The red sun had long since taken over the sky painting the small town of Riftton in the familiar crimson hue. Travelers that first arrived from other systems generally hid inside until the harsh sun would set, letting them wander as the two moons lit their way. The inhabitants of Riftton on the other hand could not afford such luxury. Most of them worked on the ranches. Day in and day out they would tend to the reedrats, their small and notoriously unpleasant livestock. At first many would be confused why ponies were breeding such bothersome creatures, but so far from the core worlds there was little that would keep one safe. Fortunately for the inhabitants of this particular planet, reedrats were a delicacy for the griffon. Not even the most careless bandits, slavers, or even more loathsome creatures would ever dare threaten the food shipments to the Griffon Tsars.
The ground was hard, and the temperature unbearably hot. The few ponies that could afford it had houses built of massive clay walls. During the scorching hot days the walls stayed cool, and during the long nights they radiated heat. The average pony was not so lucky though. Most of the houses were simple dwellings of welded together sheet metal. During the day they were unbearably hot and did not help against the cold of the night. Still it was better than what most ponies had. They were safer than anypony, at least baring those living on the core worlds.
The market in the centre of town was different though. Like a living pony it changed every day. Different merchants would come in and display their wares. Mostly it was just small time merchants with mundane items just trying to get by. Sometimes a large shipment came in though and some more interesting items would be sold. Mostly it was scavenged goods from the fringe, sometimes it was some new trivial thing that was all the rage in the core worlds and ever so rarely it was an especially lucky find in old technology that the pony either didn’t know just what kind of profit he could earn with it in the core worlds, or didn`t have the nerves to try to travel with such a precious cargo.
In the market, a light red unicorn stallion with a light brown mane paced annoyed in front of a shop. “Last week you said it would cost one hundred credits!”
“That was then, now it’s two hundred. Take it or leave it.” The old stallion behind the stall said, polishing a chip he had bought just that day.
“Come On! A new shipment just came in. You have more than enough to spare.”
“That may be, but the whole town has been busy cleaning up after your little ‘accident’.” He growled, “Do you have any idea how much business you cost me Morningstar?”
“But that was just an accident.” The red unicorn whined.
“Doesn’t change the fact that I had to close shop for two whole days!” The stallion bellowed, pointing an accusing hoof at Morningstar.
The red stallion recoiled at the outburst, but, gritting his teeth he held his ground, staring down the merchant. Just as Morningstar was about to say something that would have made even the most hardboiled smuggler flinch somepony tapped him on the shoulder. He turned seeing a familiar, bright yellow earth pony with an orange mane covered almost completely in leather barding standing behind him. “Lightning!” Morningstar exclaimed hugging the other stallion, “What are you doing here? I thought you were busy.”
“I saw you from my workshop,” The yellow stallion said, ignoring the fact that his workshop was on the other side of town, “The question is what you are doing here.”
“For now I’m dealing with this crook.” Morningstar said scowling at the shopkeeper.
“Come on, let’s go for walk.”
Lightning hurried through the market weaving between the ponies milling about. The red unicorn did his best to follow, but, distracted as he was, he did not miss the angry looks directed at him. As they came to a workshop with a lightning bolt drawn on the door. The morning followed the yellow stallion into the shop.
“Okay…” Lightning said sitting down, “Now how about you tell me what you were doing in the market.”
“My last energy pack burned through today. I was just trying to buy a new one.” Star grumbled.
The yellow stallion sighed, “I told you to call if you needed anything.”
“You have enough on your plate with all the repairs. By the way are you making good progress with that thing?” Morningstar asked pointing at the small space fighter in the workshop, desperate to change the subject.
“Surprisingly well.” Lightning chuckled, “You know these smugglers, always overclocking their power conduits. Now don’t think you’re out of the woods just yet. You still owe me an explanation of what happened on the ridge.”
“It was just an accident.”
“Star. I don’t know what happened but you blew a hole the size of a small cruiser into the ridge. The whole lake came crashing down on us for crying out loud. If I hadn’t just recalibrated the power array for the town the shields would have been fried. What happened up there anyway?”
“The machine went-”
“Please tell me you didn’t continue work on that thing.” Lightning said, his normally calm voice cracking.
“It’s not what you think… It’s a new machine designed to let a pony charge up a gem.”
“STAR!” The yellow stallion exclaimed angrily. He took a deep breath before continuing. “You promised me you would stop experimenting on power gems! We’ve been over this! Not only is it dangerous but also highly illegal.”
“Oh come on Lightning, we both don’t care what the coalition decides is legal. Half the stuff on the market is not legal. Breeding reedrats isn’t even legal!”
“Maybe, but they don’t send officers out for breeding rats!”
Morningstar shrank back at Lightning’s outburst. It was rare that the stallion even rose his voice, but he would not be dissuaded. “Lightning, I’m close, I can feel it. I’m just missing something.”
“I don’t care how close you are, or how similar the readings are. I don’t even care how much you can help everypony if your crazy research bears fruit. Do you know how long I searched for you? I thought you had died in the accident!”
“I… I don’t-“
“Three days! For three days I searched that giant hole. Everypony said you were dead, but I kept looking. On the third day I found you in a tree half a click from the site. I still don’t know how you got there unscathed.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Please, just promise me you will bury your research, or at least put it on hold.”
