Freelancer: The Universe of Possibility

Chapter One: Disaster Magnet

After five days of uneventful travel, interspersed only by journeys to the ship-board bar, announcements from the captain and the occasional accidental meetings with Anvil, Rainbow Dash was glad that the evacuation ship was finally landing on Manehatten. All she wanted to do now was find a job that would either get herself enough money to get a ship back to Steeds or allow her to survive until Flim and Flam had recovered enough to be able to pay her.

Rainbow was waiting in the loading bay she had first stepped into after escaping Freeport Seven, along with Anvil and the rest of the survivors from the doomed station. Looking around, she realised there were less survivors than she had originally thought. The bar had always seemed crowded whenever she had gone in for a drink. She reasoned that they all must have constantly gone there so as to try and forget whatever possessions or plans they had had that had blown up along with Freeport Seven.

A shudder went through the floor of the ship, causing some ponies to stumble and bump into others, accompanied by the hum of the ship's engines subtly quiet down. The Captain's deep voice sounded from a speaker embedded in the wall above the loading bay main door.

“This is Captain Brand once again. We are just about to land at Manehatten Spaceport. I'd like to thank you all for your patience on this journey, and I hope you all have a safe and pleasant life after you leave this ship. This is probably the last time you'll hear one of my announcements, and I'm sure many of you are thankful for that,” he said to chuckles and choruses of agreement. “I just need to remind you that if you are still suffering after the events of Freeport Seven's destruction, don't hesitate to contact any of the Liberty officials aboard our ship or any of Liberty's medical centres on Manehatten. Thank you.”

Rainbow and the rest of the survivors gave a polite round of applause, and just as it was dying down, the loading bay door began to lower. At the sight of this, Rainbow gave a hoot of joy at finally being able to get off of the ship and onto actual ground again. As the door slowly fell open, it revealed a clear, bright, cerulean blue sky, which hung above towering sky-scrapers as far as the eye could see. Embedded in the sky-scrapers were advertisements for all sorts of items, ranging from simple household appliances to brand new spaceships. The only clear area was the stone square space in front of the evacuation ship, which was marred with various scorch marks, scratches and general refuse. There was also a huddle of reporters and camera-ponies crowded in front of the ramp, eager to get the first interview. Rainbow was just about to dash out into the fresh air of a new planet, but as she unfurled her wings, she heard her name being called out.

“Rainbow Dash! Anvil! Just a moment before you go, please?”

Rainbow sighed and begrudgingly folded her wings back in again and then turned towards the source of the unwanted attention. The pony who had called both Rainbow and Anvil was Lieutenant Cosmos, who was lingering at the side of the loading bay door, out of the way of the rush of survivors who were eager to get off of the evacuation ship. Rainbow glanced over at Anvil, who simply gave a slight shrug and made his way towards the Lieutenant, prompting Rainbow to follow him over.

“Thanks,” she said with a smile as Anvil and Rainbow reached her. The Lieutenant swept her cap off with a hoof as a way to show that the conversation was casual. “Just wanted to once again thank you for saving those two ponies again. They're going to be transferred over to Manehatten's Celestial Hospital to recover some more, so if you want to see how they're getting on, just pop in and tell the staff there that you saved them. That's probably the only way those stuffy doctors will let you see them.”

Anvil gave a snort of laughter while Rainbow simply asked: “Are they awake yet?”

“I'm afraid neither of them are awake at the moment,” the Lieutenant responded with a shake of her head. “The one who had his leg crushed; Flam, I believe, woke up for a short while yesterday, but he was pretty shook up about what happened and about his brother and passed out soon after. He'll probably be awake later if you want to see him at the hospital.” She slipped her cap back on and gave them both an apologetic smile. “Now, I'm afraid I have to go, my superiors probably want me to tell them exactly what happened, and I'm sure you both have family or friends waiting for you. See you,” she said, turning and trotting down the ramp towards a huddle of other Liberty Navy officials.

Rainbow and Anvil walked down the ramp after the Lieutenant, gazing around them in wonder at the capitol city of Manehatten.

“I heard someone say over two hundred million ponies live on Manehatten,” Anvil said in awe, his head constantly rotating, trying to take in everything. “Imagine that! Two hundred million ponies on one planet. It's probably 'cause Manehatten was the first planet to be colonized.”

Rainbow simply nodded, not really paying attention. Steeds was impressive, with the occasional sky-scraper here and there, but Manehatten was on a completely different level. The spaceport was surrounded by sky-scrapers, each with ships and cabs landing on and taking off from them. One such structure was twice the size of everything around it and was in the shape of a smooth fin. Painted on the side of the impressive structure was half of a star with four thick lines emerging from where the star had been cut. There were so many buildings tightly-packed together that there was no space at all for the horizon to peep through. Rainbow could hear a low continuous hum coming from traffic lanes above and around the spaceport, where hundreds of floating cabs and cars flew past every minute. Just audible underneath the hum was the chatter of thousands in the streets below the spaceport. Dotted around the stone of the spaceport were newsponies with video cameras and microphones interviewing other survivors of Freeport Seven, most of whom were eager to recount their interpretation of what had happened.

“Hey, want to grab a drink?” Anvil asked, pointing towards a two story building at the side of the spaceport. Shaking herself out of her trance, Rainbow looked over at where Anvil had pointed. The building in question had a large neon sign hanging dejectedly from a wall, declaring to the world that it was 'The Rest Stop.' Just underneath another sign hung, the words promising that the bar was 'Open at all hours.' The faux-sandstone walls of the building were dulled from years of constant pollution of the adjacent spaceport and the old wooden door was worn from the amount of ponies passing through.

“Sure, might as well,” Rainbow said, shrugging.

“So, got any plans on what you're going to do now you're here?” Anvil asked as the pair made their way across the spaceport.

“Flim and Flam owe me,” Rainbow responded. “All my money and possessions are now floating in the black, along with my ship, and its their fault that I couldn't save my stuff.”

“You really think they're going to pay you? Honestly, I think you should forget it,” Anvil said earnestly. “Just go home, back to Steeds. Didn't you say you used to work for your friend Rarity?”

