Former space pirate turned good fights to save lives.
During Princess Twilight's rule she advanced pony technology by leaps and bounds. During this time deep space travel was obtained and soon after colonization of another world.
"The way is opened to the heavens: with it, come power, wealth and glory previously unimaginable to our previously planet-bound perceptions. Millions of stars, waiting to be explored; millions of worlds, ripe for the taking. The future awaits those who have the will to seize it. It is our manifested destiny to spread harmony to the cosmos, and share our friendship with those who we shall meet, in that infinite, final frontier.
Now, together as one, let us all take that first step."
--- Princess Twilight Sparkle, upon the successful jump of Equestria's first practical FTL spacecraft to a nearby star, marking the start of a great age of interstellar exploration and colonization.
It is now a thousand year after Twilight and her friends have passed. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna now rule over an entire sector of space. Despite this Celestia still finds time to run her School for Gifted Unicorns.
But, This is not where our story starts. Far from Equestria deep in space a pirate is about to have his life change forever.
It was supposed to be an easy job. All the information I was able to gather said it would be a single transport and escort taking a load of museum pieces through our normal hunting grounds. An easy job. Our last job. Once we sold the goods from this job my mare and I were getting out of the pirate business. Find a new little colony to raise a family on and live happily with our little fortune.
This was anything but an easy job. They were waiting for us, hidden in the same nebula we were using and when we attacked our fate was sealed.
“The drone is giving us a clear signal, Captain.” The view port was over laided with the image form our drone. It showed the small corridor that led through the nebula, the only path for several sectors. The corprate transports can plot a jump trough to the other side, the smaller ones can’t make it all the way and most get lost running out of fuel or food. This makes them only use the paths available to them; Our hunting grounds.
“Good, let me know when our prey is in sight.”
I hopped down from my captain’s chair and made my way left to my ready room. A small place I could think in peace and the crew can get a hold of me quickly if a situation arose that need my attention. The door slid open at my approach. It wasn’t much, just a couple of couches and a small desk for reports to pile up on.
On one of the couches sat a pegasus mare. Her golden brown coat gleamed in the low light. Her red mane flicked slowly from the A/C. When the door opened, so did her emerald green eyes. She looked over her shoulder to me with a smile that could melt ice. My eyes Naturally fell to her flanks. Her cute mark was a pair of two different colored wires tied together in a bow. To my delight her tail was not covering up my intended target.
“Like what you see?”
She flicked her tail covering up, in order to get my attention. I blinked several time and shook my head. I quickly moved into the room letting the door close behind me. Red started to fill my cheeks as I looked into her eyes again. It had been nearly a year since we decided to be a couple. But, I still felt embarrassed looking at her like that.
“W-what are you doing here Hot Wire?” I said very timidly as I looked away from her. Finding my hoofs somehow more interesting.
“Is it a crime to come see my stallion?” She said in her cutest pout voice ever.
“N-no. It’s just – shouldn’t you be in engineering?” I was all flustered, in a good way. I looked at her for just a second before finding something else to occupy my vision. She was staring right at me. Like a tiger does just before it pounces on it’s prey. Just like our ship in hiding.
“I can make it to engineering in 10 seconds flat. These wings aren’t just for show you know.” She flared her wings out showing off her equisite wings.
“Right! Of Course!” I tried to trot past her to my desk: big mistake. With a single flap of her immense wings she tackled me to the deck, hoofs wrapped around my mid-section. We slid to a stop and she started nuzzling my neck. She knew my weak spots. I immediately seized up as a spark ran though my body and every hair stood on end. Then, just as quick I melted in her hoofs.
“Being as this is our last job, don’t you think we should start trying?” I was completely incoherent, giggling like a filly. I was still moving my legs trying to walk to my desk, and was obviously not getting anywhere. I was at such a disadvantage. All she had to do was lower her ears, give me the pouty lip and I would cave. This on the other hoof, was totally over the top. She had me and she knew it. Thankfully the InCom cracked open and saved me.
“Captain, target in sight.” That snapped me out of it. Thankfully, yet again, Hot Wire let me go. I jumped up and cantered over to the InCom panel. “Very good, prep for operation. I’ll be there shortly.”
I looked down at Hot Wire who was still looking at me with a questioning smirk. “Once we’ve sold all the loot. I’m all yours.” Her smirk spared into a full smile. I smiled back before taking a short breath and slapping my trademark stoic look on my face and rearranging my light blue mane with a teal accent line. Hot Wire bounced up and fallowed me out to the bridge.
“10,000 meters and closing, Captain.” Called out my number one as I entered the bridge. A good stallion, he had been doing this far longer than I had been alive. He never took command of a ship, said there was too much bureaucracy in being Captain.
“Excellent! Let’s get into position. Where’s their escort?”
The picture zoomed out showing a light cruiser toting a few guns and launchers in formation trailing starboard of the transport. A really big problem if we had to fight it head on. But that’s not our way.
“Once they pass take out the cruisers engines. Then, fire a shot across the transports bridge. If they don’t stop, smack’em with a couple missiles, let them know we mean business.”
I took my place in the captain's chair and Hot Wire sat next to me, as the two ship slowly move through the corridor.
After what seemed like forever! The two ship where finally making their way pass our ambush. Hot Wire made a noise making me glance over. She was yawning, her ears went limp and small tears formed at the edges of her tightly closed eyes. There were several things she did that looked adorable and this was one of them. I lend close and nuzzled her slightly. She approvingly lend into the gesture and smiled. Little did I know how important that last show of affection would be.
Sitting back I saw the two ships moving passed, now was the time to strike.
“Alright crew, let’s go make some money.” The crew cheered as they always did. Once they turned back to their consoles, system started coming online. “All section, sound off!”
“Magic reactor drawing at a rate of 4%. Power output at 40% and rising. Ready for combat operations in 10 seconds.”
“Sensors booting up in passive mode. Scope is clear. Ready for Hi-res scan in 2 minutes.”
“Targeting computer online. Magical Energy cannons charging. Missiles ready to fire.”
“Magic Barrier ready to deploy.”
Magic Barrier...
Thanks to a combination of science and natural unicorn magic we can project a powerful absorbant sphere around the ship. The crystals in the reactor double any magic that goes through them. A specialized chamber grants a unicorn a small portion of magic from all the unicorns on board. This is then channelled into the unicorn to cast or boost the barrier. The stronger the unicorn, the stronger the barrier. This technology is very expensive, and in most cases experimental.
“Reactor at combat levels.”
“Magical Energy Cannons fully charged, locked on and ready to fire.”
I raised a hoof into the air and brought it down quickly pointing at the light cruiser. “Fire!” The whole ship shook slightly as our first shot let loose. The cruiser didn’t have a chance, the triple beams ripped through their armor and engines with ease. They started to turn right due to loss of power in there starboard engines and listed slightly.
Our ship decended out from the nebula into view. The second cannon firing on the move right in front of the transport. As anticipated, they slammed their ship in reverse coming to a complete stop. I smirked with a toothy grin and hit the Coms panel on the holograghic display.
“Attention transport! Prepair to be boarded. If you don’t want to die, don’t get in our way and you can go home with your lives.” I waited a moment expecting the typical plea for mercy and asking us to not harm them, but it never came. Instead three new contacts charged out of the nebula. It was an ambush, and we were caught in the middle of it.
I had just enough time to order the barrier up before their first barrage. Obviously they weren’t looking to take any prisoners. The green barrier flashed with each hit form the three ships. It wasn’t going to last long.
“Report!” I barked over the sound of their unrelenting attack. I could feel the Magic Reactor pulling energy form my body. We weren’t going to last long and I needed to know what we there up against.
“One Battle Cruiser and two Destroyer escorts. The light Cruiser has also regained control and is locking on to us now.”
“The Magic Reactor has automatically switch to overdrive mode in order to maintain the barrier. The crystal are under major stress and are at the verge of fracturing.” Hot Wire had jumped onto a console to get a reading from the engine room.
“CAPTAIN?” Called out a very strained and scared voice muffled by a glass enclosure.
“What is it Emerald Shield?” I called out looking over my shoulder at the green mare in the barrier pod.
“I CAN”T HOLD THIS MUCH LONGER!” She cried out straining to hold her shield spell up.
“Helm! Full evasive maneuvers--” I was about to order return fire but I was cut off.
“Magical energy signature from the transport, sir! It’s a weapon!”
“What?” Before I could say anymore a dark pink pulse blasted from the transport ship. When it hit our barrier Emerald screamed in pain. The Barrier shattered like glass and the bombardment struck our hull with vengeance. The whole ship shook violently as high explosive shells struck our armor, cannon slugs impacted with a jolt, and missiles blew components off with each strike. Our point defense was spraying in all directions in an attempted to stop as many missile as possible.
“We have to get out of here! Jump the ship!” My number one yelled out. Barely holding on to the railing.
“HELM! Emergency jump now!” My helms pony didn’t even respond. He just lifted his hoof and smashed a piece of glass covering a big red button. But, nothing happened. He hit it again. Still nothing!
“Jump drive is down!” Called out Hot Wire.
“How much more of this can our armor take?” I turned to my number one.
“Fifteen seconds at most!” He yelled looking over a console. I looked to Hot Wire.
“Get to engineering! If you can’t fix it, call abandon ship.” She nodded, spared her wings and in one flap was gone down the hall. I jump off my chair and made my way to the Barrier chamber.
“Fire all weapons try to take out one of the destroyers.” I opened the chamber and grabbed Emerald Shield. Removing the crown from her head, I unceremoniously tossed her out. I Slammed the crown down on my own head, closing the chamber to focused. A rush of magic filled my horn. It felt like a slug hammer hit me in the forehead. The energy was unrefined but, strong. I cursed under my breath, but managed to focus it into a spell, releasing a barrier surrounded our ship again. Each time a cannon shell or missile hit the barrier it felt like somepony had hit me with a hammer. The energy beams where worse, they felt like a dagger raking across my flanks.
Hot Wire’s voice called out form the InCom speakers around me. “Captain! The reactor has two fractured crystals! I’m not-AH!” My eyes shot open at her cry. “Are you ok?” “Fine. I’m not sure if we can jump. The power regulator is fried.”
I closed my eyes again from the news and more pain. Trying to hold the barrier and thinking of a solution at the same time wasn’t working. “Make the call, Hot Wire!” She went silent for moment. “Jump the moment it comes back online. I have an idea.” The Com line closed and I was left to my task to keep the barrier up.
My barrier only lasted a few seconds longer, but it felt like I had gone through an eternity of pain and suffering. The barrier faded to a low glow, then shattered like the last one. I fell out of the chamber barley conscious. The ship began to buckle under the bombardment. I was tossed about, not strong enough to hold on.
Just when I thought we were done for. My helms pony cried out. “Jump drive online!”
“JUMP NOW!” I called with all I had left. His hoof hit the button and in the blink of an eye everything stopped. No shaking. No explosions. No return fire. A variable silence compared to where we were.
“Jump complete, Captain!”
The whole ship lurched as the familiar star speckled blackness of space molded back into its place. Groans echoed though the ship’s hull as the emergency jump effect quickly wore off. Sparking power cables and smoke pluming tubes hung from the overhead. Several of my crew held different parts of their body in pain from getting thrashed about during the trouncing we just escaped.
“Report!” I groaned.
“Hull breaches on nearly every deck. The super structure has buckled on decks 2, 3, and 5.” My number one moved from screen to screen calling out our status as ordered. “Casualty report still coming in. Our magical energy reactor has fractured three of our four crystals. Life support stable, long range Coms are dead, short range Coms nominal, navigation is rebooting, and our weapons array is fried.” He looked away from the screens to me with wide eyes. “We’re lucky to be in one piece, let alone able to fly.” I nodded in full realization of the situation. My mind raced with information and plans on how to resolve our current dilemma. Unfortunately, my train of thought was interrupted by a Com call from engineering. At first all I could hear was sparking and pops. Then a stallion spoke up coughing.