Morningstar opened his mouth to protest, but faltered under Lightning’s pleading gaze. Reluctantly he agreed to put his research on hold. Making his way through the streets of Riftton he came to his home. It was a small hovel half dug into the hillside. Inside he was met with the familiar chaos that seemed to thrive in his home. With a sigh he began cleaning all of the diagrams into his cupboards. There was no reason for them to be lying about if he couldn’t do anything with them. Sometimes it would be really helpful if he had a hoof servant like his great grandfather had once had, or could use magic like in the stories his uncle told him so many years ago.
When he eventually finished all he had left were some gems. Most of them were dull, almost colourless. One ruby was different though. It seemed to glow with energy. Just last week it was just like the other ones, but now, after what he had done it was just like the gems the coalition used. Eventually he would continue his research, for now he would have to hide it. He lifted the mattress of his small bed revealing a small safe embedded in the floor. In the box hidden inside he had his family heirlooms stored. To them he carefully packed his ruby.
Morningstar was just looking through some of the old entries of his research when a somepony hammered on the door. For a short moment he played with the idea of just ignoring it, but the ponies of Riftton were already angry with him. It would probably be best to just see what they wanted. As he opened the door a panicked Lightning laden with heavy saddlebags burst through the door, hurriedly closing it behind him.
Lightning’s eyes darted through the room. “Good, they’re not here yet.”
“Seriously Lightning, I know everypony is mad, but don’t you think you are overdoing it a bit. Nopony is going to lynch me.”
Lightning closed the blinds, blocking the last rays of the setting sun. “It’s not the townsponies. A ship from the coalition came. Some of them went to the crater you made, but a really mean looking griffon was looking for you.”
“Really mean looking… very descriptive Lightning.” Morningstar said chuckling nervously. “It can’t be that bad.”
Lightning turned to Morningstar, an icy cold look upon him “I’m serious Star. The townsponies have been keeping quiet. The griffon got mad and put Saphire in the hospital.”
Star’s smile faltered. He had never seen Lightning so scared, not even last year when the raiders attacked. “You are sure they are coalition?”
“That’s what they said, but I didn’t bother questioning them.”
“Ok… Just give me a minute.”
The red unicorn began tearing through his apartment, stuffing anything he might need into his saddlebags. After he had packed all his necessities he through his mattress aside and stuffed the box from the safe into his saddlebags. He checked everything over before he ran to the back door.
Just as he and lightning left star’s house they heard a somepony calling. “Morningstar, this is the coalition. You are under arrest for possession of illegal material. Come out with your hooves up high.”
“Just blow the damn door.” The gruff voice that could only belong to a Griffon called.
“But-”
“Now captain,” The Griffon said with a sadistic undertone in his voice, “or we will see who is stronger. You, or the door.”
“I… yes sir.”
Lightning and Morningstar looked at each other for a short moment before continuing through the ally. Behind them a small explosion rang through the night. The alley seemed to grow darker and darker as the night wrapped them in its embrace. They jumped at every slamming shutter and ducked into cover whenever they saw something move.
“Please tell me you have a plan.” Morningstar asked when he thought they were relatively safe.
“Actually, I was hoping you would have one.”
“What makes you think I would have a plan?”
Lighting stuffed his hoof into Morningstar’s mouth. “Shhh… Quite.”
“Sorry… but seriously, how could you not have a plan.”
“I was kind of preoccupied with the whole not letting the Coalition catch you thing.” Lightning said, his eyes darting at even the smallest sound. “This reminds me of the time we stole those cookies.”
“Yes, because you said it would be fine.”
“It was fine.”
Morningstar couldn’t help but chuckle, “It was until we got in a fight about who got the last one.”
“I still think the cook planned it.”
“Yes,” Morningstar said rolling his eyes. “He knew we were going to liberate those cookies, so he made an uneven amount so that we would fight.”
“Exactly.” He said grinning from ear to ear, “If it weren’t for that we would have gotten away scot free. So, what’s your plan?”
Morningstar paced back and forth. It seemed hopeless, if the coalition was already looking for him there was little he could do, but maybe there might be a way out. Lightning had been working on a small ship in his free time, but that was months from being able to lift off. Even if it could, there was nowhere to go. They needed a ship with a rift-drive, and someone who could actually pilot it. He knew that there were a few ponies with such ships in the town for now, but they would most likely just hand them over to the coalition. A smile spread itself on Morningstar’s muzzle. “You know what, I think I know just the pony.”
“Who?”
“You’ll see.”
With that Morningstar ducked under a low hanging power cable and moved through the alley with a slow trot. In the distance shouts rang through the night. Taking it slower as they made their way towards the main streets they ducked from cover to cover. As they came to one of the larger streets Morningstar froze. The street was only dimly lit but at the next corner there was somepony watching. He couldn’t tell if he was one of the coalition, but there was no way they could get across unseen while he was paying attention.
“Got any ideas Lightning?”
“Maybe… see it you can’t find any access panels.”
After only a short moment they found one of the town’s access panels hidden behind a wall grate. Careful not to make the slightest sound they lifted it and ever so slowly they laid it on the ground. Inside a multitude of wires hung loosely, all converging into one central unit. Lighting grabbed a data pad out of his pack and hooked it up to the unit. Instantly the screen lit up with numerous diagrams and displays. Morningstar couldn’t make heads or tails out of any of them, but Lightning was swiftly discarding them until he stumbled on one. Carefully the yellow pony inspected the display, moving symbols on it and changing some numbers.
“Ok, that should do it. In ten seconds we will have a window. We just have to move fast.”