“Oh yeah, go back to painting old ships and putting up with her constant whining? Great, just what I want with my life,” Rainbow scoffed. “What about you? What're you doing?”

“A couple of friends are going to be meeting me here, and then I'm going to see from there,” Anvil answered, pushing open the door to The Rest Stop lobby.

Rainbow glanced around the small room as they passed through, seeing several tired-looking ponies in muted conversation with each other or simply waiting for the day to be over. The pair walked through another doorway and into a much larger room. This room had obviously been designed to look like an impressive temple chamber from Equestrian past, but after many years, the only effect the dim torches and chipping stone brickwork made was one of hopelessness. Empty tables were spread across the floor, and booths lined one wall. Opposite the booths was a long wooden bar, with empty stools stood in front of it. Above the bar were three screens, their volumes all down low, so that the ponies speaking on screen sounded as if they were mumbling to themselves. The room was surprisingly empty, only three of the booths being occupied and a single pony in a dirty white lab coat stood at a table, sipping on a small glass of a dark grey liquid.

As Anvil stepped into the room, one of the ponies in the booths spotted him and gave a loud cheer, leaping out of her seat and tackling him around the neck.

“Anvil! Oh, Celestia, I'm so glad you're alright,” the blue mare gushed, hugging Anvil tightly. “When we heard that you had been on Freeport 7 we were so worried!”

Anvil chuckled and gently pushed the mare away from his neck. “Don't worry, I'm fine,” he said, playfully rubbing her cheek with a hoof. “It's good to see you again, Shortwave.”

Looking over at the booth the mare had pounced from, Rainbow could see three other ponies sliding out from the booth and making their way across the room towards the trio standing in the doorway.

“Well, Rainbow, I guess this is where I leave you,” Anvil said, looking at Rainbow over Shortwave's shoulder. “Sorry about that drink. Maybe another time if you're still on Manehatten. Oh, and don't dwell on Flim and Flam, just go home. Hay, if I'm ever around Steeds, I'll pop in and see you at your friend's place, yeah?”

“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow said, shrugging. “See you, Anvil.”

“See you around, Rainbow,” Anvil said over his shoulder as he was guided out of the door. “Stay safe, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow responded, barely listening. She trotted over to one of the stools in front of the bar and sat her rear on it. A portly green unicorn in a dirty brown apron slowly made his way down the bar. Above his lips a short, bristly, brown moustache was perched.

“What'll you have, Miss?” The barpony asked gruffly when he finally reached Rainbow.

“Sweet Apple Cider,” Rainbow requested, watching the screens.

“All we have is Equality Ale, friend,” the unicorn said, drawing an empty glass from under the counter with his magic.

“Fine,” Rainbow muttered, trying to listen to what the ponies on-screen were saying.

“... Acting President Mayor Mare has asked the Equality Space Force to investigate the sudden destruction of Freeport Seven,” one of the anchor-ponies said, her voice barely audible. “There is no word yet on whether it was accidental, or a deliberate attack...”

Rainbow shook her head and diverted her attention to a lavender unicorn wearing a light blue military jacket with golden trimmings around the shoulder and neck, neatly buttoned up, sitting at a booth in the corner of the room. Her dark blue mane had a single purple and pink stripe slightly off-set from the centre of her overhanging fringe. The mare was talking quietly with a thin, balding crimson earth pony in a dark suit, though their conversation was much too quiet for Rainbow to eavesdrop on.

“Her name's Commander Twilight Sparkle,” the barpony's voice said from behind Rainbow. “She's a tough one.”

“Why's that?” Rainbow asked, curious, glancing back at the barpony.

“She's ESF. You know, Equality Space Force” he said, gently placing Rainbow's drink on the bar. “All business, if it's a job you're wanting, that is.”

Twilight's purple eyes looked in the bar's direction and caught Rainbow staring back at her. Twilight glowered at Rainbow and then continued on with her conversation.

Chuckling, Rainbow turned back to the bar.

“On the other hand, if you're looking for something more...” The barpony whispered conspiratorially, a wide grin on his face.

Glaring at the barpony, Rainbow said, “The only thing I'm looking for right now, is this drink.” She bit the rim of the glass in her teeth and titled it backwards, drinking the entire contents in one go, recoiling at the taste. “Urgh, this is what you drink around here? Tastes like ship oil.”

“That's because it is,” the barpony said, shaking with silent laughter He started to move back down the bar, but a look of recognition dawned on his face.

“I know you,” he said, turning to look at Rainbow closer.

“Really? Where from?” Rainbow responded, surprised that anypony here knew of her. Sure, she'd made a bit of a name for herself back in Braytonia from her stunt flying, but she hadn't honestly thought that she was that well known. Nowadays, it was all about flying in spaceships, not flying with your own wings.

“The news,” the barpony said, dashing Rainbow's hopes of some recognition. “I saw your face on the news.”

“Oh,” Rainbow mumbled, deflated.

“You're one of the Freeport Seven survivors, aren't you?” The barpony asked, leaning forward slightly.

Leaning back to keep some distance, Rainbow said, “Yeah, what of it?”

“I heard it was pretty bad out there,” he said, standing up straight again. “You know, you're lucky to be alive.”

“Hah, yeah” Rainbow muttered, staring at her glass, bitterness welling up inside her again.

“This one's on me, friend,” the unicorn said, smiling. He levitated a bottle from behind the bar and poured a little from it into Rainbow's glass. “It's the good stuff.”

Surprised, Rainbow looked up and asked, “Wait, what? Why?”

The barpony chuckled and said, “Because its not everyday a pony has the chance to start again, huh? To your good fortune in Equality, Miss.”

Rainbow smiled back gratefully and said, jokingly, “Well, it can't get any worse. Thanks.” She grabbed the glass again and downed the contents and then dropped it back on the bar. The barpony simply levitated the glass back up and trotted off back down the bar towards the unseen kitchen.

At a loss for what to do now, Rainbow turned around on her stool to face the rest of the bar. Twilight and the elderly businesspony were still having their discussion, the loner at the table was now reading from a small datapad, but the rest of the room was completely empty.

After a couple of minutes of deliberation, Rainbow decided that the best thing to do right now was to get a job, one that would support her until she got the money she was owed. She slid off her stool and trotted across the bar to the corner booth, where the conversation was in mid-flow.

