Alone in the stars

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 1: Alone in the stars

Screen Glare eyed her screen suspiciously and tapped it a few times before shaking her head. She glanced out the window into the empty abyss of space, illuminated more by their magical windows than any actual light in the void. The red pegasus twitched a bit before looking over at the other pegasus piloting the ship with her. “You ever just get this... itchy feeling in your wings?”

“Hmm?” Rough Skies asked, glancing up. The pirate shrugged, then looked at his screen. “Nah, why? Nothing's showing up on the scanner.”

“I know. I just... I don't know,” she muttered before looking back to hers. “For a second something popped up, but it was gone a moment later.”

“Some trader probably hit the teleport gate and zoomed out, it's fine. Besides, we're almost done,” he said before motioning towards the window. Outside two other small frigates like hers were examining the wreckage of a few earth pony trading ships they'd popped a few moments ago. They should have known better than to come into pirate space. Mining none the less.

“I don't know,” she muttered. “I just can't shake this feeling that we're being watched.” She shook her head and started to get up. “Ugh, you've got this, don't you?”

“Of course I do, it--” His words were cut off as suddenly the ship reared to the right, jarring up and down as the system attempted to avoid a collision.

Screen moved to the controls a moment later as the ship righted itself, quickly looking out the view screen as she searched for whatever had hit them. There was a light, flickering glimmer in the air and their alarms started to go off, warning them they were being locked. The long, horn shaped vessel slowly materialized, moments before drones began to spill out from it. She quickly started locking as well.

“That's a unicorn vessel! What are those bastards doing out here?”

“Get us out of range, target the drones!” Rough yelled as he frantically clicked the controls. One of the frigates was already being peppered by the drones and after a second it exploded into a fiery inferno, the lack of air suppressing the fire in moments and leaving a black, collapsed wreck in its wake. Something was odd, their batteries were draining far faster than they should have, already almost out.

She was tempted to fight, but her survival instincts said no. “I'm pulling us out, aligning to the third planet,” Screen yelled, frantically hitting her controls as she tried to align herself. She knew it was impossible with the vacuum of space, but she swore she could hear, and even feel, as their second ship went up in a fiery explosion. One of the drones flew past the screen, making her freeze for a moment. They were almost aligned, they were going to be okay. All they had to do was dart away then. They were far smaller and faster than that other ship, they'd be fine. They aligned. Hit the right speed.

Their mana batteries were completely dead, all the magic drained from them. They couldn't warp. “No no no!” she shrieked as she tried to click the warp button over and over. The sound of their armor breaking could be heard echoing through the ship. “Stop! No! Damn it! Damn unicorns!”

------

A single rust-colored earth pony wearing a thin red bodysuit shuddered inside his chair as the last ship exploded. Wires sprung out from the back of his head, plugging directly into the ship. Information flooded his mind and he almost casually cast whatever he didn't need aside, his focus on the wreckage before him and on his scanners for all the teleport gates. With a mental wave of his hoof, the drones slowly popped back into his ships and he slowly advanced towards the wreckage. He shuddered again as his ship's magical field reached out, plying open the wreckage and telling him what they'd found.

The ship calculated everything, determining what would be valuable and worth actual bitz, before funneling it into his mind and making him shudder once more. All that data entering his skull felt oddly cold, like a bottle of ice water was being spilled directly into his brain.

There were only a few damaged weapons of value, as well as their corpses. He shuttled it all into his cargo hold before he took a slow, deep breath and engaged the cloak once again. His ship disappeared from the world and he slowly aligned himself with the nearest gate out. He mentally sent out his message.

One of the many screens ahead of him came on, showing a red earth pony's face staring back at him. “Please hold on while we connect yah,” it said in a thick drawl. He disliked these kinds of talks. He could just as easily do negotiations and talks mentally through the ship, there was no need for him to actually talk with people, face to face.

But most of his clients tended to not feel the same way, preferring a pony face to do business with. After a few moments a yellow earth pony appeared. “Hmmm? Oh, the pod pony. Did you find the pirates?”

