Firefly: Whole New Verse

Chapters

Chapter One: Out of Patience
Chapter Three: Lost in Transit
Chapter Four: Ten Little Buffalo
Chapter Five: Questions and Answers
Epilogue: Premonitions
Prologue: Once Upon a Time...
Chapter Two: The Dog in the Nighttime

Chapter One: Out of Patience

Firefly: Whole New Verse

Author: psychicscubadiver
Editor: Silentcarto
Proofreader: Coandco
Story Image by: Silentcarto

Disclaimer: I don’t own Firefly or My Little Pony, that is Joss Whedon and Hasbro, respectively. This is a fanfiction that portrays MLP characters in a ‘Verse very clearly based on Firefly. Shake well and enjoy.

Chapter One: Out of Patience

The warehouse was old and dusty. The doors had been chained shut years ago with thick links and the locks had rusted shut. The few windows and ventilation ducts that existed were solidly boarded up. Other warehouses in the area were busy to one degree or another, but this one had been abandoned as long as anybody could remember.

Which was exactly why Patient Aim owned it.

The rail tunnels that had housed public transport before lev-trains made their appearance ran beneath the building. It had been foal’s play to open a way into the warehouse above without disturbing its forgotten appearance, then move in his most valuable or illegal merchandise. Of course, it still needed guards, but they could enter and exit unseen just as easily as all the goods.

It would be, Pierce thought, the perfect gig. Handle the odd shipment showing up, and otherwise just make sure that nobody outside ever tries the doors or anything. Most days it was perfect, but today he had to work with Hoops.

“So which would you chose?”

“Neither,” Pierce replied, trying to read his cheap mystery novel in peace.

“That’s not a choice, Pokey!” Hoops was a large pegasus, hired more for his muscle than any brains or skills. Even with modern magitech, size and strength weren't bad qualities for a guard, if only for the intimidation factor.

“My name is Pierce. The last guy who called me ‘Pokey’ is in the hospital.” That pony had come down with Potomac Fever, but Pierce didn’t see any reason to share that fact with Hoops.

“Sheesh, fine. I still wanna hear your answer. Would you rather…” he paused making a production out of the question, “kill a family member or clean a public restroom with your tongue? You gotta choose, that’s the point of the game.”

“I’d kill the stallion trying to make me choose,” Pierce said.

His subtle hint missed the mark as Hoops shook his big, empty head. “Nah, bro. It’s, like, a magic spell that you can’t fight. You have to choose one of them. Which one?”

There were a variety of ways to keep yourself entertained on guard duty. Some guys brought readers and flipped through books, magazines, porn, whatever. Others brought vid players or game systems and whiled away their time on those. Pierce had even worked with a Diamond Dog that whittled stuff. Hoops was the only pony he knew that wanted to play this stupid game for hours on end.

“I don’t have to do jack. I do what I want, and right now, I want to read my book.”

“I’ll never call you ‘Pokey’, again.”

Pierce sighed, and counted to ten before replying. “Are we talking close family, or would extended count?”

That was when a small metallic ball landed with a ‘tink’ several feet away, bounced a couple times, and rolled towards them. By itself, it looked harmless, but both ponies had seen more than enough movies to recognize bad news when they saw it. Hoops shot straight up, getting away from whatever-it-was and scouting for the pony that had thrown it. Pierce brought his horn to life and trapped the tiny metal ball inside a shield spell. If it was just sleeping gas, he could easily keep it contained. Even if it was a grenade, that shield should protect him from the worst of the blast. Just to be on the safe side, he ducked behind a nearby crate, his eyes still locked on the innocent-looking ball.

A powerfully built shape dropped out of the rafters and clamped a damp rag over Hoops’ face, and a smaller, faster form dashed out of the shadows below to do the same to Pierce. Within seconds, both guards were unconscious, their radios undisturbed and hardly a peep made.

“I’m glad y’all finally got in position,” Applejack drawled as she stepped out from behind a crate at the other end of the warehouse. “I was about fed up with listenin’ to them.”

A rough chuckle came from above, where Gilda still had the sedative-soaked cloth clamped over Hoops’ mouth and nose. “Yeah, a question that easy should’ve been over in no time. Tartarus, I’d pay money to see a couple of my sisters ride the final breeze.”

Applejack’s expression turned sour, but the Captain cut off any further conversation by dropping Pierce to ground with a heavy thump.

“Stow it,” Rainbow Dash commanded. “I'm feeling too good to let your fighting ruin this. Between the three of us, and my awesome plan, this job was a cinch. Quick, quiet and clean. They won’t even know who did it.”

“Except that Patient is gonna know it was you,” Applejack said, ducking down to collect their decoy bomb. With a deft hoof she tucked it into one of the many pockets on her short combat vest.

“How?”

“Because unlike these two, he ain't an idiot,” Applejack said as Gilda dropped Hoops unceremoniously to the ground right beside Pierce. “I’ve got nothing against the job − it’s a good piece of work, Captain – just don’t expect it to fool him.”

“Yeah, Patient’s one sharp son of a nag. No offense, boss, but I don’t see you putting one over on him,” Gilda added.

Dash shook her head. “You killjoys won't let a mare hold on to a smile for thirty seconds. All right, let’s get to work, then. Look around for the goods and keep an eye out for any other pretties. It doesn’t hurt to make a little profit on the side, just make sure it’s not anything heavy or easily tracked.” Gilda gave a mercenary grin at that, and Applejack nodded solemnly.

They went to work quickly and efficiently. Dash and Applejack searched the nearest of the surrounding crates. Gilda stripped the unconscious guards of weapons, snorting in disdain at most of them, until she found a large, serrated knife in one of the unicorn’s boots. “Hello, there. Real Military-grade Confed-enchanted steel? You are coming home with me, beautiful!” Somehow, she managed to find an empty sheath among the array of weaponry strapped to her crossed bandoliers. Dash could count two pistols, a rifle, three types of grenades, and at least two knives, not including the one Gilda just added. And that wasn’t counting whatever she might be carrying in her saddlebags.

“Here we go,” Dash murmured as a vacuum seal broke on one of the containers. Within were smaller cases, each one made of heavy plastic. Dash cupped one in a hoof, gently prying it open with the other. Five glass vials and their glimmering blue contents were securely padded inside. Dash felt her grin stretch from ear to ear. Bunny had hired them to steal twenty vials and there were eight cases. Math wasn’t one of Dash’s strong points, but she knew enough to calculate some serious profit sitting right in front of her.

Two of the cases disappeared into the deep pockets of her coat. Saddlebags may have been more practical, but the long duster had a coolness factor that justified a little inconvenience. Dash was about to call her crew over when her train of thought was derailed by the sound of a toilet flushing. Dash’s head snapped in the direction the noise had come from, the rest of her body frozen in place. Her peripheral vision told her that the same thing had happened to Applejack and Gilda, but most of her attention was focused on the door marked ‘Manure Hole’ in crude writing.

“Whew!” said a caramel colored earth pony as he left the restroom. “Sorry about that, guys. I’m never eating at that restaurant again!” Only after that crass statement did he notice his unconscious buddies. He froze just as movement was starting to return to Dash’s limbs.

“Hey buddy,” she said softly, trying not to spook him. “No need to be hasty. We aren’t looking to harm nobody.” A sentiment that would have been more believable if Gilda wasn’t not-very-covertly reaching for her new knife. “We already got what we came for, and trying to stop us now will just get you hurt.”

His eyes flicked from her to the alarm button only a few feet away and back to Captain Dash. She bit back a curse. Talking somepony down was not her forte. Her skills ran more towards haggling and intimidation, the first didn’t look to do much good here. The second…?

“You touch that button,” Dash said, her voice cold and merciless as the void, “and you won't live long enough to regret it. Got it?”

“Captain…” Applejack warned.

The stallion made his decision and lunged for the alarm. Dash raced forward even as Gilda grabbed her knife and threw it. The knife buried itself in the stallion’s shoulder, but it was too late. His other hoof had already pressed the button. He shrieked in pain as Dash body checked him, unable to halt her momentum.

“You sunscorched, moonbanished, brainless son of a nag!” Dash shouted. The stallion whimpered, clutching at the knife embedded in his shoulder. Dash turned away, hurrying to get things finished. “Applejack, with me. This crate’s got the goods and more besides. We ain’t got time to grab anything else, but at least we can finish the job.”

“What about this dweeb, Captain?” Gilda asked, jerking a thumb at the crippled stallion. “You want me to make good on your promise?”

Applejack frowned but didn’t say a word as she loaded her saddlebags with the precious cases. Dash thought about it for a moment but shook her head. “No, you girls were right, earlier. Patient is already going to figure it’s us. No need to kill one of his colts and get him more riled.”

Gilda frowned. She didn’t like to leave loose ends, but she didn’t argue. “Fine, but I ain’t leaving my new knife behind.” She bent over and yanked the blade out of the guard’s shoulder. He howled in pain until Gilda silenced him with a heavy blow to the head.

“Gilda…” Dash said warningly.

“I just sucker-punched him,” the griffin said as she cleaned the blood off of her new knife with a grimy rag. “It’ll be a while before he comes to, but he’ll mend.”

Dash shook her head, but didn’t bother to argue. “Take point. AJ and I are weighed down with the goods, and we need eyes up front. The faster we get out of here, the better.” Gilda nodded, tucking the knife away and heading towards the corner of the building that they had quietly cut a hole in. Dash pulled the radio off her belt and turned it on as she followed. “Tranquility, do you read me?”

“Loud and clear, mon capitaine!” came the cheerful reply. Dash could imagine the goofy grin her pilot was probably wearing without the slightest trouble. “The job done?”

“In a manner of speaking,” she said. “We need to leave as soon as possible. Like, an hour ago.” Gilda gestured from outside giving the ‘all clear’ sign.

The joking tone stopped. “Is everything okay? Is Applejack okay?” Soarin asked, even as his wife slipped out of the warehouse.

“We’re all fine,” Dash said tersely. “But there was an extra guard and he managed to hit the alarm. Patient knows somebody is here and he's likely to blame us. Tell me we’re good to go.” Dash squeezed through the hole and took to the sky. She wouldn’t win any races with the weight in her pockets, but she could still make good time. There wasn’t any point in being sneaky during this get-away anymore.

“The fuel and food are on board, Rarity’s shuttle is locked and loaded, we managed to book three passengers, and Fluttershy spent the last of our money on a new compression coil.”

Dash couldn’t stop herself from groaning even as she winged her way home. Gilda turned back for a moment, curiosity on her face, but Dash pointed insistently ahead. The griffin scowled but went back to watching for trouble. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. There’s a reason I left our bits in your hooves and not hers.”

“Ah, cut me a break, captain. How can you say no when she gives you that look and says ‘please’? I am but a stallion and putty in her hooves,” Soarin said, somewhere between joking and complaining.

“If you aren’t careful, I’ll tell your wife you said that and then you’ll really have something to fear.” Soarin made a frightened noise that was in no way a joke. Still, it made Dash feel like laughing. “Ah, don’t worry, we’ve got everything Bunny wanted and more. Despite our mechanic’s best efforts, we won’t starve.”

“Whew. That’s a relief. Well, the ship will be warmed up and ready to go by the time you get here. I’ll make sure the passengers are tucked away in their quarters so nobody sees anything they shouldn’t.”

“Good. We’ll be coming in soon, so get on it.” Dash hooked the mouthpiece of the radio back on her belt, never missing a beat with her wings. She glanced downwards and tracked Applejack’s movement. Being ground bound meant fighting crowds. Applejack galloped without missing a stride out here, but the warehouse and industrial district wasn’t exactly crowded. Things could turn ugly once they hit the docks.

“Oh, scat,” Gilda cursed from ahead.

Or they could go wrong right now.

Dash put on a extra burst of speed and caught up with the griffin on point. Following her line of sight wasn’t hard. Neither was making out the sizable posse heading for the docks with Patient Aim at their head. The grizzled old earth stallion looked mad enough to spit nails. The one and only mercy was that he hadn’t seen them yet.

The rifle appeared in Gilda’s claws as though summoned by unicorn magic. She drew a quick bead and shot before Dash could so much as open her mouth. A mare to Patient’s right went down with a cry and a spray of blood. It didn’t look fatal, but at this distance it was hard to tell. Every head in the group snapped from their wounded comrade to the flying duo.

“Oops…” Gilda said. “Y’know, for a moment there I really thought that would work.” The pegasi in the group were already taking wing, unicorn horns were glowing, and Patient had unlimbered his massive gun. The SA Meteor .75 was a weapon more commonly mounted on small ships than handled by an individual. That didn’t stop Patient from shooting it with terrifying accuracy.

“If we survive this, I'm gonna kill you twice,” Dash promised Gilda. “RUN!” There was no hesitation as she obeyed that order. Applejack heard it too, and if she didn’t know the reason behind it, she could probably guess.

Dash twisted in midair, performing a roll that would have sent a less experienced flyer tumbling from the sky. Just in time, too, if the gigantic crack of Patient’s gun was any sign. She dove to get down into the space between buildings and out of any line of fire. It was safer than the open sky, but not by much. There were plenty of obstacles in the narrow alley, and Dash was moving at speeds that any lawkeeper worth his pay would call ‘unsafe’. She dodged another set of wires, ducking beneath a metalworker’s sign. Her coat whipped back and forth, the cases in her pockets fighting every sudden shift in direction. It had been custom-made not to interfere with her wings, but not with the pockets weighed down like this. Next time, she was wearing saddlebags on a job. Looking cool wasn’t worth taking a bullet or plowing into the ground like an overweight turkey.

Patient’s pegasi had a clear sky for flying, and they were making the most of it. A few had drawn weapons, but they didn’t fire. It was close to impossible to shoot straight while in flight, and none of them were willing to risk an innocent bystander getting hit. That would draw the lawkeepers like gems drew dragons. Much simpler to get close and take the shot at point-blank range.

There were only two small problems with that. One: Rainbow Dash and Gilda had a head start of at least a couple hundred yards. Two: She was Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus on the Outer Rim. In the distance she could see her ship powering up, engines flaring to life. “Pour it on!” she yelled, and followed her own command. Her coat dragged at her like a lead weight, but she wasn’t going through all this for nothing. Besides, it provided just enough of a handicap to make things interesting.

Gilda had already tucked her gun away and was flying like all of Tartarus was on her tail. Below, Applejack was somehow keeping up, her hooves flashing like orange lightning. She leapt from crate to crate, soaring over the dockside crowds like another pegasus.

“Open the airlock!” Dash shouted into her radio. She slammed it back without waiting to hear Soarin’s reply. Another crack of pony-made thunder split the sky and a bullet tore through the air only a few inches beneath her left wing. The crowd below screamed in fear and bellowed in anger. Half of them dropped to the ground, searching for cover, and the other half drew their own weapons.

Less than fifty yards now. Dash turned her speed up another notch, ignoring the pain from her wings. If she didn’t make that door, aching muscles would be the least of her worries. None of the pegasi could reach her now, but it was nothing but open air to the ship. No cover from Patient’s gun at all. Dash flung herself across the distance, almost immediately forced to twist and flare her wings to slow herself before she hit the back wall with bone-crushing force. Tendons stretched and screamed with the stress even as a bullet flashed so close by her face that she felt the wind of its passage.

Before she could even register that heart-stoppingly narrow miss, she was safe inside the airlock that led to her ship’s main hold. Dash still hit the back wall of the airlock – she hadn’t managed to bleed off that much speed – but the impact was manageable. Gilda slammed into the back door almost as hard only a second or two later. Dash turned and looked back out the door. Applejack wove between the remaining crowd like they were standing still. One or two of them panicked and took a shot at her, but none of them were carefully aimed, thank Harmony. One last leap, and she barreled into the airlock, her Stetson flying free as her hooves skidded to a stop just short of the back wall. Applejack’s hoof shot out and snatched it as Dash slammed the button to close the doors, and just in time. Across the docks, Dash could see the glint of Patient’s scope lining up another shot.

A moment of fear gripped her heart, but with a pneumatic hiss, the doors shut. Dash let out a deep sigh of relief, so glad this was all–

CLANG!

With a sound like a miniature gong, a small dent appeared in the metal of the airlock doors. It was perfectly centered on Dash’s heart. Suppressing a noise that was definitely a fierce warrior’s cry and not at all a yelp of terror, Dash grabbed for her radio. “Get us out of here, Soarin! I don’t want to hang around and see if Patient has a gun big enough to shoot through our hull.”

“Roger,” came the tinny reply. “We are going, going, gone!” He fitted action to words and the ship rumbled beneath their hooves as it rocketed toward the upper atmosphere and the black emptiness beyond.

“Hey, any job you can fly away from is a good one, right boss?” Gilda said, running her wings through some post-flight stretches.

“It might have been better if you hadn’t tried shooting at the best markspony on the entire sunscorched planet!” Dash bellowed, shoving her face right into Gilda’s beak. That was dangerous territory when one person had a sharp beak and the other only had flat teeth. Dash didn’t hesitate.

“C’mon, Captain,” Gilda complained. She held her ground, but wasn’t pushing back. “If I could have taken him out, the rest of the trip would have been easy flying. Besides, last I recall, you took a shot at him not too long ago.”

“Because I didn’t have a choice,” Dash snarled, but Gilda had a point. Life would’ve been simpler without an enemy like Patient. “Next time, you clear it with me before you ruin our chances of getting away clean.”

Gilda growled, but turned away and stalked off towards her room. “Whatever you say. Just don’t forget my share when Bunny pays us off.”

“What am I going to do with that nag?” Dash complained, once she was out of earshot.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “I dunno about her, but what are we gonna do with the goods?” She shook her flank and the cases in her saddlebags clattered noisily.

“Right. Let’s get that handled, then we can meet these passengers of ours.” Applejack just nodded in reply and the two set to work secreting the valuable cases away in several nooks and crannies of the cargo bay that any lawkeeper or customs official would be surprised to discover. There were several new crates and containers in the hold, only a few of which seemed to belong to the ship. Whoever this ‘S. Glimmer’ was, she had certainly brought a lot of luggage with her.

