Star Flight

by Dainbow Rash

Chapter One: Risk

Prologue

“If you don’t risk anything you risk even more”
Erica Jong

-

Primus Galaxy, Sector 7a, Primus Year 269230769W

Starflight the pegasus, the proud new owner of an Equuis Liberator V3, flew through the cosmos like he had always wanted. He was fresh out of the academy and was just getting used to the controls, which were much harder to navigate than he had imagined. Not one to complain, he happily reminisced on his recent graduation from the Primus Military Academy.

Technically, he was on a mission to the planet Aveo, where a nasty swarm of cockatrices had just made their nest. He was, however, in no hurry to take part in yet another mundane mission such as pest control. He convinced himself that he was just taking a detour. The unimportant missions he had been receiving since he became a Second-lieutenant had bored him, he wanted to experience combat!

The only Primus Territory nearby was the small and relatively new colony of Equestria, number 16408 of the union. Starflight had taken a special interest in this colony, mainly because it was one of the few of it’s kind left in the union. Their Brigadier Generals, Celestia and Luna, posed as gods, and they claimed to rise the sun and moon respectively or some nonsense like that. They were alicorns, ponies with wings and magical horns. In actuality, alicorns had only slightly more magical power than that of a Unicorn pony, not nearly enough to raise a celestial body.

In some territories they were discriminated, in some they were treated as normal citizens, and in territories like Equestria, they were treated as royalty or even gods. The citizens of Equestria were completely unaware of the goings-on of other planets, possibly even unaware that life away from their planet even existed. That’s what interested Starflight so much, an entire country, perfectly preserved in the past, surviving and thriving with little to no help from the Military.

The newly developed methods of “artificial terraforming” and “planetary displacement” provided ways for the Union to create new territories on a whim. The planet Equestria was situated on, however, was completely natural, the perfect distance from the nearest star.

Celestia and Luna sheltered Equestria from the tangled web of the foreign affairs of the union, but stayed in an alliance with it for protection. Equestria was a peaceful nation, local affairs were expertly handled by Celestia and Luna.

A small, constant blip on one of the Liberator’s many screens interrupted Starflight’s review of Equestrian politics. He glanced at the screen, to his surprise, there was a disturbance coming from Equestria. Starflight touched a button and more information popped up on the screen.

Massive~Irregular Spacetime Disturbance detected at 40,49’25” N 71,25’20”W in Equestria

This confused Starflight. What could cause such a thing? Should he investigate? All Starflight knew about Spacetime disturbances is that they were increasingly common, and extremely dangerous. Holes in the very fabric of the universe leading to god-knows-where, he had been told.

His mind raced as he struggled to decide whether he was going to check it out or resume his mission to Aveo. With his eyes closed he debated his next course of action, he decided before long. He knew what he had to do. He was on eggshells with his Captain, so he straightened out his priorities. His mission was on Aveo and he was determined to complete it.

The ride was smooth, more so than his old, sub-par, training ship, which could hardly break mach 9. Starflight found himself appreciating his new ship’s ease of use as he zoomed towards his destination. Passing Equestria’s planet, he gazed at it’s cosmic beauty. The large blue-green planet was stunning, Starflight hadn’t had the best experience with alien planets, but this one glowed with prosperity and natural wealth.

As Starflight reached the end of the planet, he heard a small but ominous click followed by red, emergency lights sparking and flashing around the cockpit. That meant something was wrong with the ship’s engine, and that became quite clear to Starflight when he heard the scream of pressurized air releasing from the ship. That is not good. Starflight’s mind raced as he frantically tried to maintain the balance of the ship, which was now experiencing heavy turbulence.

Crash! Boom!

Something near the engine exploded. Most likely shooting shrapnel that jammed other machinery within the ship. The Liberator’s Airspeed Indicator rapidly spun around the gauge until it broke off and sent a projectile needle zooming past Starflight’s head. The ship had taken a nose dive as the engines, thrusters, and atomic battery had shut off completely according to the ship’s warning lights. He had just broken through the atmosphere and his protective shield had just shut off, the ship quickly became a burning comet, headed straight for the ground.

