Red Comet

Chapters

Market
Forest
Care
Crew
Salt
Meeting
Beginning
Red Comet

Market

Before Twilight had a chance to set a hoof out of the library that morning, she had a visitor. Cheerilee was standing at her door, saddle bags across her back and her eyes looking tight and bleary as if she had been crying. The Red Comet forgotten in the view of a friend in need, the unicorn stepped aside motioning for her to come inside, “Cheerilee, please come inside. What’s wrong?”

Cheerilee’s voice which has usually been full of, well cheer, sounded strained and weak. “I’m sorry to intrude on you like this, Twilight Sparkle, but I need to ask if you can find someone to substitute for the next week.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“It’s my mother. I just received a letter yesterday, but I so was busy, I didn’t get a chance to read until early this morning. She isn’t doing too well. . .”

“And you need to go nurse her back to health?” Twilight asked.

Cheerilee took a shuddering breath, her frame nearly trembling underneath the weight of sadness that was apparent in her green eyes. “She’s been sick a long time. I’m not going to be able to nurse her back to health this time.”

The words hung heavy in the air and Twilight swallowed as she could only imagine Cheerilee's pain. She wrapped her forelegs around Cheerilee and hugged her tight; as if she could draw the grief away from the schoolmare and take it onto herself. “I’ll write a letter to the Princess and I’m sure she can arrange for someone to take over while you take all the time you need.”

“I made up a lesson plan. It’s my desk at school. I sent the foals home for today.” They released each other and Twilight was able to see that Cheerilee had managed to compose herself. The pain was still apparent in her eyes, but the floundering despair was gone. “I have to go; my train arrives in thirty minutes.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to do that. It looked as if you were in a hurry to go somewhere.”

Twilight thought about the red comet, that mysterious crimson streak in the night sky, but pushed it aside. This was far more important. “It can wait.”

.........

“Applebloom, Ah don’t reckon that’s a good idea.” Applejack adjusted the basket of apples on the stall, making sure that it displayed the red deliciousness that was the Apple Family’s apples. The Ponyville Market carried the scents and sounds of customers and shopkeepers exchanging bits for goods and the camaraderie of ponies mingling and gossiping. “Ya do know that the Pegasi are gonna make it pour hard today, right?”

“But, Ah’m s'posed to help Zecora gather herbs t'day!” Applebloom stood with her legs braced on the ground waiting for the sisterly row that was sure to happen.

“Sugarcube, Ah’m sure Zecora will understand if ya don’t show up. She wouldn’t want ya out inna storm, ‘specially not in the Everfree Forest.” Applejack took up position behind the stall, her demeanor bright and engaging, ready for customers. “’sides, you can help with takin’ down limbs before the storm.”

“Aw, but Applejack. . .” Applebloom’s voice carried a high pitch reserved for whining.

“Sorry, lil’ sis, mebbe tomorrow if it’s not too wet.”

“Shoot.” Applebloom stomped and sat down close to the stall to sulk. She had hoped that maybe gathering herbs and potion brewing would earn her cutie mark. Unfortunately, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were in the same predicament she found herself in now. Their parents wouldn’t allow them to go out due to the pegasi’s announcement for the upcoming storm. The pegasi had canceled last week’s shower in favor of the Running of the Leaves event and the ground had to be cooled down with heavy rain to prepare it for the light snow scheduled for next week.

An alpine colored earth stallion with a dark mane stepped up to the apple stall with shopping bags at his sides and a very young colt on his back. On the stallion's flank was a cutie mark of a plume of smoke rising from a flame. The colt stared at Applejack from behind his father’s mane, which he shyly hid behind when she beamed at him.

“Hello, there lil’ Ember.” Applejack greeted the toddler foal. “Ya been takin’ good care of yer pa?”

“Oh, he’s been taking care of me alright. Ember, tell the nice mare hello.” The stallion, Smokey, coaxed his son with a nudge of a muzzle.

“H’lo," a small voice replied from the depths of Smokey’s mane.

The father smiled back at the farmmare, but behind his eyes, she could see the lines on his face and the strain in his eyes. It wasn't easy being a widower with a young son. “We’ve been up the last few nights with an ear ache.”

“Ah’m sorry t' hear that, Smokey.” Applejack reached down behind the stall and tugged out a small bag of apple slices with her teeth. “Here ya go. Mebbe this will help.”

“Thanks, I’m sure it’ll be a good treat for him. Ember, say thank you.”

“Tank yoo,” said Smokey’s mane.

“I’ll take five apples too.”

“That’ll be five bits, no charge for the slices.” Applejack deposited five apples with the slices on the stall surface. She waited patiently while he counted out the bits and placed them on the counter, then collected his purchase. “Ya’ll take care now.”

“Thanks, Miss Apple. Ember, say goodbye.”

“Bi bi.”

Applejack couldn’t help, but feel a wave of sympathy and sorrow for the single father. He had come from Fillydelphia shortly after his wife passed away and due to the foreclosure on his home. It must be hard to be a single father to such a young colt, but fortunately, he soon received a job here in Ponyville. And thanks to the customary welcome party Pinkie Pie gleefully threw for them, most of Ponyville got to know them and he wasn’t long without friends. Pinkie Pie even set up games that a small foal like Ember could play, such as tossing a bean bag on a mat marked with circles or matching colorful cards. However, it seemed that he was still having problems.

Smokey stepped over to a cherry stall with a gruff pegasus merchant. “Hello, I’d like three cherries.”

“Seven bits,’ came the stiff reply.

“That’s too much. I’m not buying watermelons, just cherries.”

“Take it or leave it.”

“We’ll leave it.” Smokey turned away, preparing to trot to the next stall that offered tomatoes.

“Fine, five bits.”

“I’ll only pay five if you add two cherries.” Smokey didn’t look back, he glanced at the other stalls as if losing interest.

“Gimmie a break, I gotta make a livin’ here.” The shopkeeper grunted as his ears laid back in apparent defeat.

“Hey, I got a colt I’m taking care of. You give me a break.”

The shopkeeper caved. “Fine, three bits for three cherries, or five bits for five cherries.”

“Thank you.”

The shopkeeper turned away to collect the cherries into a bag while Smokey placed the bits on the counter. He turned his head to check on his son without seeing the oblong shadow passing over the bits which were gone when the shadow passed. The shopkeeper dropped the bag on the counter and when Smokey reached for it, the gruff pegasus knocked a hoof on the counter, “Waitaminute! Ya gotta pay first, bub.”

“I did. I put the money on the counter and you took it.”

“No, ya ain’t paid no money yet. I told ya I’d give ya a break, not let ya rob me. So pay up or no cherries.”

“I’m telling you that I did pay! I put the bits on the counter.” Smokey stomped a hoof on the ground, nearly rocking his son off his back.

“I think ya need to get outa here, sir.” The pegasus hissed last word through his teeth as his eyes slanted.

“Then you better give me back my money.” Smokey stepped forward, his glaring face close to the shopkeeper’s.

“I ain’t got your money, hence the reason why you don’t get no cherries.”

“Give. Me. Back. My. Money.” Smokey growled through gritted teeth.

“Buck off.”

“Whoa, nelly!” Applejack galloped up, her apron flapping against her chest and legs. She came to an abrupt halt and held her hooves out to keep them separated. She knew in her heart that she had stopped them just short of coming to blows. “Let’s jest settle down here. We’re all ponyfolk and there’s a colt here that Ah know don’t wanna see his daddy get inna fight.”

“He’s tryin’ to steal from me!” The gruff shopkeeper thrust a hoof at Smokey. “Ya know as well I do how this works. The customer gives me bits and I give the customer cherries.”

“He’s trying to cheat me! I paid the money and now he’s saying that I didn’t pay anything. He’s probably hiding it!”

“Look, Gruffy, Ah saw ‘im put the money on yer stall.” Applejack tapped a hoof on the stall surface where she had seen the bits laid. Unfortunately, a customer had stepped up and while she had looking away she had not seen what had happened to them. “Mebbe instead of accusin’ each other of stealin’, lessee if the money fell on the ground. If we don’t find 'em, then Ah’ll pay for the cherries. Ya get your money and Smokey gets his cherries and we can all have a nice day without a fight.”

“Aw, no. Miss Apple, I can’t let you do that.” Smokey shook his head, his rage dissipating into guilt.

“Think nuthin’ of it, Smokey. We can call it even if ya bring Ember by the farm for a visit someday.” They didn’t find the money. They looked on the ground around the stall and even Applejack peeked under it, but the bits were gone. As promised, Applejack paid for the cherries and Gruffy handed the cherries over to Smokey with a glare and a snort.

Applejack walked with Smokey back to her stall. He looked more tired than before and he hung his head, his mane tousled. “I’m sorry about what happened. If you hadn’t come along when you did . . . it would have been bad.”

“It’ll be alright. If ya need somepony t' talk to or help out, ya come t' me. Save for Gruffy, Ponyville is full of ponies willin’ t' lend a helpin’ hoof.” Applejack made a mental note to have Granny Smith bake one of her pies for him tomorrow.

“Thanks, Applejack. I really appreciate the help.” He said, turning his head to check on Ember. His small son had fallen asleep after the tension had defused and it was a much needed nap since the sleepless nights due to his ear ache. “We better go. I think I should take his example and take a nap myself. I need a hundred of them.”

........................

An oblong shade crossed responded to an electronic request for an atmospheric reading. The shade on the grass grew larger for a moment and then faded as the unseen sphere raised above the Ponyville buildings and ascended upward. It’s filter system drew in air samples to determine the composition of chemicals and elements.

Also above Ponyville was a cyan blur followed by a brilliant flare of color. It burst through a fluffy cloud and then another, clearing the sky for the upcoming storm. Rainbow Dash felt her heart singing as she cut through the sky in a slash of brilliant spectrum. She twirl creating a spiraling rainbow behind her, and then lifted upward, catching an updraft that carried her higher. Maybe she should perform a sonic rainboom for the citizens to enjoy.

Before she could tilt her wings for a downward descent, her head hit something so hard it sent stars floating across her vision. In midair, her body was stiff with her wings splayed and her teeth gritted. Against her head, a round curve of shifting light wavered as static crackle and popped in her ears. The light spread back to reveal a large sphere with a cracked lens and an indention where Rainbow Dash’s head was embedded into it.

The damaged drone began running diagnostics, checking over the damages caused by the unidentified flying object that had collided in and also ran the information to determine if this was an attack to its systems.

Then gravity took over.

The unconscious pony and damaged drone began to plummet.

...............................

Pinkie Pie was bouncing along in her usual merriment, wishing soon to be birthdays to Ponyville citizens and friends. Then she froze when she felt the twitching in her tail indicating that something was going to fall. “Uh oh. . .twitchy twitch witchy witch twitch!”

She barely had time to look up when a cyan figure with a rainbow plume crashed into a stall that sold pillows and mattresses. Feathers and cotton stuffing flew in all directions as the stall owner shrieked. At exactly the same moment, not five feet away from Pinkie Pie another shape landed, but not as luckily as Rainbow Dash. The crater it made when after it landed was large enough for two or three ponies to easily lie side by side in. Whereas all the attention was on Rainbow Dash and the stall owner’s welfare, only Pinkie Pie approached the strange large metal thing.

At this moment, the drone had recovered enough to finish its new round of diagnostics. Severe damage within its shell caused it to come to the directive to return to the ship for repairs and preserve the data it had collected. It activated its gravity propulsion and it hefted off the dented earth. Its collapsed optical lens made its vision distorted, but it did catch the pink object before it. It instantly came to the conclusion that this was the object that had made the attack that had caused the damages.

“Well, hello there floating metal eye,” Pinkie Pie greeted as cheerfully as sunshine. “Welcome to Ponyville, my name is Pinkie Pie and. . .”

“Threat Detected.” The drone began humming with energy and ribbons of electricity moved over its shell. “Initiating defense.”

Pinkie Pie felt her knee go pinchy just as the sphere flared with electricity which surged into her with a loud crackle. Her body convulsed, making it pose in different silly poses as energy coarse through her, setting her nerves on fire. When the surge ended, she was lying on her back, her legs in the air, and her pink mane had lost its fluffy appearance and was now spikey, sticking out in odd angles. She was alive and conscious, but smoking. Then a ribbon of red light moved over her body as the drone scanned her.

“Threat neutralized.” The tone was monotone, but there was an undercurrent of satisfaction behind it. It checked its systems and determined that its cloaking interface still functioned. The drone slipped out of sight and its shade moved in a zigzag pattern as it struggled to return to the Everfree forest.

Pinkie Pie exhaled a stream of smoke and muttered in a soft voice, “And I’m sure we’ll be good. . . friends.

Forest

“Crap, looks like one of the drones were damaged.”

“How damaged is it?”

“Computer says that something collided with it. There’s damage to the shelling and its having internal problems. I don’t think it’s going to make it back. We’re going to have send a squad to collect it.”

“Very well, but send them out when it gets dark.”

“There are reports that say it’s going to rain tonight. It looks like a very heavy storm.”

“All the better, rain will give them extra cover.”

“Yes, sir.”

`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, ain’t today jest a buck inna face.” Applejack muttered as she stared up into a tree checking it for any loose branches that would likely fall in a storm. “First Miss Cheerilee’s mother is doin’ poorly and then there’s nearly a fight in the market and now both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are in the hospital and nopony knows how they got hurt.”

“Ah thought that Rainbow Dash fell on Pinkie Pie.” Applebloom offered as she collected a few fallen apples and dropped them in a saddle basket.

“Naw, she fell in the pillow and mattress cart and broke her wing. Pinkie Pie got struck by lightning. I s'pose that Rainbow Dash did somethin’ foolish and played with lightning.”

“What do they say happened?”

“Rainbow Dash c'n’t remember on account of the bump on her head. Doc says that she’s lucky she didn’t just plain break her head open.” Applejack trotted to the next tree checking the branches carefully. “Pinkie Pie keeps talkin’ ‘bout a floatin’ eye ball. Whatever that means.”

“Applejack, it’s still sunny. Mebbe Ah could hurry on over to Zecora’s...”

“Applebloom, Ah said no and Ah mean no.” Applejack shot her sister a firm look that broker no further argument on the subject. “Now ya c'n help me out here or ya can go inside and help Granny Smith.”

“Ah think Ah’ll go inside with Granny.” Applebloom stomped her hooves and tossed her head in the air. “At least she treats me better, than muh dumb ole sister.”

Applejack stomped a hoof, but let it go. Applebloom was still a young filly and takes disappointments harder than an adult pony would. She was certain by tomorrow, this will have been forgotten and they can move on with friendly terms. Right now, she had to concentrate on getting this apple orchard ready for the storm.

Applebloom was kicking fallen leaves out of her way muttering about the unfairness of having big sisters and how it wasn’t right to treat her as if she was a little foal. Soon, she would get her cutie mark and then let’s see Applejack try to order her around. She didn’t see the shadow following behind her, moving over grass and fallen apples as it drew close. A metallic pair of pincers drew from beneath a gray circular disc and opened wide as a snake's maw about to strike.

Applebloom squealed as her hair bow was seized by a vice like grip. She was nearly lifted off her hooves as the ribbon was yanked from her red mane. The filly fell heavily onto the grass and she looked up to see her pink bow being carried away by a metal claw. The claw was being drawn into . . . nothing. She hopped onto her hooves and galloped after it, hollering, “Hey, you! Give that back t' me!”