“... I understand what you're saying, but I don't have nearly enough ponies,” Twilight was saying.

“Twilight,” the business pony said slowly, leaning forward. “The environment has changed. What with groups like The Order taking more and more liberties; indeed now, threatening our profits; some of the government feel that we need to increase our patrols in the- Oh.” He leaned back as he noticed Rainbow standing over them.

“Are you Twilight Sparkle?” Rainbow asked, motioning towards Twilight, completely ignoring the fact that she had interrupted the conversation.

“Yes,” Twilight answered, confused.

A dull thud came from the elderly earth pony as he dropped his suitcase on the table and slid out. “I believe you have business to discuss,” he said sharply to Twilight. He glowered at Rainbow and then began to walk towards the exit.

“No, wait!” Twilight called after him, rising in her seat.

“I will leave this matter in your... capable hooves,” the earth pony called from the doorway, slowing down slightly as he said it.

Twilight gave a large sigh and crossed her forelegs in front of her, pouting. “What do you want?” she asked, clearly annoyed.

“Well, sorry,” Rainbow said sarcastically, sliding into the seat opposite Twilight. “The bartender said you worked for the Equality Space Force and that you might have a job for me.”

“And who do you work for, Miss...” Twilight asked, trailing off in expectancy.

“Rainbow Dash. I work for myself.”

“Oh? What doing?”

“Oh, um, this and that. The last job was a delivery, but that went up in flames, along with Freeport Seven.”

Twilight's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. “Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know,” she said, ashamed. “Do... do you think you'll be in Equality long?”

“It depends,” Rainbow said, leaning back in her seat. “I've got some 'friends' who were injured in the attack. They're at a hospital somewhere in Manehatten. I'll be staying until they are released.”

“Well, I hope they're alright,” Twilight said genuinely, not catching onto Rainbow's sarcasm. “But as it happens, I could use a good freelancer, Miss Dash.” She slid out of her side of the booth and stood up. “I'm going to be in the spaceport's Ship Equipment Room later, around three o'clock. You can meet me there and we'll talk about the job. I've got to try and catch the conversation you interrupted.”

“Alright, Sparkle, I'll see you there,” Rainbow said as she got more comfortable in her seat.

Twilight scowled at Rainbow and said, “If we're going to be working together, call me Twilight.”

“Sure thing, Sparkle,” Rainbow replied, looking up at Twilight and grinning.

Twilight looked like she was about to say something but stopped before any sound came out. Instead, she rolled her eyes, huffed and trotted out of the door. Rainbow chuckled and leaned back in her seat, wondering how to wile away the time until she had to meet Twilight at the Equipment Room.

~

Rainbow sauntered into the Equipment Room a couple of hours later, her eyes scanning the enormous stone room for the unicorn she was supposed to meet. In each corner of the room, gigantic stone busts stood, staring into the centre of the room. Massive titanium shelving units lined the wall, and there was a large, folding door in the wall opposite Rainbow. Floating silently above steam-issuing vents in the middle of the room, looking tiny in comparison to the main door, was a small spaceship, its polymer hull painted a dull gold and grey. It was in the shape of a 3D star's lower prong, with a cockpit large enough to fit one pony embedded in the centre of the prong. Currently being fitted on each side of the prong were two relatively small plasma guns. Flitting around underneath the ship were a couple of robot-ponies, ferrying various components and canisters from the shelves to the ship and back again. Pacing back and forth beside the door Rainbow had entered in was Twilight, who stomped over to Rainbow in annoyance.

“You're late!” Twilight said angrily, making Rainbow recoil slightly. “You were meant to be here at three.”

“What? But it is three,” Rainbow replied, stepping out of range of Twilight's horn. Twilight rolled her eyes and turned towards the ship.

“Never mind,” Twilight muttered, slowly trotting towards the ship in the middle of the room. “Anyway, now that you're finally here, I can tell you about the job I would like you to do. Are you ready to work for the ESF, Miss Dash?”

“It's just Dash, and yeah, I'm ready for anything,” Rainbow said boastfully, following Twilight.

“Well, Spike found this for you,” Twilight said, stopping beside the floating ship, gesturing towards it. “An old Starflier. It's very basic, and you won't have jump access yet, but it should be good enough for now.”

“Spike?” Rainbow asked, her eyes studying the ship.

“Yes. He's my number one assistant,” Twilight replied proudly, her professional attitude slipping for a moment. “He's currently getting some more fuel cells, but he'll be back in a short while. Anyway, this assignment will be easy.” Rainbow turned her attention back towards Twilight as she stepped forward. “All you have to do is baby-sit a convoy of food and medical supplies,” Twilight said, eliciting a groan from Rainbow, which Twilight promptly ignored. “You'll be rendezvousing with the escort's commanding officer, Applejack; I'll tell her to expect you.” There was a pause as Twilight came to the realisation that Rainbow Dash hadn't actually accepted the job yet. “That is, of course, if you're interested?”

Rainbow picked up on the lingering hopeful tone to Twilight's question, but said nothing of it. Instead, she leaned casually against the spaceship being offered to her and asked, “What's the pay like?”

Twilight sighed and said, “Well, if you accept the assignment, you can keep this ship, but we'll also be able to pay you two thousand bits for your help. So... are you interested?”

Rainbow considered the offer for a moment, and then said, grinning, “Sounds good, Sparkle, I'm in.”

Twilight smiled back gratefully. “You'd better get going,” she said, turning around. “I'll get Spike to get someone to move your ship to the landing pad immediately. In fact, here he is now. Spike!”

This shout was directed at a small purple creature who was hurrying across the room on its two legs towards them, a clipboard clasped tightly in one claw and a pen in the other. Protruding out of the top of it's head and continuing down the back of it's neck were large green spines, and on either side of it's large face were three small, light green spines, which seemed to act like ears. It was dressed in a sharply pressed military uniform, complete with trousers, all of which were dyed navy. On it's feet were a pair of well-polished shoes, which gleamed in the fluorescent light. As it neared, Rainbow noticed that it's eyes were reptilian in nature, and they were both focused on Twilight. “Yes, Twilight?” The creature replied in a young male voice. He stopped just in front of the two mares and looked between them.

