Freelancer: The Universe of Possibility

Chapter 3: To Snatch a Smuggler

“Hey, Rainbow,” a faint, familiar voice said.

Rainbow Dash groaned as she slowly came back to consciousness. She could feel a tingling throughout her body, and there was a scorching pain in her side.

“Hey,” the voice said again, louder this time, and Rainbow felt a slight nudge, just below her wing. Rainbow struggled to open her eyes, but they flickered feebly, allowing her a glimpse of three indistinct shapes above her. Before her eyes could bring the shapes into focus, they slammed shut again.

“Hey, wake up, lazy,” a younger voice said, and a sharp blow to Rainbow's face brought her to her senses. Opening her eyes and nursing her cheek with a hoof, Rainbow was able to see that above her was stood Twilight, Applejack and Spike.

“Spike!” Twilight said angrily, glaring at Spike. “Don't hit ponies! Especially not when they're unconscious!”

Spike looked sheepishly at the floor and mumbled, “Sorry Twilight...”

“And what do you say to Rainbow Dash?” Twilight said admonishingly.

“I'm sorry,” he said again, not meeting anypony's eye.

“You look terrible,” Applejack said, putting a leg around Rainbow Dash. “Are you alright?”

Rainbow staggered slightly as she got back up on her hooves, but she quickly regained balance. There was a throbbing pain in Rainbow's head, and she rubbed a temple with her hoof. “I dunno,” she said, wincing as a sharp pain rippled from her side. The sun was almost set now, and in the distance she could see the dark of night beginning to envelop the skies.

“What happened to you?” Twilight asked, putting a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder.

“Two mares jumped me,” Rainbow said, turning towards where she had last seen them. Seeing that both the mares and the Flim Flam brothers had disappeared, her head whipped round, scanning the landing pad for any sign of them. “Where's Flim and Flam?” She asked no-pony in particular.

“Flim and Flam?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Who're Flim and Flam? And who attacked you?” Spike asked, walking to stand alongside Twilight.

“They must have taken them,” Rainbow whispered to herself, staring at where the brothers' unconscious bodies had lain. The pain was ebbing away now, but instead it was leaving an empty feeling as Rainbow began to think that maybe what Flim and Flam had been rambling about hadn't been nonsense after all.

“Rainbow, are you alright?” Twilight asked, shaking Rainbow's shoulder in concern. “Remember Ash Crop, the mission? Do you think you're still able to fly?”

At the mention of the mission, Rainbow looked round at the two ponies and dragon behind her, and, seeing their befuddled faces, decided it best to drop everything about her attack. Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it of all thoughts of Flim, Flam and the two mares who had attacked her, Rainbow turned back towards the trio. “Yeah, I'll be fine,” she said, pulling a strained grin.

“Are you sure, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, looking Rainbow suspiciously in the eye.

Once again, Rainbow felt as if Applejack knew that Rainbow was lying again, but she didn't mention anything. “Yeah, yeah. Ash Crop won't know what hit him,” she said, slowly returning to her usual self. “So are we heading off, or what?”

Applejack stared silently for a few seconds more, but, seemingly satisfied at what she saw, she patted Rainbow on the back and said, “Eeyup. Come on, Rainbow, we've got work to do.” Applejack then turned and trotted off towards her ship, glancing back once to look suspiciously at Rainbow again.

“Are you sure you're up for this?” Twilight asked, concern on her face. “You were just unconscious.”

“I keep telling you, I'll be fine,” Rainbow said. “Don't worry!”

“Alright,” Twilight said, her tone unconvinced. “I'll see you when you get back. Come on, Spike, we've got more work to do.” And with that, she turned and began to trot off towards the elevator at the far end of the landing pad.

“Good hunting,” Spike said, grinning, running after the unicorn.

Rainbow stood staring after the pair for a few moments, trying to gather her thoughts. She pushed her questions about Flim and Flam and the two mares who had attacked her to the back of her head once again, and set off towards her ship.

~

As Rainbow's ship exited Manehatten's atmosphere, the light signalling she was being hailed immediately started flashing. Pressing the button to accept the hail, she was greeted by Applejack, who's face seemed surprisingly stern.

“There you are,” Applejack said, her tone unusually flat. “Ah was startin' to wonder if you were really okay. You are okay, aren't you?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Rainbow said, getting a little irritated that everypony wasn't believing she had recovered.

“Good,” Applejack said, her voice regaining it's usual joviality. “So what happened down there? Who're Flim and Flam, 'cause Ah can tell they're no friends of yours.”

“How'd you know?” Rainbow asked, not entirely surprised that Applejack had seen through her lie.

“Ah can tell when people are lyin' to me, Rainbow,” Applejack said, a slight boastful tone in her voice. “Twi's a bit too naïve, she trusts most ponies are tellin' her the truth. That's why they get me in for interrogations. Nothin' slips past me. Anyhow, you were sayin'?”

Rainbow sighed and said, “I met them both on Freeport Seven. They're brothers, both sales-ponies. We'd just made a deal when the station was attacked. They were injured and were in medical ever since we escaped. I'd been waiting for them to recover to get my money back.”

After a prolonged pause, Applejack asked, “An'? What happened? What did they say?”

“Nothing really about the money. They tried to brush it off, saying that the 'deal died with the station,' or something like that,” Rainbow said, trying to make sense of what they were saying herself. “They said that they'd escaped from medical, and that ponies were after them. I thought they'd lost it, but then these two mares appeared and shot the both of them. Maybe they weren't just paranoid.”

“Mah word,” Applejack said, letting out a low whistle.

“I'm never getting paid.” Rainbow sighed and said dramatically, “Goodbye, million credits.”

Applejack chuckled and then said, “Come on Rainbow, we'd better get goin'. Follow me, the Collarado Jump Gate is this way.” Her ship flew off away from the planet and towards the trade-lane towards Bitsburgh again. There seemed to be many more ESF fighter ships flying around, clearly upping the security since Admiral Sharpbeak's assassination that morning.

“Our route takes us right past Fort Hoof and straight on to the Collarado Gate,” Applejack explained, lining up in front of the trade-lane and activating it. The pair of them proceeded to fly though the ring, accelerating fast as they did so. “Activation sequence; completed. Lane Jump; initiated,” Applejack muttered to herself.

“Is there any point in saying that?” Rainbow asked, genuinely curious. She'd never said anything of the sort before, and she wondered if it was a legal requirement in Equality.

“What?” Applejack asked, startled. She chuckled and replied, “Oh, naw. Ah just say it 'cause it was drilled into us at the ESF academy.”

Rainbow laughed. “Thought it might have been something like that,” she said. “How long have you been in the ESF?”

“A couple of years,” Applejack replied, piloting her ship out of the trade-lane and towards another past Fort Hoof. “In Equality, every pony is expected to work for the government for two years, but 'cause the rest of my family are workin' the farm an' can't take time off, Ah volunteered to do their time instead.”

“I've heard of that, kinda,” Rainbow said, racking her brains. Rarity had tried to teach her about the other Houses of the Sirius System a few years ago. Nothing much had really sank in, but Rainbow remembered that Rarity had mentioned something about Equality having a form of conscription. “So how come you're not sitting behind a desk or something?”

Barking a laugh, Applejack said, “Do you really see me sittin' behind a desk in some stuffy office on Manehatten? Not for me, thanks. Ah can do math and stuff fine, but Ah'd rather be out in space, takin' down criminals.”

