Heart of Courage

A squat-looking shuttle plowed its way through a raging ice storm. Its pilot struggled to stay in control of the aging spacecraft while harsh turbulence buffeted them around. In the rear cargo bay, the spacious room held only two occupants. The pair held tight to their harnesses while fighting to keep down breakfast.

The first passenger turned towards the cockpit and yelled over his radio, “Lieutenant Zhang, we need to be able to leave the planet after this mission. If Tank has to go through another minute of your flying, he’s going to start falling apart instead. I hope you enjoy…” A huge gust of wind forcefully tossed the shuttle craft up a dozen feet, interrupting the occupant’s insult as he nearly bit his tongue off.

“Captain Fletcher,” the pilot calmly replied, “I have everything under control. Tank can take this weather. He has been through far worse and survived. Oh, and one other thing, we are about to pass through a rather large funnel system so brace yourselves back there.”

Captain Fletcher had enough time to say, “Wait, what?” before the shuttle keeled over and began a vertical nose dive whilst spinning rapidly. From the cockpit, every alarm blared loud enough to be heard over the buffeting winds outside. Ignoring the cacophony, Lieutenant Zhang fought with the controls, trying to stabilize the out-of-control ship. As they plummeted from the sky, Captain Fletcher held on to his harness and gritted his teeth in anger. I will not throw up on my shuttle.

The second occupant didn’t fare the sudden twisting as well. A sickly splashing noise sounded over the radio followed by a series of Russian curse words. Fighting the g-forces, Captain Fletcher looked over to see the front faceplate of the other occupant’s combat suit covered in half digested oatmeal and milk. The sight made the usually impassive Captain break out in a smug grin. Slowly, the shuttle righted itself and pulled out of the twisting wind currents.

From the front of the ship, Zhang came back over the radio. “I knew Dmitri couldn’t outlast you James. This means Socket owes me fifteen bits.”

The second occupant pulled his helmet off and went to work cleaning it. “Gahh! I shouldn’t have had milk.”

James looked down at his friend. “You were the one who made this bet, Dmitri. I had no part in it. But don’t forget, we both ate the same breakfast.”

“Nyet, I want rematch.”

Zhang answered before James could. “Good, another chance to watch Dmitri clean puke out of my shuttle. Anyway, that will have to wait for another time. The storm is clearing up and we are seconds from the plateau you picked out, Captain.”

“Alright, here we go. Dmitri, clean that damn helmet and get it back on right away. The air is too thin here and, no matter how much I would like to, I can’t let you asphyxiate.” James turned towards the cockpit. “Isamu, keep Alice scanning for any threats and be ready to move quickly if something happens. When we land, I’m going outside to get a better view.”

As they carried out his orders, James glanced at his arm-mounted computer. It displayed a live camera feed, allowing him to watch the shuttle dash over frozen valleys and mountain ranges. Thin air currents pulled at the icy peaks, creating long trails of glittering clouds at the tops of the highest mounts. A shudder throughout the craft indicated its pilot engaging the vertical takeoff and landing thrusters. Slowly, their speed and altitude dropped until the ship settled lightly on a flat cliff top. With the ease at which Isamu Zhang set the shuttle down, James wondered if their inbound turbulent flight had been done on purpose.

James shook his head and unbuckled himself. Next to him, Dmitri grumbled while he finished cleaning up before slipping his helmet back on. Once the familiar click sounded, indicating a good seal, he went to work on his straps which had become quite tangled in the bumpy ride. Fletcher had reached the back of the shuttle and activated a large red switch. “Dropping the ramp.” He called over the radio as the large steel deck swung downwards to the ground, throwing up a small flurry of snow in the process.

Pacing around their landing site, James checked the integrity of the cliff side to ensure they wouldn’t tumble over the edge. Satisfied, he scanned the valley below but saw nothing of interest. That changed when he looked up into the night sky and watched as millions of tiny rocks morphed into brilliant sparks. The dazzling display filled the entire night sky with a light bright enough to cast shadows across the ice.

The meteor shower was quite a show. Too bad this lonely snowball of a planet currently has a measly population of three, thought Captain James Fletcher. As he watched, questions about their presence on this frozen plateau began to surface but before he could ponder for long, an amused voice from transmitter in his ear interrupted his thoughts.

“You like pretty light show, da?”