Morningstar wanted to ask what he had but lightning led them back to the corner. Just as they arrived a low whining filled the street before almost all the lights turned on to full brightness. Then, just as fast as it had begun, all the lights, save for those where the guard stood turned off. Quickly they sprinted over the street, hearing shouts of confusion from the guard. In the alley they dove behind some trashcans. Quietly they sat there waiting. Hoofsteps rang through the streets until they stopped right in front of the alley.
“Crap… What was that?” The guardspony said. A crackle of static filled the air before he spoke again, “This is Leftwing. I have a situation.”
“Copy, report.” A metallic voice responded.
“The lights… they just turned on and-”
“Copy that rookie. Similar instances have been reported all over this junk pile. Return to your post.”
“But-”
“I repeat, return to your post, or you disobedience will be reported to Grimfeather.”
The guard stood still, his breaths stopping for a moment. “Copy, returning to post.”
Morningstar and Lightning stayed completely still as the sound of hoofsteps slowly receded. When they had fully disappeared in the howling wind both of them let out a breath they had not realized they had been holding. “That was close,” Morningstar whispered, “Let’s not do that again.”
“Agreed… How far is it now?”
“Not far.” Morningstar said silently moving through the alleys until they came to a large metal structure in a clearing. Drunken singing echoed through the clearing to them as the light painted the swaying forms of ponies in the streets. After checking that nopony was watching they galloped over the street. They pushed the swinging doors aside and entered trying to look as casual as possible.
Song rang through the room, patrons swaying back and forth enjoying a pint. The stench of bile and smoke lay thick in the air.
“Who are we looking for?” Lightning asked nervously.
Morningstar ignored him. His eyes wandered over the crowded room. Smugglers and the occasional bandit sat at tables, drinking and gambling. Eventually his eyes fell upon a pony sitting alone at a table in the back left corner. The cloak did an admirable job of hiding her wings, but under the hood the same familiar blueish green mane poked out. Careful as to not aggravate any of the patrons he made his way over to the cloaked pony.
“Hey Balefire,” Morningstar said sitting down, “I though you promised to check by next time you came by.”
The cloaked pony looked up. Two beautiful magenta eyes looked up with a hint of annoyance. “Morningstar?” The mare asked, all aggravation leaving the mare only to be replaced by worry. She pushed the hood back revealing her light green mane with purple highlights, “What are you doing here? Don’t you remember what happened last time you were here?”
The red unicorn’s ears flicked at the memory. “Yes, I do, but we kind of need your help?”
“Sure,” The mare said, her white teeth shining as she smiled confidently, “just tell me what you need.”
“I need you to take me off planet.”
“Nothing else? After all the gem hunting I thought it would be something hard.” Balefire said with a low chuckle, “We will go tomorrow when the coalition goons have buggered off. No reason to risk anything with them. Every time they search my ship I have to pay a hefty price for the repairs.”
“Well that might be a problem…”
“We need to go now.” Lightning said, interrupting the two ponies.
Balefire carefully eyed lightning. To his credit the stallion didn’t even flinch under the mare’s hard gaze. “And who might you be?”
“Someone who cares about my friend!” the yellow stallion exclaimed loud enough that some of the other patrons actually turned to them. A bit quitter he continued, “We don’t have time right now. We are lucky that the Coalition hasn’t grounded the whole town.”
The green maned mare laid back in her chair. “All I hear is that this is a whole bunch of your problem. Why should I risk my business, my life, for you?” She asked turning from the two stallions, “As far as I hear they are serious about catching you. If I get caught helping you I would be lucky if I just got a lifetime in the slag-pits. On the other hand, if I were to turn you in…” She began, though her voice lost the chirpy tone it had carried up until now, “I would be set for life. Tell me, what is stopping me from doing that right now?”
Lightning was just about to jump at the mare, but Morningstar blocked him with his hoof. “Balefire,” He said, sadness dripping from his words, “After all we’ve been through I would have thought you were my friend. If all I mean to you is a bag of bits, then go ahead, turn me in.” He gave a week but genuine smile, “At least then I would have helped out a friend for one last time.”
Balefire scowled at him, but before she could respond the door slammed open. The patrons grew silent as they saw the griffon enter. His beak seemed to contort as a sinister smile formed. “Please, don’t bother with me,” He said as next to him half a dozen Coalition soldiers filed into the room. They were unicorns with crystal emblems burnt into the armour on their chests. The patrons watched wide eyed. They had seen much, and even fought with almost every weapon conceivable, but none of them had ever seen a plasma rifle, one of the most exotic, and deadly, weapons, before, “Now, my friends here are looking for a pony by the name of Morningstar. They are good company, but when they are forced to run through the alleys they get a bit, let us say, unruly.” The plasma rifles unfolded, revealing the energy cells glowing in a bright green.
The griffon surveyed the room. He grinned as the bartender pointed to the back left corner of the pub. The ponies made way before him as his soldiers followed, the echoes of their metal armoured hooves ringing through the now quiet saloon. In the back left a pony sat with a coat hiding him. As the griffon came closer he grabbed two other ponies, a unicorn mare and a pegasus stallion, and bolted. The two struggled in his grasp, but the stallion had little trouble pulling them with him. The loud clinking of an overfilled coin purse was drowned by a strange whirring. Every pony could feel their fur stand on end until a blistering heat filled the room. A blast ripped a pony sized hole into the far wall.