“Don't you miss the farm, though?” Rainbow asked, feeling a slight homesickness herself as she followed Applejack's ship into the next trade-lane.

“Yeah, Ah do. Ah miss mah family most though,” Applejack said. “Granny Smith, Big Mac, Applebloom, Winona... Ah miss 'em all. Ah go back an' see em as much as I can, but Ah miss 'em all the same.”

“I'm guessing your family own the farm, right?' Rainbow asked, a suspicion in the back of her mind. “What's it called?”

“Sweet Apple Acres. We're the best apple farm in Equality,” Applejack said, not boastfully, but more like she was simply stating a fact.

“I knew it!” Rainbow cried. “You guys do the cider, the really good stuff, don't you?”

Applejack laughed as the pair of them neared the end of the trade-lane. “Yeah, that's us. Ah'm glad to hear you like it,” she said.

“Like it? I love it!” Rainbow said. “Do you think I could maybe get a couple of bottles?”

“Ah might be able to get you a few the next time I go home,” Applejack said, chortling. “Anyhow, we're here.”

In front of Rainbow, there was an enormous construction, similar to a planet's docking ring, only much larger, and with several spikes protruding out of the outer ring which was currently spinning slowly. The claws in front of the ring were just closing, and the outer ring slowed to a halt.  There was a line of ships in front of the jump gate, and floating alongside the gate itself was a large spacecraft, longer than Admiral Sharpbeak's but thinner too, but it paled in size compared to the gate. Rainbow couldn't help but stare in awe, wondering what the ship was as the pair piloted closer.

As if she was reading Rainbow's thoughts, Applejack said, “Since Admiral Sharpbeak's assassination, Equality's moved heavy battleships to all the jump gates. Ev'ry ship goin' in or out of the New Hock system is bein' scanned. Don't worry, though, we'll be fine.”

As soon as Rainbow and Applejack were closer to the jump gate than the trade-lane, the image of a navy blue mare appeared on Rainbow's visor. “This is Jump Gate Control on Battleship Unity, please identify yourselves, over,” the mare said sharply.

“Howdy, Unity, this is Patrol Gamma-Six,” Applejack replied, unfazed by the mare's tone. “We're on special ESF assignment. Requestin' permission to jump to Collarado, over.”

“Patrol Gamma-Six, you're cleared to proceed,” the navy mare said flatly. “And do try and keep to protocol, over.”

“Roger that, Unity, Gamma-Six out,” Applejack replied. “That wasn't too bad,” she said with a laugh. “Anyhow, let's go. We get to cut the queue. You first, Rainbow.”

“Alright, sure,” Rainbow said, piloting her ship so that it stopped just in front of the gate's claws. Rainbow had used jump gates before, back in Braytonia, so she quickly started the sequence to activate the gate. It wasn't too dissimilar to using a trade-lane, but the effect was much more impressive. As Rainbow signalled for the gate to open, the outer ring of the gate began spinning, glowing lights created within the ring, and the claws gradually opened to accept Rainbow's comparatively minuscule ship. When the claws had opened as wide as they could, the ring stopped spinning, leaving a small yellow glow in the centre of the ring, drawing in small particles around it.

Rainbow eased her ship closer, and when her cockpit was metres away from the yellow glow, her ship was suddenly sucked in. Looking around, Rainbow saw that her ship was now in a pulsing blue tunnel of light, similar to a trade-lane but the walls of the tunnel were opaque, meaning she couldn't see anything she was passing. Her ship's engines were pulsing loudly in time with the tunnel, whining and groaning as she flew. Within seconds of travel, the dial on her visor told her that her ship was slowing down again, and she was spat out of the tunnel into a different area of space.

In front of her was a large asteroid field, separating the jump gate from the sun and other planets in this sector of space, and floating beside the jump gate was another Equality Battleship. Not that far away was also another trade-lane, which disappeared into the asteroid field.

A minute later, Rainbow saw the jump gate spit Applejack's ship out. “System jump successful,” Applejack muttered under her breath as her ship slowed to a halt. “All systems show green, everythin' is okay.”

“That another thing they drill into you at the academy?” Rainbow asked teasingly. She knew it was always important to check your ship's condition after doing a jump, but sometimes Rainbow was too impatient to bother.

“Heh, yeah,” Applejack said in confirmation. “Well, let's set up next to the trade-lane, Rainbow. Dunno when Ash Crop will come through, so we're gonna hafta stay ready.” She glanced down at her cockpit. “Hang on, somepony's tryin' to get in contact.”

“This is Twilight, over,” Twilight Sparkle said, as her face appeared on Rainbow's visor.

“We can kinda see it's you, Twilight,” Rainbow said, confused.

“I was following protocol,” the unicorn said haughtily. “Anyway, Ash Crop's just been spotted in the Cattler system. We don't know exactly which way he's going, but it looks like he should be coming straight at you. Keep your eyes open, okay? Over.”

“Ah getcha, Twi', out,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “She's a stickler for protocol, Twi' is.”

“I noticed,” Rainbow said, grinning. “So, what're we gonna do?”

“We're gonna hafta scan every ship that comes through that trade-lane,” Applejack said, eliciting a groan from Rainbow. “Ah know it's tedious, but its gotta be done. We'll take it in turns, see who catches him.”

“You're on,” Rainbow said, spotting a ship exiting the trade-lane. “I'll start with this one.” Scanning her cockpit for the button to start a scan, Rainbow spotted a newly-installed button with a sticker above it. Scrawled on the sticker in pen was the word 'scanner,' and Rainbow gently prodded it. Seconds later, a table appeared on the edge of her visor, but it was full of just one thing.

“Cheese,” Rainbow muttered, removing her hoof from the scanner's button. “A ship full of cheese.” She shifted herself in her seat in an attempt to get comfortable.

“Wonder if they've got any crackers to go with it,” Applejack said jokingly. “Oh, bein' hailed again. It's probably Twilight.”

“This is Twilight, over,” Twilight said once again as her image re-appeared.

“What is it, Twi'?” Applejack asked. She quickly remembered to say “Over.”

“Ash Crop's convoy just entered Collarado. We've set up a trap for him at Pastern Station. Stay were you are and make sure none of his ponies get away, over,” Twilight said firmly.

“Ah hear you, Twi', we've got this,” Applejack said. A large freighter appeared from the trade-lane and Applejack said, “This one's mine.” A moment later, the earth pony shook her head and said, “Only held canisters of oxygen, nothin' much. This may take a while.”

Rainbow sighed and prepared herself for the long wait.

~

Ten minutes later, Rainbow and Applejack had both scanned nearly ten ships each, and there hadn't been a sign of any artefacts yet. Four ships had just come through the trade-lane at the same time and the pair of them had agreed to split the job of scanning the ships between them.

Rainbow was just searching the list on her visor when Applejack shouted, “It's him, Ah've got him! Ah'm goin' in!”

Rainbow turned to look as Applejack's ship shot forward to stop in front of a small, slim ship. “You are in violation of the Equality Artefact Code an' are under arrest,” Applejack said loudly. “Cut your engines.”

As soon as Applejack had said the last three words, the slim ship let loose a barrage of plasma at Applejack and darting at her, piloting his ship down at the last second.

“Rainbow, remember what Twilight said, shoot out his engines!” Applejack shouted, spinning her ship round to follow the escaping ship.

