Freelancer: The Universe of Possibility

Chapter 2: A Rogue Problem

As soon as Rainbow had exited Bitsburgh's docking ring, Applejack's ship fell into formation alongside Rainbow's and the light signalling that she was being hailed lit up.

“There you are!” Applejack's cheery voice said. “Ah was beginning to wonder where you got to!”

“Let's just say I'm never doing business on Bitsburgh again...” Rainbow replied, causing Applejack to laugh. “So, how're we gonna find this Rogue base?”

“Four ESF wings from Fort Hoof are searchin' the debris fields at the moment. They've already taken prisoners, ah hear. We'll be joining the search. Ah'm uploading the co-ordinates for our search pattern to your nav-map, an' then we'll meet with another wing of fighters for our patrol.” A little chime sounded as the waypoint appeared on Rainbow's map. “So, how come you're never doin' business on Bitsburgh again?”

“That equipment dealer you sent me to didn't have anything except the two guns I've now got, and I had to haggle with him for ages just to get these down to a decent price,” Rainbow ranted. “And then he wouldn't buy my old pea-shooters for anything more than 5 bits each! So much for always having good stuff.”

Applejack chuckled. “When he's in the mood he was in, you're better off tryin' someplace else. At least you got some new guns. Ah've a feelin' that they're gonna help.”

“Expecting more action?” Rainbow asked eagerly.

“Ah'm expectin' the Rogues to not want their base destroyed.” Applejack said grimly. “Hold on, Ah see the patrol.”

In the distance, Rainbow could see three ships floating in space, waiting for her and Applejack. The ships were all the same, with a long narrow main hull, and a thick, wide wing on either side. Each ship's cockpit was at the front of the narrow section, and each wing had a gun on the topside and underside, making the ships look fairly menacing. A small blip signified that pilots of the three ships had all been added to the communication channel.

“Gamma Six,” the pilot of the middle ship said, his helmeted scarlet face appearing on Rainbow's HUD as he spoke. Rainbow supposed he was the leader of their wing. “Delta Patrol reports no hostile contacts. What are your orders?”

“Tell them to keep lookin',” Applejack replied. “One way or another, we'll find where those Rogues are hiding. Come on, Rainbow, let's go.”

“Sure thing,” Rainbow said as she piloted herself behind the leader's ship, who turned towards the debris field surrounding Bitsburgh and began to fly towards it.They flew in silence for a few seconds until Applejack's voice came across the channel again.

“After the attack on our transport, the ESF sent four wings to help us track down where these Rogues are comin' from,” Applejack explained. “They gotta have a secret base around here an' this time, we'll get them.” She looked like she was about to continue but she was suddenly interrupted by a panicked voice.

“Mayday! Mayday! This is Prison Ship XT19, we're under attack! To all Equality patrols, please respond!” The pony who had called the distress' face appeared on Rainbow's visor, and she could see the fear in his eyes and sweat pouring down his brow. There were flashing lights and sirens in the background, and she could just make out ponies darting around behind him.

Applejack's ship broke formation immediately and it's engines began to glow brighter and brighter. “All units, change course to intercept. Get your cruise engines on and follow me!” Applejack said in a determined voice.

Rainbow scanned her cockpit for the cruise engine button, and as soon as she had found it and pressed it, turned her ship to follow Applejack. The whine of her ship's engines grew higher and higher in pitch, getting louder too, and as they did so, Rainbow could see the debris around her start to pass by much faster than before. She made a note in her head to remember to switch the cruise-engines off before she attempted to engage any Rogues, as her guns wouldn't fire while they were on due to the power-allocation systems in all spaceships made in the last eight-hundred years.

“This is ESF Patrol Gamma Six. We're on an intercept course an' are approachin' your position, over,” Applejack stated slowly in response to Prison Ship XT19's request.

“Acknowledged, Gamma Six,” the prison ship pony said hastily. “We're under attack by multiple Rogue fighters. We have fires on several decks, and our defences are failing. Please, get here fast!”

“Ah get'cha, XT19, hang on. We'll be there soon,” Applejack said, her tone stern but reassuring.

The five ships darted back out of the debris field in the direction of a small moon off of Bitsburgh, and Rainbow could faintly distinguish a long, thin object in orbit of the moon. Her heart was pumping and she could feel the adrenaline slowly seeping back into her system. She'd barely been off Bitsburgh for five minutes and she was already heading back into a fight.

After less than a minute's flight, the group was nearly upon the moon, and Rainbow could see the long object more clearly now, and she was able to identify it as a very large spacecraft. All along the prison ship, small explosions were throwing pieces into space, and she could see several Rogue ships speeding around the outside, peppering the prison with lasers and plasma.

“We're taking heavy damage, get these guys off us!” The prison ship pony said, pleading over the channel.

“There she is,” Applejack stated. “She's hurt bad. Everyone, engage the Rogues!”

“Roger that,” Rainbow said, gritting her teeth as she took aim at one of the Rogue ships. “Time to test these guns out,” she muttered to herself, flicking off the cruise engines and pressing the fire button on her control stick. From either side of the cockpit, streams of plasma fired off into space, straight into the side of the ship she was aiming at, who's shields were ripped apart almost instantly by the surprise attack.

The pilot was obviously panicking from the sudden onslaught, as he broke off his attack on the prison ship and attempted to escape Rainbow, but before he could make and real distance, Rainbow's shots had torn his ship apart.

“Definitely an improvement,” Rainbow said, chuckling, before she turned her attention to another Rogue, who seemed to have realised that new opponents had arrived. He had just span to face Rainbow when a missile flew in from out of nowhere and collided with the top of his ship, blowing it to pieces.

“Woohoo!” Applejack cried as her ship soared past where the Rogue had been, moments before. “Take that, you varmint!”

“Nice shot!” Rainbow said, grinning. She span her ship round once again, scanning for any immediate threats. Noticing one of the ESF fighters being chased by two Rogue ships, Rainbow slammed the throttle forwards and took pursuit. As soon as she was in range, she fired at one of the Rogues, the majority of her shots hitting, causing the Rogue's shield to glow brightly. However, her missed shots must have attracted the attention of the other Rogue, for he slowed suddenly, and before Rainbow could react, he was behind her ship and she was sure he was taking aim.

“Applejack, I've got one on me,” Rainbow said as she began to weave around, still attempting to keep her target in her sights while she did so. “Can you get him?”

“Ah've got him, don't worry,” Applejack said. Rainbow saw, out of the corner of her eye, Applejack's ship stop chasing another Rogue and turn towards Rainbow's attacker.

Sticking her tongue out in concentration, Rainbow did her best to ignore the shots barely missing her ship as she darted wildly around. Her shots were nearly all missing her target because of her erratic movements, and a glance at her ship's status on her visor told her that her shield was getting dangerously close to dissipating.