Fletcher turned to see a stocky earth pony walking towards him. He shot him a grin before turning back to gaze into the sky. “Feeling better?”

“Da! I am not weak. My straps must have been loose. Unfair disadvantage I think!”

James chuckled while watching the light show above. “Sure Dmitri. That must have been it. That’s why you were all tangled up back there.”

The Earth pony stood next to his human friend, sensing that something was wrong. “What bothers you, comrade?”

“Why does Princess Celestia want us here Dmitri? We are four light years from the nearest sensor station and dozens from the closest enemy battle space. All we get is an ambiguous message ordering us to sit and watch for, unusual, activity on this empty rock. A god-forsaken planet with an average temperature that makes even Azure’s heart look warm and cozy.”

The last comment inspired a hearty laugh from Dmitri. “My friend, I learn long ago to stop worrying about things I can’t explain. Sit back and relax, da? Don’t worry!”

Fletcher couldn’t help but grin at his friend’s laid-back manner when it came to dealing with life. Such an attitude helped keep him sane through the dark times in which they lived. Glancing back at the falling stars, he couldn’t help but still wonder why, in all her wisdom, did Princess Celestia want them here of all places. Why couldn’t it have been somewhere a little warmer? Maybe someplace with a beach. With a sigh, he looked back at Dmitri. “Did the sensors on Tank detect anything unusual?”

“Nyet Captain,” Dmitri said as he checked the computer on his foreleg. “Ionic energy low, solar radiation is a little high but that probably from poor excuse of an ozone layer here… nyet, everything within predicted values.”

I must be missing something. Fletcher frowned in thought. There must be one crucial detail, which if he could only figure out, would explain why they were assigned on this seemingly pointless mission. He delved into his memories of his past looking for a clue. Maybe it was something he learned in fleet school, or some advice he was given. Perhaps he did something wrong and this was a punishment of some kind. Memories flew by until a particular one caught his attention. It was when he had first met Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna.

During the award ceremony after the battle over Pegasopolis, James was recognized for extreme valor after he risked his ship by docking with the stricken missile cruiser Athens, to help evacuate her crew. His actions had saved over a hundred lives from the ship before her life support system failed. As Princess Celestia put the medal around his neck she had whispered something in his ear, too quiet for anyone else to hear. “You are a brave and loyal solder James Fletcher. I feel that you have yet to reach your full potential, but your time will come.” Ambiguity was a common trait in her decision-making from what Fletcher had gleaned from the Equestrian records of past, but before he could ponder why that memory was bugging him, Dmitri interrupted again.

“Damn computer,” he cursed as he slapped the screen on his leg. “Ugh, how do you change clock from planet-side time to military?”

James sighed. “Go to settings and…” He was halfway through explaining when a realization hit him.

“Da?” Dmitri looked at him and saw a look of shock through the helmet’s visor. “Are you al…”

“Alice!” Fletcher yelled into his communicator, much louder than necessary. “Gather data on all exotic particles and radiation. Look for anomalies in energy concentrations, especially the tachyon readout.”

“Yes, Captain.” A calm female voice replied.

The data began to download onto his screen. Please let this be a false alarm. How could I have missed the signs? If this was real, life was going to be one hell of a mess for a few weeks. The Wells Doctrine was one of the strictest of its kind and any deviations from it were severely punished.

“What the hay is going on!” The confused earth pony yelled.

“Remember when we took quantum mechanics in the academy?” the worried human asked.

The pony’s confused look instantly changed to an amused one. “Ha! Not really. Remember, you helped cover my ass for final exam.” Dmitri laughed as he thought of a much simpler past.

James slapped his forehead. “Ugh, do you know what tachyons are?”

Dmitri put his hoof under his chin and thought for a second. “Is that the particle that can travel through time? You know, you humans always so interested in that science fict…”

“Yes! So why would Princess Celestia want us here in the middle of nowhere for no clear reason other than to prepare for anything?”

The gravity of their situation finally dawned on Dmitri and a cold sinking feeling washed over the both of them. At that moment, both their screens finished downloading the tachyon readout. Dmitri looked at his screen and the cold feeling in his gut climbed into his throat, making it hard to breathe. The current readings were four thousand times higher than normal background levels and rising frighteningly fast. They were also radiating outward from a point in the middle of the icy plain in front of them.

“Shit…”