“Captain, we have a situation here.” More coughing fallowed.
“What’s the problem, Ratchet?” I had managed to get to my hoofs and hit the replay button on the display.
“You need to get down here. It’s Hot Wire.” A sharp breath clenched at my chest and my eyes widened. My chin quivered in doubt despite my fear locked body. I suddenly found the strength to run as fast as I could to engineering. My legs fumbled over debris in the hallways. In my panic I cared little for the other crew in my way.
The door to the engine room was closed and I slammed into the door at full speed. I heaved for breath as it looked in through one of the windows in the door. I could see her, she was laying on the floor. Not moving. I tried to teleport to the other side, but my horn fizzled out.
“Aah! No!” I cried turning to a panel on the wall. I tried to remove the sheet of metal that covered the manual door crank with my horn, and again it fizzled out. “Aah!” I yelled in frustration turning on the spot and bucking it with everything I had. The plate bent in and I pulled it off with my teeth. I grabbed the handle and cranked it as fast as I could.
The door creaked and squealed as it slowly opened. My muscles ached and my burst of energy was wearing off. My breathing was ragged and sweet filled my coat. Tears filled my eyes from pain I had never felt before. Finally the door was open enough for me to squeeze myself through. My body screamed at me to stop. My heart pounding in my chest threatening to pound it’s way out. My legs buckled more than once as I made my way to Hot Wire.
I collapsed next to her. Her chest was slowly moving up and down. A glimmer of hope struck me. I pulled myself to her, supporting her head I picked her up. She slowly turned to look at me. Again I froze in fear. Looking over her body the full realization hit me. She was dying. Her entire left side was burnt to a crisp, including her face. Her left wing was missing, only a charred pile of ash remained.
“Did it work?” Her voice struck my heart like a dagger. Tears started to flow freely and my whole body trembled.
“Y-yes. Yes it worked Hot Wire. We’re safe.” She smiled and opened her mouth again. But, no words came out. I read her lips the best I could through my tears.
I love you.
Pain akin to nothing else filled my heart, like a part of it had been ripped out. Mournful cries bellowed from me as I lost all control of my body and yet my troubles where still not over. The Coms crackled to life.
“Enemy contacts jumping in 100 kilometers out. Captain to the bridge!” My number one’s voice roared over the Com. I lifted my head from Hot Wire’s body. The edges of my vision was starting to darken. I gently laid her on the floor and started to rise to my hoofs when my vision went black.
*Gasp* My eyes shot open to the dimly lit cabin of the transport ship. My breathing was heavy and my coat damp with sweat. I hated reliving that scene in my dreams. Quickly I got my breathing under control. Deep breath in through the nose and hold it with a hoof to your chest, slowly let it out as you wave your hoof away.
Something moved next to me and I quickly identified it as a filly I was seated next to for the trip. A brave little one, traveling on her own to see her mommy. She didn’t even have her cutie mark yet. Apparently, she decided that I was going to be her new best friend because the other pony next to her looked even grumpier then I did.
A young voice rang in my ear, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Huh? What?” I blinked a few time and looked about not seeing any pony looking at me.
“Down here.” The little voice came, again. Looking down was a little orange filly with a maroon colored mane and pink eyes looking up at me. “Why you going to Nayble?”
“Oh! Ah, well.” I rubbed the back of my neck and looked up in thought for a moment. Other ponies where looking at me now. Their faces pleading to keep the little filly occupied. I gave them a glare before looking back to the filly, who had a big grin on her face. How can you resist a face like that?
*Sigh* I straighten up and puff out my chest slightly.
“I’m going to be the head security pony for the whole station.” I waved my hoof through air to give the filly an idea of how big that was. Her eyes grew and her mouth gaped open.
“Wo-ow! How’d you got to do that?” She seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. Which was rare for fillies these days.
“Well, first you have to train to be really strong. Then, you go to school to learn what is right and wrong-” I was cut off by the filly.
“Wait! You had to go back to school? Did your first school no teach you everything?” She had a very confused look on her face, with one ear up and the other down.
“Well, there are schools for different things. There’s just too much for one pony to learn. So, you have to choose which thing you want to learn and go to a school for that.”
“So, you went to school to learn how to be a security pony?”
“Yes. Well, sort of.” Now I confused her. “For now, let’s just go with, yes.”
“Ok.” She shrugged. “So, you’re the security pony for the whole station?”
“No, I’m the lead security pony. I’ll have a bunch of other ponies working for me.” Slight disappointment replaced her confused look.
“So, you don’t catch the bad ponies?” She looked up at me with a hope she was wrong.
“Oh, no. I DO catch the bad ponies, in fact I only catch the REALLY bad ones. I was specially trained for it.” I gave a big grin and her eyes lit up.
“So, you’re like a-“ She looked around the cabin before leaning in close and whispered. “-a secret agent?”
I leaned down to her and whispered, “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”
“Oh, ok.” She whispered for no real reason. I sat back up and cleared my throat.
“Besides I can’t tell just any pony Princess Celestia’s plan.” Squeal in three, two, one.
“Eeeeeh! You know Princess Celestia?” Good thing she was strapped down or she might have hit her head on the ceiling. This was, however, an easy way to get away from the previous conversation.
“Well, yes. I do know the Princesses.”
Her eyes widened as she seemed to endlessly inhaled.
“YOU KNOW PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCES LUNA!?”
She was quite perceptive catching on to the fact that I said "Princesses" and not "Princess."
I took a quick glance at the other ponies in the cabin. Most of them rolled their eyes clearly thinking I was making it up for the benefit of the filly. Others gave a raised eye brow trying to determine if I was lying or not. A few seemed interested in what I had to say. I looked back to the filly who was waiting expectantly for my response.
“Yes, both. Though I know Luna better than Celestia.”
It’s funny; I wasn’t looking to make a friend on the way to my new assignment, let alone make friends with a filly, but she was just so adorable and she fun to spend time with. I had no intention of waiting on board while the transport stopped to fill up on a refuel planet.
“Mares and gentle colts we have landed on Hayvist for refueling. The process will take about 6 hours. If you like, you may exit the transport and visit the city, just have your ticket on hoof and be back before we leave. Thank you for choosing Pegasus Swift for your traveling needs.”
The pilot’s voice called out over the InCom letting us know we could get some fresh air. Other ponies where already working their way out. I had just put my saddle bags on and was about to leave when I noticed the little filly sadly sitting on her seat.
“Not going to get off and stretch your legs?” I asked getting her attention. She looked up from her hooves at me.
“Mommy told me not to go someplace I don’t know with no adult.” I admired her honesty and loyalty. Then I thought about what I was going to do once I got out. Get some food and then maybe a drink. I frowned at myself, I can do that ANYWARE.
Take the kid with you stubborn mule!
“Got bits?” I asked with a friendly smile. She nodded.
“A few.”
"Got your ticket?" I confirmed as I held up my own.
"Right here!" She declaired holding up her ticket.
“Then grab your bag and let’s go.” I said standing up tall.
“But, mommy said-“ She started to protest as I cut her off.
“And she’s right. You shouldn’t go anywhere without an adult. Well, I’m an adult.” Her eyes lit up and a huge grin spread across her face. She jumped up and grabbed me around my neck hugging me. I wasn’t exactly prepared for it, and fell on my side. She let go stepping back ears drooped.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
I laughed getting to my hooves. “It’s quite alright. Grab your bag and let's get going. Don’t have all day now.”
“Um.” She looked up past me following her gaze I look to the same place, there sat a tiny pink saddle bag in the overhead, clearly out of reach for her.
“Oh, right.” With skill from years of practices I picked the little bag up in my levitation spell, floated it down, and strapped it to her.
“There, I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.” She was about to say something but was cut off by her stomach growling.
“I’ll take that as a 'yes'.” We exited the transport on to the landing pad and made our way to the nearby city. Before we left the station I stopped and turned to the little filly a bit embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, we’ve been sitting together for hours and I don’t even know your name.” I rubbed the back of my neck with a half laugh.
“That’s ok. My name is Tangerine Pie, but you can call me Tangy.” She smiled happily.
“Ok, Tangy. I’m Glimmering Stars. Glimmer for short. Nice to meet you.” I held out my hoof. She placed her own to mine and we shook.
“Now let’s get some food.” And with that we walked out into the city. We quickly found a sidewalk food cart selling stuffed carrots on a bun.
My nose sniffed at the aroma from the cart. “That smells great.”
“Only cart that sells’em.” The stallion claimed.
“How much?” I already started getting my bit bag out.
“3 bits for a stuffed carrot and drink. 4 for a stuffed carrot with everything on it. 5 for everything and a drink.” As I stood there inspecting my bits and determining which selection to buy, three bits hit the cart top.
“One and a drink, please.” Tangy knew what she wanted. Without a second of hesitation the cart pony pulled a steaming carrot off the grill and placed it on a warm bun. Opening a door on top he grabbed a chilled juice box and placed it next to the carrot.
“Order up!” He called and Tangy pulled it off the cart. Amazed that this little filly knew how to handle herself so well left me dumfounded for a moment.
“You going to order something pal?”
“Yah, same thing.” I floated 3 bits onto his cart and just as quickly, a carrot and juice box replaced the bits. Levitating my food I moved over to Tangy and sat down. She was already happily munching on her food. I raised my stuffed carrot on a bun up and took a bite. The bun was honey glazed giving it a nice sweet start. Next the familiar flavor of carrot, when I started chewing creamy cheese with broccoli bits squeezed out of the carrot. This was going to be a good meal, but what was "everything?" I remembered the cart pony said “5 for everything and a drink,” but what was that?
“Excuse me, sir?” I looked to the cart pony who glanced down at me. “What’s everything?"
“Everything is all the topping that go with the carrot. 2 bits to upgrade and trust me, it’s worth it.” He finished with a grin. What I had was pretty good, but I had to know. Dropping 2 more bits on his cart I returned my stuffed carrot on a bun to him, minus one bite. Before the oozing cheese could drip, he opened another door, grabbed a scoop, added the new toppings, and hooved it back to me. I inspected it: Mushrooms, onions, sweat grass, and at least 3 colors of peppers all sautéed together.
Mouth watering, I bit into this master piece before me. My mouth filled with a tongue defying mix of sweet, creamy, and savory flavors. I found myself quickly devouring my meal enjoying every bite. As I finished off the last bite I heard a laugh, looking down at Tangy I saw the little filly had managed to get cheese all over her hooves and muzzle.
Then I noticed she was pointing at me, I saw my hooves were covered in cheese and bits of the extra toppings, more than likely I had it all over my muzzle too. That’s when a picture popped up in my head: a grown stallion and filly both equally covered in their food. I couldn't help but start to laugh and together we laughed at each other.
After a good laugh I got some napkins from the cart and wiped myself clean doing the same for Tangy. She giggled as a levitated napkin rubbed her face clean, with a fresh napkin I held up to her nose and told her to blow. With a cute little toot she blew out a tiny cheese covered broccoli bit from her nostril. I just paused there in disbelief holding the napkin in place until Tangy's muffled laughter spread to me and we both burst out in laughter again.
Sun light pushed it's way in though the blinds over my window, I could feel the warmth on my closed eye lids. I was already awake, had been for an hour; that damn dream came back again. Every time I wake gasping for air, coat soaked with sweat.
How many bottles of hard cider do I have to drink to make these damned memories go away?
Trying to think this early in the morning with a hangover only makes my head hurt, so I didn't bother to speculate. Instead I just laid there, pretending that I could just sleep the day away and the next one and the one after that. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans for me. A hoof shook me insistantly. I opened an eye and formed my face into an annoyed scowl. I looked up to the pony shaking me, my first officer.
Long story short I bought a small house on a planet at the outer rim, there I buried Hot Wire's remains. I don't know why Rough Hooves, my first officer, followed me here, but he hasn't left my side since. I'd never tell him, but I was glad he was with me. Though, right now I wished he'd let me pretend to sleep.