“Any time now, Applejack,” Rainbow said impatiently, following her target alongside the prison ship, dodging various towers sticking out of it.

“Ah'm tryin' mah best, Rainbow, but what in hay are you doin'? You're gonna crash!” Applejack responded.

“I'm trying to get him off me, so I can get this guy!” Rainbow said in frustration, narrowly avoiding a small explosion erupting from the prison ship. She pulled sharply away from the prison ship and craned her head round, trying to see behind her. “Did you get him? She asked curiously.

“Nope, he crashed into the prison ship,” Applejack said as her ship flew past. “Now let's get that other one.”

Just as she had said that, the pony from the prison ship called over communication channel, “Alert, we're picking up several new hostile contacts! Please, you've got to stop them!”

“Horseapples!” Rainbow swore. “More pirates?”

“Rainbow, defend the prison ship at all costs,” Applejack ordered, as she flew off to engage the newcomers.

Rainbow swore again under her breath as she chased after the remaining Rogue from the original assault, whom she quickly managed to dispatch. She guessed she must have done enough damage with her first attacks. Spinning her ship around, she spotted a Rogue ship speeding through space towards her, firing rapidly. Yanking the control stick backwards, she flew over the attacking Rogue and dropped down behind him, peppering his ship's retreating back with shots. His shield fizzled away in seconds, and she darted after him, not noticing that he had turned his engine off and was spinning slowly around. Just as she was sure she had got him, he darted off past her, leaving her staring at empty space.

“Hey!” Rainbow said in surprise, pulling her ship around to find him again. She quickly spotted him again, and she saw that his engine was beginning to glow brighter. “You're not getting away from me, mister,” she muttered to herself, firing at him once again. Almost as soon as the Rogue's cruise engines turned on, Rainbow's shots connected, colliding his with his engine and causing a massive explosion, ripping the Rogue ship apart.

“And that's three for Rainbow,” she said, pleased with herself, turning her ship round to look for more.

“That was the last one, Rainbow,” Applejack said, eliciting a sigh of relief from Rainbow. She eased back in her cockpit seat, letting go of the control stick and stretching. She could still feel her heart pounding away, but she knew it'd settle down in a few moments.

“You did it!” The prison ship pony exclaimed in joy. “The radar is clear.”

“XT19, what's your status?” Applejack asked, her ship coming to stop alongside Rainbow's.

“Fires are contained, we lost life support to several decks, but we're alright, over,” the prison ship pony replied, wiping his brow.

“That's good. Is there anyway we can help?”

“Negative.” The prison ship pony seemed to be calming down now. “Repair ships from Bitsburgh are on the way. You came just in time, thank you.”

“Ah'm glad we could help,” Applejack said, a smile on her face. “Epsilon Wing, could you stay here in case more Rogues show up? Rainbow and I will continue the search on our own.”

“Affirmative. We're a little damaged, but we'll do our best,” the scarlet pony said. “Good luck out there.”

“Thanks, Epsilon,” Applejack replied as the three ships of Epsilon Wing fell into position alongside the prison ship. “Rainbow, Ah'm gonna upload some new co-ordinates. We need to get back to searchin'. Get your cruise engines on and follow me.”

Rainbow flipped the switch for her cruise engines to start powering up and she began to follow after Applejack's ship.

They flew along in silence for a few minutes as they entered the debris field. Rainbow had to take care to avoid the large pieces of floating debris, occasionally weaving around a particularly large piece. She wondered how exactly so much debris had managed to get into space and create such a large field of it. Her thoughts pondered this until Applejack broke the silence once again.

“The Rogue base must be around here somewhere,” she muttered, seemingly to herself.

“Huh? Why?” Rainbow asked, not catching on.

“They'd never attack somethin' as big as a prison ship too far away from their hideout.”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Rainbow said. “So, what're we gonna do when we find it? Blow it up, I hope.”

“We're gonna do jus' that, Rainbow. We might need some backup though, Ah'm not exactly equipped to take down anything bigger than a cruise-liner.”

“I don't think I could even take one of them out. Rogue ships seem the best this ship can do.”

Applejack chuckled. “When we get back to Manehatten, Ah'll see if Ah can get the ship dealer to cut you a deal. Might be able to get you one of our ships.”

“Well they look better than this pile of junk,” Rainbow joked.

~

The two of them continued along their search pattern for half an hour, with Rainbow getting increasingly bored, seeing nothing but debris and very rarely, an abandoned ship floating in space. She was about to ask Applejack if the searches usually took this long, when the image of a tan coloured mare appeared at the side of Rainbow's visor.

“Mayday, this is ESF Beta Four, I'm under attack and need assistance!” The mare said urgently, her eyes wide.

Rainbow noticed Applejack's image jump, but she quickly responded with; “This is ESF Patrol Gamma Six, we hear you Beta Four. Where are you, over.”

Beta Four's fearful voice crackled with static and occasionally cut out. “I'm in the middle of the debris field... I'm … I have several Rogue fighters on my tail... I can't shake them! My shields are failing!”

On the map on Rainbow's visor, a small ship appeared, barely any distance from Rainbow and Applejack's position. Before Applejack even said anything, Rainbow had turned her ship towards Beta Four's location and was getting ready to fight.

“Alright, Rainbow, let's take these varmints out,” Applejack said, her ship just behind Rainbow's.

“Already ahead of you,” Rainbow said, a slight grin on her face. She was almost upon Beta Four now, only a large piece of debris between her and Beta Four. Pulling her ship around the debris, Rainbow switched her cruise engine off and saw that Beta Four was immobile, with three Rogue fighters closing in.

“Hang on Beta Four, we're here,” Rainbow said, pushing her ship forward towards the incoming Rogue ships. She began firing at them, knowing she was out of range but hoping to at least distract them and cause them to separate. However, all three Rogue ships turned their attention immediately to Rainbow and began firing right back at her, causing her to roll wildly to the side, putting a piece of debris between them and her once again.

When she emerged on the other side, she could only see two Rogues, with Applejack in hot pursuit of one of them. The other Rogue spotted Rainbow once again, and began to bear down on her, getting faster and faster, shots firing all the time. What the Rogue hadn't seemed to realise though, was exactly how close to the debris Rainbow was, and at the last second before the Rogue collided with Rainbow, she dived below him and span around, just in time to catch the sight of the Rogue desperately try and avoid the debris, to no avail.

“I didn't actually think you'd fall for that,” Rainbow said to herself, chucking, awarding herself a brief respite before looking around for any more Rogues.

“Er, Applejack? Where did the Rogues go?” Rainbow asked after a quick look around.

“We got 'em all,” Applejack said happily as her ship flew past. “Beta Four, how're you doin'?”