“Captain,” Soarin said over the intercom. “We’ve got guests in the kitchen, and they are getting a mite antsy waiting for you.”

“On my way,” Dash reassured him.

“Are you sure about taking ponies on in the middle of a job?” Applejack asked. “I know it’s a bit late to change that now, but it still don’t seem like the best idea.”

Dash turned to her oldest friend and gave her a wide confident grin. “What are you talking about? All we have to do is convince this bunch that we’re normal, legitimate businessponies running an honest freight service. How hard could that be?”

Applejack merely raised an eyebrow.

Chapter Three: Lost in Transit

Firefly: Whole New Verse

Author: psychicscubadiver
Editor: Silentcarto
Proofreader: Coandco
Story Image by: Silentcarto

Chapter Three: Lost in Transit

Unlike dinner last night, the galley was almost silent except for the scrape of spoons in bowls and an occasional muttered request for the sugar. Dash grimaced to herself. She could read the crew’s tension easily, especially in Fluttershy and Soarin’s nervously twitching wings. Dash forced herself to sit and eat quietly instead of hovering around the room the way she wanted to, but she was just as anxious as the others to learn how Gilda’s spying had gone.

None of the passengers seemed to have noticed anything odd, at least. Glimmer stared at every bite of food before trying it. Toolbelt was already done and fiddling with something in her toolbox. Zecora serenely sipped from a mug of tea that she had brewed with leaves and spices from her luggage. The last of the fruit had disappeared in a hurry. The rest of breakfast was hot oatmeal flavored with a pitiful amount of sugar. Tranquility didn’t have a lot of the sweet stuff to go around. Breakfast was bland, but filling.

True to her word, Gilda hadn’t poked her beak out of bed this morning. Still, nobody had raised the alarm last night, and Gilda hadn’t come banging on anybody’s door, so nothing could have gone too wrong. Rarity wasn’t up yet either, but she was always a late riser, so that was no surprise.

Dash had wrestled with the temptation to go examine the cargo hold first thing after she woke up, but that might look suspicious if anybody saw her down there so early. With any luck, one of the passengers would ask to visit it after breakfast. If not, Dash could invent a reason. She had plenty of time.

It was Fluttershy’s turn to do the dishes this morning, and as she began to gather them, Glimmer cleared her throat to get Dash’s attention. The Captain gave it to her. “If it’s not too much trouble, can you have somebody escort me to the cargo hold?”

Dash buried her smile before it could show on her face. “Sure. In fact, I’ll head down with you.” Glimmer’s mouth tightened around its edges, though she didn’t actually frown. She had likely been hoping for someone else. This time Dash did smile. Too bad, she was coming along whether Her Highness appreciated her company or not.

The trip was short and silent. Until the door to the cargo hold opened, at least.

“DEAR CELESTIA!” Glimmer shouted. “P– MY EQUIPMENT!” In any other circumstance Dash would’ve said she was overreacting, but with the state of the cargo hold, the Captain had a hard time criticizing her. All six of the large crates she had brought on board had been smashed open as though somebody had gone nuts with a sledgehammer. There were pieces all over the floor; it would take somebody with a lot of time and an uncommon fondness for jigsaw puzzles to figure which part went to which crate.

Glimmer rushed over to one of them that contained a big freezer-looking machine that hummed quietly to itself. Glimmer tapped on its keyboard, and she didn’t seem to like what the readout told her.

“Just what is going on here, Captain?” she demanded, her ears flat against her skull, nostrils flared like she was about to charge. But for all her anger, Dash could see real fear in her eyes. She wasn’t just upset over poor luggage handling. Either she was terrified by the thought of something going missing, or she was terrified that someone had found out what she was carrying. Tartarus – it could be both, for all Dash knew.

Captain Dash shook her head, her expression growing grim. “I don’t know for sure, but I’m going to get to the bottom of this.” Starting with a certain griffin who didn’t show up for breakfast. Dash’s eyes blazed with anger. She had trusted Gilda to do the job right. Whatever those crates held was no excuse for this. It was not standard operating procedure to kick off a squabble in the middle of a job involving very expensive and illegal goods on board. And if Gilda couldn’t wrap her violent little mind around that, then maybe it was time that they reviewed the terms of her employment. “Stay here and make sure nobody messes with your stuff. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Glimmer’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she jerkily nodded. Dash turned away, feeling the mare’s eyes drilling into her the whole way to the door. The Captain had a familiar itch between her shoulder blades. Any unicorn strong enough to hold a glamour for hours in the black could also manage a fatal energy blast. Dash was careful to move at a normal pace, even if she felt like bolting. First rule in a fight: don’t let them see your fear. As the hatch shut solidly behind her, she paused and slumped against it as a huge load of tension eased off her wings.

That worry past, her anger returned with a vengeance. Dash stomped her way upstairs, the floor ringing beneath her hooves. Fluttershy took one glance at her and shot off to the engine room with a nervous squeak.

In the bridge ahead, Soarin and Applejack both leaned into view. After catching sight of Dash, they both moved back out of sight without comment. It wasn’t often that Dash got truly riled up, but there wasn’t anyone onboard that would stand in her way. Except Rarity, for some reason. She seemed to be the only one immune to Dash’s fury.

“Gilda!” Dash yelled, banging on the door loud enough to wake the dead. Or anybody soon to join their ranks. There was no answer. “I’m not playing around! Open this sunscorched door, or I’ll open it for you!” Still, there was no answer. Not even a noise from the other side. Dash snorted in anger. If that nag had drunk herself unconscious then she was about have a lot worse than a hangover coming.

A few taps and a password on the hall crystal screen ordered Gilda’s door to open. Dash stormed in. “Wake up you lazy, worthless, stupid–” Her rant died before she’d even finished warming up.

The room was full of guns, ammo and other tools of destruction, but not the tool Dash was looking for. Gilda wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the small room. Dash frowned and peeked under the bunk, her fiery anger fading into a smoldering coal bed. There was something wrong about this situation, but she couldn’t put her hoof on just what it was. Captain Dash searched the rest of the room, then checked it again. Still no sign of Gilda or anything to say where she had gone. Nothing was obviously missing, either. All the griffon’s clothes and weapons were right where they should be.

More confused and frustrated than ever, Dash stalked out of Gilda’s room, slamming the door behind her. Soarin and Applejack were watching from the bridge again, but this time they didn’t disappear when she met their eyes.

“That wasn’t much in the way of shoutin’, Captain,” Applejack said with a frown. She didn’t ask what was wrong, but she didn’t have to.

“Gilda isn’t in her room. Do either of you know where she is?”

Applejack and Soarin traded a puzzled look. “She’s not there?” Soarin asked. “That’s weird. I’ve been up here since way before breakfast, but I don’t remember hearing her.”

Dash snorted and fixed him and his wife with a glare. “And you weren’t ‘distracted’ by anything?”

Soarin turned red, but Applejack shook her head. “Not this morning, Captain. Not with passengers on the ship. In the meantime, though, I ain’t seen hide nor hair of ‘er, neither.”

Dash pondered that for a moment and shrugged. “All right, but that doesn’t tell me anything. Where else could she have spent the night?”

Soarin sucked in a sudden breath and turned back to his console. “What?” Rainbow Dash asked, but he stared at the display, then shook his head.

“Nothing. Both shuttles are still locked in place.” Soarin chuckled. “You could ask Rarity. Maybe Gilda felt like celebrating after whatever went down in the cargo hold, and she coughed up the money for a night with our Companion.”

The edges of Dash’s vision flashed red for a half a second, and she felt bile rising in the back of her throat. She choked it back, but couldn’t stop herself from scowling. “I don’t think Gilda rides that way, and even if she did, Rarity wouldn’t take her as a customer. Especially not in the middle of the night.” Dash came to a snap decision. “Applejack, I want you to head down to the cargo hold. Keep an eye on Glimmer and convince her that I’m trying to find whoever’s responsible, but don’t go mentioning how Gilda has disappeared on us, got it?”

“Sure thing,” Applejack replied.

“Soarin, you stay here. Watch the ship and keep an eye out for Gilda.”

“Aye aye, sir!” he exclaimed with mock seriousness. “Meanwhile, what will you be up to?”

“I’m going to check out the empty shuttle. If Gilda isn’t hiding in there, I’ll talk to Rarity and see if she heard anything last night. Or if she’s seen Gilda since the crew meeting.” Dash turned and stalked off. There was no real way to be silent with hooves and a metal floor, but this time Dash walked softly and only made a little noise. If Gilda was playing hide-and-seek, there was no sense in warning her that somebody was coming.

The door to the cargo hold’s catwalk opened quietly, and Dash ducked through. She froze and listened for a few moments, but only heard the normal ship sounds and some muffled noises from Glimmer below. That caught her attention. Glimmer was sobbing.

Captain Dash had lived through a brutal war, and she had heard a lot of crying in that time. The noise Glimmer was making didn’t come from fear or despair. Her muted cries were sorrow and rage so powerful and mixed together that they were almost one emotion. Dash had heard that sound from the throats of several species in the course of that bloody struggle, when they had lost someone they loved.

Dash had cried like that in the jagged rubble of a place she had once called home.

What could have been in those crates to produce a reaction like that? Dash had met a few thieves, in addition to being one herself from time to time, and none of them acted like that over a lost shipment. There was something else are work here, something bigger going on just out of sight. The thought chilled Dash’s fury, but she turned to continue looking for her missing crewmate.

The empty shuttle was just that: empty. Dash checked every single corner, and examined all the hiding places on it, even those that Gilda couldn’t possibly have fit in. Dash stalked out, her frustration beginning to grow again. Where could Gilda be hiding that nobody would have noticed her? The infirmary was mostly unused. Maybe she should check there if Rarity didn’t know anything.

Dash entered a code to lock the shuttle door, using a series of numbers that only she knew. Nobody was getting into that thing unless they had her permission or an arc welder. Dash hurried across the catwalk, glancing down as she moved. Glimmer had stopped crying and was talking to Applejack. Their voices were too low to catch, but neither one sounded hostile, so everything was good for the moment, at least.

The door to Rarity’s shuttle stood resolutely in her path, and Dash hesitated before knocking. Soarin’s stupid joke echoed in her head, and she couldn’t shake it out. Angry at herself, she pounded on the door. “Rise and shine, Rarity. I know you need your beauty rest, but this is important.”

There was no answer. No noise at all.

Dash’s throat tightened. She pounded on the door with enough force to make her hoof ache. “I’m not joking, you ditzy diva. Get your sunscorched rump out here, now!” Any conversation that had been going on in the hold down below ended. The sudden stillness only made the silence beyond the shuttle door worse. Rarity might have ignored her first attempt, but there was no way that second one would have gone without comment.

The screen next to Rarity’s door shouldn’t have let Dash in. So long as Rarity rented that shuttle, it was hers, and with it came the right to privacy, as she was fond of reminding a certain Captain. In theory, Dash agreed. Practically speaking, it didn’t stop her from having a back-up code hidden in the controls. Somewhere below and behind her, Applejack was calling her name with concern. Dash ignored it; that wasn’t important right now.

The door hissed as it unsealed, and Dash barged in without another word. The bed was empty and unmade. That wasn’t right. Rarity was fussy and precise and a real pain in the flank about having everything in order. She wouldn’t have just left it that way. Other than the messy sheets, the rest of the room was pristine. There was no blood or weapon damage anywhere; no evidence of a fight or even a brief struggle. Dash searched the room quickly and carefully without leaving a single corner unchecked. There was no sign of Rarity; not even a hint where she had gone.

Dash stood still and took a deep breath; it was very important that she maintain her cool in times of crisis. The crew needed and expected their Captain to keep a level head.

Three seconds later, her hooves slammed to the floor of the cargo hold, making Glimmer and Applejack jump back in surprise. Dash had no memory of moving, but that didn’t really seem to matter right now.

Applejack stared at her. “Did you just drop two stories without even usin’ your wings?”

Dash ignored that too. “What in the Nine Pits of Tartarus were you smuggling on MY SHIP?” Dash bellowed only a few inches from Glimmer’s face. Her cheeks were streaked and the fur matted from her earlier tears. The so-called ‘assistant professor’ took a step back, her horn reflexively flaring to life as her survival instincts kicked in.

Dash noticed, but didn’t care. “I asked you a question,” she growled.

“N-nothing!” Star Glimmer stammered. “Just some medicine, equipment, all of the stuff I needed to perform my experiments.” Her brow furrowed, and she frowned. “Why?”

“Because two members of my crew are missing!” Dash’s anger still burned bright, but a little bit of common sense was starting to leak into her head. It reminded her that she was yelling at a pony that might as well have a loaded gun pointed straight at her.

Whatever Glimmer had been expecting, it wasn’t that. “They what?” Her horn flashed brighter and Dash felt herself tugged forward by an inescapable pink aura. Now it was Glimmer’s face in hers, and the unicorn wasn’t much calmer. “Who?”

“Gilda and Rarity!” Dash blurted.

“Hmm… the unicorn and the griffon....” Glimmer said, frowning in concentration. Dash took the opportunity to smack the unicorn’s horn with a quick hoof strike. Glimmer yelped and the levitation field burst like a bubble, dropping Dash to the deck.

Glimmer gave Dash a brief glare as if annoyed by the interruption. Her glamour flickered and faded, revealing a long indigo mane drawn up into a flattened bun. She didn’t seem to notice. One or two locks of her hair sprang out of place as Glimmer absently removed her shades. The eyes underneath were purple, unfocused and staring off into space. Her shades tapped out an unconscious pattern against her temple as Glimmer began to ramble quietly. “Firefly class ship, small scale transport at least two decades old, likely more. Fully fueled, saw the power crystals on the way in. Both shuttles still here; they must have used a third ship. What type of ship? Maximum burn… maximum burn for this ship would be 0.54c assuming we have enough fuel, and my reserves can supplement. What lead do they have and how fast are they…?”

Star Glimmer suddenly stopped speaking. Her eyes closed, and she took a long, slow, shaky breath. When she opened her eyes again they were focused and hard. Beneath her inexperience and thin disguise, Dash saw a pony of powerful will and ability. “I will pay any price you can name if you can catch up with your former crewmates and help me retrieve my s– cargo. No questions asked.”

That would have been a tempting offer under other circumstances. It wasn’t often the ‘Verse handed you a chance to name your price like that. In this case, Dash just scowled. “Except that Rarity wouldn’t just leave. Whatever your cargo is worth, I guarantee she makes more in a month. Even if she felt like turning to thieving, which ain’t too likely, she wouldn’t start like this. Let me repeat myself: they’ve gone missing. Neither one is in their quarters, but all their belongings are.”

Applejack cleared her throat noisily. “Am I the only one who thinks the two of you are overreacting a mite? Yeah, there’s something odd ‘bout this whole thing, but that don’t mean everypony needs to fly off the handle. We ain’t checked everywhere on board yet, they could just be somewhere we ain’t expecting.” She gave Glimmer a reassuring pat on the shoulder and smiled. “And I’m certain that whatever has gone missin’ will turn up when we find where our two missing ponies have gone.”

She paused for a moment, rubbing her chin with one hoof. “Rarity might be spendin’ time with that zebra, Captain. Y’know, sketchin’ her and the like. Gilda might just hiding from you because she knows you’re angry.”

As always, Applejack made sense. She was a good second-in-command, and Dash had noticed that in the war, even though they were in different squads. Despite her good sense, this was one time when Dash feared that her friend was wrong. There was more going on here.

The Captain pointed a hoof to Glimmer and gestured to the broken crates. “We aren’t done here. I want answers about what you were carrying.”

Glimmer scowled, but nodded before turning away to examine the contents of those moonbanished crates.

Good enough for now. “AJ, I need you to head up to the bridge. Maybe I’m just being crazy, but tell Soarin to check if any hatches or airlocks have been opened since we hit the black.”

“Okay…” Applejack said, raising one of her eyebrows.

“And if he doesn’t find anything, have him check the air exchange system for any significant pressure changes,” Glimmer said in a monotone. “If somebody disguised their access, then the proof that the airlock was used will show up there.”

Dash and Applejack both stared at her, but Glimmer didn't turn around or say anything else. Applejack's eyes slid to her captain. Dash gave a curt nod, and AJ set off. After a moment's glance at her passenger, the Captain followed.

The doors to the medical room opened with a squeal. The place hadn’t seen much use lately. Dash didn’t usually take her crew into danger. Well, most of her crew managed not to get hurt on dangerous missions, which amounted to about the same thing. Even so, the few times they were hurt, it meant finding some doctor of flexible morals willing to patch them up quietly. Applejack and Fluttershy were the only ponies onboard who knew anything more than the most basic first aid. Combat medicine hadn’t been a big part of Dash’s training. In her squad, you either came back safe and sound or there wasn’t enough left for first aid to do any good.

Cabinets squeaked and drawers complained as she yanked them open. Dash searched thoroughly, for all the good it did her. It didn’t look like anybody had even visited this room since Fluttershy’s last ‘spring cleaning’. Dash snorted, her frustration beginning to mount again. She managed not to slam the doors as she left, but it was a near thing.

She also managed not to tear straight into the zebra’s room. “Zecora!” she barked, hammering a quick beat on the thin sliding door. “Open up in there.”

Dash heard nothing in reply. Cold coils of fear, began to creep up her spine. Was Zecora gone too? Had … whatever was happening already gotten her? The door slid open suddenly just as Dash was about the charge in.

“I am sorry for my slow reaction, my meditation blocks out distraction. You seem quite tense and rather nervous. Please tell me how can I be of service,” the zebra intoned, playful mischief lurking in her smile.

“First: don’t give me a heart attack,” Dash complained. “Second: have you seen Rarity or Gilda since last night? Nobody has seen them all morning and neither one is in their quarters.”

Zecora blinked, and for a few seconds looked quite stunned. A small part of Dash savored having turned the tables and caught the Sister off guard. The larger part of her was consumed in worry. Zecora’s expression was all she needed to know her answer.

“No, all morning long neither one did I see. But this ship isn’t large. Where could they be?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Dash scowled. “C’mon, I’m heading back to the bridge to organize a search party, and I need every pair of eyes I can get my hooves on.”