The invisible thing ignored her and her ribbon was drawn inside it. The round floating disc whorled shut and then disappeared. If she squinted she could see the shadow trailing along the ground and that the light wavering above it. It would be difficult, but if she concentrated she could follow it. And follow it she did. Applebloom had to watch carefully, more than once she lost sight of it, and just as she was about to give up, from the corner of her eye she caught the shadow skimming the earth and then she would renew her pursuit. She gave chase through the orchard and away from the farm. And then into the Evergreen forest.

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

“I’m tellin’ ya, Twilight, I don’t just fall like that!” Rainbow Dash shouted, once again wearing a green hospital gown with a bandage around her wing. “At least, not like last time. Something happened up there!”

“I’m sure that you didn’t mean to fall.” Twilight Sparkle replied soothingly as she set a stack of three Daring Do books on the bedstead for Rainbow Dash. “Pinkie Pie, how do you feel?”

“Mmmm-hmmmm-mmm-mmmm.” The muffle response came from a mummified figure lying on the next bed over. All that could be seen of Pinkie Pie was her flamboyant hair, her large eyes and hind hooves.

“What?” Twilight stepped closer to Pinkie Pie’s bed side. “I don’t understand.”

Pinkie Pie made a motion of rubbing her tummy. Her eyes beseeching Twilight and then she made a motion of cupping something in her hooves and bringing to her mouth in an eating motion. Then she looked pleadingly at Twilight with watery doe eyes.

“Pinkie Pie, I don’t think doctor will be okay with me going to the Cakes and getting you a super duper chocolatey chocolate cocoa cupcake with licorice pink frosting with pink sprinkles and a vanilla spoon stuck into the frosting.” Twilight offered Pinkie Pie a reassuring smile, “But I’m sure we can throw you a get well party when you and Rainbow Dash are out of the hospital.”

“Hmph.” Pinkie Pie grunted as she curled up on her side in a pout. She had been pouty since she had been admitted into the hospital and everyone laughed off her tale of a floating eyeball that shot electricity.

“Twilight, can’t you cast a spell to help me remember what happened?” Rainbow Dash pleaded, her hooves pressed together as she begged.

“I could, but I shouldn’t while you have a head injury. It could make things worse and it likely won’t work.” Twilight made a mental note to look up memory spells. Maybe she should write a report on them. “Maybe your memory will come back in time.”

“Yeah right.” Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs and glared at the far wall. “And I’m going to miss out on the storm tonight. Great.”

“It’ll be alright. I’m sure they can handle it.” Twilight reassured her as she headed to the doorway. “I would stay longer, but I write a letter to Princess Celestia, and do some research on a red comet I saw last night.”

“Mmm-mmm-hmmhmmm!” Pinkie Pie’s head popped up from her pillow.

“Alright, I’ll look into floating eyes too.”

“Twilight, how are you able to understand her?” Rainbow Dash cocked her head curiously.

“I...I don’t know.”

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

“Where am Ah?”

Applebloom looked around and couldn’t see anything that looked familiar. This wasn't part of the forest that she had visited before on her visits to Zecora's hut.

The invisible thing that stole her ribbon had disappeared into the shade. She had been able to follow it by watching its shadow crawl along the patterned shade of the sun beaming through the overhead leaves. Now that the sun had lowered and she had come to the thicker part of the forest, there was no sunlight, just a thick darkness that was almost suffocating.

She wasn’t fearful; right now she was more concerned with the harsh scolding she was certain to get when she returned home. Maybe Applejack won’t find out that she entered the forest. It stilled rubbed her wrong that whatever it was, it stole her ribbon and pulled her mane, but it looked like there was no way she would find it now.

Oh well, maybe if she went back the way she came. . . .but what direction was that?

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

The rain had begun dotting the window as Twilight Sparkle began writing her letter to Princess Celestia.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I learned that sometimes a friendship can transcend the boundaries of language. I feel so close to my friends, that I understand their wants and needs almost as well as my own. I was lead to this discovery when I was able to understand what Pinkie Pie wanted despite her being incapable of speech due to being struck by lightning and I brought Rainbow Dash the books I knew she would want during her stay in the hospital. She also got hurt in an accident, we still not sure of what happened.
I also learned that friendship can also ease the pain of grief and pain. My friend Cheerilee’s mother has become sick and sadly, it’s not expected that she will recover. I walked Cheerilee to the train station and promised to take over as substitute for the school while she’s away, though I fill that it would be better for a professional to take over during her leave. She looked better, though still sad; I feel that my support has eased her pain temporarily.
I hope that my presence of myself and others will be here to support her when she returns. I think I may have the students make condolence cards for her. Also, I hope that you know of somepony that could take over for Cheerilee until she is able to resume teaching. I can handle a few days with the lesson plan that Cheerilee left behind, but I believe that she will be on her leave longer than what the plan provides.

Your Faithful Student Always,
Twilight Sparkle

Spike had sent off the letter just as there was a knock at the door. It was past dusk and the storm was brewing over Ponyville. An echo of thunder thrummed through the sky as Twilight Sparkle opened the door to see an anxious Applejack standing before her.

She felt a flash of déjà vu as she remembered just this morning another friend came to her under not too happy circumstances. “Applejack, what’s wrong?”

“Has Applebloom come by? Ah c'n’t find her anywhere.”

“No, I haven’t seen her all day.”

“Oh crud. Twilight, she’s gone missin’. She tole me she was gonna go help out Granny Smith at the house, but Granny tole me she never showed up. Ah been at Rarity’s ‘case she went there t' visit Sweetie Belle, but they ain’t seen her either.”

“Oh no. Do you know where she might be?”

“Ah’m thinkin’ she mighta went t' Zecora’s, but that was the first place Ah looked and Zecora said she didn’t come by. I’m thinkin’ she might have gotten lost.”

Twilight Sparkle felt a shudder crawl along her spine. It was getting dark and the storm was making its presence known by distant flashes of white light. Not to mention all of the dangers from the monsters that dwell in the forest. “We’ll need to get Fluttershy to help us. She knows the Evergreen Forest better than most ponies.”

“That’s what Ah thought too. Rarity says that she’ll come meet us at her boutique if we’re gonna go out lookin’.”

“Spike, stay here. We’ll be back soon.”

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

“Hey! Anypony hear me!? Zecora! Applejack! Somepony! Please find me!”

Applebloom felt the fingers of panic clutch at her heart. Hours had passed since she entered the forest and she hadn’t found any familiar markers or the path she usually took to Zecora’s. Several times, she would see a malevolent of eyes in the bushes or the sound of something large rustle the foliage and she would gallop off in terror. Now she couldn’t hear anything against the thrum of heavy rain and roar of thunder overhead.

She remember it being said that if you were lost, it was better to stay in one place, but if she did that, she would surely freeze to death or a monster would devour her. Applebloom pressed on despite her body shivering uncontrollably and the rain in her eyes. Lightning flashed, causing her to yelp in fright, but then she saw it. A hollow cavern inset against a rock cropping. As she approached, her hooves treading through a deep puddle, she saw that it was a small cave, but big enough for her.

It was a slippery climb, but she managed to make it onto the rocks and go inside. It smelled of earth, grass, and there was a stench she couldn’t quite place. It didn’t matter; it was dry and would give her chance to rest and get warm. The filly collapsed onto her stomach and let out a deep sigh of exhaustion. She tried not to think about her warm bed back on the farm, as it only made her feel colder. Her coat was damp with her mane and tail soggy and plastered to her body. The cold seemed to reach through her skin and into her very bones.

She just had to wait out the storm and once it let up, she can resume finding her way home. Likely the other ponies were looking for her now. She would have to be patient, wait, maybe sleep, and breathe raggedly.....

Her eyes open wide. That ragged sound wasn’t her breathing and the filly noticed the warm air blowing on her back. She was too afraid to move, too afraid to look behind her. The young filly froze in sheer terror, a basic instinct to stay still during danger kept her in her face. But the snarl that came from maw inches from her ears made her frozen stance snap. With a scream, she fled, her hooves scrambling against the slick rock as she threw herself back into the cold rain and mud.
She fell, skidding across the mud that clung to her body and matted in her mane and tail. Mud splattered into her right eye, but her left eye could see the wild cat stepping out of the cavern, red eyes bright and focused on her. Applebloom struggled to stand, but her hooves scrap futilely through the mud. The wild cat moved with ease from the rocks, the rain wetting its thick grey coat as it approached her on huge paws with razor sharp claws.

It swiped at her, and its paw nearly her size swept through the space she occupied one second before. She found her hooves and fled into the under bush. She heard the wet splashes in the puddles as it gave chase as she dashed through bushes, over fallen branches, and under arching roots. The brambles scratched her legs and the leaves and twigs snagged her mane as if to haul her back toward the predator. The wild cat followed easily, never falling behind more than a foot behind her.

Her legs ached and it was getting hard to breath, but she didn’t dare slow down. She knew that if she did, the wild cat would kill her with a mighty blow from its paw.

Then she saw the gaping hollow log before her and she knew it was her only chance. She flung herself inside and crawled forward with all her might. The wild cat growled in frustration as the log was too narrow for it to follow, but its paw could fit in easily.

Agony swept over her flank and the filly gave a throaty scream as its claws left long bleeding lines along her side and flank. It was trying to pull her out with its claws. “St. . . stop!!!! STOP IT!!!!”

It reached in and Applebloom shrieked as its claws pricked at her flank again. She had to pull forward, to pull her flesh through those sharp claws that put knives to shame. She’d imagine a far worse fate if she didn’t. “Ap. . . .Applejack. . . .help!!!”

Blood stream down her flanks, staining the log’s interior and making the wild cat’s nose flare excited and hungry, it rattled off a throaty snarl as it reached in again, but this time, the filly had managed to crawl almost beyond its reach and the claws harmless clipped her hooves. The snarl reverberated within the narrow log, giving the illusion that it was all around her. The middle was narrower than the openings, and the wooden interior scrapped against her wounded flank making her squeal.

She stopped, laying her head down and just panting, the pain making her head swim and nausea was stroking at her stomach. The wild cat gave a frustrated hiss and Applebloom heard it move away. It heavy paws created soft pats in the muddy ground.

Please, please, jest go away and leave me be. I wanna go home. I jest wanna go home.

She took a long breath, waiting with her heart thudding in her chest. Her flank throbbed painfully, making her hind hoof twitch. Should she try leaving now? Did it give up?

Then the log started rocking. She yelped as she was bodily tossed against the rough interior. There was a throaty scoff, and then the log above creaked and small chips fell as a heavy weight settled on the wood from above. She cringed, ducking her head and cover it with her hooves. The log rocked again and again tossing her body back and forth against the log insides. She gritted her teeth, struggle to keep her nerve, not to break out in a panic and run out of the log. That’s what it wanted.

Then her world started spinning. And the view outside of the ring of wood before her began changing dramatically. She realized that she was spinning downhill. The wild cat must have pushed the log and her down a slope that she hadn’t noticed before.

Applebloom closed her eyes and prayed for it to be over. Then freezing water flowed in all around her, seeping in through the open ends of the wooden tube. The water was rising to her neck; she had to get out lest she drown. She pulled and kicked through the narrow passage her flank in agony as it scraped against rough wood. When she reached the opening, she hooked her forelegs over the edge and pulled her head and shoulders out. She was in the river and to her horror; the wild cat was standing at the bank watching her. And as the river carried her downstream, it followed along the bank.

“GO AWAY!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!” She screamed as the water swept her along, though it was doubtless that her voice could be heard over the roaring thunder, falling rain, and gushing water. The wild cat followed, its eyes glowing red in the darkness.

Then the log smacked against rocks, nearly slinging her out. Her head duck down below the waves and she came up spitting out water. The water was so cold, too cold to stand. The log caught between two closely grouped rocks, and she clung to the rocks, the water lashing at her body. The current was too strong and deep for her to swim and she had never been a strong swimmer. And even if she managed it, the wild cat was waiting for her.

It was getting hard to hold on and she was sorely tempted to let go. She was so tired. Maybe further down the stream it could become shallow, but if that happen, then the wild cat would simply wade in and grab her. Her body would be too numb to flee. And if she stayed, she’ll died from hypothermia or drown.

Was she going to die here? This was how she was to end her life without ever getting her cutie mark, not seeing Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle again? Never see her sister, Big Macintosh, or Granny Smith? No, it wasn’t fair. She shouldn’t die like this.

Warmth touched her face as large tears rolled down her cheeks. “Ah don't wanna die...”

Then she heard the wild cat yowling and as she turned her head toward her stalker. She saw a stream of red shoot between the trees and hit the cat in the side.

It hissed, its body flaring as its fur bristle, and then it turned and loped off crashing through the foliage.

Her relief only lasted seconds as she saw the source of the red light break through the shadows. They were tall, taller than a pony and stood on two legs. Their bodies were angular and plated with metal; their heads were slanted with large glass like eyes that flared with an orange light. They stood at the bank and they were looking right at her.

She stared back, hoping they would go away. One of them drew a rope from its waist and handed it to the others. Then it began wading into the water, its long legs disappearing beneath the flowing currents. She whimpered with fear as it came closer and closer, the water reaching midway up its chest. The others held the rope taut, feeding it as their brethren came up to her. Applebloom should feel terror, but she was beyond the point of caring. She just wanted to sleep, and the water made her body too numb to feel the wounds on her body. It would be easier to let go and let the water have her. Hands much like Spike’s grasp her at the waist and lifted her up and her body was held against a cold metal chest. The relief in her body after straining for so long to hold on was exquisite.

Then she fell into blissful unconsciousness as the thing carried her back to land.

Care

The rain lashed the windows in torrents while the wind whistled around the small hut. Though the storm was fierce, the hut was built sturdy to withstand the strongest winds and harshest rains. The zebra resident glanced out the window, her large eyes seeking a red and yellow figure in the dark bushes. Her heart had been in pain since discovering that Applebloom may be missing in the Evergreen forest during this terrible storm. The little filly was the first friend she had made in this foreign land and was the first to reach out toward her without fear in her innocent eyes. She wanted to go out looking, but she knew it was wise to stay here incase Applebloom found her way to her hut. Zecora was no stranger to the dangers that the Evergreen Forest posed and she feared greatly for her young friend. To keep her peace of mind, she tended to her brews and salves: potion to chase away the cold from bone and flesh, a draught to ease pain, tea to sooth a fever, and simple potato soup for a hungry mouth.

A knocking at the door grabbed her attention and she cantered to the door to open it. On the other side of the door were three wet, exhausted ponies at her door.
“May I presume you have found dear Applebloom?”

“Sorry, Zecora, we haven’t found her yet.” Twilight had her head bowed, her usually groomed mane plastered to her face and neck. Her horn held a simple glow that had lit their way through the forest.

“Come in and shut the door and become rested in my hut.” Zecora hasten them inside and closing the door behind them.

“We ain’t stayin’ long. We gotta get back out there.” Applejack look simply awful. Her mane was also soaked and dripping, forming puddles about her hooves. And her eyes were strained with lines all around them. She was a youthful pony, but now she looked ten years older.

“Applejack, we can’t find anyone with the storm as it is. Even Fluttershy was losing her sense of direction in that rain.” Twilight hovered near Zecora’s cooking fire. The heat was wonderful. It was seeping into her coat and flesh, pushing away the chill and the scent of the soup made her mouth water.