“We have guests.” He informed me. There was a hint of worry in his voice, though his mug didn't show any.
“I didn't invite anyone. So, unless you did. THROW THEM OUT!” I wasn't yelling at him, I wanted my voice to travel to the living room where our uninvited guests were.
His voice changed to his first officer tone, “There not the kind you can do that to, Sir.”
“Ugh. Fine! Who are they?” I asked as I partly squirmed my way out from the entangled warm blanket, landing head first on the cold floor. Scowling all the while, dispite my clumsy landing.
“The sort you want to look presentable for.” He nodded to the bathroom indicating I needed to clean up first. I dragged my hooves across the floor into the bathroom. “Take a shower!” He commanded. I stuck my head out, mane half combed and stuck my tongue out at him. As I pulled my head back in I almost thought he smirked at the gesture.
Nah! He never smiles!
The shower felt great and helped clear my head of the nightmare. Once dried off I rummaged though my room for appropriate attire. Finding nothing good I decided to go without, not like they'll care if I'm wearing anything anyways. I checked myself in a mirror one last time to make sure my mane was right and nothing blemished my ghost white coat. Even though my coat wasn't alabaster, the slightest amount of dirt showed.
Once I was presentable for whoever was waiting for me, I cantered over to my door. As I lifted a hoof to the nob a thought hit me.
It hadn't been, what, a month since I burried Hot Wire and here I was hopping happily with a smile on my face to meet guests? Did I not love her? Am I so shallow that I've already forgotten her?
I shook me head violently.
NO! I loved Hot Wire and she loved me! Stop doing this to yourself! Wouldn't she want you to live happily? With or without her?
My hoof fell back to the floor and my head hung as tears rolled off the end of my muzzle.
I miss you Hot Wire. I miss your smile, your laugh, the little squeaks you'd make from being tickled.
A smile came back to my face.
That! Hold on to that Glimmer!
I lifted my head back up wiping my tears away and opening the door. Moving down the hallway I looked to my left out the large windows. Not far off was a small beach and the vast ocean beyond.
You would have loved it here Hot Wire. Warm up drafts for taking off, a private beach to spend time with your special somepony and the weather never drops below sixty.
My eyes turned back to the up coming archway at the end of the hallway. On the other side was the living room and whoever was waiting for me. I hadn't told anypony I knew where I was, more then likely it was some local official looking for funding for a development project. Meaning I'll have to sit through their speech on how it will benefit everypony living here and I'll be helping to make the world better for our next generation. It was a bunch of horse apples. Following that line of thought, my reaction to what I found in my living room was quite understandable.
As soon as I saw them I tried to darted into the kitchen hoping to find Rough. My hooves scraped on the smooth wood floor as they desperately tried to get traction. Once they did I crashed into him, well, I bounced off his chest and fell to the floor, but I quickly jumped back up.
“WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS THEM?” I yelled at the loudest whisper possible.
“Because if I did you'd of just ran.” He spoke normally is if nothing was wrong.
“Damn right I would have run, but now I'm DEAD!” I was fuming.
“I would have too, but there not here for me.” My eyes widened as my ears fell, I was now alabaster white. If I hadn't of gone to the bathroom earlier I probably would have wet the floor right then and there.
What do they want with me? Did they come to personally arrest me? Or are they going to skip that and just kill me on the spot? Whatever the reason, this was not good!
“Don't keep them waiting.” Rough Hooves turned and picked up a tray with a pot of tea and cups on it.
Expertly he walked into the living room with out a single chatter of the porcelin. Only when he set it down did it make any noise.
“Tea?” He professionally offered.
“Yes, thank you.” Replied the most gental of voices.
“Please. Will our host be joining us shortly?” The second voice was crisp and cheerful.
“He wanted to clean up before meeting you both.” A well executed bold face lie.
What little color I have came back to me as I pushed my fears aside. If they where in my living room then the place was surly surrounded, meaning there was no escape. With a heavy deep breath I stood and entered the living room ready to face my fate. I slowly walked to the couch opposite of them and sat. They both looked up from there levitated teacups. Celestia spoke first.
“Hello Glimmering Stars.” Her smile was warm and inviting. Luna raised an eyebrow as she sipped her tea eyeing my up and down.
“Hi.” I managed to squeak out. Nopony said anything for a moment, it felt like an eternity. Finally Celestia broke the silence.
“Do you know why we're here?” She gestured to Luna and herself.
A million possibilities ran though my head, but all of them were guesses at best. I truely didn't know why the two rulers of known space would come to my house in the middle of nowhere. I flinched when I noticed I hadn't said anything yet. Looking to Celestia, she had only kindness and patience in her eyes.
“No.” I shook my head slowly as to not loss sight of her.
“We're here about the ambush your ship was in.”
She placed her teacup down. Her stare felt like it could see right though me, reveling all my thoughts and secrets.
“We don't know much of what happened and we're hoping you could fill us in on some of the details.”
“Like what?” I had raised an eyebrow knowing that all fleet ships not only had a black box that recorded everything that happened, but that they would have submitted a report once they had returned.
“I guess I should start with telling you that the operation in which you were attacked was not sanctioned.” Her voice took on a somber sound at the end.
“We specifically told our naval leaders not to partake in such actions. They are not in line with what we hope to accomplish.” Luna added to her sisters information.
“So, the ships that attack us had gone rouge?” I was surprised such a thing could get past them.
“They were part of a group that thinks violence is the only answer to violence.” Celestia's voice sounded regretful.
“Were?” I wanting to know what she meant by that. Celestia and Luna looked at each other with surprise and confusion on there faces. In unison they looked back at me.
“Perhaps you should tell us what happened.” Luna inquired of me.
My head hung slightly and I had to clench my eyes shut. I had nearly managed to surpress the memories of that day completely, but with that one request everything came flooding back, including the pain. Tears started to well up in my eyes again.
“I can't!” I nearly yelled at them.
“Glimmer, What happened?” Celestia's voice cooed like a concerned mother.
“I LOST EVERYTHING! MY SHIP, MY CREW, AND... AND HER!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
With every fiber of my being I was trying to hold back the emotions from that day, when I lost Hot Wire. I had spent days repressing the pain and sorrow, but this conversation with only a few words had exposed everything. I was starting to push back the memories to where I had banished them, when something sat next to me and enveloped me in an embrace.
I opened my eyes to see a white coat and a feathered wing around me. Looking up I found Celestia looking down at me, a heavyhearted look on her face, yet comforting. She held me in her fore hooves and held on tight. She had even removed her crown.
“Let it out.” She said.
With those simple words every wall, every barrier, every effort to push back the emotion and memories of that day fell as if they were never there. In the blink of an eye I went from a struggling stallion to a crying colt. Tears pored from my eyes as I let go against Celestia's coat. With each shuttering breath I wailed in agony for the loss of my love. Tears, saliva and mucus stained Celestia's coat as she gently stroked my mane consoling me.
“That's right. Let it out. Don't stop until it's all out.”
I don't know how long I cried, but she never let go even the slightest bit. Even when my tears stopped and I just sat there breathing solftly in her embrace. It wasn't until I finally lifted my head from her chest did she let me go, but continued to sit with a wing around me.
“Better?” She asked sweetly.
I looked up at her, she was looking down to me with a warm smile. I simply nodded sniffing and wiped the remaining moisture from my eyes.
“Would you be willing to explain what you remember?”
I looked away to the table and signed collecting my thoughts.
“Perhaps you should clean up first sister.” Luna stated.
Looking to Celestia's chest I saw her coat drentched from my extensive cry and grimaced at the sight. It wasn't the most gruesome thing I had seen, but this was PRINCESS Celestia's coat we were talking about, and it was all messed up because she enabled me to finally mourn.
“Not to fret everypony. I merely need a moist towel.”
A moment later Rough held up a hot towel to Celestia. She levitated it up and cleaned herself off, then without warning my head was covered. The towel moved about rubbing my face clean. I sat there for a moment once it was lifted, stunned.
“I'm sorry Glimmer, but you needed that.”
She gave it back to Rough who took it to the kitchen. A slight squeeze from her wing prompted me to look up at her. She was looking to me patciently waiting my responce. With another sigh I started telling them the important parts.
“We disabled one of the escorts' engines before moving on the transport. They stopped when we shot over their bridge. When we were along side, three more ships come out of the nebula, the same way we did. We had an experimental shield system we stole from a research ship not long ago, but it didn't matter.”
I paused recalling the strange pulse of energy that came from the transport ship.
“The Barrier System should have given you plenty of time to mount a defense or escape.” Luna stated clearly knowing about it.
“The transport used something that knocked out our medium from the feedback. The shield fell and we were rocked by the incoming fire already in flight. We tried an emergency jump, but it didn't work.”
Again I paused, Hot Wire's face coming into view.
“Then what did you do?” Celestia asked perplexed.
“Your ship surly couldn't withstand the damage it was taking.” Luna inquired, I nodded in agreement.
“I sent my head engineering and...” I took a deep breath to steady myself. “And my mate to fix the jump drive. I told her if she couldn't fix it to order abandon ship.”
“What was her name?” Celestia gave a squeese with her wing as to encourage me to keep going. I looked to a picture on the end table next to Luna. They both looked and Luna picked it up in her magic. She then past it to Celestia. She admired the pegasus mare in the picture.
“Hot Wire.” I stated and continued. “The power regulator for the jump drive was also fried by the pulse. Unable to fix it she- she used her own body to regulate the flow.”
Luna gasped holding a hoof to her mouth. Wide eyed Celestia looked from the picture to me.
“How did she do that?” She was baffled by the idea.
“She could change the currents that flowed through her body to any other. This allowed her to work on live systems without the fear of shocking herself to death.”
“The power requirement for a jump system would have killed her instantly.” Luna stated looking at me intently.
“She converted the power down to a manageable level passing it though her body before changing it to the required levels.”
“But, those levels of power would have...” I picked up her train of thought and finished it.
“-Burn flesh. When I got to engineering I found her badly burnt on the floor next to the jump drive. I held her in my hooves as she struggled to breath, listening to her last words.”
“Which where?” Luna asked, she was on the edge of her seat biting one of her hooves.
“She asked if it worked. I told her it did and she saved us. She didn't have the breath to say it, but she lipped 'I love you' before passing away.”
I was holding my fore legs like I was holding Hot Wire, I could still see her there. I looked up from my legs to Luna.
“The last thing I remember was Rough calling over the InCom that we had enemy contact when I blacked out.” Luna's jaw hung slack looking at me in disbelief.
“What? That's it?”
“Luna! Show some respect. This is very hard for him.” Celestia lectured her sister.
“But, what happened next? Who jumped in? How did you escape with a ship that can't jump?”
“I can answer that.” Rough said sitting down next to Luna. “It was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen in my life.”
Tangy and I got cleaned up before deciding on what to do next. I was concerned about how much time we had, so I looked around to see if there was a clock tower. Unfortunately I didn't see one in the area.
“You wouldn't happen to have the time would you, sir?” I asked the cart pony, he simply shook his head. I rubbed my chin in thought and looked to Tangy who shook her head too.
Ya, I didn't think she would have a watch either. Well only one other thing to do.
I dropped my hoof to the ground and focused my magic to a sigil magically scribed to my body. A special rune word that kept the exact time no mater where you were. It light up form under my coat revealing itself. After a short glow of my horn a clock appeared in front of me, current time displayed.
“Hmm, looks like we still have four hours before we need to head back. What do you think-” I trailed off looking to Tangy. Her mouth was gaping open and her eyes were fixed on the clock.
“Tangy? Is there something wrong?”
“I never seen magic like dat before!” She hopped slightly at the end of her sentence.
“What, this?” I pointed at the clock, she nodded. “This is just a simple illusion spell linked to a chrono-seal.”
Granted this was a spell I made from scratch, but that's not the point. It was just something I needed while I lived in Canterlot, being on time was very impotent and being late commonly got me extra studies from Celestia. Which was a great way to waste an evening. Buck, I was different back then.