Rainbow gawped at Spike in amazement. “A dragon,” she mumbled to herself. “A baby dragon.”

“Is this the pony you said was going to be doing the job? I thought they'd be a bit... tougher,” Spike said, looking Rainbow up and down.

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted in irritation, Spike's apparent doubt at Rainbow's toughness shaking her out of her shock. “I'm the toughest pony you'll ever meet!”

“Yeah, right,” Spike responded sarcastically, looking back at Twilight. “So, what did you need me for?”

“Be nice, Spike! I need you to get this ship onto the launch pad as soon as possible, please,” Twilight said. “And then I'll need you to bring the budget for next month up to my office and help me set up another meeting with Mr. Pullswitch. Today's meeting got slightly interrupted.” At this, Rainbow sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof.

“Yeah, sorry about that, Sparkle,” she said. “So, is that it?”

“Applejack will be waiting for you near the docking ring in space, so all you need to do is get in your ship when its at the landing pad and launch,” Twilight replied. “I'll see you when you get back.”

“Thanks, shouldn't be too long,” Rainbow said as she turned around and started walking away. “See you later, Sparkle.”

~

A couple of minutes later, Rainbow Dash was once again standing on the landing pad, her jacket slung over her back, but this time she had a spaceship in her possession and a job to do. She pulled her ship's key out of her jacket pocket, balanced it on her hoof and pressed one of the tiny buttons on it with her muzzle. This caused the cockpit to open and a narrow set of steps slide out and descend to the floor. Rainbow completely ignored the steps and instead, grabbed her jacket in her teeth and eagerly flew up into the cockpit.

Inside, the ship was rather cramped, with an old, rather tattered polyester chair taking up most of the space available. All along the walls were various switches and buttons, and after a quick survey of them, Rainbow sat in the chair and flipped a small yellow switch, which caused the steps to fold back in and the cockpit to close once again. As soon as the cockpit had closed, the lights on each of the buttons began to glow dimly. She pressed a couple more buttons, which caused the ship to hum quietly into life, all of the lights in the cockpit glowing brighter. A control stick slid out of the wall in front of Rainbow, and a shiny new flight helmet lowered from the ceiling. It was a dark blue, and it had an oxygen mask perfectly shaped to go over her muzzle. Inside the helmet was a note which Rainbow curiously opened and began to read.

“Dear Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow mumbled to herself, reading aloud. “I realised you probably would have forgotten to get a flight helmet in your rush to get out into space, so here is a brand new one, just for you. Safety first, Twilight Sparkle.”

Rainbow snorted in amusement, before carelessly dropping the note on the floor and slipping the helmet on. “Well, thanks, Sparkle,” she muttered, fiddling with the straps of the helmet. “Never know when one of these comes in handy.” After a few more adjustments, Rainbow was satisfied that both she and the ship were ready for lift-off. She flipped the helmet's visor down, various icons and gauges visible on the heads-up display inside, and wrapped her hoof around the control stick. “Let's do this,” she said, her gaze fixated on the sky visible through the cockpit window. She nudged the throttle forward slightly, the noise of the engine getting steadily louder as she pushed the throttle further, until the landing pad beneath the ship finally began to sink away. With a small backwards pull on the joysticks, the ship tilted back, making the cloud-crossed sky the only thing visible through the window. On the visor, a small arrow pointed in which direction she had to head to legally and safely leave the planet, and Rainbow made the small adjustments needed to head in the correct route.

After a few seconds, the cloud cover peeled away, revealing a couple of other spaceships, most of which larger than hers, all heading towards a distant pair of co-joined rings, barely visible on the edge of the mesosphere. As she neared them, the atmosphere thinned out significantly, enabling Rainbow to see that the rings themselves were actually massive in comparison to her ship, and all along the rings were various flashing lights and windows. Beyond the rings, thousands of what looked like stars were visible, though a few of them were flashing and slowly moving around space. Three of the ships in front of her slowly passed through one of the rings, as a single ship flew the opposite way through the other. Just then, a dim light began to flash in the corner of Rainbow's vision. Already knowing what the flashing light meant, Rainbow poked a button on the wall, causing the light to stop flashing and a robotic voice to sound through the helmet's earphones.

“Please wait in the queue until you are allowed through the docking ring and into space,” the voice said slowly, as Rainbow slowed her ship until she was hovering a couple kilometres beneath the rings. She waited until the ship in front had flew through the rings and watched as it sped up and away, until it just became another of the many lights beyond the rings. “You are now cleared to leave the planet,” the voice said, and Rainbow quickly manoeuvred her ship into position. She began to grin uncontrollably as she flew through the ring, and as soon as she was clear, she shifted the throttle as far forward as it would go, letting out a whoop of joy as she felt what little gravitational pull Manehatten had left on her yank her back in her seat as she accelerated away into the space surrounding the planet.

All around her spaceship, other ships were flying around in various directions, some flying towards different trade lanes, all shaped like large eights, a few towards the planet Rainbow had just left, and others were flying in the direction of a massive space station. The station's primary feature was an enormous docking bay in the shape of a clamp, where many airlock gates were visible, each numbered correspondingly. Dotted along the sides of the station were several turrets, all pointing away from the construction, warning any would-be attackers away.

As Rainbow slowly floated along in space, admiring the view through her cockpit window, the light signalling that she was being hailed began to flash again. She poked the button to accept the contact, and a small video feed of an orange mare wearing a similar flight helmet to hers, but with three red apples crudely painted off-centre to the helmet's forehead. The mare's eyes were shrouded by the tinted visor, but they widened as they saw that Rainbow had accepted the hail. “Well, howdy there,” the mare said in a kind country accent. “Ah'm guessin' you're Rainbow Dash. I'm Applejack. Twi' told me that you'd be helping me with this mission.”

Out of the corner of Rainbow's vision, a ship she hadn't paid any attention to before swept out from beside the docking rings and fell into formation beside her own. It was in the vague shape of a small bird with its wings tucked in behind it, and the cockpit was situated in where the 'head' of the bird would normally be. Painted on each wing was the star of Equality, signifying that the pilot of this ship was part of the ESF. Through the cockpit window, Rainbow could just about see Applejack inside, who turned her head to look back at Rainbow and gave her a friendly wave. “Yeah, that's me,” Rainbow replied, giving a small wave back. “Good to meet you, Applejack.”

