//------------------------------// // 1: Awaken // Story: Dreams of the Sky // by Blackjack488 //------------------------------// BRRRRRRRRRRRINNNNN-SMACK! I let the blessed silence sink in for a few brief moments, before getting myself moving with a long, loud groan. Two years. Two years, I’d been working on a military schedule. And I still wasn’t a morning pony. I laid still for a few minutes, doing my absolute best to recapture the blissfully sweet sensation of sleep on the painfully inflexible mattress. Letting the faint and familiar hum of the twin Crystalline Engines flick in and out of harmony, like a mechanical heartbeat. It was beyond comforting, and before long I found myself slowly being lulled back into the deep, dark recesses of— Thunk thunk thunk! “Morning, Sunshine!” I growled angrily at the source of the voice, then slid open the little doorway that separated my bed from the common room. I blinked instinctively at the sudden brightness, but managed to pull off my best lethal glare at the source of all my troubles. “How…by all the princesses…are you so damn cheerful?” She smiled back at me, white teeth piercing through her sandy brown coat, with her frazzled red mane framing the hideously happy pony. “Because it’s the morning! Dawn of a new day, full of opportunity and work and—“ “If I have any say in it,” I unsuccessfully stifled a yawn, “then this day will also be full of sleeping.” “Oh, don’t say that. Some grub and face time in the Engine Rooms, and you’ll be bouncing off the walls! Guarantee it.” She stood back up, probably to grab her things from the bunk above me. “Also, if you don’t show your face in Engineering, then you’ll be facing a demotion. And I don’t think you wanna drop back into Seamare, am I right?” I hissed at her angrily. Sure, she was right. But that didn’t mean I had to appreciate the fact. I rolled onto my stomach and stretched, feeling a little pop in a few of my vertebrae. Then a few more pops as I shuffled my joints a bit to get blood flowing again. Once all that was said and done, I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste tube in my mouth and squirmed out of the bunk to wander towards the head. Almost twenty other ponies filled the hallway-esque room in various states of their morning routine; a few were sliding out of the three-high bunks lining the sides of the room, while others had already groomed and were busily buttoning up their uniforms. Most simply nodded at me as I shuffled around them, while the rare few actually smiled or wished me “good morning.” I grimaced. Honestly, how could anypony be so pleasant at this time of day? I slipped into the Head we all shared and found an empty sink, dropping off my brush and paste before finding a stall to relieve myself in. Within a few minutes, I was still bedraggled and only a little less tired (which kind of proved Sunspots right. Not that I’d ever admit it), not to mention my mouth tasted kind of like imitation broccoli, but at least my teeth were clean. Satisfied, I slinked back to my bunk and pulled open the drawer next to the head of it, carefully resetting my alarm and setting it back above my pillow before extracting a hairbrush from the “dresser” drawer. “Sooooo……” Sunspots’ smiling face leaned down toward mine from her perch in her bunk, the one above mine. “What’s the plan, Starflank?” I couldn’t help but groan at the old nickname as I clipped the brush onto my hoof. “Do you ever plan on dropping that nickname?” “Nnnope!” I started passing the brush through my frazzled mane, watching as the mess of black and white on my neck resolved itself into a short black mane striped here and there with white streaks. “I figured as much. Besides, how could I have a plan for today? I haven’t seen the schedule yet.” “I meant whether you’re gonna be eating breakfast with us, or if you’re just gonna disappear again.” “I didn’t disappear! I went back to bed! I had fourth watch and I was tired, okay?” She just shook her head, then deftly jumped onto the floor next to me with the loud clunk! of hooves on metal. “Nice to know you haven’t changed. You gonna fall asleep in class again, too?” “Ugh. I swear, do that once, and you never live it down.” Satisfied that my mane wasn’t going to get any less unkempt, I pulled off a little contortion to get at my tail. Which I just knew was gonna take forever, since it was longer than my