The Moon Has a Harsh Mistress

by levarien

Ch. 2: Wages of Sin

Derpy woke with a start as the sound of hooves banging against a metal door echoed through her small room. She rolled to her haunches and noticed that her blanket was bunched up at the foot of her small bed. “Must have been some dream,” she thought to herself. Another round of knocks, this time louder, drew her attention to the door.

“Out ya come lass,” shouted a boisterous male voice, “I don't have all @&!#ing morning”

The high pitched beep that interrupted the stallion’s words shook Derpy fully awake. She groped along the right side of her bed until she found the small bedside table and the lamp that sat upon it. With a click the room was bathed in a harsh white light. The pegasus stretched out her wings as she hopped down from the bed and slowly fell to the floor. Smiling again at the novelty of Lunar gravity, she crossed the space between the bed and the door with two long bounds. She flipped the lock and twisted the small wheel attached to her side of the metal bulkhead before pulling it open.

“About bloody time,” said the porcine pony, “I was about to go ta Trixie and say ya chickened out.”

Derpy gave the odd earth pony a sidelong glance before turning and grabbing a small towel from the top of the dresser where she left it the night before. “I had a busy day yesterday,” said Derpy, “Give me a few minutes to freshen up and I’ll be right there. The same room as yesterday?”

“Oh no,” replied the stallion, “We don’t !%$ around in Sin darlin’. We’ll be in the dome: It’s time to work.”

---

Trixie looked up from her slate as Digger stepped back into the dome. She looked back down at the monotonous paperless paperwork as he waddled is way back towards her and the others. “Is she coming?” she asked when his hoofsteps stopped beside her.

“She’s &!%#ing awake,” he replied, “but with those $#@!ed up eyes of hers, she’s just as soon to trot down a mineshaft as make it here in one piece.”

Trixie put the finishing touches on the following week’s work schedule and angrily tapped a hoof against the glass to save and close the document. “She made it here from Selene,” she said, “Trixie thinks she can make it down the hallway.” She heard the stallion grunt and loudly drop to the ground on his haunches. “Flam, Felina,” she said, “Are you going to be ready for her?”

The two unicorns seemed to ignore her as they huddled around a mass of cloth and ceramic plates. "The left shin guard needs to be trimmed by another three quarters of a centimeter at the ankle," said Flam, "but I believe you've got the withers properly fitted."

Felina nodded and directed the small rotary tool in her magical grasp. It let out a high pitched whine as it began slicing through the bottom of the magically fused ceramic plate. White dust blew from the cutting tool and impacted on a shimmering green pane of magical glass. "Thank you Flammy," said Felina with a sheepish grin, "I always seem to forget that part." She continued shaving down the plate while the blushing stallion kept his shield between the petite mare and the onslaught of dust. "

Trixie rolled her eyes and looked out over the withering remains of the once verdant agridome. "Amber," she asked, "are you sure we can afford the water?"

"Not much of a choice at this point Trix," said the sturdy turquoise mare, "I figure we've got about a month left before the Lunar Authority decides to pay us a visit." She dug a hoof into the dry dirt at her hooves and pulled out the desiccated remains of a root system. She removed a bit of water from a small canteen and carefully dripped it onto the parched plant. She placed it back into the ground and covered it with dirt which she sparingly watered as well. In an impressive display, the subtle magical power that earth ponies possessed brought forth a small green shoot from the ground. "My folks don't need much to get things right again," she said, "just time. Like you said, we just need to free up some hooves to get Felina's ponies back to work and Digger's folks back in the mines."

"So we fail now rather than later?" said Trixie, "is that what you're saying?"

"Give her a chance Trixie," said Amber, "worst case, we end up with another pony to carry a bucket."

"You obviously lack Trixie's imagination," said Trixie, "Trixie can see many more worse outcomes." She looked back to her slate and the never ending list of menial tasks she had to take care of before she could crawl back into her bed. "It took DB three months to be of any use to anypony," she said, "this is pointless..." She trailed off as the pegasus mare stepped out of the hatch and into the wide open agridome.

"I'm sorry Ms. Lulamoon," said Derpy as she quickly trotted over in front of her, "I'm not quite used to waking up without the sun, but I promise it won't happen again." She ran a hoof through her unkempt mane and tried to puzzle out why the assembled team leaders began giggling and laughing out loud.

"Oh ho!" exclaimed Digger, "It's Ms. Lulamoon is it!" The rotund stallion slapped Trixie on the back and received a glare from the annoyed unicorn. "Beggin' your pardon mistress Lulamoon," he mocked in a formal accent, "but we're all awaiting your demonstration, mistress Lulamoon. I shan't be delayed from my day's endeavors much longer mistress Lulamoon."

Trixie's horn sparked to life as she lifted the bulky earth pony in her shimmering pink magical aura. "You," she said pointing to Derpy, "follow Trixie." She lifted Digger a few horselengths into the air before letting him slowly fall back to the ground with a soft thud. She stalked back towards the door leading to the living quarters and leaned against the dome wall, facing away from the gaggle of giggling ponies. Derpy tentatively stepped in front of the unicorn and dropped her head low to avoid her icy gaze.

"I swear I'll do better Ms. Lulamoon, I wanted to-" began Derpy before an azure blue hoof silenced her.

"You know Trixie," said Trixie, "you knew of Trixie before you arrived here."

Derpy shied away and gave a timid nod of her head. "Yes ma'am," she said, "is that a problem?"

"Where did you see Trixie?" asked the unicorn who already deduced the answer based on the pegasus' nervousness around her.

"Ponyville," replied Derpy.

Trixie sighed and placed a hoof to her forehead. "Which time?" she asked.

"All three," replied Derpy.

Trixie winced and dropped her hoof back to the ground. "Look," she said tiredly, "Trixie is trying to leave that part of her life behind her. Trixie did some things she wasn't proud of, and she apologized... to... ugh... Princess... Twilight Sparkle." She practically spat out the alicorn's title. "If Trixie did something to you personally, she profusely apologizes and will gladly make restitution in private," she said. "But Trixie must ask that you stop using her surname. Trixie is trying to make a new start, and if the wrong ponies were to hear that name, they may decide to learn more. They may discover the silly boastful unicorn... or worse."

"Okay," said Derpy, "but Twilight made sure that everypony in town knew that you weren't yourself and that you apologized to her."

"How very magnanimous of her," growled Trixie, "but it matters not. Trixie simply asks that you do your best and refrain from mentioning Trixie's surname and her past." She waited for Derpy's nod before turning back to the others. "Now," she said, "we need to get on with the task at hoof."

As they walked, side by side, back to the collection of team leaders, an argument reached their ears. "-can't leave it well enough alone. can you? It's like you have to be an ass," said Amber as she poured a bucket of water into a large opening in the wall.

"Hey," barked Digger, "My uncle's an ass. That's #@&!ing racist, that is!"

"You know how I meant it," replied Amber, "now please, would you grab a bucket and help me?" She pointed to the collection of water filled buckets. She saw Trixie and Derpy and smiled wide. "We're just about ready," she said, "just suit up and we'll start!"

Trixie nodded and walked by the bulky miner, slowly tracking him with her head and giving him an angry glare as she passed. She led the pegasus to the two unicorns still huddled over their work. "Flam," she said, "time's up, let's go. Ms. Doo needs to get ready."

The unicorn ignored Trixie and continued to stare at Felina as she ground away at the plating. Felina looked up at Trixie and Derpy and stopped supplying magic to her tool. "Flammy," she said while tapping on the stallion's shoulder, "I think you need to check on the generator."

"Hmm?" said Flam as he lowered his magical shield. He shook his head and snapped out of his reverie. "Oh, of course," he said, "Yes, I should. The heating coils could use another calibration."

Felina smiled as the stallion trotted to the wall where Amber was depositing another bucket and swung open a hidden panel. She turned back to see an impatient Trixie shaking her head in exasperation. She quickly lifted the mass of fabric and ceramic plating and passed it towards Derpy. "Flam has a good eye for detail, so it should fit well enough" she said as she pulled the zipper down the chest of the suit, "but let me know if it's too tight anywhere, or if one of the plates is pinching you."

Derpy saw that the item was clearly some sort of clothing. Taking it in her hooves, she was surprised at the lightness of it. She quickly found the rear leg holes and slipped her hooves into them one at a time. She pressed her head through the neck hole and then pulled the front sleeves over her forehooves. She yanked at the single heavy zipper running up the length of the suit and soon had it pulled all the way up to her neck. She turned her head and looked down her back at the twin holes where her wings poked out. They were padded with a velvety smooth fabric the likes of which Derpy had never felt before.

"Walk around a bit first," said Felina after receiving a nod from Trixie.

Derpy took a few careful steps along the ground. The bottom of the suits' hooves were reinforced with a flexible rubber which made her feel as if she were slightly too tall, but aside from that, it was almost like wearing a second skin. "It's so light," she said in surprise, "and comfortable. You'd think it would be hotter than this."