“I don see lots of magic where I'm from.”
“Well if we have the time, I can show quite a few spells if you like. Right now we only have our hooves worth of hours before our shuttle leaves. Anything you'd like to do before then?”
“I'd really like to know wha the indigenous life is like on this planet.” I stood there in awe, mouth a gasp. She looked at me confused.
“Did I say someth'n wong?” I shook my head regaining my composure.
“No, not at all. I just wasn't expecting a young filly to be interested in xeno-biology. That's all.” I waved a hoof and dismissed the time spell.
“Alright! Let's see if they have a Zoo or something like that.” I looked around and spotted one of those tri-panals around a light pole.
“Maybe that has a map.” I trotted over to the signs and indeed found a map.
“Ok, we're here... and... Ah ha, they do have a Zoo.” I scanned the list for any Zoo reference and was locating the corresponding building on the map when Tangy piped up.
“Where?” I had just found it when she asked.
“Right there!” I pointed to it on the map.
“And where's that?”
“Judging by this map it's that way.” I point my hoof in the direction of the Zoo using my navigation skills from my time spent in Canterlot.
“How far? Can we make it there and have time to look at all the specimens?”
“Absolutely! We have a whole three hours before we even have to think about heading back.” I motioned with a hoof to follow me. “Come on! We have a Zoo to explore!”
When Tangy's face light up with that huge smile, I couldn't help but get existed too. It was a short trot from where we were. Tangy wouldn't stop talking about what she hoped to find. Unfortunately, when we got there we where told of a small problem.
“A what?” I nearly shouted.
“A fee, Sir. The Hayvist Exhibit of Plant and Wild Life has an entrance fee.” Explained the peach colored mare in the ticket booth.
“Well I wasn't counting on that. Very well, how much for an adult and a filly?” I turned to my saddle bag with my bits in it.
“Fifteen for adults, ten for fillies and colts.” I had opted to get my bit bag with my teeth and when I hear the price I spat it out. Levitating my bit bag I looked in counting only a measly 8 bits. I looked over to Tangy and she held open her bag. Only 3 bits sat at the bottom of her bag. There was enough to get Tangy in, but I couldn't let her go alone. I turned back to the mare in the booth.
“Any chance you guys have a coupon or discounts available?” I gave her my best smile. She rolled her eyes and blow a bit of her mane from her face with a sigh.
“Not unless your active military. That would get you in for free and any family, like your filly there, for half price.” Finally some good news. I turned to my sable bag again and pulled out a card showing it to the mare. I didn't like the fact that Celestia made me part of her Armed Forces, but it did get me out of some jams now and then. The booth mare picked up the card and looked it over.
The ID card had my picture on it with my cutie mark under that. To the right of the picture read:
Name: Glimmering Stars Rank: Lieutenant Commander Serial Number: [Classified] Race: Unicorn Gender: Male Coloration: Ghost White Coat; Light Blue/Teal Mane Marital Status: Single
Below my information the familiar seal of the Equestrian Space Navy sat between the Lunar Eclipse Operations seal and the Royal Guard seal. She read the ID card with one eyebrow raised. When she looked at the seals on the ID she appeared surprised.
“Wow! I've never seen an ID with that many seals before.”
“I'm given special training, do to my position.”
“Well this gets you in no problem. So, unless she's like your girlfriend...” She pointed at Tangy. “Isn't she a bit young for you?” I froze. One wrong word could be very bad here. I nearly jumped when Tangy started yelling.
“You got'a probl'm with my papa?” She glared at the mare.
“What? Well I...” She started to stumble over her words at this little filly's outburst, Tangy continued over her stamering.
“What? You don tink a stallion should adop ah filly? Ya tink he can't handle it?” She stopped for a moment. When the mare started to open her mouth Tangy cut her off again.
“Well I got news for ya! He'z ah better papa ten you could evar be ah mamma!” She stomped her hoof to emphasize her point. The mare was taken aback with a bit of shock. I was in a state of shock myself at the out burst from such a kind and quiet filly, up until now.
“I'm very sorry. I didn't know. I just assumed from the marital status on his ID-” The mare was quite shaken by the event. It looked like Tangy was about to giver another round when I jumped in.
“An anoter ti...” I grabbed Tangy's muzzle with my hooves.
“That's quite enough Tangy.” I let go and she remained quiet, but continued to glare at the mare. I leaned in close to the mare and half whispered.
“She hasn't had a nap all day and is a bit cranky. Please excuse her outburst.” She glanced at Tangy who was in the middle of a huge yawn. The mare nodded opting not to talk. I turned back to Tangy and picked her up with my magic placing her on my back.
“How about you stay right there and rest while I take care of this. Ok?” She squirmed a bit then laid her head on the back of my neck. Satisfied she wouldn't fall off, I turned back to the mare in the booth.
“Sorry about that. She really is a good filly. I think she's just tired.” She nodded, then turned to her computer and printed out two tickets.
“I just need 3 bits for your daughter's ticket.” She slid two tickets forward.
“I thought it was only half price.”
“It is. I just used a coupon from last month that was 2 bits off for fillies and colts.” With a smirk I placed 3 bits on the counter. She let go of the tickets and took the bits. Before I could turn and head for the door, she spoke up again.
“I'm really sorry about earlier and I hope you enjoy the exhibits.”
I nodded, smiled, and moved though the open doors. Once I was a ways in and around a corner I stopped and turned my head to talk to Tangy.
“So that was a thing. Where did that come from?”
“I'm part of the drama club in school.” She proclaimed with a confident smile.
“Well, we're in at less. Would you like to get down?” I offered, thinking she'd prefer to be on her own hooves.
“Um. Can I stay for a bit? Mah hooves hurt some from walk'n here.” Her checks were flushed, a tad embarrassed asking if she could stay on my back.
I brought a hoof to my chin in thought. She wasn't vary heavy, nor was I tired. I couldn't really think of a reason to deny her request and there was this feeling deep in my gut. Having a filly on my back just felt natural. Hot Wire did say I'd make a good father. I dropped my hoof back to the ground and looked over my shoulder at Tangy. She was patiently awaiting my answer.
“Sure.”
I looked down the hallway. A few signs pointed to different exhibits.
“So, where should we go first?”
“Te aquarium!” She pointed at the sea blue sign and I walked that way.
“Do you think they'll have seaponies in there?” I joked.
“Wha? No.”
We passed through a door and into a glass tunnel with an awe inspiring view of the sea critters on display. All kinds of fish and aquatic mammals swam past the glass walls and over head. We both stared in amazement at the sheer number of critters around us. There were placards along the path and Tangy started identifying each fish as we went by them.
I tried my hoof at the scientific names failing miserably. But, Tangy showed me up by saying them with ease. We had some good laughs together and I pulled out a camera from my saddle bag. We took a picture together right as a shark-like fish swam behind which gave us a jump scare when we turn back around.
Each exhibit we went to I would say it's common name and Tangy would say it's scientific name fallowed by the meaning of the name. She seemed to really enjoy explaining thing's to somepony else or perhaps she was just showing off. Either way I enjoyed listening to her explanations. She seemed so happy to speak her mind and she did, disagreeing with nearly every name given to these animals.
Moving from the aquatic habitat we found ourselves in the insect domain. It was just as creepy as it was intriguing. There was an area where the none hostile and beautiful insects where aloud to fly freely around us. Looking up at the flapping multi-colored wings soothed my mind and filled me with a scene of calm. A butterfly landed on my nose, looking to Tangy it open and closed it's wings. I could only imagine what it looked like from her perspective. Once it flew off I took another picture of us in there.
Soon there weren't any exhibits to visit and we were walking to the exit. Upon opening the doors we were treated to a beautiful golden red and crimson sky as the sun set.
“Oh my gosh! Are we late for the transport?” Tangy Gasped. In a flash, my horn brought the same clock up from before.
“Oh no. We have plenty of time to get back.” I waved my hoof dismissing the spell.
“Oh good.” she said with a sigh of relief.
“However, we should head back. Maybe pick something up on the way to eat once we're on board.” An image of our last meal popped into my head and I added. “Something not messy, like a sandwich.”
“Ya a sandwich sounds sounds like a great idea.” A stallion leaning on a wall stated as Tangy and I stood near the exit.
“We should definitely get sandwiches after these two.” A unicorn mare stepped out from around a corner.
“We haven't had a good sandwich in a while have we brother?” My ear rotated faster then my head to the two behind us.
“Not unless you count that griffin's lunch.” I quickly identified they all had the same jacket on with the same symbol on their back.
“Oh, we're getting sandwiches?” The flapping of wings got close over head, by the sound of the voice another mare. I plaster a fake smile on my face and looked to the first pony of the group to show himself. I kept my ears locked on the movements of the two behind me and the unicorn in my peripheral vision constantly.
“If you'd like, all of you can come with. Friendly company is always welcomed.” There positions and demeanor told me there intent, but I kept up the dumb pony act to keep the advantage.
“Haha! Clearly he has no idea what's going on.” The unicorn mare laughed.
“In that case let's drop the game an get to the pay'n.” One of the stallions behind me clearly didn't want to play nice anymore.
“Ya! Less talking more taking!” The pegasus clearly wanted to just get this over with. I was inclined to just give them our money. If we could get out of this without violence, that was good enough for me.
“Fine! We'll do this your way. Liston, pal! Give up your bit bags and you can go without a scratch. Resist and my friends and I will make you wish you did. Got it?” Their leader informed me of their intentions.
“Ok, no problem there. Just let me get it out of my bag.” With a hoof I pulled it out and tossed it to his hooves. He smiled at it and picked it up. Looking inside his smile quickly turned faded.
“What is this?” He scoffed throwing the bag to the ground. The five bits I had left spilled out onto the pavement.
“Is that it? You've got to be kidding me.” The pegasus didn't seem convinced.
“Last chance pal! Give up all you got or else!” He's face was turning red.
“That's all I have, really.” It was clear they didn't care if I was telling the truth or not at this point.
“Well, then it's not your lucky day. I'll take the bit's, they're all yours now.” He scooped up the bits into the bag and sat down to watch.
“Well you guys know what I want. I'll be taking the filly for some quality time.” The pegasus mare claimmed.
“Hey Mirror! Get that bubble of yours up. I don't want this guy doing anything crazy.”
“Already on it.” Her horn flashed and sent a dome out from her. As soon as it hit me I was able to tell it was a null-magic zone. I felt like something was wrapped tightly around my horn and the reserves I kept stored in me was pushed out of reach.
“Good to go. Make sure you leave some for me.” She licked her lips. I didn't want to think what she had planned.
“Come on little filly. I'm going to show you how mares have fun.”
Tangy grabbed onto my front right leg. I pulled her under me and placed all four around her.
“Glimmer? What do we do?” Her voice shook with fear. For her sake I looked down at her and smiled. In a low voice I spoke.
“Now I show them who they're dealing with.” I raised my head up and squared my shoulders taking a defencive. I was still shorter then any of the stallions there.
“HA! What kind of name is Glimmer?” the larger stallion behind me asked.
“It Glimmering Stars actually.” They all laughed, I let them, and kept a neutral expression. Once they where done laughing I spoke again dropping a bomb shell in there collective lap.
“Lieutenant Commander Glimmering Stars of the Royal Guard.” All of them froze in place eyes wide. After a moment the unicorn spoke up.
“It doesn't matter if he's military the null field is up. He can't use magic and it's five on one. We can take him.” The spikes in pitch didn't show much confidence.
“Five on one! An easy take down no matter who you are. Surround and attack!” There leader had jumped up and joined them. The pegasus flew up over me and the two from behind slowly advanced.
“Tangy? When this starts I need you to run.”
“I-I can't. Ma legs won't move.” I could feel that she was as stiff as a board. I glanced around looking for a way to get her out of harms way. Nothing caught my eye as a particularly good idea. But, I didn't really have time to think as one of the attackers charged from behind. I grabbed Tangy and rolled to my left. Using the roll I extended one of my legs with Tangy on it and tossed her out of the way. Once I saw her land in my intended target I turned back to my attackers just in time to take a hoof to the side of the face.