This is bad! Starflight thought as he continued to look for a solution by calmly and intelligently punching the no longer functional eject-button. He braced himself for impact as the ground came into view not too far below him.

He covered his eyes and shouted-until everything just stopped. There was a ringing in his ears, like the kind he heard after a loud explosion, but there was no explosion. After the ringing there was only silence. He opened his eyes to find himself in a completely white space, floating.

This isn’t so bad, He thought, if this is what it feels like to die, then ponies should really do it more often. He felt at peace, and he was pretty sure he was smiling, too.

Just then, a loud, high-pitched sound like a laser zooming through the air startled him. Color came flooding back and the room became more like a tunnel.

He saw earth ponies, unicorns, and other pegasi zooming through the space with him, in opposite directions. They were all wearing clothes that he had never seen before. All of them seemed to be much more composed than Starflight felt. He then realized he was traveling at unheard-of speeds and the trip became much more chaotic.

Then he noticed windows. Windows to places he had also never seen before. Giant floating cities, cities in a starry wasteland, burning cities, giant caves with labyrinth-like tunnels. It was amazing, ponies zoomed into the windows and disappeared. Starflight figured the same thing was about to happen to him.

This was confirmed as the end of the tunnel into view. The light shined brighter than the walls of the tunnel, causing Starflight to wince and put his hooves in front of his eyes.

Like a speeding bullet, Starflight zipped into the light and everything immediately went black.

-

“Hello? Hello, mister! Wake up!”

Starflight opened his eyes to more bright lights. His head throbbed and his stomach ached with hunger. “Uuugh, wha-- who’s there?” he asked, his voice sounding scratchy.

He blinked and opened his eyes to a small blue filly with a rainbow colored mane. Noticing he was on a bed that was far too small for him, he rolled of the bed and landed on the soft floor with a thump.

“OOF!” he grunted, his face stuck into the cool, cottony ground. "Where am I?"

“You’re in my house, silly!” The filly said as she poured a very small cup of tea. “Here, you look thirsty, drink this!”

The Second-Lieuteant, still sprawled out on the floor looked up at her and then around the house. He was in a very small white playhouse that couldn’t be more than five square feet. He took the tea with shaking hooves and drank from the cup.

It was not tea at all, just warm water. Out of surprise, he immediately spit it out. The filly cocked her head to the side and gave him a stunned look.

“Uhhh, listen, little filly... what’s your name?” he asked, forcing a smile. He was never good with kids.

“I’m Rainbow Dash! The fastest pony in all of Equestria!” she said punching the air with her hoof. “Who are you mister?”

“I’m Second Lieutenant Starflight, anyway... what year is this?”

“It’s 1446!” Rainbow Dash seemed proud of herself for knowing that.

“What? Where am I? Where’s the nearest Primus Military Base?” he asked as he picked himself up off the floor.

Rainbow Dash looked dumbfounded. She put her head down. “Umm, Pri-what base?”

Starflight sighed. He remembered Equestrians had no idea about the military. Her humbling expression had an effect on him. “Don’t worry about it,” he said with a smile and less weight in his voice.

There was a small mirror on a table in the house. Starflight picked it up to inspect the damages. Starflight was a tall and thin white pegasus. His mane was long and tangled, but out of his face. The cutie-mark plastered on his flank displayed a large blue star with three smaller yellow stars below it.

He sighed again and the put on a smile for Rainbow Dash. He messed up her mane with his hoof and said “Tell me, Sweety, where exactly are we?” Without giving her time to answer, he opened the door.

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped at what he saw. They were floating on a cloud. A city of clouds!

Rainbow Dash trotted up next to him. “This is Cloudsdale!” She looked excitedly at Starflight.

“Where did you find me?” he asked frantically.

“You just appeared out of nowhere on my roof!” she exclaimed happily.

“Was I in a ship? A machine?” he pushed.

“Like a boat?” she asked with a smile.

“No! Like a spaceship! No, an airplane!” he tried to clarify.

“Ummm, what?” she asked with a faded smile.

Starflight sighed once again. “Well how do I get down from here?”

