Chapter One: Risk

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

Primus Galaxy, Sector 7a, Primus Year 269230769W

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crash! Boom!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hello? Hello, mister! Wake up!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

His Up-link! Where was it?

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

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

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

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

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

“Thank you” He said with a smile.

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

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

Equestria, Cloudsdale, Equestrian Year 1446

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

bz15p - sector 33c
Primus Executive Holding Establishment
Meteor S33c17

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

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

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

Alert: MISSING. NOT IN CELL

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

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

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

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

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

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

Five minutes wasn’t too long, she thought.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Welcome, Starflight”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Well?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Then let me go.”

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

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

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

Starflight gulped.

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

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

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

Starflight nodded and zoomed to the elevator.

The Captain chuckled to herself.

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

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

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

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

3:57:08

Equestria, Cloudsdale, Equestrian Year Unknown

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2:46:00

Chapter Two: Equestria's Most Wanted

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“Nothing is as far away as one minute ago”
Jim Bishop

Equestria, Ponyville, Equestrian Year 1456

Using his Liberator’s navigator and he instructions given to him by the colts in Rainbow Dash’s old house, Starflight was able to find Ponyville with relative ease. The small town was situated in a valley surrounded by high snowy mountains on one side, and rolling, tree-filled hills on the other.

Starflight found an overgrowth of shrubs on the outskirts of town. Making sure nopony was around to see, he landed and hid his Liberator on that spot. The landing space offered a charming view of the quiet Ponyville. Time was short and he knew he needed to find Rainbow Dash, and fast. He trotted briskly in the direction of the town’s entrance.

A new wave of urgency washed over him as he checked the timer on his Up-link mid-trot. If he couldn’t find the escaped prisoner in less than three hours, him and the rest of the ponies in the country would be incinerated. Starflight took a deep, calming breath as he continued his trot.

As he approached Ponyville, he was dizzied by the thought that he time-traveled unknowingly to Equestria’s past. The vortex had lead him directly to where Maleficus Nil had escaped, it almost seemed like fate. Starflight knew he couldn’t let this rare opportunity pass him by. He was going to try his absolute best to save these ponies, even if it meant sacrificing his life.

Near the city gates, a small stream caught Starflight’s attention. Starflight stopped for a moment to once again admire the beauty of Equestria. He was soothed by the sounds of birds chirping and water running, the ponies playing in the fields reminded him of what he was fighting for.

Starflight entered the town and glanced around. The ground was made of soft, cool dirt.. The town’s entrance connected to a road that no doubt lead to the center of commerce in the town. Starflight followed the path while taking in the architecture of the many houses. It was like stepping into a history book for him. Equestria was thousands of years behind the development of the rest of the galaxy, but Starflight wondered if that was really such a bad thing.

Turning his attention back to his mission, Starflight figured that Rainbow Dash must be in her teenage years by now, and therefore another teenager would be the best pony to ask. He looked around the edges of town square for a young-looking mare before he spotted a white, purple-maned pony that seemed to fit the criteria.

The mare was closely inspecting fabrics at a small wooden stand. Starflight trotted towards her, squeezing through a few other ponies.

He cleared his throat. “Excuse me...miss?”

She turned around and struck Starflight with awe as she did so. Her mane, immaculately curled and styled, flipped through the air as she turned her head, returning to it’s position when she stopped. Her eyes stood out the most to Starflight. Her large, azure eyes were encircled by a very complimentary light blue eye shadow that seemed to be applied by an absolute expert. Her eyelashes were also curled in a most enticing way.

“Yes?” She said in a high, soothing voice.

“Hi! I... um...” Starflight stuttered for a second. “I am looking for somepony...” he said, trying to regain his composure. The white mare stared politely. “Do you happen to know a mare named Rainbow Dash?”

The mare’s ears perked up at that name. “You’re in luck! It just so happens that I do know such a pony!” she said with a smile.

“Great!” Starflight said excitedly, “would you by any chance know where she is at the moment?” He asked, turning slightly, preparing to gallop off.

“Umm...well...no.” she said, her ears flopping down the sides of her head. “She may be at her house...” she suggested.

Starflight turned his body back to her. “Oh...” he said, thinking of another way to find her. “Where exactly is that?” he asked with a nervous smile.

The white mare looked up to the sky as if she was trying to locate something. Her ears perked up after a few seconds of searching. She pointed a pedicured hoof towards a large cloud in the distance. “There!” she said to Starflight.

Starflight looked a little confused, but upon looking closer he spotted a peculiar structure in the distance. Rainbows arched over it’s roof, leading into pools of rainbow colored liquid that ran off the clouds onto the ground below. The structure itself was made from oddly shaped clouds and pillars.

“Thank you...”

“I don’t think I caught your name!” The mare said, looking attentively at Starflight. “I’m Rarity.” She extended her hoof in Starflight’s direction.

He gave the outstretched hoof a confused look. “I’m Starflight.” he said as he prepared to fly towards the cloud mansion.

“I haven’t seen you around town. Are you new? Visiting?” she continued questioning, ignoring Starflight’s urgent body language. “Where are you from?” she asked sweetly.

“Are you from Manehattan? You look like a Manehattan pony. Why, I went to Manehattan to pick up some exotic fabrics and I have to say I was flabbergasted at the manners of the ponies in that area of town...” Rarity went on a tangent, seemingly forgetting that Starflight was even there.

Starflight used this chance to slowly start inching away from the chattering pony, who was closing her eyes and reminiscing about her time in Manehattan.

“The fabrics were sub-par at best, I mean I would hardly call them exotic. Of course I made use of them for my newest line of clothing which, unsurprisingly, was a complete flop. Needless to say my stay in Manehattan was nothing if not a little disappointing. All I purchased for myself was a lousy T-shirt! I don’t even wear T-shirts!” She finished and opened her eyes to see an empty space in front of her. “Well he’s definitely a Manehattan pony. Hmph!” The mare stated in an offended way.

Starflight landed on the stoop of the cloud home. The front door was five times the size of Starflight. It was made of what could only be described as a solid cloud. The top half was made up of two stained glass windows that seemed to be a painting of Rainbow Dash herself. The window on the right depicted Rainbow Dash wearing gold armor and standing on top of a pile of dead zombies. The one on the right showed Rainbow Dash in a blue and yellow outfit with goggles flying with similarly dressed ponies.

He tentatively raised a hoof and knocked on the door. The door made a very hollow sound, the clouds had a plastic feel. He sat there waiting for an answer, but instead the door slowly creaked open.

He sat up and waited for Rainbow Dash to be re-united with him after ten years... but there was nopony there. The door was fully opened and it revealed a similar interior. The walls and floors were solid cloud. Pillars held up more clouds that looked softer and fluffier and served as the house’s roof. There was a sculpture of a Pegasus inside, probably of Rainbow Dash herself.

Starflight looked back at the empty stoop. He gulped and slowly stepped onto the clean and polished floor, he could see his reflection in it. The mansion smelled like morning dew and flowers, Starflight took a deep breath of the cool air.

He stepped forward a little more and looked at the wide living room, complete with a Chaise lounge situated in front of a blank canvas and a paint palette. Maybe somebody was painting her for her next window, Starflight thought. As he inspected the house he heard a small creak from behind him.

He turned around quickly, but there was nothing there. He cocked his head to the side and shrugged. Turning around to explore a bit more before hearing an even louder creak.

He began to turn around again, but before he got the chance to see what was there, the lights went out in a brilliant flash of colors.

"Hello!? Hellooo!? Hey you! WAKE UP!"

Starflight felt a splash of cold water on his face. He opened his eyes with a groan. Light was flooding through the mansion, stinging his eyes.

He noticed a very sharp pain in his head. “Ughhhh, wh-what? Where am I?” He winced from both the light and the throbbing pain in his head.

“YOU just broke into my house!” A boyish, vaguely familiar voice said.

Starflight remembered he was in Rainbow Dash’s house, now tied up on the floor.

He was on his back, his eyes adjusting to the light, staring straight into the deep fuchsia eyes of a light-blue pony. Her rainbow-colored mane was her defining characteristic.. “So what were you doin’, huh? Were you tryin’ to steal from the Rainbow Dash!? Perhaps you don’t know! I’m the fastest pony alive,” Rainbow Dash began, she starting moving quickly around the room doing different poses for an invisible camera, “future Wonderbolt and the only pony to ever pull off a sonic rain--”

“Please stop.” Starflight said, annoyed.

“What?”

“I didn’t break in... the door was open.” It was still technically trespassing, but the implications of breaking in seemed so violent to Starflight. He continued to look into the upset mare’s eyes, searching for a sign that she remembered their previous encounter a decade ago. “Rainbow Dash! Don’t you remember me...?” Starflight asked, looking hurt.

Rainbow Dash stopped. She moved her head back in surprise and hovered over to Starflight. “How do you know my name? What do you mean ‘remember you’?” Rainbow Dash asked, very confused now.

“Ten Years ago... I came to your house and you showed me your room... remember?” Starflight said in the most calm and reassuring voice he could muster, he was about to rupture her fragile Equestrian understanding of the universe.

“I-I Don’t know what you...” Rainbow Dash began to say, but she stopped herself, trying to remember.

“You said you found me unconscious on your roof... right? You took me into your playhouse and we had ‘tea’, remember?” Starflight tried to help Rainbow Dash visualize that day.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened with the sudden realization. “You! My parents didn’t believe that you existed! I told them you would be back in 5 minutes... and you never came back!” Rainbow Dash was obviously not happy.

“I know, I know... and I’m so sorry for that... but I have something to tell you.” Starflight said with sincerity in his voice.

Rainbow Dash stopped. She thought for a second before replying. “Ok... what is it?”

“I need you to untie me first!” Starflight said with an exaggerated smile. He was going for charming, but it bordered on creepy.

“Oh no! I know how this works. You ask me to untie you and then you make your escape, with my stuff! You must think I’m a total--”

“RAINBOW DASH!” Starflight shouted. Seeing the surprised look on her face he lowered his voice. “There isn’t much time. Please. Untie me.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Ok, but if you try anything funny,” She cautiously unraveled the rope with her mouth. “I’ll buck you”

Starflight rolled away from the ropes and jumped to his hooves, startling the already on-edge Rainbow Dash. When he got to his wobbly legs pain shot through his head once again. He rubbed the sore spot with his hoof, feeling a massive bump.

“You kicked me... didn’t you?” Starflight narrowed his eyes.

Rainbow Dash gave a nervous chuckle. “Haha... maybe”

Starflight sighed. “Ok... you can tell nopony what I’m about to tell you. It could ruin the mission and get Equestria destroyed!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “What!? Equestria!? Destroyed!?”

“I know, I know it’s crazy. Are you ready to hear it?” Starflight was unsure of telling her, but he knew it needed to be done; she could very well be the only mare in the country that could help him.

I think so...” Rainbow Dash looked very nervous.

“My name is Second Lieutenant Starflight of the Primus Executive Military. I’m not from here...” Starflight hesitated looking for the right words.

“Oh... are you from Trottingham? Fillydelphia? I hear there are a lot of Pegasus ponies there.” Rainbow Dash said, trying to figure out exactly what the mysterious white colt in her house was saying.

“No. I mean... I’m not from this... planet...” Starflight winced in anticipation of her reaction.

“Wait a minute, wait juuust a minute! Is this a practical joke? Ok, you got me! You can come out now, Pinkie Pie! Spike!? Hellooo, it’s not funny anymore!” Rainbow Dash said, desperately looking around her mansion for cameras or Pinkie Pie.

“Rainbow Dash! Get a hold of yourself! I’m serious!” Starflight said, grabbing Rainbow Dash and looking deep into her eyes. “Just listen...”

Rainbow Dash felt her knees weaken. She began to come to terms with the fact that he could be serious. This Colt arrived at her house 10 years earlier, and came back without aging a day. Something strange was definitely at play there. She sat down “O-Okay...” was all she could muster.

“Okay... the reason I need you... the reason I’m telling you this... is because you may know something about an escaped criminal and without you all of Equestria may be destroyed without warning in 2 hours.” He said, once again wincing.

“... go on” Rainbow Dash said in a bit of stupor.

Starflight sighed. “The ‘weirdness’ in your room. What became of that after I left? Did it get worse? Did it disappear?”

“Oh my gosh! It got much worse! My parents aren’t the superstitious type, but they were so convinced that the house was haunted, we moved out! Other ponies have moved into that house, but none have ever lasted a year. But... eventually, the ‘weirdness’ just... stopped.” As Rainbow Dash told the story she seemed to come out of her shock and became more confident. “It left the house... and it came here... with me.”

“The ‘weirdness’ has followed you?” Starflight pushed for more information.

“I feel like my house is alive sometimes! Things that shouldn’t move... move! My house creaks when there’s no wind, no birds, no nothing! It’s like somebody else lives here!”

Starflight jolted at these words. He reached into his bag and retrieved his Primus Key. He scanned the immediate area and then continued on through the rest of the mansion. The light at the top of the Key was usually green, but it began to turn yellow as he searched, and then red.

He plugged it into his Up-Link.

Hostile Presence Detected: Shapeshifter

Starflight’s jaw dropped when he read the words on the screen of his Up-link.

“Rainbow Dash...” He said in a calm, monotone voice. “We need to leave the house... now”

“Uh... ok” Rainbow Dash was not sure of why, but she began walking towards the door.

click

Starflight clenched his teeth and groaned. “That was the door... we’re locked in!”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash asked, walking towards the door. “Let’s just unlock it!” Rainbow Dash fiddled with the lock for a while, grunting and pulling at it. “... it’s jammed” she said, defeated.

“I thought so.” Starflight sighed as he continued to scan. “We’re in the belly of the beast now... we’re not safe as long as he is in here.”

“Who’s he?” Rainbow Dash asked, afraid to find out. “Who’s in here?”

“Maleficus Nil... the escaped prisoner! He’s been following you all your life... or so I assume.” Starflight theorized. “And wherever he is... he’s listening to us now.” Starflight looked around uneasily. “Be careful, don’t go too far from me... I don’t know how long we’ll be here...”

“This is too weird... what’s going to happen?” Rainbow Dash was beginning to get frantic. “Are we gonna die?” she asked, letting up slightly on her brave front.

“No, Rainbow Dash, we’re not going to die. We’re going to find a way out.” Starflight said in a calm and determined voice.

Just then, another click was heard from somewhere. Starflight and Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up simultaneously. They listened closely and heard a strange, static-y mixture of music and muffled voices, fading in and out.

“My Radio!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, running into a small room in the corner.

Starlight followed close behind her. The radio tuned itself, until eventually Rainbow Dash and Starflight could hear a low, echoed voice speaking from it.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash.” The voice filled them both with dread; it made Rainbow Dash’s stomach churn. It was still muffled by static but clear enough to make out. This was the voice of the escaped criminal, Maleficus Nil. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to talk to you.”

Rainbow Dash was speechless, her bottom lip trembled. She looked to Starflight. “Who are you? What do you want from me?” She asked with a frantic stutter.

“Second Lieutenant Starflight has forced me to show my hoof early...” The voice explained. “I need you to get off this planet... now. You have something I need, something... special.”

“What do you mean... special?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You’ll learn in time. Come, let’s go. We must take a visit to my old home... the prison. I have a bit of a score to settle with the wardens there.”

“We’re not going anywhere!” Starflight spoke up. “We’re taking you back to prison. You’re presence alone is a danger to every pony here!”

“You WILL leave the planet. I’m sorry if I made it seem like you had a choice. What does it matter to me if my presence endangers other ponies? Besides, is it me that is risking everypony’s life, or the military?” The voice said, getting louder and more clear. “It just so happens that today is my 400th birthday! And the 400th anniversary of my first murder! It will also be forever known as the day Maleficus Nil sheds his title of “Prisoner #5642k” and regains his rightful place as the god of fear and death!”

“Rainbow Dash, step outside of the room.” Starflight said calmly, as he backed away. “You’re no god! You’re just a crazed lunatic! The only safe place for you is in captivity!”

Rainbow Dash followed. “There’s nowhere you can go, Rainbow Dash! I’m part of you now! This galaxy will be consumed by terror... and you’ll be left behind if you don’t come with me!” The voice said as Starflight shut the door of the room.

Rainbow Dash sat down next to the sculpture. Starflight pulled a pistol out of his bag with his teeth and walked towards the door, leaving Rainbow Dash near the sculpture. He heard another creak and quickly looked back to see the sculpture leaning above Rainbow Dash, beginning it’s descent towards her.

Starflight’s eyes widened as he zoomed towards Rainbow Dash, wings flapping furiously. The sculpture was falling at full speed now but Starflight knocked her out of the path of the sculpture. He noticed he dropped something from his bag...

... His Key! He felt around the bag and looked around where he landed. He looked to Rainbow Dash for help, and she pointed a hoof in the direction of the sculpture. Lying there, under the now shattered marble sculpture, was his Key, in pieces.

Starflight looked in horror. “Oh no... that’s not good. That’s bad! What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do!? Acharis is gonna be pissed!” He said, his mouth gaping open. He sighed and looked at his Up-link.

1:37:04

“Oh! That’s even worse! Ughhh!” he groaned. Starflight grabbed his pistol and quickly shot the lock off the door, pulling the trigger with is tounge. The sudden bright, warm flash caused Rainbow Dash to shield her eyes.

The laser-beam hit right on target, the door’s lock, causing the door to open with a whine. Starflight looked at Rainbow Dash, her jaw was hanging open, and chuckled nervously. He quickly shook his head and trotted towards the door.

“A laser!? Are you kidding me?” Rainbow Dash shouted.

Starflight winced, the shock was clearly still affecting Rainbow Dash.

“That is so awesome!” Rainbow Dash make a squeaking sound, smiling widely.

Starflight raised an eyebrow. “Yeah... I guess.”

“You gotta let me use it! Oh, Pinkie Pie will get a kick out of this!” Rainbow stretched a hoof out in Starflight’s direction.

“Wha-? No! This is a very dangerous weapon! I wouldn’t trust somepony named Pinkie Pie with it... that’s for sure.” Starflight dropped the pistol back into his bag.

“Aww! C’mon! I won’t shoot it, I promise!”

“No!”

“Then you show it to her!”

“No!”

“Then shoot it again, for me!”

“No! Listen, we need to lead Maleficus outside! I have a plan.” he said, gesturing for the door.

“Aww, fine.” Rainbow Dash folded her arms and pouted. They trotted out the door together.

But they weren’t alone.

Starflight and his new companion, Rainbow Dash, hit the soft ground of Ponyville running. “So, where we headed?” Rainbow Dash asked, effortlessly keeping up with Starflight.

“Maleficus... he transmitted his own form through radio waves to get into your radio, right?” Starflight asked, still running in a direction unknown to Rainbow Dash.

“Uhhh... sure...?” Rainbow Dash didn’t understand, but she still wanted an answer to her question.

“We need to get into an isolated area, without a single thing for him to posses... I have an idea.” he said. They reached town square and he took a look around at the ponies going about their day as they normally would. Shopping, working, playing, children were laughing and mares were gossiping while colts played sports in the fields. They all looked so peaceful, so happy. The thought that their lives were in Starflight’s hoofs made him feel uneasy. He was terrified that he would let all of these happy ponies down. Swallowing hard, he said:. “Let’s go... we have work to do.”

Just then, a small purple and green lizard came running towards Rainbow Dash. It was very short with thick-scales and large eyes. It’s underbelly was bright green and so were a couple of flaps on the sides of his head which were, as Starflight could only imagine, supposed to be wings.

“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! I need to show you something in Sugarcube Corner! It’s great!” He said, pulling on Rainbow Dash’s front leg. “Oh you’re going to be sooo jealous!”

Starflight did not expect it to talk. His voice sounded like a little foal’s. He tried to deepen it, it seemed, to sound more manly, but his cutesy appearance counter-acted the intended effect.

“Not now, Spike! I’m on a very important mission.” Rainbow Dash said, puffing her chest out proudly. Starflight raised an eyebrow at this display.

“It will just take a second, c’mon!” Spike said more urgently, wincing and clenching his teeth at the effort it took to pull Rainbow Dash towards Sugarcube Corner.

“I don’t have time to worry about pastries! There are bigger things at stake here!” Rainbow Dash said, picking up spike with the hoof he was already latched onto. She looked to Starflight, who had a hoof raised to his chin as if he was thinking.

“We’ll lead Maleficus to Sugarcube Corner, and go from there...” Starflight decided.

Together they walked to Sugarcube Corner, Starflight stared nervously at his Up-link the whole time.

1:19:59
1:19:58
1:19:57

They arrived at a colorful building that seemed to be designed like a large cake topped with a cupcake and a few candles. Starflight’s mouth watered as the scent a freshly baked cookies emanated from the building. He took a deep whiff of the sweet smell.

Spike led them into the bakery, looking excited. “You’re going to love this, Rainbow Dash!” He opened the door revealing a humble waiting area with a few wooden tables spread out around the room. There was a counter with a glass side, displaying a number of delicious looking baked goods.

Rainbow Dash looked around, not seeing anything worth getting excited about. “I don’t get it... why did you bring me here?”

Spike closed the door and locked it. He gave a very sly smile before closing his eyes and falling to the ground as if he were asleep.

“What? Spike!? What’s going on!?” Rainbow Dash ran towards Spike , who was regaining consciousness.

“Wh-What happened?” Spike groaned and rubbed his head. He looked around. “Why are we in Sugarcube Corner?” He looked at Starflight. “Who’s that?”

“You must have been possessed! How do you feel?” Starflight asked inspecting Spike. He lifted Spike’s arm and turned him around, looking for an abnormality.

“I feel uh... fine... I guess. I was just taking a nap in the library and ...now I’m in Sugarcube Corner?”

Starflight stopped and sniffed. The warm smell of cookies was slowly begin to smell like something was burning. He leaped over the counter and ran into the kitchen. The oven was engulfed in a bright blaze.

Smoke began to fill the small kitchen. Starflight coughed and ran back into the waiting area. “We gotta get out of here. We’ll be burned alive!”

This startled Rainbow Dash and Spike. They got to their hooves and feet respectively and went towards the door. They attempted to unlock it, but some unseen force was holding it in place. Rainbow Dash gave Starflight a terrified look. He brought his pistol out and aimed for the lock. He shot the bright laser-beam towards the lock, but it seemed to be absorbed.

Rainbow Dash squealed in terror as she gave Starflight another terrified look. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Are we gonna die!?” She asked for the second time. This time, however, Starflight didn’t answer. The kitchen had turned into a raging inferno. Starflight ran around the waiting area looking for a way out. The staircase was on fire and the door was jammed. There was no way out.

“Oh My. It seems there’s been an accident!” A voice sounded from a speaker on the ceiling. “I do hope you can get this fixed before long. As for you Rainbow Dash, don’t be scared! I won’t let my vessel of destruction perish so easily. I’ll rescue you before it’s too late. As for your friends... I can’t say the same...”

Starflight looked up at the speaker angrily. “Shut up! We’ll be out of here and on your trail in no time!” Starflight tried to be confident, but he looked to Rainbow Dash who was hiding under a table, shivering with her eyes shut. Spike was wrapped around her head, teeth clenched and eyes wide.

The entire building was engulfed in boiling heat, Starflight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all began to sweat. The plastic cash register began melting. Starflight, panting, looked at Rainbow Dash and Spike, and then to the kitchen.

A loud, high pitched whistle could be heard from the burning kitchen. This sound was closely followed by a loud boom and the clattering of metal pots and pans. Starflight’s ears perked up as he ran towards the kitchen.

Something blew a hole in it’s wall. The flames quickly covered the space, but that quick glance was all he needed. He backed up towards the waiting area, and dashed in the direction of the new hole. He galloped with his head down and wings spread.

He dashed quickly into the burning kitchen and through the blazing inferno. His body quickly rose in temperature but he broke through before the fire could burn him. His wings were sparking, as he entered the cool, fresh Ponyville air. He glanced at his Up-Link.

45:55

There was a large brigade of Firefighting ponies, valiantly blasting the fire with gallons of water to no avail. They all gasped when they saw Starflight. He gave a friendly wave and an embarrassed smile.

He looked up and around and decided what he needed to do. He angled his body so that he was straightened out and pointed up. He flapped his wings furiously and reached speeds beyond 60 MPH. Zooming skyward, he knew Maleficus was on his tail in some form.

He was level with the clouds. He looked from the burning bakery, where Rainbow Dash and Spike were minutes from being burned alive, to the beautiful country of Equestria, where everypony was minutes away from being incinerated.

There was a small sparrow following him the whole time. It was making it’s way quickly towards Starflight, it must have been possessed by Maleficus. Just as Starflight had planned.

The bird dropped as if gravity had just increased it’s strain on it. There was only one other place Maleficus Nil could go. Starflight’s Up-Link.

Starflight felt his presence immediately. The Up-link vibrated and the screen displayed a number of error messages. A bright purple bubble slowly spread around Starflight.

EMERGENCY GRAVITY LOCK ACTIVATED

Starflight smiled. As long as he was in this bubble, he could move freely around the small space, the bubble itself, however, could not be moved by any outside force. So Starflight was stuck here, while Spike burned alive, while Rainbow Dash was taken to do Maleficus’ evil bidding, while all of Equestria was about to be mercilessly obliterated by the Primus Military, Starflight was helpless. Still he smiled.