"Somepony at Hecate Station discovered this marvelous spider that produces this amazing silk when raised on the moon," said Felina, "it's incredibly light, and remarkably resistant to temperature extremes. It's been treated to be air tight as well." The petite unicorn reached into her panniers and produced a small headset complete with a microphone. "This will let you stay in contact with us while you're in flight," she said while slipping the earphones into place.

"Amber," shouted Trixie to the earth pony who was dumping one last bucket of water into the collector on the wall, "she's ready."

---

"Okay," said Amber after making sure everypony else was waiting by the edge of the dome, "I can't pretend to tell you how to fly, but I can tell you it won't be anything like flying in Equestria." She led Ditzy to a well cleared plot of land in between rows of drooping pomegranate trees. "Daybreeze, our previous weather stallion, took months to get to a point where he could handle his duties," she said. "He said it was like flying with too-large wings, while dizzy, and upside down."

The pegasus nodded and experimentally flapped her wings, lifting her a full meter off the ground. "I'll try my best," she said, "but I don't have months."

"Neither do we," replied Amber, "but let's see what you can do, and we'll go from there. We don't need you to be perfect, just good enough." She trotted back to the cluster of waiting ponies and spoke through her headset. "Alright, when you're ready, try to take off," said Amber as she tried to ignore the chattering ponies behind her. Trying to be the practical level-headed farmer among a trio of magically gifted unicorns and a particularly loathsome earth pony miner could be an exhausting job, but the chaotic alternative just couldn't be tolerated.

"A flask of my best apple brandy says she face plants into the #%@ing glass," said Digger.

"Based on the distinct lack of lunar rotation and the associated forces involved, I would wager her flight ends in the dirt over yonder," said Flam, pointing towards a patch of tangled squash bushes, "as for stakes, I would suggest a round of maintenance on your still."

"Shut up," said Amber while covering her mic with her hoof, "do you two not get that if she can't get the hang of this quickly, we're as good as done?" Digger glared back at her, but for once kept his mouth closed while Flam had enough of a conscience to at least look chastised. "Ms. Doo," said Amber into the headset, "we're all ready, just try and keep to this side of the dome."

"Alright," said Derpy as she hopped into the air, taking full advantage of the light gravity. At the apex of her jump, she gave her wings a heavy synchronized flap, propelling herself much higher than she had planned. She tried to correct her trajectory but soon found herself spinning head first through the air, two stories above the ground.

"Okay, keep calm," said Amber in a worried, but still reassuring tone, "remember, you'll fall slower, so you have plenty of time to level out." To her and everypony's surprise, the blond pegasus quickly reoriented herself into an awkward, but stable flight path. Each flap of her wings lifted her higher into the air, causing the mare to pull her wings back and slowly drop back down. It looked from the ground as if she was bouncing across the sky. Assuming that Ditzy's success was a momentary fluke, Amber kept herself from gleefully shouting into the microphone. "Good," she said, "now just try to turn back towards us." She choked back a gasp as the pegasus went into a dizzying series of barrel roles after trying a sharp bank.

"The glass!" shouted Digger, "aim for the @*%!ing glass!"

Amber ignored him and prepared to calm a panicky pegasus. To her surprise, all she heard from her earphones was a completely calm voice humming an unfamiliar song. From the ground, Amber couldn't see what she did, but the flying mare slowly arrested her roll and was again level. "Okay," she said, "now you're just showing off."

"This is fun!" said Ditzy, her voice muffled by the air rushing past her microphone.

"Take a few laps," said Amber, "we're going to try something a little more practical." She looked over her shoulder and held her hoof over her microphone. "Flam," she said, "give me something soft, but not too volatile." The stallion nodded and began manipulating a set of dials and levers inside the small hidden compartment in the wall. The clanking of pistons and grinding of gears could be heard from the concealed machinery behind the high dull grey wall that ringed the agridome. Amber watched nervously as tendrils of white vapor began rising from the top of the wall, where it slightly fogged the glass panels that made up the majority of the dome. She had been afraid to mention to Trixie the state of disuse she and Flam had found the cloud generators in. Her overly serious boss and friend had been despondent enough after the previous afternoon's roller coaster of hope and despair. A late, awkward night of watching Flam talk to himself while pulling out, cleaning, and replacing parts was worth it to see the large cumulus cloud that took shape above their heads.

"Woooooooooooooooooooooo!" shouted a rapidly approaching voice.

Amber looked up in time to see Ditzy's legs stretch out as she rammed herself into the fluffy cloud, disappearing into its white folds. A small "eep," escaped her lip before the pegasus' head poked out of the bottom of the cloud, her wall eyes sparkling in amusement as she pursed her lips and puffed out a small tuft of cloud.

"This has to be the softest cloud I've ever been in," said Ditzy wonderingly.

"The cloud density is significantly lower," said Flam, the only unphased pony on the ground. "Combined with your apparent proclivity to lunar flight, this should allow you to provide the agridome's necessary hydration unaided."

"I don't...I can't..." sputtered Amber as the pegasus pulled herself through the bottom of the cloud and floated to the ground, occasionally giving her wings a barely perceptible flutter to slow herself down. "You said you weren't that good a flyer!" she exclaimed while trotting over and throwing a hoof around Ditzy's withers, "what do you call that?!"

"I don't know!" exclaimed the pegasus who appeared as surprised as anypony, "sure, it's a bit awkward at first, but I kind of like it."

"Well color me surprised," said Amber, "Daybreeze spent his first month cussing and losing his lunch all over the south field. I still think that's why the strawberries never quite took off." A pink magical field lifted Amber's hoof from around Ditzy's neck. The farmer looked over at the serious faced unicorn as she approached.

"Well done Ditzy," said Trixie, "Trixie doesn't know how you can adapt so easily, but it matters not. Amber, keep working with her. Determine how soon Ms. Doo can start pushing water and report back to Trixie." She spun on the rest of her lieutenants and pointed a hoof at the door to the living quarters. "You three head to ops," she said in her most commanding tone, "Trixie needs your help getting the ponies of Sin back to work." Without a word and almost in unison Digger, Flam and Felina spun on their hooves and trotted back towards the long hallway that led down under the lunar surface.

"She's pretty focused huh?" asked Ditzy as she and Amber watched Trixie follow after the others.

"As long as I've known her Ms. Doo," said Amber.

"Please," said the pegasus, "all my friends call me Derpy."

"Derpy it is," said Amber, "It's just great to have somepony to work with again. Don't get me wrong, the field hooves do everything I ask of them, but I got so used to working with DB that being the sole head honcho in the dome has me a bit run down." She took a last glace at Trixie as she disappeared behind the thick rusting bulkhead and looked back towards Derpy. "So," she said, "Lulamoon, huh? Any other dirt about our mysterious unicorn leader?"

"Oh!" said Derpy, a little taken aback, "well that's what Mr. Mark called her when he assigned me. Honestly, I don't know anything else about her."

Amber got the feeling that the pegasus knew more than she was letting on, but decided to let it go. "Probably doesn't wan't to alienate anypony." she thought to herself. She looked over the pitiful remains of her once verdant garden and decided it probably wasn't worth worrying about what one pony knew about another. "Okay," she said to Derpy, "let's see if you can move as well with a cloud as you do on your own."

Derpy smiled and pitched her wings up and down in anticipation. "I think you'll find that moving cargo is a specialty of mine." Amber covered her muzzle with a hoof as the pegasus leaped into the air, stirring up a cloud of the fine dust that was once fertile loam. It only took her a few minutes before she had discarded any worries and doubts and was running after the pegasus as she soared in the perpetually black skies of the agridome.

---

"Trixie thinks you should focus on the water reclamation systems for the time being," said Trixie, pointing at the projected display of pipes and pumps on the table in front of her, "Sin is in little danger of losing oxygen, but water is still at a premium." She looked across at the unicorn stallion as he stroked his mustache for the hundred and seventh time since they had begun their marathon planning session. If she had an ounce more magical energy left in her reserves she'd have grabbed it with her pink aura and-

"The systems are too integrated Trixie," said Felina, "We might as well do both at the same time." The diminutive mare tapped her slate and the large display on the table shifted to show the long list of names they had been building for the last few hours. "If you give us enough hooves to scrub the corrosion out of the condensers, we can have the work done in three weeks tops." She looked warily at Digger who sat directly across the table from her. "I don't see any way around it," she said, "we need the miners to meet us after their shift. It's as easy as running a brush through a pipe; I'm sure they can handle it."

"I'm so glad you think my idiot #@%!ing morons can handle your miracles of modern magic," said Digger, "but Celestia damn it mare, my lads and lasses are near the breaking point as it is, and you have no idea what the LA will do to us if we miss another ore quota.."

"The same thing they'll do to Amber's workers if we miss a produce quota," interrupted Trixie, "at least with Flam and Felina's plan we end up with a chance at more food and cleaner air."

"Trixie," said Digger in an exasperated tone, "you remember what they did the last time..."

