“You seem a little under the weather, what’s the matter?”
“Hidden Scoop is dead.”
“The conspiracy theorist?”
“Yeah, apparently she died of a heart attack, which of course is ‘completely unrelated’ to the case she was chasing. I’ll give you two guesses which.”
“Shit.”
-3357 E.C. Military records go missing from government archives. Personnel involved in S.T.A.R.S. program disappear without a trace.

“You know, I’m honestly surprised that you’re still here,” I said as a flame haired buck crossed the living area toward the ladder well. Estoc paused at my comment casually glancing over in my direction. It really was a surprise to me. Despite landing in a heavily populated sector with plenty of more qualified pilots to carry him, the flame-haired buck decided to stick it out on the Bandit. “I figured you would have left the moment we set down.”

We were well on our way back to Winter’s Edge, mostly to drop off Fritter’s family, who had found a nice little spot in the cargo hold to set up some bedding while the ship was underway. Granted, the omnipresent reek of my couch had probably influenced their decision, but even that smell wasn’t enough to keep the little filly at bay for long, who had taken a strong liking to watching cartoons on the holoprojector we’d repurposed into a makeshift TV. Jess took mock offense to the intrusion, arguing at length with the little filly about who should control the channel, and losing spectacularly. That filly had a future in politics.

Estoc staying with us, on the other hoof, surprised me greatly. I had fully expected him to book the first shuttle out of the Core to the NSR, or call in some of his big wig subordinates to come pick him up. Not that I’m one to complain seeing as soon as we landed he made good on his word and paid me for helping him finish his mission. All told, I ended up a cool six thousand bits in the black. It would have been more, but Jess and Nightshade insisted on getting a cut for their roles in the mission. I was happy to share, really. Even if they did take a sizeable portion of the job reward, I wasn’t about to turn Junkyard and screw them over. For all we’d been through together, they deserved the payday just as much as I did. I offered Tick some too, as a matter of principle, but she declined it, so I split her portion among the rest of us.

Estoc flashed me another one of his practiced smiles. “I don’t see why you should be so surprised,” he said. “You know my circumstances, and I’m not about to book another pilot I can’t trust.”

Estoc inclined his head. “After a sort. You have proven yourself to be a competent pilot, if a bit abrasive, and then there’s the matter of that AI,” he said, suddenly taking a more serious tone. “I’m not about to let some random spacer walk away with one of the greatest historical finds in centuries. That program is a goldmine of information.”

“I do have a name, you know?” Tex chimed in through the intercom, annoyed. My WAND flared and her amber image appeared between us.

Estoc coughed. “My apologies, Miss…Tex, it’s just that you’re such a significant achievement in Equine science that it’s hard to restrain myself. I do hope you’ll be open to discussing some things later? perhaps?”

“Maybe,” Tex said warily. “But, I really don’t want a repeat of that virus incident again. Who knows what I could lose next?”

Estoc’s smile faded a little, but he took it in stride, “Of course,” He said, nodding to the amber hologram, before returning his attention to me. “In any case, Horizon, I hope you don’t mind that we continue journeying together.”

“Naturally,” he said with a nod. “You will be well-paid for you services, that I can guarantee you.” He smiled. “In the meantime I suppose it would be in my best interest to lay low for the time being. If my hunch is correct, the attack on my ship was probably the start of a coup back in my territory. So I’ll need some time to survey the situation and plan my return carefully. Your broker friend may be able to help with that. Fritter? wasn’t it?”

“I think he can introduce himself,” I replied. “We don’t really stand on etiquette out here, if you haven’t figured that out already.”

Estoc chuckled quietly. “As I am ever reminded,” he replied. With a last nod, he stepped up to the ladderwell and disappeared up the steps.

“He’s too direct. Like, he’s just talking to people to get something out of them,” Tex said, frowning. “He tries to hide it with good manners but… I don’t know, I just don’t like the way he looks at me, sometimes.”

My smile fell a little bit. I suppose it was risky keeping Tex with me. Especially since she represented something that the Prince wanted bad. Maybe I should start watching my back.

“He’s a client,” I said, suddenly not feeling as comfortable as I had before, “as long as he doesn’t cause trouble and keeps paying, I don’t have an issue with him.” Yet. I added mentally.

Tex sighed, “Whatever. I’m bored. I’m gonna go find that filly again, she’s fun.”

“Just don’t break anything this time,” I said. A moment later Tex disappeared.

“You know, for a random spacer, you certainly keep some high-profile company,” a silky, musical voice said. I turned idly toward the cargo hold to see Pearl coming through the hatch.

She laughed. “And that’s probably why they tolerate you,” she said, and then looked toward the ladderwell after Estoc. “Still, I never quite imagined I would see the Prince of the Morningstar and the first heir of Clock Industries in the same room together again—much less, travelling together.”

She smiled. “Of course! Their wedding was supposed to be one of the biggest events in the Core.” Pearl stared into the distance briefly, as if remembering, “Many of the highest members of society were invited, including the PC ambassador for political reasons. It was my second year on the job, at the time.” She laughed, the noise sounding like bells in my ear. “Oh, what a scandal that turned out to be. The bride stopped in the doorway, looked at her father, and then told him to go fuck himself.”