“The ship's holding together. Barely,” Beta Four said, her eyes sweeping her cockpit.

“Where's the rest of your wing?” Rainbow asked before she could stop herself.

“Gone,” Beta Four said quietly, choking up. “We were sweeping through the debris field and ran into heavy fire inside a dense particle cloud. They were shot down instantly. We didn't have a chance.”

“You did really well, Beta Four, we'll get you out of here soon,” Applejack said gently. “Could you show us where you were?”

“I'll upload the co-ordinates now, Gamma Six,” the tan mare said with a sniff. “My systems are fried and I've got a coolant leak. I'm a sitting duck here.”

“Don't worry, we'll get some ponies to get you back to Bitsburgh,” Applejack said reassuringly. “We'll do a proper memorial for the rest of Beta wing when we get back to Manehatten.” The channel went dead for a few moments, and then Applejack returned. “Ah've called for Epsilon Wing to come escort you back to Bitsburgh. They should be here in five minutes. You'll be alright, Beta Four.”

“Thank you, Gamma Six,” Beta Four said, lifting her visor and wiping her eyes with a hoof. “I'd be dead if it wasn't for you. Good luck.”

“You too, Beta Four,” Rainbow said, stunned that an ESF wing could have been taken out so fast.

“Let's go, Rainbow. Ah know where the base is,” Applejack said, determination thick in her voice. “Head to the co-ordinates Beta Four gave us.”

“Wait, are you saying that where Beta wing was ambushed is where the base is?” Rainbow asked, getting excited at the prospect of them actually having found the base. She activated her cruise engines and flew after Applejack in the direction of the particle cloud.

“Ah think this is it. Ah'm gonna call in for some backup. Get ready, this could get a mite hairy.”

A beep sounded on the communication channel, signalling that Applejack was calling to all ESF units in the area.

“To all units, this is Gamma Six. We have a potential location of the Rogue base. Come to these co-ordinates,” Applejack said, a slight smirk on her face as she sent the co-ordinates out.

“This is Alpha One, acknowledged, we'll rendezvous at the co-ordinates,” a brown stallion responded in a nasally voice. A stream of other acknowledgements from different ponies followed after, surprising Rainbow with exactly how many ESF ponies were in the area.

“These Rogues won't know what hit them,” she said, laughing. “You've got the entire force coming to take them out!”

“This is only a small part of the ESF around Manehatten,” Applejack replied, chuckling. “If we had the entire ESF force here, we wouldn't be able to fit in this sector.” Her face suddenly fell. “Hang on, I'm gettin' somethin'... Incomin' Rogue fighters, get ready!”

“Again? They really don't want us to find this base, do they?” Rainbow said, exasperated.

“They really don't,” Applejack said as the Rogues came into view. There was only three of them, but they instantly started firing, forcing Rainbow to break away from Applejack.

“Let's take 'em out, Rainbow!” Applejack said as Rainbow saw her speed towards the Rogues. A missile flew away from Applejack's ship and before the Rogues could react, it hit its target, ripping the Rogue ship apart. “That's five down,” Applejack said smugly as her ship flew through where the Rogue had been.

“Have you been keeping count?” Rainbow asked, surprised. She thought she was the only one who had been doing that.

“Yeah, Ah always do,” Applejack said. “And you're gonna fall further behind if you don't start movin'!”

“You're on,” Rainbow said, grinning as she pushed the throttle forward.

One of the Rogues had began to chase Applejack, so Rainbow deftly fell in behind him and fired. In no time at all, his shield was down and Rainbow's shots were damaging his hull. His ship suddenly lurched down and began to spin wildly, causing Rainbow to have to quickly change direction to follow.

“What in the hay is this guy doing?” She asked herself, watching him spin so wildly she couldn't even begin to follow him with her guns. Realisation dawned quickly, though, and she noticed that his ship was spinning towards a large chunk of debris.

“Five for me?” Rainbow asked when the Rogue had crashed into the debris.

“Rainbow, the last one is fleeing into the field!” Applejack said, darting past the front of Rainbow's ship.

“Oh no you don't,” Rainbow muttered, turning to follow Applejack. She saw that the Rogue's cruise engines were online, and he was quickly speeding away from them, towards a large red cloud in the distance. Flicking her own cruise engines online, Rainbow piloted her ship after the retreating Rogue.

“Gamma Six, this is ESF Alpha One, what's your status?” The nasally voiced stallion said over the channel as his wing flew out of the debris field after the Rogue.

“Alpha One, the Rogue base must be in the particle cloud ahead,” Applejack replied. “Follow that Rogue. He'll lead us right to them.”

“Understood,” Alpha One said.

In the distance, Rainbow saw the Rogue disappear into the particle cloud, and her heart pumped with anticipation at what was inside.

“Rainbow, get ready,” Applejack said, a slight wobble in her voice betraying her nerves. “There could be anythin' in that cloud.”

“I know,” Rainbow said, gripping the control stick tighter.

All of a sudden, they were in the crimson particle cloud. Rainbow could barely see Alpha Wing in front of her, let alone anything else. She glanced around the cockpit, checking her ship's systems, making sure that everything was okay. Her engines were undamaged, her shields were fully functional, and she was ready to turn the cruise engines off at the drop of a hat. She never understood why the cruise engines stopped the guns from being able to fire, but she didn't really care anyway.

Just as fast as they had entered the cloud, they had been released into a large empty space in the middle of the cloud. Floating, dead centre of the space, was the Rogue base.

The Rogue base was in the shape of a cylinder on its side, and at one end it had another cylinder protruding from the top, and at the other end, another cylinder protruding from the bottom. All along each of the cylinders were lights and windows, as well as two large hanger doors, one at each end of the cylinder. It was a dark grey, with crimson paint splashed haphazardly in the shape of a skull. Floating either side of the base were two cross shaped constructions, but Rainbow had no idea what they were.

“There!” Applejack cried. “The Rogue base. To all units, this is Gamma Six. We've got the location of the Rogue base. I'm sendin' you co-ordinates. Ah can make out two defence platforms and an armoured depot. We'll need torpedoes to take it out, over.”

“Delta Wing is armed with torpedoes,” Alpha One said. “They're on their way.”

“They'd better get here fast, there's more Rogues than Ah thought there'd be,” Applejack said quietly.

Rainbow squinted, and she could just make out small black shapes flying all around the main base, but she couldn't see exactly how many. All she knew was that there were a lot more than they had faced at any one time.

“Rainbow, we can't take out the base, it's armour is too strong,” Applejack said. “But we can soften up their defences by takin' out the platforms. Let's go.”

Rainbow nodded silently and switched off her cruise engines. She spotted a few Rogue ships break off from flying around the main base and begin to fly towards her.