mane and naturally…twisty… After a few moments of grunting and swearing that I would rip my tail off and drop it into Tartarus, Sunspots finally just sighed and muttered, “Do you need any help with that?” “N-No!” I growled through the pain of the brush catching on a tangle. “I…got it…OW, sonuva…” “Come on, Star. I kinda wanna get to breakfast before it’s too late, and I don’t want to say that I’m not eating until dinner because my friend's tail was being stubborn. So why don’t I handle the brush and you can get your uniform on. ‘Kay?” I was about to tell her to go ahead without me, before my stomach growled at me in a big long speech about how it’d rather not miss breakfast either. With a barely-audible grumble about how it’s seriously just the brush, and if it weren’t for that, I’d’ve be done hours ago, I reluctantly handed the brush over to Sunspots. She smiled, clipped it onto her hoof, and proceeded to attack my tail with the gusto of any brave warrior taking down a mighty beast. I started unfolding my uniform, but not before shooting a quick, “OW! Would you try to be more careful!” “Sorry! It’s just…I almost…” I rolled my eyes as I slipped on the grey-and-gold undershirt. “Now you know how I feel.” “Hey, at least we’re making this whole process a little quicker, right?” “I guess…” We fell into silence as I fumbled with the snaps, pressing each one into place with a little snip. Once the undershirt was done, I pulled on my blood-red uniform jacket, pressing its gold buttons into place after only a few seconds of struggling and swearing. ‘At least this uniform is pretty straightforward,’ I couldn’t help but think. ‘I can only imagine how awful mornings must be in the Mail Corps. All those coats and scarves and buckles and belts…’ “By the way, Star,” Spots started up nervously, “is…something going on I should know about?” “Hm? How do you mean?” “Well…” she went to rub her hoof on the back of her head, only to realize that my brush was still attached to it. She quickly and silently replaced the grooming instrument into my drawer before going back to shuffling her hooves. “You’ve been talking in your sleep lately, and some of the things you’ve been saying have been…kinda freaky…” “Freaky how?” I finished off the buttons of my jacket, before reaching into the drawer, pulling out a folded picture, and slipping it into my barrel pocket. With a quick flourish of putting my hat on my head, I snapped my drawer shut with one flick of a navy-blue hoof and started walking towards the mess hall. The concept that I was trying to escape this conversation wasn’t relevant in the slightest. Sunspots immediately started trotting after me, looking somehow more nervous than before. She fiddled with her own red-and-gold uniform jacket for a few seconds, then finally grumbled, “…nevermind. I…guess it’s not really that important.” I breathed a tiny sigh of relief. The last thing I wanted to do was explain to one of my best friends why I hadn’t been sleeping well lately. We walked in silence for the rest of the trip, with the clop-clop of our hooves (and those of the various ponies we passed) on the metal walkways from bulkhead to bulkhead being the only sound between us. Which is why, for the first time in a while, we were able to hear the mess hall long before we trotted through the door. The usual throng of ponies in all the colors of the rainbow, each donning the standard red,-white,-and-gold Republican Naval uniform, had since moved out of the ration line and into the array of rectangular tables. They were all chatting away, raucous and bombastic now that the usual veneer of military professionalism no longer applied. But there was one thing they all had with them that made my stomach howl with anticipation. “Hey there, Garion!” Sunspots beat me to the punch, both in her conversation with the dark-grey griffin behind the counter, as well as placing herself in line for food. “Cooking fresh, I see. Any special occasion?” He grinned, the expression looking foreign but not unwelcome on his birdlike beak, and his little red eyes sparkled in a way that perfectly complimented the traces of white and red in his feathers. “Vhy, today ees mah birthday! And I vould expect nozing less than ze best to be prepared on such a spezial occashion!” Each strangely-accented syllable was accompanied by much gesticulation as he assembled a food tray for