Trixie looked away from the large Earth pony's gaze and nodded. "Trixie still hasn't given up on him Digger," she said, "but she accepts your point." She dragged her hoof along the virtual keyboard in front of her. A large number of the names changed color from silver to red. Digger nodded in satisfaction.

"It will be close," said Flam, "very little room for error."

Felina reached behind the stallion and rubbed his back gently. "It's fair in a way," she said tiredly. Flam nodded and idly ran his hoof over his slate.

"None of this is fair," he said with a sigh. The four ponies each nodded in silence.

Trixie placed her slate in the small slot in the tabletop in front of her. She waited as the list in front of them seemed to be sucked into the device. "Trixie will make an announcement tomorrow morning," she said, "do what you can with your crews to assure them. Remind them that this is for the good of everypony."

"They know," said Flam, "but that won't stop the complaining."

Before Trixie could respond Amber threw the door open and strode in. The mare was covered mane to tail in a thin layer of dirt, but looked ecstatic nonetheless. She reached into the threadbare panniers on her back and produced a thick glass bottle of dark red liquid. "I knew I was right to save this," she said happily before producing several fluted wine glasses, "the finest selection from my family's vineyards." She pushed the magnum towards Felina and smiled as she gave the flabbergasted unicorn a happy nod.

"Trixie takes it the training went well?" asked Trixie with a raised eyebrow.

"Training?" asked Amber jovially, "that mare is twice the flyer Daybreeze was." She looked at the wincing unicorn and immediately lost her smile. "Sisters, I'm sorry Trixie," said Amber. She looked down at the floor and kicked her hoof at a patch of rust. "I'm just so excited for everypony."

"Trixie understands," said the unicorn, "It is good news. How soon until she can start watering the fields?"

"An hour ago," said Amber, her enthusiasm returning with a vengeance. "Trixie, she just saved the cucumbers and eggplants. I haven't checked a few other sectors, but the entire northeast quarter of the dome got a nice downpour." Amber stepped up to the table and manipulated it with the tip of her free hoof. A diagram of the agridome with labels for all of the crops was displayed on its surface. She identified the sectors that Ditzy managed to cover in their few hours of work. "Give us a couple of weeks and we'll meet quota. Give us a month and we'll have enough for a feast in the assembly hall," said Amber proudly.

"Where is our savior then?" asked Felina, who had momentarily broken her staring contest with the bottle of aged wine, "I feel as if we all owe her an apology after our doubts yesterday."

"She worked up quite the lather up there," said Amber, "and got a bit drenched working some of the rain out of that cloud. She'll be here soon though; I assured her that no pony can resist the Waves family wines, especially not a fifty year old vintage. Felina, get with the pourin'." The pint-sized unicorn again snapped out of her trance and, with the utmost care, embraced the large bottle with a dusky blue aura. The cork liberated itself from the neck of the glass container with a short *pop* and the heady aroma of fine aged wine soon wafted to the nostrils of the assembled group of ponies. With all the care of a mother cradling her foals, Felina poured a modest amount of the beverage into each glass, making sure not to spill a single drop. "Let it breathe," said Amber as Felina levitated the glasses in front of each of them, "while we wait for Derpy, tell me what ya'll have come up with."

"Derpy?" asked Digger in confusion, "What kind of &!$#ing name is that?"

"Her name," said Amber testily, "or the name she prefers. Or wouldja prefer we all go by our given names? Wouldja like that 'Digger'?"

"Derpy it is!" said Digger excitedly, "a right perfect name!" He nervously looked around the table, his flop sweat apparent to all.

Trixie rolled her eyes and looked at her slate. "Trixie hates to ruin your good mood, but it's only fair that the majority of the burden for the next month fall on the agricultural crew," she said, "A few miners will help Felina's unicorns clean the condensers, but, well, after the last... incident ...we all decided it was only fair to expose a different group to the consequences of a missed quota."

Amber Waves wrinkled her nose, pulled her hoof over her muzzle and down across her chin. "Fine," she said, nodding to Digger, "Fair's fair, but I don't intend to give the LA a reason to come down on us." The door to the ops room opened and the grey coated pegasus stepped in, a towel draped around her neck. Trixie hadn't noticed before, but the pegasus mare's gait was far more natural than any other newly arrived pony. The awkward bouncing that characterized new arrivals was replaced with an almost graceful saunter that took most many months to achieve. "Here's the mare of the hour," exclaimed Amber, "I was just telling these negative nags that you single hoofedly saved our hides. Here Derpy, you, above all, deserve this." She carefully pushed the glass of wine across the table to the empty place formerly occupied by Daybreeze.

Trixie fumed silently as the pegasus timidly took her place and lifted the wineglass in her hoof. "I don't know if really warrant all this attention," she said, "but I'll do whatever I can for you all in the time I'm here." She raised the cup into the air and then lowered it back to her muzzle before taking a sip. The rest of the team leaders took a pull from their glasses.

"Phew!" said Digger as he drained his serving in a single gulp, "Amber, I take back anything bad I ever said about ya. Any pony who makes spirits so divine is alright in my book."

"Why thankya, Peashoot!" said Amber as she sipped from her glass, "maybe I'll share some of our family secrets if you can keep your temper under wraps for longer than a few minutes." The mention of the stallion's given name caused his eyes to quiver, but he maintained a rein on his anger. He laughed out loud and pushed his glass back towards Felina. Amber smiled and looked back at Derpy. "So Derpy was tellin' me that she signed up to make some bits for her daughter back down the well."

Derpy smiled and set her glass down. "Dinky," she said proudly. "She's going to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."

Trixie raised her brow and nodded appreciatively. "Not a small achievement," she said, a wistful smile across her muzzle, "and not cheap either." Old feelings of regret and resentment threatened to bubble up from where she had buried them, but Trixie reminded herself that there were far more recent grievances to be concerned about.

Derpy nodded in commiseration and sighed. "To be honest," she said, "I had no chance of paying for tuition had the recruiters not accepted me. Ten thousand bits for a season's work! It's as if the sister's blessed me themselves!"

Trixie winced and the festive atmosphere took a sudden turn for the gloomy. Digger, Felina, Flam and Trixe each looked at each other nervously. Trixie placed a hoof to her forehead and rubbed the base of her horn. "Ms. Doo," she said cautiously, "how long do you think you'll be here?"

Derpy furrowed her brow and looked around the table apprehensively. "Well," she said, "three months, give or take a few weeks." She observed the flinches around the display and waved her hooves. "I know it depends on the exact arrival of the next season, but that's okay."

"Derpy," said Amber, "Lunar seasons are different. We're just into our second summer. Lunar seasons last as long as Princess Luna decrees."

"What?" asked the flabbergasted pegasus, "but, the seasons... how... why?

Trixie waved a hoof to cut off Amber and continued. "You've been caught in a common trap," she said, "one it seems every other new pegasus is caught in." She swiped a hoof over the display bringing up a diagram of the moon moving in orbit around the Earth. "You see," she said pointing at the grey rock they inhabited, "we are tidally locked to the Earth. There is only a negligible axis tilt; no deviation in the path we take. There is no climate to dictate the beginning or end of a season. The amount of sun and earthlight we receive fluctuates during the month, but remains constant. The season is as long as we... as Luna determines it to be. There is no winter; Autumns are very brief; Summers and Springs are extremely long."

Derpy looked in panicked confusion at the table surface and back at Trixie. "That can't be right," she said, "How long is this summer supposed to last?"

Trixie looked to Flam and shrugged. "Two year based on my estimates," said Flam, "my brother had other ideas, but we disagreed on the exact parameters of her highness's decisions. Average soil depletion and fixed nitrogen levels informed my calculations, market forces and price per volume, his." He sipped his wine as if nothing had happened. "I estimate that this will be a twenty seven Equestrian Month summer."

Trixie saw the look of hopelessness that flashed across their new colleague's muzzle and glanced over at Amber. Imperceptible movements conveyed meaning as the two conversed inaudibly. "It's still a handsome sum for that amount of time," said Amber, who reached over and patted the pegasus between the wings, "and you can help so many of us in the meanwhile."

"I can't be away from my muffin for that long!" exclaimed Derpy.

"The contracts are bloody ironclad," said Digger, "I heard of a pegasus stallion at Artemis who tried to break contract and was jailed below Serenity for a year." He downed another glass of wine and pushed his glass back across the table. "Didn't get paid of course."

Amber flashed an irritated glare at Digger and hugged the stunned pegasus. "Don't worry about the bits," she said, "the Lunar Authority is as good as its word. Your gal will get the bits if that's what needs to happen." She slid the glass back towards the pegasus' hoof and pushed it into her grasp. "There's no point getting upset," said the earth pony, "we'll do what we can to make you comfortable, but all you can do at this point is send word to your family and wait for your trip back down the well. I'm sure Trixie can fill out the necessary forms for you." Trixie nodded numbly while staring at the wall blankly and took a small sip from her own glass.

Derpy numbly raised the glass to her lips and took a deep gulp. What should have been an explosion of flavor on her palate might as well had been stale tap water. She stared at the still rotating virtual model of the moon as it made another circuit around the Earth.