“Well, we can talk later, Ah've jus' been speakin' with the leader of the convoy. They've done all their checks an' they're ready to go. It should be an easy flight from here to Fort Hoof an' then on to Bitsburgh. Ya ready?”

“I'm ready.”

Just then, a gigantic spaceship crept into Rainbow's vision from one of the trade lanes. It was long and extremely bulky, with several towers emerging out from the main body of the ship, rotating turrets planted on the top of each. On the side of it was a large black cross, painted lengthways along it. It was flanked by a couple of miniature versions of the ship, each with the same black cross on them.

“Is that a Gildland cruiser?” Rainbow asked, staring in awe at the enormous ship as it flew slowly past the two of them.

“That's the Donau, Admiral Sharpbeak's flagship,” Applejack answered. “He's visitin' Manehatten to meet with the Acting President. No idea why. Oh, an' keep your distance. Everypony's a mite twitchy after Freeport 7.”

They silently watched as the flagship stopped close to the nearby station, and then Applejack said, “Come on, we ain't gonna get this done if we don't make a move. Follow me, Rainbow.” Applejack's ship accelerated  past Rainbow's, and they were halfway towards the trade lane they were headed for, when a calm male voice sounded through Rainbow's earphones. “This is Newhock Station,” she said. “Please be advised, we're picking up unknown contacts. Advise caution.”

Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise. This was pretty much exactly what had happened just before Freeport 7 was destroyed. Surely whoever had attacked wouldn't dare attack another target, especially one so close to the main planet in Equality space.

“Ah getcha, Newhock,” Applejack said, her voice grim. “Rainbow, ready your guns. This might get ugly.”

Rainbow nodded as she started flicking switches all around her, hearing the dull hum of the guns powering up through the ship's hull. She'd been in a couple of dogfights before when she had been travelling around the system in her old ship, but they had always been small affairs against pirates, and the police had always seemed to be there before too long. Rainbow could see five small spaceships slowly close in on the Donau from distant space.

“Unidentified ships, this is Newhock Station,” the male voice said again, speaking to everypony to show that the unknown contacts were being given a warning. “You are entering restricted space. Alter course at once, or we will open fire.”

“You cannot interfere,” the reply came back, presumably from one of the five ships approaching. It was distorted, rendering it impossible to distinguish whether the speaker was male or female. The ships were getting closer and closer to the Donau now, almost in range to fire or be fired on. “We're here to protect the Acting President,” the voice said. “Sharpbeak is a traitor!”

Suddenly, all five ships fired their torpedoes at the Donau as one. Before anypony could act, the torpedoes hit the Donau, and huge explosions ripped an enormous hole in the side of the cruiser.

“All ships, red alert, the Donau has been hit,” the stallion from Newark Station said quickly, fear and worry in his shaking voice. “Launch all rescue ships to the Donau.”

Rainbow stared in shock as the Donau was ripped apart by explosions. It was evident that the initial explosion had severely damaged the cruiser, and had set off a chain-reaction, causing many parts of the cruiser to be violently torn away by the destruction. Rainbow could see clearly that the rescue ships would never even be able to get close to the cruiser before it was utterly ripped apart.

“Oh my Celestia...” Rainbow heard the stallion from Newhock mutter over the open channel.

“Buck!” Applejack yelled down the microphone, rousing Rainbow from her shock. “Rainbow, we ain't lettin' them get away. Shoot 'em all! Newhock Station, this is ESF Patrol Gamma Six, engagin' enemy!”

Kicking herself into gear, Rainbow shoved the throttle forward and grabbed the control stick, wrenching it around to get the nearest enemy in view. Her ship sped towards the target, which was currently drawing fire from one of the Donau's escort. Rainbow quickly lined up the enemy in the reticule on the heads-up display, and when she was sure that she would hit, held down the fire button with her hoof. The ship shuddered as the guns began to fire, and through the hull she could hear the pulsing sound of the plasma being thrown into space. Her shots connected with the enemy ship, but a light blue flicker where they had connected was the sign that all she was doing was hitting the target's shields. She continued firing, but suddenly, her quarry ducked and weaved away, out of her vision. She yanked her ship around after it, and began to fire again. Suddenly, she saw the enemy's shield dissipate, and her shots finally began hitting her target's hull, which began to glow gently where it had been hit.

In the distance, one of the Gildland escorts exploded violently, after being the target of three of the unknown ships. Rainbow heard Applejack curse once again, before shouting, “Newhock, we need reinforcements, right now!”

“C-confirmed, Gamma Six, Interceptors are on their way,” Newhock's stallion replied, stuttering.

Rainbow, meanwhile, continued her assault on her quarry. She had managed to shoot off one of their wings, and she was now directly behind the enemy, and was aiming her shots at their engine. Most of the shots were missing and flying harmlessly into space, but finally one of them connected with their target. This caused an explosion to tear the engine apart, and then another one, considerably larger than the first, tore the rest of the ship apart.

Rainbow let out a large breath that she hadn't realised she had been holding, and then span her ship around to search for the other enemies. She felt a strange sense of euphoria after destroying her target, the adrenaline pumping through her body. Looking around, she saw one of the other Order ships spiral wildly in space, being chased by Applejack, until it crashed into the floating debris of the Donau. The other three were trying to evade a detachment of ships that had took off from Newhock Station, which were all pelting the unknown ships with plasma. Rainbow quickly piloted her ship towards the targets, planning on trying to intercept them and then join in on the chase.

As she got in range, she saw Applejack's ship swoop down from above the three and fire a missile almost point blank into the middle ship, which was ripped apart by the ensuing explosion. Rainbow began to fire on one of the ships as the detachment of ships flew after the remaining one, and Applejack quickly joined Rainbow's chase. Applejack's ship's guns were considerably more powerful than Rainbow's ship's, and they soon made short work of their target's shields. Rainbow once again began aiming at the enemy's engine, and she hit it with her first shot. This time, however, the engine failed to explode, and instead it simply let out a couple of sparks before dying, leaving the enemy ship spinning in space, the pilot unable to do anything.