“I know what you’re thinking, and yes, she did.” The pegasus laughed. “After she said it the room was so silent you’d have thought someone died! Come to think of it, I believe the Duchess of Qilin nearly did. She choked on an olive she had filched from the caterers. But even with Duchess choking there, Lady Clock didn’t care. She simply turned in the doorway and trotted out, never to be seen in public again.” Pearl shook her head. “Everypony was talking about it for months after. I don’t think her father ever saved face after that debacle. It certainly has become a conversation topic at certain dinners every year.”

“I’ll have to ask her about that some time,” I said, more to myself than anyone else.

“You should,” she said with a gracious nod. “I’m sure it would make for excellent conversation, if nothing else.”

“In any case, Captain, do you know when we will be arriving? My daughter has never been very good about staying in one place for too long.”

That was an understatement. In what little time we had spent here she had already broken six different machines, much to Tick’s horror, and had nearly stranded us in deep space when she wandered a little too close to the Sparkle Drive. Energetic, yes. Rambunctious, definitely. Shy? Not as much as I had first thought. Once she came out of her shell, she came out in a big way. And on that note, Tex served as an excellent ice-breaker. When Tex came out and said hell, the filly’s eyes went so wide I could have probably driven a ship through her pupils. The chaos that followed is why there was now a dent in ceiling over my couch. Getting the filly off my ship was high on my list of priorities, both for our safety and my sanity.

“We should be arriving some time this evening,” I said. “I’m sorry if the accommodations aren’t exactly first class. The Bandit is still a work in progress.”

Pearl laughed. “You haven’t seen some of the hotels I’ve been to. Trust me when I say that what you have provided is perfectly fine.”

Considering all I really had to give her were a few blankets and sleeping bags, that was saying something. Of course she was probably just saying that to ease my guilt.

She nodded and left, retreating back into the cargohold. Taking a breath, I sat back on the couch and went back to my nap.

True to my word, within the day we finally arrived home at Winter’s Edge. With a quick bout of gab between myself and the tower I brought us in for a steady landing and shot a message off to Fritter to meet us at the docks. He agreed, and by the time I the docking clamps had finished locking us in place, I could easily see him waving eagerly on the platform below, beaming like the lovable idiot he was.

I locked up, set the ship into low power mode, and joined the others on our way out, landing on the platform just in time to see something special.

For a brief moment, Nutmeg gasped, freezing on the platform, and staring wide-eyed at the peach pegasus waiting for them. “Daddy!” The filly was off like a shot, homing in on Fritter and colliding with him in a massive hug. His wings shot wide for balance, and together they spun in place, Fritter enfolding the little filly with his wings while kissing his daughter on the forehead. The beatific smile on Fritter’s face practically glowed as he leaned into the embrace, nuzzling the side of her neck and reaching his legs around her barrel to give her a gentle squeeze.

“Hey pumpkin. It’s been a while, huh?” Fritter said, breaking the embrace just enough to look at his daughter with pride, “and look at you!” He said cheerfully, “you’re getting so big now! Pretty soon I bet you’ll be turning all the heads in New Canterlot.”

Fritter laughed, “Yep! And I hope they stay that way.” The comment earned him a swat on the shoulder from his wife, who had just pulled up beside him.

“Behave, darling,” Pearl said, retracting her wing and folding it at her side, “And besides, where’s mine?”

They both smiled, and leaned in for a tender kiss. When they broke, they nuzzled, and Pearl joined the hug that the filly simply wouldn’t let go.

I’d never known what it was like to see someone with stars in their eyes before then. Fritter wore but a simple, broad smile, but it held a happiness in it that seemed to make the world around him slow down. Everything just seemed like it wasn’t really important any more. It was just the three of them, like they were simply alone on the platform and everything was right with the world. The feeling had presence, a weight, and it radiated between them with a warmth like fire.

I’d be lying I said I didn’t envy him. Take away everything he’d ever accomplished, all his things, his health, his wealth, even flight, and he’d still be rich.

“Aw…” Tick said, as we watched the three catch up, “they’re so cute!”

“I think I’m gonna go freshen up,” I said, turning to the others. Truth be told I probably needed a shower badly.

Okay, so, definitely needed a shower. “Metaphorically or literally speaking?”

“Both,” Jess laughed, and then turned to Tick, “want to hit up those spas again, Tick?”

“I don’t suppose you know a few places to get some sleep around here, would you? Nightshade?” I overheard Estoc ask as the others noisily broke away toward the wide catwalk leading to the station proper.

“Nope. It’s just you,” I replied. Reaching up, I took off my WAND and stuffed it inside my pack. Distantly, I could hear the Tex’s muffled yells of indignation coming from the earbuds. With a smile I joined the others heading back into the station.

There wasn’t much left for me to do after that. I dropped in to thank Joe for getting the apartment set up and reassured him that his job was next on my list. Having run the errand for Fritter seemed to ameliorate him a little bit, but I could tell he was getting at least a little testy at not having his product yet. Conversation shifted from there into what I needed to do in order to register the apartment to me. After I had mentioned it to Fritter, Joe went ahead with getting the paperwork I needed to settle in prepared, and, by the time I finally plopped down inside my brand new apartment, I had a stack of paper about a foot high to sort through. Most of it could wait until later, however, so I only signed off on the few digital signatures I needed to get sorted and promised myself to look at the rest tomorrow. I took a nice, long shower and then crashed hard, enjoying for the first time my own soft bed, and pillows that were well and truly mine.