“What do you mean, mister?” She asked, stepping from the staircase that led to the playhouse. “You just walk!”

Starflight saw her stepping off the edge and his eyes widened. “No wait! Don't do--” His words were cut short when he saw her step onto the cloud and walk on it.

“Yo-You can--? Wha!?” Starflight stuttered. Already he was seeing the differences between Equestria’s planet and his home planet of Domus.

He left Domus years ago to join the Primus Military. The terrain was swampy and soggy, the clouds toxic, only diseased shadows of the clouds in Equestria. If a pony took one step into a cloud there, he would sink into a slow death. His parents, Starlight and Starbright, raised him near an industrial city, and he had to use a gas mask when leaving the house. The planet itself was always heavily guarded by the Military. Starflight looked up to the guards that were spread around the filthy city as beacons of hope and cleanliness, and always aspired to be one when he was older.

He was unsure about stepping into the Equestrian clouds. Maybe the clouds could only be walked on by Equestrians who had adapted to it or something. Maybe he could locate his ship with his Up-link.

His Up-link! Where was it?

He quickly checked his person for it. The Primus Up-link came with a "Primus Key", both of which were used to access rooms and files of the military. The abilities of these two devices were upgraded when the owner was promoted.

The Up-link sent messages using Omega Waves which traveled faster than the speed of light, a very useful feature for intergalactic communication. Another feature was it’s gravity-lock, which places the user in a small bubble that cannot be broken or affected in any way by outside forces when conditions on the outside were undesirable. Technology had not been advanced enough to allow for a larger field to be made, so it was only effective for individual use.

His Up-link was still wrapped around his right front leg and his Key was still in his bag...

“Rainbow Dash!” She was busy drawing pictures in the cloud. He shouted loudly and suddenly, making the filly fall over. “Where is my bag!?” He said, slightly more quiet.

“Oh! I put it under your bed, mister!” she said, re-entering the playhouse and pulling it out from under the small bed with her mouth. “Hre ya guh” She sad, her voice muffled by the bag in her mouth.

“Thank you” He said with a smile.

“Now we have to go to my real house, mister! There’s something scary over there!”

Starflight reluctantly followed the filly. He looked in her large, bright purple eyes and felt an indescribable warmth. He thought he’d stay a while.

-

Equestria, Cloudsdale, Equestrian Year 1446

Starflight walked with Rainbow Dash to her house. He was still unsure of the whole “cloud-walking” thing and did so very cautiously. Rainbow Dash was getting ahead, so he figured he’d just use his wings to hover above the clouds.

“C’mon, mister, my parents are still asleep!” Rainbow Dash said, running ahead. “I need to show you somethiiiing!”

“Okay, okay, I’m coming!’ He said, but he really just wanted to look for his Liberator. “How long is this going to take?”

She already disappeared inside her home, however. The house itself seemed to be made out of dense clouds. To Starflight’s surprise there was a rainbow waterfall in the garden. He gave it a confused look. Equestria was a very strange place, he decided.

He was cautious about entering the house, he didn’t know the owners. He looked around at the design. The bright colors weren’t very welcoming. The whites and the greys weren’t the warmest, but the ground was nice and soft, probably also some kind of cloud.

Rainbow Dash was at the top of a staircase motioning for Starflight to come follow her. He quickly looked around again and walked to Rainbow Dash in a bit of a hurry.

He walked up the stairs and Rainbow Dash located her room, opening the door and pointing her hooves inside. It looked like a normal filly’s room, purple walls, dollhouses on the ground, and a brightly colored bed with stars on it.

Starflight glanced at Rainbow Dash. “What am I looking at?”
“Go inside!” She said, pushing his flanks with her hooves.
He got the hint and stepped inside. Immediately he felt like something was off. He couldn’t put his hoof on it, but something was terribly wrong with this room.

“Look, mister!” Rainbow Dash said. Her voice sounded wrong. It was distant and distorted, like a broken radio.

Starflight found it hard to focus, but he shook his head and looked in Rainbow Dash’s direction. She placed a building block on the floor. Starflight was confused, but he continued to look in her direction.

