//------------------------------// // Nerves of Steel // Story: Adventures Across Space // by zalla661 //------------------------------// Out at the edge of the Sol system the Hydra emerged from a large dark vortex. Its engines once again clanking as the nacelles went dark. The ship came to a halt as the emergency thrusters stopped it from advancing further. Octavia shook in the captains seat gripping the armrests like they were her life line. Once the ship halted, 3rd of 5 scanned the area with the assistance of Sunset Shimmer. The fire maned mare tied her hair back in a low pony tail as she continued scanning. Finding nothing but a planet and a few smaller moons she found one with a large ring around it. Big enough to hide the ship. She reasoned. "Commander." she said getting Octavia's attention. "What is it Lieutenant?" "I found a small moon with a large enough ring where we can hide the ship." she said adjusting her uniform collar. "It would behoove us to hide while we attempted to repair the ship. We're in complete disarray and need a safe place to hide." Octavia scrunched her nose, making a funny looking face to Sunset. She turned to face the main view screen tapping the chair. "Show me." The display of the ship came up on the main viewer. There was no green yet again, but now there was more yellow and red indicating damage to the ship and its systems. Octavia groaned loudly in an undignified fashion burying her face in her hooves. She couldn't stand this. She hated having so much responsibility. It was maddening. Sunset unaware of her distress started reading off the list of damaged systems as per regulations. "Main power is barely functioning, life support is operational, disruptors are down, all torpedo launchers are offline except of two starboard launchers and the main aft launcher." she paused to catch her breath. "Cargo bay is damaged badly and is sealed off. We have a plasma leak in the reactor, Ion cannon is still down, and the H-Drive is not operational anymore." "Stop!" Octavia said raising only her left hoof. "Just tell me what IS working." Sunset sighed but readjusted the computers settings to readout only functioning systems. "Main Power, previously mentioned torpedo launchers, life support," she paused at the next one. "Self destruct is still operational." she said with a shrug. "Oh, great! So we can just kill ourselves faster?! Isn't that wonderful?" the grey commander exclaimed madly spinning in her seat. "What else?" "Well, the short range comm. is down but..." she paused reading the system list again and smiled. "Long range communications are up!" "What good will that do us?" Claw said slapping his talon on the console her sat at. "We can't reach home." "Actually I'm getting a signal from the Haymaker!" Sunset beamed. "The Haymaker? Where are they?" Octavia called to her mint green friend. Lyra tapped her console bringing it to life. She sent of a signal and after a few minutes of intense silence she got a response. "I got a message to the Haymaker Commander! They're on their way to assist us!" At this everyone on the bridge cheered. Octavia felt relieved. She slumped down into her seat and allowed herself to relax once again. "Time to intercept?" "They'll be here in an hour." Lyra replied happily.' "An hour? Why so long? We got her instantaneously." Octavia said incredulously. "Perhaps the black hole was the cause of it?" Sunset offered. Octavia sat n her chair nodding. "Great so we have to stay hidden for an hour. Do we have propulsion?" 3rd of 5 clicked his wings test firing the engines. All was good. "Engines are operational Commander!" "Good. Lt. Shimmer you have the con." Octavia said walking to the turbolift. "I'm going to check on the Captain keep us hidden unless we run into trouble." Sunset saluted taking position at the captains chair while Octavia entered the lift. Seeing it was still nonoperational she opened the hatch leading to the main shaft. She took hold of the railings and slowly made her ascent three decks up. Once there she pried the doors open while she stood over the shaft three decks up. As she pried open the doors she lost her footing sending her spiraling down. Luckily her training kicked in and she reached for the railing catching herself just quickly enough to slow her fall as she hit the turbolift. Her body made a loud think that echoed trough out the main shaft. She panted heavily, her heart was racing, and she was now sweating from the sudden scare and took a minute to recollect herself. Once she fully recovered she restarted her ascent once more. Reaching her destination she pushed the slightly ajar doors and slipped inside without much effort. She took moment to check herself over. Noticing some dust on her shoulders she took a moment to sweep the dust off her uniform she always took presentation seriously even in the worst of times. Once convinced she was presentable, Octavia wandered the halls until she reached the Medbay. Upon entering she was overwhelmed by the sounds of chatter. Refugees from the doomed Jansis 12 station were aboard and all huddled in the Medbay. There were so many injured and the bay itself was in shambles. No doubt because of the recent attacks. The grey earth pony walked through the crowded bay until she found Trixie standing by a bench talking to Dr. Kane. Kane was a massive changeling standing at almost two meters tall. He wore a dark blue uniform with a red band across his left arm. He wore a beret of royal blue that bore his old posts insignia which was XIII. He turned to salute the Commander as she approached. Saluting him back her returned to his talk with Trixie. "And make sure you come back for a followup so we can make sure you're really fine afterwards." he instructed her. Nodding silently Trixie saluted him and turned to face her commanding counterpart. "So Commander?' "Hmm?" the grey mare tilted her head with a curious look at her blue CO. Trixie gave her a cheeky grin. "Tired of yelling at recruits already? Ready to have the Great and Powerful Trixie