It was home. It felt like home. I was home. And it was awesome. I drifted off into the best sleep I’d had in years.

I slept in. The next morning I got up and stretched, ran through some calisthenics in the living room, watched the news on the holo, you know, normal things. Well as normal as could be done when you had an AI hijacking everything for her own amusement.

“Look! Look! I can make his face go all blaaagh!” Tex shouted through the speakers. The talking head on the news distorted as his jaw seemingly unhinged, opening wide to form a gap in the transmission. “I think he’s trying to tell you something!” The mouth moved in time with the words, complete with her own special attempt to make the whole thing sound spooky, “Horizon. Horiiiiiizoooon. Put on your WAAAAAND. Unleash me, Horizon! UNLEASH MEEEEE!”

I snorted. “Wow, they’ve really improved the news segments these days,” I wondered aloud. “I could watch this all day.”

“Oh! Come on!” Tex shouted back. “Please? I’m bored out of my mind in here!” Tex popped back into view, taking a position in all of her short glory. “At least find me a book or something?”

In true color, tex looked… different. Away from the amber glow of my WAND, she slowly shifted from shade to shade, alternating between pink and purple, then blue and magenta and all of the other colors of the rainbow seemingly at random. What I did notice, however, was that she heavily favored purple. She seemed to fade in and out of it while she shifted to the other colors.

“A book? Can’t you just download one off the M-Net? Why do you even need to read anyway?”

The hologram blushed. “No! I mean, well, no. I can connect to the M-Net, it’s just that everything is all wrong!” Tex complained, “All my servers are gone, everything is all weird and in the wrong place, and every time I try to log into any of my older systems they try to lock me out! I mean, sure, I understand being a little upset that I’ve been gone for so long but they could at least spare me the cold shoulder!” Tex moaned, pacing back and forth across my living room while I watched from the sofa. “I can connect just fine when you’re with me since I can just piggyback off of your credentials, but the moment I try and use my own I get locked out! I just can’t figure out what the problem is!” She plopped down, blowing a few strands of imaginary hair out of her face. “So yeah, I can’t connect to the M-Net by myself. Which means no updates, no backups, and-” she sighed, her ears drooping, “no books.”

“I’m still struggling to wrap my head around the idea that you read books for fun,” I said.

“Hey, just because I can read them in less than a second doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy them!” Tex replied.

I smirked as I picked up my WAND and started strapping it on. “Yes ma’am.” My smile faded a little when I started noticing some little inconsistencies in the usual startup routine.

“Uh, Tex?” I said, bringing up the utility programs to check recent changes. My smile was gone now. Several programs were missing. Rather important ones, actually. “Have you been making changes on my WAND?”

“Yeah. Sorry, I just needed a little extra room! Honest! I wanted to unpack a few things so I could use a few of my old functions, so I might have, um, deleted a few things to make space.”

“Nothing too important! I mean, most of it was pretty badly coded anyway, I mean, that environmental scanning program, Blech! I could code something better in my sleep!”

“Er, right. But don’t worry! I can bring it back! Better! Even! Just, um, if you wouldn’t mind, could you like, get some more storage space or something? I’m really feeling cramped in here.

I was silent for a while. “Please tell me that doesn’t mean what I think it means.”

“Don’t worry! I’m sure there’s a vendor somewhere that can upgrade the memory! I mean, I haven’t been able to search through the station directory yet, but I’m sure there’s something here! Every station has one!”

“I’ll get you more storage, alright? Just, please, don’t delete anything else. The last thing I need is for my WAND turning into a fancy paperweight,” I said.

Tex blew a raspberry, “Oh, no worry of that. As long as I’m here I can keep running the critical systems no problem! Heck, I could probably boot it off my main program if I wanted to! I wonder what would happen if I tried that…”

“Ha, ha.” Tex rolled her eyes, “I’ll work on some replacements for your programs. Sorry that I, um, deleted them.”

“Fair is fair.” I replied, and then opened up the messenger program, which, mercifully, hadn’t been touched.

There was no real news to report. Somehow, Estoc had gotten a hold of my contact information and was trying to set up an appointment where he could talk to Tex again. I pushed that request off to the side while I scrolled through the rest. Jess wanted to get together for that phone call to Prism; Tick wanted to go shopping for some parts, though she could probably do that on her own time; and Fritter wanted me to drop by his stand later in the day to talk business. Immediately, however, I had nothing to do. I shot off a message to Jess to arrange a time for our call, and then sat back down on the couch. Faced with the terrifying prospect of free time, I decided to make the most of it, and at least get some preening done. Luna knew I needed it.

I worked until my wings were in good shape. The sheathes in my flight suit had made a real mess of them, especially in my secondaries where the wings met the joints. Setting them in order took a while, but felt good, and waxing the feathers always made me feel like a new pegasus afterward. Satisfied, I suited back up, but left the sheathes off. After all, there was no sense in ruining a good preen so quickly.