Sunspots. “Well, happy birthday!” “I hope the Captain’s okay with fresh rations. I’d hate it if he picked today of all days to clamp down.” Sunspots shot me a little warning look, but Garion literally waved off the comment. “Eet was not zo hard to convince ‘eem once I told ‘eem that ‘ees food comes from ze same kitchen. Besides, ‘ee is nozing if not understanding.” “True. Just covering all the bases, as it were.” He passed us two trays laden with fresh daisy-spinach salads, oatmeal bowls, and glasses of apple juice. My stomach tried to make itself known yet again, but I covered it up with a little fake coughing. “Well, happy birthday again!” “Have a great day!” “You too, Meez Spots and Meez Chasair!” I winced slightly at the mispronunciation of my name, but smiled and waved back anyway. We weaved down the center aisle to our regular spot: against the wall, third from the back, and right up alongside the waving form of my oldest military friend. “Hey! Just the mares I wanted to see!” “Awww, you missed us that bad? Does it really get that lonely in the Stallions’ bunks?” I slid into place across from the red-coated veteran, whilst Spots scooted up next to him with a bizzarely flirtatious look. She did know fraternization is disallowed, right? “Nah. I just wanted to let you know your shifts.” “Oh. Well, damn, Stone. Here I was offering a little company.” “You…do know fraternization isn’t okay, right?” Legitimate confusion crept into my voice. I honestly couldn’t tell if she’s joking or not. She gave me a sly grin in return. “Who’s to say anyone has to know?” “Spots, we sleep twenty to a room. I think somepony’d notice.” Stone’s voice was serious, but he’s smiling with a little twinkle in his fiery-orange eyes. Ohhhhkay…they’re just joking. Spots shrugged. “Fine, fine, I know when I’m not wanted.” “Anyways, what’d we get for shifts?” He snorts slightly into his apple juice, like he tried to say something while forgetting his muzzle was buried in a glass. After a few seconds of recovery, he starts, “Right. Sorry, nearly forgot. Somepony was being distracting.” He elbowed Spots, and she just laughed through her sandwich. “Anyway, Spots, you got sixth watch in the comms room. Star, you and I are third watch in observation.” “Aww, sweet! Comms room again!” “Third watch! Seriously!?” Stone burst out laughing. “AHAHA! How’d I just know that was comin’!?” “Because it’s third watch! And the day after I got fourth watch!? This isn’t fair!” They just snicker at my misfortune. Much to my clearly-displayed dismay. “Ugh. Fine. That’s it. As soon as I’m done here, I’m talking to the captain.” Stone stifled his laughter enough to mutter, “you are so damn predictable…” Spots was shaking her head, muzzle against one fetlock to make the laughing disappear. “Not sure that’s such a good idea, Star. He’s been in kind of a foul mood lately.” “Can’t be that bad. He let Garion cook fresh food, after all.” “Well…’esh noth…” She held up a hoof as she finished chewing, then resumed talking. “He’s not upset with the crew per-say, but I wouldn’t press too hard. When I was working my comms room shift yesterday, we got a really weird order, and I think it set him in a bad mood.” “What was the order?” Stone asked, though I already had a sneaking suspicion. The engines’d been running a little harder than usual lately. Spots shook her head. “Change in patrol routes. Apparently, our normal route wasn’t good enough for Regional Command.” “The hay? Wouldn’t we be steppin’ on somepony’s hooves?” “Dunno. I heard from a friend of mine, though,” she turned sharply to both of us, “and you didn’t hear this from me, but I hear the Dark Star’s been relocated back to New Canterlot, and we’re filling in their patrol until somepony else gets here.” “But…why? That doesn’t make sense. Why not just have a replacement ready to go like normal?” “Some big, secret thing that came up at last minute. That’s what the grapevine’s been saying, anyways. Honestly, I think they’re just cutting back on border patrols.” “Maybe.” “Welp,” Stone dropped his spoon onto his tray with a little clang and started standing up, “I think I’m gonna bugger off before you ponies get charged with somethin’. Just remember to show some face time in Engineerin’, Star. I’d hate to see yeh get demoted.” “Ugh, fine, I’ll make an appearance.” It sounded begrudging, but we share a laugh. After all, he knew better than I