Words appeared on his Up-link’s messaging feature:

I really must be going, Second Lieutenant.
But don’t worry, I’ll be sure to tell my victims how brave you were.
This gravity lock should disengage in about... hmmm... say 40 minutes or so?
What a coincidence! The military will be here in that time!
Any last words, messages,maybe, for me to relay to this miserable universe?
Not that I believe the words of one pony can save this corrupted, dying existence, but say it out loud and I’ll take a note anyway.

Starflight laughed. He brought up the reply screen on his Up-link. He thought for a second, trying to find the perfect message for this evil, twisted being. He gasped when he found the perfect one.

Happy Birthday

Maleficus was already trying to escape, the Up-link vibrated more erratically.

Send to: Primus Executive Holding Establishment (PEHE)

The Up-link’s Omega Waves sent the message to the holding establishment faster than the speed of light. It reached the space prison in seconds, and Maleficus along with it. Starflight was sure he could hear the villain screaming at him, but that was impossible.

The holding establishment had detector nodes set up around the very large prison that caught even the slightest disturbance on a physical level, and when dealing with the still very new concept of space-time rifts.

Maleficus was caught immediately and was put into a new, experimental cell that in theory would prevent any space-time rifs in the future. Word was sent to the fleet that was already closing in on Equestria. They cooled their weapons and headed back to their usual positions in deep space.

As for Maleficus, he was studied for insight on how a living being could travel through something as intangible as a radio wave. He was being held for life, away from his body and occasionally interrogated for information on wars, conflicts, and genocide he may have caused.

He wasn’t going to cause trouble for a very long time.

The moment Maleficus Nil’s influence left Equestria, the Firefighters were successful in breaking down the front door of Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash and Spike were still cowering in the corner when they were found. At the sight of the firefighters, Rainbow Dash grabbed Spike and dashed out the door.

She was covered in ashes, but she grabbed Spike and jumped, danced, and laughed.. “I’m alive! I’m alive! Yes!” She stopped and took a moment to clear her lungs of the smoke. She breathed in the fresh air with a smile. “I wasn’t worried.” she lied.

She flinched when she remembered Starflight. Where was he? She saw him run into the fire and he never came out.

She looked to Spike then to the firefighters, who were finally making progress with the fire. She sat down and looked at her hooves. Her eyes began to water... was he dead?

She felt a hoof on her back. She turned around and sadly looked at Starflight who was standing behind her. A smile grew on her face.

“We did it!” He said, also covered in ashes, but with an ecstatic smile. Rainbow Dash jumped up and gave him a huge hug, reminding him of when he came to her home in Cloudsdale and she was just a little filly. He sighed happily and added as an afterthought: “You know, you used to be cute.”

Rainbow Dash’s smile faded. She broke from the hug and gave a surprised stare at Starflight. He was in trouble. “Used to be!? Come here, I’ll show you cute!” She grumbled as she reached her hooves out to grab him. “Why you little--!”

Starflight immediately galloped away. “What!? I’m sorry! I meant you still are! Kinda, I don’t know! I really like your mane! Heeelp meee!”

Equestria, Canterlot, Equestrian Year 1456

‘Princess’ Celestia invited Starflight and Rainbow Dash to her castle for a casual audience. Starflight was nervous about meeting a superior, but Rainbow Dash seemed to be used to it. They entered the grand hall as Starflight stood in awe of the expertly crafted stone interior.

There was stained glass windows that sunlight shone through and casted multi-colored lights on the long, red velvet carpet. There was stone pillars, each at least 20 feet high, holding up a ceiling with the royal seal of Equestria, a bright-white pony with the sun in front of her and a dark-blue pony with the moon in front of her, on it. The hall was long and wide, and at the end stood Brigadier General Celestia and her royal guards. Along with her was Captain Acharis.

When they reached the end of the hall, Rainbow Dash prepared to bow, until she saw Starflight saluting the princess. “Brigadier General.” He said, in a low respectful voice. He turned to Acharis. “Captain” He said to her.

Rainbow Dash had a stunned look on her face. “What did you call the Princess? What did he call you, your majesty?” She said as she looked around at the ponies in the room.

“It’s ok, Rainbow Dash, this is why we called you here. We have some... explaining to do.” The Princess said as though she felt remorseful. “I haven’t been one-hundred percent honest wit you...”

Rainbow Dash was listening, slightly confused. She cocked her head and looked at Starflight, who had a stern look on his face, and then to the Princess, who patiently waited for Rainbow Dash to let the information sink in. “I’m listening, your majesty.” She said politely.

“Equestria is an isolationist nation. We have agreed to keep away from foreign relations as long as the Union would let us live in peace.” Celestia continued. “Maleficus Nil threatened the lifelong commitment me and my sister, Luna, made when founding this nation. He was a level 1 threat, the highest there is, and having him loose in a peaceful nation unfortunately called for the immediate destruction of that nation.”

“Thanks to Starflight here, we had a last minute call-off. Everypony you know and love was just minutes away from being turned to ashes.” Acharis said in a matter-of-fact way. “You owe a lot to First Lieutenant Starflight.”

Starflight’s ears perked up. “First!? Are you--am I--”

“Congratulations soldier, you’ve been promoted.” She said with a smile, Starflight couldn’t tell how sincere it was.

Starflight grew a huge smile on his face. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” He said jumping around the grand hall, punching his hooves in the air. He stopped and looked at Captain Acharis, who was not amused. “I mean, I accept, Captain.” He said, returning back to his previous position, giving a salute in Celestia and Acharis’ general direction.

“But there’s more...” Celestia continued, staring softly at Rainbow Dash. “I, like your friend Starflight, am not from this planet. Me and my sister became Brigadier Generals over 1400 years ago. We had a vision for a world that was free from the tangled influence of the Primus Military. The galaxy was a very different place when I was a filly, but unfortunately, a lot changes in 3000 years. The entire galaxy is a mess that the Primus Military has been desperately trying to clean up, but as you can imagine, it’s very difficult to unite such a large group of ponies. The only way Luna and I could help was starting our own nation, away from the constant warring and suffering of the rest of the universe. A new beginning of sorts...”

Rainbow Dash listened intently, trying to comprehend all that Celestia was saying. “So you’re, like, an alien?”

“Yes Rainbow Dash, something like that. I know it’s a lot to take in...” Celestia said looking at the utter confusion in Rainbow Dash’s eyes.

“So everything I’ve been told...” Rainbow Dash began, sitting on the floor with wide eyes “... was a lie?”

Celestia sighed sadly. “I do not blame you for seeing it that way...” she said, looking slightly disappointed.

“You have a choice, Rainbow Dash” Captain Acharis said, as she turned in the blue mare’s direction. “You have learned a lot about the Primus Executive Military, maybe too much.”

“yeah...” Rainbow Dash said, not sure what to expect at this point.

“but there is still much to learn...” the Captain continued, “and much to forget... we have the technology to make you forget about everything you’ve seen and learned in the past two and a half hours.” Acharis gave Rainbow Dash a second to think, and then continued: “Or... you could leave Equestria, keep your memories, and join us...”

Rainbow Dash looked around at the various militants that surrounded her. She looked up at Princess Celestia, who was smiling warmly down at her. She turned to Starflight next.

“It’s up to you, Rainbow Dash...” He said, trying not to put any extra pressure on her.

“Well... I don’t want to leave all of my friends here on Equestria... but Mally-whatever said something about me... having something special... something he needed.” She looked to Starflight again. “Remember? I can’t choose to forget all about that, I feel like I need to know... I have to know!”

Starflight smiled. “If you feel like it’s the right thing to do... we’ll be happy to have you” He said, looking to Captain Acharis and Brigadier General Celestia. They nodded in agreement. “But we’d understand if just want to forget about all this mess... I imagine it’s hard for somepony like you to take it all in...”

Rainbow Dash rose from the ground a flapped her wings angrily. “Somepony like me? What is that supposed to mean!?” She growled, completely misunderstanding Starflight. She stuck her nose in his face and growled angrily, again.

Starflight winced and backed away. “No! I... I was just saying! Since you... you know... you’ve been sheltered from the rest of the galaxy your whole life!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled and looked at Starflight happily. “I’m just messing with you!” She hovered back to the floor and thought hard about what to do. She looked sadly down at the ground. “I think I know what I’m gonna do...”

Rainbow Dash walked around Ponyville feeling fresh and renewed. She looked around happily and felt like she was just seeing Ponyville for the first time again. She watched joyfully at the ponies playing and laughing around town square.

Still, she felt like she was forgetting something. Something she had put so much thought into and was upset about for a while... but it was just gone. She sat there deep in thought, trying so hard to remember.

She gave Ponyville one last look, and flew to her cloud-home. She loved the way the cool air blew through her mane. She took a deep breath of it and did a few twirls in the air.

Before long, she landed on her stoop and touched the decorative pillars softly, looking back at the fond memories she had in that house.

She entered the house, taking note of the poorly made stained-glass windows. She looked around and remembered exactly what had been bothering her. She smiled and trotted up to her bedroom.

It was all cleared out. Nothing but a few posters on the wall and five wooden crates marked: Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. She smiled once again, a longing, nostalgic smile. These were all the things she was giving away to her friends, as going-away presents.

Her eyes began to water as she looked through them, remembering that, for Twilight, she was giving away the few books she owned, for Rarity, a few exotic fabrics that she had received for various birthdays and Hearth’s Warming Eves, for Fluttershy, she had a large variety of seeds that together would make the most beautiful garden in Ponyville, for Applejack, she was giving her her old bouncing ball and a headband with a note saying: Think you can beat my record?, and finally for Pinkie Pie, all of her old cooking supplies (which she hardly used) and a very sharp knife with the words Rainbow Dash engraved on it. She was seriously debating about whether or not to give that one to her.

Rainbow Dash closed all of the boxes. She had already said her good-byes, told everypony that she was moving far away, which wasn’t a lie. They didn’t know why she had to leave on such short notice, and when Rainbow Dash begged Celestia to let her stay for one more night, she agreed. The last day had been a tearful one. The sun was now setting and she remembered all the good times she had with her friends. She sat there in the suns golden glow, crying silently at all of the memories.

She remembered The Grand Galloping Gala turning out to be the worst night ever, getting into a competition with Applejack to be the “iron pony” without even a clear winner, and having to say good-bye to her old griffon friend, Gilda, because she mistreated her friends.

In retrospect, Rainbow Dash had been pretty resilient when it came to disappointment, but this seemed like too much. She tried to focus on the positive, she was going to get to travel the stars with a new friend, and possibly meet even more new ones on the way. She could never turn down an adventure. She’d get to prove herself in training, and come out on top, she was sure she would.

On top of that, she felt something, something she couldn’t describe, that made her choose to leave Equestria. Something about what the escaped prisoner had told her. She couldn’t push the thought out of her head. She closed her eyes and decided that this was what she was meant to be doing. She wouldn’t come back until she found out the truth.

She heard the clopping of hooves coming up the stairs. She quickly dried her eyes and made herself presentable to her newly-promoted superior.

“Almost ready to go?” Starflight asked, looking at Rainbow Dash from her doorway. He noticed her eyes were red and swollen. “Have you been... crying?” He asked, looking more concerned than mocking, like Rainbow Dash expected.

“No! No I just have allergies! Yeah that’s it!” She said, wiping at her eyes furiously.

“Really!? Allergies!? That’s the oldest excuse in the book!” He said, laughing, but still sympathetic. “It’s ok, I know how you feel. I cried like a baby when I had to leave my parents.”

Rainbow Dash smiled. That was a comforting thought. She sniffled. “Ok then, I’m ready...” She said, giving her room one last look. “Just give me a second.”

“I’ll be in the Liberator. It’s on your roof. Don’t take to long, I don’t want anypony to notice us...” He said as he trotted out the door.

Rainbow Dash nodded. The element of loyalty, huh? A defined voice sounded inside of her head . This wasn’t a thought... someone was talking to her. Leaving your friends behind, how loyal of you! Rainbow Dash stopped for a second. She had missed her afternoon nap, so she dismissed it as sleep deprivation.

She looked at the bags packed on her bed, and then at her walls. She saw her old Wonderbolts poster, On the desk next to it was a feather given to her and her friends by Celestia’s pet phoenix, Philomeena.

She felt she needed to take these last things, so she took the poster down and grabbed the feather. looking out her window, onto the distant, quiet town of Ponyville she whispered “Good-bye, Ponyville... and Equestria.”

Good-bye, indeed! The voice rang clear in her head once again.

Chapter Three: The Gates of Haydes

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"Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate!"
The Divine Comedy

-

Primus Galaxy, Starship Votum, Primus Year 269230769W

Rainbow Dash walked down the halls of the Starship Votum in a slow trudge. Training had done a number on her legs, pain shot through her joints with every step she took, and she was sure she had completely lost the ability to flap her wings.

The physical aspect of the regimen wasn’t the worst part, she actually enjoyed it from time to time. She was used to exerting herself physically, she could handle it all (with the exception of swimming.) The reason she was so exhausted was because she knew what waited for her in her dorm.

There was an extensive intellectual training course paired with basic training, which meant written tests and mental challenges. This was not Rainbow Dash’s strong point, and she cringed when she thought of the pile of paperwork that awaited her in her 18th floor dorm. The last thing she wanted to do was exhaust her mind while resting her already exhausted body.

She reached the circular door and placed her hoof on the scanner, it didn’t react. She took it off and placed it softly on once again, still nothing. She growled and punched the scanner much harder, once again there was no reaction. The scanner was faulty, it had to accommodate two sets of hooves to allow in, and sometimes it only worked for one.

She groaned loudly and then knocked on the sleek, circular hatch that lead to the dorm.

“Coming!” a muffled voice from inside called. The door slid open with a slight electrical whine. Inside the dim, messy dorm was Starflight, her friend and encourager. He was two ranks higher than her and therefore felt it was his duty to force her to do her homework.

Starflight was recently moved to a First-lieutenant dorm, which was roughly twice the size of his old one. Instead of giving Rainbow Dash the standard cadet-dorm, she was moved in with Starflight, for what the Primus military called “enrichment.”

“How was training?” he asked happily but gave a concerned frown when he saw the look of utter misery on Rainbow Dash’s face. “Not great, huh?”

“They tied me up and threw me into a pool!” Rainbow Dash said, looking traumatized.

“Ah, drown proofing day” Starflight said with a nostalgic smile. “How’d you do?”

“They had to save me after I was stuck for 2 minutes trying to undo the first knot on my left hoof.” she said as she plopped herself down on a weathered couch. “I was losing consciousness.”

Starflight looked concerned again. “You don’t do well in water, huh?”

“I don’t do well in water! Huh!” Rainbow Dash retorted fiercly.

“Ok! Ok, calm down.” he said, trotting in the direction of the kitchen. “I have a surprise for you, your favorite!” he said excitingly as he walked back with a tray covered by a shiny metal dome balanced on his tail.

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up. She got up off the couch and gave Starflight a confused look.

“... Well? Open it!” he said, holding it out to her, grinning from ear to ear.

Rainbow Dash placed both hooves around the dome and lifted, on the tray was a stack of papers.

“Ta Da! Homework! Your favorite!” he chimed with a smile.

Rainbow Dash gave a disgusted grimace and sat back down, folding her arms in indignation. She huffed and said under her breath in a sort of whine: “Homework is not my favorite.”

“C’mon, Rainbow Dash! You and I both know you won’t do it unless I make you” he said, placing the tray on a nearby coffee table. Rainbow Dash’s expression was unchanging. “I’ll help you! Again...”

Rainbow Dash threw herself onto the couch and laid on her belly. She put her hooves over her head as if she was protecting herself from a falling rock. She mumbled something unintelligible into the couch cushion.

“Alright, sit up” he said, yanking her arm. “As your First Lieutenant I order you to sit up!”

Rainbow Dash growled and sat up. She watched Starflight with her head down as he took out the first of many papers and began to read.

“To prevent inter-species profiling, it is important to remember, while the law of the current planet/territory may not agree, Primus Executive Protocol calls for the indiscriminate treatment of all species and strains. Furthermore--” Starflight was interrupted when his Up-link vibrated.

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up at the distraction. Starflight sighed and looked at the screen, which displayed a message from Captain Acharis.

meet in Control Room at 0900

Starflight sighed and looked at the time, which was also on the Up-link. He had five minutes. He sighed when he looked to Rainbow Dash, who was smiling deviously. “I have to go” he said. Looking at the paper in his hoof, he gave it to Rainbow Dash. “Finish this sheet before I come back, or I’ll make you swab the cafeteria bathroom... with a toothbrush... again.”

“Not again!” Rainbow Dash whined in dismay.

“Get to work... please?” He said, trying not to sound too harsh. He only wanted Rainbow Dash to do her best so they could get her on a mission already. He grinned and stood up. “You need to stop being so lazy! You don’t want this to be another Flight School, do you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Alright, alright! I don’t...” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Go see the Captain! I don’t want to see you get chewed out... again!”

“I should have you demoted for that” He said playfully as he rubbed her mane with his front hoof, effectively messing it up. “Stay out of trouble, Dashie”

Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes. Her face burned red with anger. She was prepared to shout but, Starflight was already out the door.

Starflight knew she hated that nickname. “Jerk...” Rainbow Dash whispered under her breath.

The control room was filled with the voices of ponies and the clicking of keyboards. Messages were received multiple times per second, and the computers that received them made a sound as they did so, filling the room with digital blips and bleeps. Screens were brought up and closed at rapid rates, constantly changing the room’s lighting.

Starflight found himself here for, what seemed to him like, the 100th this week. Almost every time he came up to the control room he was given a message to relay to various floors and ponies, or something equally monotonous. He expected this time to be exactly the same.

“Permission to enter, Captain” He spoke from the doorway.

“Permission granted” Captain Acharis spoke in the same cultivated, yet monotone voice. She sounded as though she took very little interest in her job, which Starflight had no trouble believing.

Starflight walked in to the control room as the Captain turned to him. She was standing on the raised platform in the middle of the room, overlooking the goings-on of the Starship Votum. She walked down the ramp that led to the platform and towards Starflight.

“I have a new mission for you, First-lieutenant Starflight” She began after they exchanged salutes. “I expect you to begin tomorrow”

Starflight’s ears perked up at this. “Yes, ma’am” he said, gesturing for the Captain to continue.

“Ever since the incident in Equestria, we have been studying ponies and locations affected by the spacetime rifts.” she explained. “As you know, broken spacetime is poorly understood by even our most sophisticated scientists, however, we’ve made some progress in learning their origins.”

Starflight nodded, listening intently.

“We have since found more rifts spread about the galaxy, varying in size and shape.” she continued. “We also think we may have a cause for at least a small number of the vortexes.”

Starflight nodded once again.

“Six years ago an experimental warp drive was tested on the Primus Star Colony, the Haydes. When turned on, the drive drained all the power from the station, including it’s emergency reserves. Rescue teams were sent, but there are still four MIA ponies from the ships crew. The survivors’ mental health has been continuously deteriorating since their return.” Acharis was getting to the mission, and Starflight began to get excited. “The ship has since been caught in the orbit of planet Aurum. This is where you come in.”

Starflight corrected his posture and nodded once more.

“I need you to fly to the Haydes, get to the engine room, and take the warp drive. Simple enough?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled at the Captain. She narrowed her eyes.

“And take the cadet.” The Captain added.

Starflight jerked suddenly at these words. “Seriously!?” he exclaimed, but upon seeing Acharis’ offended reaction he lowered his tone. “With all due respect, Captain, we don’t know what’s up there! Rainbow Dash has only been in training for three weeks!”

Acharis stepped closer menacingly. It took all Starflight had to not back away. “The cadet has been exposed to a rift for longer than any of us has. The scientists believe she could theoretically have a stronger resistance to it’s effects. She could prove invaluable to the mission, take her with you, that’s an order.” The Captain finished resolutely.

Starflight thought Captain Acharis had lost it. Who knew what was waiting for them on that ship? It had been sitting in deep space for six years, something was bound to have inhabited it at some point.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was ecstatic to get a break from training and go on her first real mission. She jumped for joy and caught Starflight in a very tight grip, almost suffocating him. It was intended to be a hug. It didn’t feel like one.

Starflight and Rainbow Dash were joined by three Second-lieutenants. By the time Starflight and Rainbow Dash reached the docking bay, the trio of colts was in a neat line in full Primus Military uniform; a solid black-leather jumpsuit under a black bulletproof vest and a combat boot on each hoof. Strapped to their front was a large laser gun. at least three times larger than the pistol Starflight had brought to Equestria.

They saluted Starflight simultaneously.

“Soldiers.” he began, returning the salute. “I’m sure you’re all aware of the objective. This is a very routine mission. So long as everypony knows their positions, we should be in and out.”

Rainbow Dash had only rarely seen Starflight while on duty. He was like a completely different pony, he wasn’t the skinny colt that walked around with his head down, cracking stupid jokes at the wrong time. No, this Starflight was a proud, resolute stallion, and she admired that.

“Now, soldiers,” Starflight continued. “You are free to board your ships. Dismissed”

The colts dispersed and walked towards their respective ships. Starflight did the same with Rainbow Dash trotting close behind.

The Docking Bay was colossal. Inside were many levels of docks for various sizes of ships, connected by a series of small elevators that lifted soldiers to the different floors quickly and efficiently. The front of the room revealed the reaches of space behind a transparent force-field that kept oxygen and gravity stabilized on the inside.

Starflight found his personal Liberator class starship and opened the upward-sliding doors. It revealed a small cockpit with only a pilot and passenger seat. The pilot’s seat was filled with buttons, switches, screens, and a steering wheel. The passenger seat, where Rainbow Dash sat, was in front of more screens and gauges.

Starflight looked to an excited, but nervous, Rainbow Dash in the passenger seat. She smiled at him, as if to reassure him. He seriously considered going against the Captain’s orders and telling her to stay. His gaze lingered on Rainbow Dash, who’s smile faded after a few seconds. Without a word he started the ship and lifted off.

Primus Galaxy, Star Colony Haydes, Primus Year 269230769W

The insane speed of the Liberator was hard for even Rainbow Dash to grow accustomed to. Every time she took a ride with Starflight, she would clutch tightly to the sides of the cockpit in despair of crashing into something. She had broke the sound barrier before, but even that was a walk in the park compared to the warp-speeds of Primus ships.

After the short but nerve-racking trip, the colony came into view. It was shaped like a short glass cylinder with an open center bridged by large tubes. The entire structure was tilted to the side like it had been hit by a large blast and hadn’t budged since. The Liberator zoomed closer and began to slow as it approached an open-air landing pad.

The Second-lieutenants had already landed and were chatting amongst themselves on the pad. They stood at attention as Starflight landed and exited the ship with Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash stood in awe at the black curtain of space. It was dotted with twinkling stars and dust clouds. The unstable gravity of the nearby colony combined with the incomprehensible vastness of the cosmos dizzied her. The nearest star was extremely bright and hot against her coat. She panned the view until her eyes rested upon a large golden sphere.

“Whoa!” she said breathlessly.

“Planet Aurum” Starflight appeared beside Rainbow Dash, his voice distorted by the oxygen mask, amplified by an earpiece that each of the crew members was wearing. “Considered to be a holy planet by a few nut jobs in the military.” he said with an ounce of cynicism in his voice.

“It’s so... big!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, well it is a planet!” he said as he trotted towards the rest of the crew.

Rainbow Dash scoffed at his sarcasm. She turned in his direction to respond with a snappy remark, but something else caught her eye. The Haydes was the largest Pony-made structure she had ever seen. It towered high above the landing pad, made of glass and steel. What appeared to be the mid-section from her vantage point was covered by a large, charred scar surrounded by broken glass suspended around the colony.

“Quit Daydreaming, cadet!” Starflight said from the other side of the landing pad. The crew was already walking towards the entrance of the colony.

Rainbow Dash hurried along with wobbly knees. The vest did not give her the same stabilization as a larger gravitational field, like the one on the Votum, would. She looked at the massive, arched entryway with the words “Welcome to the Haydes” in large, faded type. She caught up and trotted alongside Starflight.

They entered the ship into an extensive room. It seemed to serve as a sort of garden for the ship’s crew. It was dimly lit and the plants were connected to the ship by glowing wires. Rainbow Dash looked towards the doorway. The same machines that created a force field around the docking bay of the Votum were there, but obviously no longer functional. They only sat there, sparking and giving a mechanical whir.

Rainbow Dash looked back to the room they were in. The plants sat there, perfectly preserved. They seemed to be irrigated by a series of tubes and aqueducts, a few of which still had a stream of water lazily running through them, others were broken and completely dry.

“This is the ship’s artificial life support system. It provided oxygen for the crew, they call it a biosphere. We of course have more advanced methods of ship-wide life support now.” Starflight explained as they entered the room.

Rainbow Dash was starting to see Starflight as more and more of an egghead every day. She felt like she was on a school field trip rather than a military mission to a derelict space-craft. Rolling her eyes, she decided to take a look around the general area while staying in sight of the crew.

She inspected more faded words on the walls, some she could make out, and some she could not. There was a number of tubes and mirrors scattered around the ship, she wondered what they were momentarily, but she dismissed the thought, the explanation was probably boring. The room continued unbroken from the same pattern for minutes, until something caught Rainbow Dash’s eye.