---

"What's with the beeping?!" asked Derpy, her words slurred to the point where the earth pony almost asked her to repeat herself.

"Oh, the !&#%ing beeps?" said the earth pony stallion before barking in laughter. "You can thank Trixie for that! I know I might use a few naughty words now and then, but ol' Trix thought it was 'unbecoming' a pony of my position, so she used that weird Unicorn magic to curse me."

"Curse?" asked Derpy as she shied away from the stallion.

"Yeah!" he said almost proudly, "every time I swear, her magic drowns it out with a beep and gives me a nice little jolt!" He inhaled deeply and stared defiantly at Trixie. "&#!@ #@! @#% #@%@ing mother #@#$er!" His head shook almost imperceptibly as the torrent of short, high pitched tones ensued. "Better than a shot of Ida's best vodka!" he said happily, "Thanks Ms. %$#@!&*^!" As the last long beep left his muzzle, his mocking grin slid into an angry scowl. "It's still up here, ya witch!" shouted the rotund stallion as he rapped his hoof against his head. Derpy laughed at the toothy, cheshire grin the unicorn returned.

"So how long does everypony have left?" asked Derpy.

Digger looked at her askew. "Well," he said, "we're all lifers here, for various reasons." He snuck a sip from his ever present flask and exhaled sharply. "I wager I've smashed rock in just about every mine in Equestria," he said, a hint of pride in his voice. "Gold, silver, iron, copper, even crystal: I've pulled it all outta the ground. So I got a wee bit hostile with the big shots; it's not as if I #@!$ing hit 'em; not that hard anyway." He chuckled and smiled at the pegasus. "So I came up here, where I get to be the boss. I was doing pretty good at Artemis Station: No missed quotas, no accidents worth mentioning. I have no &@!%ing idea why they sent me to Sin."

He pointed at Amber, who was busy explaining something to Trixie at the far corner of the room. "Amber's been at Sin longer than any of us. I think she was sent here straight off the boat, back in the good old days," he said. "Says she's the youngest of twelve brothers and sisters." He laughed and pounded the glass tabletop with his hoof. "Imagine that," he guffawed, "being so low on the pecking order that you have to go to the #@%ing moon to show off your skills."

Digger nodded towards the small unicorn mare who sat alone. Felina's eyes were closed but the serene smile plastered to her muzzle and the wineglass held under her nose in her magical aura indicated that she was awake. "Felina Scass... Sass... $%@, I forget her last name, but she's one of our newer additions," he said, "she doesn't talk about what she did down the well, but I figure she must've been some Canterlot big shot: Always so polite; so proper; and she has some right pretty dresses."

He nodded at the other stallion in the room. "Flam Flash," he said warily, "he's been through just about every #$!&ing station. Word has it he was here before Serenity had its dome. His brother's still there, of course."

"Brother?" asked Derpy as she looked at the unicorn stallion. He had spent the last hour slowly taking apart some unknown device. He seemed familiar to her, but she just couldn't place the stallion's face.

"Flim Flash," said Digger, "Richest &#@!er on the moon. You rode one of his Zoom Tubes to get here. You have one of his slates. #!@%, most of the food you saved today is headed to his processing plant in Serenity." He looked back at Flam who was staring through a monocle at a small circuit board. "I guess smarts don't run in the family," he said before reconsidering his words, "I take it back, Flam's plenty smart if he's got a do-dad to fiddle with. Nopony else has managed to keep my mess of a still running as well as he has."

Digger turned an icy stare at Trixie and dropped his voice so only Derpy could hear. "That one's been here since the beginning," he said in a half awed, half annoyed tone. "If you've been here long enough, and kept your ear to the ground, you've heard the rumors." Digger glanced at Derpy who looked back with curious eyes. "Look," he said cautiously, "you didn't hear it from me, but she was in the first group that Princess Luna brought here, which is weird, because according to the official histories, Luna came with only a few personal guards and enough materials to build the first shelters."

"Wow," muttered Derpy, "what does she say about it?"

"Nothing of course," replied Digger, "but what you should ask is that if it's true, why is she here now?"

"What do you mean?" asked Derpy.

"C'mon love," said Digger, "you came through the port. You saw the Serenity Dome. How does Sin compare?" Derpy's silence answered the question for him. "You don't end up at Sin unless you've pissed off the wrong #@!%ing pony." Digger leaned in even closer and whispered behind a hoof. "We all know she was mighty chummy with the Princess," he said, "and Amber says they had some massive &!@$ing row. That's what got ol' Trixie sent here." The wall-eyed mare looked to the floor and sighed. "You get it now," said Digger, "welcome to the Station of the Damned."

---

Derpy looked down drowsily at the small bowl of dry toasted oats that sat in front of her. She looked across the table at Digger as he sank his muzzle directly into the meager offerings. To her left and right sat dozens of unfamiliar ponies starting out a new day on the moon as if it were just another day. "How long until I find this to be a normal way to start the day," she thought to herself before glumly remembering the shock of the previous afternoon. "I guess I'll be here long enough for it to happen to me too." She ate a spoonful of the paltry breakfast and washed it down with a small sip of the carefully measured cup of water she was allotted. The oats were so lightly honeyed, they may as well have been plain, and the water tasted of the rust that permeated everything in the station.

"Here," said Digger as he reached across the table. He tipped his flask on his side and poured a shot of weak apple brandy into her bowl. "It helps," he said with a grin as Derpy stirred the liquor into her oats, "if only to add some #$@!ing flavor."

Derpy nodded in thanks and continued eating. The stallion had been waiting at her door when she woke, and offered to escort her to the assembly hall, which doubled as the mess hall. Rows of long benches and tables lined the floor of the large open room. By the time she and Digger had arrived, they were completely full of ponies in various stages of eating. Several chatted among themselves, their meals finished, but made no effort to leave. A few of the burlier stallions and mares sat around them. Digger introduced them as fellow miners. Each had the heavy muscles of ponies who spent their days slamming their hooves against rock. Several could give her pal Bulk Biceps a run for his money, Derpy observed.

"So what's the plan for today chief?" asked a sandy coated mare.

"Good news for once Tawny," replied Digger, "but I'll wait until Trixie has her say. Say, is Land Slide still hobbled?"

"He was still limping pretty heavily yesterday," said Tawny, "I was gonna leave him on crushing duty and exempt him from any extra shifts." Digger nodded and tapped on his slate.

"Attention everypony," said Trixie from the raised dais at the center of the room, "We have a few announcements before the day begins." Derpy and the ponies on the benches facing away from the unicorn turned around and looked up at her. "Trixie is happy to report that Sin Station finally has Weather Pony again!" she said with genuine excitement. A roaring cheer echoed through the crowd as half the ponies erupted from their seats and jumped up and down in excitement. "Settle down, settle down," said the Unicorn, "Trixie understands your excitement, but there is much to do before we can truly celebrate." Trixie placed a hoof over her eye brow to shade her eyes from the bright fluorescent lights that lined the walls and swept her gaze across the crowd. She zeroed in on Derpy and waved her up.

The pegasus meekly stood and walked down the narrow aisles. As she passed, the ponies of Sin stomped their hooves in applause while others patted her on the back. Navigating the maze of long benches and tables to the dais proved difficult, and assisted by the increasingly loud chant of, "Fly. Fly. Fly. Fly," she spread her wings and carefully flapped her way to the raised platform. Landing next to Trixie, she timidly waved to the ecstatic throng.

"All right, all right," said Trixie motioning a hoof up and down, "Trixie knows everypony is excited to see Ms. Doo fly, but we must be realistic. We have even more to do, now that she is here." The remaining applause died out, and grumbles began to waft from the crowd. Derpy watched from the raised platform as Digger barked out a few choice oaths at several of the malcontents, or she imagined he did: The loud beeps cut through the crowd noise with ease. Across the room, Amber moved between the narrow aisle between benches and calmly talked down groups of angry ponies. "Trixie has a new duty schedule for the next week," she said, "your team leaders will have the specifics, but Trixie has decided that all miners attached to the agridome will return to the mines at Digger's discretion." The porcine stallion nodded in satisfaction as several of his workers excitedly clapped him on the back.

"How are we supposed to meet quota?" shouted an earth pony behind the two standing on the dais. Trixie turned to see a wall of angry faces.

"That's what I'm here for," shouted Derpy, sensing the hostility emanating from what she assumed were the bulk of the agricultural workers. "Trixie and Amber showed me what I need to do, and I'm confident that I can handle most of the watering myself." Doubtful faces looked back at her, but nopony gave voice to their skepticism.

"Amber Waves herself will testify to Ms. Doo's abilities," said Trixie, "and Trixie is sure a few of you saw the fruit of her first flight on your walk from the habitation wing." She saw the nods and pressed her case. "As for making quota," she said, "Trixie believes that with fewer of you breaking your backs hauling buckets of water, and instead tending to and aiding in the growth of the crops, making quota will be easier than it has been in months."