“Get ready, here they come!” She shouted over the channel. She threw the throttle forward and charged recklessly towards the oncoming Rogues. Targeting the Rogue closest to her, Rainbow fired her guns at it as it advanced, taking out it's shield. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a missile collide into another Rogue, and Applejack's ship burst through the debris. Rainbow's target swept past Rainbow's ship, peppering the shield in front of the cockpit with shots, making it glow and briefly obscuring Rainbow's vision. She span her ship round and saw her target hurtling off after an Alpha wing ship, so she threw her ship after the Rogue. Quickly gaining on it, Rainbow fired once more, her shot connecting with the Rogue's engine, causing him to spin off and explode a moment later.

Before Rainbow could even take a moment to catch her breath, laser shots sped past her cockpit, and she span her ship round to face them. Two more Rogue ships were baring down on her at a considerable speed. Thinking quickly, Rainbow started flying towards them, dodging and weaving to avoid their shots, firing all the while. Just as she was about to collide with one of them, she dived underneath and did a half-loop, coming up behind him before he could begin to start turning round, and she slowed to shoot the rear of his ship as much as she could.

“Rainbow, look out! We've got more pirates coming from the base,” Applejack said hurriedly. “Ah hope those reinforcements get here soon.”

As soon as her target was destroyed, Rainbow risked a quick look round to see how many more Rogues were joining the fight and regretted it almost immediately. From both ends of the base, Rogue ships flew out, ready to engage the attackers. It looked like there were now nearly double the amount of Rogues as there were to begin with, and Rainbow was beginning to feel like she really shouldn't have accepted Applejack's offer.

“Applejack, how do we take out those defence platforms?” She asked, piloting her ship in their direction, doing her best to avoid stray shots.

“You just gotta shoot 'em, Rainbow! Ah'll do mah best to keep them off you, just take those platforms down,” Applejack responded, her teeth gritted.

“Alright, let's do this,” Rainbow muttered to herself. She gripped the control stick tightly, made sure that one defence platform was in her sights, and began firing. As soon as the first shots hit the platform, a turret from one of the legs of the platform began firing at her, making her weave around frantically, trying not to get hit. Still firing as much as she could at the centre of the platform, Rainbow got close enough so that the turrets could no longer fire at her, and she began to orbit the platform, doing small bombing runs in an attempt to destroy it. All around her ship, lasers and plasma were being fired at her, most of the shots missing her craft, but the ones that did hit made her wince every time.

“Come on, come on...” Rainbow mumbled, wondering if she was actually doing any damage at all, when one of the legs of the cross broke off with a sudden explosion, causing Rainbow to cheer with relief. “One down, one to go!”

Turning her ship around, Rainbow sped off towards the other defence platform, looking around as she did so. She noticed that there were considerably less Rogue ships than there were before, and she spotted Applejack seemingly taking on three at once, and winning. Rainbow didn't let herself be distracted for too long, though, as she quickly got into range of the final defence platform.

This time, Rainbow decided to just do bombing runs of the platform, diving in and out as fast as she could to avoid as much fire as possible. She started firing at the platform's centre, and at the last possible moment, ducked between the legs of the cross and flew out the other side, taking as big a turn as she dared, before darting back in again. Just as she came out the second time, she was met by a hail of laser coming from the side as a Rogue ship flew past, barely missing her ship and causing Rainbow to jump.

“Buck!” She shouted in shock, reflex making her yank her ship upwards. She briefly considered chasing after her attacker, but decided that she could do that after she had dealt with the defence platform.

Performing another half-loop, Rainbow went back in for a third run on the weapons platform, and this time, it proved enough. A large explosion ripped the platform in two, and Rainbow burst through the gap.

“I've got the platforms, Applejack, how're you doing?” Rainbow asked, pulling her ship around to look for her attacker.

“Ah'm managin',” Applejack said, concentration etched on her face. “Where're those torpedo bombers?” She asked, desperation seeping into her voice.

Rainbow watched as Applejack's fighter sped past the base, being chased by two Rogues. Wrenching her ship back into motion, Rainbow took off in pursuit of Applejack's chasers, in an attempt to alleviate some of her partner's trouble. She quickly caught up and fired at the closest Rogue, her shots making her target's shield dissipate quickly, and soon his ship had been torn apart by her shots as well. Not moving her hoof from the trigger, Rainbow switched her aim, and in no amount of time, the other Rogue had been dealt with as well.

“Thanks, Rainbow,” Applejack said, letting out a long breath. “They got behind me while I was dealin' with three others.”

Rainbow was about to respond when a gruff voice started speaking.

“This is ESF Delta One, we're making our torpedo run on the station, over,” an olive stallion said over the communication channel.

“Good to see you guys,” Applejack said, relief in her voice. “Let's finish 'em off!”

Rainbow turned her ship around and watched as three ESF fighters appeared from the red cloud surrounding the Rogue base. The three fighters slowly flew in a line towards the base, ignoring everything around them, including the shots fired in their direction. When they got close enough, the olive stallion said, “Torpedoes away,” and from the bottom of each ship, two large missiles were fired, flying steadily towards the Rogue base.

When they connected with the base, each missile caused an enormous explosion to tear massive holes in the base, which then created smaller explosions which spread throughout the base rapidly, throwing chunks of metal and polymers into space. All of the fighting had stopped as the Rogues turned to watch the destruction of their base, as they realised they had failed to protect it. Fire and gases seeped from the many holes in the base's hull, and then finally, the entire thing exploded into fragments which all spiralled away into space.

“Great shot, Delta leader,” Applejack exclaimed as Rainbow whooped and cheered, both in relief and merriment at their success.

“Our pleasure, Gamma Six,” Delta One said. “We couldn't have done it without you. What shall we do about the rest of the Rogues?”

“We'll ask 'em to surrender. Ah doubt they'd wanna keep fightin' now,” Applejack replied.

“Roger that, Gamma Six, we've got it from here,” Alpha One said. “All units, secure the area. Rogue fighters, your base has been destroyed. Surrender or we will be forced to eliminate you. I repeat, surrender, or we will be forced to eliminate you.”

Rainbow watched as the Rogue ships were rounded up and surrounded by the ESF fighters. Applejack's ship flew slowly back towards Rainbow's, and Applejack said, “Good work, Rainbow. Let's get clear, we're not needed here any more. Ah'm uploading co-ordinates to Bitsburgh to your nav-map. Let's go.”

“Sure thing, Applejack,” Rainbow said, happy to head back, though a little irritated she had to set hoof back on Bitsburgh. She flicked the switch for her cruise-engines and began to fly out the crimson cloud and towards the waypoint on her map.