Rainbow leapt into action, throwing her ship's throttle forward, firing at the fleeing criminal. Their target's ship was slightly faster than Rainbow's, so she was having difficulty keeping up. As their target weaved around, Rainbow had to constantly try and predict which direct he would turn so as to keep within distance. She didn't bother truly aiming, concentrating only on staying within range, hoping that some shots hit. Applejack's ship however was keeping up with ease, and she was hounding the slim ship incessantly, mostly all of her shots hitting their mark.

Within seconds, the target's shield had dissipated and his hull was taking damage. He ducked his ship down, and a voice came over an open communication channel.

“Awright, enough awready!” The rough male voice said desperately. “Are you crazy?”

“Stop firin' an' stay still, or you will be destroyed,” Applejack said sternly.

“I hope you've got good lawyers, ya country bumpkin, 'cause this is abuse of power here,” the voice said. “I'll sue!”

“Ash Crop, you are under arrest,” Applejack said with a slightly irritated tone.

“I'm not Ash Crop, you jarhead! Now I'm really gonna have your butt,” the stallion said furiously.

“What?” Rainbow cried incredulously. “You said it was him, Applejack!”

“The name is Cosmo Bedazzle,” the rough voice said. “Remember it! I'm about to be your worst nightmare, fuzz. This is wrongful arrest! Harrassment! Wanton destruction of my property!”

Applejack muttered to herself furiously. “Horseapples! What am ah gonna do... those are definitely artefacts he's holdin', but he's not Ash Crop! Rainbow,” she said out loud, “Ah'm gonna contact the battleship over there, get them to pick this guy up, an' then Ah'll contact Twilight.”

“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow said flatly. Her mind was reeling. She'd just helped attack an innocent pony, admittedly an abusive pony, but innocent all the same. She released the control stick and sat back, waiting anxiously for Applejack to speak again, trying to ignore Cosmo's ranting.

A minute later, Applejack had managed to organise an escort from the battleship and she was just beginning to contact Twilight. “Twi', we've got a guy here who's carryin' artefacts but he ain't Ash Crop,” Applejack said, worry thick in her voice. “Ah've got the battleship by the gate to New Hock pickin' him up, but he's threatenin' all sorts of legal stuff. Ah dunno what half the words he's sayin' mean!”

“Leave him, AJ, we've got a bigger problem,” Twilight said hurriedly. “The plan has failed. Ash Crop broke through our forces at Pastern. We've lost contact with the station. Get there as fast as you can, hurry!”

“On it, Twi',” Applejack said, focusing once again. “Come on Rainbow, we've gotta go!”

Rainbow nodded and grabbed the control stick again, pushing the throttle forward and flying after Applejack's ship and to the nearby trade-lane. Cosmo was still ranting in his stationary ship.

“This is outrageous!” He was yelling. “You haven't heard the last of this, I swear!”

As soon as the pair reached the trade-lane, Rainbow hurriedly started the activation sequence. She flew her ship into the ring and let it carry her along towards Pastern Station.

“Watch out Rainbow, this is gonna get rough,” Applejack said, a scowl visible under her visor. “Have your weapons ready as soon as we get outta this trade-lane.”

The two ships sped along the trade-lane for a minute, finally emerging to a scene of carnage. On their left as they emerged was a long space station, split into four sections, with the fourth attached to the rest by a long, thin tube. The main three sections had large cylinders attached to each, which Rainbow had seen similar things used for refuelling ships. However, the entire station was emitting flames from at the end of the first section, clearly missing another section entirely, which Rainbow supposed had been blown away. Speeding around the station were a dozen ships, all attempting to evade each other's shots while shooting at their own targets. There seemed to be two sides. One side flew ships exactly the same as Applejack's, which Rainbow realised was the ESF defenders, and the other flew ships that Rainbow easily recognised as the type the Equality Rogues had been flying that morning.

“Sweet Celestia,” Applejack muttered. “We need to help them, Rainbow, come on!” And with that, Applejack's ship darted off and into the fight, quickly picking a target and engaging it. Rainbow swiftly followed suit, chasing after her own target and assaulting it with a hail of plasma fire.

“Mayday, mayday! This is Pastern Station!” The image of a sweating silver stallion appeared on Rainbow's visor. “We are under attack. Repeat, we are under attack!”

“This is Patrol Gamma-Six,” Applejack said through gritted teeth. “We're engagin' the enemy!”

“Gamma-Six, we're tracking six hostiles, we have fires on most our decks, and our life support is failing. We can't get in contact with anypony further out and we can't take much more.” The silver stallion from Pastern Station certainly seemed calm under stress, even with the station in pieces around him.

“Ah getcha, Pastern, we'll drive 'em off,” Applejack replied, scowling in concentration.

Rainbow doggedly chased her target, and before long had shot his ship to pieces. She yanked the control stick to the side to avoid colliding with an incoming ESF fighter, making her ship roll in space. Growling in annoyance, Rainbow scoured the area in front of her for any Rogues to attack. Suddenly, from the left of her ship came an onslaught of laser-fire. Rainbow threw her ship forward away from the attacker and straight towards Pastern station. Pulling her ship away from the station at the last second, Rainbow turned her head to search for the ship that was attacking her. She spotted it as it slowed to avoid crashing into the station and turned after her. Drawing the control stick back, Rainbow made her ship perform a quick loop, placing her behind the attacking Rogue.

“Didn't expect that, now, did you,” Rainbow said to herself, pressing the button to fire her guns. The Rogue's shield dissipated instantly, and in his panic, he jerked his ship to the side, scraping along the side of the station, tearing parts of his ship off and sending it spiralling into space. A couple of shots from Rainbow caused the engine to explode violently, splitting the ship in two.

“Last one now, Rainbow!” Applejack cried. Rainbow spotted Applejack's ship go hurtling after a Rogue who was desperately trying to start his cruise-engines in order to escape. Another ESF fighter swept in behind Applejack and let loose a projectile that traversed the distance between him and the Rogue in a matter of milliseconds. As soon as it had smashed into the rear of the Rogue's ship, the Rogue's engine stopped, coming online a second later, but the flames produced being much dimmer and smaller in size, leaving him a sitting duck for Applejack's missiles.

“An' that's it,” Applejack said, sighing. “How many did we lose, Pastern, an' what happened?”

“Over half a dozen, Gamma-Six,” the silver stallion from Pastern said. “We'd set up a trap for a pony called Ash Crop, but his convoy didn't come out of the trade-lane like we thought. They came from the asteroid field and totally surprised us. The ESF fighters were taken down like flies.”

“Where's Ash Crop gone?” Rainbow Dash asked, unsure if she was supposed to ask, but eager to hunt down Ash Crop.

Pastern Station's stallion didn't seem to notice that Rainbow had butted in. “When the fighting started, Ash Crop and his transports escaped back into the asteroid field. We tagged one of them with a tracking device, luckily. I'll send you the signal now.”

On the map at the side of Rainbow's visor, a flashing pink dot appeared, situated in the middle of the asteroid field.

“Are you receiving it?” The stallion asked, eyes wide.

“Readin' it loud and clear,” Applejack said. “Thank you Pastern. Come on Rainbow, let's catch that varmint.”

“Already ahead of you,” Rainbow said, switching her cruise-engines on and heading in the direction of the tracker.

“Good luck, Gamma-Six,” the silver stallion said, and his face disappeared from Rainbow's visor.

“They will pay for this,” Applejack said through gritted teeth. “Ash Crop is ours. Ah'm gonna tell Twilight what's happenin'.”

Seconds later, Twilight's face had appeared where the stallion's had been, her face wracked with worry. “Applejack! What is going on? Where's Ash Crop? Are you alright?”