Rainbow was about to fire again to finish off the unknown ship, but Applejack said, “Might as well leave 'em, we'll be able to find out why they destroyed the Donau this way. Nice shot, by the way.” Rainbow silently agreed, and spun her ship around to watch as the remaining ship was obliterated by the ships from Newark.

“All enemies dealt with, Newhock,” Applejack said quietly, reporting the events to Newhock Station.

“Are there any survivors from the Donau?” The stallion from Newhock asked shakily.

“Ah don't think so, Newhock, sorry,” Rainbow heard Applejack reply. “We do have one of the attackers though.”

“Okay, we'll pick him up. To all utility ships in the area, please continue scanning for survivors. All other vessels, return to normal duty, but remain on high alert,” the stallion said, getting a hold of himself.

“Rainbow,” Applejack said, “there ain't nothin' we can do here. The transports are waiting at Fort Hoof. I've sent a waypoint to your nav-map, just fly toward it.”

“Sure,” Rainbow replied, thinking about what had just happened. She went through the motions of getting to the waypoint; bringing up the map, programming in the destination, setting up autopilot; but all she could think about was what had happened to Admiral Sharpbeak and the fight afterwards.

It was apparent that Applejack was thinking about the same thing, because she suddenly said, “Ah can't believe it!” Her voice was now shaky with fear and shock, the adrenaline that must have run through her body leaving her now. “How'd they get so close to Manehatten without bein' spotted? First Freeport 7, and now this! It's gettin' outta control.”

By now, the pair of them had arrived at the waypoint destination, which was one of the trade lane rings. Rainbow knew how to use them, but she thought it would probably be better if she let Applejack activate them first.

“Alright, we're here,” Applejack said, ignoring the fact that she was stating the obvious. “Ah'm startin' the activation sequence, an' then you can go first.”

“Sure thing, Applejack,” Rainbow said, as she flew into position in front of the bottom ring. Just as she piloted her ship through the ring, a tunnel appeared in front of her, joining the ring now behind her with another trade lane several parsecs in front. The two ships began to fly along the lane, but the only indication of their rapid acceleration in speed was the dial on Rainbow's heads-up display and the sight of the other trade lane rings speeding past as they flew through.

“This is one of the main lanes through Manehatten space. We'll only be takin' it to Fort Hoof, though, otherwise we'd be reachin' one of the jump gates outta the system,” Applejack said, the mirth that Rainbow had first heard in her voice returning.

They continued along the trade lane for a few more moments, and steadily two large stations came into view, both about the same size as Newhock Station. The two ships decelerated rapidly until they flew through the final trade lane ring at about the same speed they had entered the first one. There were other trade lanes placed around the two stations, all headed off in different directions.

“That there's Fort Hoof,” Applejack said, “the one with the energy ring thing. Never understood what that does, even when Twi' tried to tell me.”

Rainbow examined the space station Applejack was talking about. It was in the general shape of Newhock Station, but instead of a large clamp shaped docking bay, there was instead a large ring fixed on the bottom of the station. In the ring were three laser-emitting funnels, all slowly rotating around the inside of the ring, their lasers all joining in the centre of the ring to no apparent function. On top of the main part of the station was a small protrusion with airlocks on, where ships would dock with the station and descend into the landing bay. The other station visible looked like a large shipyard, with a small central base, where ponies would wait while their ships were getting repaired, refuelled or restocked. There was only one ship currently floating in the shipyard's rings, and there was a small unmanned spaceship floating beside it, apparently attaching a fin to the body of the first ship.

Waiting between the two stations for Applejack and Rainbow Dash were two long spaceships, each just a cockpit with a long line of containers held to it by a line of clamps above them.

“Transport leader, this is ESF Patrol Gamma Six,” Applejack said over the communication channel. “We're here to get you to Bitsburgh, over.”

“Roger, Gamma Six,” a stern mare's voice responded. “This is Paper Wings in the ESV Brand, all pre-launch checks have been completed.”

“Alright. Rainbow, get round the other side of the transport. We'll be movin' in formation 'til we get to Bitsburgh,” Applejack said. Rainbow smoothly flew around to the opposite side of the transport to Applejack and stayed in position as the convoy began to fly in the direction of the trade line to Bittsburgh.

“Check: All ships are in position and we show green status,” Paper Wings said. There was a pause before she continued. “We heard about Admiral Sharpbeak... What happened?”

Applejack sighed and then said bitterly, “The planet's defence grid was off an' the Order managed to break through. They blew up the Donau with their first attack. We never had a chance to stop 'em." She paused for a moment. "They said somethin' about Sharpbeak bein' a traitor an' that they were protectin' the president. It's hard to believe somethin' like this could happen.”

“Dear Celestia,” Paper Wings muttered to herself in shock.

“Ah know. Anyway, we'd better get goin',” Applejack said, her voice still grim in memory of what had happened.

“Let's hope for the best,” Paper Wings responded. “Several convoys have come under attack in recent weeks; the Rogue problem has gotten out of control in this area.”

“Don't worry, tha's why we're here,” Applejack replied. “Rainbow's actually a darn good fighter. She did pretty well against those Order ships, didn't you?”

Rainbow chuckled and replied, “Yeah, I got two of 'em. They didn't see what hit 'em.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Applejack said, laughing.

By this time, the convoy had entered the trade lane and was on it's way to Bitsburgh. The trade lane began to proceed through a floating field of debris between Fort Hoof and Bitsburgh. They were halfway along when Rainbow saw a bolt of plasma shoot out from behind a piece of debris and hit the upcoming trade lane ring.

“Alert! Trade lane disruption detected,” a robotic voice said, as everypony's ships were forcibly slowed to a crawl. From behind the surrounding debris, six spaceships emerged and began to speed towards the convoy. They were all the same, each coloured grey and orange, with crimson skulls painted haphazardly on each side of the hull. The main body of each ship was shaped like a vertical disc, a large cockpit was connected to the front of the disc and on either side there was an engine and a couple of fins. They all looked absolutely vicious in Rainbow's opinion.

“Darn it!” Applejack shouted to no-pony in particular. “Rainbow, get your guns up, this is gonna get rough!”