“HOLD YOUR FIRE!” the griffon bellowed. The cloaked pony used the chance and jumped through the hole in the wall. “After them you imbeciles!” He called, taking to the sky. Outside the soldiers he had stationed were scattered. Useless recruits that hid at the first sign of a firefight. Grimfeather barked commands into his radio, closing in on the fleeing ponies. In the saloon everypony still hid behind tables, chairs and even counters. Three ponies on the other hoof, hid behind a thin panel.
“You owe me two hundred credits.” Balefire grunted as he pushed the other ponies off of herself.
“Whatever you want.” Morningstar said not able to hide his grin as Balefire pushed another panel to the side revealing a dimly lit alley.
Lightning cleared his throat, “How did you know that there was a fake panel?”
“Always be prepared.” The mare said stepping outside into the night, “You can never know if the next pirate, smuggler or raider might want your head. Or, as it turns out, when somepony comes with the coalition hot on their tail. Now, quiet.”
Lighting and Morningstar followed Balefire without uttering a single word. It was almost uncanny how she never seemed to lose her way in the dark and always managed to hide before a patrol came around the corner. It was bleatingly obvious that this was not the first time she had to sneak out of a town. Under her guidance it did not take them long until they got to a small spaceport at the edge of town. A few Guards stood watch, but all they had to do to distract them was throw a rock to the other side of the street and they could sneak right in.
In the Spaceport, or rather on the dirt field with a fence around it, they walked passed a few ships. At the back end of the field Balefire trotted up to a ship. It was a dark silver cylinder that narrowed to the front. On the left and right side two large wings protruded from the sides. From the wings there were multiple extrusions that, as Morningstar knew, were filled with missiles and other, as Balefire called them, Goodies. Both on the top and the bottom of the ship two turrets were retracted into the hull.
Lighting had stopped behind Morningstar and Balefire. “Is that a Ven-”
“There’s no time,” Balefire said galloping behind Lightning and pushing the stallion forward. “We need to get on her, now!”
As they approached a ramp lowered and a feminine, though ever so slightly robotic voice greeted them, “Welcome back Balefire, I was not expecting you back so soon. It is also good to see you once again Morningstar. Do you require our assistance in acquiring more gems?”
“Not today Selena,” Balefire said boarding the ship “we just need to get these two out of here.”
“Your ship is called Selena?” Lighting asked sceptically.
“Yes,” Balefire answered as she threw her cloak to the side revealing her violet fur. “She prefers it.”
“I´m just… seems kind of like a strange name for a ship.”
“She is more than just a ship.” Balefire snapped as she started one of her triads about just how special Selina was as the ship began powering up.
Morningstar more or less ignored the other two as he admired Selena. The central structure was one long hall with multiple rooms. Each was filled with all the supplies Balefire had gathered in her travels. He knew that the mare liked to pretend she didn’t care for anypony, but that was just her bravado masking her insecurities. Here, on her ship, she could be herself. Given time lightning would see that, just like he did.
“I’m not trying to be mean.” Lightning said holding his hoof up protectively, “It’s just Selena is still just a machine. I’ve tinkered with countless ships and-”
“Apologies,” came Selena´s friendly voice, “I do not wish to interrupt, but a small group of armed ponies has just infiltrated the compound.”
Surprised they all ran forward to the bridge of the ship. It was immaculate. Four chairs stood there. One was in the centre, it able to swivel to look around. At first it didn’t look like much, but as the holographic screens activated they could see everything around them as though the ship wasn’t there. Lighting slowly walked through the room, silently mouthing his amazement. Morningstar, already having seen the bridge sat down and fastened his harness.
“Zoom in.” Balefire ordered. Instantly the holographic display contorted, magnifying the approaching group. There were a total of four unicorns lead by a Griffon. The four ponies carried the same plasma rifle, but the griffon carried an oversized hunk of metal that was similar to those primitive rocket launchers that some of the raiders sometimes used.
“Analysing…” Selena said. A copy of the weapon appeared in the middle of the room. Bit by bit it was disassembled. “Analysis complete. Model is a t-323 Plasma launcher. It fires modified plasma torpedoes. Data inconclusive. Scanning reports
.
.
.
Reports show a single projectile is capable of piercing a minimum of one-point-five meters of platsteel covered by a mark two energy shield. Advise evasive maneuvers.”
“Strap in!” Balefire called as she jumped into the seat in the front, grabbing the controls and pushing forward on the throttle. The ship instantly came to life, purring as the engines warmed up. “Emergency ignition!” The ponies outside stepped aside, making room for the griffon. He stood low, sneering manically as the plasma cannon charged up. The engines burst to life lifting the ship into the air.
“Projectile incoming” said Selena´s now mostly mechanical voice as, from the griffon, a bright green light erupted. A green streak shot through the air, erupting as it smashed into a blue shimmer just shy of the hull. The blue shimmer buckled and glowed a hot red as the plasma burned away. A siren rang as the shield failed, a small trail of plasma breaking through. It shot into the ship, erupting in a torrent of fire.
“Starboard engine failing.” Selena said as the ship tilted, threatening to tip over. “Activation auxiliary stabilizers.” The ship slowly but surely righted itself. “Stabilizers activated, dampening field activated.”
The ship lurched forwards, but with the dampening field active the ponies inside only felt a slight rumble as the ship rocketed off into the sky. Within a few seconds they broke the sound barrier, the sonic wave spreading beneath them. In the air a few coalition skimmers patrolled the skies, but none of them had the speed to catch Selena. They came close to the edge of the atmosphere the speed indicator deactivated. In space, it would be of no use to them. There was no absolute speed up there.