After I was done, I still had time to kill. Jess still hadn’t responded to my request, and I dutifully ignored the one from Estoc. I wasn’t exactly eager to sit and listen to him grill Tex for another few hours. Instead, I dropped by the entertainment district and did a little shopping, first for some basic ship supplies, and also for Tex’s upgrade. She helped me with the purchase, pointing out which of the new modules would be compatible with my WAND, much to the astonishment of the mare behind the counter. A few of the other patrons stopped to gawk as well, and Tex enjoyed the attention. I played chauffeur. I paid for the memory upgrade, although not before cringing at the price tag, and the clerk installed it for me. Once I had it back, Tex immediately got to work on ‘unpacking’ or whatever. Whatever she did, she seemed pleased with herself. By the time we were done, It was time to check in with Fritter.

There was a line at Fritter’s stand—a very, very long line. Bewildered, I stared at the scene wondering just what in Equestria had happened to warrant this. Ignoring the line, I got some air for a moment to look over the crowd, and traced it back to where I knew Fritter was sitting.

To say that Fritter was busy, would have been an understatement. Fritter was getting his ass kicked. The poor buck was scrambling back and forth at his cart, struggling to fill orders. Knowing that I’d never push through the crowd of earth ponies below me, I gently hovered my way over, ignoring the frustrated glares of the ponies I passed.

“Fritter, what the heck is going on here?” I asked, settling into a hover just over his cart.

Fritter looked up at me with a broad grin, a little bit of lather on his neck. “Amazing? right? I found the old recipe my ma used to make when I was little. Well, re-figured out, anyway.”

“Yes, It’s amazing what can happen when you remember to label everything correctly,” His wife said, popping up from the oven she was working at with a fresh batch of fritters floating in her WAND’s TK. The ponies in front watched the tray with hungry eyes as she set it down to cool. “This lovable idiot mixed up the salt with the baking soda.” She said, swatting Fritter with a wing.

Well that explained a lot. Especially the smell. Whatever was on that tray smelled divine. I had already eaten, and my mouth was still watering. I had to swallow before I could continue. “I take it now is a bit of a bad time then?”

Fritter laughed, “A little bit, yeah. How about this, why don’t you swing by my apartment a little later? We can talk shop then. That’s what I’m having Jess do, too.”

“Daddy! I got the new orders ready!” Nutmeg shouted, pulling into a hover next to me and handing off a notepad to him. Fritter’s head turned to accept the present. And he smiled as he looked the new list over.

Later turned out to be much later. Fritter couldn’t get away from his stand until much later than evening and I was stuck wandering the halls in the meantime. I entertained myself well enough, however. I used the time to get the rest of my paperwork for the apartment squared away and then stopped by Joe’s place to ask him where I should drop it off. Directions in tow, I finalized the payments and paid the first few months of rent and a short while later I walked out of the government office with the deed to the apartment and a small bottle of apple cider to celebrate the occasion. I stocked the fridge with some foods that would last a while and then by the time I was done with my shopping, I received a message from Fritter saying he was ready to see me, as well as directions to his place. I took a moment to put the last of my groceries into the fridge and then headed out to meet him.

It became increasingly obvious as I navigated the tight corridors of the earth pony station that wherever Fritter lived, it was in fact in one of the more decent areas of the station. While not well-off by any stretch of the imagination, the corridors were clean, the local amenities seemed to be kept in good repair, and security teams that occasionally wandered the halls had a look of boredom about them, and maybe a few donuts too. After about twenty minutes of searching, and a bit of prodding from Tex, I finally found it near a lift closer to the utility district, not too far from the food court where he usually set up shop. I punched in the doorcode he had sent me with his message and the door slid neatly open, making a small, pleasant chime in the process.

By the looks of things, I wasn’t the first pony there. Not by a long shot. For whatever reason, most of the crew had showed save Nightshade. Jess came in some relaxed wear while Tick had finally changed out of her jumper into some fresh clothing. I had to double-take at that. I had grown so accustomed to the ugly green thing that I had never considered what else she might wear. Tick had settled on a red scarf, that hung in a loose knot around her neck and went nicely with her coat, although, for whatever reason, I still noticed a wrench stuck in some of the lower folds of the knot. The prince was there as well and, by the look of the datapad he held in his WAND’s magic and the frown on his face, had already completed his business.

Fritter’s home was surprisingly cozy. Far from the utilitarian style I had come to expect from ponies like Nightshade, Fritter’s home was absolutely rife with family paraphernalia, with at least one family photo of him and his wife adorning nearly every wall and end table, and a few more with their most recent addition. A plush couch and set of chair had been set up in the living room, alongside a low table with a pile of low-end electronics on top, where Tick was showing the little filly how to put the pile of whatever it was back together. The filly seemed interested to a degree, although I think she was more taken with Tick’s display of magic than the subject matter. Across from them, another holoprojector sat inactive on top of a small entertainment center, with several movies laying around its base and a laptop hooked up next to it. Probably the best part of his apartment was the extra room. The apartment had a loft. The ceiling was higher than most, which gave plenty of vertical space for a pegasus to at least stretch their wings in, and helped alleviate the otherwise claustrophobic corridors the station seemed plagued with. With a good night's rest, a good meal, and a clean body, the extra space made me feel very comfortable.