did that I loved it down there. Even if Cam was a total mule. “Yeah, on that note, I’d better get rolling too.” After a few quick goodbyes, I shuffled out of my seat and over to the trash cans. On my way, I slipped by the schedule to confirm the worst. It was, indeed, true. Third Watch in upper-fore Observation. But at least Stone had upper-aft on the same shift, so that might take the edge off. Still might be worth talking to the captain over. And while I hated bugging him about little things like this, he had said his doors were open. So…worth a shot. The walk over was a calm one, with the fourth shift almost done with work in Public Stations while the rest of us were finishing off breakfast. That’s not to say there were more than a few Specialized Stations being ponied, but it was still pretty much a skeleton crew at this point. So I was surprised when, walking past Medical, somepony flagged me down with a wave and a smile. I damn near kept walking when I saw who it was, but I had the common courtesy not to commit a faux-pas like that. “” I smiled at the zebra who had trotted over to me. Inyanga and I had become pretty fast friends since I came aboard the Philomena, and the fact that I knew Zebrican certainly didn’t hurt. That didn’t change the fact that he was getting on my nerves right now, but I tried not to let it show. As I glanced him over quickly, I realized that he looked pretty stressed-out. Between the bags under his eyes and the way his striped body seemed to sag, it definitely looked like dealing with the fallout from that rogue storm last week was taking its toll on the poor stallion. But he didn’t seem any less pleased to see me, so I answered his question with as much sincerety as I could. “” ‘Not your best rhyme, though that's a tricky one to make work.’ “” “” “” “” “” “” “” I awkwardly shuffled the way I’d been going. He laughs and waves. “” “Augh! That was one time!” I called after his chuckling form, switching back to Equestrian in my frustration. Sure, he may have just been finishing the couplet, but I could bet he was laughing his little caduceus-esque-Glyph-Mark off over that one. “Kwenda kumeza kadhaa paundi ya Poison Joke,” I growled under my breath as I walked away. Honestly, him and Spots both giving me crap for one-time things. Falling asleep in one class once did not make me a narcaleptic, and I’d only been in that bar because the Swingin’ Sisters were doing a show there. But the way these two went on about my life, you’d think I was an alcoholic who snoozed all the way through boot. Which was obviously false, since the Republic didn’t allow alcoholics or narcaleptics into the Navy. But ponies loved their rumors, which meant I was usually left silently grumbling about said rumors. Just like I was when I walked onto the bridge that day. The bridge was actually a lot less spacious than ponies tend to think. It just looked open because you had to go through three back-to-back bulkheads to get to it, and the entire front wall was coated in thick, shuttered windows, beyond which was sky that’s blue and clear in every direction but down (and starboard, but that's specific to this area). At the very back of the room was the captain’s chair, with a number of Communication Crystals linked throughout the ship arrayed in front of it. In front of that was the helm, with the throttle and all manner of readouts and dials arranged around it (certainly, it made sense to somepony, but not to me). And on either side, workspaces crammed with machinery, readouts, and other devices, were the Communication, Navigation, Gunnery, and Engineering Officers. All six places were filled today, just as they always were at some point every day the ship wasn’t in port. And sitting in the Captain’s Chair was just the stallion I wanted to see. “Captain?” I asked meekly, practically slamming my hoof against my head when I realized I’d forgotten to salute. “If you have the time, I’d like to talk to you about something.” He turned slightly in his chair to get a better look at me with those emerald-green eyes of his, before saluting back and replying in that firm-yet-understanding voice, “At ease, Ms. Chaser. What was it you wanted to talk about?” I brought my hoof down, but kept standing at attention. “The schedule, sir. This is the third time this week I’ve had a late-night shift, and it’s not even Friday. It’s been causing a lot