"And what about us?" shouted a unicorn mare, "can we finally get back to keeping this place from rusting from the inside out?"

"Head Engineer Flash and Maintenance Chief Scassinatore will select a team to begin retrofitting and repairing key systems," said Trixie, "but we will need most of the maintenance crew to continue their work in the agridome." Magically propelled lumpy oatmeal splattered against Trixie's hastily conjured translucent pink shield. "It's only until Ms. Doo can get up to speed," she said.

"And it's only fair!" bellowed Digger, "how much did missing the ore quota cost you brainiacs?"

"Again," said Trixie, "It's not for long. Trixie believes that-" She was interrupted by the cacophony of high pitched tones from all around the room. Derpy's head whipped around as the beeps silenced the crowds. "Not now..." she heard Trixie mutter. With a resigned sigh, the unicorn reached into her small saddle pouch and removed her slate. Derpy looked around the room as most, if not all of the assembled crowd produced their devices. With an embarrassed grin, she sidled next to Trixie and looked over the mare's shoulder at the flickering screen.

The Princess of the Night looked exactly Derpy remembered, which, of course, was to be expected of an immortal being. She had seen the princess a few times in the past: Her Nightmare Night appearances in Ponyville had become a regular treat for everypony in town, even more than the candy that had dominated the holiday prior to her return. She sat upon a throne of polished silver with royal purple throw cushions. It was set in an empty room with walls of glass and a floor of the blackest stone Derpy had ever seen. Behind her stretched an endless expanse of grey below a star pocked sky.

"Good morning, faithful ponies of the moon," she said happily, "It has been weeks since we have last spoken with all of you, and for this we apologize, but rest assured, we have not been idle."

Trixie snorted in derision, but remained fixated on the slate. "That's what Trixie worries about," muttered the unicorn.

"In the coming months, we have many grand undertakings planned," proclaimed Luna. She stood and gracefully dipped her head. A magical apparition appeared behind her in unison with the dark blue glow around her horn. It depicted ponies engaged in various athletic activities under a black sky. Spectral earth ponies sprinted around a red clay track while pegasi soared above in an aerial track marked off with clouds. Groups of unicorns hurled javelins across the ground track's infield using their magic. "We shall hold our very own Lunar Games to celebrate the newfound athletic and magical prowess of our most skilled citizens," she said proudly. "Every station shall pull together their champions and send them to Selene to test their mettle in a grand competition for the ages!"

"She has got to be kidding," said Trixie as an angry scowl on her muzzle deepened by the second.

"Of course, to bring such a momentous dream to life, we must work even harder," said Luna as she let the magical simulacrum disappear. "We have a stadium to erect; Zoom Tubes to build; and guests to welcome to our fair realm. The Lunar Authority informs me that ore quotas will need to be increased by twenty percent, and food quotas by twenty five." The collective gasp from around the assembly hall was immediately silenced when the princess continued. "In addition," she said, "Each station will need to produce an extra ten gigajewels of magical energy over the course of the month."

"Of course we do," spat Trixie, "how else could we power all these useless facilities."

"As always, our most pressing need is your steadfast unity," said Luna, "for only, together, in harmony, can we achieve that which others say is impossible. While those who try to dissuade us wallow in their comfortable status quo, we reach to the heavens and say, 'No! We want more!'" The princess raised a black lacquered boot into the air. "Fear not my little ponies," she said determinedly, "We and our champions shall not let them stop us. They know who they are, and they shall not succeed in their plans to diminish our glory."

The field of pink energy levitating the slate began to flicker. Derpy looked at Trixie in time to see the mare's eyes roll back into her head. As the slate crashed the floor and shattered, Derpy wrapped her hooves around Trixie in time to keep her from falling off the edge of the platform. From the remaining slates all around the room, Derpy could hear the Princess continue in a stern and regal tone. "We will show them," she said, "we will show them the power of Lunar Harmony." For the shortest of moments, the only thing that could be heard was the steady thrum of air circulating from the vents. Then came the shouting.

---

"Quick," said Amber, pointing at Trixie's bed, "put her here."

The dash across the agridome was quick enough, and Digger seemed unencumbered by the unconscious unicorn draped across his back. Derpy, who had flown ahead and opened the doors leading down into the living quarters, leaned over the bed in the cramped bedroom. "Shouldn't we take her to the infirmary?" she asked for the seventh time, "I know she mentioned an infirmary."

"Are you a &@#$ing doctor now too?" asked Digger, "because that would just be #@%!ing amazing!"

"Sin hasn't had a doctor in years," explained Amber as she pulled a threadbare, star embroidered, blanket over Trixie. The farm pony placed an ear to the unicorn's chest and flipped up her eyelids. "She's just exhausted," said Amber, "I've seen this in enough of my farmhooves to know it when I see it." She turned around and stepped out into the hallway. "Digger, I need you to help me bring some food and water in," she said, "I doubt she's eaten in days. Derpy, please stay with her, we'll be right back." The stallion nodded and followed without complaint.

Unsure of what to do, Derpy closed the door and looked around the unicorn's room. Compared to her unadorned, spartan, module, Trixie had apparently filled hers with every manner of ornamentation and curio. Show posters depicting the daring exploits of "The Great and Powerful Trixie" papered the walls. She walked around the bed to the shelves fastened to the wall, their surfaces crowded with framed pictures. Derpy picked up one at the end and examined it. Trixie stood on her rear hooves, her forelegs thrown over the withers of two stern looking Bat ponies wearing purple lacquered armor. The unicorn smiled and winked at the camera. Behind the three stood Luna, her hoof held up to her muzzle, as if trying to hold back a laugh. Derpy placed the frame back on the shelf and turned back to check on the unconscious mare.

Seeing her chest move up and down beneath the blanket, Derpy continued nervously pacing around the room. By the door hung two familiar items from hooks drilled into the wall. Derpy, deciding she'd never have another chance, picked up the hat and cloak and swiftly donned them. She stepped in front of a nearly ceiling high standing mirror in the corner and held the corner of the cape across her muzzle so only her eyes peaked out. "Behold, the Great and Powerful Ditzy!" she said before making faux crowd noises and throwing the cape behind her.

"Put those back," came a weak voice from the bed, "purple is not your color."

"Trixie!" said Derpy. She blushed and quickly hung the costume back up on the wall. "How are you feeling? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Digger and Amber are getting food and water right now! Is there anything I can do?!"

"Just try and keep your voice down," said Trixie, "Trixie's head is ringing. What happened?"

"You fainted after Princess Luna's announcements," replied Derpy, "Everypony was going a little crazy, so Amber had us bring you back to your room." She saw the worry build up in the unicorn's eyes and held her hoof against her chest to keep her in bed. "Don't worry," she said, "Flam and Felina are keeping everypony calm for the time being."

"The best laid plans go to waste," sighed Trixie. She ran a hoof down the side of her face and chuckled mirthlessly. "Trixie doesn't think she's ever had the right moment to say that until now."

"Trixie," asked Derpy, "what's happened here? It's not like the posters and movies back home."

"Movies, huh?" asked Trixie, "Trixie supposes Princess Luna was in these movies?" Derpy nodded, eliciting a snort of laughter from Trixie. "That was Trixie's idea you know," she said. "We had trouble convincing the first settlers to come up. Luna didn't trust the camera: She said it was 'a foalish imitation of illusion magic.' Trixie supposes she's gotten over that."

"They said you came here with the Princess," said Derpy, "that you had some sort of argument."

Trixie dropped her head back onto her pillow and stared at the ceiling. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," she said flatly, "and that's what Trixie told Luna." Derpy thought she saw anger slide across the unicorn's face, but stayed silent. "Tell Trixie, Ms. Doo," asked Trixie, "do you remember when Twilight Sparkle and her friends tricked Trixie into abandoning the Alicorn Amulet?"

"Yes," said Derpy, "most of Ponyville was there: You kind of made us watch."

"Well, Trixie had to have an audience," said Trixie, "it's not every day that one gets to humiliate their rival. Plus, the amulet makes a pony do crazy things." She rolled over onto her side and slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position, her rear legs hanging off the edge of the bed. "Trixie really did change after that," she said, "sure, Trixie was always the greatest and most powerful unicorn to grace Equestria with her presence, but for all that, she was still thoroughly humbled by a few mares in a backwater town." She hung her head and let her long silvery hair hang down over her face. "Trixie wandered around," she said, "she tried to be nice; she tried to find friends, but it's not as easy as Sparkle makes it seem. Trixie was close to giving up on the whole endeavor, but that's when she found her greatest friend and mentor."

"Princess Luna?" asked Derpy. Her gaze momentarily flashed back to the framed picture on the shelf.

Trixie nodded and used a hoof to push aside her hair. "She helped Trixie realize something about herself, and everypony else," said Trixie, "about what really matters, and what Trixie really wants. At that point Trixie truly feels that she began to understand Sparkle's Magic of Friendship. So, Trixie followed the Princess here; she made her friends dreams her own, and it was... wonderful." The wistful smile on her muzzle quickly disappeared behind the stern mask that Derpy had fixed in her mind as the 'default Trixie.' "So, tell Trixie, Ms. Doo," she said, "what does one do when somepony throws that friendship back in one's face?"

