• Published 17th Apr 2012
  • 14,074 Views, 904 Comments

Falling Stars - Rokas



A cosmic accident has brought two 31st-century mercenary units to Equestria. Any hope for peace is destroyed as greed flares and battle lines are drawn, and the ponies find themselves thrust into the horrors of war. Will they rise to the challenge?

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Chapter 10 - Stories

Occupied Zone
Manehattan, Equestria
September 17th AD 3070/1023 RC

Thompson sat perfectly still and tried not to let the fear he felt show on his face as Garth O'Connell angrily paced back and forth in the main briefing room aboard the Red Skye. “So let me reiterate one more time to make sure I understand,” the Desperadoes' commander said in a clipped voice as he continued to pace. “You were engaged by two 'mechs, and you retreated instead of concentrating your fire?”

“As I explained before, major, they took out Vang before we could even think about rallying,” Thompson replied with a calmness he didn't feel.

“Yes, and then your heaviest weapon platform was taken out by one – just one – of those flying horses?”

“Actually, Ramirez was distracted by it and fell in a lake,” Thompson added. “I'm not sure what happened after that but when her comm beacon went offline I assumed the worst and decided to retreat with the knowledge I had of McKenna's forces.”

“Of which you saw only two mediums,” O'Connell snapped. “One of which was an Assassin, with armor barely better than yours.”

“With all due respect, sir, that was a custom job,” Thompson replied, trying to keep his voice steady and without the anger he felt rising. “My BattleROM clearly shows that Wes' one hit on its chest did nothing but scrape the plating.”

“Which you didn't know at the time,” O'Connell pointed out as he stopped his pacing to stare at the lieutenant. “Your obligation should have been to join with your lancemate and attempt to encircle the enemy. Even a custom Assassin couldn't have had much in the way of rear armor.”

At this Richard balked, and he lowered his head down a bit in shame. “Maybe so,” he admitted, his voice low.

For his part, O'Connell remained silent for a moment. Then with a grunt, he resumed speaking. “After that, you made your way clear into the forest, and then those fliers attacked you?”

“Yes sir,” Thompson replied, looking back up at his commanding officer. “They dropped about three dozen of those slugs. Two hit because I couldn't maneuver as well in the forest.”

“So the ROM shows,” O'Connell observed. He fell silent again in thought for a few moments, and then shook his head. “I can't say I'm happy with your performance, lieutenant. You got your lance shout out from under you and didn't give anything back to the enemy. The only thing you did right was getting the information to me, and frankly your lance being overdue would have done the same thing.

“Still, I don't see any gross incompetence,” O'Connell allowed. “But you won't be going out in a unit again anytime soon. You're being reassigned to rearguard, once we're done refitting the armor damage on your Spider. When we march on the enemy capitol you'll remain to guard our LZ.”

“Understood, sir,” Thompson replied evenly. Inside, though, part of him cringed as the contract of employment he signed indicated that rearguard duty would only receive base pay; no combat bonus for him. Not that such things mattered much at the moment, but whether they stayed on this world or found a way back to their reality, rearguard duty would guarantee that any spoils they gained would not be his to partake. For the first time since landing, though, Thompson felt doubt about their inevitable victory.


“One thirty actuator wrench!”

“One thirty!” Trixie called back, even as she strained with the effort of levitating the heavy, meter-long metal tool up to where the tech who had called for it was working. The platform he stood on was easily four meters above the decking in the Red Skye's lowest 'mech bay, and sadly it had no room for the heaviest tools that 'mech technicians used on a regular basis. Before Trixie had come along, the techs had used a pulley system to lift such things, but it was cumbersome and slow, and so the blue unicorn found herself acting as little more than a magical mule, lifting and lowering all day long.

Part of her resented that. Clearly such a talented and magnificent unicorn such as the Great and Powerful Trixie should be doing something of far more importance than mere earth pony work! Yet even as she did that work, Trixie had taken a moment here and there to look at the other work parties, and noted with some surprise and satisfaction that there were humans doing similar work as she was, simply lifting and moving heavy things for others. In a way, it's almost like being an apprentice, she thought.

“Hey, watch it!”

The voice from above startled Trixie, and she nearly panicked as she saw the wrench slipping sideways. She quickly refocused her concentration to regain control from her temporary distraction and lifted it up the rest of the way. “Sorry!” She called out once the human had taken the heavy tool and she released her telekinetic grasp.

“Just pay more attention next time,” the man grunted out, his voice showing clear irritation. Trixie simply nodded in reply, but by then the human had turned back to the arm of the Hatchetman he was working on.

The unicorn had only been working for little more than a day, spread out across half of yesterday and the current morning, yet she had already started to memorize various names and procedures, and Trixie felt a bit of pride remembering the name of the machine she was assisting with. Of the tools and procedures, those were more ingrained due to her survival instincts, which tended to trigger every time one of the humans start to get more than mildly cross with her. Meat eaters are not the kinds of creatures you want angry at you, the blue unicorn thought as she waited patiently for more instructions.

It most definitely feels like an apprenticeship, Trixie thought, trying to move her mind beyond the disturbing idea of omnivores. Just like my time with Hoofini. Thinking of her old mentor brought back memories, some pleasant, others less so, but Trixie welcomed them all nonetheless. She had been such a curious little filly, always wanting to know how things worked, how they were put together and what happened when pony-built machines were set into motion. Her curiosity was matched by a short attention span, however, and so she had drifted aimlessly in her studies, picking up topic after topic, and then dropping them when she became bored.

Then one day, the Glorious Hoofini had come into town and her parents took her to his show. Like most fillies and colts, she had been awed by the amazing tricks and illusions, but unlike them she had wanted to learn how they had been done. Following the act Trixie had asked her parents about it, but they admitted that magicians kept their tricks secret so that they could keep making a living off of it.

Trixie, though, did not want to accept that, and so she had gone up to Hoofini the very next day at the hotel he was staying at and asked him how the tricks were done. He had laughed and patted his hoof on her head and told her the only ponies who were told the tricks were the assistants and apprentices to magicians. Undeterred, the filly had asked to be an assistant so she could learn the tricks, but Hoofini pointed out that he did not have any; his was a one-pony show. Then she had asked to be his apprentice, and he had told her that she was too young to do so without her parents' permission, and then sent her on her way. Returning home, Trixie had been downtrodden, and after being questioned about it she had told her parents about the whole situation.

For most fillies, that would have been the end of it, but Trixie had set her mind on learning those secrets. So she bugged her parents to take her back every night while Hoofini was on stage, and when they refused on account of the cost Trixie had gone out herself and tried to sneak into the theater, sometimes trying several times a night, but at every turn getting caught.

Her parents eventually had enough, and they went to talk to Hoofini about an apprenticeship for their daughter. Much to Trixie's surprise, the magician had relented and began to show her the inside of the profession. The blue unicorn blushed as another, later memory came up of an older Hoofini telling her that her parents had merely spoke to him of their daughter's wandering attention, and asked him to teach Trixie a simple card trick or two until she got bored and moved on. He had agreed since he was staying in town for another week anyway, and it never hurt to keep things friendly with the locals.