of problems, sir, and I felt it prudent to let you know.” He nodded his light-grey head as I talked, dark-green mane bobbing as he did. Finally, he just said, “Then you’ll be happy to know you’re on fifth and sixth watch the next few days. Thank you for the concern, Ms. Chaser.” I nodded, letting a small smile slip onto my face. “Thank you, sir.” He smiled back slightly, turning back in his chair. I turned to leave, when something nagged at the back of my mind. “Sir?” I asked, turning back as he did the same. “Permission to speak freely, sir?” His gaze turned curious as he turned his chair a little more. “Granted.” “Well...I’ve been catching wind of a rumor that we’re taking double patrol routes because the Dark Star’s been called back to New Canterlot.” I caught his face turn slightly harsh as I said it, though he kept the frustration out of his voice. “Who told you that?” “Just something I overheard in the Cafeteria.” “Well, if that’s the case, then I see no point in affirming or denying it.” “Understood, sir, but that’s not why I’m asking.” Curiosity returned into his face, but he didn’t ask anything, so I kept going. “If the Admirals are pulling ships from border patrol, that means something big is going on. And if they’re pulling from the Imperial Border, then it’s going on in the Magistrate. Which means there’s gonna be something big, probably in the cities close to there, like Gem City or New Hoofington.” Once I brought up Gem City, understanding flashed across his face. “You have family in Gem City, don’t you, Ms. Chaser?” I tried my very hardest not to sound nervous. “Yes sir, I do.” He nodded, then smiled comfortingly at me. It was a genuine expression, that took up his whole face while never having grown in size. “No reason to get worried. If we’re gearing up, then we know what’s coming. Knowing them, they’ll either run after Gem City or we’ll aim for Crystal Falls. Either way, we’ll be ready for it.” I took that in, the logic doing little to assuade the gnawing fear. Still, it was something. “Understood. Thank you, sir.” He nodded, then affirmed, “Carry on,” before turning back to face the bridge. I almost saluted, before realizing he wouldn’t notice anyways and just walking out. I mulled over his words on the walk down to the Engineering Office. He did have a point. The simple fact that we were gathering up whoever in the 2nd Fleet we could spare meant that we knew what was coming. But even then...I couldn’t help but shiver slightly at the thought of what would happen if Gem City did get hit. Mels would be on tour for the next couple weeks, and she always brought Snow Shine with her, so they’d be fine. Thank the stars for that one. Tufani and Jua were wild cards, but if the fleet was gearing up, odds were they’d be doing the same. But...Auntie Oak...Auntie ‘Thaza... Looks like tonight would be another nightmare-ridden funfest. Maybe this time I’d actually break down and try Sleeping Meds. ...actually, no. That's not happening. Ever. Blessedly, it was a short walk from the Bridge to the Engineering Office. Once I had an assignment, I could throw myself into my work rather than think about the future. I snapped a salute to my CO as I walked in through his door, mentally smothering the urge to strangle him instead. “Petty Officer 3rd Class Star Chaser, reporting for duty.” Cam Shaft looked up at me over his reports and sneered, “Why yes, it appears you are. And on time, for once. Improvement.” Dismissively, he turned back to his reports, adding, “The Reactor has a loose panel somewhere in there. You’re on the crew to fix it up and run diagnostics after. Report in with Spark Shooter.” “Yes sir,” I replied, turning and leaving as quickly as I could. Blegh, Reactor Core repair. That meant bulky rubber suits and working rivets in the middle of what basically amounted to a controlled lightning storm. Certainly not the glamorous life I pictured when I said I wanted to be an Engineer. “Four more years,” I sighed to myself, under my breath to keep anypony else from overhearing. “Four more years, then I’ll be getting an Engineering degree of my own to wave around, courtesy of the Republican Government.” I smiled inwardly at the thought, and of the look on Cam Shaft’s little orange face when he had to sign it. “We’ll see who’s laughing then,” I muttered to myself. ‘Provided you can stay awake tonight,’ my brain reminded me.