Prologue: Happy Birthday, Lunar Orbit!
“...I’ll be back before you know it, Lunar. You can count on Star Catcher!”
He had heard it a million times before, and he would gladly listen to it a million more. Star Catcher had never returned from her mission aboard the Phantom Orbiter, and Lunar Orbit had been waiting down in Equestria for some sign that she would return. The cake he had made commemorating her return had gone half rotten, and by the time Lunar Orbit was called to the space program, everypony had assumed the crew of the Phantom Orbiter dead.
Lunar Orbit had always relied on Star Catcher’s help in the big fields of study. They had both met in college, and Lunar wasn’t afraid to admit that he wasn’t the smartest one there. He could remember their first meeting as if it had been the week before.
It wasn’t any special kind of meeting, like the ones you heard about in old pony tales. Lunar Orbit and Star Catcher had met during a lunch break. Lunar Orbit was chowing down on a dandelion sandwich, and Star Catcher happened to be walking by during one of his art rants.
He was having artist’s block at the time, and was making a big fuss over which color went where…
“I have no doubt that I needed to add more blue to her mane, but how could I have done that if I was out of blue!? This is stupid! How can I fix a drawing I can’t even remember? Oh, I’m losing so many bits…”
Lunar Orbit suddenly felt a soft hoof rest on his shoulder. The small white petal left from his sandwich flew down from his mouth, landing in the grass below. Before he could make sense of the hoof on his shoulder, the most heavenly voice he had ever heard filled his ears, although the words weren’t so angelic.
“Could you please be quiet? You’re annoying the entire campus.” Lunar Orbit turned around, his eyes widening at her face. Her eyes shone as if the stars had flown down, their only mission being to rest in her gentle eyes. She had a slight smile radiating on the side of her face like that of the sun.
Lunar Orbit couldn’t keep his mouth closed. This mare was one of the most beautiful things he had ever laid his eyes upon. “I-I’m sorry! I guess I was being kind of silly, huh?” The bubbly mare giggled, trotting away to meet up with her group of pony friends.
It was kind of silly, now that he thought about it. They fell in love because Lunar Orbit had anger management issues. Not many ponies had the right to say that.
Once more, he pressed the button on the small screen, watching her face reappear once more. “Earth to Orbit, Earth to Orbit, come in, Lunar! Gosh, these things are so hard to work, and I’ve been sending you these things for a year now! I’m sorry I haven’t returned home yet, but something came up. We have to dock on this ship to bring in some passengers. Apparently their entire mainframe went down just before the solar eclipse last week. You don’t need to worry about me, though. I’ll be back before you know it, Lunar! You can count on Star Catcher!”
“Dammit, Star, why’d you have to go? I should never have pushed you to go on that cursed ship!” From behind, he heard the door of his room slide open, the joyful talk from his three shipmates shaking him from his reveries and prompting him to lie up in his bed.
“Yo Lunar, what’s going on?” Cloud Starlight was always the first one to speak of the three. He was considered the captain of the Nightfall and was the main decision-maker for the team. His quick wits and creativity towards problems seemed superior to anypony else. Lunar only believed he got to be captain because everypony was fond of his light brown mane, straightened to perfection.
“You’re not watching that depressing message again, are you? You have to stop this, Lunar, or you’ll kill yourself inside.” Sugar Song always seemed to be the one trying to cheer Lunar up, but Lunar hardly paid attention. He feared that giving even the slightest bit of conversation would result in them drawing compassion for each other, if Sugar Song hadn’t already found herself attracted to Lunar Orbit. Her light blue self only made Lunar think of himself.
In appearance they looked almost similar, but the light blue fur of Sugar Song reminded Lunar of his inner soul, his emotions, and more importantly, his heart. “I’m fine, Sugar Song. Don’t worry about me.” Sugar sat down to cross her hooves, giving him a disapproving stare.
“This isn’t a game, Lunar. Someday your sadness will come back to bite you in the plot, and I’m going to be the one laughing at you.” Lunar Orbit knew this to be a lie, as Sugar was too sweet to commit anything more serious than that.
“She’s right, you know. The scientific probability of you dying from a broken heart is coming close to a ninety percent. If this continues, I have no doubt that death is imminent.” And then there was Moon Hunter, probably the most logical of them all. Over the course of the year aboard the Nightfall, Lunar had become good friends with Moon, and the two were rarely seen apart. The only time you ever saw them separated would probably be when Lunar Orbit needed to cool off and listen to Star Catcher’s voice again.