Zecora nodded in agreement and slid the door shut behind her. Dash peered into the room before the door was closed. Nobody in there that she could see, and the small room offered little in the way of hiding places. Not that she had thought Zecora was lying to her, but it was smart to check.

Dash moved towards the stairs, Zecora following closely behind. The captain’s head whirled, trying to understand what was happening. None of it made sense. Gilda might have disappeared because of something she had found or because she was afraid Dash would be mad about the mess in the cargo hold. But how was Rarity involved? It all came back to what Glimmer was storing in those crates. Dash had seen pill bottles and other bits of doctor’s equipment. Enough stuff to outfit a small clinic. None of which really fit in with her claim of being a ‘researcher’.

...Unless that research was dedicated to something not so harmless as ‘natural magic phenomenon’. What had she been keeping in that freezer? What kind of drugs were mixed in with all those ordinary looking medicines? Was there a drug that could make somebody go crazy and just start hiding from everyone? Like a fear drug, or something? Was everybody onboard an unwitting guinea pig for some crazy experiment Star Glimmer was running? She had been on the run from something. Maybe the consequences of her illegal tests were catching up to her, and the authorities were looking to lock up a mad scientist.

Dash bit her lip hard enough to taste blood. There was no sense letting her imagination run away with her. Either Glimmer was one of the best actresses on the Outer Rim, or she had a personal stake in this. She wasn’t cold enough to be experimenting on them. Even if she was, why start on the ship instead of waiting to set up base on an unsuspecting world?

That didn’t mean she wasn’t a suspect. She had been awfully protective of those crates. She could have been sneaking around the cargo hold last night.

Realization suddenly jolted Dash like the mother of all thunderclouds. The cargo hold was what linked both disappearances. Gilda had been in there, and Rarity’s shuttle was directly connected to it. Somebody hadn’t liked it when Gilda had come poking around, and the fight had probably shattered some of those crates. The rest of the crew was too far to hear anything, but Rarity would have woken up and investigated. And she was bullheaded enough to yell at the ponies disturbing her sleep. The other pony wouldn’t want witnesses, so they’d grab Rarity, leaving her room undisturbed except for the unmade bed.

In that case, Glimmer was the likeliest suspect. She’d arrived in disguise, and acted suspicious as Tartarus. But if she was the one who had done it, why would she ask for somepony to take her there first thing after breakfast? And why had she been crying when Dash had gone to check the empty shuttle? If not her, though, then who?

Captain Dash suddenly became very aware of the zebra following her down the short hall to the bridge. She glanced back and met Zecora’s calm, inscrutable gaze. What did Dash really know about her? What proof did she have that she was really even a Solar Sister? Anybody could wear that jewelry and speak in rhyme. Was she interested in Glimmer’s secret cargo? Or maybe, Gilda wasn’t the intended victim. Rarity might have discovered something about the fake Sister during their discussion. Zecora could have gone back in the night to… silence Rarity, and when Gilda surprised her, they had fought and broken the crates.

Then there was that earth pony, Toolbelt. She had kept a low profile and never talked much about herself. And she always dragged that toolbox around. She wasn’t on a job, why wasn’t that thing left in her room or in the cargo hold?

Dash had too many questions and not enough answers, but she’d been careful not to ask herself one very important question. Were they still alive? In almost every explanation it seemed likely that the culprit had killed them. A dead body was much easier to hide than a live pony, especially on a ship this size. She had to assume that they weren’t dead for now. Otherwise…

Dash didn’t want to think about what that meant.

They reached the bridge, and Soarin frowned when he saw her. “Wow, somebody is looking grim. Zecora hasn’t seen Rarity?”

“I’m–” Zecora began.

“No, she hasn’t,” Dash interrupted, fixing Applejack with a glare. Applejack returned it in kind, and Dash shook her head. The suggestion had made sense; there was no use getting mad, because it hadn’t panned out. “What about the airlock? Anybody use that?”

Soarin looked between his wife and the Captain, then turned back to his screen without another comment. “Tight and secure, ma’am. Nobody has touched any airlock or exterior hatch since lift-off, and all suits are accounted for. I took a look through the air system reports, too, like that Glimmer girl suggested. No depressurization or repressurization anywhere onboard since we broke atmo, either. I did notice one thing, though. Either the oxygen storage tank has a slow leak or one of our algae growth beds has died. Our O2 levels are just a bit lower than they oughta be. Nothing serious, though.”

Fantastic. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. “We’ll deal with that later. For now, get on the comms and tell everyone to come to the bridge ASAP. No exceptions, no excuses. We’re going to have a ship-wide meeting about just what is really going on here.”

Soarin followed that order without question, and Dash threw herself into the co-pilot’s seat. Zecora settled into the corner, and Dash kept a wary eye on her. She hadn’t forgotten her suspicions.

Toolbelt wandered in a minute later, looking confused. “What’s going on? Is there something wrong?” She clutched her toolbox tightly, like a foal with a security blanket.

“My personal effects were broken into, several valuable items were stolen, and two crew members have gone missing,” Glimmer summarized from the short hallway. She hadn’t bothered restoring the glamour or her shades, and her scowl was something to behold. “Since this meeting is being called, I assume you didn’t find Gilda or Rarity.”

“You would be right,” Dash said. “According to my pilot, none of the hatches were opened, and he even checked the air systems like you suggested. Whatever happened to them, they’re still somewhere on my ship.”

Glimmer’s expression darkened further. “I don’t appreciate the tone of accusation in your voice, Captain.”

“I don’t appreciate when my crew goes missing!” Dash bellowed back, rising to hover above her chair. “Something weird is going on here, and it all comes back to whatever mysterious cargo you were carrying!” She glanced around the room, briefly locking eyes with Zecora and Toolbelt. “Not that I think you two are pure as the driven snow, either.”

“What?! I haven’t done anything!” Toolbelt declared indignantly.

“All I’m saying is that nothing like this ever happened before the three of you showed up. Now, let’s start with the contents of those crates. I got a pretty good look and they don’t seem much like the equipment of somebody studying ‘natural magic phenomenon’.” Of course, it didn’t look much like the belongings of a smuggler, either, but Dash didn’t mention that.

Glimmer turned red, and lost some of her bluster. “W-well, I’m studying the effects of those phenomena with a possible interest in using them medically.” She cleared her throat and made a rolling gesture. “Anyway, speaking of my equipment. I discovered that among the other missing items were a pressurized injector and every sedative compatible with that method of delivery.”

Silence greeted that announcement.

“Which means what?” Applejack asked.

Star Glimmer sighed. “Whoever broke into my baggage took a handheld device that would let them quickly and easily put ponies to sleep. And keep them asleep so long as the medicine held out.”

“And why would you need some kind of… sleep gun for your studies? What about the ‘other items’ that went missing along with the sleep gun? What were you keeping in the freezer? That was the first thing you checked on, and whatever you found is what made you angry,” Dash demanded, her volume rising with every sentence. “So, I’m going to ask you one last time and you’re going to be honest with me. What. Are. You. Carrying?”

Captain Dash leaned down, putting her face only inches away. Applejack stood behind Glimmer, a silent, powerful presence. Soarin moved closer on her right, and Toolbelt hemmed her in on the left. Beads of sweat rolled down Glimmer’s face. Dash could see the pressure working, reading the emotions behind those purple eyes. She was going to crack, Dash knew it.

“Please forgive me interrupting your interrogation, but aren’t we missing someone from our little congregation?”

Zecora’s voice cut through the mounting tension like a cool stream through the desert. She still sat in her corner, eyes closed, hind legs twisted into an uncomfortable-looking position. She was the picture of serenity.

Dash gave her a gimlet eye. Glimmer had been so close to spilling the beans. What the zebra had said hadn’t even sunk in.

“Isn’t that why we’re holding this meeting?” Soarin asked, giving a small snort. “You know, to discuss the disappearance of Gilda and Rarity?”

Applejack gasped, and her eyes went wide. “No, she’s right!”

Dash glanced around the room and it hit her. The blood in her veins turned ice cold and her stomach knotted itself into a cramped ball of pain. Oh sweet Harmony, no…

“Where’s Fluttershy?”

Chapter Four: Ten Little Buffalo

Firefly: Whole New Verse

Author: psychicscubadiver
Editor: Silentcarto
Proofreader: Coandco
Story Image by: Silentcarto

Disclaimer: I don’t own Firefly or My Little Pony; that is Joss Whedon and Hasbro, respectively. This is a fanfiction that portrays MLP characters in a ‘Verse very clearly based on Firefly. Shake well and enjoy.

Chapter Four: Ten Little Buffalo

“Fluttershy!” Dash bellowed as she shot down the narrow hallway to the engine room.

Applejack thundered after her, and Soarin wasn’t far behind. Captain Dash flared her wings and barely caught herself from crashing into the tangled mess of machinery and wires that filled the engine room. It was a small room, nearly filled by the ship’s beating heart. Tool boxes stowed flush with the walls and what few parts they had in reserve were neatly sorted in one corner. There was nowhere to hide unless you crawled beneath the engine itself, and a quick glance confirmed that Fluttershy wasn’t there. Applejack and Soarin crowded together at the entrance, peering around for Fluttershy, but Dash could read fear in their eyes. There was precious little to give them a lead, either.

“She has to be somewhere on board,” Dash said flatly. “AJ, search the cargo hold. Soarin, check the bunks and kitchen. Open up any of the hiding spots big enough for a pony. I don’t care if the passengers are watching, we’re finding her.”

They both just nodded, their expressions serious. Soarin didn’t even crack a smile, and if that didn’t show how bad things were Dash didn’t know what would. AJ rushed off, brushing past Glimmer.

“Your mechanic’s gone?” she asked. Unless Dash was misreading her, that concern in her eyes was real. But so was the guilt. She might not have done it, but Glimmer knew it was her fault. Captain Dash agreed with her there.

“Looks like,” she grumbled, brushing past the unicorn, headed for the stairs. The clang of hooves on metal told Dash that Glimmer was trying to keep up. Dash pressed ahead, ready to bite her head off if she tried to speak again, but Glimmer stayed silent. A quick glance in the infirmary told her nothing had changed. Dash moved on to the passengers’ rooms. That was one of the only places they hadn’t checked yet. Two ponies and a griffin were missing, and none of the hatches had opened. That many bodies took up some serious room, especially when they were still living, and Captain Dash refused to think of them as anything else. Tranquility wasn’t that big of a ship. They had to be on board somewhere.

Star Glimmer looked like she wanted to say something when Dash yanked open Toolbelt’s door, but she kept her mouth shut. The room was bare, the bed unmade. Dash checked the shallow closet. Empty. It looked like that toolbox she kept lugging around was the only thing she’d brought with her.

Glimmer’s room was next, and it had a lot more in it than Toolbelt’s. The small desk was buried under sheets of paper, and there were more scattered everywhere around the room. Most of them were covered in small, fine writing, but more than a few were rough notes crowded with wild scribbling and some confusing designs. Dash didn’t understand a bit of it, but she didn’t miss the way Glimmer flushed and began to gather them magically.

“Paper?” Dash asked curiously. It wasn’t exactly luxury goods, but these days just about everything was done on crystals.

The flurry of papers organized themselves into a neat stack which Glimmer tucked into her briefcase. Glimmer shook her head. “Anything stored with magic can be found with magic. Paper files have to be accessed physically.” She was breathing a little hard, but that had been some impressive levitation. Especially considering all the magic she’d already done out here in the black. The mare was going to run out of fuel before too long if she kept wasting it like that.

Dash raised an eyebrow, but she had bigger potatoes to fry. Glimmer’s paperwork aside, the room was as empty as the first, and they didn’t keep any hidden compartments down in the passenger cabins. That would be a mess just waiting to happen. Captain Dash pressed on; time for the zebra’s room.

“Um… why did everypony react like that when they heard your mechanic was gone? You were really upset about the Companion, but all three of you took this really hard,” Glimmer said.

Zecora’s room was about as bare as Toolbelt’s, but Dash checked everywhere just in case. She chewed over Glimmer’s question as she did, then grunted. “Fluttershy’s had a hard life, and that’s all I’ll say about that. Somepony messes with her, we take it personally. The last guy who tried something sleazy with her got kicked off the ship.”

“That doesn’t sound so–”

“While we were in the black,” Dash finished flatly.

Glimmer shut her mouth with a snap and Captain Dash continued her search in silence. She’d checked everywhere in the room, but this one, unlike the other two, had a panel that gave access to the air vents. They weren’t really big enough to store a pony in, much less two ponies plus a muscular griffin, but Dash cracked it open anyway. Empty, of course. Nothing but shadows and rivets, and…

A tiny glass bottle.

“What’s this?” she mumbled, pulling it over with a hoof. She got it out in the light, and Glimmer let out a gasp.

“That’s one of my missing soporifics!”

“Your whats?”

Glimmer grabbed it in her aura and took a close look. “Sleep medications. Yes, this is definitely one of the missing vials. And it’s empty.”

It didn’t even take Dash a second to make the connections, and when she did, she got angry. No, scratch that, she’d been angry before. Now she was furious. She stormed out of the room, leaving Glimmer to follow in her wake. Her first instinct was to go up to the bridge and beat that striped backstabber’s face in until she told Dash what she had done with her ponies. Experience stopped her before she even reached the stairs. Charging headlong into a pony capable of taking Gilda in a straight fight wasn’t even remotely smart. She needed to stack the odds in her favor. A good race was fair, but a good fight was anything but.

Captain Dash veered off course and cracked open the door to the cargo hold. Applejack wasn’t anywhere in sight. Her guts clenched a little. “AJ?”she shouted. How fast was Zecora working? How many ponies had she already–

“You find her?” Applejack demanded, popping up from behind a crate on the other side of the hold.

Dash let out a relieved breath. “No, but I found some of Glimmer’s missing sleep meds in Zecora’s room.”

The brief but vicious profanity Applejack replied with made Star Glimmer’s ears fold back. Dash would’ve smiled if the situation wasn’t so serious. “My thoughts exactly. Last I saw, she was on the bridge. You carrying a weapon?”

Applejack looked insulted. “With passengers on board? I got two.” She was already rummaging through one of the many pockets built into her vest, drawing out a pistol brace and starting to strap it onto her foreleg. Pistol braces weren’t as dependable as a gun with a trigger, but you needed claws or unicorn magic for those. Anyone without either used the braces or a shoulder-mounted weapon. Or they got custom mods, like Patient’s ridiculous rifle, but nobody on Dash’s ship had the money to go in for one of those.

Captain Dash nodded appreciatively. “I could use one.” AJ arched an eyebrow, earning a scowl in response. “Well, excuse me for not bringing a gun to breakfast, Gilda.”

“Now you’re just bein’ hurtful,” Applejack said with a faint grin before tossing her the spare pistol bracer and some ammunition. “Plus, I’ve got my last flashbang and the dummy. How you wanna do this?” she asked.

They didn’t know for sure that Zecora was still on the bridge, but that seemed like the safest bet. No use wasting the flashbang if she wasn’t there. “Start with with the dummy grenade, I’ll follow up. If I don’t catch her off guard, I’ll at least draw her fire.” Captain Dash paused and turned to Glimmer. “You got much experience in a fight? A couple shield spells would be real useful right about now.”

‘N-no!” Glimmer said flushing deeply. “I specialized in other schools of magic. I do know a spell that cushions impacts for patients at risk of falls.”

Dash shook her head. “Nah, I doubt that would work too well at my speed. Never mind. Just stay in the kitchen and keep an eye out. I don’t want Zecora sneaking up on us. If she is up there and she gets past us somehow, don’t try to stop her unless you’re sure you can do it.”

The fear in Glimmer’s eyes said she wasn’t sure of any such thing. Dash snorted, but resisted rolling her eyes. Not everypony had been through a war. The Captain made a curt gesture, and a few flaps of her wings brought her to the catwalk above the hold. She listened for signs of movement from deeper in the ship while Applejack and Glimmer took the stairs behind her.

“So, why do you figure Zecora’s doing this?” Applejack asked quietly when she reached the top.

“Dunno, but something tells me that Glimmer’s ‘research’ has something do with it. Maybe she’s a mercenary that got hired by to take back something Glimmer stole, or maybe there’s a hit out on her because she pissed off the wrong pony. Tartarus, for all I know Zecora’s one of the Confed’s Agents and Glimmer’s a wanted mare. Whoever she’s working for, Zecora’s gotta be a professional.” Dash wouldn’t have cared one way or the other if the two of them settled their problem off her ship, but Zecora had made the mistake of messing with her crew. Glimmer might need dealing with later, but the zebra nag was the problem right now. “ Let’s keep moving.”

Dash wanted to bolt up the stairs, but she kept herself to a slow hover, pistol at the ready. No crazy zebras leapt down the stairs at her, and before long she was staring down the hallway to the bridge. Two quads of hoofsteps, one near silent and the other loud enough to make her wince, followed her up the stairs. The Captain ignored them both, focusing on the room at the end of the hall. She didn’t see Zecora, but there was plenty of the bridge hidden from her. It didn’t sound like there was anybody moving up there, though Dash could hear the sounds of Soarin still searching the crew cabins, which meant they were lucky enough that Zecora hadn’t grabbed him just yet. Dash gestured curtly, and AJ nodded. Glimmer just looked confused.

Applejack pulled a small metallic ball out of a vest pocket and bounced it carefully in her forehoof, judging the distance. She might have gotten her cutie mark for bucking apples, but grenades were about the same size and weight. She nodded to Dash, then threw the dummy grenade gently upwards. It arced into the air for half a second as she spun, then one of her hindlegs lashed out fast as a striking snake. The dummy grenade flew like it had been shot from a cannon, and Dash followed hot on its heels.

Captain Dash flicked the safety off and kept her foreleg low and pointed at the deck. Now, all it took to shoot was twitching her hoof the right way. There was only one defensible place on the bridge that wasn’t visible from the hallway. If Zecora was in there, Dash knew exactly where to aim. The dummy flew just over the threshold and bounced with a noisy clang. Dash swept her pistol in, ready to fire at… nothing. Dash twisted in midair, scanning the room, but there was nobody there. “Clear!” she called out.

