The sound of waves crashing against the beach was something Altair had become accustomed to, the sun was shining brightly while palm trees swayed overhead. He was sitting outside the barracks near the tarmac of Wayne Air Force Base on the island of Mizuki Atoll, a strip of sand no longer than twenty miles and no wider than ten, surrounded by numerous reefs. Though it was too small to serve as a full naval base, it was perfect for refueling vessels and launching aircraft. Named after the Changeling word for Goddess of the Moon, it was located near the equator in the middle of the South Luna Sea.

It’s strategic location near Minotaur waters was what made it such a vital location, but despite all that, things on the island were calm. It had been months since the last sighting of a Minotaur vessel anywhere near the island, which was something Altair had come to appreciate. There was a lot of downtime for paratroopers on this island, but given its position, they needed some presence there. Altair understood this rather well, but despite that, he couldn’t help but miss home. He was reclining in his beach chair, under an awning that had been made out of a ripped training parachute.

His fellow paratroopers were playing cards a couple feet away, using munitions crates as chairs while they made use of an old cable spool as a table. The soft breeze blowing was making things a little difficult for them, but they were making due. Finn was off by the docks, most likely fishing. It wasn’t often that the Fallschirmjager got called into action, so they were pretty much left to their own devices. That didn’t mean they let their skills rust, they spent whatever time they weren’t relaxing in rigorous training. For the moment though, Altair was just watching the planes taxi on and off the runway while a radio played music from inside the barracks.

It had been almost a year since he had enlisted, now that he was seventeen he had been thinking more and more about his future. Not in the military, but in his personal life. He couldn’t quite describe the feelings he was experiencing, he missed home, but more importantly he missed the people there. His parents, obviously… But almost just as much, he found himself missing Cassidy. Every night he would call her, though for her it was midday, and when there was a communications blackout he would write letters to send once the blackout was lifted.

Her first care package had included a locket with her picture in it, something that Altair had worn around his neck since he’d received it. Even when the heat became unbearable, when the gold got so warm in the sun that it left a burn, Altair didn’t once consider removing it. As he thought more about her he reached up to his neck and held it gently, then closed his eyes and leaned his head back. His fellow soldiers were chattering among themselves, Altair did his best to drown out their voices and focus on the radio.

“...good evening, or for our boys overseas, good afternoon. The Canterlot Broadcasting System is happy to present ‘The People’s Voice’...” The announcer on the radio exclaimed in an excited voice, Altair opened his eyes for the sole purpose of rolling them. Usually the singers on that show weren’t that good, or they played music that got on his nerves. “...for those of you who don’t tune in regularly, it’s a show of ours where our talent scouts find some of the best singers in Canterlot and around the country! We invite them to sing their hearts out on the radio, to give you, our listeners, a taste of what our people have to offer!”

“Oh, hey! Is that People’s Voice?” One of the soldiers playing cards asked. “Static, turn that shit up!” Altair looked to the door of the barracks, he knew that Static and the other thestrals of their unit were inside. The heat wasn’t good for them, so they stayed inside where it was nice and air conditioned. The music got louder a couple seconds later. “I heard my sister was gonna go to this one as part of the studio audience.”

“Our first guest comes right from Canterlot’s Castle District. Why don’t you tell us your name and something about yourself?” The announcer said in a warm voice.

“Oh, well, my name is Cassidy Lanier.” The girl on the radio said, Altair sat bolt upright and blinked a couple times. It was Cassidy’s voice, and her name, why was it she always seemed to pop up whenever he was thinking about her. Maybe he was just thinking about her so often that it was inevitable. “I’m a junior at Don Bosco Tech, and I mainly sing at the Warm Weather Club… This is actually my first time singing somewhere else.”

“Static! Turn it up!” Altair shouted, the thestral inside turned the knob even more.

”Well, I’m sure you’ll do great. Is there anyone you want to say hello to?” The announcer asked.