Much to his surprise, though, Trixie had been rather intense, and even the unicorn filly had realized that the study of illusion and sleight-of-hoof fascinated her like no other subject. The faux apprenticeship had turned into a real one, and during that time Trixie had earned her cutie mark as well as developing into a fine showmare herself.

Or at least, I had been. The memory of her last show in Ponyville still grated on her nerves, despite it being almost a year into the past. Those stupid foals, that grandstanding unicorn! Her anger boiled up again as if the indignity were still fresh. Everything I had, everything that Hoofini gave me when he retired, all of it gone, destroyed by their indifferent insolent ignorance!

“Trix!” The tech called out from above, and Trixie shook herself from her reverie at the annoying nickname the humans insisted on using. “Take the wrench down, then take a break. I can do the rest myself. Be back in a half hour, though, so we can start on Thompson's Spider.”

“Understood, Reggie,” Trixie called back, and then concentrated on the large actuator wrench she had so recently lifted up. Perversely, the downward portion almost felt harder, as she had to fight against her own instincts to just drop the thing and be done with it. But no, even those giant, twenty-pound tools were carefully calibrated, and one drop could ruin it. A slap to the face at the mere suggestion had straightened that out with the unicorn. Thus she carefully lowered it until it was safely resting in the giant, wheeled toolchest the size of two ponies that she had also been required to haul around, albeit with a simple harness this time. Apparently it had been motorized at one point, but had broken down and never been fixed. When she asked about this all Trixie got was some muttering about “money issues” and an instruction to get back to work.

Fortunately, work could wait for the moment as she had permission to have a break. Once the actuator wrench was safely back in its padded slot, she took a look around to make sure nothing large and heavy was coming and then trotted towards the outer doors. Another glance showed her that the ramp was clear, and she quickly moved down it, intending to head towards the small mess tent the Desperadoes had set up for the various outdoor teams.

Part of her rebelled at the idea of eating there, as the humans regularly had meat and weren't afraid of showing it. At the same time, they served plenty of vegetables, fruits and grains, and those were what Trixie needed if she wanted to stay strong and working. Truth be told, she had very little problem with eating next to the omnivores, even when they were munching on some poor beast's flesh. She had been so hungry these past few months that she had learned to ignore more unsavory things than that as she scrounged through Manehattan's streets.


Gregory Kilroy walked easily across the grass of the park, careful to avoid the deep pockmarks where 'mech feet had compressed the earth. He was in a relatively light mood, as O'Connell had someone else to viciously tear into to calm his nerves, and the forced labor teams were performing much better under their new leader. Stronghoof had done all he promised and then some, and already the makeshift landing strip was starting to take shape as elm and oak trees were ripped down.

I guess even Garth can have a good idea or two, Kilroy mused as he approached the outside mess tent. According to the chief tech that unicorn thing's working out, as well. Even Carver is happy enough with that creepy green pegasus. Can't see why; she doesn't hit half what she aims for, despite her boasts. Ah well, I'll take what we can get.

He continued to mull over the ponies who'd thrown their lot in with them, as well as the new recruits that were trickling in. Fortunately he had set up someone else to take over the duty of orientating them and finding jobs, even if there were only a precious few who were willing to shift allegiances. Truth be told, he was starting to feel better because of them, as that gave him hope the battalion could receive reinforcements from the local population. Especially if we win the next big fight.

O'Connell's attack plan was sound, Kilroy knew, but McKenna's sudden appearance had thrown a wrench into the works. They had been scheduled to move out tomorrow, but now the major had called it off until the airstrip was completed and they moved their fighters out of the Red Skye to provide cover. And we stop doing anything operation-wise 'til every 'mech is dialed in. It felt wrong to Kilroy, to wait like this when his instincts told him that McKenna would be preparing to fight them somehow. That man isn't an idiot. He's going to see like us that we either have to win now at full force or drag this out into a long slogging war. One we won't win unless we can show the locals a victory of such magnitude they'll have no recourse but to accept our control.

What they needed right now was numbers of auxiliary troops to augment the battalion and fill out the soft spots an all-'mech force had. No matter how much the BattleMech had become the “king of the battlefield”, the so-called “queen of the battlefield” remained infantry, especially in close-quarters environments where the shorter range of man-portable weapons was unimportant, and cover existed to protect them from a 'mech's guns and missiles. Even worse, of course, were the specially-trained anti-BattleMech infantry platoons who could rush a 'mech to plant satchel charges in articulation points and cripple it in seconds, despite the sheer number of losses such an action would inflict on the attackers.

I doubt these ponies could do something like that, Kilroy mused with a snort. One generally needs hands to climb up the side of a 'mech and stuff a charge in a knee joint. Still, they can carry heavy things, and maybe we could rig up a recoilless rifle or two, once we figure out how to build them. Fortunately, the technology for those reliable weapons was well understood, though how ponies would fire them evaded Kilroy at the moment. He shrugged at that and just continued on towards the mess tent, deciding that lunch would help his mind mull over the problems the Desperadoes faced.

Soon enough he stepped inside and paused for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the lower light level and also to take in the enclosed space. In it was the small field kitchen, a series of tables, and a few dozen men and women. Interestingly enough, it also contained a recruited local, one whom Kilroy was not likely to forget anytime soon, as the bruise on his forehead would attest to. Still, he wasn't a terribly vindictive man, so he gave himself a mental shrug and went to get whatever the kitchen was serving that day. Now if I thought she had done it on purpose, yeah, I'd want to wring her little neck and see how much effort it takes to snap it, he mused darkly.

Alright, that's enough Greg, he told himself as he collected the serving tray filled with a variety of foods, none of which looked at all appealing. Snapping a neck for even an intentional bruise is a bit much. Though a session with my fists would definitely be warranted.

Kilroy forced his thoughts to move on as he went to eat his lunch off by himself. And I was having such happy thoughts earlier, he sarcastically mused while he worked on the meal. All the what-ifs that plague a mercenary command on an unfamiliar planet, even more so when one doesn't even share the same history or even species as the inhabitants.

The thought of history brought up some old memories, and Kilroy pondered through them as he ate while a new idea formed in his head. Funny, powerful nations tend to develop enemies, even when they're not trying. This place has been peaceful for a long time, long enough to not even have a real army. Does that really say how different this world is, or does it say how very powerful this land is compared to its neighbors? And if that power is shattered, how many of those neighbors are more than willing to take advantage of it?

Greg admitted he didn't know the local situation, but fortunately he knew someone who did. Slowly, he stood up and picked up his half-eaten meal and made his way over to the table where the unicorn stood munching on a baked potato and some buttered green beans. These ponies may not eat meat but they suck down the animal fat like the rest of us. I wonder if that means they can eat meat, but just choose not to? Kilroy pushed the idle thought aside as he pulled out a chair across from Trixie and sat down, placing his meal on the table. “Good morning,” he said, keeping his voice mildly polite.