Fluttershy didn’t look any better. Her long pink mane dragged on the floor leaving a wet stream behind her. Even her wings dragged she was too exhausted to keep them folded to her sides. “I’m....I’m sorry, Applejack. I don’t go into the forest at night. Especially not while there's a storm.”

They have been out searching for the last miserable five hours. The rain kept obscuring their vision, and each time thunder clapped overhead. Fluttershy yelped and tried to hide behind Twilight, Applejack, or a tree. And then the cold made it hard to move easily, their limbs becoming numb as they waded through deep puddles and mud.

“Ah understand, Fluttershy, but we gotta keep lookin’. She’s out there somewhere, Ah know she is.”

“I know she is too, but we’re not going to find her if we get lost or hurt ourselves. It’s just a few hours until sunrise and the storm should end by then. We’ll be able to find her when there’s light and it’s clear.”

“Drink this draught; it’ll help with no fault.” Zecora offered a steam cup of brown liquid that smelled of cinnamon and cloves. “It will take away the chill and give you back strength and will.”

“Awright, Ah’ll take a swig, but afterwards Ah’m gonna get back to lookin’.” Not five minutes after Applejack had drained the cup, she was asleep on a cot near the fire, a blanket tucked around her and a towel around her mane. Her relaxed sleeping face looked almost blissful, free of the worry and anxiety that had been mounting upon her earlier.

“I take it that what you gave her was a sleeping draught.” Twilight was helping herself to the soup with a blanket around her and she shared the other side of the fire with Fluttershy.

“Applejack must have sleep or else she would collapse and weep.” Zecora served Fluttershy some soup in a wooden bowl. “But it would appear that she has every right to fear.”

Though the soup was delicious and its warmth a great welcome, it suddenly tasted like cardboard in her mouth. “Is there something happening in the forest?”

“What came the day before a great red light and the creatures have run and birds have taken flight.” Zecora glanced toward the window as she spoke, her eyes gazing at something beyond the window and the trees around her hut. “Something dark and leery has come and may make the world dreary.”

“Um... the animals say that something scary happened last night.” Fluttershy spoke up timidly. “They said that something big and red came and disappeared. I thought it ... might be a... dragon.” At this last bit, Fluttershy’s voice squeaked in fright.

“Red?” Twilight’s mind flashed back to last night, seeing the red comet that crossed the sky leaving behind a crimson plume. “I... I saw something last night. It fell from the stars. I thought it might be a comet, but it was so red and it just disappeared into the forest. There was no explosion or fire, it glowed brightly, and then it was gone. I wanted to look for it, but so much happened today I forgot.”

“Beware, Twilight Sparkle, beware. Many dark and terrible things come from the stars to make misery, and horrible are these fiends.”

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

Mikala Briggs killed time playing a small puzzle game on her datapad. She typed the bubbles adding the number opposite of the digits on the top display. As the game informed her that her answer was wrong, she exited it with a grimace and checked the time. It was nearly 0400 hours on this planet’s time and she was getting tired.

The commander ordered her to wait for the recovery team and get a report from them. However, Mikala felt that this was to keep her out of the commander’s way for the next several hours. She wondered why she was hired on as yeoman when the commander was quite frank about not needing or wanting one. Thus she was given these useless jobs that could simply be completed by using the ship’s communications or data transference.

At least it was clean in this part of the engineering deck. The metal wall before her was waxed and polish so well she was able see her reflection. She could see her long face with broad cheek bones and sharp nose. Her brown hair was trim short ending below her jawline and well groomed. Even her uniform, blue with a red slash at the left breast was starched with no wrinkles. She took a moment to check her teeth, making sure that nothing was stuck in them from dinner earlier. She didn’t have a chance to brush earlier after dinner.

She heard the distant clang of the outer hull doors opening. Mikala snapped to attention, turning with her hands behind her back, trying to look formal and professional as one would expect the ship’s yeoman should act. The inner doors hissed opened and the retrieval team walked in, two carrying the damaged drone between them and one of them carrying something red and yellow under one arm. They were wearing black armored suits, with orange optical bands.

“I’m here for your report.” Mikala stood straighter, her lips in a set line.

One of the men carrying the drone snorted from within his helmet. “Well, rookie, we went outside, grabbed the goods, and came back. How’s that for a report?”

Of course, they just had to remind her that this was her first mission in the field, not even a month out of the Academy. And though she was 22 years old, she might as well be a toddler compared to their years of experience. She knew that it was something she would have to endure until the next rookie comes along.

“Oh, and Winter brought something to fry up and serve in the mess hall.” The other man hiked a thumb at the one behind him.

Winter removed his helmet and Mikala tried not to stare at him too hard. He was a handsome man, clean shaven skin, pale from years of living on stations and ships and raven hair tied loosely back in a tail. A silver earring glinted from his left ear and his teeth were rather straight and clean which she couldn't help noticing as she ran a tongue over her teeth.

He held up the garish figure he carried in. Mikala stared at it; it resembled a very small horse with stubby legs and bright red mane. He felt it by the scruff of the neck and it dangled from his hand, it’s heard slung down and legs swinging slightly.

“Is it dead...?” She eyed the red slashes on its flank.

“Naw, just unconscious. Here.” He held it out toward her.

“Uh, Lieutenant Winter, maybe it would be best if you just left it outside. Let nature take its course.”

“Aw, so cold, Briggs. C’mon, it’s a baby. Show some heart.”

She grimaced as she accepted the wounded animal. It was lighter than it look, so she was able to maneuver it across her arms without her hands touching the nasty wounds. It was wet, soaked from the outside downpour and blood and mud caked it's mane and coat. It was going to stain her uniform if she wasn’t careful. “What am I supposed to do with it?”

“Dunno, personally, I’d take her to the doc.” And the handsome bastard walked off.

“Dammit.” She whispered, she figured that this was haze attempt, though she wondered why he would break regulations just to hassle her. Was this thing dead or alive? She couldn’t tell.

Then the thing’s face twitched and the eyes opened. Mikala was so startled, she nearly dropped it. It made a small whimper that was full of pain, fear, and misery that Mikala’s heart quaked upon hearing it. It turned its head and looked at her with eyes that were pools of agony and terror.

I should be ashamed.

Mikala drew the animal gingerly close to her chest, ignoring the stains doing so created on her uniform jacket. It whined as its face tucked against her neck and the yeoman realized just how cold the creature felt in her arms. Its coat was like touching ice and the engineering deck was kept at low temperature to maintain the engine coolants.

She moved briskly from down the hall, away from the hull doors, taking the nearest elevator and moved to level 2 to the quarters deck. It was late hour and the majority of the crew was in their shared living quarters where assigned bunks were lined against the walls. Mikala considered herself lucky that the ship’s yeoman had her own small room on the command deck.

Glancing through the med bay window, she could see Dr. Moira Tibble, aka Dr. Tibbs to the crew. She was a woman in her 50’s who had been the Chief Medical Officer of a number of highly commended ships and the number of soldiers she had brought back from the brink of death could man another army.

“You better be sick or dying cause I have no time for you if you aren’t.” A gruff voice greeted her as she walked through the spreading doors.

“Kinda.” Mikala paused, holding the creature against her chest almost protectively against the doctor. The older woman was known to have a sharp tongue and could be rather brutal with insults. “I want to ask a favor.”

“I don’t do favors.” The CMO was at her console with fingers flying over a holographic keyboard. Her white hair was piled atop of her head in a messy ball of curls, a stylus pen tucked behind one ear.

“Dr. Tibbs, I’m sorry, but could you please see if you can help... this?” She gingerly held out the creature, almost using it as a shield. “Winter brought it in and it's hurt.”

Dr. Tibbs paused in her work and turned in her rotating chair. Her sharp blue eyes took in the yellow and red animal and a thin eyebrow rose. Her eyes went from the animal to Mikala’s face. “Does this look like a vet? Do you see any animal charts or dog food ads on these walls? I put soldiers back together, not give flea medicine or perform neutering.“

“Okay, I’m sorry, I’ll leave now, goodbye.” Mikala wanted to leave before Dr.Tibbs could get started with insults. She heard that Dr. Tibbs could make troopers cry with her sharp tongue.

“Put it on the table. I at least want to see what it is.” Dr. Tibbs closed down her work station. Mikala carefully place the animal on the table and arrange it on its good side with its wounded flank upward. Dr. Tibbs drew a pair of glasses from her coat pocket and slipped them on. She leaned over the wounded creature, pursing her lips, her experienced eyes studying the wounds as she had before with thousands of injuries. “Looks like a wild animal got it not too long ago. An antibiotic should prevent infection and these will need to be staple shut. Likely there’ll be a fever, but I got medicine for that. That is if its physiology doesn’t have an allergic reaction to the drugs.”

“So you’ll help?” Mikala meekly asked, still afraid of a tongue lashing.

“Do you want me to?” Dr.Tibbs gave her a firm look. “If I help it, I’ll be using medical supplies meant for wounded soldiers. If by some chance, things here go to hell, and I have no more medicine to help a soldier, that’s going to be on you. Are you willing to live with that? Or I can give it pentobarbital and euthanize it.”

Mikala bit her lower lip, crossing her arms. She nearly accepted euthanasia, it would be better to put it out of its misery. What would she do with an animal on this ship? Heal it up and let it loose in the forest? Just for a few points of good karma?

And then a long whine from the table reminded her. The yellow animal opened her eyes against and stared deliriously at them with large orange eyes. Mikala knew what she had to do.

“No, I don’t want live with a soldier not getting needed medicine, but I also know I can’t look at myself mirror if I allowed this creature to die.”

“Very well. Now go get me a cup of coffee and muffin. This is going to take all night.”

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

Applebloom drifted along a plateau of pain, cold, and darkness. She heard sounds, voices speaking gibberish that rankled in her ears, and her body wasn’t her own, it was carried about making her stomach turn. She had had heard of a bad place that bad ponies go to, and she very much believed that she was there. Then when she came to, fully becoming conscious she found herself on a metal surface, her flank stinging with agony and her vision blurry. Something swept along her face and she noticed for the first time since the rain started that she was warm. There was a sharp prick in her rear and a relieving numbness crawled across her flanks.

“Applejack?” she murmured, her vision slowly coming into focus. Then she saw the creature before her. The creature was tall, taller than a pony and stood up on two bipedal legs. It laid long fingered hand on her face and murmured softly to her in the same gibberish she heard earlier. The face was flat, but had recognizable features such as a mouth, nose, and eyes below a brown mane.

The creature rubbed her neck, while fingers stroked through her matted mane. The scratching between her ears felt good and soothing. Then she noticed a sensation of tugging at her flank. She twisted her head around to see a second strange creature holding something that resembled clippers. The slashes at her flank were cleaned and open, showing off swollen ruts in her yellow coat, these slashes were squeezed shut and the clipper like object pressed against the injury and squeezed. A white staple remained in her flesh, keeping the flesh seal. Applebloom knew that she should be feeling a lot of pain, but she felt nothing. It was eerie seeing her flesh so roughly handled with only the slightest dull sensation.

Her face was pulled around to face the creature in front of her and she continued to receive petting and pats along her neck and shoulders. It reminded her of that time when she was a little foal and had to get a shot. Applejack had made jokes and nuzzled her while the doctor administered the shot on her rear.

She laid her head down on the surface and the creature continued to stroke her mane. Another strange thing was that she felt no fear; in her heart she knew these creatures did not mean her harm and they were caring for her. They were being kind to her, but she still wished she was home.

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

Applejack was confused when she woke up. She wasn’t in her bedroom back at the farm. She was in Zecora’s hut. The orange mare nearly leapt out of bed as yesterday’s events caught up to her waking mind. “Good Celestia! Ah c'n’t believe Ah slept!”

She galloped to the door and burst out into the day which carried the scent of rain and mud. The mare froze in the door way when she saw the small crowd surrounding the small hut. Over a dozen faces glanced in her direction followed by a several greetings. Big Macintosh's red coat could be seen above them and he waved her over.

“Are... are all these ponies here to help search?” Applejack spoke incredulously.

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh replied.

Zecora was standing among them, looking a bit overwhelmed. Likely, she never had this many visitors at her hut, having once been shunned by the populous. Ponies chatted among themselves while others took advantage of a table laden with coffee, hot chocolate, and donuts. It was early morning after all and nothing aided a search better than a full stomach.

“Oh, darling, your mane looks...very early morning.” A cultured voice carried easily through the chatter. Rarity appeared next to Big Macintosh followed by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle who both looked anxious for their lost Cutie Mark Crusader. “But then, if I was in your position and Sweetie Belle was lost, I dare say I wouldn’t look much better.”

“Rarity, it’s good t' see ya. Ya here t' help?”

“Why of course! I know you’d do the same for me.” Rarity held her head high as if insulted that anyone would dare think she wouldn’t aid Applejack in her time of need. “Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie wanted to be here, but the doctor said no. I believe it took two nurses and a doctor with a sedative to keep Rainbow Dash from flying out the window with her damaged wing.”

“We’re here to search too!” Sweetie Belle chimed, hoping forward on her hooves.

“No, dear, you’re here to keep Zecora company incase Applebloom makes it back here. We don’t need two more fillies lost in the Everfree Forest.”

“Aw, c’mon! Applebloom is our friend! We gotta help!” Scootaloo stomped a hoof in determination.

“You will be helping by staying out of the way,” Rarity replied firmly.

“But that’s not fair!” Sweetie Belle sat back on her haunches in a pout while Scootaloo looked indignant. Applejack felt sorry for them. They simply wanted to aid in search of a dear friend, but they were being kept behind due to their age.

“Hey Applejack.” Twilight Sparkle appeared alongside Applejack. “We wanted to wait until you woke up before we started.”

“Twilight, did you get everypony together?” Applejack again looked incredulously at the gathered ponies.

“Yes and no. Rarity spread the word that Applebloom is missing and everyone wanted to help. They showed up at Sweet Apple Acres and I had them come here. Zecora said it’s alright if we use her home as a base.”

“We’re going to stay behind incase Applebloom comes back.” Rarity shot a stern look at the fillies. The young unicorn and pegasus looked away with very unhappy faces. “Your grandmother is staying behind at the farm if Applebloom returns there.”

“Has... has there been any sign?” Applejack felt her heard pounding, though the sight of many ponies willing to help comforted her, the anxiety was still eating her.

“Not yet, but we will find her. Don’t worry.” Twilight gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Since you’re awake, let’s get this started.”

With that, Twlight Sparkle hopped onto a large rock, propping herself higher than the other ponies and announced, “Listen up!”

The chatter died and every eye turned to her. The ponies drew closer, every eye on Twilight Sparkle who had a way of grabbing and keeping attention. The lavender unicorn gazed over the crowd and offered a smile, “I want to thank everypony on behalf of the Apple family for volunteering. One of their members, Applebloom, has disappeared last night during last night’s storm. It is strongly believed that she came out here to visit Zecora, but she never made it. Likely, she became lost and hopefully nothing harmful has happened to her. We’re going to split into groups of three to cover more ground. Each group is going to have a unicorn so he or she can send up a sparkle if they find anything. One sparkle means you found her and heading back to Zecora’s hut. Two means that help is needed and everypony should converge on their position.”

