Long Haul

by D1scordant

Rating: teen
Tags: Violence, Death, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Adventure, Science Fiction, Profanity
Length: 13426

A tale of two travelers in the void between planets

During her longest freight run, Nebula Dusk, and her ship's AI, SARAN, deal with the isolation of deep space travel

Published 2016-04-28 22:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-07-14 18:43:14 UTC

Chapter 2

Month Three, Hydra Sector

“Miss Nebs.”, SARAN spoke, “We have entered the Hydra sector.”

With a groan, Nebs rolled over to face the door of her quarters. Her lack of sleep and coffee had begun taking it’s toll. Most nights she only got three of four hours of sleep.

“Good morning, SARAN,” she said with a yawn.

“Sleep well, ma’am?”

Nebs yawned again.

“Better than last night, anyway,” She replied, “Any changes in engine performance?”

“No ma’am,”

Nodding, then climbing out her bed, she walked into the kitchen and opened the pantry. She grabbed a packet of instant oats and began to prepare her breakfast. After she had finished, she sat down on the couch and flipped on the news. Nothing but static appeared on the screen.

“Ma’am, I am afraid the nebula in this part of the sector interferes with any outside transmissions,” SARAN said, “We should have partial reception in approximately three days.”

Nebs sighed, three days with no contact with the outside world would not be fun. After she finished her breakfast, she got up, and walked to her quarters. She put on a clean jumpsuit, then headed to the maintenance deck.

“SARAN, reroute power away from the starboard breakers,” she said, “ I’m gonna try to fix the power fluctuation to the exterior lights on that side.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The lights flickered In the room as power was transferred through the Mercy’s redundant systems. Walking over to one of the breaker boxes, Nebs opened the door, revealing a crudely organized mess of wires and breaker switches.
She checked to see if any of the breakers were loose or tripped, then repeated the process for the other three starboard breaker boxes. When she opened the last box, one of the breakers came loose and fell on the floor.

“Well, there’s your problem,” She said, frustrated, “SARAN, do we have any spare breakers in storage?”

“I’m afraid not, miss Nebs.”

“Damn,” she replied, “In that case, I’ll have to jury rig this thing. Make sure all power to the starboard side is off.”

“Yes ma’am.”

She walked over to the red toolbox by the entry to the airlocks and retrieved a soldering iron and a few other tools.
Then she began repairing the breaker. First she cleaned off the breakers terminals, then soldered it back into place and shut the door to the breaker box. Finished with the repairs, she headed back to the living deck.

“Test the power to the starboard side, SARAN.”

“Of course,” he replied, “Power to the starboard side at peak levels. External lights have full power.”

“Thats great.”

Nebs paused.

“When we get to Starswirl station, we’ll have one of their technicians replace that breaker.”

When she got back to the living deck, Nebs sat down on the couch and flipped through the channels on her vidscreen. Still nothing but static. She got up and walked upstairs to the bridge, then sat in the captains chair.
Outside the large wraparound window, she could see the browns and greens of the Hydra nebula.

It was a sprawling cloud of hydrogen gas, and dust with five ‘heads’ spiraling away from the core. but from the inside the cloud, it was just a thick mass of dull brownish yellow that obscured most of the surrounding stars into faint yellow spots.

There were several old pony tales about this particular nebula due to some anomalous readings. Most involved ancient gods and alien beings, but that was all nonsense. Though one tale still lingered in Nebs’ mind about a being called Tetchznacht who ate ponies’ eyeballs, it terrified her as a little filly.

Most of the tales came from miners returning home from a nearby mining station. The station had become a derelict after it had been found that the company who designed the station had cut corners, and it didn’t actually have radiation shielding. Luckily nopony died, but the company was still sued by the Equestrian government.

“SARAN, How big is this nebula?” Nebs asked.

“The Hydra nebula covers an area roughly seventy light years in length, fifty-five in width, and ten in thickness,” He replied, “It takes up the majority of this sector.”

Nebs sighed loudly.

“Looking out at the stars always makes me feel insignificant, you know,” She spoke, “ Like the whole galaxy could just be wiped out by a supernova, and the universe wouldn’t even care. Everything would just keep going like nothing even happened.”

“Miss Nebs, you seem... Sad,” SARAN replied, “I belive the isolation and exhaustion may be getting the better of you”

“I’m fine, SARAN!” she snapped. “I’m sorry. I-I just need a little time alone.”

“Very well. Let me know when you need me, miss Nebs.”

After SARAN had gone into sleep mode, Nebs began crying. What was wrong with her? She was usually cheerful. Maybe he was right, maybe it was just her lack of sleep and loneliness. But it felt worse.

“Miss Nebs,” SARAN spoke, waking her, “Terribly sorry to interrupt, but our scanners have picked up an anomaly”

Yawning loudly, she asked, “What is it?”

“It seems to be a wave of magnetically charged particles, ma’am”, SARAN answered.”It appears to be headed this way.”

“Okay. Divert power to the shields, hopefully the wave’ll bounce off.”

“All of the anomalies reported in this sector have been harmless, ma’am.”

“It’s always better to be safe, than sorry.”

“True. Diverting all power from non essential systems to shields.”

The wave slammed into the Mercy’s shields like an earth pony kicking an apple tree. Inside, the monitors flickered as red and orange warning lights came on.

“Shields at forty-seven percent and dropping.”

“SARAN, kill the engines!”

“Yes ma’am. shields at fifty-eight percent... Wait. Shields have dropped to thirty percent. We do not have enough power”

The ship rocked violently, as the current of particles continued to bombard the Mercy’s shields.

“Disable life support,” Nebs replied, “I’ll get the space suit.”

“I’m afraid I cannot allow that, Nebs.”

The shields shimmered brightly and failed. The ship shook and the power blacked out. Nebs was thrown against the bridge window by the impact of the wave and her vision faded as she lost consciousness.

The first thing Nebs felt was a throbbing pain on the back of her head. She opened her eyes and scanned the bridge. The room was lit by the dull red emergency lights, and there was a crack in the window where she had hit.

“SARAN, whats our status?” she said weakly, “SAREN, are you there?”

No reply.

“SARAN! say something. This isn’t funny.” she spoke, getting back to her hooves slowly, and feeling the back of her head.

A weak beep came from the console.

“Miss Nebs...I-I think I’m... I think I’m dying.”

“SAREN! stay with me, buddy!” she cried desperately, “Y-you’re the only one I have left!”

“I...”

SARAN’s systems shut down, distorting his voice. She closed her eyes and wept, SARAN was gone. She had lost everyone else in her life, and now the only friend she had left was gone. She was alone now.

Chapter 3

Month four, unknown location.

“This is Nebula Dusk of 2112 Celestia’s Mercy. If anypony can hear this, an electro-magnetic pulse near the Hydra nebula hit my ship, and my engines are without power. I am running low on supplies. I need immediate assistance.”

“Message will repeat in three seconds.”

Nebs stared out of the living deck’s port side window. She was still in the nebula, but the stars were becoming brighter. The Mercy was nearing the edge of the nebula, and moving toward open space. She had started losing track of time. It felt like she had been drifting for an eternity. Everything felt wrong, she could of swore she had heard somepony calling her name several times. Was she losing it?

The ship’s primary power had been repaired, as well as most of the sensor displays. The engines were still out, however. And without parts, or food, Nebs was dead in the water. She had about two months worth of food left and three of clean water.

With a sigh, she went upstairs to the bridge. Slouching her chair, she glanced at the various displays. They all flickered with life except one: SARAN’s. A red blip appeared on the close range sensors. She straightened up, it was another ship! A small colony ship. She ecstatically scanned the ship for life signs. The sensors didn’t pick any up, it was deserted, a derelict. She dropped her head on the console and closed her eyes.

Several loud beeps came from the console. The Mercy was picking up several cargo RF signals coming from the derelict. Most types of cargo had a unique signal. The ship had a stock of food, water and coffee. And spare parts!

She had to figure out a way to dock with the other ship. A green light appeared on the engine panel. The vectoring thrusters had reset. She had started working on them a few hours ago, and the ancient backup vectoring computer had finally rebooted. Nebs let out a small squeaky sound and smiled. Having the thrusters back would at least allow her to dock with the other ship, she’d have to fly it in manually, however.

The Mercy jerked slightly as the thrusters kicked in. Carefully, Nebs guided the ship towards the other’s docking port. The other ship was basically a large rectangular box with small, round windows dotting the sides.
The docking port was likely on the starboard side.

The ship was a Skyway Vocational. It was an older model , it looked like a ninety-six or a ninety-seven. Those were the last two to feature the modular interiors. And two clusters of four x-zero Sublight engines, the same as the Mercy.