She moved her hoof about 6 inches away from the block, and it moved a couple of feet forward as if she had kicked it. After it moved, she moved her hoof in a kicking motion. It seemed as if reality was lagging.

“You see! It’s like it knows what I’m about to do! Isn’t that weird, mister?”

“Y-Yeah, weird.” Starflight felt like he was forgetting something. In his stupor, he thought it was a good idea to leave the room to remember. He stepped outside and everything came back to him in waves.

He remembered the reason why he was here. “The spacetime disturbance!” He exclaimed out loud.

“Wha?” Rainbow Dash said with a confused look.

“The reason I’m here! Maybe the reason I crash landed!” He grabbed his Primus Key from his bag and scanned the room. He connected it to the Up-link to decipher the scanned information. Before long the screen said Irregular Spacetime Disturbance Detected.

Rainbow Dash jumped on Starflight to see the screen. “What does that mean, mister?”

“It means something is wrong with this room. Something very wrong.” He couldn’t call the Primus Executives because he was on a planet that he was not supposed to be on. He scanned the room once again to find out exactly what was wrong.

Space-time vortex increasing in mass at rate of .000329 grams/1 hour
Spacetime Signature: xxmp7zvtn5rbzl5p
Location: Equestria-Cloudsbzl5p
Error - Database does not recognize location

The messages only confused Starflight more. Cloudsbz15p seemed to a blend of Cloudsdale and some unknown spacetime signature.

He entered the last 5 characters of the signature into the Up-link.

bz15p - sector 33c
Primus Executive Holding Establishment
Meteor S33c17

The room was recieving partial signatures from a Meteor that was 27 lightyears away. Something had messed up the fabric of spacetime and it was linking Cloudsdale to a faraway location. Starflight knew little to nothing about Supergalactic Physics, but he knew that this wasn’t normal.

He consulted his Up-link for more information. He sat downstairs for half an hour while Rainbow Dash played outside. It was 7:30 AM Equestrian-time, so he didn’t have much time. Eventually he found the Holding Establishment’s Prisoner List. The first on the list was a being named Maleficus Nil.

Maleficus Nil
Male
For Treason, Attempted Coup, First Degree Murder (79), and Jaywalking
Release in 2026 Years (17747760 Hours)
Note: Shapeshifter

Alert: MISSING. NOT IN CELL

Starflight’s eyes widened. It was far worse than he thought. If this guy escaped the prison that was linked to Equestria, he could very well be in Equestria. He paced around the stranger’s house, knocking on his head with his hoof. He decided the lives of these ponies were in danger and he needed to inform the Military, even if his job was in danger.

He attempted to locate his Liberator using his Up-link, and sure enough it had used it’s self-repair feature and was up and running again directly below Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash had re-entered the house and looked at Starflight who had just stood up excitedly.

“Are you ready to play!?” she asked grabbing a bouncy ball from a plastic box, her voice cracking. “This ball bounces super high! I never have anypony else to play with, though!”

Starflight’s head dropped. “I would really love to... but I have... work to do” He said, forcing another smile.

Rainbow Dash’s smile faded “oh... ok.” She dropped the ball and walked towards Starflight. She wrapped her front legs around Starflight and gave him the biggest hug he’d received since he left home. He returned the hug.

“I’ll be back in 5 minutes, I promise.” Starflight lied through his teeth. He never really liked kids, but he felt a special connection to this one. He turned and went out the door, Rainbow Dash followed him to see him off. He stepped off the cloud, already flapping his wings. As he lowered himself to the ground far below, he looked back. Sitting not 5 yards away, was Rainbow Dash, waving good-bye and smiling from ear to ear, excited for Starflight’s return.

Five minutes wasn’t too long, she thought.

-

Primus Galaxy, Sector 25c (Starship Votum’s Current Location), Primus Year 269230769W

The Starship Votum was a Wish-class vessel, the size of a small city. It’s 66 floors could hold a population of over 10,000 ponies. Each of it’s floors was over 4000 square feet and most contained around 30 living quarters.

Starflight piloted his newly repaired Liberator into the Votum’s docking bay. A machine scanned his ship as he entered, making sure he was authorized. If he wasn’t, his ship would be immediately incinerated.

