazer's speed and skill. First one fell, then another, and then finally only one AI stood. Starblazer back-flipped and knocked the weapon from it's hands. She landed, pointed the rifle at it's head, and fired. The program ended, and only she stood. She ejected the clip and slid a fresh one in. 
She removed her helmet and smoothed her fiery orange mane. She panted heavily, her breath showing in the crisp air. "Very impressive ma'am," Ash complimented. 
"Thanks," Starblazer said while slipping out of her armor. She set it neatly back on it's self, and walked towards the door. She stood in front of it and waited for it to slide open. Nothing happened. She knocked on it a few times, hoping to trigger something, yet the door refused to budge. "Ash," she said. 
"Yes ma'am?" she replied over the intercom. 
"The door's not opening." 
"I can see that ma'am." 
Starblazer rolled her eyes in frustration. "Why isn't it opening?" Ash appeared in front of Starblazer, flipping through the ship's stats. 
"I see," she said, then minimized her screen, "the program we just completed used up fifteen percent of the ships power supply. We are now operating at fifty percent." 
"Why didn't you tell me it would use so much power before we started?!" she exclaimed. 
"I didn't think it would use fifteen percent to run," she defended, "normally combat programs operate at a small three percent." 
Starblazer growled and cursed silently. How could she have been so stupid? Using up what little power they had left for a few minutes of fun. She turned back to the door. She looked it up and down, and tried to force it open. She planted her hind legs and pushed with her front, and eventually opened it enough for her to slip through. She exhaled and brushed herself off. Starblazer sighed. Now she was going to have to find another activity she could do to kill time. 
"Ma'am," Ash spoke up. 
"What is it now Ash?" 
"I'm picking up a weak transmission." At this her ears perked up. She turned, trying not to let her hope rise too high. 	
"Can you play it?" She asked, her voice filling with excitement. Ash shook her head. 
"Not here. But I can try to at the bridge." She scrolled through her screen. "Once we're there, I can try to pull power from unused rooms and devices to strengthen the signal."  
Starblazer hadn't run as fast in her life as she did now. She galloped through the dim halls, through the jammed door, past the cafeteria, and finally out onto the bridge. Ash was already there, quietly mumbling to herself with stats and power levels flickering around her. Starblazer calmly sat in the captains chair, waiting eagerly for Ash to finish her work. "Alright," she finally said, "I think it'll play now." She tweaked with a few more charts, then grinned triumphantly as a roaring noise blared over the speakers. Lights flickered and consoles went dark then flashed back to life again, and Starblazer couldn't believe what she was hearing. A low static played over the intercom and in the background, a scratchy female voice spoke softly.   Starblazer swiveled her chair around to face Ash. 
"Can you clean it up?" she asked. Ash scrambled through her displays and shook her head. 
"I'm not sure, though I might be able to if I had more power." Starblazer looked at her. 
"Do it." 
"I would not suggest it ma'am," Ash warned. 
"And why not?" She demanded. 
"If I pull any more power, we could risk losing all primary systems, including life support." Ash replied. She sighed. 
"I know the risks, Ash," she glanced up at her, "but this may be our only chance of rescue." Ash thought for a moment. 
"We could try to reply directly." Starblazer shook her head. 
"You know as well as I do that we need a 'send to' location." she glanced up at the blaring speakers, "Without it, it would be a hit-and-miss scenario." 
Ash sighed, and knowing she couldn't win this one, she agreed. "But will you at least put on your armor." she tried. "If life support fails, it'll keep you alive long enough for the rescue team to arrive. Assuming the ship doesn't implode first." She nodded and galloped off the bridge.
Starblazer returned a few minutes later, dawning her armor once more, and took her seat on the bridge. "Pulling power," Ash said while typing a command into her console, "now." Lights flickered and computer screens flashed and faded. The hull of Celestia's Sun shook violently as the generator pushed what little power it had to the bridge. Power surged through the consoles and sparks flew. Starblazer watched as the power meter display in her helmet dropped rapidly. "Power levels at forty-three percent!" Ash yelled above the noise. A console burst next to her. Shards of glass whisked through her holographic form and harmlessly bounced off Starblazer's armor. 
"Signal strength at fifty-six percent!" Ash reported. More screens burst around them. "Sixty percent!" Starblazer heard a high pitched whining sound behind her and turned just in time to see a large view screen explode. She ducked as large pieces of metal and glass hurled overhead. "Signal strength at eighty-two percent!" Ash cried. She looked worriedly at her holographic console. "Energy readings spiking!" She gasped as she realized what was about to happen. "Brace yourself!" She screamed as the generator exploded. Waves of energy pulsed up through the ship, blowing gaping holes in the ships hull and flinging whatever wasn't secured. Lights exploded as Starblazer was hit with the wave. She flew from her chair and slammed into a wall.
Then the energy dispersed, and darkness filled the once lit bridge. Ash's form flickered slowly back to life, and Starblazer struggled to her hooves. The only sound on the bridge was the now-cleared message. It played like this:
"... I repeat, this is the Equestrian star ship Manehattan. Our engines have broken down permanently and we are in need of assistance. My crew and I are surviving one what little power we have have left, and our life support systems are on the brink of failing. If you're receiving this message, please hurry. We are located in what is thought to be the Phantom Zone, and we desperate need of..." the message fluttered, screeched, and then died, leaving nothing but the sound of static.