I moved with the attack to lessen the blow as best I could and spun around. Dropping onto my front legs and bucked the stallion in the chest sending him flying through the air. The pegasus had to dodge him swerving wide as she watched him go by. This was my chance with all of them looking at there second largest member fly through the air.
The null-magic field stopped most casting of spells. Because from the lack in skill there where several flaws in it's ability to counter magic altogether. I was able to "slip between the cracks" as it were, and pull from my reserve magic pushing just a little to the runes on my body. One by one the sigiles I needed lit up: Strength, Speed, and Scale Shield. Thin luminescent lines shinned from under my coat filling with power. Runes materialize floating just above my coat where the shimmering lines converged. Once all the desired runes where active, plates like scales appeared covering my whole body. Just as quickly as they appeared they faded out of sight.
“What in Tartarus? I thought you put up your null field?” The largest stallion barked at the unicorn once they looked back at me.
“I did! I don't know what that is!” She yipped.
“It doesn't matter he can't stop all of us at once. RUSH HIM!” There leader commanded and they all charged in.
To me they moved at half there normal speed and I moved without hindrance. Even with my enhancements I had little time to react. Glancing at each of them I analyzed their attack. The unicorn charged in on my left with her horn first, clearly intending to use it. Their leader in front of me was starting to spin most likely for a buck. The big guy to my right had reared up, looked like he was going to try and crush me. The pegasus was diving from above with front hooves together for a strike.
Spotting an opening between the unicorn and their leader I dash in grabbing the unicorn mare turning her charge toward their leader. She collided with him, but managed to stay on her hooves. He got turned around toward me from the impact. The other two turned from their missed attacks back to me. Their leader and the larger stallion move in for an assault as the pegasus and unicorn line up for another run. I planted my front right hoof in there leaders muzzle knocking him out and my back right in the large stallions chest pushing him back.
The two mares attacked from my sides. A dual charge, one from the ground and one from the sky. I pushed the unicorns' head down hopping into the air to avoid the pegesus, passing over them spinning in place and landing after they crossed under me. In the air I saw the large stallion moving in. Upon landing I bucked with everything I had to his chin.
As he fell to the ground I saw the unicorn back away from me. The pegasus charged again and I easily side stepped the rush. Turning around we both squared off for a final attack. With a powerful flap of her wings she closed on me screaming with rage, a rookie move. Ducking under her aerial attack I grabbed her front hooves and force them to the ground. Before she could stop, the ground very quickly met her face knocking her out cold. I quickly checked to make sure she wasn't badly hurt, and turned to the last assailant.
Approaching her, she tried to back away only to stumbled onto her hunches. When I looked down at her, she began to shake with fear. While still in the null-magic field I lit up my horn and shot a counter spell to her's. The bubble shattered, falling around us bursting harmlessly apon the ground. Her eye's went wide at the realization that I could have done that the whole time.
“What is a pony of your skill doing this for?” I asked in a consoling tone. Null-magic fields weren't easy to do. Somepony like her with the right training could be a huge asset for the Royal Guard.
“I-I don't have any other choice.” Her voice trembled and her eyes began to tear up. With a sigh I shook my head discouraged.
“Everypony has a choice. You just chose not to look for it. It's here now, looking you in the face, wondering if you'll accept your second chance...” I leaned in close to her. “Or will you run away again?” I held out a hoof for her. She looked at it for a moment. Slowly and shakily she placed her hoof to mine and I pulled her up.
“Let's check on your friends.” We found them already waking up and getting to their hooves. When the large stallion awoke he found my smiling face and a helping hoof offered to him. Reluctantly he took my hoof and I helped him up.
“You can take a lot of hits. Have you ever thought about joining the Royal Guard? I'd feel at ease knowing a pony like you was guarding my mentors.” He raised an eyebrow. “Don't the Royal Guard defend the Princesses?” I nodded to his question. His eye's widened as he connected the dots.
Hearing movement I trotted over and saw the group leader nursing the bump on his face.
“How's the face?”
“Just swollen, it'll be gone by morning.” He looked to me suspiciously.
“You know, the ESN is always looking for good leaders. With proper training you could hone your skills and be an officer within a year.” The surprised look on his face told me he had never thought about that.
“Are you trying to recruit me?” I shook my head.
“No. Just giving you another option.” Then his look changed to an inward contemplation.
A groan of pain came from the pegasus mare. I left their leader in thought and moved to there last member still in the area. I grasped the mare's shoulders and tenderly lifted her up to a sitting position.
“Easy now. You had a pretty hard tumble.” When she tried to lift her head she cringed in pain.
“Ow! No kidding.”
“Anything feel broken?” She slowly moved her limbs.
“No.”
“Any missing teeth?” She licked her teeth.
“Phew, All there.”
“Good!” I patted her back and she cringed with pain again.
“You sure can fly.” She looked up at me puzzled.
“Those tight maneuvers you made in close ground combat. That's not easy stuff.”
“Well, I guess so.” She shrugged and immediately regretted it.
“You should try out for The Wonderbolts.” Her head shot up and looked at me surprised.
“What? I'm not that good!” She claimed.
“I bet you could make it. In fact...” I open my saddlebag and levitated one of my business cards out.
“Take this to any recruiter and they'll make sure you get the chance.” I placed the card at her hooves and moved to each one offering them a card of their own, ending at the unicorn.
“Here's your chance to make a better choice. Don't let it slip away.” I started to walk away when I heard my name called.
“Um, Glimmer?” Tangy's voice echoed from the inside of the garbage can I had deposited her at the beginning of the fight. My legs scrambled about as I turned and ran over to her.
“Oh sweet Celestia, I'm so sorry Tangy!” I looked into the trash can I had tossed her into and she smiled up at me.
“It ok. I understand.”
“Are you hurt any- OH!” The smell from the trash hit my nose all at once.
“Yeah. It smells really bad in here.” She got up on her hind legs showing she couldn't get out on her own.
“A lil' help?”
“Of course! Right away!” I enveloped Tangy and levitated her out of the can. I cringed at the state she was in, covered in trash.
“Ick! We need to get you cleaned before heading back.”
“Which means no time for sandwiches.” Tangy slumped as much as she could while levitated.
“Sorry, but-”
“You can clean her up at my place. It's not that far.” The unicorn mare pointed to a small block of houses.
“It's the least I can do, after what we tried to do to you. As well as showing us kindness after...” She hung her head in shame.
“That's very kind of you. We would greatly appreciate that.”
She motioned to follow her and after a short walk we were at a house. It was a small house painted sunset orange with a white trim, it felt very inviting.
“The down stairs bathroom has a tub and fresh towels above the toilet. It's the first door on the left. I'm going to let my mom know you're here.”
She opened the door and went in with me following close behind, Tangy still in my levitation spell.
“MOM! I'm home! I brought guests. There going to use the bathroom, ok?” She yelled as soon as we were in.
“It's not your “group” again, is it? You know how I feel about them.” Her voice came from a back room.
“No it's not them. They're... um...” She brought a hoof to her chin in thought.
“New friends hoping to get to know her more. She was very kind to invite us over.” I inserted hoping to advert her mother's worries.
“Oh! Ok. That's nice to hear. The bathroom is the door on the left. Sweetie could I talk to you, please?” She tried to keep her voice calm, but I could hear shaking in her words. The mare next to me facehoofed and groaned when she heard the nickname. In a hope to relieve some of the tension I spoken before she could.
“Thank you for asking so nicely, but I should really get my friend cleaned up first.” I smiled at the mare before entering the bathroom. Even from in there I could hear her mother laughing.
“Oh my! Ah, well I'm- Oh dear. I meant my daughter.”
“He knows mom. He's just joking.” She said walking past the door.
In the bathroom I placed Tangy in the tub and started running the water to get it warm. There was a bar of soap nearby and a scrub brush. Checking the clock on the wall we had very little time.
“Ok Tangy. We don't have much time to get back. Are you okay with me washing you?” I felt it was right to ask, even after the adventure we had just gone through.
“Sure. Mamma or papa usually wash me.”
As soon as she agreed, I grabbed the shower hose and started rinsing off as much of the gunk from her coat as possible. I lathered her up the best I could with the bar of soap and started scrubbing. Hoof steps from behind made me glance up, someone had come in behind me, and it wasn't the mare from before. Based of her features and eye color I guessed is was her mother.
“So where'd they ambush you?” She asked plainly.
“An ambush implies setting up a strategic advantage to gain the upper hoof. It wasn't an ambush.” I told her. She stood there for a moment before sighing.
“You'll never get that out like that.” She used her magic to bring down a bottle of shampoo.
“May I?” I stepped back and gave her the scrub brush. She took it in her magic and stepped up to Tangy.
“Well aren't you an adorable little thing.” She cooed as she got close.
“Thank you very much, um...”
“Oh my apologizes. I'm Shimmer Shell, but you can call me Shelly if you like.”
“Ok Ms. Shelly. I'm Tangerine Pie and this is Gimmer.” She pointed at me.
“Glimmering Stars.” Sharing my full name.
“Well nice to meet you. I am curious though, how did you get so filthy?”
“Well, these meany ponies took our money, but they didn' like how lil' we had and it looked like they was going to attack. I was REALLY scared! But, then Glimmer threw me through the air and I landed in a garbage can. It smelled REALLY bad. But, I knew why he had put me there. It was to keep me safe! And then I got up as high as I could, and there was Glimmer, fighting FOUR ponies as once! He was like WHOOSH! And then BAM! SPLAT! Then he did something I've never seen another pony do!” Tangy was jumping about in the tub showing what had happened. Though Shelly didn't seem to mind the water going everywhere.
“And what was that?” She asked continuing to scrub Tangy clean.
“He showed kindness to the mean ponies and helped them up and talked to them and gave them a chance to be better.” Shelly had stopped scrubbing Tangy. Tangy finished and Shelly slowly turned her head to look at me. I was slightly lost in Tangy's antics until I noticed Shelly was staring at me.
“What? Isn't that what everypony does?” I asked matter o' factly. She turned back to Tangy and continued scrubbing.
“It should be, shouldn't it?” She stated sadly.
There wasn't much talking after that. A short time later Tangy was clean and getting blown dry. I left to look for the other unicorn mare and found her in the kitchen. I got her attention with a cough.
“Thank you for letting us use your bathroom.”
“Thank you for not turning us over to the authorities.”
“Just don't let my kind deed go to waste.”
“I won't... OH!” She turn to the counter and levitated a paper bag to me. “This is for you and your filly.”
I was about to open it when a clock in the room went off. Looking up my eye's went wide and my pupils shrank.
“Sweet Celestia! Is it that time already? We're going to be late!” I turn on the spot and ran down the hallway back to the bathroom. Tangy was still getting blow dried.
“The transport is going to leave soon. We have to go!”
“Oh dear, how much time do you have?” Shelly asked concerned.
“Six minutes.”
“And where's your transport?”
“The main starport.”
“Oh dear. That's a twenty minute trot from here.” I reeled slightly at the information.
“Ya mean we aren't gonna make it? But, mamma's wait'n fer me.” Tangy's eyes started to well up. I scratch my chin and thought for a moment then leaned down to Tangy.
“Tangy?” She looked up and sniffled.
“We're going to make it. But, I need your help.” I poked her on the nose. She wiped her eyes and stood up tall.
“Wha do ya need me to do?” With a smile I lead her outside.
“Well, I'm going to have to toss you, again. Except this time, it's going to be a lot farther.” Once outside I looked at the spaceport in the distance.
“Wha do ya mean?”
“I can teleport that far, but, I need a beacon or waypoint to do it. That's where you come in Tangy. I'm going to place a rune on you that will allow me to teleport to you.” Tangy tilted her head slightly confused.
“An wha will that do?”
“It will allow me to teleport to your exact location.” I emphasize the statement by booping her on the nose.