The docking bay was mind-bendingly large. At least 50 ships the size of the Liberator could fit inside. It had the atmosphere of a clear, breezy planet.

At the ship’s head was Captain Acharis. Captain Acharis was a grey unicorn with a red mane and black highlights. She was on the short side and always wore black combat boots with a matching bullet-proof vest.

That was who Starflight was on his way to see. He needed to talk to her in order to get the information to the the rest of the fleet, as unpleasant as it was. He was nervous, this could lose him his job.

The job he had worked so hard for and dreamed of all his life. He was better than that though, lives were at stake and he needed to take a stand. He shivered as he stepped out of his ship and onto the glowing white floors of the Votum.

The interior of the Votum was made entirely out of clean, white Candidium. Candidium was discovered only a few thousand years ago by accident on a moon near sector 12. It was sturdy and amazingly easy to clean, also strangely resistant to scratches. And it looked nice, to boot.

Starflight was still dirty from the crash, so he went towards his quarters to make himself presentable and to calm his nerves. He lived on the 15th floor along with other Second Lieutenants. The higher a soldier’s rank, the higher their living quarters were on the Votum.

Starflight sighed as he entered a cylindrical elevator and said “15th Floor” as the doors closed the elevator began it’s ascent. He was glad he was alone in the small space. He closed his eyes and sighed again, thinking about Maleficus Nil.

He was a shapeshifter, one of the most dangerous kinds of creatures in the known universe. He was wanted for many different crimes and had life in prison to look forward to. Odds are, he wasn’t going to be very happy.

The elevator beeped and Starflight opened his eyes. He walked around the shiny, wide hallways and found his dorm. 15s. He put his hoof on a scanner and the circular door slid open, an automated voice greeted him.

“Welcome, Starflight”

The living quarter itself was much more welcoming than the rest of the ship. The lights were dimmed to avoid headaches. There was clothes, paper, books, and all manner of litter around the floor.

Starflight didn’t spend enough time here, he thought. He went past the kitchen, which was also littered but at the same time underused, to his shower room. The shower was too small and the water was too cold, but it would have to do..

After drying up and fixing his mane, he took a deep breath and stepped outside of the room. The time was 0648 on the ship, which translates to early morning. He stepped back into the elevator. “Floor 66” he said.

The trip up to the control room got him thinking again. I wonder what Rainbow Dash is doing... He still felt bad, she was such a nice filly, and he probably disappointed her pretty bad. She said she never had anypony to play with. Starflight shook his head and lifted his neck. It’s just some random filly, it doesn’t matter.

Before he had time to continue the argument with himself, the door opened and he found himself in the control room. All was calm in the circular room. This was the smallest floor in the ship, only about 30 square feet.

The edges of the room were walled by windows, looking out into the starry sky. At these windows were many computers with ponies at their helm. In the middle was a raised platform where the Captain of the ship was to sit.

Sitting there, overlooking the control room was Captain Acharis. She had her back turned to Starflight, so he cleared his throat and in the most sure and steady voice he could muster, said: “Permission to enter, ma’am.”

Acharis closed her eyes tightly and rubbed her temples. “Permission granted” she said, irritated. She turned around to look at Starflight. “What is it, Second Lieutenant?”

“There’s a problem. A very big problem”

“Well?”

“Have you heard about Maleficus Nil’s escape?” He asked, straightening himself out.

Acharis looked a little more interested. “Yes. What of it?”

Starflight sighed. “I got... lost... on my way towards my mission on Aveo... and I think I may have found Maleficus!” He was stretching the truth a little bit, but he didn’t think it mattered.

“Well!? Where is he!?” She asked urgently.

“Equestria! There was a spacetime disturbance there! The... vortex... had partial spacetime signatures from the Primus Executive Holding Establishment! It’s growing by the hour! He may have used that vortex to enter Equestria!” He said, more frantically.

“His body is still in stasis! He couldn’t have gone far!” Captain Acharis turned around to address the ponies at the computers. “Check for Executive vessels nearest to Equestria! Contact Brigadier Generals Celestia and Luna! Set our course for Sector 7a!” She spewed these commands clearly and quickly.