“Moon, I understand that, but what else can I do? After all those years together, I can’t just give her up like that.” It was true, Lunar couldn’t just forget the mare he had loved for so long. She had fixed him, and he swore to protect her no matter the price. Now she was gone, and Lunar had felt like he had broken his promise to her.
As always, Cloud strode up to Lunar, taking him by the shoulder. “Come on, now! There’s something you should probably see. We’ve been working on it for months now, and I think you’ll really like it. Afterwards, I’ll give you our next mission briefing, alright?” Lunar Orbit sighed, nodding his head and giving the team a half-smile.
Standing up, he looked over to Sugar Song, who went over to the closet, pressing her hoof to the scanner and giggling as the door clicked open. She pulled out the metal suit, dragging it over to Lunar Orbit.
“I never understood why we had to wear these things at all times…” He chuckled to himself as he slipped into the cold armor, the helmet immediately latching onto his fur. He didn’t ever bother putting the visor down. It wasn’t as if he had to leave the ship on a regular basis.
Lunar Orbit was the engineer of the ship, and preferred to stay indoors to handle technical problems. He hated the idea of travelling out into the unknown. The only reason he accepted the odd invitation from the space program to go on the same mission as Star was to find her.
He always thought his voice sounded robotic inside the suit, even when his visor was up. “Guys...do you think we’ll ever find it…?” He hated bringing the topic up at all times of day. Or night, depending on a pony’s point of view. He felt he posed a bother to his friends every time he said the words Phantom Orbiter.
Sugar Song replied in a dull whisper. “Lunar, we will never find the Phantom Orbiter. Just be lucky you’re a pony in space. That’s a one in a million chance, and you take it for granted.”
“I do not take it for granted. Maybe I just thought we’d be doing more than floating around day and night. I want some excitement.” He hated to tell Sugar off, but he wasn’t going to sugarcoat the truth for her.
“You think you’re the only one that wishes that, Lunar? If I could travel out into space and encounter a mystery, I would immediately take up the offer. Now check your guns and get your plot out there before Cloud gets impatient. You know how he can be.” Lunar did know. Many times he had gotten called out for laziness aboard the ship, but who could blame Lunar? There were never any technical problems to fix on the Nightfall.
As Sugar Song walked away, Lunar frowned, his eyes going back into their depressing glance. Every other pony had to make him feel like his attempts at these things were worthless.
Lowering the visor on the suit, he tapped the hoof to his right, watching the pistol spring out. He felt the string dangle in front of his mouth. Grabbing it in his teeth, he pulled down, hearing the gun cock and fire, though no bullets came out. He would need to remember to fill it later, when he had the time. If he had the time. He tapped the hoof sharply again, hearing the pistol bounce back into place.
Tapping his left hoof, he almost fell backwards at the force of the rifle. It seemed much heavier when he was wearing the suit rather than looking at it.
Bringing his nuzzle back once more, he heard the gun cock and fire, yet again failing to produce any bullets. He never believed in filling a gun when unecessary. He could easily hurt another pony doing that.
Just as he straightened his guns once more, the door slid open, the soft whirring music to Lunar’s ears.
“Come on, you rusty engineer, we got a job to do, and nothing will get done with you slacking off!” Cloud’s voice shattered the happy sounds that filled Lunar’s mind. Grumbling, Lunar stomped out the door, keeping his eyes glued to the ground.
He could hear the cheers and stomps from his friends even before he looked up and saw a large banner, gleefully proclaiming a “Happy Birthday, Lunar!”
That’s right! It was his birthday. Trapped aboard the Nightfall, Lunar didn’t bother to keep track of days, but he knew he could count on Moon to keep the calendar in check.
Moon Hunter bounced up, grabbing Lunar and flinging him towards the hologram table, now complete with a dehydrated cake and a bottle of cider.
The main tradition for them wasn’t placing candles on the cake, but making the cake fluff out. They took any safety precautions possible, making sure to keep open flames to a minimum. As a result, their wish could be granted by pouring water on the cake and making it ready to eat.
“I can’t believe it...you guys went to all of this trouble to make me happy?” He looked around, the deadly stares penetrating his soul. It didn’t last long, though, as all brightened up almost immediately.