“I figured,” Applejack said from the stairs leading up to the bridge. Her gallop had slowed to a trot, but Dash noticed that she hadn’t turned the safety off on her weapon. “Or one of ya would’ve been shootin’.”

“She isn’t in there?” Glimmer called from the kitchen.

“Nope.” Dash scowled. “Just what I need, a hunt for a psychotic zebra with half my crew missing. AJ, knock on that door and get Soarin out here. From now on, we’re moving in pairs only.”

“Sure thing, Captain.” From the sound of it, Soarin was still banging around in Fluttershy’s room.

Star Glimmer approached nervously, still trying to keep an eye out in every direction. “Where do you think she went?”

“Hard to say, but I’d guess the cargo hold. Plenty of cover, and worst comes to worst, she can take off in one of the shuttles. That’s where–”

“What in tarnation?! Where’s my husband?”

Applejack’s angry demand immediately caught Captain Dash’s attention. AJ didn’t sound angry enough to be talking to Zecora, if she talked at all instead of opening fire.

“That pegasus stallion? Across the hall somewhere. I’m checking this side, he’s got the other,” Toolbelt said.

“When’s the last time you saw him?” Dash cut in, her stomach sinking.

Toolbelt thought for a second. “I dunno, maybe ten minutes ago?”

The Captain swore under her breath. AJ tore open the door to the opposite room. “Honey?” she called desperately. “Soarin? This isn’t funny!” She slammed that one, moving to the next. “Don’t do this to me, Soarin!”

Every room was open and Soarin was nowhere to be found. Applejack shook with fury for a few seconds, then she grew dangerously still. When she turned to face Dash her face was set in a blank scowl. She locked eyes with her Captain, and let out a short breath. “If that mare hurt my Soarin, I’m gonna kill her,” she said, her tone horribly calm.

Captain Dash nodded slowly. “Don’t worry, AJ. We’ll find her, and she’ll get what’s coming. But we aren’t doing this alone anymore. She’s picking us off one by one. Watch the bridge with Toolbelt. Me and Glimmer will sweep the ship again. She’s got to be putting everyone someplace, and I think I know where.”

Applejack’s scowl deepened just a trace, but she nodded. Toolbelt had been watching her fearfully and reluctantly hauled herself and her toolbox onto the bridge. Dash tapped the crystal screen and locked all of the crew room doors. No sense giving Zecora extra places to hide.

What Dash didn’t get was the point to all this. If she was with the Confed, she could’ve just called for reinforcements. No need to pussyfoot around with all this stupid hide and seek. And why’d she take the sleep gun and medicine from the crates? There were silent ways to kill if you wanted to clear out a ship. Poison in the vents or the right kind of spell crystal would’ve taken out everyone at once. And more than that, how was she staying hidden so scorching long? It wasn’t a big ship, and she hadn’t had much time to explore it. But, somehow, she was running rings around the entire crew. Dash’s teeth ground together. This was starting to feel like she was ramming her head into a wall.

She wasn’t getting anything done standing in the moonbanished hallway, that was sure. She snapped a quick ‘follow me’ gesture to Glimmer and they were headed back to the cargo hold. Maybe Dash couldn’t figure out everything, but she knew one place that held some answers.

“So,” Glimmer said. Her eyes darted nervously back and forth, trying to look everywhere at once. “Where do you think they are? Do you think that’s where Zecora is hiding?”

Dash grunted. “You’ll see when we get there. And I doubt it, but it’s possible.”

Glimmer frowned. “But–”

“Shut it.”

For half a second Glimmer was silent, then she flushed and scowled. Before she could retort, Dash cut her off. “I don’t want Zecora to hear us coming.”

Star Glimmer froze at that, then nodded her head.

The cargo hold looked the same as before, but Dash took no chances. She flew a quick circuit around the hold, checking every corner before she let her pistol arm fall to her side. “Good, now it’s time to see what this whole stupid thing has been over.”

Dash flew straight to the humming equipment that looked like a fridge. Two swift button presses, it unsealed with a pressurized hiss.

“Wait!” Glimmer called, but she was too late. Dash flung the lid off to reveal–

Nothing.

The inside was huge, almost as big as the fridge itself and padded, but there was nothing in it.

“I told you,” Glimmer said, glaring at the Captain. “Whoever did this stole my research from me.”

“And what did they steal?” Dash asked.

Glimmer’s ears went flat and her posture turned defensive. “W-well, it’s very technical and I don’t know if I could–”

She cut off as Dash slammed her against the nearest crate. Glimmer yelped and her horn began to glow, but Dash slammed her against the crate again before she could finish the spell. The glow surrounding her horn flickered out. Dash watched to see if Glimmer would try again, but she got the message the first time.

“What,” Dash began again, “was in this crate? What is your ‘research’ all about?”

Glimmer froze, and Dash was about ready to slam her into the crate again before she sighed. “It’s not my research. It’s the Confederation’s.” Her voice grew stronger and she meet the Captain’s eyes. “They’ve been experimenting on ponies. I don’t mean the normal, voluntary experimenting either. These ponies were taken illegally and their treatments… I don’t know even half the things they’ve done to them yet. I know it involves mental magic far beyond harmless memory-share spells, but that’s just scratching the surface according to my sources.”

Dash blinked in surprise. That had not been what she had expected. Still…

She slammed Glimmer against the crate again, ignoring the small pained sound she made. “And you brought this on my ship? Without telling me? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see the Confed get their slimy underbelly exposed, but not when it means my crew gets put in the crosshairs!”

“And how was I supposed to trust you?” Glimmer bit out. “Depending on how deep it goes and what they’ve done, this might be a secret big enough to oust every politician in the Confederation! Maybe even re-ignite the war! They can and will kill to keep this a secret. I’ve seen the the evidence of that already.”

Dash had no response. All that made sense from Glimmer’s side of things, but sunscorch it, this mare had gotten her entire crew caught in the merciless hooves of a Confed Agent. Captain Dash settled for slamming her into the crate once more, before letting go. Glimmer glared at her, but rose to her hooves without complaint. “I suppose I deserved that.”

“Yeah,” Dash bit out. “You did. I’d like to say you deserve a lot more, but I’m going to need your help. The best I can figure, Zecora’s so deep undercover that she can’t call for backup. So instead, she’s knocking everyone out and trying to take control of the ship. Then she can just fly us into whatever Confed facility she wants for trial.” She paused in thought a moment at that. “Or maybe she’s so secret that even regular authorities aren’t allowed to know she’s an Agent.”

Glimmer grimaced at that. “That sounds like something out of a cheap thriller, but I can’t deny that it’s possible. I hope not, though. She would probably have to kill us so we could never spill her secret.”

The Captain stared at her. “Well, that’s a cheerful thought. Let’s check if I’m right about where she’s putting the ponies. If I’m wrong, we’ll wait this out on the bridge. With no help coming, she’ll have to come to us.” Dash grinned wolfishly. “And we’ll be waiting.”

That’s when the lights flickered out and the cargo hold was plunged into darkness.

Emergency lighting flickered on seconds later, but for some reason it was dimmer than it should have been. The red crystals set in the corners barely glowed, and shadows were thick across the room.

“Oh, that sneaky, cunning, deceitful little nag,” Captain Dash swore.

Glimmer gasped. “Did she take the bridge?”

Dash considered that for a second and shook her head. “AJ would get off at least one shot, and we’d hear that. Zecora probably did something from the engine room. I’m pretty sure you can mess with the lights from there.”

“Pretty sure?” Glimmer said disbelievingly.

“Whatever. Either way, the plan’s the same. Check my hunch, then get to the bridge. But I need you to watch my back. Got any night vision spells?”

“No… not really. But I can do the basic illumination spell.”

It was hard not to roll her eyes, but Dash managed. “That’s not going to be much help. You’d need to light the entire room.” She sighed. “Just keep an eye out. It shouldn’t take long.” Dash turned around and shot up to the catwalk with a few quick wing flaps.

And the sun dawned behind her, throwing a stark black shadow on the wall before her. She turned back, shielding her eyes against the sudden brilliance. “Oops,” murmured the center of light. “Bright white light ruins night vision, doesn’t it?” The light shifted, turning red and muting itself slightly. Combined with the emergency crystals in the corners, the soft steady glow covered the entire room.

“Not bad,” Dash heard herself saying. It was a shame that Star Glimmer was too risky to keep. A unicorn with magic reserves like that had all kinds of uses on a ship. The Captain hurried across the catwalk to the same shuttle she had sealed up at the beginning of all this mess. It was more than big enough to store everyone missing, would make for an easy getaway if everything went south securing the main ship, and nobody could have checked inside since it had been sealed. An Agent probably had plenty of ways to bypass the simple security on this ship. If the door refused her code, that was proof enough, and if it didn’t, then she could take a quick look around.

A few quick taps on the crystal screen and the door depressurized with a hiss. Dash took a step back, flicking her pistol brace’s safety off. Zecora definitely – probably – wasn’t in there, but it didn’t hurt to be sure. Captain Dash ducked inside, bringing her pistol to bear.

The shuttle was empty. Dash bit back a curse. It had been a good idea. Too bad it hadn’t panned out. “Okay,” she called, “you can turn off the light.”

There was a second’s hesitation, then the bright glow from the cargo hold disappeared, leaving only the sullen glow of the emergency lights. Dash shut the door behind her and typed in the code to reseal it. “See anything?” she asked Glimmer as the mare neared her.

“No, but I’m still on the verge of an anxiety attack. How does your crew do this for a living?” Glimmer sighed.

Dash snorted. “It’s not like this most of the time. Win or lose, the risky part of a job is always fast. This is more like overnight in a warzone. You know the enemy’s out there, but you don’t know where or what they’re doing. Your body needs sleep, but if you shut your eyes you might not live to see morning. It plays tricks with your mind, the first few nights.”

There was a moment of silence between them. “You were in the war?” Glimmer asked hesitantly.

The Captain opened her mouth to reply, but shut it again with a snap. This wasn’t the time for stories. “Never mind. Just give me a minute to adjust to the light, then we’re headed back.”

Glimmer looked like she wanted to say something, but instead she just nodded.

Dash counted off the seconds, keeping a careful eye on her surroundings. The catwalk was too bare to offer any concealment for the zebra, but if she had some kind of gun, the lower floor would be perfect. Plenty of shadows and cover down there. Just where in the nine pits of Tartarus was she putting everyone? Maybe they hadn’t checked every nook and cranny just yet, but anyplace that could’ve held all the missing crew had been swept.

Biting back her frustration, Captain Dash nodded to Glimmer. “Keep that light off and stay as quiet as you can. We don’t want her to know we’re coming.” Without walking for a response, she stalked away. Glimmer followed, making more noise than Dash was happy with, but less than she had expected. Nothing leapt out of the darkness as the stairs led them up into the kitchen, but Dash couldn’t escape a feeling of being watched. Her eyes darted to every corner of the dim room and her ears strained to hear anything out of place. There was no movement, and the only sounds came from her and Glimmer, aside from the usual groans and quiet hums of the old ship.

The hallway was lit better, but the door leading to the bridge was shut. Smart thinking on Applejack’s part. No chance of being ambushed while that was sealed.

Her wings let her hover softly down the hallway, and Glimmer followed below. Dash licked her lips, almost there. She knocked quickly on the door. “AJ, open up. It’s me and Glimmer.”

There was some startled movement inside. “C-captain?”

Dash frowned that wasn’t AJ’s voice. “Toolbelt?”

The door opened with a clang and Toolbelt gestured urgently for them to come in. “Hurry! She might be back any second!” Dash moved in and Glimmer hurried to follow. The bridge was empty, and dimly lit by more red emergency lights. Applejack was nowhere to be seen.

“Toolbelt,” Dash said, sounding calmer than she felt. “Where’s Applejack?”

Toolbelt flinched and moved away from the door, closer to one of the consoles and her toolbox. “When the lights went out, I got out my tools and tried to fix whatever that zebra did from here. Applejack went to shut the door. My head was under the console so I didn’t see anything.” She started shaking and took several shallow breaths. “But I didn’t hear anything either. Nothing! Just one second she was here, about to shut the door, then when I looked up, she was gone! I shut the door and went back to trying to fix the lights.”

“This is scorching stupid!” Dash bellowed slamming her hoof into one of the terminals. Toolbelt and Glimmer both jumped at the sound, their ears folding back in fear. “What is she, some kind of sunscorched demon?! None of this makes any sense! How is she doing it!?”

Glimmer hesitantly stepped over to the Captain. “I don’t know about demons, but I can promise that she isn’t using magic. I would have sensed a spell powerful enough to make her invisible.”

Dash let her breathing slow, but it didn’t help her frustration. “It’s not even that. It’s like she has way of knowing exactly where we are and how to grab us. Then she disappears without a moonbanished trace! She’s right under our noses and somehow we still can’t find her. How in bloody Tartarus is she hiding in plain sight?”

Wait.

Hiding in plain sight. The thought bounced around her head for a second before it settled in. There were no witnesses to any of the abductions. The only proof they had that Zecora had done it was a vial in the air duct connected to her room and the the fact that she had noticed Fluttershy’s disappearance. What if she wasn’t the culprit? What if she’d gotten snatched just like everyone else, while the ship was busy looking for Fluttershy?

Dash’s stomach sank as the pieces started to fall into place.

Toolbelt didn’t have an alibi for last night. Toolbelt hadn’t been with anybody when Fluttershy went missing. Toolbelt had been the last to leave the bridge after Zecora mentioned Fluttershy being gone. Toolbelt had been checking the rooms with Soarin. Toolbelt had been alone up here with Applejack. Toolbelt carried that suspicious toolbox for no scorching reason all the time.

Dash turned just in time to see Toolbelt flip the safety off on her pistol brace. The click echoed in the otherwise silent room.

“This is not the way things were supposed to go,” Toolbelt said, her expression grim.

Chapter Five: Questions and Answers

Firefly: Whole New Verse

Author: psychicscubadiver
Editor: Silentcarto
Proofreader: Coandco
Story Image by: Silentcarto

Chapter Five: Questions and Answers

“Neither one of you move,” Toolbelt said, keeping her pistol brace centered between Dash and Glimmer. Captain Dash thought about rushing her, but Toolbelt had been careful to stay well out of reach. The thought must have crossed Dash’s face, because Toolbelt jerked the gun towards her and scowled. “Fold those wings and don’t even think about it. And you,” Toolbelt said, her eyes sliding over to Glimmer but keeping Dash in her peripheral vision, “if I see any light from that horn I will put a bullet in you.”

“Fine,” Captain Dash said, sitting back on her haunches. “You’ve got the drop on us. Congratulations. But choose who you shoot real carefully. It’s a small room, and you’re barely out of reach.” Her eyes narrowed, and flight muscles tensed although she didn’t spread her wings. “If you can hit us. Pistol braces aren’t that accurate, especially not when your hooves are shaking.”

The slight trembling in Toolbelt’s hoof slowed, but didn’t stop, as she glared at Dash. “Real cute, but if either of you gets clever, and I promise I’ll get at least one of you before the rest of your crew can help.”

There was a moment of silence as the Captain stared in surprise. “What?”

Toolbelt glared, baring her teeth in a snarl. “Don’t give me that! I don’t know what this creepy game is, but it ends now. You’re going to sit in the pilot’s chair and take us back to Boaros. The door stays locked and your ‘missing’ crew doesn’t interfere.”

There was another moment of silence.

“What?” Captain Dash repeated.

Glimmer nervously cleared her throat. “Are you saying that you aren’t responsible for all the disappearances?”

Toolbelt rolled her eyes. “Oh please. We’re in space, no ships approached us, and this ship isn’t that big. There’s no way everyone could just ‘disappear’ into thin air without the whole sunscorched crew being in on it. They might be playing you too, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to trust you. For all I know you’re a plant, just like the zebra.”

Dash took a step forward, immediately drawing to barrel in her direction. “Horseapples!” she swore. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard today. You think some fancy talking will convince me that you didn’t do this? You think I’m just gonna act like a good captive and turn this ship around for you? Scorch that. I want my crew back.” Her head lowered, and eyes narrowed into thin slits. She seemed only seconds from charging despite being held at gunpoint.

“Stop this stupid game and step back,” Toolbelt demanded. “You think I won’t shoot? Just try me.”

“Both of you stop!” Glimmer shouted. “Have either of you even considered that something else might be happening? Maybe Zecora really is still out there, and she’s responsible.”

Captain Dash snorted. “Yeah right. I might not be crazy about guns, but even I can tell that Toolbelt’s piece is professional. A ‘poor mechanic’ ain’t likely to be packing one of those.”

“Of course I’m a professional! Do you think Patient Aim would put an amatuer on your ship?” Toolbelt scowled. “He had you pegged before you even touched down, and he wanted somebody onboard in case you did something stupid again. I don’t know how you figured me out or why you didn’t just shoot me, but I’ve had enough of this.” Toolbelt took a step further away from Glimmer and centered her pistol brace on Dash. “I was supposed to disable your ship once you were far enough in the black that there weren’t any ships in hailing distance, but that plan is blown to Tartarus, so you’re flying us back to Boaros. Or I shoot both of you and fly back myself.”

Before the Captain could respond there was a sudden burst of static from one of the comms. Everyone in the room jumped, but thankfully Toolbelt’s gun didn’t go off. After a second the static died down. Dash opened her mouth to say something, but never got the chance.

“Testing, testing. One, two, five,” a strange voice said. It was one Dash had never heard before. Worse, there was something about it, something she couldn’t identify, that sent chills up her spine.

“And who is this?” Toolbelt said, unamused. “An extra crew member you didn’t show me? Is this supposed to make me think the ship’s haunted?” She gestured with the gun, but Dash didn’t know what to tell her. Nothing made sense at the moment.

“Oooooooh, the ship is haunted?” the voice on the comm said, then giggled eerily, echoing in the stillness. “Lucky for all of you I know a song to help with that.”