There were assertive nods among the crowd as each pony agreed to the plan. Two things that Twilight Sparkle excelled at was organization and leadership. She had planned this last night before falling asleep with the certainty that once the word was out, many ponies would come out to help. That was the sort of place Ponyville was. It was agreed that the search would continue until sunset, and then the crowd broke apart and the ponies went deeper into the Everfree forest.

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

Applebloom woke up to find herself curled up in a large bowl filled with blankets and her flank covered in bandages. And from the clean scent from her coat and mane, she determined that she had been bathed while she was out. The filly was in a bedroom with a bed, a dress, and an open closet where one of the creatures from last night was pulling a jacket over her straight arms with the spidery hands. The creature turned while adjusting the jacket across her chest, and notice Applebloom awake. She walked over murmuring in her language, a low soft voice as if she was afraid she would frighten Applebloom.

“Hello?” The filly looked up at the tall creature that knelt and gave her a gentle scratch behind the ears. “Um, thanks for helpin’ me, but Ah kinda need t' get home now. Muh sis is gonna be mad.”

Then she heard her belly rumble followed by the ache of hunger. She hadn’t eaten since lunch... yesterday? It felt like the next day had come, but she had no sense of time. There were no windows for her to look out and see the day and the clock on the wall held characters that she didn’t recognized. She realized that the floor, walls, and ceiling were all metal. What sort of house was this?

The creature tore the wrapper off a granola bar and offered it to her. Applebloom sniffed it and then took a hearty bite. It was bland, but it was food nonetheless. The filly ate eagerly while the creature patiently fed it to her. When she finished the bar, her caretaker offered her another. By the time Applebloom had eaten nearly five bars, she was full. Despite her protesting flank, she got to her hooves and took a tentative step onto the metal floor. She was able to walk with a slight limp.

The creature continued to pet her and speak quietly. She saw the door and immediately approached it. “Well, Ah gotta go. It was nice meetin’ ya.”

The door was odd in that it had no visible doorknob or handle. Applebloom studied, wondering how in the world it opened. There wasn’t any hinges, just a solid wall with a shallow line down the middle. The filly touched the metal with a hoof and it felt as solid as it looked. She gave it a push, then a hard tap. “Open up!”

Then she was lifted, a hands cupping her rear and chest. She was deposited back onto her makeshift bed and a blanket was pulled over her. Evidently, the creature wanted her to sleep more, but Applebloom wasn’t tired anymore. She kicked off the blanket and rolled onto her stomach, then rose to her hooves again. The filly marched off the blankets and clopped her hooves on the floor as she returned to the door. “Ah said Ah wanna go home!”

The creature shook her head and tried to pick her up again, but Applebloom darted to the side. Her flank protested, but the filly was stubborn. She stomped a hoof giving the creature a hard look. The creature shook her head, letting loose a low sigh as she scooped Applebloom up, held her in the crook of her arm and then carried the filly out of the room.

Crew

She didn’t have time to debate with the small yellow animal. Dr.Tibbs had requested that the small patient be brought back for a follow up exam in the morning. She was certain that Dr.Tibbs meant for her to return at a later time, but she had to leave.

She received a summons from the commander to finally compose a condolence letter for the late Henry Yatter who died in an accident prior to arriving in this star system. The ship had come under fire from a Javian scout ship and he had been on the engineering deck sleeping off a hangover when he had fell, and bashed his skull against a rail. The commander had put off writing a condolence letter until now and it was the yeoman’s job to compose it and send it off. She had already written one in fact, and she just needed the commander’s approval and signature.

Firstly, she’ll drop the animal off at the med bay. Dr.Tibbs could watch her while she spoke with the commander in the recreational area. However, it seemed that Dr. Tibbs was still asleep, the med bay door was sealed and the interior windows were dark. Crap. Well, looks like the animal gets to come with her then.

The recreation area was used as both a gym and training hall. There was a side room with weight machines, treadmills, and cycles and a wide open space for basketball or a game of volley such as what was going on right now. The yellow creature kept wriggling to get free from her arm whimpering complaints with hooves digging into her ribs. However, once they entered the floor, she stopped fighting to watch the game, her large eyes following the ball as it passed between the players.

The commander was likely inside the gym, performing her morning workout. Mikala switch the animal over to the other arm to tug out the wrinkles that its fretting had created. As her uniform was straightened the door opened and Navigator Shannon Connor walked out.

Shannon was a comely woman with chestnut ringlets bouncing about her face and ears. Freckles sprinkled over her nose and cheeks and stark green eyes gleamed at anyone they beheld. She was an older woman, late 30’s with a twenty year military career. However, instead of wearing her uniform, she wore a gym uniform of shorts and white tee with a red slash over the right side.

“Well, what do we have here?” Her green eyes alighting on the creature in Mikala’s grasp. “Is that a pony?”

“A pony... ah, yeah, I guess you could call it a pony.” She hadn’t thought of the word, but pony definitely fitted as it was far too small to be called a horse. “Dr. Tibbs wasn’t in her office or she would have taken it.”

“I’ll watch it for you while you speak with the commander.” She held out her hands for the creat... pony.

“How did you know I came here for that?” Mikala handed over the yellow pony that wiggled a little in the handover, but was clasped against Shannon’s chest.

“Honestly, because the commander was saying how much she dreaded it.”

“Oh.” Mikala felt deflated as a flat balloon. “I...guess then I won’t be long.”

“Be careful and try not to show any weakness." Shannon lifted the pony to her face and placed a series of kisses along the pony’s muzzle, “You are such a cutie, yes, you are! Yes, you are!”

Mikala was almost as embarrassed as the pony looked. She entered the gym and was greeted to a lovely sight of Winter’s pecs as he lifted weights shirtless. She wanted nothing more than to stay and watch the exquisite show, but doing so in public would invite further harassment. The yeoman turned away and her eyes settled on the commander.

The commander ran on the treadmill, her shoes slamming along the moving belt as she kept pace at a full run. The woman was older, grey starting to seize her brown hair that was held back from her face in a loose tail. Though she was older, she had the firm strong body of any athlete. A scar crisscrossed her shoulder where a bullet had imbedded itself during a brutal campaign that had claimed the lives of many. As Mikala approached, Commander Noa Laotanner adjusted the treadmill’s settings to a brisk walk, but the woman was barely breathing hard. “You brought the letter?”

“Yes ma’am.” Mikala drew a mini-datapad from her coat pocket and unfolded it. “Shall I read it?”

“Yes.” The woman never looked at her.

“Dear Mr. and Mrs. Yatter, it is with great regret that... “

“Regret? What do I have to regret?” The commander’s voice was sharp.

“Uh, you regret that he died,” Mikala replied uneasily.

“No, I don’t. I didn’t kill him.” Shoes continued to smack the belt as the commander spoke, “He died of his own foolishness. Remove that word.”

“O-okay.” After a few tapes on the holographic screen, she continued, “I must inform you that your son died in the line of duty serving his...”

“Stop. Edit that line. He wasn’t serving his duty. He was ducking out from his duties.”

Mikala stared incredulously at her CO. “So you want me to write that he died while failing in his job?”

“That’s what happened.” Noa turned off the treadmill and stepped off taking a towel from a bench and hooking it around her neck.

“But ma’am, this letter is to tell his parents that their son is dead. Wouldn’t a little civility or... decency be a good idea to have in this letter?”

“No amount of decency or civility is going to soften blow of losing a child,” Noa replied as she dried the sweat off her neck and face. “Continue.”

More revisions followed that made Mikala feel like a horrible person in writing the blunt almost cruel words in a letter meant to console. Not even the sight of Winter’s shirtless body could chase away the ugly feeling. Once the CO signed the letter with her approval, Mikala hastily left feeling tired enough to desire returning to bed. When she exited the workout station, she halted.

A loud cheer with applause went up as the volley ball was punted into the air over a lowered net and was deftly punted back by the yellow pony. Over a dozen crew members were standing at the court watching the game between pony and human. The pony bounced the ball off her head, pushing up on her hind legs to send the ball back over the net where one of the earlier volley ball players was waiting. It happily watched the ball and galloped to where it would land and punted it back with her head. Mikala watched amazed and moved to where Shannon was clapping her hands from bench. “How did this happen?”

“I set the little darling on the floor to walk and the ball went foul. She ran over and started playing with it, bouncing it off her head and onto the floor. I swear, she was trying to bounce it back to the players. So they started playing with her, sending the ball back and forth until someone had the idea of lowering the net to let her play volley ball.” Shannon pointed at some men standing in the far corner shouting encouragement. “They have a betting pool on who is going to win this game. First one gets 10 points wins.”

“Wow,” was the only word that Mikala could muster watching this bizarre scene.

The game lasted twenty minutes longer and the pony won by two points. The crowd cheered with applause and some even going ‘aww’ as the pony leapt around in delight as if sensing that she was the winner. She was sweaty, her sides heaving as she panted and before Mikala could retrieve her, she trotted to a water fountain and reached up on her hind legs, her forehooves reaching up to the dispenser. Mikala quickly stepped up behind the pony and lifted her up.

Before she could maneuver the thirsty animal under her arm to push the button to make the water flow, the pony pushed a hoof down on the round metal button and leaned forward to drink. The yeoman stared amazed at how quickly this creature learned by watching

“How did it go? Did she eat you up and spit you out?” Shannon asked as she waited for her turn at the water.

“More like she tore out my heart and ate it in front of me.” Mikala stepped back when the pony had her fill of water. “You should read the condolence letter she had me write. It’s more like an... insult than anything else. I can’t send it off without feeling like I’d go to hell.”

“Did you know Yatter?”

“Not really. I know he was new to the SSV Heller, but he had served on other ships before. He wasn’t green like me.” She tucked the pony against her chest, letting her rest “Still, it’s bad when someone dies like that. Even though he wasn’t where he was supposed to be when it happened, his family deserves better.”

“The commander is a hard woman. She’s been at war for so long that death and tragedy is as common to her as air.” She bent down and kissed the pony square on the nose. “You ought to name this one. She looks like a Scarlett to me with this red hair.”

“Maybe, I need to see if Dr. Tibbs is available. She’s probably going to cuss me out for letting this one play with a wound.”

After bidding goodbye to Shannon, Mikala continued her day. Dealing with Dr. Tibbs wasn’t pleasant.

The doctor gave her a verbal beating for allowing the pony to have such strenuous activity, but gave her a clean bill of health, gave her a quick bath to rinse off the sweat, and changed the bandages.

Mikala took lunch in the mess. She arranged for a salad with crumbled granola bars for the pony.

“Hey, Miss Briggs.”

Mikala looked up to see the large dark frame of Chief Engineer Brian Crenshaw. He was a large man with broad shoulders. He wasn’t large with muscle like Winter, but of solid fat. “Hello, Mr. Crenshaw.”

“I heard that you haven’t shipped Yatter’s things back. I wanted to give ya this to ship back to his folks.” He held out a credit chit. “It’s Yatter’s pay and some money I owed him from a game we played.”

“Um, I thought you didn’t gamble.” She had recalled from his file that he was a recovering gambling addict.

“Well. . . Yatter’s folks ain’t too well off and his folks could use the money more than I do.”

“That’s very generous of you. Did you know him well?” She glanced down when she felt a small weight on her leg. The pony had finished her meal and was reared back on her legs with forehooves on her knees. She gave the pony a scratch between the ears, her eyes on Crenshaw, more focused on the conversation.

“He was alright. He was good at his job, got along well with the others, but he did make mistakes. And one of those mistakes did cost him his life.” Crenshaw rubbed the back of his neck as was his habit when the topic made him uncomfortable. “If he had been at his station, he woulda known about the attack and woulda taken precautions. But we can regret and cry about what coulda or shoulda been, he’ll still be dead.”

A low whine from the floor and digging at her leg from a pair of small hooves and Mikala looked down to see a pair of pleading orange eyes. “What is it?”

A hoof raised and reached toward the small cupcake container that came with the packaged meal. It was sitting on the corner of the table near her elbow.

“You can’t have this.” Mikala shook her head, “It’ll make you sick.”

The response was a low whine followed by nickers and soft sounds the pony often made. Mikala turned back to Crenshaw, “Sorry about that, and thanks for the bed for her. She was very comfortable last night.”

“It was no big deal. The drone’s shelling was too damage for repair so it was put to better use.”

There was a loud clop and Mikala saw two yellow hooves hook over the edge of the table and a yellow face with red hair hauled up. Large orange eyes focused greedily upon the cupcake and a hoof edged towards it.

“I said no!” Mikala put a hand on the cupcake, grabbing the pony by the scruff and setting her firmly on the ground. She moved the treat away from the table’s edge. “Sorry, sorry, she’s a stubborn little thing.”

The pony’s hooves stomping on the floor could be heard as Crenshaw chuckled, “Jest like a kid, eh?”

“You have no idea. Don’t worry, I’ll send the chit amount with the condolence letter personally.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it. I need to head back down to engineering. The team and I are taking this down time to perform a maintenance check from top to bottom.”

They bid each other goodbye and just as Mikala returned her attention to her meal, the yellow pony clambered onto the table from the other side, grabbing the cupcake in her mouth and took a leap off the table. She would have made it too if an skinny figure with colorful arms hadn’t snagged her from the air. “Whoa, Miki, ya launchin’ yellow missiles?”

The woman grasping a wriggling pony was short, just toping five foot with bright tattooed arms. Exotic flowers, dragons, and symbols covered her arms from wrist to shoulder. At her next was a tribal tattoo, a tangled thorny vine ensnaring her throat. Her face was held cosmetic modifications as well.

Her left nostril held a gold hoop while small studs lined an eyebrow. Right beneath her lower lip, a diamond stud nestled above her chin. The marine’s hair was shorn, bald with only dark stubble along her scalp. Mikala wondered what Corporal Linda Acer Belgard would look like without the tattoos or the piercings.

“So sorry about that.” Mikala stood reaching for the pony. “I think I’m going to have to put her on a leash from now on.” Mikala snatched the cupcake from the pony’s mouth and slapped it on the table. She wrenched the pony around to face her, her nose inches from its snout. “You stop it right now. You’ll eat it up and throw it up on the floor, so settle down before I start practicing corporal punishment on your ass.”

“Whoa, you’re starting to sound like my mom without the accent.” Corporal Belgard ruffled the red name. “Give her a break. I’m sure a bite isn’t going to hurt her. If she throws up, just get Carther to clean it up, he owes me one.”

Mikala settled the pony on her lap. The little animal had a dark look on her face with her orange eyes narrowed. “I can’t do that; she’ll think I’m rewarding her.”

“Give her here.” Belgard held out her hands, palms up. Mikala handed the pony over to the corporal. The bald woman simply flipped the pony upside down, holding her by the hind legs while her fore legs dangled in the air. Then the woman pressed her mouth to the pony’s belly and blew hard emitting a loud raspberry. The pony shrieked and began squeaking happily as she swung from Belgard’s grasp.

“What are you doing?” Mikala stared, amazed. Belgard was a tough woman who has easily tossed men twice her size across the mat during training and now here she was blowing raspberries on a pony’s belly.

“I grew up with a big family. I often had to do this with my little sisters to cheer them up. She just reminds me of a little kid.” Belgard tossed the pony in the air so high that it was wonder that thing didn’t smacked the ceiling. Before Mikala could cry out in horror, the marine expertly caught it about the middle just an instant before she would hit the table at full speed. Then she plopped the yellow thing over her shoulder scooping up the cupcake and peeling off the plastic cover.