Derpy awkwardly shifted on her hooves before she realized that the unicorn wasn't asking rhetorically. She stammered for a few moments before the door to the room opened. In spilled Amber, Digger, Felina, and Flam, each bearing buckets, blankets, and food. "Get your rear back in that bed!" shouted Amber. She tossed a bunch of slightly wilted celery onto the nightstand and forced Trixie back under her blanket. "We need to sort some things out," she said, "but you're not leaving this room until we're all certain you've had some rest and a decent meal."

Trixie furrowed her brow, but found she didn't have the strength to sit back up, let alone shake free of the sturdy earth pony mare's grasp. "Fine," she said grumpily, "but Trixie wants to know what's happening out there."

"Here," said Amber, tearing off a stalk of celery and pushing it towards Trixie's face, "you eat; we'll talk." The unicorn snatched the produce out of Amber's hoof and took a quick bite. "Good," said Amber as she sat on the edge of the bed, "Now, Flam and Felina talked down most of the crowd, but there were some ruffled feathers, if Derpy would pardon the expression."

"It was all Madame Scassinatore's doing," said Flam, "a few well aimed smiles and platitudes, and most everypony was on their way to their assigned duties."

"Flam exaggerates," said Felina, "nopony ever wants to yell at a mare of my stature, but he's right, everything is relatively calm for the time being. The security door remained closed..." She placed a bucket of water on the floor and filled a dented tin cup . She passed it to Amber and sat at the foot of the bed. "We need to figure out how to meet these new quotas."

"This is more than just a simple quota," said Amber as she forced the cup into Trixie's hooves, "this is like demanding a pound of flesh."

"What if we start food rationing?" asked Trixie.

"And we all end up like you," growled Digger, "ya can't buck ore on an empty stomach Trix." He leaned against the door frame and took a bite of a sickly carrot. "We might get lucky," he said with his mouth full, "maybe. We might hit a vein of Chlorargyrite; we might be able to buck it out in time to meet quota. That's a lot of #@%$ing mights and maybes."

"How about I give you a definite 'cannot'," said Flam. "We cannot produce an additional ten gigajewels. It's a magical impossibility with the unicorns we have now." He sniffed at the air and looked at Trixie with a raised eyebrow. The mare rolled her eyes and grunted as the stallion moved the large stand mirror out of the corner with his green magical aura. "Ah," he said, "the true culprit of our mare's sorry state."

Derpy looked over Flam's shoulder at the dull opaque globe set on a small spire. She took a step back as he flared his own magic and dipped his head at the orb. Sparkling green motes of magic leached from his horn and began swirling into the surface of the sphere. "Yeouch," he hissed, "and you've got the gradient set extremely high." He lifted his head back up and released his magic. "I don't think Felina or I need to tell you how dangerous it is to abuse a collector," he said, "so I will simply ask why you felt a need to drain yourself in this manner."

"We were within a half of a megajewel of coming short last month," said Trixie, "Trixie has been fudging the collection totals so the workers could better assist Amber with the agridome. Trixie is strong enough to make up any shortfall."

"Clearly," said Felina sarcastically. The tiny mare hopped off the side of the bed and squeezed herself into the corner behind the collector device. Derpy heard a click and Felina reappeared with the end of a cable half a hoof thick. "This is going back into inventory," she said, "and I will be handling collector totals for the time being."

Trixie waved her hoof dismissively. "It doesn't matter," she said, "Flam is right. Even if we strapped every unicorn in Sin next to a collector and ran them to their very limits, we would still fall short. We need someway to lower the amount of magic we use." She slipped her hooves behind her head and stared at the ceiling. "Okay," she said, batting away a slice of apple being offered by Amber, "let's assume that Digger gets lucky and has one of his better months."

The stallion shrugged and said, "I've had better months at Artemis. It's possible."

"Good," said Trixie, "we'll keep our agreed upon shifts, so you'll have plenty of help to maximize your chances. Follow that ridiculously sized nose of yours." She looked up at Amber and gave her a weak smile. "And let's assume you've been conservative in your estimates of how much Ms. Doo can achieve in the agridome."

"We farmers are a pessimistic lot," said Amber with a shrug, "I didn't want to get anypony's hopes up, but I was figuring we'd have enough left over after quota for a station wide banquet."

"Okay," said Trixie, "so maybe we hold off on the banquet and thin out the oatmeal a bit. That's two of three quotas met, with a little luck." She shook her head from side to side, mentally tabulating crop yields and water usage.

"And what of us?" asked Flam, "The Authority's ire will fall upon us unicorns alone if we don't provide the extra ten gigajewels."

"We could return the power Selene sends us," said Trixie.

"I think suffocation will negatively effect our crop and ore outputs," said Flam dryly.

What about your little side project?" asked Trixie.

"How many times do I have to tell you this. It's not a project, Trixie," he said, "it's a scam. I had only toyed around with it to win bets from simple rubes while we were on the road." He yanked at his shaggy mustache and shook his head from side to side. "I won more black eyes than bits," he said glumly. "You know I'm not an idea-pony. If anything, I'm a glorified repairpony." A hoof cuffed him on the back of the head, causing the stallion to whip around in surprise. He had to angle his gaze back down towards the floor at a very angry looking unicorn mare who had just hopped off of an upturned bucket.

"Now stop it," said Felina harshly, "I'll not have any friend of mine speak less of themselves. I do not know of this project, but if you would dismiss it out of hoof without considering it, then you do yourself a disservice and make fools of all of us who believe in you."

"I was a mailmare up until a couple of months ago," interrupted Derpy. The heads of everypony in the room turned to face the pegasus. "I wasn't even that good a mailmare, to be honest" she said, "and an even worse flyer." She stepped in between Flam and Felina and smiled at each in turn. "But it turns out I was just a bad flyer in Equestria," she said, "Here, if I'm to believe Amber, I'm the Lunar equivalent of a Wonderbolt."

"It's true," said Amber, "she's a natural."

Derpy fought off her blush and continued. "If I can be an ace flyer," she said to Flam, "who's to say that you can't be a brilliant inventor?"

Flam looked around at the expectant eyes of everypony before sighing and dropping his shoulders. "I'll try," he said, "but I make no promises. I need some ore: Don't worry Digger, a mere drop in the bucket compared to what you'll need to make quota. I'll need Felina's help retrofitting a few systems as well."

"You'll have it," said Felina. "Now, we've all got work to do, let's let Trixie get some rest."

Derpy hung back and let the others leave. "Doesn't that feel better Flammy," she heard Felina say on her way out, "making plans, taking charge: Like a whole new stallion."

Amber piled the various sad vegetables on Trixie's nightstand and stood up from the bed. She pressed a hoof against the unicorn's forehead once more before nodding in satisfaction. "We'll be in the agridome all morning," she said, "do not leave this room." She punctuated the order by poking the unicorn's nose with her hoof. "Derpy, I'll warm up the cloud generator," she said over her shoulder on her way out the door, "suit up and we'll get to work."

"I guess I should get going then," said Derpy, "I hope you feel better Trixie."

"Ms. Doo, Trixie thanks you," said Trixie to the retreating pegasus, "for helping her calm everypony down in the assembly hall. Trixie knows you didn't have to speak up like that. They're a pretty grumpy bunch to begin with, and with all of our issues, well, Trixie can't really blame them for being as angry as they are."

"Happy to help," said Derpy, "besides, who throws oatmeal? I know several of them were probably raised in barns, but that's no excuse." Succeeding at drawing a smile from the unicorn helped brighten Derpy's morning as well. She began to walk from the room before a nagging thought in the back of her mind stopped her in her tracks. "Trixie," she said from the doorway, "about what you were asking me before..." Trixie's eyebrow raised as the pegasus hesitated. "I think that if you were willing to go this far for a pony who you considered a friend then there's no way you should give up on that friendship, no matter how far they might push you away."

"Trixie will consider your words," said Trixie, "Thank you Ms. Doo."

---

Derpy carefully nudged the enormous grey cloud away from the dome's shining glass wall. Every pegasus learned at an early age that care had to be taken when moving clouds: "Push a cloud with little thought and chase a cloud that can't be caught," went the old filly rhyme. Derpy was quickly finding that one had to be even more deliberate with them on the moon. A tad too much strength behind a push, and the rainmaker would fly off course and into the wall, pin-balling around the dome in a comical fashion. She darted over the top of the cloud and stayed ahead while it delivered its payload of rain across the brown and yellow fields below.

"That cloud's looking a little light," said Amber through Derpy's earpiece, "and I think we've reached our water limit for today. Bring it on home and we'll go get some grub and check up on Trixie."