-

Starflight waited in the 6th floor dining hall for further instructions. He was sad that he couldn’t be with Rainbow Dash again, and it hurt him to think about how long he kept her waiting. At least she would be safe from Maleficus now, he thought.

“I hear they’re going to blow it up, take the whole country with him!” A colt at a nearby table said.

“No way! They couldn’t evacuate in time! They’d need to single him out somehow!” A younger white cadet said.

“You have no idea what this guy can do! He has killed 79 starship captains! 79!”

A bulky grey and black First Lieutenant walked up to their table. “They’re blowing it up, Cap’ said it herself.”

Starflight’s eyes widened. Blow up Equestria!? He needed to find out for himself. He got up and galloped towards the elevator.

-

“You can’t! There are innocent ponies living there!” Starflight said as he received the official news from Acharis.

“Of all the trillions and trillions of lives in the galaxy, you think killing a few thousand would affect it?” Acharis said coldly. “Maleficus Nil is a very dangerous criminal. He could take down the entire executive fleet!”

“There’s got to be a better way! Equestria is a big country!”

Captain Acharis tensed and turned to Starflight. “Exactly. And that’s why we’ll never find him! And even if we do, he’s treacherous, he possesses your friends and inanimate objects. He can trick even the best of us! It’s protocol to destroy the area an escaped level-one criminal is in. It’s happened before, and it will happen again... let it go. It won’t affect me, and it won’t affect you.”

Starflight was hurt, but just then an idea popped into his head. “Wait! Killing all of those ponies won’t affect you?”

“That’s what I said.” Acharis said, losing interest.

“Then let me go.”

“What?” The Captain returned her attention to the conversation again.

“You can stay on your schedule or whatever... you can destroy Equestria... If I can’t find and capture Maleficus myself.” he said, looking very unsure and nervous.

Captain Acharis sighed and closed her eyes. “I’d hate to lose a new Second Lieutenant.” She said sarcastically.

Starflight gulped.

“Go.” She said, turning back to her spot in the control room. “I’ll phone your mother in advance.”

“Thank you so much, Captain!” He said with a smile and a salute, ignoring her sarcasm.

“You have 5 hours.” She said in a monotone voice.

Starflight nodded and zoomed to the elevator.

The Captain chuckled to herself.

-

Starflight quickly boarded his Liberator and did a quick bag check. Everything was there, his Up-link, his Key, he was sure to pack a pistol, even though he knew he would need so much more. Starflight started the engine and set his navigation to Equestria.

On the trip he sighed and started thinking. He thought about his parents on Domus, and how they would feel knowing their son essentially committed suicide. It hurt to think about, but he couldn’t be swayed.

On the other hoof, he thought about what it would be like to come home to them and tell them he saved a country from utter destruction and captured a wanted Murderer/Jaywalker. With new found confidence Starflight smiled and thought to himself: “I’ll make you proud, mom.”

He soon arrived in Sector 7a. He was sure to avoid getting caught in the spacetime vortex again. He checked his Up-link, he had programmed a 5 hour countdown into it.

3:57:08

-

Equestria, Cloudsdale, Equestrian Year Unknown

Equestria’s atmosphere was much more pleasant to enter this time with his shield and a properly functioning ship. Cloudsdale came into view and he could swear he heard a clock ticking in his head. Sweat dripped down his face. The weight of what he was doing finally set in.

He landed on a flat mountain summit. His life was in danger. He may very well have only 4 hours left to live. Shaking the thought out of his head, he jumped out of the Liberator.

Cloudsdale was within flying distance. He spread his wings and hovered over to the cloud city looking for a familiar location.

He scanned the town until he spotted what he was sure was Rainbow Dash’s cloud home. He brought himself down onto the ground of Cloudsdale, looking around the exterior, it didn’t look like anypony was home.

“Maybe she’s gone out,” Starflight thought as he surveyed the house. Something was different about the house. Starflight couldn’t make it out, but something felt wrong.