“We're on his tail,” Applejack said firmly. “Pastern managed to tag one of Ash Crop's ships. We're following the signal into the asteroid field, though we could use some help.”

“Understood,” Twilight said, looking away from the screen to press a few buttons to her side. “I'm ordering the Neighbraska to send several fighter wings. Don't do anything foolish, either of you. Wait for the support. Twilight out.”

Twilight's image was instantly replaced by the image of a gold-coloured mare, wearing a black helmet and oxygen mask. “Gamma-Six, this is Equality Patrol Zeta-One, heading to your location, over,” the mare said matter-of-factly.

“Affirmative Zeta-One, Ah appreciate the help, out,” Applejack said.

Rainbow and Applejack flew along in silence for a couple of minutes, weaving between asteroids, heading as fast as they could towards Ash Crop's supposed location. Eventually they emerged at a small clearing in the asteroids, where Rainbow spotted a metal cube embedded into a lone rock. Hovering around the cube were six Rogue fighters, two long freighters like the ones Rainbow had helped escort that morning, and a small, rather flat ship. It's main body was a flat, thin spike, and extending from the rear sides of the ship were two wings that were slightly tilted down. The cockpit, Rainbow noticed, was situated directly in the centre of the top of the ship, providing an almost one-hundred-and-eighty degree view, and the engine was placed directly at the back of the main section.

As soon as Rainbow and Applejack had emerged, the Rogue fighters turned towards the pair and began to fire their guns at the unwanted newcomers. The flat ship instead moved further away, lingering on the far side of the clearing.

“That's Ash Crop, in the Dagger, Ah'm sure of it,” Applejack shouted as her ship fell away from Rainbow's in order to evade the Rogue's shots.

“The Dagger? You mean the flat one?” Rainbow asked, pulling her ship upwards. She started barreling towards the nearest Rogue, ducking and weaving to avoid the the barrage of laser-fire being shot in her direction.

“Yeah, that's the one!” Out of the corner of her eye, Rainbow saw Applejack fire two missiles straight into an on-coming Rogue, blasting the ship to pieces, and fly straight on by, firing a tiny object in Ash Crop's direction. “This is Gamma-Six,” Applejack said over an open communication channel. “We've found Ash Crop, we need back-up, now! Lock onto my signal, over!”

Rainbow piloted her ship deftly under one of the Rogue fighters and charged towards one of the freighters. She was about to start firing when Applejack said, “Rainbow, ignore the transports, we have to take out the fighters.”

“Alright, I'm on it,” Rainbow said, turning her ship around and throwing it after a Rogue who was too busy concentrating on firing at Applejack to notice he had Rainbow on his tail. Laser-fire constantly shot past Rainbow as she got into position. Making sure the Rogue was in her sights, Rainbow fired her guns, the plasma connecting satisfyingly with the Rogue's shield. Before long, the Rogue's shield was down and his ship was taking severe damage from Rainbow's shots. A stray shot connected with the Rogue ship's left engine, causing it to explode, sending the ship spiralling out of control through space.

In front of Rainbow, Applejack's target was furiously trying to get Applejack off of his tail. He was flying dangerously close to asteroids at the edge of clearing, swerving madly at the last second to avoid smashing into one of the many rocks. Hoping Applejack would be okay chasing after the Rogue, Rainbow spun her ship around in an attempt to find more Rogues, but was met by a sudden hail of laser-fire.

Squinting her eyes under the sudden flashing of her shield in front of her ship, Rainbow frantically rolled her ship away, putting an asteroid between her and her attacker. Glancing at her shield's state, she noticed it was almost about to be over-powered. Thinking quickly, Rainbow pulled her ship to a sudden stop and aimed it upwards. She piloted her ship quickly over the top of the asteroid and spotted the Rogue underneath her begin to creep round the side of the asteroid. Slipping down behind her prey, Rainbow couldn't help chuckling as she wondered how long it would take for the Rogue to realise Rainbow had snuck behind him.

Not willing to risk her prey realising and escaping, Rainbow pressed the fire button on her control stick. Plasma pelted the Rogue's rear-end, taking him completely by surprise, and before he could begin to move away, his shield was in pieces and Rainbow's shots were hammering into his hull. The Rogue attempted to spin his ship around to face Rainbow, but one of her shots must have hit his fuel line, as a massive explosion ripped his ship apart, sending debris hurtling off into space. Pieces of his ship skimmed off of Rainbow's ship's shield as she turned her ship to try and locate Applejack again.

“Applejack, how're you doing?” Rainbow asked, coming out from behind the asteroid and back into the clearing.

“Ah'm in a bit of trouble here, Rainbow,” Applejack said, grunting. “Wouldn't mind a hoof, if you're free.”

“On my way,” Rainbow said, pushing her ship forward. She spotted Applejack in the distance, being chased by two Rogues. She was weaving and dodging and doing her best to evade their shots and somehow get behind them, but they were not falling off her trail. Rainbow charged in after the Rogues and starting firing wildly at them, not sure if she was hitting or not from this distance.

“Gamma-Six, this is Zeta-One, ready to engage,” the gold coloured mare said, appearing on Rainbow's screen. “What's the target?”

“Good to see you, Zeta-One,” Applejack said, relief in her voice. “Can you get these Rogues off mah tail?”

“Affirmative, Gamma-Six, engaging now,” Zeta-One said. Three ESF ships sped out from within the asteroid belt and began firing at the Rogues chasing Applejack. The Rogues, at the sudden introduction of more opponents, began to bob and weave erratically around, though they still followed Applejack.

As Rainbow continued to chase after the rogues, she spotted a bright light out of the corner of her eye. Looking up, she saw Ash Crop's Dagger's engine begin to glow brightly as its cruise-engines turned on.

“Ash Crop's escaping!” Rainbow cried, breaking off the chase and flying after Ash Crop. She switched her cruise-engines on as well and the engines of her ship began to hum louder. “I'm not gonna let him get away!”

“Wait, Rainbow!” Applejack shouted. “Don't chase him on your own, you'll get killed!”

Ignoring Applejack, Rainbow flew after Ash Crop's rapidly diminishing ship. She could barely make out the light from his ship's engine as it made its way through the asteroid field. Weaving around asteroids, Rainbow gripped her control stick tighter, her brow furrowed in concentration. One wrong move could mean disaster for her, as she could crash into an asteroid at any moment.

A minute later, the glow from Ash Crop's distant engine suddenly went out, and Rainbow was left staring at a seemingly-empty asteroid field. Pressing forwards, Rainbow said, not sure if Applejack could still hear her, “I can't see Ashcroft's ship anymore. I think he's ahead of me, so I'm going in.”

Rainbow knew it was reckless, and a very stupid thing to do chasing after a wanted criminal on her own. Twilight had specifically warned them not to do anything foolish, and here she was, doing something foolish. She switched off her cruise-engines and slowed her ship down to a crawl, her eyes darting everywhere, expecting Rogue ships to pour from behind an asteroid at any moment.

Suddenly, a barrage of laser-fire shot from Rainbow's left, and she swerved her ship away instinctively. Throwing the throttle forward, Rainbow sent her ship hurtling into the asteroid field, away from her surprise attacker.

Desperately looking around to see where he was, Rainbow saw her ship's shield flashing as it was peppered with laser. Pushing her ship to it's limits, she threaded her ship through the asteroids, hoping to somehow lose her pursuer. A sharp jolt made Rainbow glance down at her shield's strength, and she stared in horror at the sight of a flashing warning where the shield's power indicator had previously been located.