As the atmosphere disappeared behind them the red sky disappeared revealing the endless universe. “It’s so small…” Lightning said dumbfounded.
“Your first time?” Balefire asked with a smirk.
“Yea…”
“Well don’t get used to it. Selena, get us out of here.”
“Affirma-”
A Rush of air met them as Selena was blasted to the side. If they weren’t all strapped in they would have been flung through the room, or worse. After what was only a second, but, at least for Morningstar, felt like an hour, the rushing air subsided. Alarms filled the bridge. “-deactivated. Hull breaches contained. Repeat, Laser lances detected. Evasive maneuvers impossible. Power generators hit, Engines deactivated Hull breaches contained. Deactivating processing unit. I’m sorry Balefire.--”
With that Selena went silent. All that was left was the alarm blaring. Balefires unstrapped herself from her harness and began floating up. Without power both the dampening field (which encompassed the artificial gravity generator) and the holoscreens had deactivated. With a flap of her wings she drifted over to another chair and, holding herself steady with the harness, began hammering away at the console. “The generators are fired.” She said with an unsettling calm, “They got us.”
Morningstar clenched his teeth. If they were caught now it would not only be his head. The other two had helped him, and for that they would pay the price. If only he had been more careful. If only that stupid accident hadn’t happened. If only the ruby hadn’t… The ruby! “I have an idea!” He screamed unfastening his harness and, not having thought what he was doing, began tumbling uncontrollably through the bridge.
Balefire pushed herself of the chair and, grabbing the flailing stallion, pushed him back into his chair. “Don’t exert yourself. We need more power than your little town needed for a whole month just to power the ship for a short jump.”
“I can do that!” Morningstar exclaimed shaking the mare off of him, causing her to float aimlessly through the bridge. Franticly he crammed through his saddlebags until he found a seemingly mundane brown leather bag. Carefully he opened the bag, filling the room in a soft, red glow. The air seemed to stand still as he carefully levitated a small, brightly glowing ruby out of the bag. “We can use this.”
“Where did you get that!?” Both Lightning and Balefire called simultaneously.
Morningstar scratched the back of his head, almost causing him to loose grip of the harness. “I made it.” He admitted.
Lightning shook his head. “Is that what-”
“No time.” Balefire said interrupting the yellow stallion. “We have to get that installed now. There is a panel in the hall, star, get that thing installed, I’ll start with the calculations for the jump.”
“I… well I don’t know how…” Morningstar admitted, his cheeks becoming slightly redder.
“I do.” Lightning said shifting in his harness, “But I can’t move around like this.”
“Ok… Ok…” Balefire said as she franticly tipped into the console. “Yes… Ok, I can give you about three minutes of gravity if I cut the emergency thrusters and the life support, but after that we are dead in the water. You should be able to find some tools-”
“Got everything I need.” Lightning said tapping the barding he was still wearing. “Three minutes will be tough though.”
“Can’t get you more, you ready?”
“Ready as i can be…”
With the press of a button the gravity turned back on. Lightning ripped the harness off, sprinting to the hall, Morningstar following close behind. When he reached the yellow stallion he had already ripped the panel off the wall and was sorting through wire-bundles, his tools already lying beside him. Eventually he pulled an especially thick cable out of the wall. He cut it in half and, in the centre, welded a metal box. Morningstar watched nervously, glancing at his Datapad.
“One Minute Left!” Echoed through the ship.
“I know!” Lightning grabbed the ruby and jammed it into the box. “Horse apples!” he exclaimed after waiting a second. Shoving cables aside he climbed deeper into the panel. From inside he called for tools that Morningstar than threw to him. All the lights ignited, but after less than a second they shut off again. “Oh by the goddesses!”
“Ten seconds!”
“I KNOW!” He yelled, grunting loudly as worked himself deeper into the wiring of the ship.
The lights flickered and then everything went dark. Morningstar slowly floated off the ground. He kicked, trying to regain some resemblance of control, but only managed to make himself spin. A Shout of pain filled the air. The pungent smell of burnt fur assaulted Morningstar’s nose as a low whir reverberated through the ship. The lights shot to full brightness, and more. Morningstar slammed into the ground, but ignored the pain, covering his eyes from the blinding light. “We’re at full power. No…” Balefire called nervously. With a pop the first lights erupted in a cascade of glass and sparks. “There’s too much power! Selena can’t handle it! Jumping now!”
The world seemed to slow to a crawl for a second, the sparks slowly drifting downwards. One spark fell, stopping mid-air just above his nose. Morningstar was unable to move, yet acutely aware of everything around him. Then, suddenly, the world started moving again. His stomach lurched, doing its best to reacquaint him with his lunch.
“We’re through!” Balefire called through the speakers, “Everyone all right?” A burst of light erupted as a plate fell from the ceiling, the wiring of the ship hanging limply.
From inside the panel came a call. “I think I need a burn kit.”
Exhausted Morningstar sat in the office of the wharf chief of the station. They had only barely managed to jump to the station lovingly dubbed ‘The shaft’. The reports on the ship were spread out front of him, Balefire, who stared at them disbelievingly, and Lightning, bandages still clinging to his burned flank. The engineers of the wharf had been speechless as they laid eyes upon the ship. They had all seen battered up ships it their time, but this thing that the Stallion so lovingly called Selena was something else. On her aft a large portion of the hull was melted away. The left wing, (The goddess only knew why the ship had wings anyway) was completely torn off. Inside it was even worse. The ship seemed to mainly consist of duct tape and Isolation spray. The shields were fried and by all accounts they should not have withstood the stress of slip-space. Never mind that the engines blew out during the landing, further damaging the already ruined ship.