Belgard popped the cupcake from the container taking half of it for herself in one bite and giving the rest to the pony. Watching both of them chewing up the chocolate, with the human looking like a punk rocker and the cute pony that looked as if she belonged on wallpaper for a nursery chewing side by side was too much. The yeoman giggled so hard, her eyes watered and her side ached.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Applebloom couldn’t remember when she had so much fun before. The game, exploring, and the silly creature with the cutie marks on her arms ticking her with her mouth and now she was playing dress up with the clothes she found near the closet. One of them was a silky white dress with thin straps for the shoulder. Where it would fit an adult pony easily, it hung about her dragging beneath her hooves almost tripping her every other step.

Her caretaker was at a desk across the room working at something. She kept staring at a screen with words on it, but the words change as her fingers move. It was like some sort of strange magic for those with fingers. The tall creature looked tired, as she worked on her project, but there was a determine set to her eyes. Whatever it was she was writing, Applebloom assumed that it was very important.

She flopped onto the bed, staring up at the celling noticing that it was solid like a single piece of metal, not the slides of wood on her bedroom ceiling. Then it sunk in as she realized that she had spent a full day away from home. She deflated on the bed, her forelegs down at her sides, and her eyes tearing up. She had forgotten all about going home and her homesickness was overwhelming.

She curled onto her side with the creature’s dress bunching around her. Her fun was forgotten as she tried hard not to cry. Tomorrow, she would find a way to tell her caretaker that she needed to go home.

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

Mikala Briggs hit the send icon on the screen, sending off the rewritten condolence letter along with the money amount on the chit. She had been surprised by the large amount Crenshawn had put on the chit. Perhaps Crenshaw was being a bit too generous with his money for someone he had only known a short time. Nonetheless, it was his money and he could do whatever he wanted with it. But the letter, she changed.

She had nearly sent the one she dubbed as ‘cold’ off, but her heart just wouldn’t allow her to press send. She spent the last hour writing it, going over each word carefully due to the heavy weight it carried telling Yatter’s family that he was no longer alive. That they wouldn’t receive him back with stories of his service, but just his corpse prepared for any funeral rites they may practice. The body was still in the morgue kept in a freezer where it will be shipped back once they were in Havensguard space.

She turned her chair toward the bed where the pony had fallen asleep . . . wearing her chemise. A quick look to the closet confirmed that pony had been in her closet. Her clothes had been pulled off the racks and scattered across the floor. “Such a hellion."

Where she would have felt rage at her things being ransacked, she surprised herself by not even being mad. She didn’t even feel peeved that she had to gather up the scattered clothes and put them away. The pony was too cute to be angry with for long. In fact, she was getting inspiration.

After putting away the clothing, she dug around in the back for a case that she had put there when she joined the ship a month ago. Inside the case were small nick-knacks from home; entertainment vids, music chips, books, and a drawing pad with drawing pencil set.

She collected the pad and pencils, scooted the chair closer to the bed and began sketching.

Salt

*WARNING: There are some severe swearing in this chapter. Two F bombs will be used.

As much as Twilight Sparkle worried for Applebloom, her concern for Applejack was increasing with every step they took. When the search began, Applejack had pep to her step and a determination set to her eyes and ears as she marched forward calling Applebloom’s name. She continued with this energy until midday, and then her ears lowered as they continued and then her eyes softened from being sharp and seeking to looking almost lost and afraid.

It unnerved her to see Applejack like this. The farm mare had always been so strong no matter the circumstance whether it was to face down Nightmare Moon, climbing a mountain to wake up a sleeping dragon, or dealing with the trickery of Discord. But this was different, they weren’t going off to face down a treat to Equestria, it was smaller, but more desperate than that. A foal was missing in a forest known to be merciless and terribly dangerous. Though Applebloom had run off on her own into the Everfree Forest before, but she had always been found shortly afterward. Now it’s almost been a full day and Applebloom has not been found.

She and Fluttershy exchange glances when the sun was getting close to the horizon. They had at least an hour before they would have to return lest they wander lost in the darkness, but neither of them wanted to broach the subject with Applejack.

Twilight Sparkle was the braver one. “Applejack, maybe, we should.... head back?”

“Not yet. We still got light.” Applejack looked down a slope. “We’ll find her soon.”

She had been saying this since the search began. When it had first been said, it was confidant assurance towards them, but now it sounded like a plea.

“We need to use that light to go back. We’ll look along the way back to see if we missed anything.”

The orange mare stomped her hoof in agitation, “What if she’s jest ahead? We turn back now and we miss her and she’s out here alone for another night.”

“We’ll find her, I promise.” Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat. She had a terrible feeling that might be making a promise that cannot be kept.

“Um... yes... we’ll find her tomorrow,” Fluttershy whispered.

“Somethin’ happened to her.” Applejack’s voice held a strain tone as a rubber band about to snap. “Why else won’t she jest come on home? She’s hurt somewhere, or somethin’ has her or...or...” It couldn’t be said, it mustn’t be said. Saying it would make the idea, the thought too solid for them. It was inconceivable to them, but the threat of it was there and instead of a threat, it may just be inevitable. “Please, Twilight, jest a little longer.”

“Okay, we’ll look longer.”

They didn’t find Applebloom. It was nearly pitch black by the time they had returned to Zecora’s hut. The search parties came back with nothing. Ponies returned to their homes. Twilight arranged for the volunteers to return tomorrow to begin the search anew. Rarity led the two remaining Cutie Mark Crusaders back to Ponyville while consoling a tearful Sweetie Belle and keeping an eye on an angry Scootaloo. Applejack remained at Zecora’s hut for the night. She couldn’t face returning to a farm that, in Granny Smith’s words, had one less apple in the bushel.

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

Mikala didn’t sleep well, in fact there was a lot of nights when she would wake several times in the night and go back to sleep. Or she would drift in and out of dreams of her usually being chased or harassed by something dark and frightening.

But this night was different. She dreamt about her little pony instead. In her dream, when the mission as over, she took the pony home with her. She saw her running across the grass in the meadow where the power generating windmills were maintained by her grandparents. Her red tail trailing behind her as a red flag in the wind as her small legs carried her with the wind. Then she saw her running along the candy shelf in the local food store grabbing candy and sweetie packages and tossing them into a buggy despite’s Mikala’s protests and stern warnings. She also saw her pony meeting her grandparents and family.

When the ship’s computer woke her up, she consciously realized that she wanted this little thing that was where her chemise curled up against her legs. She wanted to take her home and make her part of the family. She had come to love this small animal that crashed into her life.

“Yeoman Briggs, please report to the Commander’s office.”

She opened her eyes, seeing nothing but the vague shadows on the walls. She closed her eyes and opened them again, trying to banish the sleep that clung to her.

“Yeoman Briggs, please report to the Commander’s office.”

She rolled over and put her feet on the floor then began rubbing her face. She glanced at the time. The digital clock glowed a bright 3:00 AM. What the hell?

“Yeoman Briggs, please report to the Commander’s office.”

“I heard you, Iris.” The ship's computer carried a high feminine voice that spoke in monotone. “Tell them I am on my way.”

“Very well, Yeoman Briggs.”

Mikala checked on the pony as she dressed. The pony was still curled up snug in the chemise still asleep. She had a passing thought of cutting the chemise short to fit her since she seemed to like wearing it to sleep. However, would doing so encourage the pony to tear through her closet again to find something she would want cut down to her size. The yeoman had a terrible vision of her 200 dollar dress at home having the sleeves ripped and the long skirt shredded to fit a pony that’ll run with it through a mud puddle. Mikala just had this feeling that if a mud puddle manifests itself in the ship the pony would run through it without hesitation.

When Mikala was comfortable with her appearance, uniform unwrinkled and her hair neatly combed, she left her room. The halls were empty at this late hour save for a few techs on duty to perform overnight diagnostics. When she arrived on the command deck, Dr. Tibbs was waiting for her. The woman’s medical uniform was wrinkled and the medical practitioner looked worn with the wrinkles on her face looking deeper than when Mikala last saw her.

She saw her and walked firmly toward her, “You really stepped in it now.”

“What happened?” Miaka paused, her boots emitting a soft squeak from her sudden stop.

“The commander is furious.” Dr. Tibb’s eye glasses flashed in the overhead light. Her thin lips were in a tight line as if she had tasted something nasty.

“What has she said?”

“She hasn’t said anything because she’s saving it all for you.” Dr.Tibbs pushed her glasses up her nose. “Here some advice: say as little as possible and respond with yes ma’am or no ma’am. Just be a young bride with an overzealous groom on her wedding night, just lay there and take it.”

“What is she so mad about!?” Mikala was becoming more and more fearful as the doctor spoke.

“I don’t know, you tell me. You’ve done something that the entire military of Havensguard knows not to do. You pissed her off. They say when you fuck with Noa Laotaner, she fucks you in the end.”
With that, Dr. Tibbs walked down the hall leaving the horrified yeoman behind. Mikala nearly followed her and she entertained the thought of going back to her room and locking the door or just leaving the ship period. Just leaving and going native on the planet like some female Robinson Crusoe.

She approached the door and rapped the door with a heavy hand. The doors slid apart and stepped inside into a dim room. She barely got inside before the door shut behind her. The office was of medium size and lacked decorum. Across from her was a wide desk of which Commander Laotaner sat with fingers steeple between her chin and firm look in icy blue eyes.

“Mikala Briggs,” Laotaner spoke her name evenly and slowly as if memorizing it. “Mikala Briggs, how are we doing? Did we get any late night work done?”

“Uh, I did do some work earlier, yes.” Then it finally sunk in and her blood turned to ice water.

A finger tapped loudly on the edge of a datapad before it was pushed across the table toward her. “Working on this, I suppose?”

Mikala dropped her eyes and saw the condolence letter she had sent off hours prior glowing on the interface screen. “Yes ma’am.”

“That’s funny. I thought we had already worked on it before and I signed it. All you really had to do was send it off. Upload it onto your console and press send. But I look at it now and it seemed that these changes we agreed to aren’t there. In fact, I dare say you made changes that I didn’t agree to.”

Her palms felt hot and clammy while her heart thrust against her chest in mad beats. She looked up above Laotaner’s head with her eyes taking in the collection of paper bound books lining a shelf mounted to the wall. She was numb, just that cold calm before the terror consumes her.

“If you weren’t happy with my changes, you could spoke to me about it.” Laotaner leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.

“B-but I did! I protested against the changes!”

“No, you made weak simpering little noises about it, but cave when I pushed.” Laotaner leaned forward her eyes studying Mikala as if she were an interesting insect. “And you went behind my back, your CO’s back, and rewrote the condolence letter. It makes me wonder what else you’ve rewritten or changed. Maybe my report on the attack that resulted in Yatter’s death got the Briggs version?”

“No! No ma’am! I would never. . .”

“But you did. You changed my words without my permission and used my signature on it. That’s fraud and forgery in one shot with disobeying a commanding officer’s order.” Laotaner laced her finges together on her desk. “Did you not know that nothing happens on my ship without my knowledge? Did you not think or know of protocol that when military vessel is in potential enemy space that all information sent to and from ship is cataloged and copied and made accessible by the commander to be viewed as necessary?”

Oh shit. How has she been so stupid? That was standard procedure on any vessel. If she only just sent the letter as it was. To hell with civility, her ass is on the line because of it.

“And another thing.” Laotaner wasn’t finished yet. “Yatter was an imbecile. He was a drunk, and ducked out his duties to the ship and I was planning on having him transferred out. However, despite this, he was a crewmember of my ship and I take care of my crew. And I have more than one sent out condolence letters for fallen members using the generic condolence letter template provided by the ship’s archive. I already sent Yatter’s letter myself the day he died. Did you honestly think I was callous enough to send such a horrible letter to his family?”

“Wh-what? You. . . you already sent the letter? But. . . why. . . why would you have me write one?” Mikala was confused as if she had been hit in the head with a blunt object.

“Let me begin with that the position of yeoman is obsolete?” Laotaner set back, an imp’s smile on her lips. “Back a long time ago when mankind was bound to one planet, and they sailed the seas, a yeoman was needed to assist in the clerical work that the captain was too busy to attend to. Now we have AI assistants that can handle that for us. The position no longer needs to be filled by a human. Yet, it still remains as a position on every ship. You ever wonder why that is?”

“I. . .I don’t know. Why?” Mikala felt as if she was being lead into a trap and there was no way to back out.

“Every other position, but the yeoman position is filled by the chain of command, but the administrators who answer to the hooligans at the top select the yeoman of whom all proceeds, reports, and information passes through. Yeomen who can alert the admin office of any. . . ‘mischief’ from the ships.”

“You think I was sent to spy on you? No!” Mikala could hear her pulse throbbing in her temples and the color bleed from her face.

“No, not anymore. If you had been sent by my enemies on the council, you would have gleefully sent the letter along with a copy of it to the media alerting them to how callous I am toward my own crew to discredit me. You did speak up and caved, but spoke up nonetheless and you had my respect for a while, until I got this shit.” Laotaner thumped the edge of the datapad with a forefinger. “Not even a spy would have been stupid enough to try this.”

So the whole thing in the gym had been a test and a test that she failed miserably. Why can’t the floor just open up and swallow her whole?

“For this shit, I can put you in the brig for the duration of this mission where you will face a hearing upon our return to HQ.”

The yeoman found it hard to breathe as panic was starting to take hold. All she did was change a letter to make it more sympathetic to the family. Was that so horrible that she should go to jail?

“But I am not going to do that.” Laotaner tilted her head as she watched Mikala release a long held breath. “Because I’m certain that you are very very sorry and that will not happen again. Because if it does. . . something will happen where you’ll have nasty accident either from a fall like Yatter or a stray shot during a training exercise, at least, that’s what I’ll write in the condolence letter to your family. Now get the hell out of here and go play dress up with your pet pony.”

As Mikala left the office, or one would say fled, she wondered how Commander Laotaner knew of her pony playing with clothes.

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

The sun rose above Ponyville signaling in the early morning. All the shops opened to offer their goods for any interested ponies. The Sugarcube Corner wafted a pleasant scent of baked sweets and treats as inside Mr. Carrot Cake took a tray of cupcakes from the back oven. He set them on a rack to cool before applying frosting and decoration. His wife was in the back tending to the twins. With Pinkie Pie in the hospital, there was extra work between the twins and running the bakery.

His wife arrived with the twins riding in the carriers across her back. Since Pinkie wasn’t around to entertain the twins, Mrs. Cup Cake would put them in the carriers while she worked. It kept them out of the way while they work other than occasionally halting a floating cake from reaching Pumpkin’s Cake’s mouth.

Tucked between her teeth was the morning newspaper of which she placed on the work table, “Isn’t it just sad? You know that Zebra ambassador that arrived at the Canterlot Palace the other day? Well, his little filly went missing. The Princess has the castle guards looking everywhere for the poor little dearie.”

“I don’t know what’s going on in Equestria when little fillies can disappear. I hope they can find Applebloom today. I sent over donuts for the search party and I’d like to join ‘em, but I can’t leave you here along with the twins and the bakery, not with Pinkie Pie in the hospital.”