He smiled back. “I know? Right? It took me a while to build up to this, but I think it was worth it in the end. Pearl and I needed a place where we could stretch our wings after a long day of work, and this place just happened to go on the market around the time I got the word she was coming back from her assignment. So, I got in on it as quick as I could and managed to snag it before somepony else came along. Good thing too, the last place was not even half this size and built like a coffin.”

I shuddered. I’d heard stories about the smaller rooms onboard some stations, usually given to long term ponies who had little in the way of resources. They served as a place to sleep and little else. There wasn’t room for anything else. They might have been popular among some earth pony bachelors, but you give only six feet of living space to a pegasus and they’ll go nuts in a hurry.

Fritter smiled and rubbed his neck with a hoof. “Thanks, sorry about earlier, by the way. Business is always good when my wife comes back to visit, but I wasn’t expecting it to be that good.”

“Seriously,” I replied. “I think I saw the line curving around the corridors.”

Fritter’s face lit up. “Oh yeah! Talk about crazy? Huh? Oh, by the way, I saved you one if you want it? It might be a little cold now, but-” He bent back into his fridge, setting out a plate with a fritter on it in front of me. Hesitantly, I took a sniff before taking a small cautious bite.

“Wow, it actually doesn’t taste like cardboard.” I said, before scarfing down the rest of it. Even cold, it was actually quite good. Somehow he’d managed to keep the tartness of the apples after cooking without drowning it out with sugar.

Fritter laughed, “Yeah… I’m terrible when it comes to keeping track of my ingredients, so it helps a lot when I have somepony to help me sort them out correctly.” Fritter glanced over to his wife, who was sitting next to Tickintime while she was giving Nutmeg a lesson. He smiled that smile again. Not the annoying one, but the one that spoke of a buck who had everything in the world. “I’d lose my own head if it weren’t for her.”

Pearl looked up from Nutmeg’s impromptu project and smiled back. “Oh, I wouldn’t say lose it, but definitely put in on backwards in the morning,” she tittered.

Fritter chuckled, taking a breath and exhaling, before looking at me with a satisfied grin. “I’m tellin you Horizon. Married life? There’s nothing like it.”

“Well, enough stalling, I suppose. Honey? Could you take Nutmeg over to her room for a bit? I need to talk business with some friends really quick.”

Pearl’s smile faded into a thin line. “I thought you said you were going to give up the trade.”

Fritter winced, “I was, but you know how well the stand pays when you’re not around.”

She gave him a look that said something similar to, we’re talking about this later, before sighing. “Alright, but you better be careful. Our daughter needs a father who is around for her college graduation.”

Pearl huffed, “It’s best to plan ahead, dear.” She turned. “Meg? Honey, why don’t we take this little project to your room? I’m sure you’ll have a lot more space to work on it there.”

Nutmeg looked up. “Aw… but mom! I’m almost done with this… uh, thing!” She pointed to the pile of parts on the table next to where Tickintime was sitting. Tick simply passed Pearl a knowing smirk.

“I know dear, it’s just for a moment. Daddy has some business to take care of. That’s all.”

Pearl put on a patient smile, “Yes we did, but sometimes we adults like to talk about work that little fillies aren’t quite ready to hear about yet.”

“Fine,” Nutmeg grumbled. Together, Pearl led the little filly down the abode’s short hallway and out of sight.

“She’s really smart for her age.” Tick said, admiring the little filly as she rounded the corner, before glancing back down at the half completed project sitting on the table. “Give her enough time, and I think she might make a good tech.”

Fritter laughed. “Well, coming from a pony like you I suppose that’s a great compliment. It’ll be a wonder if I can afford the training for her, though.”

Tickintime smiled wryly. “Oh, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with that.”

Fritter shrugged trotting over to his laptop and turning on his projector. “Maybe not, if all of you keep giving me so much work.” He laughed, “ Anyway, now that everypony’s here we can start. Onto business!”

The holo came to life, displaying a short list of programs as well as a Fritter’s desktop and a few personal folders. With a few keystrokes, the first bit came up. It was a blank document.

“Okay so, first things first. Horizon, I’d like you to update me on what happened to that convoy. Your friend over there already told me most of it, but I’d like your side of things as well.”

I looked at the document and then back at Fritter, who was waiting expectantly for my response. I opened my mouth.

“Well, there’s not much to tell, really. We found an emergency distress signal out near the coordinates you sent me, and followed it to find the prince over there.” I indicated where Estoc was standing with his WAND glowing, frowning at whatever he was reading.

At the mention of his title, the prince lifted his head and set the datapad aside before trotting up.

“I think the title may have slipped my mind at some point.” Estoc said with a practiced smile and then extended his hoof toward Fritter. “Estoc Morningstar, pleasure to meet you.”

Fritter stared at him, and at the proffered hoof before hesitantly bumping it. “Cherry Fritter,” he replied, uncertainty evident in his voice. “Sorry about the mess, I didn’t know you were-”

“It’s not a problem,” Estoc replied. “If anything I should be grateful to you for sending your friend here to come and get me. And many thanks as well for the information you’ve given me. It has been very… enlightening.”

Fritter glanced between myself and Estoc, before finally settling his gaze on me. With wide eyes Fritter said, “Damn, Horizon, you sure have a knack for finding ponies.”

“It’s not intentional, if that’s what you’re thinking,” I replied. “Like I said, we just picked up a distress beacon out in the black and came to help. That’s all.”