Music started up slowly, with a hissing, scratchy quality as though it was being played on an ancient gramophone record. It sounded like carnival music slowed down, which was creepy by itself, then the voice started singing.

“When I was a little filly and the sun was going down.

I knew that it was only 'cause the world was turning 'round.

But now the shadows fill my brain no matter how I grin.

And if I lay my sleepy head I'll never wake again…”

The music cut off with a sudden record scratch.

“Hmmmm… I don’t think that’s how it was supposed to go. I’ll get back to you on that.” With a another short burst of static the comm cut out and everything was silent once more.

Dash’s mouth was dry and her hooves shook.Having her crew disappear was one thing, being held at gunpoint was another, but this? “Sweet merciful Harmony,” Captain Dash whispered with the sort of reverence she usually reserved for the battlefield. “We’ve got a Jester on board.”

Toolbelt had evidently reached the same conclusion, because she was sweating and shaking like a mare possessed. Dash wasn’t even worried about the pistol brace going off anymore. Better a quick, clean death than whatever that thing might do to them.

Star Glimmer rolled her eyes. “That’s no Jester. They’re just a myth. Next you’ll tell me that a flying saucer full of Naked Apes abducted the rest of the crew.”

Dash gave her a stare that made her flinch. “Glimmer. I’ve been to villages left empty after a band of Jesters passed through. I’ve spoken to families that hid themselves and listened to the screams as their neighbors were dragged away. I’ve seen a single Jester hold its own against five soldiers. They aren’t a myth. They aren’t a legend. They’re ponies that went wrong. Something broke inside them, and they just went crazy.” Captain Dash wasn’t the best pony with words, but the simple, grim truth in her tone made Glimmer step back like she’d been popped across the nose with a newspaper.

“B-but what do they do?” Glimmer said, almost at a loss for words.

“They show up out of nowhere, laughing like hyenas, and they capture ponies. Once they have enough, they leave. Nobody knows what they do with the ponies they take, because nobody’s ever come back after they get captured.”

The click of a pistol brace jerked the Captain’s attention away. “I have had it up to here,” Toolbelt growled. “Scorch this ship and everything on it. You think you can jerk me around like this? You think you can play these sick games?! I’ve had it!” Froth was beginning to gather at the corners of her mouth, and her hooves shook like she was in an earthquake.

If she wasn’t building herself up to shooting both of them, Dash was an alicorn princess. Toolbelt might be a professional saboteur, but she obviously wasn’t used to getting dragged out from behind the curtain. Add the Jester into the mix, and she was close to breaking down. The Captain tensed herself to jump the mare, waiting for her chance. It might get her shot, but with a Jester on board, that possibility worried her a lot less. Ready… set… And then the faintest whisper of motion drew her eyes upward.

Captain Dash froze, transfixed like a bird in front of a snake.

There was an upside-down head poking out of the air vents. The pony it belonged to was bright pink with a wild darker-pink mane. Dash had expected a rictus smile and clown make-up, but instead, the mare just wore a small, mischievous grin. She didn’t look much different from any other mare just past fillyhood, if you ignored the glassy sheen to her eyes. The pink mare dropped out the vent, silent as a ghost, just as Toolbelt’s rant was reaching a fever pitch.

“So the only sane option left is to shoot you both! I hope you two have made your peace, because it’s time to die!” The barrel of Toolbelt’s gun centered on Captain Dash.

The pink mare darted forward and caught Toolbelt’s foreleg, forcing the pistol brace up and away. One hoof clamped down on Toolbelt’s mouth, stifling the instinctive scream that followed. The other hoof yanked a little tube out of the wild pink mane and pressed it to Toolbelt’s neck. The entire process took less than a second.

There was a hiss of gas from the device as Toolbelt struggled helplessly in the pink mare’s grip. She might not have looked like the Jester Dash had seen once before, but the mare moved just like it. The pink mare stroked Toolbelt’s mane as her struggles grew weaker and weaker. “Shhh… shhh…” she whispered. “It’s sleepytime now. You’ll feel less crabby after your nap.” Her face split in a grin that seemed to reach from ear to ear as Toolbelt fell limp. “There we go. If you’re a good girl after you wake up, your auntie Pinkie Pie will give you a cookie.” The pink mare gently laid Toolbelt to the floor and arranged her into a sleeping position.

Captain Dash raised her pistol and centered it on the pink mare’s left eye. The last Jester had taken six shots to the body before the squad finally brought it down. A headshot might make things go a little quicker. Just before she could twitch her hoof and shoot, a purple aura flashed to life around her foreleg and yanked it away.

“Don’t hurt her!” Star Glimmer shouted, desperate fear in her voice. And for some reason, it was aimed at Dash and not the still-grinning psycho slowing advancing on them.

Captain Dash lashed out with her other foreleg, aiming for the pink mare’s head. The Jester smoothly dodged, then gripped the foreleg and twisted it against Dash, trapping the limb. Dash tried to struggle, but the pink mare had all the leverage, and Glimmer’s aura still wouldn’t let go of her other foreleg. Dash stared into the Jester’s smile, refusing to look away. Whatever came next, she would face with both eyes open. She cursed Glimmer briefly under her breath as the pink mare stretched out her hoof.

“Boop,” she said, tapping Captain Dash lightly on the nose.

The room fell silent.

“What?” Dash heard herself say.

“Boop,” the pink mare repeated solemnly, her face becoming serious for a moment before snapping back to the mad grin. “I booped you good, Dashie. And now you’re it!”

“Pinkie,” Glimmer said softly, her voice tight and eyes watery. “Are you okay?”

“Okay?!” Pinkie shouted. “I’m super-de-duper! This has been the most fun game of hide n’ seek I’ve ever played. I mean sure, technically I shouldn’t come out until I caught everypony, but since Toolbelt wasn’t playing by the rules, I didn’t have to either.”

Dash stared in confusion. Glimmer knew this nutcase? How? Why? Glimmer had come onboard alone, fleeing the ponies after her for stealing Confed research, the proof they had been… experimenting on... ponies.

Suddenly, everything fell into place. Glimmer’s sorrow and desperation, the empty fridge, the missing sleep gun, the disappearances. “She’s the ‘research’ the Confed has been doing?” Dash said, shocked. “They built a … fake Jester? What in the Nine Pits of Tartarus is she?!”

“She’s my sister,” Glimmer said softly, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes. “Oh, Pinkie, what did they do to you?”

“Sister?” Pinkie said, her glassy eyed stare aimed at Glimmer now. “I know we’re super best friends, Twilight, and maybe you’re my ‘sister-from-another-mister’, but I dunno what you’re talking about.” Sweat began to break out on Pinkie’s brow and the hoof holding Dash’s foreleg still began to shake. “I mean, I’m Pinkamena Diane Pie. I have a family. We’re rock farmers, well, the rest of them are, but I left to become a party planner extraordinaire.” Her voice had risen in pitch, becoming high, hysterical. “Us? Sisters? T-that’s crazy talk. I-I…”

“We are sisters, and your name isn’t Pinkamena. It’s Pinkie Pie. I remember the day Mom and Dad brought you home from the orphanage. You were so little, but you smiled at me and called me ‘big sister’. I remember how excited you were on your first day of school, and how you cried without stopping all the way through our parents’ funeral. I remember promising you that even if they were gone, I would never leave.” Tears left silent trails down her face. “Don’t you remember?” she pleaded.

The shaking got worse and Pinkie let Dash go. Glimmer, or Twilight, or whatever her name was let go of the spell holding Dash’s arm in place and Dash absently massaged it with a sigh of relief. Glimmer – Twilight – made to approach Pinkie, but she took a step back, looking frightened. Pinkie stared at her hooves as though she didn’t recognize them. “That’s… impossible. Maud is my big sister. I remember introducing you to her. That was after you got back from medical schoo– no! No, that’s not right! W-what’s going on?” She stared at her hooves for a second, then tugged at her mane and tail as if surprised to see them. She froze as she caught sight of the mark on her flank – a balloon with a laughing face wearing thick-rimmed glasses. “That’s not my cutie mark! I have three balloons! Three! I got it at the fourth grade science fair when I realized I loved using my smarts to… make ponies happy?” she trailed off quizzically, blinked again, and the shaking stopped.

“Twilight?” Pinkie said, sounding near tears. She sunk down to the floor, her huge smile vanishing even as the glassy look faded from her eyes. Even her mane seemed less frizzy than it had been.

“I’m here, Pinkie. I’m here and I won’t leave you again,” Twilight said, drawing her into a hug. This time Pinkie didn’t move away, instead grabbing Twilight and drawing her closer.

Pinkie began crying, speaking through the sobs. “I-it hurts, Twilight. It hurts. Stuffed too full, like a balloon about to pop. All those doors, tearing off lock after lock and now they won’t close. Celestia appeared to me bathed in radiant light, then I stole her cake. Other Pinkies, other Pies, screaming ‘fun, fun, fun!’ into my brain!” She began to hyperventilate as her volume grew louder and louder. “Memories of things that never happened! Reality isn’t real! And nothing makes sense any more!” She collapsed to crying in Twilight’s forelegs, and her sister held her close.

“It’s okay, Pinkie. You’re free. You’ll never have go back there again. We’ll get through this,” Twilight promised, although Dash could see the fear and worry in her eyes.

Captain Dash scowled, despite the tugs on her heartstrings. “That’s great and all, but let’s not forget about my crew. If they don’t turn up safe and sound, that Confed lab will be the last of your worries.”

Twilight’s ears went flat, and she rose to her hooves glaring. “If you think–”

The click of Dash’s pistol brace stopped her. “I meant what I said. Try another spell on me, I’ll shoot to kill. So long as my crew is safe, no harm, no foul. But if they aren’t…” She left it hanging, her expression more than enough to spell out the threat.

“They’re fine,” Pinkie said. “I left them in the walls and the floors and the secret places that Tranquility whispered to me.” Some the glassy unreality returned to her eyes. “If you admit that I won the game, then it’s ‘olly olly oxen free’ and they get to come out.”

Captain Dash stared into the eyes of the deranged mare in front of her. There was something incredibly unsettling about them, but there was no malice there. No desire to harm anybody. Whatever the Confed did to her, it hadn’t made her a Jester. All they did was ruin her life.

Dash knew how that felt.

“Fine. You win. Now show me where my crew is.”

………

Pinkie seemed to take great delight in revealing where she had hidden everyone. Tranquility was a smuggler’s ship rebuilt out of a smuggler’s ship, full of hidden caches and false walls to hide goods from nosy lawkeepers. Some of the places her crew were stored, Dash would have sworn were too small to fit a full grown pony. Most of them she hadn’t even known existed.

“Your turn to hide,” Dash said opening the door to the pantry. It wasn’t exactly a brig, but the door was strong, and it didn’t have an opening into the air vents. The last thing they needed was her crawling through the ship, and playing another ‘game’.

“But you’ll know where to find me,” Pinkie pouted.

Captain Dash snorted. “I’m not the one that’ll be looking for you. The crew isn’t gonna be happy about what you did.”

Pinkie turned to her, but that glassy-eyed stare didn’t even seem to register she was there. Pinkie’s mane drooped and her voice lowered. “They are looking for me, searching all the nooks and crannies. Sniffing at doors and baying at the gates. Can’t let them go. No, we can’t, can we? The program is too important; the program needs her.” She seemed to snap out of her depression and smiled brightly at Dash, her eyes once more focused. “Okie-dokie-lokie. I’ll stay in here and be on my bestest behavior.” She strolled inside, staring at the wall and humming quietly to herself. Dash hid a shiver, shut the door, tapped the crystal screen to activate its built-in lock, and added a padlock of her own to the double handle.

“Is that really necessary?” Twilight asked acidly.

“You tell me, ‘Star Glimmer’,” Captain Dash replied. Twilight flinched at the false name, but didn’t back off. Dash rolled her eyes. “I’d rather keep her out of the way for everyone’s sakes until the crew has a chance to cool off.”

Twilight considered that for a moment, then slowly nodded her head. “I’ve concocted something to wake them up. I don’t know how Pinkie got the dosing for each individual right, but none of them should have any lasting effects.”

“Good,” the Captain replied. “Leave Toolbelt sleeping, but give it to everybody else.”

It took a while to get everybody awake, and even longer to keep Gilda from stabbing somebody. But eventually everyone was reasonably calm and seated around the kitchen table. Applejack hadn’t let go of Soarin since they woke up. Fluttershy was as far from Twilight as she could get and still shaking slightly in fear. Gilda was mad enough to chew up horseshoes and spit nails, but at least she’d stopped trying to claw Twilight’s tail off. Rarity was trying to look composed, but Dash could spot the tension in her shoulders. Zecora was the only one who actually seemed calm.

“You owe us some explanations,” Dash said to Twilight. “So let’s hear ‘em.”

“Why bother?” Gilda demanded. “She lied, and Little Miss Nutso in there slipped us all a mickey. I say we turn ‘em in if there’s a reward and dump them someplace barren if there ain’t.”

“That seems harsh,” Soarin said. “I’m not exactly happy to get knocked out, but that’s all she did. You’re practically saying we should throw them out the airlock.”

“I haven’t ruled it out,” Gilda growled. “Yeah, she only put us to sleep, but what if she decided to kill us when–”

“Enough!” Captain Dash shouted. “I’ve got some of the facts, but I want to hear the whole thing before I make any decisions.” Gilda grumbled at that, but the kitchen soon fell silent. All eyes were on Twilight, and she gulped nervously.

“I-I’m sorry, I lied to everyone here, but my name is actually Twilight Sparkle. I’m a trauma surgeon, specializing in medical magic. Pinkie Pie, the filly who put you all to sleep, is my adopted younger sister. Our parents were part of the Confederation’s intelligence office, and they died early in the war.”

“Boo hoo,” Gilda interrupted. “You and half the moonbanished kids in the 'Verse. The war made plenty of orphans.” Gilda looked like she was going to say more, but a glare from Dash made her back off. The Captain didn’t much care for Twilight’s parents, especially not if they had fought on the side of the Confed, but Gilda’s heckling was just gonna delay the story.

Twilight colored and her eyes narrowed, but she took a deep breath and started again. “My older brother, Shining Armor, went to Officer Training School shortly after, and it was just Pinkie and me in the house after that.” She smiled sadly. “Pinkie was so … so brilliant. Smarter than everyone in her school, regardless of the grade, but it never went to her head. She was always so cheerful and loving, and she could make friends with almost anyone.

“Then we got a letter from a special boarding school. It promised Pinkie the best education in the system, a curriculum that would actually challenge her and bring out her full potential. I let her take the test, and the approval arrived within days. She left to study there, and… then it was just me. She sent me letters occasionally for the first year, but then the letters stopped. I didn’t hear from her for two months. I got worried and tried contacting the school, but I got nothing. I couldn’t find any proof that the school had ever existed. I even bought a ticket and traveled off-planet to the school’s address, but the the building was empty, abandoned, and there was no record of anyone using it in the past ten years. I reported Pinkie missing, but the police investigation turned up nothing. Shining Armor tried looking into it from his position in the military, but even he couldn’t find anything.

“Whoever had stolen my sister had escaped without a trace. The police concluded it was part of a clandestine pony trafficking ring and promised to keep looking, but they didn’t have much hope. More than a year after her last letter, Shining Armor gave up hope. He stopped pursuing it and suggested that I do the same. I promised him I would, but instead, I made some … less than legal contacts to continue searching. After a lot of time and money, I found a group that knew what had really happened to Pinkie. An underground branch of the government had taken her in for illegal experimentation. The radical group promised to deliver her to me if I funded their plan to raid the ‘school’. It sounded crazy, but I was out of options and desperate. I took their deal, funneled them the money, cleaned out the rest of my accounts, and left my old life behind. I don’t know what those monsters did to my sister yet, but hopefully I can reverse with enough study.”

The kitchen was silent for a few moments. Applejack cleared her throat. “I get the disguise and everything, since the ponies who took your sister probably aren’t too keen having her runinn’ around, but what’s with all the equipment?”

“I was planning to open a clinic on Whitetail. I have all of the proper identification for ‘Dr. Star Glimmer’ and I thought a quiet, rural planet like that would be easy to hide on.”

Captain Dash and AJ shared a look. “Whitetail is pretty rural,” Dash said, shaking her head, “but that makes it a bad choice if you’re looking to hide. There’s maybe fifty doctors on the whole moon right now. Everybody knows everybody. A female unicorn doctor showing up out of nowhere right after you busted your sister out and disappeared? That’s going to stick out like a sore hoof no matter how good your papers and disguise are.”

“And that’s rather assuming you can keep your younger sister under control and out of sight,” Rarity added with some hidden venom.

“Oh,” Twilight said, deflating. “I hadn’t considered that.”

“Okay, so am I the only one who doesn’t believe her?” Soarin asked, eyeing everyone at the table in disbelief. “I mean, come on. An entire school disappearing without a trace, a secret government lab experimenting on fillies for no reason, an underground political group conducting a raid on this mysterious lab? It’s unbelievable! Even my comics don’t get that silly!” he complained, slouching forward.

AJ smirked. “Not even the one about the penguins?”

Soarin sat bolt upright and glared at his wife. “Don’t you talk smack about the Crested Rockhopper. He’s the last bastion of justice in Falkland City.” He sighed and shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but don’t you agree, Gilda?”

Gilda stopped flipping her new knife and shrugged. “I dunno. Sounds like something the Confed would do.” She smirked. “Rules are for the people at the bottom, not whoever’s on top. But that don’t change anything. If she’s telling the truth, that’s just a bigger reason to turn them over.”

Zecora set her cup, with a soft ‘clink’ and eyed Gilda. “I would have caution if I were you, before giving the State what it claims as its due. If this is a secret dark and fell, the informer would probably vanish as well.”

Gilda glared at her in confusion, then snorted. “Does anybody here speak ‘jerkese’?” she asked the table.