“Then what?”
“Well, I'll grab you and teleport the rest of the way with a sight to sight teleportation spell.”
“Let me get this straight. You want to throw this little filly roughly four kilometers so you can then teleport to her and HOPE you can grab her in time before you BOTH hit the ground?” Shelly protectively stepped between Tangy and I pressing her nose against mine.
With a sheepish smile I replied. “Basically.” I pulled away from her advance and stepped close to Tangy lighting up my horn.
“Of course I going to enchant her with safety measures. Now, let's see, a basic shield tied to a proximity rune and a slow fall spell. An inertia dampening enchant as well, and some temporary wings for gliding.”
As I planned out everything to keep Tangy safe for this stunt, my horn grow brighter. A rune appeared under my hooves as well as Tangy's. With a flash of light blue magic Tangy was enveloped by my spells. Then just as quickly it went away. Only a fading fizzling sound remained. There before us stood Tangy, but now she had cute little spectral pegasus wings floating where real wings would be. Tangy shook her head and looked at her sides. She expanded the little wings and grinned.
“I have wings! Does that mean I can fly?” She looked up at me expectantly.
“Sorry, but no. They're not strong enough for that. They will let you glide temporarily.”
“Oh ok. So now what?” She seemed a bit disappointed.
“Now you get to use them.” I lifted her up in a levitation spell to about twenty degrees up and pointed her at the spaceport. I tilted my head down 'til my horn was pointed at the same angle. Starting up a dual cast, runes appeared around my horn.
“Ready Tangy?” She spread her new wings and gulped.
“Yeah.”
“Three... Two... One... Lunch!”
Magic transferred into force and Tangy was shot through the air like a missile. As she flew off into the distance I could hear her holler.
“Yeeeehaaah!”
“You didn't need to do any of that did you?” Shelly asked watching Tangy disappear into the distance.
“Nope. All space capable ships have a magic beacon on them. I could of used that at any time to teleport back.” A trigger I placed on Tangy went off letting me know she was close to the transport.
“Well, It was nice to meet you, both of you.” I nodded to the daughter. “Remember, everypony has a choice. It's up to you to make the right one.”
And with that, I lit up my horn and teleported to Tangy mid-flight. I reached out and embraced her. Using the transports beacon I teleported again with Tangy. We appeared inches above the ground and I landed on my back with Tangy on top of me.
“Ooph!”
“That was fun! Can I do it again?” The adrenaline filled filly was bouncing on my chest. I looked “Up” from my position to see a stewardess from the transport waiting at the door.
“Yes, but later. Right now we have a transport to catch.”
“Oh, right!” Her voice cracked as she remembered we were almost late. She jumped off and I rolled on to my hooves. I pulled out my ticket and saw the paper bag from earlier. looking inside were two sandwiches, bags of chips, and sodas.
“Hey, Tangy. Look what that nice unicorn gave us.” I showed her the content of the bag.
“Alright! Sandwiches! Can we eat them now? I'm hungry.”
“Sure, once we get on the transport now.”
“Got you ticket?” I held mine up.
“Right here!” She held her's up too.
We both turned to the stewardess at the door and gave her our tickets. She scanned them and waved us on in.
“Please find your seats. We'll be leaving shortly.”
Plopping back into our assigned seats I let out a sigh of relief. I looked over to Tangy to make sure she had her seat belt on right and gave her a sandwich. After finishing our small meal I noticed Tangy's head was starting to droop as were her eye lids. She was crashing from the adrenaline high and barely finished her meal.
“Hey, Tangy. We'll be at the station in a few hours and then you'll get to see you mom. Why don't you take a nap, so you're rested to she her?”
“But, I'm not-” She stopped mid-sentence to let out a long yawn. “Okay, a nap sounds good.” She admitted.
I smiled at the silly filly then turned to my thoughts. I was exhausted. Using that much magic in one day had drained me to reserves, and that was running low too. I started to let out a yawn of my own when something bumped into me. I looked down to find Tangy resting her head on my side. That same feeling from before told me this was good.
A nap sounds like a great idea. Besides I'll probable have tons of work to do once we get on station.
I turned on my side and curled up with Tangy giving her a warm place to sleep. Laying my head down I let out another sigh, a sigh of content and with a smile I drifted off to sleep.
“Alright, all sections take stock. I want to know what we have.” I barked with my usual commanding tone. “And no wining! We're all hurt and if we're going to get out of this alive I need information.”
“Yes, sir.” Many of them said in unison. Satisfied I turned to my station and started sorting out which problems needed to be addressed first. I didn't get much farther then looking at my monitor when our sensors officer started yelling.
“Contact! Ships jumping in, two no, three ships.”
“What? Who?”
“Unknown. I'll have to do a high-rez scan to tell, But, that will reveal our position.”
There wasn't much of a choice. We needed to know who they were.
“Do it.”
“Running high-rez scan.”
I moved over to the sensors console to see the results for myself. My blood ran cold when the computer identified them as the same ships that we just escaped from. We were still out of firing range, but they were taking formation as they moved in our direction.
“It's them.”
“What? But, how?” One of the bridge crew asked.
“It's doesn't matter right now. They're here and they're coming for us.”
Many of the crew started to panic at the news. They all knew our ship couldn't handle another attack.
“What do we do?”
“We have to get out of here!”
“Where's the Captain?”
“Abandon ship!”
“The Captain! He'll know what to do!”
“He's always gotten us out of tight spots before.”
Looking at the situation I couldn't see any way to survive this. But, the Captain had managed to pull us out of the fire before. Hitting the InCom for the entire ship I called for him.
“Enemy contacts jumping in, 100 kilometers out. Captain to the bridge!
They were much closer then that, but everypony on board didn't need to know. I didn't want a ship-wide panic on my hooves.
“Alright, the Captain will be here shortly. Let's get everything ready for him to review.”
Everypony nodded and turned to there stations getting their respective position's data ready. Then everything when dark.
“Oh great. Now what?” I groaned as emergency lighting came online along with emergency battery power. Screens flickered back to life.
“Main power offline. This... This can't be right.”
“Report gods damn it!” I would have walked over to see for myself, but didn't want to risk tripping over something in the dim lighting.
“Computers saying that it doesn't have any magic conversion crystals installed. Somepony must of pulled them.”
I called engineering on the InCom. “What's going on down there? Why did you shutdown the reactor?”
I didn't get a reply, nor did I need one. The bridge suddenly lit up, looking to the source of the light I saw the Captain. He had all of the reactor's crystals in his magic. Energy from this horn flowed like ribbons into the crystals and cycled back into his body. His eyes glowed white and his mane flapped to pulses of magic waking around him.
“Captain?”
His head turned to me, his glowing eyes peering into mine. A moment later he started walking towards the front of the bridge. When he reached the view port he phased through the wall and window out into space. No suit, no shield, nothing. I watched in disbelief. He only stopped once there wasn't any ship left to walk on.
He faced the three ships advancing on us, opened his mouth and spoke. I could hear what he was saying even though he was in space. His voice echoed in my head. I couldn't understand what he was say. I think is was a spell, but I've never heard of a unicorn cast using words before.
A light started to take shape above his horn as a rune formed at the tip of his horn between him and the growing sphere of magic. The energy ribbons flowing though the crystals changed their flow from him to the ball quickly growing in size. As it expanded to the size of a pony, the whole ship started to shake making the super structure creak and moan. Then, he fired. It was so bright I had to look away, what I did see was a beam like attack. The whole ship shook violently throwing many of us to the deck. I turned my attention to one of the monitors and used the ship's long range optics to see what was going on. I had never seen anything like it, and it scared me.
His spell rent the battle cruiser in half, I could see its crew violently eject into space. It also struck one of the destroyer escort's main engines crippling its maneuverability. A second shot struck the other destroyer escort square on the nose. Its hull bloated like a balloon its armor trying its hardest to keep together, it vanished in an explosion. Shortly after the destroyer detonated, so did the battle cruiser. Its reactor had gone critical resulting in an explosion engulfed the last ship. All that remained was debris and bodies.
We all sat in silence, each looking to one another for the right words; the right question to start with.
“How did you make it to a station?” Luna asked her chipper voice gone.
“Engineering managed to piece together a power regulator out of spare parts.”
“What happened to Glimmer?” Celestia seemed more interested in my circumstance.
“He walked back in through the wall he went out. Once inside he collapsed to the deck.”
“I woke up on a couch in my ready room.”
“I carried you there.”
“What did he feel like?” Celestia inquired. Rough looked surprise.
“He tingled. Like touching a low voltage wire.” Celestia thoughtfully scratched her chin with a hoof.
“You said that he had the crystals for your reactor, how many of them where there?” Luna's request caught her sisters interest.
“Our reactor ran on four magic amplifying conversion crystals.” I answered knowing Rough wasn't great with tech information. Celestia frowned stating.
“That would only give you the strength of 5 unicorn ponies. Not nearly enough to vaporize a ship.”
“Energy flowing from his horn to the crystals, then back to his body.” Luna repeated and looked to her sister with wide eyes. “Was he cycling the raw power back though his body like a filter?”
“Perhaps, but how did he store enough power to destroy a battle cruiser?” Celestia closed her eyes in deep thought.
“Indeed, that level of power would have killed any non-alicorn.” Luna slowly drank her now cold tea.
“Glimmer.” Rough Hooves got my attention. He had never use my name like that before. He's always called me 'Captain' or my full name.
“Tell'em.” Both Celestia and Luna looked from Rough to me.
“Tell us what?” Luna tilted her head slightly. I gave a wary smile to Luna before my head was turned toward Celestia by her wing. “What are you not telling us?”
With a sigh I began to fill them in on my special talent. "I studied and utilize Runic Magic. Through my studies I have found Runes that enhance not only my physical capabilities, but also my magical prowess."
I lit my horn with a small amount of magic and fed it into the spell lines on my body. They materialize into sight glowing just above my fur starting at the base of my horn. As they spread, Runes wrote themselves into the air along the spell lines. After a short time every Rune scribed to my body glowed. Celestia for the first time since my break down removed her wing from around me. Looking up at her, she seemed shocked by the reveal. Luna seemed surprised as well, yet interested.
“I-I've never seen so many used at once before.” Celestia slowly tucked her wing to her side.
“These are only the major Runes. I have sub sets linked to them for enhanced effects.”
“What like?” Luna asked ears perking up. I scratch my chin for a moment, showing I even had a Rune on the underside of my hoof.
“Take your basic shield spell for example: In its most basic form it blocks everything. If you know what kind of attack is being used, you can change your shield spell to defend against that type. Thus making it more effective and less strenuous.” I paused to take stock. Both Celestia and Luna nodded slightly clearly understand my explanation so far. I turned to my right showing the Rune on my left shoulder pointing to it I continued.
“This is a Shield Rune. I merely need to push magic from my horn into it and a basic shield spell activates surrounding me and anypony close enough in it. A passive Rune then provides me with a display telling me how much strength it has left. It also informs me if I have specialized it to any one effect, this is done by the sub runes.”
I lifted my right hoof up to the Rune on my shoulder and plucked it off. It floated over my hoof now. Waving my horn over it I cast my analysis spell and a display spell so they could see it. Arcane sigils and spell lines that made up the Rune spread out showing how it was put together. Both Princesses looked surprised by the complex network of woven spell power lines.
“By my sister's name! I've never seen anything like it.” Luna stared at it in awe. Celestia's eyes darted about, analyzing it.
“This, like all of my Runes, is designed to run without constant input from the caster. All you have to do is push the desired amount of power into it and you're done. Your horn is now free to cast anything else.”
“That's very interesting Glimmer, but what does this have to do with the question at hoof?” Celestia asked bringing us back on topic. Luna answered for me.
“Sister, these Runes can store magical power. They all have a kind of battery for magic built into them. If you could fill each one, then add that to a single spell. It would be immensely powerful.” Celestia's eye widened with realization.