The blue unicorn blinked her eyes in surprise and not a little fear as the human settled in across from her. “G-good morning, captain,” she managed to speak, stuttering slightly. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“A bit of curiosity,” Kilroy said as he took up a plastic fork and jabbed it on his own green beans. “How much do you know of the geography of this nation of yours?”

Trixie frowned slightly as she thought over the question. “I'm not certain what you mean, captain,” she said cautiously. “Although I possesses many skills, map-making is not one of them.”

“I didn't quite mean that,” Kilroy said after he had finished chewing a bite. “What I mean specifically is what do you know about any other nations that border this Equestria of yours?”

Trixie took a bite of potato and pondered over the captain's request as she chewed. “I mainly traveled inside Equestria, so I know little of outside nations other than stories I've heard from the border towns I visited.”

Kilroy grunted to himself at that. “Any of them known for being hostile, or even less than enthused with your ruling monarch?” He asked as he absentmindedly cut a piece of meatloaf, and then popped it into his mouth after speaking.

Trixie gave the human a brief look of disgust, but was quick to cover it up with an expression of practiced calm. Kilroy noted it and realized the source was the meat he dined on, but declined to take offense as he listened to the unicorn's reply. “The griffon tribes on the northern borders have never been friendly with ponies in general, if that's what you mean. A few of them are quiescent enough, but most still harbor resentment at the princesses for halting their hunting of ponies for food. Apparently, we are a delicacy to them,” Trixie explained, and then shuddered involuntarily. “I met one griffon from a non-hostile tribe as she flew through Equestria some time ago, apparently to meet a friend. Even the so-called 'friendly' ones are still very aggressive and don't mind showing off the advantages they have over most ponies.” She didn't say – and given her tone, didn't have to say – that she didn't consider herself the inferior of any griffon.

A small smile slowly spread over Kilroy's face as he pondered that. “So, is that a fact?” He asked. “Seems to me that one princess is out of the picture, and the other is going to be preoccupied with us for a while. Seems to me that the griffons might take advantage of that,” the human wryly observed, and then waited as a light slowly grew in Trixie's eyes. She's a clever one, then; good, Kilroy thought as Trixie indulged in her own little grin.

“That is certainly a possibility, captain,” she said. “Especially if one was to give them a little encouragement.”

“Indeed,” Kilroy replied. “Which brings the question of just how one would give them that encouragement?”

“I think there might be a way or two,” Trixie said, her gaze growing distant as she thought. “Trixie- I mean, I know how to get messages sent over long distances using magic fire and a scroll. That griffon I met certainly mentioned a dislike for most ponies, save her one friend. If I can reach her, she can at least point me in the right direction even if she's not willing to persuade her tribe itself to move in.”

Kilroy grinned at that. “Trixie, I think you're starting to grow on me,” he admitted. “After lunch we're going to go talk to the major and see what we can do to get a little help.”

Trixie blushed a bit at the praise, but the second part of the human's words puzzled her. “Captain? You seem to have the situation well in hand. Why would you need help?”

Kilroy shrugged. “One thing to know about war, Trixie, is that you never, ever pass up the opportunity to overwhelm and overpower the enemy. The more force we use, the more we can hurt our foes, and the easier the victory.”

Trixie thought over these words for a moment, and then smiled like a cat with a canary. “Why captain, I do believe I understand that perfectly well. It is not so different from what I did in my shows.”

“In that case, it's a good thing we hired you,” Kilroy replied in an amused tone. “Now, what other stories have you heard?”


Ponyville, Equestria
September 17th

“Are ya sure this is safe?”

James raised an eyebrow as he looked down to the orange pony on his right. “As safe as moving thirty-six hundred tons atop a pillar of plasma flame can be, miss Applejack,” he replied evenly.

The earth pony gave the human a peeved look. “That don't sound safe at all, frankly,” she said in her curiously out of place drawl. “Sounds like somethin' Dash would come up with.”

“Hey there,” the cyan pegasus hovering nearby protested, drawing everyone's attention to herself. “I may take a few risks, but don't go acting like I'm the crazy one. Besides, you're the one who agreed to let them use your family's land.”

“And Ah'm startin' ta regret it,” Applejack grumbled.

James shot a dubious look to the pony. “Now miss Applejack, I don't see how you can be regretting anything if we haven't set up yet.”

“Ah know, Ah know,” Applejack replied with a sigh as she glanced around her property. The group stood on top of her family's main barn at the center of the farm, looking to the north where some empty fields owned by the Apple family remained fallow thanks to this season's crop rotation. “But this is mah family's whole livelihood and you're talkin' 'bout landin' a giant hunk of metal near it. Ah'm just worried, yanno?”

“That is certainly understandable, miss,” a fourth voice chimed in, and captain Starbuck ruffled his wings a bit to get a moment to think. “Though I'm sure if these humans can cross between worlds in these ships than landing them should be much easier.”

Usually, James thought, not at all willing to utter the word aloud. “In any case,” the human said, wanting to move the conversation onto less unsettling topics. “Captain Nguyen should be starting soon,” he said, bringing up his left hand to look at the chronometer strapped to his wrist. “In fact, in a bout five... four... three... two... one... Mark.”

At first nothing happened, and the three ponies gave the human a questioning look. James just shrugged to them. “Sound takes time to travel,” he said, and just as soon as he finished speaking a deep, reverberating rumble was heard coming from the direction of the Everfree Forest. A glance in the direction showed that there were several clouds floating over the forest, and all of them were suddenly glowing along their undersides. Then the humans' ship rose into the sky in the distance, its gray-painted bulk perched atop a pillar of brilliant, colorless flame that made any observer within miles turn his or her head to avoid going blind.

James held up a hand to block out the flames of the fusion drive so he could watch the Heart of Steel move along its preplanned arc. The ponies with him soon recognized the move and copied him with their hooves, and they stood – or in Dash's case, hovered – in awe as the DropShip flew upwards in an arc that brought it closer to Ponyville. More colorless flames sprouted from the Steel's sides as it reached the peak of its flight, causing the spheroid craft to redirect its engines even as their thrust started to decrease. By now the ship was much closer and the group standing atop the barn could feel the heat from the drive plume and a deep shaking in their bones from the noise as the Union-class ship came ever closer both to the ground and to the Apple family farm.

The fiery spectacle started to draw to an end as doors opened on the side of the ship and four massive landing legs emerged from their storage bays. James let out a small breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, and he grinned to himself at his concern. Once a father, always a worrier, he half joked, half chastised himself as the Heart of Steel settled to the ground on its legs, and the massive rumble rapidly decreased, going from ear-splitting to a light whine within a second. The drive plume simultaneously disappeared, and a few seconds later, the radio on McKenna's belt beeped. “Dark Horse Actual,” the human answered after plucking the device up with his hand.