take the helm again?" The grey earth pony scoffed sticking her nose up in the most obnoxious manner with a loud harrumph. Trixie snickered to herself as Octavia growled at her not realizing the earth pony was really upset. Octavia suddenly stormed off pushing everyone aside as she made a bee line to the doors. They slipped open with a hiss and closed behind her leaving a bunch of angry confused ponies behind at her sudden outburst. Trixie had a look of shock on her face and hurried past the disgruntled group after her grey friend. Exiting the medbay Trixie craned her neck to see her friend rushing down the halls. Following close Octavia ran through the ship to her personal quarters and locked herself inside. After a quick hacking of the door lock, Trixie loved doing it even if it wasn't necessary, she opened the doors and walked past the threshold. Instantly she ducked as a potted plant flew over her head crashing into the wall behind her. She glanced around seeing Octavia glaring at her from atop her large queen-sized bed at the end of the room. To the left was a small nightstand made of metal built into the ships structure. To Trixie's right was a large bookshelf with tons of paper and hard covered books. This was Octavia's pride, her very own vintage collection of books. A large vintage lamp was to the right of the bed where six variations of cellos hung on the wall with their bows beside them. There was also a large vintage piano and several flutes and tin whistles the mare had collected over the years or were passed down from her family. The unicorn looked over at the angry earth pony who was propped at the beds edge with a hateful stare. Trixie slowly walked over to the bed as Octavia turned away and crawled under a large black comforter. The mares lower body stuck out from the cover and Trixie slowly climbed on the bed and laid beside the dark lump. She looked away humming as she gently ran her hoof over Octavia's back. The mare shuddered from the touch. "Trixie!" she screamed shooting upright glaring at her. The blue unicorn smiled slipping part of her body under the covers settling beside the grey mare. "Hey." "Hey." Trixie glanced casually around her in the dark. "You alright, Tavi?" "NO I'M NOT!" Octavia screamed hitting her head against the bed. "How do you do this so well?" Trixie looked at her confused, as Octavia threw the comforter off and on the floor. "How am I good at what?" "Commanding? Running this ship? The responsibility! Everything! How can you stand it knowing that all these lives are in your hooves!?' she screamed pulling her mane with her hooves baring her teeth. "IT'S SO NERVE RACKING!" The unicorn reared back for the outburst nearly falling off the bed. She reached for the grey pony pulling her close. At first Octavia resisted but after a few seconds she relented allowing the gentle embrace. Octavia buried her face in mares shoulder bawling like a foal. While she cried Trixie looked over at the wall at all the various instruments. She then spotted a small brass penny flute that she was very familiar with. Using her magic she levitated the flute over taking hold of it in her hooves. She used her magic then to hold the flute and patted the grey ponies mane. "Octy, it's fine. I know you were under a lot of stress. It's been tough the last 24 hours." Trixie said kissing her cheek. "It's not fine Trixie." she hissed. "I'm not cut out for this." Hearing her friend lose all faith in herself made Trixie burn inside. She hated seeing someone she cared for give up. She wrapped her arms around the mares waist pulling her hips closer making Octavia have to wrap her legs around her waist. This action made the grey mare smile as she latched her lips to Trixie's. The two shared a brief kiss before parting. Octavia saw the unicorns horn was glowing and saw the flute she was holding in her magic. "You still play, Captain?" she asked kissing her again. Trixie grinned kissing back. 'I do once in a while. Do you still play the piano?" "I do." Octavia replied detaching herself from Trixie. She climbed down from the bed, slowly making her way to the old piano. It was old but well kept. She opened the lid revealing the ivory colored keys beneath. She sat by the piano and tested a few keys of varying range. Once she finished testing them she began to play Bethoovens Moonlight Sonata. For several minutes Octavia played, her eyes were closed and her hooves moved like they had done this since the day she was born. Her hooves hit each key with great precision of a master and the melody played was that of a small harmonic symphony to Trixie. The unicorn sat at the beds edge smiling as she listened to her friend play. Halfway through the piece Trixie stood up and took a seat beside the earth pony who stopped playing abruptly. She glanced over to her friend who took the penny flute in her magical field placing it at her lips. And she played an old melody she knew from long ago.\ Now it was Octavia's turn to watch in awe as the mare played. As the unicorn played the flute, it was enhanced by her magic to reach a perfect level of resonance, as though it were being played in a empty grand hall. Once she finished and was about to loop her song Octavia stepped in playing the piano in a similar fashion. The two leaned into each other their eyes closed, as they played along in perfect harmony. The worries of the galaxy temporarily forgotten as they played in bliss. Trixie thought about a lot of things as she played. But no matter what her thoughts always landed back on Octavia. She knew the earth pony mare cared for her, even loved her. But deep down she felt conflicted on whether to act on these feelings or hold them back. In either case she took this time to bond with the mare as they played together without a care in the world. Time slowed down and both could feel the others presence like they were connected through the cosmos. It was that perfect moment when all seemed right in perfect harmony and all seemed to come to a standstill. And they loved it.