Cloud leaned over the table, getting close to the visor on Lunar, still down from gun preparations. “Of course not! We celebrate all of our birthdays around here, right? We obviously want you to have a nice birthday, but it’s not solely for your amusement. Now come on, let’s get this party started!”
The other two pushed a small cup of water to Lunar, their eyes edging him on. He sighed, turning his head down and letting thoughts of Star float through his mind and up to his horn, glowing with the magic that he called love. He fluttered his eyes open, watching the cup float through the air.
Sugar giggled, Cloud rolling his eyes as Lunar had fun with the cup, letting it dance through the air at his expense.
When he had finally had his fill of fun, he gently swayed the glass over the small, open pack of what space ponies called “cake.” He allowed the water to slowly drop onto the dry rectangle, slowly moving back as it expanded into a large, yellow rectangle.
“Happy Birthday!!!” The shouts from the entire crew rattled in his ears, his smile widening with each passing second. They may not be the most selfless ponies, but after being stuck with them on the ship for a year, he couldn’t imagine life without them.
“You guys shouldn’t have...I feel obligated to repay the favor…” Lunar hated accepting gifts. Any time somepony offered him something, he felt the need to give something greater for their kindness.
Sugar gave him a punch to the side, regretting her decision as soon as she hit the metal. “You...really should just accept this, Lunar. We may be off this ship sooner than you think...ow…” For a moment, Lunar had no idea what she was talking about.
And then Cloud grabbed him again.
“You haven’t heard? We’re being decommissioned. They can’t afford to keep us up here any longer, Lunar. Effective next week, we’re going down in this ship. I’m sorry Lunar…”
Lunar knew that Cloud was trying to bring up Star in a subtle way, but he also knew that his chances were forever ruined. He would never know what happened to her.
“I’ll be fine, Cloud, really...we can still be friends when we get off this ship, right? Nothing says we can’t.” The others nodded in agreement, Moon moving over and pushing Cloud out of the way.
“You’re forgetting the most important part of a birthday! We’ve been keeping it a secret for months now, but it’s about time you saw, don’t you say?” Lunar didn’t know how to respond. If they had a gift for him, he couldn’t turn it down, but he had to do something!
Patting his hoof on the ground back and forth, he gave a sheepish grin.
His eyes followed the three, moving left towards the door to what they called the “living room.” It wasn’t filled with furniture or anything, but when the four gathered in there, it felt much more welcoming than the rest of the ship. Waiting for the door to open, Lunar grinned beneath his visor, running as soon as he heard the two large pieces of metal clang apart.
Trotting into the room, he didn’t know what to expect, but, charging in, he was stopped by the second most wonderful thing he had ever seen.
In the center of the large room stood a large portrait with a familiar face staring down at Lunar.
“We only ever saw her in that holographic message of yours, but from what we’ve seen, we thought this would give you some closure.” Moon Hunter never failed to hit Lunar where it counted the most.
Lunar had no words to express his gratitude for his friends. He didn’t even know if he could call it gratitude.
They had gotten almost every detail right. Her golden mane shone off of the lights and her eyes were calm, warming Lunar’s heart. Her shining white coat dazzled his eyes, and before he knew it, he was tearing up.
He didn’t know how to react, how to respond to this masterpiece. All he could do was run out of the room, the small splotches of water tracing behind him all the way out.
Lunar didn’t care where he went, as long as it gave him privacy. He turned corners and stood in front of doors waiting for them to open until his efforts led him to a small, quiet broom closet.
Darting in, he sat down, looking around for a towel to wipe his eyes with. Spotting a white blob in the back corner, he crawled and rubbed his eyes against it, feeling the soft material soothing him back to tranquility.
He sat there, thinking about his friends for a short time. Sugar Song was always trying to cheer him up, and Moon Hunter got away with being smart, leaving Lunar with nothing to do on the ship except think about life. Cloud may be bossy around Lunar, but it had to be because he cared about Lunar’s health.
He didn’t get much thought in before he was roused by the blaring of alarms. It was strange that you could hear everything in one of these ships, no matter how secluded you were. Lunar shot up, the weight of the armor almost pulling him back down as he heaved his way through the door, which refused to open until it got proper identification on him.
“What’s going on!? Is there a technical error I can fix?” His words flowed out of his mouth like a calm breeze, though he knew that his thoughts were focused on Star Catcher only.