“Dark Horse Actual, this is Heart of Steel,” Nguyen's voice sounded through the speaker. “The transit was successful, no anomalies reported. Requesting permission to set condition: ground.”

“Permission granted, captain,” James replied, grinning as he looked to the ship. Although the distance was a good one and a half kilometers away, he knew that the diminutive spacer was watching him on the bridge through the Steel's exterior cameras and so he made sure to give her a nod. “Excellent work, Mei, a real textbook maneuver. My compliments to you and the crew.”

“Thanks boss,” she replied. “Although I think a bonus would be a better token of appreciation,” she added merrily.

James rolled his eyes, again making sure to face towards the ship. “I'm not made of C-bills, lady. I think y'all should be happy you ain't ground pizza because I spend money on keepin' that bucket of bolts running rather than meaningless fluff.”

“Yes sir,” the voice replied curtly, and James winced as he realized he'd come on a bit too harsh.

“Dammit, Mei, you really push my buttons, you know that?” He asked in an exasperated tone.

“But they're just sitting there, all red and shiny!” The Steel's captain chuckled at him.

James shook his head as he turned off the radio and then glanced to his immediate companions. “Good help is so hard to find these days, you know?” He asked them rhetorically.

“Ah know the feelin',” Applejack replied with a sideways glance to Rainbow Dash.

Fortunately the cyan pegasus missed it as she was too busy staring at the ship in the distance, a confused look upon her face. “How does it fly without wings?” She asked.

“Brute force,” James answered as he walked towards the ladder that gave the earthbound ponies and him access to the barn roof. “If you apply enough thrust for long enough, you don't really need wings to fly. Heck, the missiles our 'Mechs use only have fins for steering and stabilization; they don't provide any lift at all.”

Dash thought of this as she lowered herself to the ground, following the others as they descended the ladder. “So, if you go fast enough, you don't need wings?” She asked.

“Sort of,” James replied as he reached the ground and moved aside for the others. “It's not a matter of speed so much as it is a matter of thrust, which is different.”

“Alright, where's Twilight?” Rainbow asked, looking around. “I need an egghead to pony translation.”

“To tell the truth, Ah was wonderin' 'bout that myself,” Applejack replied. “Ah ain't seen her since last night when Ah came into town to check up on things. She was in her library reading that fancy eel-tronic book thing y'all gave her.” This last part was conversationally directed to the human in their midst.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “She probably stayed up too late again studying,” the pegasus surmised. “I'm going to go wake her up. She'll probably want to go look at that ship thing with you guys.” With that, Dash turned and accelerated off in the direction of Ponyville proper, leaving the group behind.

“Actually, that sounds like a good idea,” James said, wanting to move the conversation along. He gestured towards where the bulk of the Steel's upper half rose above the apple orchards that surrounded the farmhouse and barn and continued. “I'm sure you're curious, and in the interests of being open and honest I would not be adverse to having visitors aboard our ship.”

“To tell the truth, I was about to ask that myself,” Starbuck replied with a nod. “Both out of professional and personal curiosity, I'll admit,” he added with a small grin.

“Ah would like ta take a gander as well,” Applejack interjected. “Ah admit ta a bit o' curiosity too. Not ta mention if that thing's gonna be sittin' on my property Ah durn well want ta know what's in it.”

James nodded to the orange earth pony. “Fair enough, miss Applejack,” he said, and then waved a hand towards the ship. “Shall we?”

“Yeah!” A voice said behind the trio, startling them.

The human and two ponies spun around as fast as they could to find that another trio had sneaked up to apparently eavesdrop. James blinked in surprise as he saw that they were three, smaller ponies than the ones he had been dealing with up until now. “What the?” He asked, confused.

“Applebloom!” Applejack snapped off as she recognized her sister and her friends. “What do ya think y'all are doin' out here? Ah told y'all ta stay in the house!”

“Ya said ta stay there 'til the ship was down,” Applebloom replied, sounding only slightly contrite as she ground a hoof in the dirt while her friends gave soulful looks to the adults. “So we came out an' we heard y'all talkin' 'bout seein' the ship an' we wuz wonderin' if'n we could look too?”

“Oh dear God,” James said, his tone one of utter horror and seriousness. The ponies around him all turned to look at the human in mild alarm as his face twisted into an expression of shock. “They're adorable.”

“Ah, uh, er,” Applejack muttered, confused at James' reaction. “Okay?”

“She said okay, girls!” Applebloom announced from behind the orange pony, who spun around as the three fillies stood next to each other and raised their heads. Oh sweet potato pie, this is gonna hurt, Applejack thought as her ears folded back.

Cutie Mark Crusader space ponies! Yay!” The trio of young ponies shouted, causing the three adults to wince at the volume. The fillies took advantage of this and quickly dashed past the others and headed into the orchard in the direction of the Heart of Steel.

“You git back here, consarnit!” Applejack shouted at the retreating forms. Alas, they either didn't hear her, or realized they were far enough away that they could pretend they didn't hear her, and thus continued running through the trees. “Why those sneaky little varmints,” the orange pony muttered in anger. A laugh at her side, though, brought Applejack's attention around to the human, and she gave him a harsh look. “Ya find this funny?”

“My wife and I raised three kids,” James explained as he brought his laughing under control. “So yes, it's hilarious.”

Applejack opened her mouth to give a hot retort, but she was beaten to the punch by Starbuck, who raised a hoof to interrupt her. “Perhaps we should delay the tour?” He asked, looking to the human. “That way miss Applejack can rein in the youngsters and avoid them causing problems.”

“I don't care either way,” James said with a shrug. “Like I said, we raised three kids, chiefly about the Steel. Trust me when I say we can handle a few kids, and in fact it would be fun to have some youngsters around again.”

Applejack gave James a look of utter incredulity. “You ain't met my sister and her friends. They're nuttin' but trouble when they set their minds on it.”

James just grinned back at her. “And you ain't met my kids when they were growing up. I could tell you stories about my son Richard and how he loved to sneak into the armory and play with the grenades. Scared the living sh- er, crap out of us, let me tell you. We did learn a thing or two about making the ship kid-safe, or at least as safe as a ship of war can be.”

Applejack stared at the human with a wary expression for a few moments before she spoke again. “Alright, but don't go bein' surprised at changin' your mind after those three git done with ya.”

“Perish the thought,” James replied as he started the small group on their walk.


A large crash and the sound of books hitting the floor brought Twilight Sparkle up from her unconscious stupor, and she glanced around her room at the library in panic. Her fear subsided as she saw nothing amiss, and her curiosity piqued as she heard voices coming from the main room. What time is it? The unicorn thought as she brought up a hoof to rub against her pounding forehead. I feel like I haven't slept in a week. A glance to the clock on her nightstand told her that half the day was gone already, and the unicorn's eyes snapped wide in shock. “Oh no! So many things to do, so much work and studying!” She said to herself as she climbed out of bed, barely managing to avoid entangling herself in the sheets. “Spike! Spliiiiike!” Twilight shouted as she ran over to her dresser and quickly took out a brush to begin combing her mane back into shape.

