Thundera, Mission Clock at 49:00
Dusk

The last thing that Pumyra asked was, if I recall correctly, ‘what do we do now?’. As circumstances had it the ‘what’ involved a lot of breaking camp and transporting the Northern Guard to the Endeavor. A full night’s sleep was also on the agenda, something that I readily took up before being pulled back to Thundera for a meeting. I had ditched my armor so it could be repaired, and instead donned the gear that Rush had introduced. But even though we were in the palace for a meeting, no one had the slightest idea what we were meeting about.

“So… We don’t know anything?”

“For the third time no, we don’t.”

Finally the throne room door opened and a guard waved the three of us inside. Lion-O obviously capped the throne, flanked by Tygra. Gramps was already in the room, standing at the foot of the throne staring at the three of us as we approached. “Sorry about all the secrecy. We wanted to make sure that this meeting stayed private.” Lion-O said as he got up from his throne.

“And just what is this about?” Archer asked.

He question was answered as Lion-O fished three red enameled medallions out of the pouch on his hip. They were embossed with a black shadow of a predatory cat of some kind, the same symbol that every single guard and associate of the king was wearing. “Normally these are given to those of our people who serve the crown as a badge of office. I decided to make an exception for you three, where you all helped us in dealing with Mumm-Ra.”

“Consider it an honorary title.” Tygra said as he joined the king. “Although some of your have earned that more than others…”

Lion-O elbowed Tigra on reflex, but he never broke his kind-hearted expression. “Without all of you, I doubt that we would have survived yesterday’s battle… I guess I’m trying to say thank you. For everything.”

“Not a problem, it’s what we’re here for.” I offered as I pinned the medallion to the vacant space on my vest. “Now as much as I’d love to hang out, we do need to get moving.”

“Right, I understand.” Lion-O said as he turned his attention to Pumyra. “I don’t what you’re-”

“I’m going with them.” Pumyra said as she cut off the king.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Pumyra retorted and she turned on her heel and marched out of the throne room, leaving both Archer and I looking rather perplexed at her sudden change in attitude.

***

HMS Endeavor, Thirty Minutes Later

By the time we had returned to the ship it was already well along her return trip to orbit. Cosmo’s ponies had quickly found roles aboard the cruiser, and as I walked onto the bridge I was happy to see that a proper bridge crew had formed in our absence. “Looks like your meeting went well.” Amore observed as she abdicated the big chair to me.

“Well we got medals. That has to be good for something.” I said as I sat down.

“It’s certainly good for you ego at the very least.” Amore countered as she handed me a tablet. “Anyway, all systems are reading green. We can make the next jump on your word Dusk.”

“Do you have an idea on where we’re heading?” I asked.

Amore nodded and the tablet changed to show a crude map. “We’ve got at least one more jump to make before we get home. Of course we can’t go just yet…”

“Right, the fine control issue.” I said, thinking back to the last time the trip home had come up in conversation. “Have you made any progress?”

“Rush is working on it. Now that Cloud is here, he’s got an extra brain that he’s been putting to work on solving it. That being said he hasn’t got anything solid as of yet.”

“That’s because we’ll have to make a jump to test the new control code.” Rush said as he strolled onto the bridge, an unarmored Cloud close on his heel.

“We have to make a jump, so it’s as good as an opportunity as any.” Cloud added.

I started to ask a question, but Rush held his hand out. “Yes, we saved a copy of the original control program for the drive, just in case we need to go back to it.”

“I didn’t know mind reading was one of your talents Rush.” I observed.

“Well it was a predictable question.” Rush countered. “Any commanding officer would want to make sure that the old ways are still an option.”

“Good man.” I said as I patted Rush’s arm.

As Rush made his way to the helm Amore stepped in close. “Is Pumyra staying?” She asked.

That brought a memory to mind, specifically what a certain feline crewmate had said some time ago. “Pumyra? Front and center!”

She didn’t wait to step in front of me. “What’s up?”

“Where you’re still here I’d assume that you decided to stick with us.” I said. “I guess that means you’re all done with your whole ‘trial basis’ bit?”

“I think I was pretty clear back in Thundera.” Pumyra retorted. “Look, I don’t believe I belong in Thundera, at least not any more. In the few calm moments I’ve felt more at home with all of you than I did with my own people.”

“Well we’re happy to have you.” Amore said as a smile crossed her face.

“At least someone is…” Pumyra muttered as she claimed an open seat at one of the sensor consoles.

“Alright, we’ve just cleared the atmosphere.” Rush called from the helm.

I nodded and leaned back in my chair. “Then take us out.”

As the starscape outside the bridge gave way to swirling arrays of light I felt a bit uneasy. While we were leaving behind one defeated enemy, who knows- “Oh shit, we’ve got a problem!” Rush called out.

Suddenly the drive shut down and stars once more replaced the swirling tunnel of light. “What just happened?” I asked.

“It appears that the transit is complete…” Grey said as his avatar popped up over the helm. “Doctor Rush’s program appears to have increased efficiency of the drive core, hence why a jump at normal power transited us so quickly.”

“That’s one hell of an efficiency boost.” I observed.

“You’re telling me.” Rush added as he got up from the helm. “I need go over the data we’ve collected from that jump, see if I can figure out exactly what I did.”

I nodded at Rush as I got out of my own chair and strolled over to the helm. “Grey, can you tell where we are?”

“One moment sir… It appears that we're in Equis’ star system. It isn’t our universe but it’s certainly familiar-”

“Is something wrong Grey?” Amore asked, the AI having suddenly stopped mid sentence.

“I’ve found Equis…” The AI replied. As the ship began to bank the planet began to come into view. Judging by how the background conversations all seemed to stop I think I can safely wager that everyone on the bridge was seeing the same thing that I was.