“She’s sayin’ that if the Confed don’t want any of this known, then they’ll probably lock up anypony that finds out. Includin’ anypony that turned them in for the bounty. And that’s if they’re in a generous mood. If they ain’t, they’d probably just shoot us in the back of the head and make our bodies disappear.” AJ sighed, took a sip from the mug in front of her. “Hard to tell tales when you’re dead.”

Twilight looked relieved. From the way she’d used her mouth and hooves to handle her equipment while treating the unconscious crew, Dash figured she’d used the last of her magic back on the bridge. If the crew decided on something she didn’t like, there wasn’t much she could do about it. “Well, then if Whitetail is a bad place, where do you think would be a good one? I still have some money, and I would be willing to pay passage to another destination.” A slight frown crossed her face. “Reasonably priced passage, that is.”

“Actually,” Dash said. “I’ve got something different in mind. I agree with Zecora, they’re going to try hauling in anyone who knows about this. And anyone they get their hooves on, they’re going to question.” Her face turned grim. “And the Confederation knows how to get answers. If they find out that we know, they’ll come after us. I’d rather keep you and your sister out of sight for a while, at least until the heat on you dies down. Then we’ll settle you two somewhere you can blend in. Until then, you can work for your passage as our doctor. You won’t draw any pay, but I won’t charge anything either. That sound fair?”

“Seriously, Captain?” Gilda broke in. “You want to keep that little monster on board?”

“I want to keep this crew safe, and if that means putting up with a little craziness, then that’s it.” Dash eyed Gilda carefully. “Got a problem with that?”

Gilda clearly did have a problem with that, but she backed down from Dash’s challenge. “Fine, but if she sticks me again, I’ll return the favor with one of my knives.” Her feather ruffled, she glowered at Twilight. “So you’d better keep your pet psycho on a short leash.” That said, she stood up and stalked off to her bunk.

“Anyone else have something to add to the discussion?” Dash looked around the table. She realized with a start that Fluttershy had slipped away at some point. Then, to more surprise, Zecora raised her hoof.

“Although I have no fare to pay, I beg that you would let me stay. When from my abbey I proceeded, I thought to find someplace I'm needed, and though you may doubt happenstance, I do not think I'm here by chance.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. That certainly hadn’t been what she was expected. But if the Solar Sister was here, there was no chance she could get scooped up by the Confed and forced to talk. “If I do let you stay, it’s on my terms. You don’t draw pay, you don’t preach to anyone that don’t want to listen, and you don’t butt into this ship’s business.”

“To your terms I will agree, if I may stay on Tranquility,” Zecora said, nodding to herself. Rarity looked pleased by that, though the rest of the crew were uncertain.

“Okay, I can see the use of having a doctor, but what do we need a Sister for? Do you have any skills we could actually use?” Soarin said.

“I’m not a chef of great acclaim, but my cooking will not bring me shame,” Zecora answered giving him a smile.

Applejack chuckled. “I’m all for gettin’ out of kitchen duty, so that sounds about right to me.”

Dash nodded. That would work out. “Okay, anyone else have something?” The rest of the table was silent. “Good. Dismissed. Get all your equipment and luggage settled, then we’ll talk about your sister, Twilight.” She nodded in reply and everyone headed off to their own places.

Captain Dash followed the long hallway down to the engine room, and knocked on the side of the open door before entering. “Hey, little ‘Shy. You feeling okay?”

Fluttershy looked up and stopped fiddling with whatever gizmo she was working on. “I’m sunny. Thank you, Captain.” She went quiet after that but didn’t return to her work.

Dash winced internally. “I didn’t see when you left. Did you hear the plan?”

“Twilight, her sister, and Zecora are going to stay on the ship.”

“Are you okay with that?” Dash asked. Tranquility was house and home to everyone onboard, but it was more than that to Fluttershy. If they had enough money to order parts direct, she might never leave the ship.

“I’ll have to be,” Fluttershy said, refusing to meet Dash’s eyes. She stared down and away as if to study the mechanical butterflies on her flank. “Keeping them aboard is safest for the whole crew. I can’t be selfish about it.” She smiled tightly, putting a brave face on it, but Dash could see her hooves shaking.

Dash frowned, leaned in and lowered her voice. “Do you want me to keep Pinkie away from you? If I have to keep her locked up, I’ll do it. I know what she put you through wasn’t easy.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, it’s fine. She got me so quickly, I didn’t have time to be scared.” She smiled, but Dash could tell she was lying. “I love talking to you, Captain, but I’ve got plenty of work to do, too.” Captain Dash took and the hint and left the mechanic to her own devices.

She walked back to the kitchen, surprised to find Rarity still there. Everyone else had gone, but she was busy looking through the small window on the pantry door. “A bit for your thoughts,” Dash offered as she came close. “Maybe that’s below your going rate, but I figure most ponies aren’t interested in buying those.”

“Very droll,” Rarity said, without looking away from the window. Her voice was flat and quiet.

Captain Dash had been expected some friendly (or not-so-friendly) sniping after that comment, but Rarity plainly wasn’t in the mood. “Seriously, though, what’s up?” She stepped up to the window and looked through it herself. Pinkie Pie had her back to the door, and was rocking slowly back and forth. Several boxes of oatmeal were arranged in a complex geometrical structure that looked like it should fall over in the slightest breeze, but otherwise the pantry was undisturbed.

“I can’t decide whether or not to be mad,” Rarity said quietly.

Dash blinked in surprise and stared at her. The Captain had known Rarity for a fair length of time, and she couldn’t remember Rarity being unsure about anything.

“Last night, I was the first one she took. Her breaking out of that crate awakened me, and I came out of my shuttle to see what was the matter. At that point she didn’t have the sedatives. I was caught, pinned and tied up before she put me to sleep. I had quite some time to feel terrified, angry and helpless. I had no idea what was in that injector when she placed it on my neck.”

Dash felt sick, like a rock had dropped into her stomach.

“I thought I was going to die.” Rarity let that hang in the air for a long second, then shook her head. “But now I see what she is: a filly with a broken mind. I’m not sure I can be angry with her. Not the way I want to be.”

There was another pause, and Dash could see Pinkie’s mouth moving as she talked quietly to herself on the other side of the door. Captain Dash had to wonder if she even knew she was being watched. “I know how you feel,” Dash said quietly. In the moment after understanding what Pinkie was, but before she knew that her crew was safe, she’d felt the same thing. Captain Dash didn’t want to think about what she might’ve done if they hadn’t been. “You didn’t say much about my plan.”

Rarity gave an elegant shrug and tore herself away from the pantry window. “I think it is a capable plan, Captain Rainbow Dash. However, I also think that fate delights in ruining such plans. Are you certain you know what you’re doing?” She walked off without waiting for a response. Dash watched her go and turned back to the window. Pinkie was still mumbling quietly, dead to the world around her.

“I’m doing what needs doing,” Dash said to nobody, and left.

Inside the pantry sat a mare lost in her own mind. She took no more notice of Dash leaving than she had of her coming. Her eyes were locked on something impossibly distant, and she sang a tiny lilting ditty to herself, over and over as she watched it.

They’re watching you, with eyes of blue.
They’re watching me, and all I see.
They’re watching her, and won’t defer.
They’re watching him, their faces grim.
But in the end? Nopony wins.

Epilogue: Premonitions

Firefly: Whole New Verse

Author: psychicscubadiver
Editor: Silentcarto
Proofreader: Coandco
Story Image by: Silentcarto

Epilogue: Premonitions

Detective Noted sipped her terrible coffee and sighed. She’d barely grabbed three hours of sleep after that fiasco at the docks yesterday. There were several ponies critically wounded, no leads, and her superiors were breathing down her neck, demanding results. Patient Aim had to be the pony to blame, but proving that was going to be an uphill struggle.

Most of the ‘security cameras’ on the docks were fake, and many of the real ones were routinely sabotaged. Still she had some real footage to review from the few that worked. She passed the duty sergeant with barely a grunt of notice. Sergeant Nightwatch glanced up and nodded to her.

“Who’d you piss off, Duly?” he asked jokingly.

She scowled at him. There was not nearly enough caffeine in her system to put up with jokes at five in the scorching morning. Still, snapping at him wouldn’t fix anything. Except making her feel better. Which was oh, so tempting.

“What, has the Chief sent another note marked ‘urgent’? After the first dozen, I’m less than impressed.”

Sergeant Nightwatch’s eyes widened in surprise. “You didn’t get the message? There’s a couple of marshals from Central in your office. They got here fifteen minutes ago. I figured you looked like somebody dragged you through Tartarus because you heard about it and rushed over.”

Her blood turned to ice water as she wondered what would bring the high and mighty servants of the Central Law Bureau to her office. Even worse, at this time of morning. Central marshals hardly ever got off their cushy rumps this early. The backhooved insult to her looks paled in comparison to what was waiting for her.

“Thanks for the warning,” she murmured. Sergeant Nightwatch nodded and turned back to his duties. Duly Noted slugged back the rest of her coffee and winced as the fire burned down her throat. Still, it finished waking her up and put a little steel in her spine. The marshals might scare the ever-loving Harmony out of her, but she wasn’t going to let them know that if she could help it.

The door to her office was open a crack. There was no sound of conversation inside, but the steady tapping of hooves on crystal told her that it wasn’t empty. Detective Noted felt an irrational spike of anger. She’d called in darn near every favor she had to get one of the most modern crystal screens and here these arrogant Central busybodies were leafing through it without her permission.

She opened the door without knocking, since it was her own scorching office, and took note of the two ponies occupying her chairs. The one sitting behind her desk and using her crystal was a charcoal-gray pegasus stallion with a light turquoise mane so short that it stuck up in a neat, blocky crest. The other was a muscular white unicorn whose messy electric-blue mane hung nearly into his eyes. Both of them wore sunglasses and tactical coveralls that hid their cutie marks.

The pegasus didn’t even look up as she entered, but the unicorn rose and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Detective Noted. Sorry for borrowing your office and video files, but we’re on a critical assignment.”

For a moment, Duly was confused about which files they were talking about, but then she realized that it had to be her recordings of the docks. “You know, the office could make more copies if you requested it.”

The unicorn chuckled in a comradely fashion, but the noise sent shivers up her spine for some reason. “And knowing how bureaucracy works, I’d get them in two weeks. The pony we’re after is too dangerous for us to waste time with red tape.”

That was a fair point. She could hardly count the number of times she’d wished for the ability to avoid the petty rules that bogged down her investigations. “Okay, I can buy that. You clearly know who I am, but who are the two of you?”

“I’m Mr. White, and my partner is Mr. Black.” She lifted an eyebrow at that, but something in his smile told her not to press ‘Mr. White’ any further. “Reviewing the recordings is our main purpose here, but I would appreciate more information about the disturbance yesterday. Just in case it has anything to do with our case. Would you mind?”

Detective Noted shook her head and took one of her two visitor chairs. Mr. Black still hadn’t looked up from her crystal or even acknowledged her existence. It irked her, but she supposed that was just par for the course for marshals. Mr. White took the other chair and nodded in approval. “Great, thanks. Could we start with a quick summary? I was only given a rough outline of the situation.”

“At approximately 1100 hours yesterday, witnesses reported several gunshots from the vicinity of the docks. Reports of other disturbances, including additional gunshots, in the industrial district shortly before that time indicate that the incident began there and simply spilled out onto the docks. Responding officers found several critically wounded ponies, some of whom may not live, and blood spatter that suggests that others were either killed and hidden, or did not volunteer themselves for treatment. There was one ship that took off during the shootout, an old Firefly-class transport registered to a ‘Captain Blitz’, but they requested liftoff well before the shootout began and I have considered them unlikely to be involved.”

“Interesting,” Mr. White said. “Any reports of unusual activity or a powerful unicorn involved in the disturbance?”

Duly blinked in surprise. “I’m not sure what you mean by ‘unusual’, but there were no reports of any unusual magic being involved. It appeared to be typical gang violence. Guns only.” Although, a good number of the reports had included mention of a gunshot like a cannon. Detective Noted was almost certain that was Patient Aim’s favorite weapon, if only she could get somebody to admit to seeing him.

Mr. White chuckled. “Don’t worry. As easy as it would have made my job, I didn’t expect she would involve herself in anything like that. But she has surprised me before.”

“Sir,” Mr. Black said, “I think I’ve found her.” Mr. White blinked out of existence and reappeared behind Duly Noted’s desk faster than she would have believed possible. There had barely been time to note the glow the around his horn before he was gone.

“Enlarge,” he commanded, any trace of his friendly camaraderie replaced by cold professionalism. “See if you can improve the quality. We have to be sure.”

“Found who?” Detective Noted asked, coming around her desk to get a look at the crystal herself. The scene depicted was a standard day at the docks, ponies and other species mingling, mixing, trading, arguing. All normal activity. The focus of the frozen frame seemed to be on a lavender unicorn mare with a short pink mane and tail. She wore sunglasses and a dress that covered her cutiemark. Mr. Black played with the controls a bit and the image jumped into slightly better resolution. Duly hadn’t realized any of their cameras were capable of that. She turned to ask Mr. White another question, but the words died in her throat.

He had removed his sunglasses and for the first time she saw his eyes. They were blue. A blue so bright that it seemed to glow from within, like neon. His pupils were tiny, almost pinpricks, like specks of darkness lost in an ocean. He stared at the crystal screen with an intensity that scared her more than the mere appearance of his eyes. And as he stared the blue only seemed to get brighter. Then he smiled, not a friendly expression, more like predator spotting prey, and put his sunglasses back on. “That’s her. Continue searching. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a picture that shows which ship she boarded, or who she spoke to.” And he turned to Duly, and his smile changed to something less feral. “Sorry, if I bothered you Detective Noted, I can be very … intense when we’re on the trail.”

“Your eyes…” Duly said, not certain how to end that sentence.

He shuffled his hooves at that, seeming embarrassed. “I have a … condition. One that I’d prefer you didn’t spread around, if you don’t mind.”

Detective Noted nodded, trying not to show her nervousness. “Of course. Who is that mare, though?”

Mr. White grimaced. “She’s a misguided pony, but for all that, still a criminal. She aided and abetted the escape of her younger sister from an institute for the criminally insane. She refused to believe that her sister was responsible for several murders despite the overwhelming evidence against her. Both are on the run, and it’s only a matter of time until the psychoses of the younger sister drive her to kill again.” He paused for a moment. “Ever heard of the Cupcake Killer?”

Detective Noted stared in shock. “But that’s just an urban legend.”

“It is, but it’s based on her. The only earth pony in a family of unicorns. So she decided to harvest horns until she found one that worked for her.”

It was a near thing, but Duly kept herself from throwing up. Mr. White nodded sympathetically. “I know. I had the same reaction the first time I was assigned to the case. That’s why I’m trying to bring them to justice as swiftly as possible. We need to go through these videos, but it would help if you could bring us a list of all the ships that were at the docks that day and their declared destinations.” Detective Noted nodded, and left the room quickly. Anything to drive those thoughts about what Mr. White was chasing out of her head.

After she left, Mr. White trotted over and softly shut the door behind her. It clicked as he locked it and soon he and Mr. Black were alone.

“Sir, you went beyond the official cover story and added unnecessarily sensationalist details,” Mr. Black stated with only the slightest hint of reproach in his tone.

“I said what I needed to ensure Detective Noted’s unquestioning assistance. She will be impressed with the need for silence, or if necessary, made to forget the past several hours.”

“Yes, sir,” Mr. Black said as he continued his work.

Mr. White moved back around the desk and stared again at the picture of the lavender mare, and the boxes of cargo that followed her. “I’ll bring you home, Twily,” he said, his voice a gentle whisper. Then rage chased the softness from his face, and his eyes blazed even behind his glasses.

“And I’ll see Subject Pi dragged back to the lab where she belongs.”

Prologue: Once Upon a Time...

Firefly: Whole New Verse

Author: psychicscubadiver
Editor: Silentcarto
Proofreader: Coandco
Story Image by: Silentcarto

Prologue: Once Upon a Time...

Long ago there was a magical land named Equestria. It was an amazing place where everything was perfect. The sun always shone, crops always prospered and everypony was happy. This land was ruled by two immortal Alicorn Princesses: Celestia, the bringer of the sun, and Luna, the ruler of the moon. Under their care and wisdom, ponies grew numerous.

Too numerous. In a short time, the prosperous cities were overcrowded and when gleaming new metropolises were raised they filled up even more quickly. Equus, their planet, groaned under the weight of so many souls, unable to support such numbers forever. Content in their happy lives, the ponies didn’t even realize until it was too late.

Politicians proposed everything from regulating births to strict rationing and government control, but none of their plans would work quickly enough. There was too little time left. The situation seemed hopeless, but it was the dreamers, the ponies that many considered mad, who saved them all. They dreamed of worlds beyond their own, new planets full of promise. Many laughed at such fantasies, but the Princess of the Night listened. Alone she sailed into the void, protected by magic beyond that of any mortal pony.

She could not go far, as both she and her sister were bound to Equus, but her sight was keen and at the very edge of her vision she spied them: empty and waiting planets; worlds where more ponies could prosper. She returned triumphant, and every factory and forge in the land bent its efforts toward building vessels that could travel between the stars.

The task was not an easy one, but the ponies were hard workers and they gave this project their all. The Princesses used Alicorn magic, the strongest magic in all of Equestria, to lay the enchantments that powered each starcraft. Millions of ponies and a great assortment of other species boarded the ships, preparing themselves for the new lives that awaited them.

The farewell was tearful, for it would take nearly a century to complete the trip and none of the ponies sleeping in their great ships would ever be able to return to the world of their birth. But nonetheless, the brave pilgrims launched into the unknown, trusting their spells to guide them. It was much later, though it seemed like no time at all to the waking crews, that they had arrived. Colonization of the inner planets was swift, though eventually civilization reached the worlds of the Outer Rim as well.

And then war erupted between the Inner Worlds and the Outer Planets! Space battles with giant dreadnoughts shooting lasers! Pew pew pew! Pew pew pew! And the brave hero Shining Armor leading troops to victory amid cheering crowds! Yay, yay!