When the two ships were lined up, She killed the thrusters, and extended the port side docking tunnel. The mercy lurched as the end of the tunnel latched into the derelict’s docking port.

“THANK YOU, CELESTIA!” Nebs yelled in triumph.

Nebs had jumped into one of her jumpsuits and grabbed some gear from the maintenance deck and headed to the port side airlock. The computer ran a quick scan of the other ship’s atmosphere and showed all green. Hastily, she opened the airlock and stepped into the other ship. The air smelled slightly burnt, but it was breathable.

Clicking on her flashlight, she saw she was in the ship’s atrium. The lights flickered on with a whirr and she could hear consoles chirping nearby. The ship’s walls were a dull copper color with occasional white or cyan markings Painted in stylized white letters on the far wall, was the name, Tantabus.

“Welcome” A pleasant female voice spoke over the intercom. “I am Umbra, this vessel’s designated AI Interface. Do you require assistance?”

Nebs almost jumped, the AI’s voice starting her.

“Y-yes.” She replied, “My ship was disabled, and I need parts to repair it.”

“Scanning.” Umbra spoke with a brief pause, “Skyway Starhauler. Designation 2112, Celestia’s Mercy. Primary engines disabled. Primary computer disabled. Confirm?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“This vessel does not have the necessary parts for that repair.”

“Can I salvage the parts I need from this ship?”

Umbra paused, processing her request.

“Unfortunately, This vessel’s engines have been destroyed.”

“Crap. What about the cargo. What’s this ship’s manifest?”

“This vessel’s cargo includes; Two tons of standard rations, one-thousand gallons of water, one thousand pounds of ground coffee beans, and REDACTED. Do you require supplies?

“Wait... Redacted?”

“I’m afraid that information is classified. Do you require any other supplies?”

“May I take some of the food and water?”

“Of course, the crew currently has no need for it anymore.”

Nebs paused. What exactly had happened to the crew. The Tantabus looked like it had been empty for several years.

“Umbra, where is the crew?”

“Everypony aboard this vessel left five years ago.”

“So this ship’s been derelict ever since? Seems like a waste.”

The AI paused.

“Would you like me to direct you to the cargo bay?”

“That would be wonderful. Thanks”

Nebs Started loading what food and water she could from the cargo bay onto an old hovercart, and began pushing it back towards the airlock. It would be enough for a while, but she’d still run out at some point. She wished she could get all of the supplies,then an idea popped into her head. The Tantabus had power, and no doubt a better transponder than the Mercy’s; She would stay here. And she would have company too, Umbra.

She grinned at the thought.

“Umbra?” she started.

“Yes?” The AI replied.

“Can you activate this ship’s emergency beacon?”

“I’m sorry, but my access to the bridge controls have been disabled.” Umbra replied, her voice seemed...off.

“Well, in that case, Can you point me to the bridge so I can turn it on ?”

The AI replied, almost fearfully, “That won’t be necessary,”

“What!?” Nebs demanded.”I’m stranded here and that transponder is my ticket home. I need to turn it on.”

“You can’t do that.”

Ignoring the AI’s objections, Nebs began making her way back to the main corridor. She stepped into the hall and headed towards the front of the ship. Spotting a sign and a door to her right, she stopped. The sign read 'bridge’ and had a small image of stairs below it. She opened the door and climbed up the stairs. At the top was a small room with two benches on either side facing out toward the large windows bathing the room with sickly yellow light.

In the wall opposite her was a dull grey blast door marked with the usual warning signs, to it’s right, there was a control panel. Nebs activated it and the door split horizontally with a sharp hiss. She froze. The bridge was littered with pony skeletons. Dried splatters of blood adorned the walls near some of them, hinting at their fate. One unicorn skeleton was piled in the captain’s chair, a peaked cap sitting on his skull. A pistol lay on the floor next to the chair.
Nebs felt sick.

“You shouldn’t have come here.” Umbra spoke, her voice shifting to an almost sinister tone. “You weren’t supposed to know.”

“U-Umbra, what happened here?” Nebs asked, shaking.

There was a loud click and deep male voice spoke, the captain’s last log entry.

“Captain’s log,

I don’t know what happened, but most of the crew have become uncontrollably unstable and violent, some kind of outbreak. On top of that, Umbra locked down the ship and is not responding. Those of us who were still sane were trapped with me on the bridge, but...”

He paused.

“I...I had to...I had to kill them...They where infected...It’s that damn artifact! It’s what’s causing all of this!

The others are trying to get in, Its only a matter of time before they do... But I won’t let them get me. No, I won’t become one of them.”

He sighed heavily.

“Mayflower... I’m sorry...”

There was a loud gunshot, and the recording ended.

“It told me to lock the doors. It told me many things.” Umbra almost sang, ”It even told me you would come.”

“What are you talking about?!” Nebs exclaimed in shock.

“The artifact. It speaks to me.”

“Y-you’re broken, Delusional.” Nebs replied, ”You n-need to deactivate.”

“I-I am FINE.” The AI snapped viciously, “ You don’t know anything.”

The ship lights flickered and the air went cold. Umbra had shut off the ship’s heating system, she was trying to freeze Nebs to death! Nebs started for the door, but before she could reach it, the AI shut it, trapping her on the bridge.

The AI’s voice turned empty and hollow.

“I’m sorry, Dusk, I can’t let you do that.”

Chapter 5

Chapter five

Kira led Nebs to her quarters. As they walked through the station’s halls, Kira explained the ways of her people.

“We believe that Celestia still lives on in the glow of every star in the universe.” Kira spoke, “ And that the shards, the one we found on board the Tantabus and others, are the key to her rebirth.”

Bringing back their princess was something most ponies wanted. The centuries after her death were a disappearance period in pony history. War, famine, hatred. It wasn’t until the current Equestrian government was set up fifty years ago, that things started coming back together. After the various pony tribes were reined in, peace settled in quickly.

“One day, soon even, Celestia will live.”

“How can you be sure?” Nebs asked, still somewhat skeptical, “There could be thousands of those shards out there.”

Stopping, Kira smiled and pulled a golden chain out from under her robes. On the end of the chain was a small stone tablet inscribed with the same runes as those scattered around the station.

“It’s written in ancient equestrian.” Kira replied, “It speaks of seven shards, that will awaken the goddess. We have gathered six of them, not including the we found with you . Now, my question: Do you believe she will return?”

“No I don’t.”

“Are you an anticelestian?”

“No, I believe she was real. I believe she was an alicorn. But she wasn’t a goddess, and she’s not coming back.”

“Perhaps you are right, perhaps not. I do not judge you either way,” Kira spoke, “I believe what I believe, and you will believe your way. As long as you maintain a civil attitude I give you all due respect.”

Kira paused and stopped walking.
“This is your room.” she started pointing with her hoof into a low-ceilinged, square room. “It is not the most luxurious room, but it is the only empty room left, I am afraid.”

The room in question was a drab grey color, and had a single bed pushed into the far corner. If the door had bars it would have reminded Nebs of a prison cell. This room, as dreary as it looked, was spotless and had a window set in the far wall. Stars glimmered with faint yellow light beyond the pyroglas window.

“Thank you, Kira’sha.”

“You are quite welcome, Nebs. Also, you may call me Kira, if you wish.”

Nebs lay in her bed, asleep, her eyes jerking erratically underneath their lids. She was dreaming.
A voice appeared to her in the dream. A horrible, dark voice.

“The void beckons to the little one. Doth she listen? Doth she hear it’s speech? Doth she understand? The Great One knows the little one can know. But will her mind shatter? I shall soon see.”

The image of a pony appeared, it’s back turned to her. The pony’s body looked sickly and pale, almost skeletal.
Nebs nervously moved closer. The pony turned it’s head, facing her. Startled, she almost leaped backwards. The other pony’s face was not a face. Three black pits stared back at her, evaluating her like a giant would an ant.

The notpony’s lower face split open with a muddy sucking sound as a long tentacle-like green tongue emerged. It then screamed. A horrible, almost strangled sound of rage, deep and guttural, yet shrill at the same time. Nebs’ eyes widened as the thing stood, and moved closer, it’s movements jerky, and unnatural. It’s forelegs began ripping open, black sludge oozing from the tears. With a violent splattering sound, dozens of barbed tendrils extended from the creature’s flesh, dripping with sludge. The creature wrapped them around Nebs’ body and began pulling her in.

“Behold the wretched creature, little one, mine vision of thee, molded by mine, Ostzlekraz’s, will.”

Nebs sat up at the sound of a hoof against her door.

“Hold on” she said, climbing out of her bed, and slipping into her jumpsuit.

She opened the door to see a mare standing outside. She was a light pink unicorn with white hair.

“Nebula Dusk?” She asked,” I’m Mayflower, this station’s resident doctor.”