“Yes, they won't bother you any more,” he said softly, cringing again. With his ship connected directly to his skull, he swore talking made his mouth hurt. He knew, officially, that it didn't. But he still couldn't deny the sensation. The phantom pain making each word horrible.

“Ah, good. And their corpses?”

“Gathered as proof, as well as recordings of their ship's destruction,” he said softly. “My payment is ready?”

“Of course. It'll be here as soon as you dock.”

“Thank you. I'll see you then.” The comms dropped and he took a slow, deep breath. His ship left warp as he arrived near the gates, quickly activating them. He took a another deep breath before a soft female voice spoke up. The ship's AI, Celestia.

“Would you like to activate autopilot?”

“No,” he said back. He brought up a display of the map, quickly plotting his route. From his current position it would only take four jumps, but the way in had been rife with its own perils. He quickly chose an eight jump route that went around a few troublesome sectors. After a few moments a soft, soothing melody filled his mind.

He appeared outside another gate and instantly aligned towards the next, engaging his cloak as soon as it disappeared. He set his warp to a hundred kilometers away, before warping towards it.

He was being paranoid, but he didn't want his ship getting blown up. Once her arrived, he examined his scanners and didn't see anything. He quickly warped to the nearest planet, before warping right back onto the gate, activating it.

------

Finally after eight long, tedious jumps and managing to avoid running into any trouble, the stallion let out a sigh of relief as he left warp and saw the massive structure.

It shown out across the world, a massive crystal tree many miles tall, with ships entering and leaving its branches by the dozens. He sent in his standard docking request and waited. It only took a few moments for it to be accepted and his ship to be towed in.

As he went, he passed a few of their ships, mostly drakes. Missile boats mainly. He wondered if he'd even be able to break one of their shields if any of them decided to attack him. Then again, he supposed the station's turrets would probably blow any of them up if they tried. The guns hit hard and didn't take kindly to people causing trouble in their docks and drakes were hardly known for being fast. He was just being paranoid, of course.

He was slowly brought in through the hanger, his ship held in the station's tractor pull as he passed all the other massive ships. Most of them earth pony designed, a bit clunky(but nowhere near as bad as pegasi ships), designed for function over form. Quite deadly and not to be underestimated.

There was a shudder through the ship as it was deposited in one of the hangers. Slowly the metal plugs pulled back from his skull, sending another feeling of ice water through it. He leaned forward and reached back, putting a hoof to the back of his skull just to make sure it had closed up correctly. It had, just like it always did. But he couldn't stop being paranoid.

Slowly he slid out of his chair, taking a moment to regather himself as the feeling of the ship being gone flooded him. It felt as if he'd lost his massive body of steel and magic and had it replaced with a single tiny, fragile pony body. He grabbed a small datapad as he passed by, sliding it into his saddlebags. He slowly walked towards the doors, making his way towards the exit ramp and off the ship. His cargo was already being unloaded by a few dozen drones using fork lifts and the like.

“Ah, Mister Why,” a voice called, making the earth pony look up as a green earth pony mare trotted towards him, a clipboard dangling from a cord around her neck.

“Ummm... Ex,” the earth pony said softly. “It's Ex. And you are?”

The mare blinked a few times before paling. “W-wait, Ex? I'm sorry, I thought--”

“It's fine,” he said with a shake of his head. “Again, who are you?”

“I'm Miss Timing, I was sent to check the bodies and get the recordings? It would be best if you didn't... need to come back to the main office.”

Ex blinked a few times before giving a slow nod. “Of... course. Whatever you like,” he said softly before looking at the hauled crates. They were all unmarked and perfectly organized in the ship thanks to the magical field that put them in. He tried to remember which had which, but finally just shook his head. “They'll need to open them.”

“Of... course,” she said nervously before she started walking towards them. He noted that she seemed to be almost desperate to stay as far from him as possible. He gave her her space. The mare walked to one of the consoles nearby and started tapping it a few times. The drones froze in place, before quickly moving in front of the crates and proceeding to spill their contents over the ground. She eyed the turrets. “I see you have no qualms about robbing the dead.”