There was a small lever with the the faded words Ventilation Shaft above it, on the wall. Rainbow Dash looked at it, and then up at the ceiling, where a large shaft ran across the top of the room. She looked back at Starflight, who was touching a plant, and probably still talking, and then back to the lever.

She put her hoof to her chin and hummed. Turning away, a movement caught her eye. The lever, as if it had taken a life of it’s own, slowly started to move down. Rainbow Dash gasped and put her hooves up against it, attempting to stop it from switching. It was a futile effort, in a matter of seconds it reached it’s mark with a click.

Rainbow Dash heard a clanging sound moving through the shaft. Starflight and the colts, hearing it too, looked in Rainbow Dash’s direction. She looked back at them and shrugged desperately.

Rainbow Dash backed away quickly when the object fell out of the opening above her with a thump. Starflight and the Second-lieutenants trotted over in her direction to investigate. She looked closer, squinting to make out the form in front of her. Gasping, she jumped back when she saw what it was.

The crumpled form in front of her was the bloody, mangled corpse of a pony.

Rainbow Dash let out a scream of utter shock. When Starflight arrived by her side she quickly hid behind him. Speechless, she pointed a shaky hoof at the body.

Starflight grabbed the newly replaced Primus Key out of his bag and shined it’s light at the form. “Oh my--” he said breathlessly. He gave an alerted glance to the rest of the crew, who looked on with surprise.

He lowered himself down to the body and scanned it. A high, continuous beep accompanied the process, it ceased when it was done. He plugged it into the port on his Up-link and looked at the screen.

Species: Pony
Status: Deceased
Cause of Death: Unknown

“Hmm...” Starflight said staring thoughtfully at the bloody mess in front of him. The shaft above him was now surrounded with blood that floated silently in the air. He turned to a shaken Rainbow Dash. “What did you do?” he asked sternly.

“I-I didn’t do anything... It just...” A still uneasy Rainbow Dash looked to Starflight pleadingly. “I don’t know. I-I tried to stop it but--”

Starflight raised a hoof to stop the stuttering pegasus. “It’s ok...” he said. “I think we may have found 1/4 of our missing crew” He looked up at the opened shaft once again.

The 5 full-sized ponies crawled through the narrow shaft with Starflight at the front and Rainbow Dash at the back, avoiding the occasional piece of entrails or puddle of blood along the way.

Rainbow Dash, who prided herself on remaining cool in tough situations, looked at the mess of pony in horror. She breathed heavily as she crawled, only finding comfort in the fact that anything that is up ahead would be experienced by Starflight and the Second-lieutenants first. She closed her eyes to keep herself from vomiting or having a panic attack.

“We’ve reached the end of the shaft.” came Starflight’s distorted voice into Rainbow Dash’s earpiece. “There’s another vent here, let’s go through this one.”

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and waited for her turn to squeeze through the narrow vent. Starflight was first, he struggled and wiggled his way through the small space, kicking his hind legs. One of the Second-lieutenants was caught in the crossfire and kicked in the face.

“My apologies, soldier” Starflight said, chuckling.

Rainbow Dash gave a small smile. She found it funny, hearing Starflight’s voice while staring at his lower half kicking around the shaft awkwardly was, well... awkward. Looking back at the scattered pony remains, her smile faded.

After making squeezing through, Starflight assisted the rest of the crew in escaping the small space. Rainbow Dash came out last, with a pop.

The shaft led to a small, dimly-lit room with a circular table in the middle. The table was surrounded by chairs, some sitting upright, some on the ground, and some were missing altogether.

The square doorway was charred and missing it’s door. A trail of dried blood led to the vent where it seemed to pool in a much more fresh puddle.

Rainbow Dash looked down at herself. Her sky-blue coat was clean when she arrived, now it was stained with patches of another pony’s blood. She was once again horrified.

“The pony probably crawled to the vent, already dying, and expired on top of it. Maybe she was dragged... and when the vent turned on... she was sucked into the shaft and landed in the biosphere.” Starflight theorized “The question is... what killed her?”

The entire crew gave each other concerned looks. Starflight closed his eyes and thought.

“What about that lever!? Why did it move!?” Rainbow Dash asked frantically. She thought back to the Shapeshifter, Maleficus Nil, who could posses and control inanimate objects.

“It may have just been a faulty mechanism, this ship hasn’t had maintenance for six years.” Starflight explained. “Follow me” he ordered as he walked towards the doorway.

Rainbow Dash followed, feeling more uneasy about the mission by the second. The crew turned on their own Key-lights as they entered a dark hallway. There was more glass and bits of machinery floating in mid-air

“There must be a broken window somewhere...” said Starflight, observing the floating debris. He pointed his key towards an intersection in the hallway and gestured for the crew to follow him. Using his Primus Key to pierce the thick darkness, he found a fuse box on the wall of the upper-end of the intersection. “Does anybody here know how to repair a fusebox?” he asked, shining his light on the crew.

“Umm... I do... sir” One of the soldiers spoke up.

“What is your name, soldier?” Starflight asked, lowering his light. It occurred to him that he didn’t take the time to learn any of their names.

“I am Second-lieutenant Trigger, sir” The the young, lean pony was white with a short, dark-brown mane. His cutie-mark was a small flame surrounded by a segmented circle.

“Do you think you could find a way to turn the lights back on?” Starflight asked Trigger, gesturing towards the fuse box.

“Piece of cake!” he said, happily trottingtowards the box. He took a look at it and hummed.

“How does it look, soldier?” Starflight asked, slowly walking towards him. The rest of the crew followed closely.

“It will take about ten minutes, but I can fix it.”Trigger said, through the Primus Key that was now in his mouth. he fiddled with the fuse box for a while.

“At ease, soldiers, looks like this is going to take longer than I thought.” Starflight said, sitting down. The Second Lieutenants followed suit and began chatting.

Rainbow Dash laid on her belly and put her hooves over her head. She closed her eyes. You can do this Rainbow Dash! She thought to herself. It was just a dead pony! You’ll be seeing a lot of those in your career. Just calm Down. Rainbow Dash’s heart slowed down. Yes, there will be plenty of dead ponies! Everywhere! It will be such a grand sight! A completely unwelcome voice entered her mind, and it wasn’t her own. She sat up quickly and shook her head.

Starflight and the Second Lieutenants looked at her. “Is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?” Starflight was concerned, the poor cadet was too young for a mission of this caliber.

“Uhh, no! No, everything is fine!” Rainbow Dash gave a desperate smile.

Looking satisfied, Starflight eased up. “Ok then! But if you don’t feel good... tell me. I never thought it was a good idea to bring you anyway... no offense!” Starflight quickly threw his hooves directly in front of his face, preparing for Rainbow Dash’s reaction.

She gave a simple stern look, which was enough to make Starflight back away.

Just then, a loud metallic crackle was heard in a nearby room. Rainbow Dash gasped and the rest of the crew looked in the direction of the sound. Starflight sprung into action. “Somepony stay here with Trigger, Rainbow Dash and I will investigate. You--” he pointed to another Second Lieutenant, “Patrol this hallway, report anything you find.”

“Yes sir” the entire crew said, and dispersed to their new posts.

“Let’s go, Rainbow Dash” he said, walking towards the source of the sound. Rainbow Dash reluctantly followed. This end of the intersection had doors on either side of the hall and a window at the end. The window provided light as it looked out into the behemoth of a planet, Aurum.

Rainbow Dash stared again. All of the fear slowly started to abate as she wondered at the majestic sight. Starflight glanced momentarily in her direction and then back to the door which was damaged and would take some force to open.

Starflight turned around and bucked the door with his hind legs. It budged slightly, the sound of the kick brought Rainbow Dash out of her stupor.

Rainbow Dash’s strong point was never in her hind legs, that was her friend, Applejack’s, domain. Rainbow Dash had always focused on working her wings, she prided herself in being “the fastest pony in Equestria,” but that was debatable. Working together, Starflight and Rainbow Dash got the door to collapse with a loud clang.

“Thank you” Starflight said with a friendly smile. Peering into the room he saw a small space filled with broken computer screens. The glass from these screens floated silently in the still air of the ship. The thing that stood out the most, however, was a large rip in the side of the wall with burns around the edges. It still smoked and hissed, as if it was made very recently.

Rainbow Dash gave Starflight another concerned look. Lowering his head, he slowly clopped through the doorway. Rainbow Dash followed cautiously. Inspecting the hole, Starflight scanned it with his key, receiving no abnormal results. He peeked through the large tear, seeing a faint green glow.

“What do you think made this?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What could have made this?” She looked frantically at Starflight.

“I don’t know, but something’s wrong...” He gulped as he turned and began scanning the whole room. The key picked up a signal, but before he could check it the lights flickered on with a low hum. A small, unnoticed hatch opened in the corner with a slide, Starflight inched cautiously towards it.

ZAP!

Starflight stopped in his tracks when he heard the sharp, electrical sound coming from the hallway.

“Come in, First-lieutenant!” a distressed voice buzzed into Starflight’s earpiece.

“What is it, Second-lieutenant?” Starflight was startled at the sudden contact.

“It’s Trigger, sir!” The young colt’s voice was full of anxiety and fear. “He’s... dead.”

“I’m on my way, check his vital signs again.” Starflight said urgently as he walked quickly out the door.

The newly turned-on fluorescent lights eerily revealed a metallic grey interior. Rainbow Dash followed Starflight, wondering what was going on. She got her answer when she saw one of the colts standing over a crispy, sizzling Trigger. The living colt glanced worriedly at Starflight and Rainbow Dash. Upon catching a glimpse the body, Rainbow Dash floored herself and decided to listen to the conversation from a distance.

“What happened, soldier?” Starflight asked calmly.

“H-He was fixing the fuse box... a-and he looked at me with a weird expression on his face a bunch of times... but I didn’t think much of it.” The colt was terrified and Starflight could hear his voice shaking through the static. “Then he just... shoved his hoof into the fuse box and a bunch of sparks... they just... it just exploded!”

“What do you mean? Why did he do that... was it an accident?” Starflight interrogated further.

The Lieutenant’s voice became higher and quieter. “I don’t think so...” He put his head down.

“What? What do you mean!?”

The Second-lieutenant looked up sadly. “He said... before he did it he said... ‘goodbye, cruel universe!’ What does that mean!?” he asked wildly.

Starflight became more confused every second. The larger colt arrived at the scene to offer help. “Did he have a history of depression? Could he have had a reason?” Starflight pushed.

The Second-lieutenant began to cry. “No... sir, he was one of the happiest ponies I’ve ever known!” The colt buried his face in his hooves.

“Pull yourself together, Lieutenant!” Starflight ordered, turning his attention to his Up-link. The colts watched as he fiddled with it for a moment before angrily unstrapping the small machine from his foreleg and throwing it on the ground.

Rainbow Dash gave Starflight a concerned look. “Starflight? What’s wrong...?” Her voice was firm, she channeled bravery she didn’t know she still had.

“We have orders from the Captain, we need to press on...” was his roundabout answer.

“Yes sir.” The colts agreed steadfastly with their voices, but protested with their eyes.

“So we’re just going to leave him here?” Rainbow Dash asked, astonished.

“There was a passage in the other room, it looked like a maintenance hatch.” Starflight said as he strapped his Up-link back on, ignoring Rainbow Dash completely. “Let’s find out where it leads.”

Starflight gestured in the direction of their destination. The colts lingered with Trigger for a second, giving him a final, respectful salute. Rainbow Dash stared, dumbfounded as the colts walked after Starflight, leaving their fallen friend behind.

Chapter Four: Silent Scream

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“In space, no one can hear you scream...”
Alien

Primus Galaxy, Star Colony Haydes, Primus Year 269230769W

After having witnessed the death and abandonment of a crew member, the four remaining soldiers made their way to the newly opened passage in silence. An air of dejection hung over them, poking at their consciousness. They were trained to keep their emotions out of the mission, so emotionless they would stay.

They entered the small room, the new opening flashed green in the corner. Squeezing through the somewhat narrow passage, Starflight put his hoof on the clear floor, the entire wall of the tunnel was see-through, behind the glass were wires and blinking lights. Glowing words denoted that the crew had just come from the Biosphere and were headed towards the Maintenance Bay.

Starflight nodded and began walking on the warm glass. The eerie silence was broken only by the unsettling hum of the electrical wiring. The tunnel was just wide enough to accommodate the largest of the crew.

The tunnel ended with a clear, upward-pointing tube and a small lift inside that could fit only one pony at a time. Starflight looked up at it uneasily. He turned to the crew who watched and waited. “Who wants to go first?”

For a moment, everypony remained silent, until the colt that was by Trigger’s side when he died spoke up. “I’ll go, sir.” he said reluctantly.

“And what’s your name?” Starflight asked pleasantly.

“I’m Scope, sir... I specialize in medical, sir” the colt said quietly. Scope was a soft spoken dark blue and gray pony. He had kept to himself throughout the entire mission, only doing what he was told.

“Good...” Starflight said. “Be careful, report anything you see up there immediately.” They gave each other a mutual salute.

Scope stepped onto the platform and the tube closed around him. The spinning of a hidden turbine sounded and the platform shot up and out of sight with Scope. No more than 10 seconds later the platform came back, empty.

The silence returned for a few seconds, before long Scope’s voice rang in Starflight’s earpiece. “Nothing to report...”

Starflight looked to the larger colt who nodded confidently and struggled onto the lift. The process repeated and Starflight stepped back to let Rainbow Dash on.

“Oh no, I can’t go up there before you!” she said fearfully. “I don’t know what’s up there!”

“Rainbow Dash...” Starflight began, putting a hoof on her shoulder. She looked at it and then to him. He was looking into her eyes sincerely. “You’ll be fine... I won’t let anything happen to you... ok?”

Rainbow Dash sighed and stepped onto the platform. She looked back at Starflight and pointed a hoof at him. “If I die I’m going to haunt you for eternity!”

Starflight laughed. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” The lift zoomed off and came back again before long.

Starflight stepped onto it not knowing what to expect at the top. It shot off before he had time to gasp. The intense speed of the elevator caught him off guard, the lift changed it’s course midway through, turning on it’s side. It’s path went across the ship, rather than up. The speed kept Starflight’s hooves on the floor until the tube went back to it’s vertical position.

It stopped abruptly in a dark rectangular room, the only light emanating from the glowing tube. The floors and walls were a much darker gray than the rest of the ship. The front wall was made entirely of a sliding door with a control panel. A dull, constant booming came from behind it.

“I feel something...” Rainbow Dash interrupted, “It’s familiar... it’s awful...” she said looking to Starflight for help. “I don’t like it...”

Starflight gave her a confused look. “Umm, Rainbow Dash?” he tried calmly.

Rainbow Dash jolted as if she had forgotten he was there and his voice startled her. “Y-yeah?” she stuttered.

“Are you going to be ok?” he asked with a growing look of concern on his face.

She put a hoof to her face as if she was try to remember why she was even there. “Of course!” she said apparently disregarding what she had just said. “We’re almost there, Let’s go, hm?”

Starflight looked to Scope and the larger colt and then back to Rainbow Dash who had a single eyebrow raised. “Umm, ok... yeah let’s do that...” he said cautiously as he walked to the panel and scanned it with his key. It made a low beep and the door slid open with a cacophony of metal scraping and clanging. The crew winced and covered their ears at the sound.

The door was malfunctioning, Starflight quickly looked to the control pad. It’s display was full of numbers, letters, and unfamiliar symbols that didn’t seem to make any sense. He scanned it again, but there was no response, pressing the buttons had no effect.

The door stopped a quarter of the way through, breaking. The abrasive metallic sound ceased and was replaced by an electrical whir. Starflight hummed against the ringing in his ears and stepped through the space. He was not prepared for what he found inside.

He gasped loudly when he peered through the passage. The crew came running in when they heard. Rainbow Dash followed Starflight’s eyes to the ceiling. Her jaw dropped in horror letting out nothing but a silent scream.

Scope quaked inaudibly.

On the ceiling was a tangle of thick black wires connecting to various ports and machines on the walls. Sprawled about these wires were 3 corpses. The true horror came from their appearance, one was a white stallion, missing his head. Another was orange-brown with a yellow mane, this one was missing a large portion of her abdomen. The final was a pale grey mare, clearly dead, but no visible injuries marked her death. Their collective blood drifted in globules in the weightlessness of space.

Rainbow Dash felt sick to her stomach. The silence was terrifying, nothing was said for minutes. Eventually Starflight stepped forward and searched the ceiling, trying to find a way to get the bodies down.

“The fools” Scope said. Everypony turned to him quickly, his voice sounded odd.

“What?” Starflight asked delicately.

“So caught up in what could have been. Too blind to save themselves...” he continued, a much lower tone in his voice than normal. “How unfortunate that we should lose such talented engineers...”

The larger colt spoke up. “Scope? Are you ok? What are you saying!?” he asked, grabbing his shoulders.

Scope opened his glazed, dilated eyes widely. Ripping off his oxygen mask, he smiled a large, toothy grin.

“Put your mask back on, now, soldier!” Starflight raised his voice and pointed a hoof at him, distressed by this sudden change of personality.

“I’ve seen beyond the realm of mortals...” he continued ominously. “I wish to join those who are undying... the drifters”

Scope was speaking without oxygen, this perplexed Starflight. “Silence, soldier!” Starflight, becoming increasingly uncomfortable, yelled in his direction. “Restrain him!” he cried to the larger colt.

The last sane Second-lieutenant grabbed Scope by the forelegs. Simply looking up, he didn’t struggle. Floating drops of the original crew’s blood sat still in front of him, causing him to smile. “It’s here... I’m ready! Salvage me, great stream of time!”

The mess of wires behind him began to shift and convulse sporadically. The larger colt was still standing behind Scope, holding him in place. Starflight waved his hooves around desperately. “Watch out!” he bellowed to the Second Lieutenant, pointing a hoof to the wires.

The colt jumped out of the way, leaving Scope with the wires, which split apart, forming an opening. A blinding light shot out of the new aperture. Starflight saw the thick black wires move as if they were alive, slithering towards Scope like snakes. They wrapped around his hind legs first, binding them together, causing Scope to laugh hysterically, almost painfully.

The light caught the attention of the rest of the crew. Starflight, Rainbow Dash, and the larger colt stared blankly into the bright radiance within the opening. Starflight felt a familiar peace while looking into the light. It looked like a rapid river, small, dark objects zoomed along the light with a quick whoosh. The wires that pulled Scope into the light momentarily obstructed Starflight’s view of the opening. Gasping, he noticed Scope’s current situation.

He ran towards Scope and grabbed his forelegs. Clenching his teeth against the strenuous force of the wires, he pulled. “Rainbow Dash!” he called between grunts, “A little help here!”

Rainbow Dash snapped out of her stupor and quickly ran towards Scope, grabbing his other leg. Scope was closing his eyes, smiling peacefully. Still he inched towards the bright tunnel, firm despite Starflight and Rainbow Dash’s efforts.

His body slowly started to be consumed by the light. His hind legs, first, glowed brightly and blended in with the rest of the light. The expression on his face was unchanging.

“No!” Starflight groaned as the light consumed Scope’s entire bottom half. Surrounding black wires began to close around the breach as he sunk in further. Starflight and Rainbow Dash still had a grasp on his front hooves, but pretty soon there was nothing left to grab, the wires had settled, closing around the opening.

Rainbow Dash panted noisily, her jaw hanging open wide. “What... what just happened!?” her voice cracked, “Where did he go!?”

Starflight’s anxiety was slowly beginning to show. Looking down to his the last 2 members of the crew, hesitating, he said in a weak voice, “I don’t know...” He turned to his Up-link and sent another message to the Votum.

The last remaining Second-lieutenant slowly broke out of his catatonic state. He and Rainbow Dash looked fearfully to Starflight, not satisfied with the answer.

“That light... I’ve seen it before... but I can’t remember where...” Starflight remarked. He gulped, still anxious, “We have to keep moving.”

Rainbow Dash had finally got a good look at the room they were in. It was long and rectangular, lined with dark gray walls. The only lights shone up from the floor, glowing through steam that materialized from various machines.

They continued walking along the room until they came to another door. Starflight scanned this one and it opened smoothly, revealing a wider, more spacious room.

Beyond the hatch were sights and sounds unlike the previous rooms they had gone through. A low, dull sound of what seemed to be a large, metallic fan whooshed consistently. Radar blips could be heard faintly behind it.

More black wires made their way from the last room into this one, connected to the many mysterious machines laying about. There was box shaped computers spread uniformly about the room, some with brightly lit screens, some were off, and some were completely shattered. Loose and broken wires sparked occasionally making an occasional quiet zapping sound, Rainbow Dash jumped a little every time it did.

The entire ship seemed to moan chillingly as they looked around the room. Starflight was comforted by the fact that they had found all four missing crew members, so if they left quickly there wouldn’t be any more surprises. He continued to look for a sign of the warp drive.

Rainbow Dash was restless. She did her part in helping to search for the warp drive, but stuck very close to Starflight or the last remaining Second-lieutenant at all times. Rainbow Dash had gotten over the fact that she didn’t look very brave at the moment. She had just seen four horribly mutilated corpses and two of her crew members had died so, she decided, it was perfectly okay to be scared witless.

“I think I have a lead...” Starflight’s muffled voice broke the unsettling silence. The others, who were on the opposite side of the broad room, clopped nervously in Starflight’s direction. “The engine room...” he said, pointing to a screen with a map. A small red dot flared on top of a room in the upper-left corner of the oddly shaped floor plan. Flashing red words read: Malfunction in Engine Room.

The large earth pony looked to Rainbow Dash and then to Starflight. “Should we split up...? Rainbow Dash and I can look through the rest of this room for any clues and you can check out the engine room... sir?” The Second-lieutenant was daunted. He didn’t want to be the one to find what killed all of the ship’s crew. Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.

“What’s your name, Second-lieutenant?” Starflight asked.

“I’m Barrel, sir” he answered in a low voice. He had a muscular physique and was considerably taller than both Rainbow Dash and Starflight. He had a dark brown coat and a short, red mane. His cutie mark was a firing shotgun.

“Well, Barrel...” Starflight said, eyeing Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be siding with Barrel. “I learned my lesson last time we split up... it won’t happen again.” he resolved.

Barrel looked down and closed his eyes in disappointment. “Yes sir.” he said, ashamed of his cowardice.

“Well... if we’re ready...” Starflight began, looking back to the screen for confirmation. “Let’s head out... ” He looked back to his Up-link, “we have orders... the sooner we get out of this place the better...” he said with a hint of acid in his voice.

The remnants of the team agreed whole-heartedly. Rainbow Dash had just witnessed her first deaths close up and Barrel had just lost two good friends.

Rainbow Dash looked around the large room once again as she walked. She hated how there was so much visual pollution in the dim light, and with the day’s events, everything looked like a hideous shadow-creature, hiding in the dark, waiting to pounce. She tried to direct her attention straight ahead.

They reached a small door that read: Engine Room. The hatch had a more complex control pad than the previous sliding doors, it seemed it would take a more advanced Primus key to open it. However, the pad itself was malfunctioning. Upon seeing this, Starflight scanned it, and the door slid into the floor soundlessly, welcoming them into a long hallway.

The main part floor of the hallway was a raised metal bridge that stood suspended over a series of intimidating, spinning metal gears. They were divided into segments, connected to each other with thick, steel tubes. The whooshing that they had heard upon entering had been caused by the gears, and it became twice as loud when the hatch slid opened.

At the end of the hall was an open passage way that seemed to lead to a much larger room with an ample structure in the middle. Starflight, Rainbow Dash, and Barrel stepped onto the bridge and walked fearfully towards the room. The clanging of their hooves against the metal mixed with the whooshing of the large gears created a disturbing sound.

They cautiously reached the end of the bridge, entering the main body of the room. They stood in place, awestruck as they saw the engine room. The gears were disconnected at the final segment, causing them to be still and noiseless, adding to the affect of wonder.

The room’s floor was a nonagon, the middle was lowered many feet below the main floor, where the base of the engine sat. The motionless gears connected to a large metal dome below the crew’s hooves. The bottom connected to a more narrow middle section; a cylindrical tower that glowed brightly with flickering screens and lights. In the middle of the pillar was a luminous, isolated circuit that seemed to rotate when powered. It sat there, motionless for the time being.The top-most dome featured a large screen with statistics and numbers, most likely concerning the ship’s various systems. Every inch of the ceiling was covered in black wires that stretched into the walls from the engine, to various rooms. This added more questions as to how they could have taken Scope in such a way, seeing that the engine wasn’t working. More bridges, like the ones the team was standing on, stretched out in all four directions, marked Dock 1A, Dock 2A, and Dock 4A respectively. They were in the very center of the ship, and possibly at their goal. Looking to Rainbow Dash and Barrel, Starflight smiled behind his oxygen mask.

“This must be it!” he said with relief in his voice. “... now... which one of these is the warp drive?” he wondered out loud, taking out his Primus Key.

The team watched closely as Starflight scanned the engine, waiting for confirmation that the mission was over. Patiently inspecting the engine, a small sliding sound caught Starflight’s attention. His ears perked up, he abruptly stopped scanning. Rainbow Dash and Barrel gave him questioning looks as he turned around to see a stray, moving wire.

“Watch out!” he gasped, pointing a hoof directly below the team. They jumped out of the way, but the wire wasn’t after them. The final segment of gears began moving when the wire connected to the small port at the bridge’s base.