“Lunar, a ship’s coming in at high speeds towards us, and there’s an imminent collision between us and them! Get your armor ready to go out, because there’s a chance it could breach the defenses of the Nightfall!” For once, Cloud Starlight was beginning to sound serious. Without a second thought, Lunar dashed off, the armor on his back becoming a feather as he charged through the thankfully reluctant doors of the airlock. He watched the others charge in after him, their faces spread with panic.
Sugar Song looked more worried than the rest of the team. “If we don’t make it back, just remember that this has been the most fun I’ve ever had!”
Cloud pulled down his visor, monitoring the activity of the computers from his helmet. “Impact with the intruder in twenty seconds!”
Lunar wasn’t thinking clearly. He was just as panicked as the rest of the ponies. Going to a corner, he grabbed the lever that helped to encase the spacesuits, specially designed to fit over the Space Tech Armor.
A large pocket of air released into his face as the doors slid open.
“14 seconds to impact! Everypony, hurry up!”
Lunar was being rushed, and it made him fidgety. He grabbed the suit, putting on the helmet before anything else. Even if he didn’t get the hoof platings, he would at least be able to breathe outside of the ship.
Snapping on the back hoof platings, he heard Cloud’s voice shout, almost at a scream at that point. “Get ready you guys! I’ll see you on the other side!!!”
Sometimes, Lunar wondered why everything meant death to Cloud and Sugar. Every situation had an escape. Then he took a second thought towards Cloud’s words. If he died, then that would mean…
Boom!
It seemed there would be no time to think about the consequences. He heard the right side of the ship explode just as he finished securing the breast plates on. He felt the spacesuit attach each part into one until it became part of Lunar’s armor.
He watched the airlock doors open, space quickly invading the small space. He felt a strong suction on his body as he was quickly pulled off into the emptiness they called space.
Space itself was a depressing place. There was a reason Lunar refused to venture out into the depths of nothing, not even to finish the mural they had started back in Equestria. He had heard stories, stories that gave way to aliens, monsters, and tragedies that broke ponies long before his time. He knew if he ventured out, something bad was going to happen, and he wasn’t very far off in his estimate.
Turning back as he was launched from the Nightfall, he saw everything go to pieces. As the front of the second ship made direct contact with Lunar’s room, the entire ship exploded, the oxygen tanks only providing fuel for the growing flames. Everything, from Star Catcher’s message to the painting his friends had lovingly made, all gone, forever lost to a devastation that would never be remembered.
Floating from his ship, Lunar felt angry. His fury bubbled inside of him, his rage almost released into his suit, the helmet already fogging from his huffing. He tried to calm himself, taking deep breaths as he felt the coolness of space finally wash over him.
Before he got the chance to relax, he felt a strong hoof grab him by the head, dragging him back, back to the ship he had just watched burn into scrap metal.
“Lunar, where are you going? No dirt naps out here, got that?” Cloud’s voice came in through the helmet as clear as day, and it only made Lunar angrier. He was done listening to Cloud make all of the hasty decisions, done with his crew trying to cheer him up. He was done listening to what other ponies wanted him to do. “We’re going to go check out that ship that collided with ours. It seems fairly intact, and we’ll die out here.”
It took all of Lunar’s strength not to mutter back words of hate to Cloud. Taking one more deep breath, Lunar allowed himself to be pulled along on the escapade, taking the short time to close his eyes and let his emotions take over.
At first, he didn’t know what he was feeling. Visions of the ship, of Star, and even of himself danced through his head, all playing different, melodramatic scenes throughout his mind. He didn’t know if he wanted to punch Cloud in the face for all of the verbal abuse he had put Lunar through or if he wanted to simply float off into space and run out of oxygen.
He could feel his body jerking, anger finally taking over and controlling Lunar’s body. he thrashed around, the thought of a hoof to Cloud’s face forcing a smile to Lunar. He began to laugh, only then remembering words he had once heard from Star. “If you let anger rule your life, you’ll only find sadness…”
She had been right in telling him so. He could hear the sounds of other ponies talking into his helmet, but he ignored them, implanting the vision of a lotus blossom into his mind. Flowers always helped him to unwind, to actually think about what he was doing and what he needed to do.
When he felt that he had finally calmed himself to the extent that he could face his crew, he opened his eyes, expecting to once again see the vacuum of space. It was only then that he realized he could no longer feel Cloud’s hoof on his helmet, and he wasn’t being dragged anymore.