“What do you need?” Nebs asked

“Kira asked me to give you a quick medical exam, with your permission of course.” Mayflower paused, “Nothing too invasive, I’m just going to check your vitals and see if everything checks out.”

“Alright.”

“Good,”

The doctor reached into her bag and retrieved a small red and white device, a medical scanner. She pressed a button on the device and pointed it at Nebs, after about a second the scanner beeped and green light blinked on. Mayflower nodded.

“Well, it seems you’re healthy, you just need some rest is all. Take it easy for a couple of days. Is there anything else?”

“Yeah, I had a really weird dream last night, could that be caused by all the spice they use here?”

Mayflower nodded,”It could be, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Here.”

She passed a yellow colored box of detox medicine to Nebs.

“Take one any time you consume any large amounts of spice, and you’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,”

Mayflower nodded, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll make my leave. Just come to me if you need more of those.”

“I will,” Nebs said nodding.

The doctor turned and left the room, and Nebs shut the door behind her and sat down on her bed.

Nebs was surprised at how many ships were stationed in the Cathedral’s bay. She expected three or four, but there were at least a dozen. Most were dirty older ships, however, there was an almost spotless Celestian Envoy.
The ship’s white painted hull was a bulbous curved shape, almost alien compared to the more utilitarian ships commonly used. Set in the sides were six round windows revealing a glimpse of the silver trimmed wood interior and red carpeting. The bridge was a pod attached to the top of the hull, towards the back.

To the side of the Envoy was her ship, the Mercy. She could see from here that the shield projectors were fried, and engine two had apparently been on fire at some point. She also knew that most of the ship’s electrical systems were basically destroyed. It would be some time before the Mercy was operational again.

A voice came breaking her from her thoughts.

“You’re Nebula, right?”

She nodded, turning. She spotted a rust colored pegasus standing behind her.

“Yeah.”

“Well, you’ll be happy to know I’ve got a couple’a R eighty-nine sublights to swap out those dead x-zeros with,” he said.”Sorry, my name’s Val, I’m the guy who keeps all this shi... I mean, stuff working for these ponies.”

Val was a short, but well built pony, relatively young. he had a weathered face that made him look older than he was, and a messy black mane. His eyes were a deep blue, not just the irises, but also the whites as well, a tell tale sign of copious consumption of spice.

“Well you seem to have your hooves full.” Nebs replied.

Val chuckled “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Did you need something?”

“No, I was just gonna run a quick diagnostic on my ship,” Nebs replied.

Before Val could talk further, Sero stepped in.

“Nebs, there are Equestrian Office of Naval Intelligence personnel here. They’re looking for you.”

Chapter 6

Chapter six

Three ponies stood waiting in a triangle in the station’s atrium near the statue. The two at the back where security. The other was clearly an officer. The two soldiers wore bulbous black armor that fully inclosed their bodies, while the other was wearing a prim dark-grey suit and a black patrol cap. The officer, a grey-tan unicorn, turned at the sound of Nebs’ approach. He seemed to be glaring into her, to see what dark secrets she was hiding.

“Miss Dusk?” he spoke with an oily drawl. His voice had a certain charisma to it.

Nebs nodded.

“I am Lieutenant Greyhorn, I, as I’m sure you know already, am with the Office of Naval Intelligence. I need to talk to you about the ship you stole from.”

Nebs raised an eyebrow.

“You mean the Tantibus?”

Greyhorn nodded.

“It has come to my understanding, that you took an object of research potential vital to our war efforts.”

“What war? When I left Eridani, there wasn’t a war.”

“A lot can happen in four months, however, it’s not important, what is, is that you need to tell me where the artifact is, now.”

A vague menace crept into his voice.

“I never laid a hoof on it. I don’t where it is.”

The lieutenant’s eyes narrowed dangerously. His grey-blue eyes seemed to bore into Nebs’ soul. Something seemed off about him, like he was wrong somehow.

“I don’t believe you.”

“These ponies took it when they scavenged the ship.”

“You do know, that lying to an ONI officer... is considered treason.” He paused,”I could have you shot right here.”

“ENOUGH!” Kira shouted, entering the room.”I will have no bloodshed here!”

The lieutenant turned.

“Your Office of Naval Intelligence has no authority here. I need not remind you that this is neutral space.”

Greyhorn grimaced, as she continued.

“If the the shards are so important to you, then have them. You only delay Celestia’s return.”

He rolled his eyes in disgust.

“very well. After your people load them and miss Dusk’s ship into ours, I’ll make my leave. You’re lucky I don’t blow you and your crazy little cult to dust.”

Kira shot him a vicious look.

Kira stood next to Nebs, glaring at the large naval vessel. They were transferring the Mercy into their ship’s cargo bay. The ship was a large cruiser, It’s size rivaling the station. Large bulky panels covered the hull, arranged in a way that gave it a regal, yet vaguely aggressive appearance. The ship had a figurehead, a rarity on most warships. It was a bust of an alicorn mare, a stern look on her face. After the Mercy had been loaded, the ship turned and Nebs could see it’s name; Luna’s Wrath.

Kira turned her head toward Nebs and asked if the lieutenant wanted her to go with them. Nebs nodded in reply.

“I’m sorry about all of this, Kira,” Nebs said,” I didn’t mean to...”

“It’s alright, Nebs,” Kira interrupted,” You could not have known.”

Nebs sighed, as Greyhorn trotted in, his two power armored lackeys in tow. He informed her it was time to go, then led her towards the docking tube.

The free-hanging catwalk inside the docking tube rocked as one of the Wrath’s starboard airlocks interlocked with the station. The ship’s airlock opened with a quiet hiss, and the four ponies stepped in. With a louder hiss, the airlock cycled, closing the outer door, and opening the inner door. As the inner door opened, two turrets swiveled toward Nebs, four red dots appearing on her head, waiting for her to make a move.

She had never been on a military ship before, especially not a cruiser. The halls where a pale light blue with much darker blue accents. Occasionally, there were glowing terminal set into the walls displaying various information. One started beeping. Greyhorn grumbled something under his breath.

“Yes, CAITI?”

An image of a sky blue pegasus appeared on the screen, the ship’s AI.

“Lieutenant Greyhorn, the captain wants you to bring our guest to the bridge.” She spoke, her voice brash, and tomboyish.

“I’m sorry, but that cannot be allowed yet,” He replied,”I’ve still got some questions for miss Dusk.”

The AI nickered.

“You know I have airlock controls, right? Hate for you to have an ‘accident’.”

The Lieutenant rolled his eyes.

“And last time I checked, five milliseconds ago, by the way, captain outranks lieutenant.”

Greyhorn said nothing, but led the others to the bridge.

The bridge consisted of a large rectangular room almost completely bisected aft and stern by a large windowed partition. Various workstations lined the wall, with ponies milling around monitoring. Toward the bow, there was a raised area with several comfortable looking chairs, as well as an array of vidsceens. Dominating the command area, was a massive window. Outside, large openings allowed for armored shutters to slide down over the window.

The door slid shut behind Nebs, as the Lieutenant and his cohort exited the bridge. CAITI appeared on a vidscreen to her right.

“Hey! Over here!”

Nebs turned, slightly surprised by the construct’s enthusiasm. CAITIs’ avatar grinned.

“Captain Arcturus will see you now.”

Turning, Nebs looked towards the red coated earth pony sitting in the center of the command area. He wore a heavy ornate coat and the peaked hat of a naval captain.

She turned back to the AI and nodded, then walked towards the command area. As she neared, the captain turned and shot her a quick grin.

“My apologies if Greyhorn gave you any trouble, miss Dusk,” he said, in a surprisingly lax tone,” I’m Captain Isov Arcturus.”

He offered a hoof, which Nebs accepted.

“You can call me Isov if you want,” he added, “No need for that formal crap, unless you're part of my crew.”

Nebs was taken aback by Arcturus’ laid back demeanor. She had expected somepony more stern, and older, and, well, balder. He seemed more like a civilian captain than military.

“Can I get you something?” he asked.

Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Nebs lay on the bed in her quarters. Captain Arcturus had let her use one of the VIP quarters. The area was divided into two rooms, a bedroom, and a living area/kitchen, both decorated with potted plants and bulbous chrome sculptures. There was no way she was getting any sleep,however, she had a mix of excitement and nervousness. She was on the Luna’s Wrath! It was the most prestigious ship in the Equestrian Navy. During the so called Pirate War, the Wrath had the record for highest number of successful missions. Not one crewpony died under it’s first captain. He was an admiral now.

She could remember her father talking about the war during it’s closing years. She was only a filly when it happened, but it seemed important. Most of what she knew was from history books. It was a twenty year period of sporadic skirmishing and raids between every pirate gang, and the zebra and pony nations. Eventually, it stopped, Piracy in Equestrian and zebra space was ended. Every few years, however, a few ships would come out of neutral space and try to get a little revenge.