“No, you must be mistaken.” I insisted.

“I’m not sir.” As the brown and grey orb fully came into view, Grey made a sound akin to someone clearing their throat. “We’re looking at a dead world.”

***

Ten Minutes Later…
Archer

“So no one has any explanation?” The General asked from his side of the holotable. “We just happened to jump into the orbit of a dead duplicate of Equis?”

“That’s what it looks like.” Dusk replied. “The atmosphere is breathable, and that’s about it. There’s no signs of any sort of life down there.”

“Well what could’ve done this? Could it have been some sort of nuclear weapons?” Blueblood asked.

“We’d be detecting residual radiation if that were the case.” Rush pointed out. “The only other thing we’ve picked up on is a large pockets of organically-based ash circulating in the atmosphere.”

“How can you even tell if the ash came from something organic?”

“Sensors are picking up a large amount of basic biological markers in the ash pockets.” Rush said. “Large amounts of calcium, carbon, water vapor, iron oxide…”

“I get it.” Meteor said. “That’s all what you would find in a pony’s body.”

Rush nodded. “Look, I don’t relish saying this… But something incinerated every living being on that planet.”

“You’d need a lot of energy to do that.” Amore observed.

“And who or whatever is responsible for what we’re looking at likely had plenty of energy to spare.” Rush replied.

“How long will it take for the drive to recharge?” Dusk asked.

Rush shrugged. “A few hours at least. Even then I still need to review the data that was generated during the jump.”

“Greyscale, you can do it faster so get on it.” Dusk ordered. “Archer, take Rush and Amore. We’ve got time to spare so I want samples from the surface.”

“Are you serious?” Amore asked.

“I am.” Dusk retorted. “Now all three of you go gear up, you’ve got work to do.”

***

Planet’s Surface, Half an Hour Later…

“Respirators?”

“Check.”

“Weapons?”

“I don’t see what we need them for, but check.”

“Radios?”

“Charged and working.”

Amore nodded as she fixed her mask into place. “Then I guess we’re ready to go.” For the last few minutes Amore had been running down the list of equipment that we had brought with us on the shuttle. After checking and rechecking our equipment Amore finally seemed ready to pop the rear hatch open so we could get moving.

Rush ended up taking the honor and hitting the release, letting in the humid and sticky air from outside the shuttle. “What’s with the humidity?”

“No idea.” Amore said as she stepped off the shuttle. “But I’d love to know how that is still standing.” She said as she pointed at a stone hut a few dozen feet away.

As we got closer I noticed an odd detail given where we were. “It doesn’t even look scorched.” I observed.

“Hey, she’s right.” Rush said as we finally came within arm’s reach of the structure.

Amore ran her fingers over the stone. “This doesn’t make any sense…”

“Neither does the wood door.” Rush said as he rounded the corner. “It looks brand new.”

Both Amore and I hurried over to the corner of the structure and saw that Rush was right. It was a wood door, and it was definitely brand new by the looks of it. “By Celestia’s beard… Who built this thing?”

Suddenly the door was flung open from the inside, and a hooded head could be seen. “Don’t just stand there, get in here!”

“Uh…” Amore seemed confused at the sudden appearance of what was clearly a living pony.

“Damnit, get in here before she comes back!” The stallion yelled as he reached out and dragged Amore inside.

“Whoa, take it easy!” I said as I pulled my pistol out of my holster and stepped inside. Rush came in behind me and shut the door. “Now do you mind telling… Us…” As I studied the pony he instantly started ringing bells. I’ve seen him somewhere before.

“What do you want me to tell you?” The stallion asked as he threw his hood back, revealing a long grey mane.

“I remember you now. You’re the Mountaineer!” I exclaimed as I thought back to my exposure to Dusk’s memory orb.

The stallion looked at me with an air of surprise. “How’d you know that?”

“Dusk’s memory orb. That’s where I saw you.” I replied.

“Dusk… Wait a minute, the Commander?” The Mountaineer asked. “The one I ran into in Chicacolt?”

“Ya, the one you helped with those cloudships.” I said, grinning ear to ear. “Oh man, he thought you died in that crash. Dusk is gonna be psyched!”

“The Commander is alive? And he’s here?”

“He’s in orbit on the Endeavor.” Rush explained. “He sent us down here to gather some samples so we could learn a bit more about what happened to this planet.”

“Oh dear, that means that the shadows are moving.” The Mountaineer said as he stepped over to a shelf and picked up the one large tome that was occupying it. As he flipped through the pages he let a sigh of what sounded like relief pass his lips. “Good, Faust sent her agent.”

“Who’s Faust?” Rush asked.

“Faust is the legendary mother of Celestia and Luna, the two co-rulers of Equestria.” Amore explained. “But most of us considered her to be a myth…”

“Faust is no myth. Believe me, I’ve met her and her associate.” The Mountaineer said as he closed the book. “But anyway, we’ve got work to do. I believe you need help modifying Endeavor’s drive so you can get back exactly when you left and maintain the timeline, correct?”

“Well, yes… But how’d you know that?” Amore asked.

“I know a lot more than you’d guess Amore.” The Mountaineer said as he put the book back on the shelf. “In fact, Mountaineer isn’t even my name.”

“Then what is it?” I asked.

The old stallion turned around, and I could tell that he had a twinkle in his eye. “Why child, I thought that it would be obvious! You may not recognize me, but history knows me as Starswirl the Bearded.”

Author's Note

Well would you look at that, Starswirl the Bearded! He'll become an important source of knowledge as time goes on... But next week we get more of the Dead World!

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-Striker