The door to her room opened just then, and her dragon assistant stepped into the doorway. “Oh good, you're awake!” He gaily observed.

“Yes, four hours late!” Twilight shot back, sparing a brief glance down at the dragon. “Why didn't you wake me?”

Spike shrugged at her. “Owlicious said you were up until five in the morning. Again,” he added he last word with a bit of reluctant acceptance. “I figured you needed the sleep.”

“I need to be up doing things more!” Twilight Sparkle retorted as she finished brushing her mane and then went to work on her tail. “And what was that noise I just heard?”

“Oh, Rainbow Dash just dropped in,” Spike explained, and then chuckled a bit at his play on words.

“Very funny, Spike!” A familiar voice said, and Twilight glanced to the door again as Rainbow stuck her head in above Spike. “Hey Twi. Wow, you look like a manticore was chasing you all night. Are you alright?”

Twilight sighed at her friends as she continued brushing her tail. “I was up late studying the books the humans gave me,” she said, her voice changing to one of joy and excitement as she continued. “It's so amazing, Dash! They have a whole library stored on tiny pieces of metal and plastic! It's like magic, but it only uses simple electrical current, mathematics, and the physical properties of matter itself!”

Both Dash and Spike gave the lavender unicorn looks of confusion. “That's simple?” The pegasus asked. “Anything with math doesn't sound simple to me.”

Twilight let out a small huff as she set her brush down and turned to descend the steps from her sleeping area to the floor of the backroom she'd taken as her bedroom. “Well, it's simpler than what would be needed to replicate the same effect with magic. A lot less strenuous on the user, as well,” the unicorn explained as she reached the floor and followed her fiends into the main room. “And the information density is beyond anything magic can do. At lower levels of reality, magic tends to start overwriting itself, but these humans have figured out ways to trick matter into holding information at levels that magic can only act as a brute force on.”

“Yeah,” Dash said, drawing the word out. “I'll pretend that made sense to me. Could we change subjects now?”

Twilight sighed again and rolled her eyes. “Alright Dash, I can tell you have a question. What is it?”

“What's the difference between "thrust" and "speed"?” The pegasus asked earnestly.

The lavender unicorn blinked hard at the sudden change of topic. “Shouldn't you have learned that in flight school?” Twilight blurted out without thinking.

Dash blushed at the question, and she slowly hung her head. “I, uh, kinda didn't really study when I was there. It's kind of why I dropped out,” she said, and then glanced up at Twilight who was still regarding her with a look of shock. Rainbow frowned at that and brought her head back up. “Hey, I'm a natural flier! I don't need to know all the fancy terms and math, I just do it!”

Twilight just shook her head at her friend. “You really should learn more, Dash. You might even find out how to do the really difficult tricks the Wonderbolts can do that you can't yet.”

Rainbow blushed again, and she glanced down to watch herself rub a hoof on the floor. Twilight bit her lip and decided to change tracks to keep from hammering her friend anymore. “Anyway, thrust is a measure of force applied in a specific direction, whereas speed is a measure of relative motion between two frames of reference.”

“Huh?” Dash asked, and even Spike looked confused as they turned their eyes onto the unicorn. “Frames of what now?”

Twilight's voice became excited again as she turned and waved her friends to follow her to the main reading table. “It's something I read up about last night. The humans have a scientific idea called "Relativity" that's absolutely fascinating and has all sorts of implications on not only science but the fields of magic, as well.” Twilight stopped in both movement and speech as she reached the table, and then used her telekinetic magic to pick up a slab of plastic material that had a large flat screen on one side. Concentrating a bit, she picked up a second object from the table and pressed the stylus against the touchscreen, causing the book reader to come to life. “And the most brilliant thing about it?” Twilight asked, turning the reader around to show a series of mathematical equations to her friends. “Is this,” she added, pressing the stylus again to magnify one equation in particular.

Both Dash and Spike squinted their eyes a bit at the unfamiliar text as they tried to decipher it. “What the hay is this?” Rainbow asked, confused. “That's all letters, I don't see any math at all.”

Twilight sighed again in frustration as she used moved the stylus to underline the equation. “That's because it's all variables. It reads into spoken language as "energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared,"” she explained, and then tapped the screen with the stylus. “Do you know what that means? Do you understand how vastly, insanely important this tiny little equation is to understanding life, the universe, and everything?”

“Uh,” Dash muttered, and then glanced to Spike. The dragon returned the glance and gave the pegasus a shrug, which left Rainbow feeling a bit frustrated and so she decided to take a wild stab at it. “Is the answer forty-two?”

The room fell into a deep silence as the unicorn just stared at her friends for a few moments. Finally, she sighed yet again and just turned to set the book reader and its stylus on the table. “If it is, then I would have to try very hard not to panic,” Twilight replied, and then turned to face her friends again. “So anyway, back to your question. Speed is a measurement of how fast something is going relative to you. Thrust is how much force is being applied to move an object in a certain direction.”

“You mean sort of like how hard I flap my wings?” Dash asked, trying to understand the concept.

“Exactly,” Twilight replied with a smile. “So thrust and speed aren't the same thing, if you were wondering. Thrust is a way to build up speed.” Her smile faded as a new thought entered her head. “If you don't mind my curiosity, why do you ask?”

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders. “That McKenna guy talked about it when they moved their ship to AJ's farm a bit ago.”

Twilight's eyes widened at the offhand remark. “Wait, they did? Oh, I wanted to see it!” She added in a small whine. “What was it like?”

“Bright and loud,” Dash replied. “You couldn't even look at half the thing without getting blinded, and frankly Twi I'm surprised you slept through it. It should've shaken all of Ponyville when it landed.”

“It did,” Spike interjected. “I was wondering what that rumbling was. I almost went to wake up Twilight before it stopped.”

“In any case,” Dash continued. “We were wondering where you were, so I figured I'd come get you. I think McKenna was going to let some of us take a look through the ship if we wanted to.”

Twilight's expression brightened considerably at that. “What a great idea!” She said. Then her stomach rumbled, and the unicorn blushed and grinned sheepishly at her friends. “Uhm, maybe after I have breakfast?”

“Brunch is more like it,” Spike replied as he turned to walk towards the kitchen. “I'll make some hash browns and hay fries if you want.”

“That sounds good,” Twilight replied. “It will give me time to read more through the library I was given.”

Dash gave the unicorn a look, and then shrugged. “Well, okay. Maybe you could show me something else in it while we're waiting?”

Twilight grinned at her friend. “Oh, indeed. I think you'll find the articles on powered flight quite interesting.”