He cautiously walked up to the door and knocked. He heard a faint squeal come from inside. Now he was sure somepony was still in there, at least.

He knocked again, another volley of squeals came back, louder. It was 3 startled yells put together into one big scream of terror. Starflight jolted and opened the door, his eyes wide.

The house was empty. The floors and walls stripped bare. He was now sure that this was Rainbow Dash’s house, but she wasn’t there anymore. “Who’s there?” Starflight called.

“Oh my gosh there’s somepony at the door what are we gonna do?” Starflight heard whispers coming from upstairs. He cautiously walked up the stairs to the voices.

“What’s going on up there? I have a gun!” Starflight said, expecting an intruder.

Just then a group of buff young colts came fumbling down the stairs. Starflight backed away, startled.

“OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH! PLEEEAAASEEE DON’T SHOOT US! WE WERE JUST BEING STUPID! LET US GO. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE” They colts frantically spoke over each other in fearful apologies, it was hard for Starflight to make out exactly what they were saying but they said something along those lines.

“Sh-Shut Up! I mean calm down... I’m not going to shoot anypony. Just tell me your names and why you’re here.” Starflight said, face-hoofing himself.

A dark brown colt with a lifting-weight for a cutie mark came up first. “I-I’m Dumb-Bell, s-s-sir” He said looking terrified.

A lighter brown colt with his mane in his eyes came up and looked down saying “I-uh-I’m Hoops, sir.” He quickly backed away after this.

A much larger bluish grey colt came up and said “I’m Score, sir” in a very deep voice. “We was just explorin’ sir, we didn’t mean no harm.”

“It’s alright.” Starflight said, feeling much less confused. He thought for a second and said: “Listen, colts, I’m in the... military... and I need your help.” Starflight explained, cautiously assuring he didn’t damage their fragile Equestrian minds with talk of a galactic empire.

“Yes sir, anything sir” Said Score, looking relieved to be alive.

“Do you know a young filly named Rainbow Dash?”

All at once the colts looked at each other and fell over laughing. “Rainbow Crash! Rainbow Crash! Rainbow Crash!” They chanted.

“What is wrong with you?” He asked, an offended look was on his face. When the colts saw this they immediately straightened themselves out and stopped laughing.

“Yes sir, we know *giggle* Rainbow Crash...” Hoops said trying to hold in laughter.

“You know her!? Great! Where is she!?” Starflight asked jumping excitedly.

“Uhhh, we don’t know, sir, she moved to Ponyville 5 years ago...” They said in the most sincere, innocent way possible.

Starflight narrowed his eyes and cocked his head.. “I don’t think... is there another Rainbow Cra--Dash in Cloudsdale?” He asked, looking even more confused.

“Not that we know of, sir... Cloudsdale is only a little town, sir.” Said Score.

“W-Wait... what year is it?” Starflight pushed.

The colts just giggled at what they thought was a joke.

“I’m serious! What year is it?” He pushed harder, moving in on the colts.

They all took a step back, their eyes widening. “It’s 1456, sir!” Dumb-Bell said with a shaky voice.

The thought didn’t occur to Starflight until that second. It all made sense.

On his way to Aveo his ship failed due to the massive spacetime disturbance. He was sucked into the vortex and spat back out into a random time and place in Equestria. He happened to land on the roof of the filly Rainbow Dash’s house. Now as he returned, the vortex had disappeared, allowing Starflight to land in present day Equestria. Rainbow Dash was 10 years older and had probably forgotten about Starflight by now.

Upstairs it was empty as well. He found Rainbow Dash’s old room and went inside, expecting to feel a wave of uneasiness come over him. To his surprise he felt nothing, the room was just an empty box with peeling purple painted walls.

Starflight turned around and dashed back downstairs. The colts were still obediently sitting together, shaking out of fear. “Where is Ponyville!?” Starflight quickly demanded.

“I-in the valley, just west of here!” Hoops said quickly, tensing up.

Starflight ran out the door, not having time to thank them.

“Does this mean you’re not going to tell our parents!?” Dumb-Bell called out the door.

He looked at the timer on his Up-link as he ran.

2:46:00