“The amplified magic wasn't going back into his body, he was storing it in his Runes.” Celestia's expression quickly changed form surprise to confusion. “Glimmer you said that you blacked out in the engine room, then woke up in your ready room?”
“Yes, I don't remember anything in-between.”
“Then how did you do all this unconscious?” All three of them stared at me waiting for an answer. There gaze felt like a weight on my chest.
“Eh heh... Well you see.” Sweat started to dampen my coat and the back of my neck suddenly got really itchy. I dismissed the magic showing my runes and scratched my neck. I didn't know how they would reacted to this, but I had to tell them.
“I made a Virtual Intelligence that activates when I loss consciousness, until I'm in a designated safe zone or regain consciousness.”
“Well sister, what do you think?” Luna gestured towards me.
“I don't know Luna, it's been a long time.” Luna sighed and covered her face with a hoof.
“You need this sister.” Luna looked up at Celestia with big puppy eyes. “If not for you, then, for me? You are starting to ascend me up a wall.”
“Drive.” Celestia corrected her sister. Luna's deadpan expression made Celestia giggle nervously. Clearing her throat she turned to me.
“Glimmer.” I looked up at her.
“Yes?” I was a tad confused by their quick exchange. Celestia extender her wing again and wrapped me in it.
“Would you be interested...” She paused a smiling taking her face. “In becoming my personal student?”
I wasn't expecting this, any of this to ever happen. I was quite content living here and drinking myself into a stupor every night. I never thought about what I would do next. I only thought about what I had lost. With that heavy burden no longer binding me to the past, I was free to look forward and Celestia was providing me an opportunity to do just that, a once-in-a-life-time-opportunity.
If Hot Wire was here she would have pushed me to Celestia telling her, “Yes he will accept your offer”. This reminded me of when Hot Wire would sit and listen to me rant on for hours about magic, smiling at me the whole time. It was one of my passions I enjoyed very much. My heart started to hurt and my head was clouded with the past. I needed to clear my head, I needed time.
Without a word I stepped down off the couch and left the room. Opening the back door I was met by the cool salty wind from the ocean. It filled my lungs and washed gently over my coat as I made my way to a small headstone, Hot Wires headstone. Memories from our short time together raced through my head. This time they felt happy, not longing, and from that a promise echoed in my ears. A promise I had forgotten.
I felt her aura before I hear her hoof steps, Celestia stood a few steps behind me. Though, she said nothing.
“You know, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have studied magic. When we started courting she bought me books on magic. The first one she gave me was 'Why a Unicorn Should Expand Their Knowledge of Magic' by Princess Twilight Sparkle. I wasn't a big reader, but her style of writing made it fun to learn magic. Soon I was analyzing the magical make up of spells. This made me hunger for more and Hot Wire found more. She told me she loved to watch me spell craft and when I wrote my first Rune, she was ecstatic.”
I dropped to my hunches.
“I made her promise. I made a promise to her and I broke it!”
“What promise?”
“We were talking about our future. About having a family, when she brought up if one of us died. She told me to move on. She made me promise I would move on and yet, HERE I EM!”
I pounded my hooves into the ground.
“But no more!”
Standing I turned to Celestia and looked the goddess square in the eyes.
“Celestia as my witness I will uphold my promise. I accept your offer, I will be your student, Princess Celestia.”
Waking up from a nightmare is never fun, but when you lived that nightmare it was even worse. Even though I had completed my grieving and moved on with my life. I still lived through that horror and it still hunts me to this day. Never again would I allow anything like that to happen. It was one of my reasons for taking this position as head of Nayble station. Resent criminal activates had put it on the radar for not only the authorities.
Tangy rested ageist my side sleeping quietly. The cabin lights had been turned down low and most everypony was sleeping. Checking the time we were only a few minutes out from arrival. Looking out the window I watched as space zipped by like shooting stars. Faster then light travel, or FTL, made possible thanks to Princess Twilight Sparkle a thousand years ago. She had crafted a spell that creates a barrier around an object allowing it to exceeded the speed of light, while negating the effect of time dilation. Allowing travel between stars without leaving everything you knew behind.
A familiar lurch, pulled at me as the stars stopped streaking by and settled into their rightful place. Tangy stirred from her slumber along with the rest of the passengers. Quietly the InCom squeaked as the voice of the pilot spoke softly to the passengers.
“Good morning everypony. As you can tell we have dropped out of FTL. If you're on the left side of the craft, our destination will be in view shortly. We will be docking as scheduled, so please gather your possessions, and thank you for flying Pegaswift.”
Once the announcement was over my attention fell to Tangy. She slowly wiped the sleep from her eyes with a hoof and yawned. Smiling she looked up at me and I smiled back at the little filly.
“Sleep well?”
“Yeah.” She replied drowsily.
A glint from the window caught my interest. The shuttle started a holding pattern and tilted so the passengers could see their destination. A nearby nebula shed light on the station and she was massive! I heard rumors about how big she was, but none of them did justice! To say I was excited was an understatement. Good thing I was buckled in or I might of jump out of my seat.
“Have you never seen a station before?” Tangy quipped.
“I've seen quite a few stations. None of them have ever been this large. Not even the navel shipyards are this big.” Tangy giggled, probably from my colt like behavior.
“This is the largest mining station ever built. It was placed here so mining ships could harvest the local Asteroid System.” This new knowledge caught my fancy and I turned to Tangy.
“Asteroid System?” I've flown through a lot of systems, but I had never even heard of an Asteroid System before.
“Yep! The whole star system is nothing but asteroids.”
“That... that sounds like a nightmare to navigate.” I shivered at the thought.
“You're telling me.” A Stallion's voice came from behind us. We both turned and looked over the seats. The stallion frowned as we peeked over. I gulped looking at his scared face.
“Have you been there?” I asked sheepishly.
“Tartarus, yes I have and it's a maelstrom of death! I've lost two ships to that metal grinder. The only way in is by jumping and with everything moving all the time, you might jump right into a rock! Since that's not bad enough if you jump in 'safely' you're immediately pelted by micro meteors and if you're not quick to find the flow of debris fast enough you're likely to get smashed into one of the big ones.”
“Why can't you just fly in?” I asked.
“Nothing useful on the outer rim of the system and you'll get ripped up before you get close to anything good. Most ships can only last a few hours out there.”
“Yikes! What's so important out there you'd risk your life and ship for?”
“Gems mostly, rare ones.” There was a glint in his eye when he said that.
“Thank you for the information.” Tangy and I slid back into our seats. “Gem fever.” I shock my head.
“He's sick?” Tangy asked.
“No, no. It's um hard to explain.” Luckily the InCom piped up.
“Mares and gentlecolts, we have just been cleared for docking and will be making our final approach now. Please gather up all of your belongings before exiting the shuttle and welcome to Nayble station.” The InCom popped off.
“Ah. I'll get your bag.” I levitated Tangy's bag down from the over head for her.
“Thank you.” She took her bag then hugged my leg.
“No problem. I'll walk you off the shuttle and make sure you get to your mom.” Tangy acknowledged with a nod. Looking out the window the station was getting closer. With a light bump and a hiss we were connected to the station. The InCom came on again.
“We are now docked and may now exit the shuttle. Thank you again for traveling with Pegaswift and have a nice day.”
I unbuckled myself, then Tangy. Stepping down to the floor I dropped my bags on my back, Tangy did the same. We waited for an opening in the rushing herd getting off before moving for the exit. Stepping out of the cramped shuttle and into the large waiting area was a relief. The waiting area was about four ponies high and had ample room for the twenty or so ponies walking about.
A concerned looking mare caught my attention. She was craning her head around looking for somepony. Guessing this was Tangy's mother I guided Tangy over to her. As soon as Tangy saw her she ran toward her.
“Mama!” She called out.
“Oh Tangy there you are!” They nuzzled for a moment. The mare looked up at me. “And who's this?”
“This is Glimmer, mama. Ah, met'm on the trip. He's really nice and helped me.”
“Oh, thank you so much for watch my little Tangy.” Her face softened with relief. “I hope she wasn't any trouble.”
“No trouble at all. I was vary grateful to have somepony to talk to.”
“Well, if you need anything, just ask and I'll see what I can do.”
“Actually, I'm new to the station, and need to talk to security. Would you point me in the right direction?”
“Oh dear, did they loss one of your bags or something?”
“No, no. Nothing like that.” I shook my head and a hoof dismissively.
“Well, there's a security pony over there. She said she was waiting for someone.” She pointed to a mare in uniform.
“Perfect. Thanks.” I patted Tangy on the head and turned to leave. “See you later Tangy.”
“Bye, Glimmer. Be safe!” She waved goodbye.
I made my way through the crowd to the security mare. It was fairly easy to keep track of her since she was in uniform, kind of stands out. While approaching I was able to determine more about her. She stood up right and tall, no slouching at all. Her coat was green and well groomed with a cerulean blue mane, cut to regulations. Her eyes were purple and attentive. She was scanning the airlock to the shuttle.
“Excuse me.”
“Can I help you citizen?” She had a very authoritative voice and her question was text book.
“I sure hope you can.” Her head started to move before her eyes snapped to me. Her eyes scanned me for a moment.
“AH! Lieutenant-Commander!” She scrambled to face me and saluted. “Welcome to Nayble station, Sir! I'm Lieutenant Cerulean Shield, your second in command.”
“No need to salute Lieutenant, I'm not on duty or in uniform.” She lowered her salute and cleared her throat.
“Yes, Sir. I've assembled the crew at the security office for you.”
“Sound good, lets-” An explosion rocked that station knocking several of us to the deck, including myself. Red lights started flashing and the InCom was blaring a warning alarm.
“All ponies to action stations, we are under attack.”
“A bit late for a warning.” I groaned as I got up. “Is everypony okay? Is anypony hurt?”
A few in the crowd moaned, but none seemed injured. My ears swiveled when I heard a cracking sound. My hearing zeroed in on the sound. One of the windows looked like a spider web. I could hear whistling from the small holes already forming.
“Everypony get out of here!” Just as I yelled the window shattered. Rushing wind started to pull us to the opening. I grabbed onto the closest thing I could and watched the opening. I prayed to Celestia nopony would get pulled out before the automatic shutters closed. Loose objects flew out the broken window as we all held on, but the shutters weren't moving. Over the rushing wind I yell to Cerulean.
“Why aren't the shutters closing?”
“They're manual!” Tentatively she pointed to a panel on the wall. “Hoof access only! No magic!”
The panel was only a few feet away, but, with the rushing wind it might as well been a mile away. I lit up my horn and pushed magic into the runes on my hooves. I placed each one on the deck plating one at a time. I was now standing pushing against the rushing wind. Step by step I got closer until I was at the panel. I pulled the leaver with my mouth and removed the panel. The cover was ripped from my grasp and flew out the window. Bracing I lifted my right hoof and turned off the spell. Once it dissipated I hammered the button. I turned my head to watch and make sure they all closed. Just as it was slamming shut I saw something fly out.
“NO!” A mare screamed. I looked to see what had happened. It was Tangy's mother, her fore legs out stretched like she was trying to catch something. The situation clicked in my head, Tangy was sucked outside. I turned and pointed at Cerulean.
“You, rescue EVA, NOW!” With that I poured the vast majority of my magic into a bubble shield and locked onto the tracking rune I put on Tangy earlier. With my mental lock I put every last bit of my magic into a teleport spell. I could only hope it was enough.
With a flash everything around me disappeared. A massive ache shot through my horn, jolting my eyes open. I was in space. How far from the station I couldn't tell, but, I wasn't alone. Looking ahead of me she was there, just inside my shield. I reached to grab hold of Tangy and pulled her close. She wasn't breathing. I checked her pulse, it was weak but steady.
“Come on Tangy, breath.” I shook her lightly hoping she would start on her own, but to no avail. With no other choice I opened her mouth and pinched her nose placing my mouth over hers. I blow slowly watching her chest. Suddenly I got back pressure, pulling away she stated to cough and breath on her own. She began to cry and scream in pain. I pulled her close and held her tight.