“Great work out there, Rainbow!” Applejack said a few minutes later as they were flying back through the debris field. In the distance, Rainbow could see the small shape of Bitsburgh, obscured mostly by the debris. “Not bad for a beginner!”

“Beginner? I'm not a beginner!” Rainbow said indignantly. “How many did you get in the end, eh?”

“Twelve,” Applejack replied smugly, a smile on her face.

“Twelve? Hay, I only got nine,” Rainbow said, a little disappointed but impressed all the same.

“Better luck next time, Rainbow,” Applejack said, laughing. “Somethin' tells me Ah'm gonna be seein' a lot more of you in the future.”

“Yeah?” Rainbow asked, a small thought inside her head wondering what would happen if she kept doing these sorts of jobs. She had certainly enjoyed what they had done today, but there had been a few times when she hadn't been sure if she would make it out alive. As soon as she had thought that though, she remembered that even trying to do a simple delivery job had nearly ended with her dead more times than she cared to count.

“What we've done here today will hopefully put a dent in the Rogue problem we've been havin' in this system,” Applejack said. “Maybe now we can focus our full attention on the Order, and anyone who supports them. Sharpbeak's assassination can't go unpunished.”

“The Order... Who exactly are they?” Rainbow asked, hoping that Applejack would tell her more than the rumours she had heard.

“All Ah know is that they're a bunch of terrorists, the worst there is in the Sirius system,” Applejack replied grimly. “This ain't the first time they've murdered an innocent, and it ain't the last either. No-one knows why they're doing it either.”

The pair of them sat in silence for a few minutes as Rainbow thought on what Applejack had said. It wasn't much more than she had heard before, but it confirmed what she already knew. She'd heard of other criminal groups such as the Corsairs and the Mollys, whom Rainbow had heard news of repeatedly in Braytonia, but they weren't as bad as the Order by a long shot.

Rainbow's thoughts were broken by Applejack's voice coming back over the communication channel.

“Twilight jus' sent me a message on the secure channel,” Applejack said. “Change of plans, Ah'm afraid. Ah need to divert. If you land on Bitsburgh, talk to one of the Deep Space Reps, they'll have somethin' lined up for you while Twi' an' Ah talk. Ah'm transferrin' your payment now. Thanks for your help. See you 'round.”

“I had fun. See you, AJ” Rainbow replied. She watched as Applejack's ship veered off in the direction of Manehatten and disappeared into the debris field. Rainbow sighed, setting her ship's auto-pilot to fly straight to Bitsburgh, and got as comfortable as she could in her seat for the long flight back.

~

As Rainbow was just about to leave the debris field, with Bitsburgh considerably closer now, she noticed she was getting hailed once again. Wondering who it could be, since the only ponies she'd talked to while in the craft were Applejack and the other ESF fighters, she pressed the button to accept the call. On her visor, Twilight's face appeared, currently looking away from the camera talking to someone down to her side.

“Applejack will be here soon, Spike, so we need to be ready,” she said, looking a little harried. “Get the kettle on and bring me the files on Ashcrop.” She looked back towards the camera, and a look of surprise dawned on her face briefly, before being replaced by a big smile. “Sorry about that, just getting things sorted. Anyway, good job out there! Applejack told me how impressed she was with you. I hope this wasn't too much for your first assignment with us,” Twilight said, a her brows dipping in concern.

“Nah, that was nothing, Sparkle,” Rainbow bragged. “Almost as easy as working with Rarity.”

“Oh, well, I'll find you something more difficult for next time, shall I?” Twilight asked, scowling, but it didn't last long. “I wanted to meet up with you, but the attack on Sharpbeak has everyone rattled. Acting-President Mare's ordered a full investigation to determine what can be done about the Order. I'm already having to do twice as much as I was, and it'll no doubt mean more work for all of us.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Rainbow asked, a little concerned. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her head, reminding her that she was only meant to be staying around Manehatten until Flim and Flam returned to a state where they were capable of paying her what she was owed, but she thought that she could at least help out while she waited.

Twilight smiled a little bit. “Thanks, Rainbow, but not at the moment,” she said, rummaging through some papers in front of her. “Why don't you familiarise yourself with the New Hock system? Maybe see if you can pick up some more work? Applejack suggested you look on Bitsburgh, and I think that's a great idea.”

Rainbow groaned and asked, “Do I really have to set hoof on Bitsburgh again? It smells worse than old cow muck.”

“I admit, the smell is rather... well, bad, but it's where quite a lot of business goes through New Hock,” Twilight replied. A muffled shout from somewhere behind her caught her attention and her head whipped round to see. Twilight's eyes widened in surprise and she shouted, “Spike!” She looked back round to the camera and hurriedly said, “I've got to go, I'll speak to you later, Rainbow. Bye!”

Before Rainbow could return the goodbye, the call had ended and she was left staring at the rapidly approaching docking ring for Bitsburgh. “I guess getting some more bits wouldn't hurt,” Rainbow said to herself. “So long as its not another delivery job, that is.” She flicked off her cruise-engines and turned on the lights to signal that she was wanting to dock with Bitsburgh.

“Acknowledged, your request to land is granted,” a robotic voice said over an open communication channel. “Proceed to land.”

Rainbow lazily piloted her ship through the open docking ring and down to Bitsburgh.

~

When Rainbow landed, she surveyed all of the readings on her cockpit dashboard, noticing that a few of the systems and extremities of her ship were damaged from the dog-fights she'd had against the Rogues. Noting exactly what needed repairs, she pulled out her bit device and checked her balance, a smile creeping onto her face as she saw that she now had over five thousand bits to her name. She pulled her helmet and oxygen mask off and opened the cockpit door, letting in the repugnant smell of Bitsburgh's atmosphere. Still not used to the smell, Rainbow couldn't help but gag as she clambered out of her ship.

As soon as Rainbow had set hoof back on the planet's surface, she started looking around for someone that she might be able to talk to about repairs, the wind making her shiver slightly in her jacket. After a few seconds of looking in vain, she trotted over to the nearest pony, a rather haggard old cream stallion in an orange jumpsuit, who was slowly flicking through pages on a clipboard, grumbling as he did so. He jumped when Rainbow addressed him.

“Hey, who do I ask to get my ship repaired?” Rainbow asked, gesturing back to her Starflier.

The old stallion grunted and said “Yer lookin' at him, filly.” He glanced up at Rainbow's ship and hummed for a few seconds, his head tilting to survey the damage. “Doesn't look tha' bad. Looks like yer port wing's a bit shot, and a few o' yer systems are a little bit damaged. Shouldn't cost yer much more than three hundred bits, an' it'll take about half an hour, sound alrigh'?”

“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow said,glad that it wouldn't take too long She'd known repairs to take days before, and to cost in excess of one thousand bits. Thinking that she might grab a drink and maybe find a job while she waited, she asked the repair pony, “Where's the bar? I'll get a drink while I wait.”