“Rainbow, Ah told you not to go on your own!”

Applejack's face popped up again on Rainbow's visor, and looking around, Rainbow saw the earth pony's ship come charging out from behind an asteroid and fire two missiles straight into Rainbow's pursuer's side, ripping the ship to shreds.

“Looks like Ah showed up in time,” Applejack said with a hint of a smile in her eyes, but it disappeared quickly as a scowl fell on her face. “Twi' told us not to do anythin' foolish, so why'd you go chasin' Ash Crop on your own?”

“'Cause the rest of you were busy dealing with the Rogues,” Rainbow tried to explain. “But now Ash Crop's getting away!”

“No he ain't,” Applejack said, turning her ship around and flying off. “Ah managed to get a tracker on him. He's not far away, come on!”

Rainbow flipped the switch to power her cruise-engines back on and sped after Applejack, grumbling under her breath. Looking back at her shield's power indicator, Rainbow was pleased to see the warning sign disappear and the indicator begin to fill up.

“We're nearly there,” Applejack said a minute later. “Ah'm pickin' up somethin' though. Could be a jump hole. If we don't get there soon, he's gonna get away!”

Rainbow nodded silently, her hoof hovering over the cruise-engines switch, ready to turn them off at a moment's notice. She'd heard of jump-holes quite often before, but had never actually seen or used one herself. They were said to be what all jump gates were created after, but these were naturally-formed in space. Rainbow didn't know the science behind the jump holes, but she had over-heard something about them being types of wormholes. However, Rainbow had also heard that jump holes were supposed to be considerably risky to use without a properly equipped ship that has been properly prepared to travel through the hole.

In front of the pair of them was another clearing, but directly in the centre of the clearing was a red glow, similar to the ones formed by jump gates, but as Rainbow tried to look at it closer, she saw the space around it was warped and particles were getting drawn into the glow. On the other side of the clearing was a construction that consisted mostly of huge fuel canisters, all joined together by a flimsy-looking network of tubes and girders. Connected to the construction by a pipe was Ash Crop's Dagger, and surrounding his ship were three other Rogue ships, all facing away from the newcomers.

“Zeta-One, get over here as soon as you're done with those Rogues,” Applejack said over the communication channel. “We're at a jump hole an' can see Ash Crop and three other varmints at a fuelling station. Ah dunno where the jump hole goes, so we're gonna engage them now to stop Ash Crop escapin', over.” As soon as Applejack had said that, Rainbow sat frozen as Applejack's ship darted out of the asteroid cover and sped across the clearing and straight towards Ash Crop and the refuelling station.

Kicking herself back into action, Rainbow pushed the throttle forward, throwing her ship after Applejack's and shouted down the channel, “What happened to not doing anything foolish?” She flew as close to the jump-hole as she dared without flying through it, and watched as the pipe connecting Ash Crop's Dagger to the refuelling station disconnected, and the Dagger turned to face the oncoming ships.

On Rainbow's visor, the image of a furious violet stallion appeared, and he said in a gravelly voice “You'll regret ever messing with me. Rogues, help me deal with these unwanted guests.”

In front of Rainbow, Ash Crop's Dagger began to hurtle towards Applejack's ship, firing off two missiles which Applejack barely managed to dodge by swerving away at the last second, causing them to fly harmlessly off into the asteroid field. The three other Rogue ships followed their leader before two of them split off to attack Rainbow, with the other following their leader's assault on Applejack.

Growling, Rainbow flew under them and pulled her ship back into a half-loop in an attempt to get behind the Rogues. Unfortunately, her ship wasn't agile enough to pull the manoeuvre fast enough, so instead she was left facing the two Rogues once again, and they greeted her with a hail of laser-fire. Desperately rolling out of the way, Rainbow began racking her brain for a way to deal with the two Rogues on her tail so she could help Applejack deal with Ash Crop.

Flying unpredictably, an idea slowly seeped into Rainbow's head. “This may be one of the worst ideas I've ever had,” Rainbow muttered, pulling her ship around to face the jump hole. “Here goes nothing.” With a deep breath, she threw her ship's throttle forward and began to charge towards the red glow of the jump hole.

At the very last moment before her Starflier flew into the jump hole, Rainbow pulled her ship up and flew over the top of the hole. She could see her ship was struggling to fly away from the hole's gravitational pull, but it barely managed it, and Rainbow spun her ship around to face her pursuers.

Rainbow watched as the two Rogues hurtled after her. It seemed that one of the Rogues had realised what she had been attempting to do, so he had been flying above and behind the other, allowing him time to pull up and avoid the jump hole. The other Rogue, however, had been too focused on following Rainbow Dash, and he was now currently trying to pull his ship out of the hole's pull, but he was struggling in vain. Moments later, his ship was sucked backwards into the glowing hole, warping as it disappeared from sight.

Whooping in joy, Rainbow turned her attentions to her other attacker who had also been pre-occupied with watching his comrade be sucked away into the jump hole. Taking advantage of his distraction, Rainbow started to orbit his ship, peppering his shield with plasma shots. Quickly turning his ship to face Rainbow's, laser shots began to fire straight back at Rainbow as he flew towards her.

Throwing her ship away from the shots, Rainbow flew underneath the Rogue and darted off, back towards the refuelling station. Weaving around to avoid her pursuer's shots, Rainbow aimed straight for a gap between the fuel canisters and the girders. Not even bothering to slow down before she reached the gap, Rainbow threaded her ship through, her ship's wings barely avoiding colliding with the structure. Yanking her control stick to the right, Rainbow pulled her ship around behind the structure, catching glimpses of the Rogue's ship as it followed after her, flying through a considerably larger gap.

As soon as the Rogue had flown through after Rainbow, she slid her ship through another gap in the structure, weaving between canisters, chuckling as she did so.

“Hoped you'd do that,” Rainbow said, glad that her plan was working. She had hoped that the Rogue would be so desperate to try and deal with her that he would follow her through the refuelling station in his attempts to get her, and she hoped that he'd crash into one of the canisters in his haste.

A sudden flash from behind her ship answered her hopes, causing her to stop flying through the gaps in the structure and fly off as fast as she could away from the structure. When she thought she was far enough away, Rainbow spun her ship around to watch as the structure exploded catastrophically, girders ripping themselves apart from each other and being thrown into space.

Tearing herself away from watching the explosion caused by the crashed Rogue, Rainbow eyes scanned around to try and spot Applejack and Ash Crop. She spotted Applejack's ship charging towards Ash Crop's Dagger, not far away from Rainbow's current position. The other Rogue was nowhere to be seen and Rainbow supposed that Applejack had managed to deal with him. The two ships both fired a missile at each other, swerving away to dodge the other's attack, followed by firing a barrage at their attacker before speeding off past each other and turning round to attack again.

“Let's get him, Applejack,” Rainbow cried as she pushed her ship's throttle forward once again and flew after Ash Crop.

“What do you think Ah've been tryin' to do for the last minute, Rainbow?” Applejack said back, somewhat aggravated.

When she was in range, she began firing her guns straight at Ash Crop's incoming ship, forcing him to turn away to avoid the shots. Rainbow flew after him doggedly, continually firing after his considerably faster ship. A few of her shots connected, making his shield glow gently, but it wasn't enough to cause it to dissipate. Gritting her teeth in determination, Rainbow attempted to predict where Ash Crop would turn next, however she didn't expect his engines to cut out completely and for her to shoot past him completely.