The trio of adults caught up with the fillies at the edge of the orchard, as the latter group had paused to watch as the Dark Horse's Ferret was rolled out along one of the ramps that lead to the Steel's interior. “Ain't that the thing that landed in the town square yesterday?” Applebloom asked in her accented voice.

“It sure is!” The little orange pegasus beside her replied. “Even Rainbow Dash had to go up and give it a close look! I wonder what it is?”

“That is a Ferret light scout helicopter,” James said, startling the three fillies.

The youngsters spun around and gave the newly-arrived adults a look of fear. “Uhm,” Applebloom started to say, but Applejack cut her off with a raised hoof.

“It's okay girls, mister McKenna here said it was alright if you look 'round with us. But only if you stay on your best behavior, understand?” The earth pony asked, casting a flinty gaze over the fillies.

“Yes ma'am!” The trio of youngsters replied, still a bit fearful but now with excitement starting to ooze out of their pores. “Oh boy, we'll get to see inside first!” The white unicorn in the group said eagerly.

“Yeah! Maybe we'll get our cutie marks for being the first to boldly go where no pony has gone before!” The orange pegasus replied. “Come on girls, let's go!” With that, the trio of fillies turned and raced off again, heading for the base of the loading ramp.

Applejack opened her mouth to call to them, but James held up a hand to ward her off. “Don't worry 'bout them,” he said as he started walking forward. “They won't get far.”


Scootaloo grinned maniacally as she led Applebloom and Sweetie Belle in their impromptu race. Part of her felt a bit afraid as she saw the humans moving the heli-something from the ship giving them odd looks, but she ignored them as the implacable confidence of youth told her that they wouldn't cause any problems. This confidence proved right when the trio of fillies reached the ramp and then started up it without pause or interference, and Scootaloo would have chuckled if she thought to spare the breath for it.

All of her amusement died, however, as another human appeared at the top of the ramp, right in the way of the racing ponies. Scootaloo barely had time to stamp her hooves down and slow to a stop a mere foot in front of the human, and seconds later she winced as Applebloom slammed into her, and then again as Sweetie Belle ran into the both of them and sent the trio of fillies into a brief tumble that ended with them in a pile at the human's feet.

“What in th' screaming blazes is going on here?” The tall, aged human asked with an accent that the girls had never heard before. “You there, little pony things, whod'ya think you are tae come racing up th' ramp into me work area?” He demanded, leaning down to give the fillies a close up look of his bearded, wrinkled face. “Ya trying tae be smashed into a pile o' scrapple?”

“Ease up, Drew,” a familiar voice said, and the girls turned their heads away from the frightening human to see McKenna, Applejack, and Starbuck walking up the ramp behind them. “They're just kids who got a bit excited, that's all.”

The older human snorted as he drew himself erect. “Well it'll behoove them tae learn not tae run into a ship's loading bay right after a landing! If this were a real military unit they'd already be squished underfoot by a parade o' 'mechs and tanks!” The elder human turned his head and spat over the side of the ramp to the ground. “I didn'ta live this long tae have me safe work record thrown tae the wind 'cuz o' a couple kids with more legs than brains!”

“Hey now!” Applejack blared upon hearing the insult. “Ya ain't gotta be rude 'bout it! That's mah sister you're talkin' 'bout!”

“What miss Applejack means to say is that the girls ain't dumb, and they've learned their lesson about running into dangerous areas without an escort,” James interceded, holding a hand towards the orange earth pony to indicate for her to hold her peace. He then looked over to where the fillies remained in a heap, still cringing a bit at the other man's fierce words. “Isn't that right, girls?”

“Yes sir, mister McKenna,” the trio replied as they slowly started to disentangle themselves. “We didn't know it was dangerous,” Applebloom added for them all.

The older human snorted again. “Typical kids,” he said, and then nodded to James. “If you're wanting tae be playing tour guide, sir, I won't stop ya. But please keep these lassies on a tighter leash, would ya? I've got Hermes comin' in to reload his rockets an' Tania after that tae get that wee scratch fixed up an' top off her ammo.”

“Sure thing, Drew,” James replied as he nodded back. “We'll be keeping to the upper decks for the most part, anyway. We'll come back this way after you've got Hermes and Tania squared away.”

“Fair enough,” Drew replied, and then popped a halfhearted salute to James. “Jus' keep th' rugrats away from me tools,” he added, and then turned and walked off into the ship.

“Who was that?” Starbuck asked, as confused as the other ponies at the odd exchange.

“He's Andrew McCoy, our unit's master technician,” James replied as he walked forward, waving the ponies after him as he spoke. “You'll have to forgive his personality quirks. He's over seventy years old and has spent most of that time working as a tech for various military and mercenary units, so he has a skewed view of the world.”

“I can't say I blame him at this moment,” Starbuck replied as the group moved into the cavernous 'Mech bay that formed the heart of the DropShip. They paused as their eyes adjusted to the different lighting, and then remained still as they looked around in awe.

The interior of the Heart of Steel was a typical one for her class, with a full third of the interior devoted to the ring of individual 'Mech cubicles, eight on the lower level alone. Each cubicle had its own support cradle, repair scaffolding, and heavy machinery, tools and equipment to support one of the most advanced machines humanity had created, and the sheer scope alone would be enough to drive into the locals' minds the differences between them and their visitors. Further cementing these thoughts were the five armored, bipedal war machines that stood secured for transport in their respective cubicle, all of them designed to evoke feelings of fear and danger from any who gazed upon them.

Naturally, of course, the fillies were enraptured. “Wow, look at that one!” Scootaloo said, pointing to one of the machines. “It looks like a bird without wings!”

“That's a Catapult,” James explained. “It's not an actual catapult, of course, that's just what the design is called because it serves a similar function: to bombard enemies from afar.”

“Cool,” Scootaloo said, even as Sweetie Belle raised a hoof and pointed to another machine. “Ooh, what's that one called?” She asked.

“That's our Centurion,” James answered, and then smiled. “He was my second 'mech, you know. Worked real good after I had the old Luxor autocannnon stripped out and replaced with a PPC and armor.”

A sea of confused faces looked up at him, and James blushed slightly under their gaze. “Ah, old history, sorry,” he said, and then turned to head for the lift he knew was located along the ship's inner bulkhead. “Anyway, I could recite you specs and designs all day, but you can learn those from a technical readout. Let me show you the rest of the ship so you can see how we live when in space or on a mission.”

Applejack and Starbuck shared a look of confusion but followed along regardless, while the fillies simply regained their earlier enthusiasm and quickly ran off to join McKenna as he reached the lift and pressed its call button. “Much of the interior appears to be devoted towards these 'mechs of yours,” Starbuck observed as the adult ponies caught up.

James nodded at the observation. “Yes. The Heart of Steel is a Union-class DropShip, and as such is designed to carry a full company of twelve BattleMechs and two aerospace fighters with attached support crew. They're not really made for anything more than that, as they were designed during the first Star League era and at that time the League generally favored their WarShips to be general-use craft.”