The gears began spinning rapidly, creating a discord of scraping and metallic whining. The screens on the engine became brighter, the various trinkets that seemed to be powered by the engine began to come to life. The previously dim room lit up gloriously. When the engine was at full power, the small circuit in the middle of the engine protruded from the main body and began to spin. It’s pace increased rapidly until it was but a ring of light around the engine.

The sound was high and piercing, causing Starflight and Barrel to wince and cover their ears. Rainbow Dash, disoriented, made the unfortunate mistake of looking directly into the light.

It was bright. It was blindingly bright. It took a bit of time for the horror to set in, but it came before long.

Shapes began to fade in first. Colorful shapes. Happy shapes.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t make them out, each was a different distance from her. They appeared to be ponies, trotting happily around the white space. The background faded in next.

They were on the outskirts of Ponyville, peacefully picking flowers. The visions were perfect now. In front of her were her old friends, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Twilight, the whole gang. She felt peaceful when she saw them.

Suddenly, they all looked questioningly in Rainbow Dash’s direction. Rainbow Dash hadn’t seen her friends in weeks, so she assumed she would be welcomed warmly. She wasn’t.

Their ears perked up and looked in her direction. However, they clearly weren’t happy to see her. No, a look of fear spread over their faces. A look of unadulterated terror.

One by one they noticed her and began running in the opposite direction. They seemed to run in place, they got nowhere. If anything, they were being pulled closer to her.

In fact, they were. They began screaming loudly, reaching out towards Ponyville, but they were caught before long.

The first to be captured, by whatever monster they were running from, was Rarity. She screamed with a look despair on her face as she stared death in the eye. She was ripped to shreds as fountains of blood burst in all directions, leaving nothing but a rag of white, bloodstained fur behind.

Seeing this vision, Rainbow Dash started screaming. Screaming at the top of her lungs, a blood-curdling scream. The vision continued uninterrupted, above the sounds of her moans.

She couldn’t stop as Fluttershy was mauled, Pinkie Pie was battered to a puddle of blood, Applejack was skinned and lacerated, and unspeakable things were done to Twilight.

Rainbow Dash’s throat and lungs burned as Twilight’s innards were torn out. She was sure her own throat was bleeding, and it was confirmed when her howls for the torture to cease became low gurgles. She was drowning herself, and she didn’t care because she couldn’t do a single thing to save her friends anymore.

Twilight wailed and yelped as her life was being taken. “Rainbow Dash, stop!” she yelled.

Rainbow Dash coughed as blood ran into her lungs and stomach. Her heart broke when she heard those words. She was the monster exterminating her friends. She stared silently as tears ran down her face. She could only watch as she proceeded to massacre the rest of Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash sat there, staring silently at the spinning circuit. She hadn’t said a word since she became enthralled in the light. Her eyes were wide but her mouth was silent.

Seeing this, Starflight shouted, “Barrel! Find a way to shut this thing down!”

Barrel nodded and quickly located a square control room on the far side of the wall.

Starflight turned to Rainbow Dash and grabbed her. He threw her stiff form onto his back. He ducked into a corner and covered his eyes with his hooves, listening for a sign of success.

Rainbow Dash continued to sit on Starflight’s back and stare motionlessly. She was locked in a world of torment, unknown to Starflight.

To Starflight’s surprise, the engine’s sounds became louder and faster. He cautiously removed his hooves from his eyes and glanced around. Barrel slowly trotted out of the control room with a devious smile on his face.

Oh no... Starflight thought.

The engine increased in volume and speed. The light from the spinning circuit became brighter and illuminated the whole room even more. Starflight feared for his life as Barrel approached him slowly.

Barrel’s eyes were glazed just like Scope’s were. He smiled wider, glancing to the rapidly spinning engine, then back to Starflight, who’s eyes were wide with great distress.

“‘Don’t go in!’ They said. ‘You don’t know what’s in there!’ They told me. But look at us! We’re going to save everypony!” Barrel chimed pleasantly.

“What are saying, soldier!?” Starflight called, sounding braver than he felt.

“The Timestream! Soon we’ll become part of it! Drifters! The highest form of existence! Don’t you want that?” He asked nonsensically. “You might not know you do... but I know you do!”

Starflight gave him a baffled look. The engine continued to spin louder and faster with no sign of stopping or slowing. Within seconds, a large crack was heard as a large chunk of the engine shot off of the main body and through one of the bridges, melting it’s edges.

“It will only be a matter of minutes! It won’t even hurt!” Barrel said cheerfully. “You and Rainbow Dash will have so much fun! Limitless fun! Trust me...”

“What are you saying!? You’re not making sense!” Starflight yelled at Barrel, who looked hurt.

“I’m saving you... don’t you want that?” he asked sadly.

“You’re losing it soldier!” Starflight cried desperately. Backing away, he glanced at Rainbow Dash, who stood still as a statue, staring blankly into the light.

More small pieces of the engine shot off dangerously in all directions. If anypony was to be hit by a piece, they’d be killed instantly. A larger piece clanged to the floor below and steam screamed out of it’s previous place.

The steam burst into flame before long, creating a flamethrower-like barrier of blaze. Starflight was being pushed directly into it by the approaching Barrel. Starflight quickly looked to his Up-link.

As fast as his body allowed him, he brought up it’s messaging screen and titled the message: URGENT. He pressed the keys as quickly as possible and clumsily typed the words REQUESTING IMMEDIATE RESCUE. He sent it directly to Captain Acharis’s Up-link.

Barrel cocked his head to the side and looked innocently over at Starflight. “What are doing... with that thing?” he asked benignly.

“We’re getting out of here!” Starflight said, planting his hooves firmly on the ground.

Barrel’s face contorted at this declaration. “No, no, no!” he said like a nagging foal. “We’re going into the Timestream!” he commanded.

“What are you talking about? What is the Timestream?”

Pieces continued to shoot off the engine, bursting into flames when it came into contact with the walls. Fire rose all around the engine room, making Starflight sweat and pant. Barrel continued to move in closer to Starflight, but Starflight didn’t budge.

When Barrel reached him, Starflight looked at him angrily, “Stand. Down.” he growled with clenched teeth.

Barrel became angry, too. “I’m just trying to help...” he said, clearly trying to withhold his rage. “Now if you’ll just cancel the order...”

Starflight continued to stare him down. If he could just buy Rainbow Dash and himself some time, they’d all make it out alive.

Barrel, unable to control his anger, yelled loudly. He galloped towards Starflight with his head in front of him. Starflight braced for impact, shutting his eyes tightly.

Barrel slammed into Starflight, pushing him back closer to the searing flame shooting out of the engine. He stood his ground, pushing against the much larger pony, even as the blood dripped from his head.

Starflight’s eyes stayed locked on Barrel’s. They pushed each other in opposite direction, with Barrel doing most of the pushing. Every second, Starflight moved closer to the inferno that blasted from the engine only inches behind him. Rainbow Dash was very much in danger of being hit and killed by a piece of the collapsing engine. Barrel had completely lost his mind and was trying to kill Starflight. It seemed all hope was lost.

Starflight was convinced that there was something wrong with the ship, and meddling with spacetime is what brought it on. He realized there was only one way to get rid of the awful experiences for good. He had to destroy the ship.

He figured there must be a self destruct button in the control room. He suddenly threw his head to the side, catching Barrel off guard. Loosened from their headlock, Starflight used his opportunity to leap and fly over Barrel’s head to the control room.

Using his only advantage, his wings, against Barrel, he zipped to the control room. Bucking open the door, he took a look inside. There was an abundance of glowing lights, buttons, and switches, but none of the were clearly marked as a self destruct button.

Barrel galloped towards the control room. Starflight skimmed urgently for the button, but didn’t find anything until he looked under the terminal.

A large red button with a glass covering protecting it was on the side of the control panel. Another button was supposed to open the glass covering, but Starflight didn’t have time to find it. He bucked it hard, nothing happened. Barrel was feet away, so he bucked it again, harder this time. To his surprise, the glass shattered with a dull pop.

He pressed it quickly, immediately a bright red light began flashing in the engine room.

“Self-destruct activated” a voice said. It was clearly supposed to be at a higher pitch, but something caused the voice to ring lower than usual, it sounded demonic. “Five minutes to Self-destruct.”

Starflight burst out of the control room as Barrel was entering. Barrel looked around, hearing the voice. Starflight hovered above him, expecting him to be upset, instead a smile grew on his face.

“Well... that’s one way to do it...” he chuckled. Barrel wasn’t the same quiet, reserved pony he was when the mission began. Something inside of him had changed, and it made him an unstable, death-crazed monster. “I thought you wanted to live a bit longer?”

“If dying means getting rid of this awful ship, then I’ll do it happily...” Starflight said bravely. He looked to Rainbow Dash, who appeared as though she was seeing all of the horrors of the galaxy at once. Starflight lowered his head dejectedly. “I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash... It’s my fault you’re here...”

Barrel giggled. “Oh! You think by destroying the ship you’ll fix the spacetime rip?” Barrel looked genuinely amused. “How naive. It can’t be fixed... not everypony can be saved! But we can!”

“So it is the spacetime rips that have been killing all of these ponies!” Starflight exclaimed. He felt stupid for not figuring out sooner. An engine that jumps through spacetime was bound to disrupt something in the physical universe. Starflight just couldn’t comprehend how it could have killed those ponies in such a way. What happened to the crew? What possessed Scope to kill himself? Where did Trigger go? More importantly, what was wrong with Barrel? Questions floated in Starflight’s mind, stabbing at his thoughts.

“Three Minutes to Self Destruct”

“Kill? Oh they’re not dead. They’d be lucky to be dead!” Barrel said, “The real terror is still to come! The terror that will consume!”

The rapid destruction of the engine began to crack the filament that connected the spinning circuit to the main body. Within seconds, the filament gave in and snapped.

The deep, low sound of the engine powering down replaced the frantic sounds of clanging, bursting metal and grinding gears. The circuit shot through the air and slammed into the wall.

Rainbow Dash broke from her stupor, her eyes closed and her legs gave in. She fell to the floor, snoring peacefully.

Starflight saw the circuit laying motionless on the ground. “The warp drive!” he exclaimed as he galloped towards it. Barrel’s eyes followed him.

“Oh look... it broke...” he said, sounding a little disappointed. He wasn’t broken from his state of insanity. “I guess we have to enter the Timestream the hard way...” he said with a frown.

Starflight’s Up-link beeped. He quickly checked the screen.

Rescuers en route
meet at dock 4A

Starflight smiled brightly. He looked to Rainbow Dash and then to the warp drive. “C’mon Barrel... we have to go...” he said, preparing for a struggle.

“We’re not going anywhere! We’re staying right here! It’s almost time.”

Starflight knew what he had to do. He ran to Rainbow Dash and shook her violently. “Rainbow Dash! Wake up! Wake up! We have to go!” She was out cold.

Starflight groaned and lifted the limp Rainbow Dash onto his back. He grabbed the warp drive with his mouth and proceeded to dash across the bridge that was marked Dock 4A. Barrel shouted and galloped after them.

The hallways were winding and labyrinth-like, but signs that pointed them to the dock helped a great deal. Barrel followed closely behind, galloping and grunting as Starflight led him to the dock. The flashing red lights made it somewhat difficult to navigate the ship, but he made his way through without stopping.

“Two Minutes to Self Destruct”

Starflight tried to pick up the pace, but he couldn’t fly with Rainbow Dash on his back, so he used all of the leg strength he could muster. He didn’t know what he would do when he got to the dock, or if the rescue team would make it in time, but he continued to run blindly, his legs burning. Eventually he made it to the dock gates.

Grabbing his Primus Key with his tail, he slowed down to scan the control pad. He glanced behind him when the gate began opening slowly. Barrel charged towards him at full speed. A second before impact, Starflight jolted out of his path and Barrel ran face first into the hard, steel gate.

Using the small opening and the moment of disorientation, Starflight squeezed into the dock and ran down the ramp. It was eerily similar to the dock on the Votum, but much quieter and less active. Starflight looked around as he ran in no particular direction.

He searched among the various floors of the dock,eventually seeing a bright light. Laughing triumphantly, he galloped to the elevator. As he entered the square lift, panting, he saw Barrel stumble out of the gate atop the large ramp. Starflight felt remorse, he knew they would have to leave him. Starflight drove a rescue ship in basic training, he knew there was no room for an unstable pony of his size.

“Sixty seconds to Self-destruct, Fifty-nine seconds to Self-destruct, Fifty-eight seconds to Self-destruct.” Starflight heard the demonic voice echo throughout the dock. The lift clicked as it reached the floor. Running for his life, he headed to the ship with open doors and a distressed pilot.

“Hurry, sir!” he called as Starflight hopped in. The doors closed the battered-pegasus into a seat-less space that allowed for maximum capacity. He dropped the warp drive on the floor and carefully lowered Rainbow Dash. As the ship began taking off, Starflight listened to the demonic voice’s continuing countdown.

The ship zoomed out of the dock with twenty-six seconds to spare. Panting heavily, Starflight removed his oxygen mask and threw it on the floor. His legs could no longer support him, he fell to the ground with burning lungs. Using strength that, at the moment, felt Olympian, he turned his head to Rainbow Dash. She lay there, snoring as if she was taking a nap in Ponyville.

Starflight first felt anger, Captain Acharis sent the cadet on a dangerous mission and forced them to continue even as the situation became dire. But the feeling faded into relief as he watched the filly sleep, safe for now.

Starflight saw a bright light through the window out of the corner of his eye. They were miles from the Haydes at that point, but he could still see it light up from a distance. Silently, every horror that ship had seen was incinerated along with it.

Lifting his shaking foreleg to his head, Starflight gave Scope, Trigger, and Barrel a respectful salute.

Primus Galaxy, Starship Votum, Primus Year 269230769W

Captain Acharis waited at the dock when the rescue ship returned. The pilot called for a stretcher for Rainbow Dash to be taken to the infirmary on. Starflight insisted on going with her, but the pilot informed him that the Captain wanted a word with him.

Starflight stumbled onto the pristine white floors of the Votum. He located Captain Acharis and saluted briskly. The Captain saluted back, looking bothered by the blood dripping from his head.

“First-lieutenant...” she said slowly.

Starflight dragged the warp drive from behind him and placed it proudly by the Captain’s hooves. She looked down at it and smiled. Starflight smiled back through the throbbing pain in his head and legs.

“Good work...” she said. Her smile faded quickly after. “What exactly became of the rest of the crew? Your stallions? The cadet?” she questioned.

Starflight’s ear twitched in annoyance, he sent her a message upon Trigger’s death, she should have known.“I found the crew dead and mutilated along the ship. The cause of death was unknown when I scanned them...” He thought about it for a second, he never solved that mystery. “I can’t imagine what caused it...”

“Mutilated? Where did you find them?” the Captain Continued to push.

Starflight explained the horrors of the dead crew to a baffled Acharis.

“The warp drive ripped a hole in spacetime...” he said nervously. “Second-lieutenant Scope and Second-lieutenant Barrel lost their minds during the mission... the rip had a... profound effect on the entire team...” he continued, remembering the nonsensical things the soldiers had said.

The Captain looked at Starflight, who looked physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. “Go to your quarters, lieutenant...” She telekinetically lifted the warp drive and quickly inspected it. “We’ll take care of this warp drive... make sure it doesn’t cause any more trouble. You need your rest.” she concluded with a smile.

It wasn’t often that the Captain smiled twice in one conversation. Starflight had the tendency to get on ponies’ bad side in a flash, so he saluted and dismissed himself, leaving the clamorous dock behind him.

Against his screaming skull and muscles, he headed for the infirmary, rather than his quarters.

Chapter Five: Equestria 2474

View Online

“While there’s life, there’s hope”
Cicero

Primus Galaxy, Starship Votum, Primus Year 269230769W

Rainbow Dash woke with a gasp. She sat up in her bed, shivering in her own sweat for the fifth time that week.

After undertaking a particularly dangerous mission on the abandoned star colony Haydes, Rainbow Dash became caught in a vision that haunted her nightmares ever since she returned to the Votum.

When Rainbow Dash awoke in the infirmary three days after the mission ended, she found Starflight sitting by her bead, holding her hoof, his eyes bloodshot and pained. His face lit up when she finally came to. Upon sensing that he hadn’t slept for the duration of her infirmary stay, she advised him to return to the dormitory and get some rest.

A nurse later informed Rainbow Dash of just how long she had been unconscious, and how Starflight refused to leave her side until she woke up. Rainbow Dash was silently grateful to her friend, but at the same time she felt worried. The thought that Starflight had blamed himself for everything that happened clouded her mind with guilt.

After staying a few more boring days in the hospital (It might as well be a few years Rainbow Dash thought), she was released to resume training. Excited to finally be back on her hooves, she happily caught up with the rest of the cadets and got back on track.

Everything seemed to be running smoothly, until the day the visions returned.

Rainbow Dash was doing a routine flying drill, when her sight was overtaken with darkness. She wasn’t sure what happened to her physical body when they returned, all she could see, feel, hear, was her friends, being mutilated by her. It happened exactly like it did on the Haydes, nightmares that seemed far too real assaulted her.

That was only the first in a string of recurring episodes. With every vision her mind became damaged more and more until it got to the point where she was no longer fit to take part in training.

With the last glimmer of hope in her frayed soul, she desperately tried to convince her drill instructor to give her one more chance, to no avail. The last reason to stay with Starflight on the Votum and become a member of the Primus Military had just been snatched from her. Her feeble mind tried to come up with reasons to continue the hopeless quest to learn what she had seen in Ponyville on that fateful day, and more recently, the horrors she witnessed on the Haydes. For some indescribable reason, the decision to leave Starflight and all of the demons that followed her around the Votum was a hard one to make.

It should have been such an easy decision. She had never felt depression so deep. So deep that dying would feel like a mercy to her. Why then, could she not just leave? Trade in all of the terrifying dreams that haunted her mind for a peaceful life back in Ponyville?

Starflight was too busy with the duties of a First-lieutenant to even notice Rainbow Dash’s struggle. After the immense relief that came after Rainbow Dash woke up, it didn’t seem like anything else could go wrong. He was sure she would be just fine.

They hardly spoke, the realization didn’t even set in until one night Rainbow Dash woke up screaming.

Starflight galloped into her room upon hearing her. The crying filly bravely brushed it off as a bad dream and told Starflight to go back to bed.. After that night, Starflight kept an eye on Rainbow Dash for the rest of the week, but she put on a brave face around him.

One night, Starflight entered the dorm angrily. Walking in on a sobbing Rainbow Dash. His furious expression softened upon seeing her dark pink eyes swollen and drenched in tears.

“Rainbow Dash... are you okay?” he asked carefully.

She rapidly brushed at her face with her hooves, wiping away the bitter tears. “I’m fine!” she quickly retorted, sniffing.

“Rainbow Dash... I know something is wrong.” he stated firmly, walking closer to the couch she was laying on.

She gave him a pleading look. “No! No there’s nothing wrong. I was just...just--” her mouth said, but her eyes told a different story. She gestured for him to leave, although she needed him more than ever.

Starflight lowered himself to Rainbow Dash’s troubled face. He grabbed her hoof, against her efforts to pull away, after a short struggle, she succumbed and allowed Starflight to hold it in his hoof, gently brushing it. “It’s okay, you can tell me... I want to help” he said softly.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes began to ache. “I-I-I” she stuttered, trying to hold back a new wave of tears, but they made their way out effortlessly. “There’s no reason for me to do this anymore! I don’t remember why I chose to join this stupid army! I don’t care why! It’s just...” she bawled, causing Starflight’s eyes to go wide. She hesitated on the last word.

“Just what?” Starflight coaxed gently.

Rainbow Dash covered her eyes with her hooves. “It’s not worth it anymore... I’ve lost my friends, my home... my happiness... everything...” she sadly choked out.

“Oh Rainbow Dash...” Starflight sighed. He could tell exactly where this conversation was going.

“This isn’t how it was supposed to be!” she shouted, more angrily than sad. “I was supposed to travel the stars and meet new friends! I was supposed to be an awesome soldier that beat up bad guys! But I’m not...” she lowered her voice. “I’m just... depressed. It doesn’t make any sense!” she began to raise her voice angrily again. “Why do I keep on seeing myself killing all of my friends!? Why can’t I just sleep for one minute!? Why am I losing hope?”

Starflight felt a twinge of guilt. This was all news to him, and he was supposed to be her friend, someone who could help her. He resolved to begin acting like it at that second.

“Rainbow Dash... this is all my fault.” Starflight tried to alleviate some of the pressure that Rainbow Dash was cracking under. “You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me. If I just kept you out of everything... I could have saved you all of this trouble. You deserve better... you’re too young to live like this...”

Rainbow Dash looked stunned at Starflight’s sudden confession. “Starflight... it’s not your fault... It’s--”

“It’s not your fault, either!” he cut her off to stop her from placing any more blame on herself.

“I know.” she spit resolutely. “I don’t know who’s fault it is... but you can’t blame yourself...” she said as she gave a weak smile.

Starflight gave Rainbow Dash a hopeful look. His stomach growled, standing up, he suggested they talked about it more over dinner. Rainbow Dash agreed, she hadn’t eaten a good meal for days.

Rainbow Dash regained her composure and spoke with Starflight as she did before their first fateful mission. Her head ached from all the crying, but she found herself feeling better with food in her system. They chatted and smiled like old friends, which was a relief both of them.

However, Rainbow Dash sensed Starflight was keeping something from her. She wondered why he stormed into the dorm like he did. “Starflight...?” she asked after a momentary silence. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” she cocked her head innocently.

The pleasant smile faded from his face. “Well... kinda.” he said with a sigh. “I just got done talking to Captain Acharis...”

Rainbow Dash listened, giving Starflight a perplexed look. “...and?” she pushed.

“She wants us to go on another mission...” he cringed.

“Oh, is that it?” she smiled. “just be careful! You’ll be fi--”

“She wants us to go on another mission...” he cut her off.

Rainbow Dash’s ears dropped. “Oh I-I don’t think... I don’t know--” she squeaked, looking for an excuse to stay.

Starflight frowned. “I tried to convince her to give you some time... to recover.” he said thoughtfully. “... but she insisted” The last word was said bitterly, clearly full of indignation.

His words hung in the air. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and began to think, something she had tried to avoid doing the past few days. Ask him to take you back to Ponyville! Betray him like you betrayed your old friends! The unwelcome voice echoed in her head. She felt a deep pain stab at her soul, she didn’t conceive those words on her own, but they made sense.

She fought against the urge to beg Starflight to take her back home. She wanted to stay so bad... at least she thought she did.

“Rainbow Dash... I know my promises probably mean nothing to you by now...” Starflight broke the empty silence. “But I promise... It’s an easy mission... you don’t even have to leave the Liberator...”

Rainbow Dash pondered his words. Starflight had promised that nothing would happen to her on the Haydes, but the opposite was true. She was grateful to be alive, but sometimes she wondered if things would be better if she wasn’t. She wanted to disregard Starflight’s promise as coldly as he probably expected, but something inside her wouldn’t allow it.

“... Ok...” she squeezed out weightlessly. Looking at her half-eaten daisy sandwich, she found that she had lost her appetite. “I’m... I’m going to bed...” she said dejectedly. She turned from the table and quickly trotted to her room with her eyes to the floor. She couldn’t bear to see Starflight’s reaction. She wanted so badly to convince Starflight that she was up to the mission, but she couldn’t even convince herself of that.

Starflight watched his friend trot away, wanting to say something, anything, to make her feel at ease. He felt his sadness fade back into anger at his Captain. He was sure, as heartless as she seemed, if Acharis could just see the condition Rainbow Dash was in, she would change her mind.

He cleared off the dinner dishes and returned to his room, expecting a rough night’s sleep.

The next morning, Starflight stumbled drowsily out of bed and into the living area of the dorm. Rainbow Dash was struggling into her leather uniform, attempting to pull it on with booted hooves.

Starflight chuckled. “Maybe you should put the boots on after the uniform?” he helped.

Rainbow Dash sighed and kicked her boots off. Not affected by Starflight’s seemingly bright mood, she secured her uniform to her body silently.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” he asked more seriously.

She shot him a glance that seemed to say, “What do you think?”

“I’ll take that as a no...” Starflight frowned. “Listen Rainbow Dash...” he started.

He waited for Rainbow Dash to look in his direction. After slipping her boots back on, she shot another glance that spoke for her, this one saying, “Get on with it already.”

“I’m really sorry... about everything...” he tried, expecting another negative response.

“I told you. It’s not your fault...” she said, but it didn’t seem that she believed that herself.

“I know... but you haven’t left the ship for a week! There’s a infinite universe out there to explore! … and you don’t seem like you want to see any of it...” Starflight tried to strike a chord with Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah... well I haven’t exactly had a good experience with the ‘infinite universe’” she mocked. Without saying another word she left the dorm, headed towards the ship dock.

A few minutes after Rainbow Dash entered the bustling dock, Starflight trotted up to her. She sat emotionless, waiting for Starflight to open the doors of the Liberator. Once again, he tossed a smile in her direction, but she deflected it with the grim expression painted on her face.

Rainbow Dash honestly didn’t want Starflight to think she was angry with him, but without a stern exterior, her most prevalent emotion at the time, fear, would seep out. She couldn’t let Starflight see that in her, not again.