He was lying on a hard surface, staring up into the faces of Sugar and Moon.
“He’s waking up! Finally…” The dismal voice of Sugar brought an odd smile to Lunar’s face. it was good to hear her talking bad about him every once in a while. “Lunar Orbit, you better have a good reason to pass out on us like that!”
Lunar didn’t need to think of a reason. He had closed his eyes to think, nothing more. “Just shut up, Sugar…” He grinned through his helmet, almost proud of himself. His gaiety quickly transformed into animosity when a large hoof from Sugar smacked his helmet, which began to rattle around his head.
Trying to sit up straight, Lunar put a hoof to the ground. Once his head stopped rattling around, he unleashed the latch on the spacesuit, watching the whole thing fall apart onto the ground.
“That’s strange...I can breathe...where are we?”
Looking around, the bland, cream colors of the walls brought no interest to him. It seemed the only points he would take note of, if any, would be the stairs to the left of Moon, leading up to what appeared to be a lookout point.
“Guys, where’s Cloud? Didn’t he drag me in…” The two others looked to each other, then back at Lunar, both gently resting him back on the ground.
Moon was the first to speak up. “About an hour ago he left to check the wreckage of our ship, and he hasn’t radioed in...we’re afraid he might’ve passed, Lunar.” For the first few seconds, Lunar didn’t know how to react. Cloud had always been a bossy leader, but he was almost like a father to Lunar, one of the people who only pushed you so they could watch you succeed.
He didn’t feel the tears streaming down his cheeks, nor did he feel his face turning red with anger. For a year Cloud had given Lunar friendly punches that always turned out to be painful. He had given Lunar impossible tasks and yelled at him more than a good amount, yet Lunar still found a parental position for him.
“God bless him, wherever he may be…” The words sailed out of his mouth as he wiped his eyes, standing up and staring straight ahead. “Now, where are we?”
“After the collision, we decided it best to board the passenger ship that wrecked us. It would appear that nopony is on board, but I can’t vouch for that.” So, they were aboard the same spacecraft that destroyed everything Lunar had to remember?
“I promise you, Star, that I will avenge the loss of Cloud and the disappearance of you…”
Taking a step back, Lunar scanned the area for any sign of recent activity, only coming up with the general lights of the area, which could have been on for a long time, to their knowledge.
The three of them didn’t notice a hatch opening up below them until they heard a metallic voice echo around the area. “Hello, and welcome to Ravana Station.” All of them turned quickly to face the voice, tapping their hooves to release their weapons.
Standing in place in front of the stairs was a white robot, small in size, maybe a foal. it’s mane was composed of pink and purple, both neatly curled. It gave the easy impression of a regular pony, though its voice helped reveal the being’s origins.
“My name is Sweetie Bot, and I will be your tour guide on our wonderful ship.”
Lunar hated robots. He had never seen one up close, but late night movies had made it hard for him to expect anything good to come from them. Thinking back to the movies, he also realized that automatons usually killed without introducing themselves.
Walking up close to the “Sweetie Bot,” he stuck his hoof out, a gasp catching onto the cold puffs of air when she reached up and grabbed his hoof, slowly shaking it up and down.
Lunar introduced himself, trying to forget that Cloud wasn’t there. “Hello there. My name is-”
“Lunar Orbit. I have studied much about you since your arrival on the Ravana.” her mouth continued to stay open for a couple of seconds before closing, almost as if she had wanted to continue.
Lunar Orbit, freaked out, took a step back. Nopony had ever said something so creepy to him. Maybe his theory about robots in general had been right all along. “Y-yea, that would be me, along with my crew. Your ship, the Ravana, just hit our ship, the Nightfall. It would be greatly appreciated if we could stay on the ship until it descends back home.”
The android stood in place, a slight whirring noise coming from inside of her. When she reared her head back upwards, a sweet, melodic voice came from her mouth, which didn’t match up with the movements. “Well, I did say I’d give you a tour, right? Apple Bloom should be on her way to the ship, too, and we’ll have the best of times!”
Lunar took another step back. Something didn’t seem right to him. First, the ship crashes into them, and now the robot has a real filly’s voice?
Circling around the Sweetie Bot, Lunar made sure that she had nothing to conceal on the outside, as he couldn’t very well check the inside of her body.
“I think that Sweetie is giving us a kind offer we should accept. There’s nothing better to do, and we’ll probably die if we sit around here waiting for a real pony to help.” Moon seemed confident in his choice of words, going to stand next to the robot which Lunar couldn’t yet trust.