“It's not robbing if they'd already dead. Not like they'll need it, anyway,” Ex said before pointing towards the third crate, the bodies laying in front of it. “There.”

The woman shuddered as she looked at them. She tapped a few more times on the console, before one of the drones moved over and started moving one of the bodies around so its cutie mark could be seen. She glanced at it for a moment before nodding. “It... all seems to be in order. If you could give me the recordings I can have the money deposited in your account?”

He nodded and walked towards her, reaching back to grab the datapad in his mouth before facing her again. The mare had taken a step back, a forced smile on her face. “It's... i-in there?” she asked nervously.

“Mmmm hmm,” he said with a nod.

She tentatively took it in her hoof and then jumped back, connecting it to the terminal. After a few moments she nodded and put the pad on the terminal, not handing it back. “Well, it all seems to be in order so there.”

There was a light buzzing in the back of his skull as his implants alerted him to a sudden increase in assets. He took a moment to count them before nodding. “Thank you,” he said before reaching out and grabbing the datapad. He then eyed her for a moment. “Is something wrong?”

“What? No! Nothing's wrong!” she said with a shake of her head.

He took a step towards her and she quickly stepped back. Her eyes were wide and frightened as she watched him, a little sweat forming on her brow.

He pulled back and smiled. “Thank you. You were very helpful.”

Relief flooded her features and she quickly turned and galloped off, not able to get away from him fast enough it seemed. He watched her go for a moment, before moving to the console and tapping a few more times. His ship would be ready to go in a few hours and he didn't expect it would take long to sell all the junk he'd acquired. The drones started picking it all up as he downloaded a map of the station to his datapad.

Now it was time to get something to drink. He headed towards the nearest bar.

------

Ex let out a soft breath of relief as he stepped into the bar. It was quiet and calm, a small little hole in the wall, one of the dozens of bars in the station. There were a few tables, but not many filling them.

He quickly looked away. The only other residents were earth ponies, most of them looked like miners or transport pilots. None of them had insertion points in their skulls that he could see, so he doubted there were any other podders. That was good for him, at least.

He moved to the bar and smiled nervously. “Some apple cider, please.”

The stallion behind the bar glanced up and cocked his eye. “Cider? Don't get much call for that around here, stranger. You sure you don't--” He quickly went quiet as Ex turned his head to show the jack-in port. “Right, right, whatever you want.” The tender quickly moved to the bottles before grabbing a small, dusty one. He wiped it off with a rag before putting it on the counter.

“Hey, you one of them podders?” a pony asked from the seat two down from him.

Ex took a swig of his cider, shivering a little as he felt the cold drink flow down his throat. He could barely taste it, though. “Yes.”

The pony nodded slowly. “So... what's it like to... die? Over and over?”

Ex gave a sigh, before shrugging. “It hurts. Mostly... it just hurts. But better than dying for real.”

“I've got a cousin, twice removed. Became a podder.” There was a groan from a few seats away and Ex had a feeling this was a story that had been repeated a thousand times. “Says the first time you die, it's all like... weird and shit. But after that, it's fun.”

“It can vary from person to person. The first time is quick and painless, though. Later... it just depends on how you die.”

“You ever go to the badlands?”

“Once or twice,” Ex said again, his hoof shaking slightly. “Listen, I'm just trying to enjoy my drink.”

“I just wanna know, you ever see any proof about the rumors? About the alicorns?”

Ex sighed and shook his head. “I haven't seen anything to prove or disprove them. A lot of people believe they're out there somewhere, watching over the stars. So who knows?” He heard the door open and glanced up, a griffon stood in the frame for a moment, looking around. He eyed her for a moment, but then the pony got right in his face again.

“Well, you're pretty much immortal, right? Why don't you go and try to find them? With all your--”

“Slip, I think you've had enough,” the tender said.

“What? I've only just--”

“I think it's best you go, walk this off,” the tender said, gesturing towards the door quickly, worried eyes glancing towards Ex.