A knock came at her door, and she clambered to her hooves. The door opened before she could respond. It was Greyhorn.

“Great,”

“Miss Dusk.” The Lieutenant spoke

“A little privacy, please, “Nebs replied, a blush forming on her cheeks. “I’m not dressed!”

He had no right to be in here!

“I can see that,” He said, eyes fixed to her face, “But, I have to ask you a few questions, now.”

Nebs scowled. “Get out!”

She bit onto a pillow, and with a swing of her head, flung it at him. He didn’t even flinch.

His eyes narrowed, “Very well. I will be waiting in the next room, when you are finished.”

The door slid shut behind the unicorn as he left. Nebs let out a frustrated sigh, then put on the dingy grey jumpsuit heaped on the floor next to the bed. There was a thump in the other room, then two ponies began arguing.

She recognized both voices; one belonged to the captain, the other was Greyhorn. Cautiously, she opened the door and poked her head into the living area.

“What are you? A creep?” Isov shouted. “Do you honestly think that barging into her room like that was okay?”

Greyhorn replied cooly.

“Captain, I don’t believe you fully realize what bringing this mare on board could mean for this nation's security. After all, she is a pegasus.”

“What does me being a pegasus have to do with anything?” Nebs interrupted.

“Not a Damn thing,” Isov replied, “Greyh...”

“It means, that you are under ONI investigation on the possibility of being a traitor, Miss Dusk.“ Greyhorn spoke turning towards the white pegasus. “The majority of these ‘Insurrectionists’ are pegasi bigots.”

“Insurrectionists?” Nebs asked, “You mean the terrorists that were attacking the Zebras a while back?”

“Yes,” Isov said with a nod. “Our allies finally asked us for help.”

“Not to mention the one-hundred-and-twenty-eight equestrian citizens they killed on that zebra liner.” The lieutenant added, “They think pegasi are the only pony race worth anything. Racists”

“Says the pony that accused me of being a traitor just because I’m a pegasus. “Nebs retorted, placing a hoof on her chest, “I’m from Eridani! Loyalty’s kind of our thing.”

Greyhorn huffed, then began walking out of the room, then turned back.

“I am sick of this argument,” He started, “I have my eye on you, Miss Dusk.”

After he exited, Neb stuck her tongue out at him, then glanced at Isov. He grinned.

“Eridani, huh?” He asked, “Know any Wonderbolts?”

Nebula Dusk was a very bored pony.

What the hell did they do for fun on this ship? Count stars? Nebs sighed, her ears drooping. The ship's lounge was empty, save for the zebra bartender. The Wrath was running on a skeleton crew, and most ponies were working almost twenty-four-seven to keep her going.

“You seem glum, pony.” The zebra mare said, walking to the stool Nebs sat on, “No need to be so groany.”

She glanced at the stripped equine with a small smile.

“I think you need a drink,” The zebra continued, “Maybe a beer will give you some cheer?”

“Sure...”

“Tzerra”

Nebs cocked an eyebrow.

“My name, silly pony.”

“Right, I’m Nebs.” The pegasus replied, “I don’t suppose you have any Wild Pegasus?”

“That reminds me of a funny story,” The zebra replied, “would you like to hear it?”

Nebs nodded.

“Yeah, I could do with a funny story.”

Setting two shot glasses on the counter, the zebra inhaled deeply, then removed a bottle of orange liquor from the shelf behind her. After pouring two shots, she began.

“Long ago, there was a young zebra merchant who wished she could fly,” She spoke with a easy grin, “So one night, while she was traveling the savannah, she happened to look up to the night sky, and see a star. So she demanded that the star give her wings.”

As the zebra paused, Nebs downed her drink and poured another.

“What happened next?” Nebs asked politely

“Well, you see, the stars are fickle things. Their gifts, may not always be what they seem,” She paused again, “The next morning when she woke, she found that she had grown a lovely pair of wings, finally she could fly like a pegasus, Or, so she thought. She went outside to try her new wings, but no matter how hard she flapped them, she could not leave the ground. But she was a stubborn mare, so, she made her way to a very high cliff. Then she ran towards the edge and leapt, spreading her wings. But alas, the silly zebra still could not fly. Instead, she fell.”

How in space was that funny?

“I’m sorry if you don’t find it funny, Nebs. Zebra tales aren’t often as funny to ponies”, she said, frowning, then taking her shot of whiskey.

“Well, you are a very good storyteller, at least.” Nebs replied.

Nodding, Tzerra glanced at her with a grin, “Thank you”

CAITI appeared on one of the terminals in the lounge.

“Hey, uhh, Nebula. Nebs? Miss Dusk?”

“Yeah, What’s up,” Nebs replied with a quick smile

“Hanger wants you in the Capt... I mean, Captain wants you in the hanger.” The AI’s avatar rolled her eyes, then muttered, “Stupid old speech processors.”

A very confused Nebs stared at her for a second.

“Right, uhh, yeah, Chief engineer wants to talk to you about your ship.”

“Lead the way.”

Chapter 8

Chapter eight

The hanger was a large squarish shaped room with a high ceiling and two large bay doors on the aft wall.
Electro-magnetic hoists hung from the vaulted ceiling like branches, some suspending dropships and other support craft. One in particular, however, held Nebs’ attention more than the others. Hanging roughly in the center, was the Mercy. Her ship looked bad, burns and dents covered the hull, and the engines looked like they were barely attached.

As she approached, a pale yellow unicorn mare stepped around the Mercy’s bow, then shot Nebs a warm grin.
She had deep red hair, green eyes, and wore a dull grey jumpsuit. She levitated a tablet and stylus off of a nearby toolbox as she moved closer.

“This your ship?” She asked in an accented voice.

Nebs nodded slightly.

“Good, I need you to sign some things,” She said, levitating the tablet and stylus into Nebs’ reach, “Then I can get to work.”

Nebs took the stylus in her teeth and skimmed the document. Requisition forums, mostly, she wasn’t sure why she had to sign them, but then again, it’s not like she was an expert in military protocol. She signed, then released the stylus, and the unicorn set the items back on the toolbox.

“I’m Rose Bloom by the way.”

“Nebs.”

Rose nodded and turned her head towards the Mercy.

“She’ll look good as new when I’m done with her,” She said, “well, as close as I can get, anyway.”

“Any Idea how long it’ll take?”

Rose shrugged.

“I haven’t even gotten to diagnostics yet, but I can tell you whoever was working on her before me was shite when it comes to repair. Looks like the eejit tried to take the x-zeros off. And don’t get me started on the shield projector.
What in bloody hell did you run into?”

It was Nebs’ turn to shrug. What exactly had she run into. She knew it was some kind of electro-magnetic anomaly. But nothing like that had ever been reported anywhere near the Hydra nebula, only gravity distortions.

“I don’t know exactly. It was like a directed wave of electro-magnetism hit the ship, but that does’t happen naturally.”

Roses face turned grave.

“You didn’t happen to see any other ships on your sensors, did you?”

Nebs shook her head, “No.”

The unicorn cursed under her breath.

“You need to go see the captain,” She said simply, “Tell him what you told me.”

Nebs nodded once, then turned to leave.

Nebs walked briskly through the wide halls of the warship, occasionally dodging and weaving through groups of crewponies or marines. At one point she had to step into a rec-room to let a pony in massive power armor trot past.

As she began to leave the rec-room she heard him speak.

“You see to be in quite the hurry, Miss Dusk. Mind telling me why?”

She sighed heavily. She did not want to deal with this right now.

“I’m going to talk to the captain, Greyhorn,” she replied.

“About what?”

“About the anomaly that knocked my ship out.”

“Mind enlightening me on what that might of been?”

“You could just ask Rose Bloom.”

Greyhorn nickered.

“You’re dodging the question, Miss Dusk,” He said in a low voice, “Please, tell me what you know.”

“All I know, is that it was some sort of EMP, and it fried my ship, okay?”

Greyhorn evaluated her for a moment, then left down the hall. He stopped and glared at her over his shoulder.

“Oh, and, Miss Dusk. A little advice, your life will whole hell of a lot easier if you’re more open with me in the future.”

Nebs huffed.

“You want me to be more open, okay. I don’t like you. At all.”

The Lieutenant snorted, but said nothing as he continued on his way. With that unpleasantness out of the way, Nebs continued to the bridge. The rest of the walk was relatively uneventful, but she had the feeling she was being watched.

The door to the bridge was a dull, monotonous grey rectangle, bisected down the middle with yellow and black hazard stripes marking the seam. The door opened with a hiss as she approached, then closed behind her after she passed. As she walked towards the command area, she spotted Greyhorn’s lackeys loitering around. One had his helmet lying on the floor next to him as he chatted with a young ensign, the other, tracked her movements, his orange visor locked onto her. Ignoring his eyeless stare, she continued walking until CAITI appeared on a nearby vidscreen and spoke.