The repair pony silently gestured behind him towards a large metal door embedded in the nearby cliff-side and walked off, flicking through his clipboard once again. Rainbow noticed that protruding higher up the cliff was a large glass over-hang, and through it she could just make out tables and a few ponies milling around. Without thanking the stallion, Rainbow made her way over to the cliff-side door.

Around the door were a few more ponies in orange jumpsuits, chatting away, but they rushed off down the ramp Rainbow had just trotted up at a gruff shout from the landing pad. The door slid open with a slight squeak as Rainbow reached it, revealing a long, tall corridor, which curved to the right at the end, with several smaller doors along the walls. Hanging from the ceiling were many bright white lights, which swung gently with the wind coming in through the doorway, the shadows they were casting swaying also. There was a fluorescent sign protruding from the wall further down the corridor, saying “Bar – This way,” and there were several ponies coming from the direction it was indicating.

Following the corridor round, Rainbow came to a large room, containing a tall spiralling staircase, with stairs going both up the cliff and further down into the ground. Along the wall to the side were elevators, which were crowded with various ponies in a variety of clothes, ranging from suit-clad business ponies to mucky jumpsuit-wearing mechanics, and there was even a pink mare dressed in an uniform Rainbow hadn't seen before, but it looked of military nature. The mare seemed to be chatting incessantly to everypony around her. Rainbow briefly considered taking the elevator up to the bar, but the size of the crowd around the elevator doors put her off the idea. Instead, she began the climb up to the bar.

It wasn't long before Rainbow had reached the floor the bar was situated on, and she trotted through the doorway into a comparatively smaller room. Opposite the doorway was the glass balcony she had seen from below, and on the wall on her left was the actual bar, which had a few patrons sipping drinks and chatting while they waited. Adorning the walls opposite the bar were several wanted posters, along with a large noticeboard and a single television, with the volume turned down low. Once again, the news was on, and Rainbow could only see that the headline was about an increase in drug smuggling. Making her way over to the bar, Rainbow got the bartender's attention.

“What can I get you?” the stallion said, picking up a glass from under the counter with his magic.

“Got any Sweet Apple Cider?” Rainbow asked, hopefully.

“'All out, sorry missy,” the bartender said with a shrug. “We've got a new batch of Liberty Ale, just in, if you'd like?”

With a grimace, Rainbow replied, “Thanks, but no. I'll take some apple juice.”

“Really? Nothing... stronger?” The bartender asked, an eyebrow raised. “Alright then, that'll be five bits.”

Rainbow rummaged around in her pocket and withdrew some bits, sliding them along the bar top to the stallion, who had already filled a glass with apple juice and placed it in front of Rainbow Dash.

“Anything else?” The bartender asked.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, taking a sip from her drink. “Where should I go if I want a job?”

The bartender pointed past Rainbow's shoulder. “Did you see the noticeboard when you came in? That's where every one posts their jobs.”

“Or, she could simply ask me,” a snivelly voice said from beside Rainbow Dash.

Looking round, Rainbow saw a short, bespectacled green stallion, dressed in a sharply pressed suit and sporting a precariously-balanced homburg on his head.

“I couldn't help overhearing, I'm so sorry about that, but I understand you're looking for a job?” the stallion said, leaning against the bar. “Well, my pilot just cancelled on me, for some reason or other I can't remember, and I'm lacking a pilot for this very urgent job I have.”

Rainbow couldn't curb her curiosity, and asked, “So what is the job?”

“A simple delivery. Will you take it?” The stallion asked, leaning in close.

“What's the pay like?”

“A couple thousand bits, nothing out of the ordinary, but it's an easy job, guaranteed to be a walk in the park.”

After a moment's consideration, Rainbow stuck out a hoof and said, “It's a deal.”

“Great!” The stallion said, standing up straight again. “I'll have the shipment of boron in your hold as soon as possible. All you have to do is take it straight to Manehatten before the day ends.” He trotted off with a spring in his step, humming a jaunty tune.

“Did he say boron?” Rainbow asked, her face falling.

~

Half an hour later, Rainbow emerged back onto the landing pad to see the repair pony from earlier, still holding the same clipboard as he was earlier. Looking up from the clipboard, he spotted Rainbow, nodded, looked back down at his clipboard and said, “She's all fixed. Some stallion came by and popped some packages in yer hold, sayin' somethin' about a mare bein' 'is savior.” He looked back up at her with a smirk. “I'm guessin' tha's you. Anyhow, tha'd be three hundred and five bits.”

Rainbow nodded, pulling out her bit device and telling it to pay the Bitsburgh repair services the amount required.

“Thank yer, tha'll be all,” the stallion said. “Feel free to fly off whene'er you want.” And with that, he trotted off, whistling to himself, his clipboard balanced on his back.

“Thanks,” Rainbow called after him, looking up at her ship. “Time to get back to flying,” she said to herself flatly, opening the cockpit and clambering back inside.

~

An hour later, Rainbow had just flown through the clouds above Manehatten, having been stuck in a queue to pass through the docking rings into the planet's atmosphere. The sun was beginning to set on this side of the planet, and the sky around her was gaining an orange tint as the sun hugged the horizon. She spotted the landing pad she had taken off from the first time she had been on the planet and deftly piloted her ship over to it, landing softly on the stone surface. Rainbow swiftly switched the ship off, removed her helmet and pushed the cockpit door open, taking in a deep breath of the relatively-fresh Manehatten air. Rainbow shrugged her jacket off, grabbed it in her teeth and flew out of the cockpit, pressing the button to close the cockpit as she did. She was thankful of the chance to finally be able to stretch her wings and fly by her own power. She performed a few lazy loops and barrel-rolls around her craft, making sure to stay out of other ponies' way. After a few minutes' flight, Rainbow finally alighted on the ground and slipped her jacket back on.

“Excuse me, are you a... Miss Dash?” A slow, deep voice asked from behind Rainbow, and she turned around to see who had spoken. In front of her was a large pegasus stallion, with rolls of fat on his neck, squashed under his too-small shirt. He was looking down at a sheet of paper he held in a hoof.

“Yeah, that's me,” Rainbow asked, absent-mindedly wondering how long the stallion's shirt would last, containing all the stallion's mass.

“My name is Mister Ground. Mister Smile has sent me to pick up the boron you've delivered and to give you your payment,” the stallion droned, looking down at Rainbow through half-lidded eyes. He pulled a bit chit out of his pocket, which Rainbow took and tucked in her pocket for later.

After a brief moment, Rainbow asked, “So, do you want the boron now, or..?'

“We'll take it now,” Mister Ground said, gesturing to a large, square truck behind him. “If you could  open your hold, we'll do the rest.”