“Her being away just makes me realize how much help she’s been around here.” Cup Cake gathered the frosting and put a firm hoof on container that had suddenly started to glow. “Pumpkin Cake, we don’t eat frosting this early in the morning.”

“Let me do a quick taste test before we start decorating.” Carrot Cake selected a cupcake, blew on it to cool it off and then took a bite. He always tested the food just as it came from the oven for quality assurance. When the treat touched his tongue, he froze, his large green eyes going wide as saucers. He dropped the cupcake onto the table.

“Is there a problem, dear?” Cup Cake tilted her head concerned for her husband.

“Blaugh!” Carrot Cake spat out the bit which landed on the floor and held his tongue out as he galloped to the sink. He turned on the water to full and dunk his head into the sink, mouth open to rinse out his mouth.

Cup Cake blinked, watching her spouse for a moment before taking the smallest of nibbles from the cupcake. She frowned unhappily and then glanced at the sugar bag which was still on the counter from when Carrot Cake baked a batch earlier. A moment after examining the bag, even taking a taste of the white grain, she came to a conclusion of her husband’s dilemma. “Someone swapped out the sugar for salt.”

Carrot Cake gasped as he turned off the facet. “That bag had sugar in it, I know it. I used some of it yesterday.”

“Well, someone came in the middle of the night.” Cup Cake checked the salt bag and sure enough, it had the sugar.

“Yeah, someone came in without making a noise. You know how light a sleeper the twins are.” As much as he hated to, the batch he baked had to be tossed out. If he tried to sell these, they’d be run out of town.

“And who would do this? Even Pinkie Pie wouldn’t do something like this.”

Then it came to them. They both looked at each and spoke at once, “Mites.”

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

Nao Laotaner took very little pleasure in berating someone. The yeoman had guts to rewrite the letter, but Nao respected obedience more than integrity. At least, she was now certain that simpering fool wasn’t assign to the ship to discredit her or taint her reputation. As if she needed anymore blows to her position after what happened in Shraxi.

Thankfully, this mission will be nothing like Shraxi. It was a scouting mission to see if this planet was suitable for new base. Based on the agriculture samples, this planet would be suitable for a farming colony.

Nao was sipping her black coffee when a voice chimed from her computer, “Commander Laotaner, we compiled the findings from the drones. . . it’s not good news.”

Setting her coffee down, turned a frown toward the speaker. “Don’t sugarcoat it, just say it, Trevor.”

“The planet has natives.”

“Shit,” she hissed under her breath. If the planet was uninhabitable all the well and good, it was could be scouted and claimed by any race intelligent enough for space flight.

“They are at a level B. So basically they are still below industrial age.”

“That can either be good or bad for us.” Nao was feeling the beginning of a headache coming on.
“It gets worse, ma’am.”

“Goddammit, just go ahead and drop the other shoe.”

There was a long hesitation and then the science officer said, “They’re ponies. A lot like the one Yeoman Briggs adopted.”

Meeting

Mikala held her pony in against her, arms tucking her against her chest. When she returned from being chewed out and threatened by the commander, she shucked off her military jacket and boots and crawled into the bed, pulling the sleeping pony with her. It had been years since she slept with a teddy bear, a habit she had given up when she started high school. Now she needed a bear, but a pony would do just as well. The pony was still in a deep sleep and stirred as she was tucked against Mikala’s undershirt as covers were pulled over them.

The pony’s eyes opened, her eyes staring bleary eyed at her. Mikala curled her hand around her hoof as she would hold a human hand. “Hey, beautiful. Sorry, I woke you. I just had a bad time.”

Being spoken to, stirred the pony to awaken more. She shifted against Mikala, her orange eyes looking around as if trying to see what time it was, whether it was morning or not. Mikala laid a kiss on the pony’s cheek and laid her down. “I just thought of something. You probably missed your mom.”

The pony focused her eyes on Mikala’s speaking face and settled against the pillow, her forelegs hooked over the edge of the blanket. “Winter said that he found you alone and wounded. What happened to your mom? Did you get separated or whatever hurt you killed her?”

There was no answer, only a confused look from the pony that watched her speak. Mikala drew a thumb along the curve of a hoof. It felt hard, but had a soft texture and fitted easily in the palm of her hand. Mikala heard herself continue speaking, “I never knew my mom or my dad. I was raised by my grandparents. My parents fought in the Genola war and... never came home. I know the right thing to do is to let you go or try to find your mom, but... I don’t want to. I want to keep you and take you back with me. I’m resigning once the mission is over. I didn’t find what I was looking for on this ship.”

Then the pony surprised her by raising its muzzle and pressing a kiss against Mikala’s jaw and then settling down back to sleep. For the longest time since boarding this ship, Mikala felt at ease and peaceful and she knew that her decision to resign was a good one. No one wanted her on this ship after all.

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

Noa didn’t sleep; she wasn’t allowed to sleep when shit hit the fan. She sat at her desk, her boot tapping against the edge of the desk creating a rhythmic noise. Her coffee mug was empty and had been refilled until the coffee pot next to it was empty as well. She only hoped she got the response back from High Command before she had to take another piss.

Finally, the communications console chimed to life. She stood up, nearly tilting the chair back in her haste. On the far side of the room a dais crackled to life and a bluish column rose from its surface and then slowly took a humanoid shape. Soon the shape became more defined as the shape developed deep set eyes, full lips with a thin scar slanted across them, and a broad nose. If the signal wasn’t traveling so far, she would be able to see the rough stubble on his face.

Noa Laotaner saluted sharply, back straight, and heels together. “Admiral Fenris.”

“At ease, soldier. Now tell me what you know about these .... ponies.” The admiral had a gruff voice with a light British accent. “Am I saying that right? Ponies? It's not some alien name that just sounds like the word pony?”

“Permission to speak freely?” Noa inquired.

“Permission granted as long as I get the same liberties.”

“Yes sir, they are four legged, grass eating, manure spewing, fucking ponies.” Noa stood with her feet apart, arms crossed beneath her breasts. “And they look like something out of a children’s coloring book.”

“Christ.” The Admiral reached for something out of the view of the Holo-Communications hub and drew back a lit cigar. The blue smoke waved from the end which flared a deep azure as he took a long drag. “This is not good at all. Laotaner, we need this planet. Not want. Need.”

“I didn’t know it was that bad, sir.”

“Not yet, but if things keeping going as they have been, it will be. Shraxi carried a heavy price for the Havensguard and the payoff wasn’t as fruitful as High Command hoped. Shraxi was a mistake and everyone knows it. We can’t afford any more mistakes.”

“What are my orders?” Noa stood at attention, waiting.

Admiral Fenris took another drag from his cigar and exhaled a long streamer of smoke. “Take the planet without creating another Shraxi.”

Noa’s eyebrow arched, “They don’t ask a lot, do they?”

Admiral Fenris shrugged his shoulders, “Nobody wants to get their hands dirty with this. Since you’re already there, they want you to take the lead on this. You’re free to take whatever action you deem as necessary to take the planet. Whether it’s convincing the ponies to join Havens Republic through diplomacy or full scale invasion, you have to take the planet and its resources.”

“Shit, and if it turns into another Shraxi then I’ll end up being the scapegoat for it all.”

“But if you pull it off, there’ll definitely be a promotion in for you.” The admiral shook off ash from the cigar. “I can have a fleet waiting for your orders.”

“I'm far from ready to call a strike. I need to gather intel first.” Noa shifted her weight on her feet. “Is there a time limit?”

“There isn’t one yet, but I’ll let you know when they pull one out of their asses.” The admiral looked at her in deep thought and took another drag, with the smoke flaring. “You do have a TIGGER.”

“Oh, God, that’s another headache I don’t need.”

“It’s an option.” The admiral tilted his head, listening to something Noa cannot hear on her end. “I have to go. I'll expect a report from you next week about your plans.”

“Yes sir. You’ll have my report this time next week.”

“Good hunting, Laotaner. Admiral out.”

The man’s image dissipated in a cloud of blue pixels leaving Noa alone with her new duty and a heavy burden.

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

Mikala woke up hours later to a resounding knocking at the door. “Yeoman Briggs, open up!”

She lifted her head, her pony stirring in her arms. She pushed herself up on one arm as the pounding continued. “I’m coming.”

She rose from the bed, nearly stumbling over the jacket she had dropped on the floor and her boots. The pony rolled onto her stomach and began wiggling out of the chemise. Mikala opened the door to see Winter standing in his dark uniform gun at his belt winged by two officers.

“What is it?” She blinked sleepily at them, nearly leaning against the door edge.

“We need take the pony into custody,” Winter spoke with face set in stone. “Commander’s orders.”

“Wha. . .what, take it into custody? It’s an animal.”

“Briggs, it’s sentient. It’s native to this planet. Check your console and you would see the report released about it an hour ago.” Winter stepped into the doorway forcing her to step back. “In the meantime, it comes with us.”

Mikala felt as if Winter had ripped the floor from beneath her feet. She turned to face the pony that was standing on the bed watching them curiously. The chemise lay in a tangle with the sheets, wrinkled from the pony playing with it. It made so much sense. The intelligence, the desire to play all the time, the pouting... how the hell could she have been so blind. Why didn't she see it before? The animal acted like a child because it was a child.

Winter put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her almost gently aside. Mikala grabbed his wrist to halt him, “Wait, you can’t just take her.”

“Orders, Briggs.” He walked toward the bed and the pony saw him approaching and drew back, her ears laying back.

Mikala put herself between him and the pony, “Winter, wait, please. What’s going to happen to her?”

“Briggs, you really don’t want to interfere. We’re just taking her to the brig. We don’t intend to hurt her, but you don’t try to stop us. You don’t want this become a physical engagement.”

Mikala swallowed a lump in her throat. She couldn’t fight Winter. He was an experienced marine and she had seen him in training. He was an expert in Jujitsu, Kung Fu, and other martial arts that she couldn’t name. Needless to say, he could break every bone in her body without effort.

But she was trained for compromising. “Let me carry her for you. And please, let me sit in the brig with her. There is no need to frighten her any more than she has to be.”

“I don’t see why not,” Winter relented with a small nod.

It took Mikala only minutes to pull on her jacket and boots and collect the pony. The pony clung to her neck, trusting her. It broke Miakala’s heart.

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

Applebloom really wanted to go home when her caretaker carried her into a cell. It was square sharp with a bench set into the right wall and a clear plastic wall closed shut behind them. This was a cell, just like the one she had read in story books. Why were they here?

Her caretaker sat down heavily on the bench and sighed deeply. Applebloom was set on the floor. Applebloom trotted to the glass where her reflection looked back at her. She placed a hoof against the glass and could tell that it was solid. She bet Applejack could buck it and break through, but the thought of her sister made her homesickness return. She sat dejected on the floor staring sadly through the glass. Did they do something wrong? What was going to happen to her and the creature that cared for her?

The creature called her and Applebloom looked over her shoulder to see an open pad with a colored drawing on the floor. The drawing was of a pretty filly wearing a long white dress sleeping. The filly’s coloring was similar to hers with a red mane and yellow coat. As Applebloom drew closer she realized that it was her in the picture. The caretaker drew a picture of her wearing the dress from last night.

Applebloom was so excited by the picture she had forgotten where they were. She reared back in her hind legs gleefully imagining the look on Diamond Tiara's face when she saw this. She couldn't wait to show it to her sister, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith. She gingerly put a hoof on the page and turned it. On the next page was scenery of a waterfall and on the next was sketch of small creatures playing with a ball. She assumed they were children because due to the scene reminding her of playing during recess.

She turned the pages and saw more and more drawings. Each of the pictures was drawn detailed and beautiful to look at. Then she came to a blank page and Applebloom found that she wanted to create a drawing herself. And as if the creature read her mind, a pack of colorful pencils were placed on the floor near her.

The pencils were longer and thinner than the ones she used at school. These pencils were meant to be held in dexterous hands with long fingers, not in a pony' mouth. Applebloom feared that if she bit too hard, she’d snap the pencil in half. It made her draw carefully with thin even lines and shade color in with short strokes.

All the while, her caretaker watched her intrigued with her lips sealed together in a tight line.

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

Noa spent the morning discussing strategies with her upper level officers. The Strategist Officer Renly Cortez recommended that more intelligence was needed before they could begin a possible plan of attack.

“We're just basing our judgments on one civilian town. We should see what they are capable of militarily, that is if they have a military.” The tall man with bronzed skin and dark hair combed back from his face spoke over a bird’s eye view of the native town the drones had procure.

“I believe our first priority is to learn the language,” Science Officer Trevor chimed in. “We should try to handle this with diplomacy if we can.”

“Diplomacy is a give and take strategy. We need to find out if there is something they want and us be the ones to give it to them.” Cortez twirled a stylus between his fingers. “Also, I don’t think any diplomacy will convince an independent race to turn over their planet for resource reaping by a warmongering race like ours.”

“Which is why we make it in their best interest to do so,” Second in Command Felix Upholder responded. “A few strategic strikes from a fleet will overwhelm them and we can sweep in with ground troops to secure key locations. I’m sure within 24 hours they’ll surrender.”

“If at all possible, we need to avoid damaging the Havensguard reputation any further. This is how Shraxi was started.”

“No, Shraxi was started by diplomacy. Where the Shraxi's Citadel agreed to our terms, the lower caste cities resisted. It didn’t become escalated until Shraxi Emperor ordered a strike on one of the cities which created a civil war on the planet that we got swept up in.” Cortez ran a finger over a thin mustache above his lip as was his habit when he was in deep thought. “The error with Shraxi was we were too quick. We should have held back and studied the race first, then we would have seen the huge social gaps that was brewing for a conflict that we were the catalyst for. Then we could have sided with the lower castes and over thrown the main government which would have cast us in the liberators instead of as invaders.”

“Which would have led to a longer campaign that would cost more soldier's lives and ships that we could ill afford,” Upholder leaned forward, his eyes hard as blue diamonds. “Granted that siding with the upper caste did result in a bloody confrontation, the conflict lasted a few months instead of the few years of we took a different route.”

“A few months of hell.” Cortez glared across the map screen at his rival in all things strategic.

“War is hell, officer.” Upholder’s words rolled from his lips as lightning from a cloud.

“Enough.” Noa Laotaner’s voice was calm as it would be if she was inquiring about the weather. She was commander, queen, and goddess on board her ship. She didn’t need to shout or raise her voice for obedience and as always, they obeyed. Cortez and Upholder drew back from the table, their exchange halted, but not forgotten as they gave each other harsh looks. Noa leaned forward and tapped a finger on the map screen which caused the tidy hamlet to shake as if by earthquake. “I don't care to debate theories of how Shraxi should have been handled. That is in the past. This is now. Now, we have to take the planet with as little conflict as possible. Cortez and Trevor seem to believe that the best course of action is information gathering of which I agree. Suggestions?”

“The drones can continue information collecting,” Upholder recommended.

“The drones are useful, but they can’t do everything. They can only observe and report. Unless they can take a picture of the social structure and military prowess, then they can't give us everything that we need.” Trevor adjusted his glasses on his nose. Noa could never understand why people can’t make the time to go get their eyes corrected and want to wear clumsy eyewear. “But they would be useful in collecting speech samples for us to translate the language.”