It wasn’t until Sugar followed in Moon’s step that Lunar was forced to give in and stride up to the automaton. “Now listen here, robot. If you try anything funny, I will dismantle you, piece by piece.”
The voice that replied was acute, the words as bland as when she arrived. “I do not understand the definitions of the words you speak, Lunar Orbit. Please, follow me and I will be your ship’s guide.” Lunar grunted, his comment almost completely ignored. Even his friends weren’t going to get involved.
Most of the tour consisted of different recreational areas, ponies calmly attending to their daily activities. As awed as his friends were, Lunar wasn’t impressed. There were barely any ponies actually on the ship, and the place seemed like it hadn’t been taken care of in weeks.
“Guys, it’s nice and all, but I think we should get a cabin and rest up.” He didn’t sound so convincing, his friends reassuring him that everything was going to be fine.
Sighing, he turned away, looking around for something to occupy his time while his friends were enticed by the robot, which was suddenly all too kind to new arrivals. That wasn’t how golems, metal or stone, were supposed to act.
Stepping away from the small group, Lunar pushed open the blue door nearest to them, stepping inside and shutting himself inside.
He wanted to cry, to assure himself that everything was going to be fine, but he knew it wasn’t true. It was a gut feeling -- something bad was going to happen.
“...And two. And one. And two. That’s it, everypony!” Lunar spun around, her eyes locking onto the figure at the front pedestal. The electric mane was dazzling, her purple sunglasses covering her emotions, although she appeared to be happy.
The three ponies in the crowd stood next to a turntable, stretching their hooves out to the soft beat that echoed room, seemingly coming from an unknown source.
Walking up to the podium, Lunar introduced himself once again. “Hello there, I’m sorry to interrupt your class, but could I possibly join last minute? I don’t exactly know what it is that you’re doing, but it’s bound to be better than a tour of the same rooms twice!”
The tall mare gave no recognition to Lunar, continuing on in her training. “And another one! Two! One! That’s it, ponies! Now, time to get to the beats!” This time, Lunar wasn’t going to be ignored.
Stepping in front of the upbeat mare, Lunar waved a few hooves in her face, suddenly contorting when Lunar blocked her vision of the class. Her nose scrunched up, the glasses raising.
Her blood red eyes shook Lunar, from his head to his hooves. It was as if she was staring into his soul. Poking a hoof out, she touched the musical mare on the shoulder, ice running up his hoof and to his body.
It was another robot. Lunar quivered, his eyes going bloodshot. turning towards the rest of the occupants, he finally began to see it -- every single pony in the room was made of metal, following the same procedures over and over. They hadn’t even touched their records.
“Y-you can hear me, right?” The “mare” in front of her cocked her head down, a small chuckle escaping in her auto-tuned whisper.
“Hello, Lunar Orbit. Did you miss me? Come and stay for a while…” Lunar Orbit looked up, his eyes going blank. This was all just some pathetic attempt to scare him. He wasn’t one to get frightened easily, and it was obvious that Moon Hunter had hacked into the mainframe of the ship, although Lunar would never know how he’d done it.
“Ha ha, that’s funny, but it won’t work on me. Nice try, though, the eyes are an amazing touch.” His laugh was cut short by the heavy grinding that started in front of him, spreading across what seemed like the entire ship.
A heavy pair of hooves grabbed Lunar, picking him up by the neck. “Don’t insult my wubs! That’s totally uncool, man!” Lunar stared into the deadly eyes of his attacker, his heart racing. He only got one good look at the inscription on the machine before he saw the room fly by.
The speed he flew at was simply amazing, or it would have been amazing, if the robot hadn’t thrown him. He watched the other automatons go flying by as he hit maximum velocity. He had no power to yell out for help as he soared, his mind only bringing death.
And then he hit the wall, his bones cracking as his vision went blurry. The last thing he saw before his sight turned black was Sugar, rushing in with her weapons out, shooting like a mad pony.
Lunar woke up screaming. He didn’t dare to sit up, his eyes darting left and right for any sign of a robot. Every time he moved his eyes, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Reaching a hoof up to his temple, he felt a soft patch of fur next to him.
Quickly sitting up, he fell down, the grogginess hitting him just as suddenly.