Rainbow was already flipping the switches in her cockpit to power up her guns, and she wrenched the control stick so that she was facing the nearest Rogue. As soon as her guns were ready, she began firing, doing her best to make sure all of her shots connected with their target. The Rogue she was chasing was too busy focusing on the main transport ship to realise that his shields had dissipated, leaving his hull wide open for Rainbow's guns to rip his ship apart. These Rogue ships are much weaker than the ships the Order had, Rainbow thought to herself as her target exploded.

Just as Rainbow had destroyed her first target, a flashing red symbol appeared in Rainbow's heads-up display. Before she could wonder what it could mean, a missile impacted her ship's shields, fired from the Rogue ship that had just soared past. Rainbow frantically piloted her ship around to aim at her attacker and began to fire her guns at it. In the distance, one of the Rogue ships tried to evade a missile fired by Applejack, but instead ended up clipping a piece of debris with a wing and began spinning wildly out of control, enabling Applejack to easily shoot it out of space.

Rainbow continued to chase after her quarry, and she had just disabled their shields when a sudden impact shook her around in her seat. Worriedly glancing at the status display on her HUD to check if her ship was alright, she saw that her shields had been disabled and that her hull was getting damaged. She hastily pressed a button beside the control stick, which caused the ship to use one of the shield-recharge batteries that had been installed on the craft. Rainbow glanced around through her cockpit to try and find her attacker, but unfortunately she was unable to see what had hit her ship, so she concentrated on firing at her target.

“Rainbow, watch out!” Applejack shouted over the communication channel. “You've got two Rogues on your tail! Hold on, Ah'm comin'!”

Another shot hit Rainbow's ship, jolting her in her seat. She was beginning to panic now and she decided the best course of action was to break off her attack and do her best to evade the Rogues chasing her. She weaved her ship through the debris field, narrowing missing pieces and causing her attackers to concentrate more on dodging the debris than actually hitting her with their shots. Out of the corner of Rainbow's vision, she saw one of her chasers explode, but she continued to weave through the debris field, making sure that she stayed relatively close to the transports.

“Ah got one, Rainbow,” Applejack said through gritted teeth.

“Thanks,” Rainbow replied curtly, yanking on the control stick, barely avoiding one of the Rogue ships who had appeared out of nowhere. She saw her previous target in the distance, closing in on the transports. Quickly pulling her ship around, Rainbow lined the Rogue in her reticules and pushed the fire button. She must have damaged it enough the first time, because only one of her shots connected with her target, but it was still enough to cause the ship to explode violently.

“Ah got the other one, Rainbow!” Applejack yelled as her ship hurtled past Rainbow's. There was only one more Rogue ship left, and Rainbow and Applejack's joint attack quickly made short work of it.

“Thanks, you two,” Paper Wings said breathlessly, evidently shook up about the attack. “I thought we were goners for a moment there.”

“Don’t worry,” Applejack said reassuringly as she took up position beside the transport again. “We’ll make sure nothin’ happens ta you. Now let’s git before- Oh, horseapples…”

“What? What is it?” Paper Wings asked frantically.

“We got more Rogues incomin’,” Applejack said, groaning. “Rainbow, get in position! We’re gettin’ out of here, now!”

“What?” Rainbow asked in surprise. “Why are we going? We can take ‘em! How many are there?”

“Three more, but we need to get the convoy outta here and to Bitsburgh. Now get in formation!” Applejack yelled.

“You go with ‘em, I’ve got this,” Rainbow said confidently, spinning her ship around to see where the incoming Rogues were.

“Rainbow!” Applejack shouted in vain. After she didn’t get a response back, she sighed and said angrily, “Fine. We’ll see you at Bitsburgh soon. Jus’ be careful.” With that, Applejack and the two transport ships flew through the nearby trade lane ring and sped off in the direction of Bitsburgh, the communications channel going dead.

As the three Rogue ships neared, Rainbow asked herself whether she should have stayed to fight. She didn’t get long to think of an answer because all three Rogues fired a missile at her as soon as they got in range. Rainbow yanked her ship’s control stick back, sending her ship speeding over the missiles and towards the Rogues. She aimed her ship at the nearest Rogue and began firing, trying to make sure that most of her shots counted. Quickly managing to disable his shields, she swooped around behind him, and before he could make any attempt at evading, had shot his engine apart, sending the ship careening directly in the path of his partner, who only just managed to dodge out of the way.

Rainbow gave herself a small pat on the back for destroying the first target, but several shots from one of the remaining two Rogues cut her celebrations short. She pulled her ship around to face the charging Rogue and began to fly directly at him, firing all the time. The Rogue copied her, his shots peppering Rainbow’s ship’s shield, making it flash in front of her cockpit. She continued her assault on the incoming Rogue, praying that her shield would hold out. Suddenly, the charging Rogue’s shield dissipated and one of Rainbow’s shots hit his cockpit window. This caused the window to shatter into a million pieces, sucking out everything inside the cockpit and throwing the pilot out into space. Rainbow shuddered in disgust at what she had just done, but she was forced to put it to the back of her mind as she yanked her ship out of the way of the Rogue’s ship, which continued to fly in the same direction it was previously, even with no pilot inside.

The final Rogue ship was now directly behind Rainbow, his shots barely missing Rainbow's craft as she dodged and weaved through the debris. She was doing her best to try and shake him off her tail, but for every roll and feint she tried, he followed her, never once losing or gaining any distance. Finally, she managed to lose him for a moment by flying through a small gap between two pieces of debris, giving her enough time to manoeuvre around and surprise him as he flew around the side. He desperately weaved out of her way, enabling Rainbow to take the advantage and begin to chase after him. She began firing at him wildly as he darted between the debris, trying his best to evade her, though it was to no avail. He misjudged a turning and clipped the side of a large chunk of debris, sending his ship spinning uncontrollably towards another, smaller piece of debris. The ensuing explosion shook Rainbow's ship as she darted past, but no serious damage was done to the craft.

Rainbow let out a large breath, wiping her brow with a hoof. Casting a careful glance around, she was relieved to see that there were no more Rogues in the area, though she wasn't willing to stick around to make sure. She quickly piloted her ship back to the trade lane ring and flew through it in the direction of Bitsburgh, the dirty brown planet barely visible through the debris field.