………

Twilight put down the book and frowned at her adopted younger sister. “Pinkie, if you want me to read you a bedtime story, please don’t interrupt. Though,” she said with a grumble, “you could have chosen something better than a romanticized history like this. I can’t believe they print such nonsense about the Princesses.”

Pinkie cocked her head curiously her bright curls springing all around. “Huh? What do you mean, Twilight? Everybody knows that Celestia and Luna were the only reason the colony ships were launched.”

Twilight nodded, her brow still furrowed. “I’m not denying that, I’m referring to how often ponies deify them. Equestria really was traditionally ruled by two Princesses. One held the Day Court and the other ruled at night. They’re referenced in historical texts going back centuries. But immortality is just a myth. As Prim Pen wrote, it’s most likely that whenever a pony ascends the throne, they take the name ‘Celestia’ or ‘Luna’ to continue that illusion. The Princess is dead, long live the Princess.”

“What about−” Pinkie tried to say, but her older sister was in full lecture mode now.

“And the story that both the Princesses are tied to Equus is just a clever explanation for why they can’t ever appear in the Confederation, protecting the mythos built around them from being disproven. In fact−”

“Oh really?” Pinkie asked, her eyebrows bouncing up and down almost as much as the rambunctious filly it was attached to. “And what about how they raised the sun and moon, defeated the lord of chaos, and all the other stories about them?”

Twilight snorted. “Legends grow up around all historical figures. Surely, you don’t believe that Gorge Washer weighed ten tons, ate steel for breakfast, and could shoot a pony from three thousand yards away?” Twilight asked. Pinkie giggled, which made her older sister sigh. “Maybe you do. I’m not trying to be mean, but you understand celestial mechanics even better than I do. Solar systems are heliocentric, not geocentric. Raising the sun is impossible.”

Pinkie’s pout said otherwise, and Twilight could practically hear the ingenious little wheels spinning in her head as Pinkie began to calculate how to form a system that could let Princess Celestia raise the sun.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather hear an article from Scientific Quarterly?” Twilight offered, shutting the book Pinkie had picked out.

Pinkie stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry, mathematics momentarily forgotten. “No way! Those are boring. Besides, their stories are skewed due to a need to capture interest among their subscribers. If you check the journals in which the original studies are published, you’ll find that very few are as conclusive as they are presented in SQ.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, “All right you little genius, would you like me to read you some abstracts from a journal? They certainly help me get to sleep.”

That caused a fit of giggling between the two sisters and the old book was set aside. After their laughter wound down, Pinkie’s mood turned somber and her normally poofy mane seemed to flatten. “Do you think Shining gets to read books before bed at Officer Candidate School?”

Twilight tried to continue smiling, but the reminder of their elder brother’s absence made her cheerful front difficult to maintain. “Maybe, but he has more important things to worry about.”

“But everybody says the war’s almost over. Won’t they let Shining go once that happens?”

Twilight sighed. “I hope so, but either way, you need to get to bed, little miss. We’ve both got school in the morning.”

Pinkie gave a short salute. “Okie dokie, Dr. Sparkle,” she said before wiggling herself back under the covers.

Twilight smiled and leaned down to nuzzle her sister, giving her a small kiss on one cheek. “I’m not a doctor just yet; I’ve still got to pass the licensing exam and complete my residency. But you know what? I’m certain that someday you’ll be something even greater than a plain, old doctor. Goodnight Pinkie. I love you.”

Pinkie yawned like the adorable little filly she was and snuggled deeper into her comfy bed. “Love you too.”

Twilight paused at the door and turned out the light. She would have liked to have gone to bed herself, but there was still too much to do. Ever since their parents had died in the line of duty, she had been the one in charge of the household. Shining was terrible with finances, and though Pinkie was more capable than her age would suggest, Twilight couldn’t bear forcing her sister to slog through that kind of paperwork.

With a sigh she set to work, sorting through bills and other junk. It looked like the usual fare, or so she thought until something caught her eye. At first she thought it was a brochure, but closer examination showed it to be an invitation, and a personalized one at that, for the entrance exam to a private school.

Blue Sun Academy? Twilight thought, trying to remember if she had ever heard the name before. The invitation touted various awards and accomplishments the school had achieved, claiming that the Academy was the place for gifted colts and fillies. The top ten percent of the testing class were even given a full scholarship.

Twilight stared at the small slip of paper for a long time. She knew that Pinkie wasn’t being properly challenged, even though she attended the best private school in New Canterlot. And there was only so much Twilight could do to keep her interested. This seemed to offer the perfect solution. Even though they were hardly hurting for money, the chance for Pinkie to get a full scholarship – Twilight was certain she’d be in the top one percent of any class, much less ten – was a nice incentive, too. The only hitch was that the school was off planet, and Pinkie would have to live there until she graduated. Twilight knew she couldn’t go without her sister for so long. She balled the letter up to toss it in the trash.

The garbage can was right next to her. It would have been easy to throw the paper away, but Twilight stopped. She was being selfish, wanting to keep Pinkie all to herself. They could still exchange letters, and this would give Pinkie the chance to finally spread her wings, so to speak.

Twilight carefully un-crumpled the invitation and began reading it again. Pinkie could decide for herself whether or not she wanted to go, and Twilight would support whatever decision her sister made. Nodding to herself, Twilight pulled out her organizer and marked the date of the test. Regardless of her own feelings, Pinkie deserved the benefits this school could offer her. Twilight had to do what was best for her little sister, after all.

Chapter Two: The Dog in the Nighttime

Firefly: Whole New Verse

Author: psychicscubadiver
Editor: Silentcarto
Proofreader: Coandco
Story Image by: Silentcarto

Chapter Two: The Dog in the Nighttime

As Soarin had said, the passengers were waiting in the kitchen. All three mares were facing the bridge expectantly, so as Dash hovered at the top of the stairs from the cargo bay, she took the opportunity to size them up before she entered the room.

One was a short, beige Earth pony with a chocolate-colored mane. Her blue overalls were clean, but they had so many old, ground-in stains that they were practically brown. A wrench stuck out of her pocket, and a battered tool chest sat on the floor next to her. Nothing unusual about a working class mare looking for cheap transport. The other two made for a far more interesting sight.

Not too many zebras had made the Journey from Equus. Those that had mainly stayed on Savannah and didn’t tend to travel much. Still, the mare in the middle couldn’t have been anything else. Dark gray stripes crossed her light gray coat, and a stylized spiral sun marked her flank. She sat with a thin staff balanced across her tightly folded hindlegs, seemingly unconcerned by her surroundings. Dash thought the position looked uncomfortable, but who knew with Zebras?

The last mare was a purple unicorn. Her dress was practical but expensive, and it hid her cutie mark completely. A pair of dark shades concealed her eyes, and a careful inspection of her short, pink mane revealed the slight shimmer that indicated a glamour. Dash felt like whistling at that. Away from the ambient magic field of a planet or Alicorn-class ship, a unicorn only had their own personal reserves to fuel their magic. So what was a rich, powerful unicorn in disguise doing on a run-down bulk transport like Tranquility?

Dash stepped into the kitchen and cleared her throat noisily. The unicorn jumped in surprise, and the earth pony dropped the wrench she’d been fiddling with. Only the zebra seemed unaffected. “Hello, and welcome to Tranquility. I’m Rainbow Dash, the Captain. Sorry I couldn’t be here earlier, but I had to load some important cargo for our trip to Whitetail. So, let’s have some introductions.” She gave them her best grin, open, inviting, and confident.

“It seems we finally meet our host, the pony I wished to see the most,” the zebra said in a shifting, lilting cadence as she unfolded her legs and rose. She turned to face Dash and gave a small bow. “But for the question of my name, Zecora is that which I claim.”

Zecora wore nothing but three pieces of jewelry, all of them depicting an eight-rayed sun. Two of the suns were stud earrings, made of cheap brass but polished to gleaming. The third, a smooth, yellow-white stone, hung from an old length of twine around her throat. Dash grunted in surprise. A Solar Sister, here? She gave a polite nod. “Nice to meet you, Zecora. You’ve got business on Whitetail?”

Zecora shook her head and broke into a cryptic smile. “I chose your ship not for her destination, but for her mechanics's admiration. Even a blind pony could see the way she loves Tranquility.”

Moonbanished sun witch, Dash thought, no longer trying to hide her expression. The Solar Sisters did a lot of good around the system, but they got preachy darned fast. There weren’t many things more annoying than a rhyming lecture. Besides, Dash had learned a long time ago that Harmony didn’t really live out here. Ponies had left that back in Equestria. “You?” she asked, nodding to the earth pony.

“I’m Toolbelt. I got a job offer in Whitetail and just needed a cheap ticket,” she said with a shrug. “Nothing special about my story.”

“You may call me Star Glimmer,” the unicorn said. She looked straight at Dash, but the dark shades masked her eyes and the rest of her expression remained carefully neutral. “I’m an assistant professor from Hackney University. I’m traveling with my equipment to research some natural magic phenomena on Whitetail.”

Everybody in the room, except Zecora, stared at her. Hackney wasn’t a major city by any stretch, but it was the largest on Boaros, and anyone involved in the university had to be upper crust. “And you chose my ship because…” Dash trailed off in disbelief.

Star Glimmer blushed, proving she wasn’t as emotionless as she acted. “I’m an assistant professor, and the University isn’t exactly generous with its grants. I’ve got to cut corners somewhere.”

That seemed more reasonable. Dash had never seen any organization that was in the habit of handing out large sums of bits if they didn’t have to. Still, that didn’t explain the glamour and the dress. Star Glimmer – if that was really even her name – was hiding something. “Great,” Dash said with a smile. “Okay, intros over. Let me lay down some ground rules. Meals are here in the kitchen at 8:00, 13:00, and 19:00. Just basic fare – pressed hay, nutrient supplements, oatmeal, and some rice dishes for variety. Also, you have to stay in your quarters, the kitchen, or the lounge behind me. You’ll–”

“But my equipment!” Star Glimmer interrupted in mild panic. She shuffled nervously as Dash glared at her. Somewhere in the background, Dash heard Gilda chuckle even though the griffin tried to muffle it.

“As I was saying,” Dash continued in a stern tone of voice. “You’ll get in the crew's way if you wander all over the ship. We’ll take you down to get whatever you need in a couple minutes. If you want something later let one of us know, and we'll take you back.”

“But wouldn’t that inconvenience them more than if we went alone?” Star Glimmer asked. Dash was fast running out patience with this mare.

“No,” she said coldly. “Because I won’t have anybody running back and forth. Take what you need to your quarters, including any of your ‘equipment’ that needs a lot of upkeep.” Star Glimmer flinched, and Dash noted the reaction with interest. Oh, she’s definitely hiding something, and she’s not used to doing it, either. She wasn’t bad – the researcher story made sense and was hard to disprove – but Miss ‘Star Glimmer’ wasn’t good enough to fool anyone looking hard. “We’ll be making planetfall, or moonfall in this case, in three days’ time. Any questions?”

Toolbelt coughed, and Star Glimmer trailed one hoof sullenly across the floor. “Good. Then you can follow me back to the cargo hold now and we’ll get whatever you need for the trip,” Dash said.

She turned around and just barely saw the tip of a tawny tail before Gilda made herself scarce. By the time Dash turned the corner, she was nowhere to be seen. Dash grunted in annoyance. Gilda always stalked around like that when she was in a bad mood. It was probably a predator thing.

The whole group trooped down the the cargo hold, and Dash was struck again with how many crates Star Glimmer had. There were at least half a dozen, and that wasn’t even counting her large suitcase and smaller, professional looking briefcase. Both of those were also plain, but extremely well made. The crates were standard cargo movers, though. Glimmer darted over to her precious luggage while Dash waited on the catwalk that overlooked the cargo hold, keeping an eye on all of her passengers.

Dash smelled her before she saw her. She was wearing a new scent, but nobody else on board bothered with perfume. Her heart began to race, but Captain Dash fought not to show it. She had to play it cool, act like it was no big deal. “Good afternoon, Miss Rarity. Aren’t you just pretty as a plum blossom today?” That was perfect. I’ll just leave it there and everything will be– “How’s the whoring?” Sunscorch it.

Dash would’ve called Rarity beautiful, except that ‘beautiful’ didn’t come close to doing her justice. You’d need words like ‘amazing’, ‘gorgeous’, and ‘stunning’ to even start describing her. Not that Dash ever did any describing. She wasn’t short of confidence; it was just that all the nice things in her head got all snarled up and pointy before they made it to her mouth. Somehow, just being near Rarity set Dash’s insides tumbling like she was caught in a tornado. She hated that out-of-control feeling, but she hadn't made any move to get the Companion off her ship. It had been that way for the better part of a year, and didn’t show any signs of changing.

“Thank you, Captain,” Rarity said in a tone that sent chills down Dash’s spine. She was angry, no doubt about that, and her silky voice just barely hid the razor blades underneath. “I’ve had a number of satisfied customers here lately. It had been a while since a registered Companion visited Boaros. And how is your thieving and smuggling?”

“Could you keep your voice down?” Dash hissed. “I’ve got passengers just twenty feet away.”

“Of course, far be it from me to discuss private business in front of other ponies.” Rarity’s eyes slid over to Dash just in time to catch her wince. Rarity smirked. She had scored a point in that exchange. She usually did when they bantered. “Do you think you could manage introductions?”

Why? None of them can afford your price. That comment, at least, Dash was able to bury. “Why not? I’d like to see how the Solar Sister reacts.”

“With dignity, no doubt. Not everyone is as unfamiliar to the concept as you.” That could have been another scathing remark, but Rarity delivered in an almost playfully teasing tone. Captain Dash's cheeks heated up, but she didn’t blush. She was too cool for that.

Instead, she glanced around, looking for her passengers. Toolbelt had already left, it appeared. She probably didn’t have much baggage with her. Easier and cheaper to sell your furniture and buy new once you arrived than to ship it between planets. Zecora was busy doing something with her canvas duffel and a pair of small crates sitting at her hooves. Star Glimmer seemed to be finished, though she kept shooting worried looks at her mountain of luggage. Dash steered towards her.

“Ahem.” Star Glimmer jumped again as Dash cleared her throat. Dash gave another confident smile, pretending not to notice her passenger’s guilty reaction. “Miss Glimmer, I’d like to introduce you to Miss Rarity.”

Star Glimmer tried to maintain a neutral expression, but the lines around her mouth tightened into the shadow of a frown. Rarity’s dress, like most of her clothing, was an airy silk piece, but it wasn't indecent. Whatever the reason behind her emotion, Star Glimmer smoothed it away and extended a hoof politely. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Rarity said. Her eyes sparkled with interest, studying the lines and folds of Glimmer’s dress. A small pout flashed across her face, as she found something wrong with the other mare’s outfit. Dash rolled her eyes, careful not to let Rarity see the reaction. “I like the dress, darling, but the sunglasses simply do not suit your ensemble.”

“Thanks for the advice.” Glimmer scowled, making no move to take them off. She turned slightly to Dash. “Is she another member of your crew?”

Rarity tittered softly at that. “Hardly. I’m a registered Companion. I rent one of Captain Dash’s shuttles, as my services are in high demand here on the Outer Rim. Tranquility takes me where I need to go without bankrupting me.” Dash snorted at that. She knew the kind of money Rarity made, and she could have rented on any number of finer ships. All that money had to be going to something, though.

“Ah,” Glimmer replied, a faint blush touching her cheeks. “Well… I’m going to get settled in. It was nice meeting you.”

“Likewise,” Rarity said with an elegant curtsy, which Glimmer tried and failed to duplicate. She hurried off, her briefcase clenched tightly in her aura.

“What a curious mare,” Rarity said, once Glimmer was out of earshot.

“I’d have said suspicious, but they're pretty much the same thing.”

“Be that as it may,” Rarity scolded gently. “I hope you don’t plan on acting upon any ill-founded ‘suspicions’. There are certain obligations one has to a client, and she is yours.”

Dash held up both forehooves in mock surrender. “As her Highness decrees, I can only obey. You’ve certainly had more experience ‘obliging’ clients than I have.”

“Oh, hush,” Rarity said, her eyes sparkling again as she turned towards the last passenger still in the cargo hold. She hummed to herself, her mind clearly on Zecora and not their discussion. For some reason Dash felt like glaring at the cryptic, rhyming, know-it-all zebra.

Still, she had to make introductions. “Sister Zecora, this is Miss Rarity, a registered Companion and valued business associate.”

Rarity shot Dash an unreadable look before giving Zecora a smile and a closer examination than she had used on Glimmer. “It is an honor to meet you Sister... Zecora? Am I pronouncing that correctly?” At a nod, she continued. “Wonderful. I would love to chat with you before dinner if you have the time. The crew certainly know their jobs, but I rarely get the chance to discuss philosophical or political matters with anyone on board.”

“Hey, now,” Dash interjected, faking a hurt look. “I’m always willing to discuss politics with you.”

Rarity rolled her eyes and let out her breath in a huff. “Yes, but no matter what the problem is, you respond with, and I quote, ‘shoot the politicians’.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Zecora smiled sagely, ignoring the byplay. “I gladly welcome your kind invitation, Mistress Rarity, but please explain the reason for my sudden popularity. While many of your peers prefer to shun my sisterhood and me, I find that you are hardly able to contain your look of glee. ”

Dash chuckled as Rarity blushed shyly. Most of the time, it was difficult to see behind her polite mask, but now and then her hobby got the better of her.

“I must admit that my intentions were not solely for conversation,” Rarity said. “I had hoped I might get the chance to... draw you.”

Zecora blinked and cocked her head in confusion. Dash chuckled again earning her a haughty look from the Companion. Rarity turned back to Zecora with a more apologetic expression. “I … dabble in art, specifically with charcoal and pencils. I’ve never had the chance to sketch a zebra before, and I was perhaps a bit caught up in the opportunity.”

Zecora nodded. “A pony’s passion always shows, so for your art I’ll gladly pose.” Then she shifted her attention to Dash, and the Captain met her teal-colored eyes. “I've something here that should appeal: an addition to our nightly meal. I bring you fruit grown at my abbey. A gift, I hope, that's not too shabby.” She nudged one of the small crates towards Dash with one of her hooves.