Derpy reached her hoof to her ear and depressed the small button on the earpiece. "I can squeeze a little more out of it," said Derpy, "go on ahead and I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

"All right," said Amber, "don't take too long, we're going into a dark cycle soon. Good work today Derpy; we might just turn this place around." From her lofty heights Derpy watched the earth pony mare disappear down into the tunnel on the northern side of the agridome.

After a day spent carefully steering the clouds across the dome in a carefully organized manner, Derpy was beginning to understand why Rainbow Dash preferred the fast life. Down there, she moved from crash to crash, picking herself and dusting herself off and subconsciously becoming slightly more hesitant to push herself. Here though, all of her baser pegasus instincts seemed to come alive again. Amber had been right, she noticed, the cloud was almost dry. With a gentle counter flap, she slowed it down to a near stop and hovered in place as the cloud lazily drifted across the northern fields. She reached up, pulled her earpiece from her ear, and let it rest on her neck. Unsupervised in the dome for the first time, Derpy took a chance and launched herself towards the glass ceiling with a mighty flap of her wings. No amount of the previous day's careful, precise flying could compare to the exhilaration Derpy felt as she cut loose and soared as high as she would be allowed in Sin.

She closed her eyes and savored the feeling of the air rushing past her face. Higher and higher she climbed, ignoring the steadily decreasing temperature and focusing on the feeling of total freedom that swept over her body. "I really needed this," she said to herself. She exhaled heavily and opened her eyes in time to see the rapidly approaching dome apex. She furiously flailed her wings, succeeding in slowing her ascent enough so that her collision with the circular silver metal plate at the top of the dome was only mildly bone jarring. The pegasus chuckled and enjoyed the slow freefall as the moon gently pulled her back towards the ground. She placed her forehooves behind her head and hummed to herself as she fell back first. Deciding not to tempt fate, she spun herself around and flared her wings to return to a level flight path. Seeing her wayward cloud floating over the northern side of the dome, Derpy stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth and propelled herself towards her fluffy white target. She tucked her wings into her side and slammed into the side of the cloud with a small explosion of cloud-stuff. Moments later her head emerged from the top of the cloud and she exhaled a bit of cloud from her puffed cheeks. She relaxed in the cumulus' silky embrace and drifted along with the cloud a few dozen feet over the ground.

"You sure she's gone?" muttered a voice from below, "she knows Digger: I want no part of him and his goons."

"Relax," said another male voice, "I watched her go into her quarters myself. We're in the clear."

Derpy furrowed her brow and wriggled her body through the cloud until she found the bottom. She poked her head out and looked down at the group of four ponies milling about by the entrance to the living quarters. Each wore a grey bandana tied around their muzzles and a dark grey cloak over their backs. One bore a horn, while the remaining three appeared to be earth ponies.

"You two take care of the poison," said the unicorn, "We'll finish leaving the calling card."

At the mention of poison, Derpy's ears perked up. She watched as two of the earth ponies, one stallion and one mare, took possession of a pair of large white canisters. They slung them over their shoulders using the attached straps and began creeping towards the nearby row of summer squash bushes.

Having spent the last day nourishing the plants they approached, Derpy decided instantly that she would rather not hear them mentioned in the same breath as poison. She kicked her legs, dissolving a small portion of the cloud around her, and plummeted towards the ground. The pair of skulking earth ponies had no warning as she landed between them. "I don't think you're supposed to be here," said Derpy before biting at the strap holding one of the canisters to its owner. Before the stunned earth pony mare's partner could react, Derpy reared up and slammed her forehooves into her neck, dropping the mare to the muddy ground below. She spit the ripped canvas strap from between her teeth and kicked the canister away from the unconscious mare.

"You idiots forgot the pegasus," grunted the unicorn mare as she dropped the bucket of red paint, spilling some onto her hooves. She nodded at the two remaining earth pony stallions and took a menacing step towards Derpy. " Hold on, boys," said the unicorn from behind her mask, " I think we might be having a slight misunderstanding." A ruddy red magical aura pulled the mask from the mare's face, revealing a smiling, brown coated face. "Ms. Doo, isn't it?" asked the mare. "Of course it is, the wings give you away, and if they didn't, the eyes surely would."

Derpy started backing away as the two stallions started circling around her. "I don't want any trouble," she said, "so why don't you guys just trot on back to wherever you came from and we'll forget this whole thing ever happened."

"What if you didn't forget about it," said the mare, "Just hear me out. We want the same thing: More food for the ponies of Sin Station."

"I don't want anypony poisoned!" exclaimed Derpy.

"Neither do we," said the unicorn, "this poison works on plants, not ponies." She pointed at the metal wall next to the hatch leading into the habitation wing. "Think about it," she said, "would we advertise ourselves if we intended on poisoning anypony?"

Derpy squinted at the wall, bringing the message painted on it into quasi-focus. In large red letters was written, "OUR LABOR, OUR MAGIC, OUR FOOD. THE TRUE LOONIES." Derpy looked back at the mare and the two stallions now slowly surrounding her. "So you're ruining food so that we can have more food?" she asked with a deadpanned stare.

"Put simply; yes." said the unicorn. "The Lunar Authority is bleeding us dry. Every month every station has to send more and more of their harvest back to Selene, never to be seen again; whatever we have in excess is all we get to eat. When they come and find that Sin has missed it's quota again, everypony here will see the true face of the Authority."

"Look," said Derpy, "I've only been here a few days, and I won't pretend to know anything about what you're talking about. All I know for sure is that there are hungry ponies here, and you're trying to kill their only means of feeding themselves."

"What if I told you this is what Princess Luna wants?" asked the unicorn.

"I'd call you a liar," said Luna.

"We do know what the princess wants!" shouted one of the masked stallions, "and soon the you, the Lunar Authority, and the all other traitors will know too!"

"Easy," hissed the unicorn, "keep your voice down."

"No!" shouted the other stallion, "We're done with this one, Veil." In unison, the two stallions charged at Derpy. She extended her wings out and prepared to jump into the air, but as she began to flap, a red magical field clamped down on her left wing. She made a panicked glance at the unicorn and saw the mare's eyes clamped shut with a grimace on her muzzle. The two stallions, now a few strides away, lowered their heads to tackle the bound pegasus. She stood on her rear hooves and flapped her free wing, pirouetting to the side just in time to avoid the charging stallions. The sickening crunch of skull meeting skull caused her to wince in commiseration, though the slight soreness from bending her pinned wing tempered her sympathy for her assailants.

"Morons," said the unicorn mare as she sauntered over to one of the writhing stallions and kicked him in the flank. "Ms. Doo, I apologize for them, but I'm afraid they've forced us to play our hoof earlier than we would have wished. For what it's worth, I truly am sorry, but there is one other way I can assure that Sin misses its quota."

Derpy felt her wing begin to unnaturally fold back on itself. She gasped in pain as the lightweight bones began bending under the magical pressure. Her voice left her as the blinding agony threatened to drag her to unconsciousness. Before all of her senses fled her, she thought she heard somepony shouting.

---

Amber Waves stepped into her room and dropped her woven straw sun hat onto the top of her dresser. Her aching hooves wanted to be in bed, but her rumbling stomach had decided that a meal, no matter how sparse, was the first priority. She reached into the top drawer and pulled out a long antique brush. She gave her hooves a brief reprieve and sat on her bed as she dragged the stiff bristled brush through her coat. She had always criticized the dainty ponies who constantly bemoaned the loss of regular showers, but after the long day of stress, panic, and hard work, she decided that she wanted nothing more than to lay in a warm bath with a plate of sliced fruit and a glass of rosé. She discarded her daydream and enjoyed the small comfort of the brush massaging her tired muscles as it simultaneously pulled the dust from her coat.

She woke from her reverie when she heard nearby voices. She looked around in confusion for a few seconds: The walls between quarters were so thick that she shouldn't have been able to hear her neighbors. A different voice drew her attention to the headset hanging around her neck. Realizing that she forgot to remove it, she set the brush aside and stood to place the device inside her upturned hat. Out of curiosity, she put the earpiece up to the side of her head.

Hearing Derpy's voice was unsurprising as she was one of the only ponies with a matching headset. Amber made a mental note to remind the pegasus to switch off the headset so as not to drain its magical charge. Felina had already lectured her enough about saving every tenth of a microjewel. She was about to switch her own unit off when the word "poison" carried through the link. She slipped the headset back onto her ears and was back in the hallway, galloping towards the agridome. She had always suspected that somepony was sabotaging her crops, but with the lack of water, workers, and time, she had no way of proving why certain plants were floundering when they should have thrived.

She didn't want to suspect Derpy. She actually liked the mare, and her suspicions were months old, but her arrival and natural skills seemed far too providential. She reached the bulkhead door leading in to the agridome and hesitated. She growled and pressed the glowing purple button on the call box before opening the hatch.

"-am sorry, but there is one other way I can assure that Sin misses its quota." said an unfamiliar unicorn mare. Amber shook her head in confusion at the bizarre scene before her. Three ponies were splayed out a few dozen meters into the dome, two of them lying in a tangled heap. A unicorn stood between herself and Derpy. The pegasus stood, or more aptly, hung from her wing and was wordlessly choking in pain.