“Oh sweet Luna your alive!” She continued to cry, but managed to get a hold of herself.
“I can't see. Why can't I see?”
“Stay calm Tangy and don't open your eyes. I got you, you're going to be fine.” I tried to comfort her.
“Glimmer? My eyes hurt and my ears and my nose and my bottom.”
“I know Tangy. You were in space for a few moments. But, I've got you. You're safe now.”
“I want my mama.”
“I'll take you to her. But, you need to stay calm right now. Can you do that for me?” She nodded her head on my chest and stayed quiet for a bit.
“Where are we?” She tried to look around. I quickly covered her face with a leg.
“Don't try to look around yet. Your eyes have been hurt by the vacuum of space. I don't want you to damage them any more.”
“Okay, I won't try again. But, Where are we? I can't hear anything.” I sighed. There was no point lying to her.
“We're still in space.” Tangy started to squirm.
“What are we going to do?”
“Nothing. There's nothing we can do, but wait.”
“Can't you teleport us back?” I shook my head even though she could see it.
“No. I'm all out of magic. I used the last of what I had to get to you.” I stroked her mane gently. “But, don't worry. Somepony is going to find us. They know we're out here and they're on their way.”
“Okay. I trust you.” Tangy curled up into a ball and I curled around her.
I stared at the ceiling of the ambassador's room. I couldn't sleep, something was nagging at me. Other than how fast everything started moving once I accepted Princesses Celestia's request. I barely had time to grab anything. I rolled onto my side and look at the picture of Hot Wire, one of the few things I had time to pack. I was tired, a long day of reading legal documents and signing them was quite draining.
“And yes, Hot Wire, I read them all before signing.” I said to her picture.
She always made me read anything that required a signature. Good thing I did to; Apparently, Princesses Celestia's student can make diplomatic and militaristic decisions if nether of the Princesses are available. You'd think that would put me on edge, but no, that's not what's keeping me up either. It's that Rough was carted off before I could say a word. Now he's rotting in a cell while I'm laying on a literal cloud trying to sleep.
“Yeah, this isn't right.” I sighed.
I kicked the covers off and jumped down grabbing the top cover throwing it on my back. With a pillow in my mouth I made my way to the brig. I had memorized the layout of the ship from a small diagram on the wall in the hanger. There weren't many other ponies moving about and I made my way to where they were keeping Rough quickly. I now faced two big problems.
The two guards on either side of the door where in full armor. It looked like the same armor from ancient times, but I knew better. Under that golden facade was the most advanced technology and spell craft meant to protect and enhance the wearer. They stood a few inches taller than me and had more muscle in one leg than my whole body. Even as I approached they didn't move an inch.
Their unwavering stance was quite intimidating. It didn't help that I must have looked pathetic with a blanket and pillow. Which I had dropped in a moment of awe in their presence. But, that's not why I was here! With all the courage, I could muster, I stepped forward.
“I wish to see the prisoner.” I ordered in my most authoritative voice I could. Neither moved at all. “Please?”
If I didn't look pathetic before, as I squeaked out that last word, I did now cringing under their gaze. A moment of silence fell over the hallway and a voice in the back of my head was telling me: run. One of the guards looked to the other, then back to me. He suddenly sighed and turned to the door. I nearly turned tail and ran at the sudden movement. The door slid open and the guards step aside. I picked up my pillow and cautiously entered the room; It was not what I expected.
I've seen plenty of brigs and jails before, this was not one of them. The room was almost as big as the one I was staying in. There was a nice bed, a desk and two sofas around a coffee table. Beyond the sofas was an open door to a bathroom. The metal deck was covered by a rug with the Navy's symbol on it. Once my eyes finished scanning the room they fell on the stallion sitting behind the desk working the holo terminal. Rough closed his work and shutdown the display. He stood and walked past me to the door.
“You two can go now.” The two guards nodded and left. Rough shut the door, turning to me and sat.
“I trusted you.” Those words were laced with a building hatred.
I immediately regretted saying it the moment they left my mouth. This stallion that I had come to know as the toughest pony I've ever met clenched with pain as if he had been run through with a sword. His response was not what I expected.
“Was it misplaced?”
Rage boiled deep within me. Of course, it was. I trusted him with my ship, my crew, my love, my life! And all along HE was one of THEM! HE... He... he... My mind raced to find even one time my trust in him was misplaced. But, it never was.
“No, no it wasn't. Just one question. Why? Why me? Why choose me?”
“I didn't. You chose me.”
“No, I didn't. Hot Wire did.” I smirked remembering how I met Rough Hooves. “But, why? Why were you, an officer of the Navy, masquerading as a pirate?”
Rough drew in a deep breath and let it out as a long sigh. He only did this when a long story was about to come next. Knowing this I chose to sit too. When he looked up at me his face was different, soft. This was Rough with his guard down, this was the true him.
“I had a wife and son.” Sorrow filled his eyes, but not tears. “My son died in an accident, my wife unable to live with the grief left me. She now lives in a ward, slowly recovering. I went to the only thing I knew at the time, the Navy. I let my work consume me and I quickly rose through the ranks. I was offered command of a ship, but I refused. A broken pony can't command other. That's when Princesses Celestia came to me with a new idea on how to deal with our pirate problem.”
“Put a pony on board and try to change their mind. When I first met you I thought you were nothing but a cocky little colt. But, I joined your crew and quickly found a young stallion trying to find his way in life. That's when I chose to defy orders and became your mentor. I felt that I was given a second chance and started to truly help you to grow into a good pony.”
Rough stood and walked over to me. He placed a hoof on my should and smiled.
“I'm proud to see the kind of pony you've grown into.”
Before I had a chance to say anything he pulled me in and wrapped his other fore leg around me. I never knew my real father. Rough was the closes think I had. But, he was always distant. Now I knew why and in that moment I final got to know what it was like to be hugged by your father. My fore legs wrapped around him on instinct. I began to cry. But, not tears of sorrow. Tears of joy, tears of relief, tears of pride.
As our first real bonding had just started it was quickly interrupted by both of us getting thrown to the floor. I was staring up at the ceiling blinking away tears wondering what had just happened. I looked to my side to find Rough on his back too. We both stood and braced ourselves for anything. The InCom cracked on.
“All ponies to battle stations! We are under attack!”
“A bit late there.” I grumbled. “Last I checked my battle station was by Celestia's side. So, bridge?”
“Bridge.” Rough agreed. We charged through the corridors to the bridge. Everypony was rushing to their assigned locations. When we got to the bridge Celestia was talking to someone.
“What do you mean only business?” She asked.
“Someone is offering 2 billion for your head. Like I said, only business.”
I recognized the voice as I entered the room. Moving from behind Celestia's chair I could see her on the monitor. Her brown coat was marred by several scars. Her mane was dark gray at the base and light gray at the tip giving the impression of a blade.
“Razor Wing...” I scowled. Her eye's lock onto me as I entered view and her wings flared showing the blades on the edge of them.
“Glimmer! What are you doing over there?” Her surprise of my presence quickly changed to a sadistic glee accompanied by an equally wicked smile.
“Oh, nothing much, just became Celestia's personal student is all.”
“Oh really? Well I'm glad you’re here. Means I can collect the bounty on your head too.”
“Not any more. It's been lifted.”
“Oh well, I'll take it anyways. It'll look good on my wall.”
“You won't be getting anymore trophies today, Razor.”
“We'll see about that!” The Com-line cut.
“Well that went well.” Rough jested. “Did you get enough time?”
Before I could answer Celestia stomped her hoof down.
“What was that?” She demanded. “I was trying to talk to her. Trying to discern her motives and come to a peaceful resolution. Explain yourself!”
Before I could answer, again I was interrupted. But, this time it was the captain of the ship.
“I told you Princess, pirates only know one thing. Violence!”
“Excuse me, but what do you know about being a pirate?” I inquired.
“I know their dirty honor less thieves that only care about money!”
“My point exactly! You know nothing about us or why we do it.”
“Who car-”
“ENOUGH BOTH OF YOU!” Celestia shouted followed by a much calmer voice. “This is not the time for debating a pirate's reasons.”
“My apologies Princess.” The Captain bowed and stepped back slightly.
“I'm not.” I quipped and Celestia gave me a stern look. I glanced away.
“Now, Glimmer. Why did you interrupted my conversation with, what was it?”
“Razor Wing, the most ruthless headhunter I've had the pleasure to meet. She doesn't care who you are or what you do, if you have a price on your head high enough for her to notice she'll kill you without a second thought.”
“Surely we could have worked out a deal with her.” Celestia stated.
“Not a chance. Remember the part where she said my head would look lovely on her wall?”
Celestia nodded.
“She wasn't kidding. She literally has ponies’ heads mounted to her bedroom wall! If we don't fight back and win. She's going to kill both of us and cash in on your severed head.”
The bridge went dead silent when I finished. One of the bridge crew next to me gulped holding his neck and I'm sure I heard a stream of liquid hitting the metal floor. Regardless of the crews’ reaction, my point was made and Celestia had closed her eyes in deep thought. This was clearly a difficult decision for her.
“Very well. Captain, Prepare the ship for battle.”
“I'm sorry Princess, but I don't think you understand the situation we're in.” The Captain explained. “The enemy has two heavy cruisers and a battle cruiser. This isn't a battle we can win.”
Celestia's eyes went wide at the news. Yet, Luna calmly looked to her sister then to me.
“Pff. Typical Navy.” I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief. “Your standing on the bridge of the most advanced ship in the galaxy, Celestia's ship, and you say it can't be done.”
“It can't be done from a tactical stand point!” He barked back at me.
“Celestia. I ran circles around this mare for years with a light cruiser. Just give the word.” I smugly smiled at the Captain waiting for Celestia's decision.
“Princess you can’t give command of a Royal Navy vessel over to this Pirate!” He stated.
Celestia looked between us for a moment then to her sister, who was still staring at me. She followed her gaze then signed. She sat up right and cleared her throat.
“Captain Radiant, you are relieved of command. Glimmering Stars, you are to take commend of my ship and defeat this threat before us.”
Captain Radiant didn't look happy about Celestia's decision, but kept his mouth shut. He bowed to her and stepped back. His head snapped to me. I expected him to say something or at less scowl at me. Instead his face softened, he looked me square in the eyes and begged. Not with words, but with his soul. My smug look quickly faded with the realization of what had just happened.
This stallion's sole purpose was the defense of his Princess and I just ripped that away from him. Now his hopes laid on my shoulders, an unknown pony with a background as a pirate. His entire world was falling apart and he pleaded with me to save it, to save her. I slowly nodded to him fully understanding the job I just took on. Now it was time to make sure everypony understood it too. I turned to the crew and put on my Captain face.
“Rough, ship wide.” Rough nodded and turned on the InCom to the whole ship. When I heard the whistle I pointed to a random crew member.
“What's your purpose on this ship?”
“I fly the ship.” He stated.
“Wrong, anypony can do that.” I didn't wait for a response and pointed at another.
“What's your purpose on this ship?”
“I operated the sensors.” She claimed.
“Wrong!” She winced at my abrupt yell. I pointed to the weapons officer. Maybe she can get it right.
“What's your purpose on this ship?” I nearly growled.
“To coordinate the ships weapons?” she shrugged.
“WRONG!” I slammed my hoof down. “Captain Radiant, what is our purpose on this ship?”
“To protect the Princesses from harm at all cost!” He barked like a recruit getting drilled.
“Correct! Our top priority is the protection of the Princesses. My top priority is their safety. With that knowledge if you still can't follow the orders of a pirate, then get out of the way for somepony that can.”
Silence fell over the ship. Now was the time for anypony to speak up. After a moment, the InCom broke out with sections calling in.
“This is Engineering, main power at your command.”
“This is Medical, standing by.”
“This is Gunnery Chief, all weapons ready.”
“This is Damage Control, try not to wreck our ship too badly.”