”Yes. My boyfriend. He’s a Corporal in the Army, and he’s deployed overseas. I love you, honey!” Altair quietly gripped the locket tighter as he turned his chair to listen to the radio better, meanwhile the others had noticed his sudden interest. It was no secret that Altair pretty much hated ‘People’s Voice’, so to see him suddenly request it be turned up was something as rare as a blue moon.

”Aw… That’s sweet. Well, let’s hope he’s listening! What are you going to be singing for us?” The announcer continued, Altair stood up and walked towards the window closest to the radio to get an even better place to listen.

”Oh, it’s nothing special… Just something to let him know how much I love him.” Cassidy said in a warm voice, Major Adler looked up from his cards at one of the younger members of his unit. He could see the look of strain on Altair’s face, he’d seen it plenty of times before. ”It’s called ‘I’ll be seeing you’.” The announcer said a couple other things that Altair wasn’t much paying attention to, he only cared when he heard the sound of a piano beginning to play.

Altair let out a dreamy sigh as Cassidy’s voice began to come through the radio, it had felt like forever since he had listened to her sing, and now she was singing for him and telling the world just how much she cared. Of course, Altair wasn’t the only one listening. Adler could see the look of longing on the young man’s face, but the major knew that eventually his subordinate would get more used to being away from the people he cared about. Altair closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against the wall of the barracks and continued to listen to that smokey warm voice he knew so well.

There was little more for Altair to do but stand and listen to Cassidy sing, his eyes still closed as he thought about the last time they had been together. The way that she had hugged him so tightly, the smell of her hair, the taste of her lips… Altair sighed and let the music sooth his ailing heart, his comrades watched with a bit of surprise. Most of the unit didn’t spend time with Altair since he was so young, but that didn’t mean they didn’t care. He and the other young bloods were like the unit’s kid brothers. It didn’t hurt that the girl singing had the voice of an angel. As the music began to fade out and the singing came to an end Altair let out a sigh through his nose.

”That was for you, Alley Cat. I love you, wherever you are.” Cassidy said before the announcer came on and Altair lost all interest in the rest of the show. He opened his eyes and walked back to his chair to sit down, once again his mind was racing with thoughts about Cassidy.

[♠]

For years the Nocturne Agency had worked in the shadows, collecting artifacts and strange items from places where they had no business being. These artifacts had all been catalogued and hidden away from the world without so much as a whisper, they were kept in a secure facility in the middle of the San Polimino Desert. Some as big as ships, some as small as buttons, they all were there because… Put simply… They didn’t belong. For A.K. Yearling, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. Dozens of alien artifacts for her to examine and analyze, without the risk of being set on fire or tied into some sort of death trap.

At the moment, Agent Yearling was standing next to one of the facility’s most interesting items, an actual alien ship. The vessel was set up in an aircraft hangar, along with all the items that had been on board. It had been in the possession of the agency for several years, but despite that time there was little that could be told about the mysterious destroyer. The battle damage told Yearling that whatever had disabled the vessel hadn’t been an accident, and judging by the skeletons and the lack of any food or potable water on board, it was likely the crew had starved to death.

The skeletons had been examined, and as expected, they were different than those of normal ponies. Though originally they had looked like regular equine skeletons, close inspection had revealed that these creatures were actually similar to bones that had been found in the Farlands. Bipedal Equine hybrids. Despite that, their uniforms were almost identical to those of the old Equestrian Navy. Yearling had also found their ship to bear many markings that tied it to Equestria, somehow.

It was a puzzle, a very big puzzle, and Agent Yearling intended to solve it. The mare quietly walked up a gangplank that lead to the deck of the rusted hulk, she had examined the vessel many times, but each time she felt like she was missing something. The computers were encrypted heavily, in the years it had been under Nocturne control not once had they come close to cracking the code. All that Yearling knew was that this ship was from Dimension Zeta-Zero-One, better known as ‘The Battery Dimension’. It was a reality with enough arcane energy to power portals between Terra and Equus, and also the biggest threat to the world since the development of the Thermo-Arcane Bomb.