Starflight wanted to say something to her, but he already spoke his mind, only to be shot down by her attitude of annoyance. He didn’t want to repeat himself, as he figured it would only upset her more.

Hopping into the Liberator, Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs. Starflight was prepared for an awkward silence to fill the entire ride.

“So...” Rainbow Dash began as the ship began taking off. “What exactly are we doing?”

Starflight smiled at the opportunity to make conversation. “We’re just escorting a cargo ship.. no big deal. Maybe we can stop somewhere and pick up some books on the way back! I know how much you love books!” Starflight said with a large smile.

“Hm.” was Rainbow Dash’s unsatisfactory response.

Starflight’s smile dropped. Awkward silence it is he thought.

After a few minutes a flying, the subject of the mission came into view. The Liberator received and sent many messages to the larger cargo ship, confirming it’s arrival and verifying that it was sent by the Votum. Starflight slowed the Liberator to an easy crawl, drifting alongside their goal. He studied the messages that flashed on the control panel carefully. Everything seemed in order until he spotted something that made his heart skip a beat.

Massive~Irregular Spacetime Disturbance detected

To Rainbow Dash’s surprise, Starflight began frantically pressing buttons and flipping switches. The same thing had happened on the day he met Rainbow Dash, the results were almost fatal, and the chances of him surviving something like that two times in a row seemed extremely slim.

“What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked as her eyes shifted to the frantic Starflight.

“Nothing! Nothing is wrong. Just intercepting some messages from the ship.” he lied. Something was terribly wrong.

This didn’t ease Rainbow Dash’s mind in the slightest. “It doesn’t look like nothing’s wrong!” she asserted.

POP!

Something near the engine burst, the sound dulled by the heavy metal body of the ship. The cockpit vibrated violently, lights flashed and sirens wailed. Rainbow Dash clutch tightly to her chair.

“Starflight! You said nothing was wrong!” she yelled over the deafening sound of the crashing ship. Her attempts to warm up to the idea of going on a “safe” mission had just been thrown out the window. She screamed as the ship spun out of control, she lost sight of the cargo ship and the stars became lines of shimmering white, slowly consuming her vision.

I’ve failed you again Rainbow Dash... was the last thought Starflight flooded his mind with before his head slammed hard against the door of the ship, causing him to lose consciousness.

???

“Yes, he’s definitely a Primus soldier...” the voice of a mare echoed in Starflight’s head.

“What about his partner, the mare? A hostage?” a deep-voiced stallion asked urgently.

Starflight’s body screamed with pain. He lifted his heavy eyelids, everything was fogged over in a blur, but he could tell he was in a dimly lit room. He attempted to groan, but his dusty dry throat wouldn’t allow it. He shivered, it was freezing in the room, wherever it was.

“No sir, it looks like... she’s a cadet!” the mare said, seeming surprised.

They had Rainbow Dash! Suddenly, Starflight felt a nameless animosity for these mysterious ponies.

“They’ve sunk lower than I thought...” the stallion growled and shifted. “Keep her restrained... we have no idea what they’ve done to the poor girl to make her join... just be gentle with that one...”

Starflight squirmed, finding himself tied to a table, his forelegs spread out to his sides. The stallion seemed to be leaving, but upon seeing Starflight’s movement he turned around and faced him.

“Who informed you about the attack?” he asked calmly, but with a threatening tone in his voice.

“What attack?” Starflight rasped through his crusty throat.

The stallion shoved a hoof under Starflight chin, pushing down hard on his windpipe. “Don’t play dumb with me!” he burst out. “Did you place a mole in our camp!? Were you a spy!?”

Starflight gasped for air, but nothing entered his burning lungs. His bounded legs uselessly pushed against the ropes, attempting to stop the crazed stallion from choking him completely. Starflight had never pondered just how unpleasant suffocation could be, how terrifying it was. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he struggled. The stallion pulled his hoof away from Starflight’s neck. He gasped hoarsely and gratefully sucked in air.

“TELL ME!” he shouted angrily, hammering Starflight’s ribcage with his hoof.

The tied-up colt writhed in pain, clenching his teeth tightly. “I don’t know... what the hell... you’re talking about!” he rasped out again, wheezing.

The stallion looked like he was prepared to hit him again, when a mare came trotting in through a pair of sliding doors. “Sarge, wait!” she held up a hoof, stopping him from doing any more damage, to Starflight’s relief. “This Up-link... it’s a V.101! They don’t even make these anymore!” she seemed to be excited by that.

Starflight raised his head reluctantly. The stallion, a grey and black earth pony, stepped over to the purple mare. She was holding up Starflight’s Up-link, which was the newest model, he decided these ponies were not very well-informed.

“And that Liberator, it was very outdated.” she continued. That was also untrue, Starflight’s Liberator was the standard issue model at the time. “Somethings not right here. I highly doubt the military would send such an... ill-prepared soldier to spy on us...” the mare suggested.

Starflight lowered his head quickly as the stallion began approaching again. “Alright swine, I want answers, now.” he said urgently, standing above Starflight with his front hooves on the bed Starflight was tied to. “Where did you come from?”

The pain in his throat and ribs slowly subsided. He gulped. “The Starship... Starship Votum...” he panted. He closed his eyes tight, expecting another blow to the stomach. “We were on a mission... to escort a cargo ship. That was all. There was nothing about an attack.”

The interrogator growled. “Check the Up-link.” he said to the purple mare. “If there is one thing about our attack on there...” he chuckled. “well let’s just say... we have ways of punishing such an offense. Have you ever wondered what life would be like as an earth pony? Because you might just find out soon...”

Starflight gulped at the implication.

“Ok... if I can figure this ancient thing out...” The purple mare hummed as she trotted back out the door.

The stern stallion shot Starflight an angry glance. He hesitated, as if he was going to say something, but after a moment he left wordlessly.

Rainbow Dash put up a fight.

The captors originally intended to leave her unrestrained, but they found themselves strapping her to a small chair to talk to her. She thrashed and struggled so violently that a pair of large colts had to hold her down. Once they had her tied down, a stallion informed her that somepony would be in to speak with her momentarily. She spit in his direction, missing, but leaving him with a disgusted look on his face as he trotted out of the room.

Rainbow Dash panicked, she panted and struggled against the straps until her forelegs became numb. She looked at her surroundings, the grey metal walls and floors were unwelcoming and cold. She thought of calling for Starflight, but he could have been on the other side of the building, and she didn’t know how large of a distance that was.

Before she had time to ponder her situation any more, an orange pegasus with a straight purple mane trotted in. She was no older than Rainbow Dash, and she somehow looked familiar. Rainbow Dash chuckled coldly in her direction. “They sent a filly!?” she gave a cruel smile. “Are you gonna torture me?” she mocked, feigning a look of terror.

The mare just gave a small laugh. “No, no, I won’t be doing any of that...” a confusing smile spread over her face as she slowly walked towards her. “Let’s just chat... that should be fun right?”

Starflight lay sprawled on the stiff, uncomfortable bed, breathing heavily and shivering. The two mares and the stallion left him alone in the cold room to stare blankly at the ceiling, wondering, fearing what his captors would do to him.

He cleared his mind, retracing his steps to get a better idea of just what was going on. He had been caught in another space-time vortex, and somehow survived, being spit into some unknown planet or spaceship who’s inhabitants did not like the Primus Military very much at all.

He contemplated on how they thought his Up-link and ship were outdated, when they clearly were the most advanced copy. And then it hit him.

The last time he was thrown into a vortex, he traveled ten years into Equestria’s past. He cringed to think that he had now been thrown into the future. A future where the Primus military had enemies? That seemed impossible. The military had complete control over the galaxy, an agreeable control. They worked hard to keep order and peace throughout the many solar systems of their galaxy, so who would go against them? And why?

The sound of the door sliding open startled Starflight. It was the stallion again. oh dear... Starflight clenched his eyes tightly.

He felt the ropes that tied his forelegs down being loosened. He tentatively opened his eye to see the stern look on the stallion’s face. “Come with me.” he said surely.

Starflight’s legs throbbed after the ropes were off. Slipping off the bed, he walked after the stallion through the aching of his back.

They entered an open, dimly lit room. Mares and stallions clicked away on computers, speaking to each other in low voices. At the far end of the room was a colossal screen, lit up with a green map. The countries displayed on the screen seemed almost familiar. Almost like...

… Equestria!

Starflight looked at the map in disbelief. The technology in the room was far beyond the limits of Equestrians. Just how far from the present were they? He stared at the busy ponies as he trotted behind the stallion, and was surprised when he noticed they were staring back. Some of them looked curious, others looked angry. What had he done to them?

The grey earth pony led him up a set of metal stairs in the corner of the room. Starflight continued to stare at the rows of computers and ponies in awe from the top of the staircase. The nearby beeping of a control pad caught his attention. He looked to the stallion who was pressing buttons on a large steel door.

After the code was entered, the door clicked and the stallion pushed it open with some effort. When the door opened a sudden breeze of snow blew through the door. Starflight shivered again, shielding his face from the freezing cold white substance. “Let’s go!” the stallion demanded.

Starflight stepped reluctantly through the doorway. To his relief, the stallion followed him. He wiped sweat off of his brow when he realized he wasn’t going to be stranded out there alone. They were in a small, secluded alcove on the side of the building. A few more stairs led them to what was apparently the roof of the building.

Starflight took in his mountainous surroundings. Snowy, colossal mountains towered above the small base of tents and other temporary structures. Lanterns were spread about the encampment, silhouettes of ponies flashed in front of the lights occasionally, casting a shadow on the roof.

A bitter cold wind howled through the momentous pillars of rock and earth, causing Starflight to shiver, feeling cold to his bones. The stallion stopped in front of a small shed. “It seems there may have been a misunderstanding...” he said, not looking at the shivering pegasus.

Starflight was silent besides his chattering teeth.

“I’ve been informed of a spacetime vortex opening directly above Equestria. That creates the possibility that you may actually be from Ante-magister times, so I’ll grant you that.” The stallion confused Starflight with his unfamiliar terms. “but, I will be keeping a close eye on you. We’re not going to send you back until you do us... a favor.”

Starflight’s mind was boggled. How far in the future were they that even Equestrians knew so much about time travel? In his time, the top Primus scientists had a very poor understanding of it, and now it seemed commonplace to this stallion. Starflight felt a twinge of sadness when he realized that Equestria must have dropped their isolationist ideology sometime along the way.

After he made an end to his speech, the stallion entered another code into another control pad on the door of the shed. It opened with a beep, revealing a pitch black room. He stepped inside, gesturing for Starflight to follow.

Fortunately, the shed was much warmer than the freezing outdoors. Starflight stepped in gratefully as the stallion turned a light switch on. The floors and walls glowed with a bright green light, illuminating rows and rows of weapons lining the inside if the shed. Although they were almost definitely in the future, they looked far less advanced than the weapons Starflight had been provided with in the military.

“These,” the stallion said, gesturing proudly to the rows of archaic weapons. “are our keys to victory!”

Starflight looked questioningly at the stallion. There was only about 30 firearms on the walls of the shed. “But... there are hardly any...” he said carefully.

The stallion looked disappointed. “Well we have a few hundred more in storage.” he said, as if Starflight should have known that.

Starflight found it laughable that a such a small group of ponies would go up against the Primus military with guns that shot bullets rather than plasma. “You... is it just this group of ponies? Just you guys in this camp?

“We are 500 ponies strong! I predict we will make a rather large dent in their forces by the end of the week! Then we retreat and rebuild our forces!” He seemed so sure of his plan.

Starflight quickly lost respect for his captor. It soon became clear why he had never heard of the Primus military’s enemies. If all of them were so stupid and reckless, then they really weren’t a prevalent problem. “That’s suicide!” Starflight exclaimed at the stallion’s weak strategy.

“What do you mean!? We’re on the verge of making a bigger impact on the military than ever before!” he said, clearly offended by Starflight’s remark. “Sure there will be casualties, but sacrifices need to be made!”

“Do you realize how powerful the military is!? There will be thousands of ponies just waiting to crush your little rebellion! You can’t touch us!” Starflight said, finally feeling above the captors. “Why would you even go against the Primus military? They have a reasonable control over the galaxy, what do you not like about them!?”

“You come from 1015 years in the past...” the stallion said, answering one of the questions floating around Starflight’s head. “Suffice to say... a lot has changed.”

“The military has been the same for millions of years! Why would that change now?” he demanded. “I don’t believe we could go from being beloved protectors of the galaxy to a force hated by Equestrians in that short amount of time.”

“I don’t expect you to...” the stallion said with a softness Starflight would not have expected from the same pony that had interrogated him only minutes earlier. He gestured for Starflight to follow him out the door. Reluctantly, the pegasus inched out into the cold wintry night. The stallion looked out off the side of the roof to the main body of the camp. “These ponies... we are one of the last pockets of resistance. We’re the largest, believe it or not. We’re the last best hope for Equestria... I’m not asking you to turn against your Primus military... trust me on that one... we’re going up against the Primus military of this era, the one that invaded Equestria.”

Starflight couldn’t comprehend how the Primus military could take over a peaceful nation like Equestria. Had he had something to do with it? He dismissed that absurd thought the moment it entered his mind.

“Maybe you’re right...” the earth pony continued before Starflight gathered a response. “Maybe we can’t win... but we’re not going down without a fight. Are numbers are small, but we’re fighting for what’s undoubtedly right. We’re fighting for the values Equestrians have prided themselves on for over two-thousand years. They may be lost on those immoral Magisters... but not on us. And we’re going to show that to them...”

Starflight found it hard to disagree with the stallion’s powerful words. Equestria was peaceful, yes, but if the inhabitants were all half as tough and resilient as Rainbow Dash, the only Equestrian Starflight had the pleasure of knowing personally, then they would definitely keep fighting despite the odds.

His mind was already made up, but before he let the Sergeant know that, he asked, “What have you done with my partner, Rainbow Dash?”

“I will take to her, if you promise not to abandon us.” the stallions said, somewhat desperately.

The choice of words pushed Starflight over the edge. The ponies were in dire need of help, and they were Equestrians, part of a nation Starflight felt an indescribable connection to. “You have my word.” he said firmly.

A smile grew on the stallion’s face.

The orange mare was unfazed by Rainbow Dash’s stubborn sarcasm.

When the blue filly decided it was time to get down to business, she dropped the snooty tone. “So where’s my partner? Did you find him too?” Rainbow Dash asked, ignoring the interrogator’s own questions.

The orange mare’s smug smile parted as if she was about to say something, but was interrupted by the opening of the sliding door. Her laid-back disposition faded into nervousness when she heard the sound.

“Hope!” the voice of a foal called as he zoomed through the door, trailed by a grey earth pony and a familiar white pegasus. “I’ve been looking all over for you!” he said, hugging Hope’s forelegs tightly.

“Not now, Jazz!” she said through clenched teeth. Shooting Rainbow Dash a stern look (much to her amusement) she whispered into the blue foal’s ear. “I’m wooorking!”

“Hope!” the stallion that trailed the foal boomed. “What did I tell you about performing military interrogations without my permission!?”

Hope gasped. “Father!” she backed away with her head down in shame at the sound of his voice. “I was just... w-we were just chatting!”

Rainbow Dash’s face was bright red trying to hold back laughter. It slowly started to fade into relief when Starflight began unstrapping the belts that held her in place.

He looked to her sadly. “I’m sorry...” he whispered over the sounds of the earth pony (who formally introduced himself as Sarge on the way to Rainbow Dash’s room) berating Hope.

Rainbow Dash gave an unreadable glance at the floor, as if she couldn’t even decipher her own feelings.

Jazz cringed along with Hope during the lecture Sarge was giving. When the rage subsided, Hope looked as if she was about to cry. She looked down at the floor sadly before Jazz came back and gave Hope an even bigger hug around the forelegs. “I think you did a good job!” he said helpfully.

She tilted her head to the side before nuzzling the small foal gratefully. “You weren’t even there...” she whispered, soliciting an embarrassed look from Jazz.

Sarge raised his hoof as if he was about to lecture them further, but after a wave of compassion apparently flooded over him, he turned to the two pegasi that stared adoringly at the scene unfolding in front of them. “You two, with me.” he said with an annoyed grunt.

Starflight and Rainbow Dash trotted out after Sarge, their eyes staying on Hope and Jazz until they were out of sight.

“Rainbow Dash...” Sarge started. “Your friend her has agreed to help us in our fight against the P--”

“I think it’s better if I tell her, no?” Starflight interrupted.

Sarge allowed it, finding himself more grateful of that choice as Starflight explained it to her. Rainbow Dash went through a variety of emotions and facial expressions. At a few points during the explanation, she looked as though she was going to punch Starflight in the face. However, as his speech drew to a close, Rainbow Dash had a look of understanding on her face.

“What do I have to do?” she asked, looking a bit fearful.

“You have to...” Starflight stopped. A momentary thoughtful silence filled the air. “Well, I’m not exactly sure what you have to do. but don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt!” he assured.

Rainbow Dash took that exactly how Starflight hoped she wouldn’t. “Psh, yeah. Let’s see how that works out...” she said under her breath, trotting back inside the room with Hope.

Starflight sighed and dropped his head. I’m sorry... I’m so sorry. He wanted so say. He wanted to throw his forelegs around her a get her to trust him again. He wanted to make it up to her any way he could. He knew, however, that Rainbow Dash would just pull away, leaving Starflight looking like a fool.

Starflight turned to Sarge to see his reaction. He was whispering to an unnoticed soldier with a worried look on his face. He nodded solemnly. Closing his eyes, the soldier walked away slowly, also looking very worried.

“Sarge... what is it?” he asked carefully after the uneasy look on his face didn’t fade.

“There’s been a change of plans, Starflight...” he gulped. “It looks like the fight for Equestria is starting sooner than I thought...”

“How much sooner?” Starflight gasped, feeling his stomach drop.

“Let me put it this way...” he said, glaring at the pegasus with a grave look on his face. “Grab your gun and head outside... now.”

Chapter Six: A Losing Battle

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“A man or animal driven through terror to desperation, is endowed with wonderful strength, and is notoriously dangerous in the highest degree.”
Charles Darwin

Equestria, Rebel Camp, Equestrian Year 2474

The chaos of one hundred frantic voices and the clopping of a swarm of desperate hooves filled the command center of the rebel camp. The Primus military had made their initial attack, already killing two rebels. Their fried bodies were wheeled through the bustling room to the infirmary. Ponies gasped as they looked upon the state they had been left in.

Starflight watched from the side sitting by Rainbow Dash, who had decided to give him the silent treatment again. He was filled with fear of going into battle against the Primus military and the sadness Rainbow Dash was giving him with her silence didn’t exactly ease his mind.

Rainbow Dash honestly didn’t want to make her friend feel that way. She knew, though, that if she started showing the compassion and fear she felt, she would melt into a mess of tears, just like the day before on the Votum.

“We need to get at least 200 soldiers out there, now!” Sarge said, walking up to Starflight and Rainbow Dash. “Starflight... are you prepared to go out there?”

Starflight nodded reluctantly. They had given him his uniform and Up-link back, while also equipping him with an outdated assault rifle that was supposed to be the rebels’ key to victory. His head ached more when he considered the dilemma of fighting against the military he swore allegiance to. Could he be tried for treason, an offense punishable by death, if he was captured? He gulped as he was lead outside to fight a losing battle.

When Sarge opened the heavy steel door to the outside Starflight was overwhelmed by a flurry of offensive scents and sounds. The metallic banging of lead bullets being shot rapidly out of the barrels of the old rifles was mixed with the high zipping sounds of plasma zooming through the freezing night air. That same air was filled with the heavy, nauseating scent of gunpowder and blood. This is what it felt like, what it sounded like, what it smelt like to be outnumbered.

A long line of armed rebels formed behind Starflight. He placed one shivering hoof in front of the other as he stepped outside. Rebels valiantly ran past him, firing into the lines of soldiers that were invisible to Starflight. He fought and winced, trying to spot an enemy, but the snow that blew through the air blocked his sight. He was dizzied by the sounds, sights, and smells. The cries of fallen ponies were but a distant wail to him. He stood, shell-shocked, a sitting duck waiting to be shot.

Before a ball of superheated plasma could incinerate him, Starflight was rammed on the side by a very large metal object. It sent him flying across the snow, to a side of the battlefield that was now mostly deserted besides the solitary corpses of ponies resting in their own blood. Starflight writhed on the floor, attempting to catch his breath, feeling like at least three ribs were broken. He struggled to his hooves, turning to see what had hit him, when he saw his enemy for the first time.

It was worse than the thought. The pony was heavily armored, every inch of him was covered in some sort of high-tech steel casing. Starflight would have mistaken it for a robot if it’s movements weren’t so convincingly organic. This one was obviously injured and his suit of armor was malfunctioning and sparking. Stumbling after the winding blow he landed on Starflight, he turned once again to the pegasus pony he had just downed.

Starflight once again found his body stiff and unable to move as the mechanically-enhanced pony galloped wildly towards him. He braced for impact, expecting to be injured worse than the first time. Charging at full speed, the pony growled behind his sparking suit of armor.

And then everything became clear.

Rainbow Dash was still inside the main hub of the camp. Sarge led her to the position he wanted her in. She didn’t want any part of it, but she felt she needed to do it for Starflight.

“We need you to lead the technical staff and the children to the safe tents at the other end of the camp.” Sarge said as he opened a door to the outside, away from the battlefield. “And take this...”

Rainbow Dash gave the pistol he held in his hoof a surprised look. “You want me to use that?” she said, flabbergasted. “I don’t even know how!”

“It should come natural to you...” He held it closer to the filly. “You probably won’t need it... but those Primus goons are a cunning bunch.”

Rainbow Dash growled at his choice of words. Reluctantly taking the gun in her hoof, she shot Sarge another look. “Ok. But this is all I’m doing for you wack-jobs.”

“Very well...” he said as he walked away briskly.

Rainbow Dash turned to herd the ponies out to the tents, when her ears picked up a familiar voice.

“But I want to stay with you, Hopey!” Jazz said, holding on to one of Hope’s forelegs.

She tried to shake him off, fighting ineffectively against the foal’s pleading gaze. “It’s just until we can push the enemies back to Froggy Bottom Bog!” she assured the foal. “You’ll be safe. I promise!”

Her surety reminded Rainbow Dash of a particular unreliable pegasus. Then she started wondering about him. Was Starflight ok? He was fighting a military with superior skills and technology, she to worry.

“I have to go...” Hope smiled sadly. “Go with Rainbow Dash... she’ll take care of you!”

Jazz looked disappointed. “Ok... if you say so...” he pouted as he turned to Rainbow Dash.

She was no good with foals, so she tried to procure a convincing smile. “Yep... that’s me... care-taker...” She turned to the group of over fifty ponies, half of them foals, that needed to be escorted. “All right, everypony! I need every one of you to stay in a neat, single file line!” She placed the gun Sarge had given her in her bag and hovered above the large group of ponies.

They followed her instructions with a murmur, forming a more organized row of technicians and young ones. “Now... march!” she said, channeling her inner drill instructor. The ponies lumbered in the direction Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof in. She flew through the door ahead of them, scanning the horizon for enemies. The freezing wind made her wings stiffen.

Hope watched from the doorway, admiring the filly’s determination, even when given such a small job. She chuckled to herself and turned away to look for a good place to view the raging battle outside.

After Rainbow Dash successfully tucked the ponies into a safe tent, she turned away, trotting proudly back to the hub. The distant booming of bombs and pitter-patter of gunfire disturbed her slightly. She wondered how many casualties had been taken with each almost-inaudible shot.

More badly burned troops were taken in through the spacey hub. Some were alive and clearly in a great deal of pain, and some, the lucky ones, had already passed on. The bodies reminded her of one of the colts she had gone on a mission with, Trigger. The most unwelcome memories attacked her head and burned in her stomach. That fateful day on the Haydes was the day that everything took a turn for the worst.

Underground, Sarge was speaking with a few high ranking officers about their next plan of action. He didn’t seem to notice when Rainbow Dash snuck in to sit silently in the corner. She tried to calm herself, but the room wouldn’t stop spinning. She blocked out the unpleasant conversation the stallions were having on the other side of the room with memories of her friends back in Ponyville. Thinking about them made her realize how much she missed them, and how she would do anything just to return to that peaceful land and forget all about the mess she was in here.

Without warning, a frazzled-looking colt rushed in. His light-brown mane was unkempt and some of the hairs on his flanks were singed. “Sarge, sir!” he said frantically, saluting to the startled commander. “The enemy... they have us surrounded!”

“What do you mean, lieutenant?” He broke away from his other conversation and focused on the on-edge colt.

“The safe-tents... they’ve been attacked!” This struck a chord with both Sarge and Rainbow Dash.

“Dear Celestia...” he said breathlessly. “Any casualties yet?”

“Yes,” the colt said solemnly. “At least twenty, sir”

“There were foals in there!” Sarge growled indignantly. “The Primus military... they fight with no honor!”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw hung open. The ponies she had just escorted... almost half were dead! She ignored the sickness and uneasiness the day’s events had given her as she galloped back towards the tents.