Rainbow nodded and pressed a button on her ship's key, which caused her Starflier's hold door to slowly lower and create a ramp up and into the hold, which was half-full with neatly-wrapped white packages.

“Thank you,” Mister Ground said, turning and waving at the truck. Several ponies poured from the back of the truck and rushed over to Rainbow's ship, quickly forming an efficient line, passing the boron packages down towards the truck with their magic. Within minutes, Rainbow's hold was empty and the truck was trundling off over the stone towards a large building at the edge of the landing pad, which Rainbow presumed was the elevator down to the ground.

“Pleasure to do business with you, Miss Dash,” Mister Ground said, nodding at Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, you too,” she replied, not really paying attention. Mister Ground turned and trotted slowly off in the direction the truck had just travelled. Sighing, Rainbow wondered what she should do while she waited for Twilight to get in contact with her again. She decided to head over to the Rest Stop and see if she could sneak a nap in the bar while she waited, or at least the lobby. Trotting over, she added the bits she'd received to her balance, glumly noticing that 'a couple thousand bits' genuinely meant 'a couple thousand bits.' All she had gotten from that boron delivery was exactly two thousand bits.

Arriving at the Rest Stop door, Rainbow made her way through the lobby and into the main bar. It was a little busier than when she had come in with Anvil, but there were still many empty seats. Finding a location in the corner of the room, she was about to settle down for a nap when the barpony trotted over to her.

"I'm afraid you can't sleep here, miss," he said, wiping the table down with a rag. "We do have some rooms free, if you'd like to rent one?"

Groaning at the thought of shelling out some of her hard-earned cash on a place to sleep, Rainbow sat up and started to pull out her bit device.

"Don't worry about paying, miss," the barpony said, straightening up. "After all you've been through, what with Freeport Seven and all, I wouldn't feel right charging you for a good night's sleep."

"Are you sure?" Rainbow asked. She'd love a free night of sleep, but she didn't want to just exploit the guy.

"Yeah, but just for tonight, alright? I'm sure you've got family or something picking you up soon." Pointing back towards the lobby, the barpony said, "The rooms are through the lobby and on your left. You've got the furthest one along." He pulled a key out of his pocket and dropped it on the table in front of Rainbow. "Have a good sleep now."

Rainbow watched the pony return to his position behind the bar before grabbing the key in her teeth and making her way to the room she'd been given.

Pushing the door open, she stepped in and shrugged her jacket off and onto the floor. She kicked the door closed and fell onto the bed, succumbing to sleep swiftly.

~

Rainbow woke to the sound of spaceship engines and shouting. Yawning wearily, she rolled out of bed, grunting as she hit the floor with a thump. Pushing herself up onto her hooves, she slung her fallen jacket over her shoulders and stepped out the room and headed towards the bar for breakfast.

As she entered the room, a familiar voice called out her name.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted, rising in her seat and waving at the pegasus. A few seconds later, she noticed the stares she was getting and sheepishly sank back into her seat opposite Applejack. Rainbow chuckled, shook her head and made her way over to the table where the two ESF ponies were sat. There was a glass sat in front of each of the mares, and spread across the table in front of Twilight were several thin folders and papers. Applejack tipped her hat and slid down the booth, allowing Rainbow space to sit down.

“Good to see you here, Rainbow,” Applejack said, smiling. She took a sip of the drink in front of her and grimaced slightly. “Still can't get used to this Liberty Ale,” Applejack muttered under her breath, causing Rainbow to snort with laughter.

“Well, Applejack and I were just finishing up our little meeting,” Twilight said, stacking the papers in front of her. “The barpony told us you were sleeping here, we were going to go wake you actually. Now, however, I can tell you about the next mission.”

“You've already got another job ready?” Rainbow asked, surprised at how fast Twilight worked. “Are we gonna have to blow up another Rogue base?”

“Not this time, I'm afraid, Rainbow,” Twilight replied, giggling. “All I can tell you is that the ESF recently received information that one of the most wanted artefact smugglers in Equality space is going to be moving a shipment tonight. Would you be interested in arresting him?”

Rainbow didn't even think about the risks involved. “Duh, yeah! I'd love to take him down,” Rainbow cried with excitement.

“Calm down there, sugarcube,” Applejack said, laughing. “You ain't heard all of the job yet.”

“Quite right, Applejack,” Twilight said, nodding. “This smuggler is called Ash Crop. He's evaded the ESF for years, smuggling artefacts from various bases in Liberty.”

“What kind of artefacts has he been smuggling?” Rainbow asked, curious. She rarely paid attention to the news, but even she knew that some artefacts had been outlawed, system-wide.

“Alien,” Applejack said, taking a sip from her drink. “They're very old an' fetch a huge price among hoity-toity collectors as 'high art.'” She said the last bit disdainfully, as if she couldn't understand what ponies considered 'art.'

“Equality purposely monitors and restricts their trade,” Twilight said, cutting in. “But the ESF is about to ban them all together under orders from the Acting-President. Anyway, we've got information that Ash Crop is about to move his shipment through the Collarado System Jump Gate. Your job is to stop the convoy before it reaches New Hock and bring him in for interrogation.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Rainbow said cockily, leaning back in her seat. “All we've gotta do is shoot out his engine, and bam! He's ours.”

“Can I finish?” Twilight asked impatiently. “Thank you. Now, he's probably got help, so be careful. I know you can handle yourself, but Ash Crop is a very talented flier. He's managed to escape our attempts to arrest him before, and we can't let him go this time.”

“Don't sweat it, Twilight, I've got this,” Rainbow Dash said.

“We've got it, you mean,” Applejack said, a grin on her face as she nudged Rainbow. “Ah'm comin' with you! See if you can get more varmints than me this time.”

Rainbow laughed and said, “Oh, I will.” A previous part of the conversation sank into Rainbow's head and she sat up in realisation. “Wait a minute, Collarado Jump Gate? My ship doesn't have Jump access, I can't get through. How am I gonna help if I can't get through?”

“I've already thought of that, and I've got Spike working on getting you Jump Gate access for the Collarado Gate as we speak. He should be done anytime soon,” Twilight said, smiling. “We're also fitting your ship with a scanner and a tractor beam, so you can find out which ship is Ash Crop's. We're pretty confident his ship will be fitted with an escape pod, most high-profile criminals' ships are. All you'll need to do is tractor-beam it into your hold when you've destroyed his ship.”

"But what if he doesn't eject in time?" Rainbow asked.

"The escape pod is programmed to eject automatically when the ship is damaged too much, so he can't help but eject," Twilight said patiently.

“That's good,” Rainbow said gratefully, settling back into her seat, glad that Twilight was so well-organised and knew so much.