Fritter frowned, glancing away for a moment while he thought. “Interesting.”

Fritter shook his head, “I’ll be honest, I have no idea. The client only wanted to know about what happened to the convoy. But if what your friend suggested to me a little while back is true, then I’m starting to doubt his intentions.”

“So, no. I’m not getting paid,” I sighed. Well I least I got paid by the prince. That was a bonus.

Fritter looked at Estoc, who had resumed his browsing in the corner, and frowned “That my pilot found the convoy, and that it was destroyed. He never specified if there were any survivors. That should satisfy him, at least.”

Fritter blinked, “By the way, did you find what they were looking for?” He asked.

“Awesome! So was it good salvage? At least you could sell that, right?” He asked eagerly.

“Extraction would have been… difficult.” I said, “we found the ship he was looking for, but it wasn’t exactly accessible. His ghost was in the middle of a pretty dense asteroid belt.”

I shook my head. “Tell me about it. I don’t really know what these star things are, but it sure was a hell of a lot of trouble to find it.”

Fritter sat down. “Well duh! They’re one of the greatest mysteries in history! And you found one?”

“Well, technically he found it.” I pointed to Estoc, who had started watching us again with interest. “I just helped him get there.”

Fritter merely gaped. “Found a star.” He mouthed. “Well, shit. What… what were you able to find? Anything?”

“One of the greatest wonders of Equine engineering, and you just… looked at it,” he stated. “No boarding to find cool stuff or anything like that?”

I fixed him with a frown, “With my luck, do you honestly expect me to risk something that stupid again?”

Fritter frowned and sighed, “No, I suppose not.” He chuckled. “You looked at it. Nothing else?”

I smirked, “well I suppose there was one other thing. Tex? you can come out now.”

Silence. Fritter’s expression went from eager, to uncertain, to skeptical. My smirk fell.

Oh, you know, catching up on some reading. I figure I might as well reread my other series while I wait for you guys to do your thing. Why, do you need me?

“Uh, Horizon? Jokes are funny and all, but the timing on this one kinda sucks.” Fritter said, eyeing me warily.

Fritter’s jaw dropped. Over on the couch, Tick groaned, turning away from the filly in a huff.

“Yep! Well, sorta.” Tex replied. “I think I might be closer to an artificial lifeform, but.. I’m not sure if that really fits either.” The filly said, rubbing her chin with her nonexistent hoof.

“And it is getting very tired of being called that particular pronoun,” Tex replied irritably. “I’m a mare. MARE. Not just some stupid little program.” Tex huffed, then blinked, “I’m sorry, what were we talking about again?”

“I… uh. Wow, I can’t remember anything I was going to say.” Fritter admitted sheepishly.

“Then how about I start and save you the trouble, then,” I interrupted. “I got a call from Chance as soon as I got back in Civilized space. He said he contacted you?”

Fritter brightened, still put off a little by the floating apparition beside us, but seemed to take it in stride. “Yes! Actually. He sent me a whole lot of stuff to work on too. Normally I wouldn’t take on something like this, but since it involved you somewhat I made an exception.” His smile fell, “I’m not so sure I should have.”

Fritter hit a key on his keyboard. Immediately images started popping up. They weren’t pretty. They looked like crime scene photos of victims taken by police, each dated differently. Tick gasped, turning various shades of green, while Jess looked on with interest.

“My word,” Estoc said, looking away from his datapad toward the images on the holo.

“Yeah, not cool.” He said. “These were all taken from last week, from various sources around the empires. Or at least that is what my newer contacts have been feeding me.”

Fritter nodded. “Yeah. Apparently he was having quite a few of his ponies looking into this whole thing before his murder, and it looks like this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

“So he poked his nose where it didn’t belong, and someone whacked him for it?” Jess suggested.

“And that’s exactly why I don’t want you working on things like this.” Pearl said, as she walked back into the room with a frown. “Information is dangerous, Cherry.”

Fritter sighed. “I know, honey, I know. But just ignoring a problem isn’t going to make it better either, especially when it’s personal.”

Pearl gave him a look. “What do you mean it’s personal? What do any of these ponies have to do with-”

Fritter gave her a look back, this one seeming very tired. “They’re faders, Pearl. The victims are all faders, or related to them.”

Pearl’s face drained as her eyes widened. So did mine. It didn’t take me long to make the connection. Somepony beat the odds.

Fritter grimaced. “Yeah.” Fritter looked at me, wearing a tired expression. “The details Chance sent me lined up with what my contacts have been sending. There’s definitely something going on, and somepony, probably a group, for that matter, has been actively hunting faders. Now there’s a lot of questions flying around. Other brokers on the M-Net have been throwing around all kinds of different theories, but the question that sticks out to me is, why changelings?”

“Why not?” Estoc interrupted. “Short of a hard physical impact there is not much that can detect a changeling in disguise. If they were so inclined they could be the perfect assassins. Maybe someone is paying them? Or using them to replace others?”

“But if they were replacing ponies, why murder them?” Jess countered. “It's against changeling M.O. Foalnap them, sure. I’ve busted up a ring of changeling hideouts once or twice, and those pods they haven’t aren’t just for show. They keep their victims safe so they can drain them. They’re no use to them dead, and not to mention, there are rogue drones to consider. Maybe some queen went nutso and her swarm turned on her. Are you sure this isn’t just a fluke?” She asked.