Starbuck tilted his head questioningly as the lift descended to the deck. “I thought you called this a ship of war?” He asked as the human pulled the steel mesh gate aside to open the way forward.

“It is, but it's a DropShip, which is a smaller kind of ship meant to land on a planet,” James explained as he waved the ponies onto the lift. The fillies practically jumped aboard, while Applejack and Starbuck moved onto the device more warily. “A WarShip is a much, much larger vessel that can make its own jumps between stars and carries huge weapons, and it can't land itself.”

“Can't land?” Starbuck asked curiously as James stepped aboard and closed the gate. “Then how are they built if not on a world?”

“Orbital shipyards,” James replied as he pressed a few controls and sent the lift rising. The ponies all looked around nervously as they felt the odd and unfamiliar sensation, but the calmness on McKenna's face helped keep them from feeling panic. “We build bases in orbit around a planet and then use them to build ships that are too big to land. Some of them are factories, too, that make some of the more advanced materials we use in building various machines.”

“Whoa, look how high we're getting,” one of the fillies – Scootaloo, I think I heard her called? James thought – pointed out as the lift passed the second level of the 'Mech bay, showing the tighter confines of the half-converted deck. Suddenly, the orange pegasus froze and then jabbed a hoof towards a vehicle sitting in one of the areas that had once been a 'Mech cubicle before James had it removed for more cargo space. “What is that?” She asked in quiet awe.

The human chuckled as he made out what had enraptured the small pony. “That's what we call a motorcycle. I don't know the exact model, but you can ask its owner all about it,” he said, and then looked over to Starbuck to offer an explanation. “I normally wouldn't bother to carry a personal vehicle around with us, but Earl, my Catapult pilot, insisted transport for it would be included in his contract. If he wasn't as nimble in that hunk of metal as he is on that bike, I'd have never signed him up. As it is...” He shrugged.

“I see,” Starbuck observed as the lift continued to rise. The view abruptly shifted from a large cavernous bay to a claustrophobic gray-painted corridor as they passed into the next deck and the elevator came to a stop. “I take it that as mercenaries you must compete for the better warriors?”

James nodded as he slid the mesh gate open and then stepped out onto the solid metal decking. “Yeah, you hit the nail on the head there,” he said as the ponies followed him out of the lift and down the hall. “Any command that wants good performance has to offer something extra to the men and women who can bring that sort of performance. I was lucky with Earl, he just wanted to take his bike along.”

“As opposed to you, who just drags along his over-aged carcass,” a new voice sounded as the group turned the corner of a T-junction and came face to face with a human the ponies hadn't seen before.

The new figure, a male dressed in a jumpsuit and boots, smiled at James as the latter crossed his arms in displeasure. “Earl, don't you have some baby kittens to go eat?”

The man, Earl Delacroix, laughed heartily at the commander's rejoinder. “Maybe tomorrow,” he said with a grin. “Right now I've got a patrol to run, or so your lovely wife has ordered.”

“In that case, you'd best get going,” James said, some of the joviality leeching from his expression. “Be sure to mind your steps and keep your channels open. Where are you headed?”

“Rebecca wanted me to take over from Alexis, so I'll be watching the northeast quadrant,” Delacroix replied evenly. “I think she plans to take a run out as well to spell Franz.”

James grumbled lightly at that. “I know I told that woman not to worry when we have excellent support from the captain's scouts,” he said, gesturing to Starbuck. Then he blinked and grinned sheepishly at the pegasus. “My apologies, captain. This is the man we were just talking about, Earl Delacroix. Earl, this is captain Starbuck, commander of the local forces in this town.”

“Captain,” Delacroix said, snapping up a quick salute that the pegasus returned. “Please forgive my lapse in ignoring you just now.”

“Perfectly understandable,” Starbuck replied easily. “Duty comes before pleasantries, after all.”

“Indeed,” Delacroix stated, and then looked over the other ponies. “And who else do we have here?”

“Name's Applejack,” the orange pony said after taking a cue from James. She tipped her hat up with a hoof and smiled politely. “Ah'm th' owner of the farm y'all landed on.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Delacroix said, and then looked down at the fillies. “And I take it these three are kids?”

“We're fillies, not kids,” Applebloom spoke up. “Mah name's Applebloom, these here are mah friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” she added, gesturing to the two other youngsters at her side.

“Oh my God,” a voice said from behind Delacroix just then, and the human started briefly before he turned to reveal Rebecca McKenna standing in the doorway he'd come through a moment before. “They're so cute!” She said as she clasped her hands together in glee.

“That would be my cue to leave,” Delacroix muttered as he pushed his way through the group occupying the intersection. “Before she starts squealing,” he added, under his breath as he passed James.

The male McKenna chuckled at that, and this turned into a brief laugh as he saw both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle beam at his wife's observation while Scootaloo sat on her haunches and mimed gagging, pointing a hoof at her open mouth. This didn't seem to faze Rebecca in the slightest, however, and she bent down to rub a hand through Scootaloo's mane. “Oh, you remind me of my Melissa when she was younger.”

“Ack, my mane!” The orange pegasus yelped before hopping back to take cover behind her friends. “It took me forever to get it styled like Dash's!” She added as she tried to smooth out the violet locks with her hooves.

The adults all shared a brief laugh at the filly's antics, and James stepped around the younger ponies to walk up to his wife and draw her into a hug. “I'm deliriously happy to see you again, 'Becca,” he said warmly.

“You should be,” she replied with a coy grin. “Now why are you playing tour guide?”

James shrugged as he broke the hug took a half step back. “Fair is fair, dear. We see their town, they get to see that we're not hoarding atomics or any silly thing like that.”

Rebecca nodded at that and then turned to face the visitors. “Miss Applejack, it's nice to see you again,” she said, crouching down to offer a hand.

“Likewise, Ah guess,” Applejack replied somewhat unsure as she reached out with a hoof to finish the greeting. “Ah don't mean anythin' by that, jus' Ah don't think we actually met before.”

“Not face to face, anyway. But I was the one speaking to you from my 'Mech when you came by yesterday to drop off Hermes,” Rebecca said as she released the hoof. She then turned and offered it to the other adult pony, who easily brought up his limb to reciprocate. “And you are?”

“Captain Starbuck, commander of the Ponyville detachment of the Royal Guards,” he introduced himself friendlily.

“Nice to meet you,” Rebecca replied as she regained her erect posture. “My daughter spoke well of you and your soldiers, and I'm looking forward to working together.”

“Likewise,” Starbuck said. “The commander has already mentioned that he has several ideas and I'm eager to hear them.”

“Uh-oh,” Applejack's voice cut in, and everyone in the group turned to see her pointing a hoof at where the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been standing a few moments ago. Now they were completely out of sight, and the orange earth pony looked vexed. “They dun ran off again.”

James sighed at that, and then turned to his wife, who was already grinning at him. “Really brings back the memories, doesn't it?” He asked her.

