Aquatica

It has been several weeks since ‘The Incident.’ That’s what all ponies call it, since the word ‘zombie’ seems a bit too silly. We’ve been calling them ‘anomalies,’ creatures who don’t seem to exist within natural or normal boundaries.

I, Twilight Sparkle, have taken control of the situation. Sort of.

I’m heading up the construction of a teleportation device. I want to take any survivors as far away from this planet as possible. Unfortunately, most of my friends have already perished. They were grounded and vulnerable, and I didn’t reach them in time. I still have awful nightmares about them coming back... half dead, calling out to me in pain and torment. It’s enough to make me want to give up, but I can’t do that. Not when there are still survivors looking for an escape.

The only one left is Rainbow Dash, a pony comfortable enough with flying to remain on a private cloud for several days. I found her yesterday, starving and sleep deprived. She seemed barely able to recognize me in her exhaustion, but I convinced her to come with me to Canterlot.

It is from here that I am supervising the construction. It’s nearly finished. Just a bit more programming.

According to my calculations, we should arrive somewhere within 100 light years of Equestria. But, of course, this is the first time this type of travel has ever been attempted. There is no way to assure the survival of our refugees.

“Twilight?” the quiet, familiar voice jarred me from my deep thoughts.

“Y-yes?” I turned quickly, seeing the now meek face of Rainbow Dash peeking through the door.

“Um... it’s ready.” Rainbow Dash murmured, barely audible.

I drew in a sharp breath. This was it. We were escaping this hell and starting over. “I’m coming. Just a moment.”

“Hey, Twi?” Rainbow’s voiced slipped into it’s normal, unofficial tone.

I chuckled. “Yeah?”

“Do you think we’ll land someplace... nice?”

I sighed. “I’m not sure we’ll land anyplace at all. We might just be drifting around. I mean, there aren’t many planets in the area.  That’s why I made sure to pack enough supplies to last a few days. Hopefully it’ll be enough to get us to the nearest planet.”

“Oh... hey, Twi?”

“What?” I demanded, the old, friendly tone creeping back into my voice.

“Do you think they’ll have hay fries there?” Rainbow laughed loudly. It was good to see her happy. Happiness was a rare feeling these days.

I giggled, trotting to her side. “Gosh, I hope so. I’d miss ‘em.”

~~~~~~~

The machine was rickety, to say the least. It’s plating and control panel were Frankensteined from random pieces of metal, and it’s levers and knobs seemed to be recycled orange juice caps and pencil stubs.

I knew this already, of course, but it still seemed like a terrible way to travel. I was afraid it would sooner rattle it’s way to pieces than take us through space.

I helped Rainbow Dash through the small hatch, her wings causing a fair amount of trouble. With a final pop, she landed on the floor of the craft, sprawled awkwardly across the grating.

“You alright?” I asked, attempting to spread my own wings in the claustrophobic space.

“Fine. But... how is this going to carry a thousand ponies?” Rainbow asked.

“This is the pilot fish.” I said simply.

Rainbow shook her head to clear it. “Sorry, what?”

“Pilot fish. It’s the little fish that goes ahead of the shark. We’re going to work together to move this part, and it’ll tow the larger ship,” I explained.

“Like a tug boat?”

“Exactly. Theoretically, this ship will create an energy wake strong enough to actually throw the larger ship out into space. Like a slingshot effect.”

“Gotcha. Can we get out of here? I feel like I’m in a can of sardines!” Rainbow said hurriedly.

I chuckled. “Sure. You first.”

Rainbow shuffled to a position under the hatch. She used her front hooves to pull herself up through the small hole. She managed to get her shoulders through the hole, but her back legs struggled for grip on something.

“I’m stuck!” She shouted.

“Use my hoof!” I called back, holding my front hoof against her back one.

Rainbow gave a mighty shove. The rest was a blur. I fell with her force, slipping and hitting the floor of the small craft.

Rainbow seemed to have gotten out, but her last hoof missed the edge of the porthole, and she fell on top of me. I heard a smack, then the sound of machinery powering up.

“SHUT IT OFF!” Rainbow shrieked, scrambling to her hooves and pressing random controls as fast as she could.

“Stop that’s the--” I was cut off by a loud zap. The hatch clanged shut, and the control panel made some sick sounding beeps and warbles. “RAINBOW!” I accused.

“W-what?”

“You set the radius to 100,000 light years! Celestia knows what’s out there! Not to mention the thousands upon thousands of refugees who were abandoned on Equestria!” I babbled.

“Well, let’s just change the setting back!” Rainbow stood and hit a few more buttons. And the control panel died completely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I lost consciousness at some point I have no idea when or how. But I woke up to the sound of droning machinery, and something else... I couldn’t place my hoof on it, but it sounded a bit like  the flapping of several hundred wings, the sound’s volume multiplied a thousand times.

I noticed a flashing button on the control panel. I reached over to press it, glancing over the label stating ‘hail receptance.’

Static buzzed over the speakers, followed by a fuzzy voice:

“You have entered waters owned by the Aquatica home fleet. State your business, or you will be declared hostile and fired upon.”