Fritter shook his head. “Positive. The more I look, the more I’m finding, and the numbers are starting to get very worrisome.”

Fritter looked at the images on the holo with a worried frown. “Hundreds, possibly thousands. I’ve been getting about six to ten new leads a day, and almost half of them have been cold cases. Whatever this is, it’s not new.”

“Indeed.” Estoc said, “When I get back to the NSR, I think I’m going to have some of my own ponies look into this as well. They might not pose a threat to me, but I take the safety of my House very seriously.”

Fritter shook his head. “It’s only been a couple of days. I’ll need time to sort through it all and more is coming in every day.”

Fritter looked at the filly and grinned. “You know, I bet you’re right about that. I’d love a helping hoof.” His eyes widened. “Oh! Speaking of, I still have that cube of yours Horizon.”

Fritter grabbed the storage cube from a nearby shelf and set it on the coffee table.

He laughed nervously. “Actually, I couldn’t crack it.” He coughed. “Neither could anyone else. All the ponies I talked to couldn’t do anything with it either.”

“Well duh,” Tex said, interrupting him. “It doesn’t have any power silly. It might as well be a brick.”

Tex passed him a look. “Of course I do! They just need power and the right magical signature and they’ll pop right open. Don’t tell me you don’t have a reader for one of these things, they’re practically standard models!”

“Actually, use of storage cubes fell out of practice a few hundred years ago,” Tick said. “They were too finicky, and kept permanently locking out their own users. All the ones you find now are just relics. My mentor used to have one, but it wasn’t exactly in working condition. Either way, it’s all crystal drives, now.”

“Well, if you’re right about that, uh, Tex, maybe we could find a reader in an old tech shop?” Fritter suggested.

“I doubt it, but maybe,” Tick said, “I know of a couple of old places back in the Core that sold old tech like that.” She frowned. “I don’t know if they’re still in business, though.”

Fritter nodded. “But this is the easier kind. Finding old tech in a shop? No problem. Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now. Oh, and Jess, I’ve got info for you on your ship. Possible candidates. If you can identify one of them I can narrow it down some more for you.”

Fritter shut down his laptop, and settled to the ground. “And that’s that. Now I’m hate to boot you all out, but it’s getting a little late and I need to put the filly to bed soon.”

“Understandable, of course.” Estoc said, straightening his outfit. “I still need to make reservations for the night anyway.”

Several murmurs of agreement went out and we all took our leave. On my way out Fritter pulled me aside at the door and handed me a small data fob.

“Alone,” He simply replied and then shut the door behind him. I got his meaning shortly afterward.

It was late by the time I got back to my apartment. My apartment. The thought of it still felt good. Setting aside my flight suit, I took the fob and then used my WAND to access it while Tex was off playing with the holo.

My feed lit up with a few new messages, and several video files. I opened the messages first and looked up the one that was marked ‘read first’.

Okay Horizon. I got word back from my contact on Nightshade. She sent me more evidence, and boy is there a lot of it. You need to see this. -SZ

Attached were several video files with a smattering of dates ranging anywhere from three to fifteen years ago and beyond. Walking over to the TV, I sent the oldest file to the receiver, and primed it.

“Hey Tex, could step aside a moment, I need to take a look at something?” I said.

The filly's image looked at me funny as she shifted out of the way and left the holo alone. “What, this file? Uh, sure okay.” A look of understanding passed on her face and she frowned. “Wait, why are you snooping on your friends? That’s not a very nice thing to do. If your friend knew, I’m pretty sure he’d be upset with you. Friends don’t spy on each other.”

Really, there was no point in hiding anything from her. Tex could practically read my mind, and definitely my mail. I sighed.

“I’m doing this because I’m concerned, Tex. There’s a lot Nightshade is hiding, and I’m not sure if it’s good,” I said.

“Kind of hypocritical, isn’t it? I mean I did hear about that conversation you had with Ms. Clock, you know.”

Ouch. Yeah, getting called out on your bullshit kinda stings. “That’s… different.” I said weakly.

“No, it’s not.” Tex replied. “Either fess up, or I’m gonna tell him.”

The filly paused. “Well… I guess. But if it turns out to be nothing, I’m calling you out.”

The first video started playing. Any thought of whatever else might have been on my mind went straight out the airlock.

Wherever the place was, it was planetside. I’d seen images before, whether on the news or in movies or holofeeds, but the distinctive horizon line and weather patterns told me that the weather was natural. It was also night. A starry sky could be seen above the horizon, partially blocked by the light of the streetlamps below, and the shadowed alley where the camera was pointing. Judging by the number of buildings it was definitely in one of the more populous cities, but where and when was anypony’s guess. In the dark, I could just make out the outlines of a pair of ponies, one lying on the ground, and the other standing over the other.

A thick, wet cough sounded, followed by a splattering noise that made my stomach churn.

“You… sick. Fucking traitor.” I couldn’t identify just who exactly had spoken, but I would have bet money on who it probably was. The pony on the ground was likely badly injured.

The other pony, the standing one, laughed. “I’m the sick one?” He said. His voice was rich and masculine, but carried a certain, smoky texture to it that seemed vaguely familiar.”I didn’t spend my entire life chasing down unicorns to slaughter them in their sleep.”