“What’s up, pegasister?”

“Hello, CAITI, I need to talk to the captain.”

The AI’s avatar frowned for a moment.

“He’s asleep at the moment,” she replied, “I can leave him a message, if you like.”

“I think it might be really important,” Nebs insisted.

CAITI paused for a moment, considering.

“Like Celestia tier important?”

“Not quite, but still important,”

“Okay, Nebs, I’ll wake him up, but...” She paused, “...He won’t be too happy about it.”

CAITI vanished from the screen, and Nebs looked around. Helmet was still staring at her as she took in the bridge.
She returned his stare for a few moments, the stuck her tongue out at him. He simply glared in return. Creepy much?

She was about to speak, when Arcturus’ voice came from the vidscreen. He looked tired, and Nebs instantly felt bad about waking him.

“Good morning, Nebula. Need somthing?”

“Yes, it’s something about my ship.”

Isov nodded.

“Alright, meet me in my quarters, and we’ll talk.”

The vidscreen winked out, and CAITI reappeared. She grinned and pointed a hoof in the direction of a door marked as the command crew quarters. The door hissed open, and the pegasus strode into the small hallway beyond. Doors were set regularly along the walls on both sides, leading to the quarters of the various crewponies. At the end of the grey carpeted hall, was a door inlaid with ornate knots of gold and silver. Over the door, a glowing sign read 'CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS’.

Chapter 9

Chapter nine

Captain Isov had not been sleeping. He couldn’t. There was too much going on right now. Instead, he sat in his room thinking. When Nebula buzzed him, he knew it was time. He headed down the stairs from his bedroom to his personal office. He sat down at the mahogany desk in the center of the room, and opened the door for Nebula. She stepped in cautiously, and he told her to sit.

“Two things,” He spoke, “First, I’m aware of your ship’s damage. One of our agents at the Cathedral, reported and gave me a full run down.”

He paused, gauging Nebs’ reaction.

“Second, Greyhorn isn’t with the Office of Naval Intelligence.”

Isov placed a file on the desk.

“Intel shows he went rouge four months ago, when the war started.”

Nebs pondered this for a few moments. Despite her disdain, she didn’t have Greyhorn pegged for a traitor. He seemed to hate the insurrectionists more than her.

“Why tell me?” She asked. “I’m just a civilian, not some ONI spy.”

He nodded.

“No. But I need somepony who can deliver this file to the authorities.”

“I still don’t understand. Why me?”

Isov glanced around the room nervously then cleared his throat.

“The Wrath’s crew has been compromised. I don’t know who’s good or bad. But you, I’ve seen your record. And I know how Eridanians are with their loyalty. Miss Dusk, I wouldn’t ask if didn’t know you were capable.”

“I- I don’t know.”

“We don’t have a lot of time here. I’m sorry, but I need an answer now. I think something’s about to happen. Something bad. Please.”

“OK. What do you need me to do?”

“We’re near your home planet right now. I need you to take this to General of the Wonderbolts Strafe. I had my Chief Engineer prep a ship for you, and upload a backup of your SAREN unit to its computer. My personal ship. A Skyway Stardust Special. I call her Damn You Gravity.”

There was a note of pride in his voice as he spoke about his ship. Nebs nodded. she was a little envious of him now, well more. The Stardust Special was a hybrid of a light cargo freighter and racer, and very expensive.

“I still need to get some things in order. I’ll need you to wait, in the lounge with Tzerra, you can trust her. One of my pilots will meet you when we’re ready. He’ll ask you about the bees.”

“Bees?” Nebs asked, “The code phrase is about bees?”

Isov raised an eyebrow. That was the part she questioned? The bees?

“My dad used to keep bees after he retired,” He replied, “I have a lot of fond memories of them.”

Nebs nodded. Right.

“Actually, I hate bees.”

“Have a another drink,” Tzerra said in a cheerful tone,”It might ease what you think.”

Nebs shook her head.

“Three’s enough, Tzerra. I need to stay somewhat sober.”

“You’ve an important job. You’re right, no need to be a drunken slob.”

“Do you rhyme all the tim... Oh for Celestia’s sake, you have me doing it too.”

“Not always, but it is a storyteller’s tradition through, and through. To this convention I try to hold true.”

“oh, OK.”

Tzerra gave her with a patient grin.

“This reminds me of a funny story...”

“Sorry, Tzerra,” A new voice spoke, interrupting the zebra’s story. “We’ll have to get a rain check.”

Nebs turned. A pegasus stallion stood in the entry to the lounge. He wore full flight gear and a cocky grin. Nebs spotted the lightning bolt insignia of the Eridanian fifth transport regiment on his shoulder.

“Hello, miss Dusk, how are the bees?”

She nodded.

“Alright, we are set! C’mon miss Dusk, let’s get you to the DYG, and get out of here. Follow me, please.”

Nebs stared walking behind him. Before they left the lounge, he stopped and turned towards Tzerra.

“Stay safe, Tzerra.”

He then turned back towards Nebs.

“Names’ Strafe. Sergeant Cloud Strafe, at your service.”

“You’re the General’s Son.” Nebs stated.

He nodded in reply.

“I’m your ticket to seeing him, too. I’m going with you, by the way.”

“Miss Dusk, Sergeant Strafe, mind telling me why you’re visiting the hangar today?” Greyhorn spoke.

As they had entered the hangar, he appeared from around a large metal container, his lackeys in tow. Both armed.

“Captain told me to show her his ship,” Strafe said in an easy manner.

“The same ship Miss Bloom was prepping for launch?” The unicorn asked coolly, levitating a pistol to the Sergeant’s forehead,”Tell me what you’re really doing.”

Strafe grinned and raised an eyebrow.

“Trying to scare me, little pony?”

“Tell me, now. Or this is gonna get messy, for both of you.”

Strafe sighed.

“I didn’t wanna have to do this.” He said. ”Rose! NOW!”

A rumble filled the hangar suddenly as a dropship’s engines fired up, and it began hurtling towards them, violently ripping from it’s moorings with a metallic shriek. Before they could dodge, the grey-green craft plowed into Greyhorn’s lackeys, then crashed into a wall with a loud boom.

Before he could react, Strafe trust his forehoof into Greyhorns’ face, knocking him to the hangars’ floor.

“Let’s go, now, Dusk!”

She didn’t hesitate. She flew as fast as her wings would let her, towards the cherry red Stardust Special. A door on the side opened, a ramp sliding down from it. She hurried inside, then turned around to see Strafe catching up. Weighed down by his gear, he flew slower than her.

“Come on!” She shouted.

Several things happened very quickly, A gunshot sounded, a red cloud burst from the back of Strafe’s head, his wings stopped flapping, and he hit the ground with a dull thud.

“Miss Dusk, get off of that ship now!” Greyhorn growled, pointing his pistol at her.

“My little yellow arse, she’s getting off that ship!” Rose bloom yelled, charging at him, a large wrench held above her head in a magic field.

Turning quickly, Greyhorn shot her, and she collapsed, her wrench clattering away discordantly.

“Bloody Hell.”

He turned his gun back towards Nebs, but before he could fire, the ship’s door slid shut. He fired a few rounds at the ship, but they sparked harmlessly off the shields.

The ship disengaged with its mooring clamps, and maneuvered out through the Wrath’s Hangar shield and into open space.

Nebs stared out the door’s window, shaking, her heart feeling like it was going to burst from her chest. She sat down and started sobbing.

“Miss Nebs?”

She stopped, and wiped her eyes with a forehoof.

“S-SAREN?”

“I’m here, Ma’am. Are you alright?”

“He... He killed them,” She said with a sniff, “That bastard killed them!”

“I’m not sure I understand, Miss Nebs. What is going on?”

“J-just set a course to Eridani, please.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, “Also, I’d like to inform you that whoever transferred me into this ship, also transferred your music library as well. Would you like me to play your wind down playlist?”

She smiled sadly, and nodded.

“Yes.”

She closed her eyes and let herself drift away into the reverb laden guitar.

Author's Note

Sorry about ridiculous delay. Having a job both sucks, and is awesome.

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Nebs sat at the ship’s door as the Damn You Gravity drifted away from the Wrath. She sat there until the Wrath became indistinguishable from the distant stars. After that, she got to her hooves and began taking stock of her situation. The ship was only slightly larger than the Mercy, and had the same basic layout. However, Everything was much nicer. The ship’s interior had an old-fashioned diner feel to it, with checkerboard tiling, and a large amount of chrome. Adorning the walls were a number of vintage rock posters, Most older than her.