Now that she was paying attention, Dash could detect the subtle aroma of fresh fruit and vegetables coming from the box. Her mouth watered, mostly due to one scent in particular, but all of it smelled delicious. “You might just be my favorite passenger ever. I’ve gotta ask, are those plums I smell? And could I snag one before dinner?” Dash was willing to ask politely to start, but one way or another she was getting one of those fruits.

Zecora waved her hoof of the box, deftly flipping it open, and bowed ever so slightly. “I have brought such fruits, indeed, and they are yours. Feel free to feed.”

Dash nodded, hungrily searching for the juiciest of the beautiful, purple fruits. They were a good stock, every one healthy-looking. You couldn’t always count on that out here on the Rim. She selected one, tossing it into the air with one wing and catching it with the other. “Thanks,” she said, and strutted off to leave Rarity and the Sister to their art discussion.

Dash waited until she was out of sight to taste her prize. Just firm enough, with a burst of juice as her teeth pierced the skin. A slight tang came with the sweetness, making Dash give a tiny shudder. She checked to make sure nobody had seen that, then went back to eating. Fresh fruit was expensive out here, and whatever you found usually wasn't all that great. This plum was delicious. It didn’t taste like home – nothing ever tasted like home – but it was close enough.

………

Dinner was a noisier affair than usual. Between the three extra ponies and the addition of real food to the menu, everyone was in a talkative mood. Even Gilda seemed to have forgotten how Dash had chewed her out earlier in the day.

Zecora had been a source of interesting stories, even more impressive as she managed to deliver them all in rhyme. Toolbelt had offered a couple minor tales of her own, and the rest of the crew had gladly responded.

Applejack told about her life on her family’s apple farm before the war. Gilda needed a couple of glares when she got too close to describing some the business their ship actually did, and Rarity shared a few polite anecdotes from the parties she’d attended with upper class ponies.

“Your turn, Fluttershy,” Applejack said.

“What about me?” Soarin complained. “I’ve got tons of great stories. A few of them are even fit to be told in mixed company.”

“You’ll go after her and be happy for it,” Applejack said, with mock sternness. “Let’s hear a story from the best mechanic on the Rim.”

“You’ve got a funny way of pronouncing ‘the entire ‘Verse’,” Dash replied. That got a round of chuckles and set Fluttershy to blushing.

“That’s sweet, Dash, but I’m not that good. I just have a feel for Tranquility.” She set to putting away the bits of food nobody had eaten. There was still a gorgeous pile of fruit left and that would make for a tasty breakfast.

“Like Tartarus, you aren’t,” Dash said, snagging one last grape before Fluttershy put them in a container. “Tell everybody about one of the times you saved the ship from almost certain doom.”

She blushed even deeper, but nodded and sat back down. “W-well, there was the time that the main magnetic bearing went out of whack and caused the entire engine to overheat.” She nodded to Toolbelt. “You know how these old ships can get sometimes.”

“Right, of course,” Toolbelt said with a quick nod. “So, how did you deal with it?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “Nothing special, really. I just had to temporarily re-route the cooling system through ship’s wastewater plumbing to reduce the heat so it wouldn’t be too hot while I was working. Of course, I couldn’t turn it off or the quench would have snapped that bearing in half, and it wasn’t like we had a spare. The hard part was re-aligning the pressure couplings, but once that was done I just needed to suit up and un-jam the rotor from the outside.” She clammed up again for a second as though embarrassed by how much she had said. Then she shyly looked at Toolbelt. “But I’m sure you would’ve handled it better.”

Toolbelt laughed uneasily and rubbed the back of her neck. “Oh, no, I’d probably do the same thing you did. That seems about the only option in that situation.”

Fluttershy nodded, and went back to getting things put away. That girl is too modest for her own good, Dash thought. What she wasn’t mentioning was that the ‘overheating’ had been almost more than the life support system could cope with. She had just about cooked herself getting that engine fixed, then jumped in a suit and risked the hot rotor melting through it to finish the job. Fluttershy could have made herself a boatload of money if she’d been willing to work anywhere else. Not that Dash blamed her for being attached to Tranquility. This ship was all she had since they’d found her.

“Great story, little ‘Shy,” Soarin said. “But now everyone must prepare themselves for my story, a tale of riveting comedy and unparalleled nonsense. You’ve paid for the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge!”

“Get on with it,” Gilda heckled. “And don’t tell that moonbanished garden gnome story again, we’ve heard that one at least a dozen times.”

The table chuckled as Soarin ignored her and launched into his tale. As he started gesturing with his hooves, Dash helped Fluttershy clear the table while watching the alleged ‘assistant professor’ from the corner of her eye. It hadn’t escaped Dash’s notice that Star Glimmer, though polite and seemingly cheerful, hadn’t volunteered any stories. In fact, Dash thought she could count the number of times the unicorn had spoken at dinner on her hooves.

“– and at this point we had convinced her that sprouting a mustache overnight was entirely natural,” Soarin said, miming a growth of facial hair at least twice the size as the last time he told this story. “Now, she had shaved it off, but we were at this party with a lot of very important ponies. Well, being an arrogant so-and-so, this mare barged in on the mayor’s conversation. She told him all about her rare case of Leichtgläubig Syndrome. He almost choked, he was laughing so hard.” The whole table sat quietly, an odd chuckle here or there interrupting the silence as they waited for the punchline. “I swear on my mother’s best pie recipe, she turned redder than an apple and demanded to know why he was laughing. That’s when he told her that ‘leichtgläubig’ was Griffin for ‘gullible’!” The whole table laughed at that, and even though this had to be the fourth or fifth time Dash had heard it, she chuckled along with them.

“All right,” Dash said, her chair groaning as she stood up. “The food’s gone, and it's Applejack's turn to do the dishes.”

“Sure thing, Captain,” she replied.

“As for the rest,” she turned towards her passengers. “The crew is going to have a meeting on the bridge, then retire for the evening. The lights will be off, and it would be best if everyone returned to their quarters. I can’t tell you to sleep, but I don’t want anybody tripping over anything in the darkness. Does anyone need access to the cargo hold?” Silence answered her. “Okay, then. If you want breakfast hot, be on time, and if you’re fine with something cold, you’ve got all morning. Good night, and pleasant dreams.”

They murmured their good nights. Zecora didn’t offer to pray, which was a relief. Dash found herself kind of liking the mare and didn’t want to turn her down. All three trooped down the stairs to the lower deck, where the passengers’ quarters waited. Dash made sure they were gone before she headed to the bridge.

Soarin sat in the pilot’s chair. Scattered around his console were framed pictures of him, his wife and a truly bizarre number of pies. At least eight pictures of various desserts decorated his station, and that didn’t include the massive photo album full of pies resting in one of the drawers that should have held flight manuals.

Gilda lurked in the corner, sharpening her claws with her newest knife. She’d eventually lose interest, but while it was new, she was going to use it at any excuse.

Fluttershy flittered here and there, her overalls messy, but her mane mysteriously clean. She flashed a warm smile at Dash, still tinged by a bit of sheepishness. Dash almost rolled her eyes. The money Fluttershy had spent on Tranquility’s new part was ground beneath the wind.

Rarity was there for some reason, too. Dash had mixed feelings about that. It took a moment, but annoyed won out. “I’m pretty sure I said this meeting was for the crew.”

“And I’m ‘pretty sure’ you are going to be discussing your passengers, as Soarin and Fluttershy do all the work of running the ship,” Rarity retorted.

Soarin laughed and gestured to his chair. “I do a lot more sitting than ‘running’. You’d be looking at our little ‘Shy for anything active.”

“Oh, everybody does their part. All you have to do is ask nicely,” Fluttershy said, brushing aside her bangs to reveal a shy smile. Dash chuckled. There wasn’t anyone on board that could refuse when she said ‘please’ and smiled.

As amusing a conversation as that could lead to, Dash put her hoof down. This was the time for business. “Fine, Rarity can sit in for now, but we aren’t making a habit of it. Point being, our passengers. What does everyone think of them?”

“That unicorn’s lying. So’s the earth pony. Probably the zebra, too,” Gilda said, sheathing her knife and leaning forward intently.

“You think everybody lies to us,” Dash replied. Though, she looked to be on the money with Glimmer.

Gilda shrugged. “Only ‘cause everybody does. When’s the last time we got involved in anything honest?” She only got silence in response, which made her snicker.

Dash shook her head. “Okay, so we’ve got Gilda’s opinion. What about you, Fluttershy? The way that Sister was talking, it sounded like you and her had a chat.”

Fluttershy blushed and began to play her hair. “No, with Soarin there, I managed to talk to the parts dealer, but I didn’t say a word to anyone else.”

Frowning, Dash reviewed the zebra’s introduction in her head. “You sure? From what she said, the only reason she chose our ship was because you love the old girl.”

“She probably overheard when we were coming back from the dealer’s,” Soarin offered. “Little ‘Shy was so excited about her new gizmo, she came close to talking my ears off.”

Fluttershy’s face turned rosy red as she blushed more. “Sorry, I can be such a chatterbox sometimes. But it was a really good price. I know it was expensive, but Tranquility’s coil is really old and it’s such a vital piece. If we lost that, we’d be dead in the air.” Everyone with wings gave an involuntary shudder at that idiom. If you were lucky, another ship would find you and perform a rescue, but there wasn’t much luck to be had out in the black.

“Next time, check with me first. I don’t mind spending the bits, but I don’t like surprises.” Fluttershy nodded earnestly. “Otherwise, don’t worry about it, little ‘Shy. We’ll get enough from this job to make up for it,” Dash said. “So what do you think of our passengers after seeing them at dinner?”

Fluttershy hesitated. “They all seem nice. Though, if I had to say, I think Zecora and Star Glimmer are hiding something from us. Not necessarily something bad, but still.”

“I dunno about the zebra; she seemed on the level,” Soarin added. “But here’s something interesting about Star Glimmer. She paid the first fare I quoted her. Didn’t even try to haggle me down. Then she wanted everything loaded into the ship and out of sight as fast as possible. That doesn’t exactly sound like a young researcher struggling to make her grant money stretch.”

“After speaking with her, I believe Zecora’s … mystique to be intentional.” Rarity paused, considering her words carefully. “She seeks to create an air of cryptic wisdom, which makes me believe she is a missionary of sorts: a traveling Sister hoping to save lost souls. Perhaps I’m reading a bit much into it, but that remains the impression I get of her. As for Star Glimmer, she is afraid.”

“What she’s afraid of is the question,” Dash cut in.

Rarity pursed her lips. “It’s hard to say. She was definitely wary of me, even before she learned of my occupation.” Gilda snickered again, but the rest of crew ignored it. “The concealment and silence coupled with her sudden starts all indicate that she’s hiding something.”

“I think we’re all on the same page with that, sugarcube,” Applejack said. She ducked through the low door to the bridge and nodded to Dash. “Dishes’re done, Captain, and I’ve been keeping an ear on the conversation.”

“That’s why I left the door open. So, your thoughts?”

“Nothing special ‘bout Toolbelt that I can see, and like my husband there says, I’m plum not sure on Zecora. But I can only figure two possibilities for Miss Glimmer. One: She’s carryin’ something she shouldn’t in those crates. Might be somethin’ illegal, might be somethin’ stolen, or it might be both. Two: She’s runnin’ from somepony. Packed up everything she had and don’t want nopony to know where she’s gone.” Applejack settled into Soarin’s chair with him. The seat was just big enough for two, and he comfortably draped his foreleg around her shoulders, pulling her close.

“That was about what I thought. Anybody got any other ideas?” Nobody said anything.

Dash snorted. “If she’s just running from somebody, there ain’t nothing wrong with that. The less questions we ask there, the better.” She grinned wolfishly. “And if she’s running from the lawkeepers, the more power to her. But if she’s using us to smuggle, I’ve got a problem with that. Nobody smuggles anything on my ship.” Applejack raised an eyebrow. Soarin raised his foreleg, pretending to be a confused student. Rarity scoffed softly.

“Unless they cut me in on the deal,” Dash finished. That bought a few chuckles.

“That’s good ‘n all,” Applejack said, “but how do we know which it is? I don’t see that interrogation going well. Not if she has enough magic to waste on a glamour out in the black.” Fluttershy, Soarin, and Gilda all looked surprised at that news, but Dash and Rarity were nodding.

“True. That’s one of the reasons I told none of them to enter the cargo hold without us.” Dash’s eyes slid over to Gilda. “How would you feel about making a trip to the cargo hold later this evening and checking out Miss Glimmer’s luggage? If she’s on the level, no harm, no foul. But if she’s smuggling something, we can press her for a cut since we’re taking part of the risk.”

“Nothing would make me happier, Captain,” Gilda said with a mercenary grin.

“Good,” Dash replied. “Wait ‘til everyone is asleep, and keep quiet. And don’t take anything that ain’t yours.”

“Do I look like a thief?” Gilda asked. Everybody stared at her as she realized what she’d just said. “Sunscorch it, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, but we aren’t too sure that you do,” Soarin joked.

Gilda bristled at that, some of her feathers rising threateningly. “I’ll be in my bunk, and since I’m staying up half the night, I’m sleeping in come morning.”

“Fine,” Dash said. “Do it right, and you can sleep in as long as you like. Nobody’s going anywhere in a hurry.”

……...

It was past midnight. Gilda had whiled away the hours sharpening and admiring her knife. That stupid unicorn dweeb hadn’t known scat about proper knife care. Yeah, the spells on it made it stay sharp longer, but ‘longer’ didn’t mean ‘forever’. Besides, the knife needed to be as sharp as possible to get full use out of the spells woven into it. With the work Gilda had done, this beautiful little piece of steel would slice through a unicorn’s shield without even slowing down. Even most armor couldn’t stop a thrust from a knife like this. Of course, being a griffin, Gilda could only use it for close combat. But it wasn’t like that was something she’d never been through.

She glanced up, grunting as she checked the clock. It was time to move. She didn’t like leaving her guns behind, but she understood the necessity. She was still packing at least three knives, though. Wasn’t a chance in this ‘Verse she’d go on any mission unarmed. A crowbar, hammer and some nails completed her gear.

Gilda turned the light off and quietly opened the door of her room. She stepped out, listening for any movement. She had the best night vision on board, barring unicorn magic, but hearing was the best sense to use in darkness. The only noises were the phantom groans of an old ship. Soft red lights lined the way to the cockpit, but Gilda crept through the starlit galley and turned down a pitch-black staircase instead. She crept along, putting more weight on the pads of her hind legs than her claws. Halfway down the stairs Gilda paused and listened again.

Still nothing. Good.

She continued down, turning right past the empty infirmary, and paused again to listen and watch. The passengers’ quarters were dark and silent, except for some light snoring from one of them. Gilda nodded to herself and crept back through the common area, confident she wouldn’t be interrupted. The cargo hold’s door was sound-proof, and just in case she had wrapped the hammer’s head in rags to muffle the noise when she nailed the lid back on the crate.

The door to the cargo hold creaked a little as it opened. Gilda waited and listened, but heard nothing. She softly shut the door behind her and locked it. She froze again, then grinned. Nothing too hard. One crate later, the whole crew would be a few bits richer. Even if ‘Glimmer’ wasn’t smuggling, the Captain should charge something for staying silent when somebody asked questions about where she had gone. Unless she was on the lam. Captain Dash would lie to the authorities just on principle.

Gilda’s grin slipped as she approached the corner of the room that had Glimmer’s stuff. Were the shadows playing tricks on her or…

Nope, all of the crates had already been busted wide open. Gilda felt cold sweat pop out on her brow. The Captain was gonna have a hard time believing that she hadn’t done this. For a moment, Gilda wondered if this was Soarin’s idea of a joke, but she discarded the notion just as quickly. He wasn’t dumb enough to risk Dash’s wrath like that. Which meant that one of the passengers had more interest in these crates than they had pretended. Somebody had been looking for something, and they hadn’t minded tearing apart every crate until they found it. Gilda’s mind leapt to the zebra, but that earth pony had kept a low profile too. And she probably had the strength to wreck one easier than a zebra. Or were zebras as strong as earth ponies? For once, Gilda wished she had finished school.

Cautiously, Gilda drew her knife, then waited and listened again. No sound but the low, distant thrum of the engine. Gilda stalked around the room, peering into each dark corner and behind every crate. She didn’t find anyone or anything. Whoever did this was already long gone.

Might as well finish what I came for, she thought. She choose one crate with a hole in the side almost big enough to climb through. Gilda just stuck her head in and let her eyes adjust. She didn’t have to wait long, but what she saw only confused her more. The crate was full of little medicine bottles and other bits of doctor-junk. Gilda saw a thing for listening to heartbeats, a cuff for measuring blood pressure, and some of those wooden tongue depressors. The medicine bottles looked like the contents of a small drug store – everything from cough syrup to headache pills. There were prescription drugs, too. A few of them Gilda recognized, with labels like ‘morphine’ and ‘penicillin’. The rest were just a jumble of unpronounceable syllables. Gilda was pretty sure it was illegal for Glimmer to have some of these, but the rest could be bought anywhere. This wasn’t any kind of smuggling she’d ever seen. Only one thing for it; tell Captain Dash and let her figure out what it meant.

The jab in her right shoulder was the first clue Gilda got that she wasn’t alone. There was a pressurized hiss as the injector made contact, and Gilda felt something cold and numbing hit her bloodstream. She yanked her head out of the crate and spun with a roar, slashing with her shining, new Confederation knife. Unfortunately, they weren’t dumb enough to stay in range, and that was the only move she got to make. Before she could spot her opponent, Gilda’s legs buckled and her knife fell from her claws. She hit the floor still fighting the effects of the whatever they had put in her.

“Nag,” she slurred. “C’mon, fight me like a warrior.” A vague outline of a pony stepped into her field of vision. Gilda strained to see who it was, but a dark fog was closing in from the edges of her vision.

“No thank you,” the pony said. Gilda tried to understand, but the words wouldn’t hold still long enough. They bounced and echoed inside her head without meaning as she slowly slipped into complete and total darkness.