“Buck!” She shouted to herself, craning her neck round to try and spot Ash Crop, but her cockpit window didn't allow her enough vision to do so. Instead she saw plasma shots come firing from behind her, the ones that hit making her shield flash dangerously.

Gripping the control stick tightly, Rainbow began to fly her ship madly around, making it weave and spin, almost out of control sometimes, but her attempts at evasion were almost futile. Ash Crop's ship was simply too fast, and his aim was as accurate as if his ship was centimetres away from hers. Glancing down at her shield's power indicator, Rainbow's eyes widened in fear as she watched it sink dangerously low before being replaced by the warning sign once again.

“Applejack, I need help!” Rainbow said, beginning to panic. None of her attempts at evasion were working, and her ship rocked as Ash Crop's plasma rained down on her craft.

“Ah'm tryin',” Applejack said through gritted teeth. Rainbow saw a missile come hurtling past her ship, and she swerved once more, directing her ship towards the asteroids.

“I told you you'd regret messing with me,” Ash Crop said, a glint in his eye as his image appeared on Rainbow's visor.

Rainbow scowled. She had no intention of dying here at the hooves of a two-bit criminal. In her desperation, she wrenched her ship down feigning the start of a loop before pulling it back up and spinning it round to face Ash Crop, who had almost fallen for her trick.

“You're going down, Ash Crop!” Rainbow said, determination thick in her voice. She sent her ship at Ash Crop's, firing plasma at him. Plasma shots from Ash Crop's Dagger hammered Rainbow's ship, shaking her in her seat, an error warning flashing on Rainbow's visor. Speeding past Ash Crop's ship, out of the corner of her eye Rainbow saw Applejack chase after Ash Crop, giving the pegasus a much-needed moment of respite. Turning round to follow after Applejack, she looked at the error message, a cold feeling of dread rippling through her body as she read it.

'Warning: The port wing is seriously damaged. Seek repairs immediately,' Rainbow read. Her head whipped round to look, but she couldn't see her port wing. Realisation dawned fast, though.

“Damaged... don't you mean gone?” She mumbled to herself, her heart pounding.

Turning to look back out the front of her cockpit, Rainbow eased the throttle off slightly, hanging back to give her shields time to recharge their power. In front of her, Applejack hounded Ash Crop furiously, firing plasma at him. Her shots weren't quite as accurate as Ash Crop's had been on Rainbow, but they were certainly causing him some worry, for his ship was turning in random directions. He attempted to pull the trick he had pulled on Rainbow Dash again, but Applejack wouldn't fall for it. Instead, it provided her the perfect opportunity to fire two missiles into the back of his ship. The first missile shattered Ash Crop's shield and the second slammed into the back of his starboard wing, sending a large chunk of it flying away.

“Stop!” Ash Crop shouted, his eyes wide with panic as his Dagger rolled away. “You need me alive!”

“We need you,” Applejack said firmly. “Not your ship.”

More shots fired from Applejack's ship, colliding with Ash Crop's ship's engine. Just before an explosion enveloped Ash Crop's Dagger, a capsule erupted from the cockpit and flew out into space.

“That's it, he ejected!” Applejack shouted. “Bring him in Rainbow!”

Swooping closer, Rainbow scoured her ship's cockpit for the button to use the tractor beam. Opposite the button for the scanner she found the appropriate button, and at a single press, a stream of energy shot from her ship and to the escape pod. After a few seconds, the escape pod had been drawn into Rainbow's Starflier's hold.

Letting out a relieved cheer, Rainbow leaned back in her seat, pushed up her visor and wiped her brow. She hadn't realised it at the time, but she'd broken into a cold sweat, and she felt uncomfortable with her helmet on, but she couldn't do anything until she landed somewhere. She took a few deep breaths to try and calm her furiously beating heart.

“Great job, Rainbow!” Applejack said, a smile in her eyes as her ship stopped alongside Rainbow's. “How're you holdin' up? Your ship looks like it's barely holdin' together!”

“I'm alright,” Rainbow said, taking another deep breath. “He nearly had me there. How're you doing?”

“Ah'm okay. Ship took a few hits, but it's nothin' a few repairs won't settle,” Applejack said, her eyes scanning her cockpit.

“Gamma-Six, are you alright? Where's Ash Crop?” Zeta-One said as her ship flew out from the asteroids.

“We're fine, thanks, Zeta-One,” Applejack replied with a sigh. “It was a close one, but Ash Crop's safe in Rainbow's hold. We've got him, finally.”

“Thank Celestia,” Zeta-One said, her ship stopping in front of the pair. “Zeta-Two and Three are watching the transports. I'll hold here, if you want to get him back to Manehatten?”

Applejack nodded and said gratefully, “Ah appreciate it, Zeta-One. “Come on, Rainbow, let's get back. Twi's waiting for us. Follow me, if your ship can still move.”

Rainbow laughed and switched on her cruise-engines, piloting her ship after Applejack as the familiar whine of her engines started again.

“Ah hope Ash Crop's interrogation will shed some light on the illegal artefact tradin' here in Equality,” Applejack said as the pair of them entered the asteroids once again. “Twilight's under a lot of pressure from the high-ups, an' its been gettin' worse in the last few weeks. Ah've heard from Spike that she's sometimes up all night sortin' paperwork or plannin' another mission. She barely gets any rest.”

“How come Twilight's in the ESF?” Rainbow asked, curious. “She doesn't seem like the sort to be part of the military.”

Applejack winced slightly and said, “Ah dunno if Ah should be tellin' you this, Rainbow. It's pretty private stuff. It took me about a month before Twi' even told me, an' Ah was her first friend in the ESF.”

“Surely it can't hurt, right, Applejack?” Rainbow said, even more curious now. She knew she was pushing it, but she couldn't help prying into private stuff. When she'd found out that Rarity kept a diary, Rainbow had snuck into her room and read it all. Rarity had exploded when she found out  and hadn't spoken to Rainbow Dash for weeks, only communicating in sniffs and through passive-aggressive notes.

Applejack deliberated for a few more seconds before coming to her decision. “Ah'm afraid Ah can't tell you, Rainbow,” she said, an apologetic tone to her voice. “Ah'm sorry, but it's Twi's story, an' it's for Twilight to tell you, if she wants to. We've not even known you a day, yet.”

“Yeah, I getcha. It was bad of me to ask,” Rainbow said, a part of her slightly guilty for prying, but a part of her determined to find out the tale. The pair of them flew through the asteroid field in silence for some time before Rainbow asked, “So what's with these artefacts? How many are there?”

“Ah dunno,” Applejack replied. “As Ah said, they're collected for high art, but Ah dunno why. The ones I've seen just look like bluey-green pieces of spiky rock. Ah dunno how many there are either, but Ah heard a rumour that about a month ago, some Gildland scientists found a whole new supply of these things on a planet in some system on the edge of known space.” She was silent for a moment. “Ah mean, everyone knows there are alien ruins, but they're mostly dust, an' the artefacts are as dead as the things that made them. Apparently, these new ones are different. They're active, and could be dangerous, or so Ah've heard.”

“Is that why the Acting-President is gonna be banning them?” Rainbow asked. “I don't like the sound of anything alien working.”

“Yeah, both the ESF and Navy are steppin' up patrols 'cause of the ban. Means more work for us, too,” Applejack said.