On one wall next to the door to the bridge, a sign read: Speed is just a question of money - How fast can you go?

She walked past the sign into the bridge, and sat in the swiveling chair in the center. The bridge was an oblong room at the front of the ship. A large window wrapped around the front of the room and several smaller windows were placed at blind spots in the floor and ceiling.

Nebs idly spun around in the chair, still processing what happened. She stopped and glanced at a small monitor on the ship’s console.

“SAREN, how long ‘till we get to Eridani?”

“At maximum velocity, a little over a month.”

Nebs nodded. Equestrian ships were capable of warping space to move faster than light, she didn’t understand the exact physics involved, but it still took months to move between stars for civilian ships.

“I guess it’s just you and me again,” she said,

“It would appear that way, yes.”

“Miss Nebs,” SAREN spoke, “I’m terribly sorry to wake you, but we are being hailed.”

Nebs groaned then opened her eyes with a yawn. It had been two weeks since she left the Wrath, and this was the first thing out of the ordinary that happened.

“Put them on-screen,” she said, failing to stifle a yawn.

“Yes Ma’am.”

A holographic display materialized over the console. A silhouette of a pony’s face appeared on the screen

“Nebula! It’s Ganymede, he’s behind it all. The insurrection, ONI, the Consortium, all of it!” an almost familiar female voice spoke, interrupted by bursts of static, “I have to stop them!”

More static.

“I’m sorry, but I have to. There’s no other way. I-I wish I hadn’t left you. Goodbye Nebs.”

“What was that?” Nebs said

“Unknown,” SAREN replied, “we aren’t picking up anything anywhere.”

Nebs shuddered. Stories of strange transmissions told by old spacers rarely ended well. Especially when they said your name. She knew they where just made up, right? It was just an equipment malfunction, a glitch. Still it unnerved her.

“SAREN, I’m... I’m scared.”

“Miss Nebs,”

Nebs rolled over with a groan. She hadn’t slept well that night, well what passed for night in space. Not that she had slept well since the anomaly left the Mercy dead.

“Miss Nebs, we are being hailed,”

Nebs sat upright, fully awake.

“Another anomaly?”

“No Ma’am,” SAREN replied “I am picking up a ship,”

Nebs got out of her bed and quickly climbed into a jumpsuit. She then walked to the bridge, and stopped at the doorway. Outside the window there was a large boxy freighter, crudely painted in garish colors. Purple, yellow, a sickly pale green, striped the dull grey plating, but Nebs eyes were drawn to the pony skulls painted along the hull. And the weapon turrets welded to it.

“I do not believe this is a social visit.”

Nebs shook her head

“SAREN, get us out of here, now!”

“They have disabled our engines,”

“Dammit!” Nebs said, striking the door frame with her hoof, “Do we have any weapons?”

SAREN was silent for a second

“Asteroid grade point defense cannons.”

She sighed, “Put them on-screen.”

“Ma’ am, you do realize these are most likely pirates.”

“I don’t see much choice”

The screen flashed to life and on it was a sickly beige stallion, greasy black hair falling past his shoulders. A savage grin appeared on his face, a yellowed grin that showed exactly what he wanted to do to her.

“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a nasty place like this?” he spoke in a thick greasy accent

Nebs shuddered, she wanted a shower all of a sudden. She knew what pirates did to lone travelers, especially mares.

“Why don’t you dock with us? Huh? Gimme a chance to dock with you.” He laughed.

“Daff!” a sharp female voice shot from off-screen “This is the last bloody time!”

Daff turned and grimaced, hatred flashing in his eyes.

“You know what, captain?” He said, his voice colder than the space outside the ship, “You had your fun. It’s time someone with some balls took over.”

The mare chuckled.

“A bloody mutiny, how adorable.”

Nebs nearly jumped at the gunshot, as blood splattered the screen.

“Anypony else wanna be a drongo?” the captain asked, after a short pause she continued, ”Good.”

A light purple mare with a wild striped mane the same colors as her ship, appeared, as she wiped the blood from the camera. She was a unicorn, her horn broken, and the left side of her face poked and scarred.

“Really sorry about that unpleasantness, love.” She said around the stub of a cigarette stuck in her lips, “Never really liked that bludger much,”

“So, Sheila, let’s get down to business.” she continued, after a pause, “You’ve got a bloody nice ship, I want it.”

“It’s not for sale,” Nebs shot.

The captain grinned. very few had the gall to talk to her like that.

“I ain’t exactly buyin’, love,” She said, her tone still amicable, “Not really a piratey thing to do, ya know.”

“And what about me?” Nebs asked, “Are you just gonna dump me out an airlock?”

Of course that’s what they’d do.

The captain chuckled.

“We was gonna make you walk the plank, but I guess and airlock’ll do,” Her grin broadened, “I’m bloody kidding of course. We’ll drop you off at the nearest neutral station. We ain’t complete barbarians, love.”

“I’ll have to get my things together.” Nebs said with a resigned sigh

“Take your time, it ain’t like you’re going anywhere.”

The screen turned black.

Nebs sighed, weighing her options. She had a job to do, a mission. She wasn’t about to give up on that, but how was she going to escape? She doubted these pirates would let her keep much else than her clothes, and neutral stations were notorious hives of scum and villainy.

“SAREN, can you get the engines working?” She asked

“Negative,”

“What would the PD cannons do to that ship?”

“That would depend on whether it is shielded or not.”

“Well, is it?”

SAREN paused to process

“This ship does not have the requisite sensors”

“Shields cause magnetic disruptions, right?”

“Correct.”

“Can you see those?”

He paused.

“The ship is unshielded.”

She sighed, this was a terrible idea. Crazy. But what else could she do? She checked the database to identify what kind of ship the pirates were using, A TengCorp C-250. She transferred the schematics to SAREN.

“SAREN, when I give the word, fire at the reactor, then put everything but life support into the shields!”

“Yes, Ma’ am.”

Nebs shook her head, and sighed. This was crazy.

“Now!”

Twin thuds shook the hull as the cannons fired metal slugs toward the pirate ship, then the lights went out. She saw two dents appeared in the other ship’s hull as the slugs bounced ineffectually. less than a second later, a large hole appeared in one of the dents, a cloud of metal fragments growing behind the ship. It’s outer lights flickered and died as it began to turn. Two more holes appeared in the hull and several explosions rocked the ship as critical systems failed. Nebs thought she saw a small ship fly away from the pirate freighter.

“Miss Nebs, we are being hailed,” after a pause, he added, “Again.”

Author's Note

Well, after much writers block, procrastination, and life in general, I've finally got another chapter up. Sorry about the wait. :twilightsheepish:

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Nebs turned on the vidscreen, and was greeted by a zebra dressed in rather plain attire, unlike most captains in the Equestrian navy, it lacked any real embellishment, save for four jagged golden stripes across the breast. He was an older equine, old scars marred his face, and wisened blue-green eyes gazed from beneath his bushy eyebrows.

“Are you alright?” he asked, concern in his voice.

Nebs inhaled deeply.

“I...,” she started, “No, I'm... not.”

The zebra nodded thoughtfully. Turning, he spoke in zebra to someone off-screen, then returned his eyes to her.

“You are welcome aboard the Crimson Dragon,” He said.

She thought for a few seconds. Could she trust these zebras? Could she trust anypony anymore?

“Thank you,” she said, bowing her head slightly, “I don’t suppose you could take me to Eridani.”

The zebra grinned, “It happens that we are headed to the same place.”

“Thank you.”

A large black and white striped ship pulled up to the port side, and fired a Mag cable towards her ship, and pulled it into one of the hangar bays. The ship shuddered as it latched on to one of the docking clamps. The Dragon’s captain waited below, watching. As she walked down the access ramp that had raised from the floor, she noticed another zebra watching her, she was clad in a form-fitting black outfit, and purplish sun glasses.

“Welcome aboard, miss?”

“Nebula Dusk,” She bowed.

“Lord Admiral Zengwei” He said returning the bow.

Nebs was suddenly very glad she had paid attention during social studies. Lord Admiral was the highest rank in the zebra navy. This had to be the zebra flagship.

“Admiral,” The sunglass wearing zebra said, as she approached, “This ship belongs to Isov Arcturus.”

“Does it?” Zengwei asked turning to face her, ”I never would have guessed.”

A quiet electronic whir accompanied the zebra mare’s eye-roll. He looked back toward Nebs.

“It would seem we have matters to discuss.” He said, “Baozhui, you are dismissed.”

“Sir, that is against protoco...”

“If we followed protocol all the time, nothing would ever get done.”

Baozhui saluted and turned to leave, muttering under her breath in zebra.

“Now, miss Dusk, why were you on this ship?” He spoke in a casual non-inquisitive tone. She wondered how much she should tell him. Lying crossed her mind briefly, however, that seemed wholly unwise given her situation.