“But I don't--” The pony let out a yelp as suddenly a pair of talons grabbed him around the shoulders and yanked him down, shoving him to the ground. He groaned and looked up, his eyes widening at the sight of the griffon staring down at him with bloodshot eyes.

“I think you'd best listen to your friend,” she said coldly.

The pony yelped and jumped to his feet, running out of the door as quickly as his hooves would take him.

The griffon then smiled and sat by him, looking him over. “Do they get a lot of podders here?”

“I wouldn't know,” Ex mumbled softly before taking another swig of his cider.

“You live in this station long?”

Ex glanced over to the griffon, his eyes focusing on the back of her head. She had the same kind of ports he did. A fellow podder. He shook his head. “Just traveling through.”

“Interesting. That your ship out there? Don't see many earth ponies driving unicorn ships.”

Ex slowly put his drink down. He looked out of the corner of his eyes but didn't see much of anyone, the bar almost empty now. Even the tender looked like he didn't want to be there anymore. “I got it cheap.”

“Really? It's a fine ship. Good for exploration. A voyager, right?”

“Pilgrim,” Ex corrected, a chill going down his spine.

“Really? You don't say...” she said coldly, eying him again. “You know, you're pretty small for an earth pony.”

“I was the runt of the litter,” Ex said, sliding out of the chair. “I really better get going.”

“Oh? What's the rush?”

“I have a job to do.”

“Oh? Is that so? You know...” the griffon said before turning back to him. “There's a pretty big bounty right now on one of those. A big ol' pilgrim piloted by some pegasus. One of those unicorn's slaves.”

“I wouldn't know anything about that,” Ex said, his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to move towards the door, but the griffon moved to block his way. “Why would you care? I thought the griffons didn't get along with the unicorns?”

“I'm a mercenary, I get along with whoever has my money.”

Ex heard a clatter as the tender accidentally knocked over a bottle, followed by the shatter as it fell to the ground. The griffon turned towards it, giving him the moment he needed. He reared up and drove both his hooves into the griffon's face, making her stumble back, wide eyed. It wasn't nearly enough to take her down, but it was enough to stun her. He then raced past her, shoving out the door and racing down the station's halls.

His heart pounded in his chest as he glanced back, expecting to see the griffon chasing after him, but there wasn't any sight of her. Had she really given up so easily? He looked up towards the roof, but didn't see her there either. Even so, he didn't stop running until he made it to the hangers, looking around wildly as he made his way towards his ship.

And stopped dead when he saw two earth ponies and another griffon standing outside the platform where his vessel was being housed. He quickly moved behind cover, trying to hide as he struggled to think of something, anything he could do.

At least he knew they weren't armed. Weapons weren't allowed in the station and all the scanners would have gone off if they had them. But there were three of them, there was no way he could hope to get around them. And that was in station. There was no telling how many of them were out of station, waiting for him to undock.

He shook his head. “Focus. In station now, out station later,” he mumbled to himself, before looking around. There were a few other ponies out here, but none of them seemed at all interested in what was going on. The drones were zooming along as well, going back and forth from ship to ship. Moving as they--

His eyes widened and a grin formed on his lips.

It was simple, but it might be effective. He moved to the nearest console and started tapping, doing his best to keep his head low and not draw attention from the group guarding his ship.

Author's Note:

Sorry about the delay on this one. Forgot to put crossover in the tags(d'oh.) But that was the only listed problem, so should be up soon, hope you enjoyed!
So, been playing a bunch of Eve Online lately(had an old account, reactivated it... ended up making a new char anyway while my main focuses on harvesting isk. I never really got far anyway). However, it's really inspired me to write up my own sci-fi story so I decided to make it my third of the three short stories, this one will be the three chapter one.
It's based on the idea of what might happen if the three pony races and griffons made it to space and found themselves at war once again, so yay! Or... not yay. Depending on how you look at it.
So, if you're a fan of the game, shoot me a mail. Maybe sometime we can hang out and stuff. I'm an explorer! In my tiny lil frigate coffin.