The distant sounds of the battle were now amplified by one-hundred. Fire roared, bullets banged, lasers zoomed, ponies and foals wailed. Rainbow Dash felt a burning anger and an electric fear. She was able to grasp just how hopeless the battle was when she laid eyes on the heavily-armored Primus soldiers. Staying on the sides of the new battlefield, she stumbled to what looked like the last safe area. Injured ponies were assisted by those who were slightly less hurt. Only a handful of the original group was unscathed. Besides the extermination that was going on close behind her, everything seemed to be under control, until she spotted an orange and purple pony with her face buried in the snow.

She covered her head with her hooves, her chest heaved with silent sobs. In front of her laid the small body of a blue foal. It’s bottom half was burnt, covering it’s unmarked flank with ashes. “Hope...?” Rainbow Dash approached carefully, the sounds of the battle faded in the background. “Are you... hurt?”

The filly didn’t answer, she continued to ignore the fiery battle that surrounded her in favor of mourning her lost friend, Jazz.

Everything was clear. Crystal clear. The sounds, the sights, the smells. They all faded away. Time seemed to slow.

Starflight found himself staring at the charging, metallic pony, noticing things he hadn’t seen before, analyzing ever inch of the pony with incredible clarity. The spot on his neck where the helmet met the main body of armor was damaged. An inch of brown fur was exposed.

Somehow seeing the opening, Starflight grabbed his archaic gun in his mouth, and hearing nothing but the stomping of his enemies feet, pulled the trigger with his tongue. One bullet zoomed through the air, lodging deep within the bulky ponies neck, felling him instantly.

The world around Starflight sped up again. The abrasive sound of war flooded his ears, shaking him out of focus. He stared in disbelief at the still pony on the ground. He had just taken a life, but the thing that bothered him most was that he didn’t know how he did it! He was frozen in place, by all accounts he should have been rammed into next week, and then killed. But some unbelievable ability made itself manifest at the last second, and then disappeared without a trace in a second.

The rebels had been pushed back closer to their camp, the Primus soldiers advanced. Seeing the death of one of their comrades, a couple of heavily-armored ponies rushed the pegasus, catching him off guard. They grabbed him and dragged him in the opposite direction of the camp.

Starflight struggled and bucked in an attempt to escape their grasp, but they were firm. They didn’t immediately kill him, which proved slightly confusing. They carried him silently away from the fiery battle-zone, to a much more quiet area. It was secluded from the fight, hidden in a large, rocky canyon. Many ponies armored similarly to his captors were spread around the temporary base, with thin fur tents set up around the area as well.

He was thrown onto the snowy ground in front of a soldier. This one was adorned with red stripes on the shoulders of his mechanical armor, his eye-slots were covered with glowing red glass. He looked like an angry demon towering over Starflight. “He’s unmarked...” said one of his captors behind him. “he’s definitely Ante-magister.”

Those unknown phrases made another appearance. Magister. Ante-magister. What did it mean? And why did it sound so familiar?

“How did he get here?” the demon pony asked in a deep, urgent voice.

“We don’t know, sir...” the captor responded. “We weren’t expecting any... were we?”

“No, I’m sure of it.” the demon pony said thoughtfully. He threw his head to the side, gesturing for the captors to leave. “You’re dismissed. I’ll get the information out of him.”

Perfect weather for another interrogation Starflight thought. He mentally prepared himself for another beating as he lay silently in the biting cold snow.

“What is your name, soldier?” he asked as the captors trotted away.

Slowly staggered to his hooves, Starflight looked up to the disturbing pony’s face, or rather, helmet. “Starflight.” the pegasus grunted.

“Tell me, Starflight.” the frightening pony helped Starflight to his hooves, surprisingly. The deep urgency faded into a much more bouncy and youthful voice when the captors trotted out of earshot. “How did you get all the way over here? You’re a long way from home!”

Was he being... friendly? “Spacetime vortex...” he mumbled, trying not to show signs of confusion or fear.

“Those are killer, dude.” The pony said, raising a metallic hoof to Starflight.. “I’m Hailstorm, the Dark Cloud, Magister High Priest.”

Starflight shook it carefully.. “Why are you attacking these ponies?” he questioned, looking at Hailstorm suspiciously.

“Right to the point! That’s rad, dude!” he said as he reached for his helmet. Pressing a button, Hailstorm’s helmet depressurized and opened. His face was symmetrical and smooth, his mane expertly gelled and combed. He gave a winning smile to Starflight, who looked on with confusion. “I like to talk to my friends, face to face, you know what I mean? It’s nice to be just, like... chill, you know?”

“Uhhh, yeah... sure...” Starflight sat on his haunches and gave the High Priest an incredulous look. He wondered how revered the title of High Priest actually was. “I get it... I think...”

“Come over here, bro!” Starflight was surprised to see the High Priest was already halfway to a small tent. “We can chill in here!” he called.

Starflight tried to shake the confusion out of his head as he trotted to the tent. It was warm inside, a few other armored ponies sat there, chatting with each other. “Soldiers! You are dismissed.” Hailstorm’s voice regained it’s deep urgency. “The tent is required for special business.”

The ponies swiftly sat up, saluted, and trotted uniformly out of the tent. “You like how I did that?” Hailstorm turned to Starflight when the ponies were gone. “It took me, like, forever to get used to using all those big words and stuff.”

“I can imagine...” Starflight said as he found a seat on the cushioned floor. “Those are killer, dude...” he added dryly.

“Finally, somepony who gets it, man!” he said happily. A wide smile spread across his face. “All of these other ponies are so... stiff.” he said the last word with a look of disgust. “You know what I mean?”

“I hear you... dude.” Starflight said with a faked smile. “So are gonna, talk about--”

“Yeah, of course!” he said, focusing, with some difficulty, on the matter at hand. “So you want to know why we are killing all of those ponies, right?”

“Yes...” Starflight assured.

Hailstorm sighed. “I... we... they... hmmm.” He sighed again. “Let me put it this way... I’m pretty sure these ponies are pretty rad... but they don’t follow orders, you know!? They just do their own thing, and I’m, like, all for that, but ponies like them have no place in our galaxy, dude... believe or not, I’m following orders! I’ve never been one to waste time questioning these things, you know?”

Starflight stared incredulously at Hailstorm’s proud expression. “You mean... you’re killing these innocent ponies... because they’re not good enough!?” he asked with horror.

“Yes!” the High Priest said with a smile, but then stopped to think. “Wait... no! It’s not just that, there are plenty of pretty crappy ponies that don’t do anything in the galaxy, but these ponies, the Equestrians, they fight us! Nopony else does that and survives! The thing about these ponies is... they do! They somehow survive no matter how many troops we send! Their trouble, much more than their worth.”

Hailstorm looked like he had more to say, so Starflight just continued to stare, appalled by what had just been proposed.

“And it’s been taking, like, forever to get rid of them!” he said with exhaustion in his voice. “They don’t give up! But I think we’ll have them running scared before long!”

“And why is that?”

“We’ve finally got the support of the higher-ups way out there...” he said, pointing to space. “Now that we have the last of them running around out in the open we can can just blow them up from the sky!”

“I don’t know if I can let you do that...” Starflight tried reluctantly.

“What? You just landed in the wrong place and those Equestrians just tried to mess with your head!” he tried. “ I don’t blame you for killing that soldier. You can still chill with the Primus military, no worries! You won’t even be tried for treason.”

Starflight thought for a second. “A Primus cadet, my friend, is still in that base!” he exclaimed, remembering Rainbow Dash.

“Bummer,” Hailstorm dismissed. “The orbital laser is charging and will be ready in, like, ten minutes. We’re already pulling the troops back!”

“You have to delay it, just for a few minutes!” Starflight’s heart skipped a beat. He jumped to his hooves and pointed to Hailstorm fiercely. “You can’t let her die in there!”

“Dude, I don’t know...” Hailstorm sincerely looked as if he wanted to do something, but couldn’t. “We don’t have a few minutes... this could mean the difference between victory and defeat!”

Starflight growled and jolted out of the tent without a second thought, flapping his wings as fast as his body would allow.

“Wait!” Hailstorm called out the tent. “After him!” he pointed to a group of soldiers that were lounging by a campfire.

Rainbow Dash zoomed back to the hub at the center of the camp, begrudgingly leaving Hope in the middle of the booming battlefield. She couldn’t help but feel that something had happened to her already, and it was too late to ask Sarge for assistance. What would Sarge think? If his daughter died on Rainbow Dash’s watch, would he be mad at her?

The bone-rattling bombs and ear-splitting gunshots went off closer to the hub than ever before. A continuous stream of soldiers rushed out to battle while an equal amount of injured soldiers were dragged back to the infirmary.

Rainbow Dash ran through the main room of the hub, trying hard to ignore the moaning and shrieking of burned and dying colts. She urgently scanned the bodies, living and dead, looking for the only stallion who had a chance of saving Hope. Every second, the thought of Hope being blown to bits out there became more realistic.

Upon spotting the frantic stallion, Rainbow Dash whispered a silent thanks to Celestia and galloped in his direction. “It’s Hope! Come quick!” was all she blurted out before she began flying back to the filly’s location.

Sarge dropped everything and rushed after the rainbow-maned pony at the mention of his daughter’s name. “What is it? What happened to her!?” he called from below her.

“Nothing! Yet. I hope.” she assured. “But it’s Jazz! He’s dead and now she won’t budge!”

“Dear Celestia,” he whispered slowing down a bit. “Jazz is dead!?” The revelation almost floored him.

“I’m sorry Sarge! I really am. But Hope will be next if we don’t get to her now!” Rainbow Dash called as Sarge fell further behind. “Pick up the pace!”

Reaching Jazz’s final resting place, Rainbow Dash frantically pointed to Sarge. “Hope! I found your dad! He’s here to--” she called to nopony. Hope was gone. Jazz laid alone in the freezing ground, lifeless.

“Oh crap!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, hovering closer to the body. She took another look around, shielding herself from the chaos beside her. “She’s gone!”

“Rainbow Dash!” a familiar voice called before the ponies had time to react. “Sarge!”

They both looked to the worn-out pegasus as he lowered himself to the ground in front of them. “Starflight! You’re okay!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with relief, stopping herself from hugging him, as she felt it would appear cheesy.

“Yes!” he said, frantically turning to Sarge. “Sarge! I need you to pull back your troops. The military is doing the same! They have an orbital laser! Less than ten minutes! Lead them to the underground bunker!” he blurted out and zipped off without another word.

“But...” Sarge started sadly as Starflight flew away. “... my daughter is still out there...”

Rainbow Dash could see the fear and the sorrow in the earth pony’s eyes. Strangely, she empathized with his apparent pain. Rainbow Dash figured she must have looked the same way the day before on the Votum. After a moment she found herself saying, “Sarge...”

“Yes?” Sarge turned to the hesitant filly.

“You go pull the troops back...” Smiled with spilt sincerity. “I’ll find Hope.”

Sarge threw his forelegs around Rainbow Dash, to her surprise. “Thank you, cadet!” She could hear the crack in his voice. “Just... please be careful! And don’t lose her! Don’t lose Hope!”

Sarge quickly released the slightly embarrassed filly and galloped quickly to the now quieter barrage on the other side of the snow field.

Hundreds of ponies were scattered across the field, charred, with melted snow around them. The abrasive sounds became less and less frequent, they faded in with the sounds of howling wind through the snowy mountains before long. The sun hadn’t risen yet, it didn’t seem like it ever would.

Starflight flew over the almost deserted battlefield, calling back the few troops that had made it out with the ability to continue fighting. Sarge ran to the opposite side of the camp, where a larger battle was taking place.

The falling back of the Primus soldiers was mistaken for an advantage by the rebels, and they followed them back to the camp. Fortunately, Sarge caught them before they could reached the heavily fortified camp and be massacred. The rebels trudged back to the hub, stepping over the multitudes of bodies. The canyons and basins were silent now, even the wind ceased.

Rainbow Dash soared high above the smaller battlefield, scanning the white ground for an orange dot. As she rounded the field for the fourth time, she prepared to turn back and give Sarge the bad news, but as if Celestia wasn’t done handing out miracles, she spotted some orange fur buried in the snow.

She cowered next to what looked like a wrecked robot, but as she lowered herself to the ground, she saw pony’s fur under holes in the chassis. The soldier sparked and smoked, but showed no signs of life, so Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the weak, shivering pony on the opposite side.

Hope cried loudly, her body shook with tremors and sobs. Snow blew through the air, blinding Rainbow Dash and hiding Hope.

“Hope!” Rainbow Dash called through the deafening wind. “We need to get back to the camp!”

Hope’s sobs stopped for a slightly longer interval, but they soon continued without a word.

“Let’s go!!” Rainbow Dash yelled, biting Hope’s tail and pulling hard on it. She looked to the broken filly. “Hope... I know this is hard. I know what it’s like to be... sad.” she got of to a weak start.

Hope quieted herself to hear the struggling pegasus attempt to reason with her.

Rainbow Dash winced, the wind quieted. She regretted that this was how it had to go down.“I know what it’s like to lose... friends.” she choked out, searching inside of herself for anything that could get them out of this situation. “But sometimes we have to... brave through it. I thought I was brave at one time...”

Hope turned to Rainbow Dash. Ice covered her pained face. Rainbow Dash softened her expression. Offering a weak, yet sincere, smile, she continued.

“But there’s more to being brave than just, not being afraid of the dark or big scary dragons.” The words flowed out of her now, she felt the weight of each of them as they left her body. “There are worse things to deal with. And your dealing with one of the worst right now... and I’m sorry. But right now, some really bad ponies have orbital lasers aimed straight at us, ready to fire, and if you stay out here you won’t be the only one that dies. Your father is so worried about you... and he won’t get to safety until he knows you’re safe, I know he won’t. So please... be brave, Hope...”

At that moment, Hope’s mouth hung open and gaped with understanding. At least that’s what Rainbow Dash thought before the filly pointed a hoof behind her and squeezed out, “Rainbow Dash! Behind You!”

Rainbow Dash twirled around to see the broken down soldier pony slowly rising from the snow. His suit smoked and protested as he raised himself to his hooves. A laser-gun mounted on his shoulder began glowing, causing the air to warm up. Rainbow Dash shot out of the way just in time for the laser to zoom right by her.

Hope screamed with pain. The laser shot right past Rainbow Dash landing squarely on Hope’s flank. She quickly and tearfully covered the affected area with snow and resumed cowering in the snow.

“You!” Rainbow Dash growled. A deep, fiery anger burned inside Rainbow Dash, hotter than the soldier’s laser. She yelled as she lunged towards the pony, who was charging up a fresh laser-beam. As she rammed into the soldier at a high speed, she scraped her side on the sharp edges of the ponies armor. Clenching her teeth tightly, she kicked off the pony’s helmet with her right foreleg, revealing a youthful stallion beneath.

The fearful expression in the young pony’s eyes cooled her anger. But she didn’t want that. She looked around the deserted battlefield for something to fuel her rage. The bloodied and burned corpses of Equestrians did the trick. “This is your fault!” she roared, kicking and stomping the helpless pony’s face.

The soldier grunted, weaker and weaker as the force of Rainbow Dash’s kicks became stronger and stronger. She lost track of how long she had been stomping on the now lifeless face of the soldier. She didn’t want to stop. It felt too good, too natural. The warm, refreshing blood splashed onto her face. She found herself smiling wildly as bones cracked under her hooves. Before long she was laughing. She had never felt this way before! She knew at that moment that this, this is what she wanted to do with her life. She couldn’t return to Ponyville, she didn’t want to, she couldn’t do this back home.

Hope’s desperate voice brought Rainbow Dash back to reality. “Rainbow Dash! We have to go now! You said it yourself!” she called, fearfully staring at the crazed, bloodied filly.

The blue filly broke from her ecstasy, remembering the orbital strike that would occur in minutes. She shook her head and glided over to Hope, picking her up and zooming towards the center of camp. Sure enough, Sarge waited anxiously by the entrance, alone. He scanned the horizon and began waving his hooves in the air when he spotted the two airborne fillies. Rainbow Dash swiftly lowered herself to the ground, tossing Hope abruptly to her father. All three of the exhausted ponies rushed to the underground bunker to wait out the storm, with only seconds to spare.

After the muffled cacophony of booming explosions and high-pitched lasers subsided, Sarge reluctantly led Starflight and Rainbow Dash outside, instructing the few surviving rebels to stay in the bunker. Once the bunker hatch opened, the damage was immediately apparent. The main hub’s roof was completely gone. The walls were badly burned, and at least one was missing entirely. The remains of the terminals and computers were sparking or shattered. Piles of smoking rubble lingered all around the interior. Sarge brought out a flashlight to light the way through the seemingly eternal night.

They eventually struggled their way into the hangar, which was in no better shape than the hub. An object, covered by a tarp, sat in the corner, a few pieces of wall balanced on top of it. “Here we are.” Sarge said as he began clearing the rubble from the top. “You’re free to go!”

Rainbow Dash’s tired mind couldn’t grasp what was happening. Her body was exhausted and her adrenaline supply was dry. She looked to Starflight in hopes of finding some understanding.

Sarge pulled the tarp from the object with his teeth, revealing an untouched Liberator waiting for Starflight under it. “Wow!” Starflight said brightly. “I can’t believe it survived the attack!”

Sarge looked down sadly. “Yeah... lucky you.” he said with apparent disappointment. “The spacetime rip is still active up there. It should be safe to take you right back to where you left off.”

“Safe!?” Rainbow Dash and Starflight questioned simultaneously.

“It’s hard to believe, I now.” Sarge assured. “By now we’ve studied enough of them to accurately determine which ones are safe and which are not. This one is definitely safe. It’s almost like it brought you here for a reason...” he held on to the last words.

“So...” Starflight said, ignoring his instinct to fear the spacetime rip. “Are you sure you’ll be ok without us?”

“We’d be dead without you, honestly.” Sarge said with a questionably sincere smile. “You’ve done quite a lot for us already. The Primus military thinks we’re dead, so all we have to do is relocate and bide our time. We’ll be back to hit them harder than ever before long!” he finished with a new wave of pride.

Starflight smiled, relieved. “Good luck...” he said. “... and keep fighting.” Starflight gave a respectful salute to the stallion, who looked more confident than he did only seconds ago.

After the two Primus soldiers boarded the ship, Starflight sighed. He began taking off as Rainbow Dash slipped into unconsciousness.

So many questions filled Starflight’s mind before they arrived unexpectedly in this very unpleasant future Equestria. And now as they were leaving, a fresh wave flooded his already full head. Who were the magisters? Why were the Equestrians fighting the Primus military? What was causing the rips in spacetime?

He decided to leave the worrying for another time. Soaring above the wasted rebel camp, he offered a silent prayer to what ever Deity controlled these kinds of things, that the Equestrians would be safe.

The Liberator beeped in warning at the spacetime rip. Starflight piloted the ship faithfully into the invisible portal, leaving the Equestrians to their fate.

Chapter Seven: Pinkie Pie

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Primus Galaxy, Starship Raptorian, Primus Year 269230769W

The ship was in pandemonium.

Frightened ponies scurried across the catwalks and the cold metal floors of the Industrial Research Vessel, the Starship Raptorian. Computer specialists were locked out of their complicated and heavily protected terminals by the skill of an unseen pony who’s knowledge of hacking was far above that of their own. It was as if the spirit of chaos had decided to drop by for a visit, causing enough damage to last for weeks.

“The cages! They’re open!” a frantic, elderly pony wearing a lab coat and glasses exclaimed wildly to the ship’s commanding officer.

“You don’t mean...” The bulky captain started fearfully, reluctantly letting go of the last words. “those cages!?”

The scientist pony nodded with finality. “The danger has reached a whole new level, sir!” he stuttered, trotting eagerly to a nearby computer. “Look! We’re boned!” He pointed to the glowing blue screen.

Server has been locked.
Please call administrator.

“We have one of the most sophisticated firewalls in all of the Primus galaxy!” he said in disbelief. “Nopony could have broken it down alone! Nopony!”

The captain lingered for a minute. Finally, he gestured for the scientist to follow him. “Contact Major Ace... tell him to schedule the ship’s demolition in three hours.” he said as he galloped urgently to the head of the ship. Upon leading the scientist pony to the control room, he activated his own personal terminal and, with apparent difficulty, sent a ship-wide directive. “I’ve just informed the entire crew of the evacuation plan...”

The scientist pony choked out a gasp. “Sir--” he began, but stopped himself.

“If this ship goes down...” he said with determination in his voice as he grabbed a large rifle out of a nearby gun cabinet. “...we’ll lose everything. But that’s not half as bad as letting the information stored on this ship fall into the wrong hooves. And if those creatures escape... there will be hell to pay. I’m taking it all down with the ship!”

Without another word, the captain nervously cocked the rifle with his teeth and trotted out of the room.

Two ponies sat in a quiet, dark room. A slightly wrinkled, pea-green unicorn with a graying mane and thick glasses clicked away on the keyboard of a large computer. He focused hard on the bright screen that served as the only illumination in the small, dimly lit room.

“They’re giving me quite a show, these ponies!” he said in a voice that was shaky, but still had a certain tinge of youthfulness left in it. “In a moment or two, I’ll have these dimwits wrapped around my finger!”

“Finger?” the other pony, this one bright pink, piped up from the corner.

This dampened the pony’s elation by just a bit. “Eh, hoof, whatever. It’s an expression!’ he explained with a hint of annoyance.

“Oh, professor!” the pink one teased. “And you wonder why everypony thinks you’re so weird!”

“No I don’t!” The professor broke from his focus completely. “I mean, everypony does not think I’m weird!” he fumed, turning to the pink one, who’s sheepish grin was hidden by the shadows. “I am a man of science!”

“A man!?” the pink mare carelessly let out a fit of loud laughter. “You’re a stallion, professor!”

“That’s it! I’m ignoring you for the next...” the professor stopped to look at his watch. “Thirty minutes!”

“Oh professor, don’t be that way!” the pink one came down from her hysterics. “You know Pinkie’s just messing with you! It’s just that you need to take your snout out of those boring ‘inter-dimensional manuscripts’ or whatever every now and then!”

The professor grimaced, turning back to his work on the computer. “Ok... let’s change the subject...” he said with boredom in his voice. “The strange thing is... these scientists seemed to put a lot of time into fortifying the remote controls on the biosphere creature cells...” he put a hoof to his mouth thoughtfully, scrolling down to read the newly accessed information on the computer screen. “It says here they’re just holding cockatrices in there!”

Cockatrices. That word dug deep into the pink one. A number of uncontrollable twitches and spasms went off simultaneously throughout her body at the mention of them.

She had a bad feeling about this. Her Pinkie sense was definitely tingling.

Primus Galaxy, Starship Votum, Primus Year 269230769W

“First-lieutenant, for the last time I. Don’t. Know!” Captain Acharis growled at Starflight. He stood his ground, staring her down.

“I need to know!” He dropped his focus and paced around the control room. “It’s... it’s driving me crazy!”

“As a military we have other, bigger things to worry about!” she said sharply. “And as a captain, I have more important ponies to waste my time on!”

Starflight ignored the unicorn’s gesture for him to leave. “How do you know?” he asked, basking in Acharis’ confused look. “If you don’t know anything about it, how do you know it’s not big enough to be your highest priority!?”

“We assess problems as they arise.” she shot back. “The spacetime rips haven’t caused any problems since that day on the Haydes. Now be grateful you survived that and return to your dorm, or you’ll have nothing to be grateful for!”

Starflight stood for a moment, struggling to find a remark to finish the conversation, but, failing to do so, he grunted and turned to the door.

The Captain’s Up-link beeped with a message from the Starship Raptorian. She looked up from the machine strapped to her leg and called after Starflight. “First-lieutenant!”

He stopped his hoof from pressing the elevator button in mid air and turned to the captain. “Yes?”

“No need to return to your dorm yet...” she said with a cruel smile. Starflight did not like the looks of it. “I have a mission for you: the lucky first-lieutenant who just happened to be in my control room when I received this message!”

Starflight trudged inside his dorm drowsily.

“Yo!” Rainbow Dash called. She laid curled up on the couch with a book spread open in front of her. Her tail wagged with delight as she read on, paying only half attention to the dramatic pegasus in the room. “How’d it go with cap’?”

“Terrible!” he whined as he plopped himself down on a dusty armchair. “No answers! And guess what! Another mission!”

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t really care!” Rainbow Dash silenced Starflight. “Did you know, Starswirl the Bearded invented time-travel spells? If he were still alive today I bet he could help us with this spacetime thingy, huh?” Rainbow Dash giggled. “It says here, the ponies of Equestria don’t even know what happened to him! He just disappeared! It’s all here in this book you got me on Libro Novum V!”

“That’s great” Starflight groaned. “But I’m sure he wouldn’t know anything the Primus military doesn’t.”

“Yeah, well he seems like a pretty smart guy!” she argued. “I bet with access to the technology of today he could figure it out!”

“Yeah, well too bad he’s dead!” Starflight concluded.

“Probably dead.” Rainbow Dash corrected. “He disappeared, remember?”

Starflight glanced at his Up-link. “Yeah, whatever. I’m going to hit the hay, I’ll be gone by the time you wake up.” Starflight grunted and lifted himself from the armchair.

“Sure you will!” Rainbow Dash said ominously.

Starflight lingered for a second, but decided not to bother with questions.