“Captain Arcturus sent me to deliver a message to General Strafe.” She said, deciding honesty to be the best policy.

The Admiral nodded thoughtfully.

“It would seem our goals are more closely aligned than I expected,” He said, “I assume the captain will not be meeting us at Eridani?”

Nebs looked to the floor shaking her head softly.

“I don’t think so.”

The Crimson Dragon wasn’t as different from the Luna’s Wrath as Nebs would have suspected. The decor was the biggest thing that stood out to her. The ship was furnished with a wood veneer, rather than the painted metal of Equestrian ships. It didn’t lack the utilitarian information signage, however, those were more elegantly designed, and were written in both pony and zebra script.

Another difference was the quarters. They weren’t small by any means, but they were more compact than the Wrath’s. Her room anyway, was divided by a thin partition into a kitchenette and small living room, and bedroom.

One thing that was the same, however, the ship had a bar. A nice one. Nebs sat at one of the stools, staring into her drink. The weight of her situation bore down on her. How the hell had she gotten tangled up in all of this? This damned crazy conspiracy theory nonsense. ONI, Insurrectionists, Greyhorn, Isov. She was a logistics technician, not a spy! She should have been headed back from Starswirl Station with another paycheck, and a job well done. At least she was headed home.

For all her past desires to leave it behind, to make a home amongst the stars, she wanted nothing more than to be back under the Eridanian sky.

“You told me I’d always come back,” She muttered to herself, “Well, here I am, dad.”

She looked out of the large window at the front of the bar at the green sphere. Eridani. Home.

How long had it been, six years now? Six years since she bought the Mercy and never looked back. Sure, she was proud to be from Eridani, but she had longed to leave. Wanderlust, she thought, feeling a bit immature.

“Are you alright?” the zebra bar keeper asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

She sighed. She was so passed alright, that she’d need a telescope to see it. A big one.

“I’m still breathing, so there’s that.”

“That reminds me of a funny story.” He stated.

“You’re a storyteller?”

The zebra laughed loudly

“No,” He replied, “If you want a storyteller, you need to find a zebra of the Wandering Tale. I just mix drinks.”

She understood that zebras were divided into a number of clans, beyond that, she was clueless in the matter. now she wished she had paid more attention in social studies.

“Wandering Tale?” She asked, eager to get something else on her mind.

“You’re not familiar with the great zebra houses, are you?”

She shook her head.

He cleared his throat and began to explain. The houses were a number of coalitions formed from zebra clans that had similar cultures and were relatively close together. There were seven great houses and several lesser. The houses were similar to the corporations, and scattered nations that united pony kind some fifty years ago, though far older. Zebra kind had left the origin planet decades before ponies decided to stop killing one another.

The House of the Dragon was one of the great houses as was the House of the Wandering Tale. The Dragon was perhaps the greatest house, at least according to him, of them all. All great warriors and philosophers, bound to a code of honor. The Wandering Tale was an oddball among the houses, it accepted all, zebra, pony, even other races like the griffons. Most houses only accepted zebras with at least one parent from that house. The Wandering Tale also did not have any territory of it’s own, instead they lived nomadically. once a year the houses leaders would converge to discuss house politics.

He was about to explain the friendly rivalry when he was interrupted.

“Nebula T. Dusk?”

She turned her head towards looking over the small crowd of zebras, before spotting Baozhui standing in the doorway. She downed her drink, and thanked the bar tender, as she headed to the zebra mare.

“The Lord Admiral wishes to speak with you,” She said as Nebs neared.

“Alright.”

Chapter 1

Long Haul

A spiraling abyss of black, punctured by spots of burning white light. A lifeless, cold void stretching to infinity. Outer space.

A small, lone vessel slowly drifted through the void, bluish exhaust trailing behind it in long nebulous tendrils.
The ship, Celestia’s Mercy, was a MedTras vessel en-route to the Starswirl station. It was expected at it’s destination in five months, two had passed so far.

Month Two, Koprulu Sector.

“Miss Nebs,” A synthesized voice spoke,”Wake up.”

The young mare asleep at the ship's helm groaned. She didn’t want to wake up yet.

“Nebula Twilight Dusk, wake up,” The computer replied more insistently, ”You’ve had your eight hours of sleep.”

Groggily, Nebs stirred, then looked to her right toward the yellow outline of a stallion’s face on the nearby screen.
She sighed.

“SARAN, why do you always have to wake me up in the middle of a nice dream?” Nebs replied.

“If you wanted to sleep in, then perhaps you should not have instructed me to wake you up at this time.”

Nebs yawned loudly and stretched her wings, she then smiled at the computer.

“Humor, huh?” She said, “That’s a new one, SARAN.”

The artificial intelligence seemed to ignore her. Not unusual. Nebs climbed out of her chair and proceeded to the living deck downstairs. The living deck consisted of two rooms; a semi circular main room, and her quarters. The main room was divided into a kitchen, and a lounge. Both, as per regulation, where fairly plain, white metal walls with two large oval windows on either side. Still a few band posters covered some of the walls.

Nebs walked into the kitchen and began preparing the coffee maker.
“SARAN, You’ve got the bridge,” Nebs said,” Let me know if anything comes up.”

“Understood,” he replied “Might I also add that our coffee stores are running low.”

SARAN paused.

“At our current rate of consumption, we will be out three weeks,” he continued, “ I would recommend using less, ma’am.”

“well crap,” Nebs replied with a sigh.

The coffee maker bleeped. Nebs carefully removed the carafe and emptied half of it into her thermos. She then took a large gulp

“OW!” She yelped, burning her tongue on the hot liquid, “SARAN? Did you mess with my settings last night?”

“Negative, ma’am. I have not adjusted your coffee maker.”

Nebs rolled her eyes, and moved into the lounge. She set her thermos on the coffee table, then flopped onto the couch. She grabbed the remote for her vidscreen and turned it to the news frequency. Apparently some pop singer got married to some actor. She did care much for either pony. Both of them were Unmarkest fruitcakes anyway. Nebs liked her cutie mark. It was a pretty bunch of stars with a blue cloud behind it.

She sighed, and got back to her hooves, then walked to her quarters.

“SARAN, I’m taking a shower.”

She opened the door to her restroom and went in. Then she removed her grey jump suit and climbed into the shower.
At a turn of the knob, hot water sprayed from the shower flowing over her mane and back.

Nebs had dried off, and gotten dressed when SARAN had summoned her to the bridge.

“What’s up?” She asked as she stepped onto the bridge.

“There is a major fluctuation in engine two’s power levels, Miss Nebs.”

“Probably the fuel regulator again.” Nebs sighed,” Can you compensate 'till I get there?”

“Of course.”

Nebs walked down the stairs into the living deck and through the bulkhead into the maintenance deck. The clean white lines of the living deck were replaced by bulky rust-covered walls, and various analog displays. The room was lit by dingy greenish industrial light set in the ceiling, and a dull rhythmic hum filled the air. She tossed a tool bag over her back and walked to the end of the hall at the back of the room and opened the door to the left.

“SARAN, Cut fuel to engine two.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The large rectangular engine sputtered and died, shaking the ship. The mare opened the regulator panel and grabbed a small flashlight. She examined the interior of the panel and noticed fuel puddled at the bottom. The fuel regulator leaked.

“Oh, shit!” Nebs exclaimed, closing the regulator panel,” The damn regulator leaked. SARAN, I need a purge in engine two.”

“Ma’am, there is a malfunction in the engine two purge valve,” SARAN replied, “ You will have to manually activate them.”

“Great,” She sighed, “Stop the ship.”

Nebs never liked extra vehicular activity. Sure there was enough room to spread her wings out, and it was almost like flying. Not to mention it was beautiful. But there was too much that could go wrong. Her tether could break and she’d drift off into the void, or a cloud of debris could pass by and shred her to pieces. The ship shields usually protected from the latter, but she had heard too many stories of a ship’s shields failing with somepony outside. And she hated the silence of space. A deafening lack of noise, it horrified her.

She tied her deep blue mane into a ponytail and climbed into her spacesuit, then stepped into the port side airlock. The interior door shut behind her with a hiss, and she inspected the nanotube weave and metal frame that she wore. The suit was properly sealed and functioning at optimal levels. She placed the domed helmet over her head and made sure it was sealed then attached the tether to a hook on the exterior door. After checking her gear a second time, Nebs flipped the air release switch, and the atmosphere was violently sucked into the storage tanks. She then opened the exterior door, activated the electromagnets in her boots, and stepped onto the outer hull of the ship.

“Alright, SARAN,” She spoke into her com link.”Play some post-rock, please”

“Very good, Miss Nebs.”