Yearling stepped into the bridge of the ship, she had become familiar with it over the time they had had it in their custody. Floodlights illuminated the area, allowing the agent to see every piece of broken hardware in the control panels. It also allowed the mare to see someone she hadn’t been expecting, a thestral in a black suit holding a folder in one of his wings. He had an ID tag pinned to his jacket, and from the eye of providence that Yearling saw she knew that he was with Providentia.

“Agent Yearling.” The thestral said as he set the folder on one of the control panels, Yearling stared at the stallion with a raised eyebrow. He had warm eyes, but a raspy voice that sounded like he’d been forced to gargle some sort of chemical weapon. The scars near his lips supported this theory. “I’ve been expecting you…”

“And you are?” Yearling asked, the stallion adjusted his suit and walked towards one of the still functioning consoles of the ship, though the encryption caused it to only display an image of the old Equestrian seal. He brought the folder with him, this time setting it in front of Yearling.

“I’m the stallion who’s going to help you crack this pesky encryption of theirs.” The thestral said simply, Yearling caught sight of yet another unique item on the stallion’s ID tag. It displayed a grey swirling line above the eye of providence, which meant that this thestral was part of Providentia’s Interdimensional Security Task Force. “Time for slow examination has run out, Agent Yearling. My superiors want the system cracked, and cracked soon. I aim to make that happen.”

“Oh? And how do you plan to do that?” Yearling asked, the stallion quietly opened the folder. Yearling glanced at it for a moment, her eyes drawn to an image of one of the odd alien skulls that had been found on the ship. Next to it was the face of a unicorn stallion with grey fur and a dark grey mane.

“We ran facial reconstructions of the crew through our military’s database, it was a longshot, but we were hoping that perhaps there would be some overlap in personnel…” The thestral allowed Yearling to pick up the picture and examine it closer. “Meet Ensign Grey Skies of the ONV Trotzig.”

“The Trotzig? But… She was lost with all hands. How does this help us?” Yearling asked, the mare paused and hummed. “Wait… Wait wait… If there’s overlap in crew members… Then that means there may be an overlap in security phrases. We’ve been so focussed on trying to crack an alien code that we didn’t think…”

“I can see why you’re one of our leads on this case.” The thestral said as he approached the console and adjusted his tie. “So, let’s see if Trotzig’s security access code can get us in.” Yearling watched as the stallion pushed a couple buttons on the keyboard, he then proceeded to enter the eighteen digit code, as if from memory. Both he and Yearling stood there, watching as the computer processed the numbers. Yearling looked around as the numerous other screens began to light up, displaying various lines of code before they showed different stations.

“It’s… It’s working.” Yearling mumbled, all throughout the ship its damaged systems were coming online. The mare looked at the numerous screens, some displayed data and weapons status, others seemed to be navigation or communication’s stations.

“This is bad…” The thestral said quietly as he examined the screen that he had entered the code on, typing on the keyboard as if he knew exactly what it was he was looking for. “This confirms the ship originates from Zeta-Zero-One, and from the looks of it… It didn’t come here entirely on accident.” Agent Yearling approached the screen and looked at what it held, her expression gradually shifted to one of shock. The image she saw was of the apparent crew… This confirmed the theory that the inhabitants of Zeta-Zero-One were bipedal anthropomorphics cousins of their Equestrian cousins. “There’s a sea of information to comb through.”

“I’ll have my team get started right away.” Agent Yearling said, the Thestral nodded quietly as he picked up his folder.

“And I will be watching.” He said simply, the stallion adjusted his tie once more. “Miss Yearling, look at the console for a moment… I think there’s something you should see.” Yearling raised an eyebrow and looked to the console in question, but to her confusion there was nothing new.

“I don’t see any-” She stopped mid sentence when she turned to look at the Thestral, only to find that he had vanished.

Author's Note

Here's another chapter for you lovely dovelies! Not much to report this time.

Here's your video of the day.