After getting what seemed like a full minute of sleep, Starflight waddled around his room, throwing his uniform on as he blinked sleep out of his eyes. The main room of the dorm was dark, Rainbow Dash was, as Starflight predicted, still asleep.

After taking a deep breath, he trotted out of the dorm in the direction of the hangar. The lack of closure from the past few week’s events bothered him now more than ever. He thought about it so much sometimes it gave him physical headaches. He lost focus on his duties around the ship and wouldn’t go a day without questioning the captain profusely, much to her annoyance. The unanswered questions swelled in his head uncontrollably, and it was ready to burst.

As if his body was on autopilot, Starflight found himself in the hangar within minutes. Exterminate the Cockatrices. Get out he repeated to himself as he readied his ship for take off. So distracted by his own troubled thoughts, he failed to notice the quietly giggling Rainbow Dash stowed-away in a back-container in the Liberator.

Restless, Starflight conducted the short trip to the Raptorian, which was situated in an adjacent sector to the Votum. Acharis told him all about the situation of the ship: a few cockatrices, get out in less than three hours for a quick and efficient re-entry for the ship’s crew. Easy enough, all of the crew had already evacuated. This was essentially a pest-control mission, the easiest and most boring kind.

As the Liberator approached the silently drifting Raptorian, Starflight made a few observations. The ship itself had the same basic design as the Votum, but looked a bit more bulky and more... advanced. A research vessels were usually much smaller than military ships like the Votum, but this one was gargantuan. It stretched across the black blanket of space like a lost ghost, floating with no sense of direction through the vastness of space.

Primus Galaxy, Starship Raptorian, Primus Year 269230769W

Starflight landed the ship inside of the standard hangar, now completely empty. He jumped out and took another deep breath. “And so the long... boring... unbearable, search begins!” he whined to himself. Making a quick check for supplies, he hoofed his laser pistol, already loaded, and the three extra energy cells in his vest. A weapon, a total of 120 charges, and a bullet-proof vest; he was all set. “Okay. Let’s go disintegrate some cockatrices!” he said to himself.

“Alright!” Rainbow Dash said loudly, her voice echoing as she floated out of the Liberator. “I can’t wait to kill something!”

“Just leave the killing to me, I don’t --” Starflight began to say before slowly turning to the excited filly. “Rainbow Dash...”

She smiled broadly at the first-lieutenant’s suspicious gaze. “Yes?”

He grunted through clenched teeth.. “Just answer me this: why?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously. “Well you know, I just had to get out!” she said with misplaced innocence. “Reading books is fun and all, but sitting around all day is just so... boring!”

“But you don’t even like going on missions!” he reminded Rainbow Dash, who looked surprisingly comfortable and unworried. “Did you forget!?”

“Something changed...” she started, still smiling. “Last mission, I realized that... this is what I want to do!” She remembered how amazing it felt to kill that Primus military pony, the righteous energy that flowed through her at that moment was a feeling Rainbow Dash had tried to emulate since she got back to the Votum.

Starflight looked to Rainbow Dash worriedly. “You’re too young to want to be involved in anything like this.” he murmured.

“Look,” Rainbow Dash said firmly. “You and I both know you won’t take me back to the Votum, and even if you wanted to... I wouldn’t let you!”

“Whatever,” Starflight said to avoid an argument. He went down that road before. It wasn’t pretty. “Just stay behind me and... don’t touch anything.” He finished and turned to the exit of the hangar, but felt it was important to turn back to Rainbow Dash for emphasis. “Anything!”

“You’re the boss.” She said, although neither of them actually believed that. “So what are hunting today, boss?”

“Cockatrices.” he spat back, as if the name left a bad taste in his mouth. “Easy stuff.”

“Cockatrices?” Rainbow Dash asked with slight worry. “Aren’t those dangerous?”

She remembered the story her old friend from Ponyville, a filly named Scootaloo, told her about her encounter with a cockatrice. It apparently turned her other friend, Twilight Sparkle, into a stone. If it wasn’t for the sudden bravery of her timid friend, Fluttershy, she would have remained stone for a very long time.

You used to have enough friends to go around, the same voice that wouldn’t leave her alone returned inside her head, not anymore!

Rainbow Dash wished the voice away, almost missing Starflight’s response.

“They would be,” he said with a humorous smile. “If they weren’t so stupid!”

Instead of leading to the same pleasant biosphere like the Votum, the exit opened into a multi-leveled, cylindrical room. In the middle was a thick, glowing blue rod that pulsated with energy. Starflight looked up to it from the ground floor, it was protected by glass, and surrounded by catwalks that spread in three different directions. Box-shaped capacitors connected to it through the glass, feeding it more energy.

“Whoa!” Starflight exclaimed, staring in awe at the giant machine. “I’ve read about these things... but I’ve never actually seen one up close!”

“What is it?” Rainbow Dash was only mildly impressed.

“An EIQ8 Energy Drive!” Starflight said in a wondrous tone. “It’s experimental. I wonder why they would put something as powerful as this on a research vessel...” his joy turned to suspicion.

“I don’t know, but--” Rainbow Dash started, but was halted when Starflight raised a hoof to the air to silence her.

He slowly slid his tail into the bag he carried at his side and wrapped it around his loaded laser pistol. Rainbow Dash listened closely, searching for the disturbance. The confusion showed on her face when she looked at Starflight’s hopeful smile.

In a flash, he pointed the pistol, still wrapped in his tail, ahead of him and squeezed the trigger. A brilliant red beam pierced the air and zoomed past the energy drive, through the second floor catwalk and into a lizard-like creature. With a squawk, the lone cockatrice sizzled and died.

“Alright!” Starflight exclaimed. “Direct hit!”

“Not bad...” Rainbow Dash observed.

Starflight and Rainbow Dash flew to the second floor and, after killing two more cockatrices, decided to make their way to the bridge.

The silence was broken only by the echoing of the two ponies’ chatter. After Rainbow Dash stopped trying to get Starflight to lend him her pistol, they were silent for a moment. The corridor that lead to the bridge was, like the rest of the ship, quiet and dim. Steam rose from vents in the floor, most of the lights were turned off, the ship must have been running on auxiliary power.

Starflight opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped short when he heard the unmistakable voice of a pony, muffled through the door to the bride. He looked to Rainbow Dash, she heard it too. Gesturing for her to stay still, he pressed his ear against the door.

“I think we’ve dug ourselves into a hole...” a stallion’s voice said.

“What do you mean? I don’t see any holes!” the cheerful, high pitched voice of a female pony chimed.

The stallion groaned. “I mean... I’ve made it harder for myself to access this terminal’s files!” the stallion said tirelessly. “Sometimes my own genius irritates me.”

“I know how you feel!” the muffled female voice exclaimed.

“For some reason I doubt that.” the stallion said, dryly. “Pinkie, why don’t you stand watch outside, make sure none of those nasty birds finds their way in here, huh?”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” she said, missing the stallion’s sarcasm.

Starflight backed away from the door quickly. “What is it?” Rainbow Dash whispered.

Starflight had his pistol pointed at the door, ready to shoot on a seconds notice. The hatch beeped and a small red light above it turned green. Starflight’s stomach felt uneasy as the door slowly slid open.

Behind the door was a smiling pink mare with a puffy pink mane. “Starflight!” she exclaimed, surprised by the first-lieutenant’s appearance.

“Pinkie Pie!?” Rainbow Dash gasped.

“Rainbow Dash!” she said cheerfully.

“Starflight!” the aged, pea-green unicorn called from behind Pinkie Pie.

“Who!?” Starflight blurted loudly.

“Rainbow Dash!” the green one called, ignoring Starflight.

“Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie Pie shouted, louder than the rest.

“Ok! Ok...” Starflight started. His brain felt as if it was about to explode multiple times. “H-how do you...”

“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash said almost angrily. “What in the name of the sweet Goddess Celestia are you doing here!?”

“What do you mean!?” she giggled. “I told you already, silly!”

Rainbow Dash stared at her incredulously. “The only thing you’ve done since we got here was shout our names! What kind of explanation is that!?”

“You’re confusing me, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie looked sincerely bewildered and maybe a little hurt.

“By the way...” Starflight chimed. “How do you know my name?”

“That’s a good question!” Rainbow Dash sounded suspicious. “So many weird things have happened since I left Equestria... how do I know you’re the real Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie thought for a minute, before deciding in her mind. She suddenly dug her head into a bag she was carrying at her side and pulled a out a knife, sheathed in a shiny leather holder. “Look! Proof!” she said through the knife in her mouth. She placed it on the floor for Rainbow Dash to inspect.

Lifting it in her own mouth, she cautiously unsheathed it.

“Careful!” Pinkie Pie reminded.

The knife was shiny and finely sharpened. On one side, small words were etched into the steel. “Rainbow Dash.” she read aloud.

“You gave it to me...” Pinkie Pie said much quieter and with an ounce of sadness, but still smiling. “As a going away present. Don’t you remember?”

“Pinkie Pie...” Rainbow Dash looked up to the pink mare with a new feeling of familiarity. One of her best friends, after months of being separated, was standing right in front of her. The real mare that could make Rainbow Dash smile no matter how bleak the situation. The real element of laughter. The real Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie Pie...” she repeated. Tears welled up in her eyes as she moved closer to the mare. They stared at each other for a moment, Pinkie with a look of unabashed happiness, and Rainbow Dash with a mixture of guilt, sadness, and hope plastered on her face. After a second of stillness, Rainbow Dash wordlessly threw her hooves around Pinkie Pie, pulling her close, not caring what the two surrounding stallions thought. She held her old friend tightly, her body shaking with silent sobs.

“Aww, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie said said cheerfully. “You’re going to make me cry!”

After a few more silent seconds, Starflight piped up. “Ok, now that we’re done with that...” he said, trying to hide his emotional response, “We need answers!”

“I agree!” the unicorn from inside the bridge called. “Why don’t you three come in here?”

Rainbow Dash broke from the embrace, sniffing and wiping her moist eyes. They trotted through the door, Pinkie bounced.

The bridge was smaller than the one on the Votum. The lights were more dim, the machines more unfamiliar. A small bench stood beside what looked like a stasis pod. The unicorn sat at one of the unfamiliar machines, one that looked like a very advanced computer.

“Why don’t they remember, professor?” Pinkie asked as she sat on her haunches in front of the unicorn.

He gestured for the rest to do the same. “Alternate timeline, Pinkie.” He stated matter-of-factly. “Telling them so hastily was a rookie mistake!”

“I’m sorry professor!” Pinkie squeaked. “I just got so excited! I didn’t know!”

“It’s ok,” the professor said, folding his forelegs. “I’m sure you guys are just bursting with questions!” he said, less seriously to the two newcomers.

“Yes.” Starflight said bluntly.

“Well, first thing’s first I suppose.” he said, putting his hoof to his mouth. “Ah yes, introductions! My name is Professor Versos!” he reached a hoof in front of him for a hoofshake.

The pegasus returned it. “Starflight...” he said.

“I know!” Versos said with a smile. “You see, we aren’t supposed to meet until the near future, and under much more grim circumstances, I might add.”

“I assume you were sucked into a spacetime vortex.” Starflight said.

“Well, no” Versos winced. “But I can’t exactly explain that to you... I shouldn’t at least.”

“The captain said no one else was on this ship...” Starflight accepted the professor’s constraint, but looked at him with suspicion all the same. “Are you supposed to be here?”

Versos chuckled nervously. “Define supposed.”

“If by ‘supposed to be here’,” Pinkie Pie cut in loudly. “you mean ‘we’re breaking most of the laws of the Primus galaxy by being here’ then yes! We’re really supposed to be here!” she looked very proud of herself.

“Pinkie!” Versos was flabbergasted. “Well, no. We’re aren’t supposed to be here...” he grunted.

Starflight thought about that for a second. “So then why exactly are you here?”

Versos looked like he was about to answer, but Pinkie Pie cut in again. “To steal a highly classified piece of research!”

Versos shot Pinkie another furious look. “We’re not stealing anything!” he hissed, both to Pinkie and Starflight. “I’m taking back my research.”

“You’re a scientist.” Starflight observed. “Do you work for the Primus military?”

“I worked for the Primus military, yes.” he stressed the past tense. “But something happened... and I chose to leave.”

“Lots of stuff happened!” Pinkie Pie corrected. “Scary stuff!”

“Basically,” the professor continued, ignoring Pinkie. “We’ve been wrongly accused of a lot of... scary stuff.”

“So you’re on the run...” Starflight glared at the nervous professor.

“The Primus military of next year is not the same you know today!” Versos said fearfully at Starflight’s fierce gaze. “You and I are friends not too long from now! I promise!”

This wasn’t news. Sarge said something about the Primus military “changing” . Suddenly, an idea popped into Starflight’s head. “You seem like a pretty smart guy...”

“Yes!” Versos was confident. “I am!”

“Then you can tell me what’s causing the spacetime rips...” Starflight said carefully. This was only one of the many questions that ate at him.

“That’s exactly what we’re here to find out!” Versos’ eyes brightened. “Well... sorta. And now that you’re here, you can help!”

Starflight couldn’t shake his suspicion completely. He looked to Rainbow Dash, who had been silent the whole time recovering from the emotional reunion. “What do you think, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to offer snappy insight, but looked to Pinkie Pie, who looked overly excited. “What’s the worst that could happen?” she said after a second of hesitation.

A lot can happen! he thought, but said, “Alright Versos. We’ll see what we can do.”

“Great!” Versos clapped his hooves together with excitement. “You can start by taking that distraction,” he pointed a hoof to Pinkie Pie, “into the living quarters. Keep her busy, this is a very delicate procedure, here.” he gestured to the computer he worked on.

With no further discussion, Pinkie bounced in the direction of the door. Starflight looked to a smiling Rainbow Dash. “After you.” he gestured for Rainbow Dash to go on ahead.

Starflight was truly amazed at Pinkie Pie’s ability to rapidly and endlessly speak about absolutely nothing. After nearly half an hour of listening to her rant on about cupcakes and oatmeal, intently at that, Rainbow Dash announced, “I need to go to the little filly’s room!”

Pinkie Pie abruptly stopped her analysis of balloons to point a hoof to the left. “There’s one right down the hall!” she said helpfully.

Starflight glanced at Rainbow Dash with a look that said don’t leave me here with this crazy mare! She left anyway, hovering to the restroom with crossed legs. Starflight was left to be tortured alone.

“So, Starflight!” Pinkie Pie said when the door closed behind Rainbow Dash. “Pretend that I don’t already know everything about you already and tell me a little bit about yourself!”

Starflight was duly creeped out, but Pinkie Pie was silent for the first time in what seemed like forever, so he responded. “Well, I’m Starflight.” he started hesitantly. “I’m a first-lieutenant in the Primus military...”

“Not for long!” Pinkie Pie blurted out and giggled. “Whoops, I’m not supposed to tell you that yet!”

The two ponies were sitting at a small square table with a number of scattered, unfamiliar devices. Starflight grabbed one of them and fiddled with it. “Is that a good thing?” he asked coolly. “You can tell me.” He knew she liked to talk, so it wouldn’t be hard to get information out of her.

Pinkie suddenly looked very uncomfortable. “Oooh...” she said uneasily. “The professor said I can’t tell you anything! It could mess things up!”

Starflight looked to into her eyes pleasantly. “C’mon.”

That was apparently enough to push her over the edge. “Okay I’ll tell you!”

“What do you want to know?” she leaned over the table like she was just exploding with things to say.

“Well, tell me about the time we first met...” he pushed. “Originally, I mean...”

“Ohh, that one is a doozy!” her excitement seemed to reach its climax. Suddenly she sat back in her seat, crossing her legs and lowering her head seriously. “What do you know about... the Magisters?”

Rainbow Dash finished her business in the small, unwelcoming bathroom. The room had two entrances, the one that she came in through, and another on the opposite side. This heavy steel door must have lead to another hallway, parallel to the one Starflight and Pinkie sat in. She inspected it for a moment, wondering if she should go through it. Curiosity got the best of her and she pressed a nearby button.

The door’s various latches spun and disconnected from the door, leaving it free to slide open. the door led to space. At least that was Rainbow Dash’s first impression. The floor was glass, it offered a clear view into space. Directly below the ship was a planet with a pale green glow. It’s vibrant light illuminated in the room she was standing in. Her mouth hung open in awe. The energy drive from earlier stretched down into this one, ending in a large, dangerous-looking machine. The structure hung under the Raptorian, either feeding the ship energy, or being fed energy, Rainbow Dash couldn’t tell.

The room was silent, so when a sound quieter than a pin-drop whispered behind her she turned quickly. Nothing was there. Thoughtlessly turning back to the wondrous sight before her, she considered going back to inform Starflight or the professor of what she found, she decided against it though, wanting to keep its magnificence to herself for just a few more minutes...

Her euphoria was broken when she heard a familiar squawk sound from behind her. Swiftly, she pivoted around to see a hideous sight. The creature had the head of a chicken with morbid red eyes, sickly attached to the green, scaly body of a large lizard. She gave the pathetic bird some space, chuckling at its face. Backing up, she glared at it with confidence, until her rump bumped into something that wasn’t there before. Turning once again, another cockatrice flanked her from behind. A bit more shaken now, she glanced around the room, finding more cockatrices, to her dismay. They flooded the glass floor, spilling from the balconies. They were everywhere.

“Starflight!!” she screamed, finding herself defenseless. “Pinkie Pie!! Anypony, help me!!”

Before she could finish her story (or even begin, really) the terrified voice startled Pinkie Pie. “Rainbow Dash!?” she called and looked behind her.

Starflight, already off the ground, darted toward the now empty bathroom. “Rainbow Dash!?” he yelled with agitation. Upon seeing the opened hatch at the opposite end of the room, he dashed through it. Pinkie galloped behind him. They were stopped short by a barricade of three cockarices. Piercing each with its own laser. They collapsed without much more effort, landing lifeless on the glass floor.

Starflight accelerated past their corpses, flying into the spacey room that was now filled with at least one-hundred cockatrices.

Rainbow Dash hovered above the flooded floor, a cockatrice had its beak around her left hind leg. “Starflight!” she called as she shook her leg desperately. “Pass me your gun!”

Denying her request, Starflight fired off another laser, missing Rainbow Dash’s leg by inches. The cockatrice plummeted to the ground, disappearing into the pulsating swarm of abominations below.

Meeting her halfway, Starflight caught hold of the distraught filly. More of the pests leaped from the upper-level footways with hopes of latching onto the escaping ponies.

“Hurry, guys!” Pinkie Pie called from the ground. “These cockatrices aren’t like the ones from Equestria! And there are a lot of them!”

“No, really!?” Starflight yelled over the chortling of the deranged creatures.

Tossing Rainbow Dash through the hatch with Pinkie Pie, Starflight picked off a few more of the pests before completely using up his first energy cell. He dove through the doorway before any of the enraged beasts could beat him to hit. Pinkie quickly punched the electrical switch, leaving the cockatrices to ferociously slam on the now closed hatch.

“What. the. hell!?” Starflight panted.

Rainbow Dash, looking and sounding very alarmed, cowered in the corner of the bathroom. “Why were there so many!? Where did they come from!?”

“I told you!” Pinkie Pie reminded. “They aren’t like the cockatrices from Equestria! The Primus military made these ones... different!”

“Different how?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Pinkie Pie looked as if she had no idea, but Professor Versos walked into the bathroom at that moment. “What is going on in here?” he glared at the three sweaty, panting ponies on the bathroom floor with disgust.

“It’s not--” Starflight began.

“You know what?” Versos cut in, “I really don’t want to know. Anyway, I just got done hacking into the computer’s research files!” The excitement was apparent in his voice.

“And?” Pinkie Pie gestured for him to continue.

“Ah yes. Well I have good news and bad news!” he paused for a second. “Good news is I found a ton of new information and downloaded it to this thing” he pointed a hoof to his Up-link, “Bad news is it’s only about twenty percent of the data on this ship! I suspect the juicier bits are hidden deeper in the ship! So we’re not done looking yet!”

“I feel like I shouldn’t be letting you get away with this.” Starflight looked at Versos suspiciously.

“Trust me, Starflight!” he said with a warm, yet slightly nervous, smile. “We’re friends, remember?”

“Not yet,” Starflight stood up, glaring once again. “I’ve got my eye on you!”

“Calm down, Starflight!” Rainbow Dash trotted after him. “He’s a friend of Pinkie Pie’s! We don’t need to worry.”

Starflight grunted in agreement or defeat, it wasn’t clear which.

“That’s what I like to hear!” Versos cheered. “On to the Steamworks! We need to go through there to get to the mainframes.”

“Uh, professor?” Pinkie Pie interrupted nervously. “There’s something you should know!”

“Yes, Pinkie?” Versos said with a patronizing tone.

“You know those holding cells you opened earlier?” Pinkie Pie continued reluctantly, looking to Starflight and Rainbow Dash for confirmation, they shrugged.

“Yes, Pinkie” he rolled his eyes. “It happened less than an hour ago. I remember”

“The chemically altered ones?” she tried again.

“Yes!”

“Well...” she looked more nervous than ever. “There’s a lot of them! Like...” she lowered her voice to a whimper. “...hundreds. They must have opened the rest of the cages!”

Chapter Eight: When Cockatrices Attack!

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"You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? The perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. ... I admire its purity. A survivor ... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality."
Alien

Primus Galaxy, Starship Raptorian, Primus Year 269230769W

“All of them!?” Versos asked in shock.

“Yes!” Pinkie Pie confirmed frantically. “There’s hundreds of them in that room!” She pointed a hoof to the closed hatch on the other end of the bathroom. The banging of the cockatrices became fainter and fainter.

“The chemicals they were treated with...” Versos started with a very worried look on his face. “It made them... we have to go. To the steamworks, now!”

Starflight and Rainbow Dash looked on in confusion. Pinkie Pie was deeply worried. Versos trotted swiftly out of the room.

“What’s going on?” Starflight whispered to Pinkie Pie.

“No no no no, it’s nothing!” she assured with a very bad forced smile. “Just the professor being silly. That’s all!”

She quickly galloped after Versos, Rainbow Dash tailed her. “I know that look!” She glared at a still nervous Pinkie Pie. “What exactly is up?”

The pink mare’s face strained, Rainbow Dash moved in closer. “Alright!” she yelped under the pressure. “I’ll tell you! Just make it stop!”

“That’s my Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Now, spill!”

“The Primus military altered those cockatrices with chemicals.” Pinkie explained, defeated. “It was an experiment. The professor has a sneaking suspicion that...” She stopped.

“Go on...” Starflight pushed. He always had the idea that the military was keeping something from the majority of the soldiers, but chemical testing was normal, there had to be more.

The three ponies reached the bridge, Versos had already moved on, so they kept walking. “He thinks the chemicals are going to be used on Primus soldiers, to enhance them!” Pinkie Pie lowered her voice to a whisper. “To make them into super-soldiers!”

Something about that term sparked understanding in Starflight’s mind. Could this chemical be the first step the military would go through on their way to becoming the tanks Starflight saw on Equestria? How far along were they already?

“They might be!” Pinkie Pie quickly corrected. “We don’t know anything yet!”

They reached the bridge’s exit just as the door slid open. Versos stood beyond it. “Let’s go! We are in a hurry here!”

Pinkie Pie looked nervously at Starflight. She slid her hoof across her mouth, making a zipping motion. Starflight nodded.

“The steamworks entrance is just down there!” Versos lead them back to the spiraling energy drive. “Get your weapons ready, there's no more time to waste.”

“I trust you’ll keep me informed on the information you find?” Starflight asked as they walked. “That’s the only reason I’m helping you out. Remember that.”

“Of course!” Versos assured. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know!”

The four ponies reached the door to the steamworks. It slid open to reveal a large, dark room with steam bursting out of various machines and pipes. The larger pipes were grouped together above and below the catwalk that the door opened up to. The steam limited the visibility inside.

A small group of cockatrices roamed around the area, clucking and squawking aimlessly. Upon deciding that these weren’t chemically enhanced, Versos instructed Starflight to take them out.

The group moved forward along the catwalks. Rainbow Dash in particular was not having very much fun. The humidity created by the steam caused her to sweat profusely and her hind legs felt unusually stiff. She limped along with the rest, falling behind more than once.

“Rainbow Dash?” Starflight tried after she fell behind for the fifth time.

“Yeah?” She already expected the conversation to be about her. She didn’t have enough energy left in her to argue, though.

“Are you okay?” he asked carefully. “You look... sick”

“I’m fine.” she panted. It was a lie.

“Are you sure?” Starflight pressed. “Do you need to--”

“I’m fine.” she panted again, with the same tone. She just wanted the conversation to end.

Starflight was silent. The group continued to move forward without speaking, until the electrical sparking of a nearby machine became apparent and echoed through the steamy room.

“What was that?” Pinkie Pie asked when she noticed everypony could hear it.

Versos peeked around a corner. “Over there!” He pointed a hoof at a mess of machine. One of the pipes broke and was blowing blinding amounts of steam. The computer that monitored it sparked and hissed.

“It’s blocking our path!” Starflight stated.

“Thank you, First-lieutenant Obvious.” Versos said thoughtfully. He looked as though an idea popped into his head when he glanced at the ceiling. “Up there!” he pointed to an opened pipe that didn’t seem to be active. “That pipe is big enough for ponies to fit through. But we can’t reach it! We need wings!” He looked to Starflight and Rainbow Dash expectantly.