“I want the drones started on that when this meeting is over,” Noa ordered. “And since you are quick to shoot down another's suggestion, do you have one of your own?” She certainly enjoyed challenging her men
.
Trevor licked his lips nervously, “We have a TIGGER.”

Noa mentally face palm, but her face betrayed nothing. “We do.”

“Weren’t those decommissioned after the...” Cortez dipped his voice as if sharing a secret with them, “...The Kova Embarrassment?”

“Most of them, but some of them were kept for scientific purposes.” Trevor's glasses flashed and Noa knew he was eager to try out the device. “We were able to keep ours because we were deep behind enemy lines when the High General ordered that all TIGGERS be... booted out of the airlock.”

“He didn’t order that.” Upholder never liked the small thick glasses man. He never really liked anyone, now that Noa thought of it.

Trevor shrugged, but the ghost of the smile was on his lips. “We kept our onboard and I’ve been studying it. I’m certain I could get it working.”

“Right, that’s all good, but the big question is if someone...”

“I’ll do it,” Noa’s voice slashed the air like a sword. Silence held strong as the men stared at their female CO.

“Ma’am, you can’t be serious,” Trevor blurted, then instantly regretted it.

Noa’s eyes flashed as she fixed her cold blue gaze on him. “You've served on this ship with me for five years, Upholder and Cortez longer. Have I ever said anything in jest? Or made a joke? When I say something, you better fucking believe I mean it.”

“My apologies, Commander, I didn’t mean any slight or to suggest you take this situation lightly.” Trevor’s face was flushed with humiliation and he hid his eyes by cleaning his glasses.

“Ma’am, I respect that you prefer taking a hands on approach to all of our missions together, but why should you take the risk?” Cotez determined that moving the conversation forward would be wise for everyone.

“If this mission fails, it should fail solely because of me. No one’s career but mine should be affected by this mission.” Noa folded her hands on the surface and leaned forward, the glow from the map screen casting shades across her angular face. “And if it should succeed, it will succeed solely because of me.”

“You shouldn’t do this alone. You’ll need backup,” Cortez murmured in deep thought.

“We’ll concern ourselves with that later. The main priority is to see if Trevor can get the thing working.” Noa shifted a datapad aside to the corner of the table. “Now it comes to the little pony we have in custody.”

“Whatever we do, we cannot look at this creature as an animal. It’s sentient and young. We’re basically handling a little girl.” Trevor tapped nervously on the edge of the table. “I recommend that we hold onto her for testing, she’s a live specimen.”

“You tell us to treat it as if it’s a little girl then in your next breath you say it’s a specimen.” Upholder ran a hand over his dark hair which was peppered with white. “Keeping her around is a risk. What if she escapes and tells the others about us? We would lose our major advantage.”

“I agree with Upholder.” Cortez looked almost incredulous at the thought of agreeing with Upholder.

“She poses too much of a risk for this mission. The drones caught images of the... ponies... looking for her in the forest. If they continue to look, they may find us.”

“We can't release her, nor can we keep her.” Noa crossed her arms, fingers tapping on her elbow.“And her people will continue to search, possibly until she is found. Have Dr. Tibbs euthanize her. One of the marines can throw her body in the river and let them find her. Likely, with their level of technology, their medicine isn’t up to par with ours and they will assume the cause of death is drowning.”

“You will be breaking hearts doing that. The yeoman especially,” Cortez cautioned. “And as Trevor pointed out, it’s akin to kill a child.”

Noa laced her fingers together, “I understand that the idea of killing a child leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, which is why I am the one ordering it.” She cocked her head to the side, “Just like last time on Shraxi.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While the pony looked over her sketch book, Mikala entertained herself and for escapism read the monthly updated news from Haven. Several events were taking place back home it seemed. The prime minister's wife was having a second child, there was terrible shuttle crash in a populated district, numerous dead or injured. Also, there was a memorial for the Winslip District Fire that happened nearly thirty years ago. It had been a densely populated district and nearly 600 people died in the flames.

When the news became too depress, as was its habit, she turned her attention back to her pony. Mikala watched it happening, but she couldn’t believe it. Her pony was drawing a picture of trees with rough splotches as apples. In the center was a pony with red mane and yellow coat. On one side was a larger pony with an orange coat and yellow mane which was amusingly wearing a cowboy hat. On the other side was a taller two legged figure in blue with a mop of brown hair. Herself.

So many emotions overwhelmed her when she saw the drawn figure of herself. Happiness, pride, joy, and even shame bloomed like emotional flowers inside her. She wished she could praise the pony and even ask her name. Since she’s sentient, she had to have a name. Mikala consented to just watch and smile when the pony looked up at her for approval.

There was a light knocking at the shielding and she looked up to see Belgrad standing on the other. There was a small smile on her face, but it didn't reach her grey eyes. Mikala hadn't known Belgrad long, but she knew that it wasn’t good if Belgrad wasn't smiling with her eyes also. The yeoman rose and approached the glass shield, which whispered open. The pony was so engross in drawing that she paid no attention.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Mikala spoke softly. “What are they going to do with her?”

“Miki, listen, don’t go crazy or anything.” Belgard’s voice had lost her usual lilt and replaced it with a firm tone. “They’re going to put her down tonight.”

It started with numbing shock which bled into horror that sent chills through her limbs and a hit to the stomach that made her almost vomit. “No, no, no, no. no, god, Belgard no, no. They can’t do that... dear God, they can’t do that. She didn’t do anything!”

“You don’t have to tell me that and I think its bullshit too. I’m just here to tell you before they come in here later and haul her out to Dr. Tibbs.” Belgard had her hands on her shoulders to keep her restrained.

Mikala felt hot tears rolling down her face. Her hands waivered before her uselessly as panic crept over her. “I... I’ll talk to the commander. I’ll make her understand.”

“Don't do it. Not only will she not listen to you, but she'll charge you with interfering with orders. You’re sorta on her shit list right now.” Belgard ran a hand over her shorn head. “There’s not really anything we can do.”

“There has to be. Dammit, Belgard, you played with her and made her laugh just like you would with a human child. She's no threat and you know it, so please, for the love of God, help me, please.” Mikala choked on her plea, tears rolling to collect in a single drop beneath her chin which dropped off to splash on the red mark on her uniform.

Belgard ran a tongue over her lips and her eyes furtively glanced at the pony doodling inside the cell and at the weeping woman before her. “If you want to save her, then you’re going to have to talk to someone who can change Laotaner’s mind. Not me, she thinks I’m just a joke. Don’t even bother going to Upholder, he repeats everything Laotaner says, I think he's in love with her or something. Cortez is too afraid of her to speak against her. And Dr. Tibbs won’t want to get involved. The person to speak to is Winter.”

“Winter? Why Winter?” Mikala began to calm since a course of action was being provided.

“Winter has served under her since he was a rookie. They got some sort of mother and son thing going on. She’ll listen to him, but you got to convince him to talk to her. He won’t want to get involved either.”

“Okay. . . okay. I’ll find him. . . where is he?”

“Where else? Training room.”

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

“She’s dead.”

The words halted the ponies in mid-step. Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy turned back to see Applejack lowered head and a large tear roll along her face toward her nose. “We’re not gonna find her.”

“Applejack... don’t say that...” Twilight Sparkle turned, wanting to comfort her friend.

“Don’t, Twilight, don’t.” Applejack turned away, her face a mask of sorrow and hard resolve. “Ah know and you know the chances of a filly by herself in this forest is slim to none and its three days since she went missin'. We ain’t gonna find anythin’ today or tomorrow or the next day. I’m the bearer of the Element of Honesty and it’s time I accepted the truth and stop lookin’ for her and start plannin’ her funeral.”

“No, no, Applejack, please, we just have to keep looking, we’ll find her.” Twilight’s eyes began to glisten as her tears followed Applejack’s. She heard Fluttershy inhale deeply behind her and soft sob soon followed. Twilight felt her resolve shift and break apart. “We... can’t just give up... “

“We looked and looked. The whole town looked. If she was able to come home, she woulda. Ah don’t wanna find her...” Applejack’s voice broke as tears spilled from her eyes. “Ah’m afraid of what Ah’ll find.”

“Oh, Applejack...“ Twilight remembered what little research she was able to do on red comets. They were ominous signs of terrible things to come. Was this the event the comet warned of? A loss of a filly, of a beloved friend’s sister? “Please, let’s just keep looking.... just a while longer.”

Applejack didn’t reply. She nodded and plodded along after them, but the confidence she was so known for was gone. They didn’t find Applebloom that night, but they did find tracks inside the abandoned lair of a wildcat.

Wildcats were dangerous, but they typically thought twice before attacking a healthy full grown pony. Whereas there was hesitation before attacking an adult pony, they wouldn’t hesitate to devour a foal. Applejack collapsed into hysterical sobs when they saw the small hoof prints in the dried earth followed by a pattern of large wild cat prints. They stopped searching shortly afterward as Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy both shared Applejack's fear of finding something they didn’t want to see.

Beginning

Noa promised herself that once the meeting was over she would sleep. She had been up for the last 36 hours and it was time to sleep. Yet, she didn’t retire to her quarters nor did she leave her office. She nursed from a coffee mug and read over data gathered by the drones. So far, she didn’t see much difference between the ponies’ society and her own, but she was certain that there were differences there. They were different species after all.

There was a chime from her console. Without glancing at it, she tapped a key to allow the visitor inside. Winter stroll inside as calmly as a small breeze. He was wearing his uniform slacks and his white undershirt stretched against his broad chest outline every crevice of his muscular frame.

Noa set her pads aside and regarded him with an almost bored expression, “Let me guess, you’re in here to beg for mercy for on behalf of the little pony child?”

“Something like that. How did you know?” A smile played on his lips as he crossed the room to her desk.

“Nothing happens on this ship without my knowing.” Noa drew a data pad from a receptacle and switched it on. “Mikala went into the training room where you were training hours ago. And it was after Belgard sneaked into the brig to tell her what was going on. I can only make the assumption when her sobbing face that was the reason why she went to see you. And it’s only right that it comes down to you, because you are the cause of this drama.”

“And I regret doing that. If I had known that it was sentient, I would have left it where I found it, believe me. Briggs was all over me about it. Lots of tears and some snot. She tried to keep her eyes on my face, but she kept imagining me as the starring role of shirtless Prince Charming XXX.”

“Why did you save it?” Noa glanced at him for the first time. “Just curious.”

“Because it was a little thing in trouble. When I was a kid, I was always saving mice and birds from cats and I even got hurt for standing up to my dad whenever he beat my little brother and sister.” Winter stood amiably as if they were in a café having coffee. “I guess it’s why I enlisted. I thought joining would allow me to help others, I guess I was proven wrong.”

“We’re to serve our government, not to help it.” Noa uploaded a report distastefully with a curl of her lip. “Now let’s skip the cordials and get to the end of the matter. No, I will not change my mind. It is in the best interest of the mission that the pony be terminated. Briggs should be grateful that I am authorizing Tibbs to put it to sleep instead of me taking a hammer to the thing’s head.”

“About that... listen, I’m not here to talk you into saving that pony’s life. If you wanted me to, I’d go into the brig and snap its neck myself. What I do want is for you to consider the crew.”

Noa turned her eyes up from the datapads and focused on him. “Continue.”

“Everyone is still screwed up from Shraxi. The war may have ended months ago, but everyone is still hurt by it. We lost some good people and had to do things that has damaged our souls.” Winter’s voice carried heavily, weighted by dark memories. “Killing the pony will carry echoes of that time. And though you may not hear it, but the crew is worried. The crew will have your back, no matter what. We’ll charge into hell if you order it. But they need reassurance that you aren’t going to have them blacken their morals any more than what Shraxi did. The crew can’t afford that. Also, I don’t think what’s left of your humanity can afford it either.”

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

Something bad was going to happen. Her caretaker returned hours away upset, but trying to hide it. But the filly could see something was upsetting her. Her eyes were wet and her mouth was set in a tight line. The smile she gave Applebloom when she returned was forced with gritted teeth. She lost her taste for drawing and paced the narrow cell, trying to ease the anxiety in her heart. Finally, her caretaker picked her up and cradled her against her chest. The soft murmurs and the petting eased Applebloom to relax and close her eyes.

She opened her eyes hours later, seeing that her caretaker had dozed off as well. She shifted her legs, her hooves gently nudging herself free. She plopped onto the floor, and trotted to the glass door. It was as the metal door before with no knob or handle. The filly assumed that it was opened and closed by magic. Again she wondered why they were and what was going to happen to them.

Feet with long legs appeared before her and the glass shield hissed opened. Applebloom drew back, but not before one of them seized her by the middle and lifted her. She heard her caretaker call out and another voice bark sharply. The pony was tucked under a thick arm and carried away.

“Let go! LEMME GO!!!” Applebloom cried out as she wiggled, her hooves waving in uselessly as she attempted to kick at her captor.

She was carried down a dim hall. Her eyes didn’t have a chance to adjust before she was carried in a well-lit and familiar place. This was where they had tended to her injury which was still bandaged. She was put on a table, the same table where her wound was mended and held down onto her side by several hands. A hand pinned her face to the cold surface, but she could still see the gruffy doctor creature standing over her with a grim face. She was holding a syringe and was drawing a yellowish liquid from a small vial.

Applebloom knew that whatever was in that syringe was for her and it terrified her. She bucked, kicking at the hands, but more joined the others in holding her down. They were tall and wide, standing around her as cold dark sentries blocking out the overhead light casting them as dark shapes. She screamed, crying out for her sister, her granny, and her big brother to save her. Where was her friend? The one who cared for her? Why wasn’t she here to save her?
She felt a sharp sting in her rear and she knew the liquid was inside her. Her heart raced in her small chest as she wailed, her hooves scraping the table in a futile rush to flee from the chemical flowing through her veins. Fatigue crept upon her despite her panic and she struggled against herself to keep her eyes open. She had to stay awake, she had to.

They had released her and the gruff doctor was stroking her body whispering things to her she could never understand. Applebloom batted her eyes, curling on her legs beneath her as sleep drew her toward darkness. Her last thought was if she would ever open her eyes again.

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

Inside the Apple family home, Granny Smith was standing on her hind hooves watching the bubbles rise on a pancake before flipping it over with spatula. Big Macintosh was staring into a bowl of untouched oatmeal, a large tear rolling down his red face. Applejack appeared from downstairs, her hat gone and her blonde mane loose from the band she usually wore at the end. Her tangled mane hung across her back and shoulders and the bags under her green eyes were thick. She hadn’t slept at all last night; she doubted if any of them slept at all last night.

She didn’t understand why Granny Smith was cooking breakfast. Since Applebloom had gone, Granny Smith made Applebloom’s favorite breakfast food each morning. For when she came home, she said each morning. Applejack believed that she was still hoping Applebloom would come home still, despite the horrible tracks she had found last night.

No, she didn’t want to think about it. Thinking about it brought images to her head that were better left unimagined. Applebloom was gone and it was time to move forward. She would spend the morning writing letters to all of their relatives to let them all know that in three days would be Applebloom’s funeral.

That would mean the agonizing job of going through the photos and finding one for the funeral. It would have to be a good one, since there was no body to bury. The burial would at the Apple Family burial yard. It was on the far side of the orchard, in a clearing where Granny Smith’s parents, husband, and her son and his wife was buried. It was where Granny Smith would one day be buried, and now they would bury Applebloom.