The two of them were just reaching the edge of the asteroid field, and Rainbow could see the jump gate back to the New Hock system in the distance, with a long crowd of ships gathered in front of it. As they exited the field, Twilight's face appeared on Rainbow's visor again.

“Applejack!” Twilight cried, relief thick in her voice. Rainbow noticed that the wall behind Twilight was different from before and was thick, blemished metal instead of the plaster office wall it had been before. “There you are! I was worried, I couldn't contact you! Are you both alright? What's your status, over?”

“We're fine, mission complete,” Applejack said chuckling. “Rainbow's ship is a mite battered, but we're alright. We broke up Ash Crop's little party. He was gettin' ready to move those artefacts out the system when we took him down.”

Twilight's face gained a hint of worry. “You didn't kill him, did you? I remember the last time you were-” Twilight began to say before Applejack butted in.

“No, he's alive. Rainbow's got him in her hold, but he deserves worse. Pastern Station is gonna be needin' repairs for the next few months, and he killed half a dozen good ponies,” Applejack said, scowling.

“What happened the last time?” Rainbow asked hurriedly, a smile on her face at the hint of some gossip.

“He'll get what he deserves, Applejack, and never you mind, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, dismissively. “He needs to tell us all we need to know, first. I've got to now make preparations for your arrival.” She looked as if that was all she wanted to say before a look of remembrance passed her face. “Oh, and be careful on your way back. I've no doubt members of Ash Crop's gang will try to free him before you get here. Good luck, out.”

With that, Twilight's face disappeared from Rainbow's visor. She was about to ask Applejack what had happened but Applejack spoke up first.

“Ah know what you're gonna ask, Rainbow,” Applejack said with a sigh. “Last time Ah was asked to bring in a criminal Ah accidentally shot him down before his ship had even had time to eject his pod. Twilight wasn't happy an' we both got in a lot of trouble with the higher-ups.”

Rainbow couldn't stop herself from laughing. She fell back in her seat and cradled her stomach with one hoof, her ship shaking about as laughter racked her body.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Applejack said chuckling along with Rainbow. “Had my pay docked for a month after that one.” By now, the pair of them had arrived in front of the jump gate back to the New Hock system, and the image of a cream-coloured mare clad in a messy ESF uniform appeared on Rainbow's visor.

“Battleship Neighbraska here, I heard from Twilight that you've got Ash Crop with you,” the mare said, a gentle smile on her face. “You're free to go through, just make it quick, we've got a bit of a queue.”

“Ah getcha, Neighbraska, thanks,” Applejack said, her ship swinging around to line up in front of the gate. “Ah'll go first, Rainbow, then you follow after.”

“Yeah, sure, I'll see you on the other side,” Rainbow said, hanging back as the gate opened up in front of the pair of them, and Applejack disappeared through.

~

Minutes later, Rainbow's ship had been spat out into the New Hock system, and she spotted Applejack's ship floating not far away. She was about to fly over beside Applejack, but a flashing light indicating she was being hailed distracted her. Answering the hails, she was greeted with the mare from Battleship Unity once again.

“This is Battleship Unity, please identify yourself,” the mare said half-heartedly, as if she was tired of constantly saying the same thing over again.

“Um, I'm Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow stuttered, unsure as to what she should be saying. “I'm taking Ash Crop back to Manehatten with Applejack, I mean, Gamma-Seven...”

“Six!” She heard Applejack hiss across the communication channel.

“Six, I mean,” Rainbow hastily said to correct herself. “Er, over?”

With a smile, the mare from Battleship Unity said, “Acknowledged, Rainbow Dash, you've been given priority clearance, you're cleared to proceed. Out.”

With a sigh, Rainbow piloted her ship alongside Applejack, trying to ignore Applejack's guffaws.

“I had no idea what to say, alright?” Rainbow grumbled, embarrassed, a red glow in her cheeks.

“Ah know, Ah'm sorry,” Applejack said, wiping a tear from her eye. “But Gamma-Seven? Ah thought Ah'd said it enough times already.”

“She put me on the spot! Anyway, shouldn't we be getting back now?” Rainbow asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yeah, you're right,” Applejack said, still chuckling slightly as her ship glided towards the nearby trade-lane. “Priority clearance, though? Ah guess Twi' organised that for us.”

“That's right, I did,” Twilight said, her voice popping up on Rainbow's visor again. “Change of plans, I'm afraid, girls. You're to head straight to the Battleship Hayford near Zone 21, we'll take charge of Ash Crop there. Sorry about the inconvenience.”

“It's alright, Twi',” Applejack said. “Any reason why the sudden change?”

“I just got a message from my superiors requesting the change in location. It's a good thing I'm already there, I had to meet up with Pinkie to discuss some matters about a plan she's been cooking up,” Twilight said, glancing away from the camera. “I'm sure she'd like to say hello, but she's a bit busy trying to set up a party for someone.”

Suddenly, the camera was wrestled away from Twilight and her image was replaced by a big blue eye, which retreated to reveal a bright pink pony with a beaming grin on her face. Her mane was a darker pink than her coat, and its curls bounced with every word she said.

“Hi Applejack!” The pink pony cried enthusiastically. “How's the mission go? I heard you got yourself a bad guy!” Stopping suddenly, the pink pony leaned back and gave a huge, dramatic gasp and then started speaking even faster than before. “Who's this? A new pony? What's your name? Where'd you come from?” She turned round to scowl at Twilight off-camera. “Why didn't you tell me there was a new pony? It's a good thing I had a feeling I'd need a party, otherwise I'd have to use my emergency party supplies, and that's not really enough for a good surprise welcome party!” Turning back to the camera, the pony whispered menacingly, “But you didn't hear any of that, did you, bub?”

Completely confused, Rainbow mumbled, “No?”

A smile sliding on to her face again, she clapped her hooves together and said, “Good! Now Twilight's looking kinda annoyed, so I'd best be off! See you both later! Sorry Twilight.” The pink pony waved, and the camera shifted back to show Twilight, who had a thoroughly disgruntled look on her face.

“See you, Pinkie...” Twilight said, groaning. “Anyhow, I'll see you two when you get here. Get ready, Rainbow. Twilight, out.”

And with that, Rainbow was left staring blankly at Applejack's image on her visor, and Applejack looked as if she was physically straining to hold in another laugh.

“What happened there?” Rainbow asked, feeling as if she was missing something. They'd arrived at the trade-lane and Rainbow began the activation sequence to proceed.

Applejack chuckled and said, “That's Pinkie Pie. She's somethin', that's for sure. It took a while for me to get used to her, an' it took Twilight even longer.”

“I'm not surprised,” Rainbow said as the pair of them entered the trade-lane. “Why did Twilight tell me to get ready?”

“You'll see,” Applejack said with a snigger.

“Aw, come on, that's not fair!” Rainbow protested. “I can't get ready if I don't know what to expect!”

“I hope you don't get tired easy, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “Anyhow, follow me, Hayford's this way.” Her ship's engines began to glow, signifying the cruise-engines gaining power.

Rainbow groaned at how vague Applejack was being, but decided to drop the subject, vowing that she'd be prepared for anything. She knew she'd heard something about a party, but she doubted that was what Twilight had meant.

~

“There it is! The Battleship Hayford,” Applejack said as the two ships exited the trade-lane. Rainbow stared at the ship that was floating beside the trade-lane. The ship was pointed away from the trade-lane the pair had just come through. It was nearly the size of Pastern Station, except attached to the side was an enormous cannon, which Rainbow couldn't help but imagine being powerful enough to destroy a smaller battleship in one shot. Placed all along the sides of the battleship were turrets, which stood stationary on their position. There were a couple of fighters orbiting the battleship.