“Hey, tell her about the bonus,” Applejack stage-whispered to Twilight, leaning across the table.

“Bonus? What about the bonus?” Rainbow asked eagerly, her ears perking up.

Twilight sighed and playfully scowled at Applejack. “I was going to tell her later, but fine,” the unicorn said. She looked over at Rainbow. “I've got the access codes for the rest of the Equality Gates. You can have them, once you deliver Ash Crop to us.”

“Really?” Rainbow asked. She was expecting a bonus of bits, but this was just as good. It'd allow her the freedom to go wherever she liked in Equality and explore it as much as she wanted.

“Really,” Twilight replied, smiling. “Now, if that's everything, I need to be heading back to my office. Spike will probably be there by now, and he gets lonely if he's left on his own for too long.”

Twilight stood up and drew a pair of lilac saddlebags from under the table with her magic. She packed all of the papers away and turned to leave.

“Wait, Twilight, quick question,” Rainbow said suddenly.

“Yes? What is it?” Twilight responded, looking at Rainbow curiously.

“Where's Manehatten's Celestial Hospital? I've got a few... 'friends' who are staying there at the moment,” Rainbow said, scratching the back of her head distractedly with a hoof.

“Oh? Those friends you were talking about yesterday morning?” Twilight asked. “Well, it's not that far. If you go down to the ground floor of this building, then there should be some signs directing you towards it. It's about a five minute trot, if it's not that busy. Now, I really must be off. See you both around! Good luck catching Ash Crop!”

And with a wave, Twilight trotted off to the exit of the Rest Stop and disappeared outside.

From Rainbow's side, Applejack let out a low whistle and said, “Rainbow, Ah've got a stop to make too. Ah'll meet you in space in two hours, should give you enough time to see your 'friends.'”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Rainbow said, hopping up off her seat to let Applejack out. She couldn't help but notice the way Applejack had said the word 'friends,' as if she could tell they weren't Rainbow's friends at all. “I'll see you soon, AJ,” she said as Applejack followed after Twilight.

Getting up, Rainbow headed over to the bar to grab some breakfast.

~

Rainbow finished half an hour later, particularly satisfied with the breakfast she'd just had. The room seemed busier now, and Rainbow reasoned that it was the end of the work day now. A large yawn escaped from Rainbow's mouth and she stretched widely. Getting up, she decided it wouldn't hurt to check on Flim and Flam before she headed off back into space.

Heading out the door of the Rest Stop, Rainbow was about to start looking around for an elevator down when she noticed two familiar ponies pacing around next to her ship. Cantering closer in order to see more clearly if it was who she thought it was, she shouted at them, “Flim? Flam? Is that you?”

The two ponies stopped pacing suddenly and their heads swivelled around, searching desperately for the pony who had called their names. Rainbow slowed to a trot as she got within ten metres and asked, loudly enough for the two stallions to hear over the din of the landing pad, “When did they release you from medical? We got here yesteday!”

The two unicorns finally spotted Rainbow Dash and they both turned towards her. “You think you're safe, but you're not!” Flam mumbled, just loud enough for Rainbow to hear. She noticed that the two of them seemed bedraggled, their bow-ties askew and their hair a mess. While Flam was staring straight at Rainbow, Flim's eyes were darting wildly around in their sockets, scouring the landing pad.

“What're you talking about?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“What do you think happened on Freeport Seven, hm?” Flim said, rushing forward until his moustache was barely inches away from Rainbow's muzzle.

“It was blown to dust,” Rainbow said, hopping away. “Like my ship, your ship and my million bits that, by the way, you still owe.” She emphasised the last three words by prodding the front of Flim's waistcoat with a hoof.

Flim turned away with a tut and said quickly, “Easy come, easy go.”

“Oh, no no no,” Rainbow said, shrugging off her jacket and flying round in front of Flim again. “We made a deal.”

“A deal that died with the station,” Flam said from behind Rainbow. She turned around to look and saw him collapse to the floor, his hooves cradling his head. He groaned and whispered, seemingly to himself, “It all seems so long ago now... Doesn't matter anyway. They want us all dead.”

“Who wants us all dead?” Rainbow asked, getting slightly scared. The two of them had been weird before, but she figured that had just been their sales-pony personas. This was something else. She landed back on the stone of the landing pad and slowly trotted towards Flam.

“Stallions. Government stallions,” Flam said, looking up at Rainbow with fearful eyes. He began to look around again, as if somepony would try and sneak up on him. “They'll find the manifest. They'll know who was there. They're already after us.” Suddenly, he was on his hooves again and was staring defiantly at Rainbow, with Flim at his side. “But we're smart. We escaped from medical.”

“Wait, you what? You escaped?” Rainbow asked incredulously.

“Had to!” Flim said, edging closer to Rainbow. “They came for us, Rainbow. Because of what we saw on the station.” He was beginning to gesticulate madly, while Flam stood behind him and nodded. “We saw what did this to us, to you!” Turning away from Rainbow once again, he began to mutter, “There were these ships, only, they weren't there. They weren't...”

“Flim, you're not making sense,” Rainbow butted in, moving towards Flim.

“You don't understand!” Flam shouted furiously, starting forward, making Rainbow stop in shock. “They know us now, we're not safe here anymore, none of us are. Rainbow, we've got to get off Manehatten, we've...” His eyes slid past Rainbow and went as wide as dinner plates. “Oh no...” he mumbled.

Looking round, Rainbow noticed two mares dressed in uniforms not unlike the ones Twilight and Applejack wore. Hovering above the both of them was a baton and a large rifle of sorts. The mare whom the rifle was hovering above shouted out, “Stop right where you are!”

Turning back towards Flim and Flam, Rainbow saw the pair of them sprinting off at a surprisingly fast clip away towards a large building at the far end of the landing pad. Not knowing what to do, Rainbow simply shouted, “Hey, wait, Flim and Flam!” Before she could start moving though, a loud bang sounded from behind her, and she felt something speed past, inches away from her ear. The projectile embedded itself in Flim's hindquarters, and he toppled forwards onto his face. With a cry of despair, Flam turned to try and help his brother, when a second bang ripped the air, and another projectile embedded itself into Flam's side. He staggered for a second before collapsing in a heap beside his brother.

Rainbow stood in shock, staring at the crumpled unconscious bodies of the two brothers. She felt a rage bubble up inside her, and spun around to face the two assailants. They were barely any paces away from Rainbow now, and the one with the baton was headed straight for her.

“What do you think you're doing, hey?” Rainbow shouted, but before she could do anything, the baton had shot out and slammed into her side. A searing pain erupted in her side where the baton had connected, and it rippled through her body, causing her to spasm wildly and fall to the floor.

The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the two mares trotting purposefully towards Flim and Flam's helpless forms.

~