“Very much so,” Rebecca replied with a chuckle. “Mei called to tell me you were bringing guests, so the dangerous places are locked up.”

“Which means we have fifteen minutes to find them before they work around the locks,” James observed with a wry grin. “Alright, let's split up and go look for them. Applejack, I'd appreciate it if you were to come with me. Likewise, captain, if you'd go with my wife.” There were no disagreements.


The trio of fillies did their best to walk quietly down the strange-looking corridors of the ship, despite the disadvantage of having hard hooves that tapped loudly on the metal decking. They had soon realized that they had to keep their pace slow and their hooffalls light in order to remain stealthy, and so their pace was agonizingly slow, especially for Scootaloo who was in the lead. “Augh, we'll never find anything cool at this rate,” she grumbled in a low voice.

“Maybe we'll get our sneaking cutie marks?” Sweetie Belle offered gently from the middle of the trio.

“Didn't we already try that?” Applebloom muttered as she brought up the rear.

“What?” Scootaloo asked, stopping abruptly to turn around and face her earth pony friend. “Aren't you keeping track?”

Applebloom gave the pegasus a confused look. “I thought Sweetie Belle was keeping track?”

“But I thought Scootaloo was our official record keeper?” The purple maned unicorn said, as equally confused as her friends.

“Augh!” Scootaloo groaned, reaching up with her forelegs to drag her hooves down her face. “Are you telling me we've lost track of what we have and haven't tried to get our cutie marks?”

“Uh,” Sweetie Belle said as she and Applebloom shared a look. “Maybe?”

Scootaloo sighed in exasperation at that and then slammed her head against the wall in frustration. Or rather what she had thought was a wall, but instead turned out to be a door that opened slowly inward upon being impacted, revealing a darkened room beyond. Curious, the three fillies turned their attention to the room and leaned forward to try and get a better look. “Why's it all dark inside?” Sweetie Belle asked quietly.

“Maybe it's not being used?” Applebloom offered.

“Or maybe it's where they keep a disgusting pet alien or something,” Scootaloo said, her imagination already running wild.

Her two friends, however, just rolled their eyes at their more imaginative companion. “Oh c'mon Scoot, not everythin' is like those spooky stories ya like ta read,” Applebloom retorted.

Scootaloo opened her mouth to offer another argument, but any words she had died on her lips as the trio of fillies heard voices coming from the way they had come. “Oh no, they're looking for us already,” the orange pegasus said in a loud whisper.

“C'mon, let's hide inside!” Applebloom said, gesturing to the open door. Despite their misgivings, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo followed the earth pony into the room, whereupon they turned around and joined the yellow and red pony in closing the door most of the way shut, leaving just a tiny crack to let in a bit of light and sound. Through this crack the fillies kept watch on the corridor as the voices they heard grew louder, and the trio fell into fearful immobility as two figures walked in front of the door.

To their relief, both were humans they didn't recognize, and they all let out their nervously held breaths as the strangers continued on down the corridor. “Maybe they aren't looking for us yet after all?” Sweetie Belle offered in a tiny whisper.

“Maybe,” Applebloom allowed in an equally low voice. “How long d'ya think we should stay hiding ta make sure?”

“I'm not sure,” Scootaloo said, and then huffed. “And will you stop breathing on my back, Sweetie Belle?”

“I-I'm not behind you, Scoot,” the unicorn filly said, her voice suddenly very frightened.

That fear jumped straight into her two friends, and very slowly, they all turned their heads to stare into the darkness behind them. “Wh-who's there?” Scootaloo asked shakily.

The sounds of something moving in the dark drove them to the border of panic, and just before they lost their nerve a light clicked on. It was not a friendly overhead light, though, but a small one that shined upwards across a fearful visage half hidden by the harsh shadows cast by the light. “I hunger,” the face said in an unnatural voice, and then growled as a hand reached out for the three fillies.


“Well, at least they're not in the armory,” James observed, as he and Applejack left the secured room behind.

“And thank goodness fer that,” the orange earth pony spoke with a deep sincerity. “Last thing Ah want is fer them ta get hurt. Ah've seen the inside of the royal armory in Canterlot and that was dangerous enough. Can't say Ah find yours more impressive, but Ah'll be danged if Ah ain't a lot more scared of what your stuff does.”

James courteously nodded to the mare at his side as they walked down the corridor. “I can't say I blame you. A firearm is much easier to misuse than the kinds of melee weapons Starbuck told us y'all have.”

Applejack cast an odd look at James just then, and he returned it with a confused one of his own. “Something wrong?” He asked.

“Just that ya talk like me an' my kin at times,” Applejack replied. “It's kind of weird.”

“Oh, that,” James said, and he fought off a mild blush. “I grew up in a region of Terra where an accent like yours is common. It slips out from time to time, especially when I'm talking to someone like you, who sounds a lot like the people I grew up with.” He shrugged at that. “You can take the boy out of the south, but you can't-”

The unmistakable sound of high-pitched screams interrupted the human just then, and both he and Applejack jumped a bit at the sheer, ear-splitting volume of it. Surprisingly, the volume increased even more as the sources of the screams rounded a junction corner in front of the two adults and then careened off towards stairs that led up to the next deck. James barely had time to catch the blurred color of their coats before the Cutie Mark Crusaders disappeared up the stairs, though their screams lingered.

“Oh sweet Celestia, what happened?” Applejack asked, her eyes wide and her pupils shrunken.

“I don't know,” James said grimly. “But we'd better... go...” his voice trailed off as he heard laughing coming from the direction the fillies had run from. Suddenly piecing the clues together, he dashed forward, leaving Applejack to follow in his wake as he turned the corner and headed to where a door opened into one of the sleeping cabins assigned to the ship's MechWarrior compliment. Lying on his back on the floor was a half-naked man tangled in his bedsheets, a lit flashlight at his side and forgotten as he pounded the floor with his hands and laughed so hard that his face was changing color.

“David, what the hell did you do?” James asked in a shocked tone as Applejack skidded to a stop beside him.

“I, I,” David stuttered, trying to get the words out between drawing breath and laughing. “I pretended... to be... monster... Perfect setup... “I hunger”.” At the last words his laughter redoubled again, and the thin man rolled on the floor. “Help! I can't breathe!”

James let out a breath he'd been holding in worry, and despite himself laughed a bit at the man lying on the floor. “You're a sick man, Dave, do you know that?”

“Help,” David replied, his face contorted in laughter.

He didn't say anything else that was coherent, and so James turned to face Applejack. “Well, I guess Dave scared 'em right good.”

“Ah guess,” Applejack replied, smiling as well in spite of her worry. The joyful expression disappeared soon enough, and she turned to canter down the corridor in the direction the fillies had ran. “C'mon, we'd better git 'em 'fore they do somethin' dumb.”

“Right behind you,” James called out as he followed, leaving the struggling David on the floor of his cabin.