The silence in the front observation deck was broken by the ship's intercom.
“Ladies,” said Captain Anderson's voice, “would you mind stopping your... whatever you're doing? We're only a few minutes away from the Ferengi ship, so get ready.”
Twilight nodded and began to wind down the spell.
“Oh, I do hope they're all right.” murmured Fluttershy.
“Spike's last letter said they was right as rain an' ready fer us t' come take 'em home.” said Applejack, firmly.
“And that was an hour ago.” said Twilight. “Most probably, they're still fine.” She took a deep breath. “But just in case, be prepared for anything when we teleport there.”
And at just that moment, the view outside the window settled into a stationary starscape; without any sign of another ship visible to pony eyes.
“...where are they?” asked Rainbow, hovering slightly over the floor.
“I'm sure Captain Anderson knows what he's doing...” growled Twilight, looking carefully over the view in front of them.
Then the view twisted as the ship turned, spinning gently to the left, until...
“There!” said Rainbow, pointing.
“Where?” asked Rarity.
“That spot of light there.” said Rainbow, pointing one hoof towards the window. “It's not the same as the others. It's a little bit bigger, and it's moving – very slowly, but moving – compared to the rest.”
“Yes, that's probably them.” said Twilight, straining her eyes to try and spot what Rainbow had seen. “Well spotted, Rainbow.”
“If that's them,” said Rainbow, dropping to land on the carpet, “then they're a long way away still. Miles.”
“If they're close enough to be seen,” said Twilight, still unable to spot the spot that Rainbow had pointed out, “then at the speeds this thing goes, we can't be more than a few seconds away. A minute or two at most.”
“Three minutes.” interrupted Captain Anderson's voice over the speakers. “We're going slow enough to make sure we don't crash into them.”
Rainbow mentally compared the distance that it had to be to such a small spot with the time of 'three minutes' and, for the first time, got an idea of just how fast a Federation ship's sublight drive was. She sat down abruptly.
“And... we were going faster than this?” she asked.
“Yes, Rainbow.” said Twilight. “We were going faster than light.”
“Over two hundred times faster than light.” said Captain Anderson's voice.
Rainbow blinked. “Two hundred times faster than this?” she asked, taking another look at the distant spot of light that contained, if Spike's letters were to be believed, several dozen fairly large rooms.
“No,” said the captain, “a little bit over three hundred times faster than this.”
Rainbow stared out of the window. The vague idea of challenging a starship to a race at some point in the future ran into a corner of her mind and hid away, never to resurface.
“I think I see it.” murmured Fluttershy. “It's getting bigger.”
“They're not responding to hails.” reported the Captain. “They don't have an identification beacon, but it's clearly a Ferengi ship – I'm pretty sure this is the right ship.”
“There's more than one to choose between?” asked Rarity.
“Not within range of our sensors.” said Captain Anderson.
“It's them.” said Applejack, firmly, before quietly adding “It's gotta be them.”
“One minute.” said Captain Anderson.
“Alright, girls.” said Twilight. “I see it. We're almost close enough. Gather round.”
“Almost close enough for what?” asked Captain Anderson, nervously.
“We're going.” said Rarity. “To fetch our sisters.”
There was a flash of light, and the front observation bridge was empty.
* * *
In the brig, buried under the Ferengi ship, there was a flash of light. And suddenly, there were six ponies.
“Ready for anything, girls.” said Twilight, lighting up her horn.
There was a hisssssssing sound from next to them, and a creature unfolded from the shadows; long, thin, and snakelike, with a chicken's head. It was unfortunate for the cockatrice that the shadow it emerged from was right next to Fluttershy.
“You!” snapped the yellow pegasus. She pointed back at the shadowed corner of the cell. “Sit!”
The cockatrice remembered her; the scary yellow winged horse that could outstare even it. It whimpered, and sat quietly.
“Oh, you poor thing.” said Fluttershy. “You're just skin and bones. When did you last get something to eat?” She looked up, and across the corridor, to where a cragadile lay asleep.
Rarity, meanwhile, attempted to walk out of the cell, and walked directly into a cracking field of force.
“What is -” began Rarity, before she was interrupted.
“Where are we?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“We're on the Ferengi ship.” said Twilight. “These must be the cells Spike told us about.”
“He didn't say they were keeping animals in here, too!” said Fluttershy. “This fellow hasn't had anything to eat for three whole days... we need to do something about this.” She patted the cockatrice on top of its chickeny head. “As soon as we've found your sisters.”