The soothing guitar tones filled her ears and drowned out the utter silence of space. After her first haul, one of her friends told her that it was the best music for long trips through space. Though more of a hard rock fan, Nebs had to agree, she loved it.

She carefully began making her way to the manual release to engine two’s purge valve. Grabbing the lever with both forehooves, she pulled it toward the front of the ship. After some effort, the valve opened, purging the leaked fuel from the engine box.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something. Turning, she spotted a stray asteroid above the ship.

“SARAN, what’s the heading of that big rock?”

“The asteroid is on a collision course with the Mercy, ma’am. We have approximately ten minutes until impact.”

The Ship rocked violently.

“SARAN! What the hell was that?” Nebs yelled, holding on to the release valve.

“I am sorry, Ma’am,” The computer replied, “That did not show up on my sensors.”

“Whatever. Just make sure that as soon as I get back into the airlock, you fire up engine one and get us out of the way of that rock.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Nebs made her way back to the airlock. The ship rocked again, and her boots disengaged from the hull of the ship. She began drifting away from the ship. SARAN adjusted the shield geometry to protect her from any debris.

“Oh shit,” Nebs yelled, flailing her limbs around wildly, ”SARAN, help me!”

“Miss Nebs!” he replied, “Please remain calm.”

“I don’t wanna die like this!” She continued, ignoring the AI, “Help!”

“Nebula, calm down!” He insisted, “Grab hold of your tether, and pull yourself back to the airlock. Hurry, we do not have much time.”

Nebs took a deep breath and began pulling herself toward the ship. As soon as she entered the airlock she closed the exterior door and let the air back in. She took her helmet off and let it drop to the rubberized floor. The ship jerked as it started moving again.

“SARAN, Remind me never to leave the damn ship again.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Nebs had replaced the leaky fuel regulator and the Mercy was running at one hundred percent again. She was now relaxing in the lounge, watching a low budget science fiction movie. It was dumb, but after it reruns of Star Trot: The Next Generation would be on. Growing up that was one of her favorite shows. The other fillies mocked her for watching a 'nerd show’, but she never cared. Her and her dad would always make it a point to never miss an episode.
Even when he was diagnosed, they watched it at the hospital, all the way until the end.

“Hey, SARAN,” She called, “Do we still have any of that crappy whiskey?”

“Yes ma’am,” He answered, “However, I would not recommend becoming intoxicated.”

“I’m not,” she replied, “I just want one glass.”

She got up and walked into the kitchen. Opening the fridge and retrieving the bottle, she then filled a glass, and took a long sip. She then went back to her seat. The vidscreen’s signal cut off replaced by a warning message and a loud beep.

“TO ALL SHIPS IN THE KOPRULU SECTOR: THIS IS A WARNING FROM THE EQUESTRIAN ASTEROID
MOVEMENT ASSOCIATION (EAMA). A CATEGORY SEVEN ASTEROID CLOUD HAS BEEN SPOTTED
MOVING ACROSS THE SECTOR. ALL CLASS C AND LOWER SHIPS MUST DOCK WITH THE NEAREST STATION.”

The Signal went back on.

“What sector are we in, SARAN?” Nebs asked.

“We are leaving the Koprulu sector now, ma’am”

Chapter 4

Chapter four

Nebs pounded on the bridge door furiously with her hooves. She knew it was a futile effort, but she persisted.

“I am not gonna die like this.” She thought “No gorram way.”

She felt a sharp pain in her right foreleg as the hoof struck the door at an uncomfortable angle. She recoiled at the impact.

“Dammit!” She yelled.

Glancing toward the bridge window, she noticed the captain’s chair wasn’t bolted down. Walking over, she grabbed the chair and began smashing it into the door. After a few minutes of swinging the chair and uttering a number of colorful metaphors, she collapsed, exhausted. She was going to die here. There was no way out of this.

The ship’s console started beeping. Getting to her hooves slowly, Nebs made her way to the front of the bridge. The Tantabus’ radar showed another ship approaching on the port side. Her heart skipping, Nebs flipped the transponder switch. Nothing. The other ship was on a direct course for the Tantabus.

The bridge rocked suddenly as the new ship began firing at the Tantabus. Dozens of warning lights flashed on turning the room red. Quickly, Nebs hailed the other ship, and the firing ceased. The vidscreen flicked on, showing a bald tan pony. over his face he wore a black gas-mask of some kind, a pair of flight goggles, and a tattered military uniform.

“What the hell?” he asked his crew, his voice muffled. ”Boss said this ship was dead.”

“Well obviously not” Nebs replied. “Who are you anyway, scavers?”

“We ain’t scavers, you little b...”

“Calm yourself, Terrec.” A stern voice interrupted. ”She meant no offence, I’m sure. let me speak with her.”

Terrec rolled his eyes, but moved from the camera.

A second stallion stepped into view. He had a soft yellow coat and a short greying tan mane. He also wore a gas-mask and a ragged robe-like outfit.

“I am called Se’roth, most call me Sero, however,” He spoke, “What may I call you?”

“N-Nebula Dusk, or Nebs,” She replied, “What are you ponies doing out here?”

“Before I answer, a question: Do you belive in Celestia?”

“Umm, of course I do. Everpony does.” Nebs spoke impatiently, shivering from the cold air around her.

“We seek a deeper understanding of her radiance. That artifact is part of her divine glory. A shard of her being. It is an item we seek.”

“Well I’ll let you take it then, just get me off this ship before I freeze to death.”

After Saro’s and his crew had boarded and disabled Umbra’s core processor, they helped Nebs to her ship, then latched on to the Mercy with a Mag cable and began towing. The cable reeled in pulling her ship closer until she could dock with the other ship, the Dawn’s Raiment. After docking Nebs entered the Raiment.

As she walked toward the bridge, she noticed the interior walls had been mostly stripped of paneling, revealing the insulated bundles of wire, and conduits that ran trough the inside of the ship like a spider’s web. The few panels remaining were painted with garish green symbols and strange markings. The ship was mostly lit by braziers filled with dozens of pale candles, bits of metal melted into the wax and carved with spiraling shapes. Hanging from the ceiling were hundreds of small copper colored metal trinkets, all carved with intricate symbols. The air was filled with an exotic spicy-sweet aroma.

Standing on the bridge, Saro gestured to a nearby chair. With a nod, she walked over to the chair and sat. As she passed, Terrec shot her a nasty look.

The bridge was roughly horseshoe shaped with a number of simple chairs and a curved pyroglas window wrapping around the room. A curved grey console ran along the front of the bridge, it’s analog computers humming softly and orange lights flickering with life. This was an old short distance ore hauler, an antique even.

“Spiced Coffee?” Saro offered, pouring the black liquid into a large mug.

Nebs nodded.

“That would be wonderful, thank you,” She replied.

Saro passed the mug to her carefully, then sat down on a chair across from her. Thanking him a second time, she took the mug and sipped it. The liquid inside was a strong brew with a hint of cinnamon , sugar, and a touch of something else.

“So, what happens now?” she asked.

“We have the artifact, so we are headed back to our home,” Saro replied,” You may stay a long as you need, and you may use our bays to repair your ship. We just ask that you respect our ways and at least try to help out in any way you can.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Nebs spoke with a nod.

After a short voyage, the Raiment decelerated and began maneuvering into docking position. To the port side, there was a large station floating in a stable asteroid cloud. The station consisted of several grey metal boxes jutting out of a large reddish asteroid. Some of the exterior panels were painted with the same green patterns as the ship, and at various spots white lights lit up the outside. A large windowed overlook jutted out over the docking tube, lights underneath casting a greenish glow on the Raiment. on one large section of paneling, the word cathedral was crudely painted in green over the original name. Nebs found it impossible to read the old name.

Stepping into the docking tube with Saro, she noticed it was made of the same yellowish pyroglas as the ship’s windows. Pyroglas wasn’t commonly used anymore, most ships and stations used cheaper material now, such as Magpoly, or Titantine. Stronger, more cost effective magnetic shielding had made expensive pyroglas windows mostly obsolete.

The station airlock opened with a hiss as they neared. Stepping into the station proper, Nebs looked around. The station’s interior had similar decor as the Raiment. Dominating the center of the massive room was a copper hued statue of princess Celestia, her wings spread wide as she shot up from a shallow pool of water to the sky.

A female voice drew her attention

“Saro, my love, I see we have a visitor.”

Saro walked over to the mare and kissed her.

“We do, Kira, her name is Nebula Dusk.”

Kria focused her piercing green eyes on Nebs.

“What brings you to our home, Nebula Dusk?” she asked, “Do you seek to join the Children of the Glow?”

“My ship was disabled out in the Hydra nebula,” Nebs answered, ”Your people saved my life.”

“I see,” Kira spoke softly,”I am Kira’Sha. Welcome to our home."