“We can get a new ship.” Lightning began, making Morningstar wince even before Balefire had time to react.
“I don’t want a new ship!” Balefire yelled, her voice cracking in anger. She swallowed, regaining her usual rough tone, “Selena was- IS my ship, and I will make her better.”
“Balefire,” Lightning began in a soothing tone, “I’ve repaired ships all my life, and if even half of this is true,” He said pointing to the report,
“Which I am sure of by the way, then it would cost a fortune to repair it-”
“HER!”
Lighting sighed, “I’m sorry, her… But for the price you could probably afford a frigate, or maybe even a small cruiser.”
“I don’t care!”
“Be reasonable, there-”
Lightning was cut off as the door opened and the chief engineer stepped in. He was a large, grey-maned unicorn with a rugged look. “Sorry about that,” He said sitting down across from them, “Now let’s get down to business. Would sure have loved to see her in her prime. Some fine Venturian crafatponies worked on her. Her core is still intact, but the rest of her… I could give you a good price for some of the scrap, but that’s about it.”
“You won’t touch Selene!” Balefire screamed jumping from her chair.
“Selene…” The chief engineer let the name roll from his tongue. “A good name for a good ship. Wish I could help some more, but there is nothing we can do. Venturian ships are mostly incompatible with any other tech, and pardon my saying, but neither of us have the bits for the parts.”
“Sorry,” Morningstar interjected, “But you keep saying that word, ‘Venturian’… What exactly does it mean?”
Lightning and Balefire both looked at him as though he had just sprouted another head. The chief engineer only chuckled before answering: “They were the envy of all ponykind, at least that’s what they tell me. Legend says they were the most beautiful creatures ever to grace the cosmos. They were almost twice as tall as the average pony and lived for centuries, though they grew neither horn nor wings, not that that is a bad thing,” He said with a nod to Lightning, “, but you can’t just believe any story. All we have now from them is some of their old tech, and by old I mean it was so outdated they couldn’t be bothered to come pick it up.”
“And why can’t you just rebuild it?”
Lightning had to stifle a laugh, “Build a Venturian ship! While you’re at it how about you just grow a pair of wings!” Even Balefire gave a slight chuckle at the absurdity of the idea, but Lightning continued as though he hadn’t even noticed, “No pony has ever been able to reproduce Venturian tech. It is so precise and the materials involved have properties we couldn’t even begin to imitate.”
After he had explained some more about the impossibilities that were venturian tech he turned to the chief. Morningstar sat there, not paying attention as Lightning talked rates with the engineer. He looked over at Balefire and, for the first time in his life, he could have sworn that his friend was close to tears. She held them in and, as she saw Morningstar stare, she flashed a week smile. Morningstar had to look away. He had taken so much from his friend. The few times he had flown with Balefire the mare had seemed so happy. On the ground, and even on other ships she was always so reserved. When she was in her ship, in her home, she was completely different though. She was outgoing and friendly, and to be honest, she was one of the few ponies Morningstar ever felt close to.
Looking up Morningstar locked eyes with the engineer, “Excuse me?” he asked, rasping to make sure his voice was clear. “I know it might not be enough, but would this help?” Morningstar levitated a single bit out of his saddlebags. It wasn’t a normal credit bit though. It was an heirloom that had been passed down in his family for such a long time, that his grandfather had even claimed it had been from the days when ponykind had still been confined to a single planet. Morningstar had of course not believed it, but, despite his best attempts, he had never been able to date the artefact. Strange energy radiated from it, similar to that of the Commonwealth’s energy crystals, and yet so very different. In the end all he could do was keeping it safe, and hidden, even from Lightning. Now, he couldn’t do that anymore. No matter what it meant he had to make up for what he had done to Balefire.
For a second the room was silent as he pulled the coin out. Just as instantaneously as the silence fell a gasp of astonishment filled the room. “How did you get that!?” The engineer exclaimed.
“It’s an heirloom,” Morningstar said pulling the trinket closer to himself, “My uncle gave it to me before he passed. Why?”
The engineer carefully watched Morningstar. “It is an old artefact. Some say the predate history itself. Are you sure that your uncle gave this to you?” He asked, “You didn’t find this in some ruins or take this of some idiots body?”
“No… He was the pony who took care of me since before I can remember.”
“Tell me about him.”
Morningstar’s looked at his two companions. Balefire looked just as confused as he was, but Lightning stared at him expectantly. He probably wanted to know the story just as much as the engineer did. A sigh escaped Morningstar, “Fine… His name was Dusk Blood, I don’t actually remember very much about the early years, but many years ago, as I was still a little colt, raiders attacked the village. Everyone told me that the whole village was occupied. It took the griffons a whole year to fight the raiders off, but by then my parents had long been killed. The town made sure there was someone who would take care of me. After less than a year my uncle came. He took me from the town and took care for me.”
A small smile emerged on Morningstar’s muzzle, “He was a really great stallion. Everypony knew that if they needed help he would be there. They didn’t even need to ask, he just knew somepony needed him and there he was. It didn’t matter what it was, he could handle it.” Morningstar finally looked up at the engineer, “Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t stronger than the other ponies, or even notably smarter. Things just seemed to work out around him.”
“What did he look like?”