Another cough. Another splat. The pony on the ground gasped for air and took a lungful. “Hah. Those fucking horns deserved it. Walk around like they own the fucking place.” he coughed. “All we did was put em where they belong.”

“Yeah, yeah, and I’m sure they’re all so thankful while they damn you from the grave.”

“Fuck you, Shady. You’re a shitstain on order. Lucky for your kids they’re so promising or else you wouldn’t be the only shitwipe we’d have to kill. GAAK!”

The camera caught motion as the standing pony picked up the pony on the ground and slammed him into the nearby alley wall with a meaty thud. The standing pony leaned in closer

“The fact that my fillies are so promising is exactly why I do this. I joined the program because I wanted to protect my family. But instead of protecting them, all I did was drag them into this.”

“Hah! What? Can’t stand the irony that they joined the program too? They’re moving up fast, I heard they work great together. You should be proud.”

“Proud they’re on the track to become the number one killers on the list. Hell at this rate they might even make the Roses. Maybe they’ll even take your title, ‘Nightshade’.” The wounded pony mocked.

“You’re really gonna try and do it? Aren’t you?” The wounded pony asked.

The standing pony backed up, letting the the wounded on fall back down on the ground. He stirred, shakily getting to his hooves and cautiously glancing over toward the standing one, before collapsing back down on the floor.

“A message? Hah, right. And what would this little message of yours be?” The wounded pony asked.

The standing one leaned in closer, the microphone on the camera barely picking up his next words.

A bright flash and crack sounded and for a couple of moments the camera went light blind. It adjusted, but far too slowly for my liking. By the time it cleared, I could only see a body slumped on the floor, a darker pool spreading beneath it, while just catching the other pony as he disappeared around the corner, just barely illuminated by the lamplight to be visible. It was enough to see the stallion’s cutiemark. A purple flower.

“Rewind,” I said. “Stop.” Tex no longer argued with me. She simply did as I asked as we watched the footage over and over again. Stopping at the point where the buck exited through the light.

That was Nightshade, I could have sworn, even if the picture was a little off. He looked wrong, though. The pony in the picture had his color down to the exact hue, but with a few more pounds of muscle and a goatee. What stood out to me the most, however, was his age. His goatee was scraggly and flecked with gray, and his eyes had a tired quality to them that I’d seen on a few of the old war vets I’d met in the past. He seemed older and less sure of himself. Most confusing of all, was the timestamp. The date on the video was back in ‘14, over seventeen years ago.

It was a new puzzle, and I wasn’t liking my answers. The video conflicted with everything I knew about the buck, which made me think that it was more than likely a look-a-like than the actual pony. The video could have been fake, but it seemed like a lot of effort to replicate. Which meant the only really plausible answer I had was that ‘Nightshade’ was lying.

I know what you’re probably thinking. I was thinking it too. Couldn’t be him, right? Well, I did some more digging, following up on my contact’s info. Turns out, it’s not. ‘Nightshade’, the pony in the video? Shot dead eight years ago, with several bullets to the head. He died on a station here in the Rim near Rockport. His doppleganger was spotted a couple years after his death and I’m willing to bet he’s our buck. Here’s a picture, look familiar?

I scrolled down until I saw the image, and stopped. It was an exact match. Nightshade stared indifferently at me from a wanted listing:

BY DECREE OF THE TRUE KING
WANTED: DEAD
“NIGHTSHADE”
TREASON

I got a couple more videos from my contact, both of which show the Nightshade we know killing one pony or another. It’s a really gruesome business, and if anything it confirms our theory that he’s bad news. Be careful, Horizon. I don’t need to tell you that Nightshade is dangerous. I’ve agreed to set up a meeting with my contact. I’ll let you know more details as they come up.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” Tex asked, floating down in front of me and passing me a worried look.

I frowned, thinking. Nightshade, the one I knew, was definitely a killer. Maybe not the one I was looking for, but definitely a killer. I’d seen how he handled those pistols of his. That day in the slums was still fresh in my mind, and more and more I was certain that it was Nightshade who had shot first. He was a capable, extremely capable, and the way he moved was fluid, like it was trained. The more I mulled it over, the more it seemed obvious. Nightshade was an assassin.

“I have no clue,” I said honestly. What was one supposed to do when you were unknowingly aiding a wanted criminal? I was out of my depth. I wasn’t a fighter by any stretch of the imagination. If I tried anything against him I’d just get killed. Hell, I was pushing a fine line just looking into him like this. I needed to do something, that much was clear, but what could I do that wouldn’t get me killed?

The filly shook her head. “I don’t know, there aren’t any cameras in the hallway.”

Nervously, I walked over and keyed the door control, praying to Luna that it wasn’t who I thought it was.

“Oh good, you’re still up,” Jess said with a smirk. “Get your things, we’re leaving. Now.”

Jess’ smile turned into a frown as she regarded me skeptically. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I shook my head and sighed, "I'm alright, it's something I'd like to talk about later, but I'm okay. What’s the rush?”

Jess smiled, a little glint entering her eyes as she said, “Fritter found my ship.”
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The Stars Beyond The Veil

by Charlemane

20 - Rumors