"Let her go!" bellowed Amber reflexively. She threw herself in the direction of the unicorn. The mare turned her head in time to see a pair of strong hooves flying towards her head. Amber struck dirt and cursed as the unicorn rolled to the side. Amber lashed out again, rearing up on her aft legs and smashing her forehooves towards the prone unicorn.

The unicorn adroitly dodged each stomp, rolling herself along the ground until she was able to place Derpy between Amber and herself. "One more step and she'll never fly again," said the mare. She intensified the glow around her horn, eliciting a gasp of pain from Derpy. Amber lowered herself to all four hooves and wordlessly snarled at the unicorn. "Now here's what's going to happen," said the unicorn, "you are going to help me carry these three to the Zoom Tube."

"Then what?" said Amber, "you come back and dump more herbicide on my plants?"

"I doubt you'll be as lax in your security," said the unicorn, "but the damage has been done. Now get a cart or something to put these idiots in."

Amber narrowed her eyes and pointed at a small equipment wagon sitting in front of a row of asparagus. "Walk in front of me," she said, "and don't you dare hurt her."

"That's up to you," said the unicorn mare, "now get to work, I want to be out of here before anypony shows up." She pushed a hoof against Derpy's flank and kept a magical hold of her wing as they slowly walked towards the waiting wagon.

Amber watched the pegasus carefully for signs that the unicorn was twisting her wing further. When they reached the wagon, she reluctantly harnessed herself and began pulling it back towards the unconscious and immobile earth ponies. "So what is this," she asked as she loaded the first stallion, easily hauling into the wagon with a single hoof, "some foalish grudge?"

"She wants us to miss quota," groaned Derpy, "something about getting everypony mad at that Authority thing you guys keep talking about."

"Celestia damn it mare," said Amber, "we want more of the food too, but we can't just stop sending food to Selene. Setting aside the fact that there are ponies that need to eat there, where do you think all the seeds and a good portion of our water and power come from?" She laid the unconscious mare atop her two injured comrades and nodded for the unicorn to begin walking across the agridome.

"Such a small grasp of the big picture," said the unicorn, "but what can be expected from a station full of cast-offs and rejects? You think we don't care about Selene, our crowning achievement?" The mare laughed and pushed Derpy forward with a hoof. "True Loonies know where the cause of all of our troubles spring from, and it isn't the moon."

"Says the moon pony trying to cripple my friend and poison my crops," muttered Amber. She looked across the long straight path that bisected the agridome and smiled seeing the opposite door open. She continued pulling the cart in silence, save for the moaning from the earth pony stallions rattling in the back. As they reached the middle of the dome and the small, unused fountain at the center, she saw a rustling in the dense corn stalks she had managed to coax back to life earlier in the day. "Do you think you'll really get away with this?" she asked aloud, "I've seen your face; we've got your herbicide; you're traveling using the Zoom Tubes. It won't take much to track you down. If you let go of Derpy right now and surrender yourself, I can promise that we will treat you fairly. Sin may be full of rejects, but we know how to treat each other."

"Oh please! Can I really stay in this dirty, rusting dump?" said the mocking mare, "yeah, I'll pass. Don't worry about me, Diaphanous Veil isn't so easily caught."

"Halt!" shouted an amplified artificial sounding voice.

"Shit," muttered Diaphanous, staring daggers at Amber, "you Luna-damned traitor." The unicorn whispered something into Derpy's ear before releasing her magical hold on the pegasus' wing and shoving her at the earth pony. With a flourish of her cloak, she charged her magic and disappeared. Like a mirage fading away in the desert, her form shimmered and was simply no longer there.

Amber grabbed onto Derpy as she stumbled towards her and helped the pegasus regain her balance just as the purple and grey armored guards emerged from both sides of the path. "Don't speak unless they ask you something," she whispered to Derpy. She stood still as five of the six figures surrounded the cart and looked outwards, scanning the area for trouble. She was glad they were here, but seeing them never failed to intimidate Amber. Shiny ceramic plating covered the guards, each segment seemingly custom tailored to precisely interlock, but never touch. The full helmets made each guard indistinguishable from the next, but it was when they spoke with those strange synthetic, androgynous, voices that Amber felt as if she weren't talking to another pony, but rather, an equine golem with no personality or emotion.

"Seven Seven, do have visual contact with the suspect?" said the sixth guard as it approached Amber and Derpy.

"Negative Seven One," replied a unicorn guard, its horn protruding from its helmet, "enhanced visual scans reveal nothing: Zoom Tube lockdown recommended."

"Proceed," replied the first guard. The unicorn guard another guard began galloping towards the southern side of the agridome. The head guard reached into the cart and nudged each of the earth ponies in turn, eliciting grunts or groans from each. "Waves, Amber: Head of agriculture, Sin Station. State the events leading up to our intervention."

Amber swallowed and began telling the guard about leaving her radio on and returning in time to literally catch the unicorn mare red hooved. "She was going to break Derpy's wing," she said, "so I held back and did what she said. I did my best to slow her down to give you time to find us."

"Doo, Ditzy: Weather Control, Sin Station. Is this description of events accurate?" asked the guard in its monotone artificial voice.

"Yes... um, yes," said Derpy unsure whether to call the guard sir or ma'am, "I was finishing up with my last cloud and overheard them talking about poisoning the plants. I stopped the earth ponies, but that unicorn grabbed my wing with her magic. She said her name was Diaphanous Veil."

"Her name is known," said the guard after a brief moment of silence. It raised its head into the air and stood statue-still for several moments. Amber held a hoof to Derpy's mouth before she tried to fill the awkward silence. She looked back at the pegasus and shook her head. Amber looked around at the remaining guards who had also gone into a similar stance. A minute later, the questioning guard turned back to Amber without warning. "Your version of events is accepted," it said, "The earth ponies will be apprehended and transferred to Selene for questioning and punishment. Seven Six and Seven Five, escort Waves and Doo to the habitation wing and retrieve any evidence." Two of the guards broke away from the group and began ushering Derpy and Amber back towards the other side of the dome.

Amber took a last look at the cart and watched as the remaining guard hitched itself to the wagon and began pulling it towards the assembly hall and the security offices beyond. "Thanks," said Derpy from her side, "I don't know what she would have done had you not shown up when you did."

"I should be thanking you: You took down three of them yourself," said Amber. "Celestia knows how long they've been killing my plants. Sisters alive... they might have been doing this for months!" She wondered what Trixie would think of all of it, but decided that she and the exhausted unicorn needed their rest first. She picked a few pears on their way through the agridome, tossing them into the pockets of Derpy's flight suit. She pointed out the two white canisters laying on the ground and thanked the guards for their assistance.

"Your gratitude is unnecessary," said one as the other strapped the containers to its back, "remain vigilant Amber Waves." It and its partner turned and galloped back across the dome, their hoofsteps perfectly synchronized.

"What are they?" asked Derpy when the retreating guards were out of earshot.

Amber shrugged, "The police? The army? I've been here for a while, and I don't think I could give you a decent answer. They started showing up a few years ago. I've never seen them outside of their compound without being called, and I've never seen them without their armor." She looked at Derpy's frightened face and made herself discard her own fear. "As long as you're with us, you have nothing to fear from them," she said, "just help me like you did today and we'll have no trouble from the LA guards."

Derpy nodded and flexed her wings tentatively. "These 'True Loonies,'" she said, "should we be afraid of them?"

"I'm afraid of anypony who thinks that intentionally breaking somepony's wing is a good idea," said Amber, "speaking of which, how is your wing?"

As they cantered down the long hallway towards their rooms, Derpy carefully unfolded her wings and gave them a series of slow gentle flaps. "It's a little sore," she said, "but I've had worse falling out of my bed. I'll be fine for tomorrow."

"Alright," said Amber, her relief palpable, "well, aside from the drama at breakfast and the ugliness tonight; did you have a good first full day of work?"

"Oh yeah, it was an absolute blast" said Derpy with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, "I thought I was being overpaid, but now I'm starting to understand why."

Amber chuckled and playfully bumped the pegasus' flank with her own. "You're worth every bit, dear," she said, "but don't worry, tomorrow will be better."

"If you say so," said Derpy as she turned to her room.

Author's Note:

A week late, but here is chapter two. Questions, comments, corrections are appreciated.

Enjoy!

Comments

[RTStephens]

This is a fascinating story. A lot of world building here for ponies and the moon alike.

I like your portrayal of Ditzy. It seems all she needed was a change in environment to really shine. Funny how that environment turned out to be a giant space rock.

I had a feeling Trixie had a past with Luna. Let's see if those two reconcile or if the rift will only get worse.

As if the ponies had enough to deal with, more problems get heaped upon them. About the worst possible outcome for all concerned. Looking forward to how this all plays out!

[terrycloth]

...and from the dream, it's pretty obvious that 'Luna' is not the one actually in charge anymore.