//------------------------------//
// Aboard the Manehattan 
// Story: Remember the Dawn... 
// by The Crimson Harbinger 
//------------------------------//

	The Manehattan drifted silently through space. No light emitted from the corridors or the bridge, and it was mostly covered in a dark ice. The ice was an unrelenting foe, constantly consuming everything and everyone it touched. Captain Velvet sat alone on the bridge, using her magic to keep herself from freezing. She shivered as she listened to her distress call play over and over again, never ceasing to break the silence. She had considered turning it off several times before, but now it was her only company. Her crew had all but been consumed by the ice, transformed into horrific sculptures of what had once been her friends.
"Velvet," a voice cackled from the dark, "Velvet."
"No!" she cried, "I already told you no!" She expanded her magic and formed a protective barrier around herself.
"Why did you disobey me?" It hissed. Ice crept up around the edges of her magic, cracking and writhing with shadow. "Why did you send a distress signal?" A bulbous form of ice grew slowly before her eyes. Shadow swirled in its hollow form and constructed a grim face, not the face of a pony, but of a nightmarish being. 
"Because I want to go home!" she sobbed, looking away from the monstrosity that had formed before her, "I just want to go home." 
"But Velvet," it said, almost disappointed, "You are home." 
"I mean home." she said again, "My home in Ponyville." 
"This is your home now!" The being roared, "And you cannot leave!" It rammed into the barrier, causing it to flash. Velvet struggled to keep it steady, but as it rammed it again, it faded. "You are MINE!" It hissed, "You won't leave! None of you will leave me!" It rose up and extended its icy tentacles. Velvet struggled to her hooves and tried to escape, but the creature already had her in it's frozen grasp. It whipped her up and dangled her in front of it's icy fangs. "You will be here forever!" 
Ice began creeping up her legs when a sudden noise blared across the bridge. The creature released it's grip on her and retreated back into the depths of the ship, shrieking horrifically. Velvet rushed over to the speaker and brushed the muffling ice off it. What she heard filled her heart with hope.
"This is the AI Ash of Celestia's Sun. We have received your distress signal and are attempting to locate your vessel, though our engines have failed. We will contact you once we are within visual range. I repeat, this is the AI Ash of..." 
Velvet leaned back against the wall. She couldn't believe it; someone had actually gotten her message. And now they were trying to save her! She felt a sense of relief wash over her as the ice slowly retracted from the bridge.
For deep within the recesses of the Manehattan, the being had formed a plot, one more sinister than tormenting the poor mare to death. It cackled cruelly to itself, for this AI was just what it needed.