“Got it.” Starflight replied with no enthusiasm. “Rainbow Dash! Let’s go.” he said, and took off.

Rainbow Dash lifted herself much slower, her wings flapped tiredly. “Right behind you.” she panted again, barely making it to the pipe.

Starflight crouched and shimmied through the small space, moving quickly and efficiently. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, dragged herself forward with her front legs, unable to move the others.

“Good!” Versos called from below. “Now tell me what you see when you get to the other side! There will most likely be a switch to shut off the pipe!”

“Okay!” he called back. “Leave it to the pegasi to do the grunt work, am I right?” He chuckled, speaking more quietly to Rainbow Dash. The filly fell far behind, barely making it five steps past the opening. Every time she pulled herself across the floor, she stopped for a deep breath.

“Rainbow Dash?” he asked, far more worried now. “We need to get you to a doctor! You look... awful!”

“No...” she panted again, sweat dripping from her face. “No. I’m fine... just keep moving.”

“When we get back down...” Starflight started with little surety. “I’m going to have the professor take a look at you. This isn’t natural. No buts!”

Starflight, who was yards ahead, stopped again. “I found another opening!” he called back. Looking down into the steamworks, he tried to spot any potential hazards. Rainbow Dash grunted and continued to drag herself along the warm metal tube.

Back on the ground Versos glared at Pinkie Pie nervously. “You haven’t told them anything, have you?”

“Nope!” she lied to ease his mind. “I’d never go against the orders of a magnificent master of science like yourself!”

“I’m flattered.” he replied dryly. “Good. You can’t tell them about when we meet. Don’t tell them anything about the magisters or Equestria. Just keep your mouth shut until we can get out of here.”

“Okey Dokey Lokey...” she said, his words stung.

Sensing this, Versos comforted, “Don’t worry, Pinkie Pie. You can tell our Starflight and Rainbow Dash all about it when we get back to The Sanctuary.”

Starflight leaped out of the shaft and took a look around the hallway. Steam continued to limit his visibility. Waiting for Rainbow Dash, he peered through the opened pipe.

With great difficulty, the filly slowly floated herself to the floor, still panting heavily.

“Rainbow Dash...” He lost count of how many times he started a sentence like that in the past ten minutes. “Something is definitely--”

Starflight was cut off when a large mass lunged at him, knocking him over. The wind was knocked out of him, his head swam as he gasped for breath. In an attempt to neutralize whatever enemy attacked him, he grasped at his pistol, which was no longer there.

It slid across the metal floor in the direction of Rainbow Dash. Seeing it sent electric adrenaline through her veins. Forgetting her exhaustion, she leapt for the pistol and held it in her hooves.

Stumbling to his hooves, Starflight shouted to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, don’t!” He was cut off again when the same shadowy mass rammed into him. This time, it stood over him with a familiar squawk. The cockatrice glared at him with his blood red eyes, Starflight felt his whole getting stiff.

Rainbow Dash smiled widely as she raised the pistol to her mouth and pulled the trigger, hitting the cockatrice that had Starflight pinned down dead-on. It slammed into the nearest wall with a bang and collapsed lifelessly onto the floor. A chorus of angry squawking sounded from somewhere out of sight.

“Drop the gun!” Starflight remained on the floor, covering his head with his hooves.

Rainbow Dash just chuckled cruelly through the pistol in her mouth. She galloped in Starflight’s direction, he glanced at her as she did so, and noticed something odd. As she took to the air over him and zoomed into the steamy unknown, Starflight caught a glimpse of her hind hooves, the bottom of which had a strange grey quality to them, as if she had stepped in wet cement.

The steam flashed red, the sounds of death-squawks and the insane laughter of Rainbow Dash filled the air. Starflight stared worriedly into the abyss. What has gotten into that girl?

The lights and sound became fainter and fainter, Rainbow Dash’s deranged cackling echoed in the distance, until it silenced completely. Starflight cautiously raised himself up and hovered into the steam. It was dark and twice as humid. He listened for Rainbow Dash as a warning of protection from her erratic aim. Starflight stopped when he saw a shape through the dense fog. Quickly backing away into the clear, he planted his hooves back on the ground. If it was a cockatrice that Rainbow Dash happened to miss, then he had hoof-fight to look forward to.

“Your stupid gun is out of ammo.” Rainbow Dash complained, emerging from the steam and throwing the gun onto the ground.

Starflight breathed a sigh of relief. “Rainbow Dash...” he started again. Remembering what he saw, he looked at her hind legs again. The grey quality remained, but what had caused it? He looked to his own hooves, still white. “Your back hooves...”

Rainbow Dash looked confused. Cautiously, he glanced under herself, inspecting the anomaly. Starflight appeared next to her, he lowered himself and tapped on the affected area.

Stone.

“Oh my god!” Starflight gasped.

“Wha? What is it” Rainbow Dash swayed dizzily. “I... just need... sit down... for a...” She hit the floor like a sack of bricks.

“Not good!” Starflight looked around the hallway frantically for a way to get Versos and Pinkie Pie through the inaccessible section of the steamworks. His eyes moved along the wall until he spotted a switch. Without inspecting it further, he flew to it and pulled it down. The steam that burst from the broken pipe subsided all at once, revealing a couple of waiting ponies.

“Great!” Versos cheered. “Now, we’re about halfway--”

“Professor” Starflight interrupted. Versos stopped to see the downed Rainbow Dash. He corrected his glasses and took a closer look.

“Oh dear,” he said worriedly. “What’s happened to her?”

“I think...” Starflight gulped. He didn’t want his suspicions to be true. “She may have been affected by... the stare...” But, Starflight thought, cockatrice venom worked much faster than this, it had to be something else!

“Oh! Well,” Versos stuttered for a second. After weighing the options in his mind, he sat on his haunches and grimaced. “This is not good. It’s very not good. It’s bad!”

“Professor?” Pinkie Pie had a pained expression on his face. “You can help her... right?” The pink mare’s mane seemed to straighten before their eyes. She looked as if she was about to cry.

“This is advanced poisoning...” Versos observed. “It progresses much slower than the natural cockatrice poison, but once she is completely petrified...” he looked grimly to the two worried ponies.

“There’s no going back...” Starflight concluded.

Versos nodded. “We do have one hope, however.” The unicorn wrapped his aura around the unconscious Rainbow Dash and dropped him onto Starflight’s back. “The Primus Military is foalish, yes. But if they have taken the proper precautions...” he began to walk forward, “they’ll have an anti-venom onboard.”

Starflight and Pinkie Pie drew a simultaneous sigh of relief.

“Let’s go, swiftly!” Versos gestured for them to follow. “If I can hack into the mainframe in the holding cell room I can almost surely find the serum!” he finished more cheerfully.

The captain of the Starship Raptorian limped along a dark corridor. His right hind-leg was broken, his head was bleeding, and his eyesight was failing him. He drew deep, painful breath after deep, painful breath has he looked for a last hope in saving the ship.

The tormenting shrieks of the cockatrices had subsided, but that gave the captain no peace of mind. These creatures had become more clever than they were before they were treated with the chemical compound. He found peace in knowing that the ship was to be destroyed in less than three hours anyway, so no matter the outcome of his terminal mission, the galaxy would be safe from the secrets of the Raptorian.

He found himself in front of a computer. Still panting heavily, he tapped the keyboard and ordered the computer to scan for life on the ship. The biological scanner displayed a map of the ship with glowing green dots that indicated the location of a lifeform.

There were a few in the cryolab, a few in the robotics department, and a few in the steamworks moving towards the holding cells. The holding cells! The entire section of the map was covered in a giant mass of green. The captain decided that the cockatrices had their base of operations there.

He stared closer at his location. Through his dizziness and blurry vision, he could see his own dot was a bit oblong. He strained his eyes to get a better look. His own dot wasn’t misshapen at all...

… there was a cockatrice right behind him!

He turned around quickly but his last gasp was cut short by a gurgle. And then silence.

The three ponies stepped into the main room of the holding cells. The pale wall glowed with blue light that illuminated down the narrow hallway. It was quiet, no sign of enemies anywhere.

“We made it!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “And I thought Dashie was going to die!” she laughed loudly at the incredulity of her words.

Starflight was stunned at Pinkie’s bluntness. “That’s not funny...”

“I know!” Pinkie Pie bounced in a circle around him. “But she’s going to be fine, so it’s not sad! So why not be happy about it?”

“She might be fine...” Versos corrected as he trotted ahead. “We need to get to that mainframe as soon as possible.”

Starflight decided not to question Pinkie’s emotional responses any further. “So you said something about the Magisters, right?” he asked the pink mare when Versos was out of earshot. “You never got the chance to finish telling me about them!”

Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing, she looked nervous again. “Oh no...” She looked as though she was going to begin sweating from the pressure. “Don’t make me do that, Starflight! Please!”

Starflight was surprised by her desperation. “It’s okay!” he soothed, and then added as sweetly as possible, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel comfortable” but I’ll get the answers out of you eventually.

Versos gasped from beyond the corridor. Upon hearing this, Starflight, weighed down by Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie ran to his side. He was standing at the doorway of one of the holding cells.

He stood frozen, staring across the small room. When Starflight’s own gazed followed the professor’s he gasped as well. The cell was filled with the dead bodies of the ship’s crew.

They sat there, some on their sides, some missing limbs, heads or other external appendages, and some standing up...

… and they were stone.

There was no blood, just the morbid statues of once living ponies with their mouths formed into expressions of terror. Starflight slowly inched towards them, inspecting them closely. Without a word, he grabbed his Up-link out of his bag and began scanning.

No sign of life.

“They’re dead.” Versos confirmed from the doorway. “Struck with the advanced venom... these must be the crew members that didn’t make it out.”

“Maybe they’re still hunting...” Looking at the sick sculpture garden in the cell renewed Starflight’s sense of urgency. Acharis hadn’t hinted that the situation was this bad. He turned his head grimly to the pony on his back, both of her hind legs were completely stone now. “Find the mainframe, professor. Get the cure.”

Versos nodded and trotted swiftly out the door. Pinkie Pie looked worriedly to Rainbow Dash, who slept with a pained expression. Something told Starflight that the pink mare wasn’t used to being so unhappy.

Starflight gulped and clopped across the main room to where Versos stood. He had found the mainframe. Starflight didn’t stop holding his breath just yet, however.

Lowering Rainbow Dash gently to the steel floor, Starflight sat on his haunches beside the professor. “What have you found?” he inquired after a moment of silence.

“Lot’s of things!” Versos answered happily. “Research on Phoenix Feathers, new armor models, coordinates to planets I’ve never even been to! But...”

Starflight grimaced when Versos lowered his voice.

“No anti-venom...” he assured grimly.

Pinkie Pie lowered herself to Rainbow Dash. She brushed her mane slowly and sadly. “Wake up...” she pleaded quietly as she softly nudged her unmoving body. Starflight was sure at that moment that Pinkie’s was not a face that was meant to be sad.

Much to Starflight and Pinkie Pie’s amazement, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes! She massaged her forehead with her hoof and groaned, shying away from the light that really wasn’t very bright. “Where am I?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie and Starflight cried in unison. They rushed to her and wrapped their forelegs around her, squeezing her tightly.

She pushed them away quickly with a blank expression on her face. “My legs...” she said in a terrified tone. “I can’t feel them!”

Starflight grimaced again.

Versos gestured for Pinkie Pie and Starflight to gather around him. They let go of Rainbow Dash and trotted to him.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash struggled to lift her heavy stone legs. She could see the ponies huddled up and whispering to each other. “Guys! Help me up!”

They ignored her for the time being. Starflight was being very expressive, he gestured with his hooves and occasionally raised his voice above a whisper. Pinkie Pie just smiled happily as they talked.

Versos dismissed them and they zoomed back to Rainbow Dash, who was squirming on the floor.

“Rainbow Dash!” Starflight said in the cheerful voice a doctor used when he was about to stick his patient with a needle. “Sometimes out here in space... we have to do crazy things...” Starflight began thoughtfully. “...for survival.”

“That’s the thing...” Starflight started glumly. “If we don’t do something crazy to you... you could... die.” The last word was almost inaudible.

Rainbow Dash lost her balance and fell face first into the floor. Starflight attempted to help her into a sitting position but she shoved him away. “Die!?” she yelped. “I don’t want to die! What crazy thing are you going to do? Cut my legs off!? I need my legs, man!” Rainbow Dash threw herself back and buried her face in her hooves.

“We’re not going to cut off your legs!” Starflight exclaimed. Rainbow Dash looked up hopefully through her watery eyes. Starflight took a deep breath and prepared his proposal.

“We’re gonna freeze ya!” Pinkie Pie interjected with glee. “You’re going to be like a Rainbow popsicle!” She made a popping sound with her lips. “Mmm!”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes seemed to sink into the back of her head. “Freeze me!?” she cried. “Like, with ice!?”

“Well, no...” Versos explained, still clicking away at the mainframe. “With liquid nitrogen. It’s in the cryolab. And we need to get there fast.”

“And what happens then?” Rainbow Dash tried to slow her breathing. “Are you just going to carry me around like a statue!?”

“No, that would be much too dangerous!” Versos said, but before Rainbow Dash had time to be relieved, he continued. “We’re going to keep you in a storage pod!”

Rainbow Dash groaned. She flapped her wings furiously in an attempt to lift her heavy legs from the floor. It didn’t work.

Pinkie Pie quaked and shivered audibly. “Oh dear...” she tried to hold her violently twitching tail in place, but it was too strong. “My Pinkie sense! Something's gonna fall!”

Versos, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie looked up simultaneously, and before Starflight had time to question, they gasped in unison. Versos urgently back away from the mainframe until his rump hit the wall.

Looking up, Starflight saw it. A throbbing mass of green and white dotted with red on the ceiling.

“Run for your liiife!!!” Pinkie Pie screamed and scurried out the door.

Versos followed suit, leaving Starflight staring at the ceiling that was lined with cockatrices. Rainbow Dash helplessly dragged herself across the floor towards the door.

Starflight snapped out of his stupor when the first creature dropped from the ceiling and clucked a deep, blood curdling war cry. He jumped into the air and grabbed Rainbow Dash by her forelegs. Straining to carry her increasing weight, they inched painstakingly out the door.

More cockatrices fell from the ceiling, waking up from their nap. Layer upon layer covered the ceiling, there seemed to fall a never-ending stream.

Starflight furiously flapped his wings, dragging Rainbow Dash’s stone legs across the steel floor, sending sparks and leaving behind scratched polish. The cockatrices seemed reluctant to get too close, staying a fixed distance away from the sparks and cringing when they failed to do so.

“The sound!” Starflight yelled to Rainbow Dash over the ear-piercing scraping. “They’re afraid of it! Haha! Stupid birds!”

Suddenly, the entire room shifted with a loud boom. Rainbow Dash looked behind her and gasped. “Starflight!!” Rainbow Dash called. “Look!”

Looking in the direction of the chasing beasts, Starflight laid eyes upon a cockatrice... but it wasn’t like the others. It’s feathers were black, it’s eyes were angry and it was at least five times the size of the creatures that surrounded it. It winced at the sound of the scraping, and then angrily grabbed two of the surrounding smaller birds in its talons. The smaller ones shrieked in protest, but were silenced when the large one shoved them into each of his ears.

“Oh crap!” Starflight flapped even harder, a feat which he didn’t think was possible. The super-cockatrice lumbered towards them, shaking the room with every step. “We just need to make it into the corridor! He can’t fit through!”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and whispered a quiet prayer to princess Celestia. She realized at that moment that her prayers were useless, Celestia was a normal pony just like her, and the theory was further confirmed when the lumbering behemoth gained on them.

Starflight’s body burned. Rainbow Dash was at least twice as heavy as she normally was, and he was already going as fast as he thought was possible. He closed his eyes and took a strained breath. He had to keep trying.

As the monster cockatrice caught up to them it became clear that they weren’t going to make it.

“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash!” Starflight yelled as he reached the final stretch. Tossing Rainbow Dash into the narrow corridor with the last bit of strength in his body, the large talon of the raging cockatrice sliced into him, cutting deep into his right flank. The force sent him zooming through the the corridor, landing hard and sliding against the cold floor.

The super-cockatrice clawed at the passageway, Rainbow Dash was out of reach by inches. Now that the scraping had stopped, the smaller cockatrices that could fit through the hallway rushed towards Rainbow Dash, who was frantically dragging herself across the floor.

Starflight was still alive, and better yet, he could still move. Against his burning lungs, he struggled to lift himself up. His knees were wobbly and his right hind-leg was useless, but he was mobile. He limped faster than was healthy towards Rainbow Dash. He saw the terrified look in her eyes, she didn’t look behind her, but Starflight could tell from expression that she knew they were coming to get her.

Starflight could almost hear Rainbow Dash hopelessly repeating the words she had said almost minutes earlier before everything was thrown into chaos. I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! Neither did Starflight. Against every instinct and every shred of common sense, Starflight put weight on his open and bleeding leg. Pain stabbed more deeply on his flank. He probably yelped loudly, but all he could hear was his own heart beating and the muffled clucks of cockatrices.

A devastating realization cut through Starflight. He wasn’t going to make it to her on time! The cockatrices had already passed the entryway and were almost on Rainbow Dash. “Stop!” he yelled desperately. “Get away from her!”

Starflight’s words were useless. The cockatrices scurried across the small space between the super-cockatrice and Rainbow Dash. The white pegasus continued to frantically hobble in her direction before slipping in his own blood. His chin hit the floor hard, making his head spin. He shut his eyes tight, there was no use in getting up anymore, it was over for both of them, but he definitely didn’t want to watch. The only thoughts that echoed in his head were the ones he found himself saying to the same pony over and over again. I’m sorry. This is my fault. Don’t forgive me.

Starflight willed the outside world away, but a sound like the air was being scraped went off directly above him, followed by the familiar death-squawk of a nearby cockatrice. Was this real, or just a trick played by the gods (if there was any) to get him to watch as Rainbow Dash was permanently turned to stone? If it was, he deserved it, so he decided to look up.

“A welcome sight” didn’t even begin to describe this situation. Versos stood over Starflight, firing a very advanced looking pistol from his mouth. It sent out a much thicker and faster version of Starflight’s laser. It pierced not one, not two, but three cockatrices at once, disintegrating them on the spot. A glowing pile of red ashes was left behind.

Starflight closed his eyes, briefly. Everything was going to be okay. He opened them again when another set of hoofsteps sounded beside him. The super-cockatrice continued to claw at the corridor opening. Pinkie Pie was clearly annoyed by this, so she threw her Rainbow Dash knife directly at it.

Starflight chuckled at the thought of something that size even feeling a prick like that. He was surprised when the bladed landed directly between the birds eyes, but the real surprise came when the cockatrice slowed his attack, and then stopped completely. The ceasing of its clawing was followed by another loud boom.

The giant cockatrice was dead.

“What. The. Hell?” Starflight gasped for the second time that day as Versos lifted Rainbow Dash back into the steamworks.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou” Rainbow Dash kissed Versos’ hooves, much to his discomfort. “You saved my life!”

“Not yet, we haven’t!” Versos responded proudly.

“How did your knife...” Starflight stopped there. He couldn’t find the words.

“Nanobots!” Pinkie Pie said happily. “The knife’s lined with them!” She leaned over Starflight with a small needle in her mouth. Lowering her head beside the inside of Starflight’s flank, she poked the needle through his skin.

Pinkie Pie’s patient jolted slightly, but relaxed. The pain only lasted a split-second. “You’re actually pretty good at that!” Starflight was amazed.

“Thank you!” Pinkie Pie shook her tail with glee. “If you told that to Versos about a year ago... he would disagree!”

“How long have you been with Versos?” The tone of the conversation changed. Starflight took on the role of interrogator.

Pinkie Pie went silent. Her nervous look was back. Starflight immediately felt bad about straining her pretty face with worry.

“Uh guys?” Rainbow Dash sounded dizzy. “I know we’re all really happy to be alive right now... but we really need to get to the cryolab!” Rainbow Dash sat up and peeked between her stone legs. “If we don’t hurry... I won’t be able to go to the bathroom anymore... and I definitely won’t be able to--”

“We get it! Starflight covered his blush. “Let’s go!” He turned quickly away from the ponies, his leg was feeling better already. Whatever Pinkie injected him with, it was miraculous, and the Primus military obviously hadn’t discovered it yet.

“Walk! I was gonna say... walk--” Rainbow Dash promptly lost consciousness once again.

Starflight was stuck with the task of carrying Rainbow Dash, who was two times heavier than normal, on his back as they made their way back to the center of the ship. He glanced occasionally at Pinkie Pie, whose agitation subsided gradually. The only way to get information was through her, but seeing the way it bothered her made it very difficult.

“The cryolab is this way.” Versos said hastily. “I should be able to hack into the computer there and access the nitrogen tanks.”

“What if there isn’t a cure?” Starflight suggested grimly. “What will we do with Rainbow Dash then?”

Versos turned to Starflight but hesitated for a second. “There will be a cure.”

The surety in the professor’s voice was almost enough to convince Starflight. Almost. He looked to the pony on his back, whose distress was apparent through her slumber. All he could tell her was that he was sorry, but Starflight knew that wouldn’t be enough. It was never enough.

The trio heard the echoing of clucking from behind them. The cockatrices were giving chase from the steamworks! Urgently, Versos wrapped his aura around the sleeping Rainbow Dash and floated her in front of him.

“We have to go!” he yelled as the apparent strain of levitating Rainbow Dash took its toll. He fell behind the group just as the cockatrices burst through the steamworks door. Pinkie Pie swerved behind Versos and nudged his rump with her nose.

“Hurry professor!” she called frantically. “They’re here!”

“Go on ahead, Pinkie Pie!” Versos asserted. “I need you up there making sure Rainbow Dash and Starflight get there safely. And we definitely can’t have you getting hurt.” the professor almost chuckled.

Pinkie Pie looked confused, but Versos assured, “We can afford to lose an old shriveled-up stallion like myself,” he continued. “But we cannot lose you three!”

Starflight heard this and was naturally confused. “Why not!?”

“Not if you die, there won’t!” Starflight grunted. The cockatrices were nipping at the professor’s hooves, and he was just falling farther behind. Bending at his knees, Starflight launched himself into the air and pulled out his laser pistol.

Everything slowed, like it did on Equestria about a month earlier. Starflight could see, feel, smell, everything he needed to. When Rainbow Dash went crazy on the cockatrices in the steamworks, she used up his second energy cell, that needed replacing. He felt as if he was moving at normal speed while the world around him moved in slow motion when he reached into his bag, releasing the current cell from the pistol and depositing the new one simultaneously.

The tinny sound of the empty energy cell hitting the ground echoed with clarity in his head. He placed the pistol in his mouth, getting it into the perfect position on the first try. His tongue wrapped around the trigger and he pulled it without aiming. The fiery laser zoomed centimeters over the professor’s scalp, penetrating the head of the closest cockatrice and melting it.

The next three birds were hit in the same place, one after another, in speedy succession. They were all headless poultry before the two fleeing ponies even realized Starflight had stopped running.

The world sped up and Starflight turned back to the ground, landing. Pinkie Pie slammed into the stationary pegasus, knocking him over.

“Starflight! Get up!” she yelped.

Starflight just smiled and pointed a hoof to barbequed bodies of the cockatrices.

“What!?” Versos and Pinkie Pie were dumbfounded.

Starflight chuckled and lifted himself up, positioning himself under the floating Rainbow Dash. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Looks like you still got it!” Pinkie Pie giggled.

“What do you mean “it?” Starflight questioned.

Pinkie Pie went silent at Versos’ stern gaze.

With a grunt, Starflight turned around and entered the cryolab. Getting answers out of these two was going to be more difficult than he thought.

The cryolab was a two-leveled, dimly lit laboratory. It was freezing inside, the floor was covered in a cold, white fog that emanated from cylindrical chambers placed around the room. Walking through the lab was like walking on ice.

Pinkie Pie shifted her weight from one set of hooves to the other. “Cold, cold, cold!”

Versos trotted up to one of the chambers and pressed a few buttons on a nearby control pad. He gestured for Starflight to bring Rainbow Dash closer.

Starflight positioned her in the tube, strapping her legs down with the professor’s help. When that was done, Versos trotted back to the control pad and began pressing buttons.

“One second, professor!” Starflight asserted before any commands could be placed. “If we don’t find that cure... I want to at least say good-bye.”

“As you wish.” Versos answered grimly.

Starflight stepped closer and placed his hoof on Rainbow Dash’s. “Good-bye...” I’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorry. No. Apologies didn’t mean anything anymore. He leaned closer to Rainbow Dash troubled face and whispered to her. “I’ll find the antivenom. I’ll save you.” If there was any chance at all that she could hear him, he wanted to be sure of his resolve, instead of apologizing for things he couldn’t change. Planting a gentle kiss on her feverish forehead, he backed away from the chamber and gestured for Versos to continue his work.

Star Flight

by Dainbow Rash

Chapter One: Risk

Chapter Two: Equestria's Most Wanted

Chapter Three: The Gates of Haydes

Chapter Four: Silent Scream

Chapter Five: Equestria 2474

Chapter Six: A Losing Battle

Chapter Seven: Pinkie Pie

Chapter Eight: When Cockatrices Attack!