Morningstar looked up at the engineer, only now realizing he hadn’t actually told him how his grandfather looked. It was strange. In his life he had never had to describe what his grandfather looked like. Everypony, even those that just came for a visit knew who he was. “He was a kind of smallish, green unicorn with a blond mane.” Morningstar explained, “At least it was blonde in some of the old photos of him. He always made sure that he looked immaculate. I can’t remember his fur ever being marred by even the smallest smudge, at least except for his tattoo.”
“Tattoo?” the engineer asked.
“Yes. Even though he was always against tattoos or any kind of body alteration, especially cybernetics, he had a small tattoo of a fading star on his flank. He never would tell me where it came from, but he always said it was a reminder of who he really was. A memento that, no matter what happened he was still himself.”
The engineer nodded his head and asked that Morningstar let him see the trinket. He let his hoof wander over the bit and carefully inspected every inch of it. Finally, after what felt like an hour he levitated it back into Morningstar’s saddlebags. “Kid…” He began looking at Morningstar with a stern expression, “I don’t want you to ever, and I mean EVER take this out again. Two of my boys a will take you to Lady Ribbon in the neighbouring station. She will give you a room. I don’t what to hear that you so much as said hello to anypony until two weeks from now.”
“But what about Selene?” Balefire asked.
“It’s a shame she has to stay here for that long, but we will get her back up on her… Well…” The engineer cocked his head thinking for a second- “Wings, I guess?” He shook his head and turned back to Balefire, “Anyway, you don’t have to worry about her.”
After that the engineer more or less kicked them out of his office, grabbing his commlink and already barking orders into it. Outside two sturdy workers already waited ready to take the three ponies away. The station they had crash landed on was an ancient construct etched out of a giant asteroid in the emptiness of space. As they left the metal corridors of the wharf and stepped onto the rocky ground that was the central complex they saw countless ponies, minotaur, griffons and other creatures roaming the cavern. Small buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, though they didn’t even get close to reaching the ceiling. There were homes, shops, restaurants and numerous less reputable businesses. They radiated outward from a large, black metal column standing in the middle of the cavern.
The two stallions lead them through the streets, ignoring watchful eyes of the inhabitants. Morningstar shrank back. Those looks were all too familiar to him. A deep seated anger hidden behind apathetic gazes. Quickly he followed the two stallions. He could feel the gazes bore into the back of his head. All his life the ponies of Rifton had watched him carefully, almost as though they knew something he didn’t. This was different though. They watched the whole group with the same eyes that the ponies of Rifton had had after his last ‘experiment’.
As they approached the central Tower Morningstar saw that it was in fact not just a strut to keep the roof from crashing down, but a central elevator. Around it guardsponies armed with heavy blaster rifles patrolled. Their faces were hidden by their heavy plate armour. It was made out of reinforced carbon plating, overlapping so as to make the wearer look more like an armadillo than a pony. Morningstar couldn’t take his eyes off of them. He had heard of these full suite armours, but he had never seen them before. Granted, he knew these where still some of the lighter classes of military armour, but that didn’t do much to lessen the imposing image.
Lightning nudged him and pointed along the walls. At some places the metal was partially melted. Somepony had fired at the guards, and recently. Morningstar shook as a cold shiver went down his spine. Quickly he walked onto the elevator, the doors closing behind him. Together they rode down into the depths of the asteroid. They all nervously watched the rock walls passing by as airlocks slowly prepared for their passing. The last airlock opened and they were lead through into a small shuttle.
“Why did everypony look at us like that?” Lightning asked as the ship slowly started moving through the hangar.
The two guardsponies eyed him for a moment, “We have good jobs, earn a decent amount of credits. They don’t.” The larger of the two said turning back to the cockpit. Nopony else said anything as they flew out of the asteroid into the endless emptiness of space. The vastness closed in on Morningstar, just like it did every time. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to force himself to stay calm. As they pulled away from the station he reopened his eyes. On the screen in front of them a HUD had appeared, showing distances to the different asteroids and their destination. It was only eighty-three clicks away.
“Incoming Jump,” The radio crackled, “Brace for interference.”
“Affirmative.” The smaller of the two ponies responded, flipping a few switches. A shudder went through the ship as a bright light appeared in space in the distance. From the light an enormous ship emerged. Two large, though notably smaller ships jumped in flanking it on either sides.
“That’s a coalition battleship!” Balefire exclaimed pointing at the ship.
The stallion flying the ship signalled to be quiet as he turned up the transmitter. “This is Coalition battleship Starlance, ship designation three-four-seven. Hailing mining outpost haley-two.”
Morningstar looked at the two stallions confused. “Officially this is still a mining station.” They said answering the unasked question.
“This is mining station haley-two,” came the response, “You are not in our schedule, please state your mission.”
“Greetings haley-two. Requesting an approach vector for the dry-dock. Require emergency hull-patch for aft and bow and a replacement for our drive.”
“Affirmative. Hold.”
Silence filled the cabin for a whole minute as they glided through the emptiness of space, all the while the coalition ship looming over them. They came ever closer until they were only about a click off. By then the ship dominated the screen. From so close they could see plasma leaking through the tattered hull.
“See there?” The small stallion in the front asked pointing at a dense collection of debris. “From the pattern you can tell they were hit by a rebel missile frigate. The rebels even got pretty lucky. Look at the missile bay.” He pointed at a series of covered shafts on the side of the ship. “There are no burn marks there. Either the rebels have gotten better with their ambushes or they got lucky. Must have knocked out the targeting systems.”