“If you sit up too quickly, you might hurt your head, dear…” Sugar’s voice sounded almost heavenly at this point. He turned his head, smiling to her.
“Thank you...I saw that…” He paused, waiting for a response from Sugar, only gaining a worried look. “Wait...what’s wrong, Sugar?”
Her voice came out in a hurried bunch, her eyes nervously looking to all sides. “Lunar, that...thing...almost killed you! I almost shot you, too...and, that Sweetie Bot...it turned on us. Even worse, it started screaming like a foal, a real life foal!”
“Oh no...we’re trapped on a ship with crazed androids! It’s just like the movies I’ve seen...and the stories I’ve heard.”
“Sugar, we’ll be fine. How are the wounds?” For a second, she seemed confused.
“Huh? Oh! Well, I was able to get a bandage around you, but your suit took some pretty harsh damage, and your skull has been fractured. You should be able to walk, but try not to take any serious hits to the suit or stomach, or else risk breaking both.” Celestia, she may be annoying at times, but she was one hell of a doctor. Sometimes he didn’t give her enough credit for keeping up on everypony’s condition.
“Thanks, Sugar.” Slowly standing up, he felt Sugar help him up, his legs wobbling back and forth. As soon as he was stable again, he gave her orders. “You have to stay here. It’s dangerous out there, and I can’t have you getting hurt. I’ll go find Moon and bring him back, alright?” She nodded, and Lunar could’ve sworn he saw a slight blush on her cheeks when he mentioned keeping her safe.
Circling around, he groaned, the pain taking over his body. Standing up straight, he tried to keep his composure, walking off with a tear in his eye.
The door was gigantic.
The more he stared at the solid shine of the way out, the more he felt compelled to just ram into it and try to break it down, risk or not.
“Gosh, you’d think for a passenger ship, security would be so much lighter. How can I possibly get through...maybe there’s a switch around here somewhere that I can use.”
At first, all he heard was the sound of running hooves, which was quickly followed by a loud voice. Stepping back, Lunar stopped to listen, making sure that it wasn’t another mechanical terror. When he stopped, though, all he could hear was silence.
He knew where it had come from. There was a flight of stairs about ten feet from his position, but he didn’t know whether it was truly the best idea to check out a random noise, especially after his last venture into the uncharted territory.
Sighing, he also realized that the switch for the door could rest at the top of the stairs. “Does everything have to be so damn hard down here?” she mumbled under breath.
Stepping up to the stairs, a creaking noise could be heard in the distance from behind the large door that Sugar had sworn Hunter had gone through right before Lunar had walked out. Turning back, he found himself to be disappointed at the doors, still concealing the hidden treasures behind.
The only other odd occurrence to be found was a small hissing from below, which Lunar took to be steam from the boiler room below.
Taking one last look back to make sure he wasn’t being followed, Lunar put one hoof on the first stair, the echoes from the metal reverberating through the entirety of the recreational areas. Scrunching his face up, Lunar opened an eye, relieved at the lack of other ponies, or robots, reacting to the loud step.
He continued to the top without incident, though he had the strange feeling that he was being watched. His suit gave him the vision of an eagle, yet he didn’t see anypony staring at him, not even from the hidden crevices he could spy. Yet, something felt wrong about the entire situation -- somepony was definitely surveying him, possibly as a potential target.
Shaking off his shudders, Lunar looked forward, the voice coming back into the small enclave. “Try our new Rosebud Sandwiches down at the Planet Cafe. When you’re done, don’t forget to check out our wonderful recreational area!” So it was just a sign...an advertisement for food.
He chuckled, the thought of another living creature actually watching him sounding silly to him all of a sudden.
Walking straight past the sign, he bucked it over, watching it fall down the story and crash at the bottom.
“That had to have gotten some attention…”
He ignored his pestering thoughts, his mind focused on the view in front of him. staring straight ahead, he was looking at the gray and red of a lever, which he rushed over to. Ignoring all caution signs around it, he grabbed the lever with his teeth, pulling down…
And getting rained on. It was the fire alarm. Lunar grunted, though he was happy to be wearing the suit, which protected him from nearly all weather-related incidents.
Turning to the right, Lunar almost stomped a hoof to the ground, another switch coming into view. He laughed, the irony of the situation finally hitting him in the brain. Pulling this new lever, he heard gears rattling, a loud scraping noise filling the room as he turned to watch the large doors part, giving him access to the depths of the Ravana.