The door opened and Applebloom walked in. “Is that pancakes Ah smell, Granny?”

The proverbial record scratched to a halt.

All eyes turned to Applebloom who strutted into the kitchen. Granny Smith was frozen in mid-flip of a pancake and it rolled off the spatula and landed on the floor with a plop. Big Macintosh stared with saucer shaped eyes and Applejack’s mouth hung up. The filly glanced between the members of her family; her ears slanted backward, “Um . . . did somepony die?”

Then they were on her. She was bodily lifted up in embraced by all of them. Tears were in Granny Smith’s eyes as she thanked the goddesses over and over. Big Macintosh’s large body was wracking with sobs as she was held against his broad chest. Applejack was speaking to her, but she couldn’t understand, she was smothered by hugs and kisses and the sounds of their sobs in her ears.

“Where ya been? Where ya been?” Applejack held her face between her hooves, her tearful face inches from hers. “Where were ya, Sugar cube? We looked and looked. . . I thought. . . I thought a wildcat got ya.”

“Ah. . . ah was outside. Ah woke up in the orchard. Ah don’t know why, but Ah musta spent the night out there.” Applebloom looked uneasily at each of the weeping family members.

“No, no, we looked in the orchard for her ya, but ya weren’t out there.” Big Macintosh mumbled as he drew Applebloom into another big bear hug. “Couldn’t find ya nowhere for three days.”

“Three days! But yesterday we was talkin’ in the apple orchard yesterday.” As she looked away, embarrassed by her brother sobbing as if he was a foal again, she noticed something on her flank. “Did Ah get my cutie mark?”

It wasn’t a cutie mark. It was three upraised scars along her flank that looked as if it was put there by a wildcat.

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

Mikala’s room felt empty when she returned to her room the following day. Her pony was gone, but not dead. Dr.Tibbs had created a chemical cocktail of drugs which contained a sedative and a special drug that can render short amnesia of the last several days. The pony could be returned home with no memory of her time on the ship and therefore couldn’t threaten the mission.

The chemise was still lying across the blankets. Mikala put it away, knowing that deep in her mind whenever she looked at it, she would always think of it as the pony’s chemise. And she laid it in her drawer atop of her drawing pad which contained not only her sketches, but the childlike drawings of the pony as well.

She had taken the time to look at the drawings after they taken the pony to Dr. Tibb. The drawings consisted of other ponies, such as a big red pony with yellow mane and tail, and a smaller green pony with white hair curled into a bun. Then there was of two small ponies, a white one with purple and purple mane with a small horn and an orange pony with wings and purple hair. But the one that Mikala planned on framing and putting on her wall when she returned home was the one of her standing with her pony and the large orange pony with blonde hair.

She slid the drawer shut and resumed her work. She brought the crewmember files on record using the security key her superior provided her when he transferred her to the Heller and she was also provided an encrypting program that can cover her access to the records. One by one, she went through each crewmember’s personal files. Crenshaw had a wife and child back on the colony moon

Simoli, Belgard was raised in a foster home with many fosterlings in a rural area on same moon.

Mikala didn’t look at their files for too much longer. They were pretty much what she guessed upon meeting. She moved onto other files. Dr. Tibbs was a recovering alcoholic who had an estrange daughter living in Capital City back on Haven. Winter’s father was an abusive drunk who murdered his own wife and was executed for his crime. Winter and his siblings were split up into different homes and Winter enlisted at the age of eighteen.

She leaned her cheek against a folded hand prompted by her elbow as she continued onto the upper level officers. Upholder had come from a long line of military officers. His grandfather led the Havensguard to victory against the Surigas back in 6040s. Cortez came from humbler backgrounds. He was part of a poor family of six and won a scholarship to the Military School of Grines where he earned his position by high marks in tactics and strategy .

But the real prize was the one folder she was looking at now. Noa Laotaner, all personal information in her personal file scrubbed. Where her background information should be printed a large N/A was on the first line. And who would have the authority to have the commander’s personal information scrubbed from record?

Mikala closed out all the files disappointed that she hadn’t been able to find anything this time. Her superior would be disappointed that she would have to report that she found nothing when she returned to Haven. He hungered for any information that would discredit Noa Laotaner, he simply hated her and her success. But what didn’t know was that Mikala had her own reasons for looking into Laotaner’s background. Personal reasons.

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

The miracle of Applebloom’s return spread quickly throughout Ponyville. Pinkie Pie been had released from the hospital and was already planning a welcome back party for the returned filly. Applejack announced that there would be no party for a few days, the family wanted to give Applebloom a chance to rest and to be with her. Fortuantely, she didn’t miss much school since due to Twilight Sparkle aiding in the search, school had been called off for a week, but will hopefully resume next week.

When Twilight Sparkle returned to the library, Spike had a letter from Princess Celestia that was sent the day after Applebloom disappeared.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I am very sorry to hear of your friend’s terrible news. I understand what is to lose a loved one as I have endeared this hardship many times during my long life. Please, give her my heartfelt condolences when you see her again.
And I believe I may be able to help with your school. I know of a celebrated teacher from the far north in Caneighda that will make an excellent substitute until your friend is up to taking back her teaching duties. I will write a letter shortly notifying her of your need and I will also arrange transportation for her to come to Ponyville. Due to their Winter Welcome festivities, she’ll likely arrive sometime next week if she accepts.
Your Proud Teacher Always,
Princess Celestia

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

Two days later found Applejack led Applebloom away from the hospital office. The doctor ran a series of tests on the filly and released her with a clean bill of health. He found nothing wrong save for the three scars on her flank which he was certain would fade with time and he reassured Applebloom that they would not prevent her from getting her cutie mark. However, he couldn’t explain why she had no memory of the last three days.

“Her memory may come back on its own. It may come back in bits and pieces or it may come back all at once,” the doctor had told them.

“Ah don’t unnerstand why Ah can’t walk around by myself. Ah’m not a little foal,” Applebloom grumbled as her sister walked close beside her.

“No siree,” Applejack replied firmly. “Ah ain’t lettin’ ya outta my sight. When school starts back Ah’m walkin’ ya to and from school from now on. “

“But about Cutie Mark Crusaders? We was gonna meet up at the clubhouse.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had visited the farm to visit their lost friend. For over an hour they each attempted to guess where Applebloom had been from her being adopted into a Buffalo Tribe to being trapped in a dragon’s cave, but none of them could come up with an answer.

“Ah’m afraid yer gonna hafta give that up, Applebloom. Ah can’t have ya runnin’ around freely as before.”

“What!?” Applebloom froze in place staring at her sister with wife eyes full of horror.

“Ah mean it, sis. Ah jest cannot go through ya goin’ missin’ again. Jest about broke me to pieces thinkin’ you were dead.”

“That’s not fair!” No matter what she said or how much she pleaded, Applejack would not budge. She was adamant that Applebloom would stick close to home from now on and would always be under supervision.

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

Science Officer Trevor gnawed on a granola bar as he read over the data compiled from the drones. The native language was already sixty percent translated and he expected it to be completed by tonight. Also, he was exchanging information from his sociology expert contact back on Haven. The man promised a report would be provided by tomorrow.

Everything was going smoothly so far, but the bigger challenge lay behind him.

A tall column like machine rested against the far side of the lab. The machine was closed now, hiding away the secrets that lay inside the tubular structure. In bold face letters on the front was the word TIGGER.

End of Book 1

Red Comet

Twilight Sparkle adjusted the telescope, carefully angling it toward the west. She consulted her star chart which was old, the ink faded from years of perusal by previous stargazers so it was handled with the utmost care. Tonight was the night, she was certain of it. The Folley Comet passed Equestria once every hundred years and Twilight Sparkle was determined to watch its passing tonight.

“Are you sure you need all of these?” Spike groaned as he carried a stack of books and scrolls, so high his head was hidden and only his legs could be seen.

“I have to double check my calculations. If I’m wrong, then I’ll miss the comet and I won’t get another chance to see it again for the next hundred years.” Twilight Sparkle nudged the lens upward with her nose. “And we can use the books to help adjust the telescope. Put a few volumes under the front leg of the stand.”

As Spike knelt by the telescope, Twilight stared up at the star speckled sky. It was a deep thrill that she was going to gaze a passing centuries old visitor as it makes its eternal journey across the heavens.

“So when is this star supposed to fall?” Spike grunted as he leaned against the box where he had set the scrolls and extra astronomy books. His eyelids were half lowered, as if he would drop into a sleep right then. He had been ready to drop into a deep sleep in his bed basket until Twilight Sparkle announced they would be stargazing for a passing comet.

“It’s not a star, Spike, it’s a comet.” Twilight peeked through the eyepiece to make sure it was aimed at the right constellation. She adjusted it just a bit more before she was satisfied. “Perfect. Take a look. Spike? Spike . . . ?”

A dull snore answered her and sure enough, Spike had drifted off to sleep, curled on his side with his tail tucked against his stomach. Twilight shook her head with a smile and resumed viewing the stars. It was a shame her friends wouldn’t be here to enjoy this with her, but by the time she realized that tonight was the night; it was already too late to invite them. They were likely asleep in their homes and she hated to wake them for something that they may not be interested in.

She remembered reading that the comet was an icy blue color with a white tail . . . yet for some reason, the object that appeared was bright red with a long tail that ended with an orange tip. And it was coming from the complete opposite direction. And above all, Twilight realized that she was able to see it without the telescope. She lifted her head and looked upward, watching the brilliant arch. The comet slashed in an arch across the sky as an ugly wound and its trajectory was the Evergreen Forest.
She expected many things, a large explosion, earth and trees tossed into the sky while the surrounding foliage was bowled over from the force of impact. None of that happened. Instead, the comet eased past the tree tops and emanated a bright crimson hue and snuffed out. Twilight Sparkle stared at the spot where the glow had been so hard it made her eyes water. She blinked several times and then tried to resume watching, however, she wasn’t sure if she was looking in the right spot. The tree cover was thick and the darkness hid the details of where the comet landed.
Twilight wondered if she actually saw it. She wanted nothing more than to head out to the forest and see the red comet up close, but she understood that daring the Evergreen Forest alone was quite dangerous, especially at night. It was better to wait until morning and speak to her friends about it. While Twilight Sparkle made her plans, overhead the Folley Comet was passing.

“Commander, the Heller has landed on Planet BT35. No enemy forces detected.” A female voice carried as soft linen in a darken room. In the center, a large orange hologram image of a spiral galaxy cast a dim glow. In the upper spiral arm, a red tag pinpointed a specific dot labeled BT35.

“Just because we don’t detect them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. It could mean that they have developed better cloaking technology.” A second voice spoke in tight clipped tone. “Until we have a 100 percent certainty that they aren’t here, I advise we handle this mission as if we are in enemy territory.”

“I disagree. Scouts and probes have been through this cluster many times. The Javians haven’t reached this far yet; their attentions are elsewhere keeping their supply routes safe. We can’t waste time hiding from a threat that isn’t there.”

“If precautions aren’t taken, then we stand to lose more than we hope to gain.”

“If we don’t trust our scouts’ reports, then what’s the point of sending them anywhere?”

“Enough.” The third voice carried thickly in the darkness. It carried enough authority to halt the bickering and both dissidents held their silence in respect. The glow revealed a pair of hands with slender fingers lace together where a chin rested on them. “Both sides have made valid points and here is my decision. In the morning, the drones will scout and collect samples. I’ll decide what our next move is depending upon what they bring back.”

In the midst of the thickest part of the Evergreen Forest, there was a clearing where an Ursa Major had pulled up trees for a nest days before giving birth to an Ursa Minor. To any naked eye, it was a simple clearing devoid of trees. Except, if one with sharp eyes looked closely, it would notice that any leaves tossed by the wind never quite make it across the clearing. The leaves would halt as if pinned against a surface that isn’t there before falling when the wind released them. A bird that had been swooping down to grab a worm had smacked into an invisible barrier and then plummeted to the grass in a pile of feathers and wings.

A gray circle appeared in the empty air, and then whirled open revealing a dark shaft. And from this shaft, grey spheres nearly the size of a pony with a single optical lens floated from with no apparent wings or anything that could pinpoint their source of flight. Five orbs formed a ring and received instructions via radio before their stealth system kicked in. They vanished save for the ring of round shadows on the grass. Then the shadows spread apart and zipped across the grass, going off in different directions.

Ponyville greeted the morning with it usual bustle of civility and life. The ponies began about their daily routines; the shopkeepers opened their shops, the gardeners tended to their flowers and crops, and foals headed off to the schoolhouse. Most ponies sent up a small prayer of thanks to Princess Celestia for bringing the sun to warm and brighten their day.

Shadows crossed the grassy knoll toward the bustling town. The shades on the grass were oblong and the overhead source could not be seen by the naked eye. Just as they reached the outer edge of the town, they separated, going in different directions.
One shadow coasted along the cobble street. A stallion with a ragged mane was sitting at a café dining table with a small bowl of sugar cubes. He casually tossed one in the air and caught it in his mouth. And as he tossed up the second one, his mouth opened to catch the small white treat, a shadow passed over his face. No sugar cube landed on his tongue. He opened one eye and looked up, but there was no sugar cube to be seen.

The shadow coasted away from the café, cataloguing its first sample. It made its way toward a tall round building with splendid décor. It slipped in through an open window and into a large room draped in fine cloth and dresses. A large white cat who had been snapping on the edge of a wardrobe opened one eye. Opal watched the shade on the floor circle the room, even passing her oblivious owner who was busy at her sewing machine. Rarity’s red eyeglasses perched on her nose, reflecting the tediously stitch work on the skirt, not noticing the shade moving across her work table, mere inches from her foreleg.

A gemstone disappear as the shade passed over it and then a set of needles from round pincushion sitting at the corner of the worktable. She meowed loudly as she hopped down from her tall perch, her tail high and her nose in the air.

“Quiet, Opal. Mama has to concentrate.” Rarity reached for the pin cushion, but her hoof found nothing. “Oh dear, now where did I put that pin cushion?”

Rarity left the table, looking this way and that looking for the red ball of pins. The shade moved across the half-finished skirt. Opal’s eyes widen in fear as a long metal arm with a menacing claw grasped the cloth. With a soft rip, a piece was torn free leaving behind a ragged hole in the exquisite material. The piece was carried up and disappeared along with the claw into empty air
.
Opal backed up with a frightful mew as the shadow turned to her. A line of red light dashed across her puffed form and the shadow approached her. Opal backed up, putting her rear against the wall, her back arching sharply as she hissed.

“I know, darling, it’s frustrating when you can’t find something you need!” Rarity said. Her head was in a chest looking for the lost pincushion.

Opal spat as the shadow rushed her. A sharp rip and high pitched yowl caused Rarity to bang her head on the edge of the chest. She rubbed her head gingerly, mindful of her mane. “Opal, what is the commotion all about?”

Opal was clinging to the ceiling with all four claws, quivering in sheer terror, and her puffed tail was nearly as thick as a baseball bat. Her ribbon and the fur were missing from her scalp. Rarity stomped a hoof, “Opal, come down here this instant! Stop being silly.”

Rarity’s eyes caught the gaping hole in the dress that she had spent all night working on. “Opalescence! What have you done!?”

The shade slipped out through the window, cataloguing cat hair and ribbon fibers.

Author's Note

Revision.

Made minor corrections in grammar and so forth.