“Approach vector calculated.” Came the same crackling voice through the radio. “Welcome to ‘The Shaft’.” The engines of the battleship flared to life, silently drifting forward towards the large asteroid that was the station.
“Are you going to tell us why you are catering to that scum?” Balefire asked with thinly veiled rage.
“Lady Ribbon can answer any of your questions better than we can. We are here anyway.” The stallion answered calmly as the ship pulled around an asteroid. In it a large structure of clean, fresh metal was embedded. They approached and a large metal bulkhead opened, granting them access. The pilot had a short talk with the flight control of the station. As the dock pressurized the pilot took his headset off. He stood up with a slight grin, “Welcome to ‘The Hole’.”
They were escorted to the shuttle doors where a homely old mare waited for them. “Good morning,” She said, her pink mane falling over her face as she gave a friendly bow, “Please follow me and I will answer all your questions.” Balefire rose her hoof prepared to protest, but Lighting stepped in between them. He whispered something Morningstar couldn’t hear to her and then, after staring each other down for a few seconds they followed.
The station was eerily clean, and quiet. The metal was polished almost to a fault, and their hofosteps made a strange hollow ring. They passed dozens of doors, each numbered. Along a hall with no doors they passed a gate Lady Ribbon had to open with a retina scan. Inside there was only a single door at the end of a corridor. Through the door they found a lavish, though slightly sterile living room. There were ample seating-accommodations. The neighbouring rooms were suited for a king to sleep in.
“I hope you will like it here. Unfortunately you will not be able to leave these quarters for the time being.” Lady ribbon said nervously.
“Why?” Balefire asked her tone dripping with bile. Morningstar nudged the mare, but she continued anyway, “And for that matter, since when do free stations invite coalition ships!”
Lady ribbon shrank back, “It’s not so much inviting…”
“Balefire,” Morningstar said in as soothing a tone he could manage. She glared at him but backed down.
“Please, Lady Ribbon,” Lightning interjected, “What is the Coalition doing here.”
With the softer tone from the yellow stallion Lady Ribbon was able to regain some resemblance of confidence. “Our station takes on any ship that requires repairs. It’s the only service we can give, and we give it freely.”
“But why the coalition?” Balefire asked. Her words still carried some of her anger, but it was subdued, “In ‘The Shaft’ there were many ponies, and others, especially Minotaur. Ever since the cleansing of planet Buffington they have been at open war.”
“Not all Minotaur oppose the Coalition.” The pink maned mare interjected, “But you are right. The ponies of the shaft do not like the Coalition. In fact, we separate any Coalition troops from our residents.”
“Then why not simply refuse to accept Coalition ships?” Morningstar asked.
“We cannot.” Lady Ribbon admitted with a frown, “So far out here in fringe space the coalition and the rebels are constantly fighting, not for Territory but for resources and influence. The coalition cannot hold a separate repair station this far from their own supply lines, so they let us be as long as we repair their ships, not without considerable costs of course. The rebels would most likely shut us down if they could, but we cater to all needs. Traders traveling from system to system, the grand Fleets of the Griffon Tsars and even the occasional Raider come here. All these forces are in a careful balance. Neither can take over this station without angering the others. This is why we are left alone.”
“Then why does everypony hate you?” Lightning asked.
Balefire chuckled. Everypony turned to her. “Isn’t it simple?” She asked. When Morningstar and Lightning shook their head she gave an exasperated sigh. “There are how many ponies down there?”
“There are a total of seventy two thousand residents in this station.” Lady Ribbon answered.
“And most of them has got to have their issues with either the Coalition or the Rebellion. The few that don’t hate either probably had their own fair share of hardship thanks to the griffons or raiders. Either way there probably isn’t a single pony on the station, not even you, Lady Ribbon, that despises somepony who’s ship has been repaired here.”
“You are right,” The mare said with a sad smile, “My family was killed when the Coalition bombed what they thought was a rebel Base when in fact they were bombing a small independent settlement, but we all do what we must to survive in this harsh galaxy,” She turned to face Balefire, “am I right?”
There was an uncomfortable silence that lingered in the room. Balefire and Lady Ribbon stared at each other, neither giving an inch. “Then why are you helping us?” Lightning asked, attracting the gazes of both mares, “We don’t have the credits needed, but when the foreman saw that weird bit he almost forced his help upon us.”
“The Foreman is a very old pony. He has been at every conceivable edge of the galaxy. He has fought against the changeling hives, traversed the forbidden sectors and, as I am told, even haggled with the artificial ponies. In his years I have known him he only rarely mentions those he has travelled with, and he almost never mentions ponies he owes a debt. It seems he, at the very least, knew your uncle. I don’t know exactly why he has decided to help you,” Lady ribbon grabbed a remote and switched on the holo-vid to a Coalition news station, “especially after this.”
On the holo-screen an Image of both Morningstar and Lightning was displayed. They were sneering at the cameras and looked as though they some fringe pirate. Under the images warnings flashed:
‘Warning: dangerous criminals wanted for treason
Suspects: Morningstar, Lightning and an unknown third accomplice
Armed and extremely dangerous
Bounty: Alive – 200.000 Credits, Dead – 100.000 Credits’
“Two hundred thousand Credits!” Morningstar exclaimed, panic washing over him. This was it. His life was over. He would never be able to go home. Forget home. He would never be able to be around anypony again. With those kind of funds whoever turned him in would be set for life. In the distance he could hear Lightning try to talk to him, but it just flowed over him. The last thing he remembered was the floor rushing up to catch him.