“That's huge! How many do the ESF have?” Rainbow asked. She was surprised Equality wasn't the only house in Sirius space, as she reckoned the Battleship Hayford could easily take out any fleet of ships.

“That's the only ship Equality have like it,” Applejack replied as she flew towards the battleship. “And the Equality Navy own it. Ah've never seen that big gun fire, an' Ah never want to.”

Rainbow nodded and continued staring at the battleship in awe. It dwarfed both her and Applejack's ships, and there was another battleship floating alongside it, which looked tiny in comparison. The other battleship was connected to the Hayford by two long platforms, which held the two ships a safe distance apart.

“Alert, all ships, we have several contacts en route to our position,” a male voice said over the communication channel. “We believe they are Rogues and are attempting to free a prisoner being escorted here. Be careful.”

“Seems like Twilight was right, but Ah'm surprised they're comin' so close to the Hayford. Ash Crop must know somethin' good. Get ready, Rainbow, but Ah'd stay clear of the fightin' if I were you,” Applejack said.

“I'll be fine, Applejack, don't worry!” Rainbow said, preparing her weapons and scanning around for any approaching ships.

“No, Rainbow, go to the Hayford,” Applejack said sternly. “Your ship's barely holding together. We're landin' on the battleship now.”

“But-” Rainbow said desperately. She knew her ship was badly damaged, but she wouldn't turn away from a fight if she didn't have to.

“No buts, Rainbow,” Applejack said, cutting her short. “Battleship Hayford, this is Patrol Gamma-Six, we're carrying a criminal to hand over to ESF Commander Twilight Sparkle. Permission for landin'?”

“Oh, permission granted, Gamma-Six” the stallion's voice said. “You'd better hurry it up, those Rogues are coming in fast, over.”

“Will do, Hayford, out. Come on, Rainbow, let's dock,” Applejack said, her ship flying below the Battleship and towards a large door that was sliding open.

“Fine,” Rainbow grumbled, following after Applejack. She flew her ship up through the hole, which closed after them, leaving them in a very large airlock. To their left, another, smaller door opened, and the pair flew their ships through and landed in the hanger within.

Rainbow grumpily switched her ship's systems off and pulled her helmet from her head, her hair falling in her face as she did so. She brushed it aside with a hoof, shrugging her flight jacket off. Her ship was making an awful noise, but she didn't bother to check on it at the moment. Instead, she kicked the button to open her cockpit door, grabbed her jacket in her teeth and soared out, shaking herself as she did. She flew over to Applejack's ship and landed heavily, putting her jacket back on again. Tapping her hoof impatiently, she waited for Applejack to exit her ship.

“I could have handled myself, Applejack!” Rainbow cried as Applejack closed her ship's cockpit door behind her, her stetson in her teeth. “I know my ship's a bit battered, but I could have fought them off fine!”

Turning to face the pegasus, Applejack donned her hat, sighed and said, “Ah know you could have, Rainbow, but you're holdin' Ash Crop in your hold, an' we can't risk him escapin'. Ah'm sorry, but that's the way it is. Besides, you saw the guns on Hayford. The Rogues would have been wiped out before they even got close enough.”

Rainbow wanted to argue more, but she knew that everything Applejack was saying was true. “Alright, fine,” Rainbow said sullenly, finally dropping the subject. She looked back at her ship and winced at the state it was in. It was only now that she saw how badly damaged her Starflier really was.

The port wing was completely missing, having been shot off at the base. There were scorch marks covering the rear of Rainbow's ship, and sparks were shooting out of the engine. There also seemed to be a piece of metal embedded in the under-side of her ship, though Rainbow couldn't tell where it had come from. All in all, her ship looked to be in a very sorry state.

“Ah know it looks bad, but, er,” Applejack said, putting a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. “A few repairs should fix that, Ah think.”

“She's had it, looks more like,” Rainbow said shaking her head. She'd had her ship less than twenty-four hours, and it was already nearly destroyed. Her last ship had lasted over three years until Freeport Seven exploded, taking her ship with it. If Rarity had been here, she'd definitely have had some very choice words for Rainbow.

Putting the thought to the back of her mind, Rainbow remembered why they'd landed on the battleship in the first place. “So what're we going to do about Ash Crop?” she asked, trotting over to her ship's hold.

“Ah'll show you,” Applejack said, joining Rainbow. “Mind openin' your hold for me?”

“But Ash Crop's in there, awake, and probably furious,” Rainbow said, thinking Applejack had forgotten he was a dangerous criminal.

“Ah know,” Applejack said calmly, a smile on her face.

Rainbow stared at Applejack in confusion for a few seconds, shook her head and said, “Alright then, if you know what you're doing.” She pulled out her ship's operation device and pressed a button on it with her hoof.

“Ah'd get back, if Ah were you,” Applejack said as a door in the under-side of Rainbow's ship began to open, pointing towards a pile of crates a couple of metres away. Amused, Rainbow did as Applejack said and leant on the crates, intrigued as to what Applejack was going to do.

When the door was fully open, Ashcrop came charging out, barreling straight towards Applejack. Just as he was about to collide with her, she hopped out of the way and on to her fore-hooves. Rainbow watched as Applejack's hind-leg snapped out and smashed into the side of Ash Crop's head, his body dropping to the floor and sliding a small distance into the wall.

Rainbow couldn't help herself from laughing, as she hadn't expected anything like that. She buckled over, collapsing to the floor and smacking the floor with a hoof in laughter. Her stomach was beginning to hurt, she was laughing so much. Pulling herself together, Rainbow clambered back to her feet, still snorting with laughter. She trotted over to Applejack who was now cuffing Ash Crop's hooves together.

“- and anything you say can an' will be used against you,” Rainbow caught Applejack say as Ash Crop groaned. The earth pony straightened up again and smirked. “So, what'cha think?”

“That was priceless!” Rainbow cried, patting Applejack on the back with a hoof. “He didn't know what hit him! Anyway, what should we do with this 'varmint'? She asked, imitating Applejack's accent, eliciting a gentle prod from Applejack.

“Twi' should be somewhere on this boat,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “Let's get this lump to her. Give us a hoof.” She bent down, hooked her head under one of Ash Crop's forelegs and motioned for Rainbow to do the same. When Rainbow had, the pair of them heaved Ash Crop up and began to drag him to the hangar's exit.

As they reached it, the door opened to reveal a pitch-black room, and the pair stepped in, Rainbow expecting the lights to turn on when they detected the motion of the two ponies. The lights did indeed switch on, but Rainbow wasn't expecting the sudden cry that accompanied it.

“Surprise!” All around the brightly-decorated room were dozens of ponies and even one old donkey, all clad in different uniforms. The majority of uniforms were ESF and Navy uniforms, but there were a couple of jumpsuits and a few suits too. Only a few of the ponies had smiles on their faces, the rest seemed thoroughly uninterested with the newcomers. Hanging from the cold metal walls were multi-coloured streamers, balloons and opposite the door Rainbow and Applejack had entered was a large banner that had 'Welcome to Equality!” At the front of the crowd of ponies stood both Pinkie Pie and Twilight, who's faces sported beaming grins. However, everypony in the room's faces dropped as they stared at Ash Crop who hung limply between Rainbow and Applejack, lightly groaning.

“Anypony want any cake?” Pinkie asked, an uncertain tone to her voice.