Minutes later, Rainbow had arrived in the space surrounding the planet. She was surprised to see Applejack and the two transports floating beside the trade lane rings, and instantly the light indicating a hailing was flashing. Rainbow quickly pressed it and was greeted by an angry Applejack popping up on her visor, yelling across the channel. “What in hay was that all about, Rainbow? You coulda been killed!”

Rainbow snorted in amusement and said, “Hey, chill. I'm fine, don't worry. I had it all under control.”

Applejack sighed and shook her head, her stern expression melting into one of relief and amusement. “Well, you sure had me worried for a while there. Now what say we get down to Bitsburgh an' I can pay you for a job well done.”

“Sounds good to me,” Rainbow agreed, smiling. She smoothly rejoined formation with the transport and helped escort it the rest of the way to the Bitsburgh docking ring.

“Thanks for getting us here, you two,” Paper Wings said once Applejack had merged the communication channels together. “I know we wouldn't have made it otherwise. Those Rogues are getting much too bold. The ESF are going to do something about them, aren't they?”

“Yeah, don't worry about it. We've got somethin' in motion right now. Ah think that's the last you'll be hearing of the Rogues for a while.” Rainbow noticed a hint of smugness in Applejack's voice, but chose not to ask about it just yet.

“I'm glad to hear it. Thanks once again,” Paper Wings said before she dropped out of the channel. Rainbow and Applejack silently watched as both the transport ships flew through Bitsburgh's docking ring, and then Applejack said, “We'd better land too, if Ah'm gonna pay you. An' anyway, Ah've got a proposition Ah think you'll like. Ah'll see you down on the surface.”

Rainbow was about to ask what the proposition was, but before she was able to the channel went dead and Applejack flew through the docking ring. Rainbow huffed in irritation before going through the docking process herself.

~

Rainbow's first thought as she flew out of her ship was that she never wanted to have to come to Bitsburgh again.

As she had been descending on the planet, the first thing she had seen was a murky grey covering across the entire planet. She had been worried for a moment that that was the ground before a large ship burst through, revealing that it was just the cloud-cover, not the actual ground. Penetrating the clouds, she saw that the ground was actually the same brown as she could see from space, and that there was no water or distinguishable features in sight, apart from a small landing pad directly below her. Surrounding the landing pad were towering chimneys and funnels, all spouting the same grey clouds she had first seen when she had arrived on the planet.

Now that she was on the landing pad, the fetid fumes from the chimneys were overpowering, and she gagged a few times before covering her nostrils with a hoof. She gazed around for a sign of Applejack's orange coat, and soon spotted a smiling, Stetson-wearing orange mare she presumed to be Applejack slowly trotting her way towards Rainbow. Applejack was wearing a uniform similar to the one Twilight had been wearing, though it hadn't as many trimmings as Twilight's, and it also wasn't fully buttoned up. Her blonde mane and tail were quite long, but were tied into a ponytail with small red bands.

“Good job out there, Rainbow,” Applejack said as she trotted up to Rainbow. “Now, Ah believe Ah owe you some bits.” She pulled a small bit chit out of her uniform pocket and held it out in front of Rainbow, who gratefully took it with a smile. Rainbow pulled out her bit device and slotted the chit into the side of it. The device's small screen lit up with some numbers, and a tap from Rainbow's hoof added the bits to her balance. Tucking the device away, Rainbow remembered what she had wanted to ask Applejack up in space.

“Hey, Applejack. Did you know it was gonna get bad out there?”

Applejack looked uncomfortable for a moment, scuffing a hoof on the metal floor of the landing pad and swept her hat off with the other hoof. After a small pause, she said, “Ah'm sorry Ah didn't tell you the whole thing. Ah wanted to, but Twi' wasn't sure she could trust you. She's been plannin' this for a while now.” Rainbow was hurt at the implication that she wasn't trustworthy, but she could see why Twilight was playing it safe. “The high-ups in the ESF had suspicions tha' the Order have ties with th' organised crime in Liberty, though they ain't got any idea how. Twilight thought that the Rogues must have a secret base somewhere in the debris field around Bitsburgh, 'cause of all the attacks recently. That's why she set up this convoy.”

Rainbow nodded, realising that Twilight had probably been planning this ever since the Rogue presence in the area had began to increase. She motioned for Applejack to continue.

“Well, Ah think Twi's onto somethin' here, so when Ah landed just now, I called for some backup.” Applejack scratched the back of her head, and nervously looked at Rainbow. “Once again, Ah'm sorry we didn't tell you the whole thing, but Ah saw you out there. You're a great flyer; hay, you're nearly as good as me! An' you also handled yourself against those three Rogues on your own. One of them even had a bounty on his head, an' you got him fine.” She chuckled and then continued, “Ah should probably pay you for that too, but Ah'm guessing Twi' will do that when you next see her. Anyway, what Ah'm sayin' is that we could really use you out there, Rainbow.”

Rainbow thought about the offer for a moment. If she accepted, she'd be getting herself into much more danger, because this time, she'd be looking for it. She had to admit, she loved the thrill of the dogfights that had happened out in space. The constant sense of danger and adrenaline as she guided her ship around, avoiding enemies' shots and destroying her targets, all tempted her to accept the offer, but there was a small nagging voice at the back of her head, warning her not to. After a short while of deliberation, she finally gave in to temptation.

“Alright,” Rainbow answered Applejack finally. “You can count on me.”

Applejack looked mightily relieved at Rainbow's answer, and she quickly donned her Stetson again, smiling. “It'll be worth it, Ah promise. One thing though. Now you've got a few bits, Ah suggest you look into outfittin' that ship of yours. Try the pony over there, he's the local equipment dealer. He always has good stuff.” Applejack nodded her head over her shoulder towards a bored-looking stallion wearing a loose tie. “Well, sometimes. Ah'll see you in space when you're ready.” She gave Rainbow another big smile and began to trot back to her ship.

“See you in space, AJ,” Rainbow called to Applejack's retreating back. She turned towards the equipment dealer and sighed.

“What have I got myself into?”