Ship is fine, all hooves down!
The wind blew through her hair and she sighed with relief. The night was beautiful and the stars sparkled like jewels. She could have sat like this forever, laying here in a forest glade gazing up at the sky; such pleasures though were not to be. They returned and they returned to this most sacred place.
Flinging herself to her hooves the mare starred in horror as the trees in front of her started oozing a black inky fluid. The branches starting squirming and twisting till they looked more like long black ropy things. They parted away from one section revealing the moon; it was a horrifying bloodshot gold eye looking right at her.
She ran the other way. What else would anyone do in that position?
Breathing hard she raced through the trees as the voices continued their mantra of insanity. The black fluid was flowing over the ground trying to catch her and where they past they mutated the land. Blinking back tears she just kept running till she came upon several pony shapes. Something felt so wrong about that she stopped running, leaving small furrows in the ground as she slid to a halt.
They looked up with blank white eyes and smiles.
"Oh Nocturne." Stella sobbed. She glanced around as the fluid rolled around her and more ponies came out of the liquid. They all smiled as they calmly approached.
A sharp pain filled my torso. Looking down she saw a large blade like barb protruding from it. The ponies and fluid continued to advance.
"Never!" she shouted at them as she felt herself being lifted up into the still normal branches; leaving the liquid and ponies far behind. This thing in my torso is part of a tail. She realized she was lifted up to a waiting creature. It's skin was a layered carapace black material and had a glowing neo blue mane styled after Stella's own. It's equally glowing and blue slited eyes regarded her. She almost looked like an alicorn if one discarded the tentacles where the wings were supposed to be and her tail was long and barbed. She even had a curved horn that looked more like a weapon than anything else.
"Wake up now! Not much time left!" It said in Stella's own voice.
"What?"
It lunged with an open mouth, a mouth filled with jagged teeth, and ripped Stella's throat out.
Stella rolled off the bed and onto her hooves in one smooth motion that spoke of practice. Gripping a large blunt object she struggled to get her brain working through her sleep fogged brain. Outside of her room she heard a shrill scream; any other time or place that was a cause for rapid action. Stella merely glanced at her door, almost lazily, and confirmed that it was, in fact, locked and barred.
Walking up to her fresher she gathered some water in her hooves and splashed her face with it. Looking into the mirror her eyes widened to see the creature from before standing behind her. She was shaking and Stella could hear a faint whimper.
Stella glanced behind her to look at her but she was gone; both in the room and the mirror.
It's here.
Heart pounding in her chest she raced to the door and opened it with as much speed as she could manage. Once into the hallway she glanced to the right, towards the engine room, to make sure nothing was there. Turning to the left started moving towards the bridge she stopped by the cargo room which led to the airlock. Her two crewmates were huddled near the door that led to empty space unmovingly gazing at it without acknowledging her.
By them in a bloody heap was Crimson Scalpel. She was sobbing and looked at Stella with empty lifeless eyes. "Save yourself."
Before she could ask anything one of the others perked up and reached for the controls. "The master is in! Starting the airlock now!"
Stella stared as the airlock began to work. Inside the window was nothing but blackness till one yellow eye floated into view. It gazed at each pony in turn and when it was her turn a thought floated into her head;
Crimson whimpered. Stella glanced once at her and muttered one thing. "I'm sorry."
She flew on her hooves, leaving her weapon behind, down the hall and raced into the bridge. Turning around she fumbled with the door to lock it. Taking a breath she noticed a large number of fallen blue hairs leading to the bridge. Turning to look at herself she whimpered at seeing her rotten dead wings and a long barbed black tail coming out her backend.
She lunged at the comms station. "MISSION CONTROL! TWILIGHT! Anyone reading me?!" She shouted in a shrill voice.
"Ouch! We can hear you ju-" Answered an angry male voice.
"Kill me now! It's here! We won't make it back to base!" *Sob* "Don't Leave me like this!"
"What are you talking about? Said the voice in obvious disbelief. Stella heard some shouting in the background as a loud shrill tone starting blearing. Another vary familiar voice shouted almost loud enough to be understood. "We read you Shuttle Two! Plan Y engaged."
Which one was Y again?
Before she could recall the procedures involved the intercom came to life. Ever in a bored monotone; "Emergency detach commencing. Core overload engage. T minus five minutes."
Stella heard Crimson scream even through the door. It was long and slowly grew incoherent as something was being done to her. Her cry was muffled as two more doors slammed shut and the sound of machinery came from the walls.
"By Celestia, please tell me you can go faster!" Stella asked as she started to hyperventilate.
"Disconnecting now. Just sit back. It is the core that is going to take..." Came the reassuring words of a familiar lavender pony but the rest of her words were lost as another thought came to her.
The bridge she was in was not a big affair by any stretch of the word. Barely big enough for five grown ponies to stand with elbow room to spare. Just four seats to it's name; one pilot, sensor operator, comms operator and, lastly, astrogation. So it was trivial to lean to the side and glance down the hall behind her.
Through the three doors viewing window, always kept vary tiny, was a familiar blackness and four small lights arrayed into pairs. It was advancing on her and was about to reach the first door. She whimpered as it banged onto the first door sending a tremor into the whole ship.
With a loud pop all noise from the creature stopped and it floated away. She held her breath as the rest of the ship floated away too. Its engines taking it far from her and, if the tremble below her hooves are to be believed, the bridge itself was also moving as fast as it could.
The bridge was designed to be able to be the life boat if the unthinkable happened. Stella knew for a fact there was even a small bedroom and shower accessible from the airlock. Why the airlock Stella couldn't say; Only that it was the only airlock in the ship with four doors.
Stella didn't move and barely breathed until a large ball of fire lit up the empty space in her window. A pressure on her head that she didn't know was there lifted and she felt a feeling like blood rushing to the brain. Tearing the horn blocker off her head the Alicorn started giggling manically when the voices didn't start up.
"I'm free!" She shouted with tears in her eyes.
She stopped giggling when she noticed that the horn blocker was griped by a tentacle. Glancing to her side she noticed she no longer had a wing on her right; she had a tentacle. Looking at the left wing she gave it one experimental flap and watched as it hit the deck with a wet slap. Another tentacle unfurled from her side.
She was roused from her shock when a voice called to her; "Mission Control to Stella Nebulous, please respond! Are you still with us? Our screens have you flat lining."
"I'm here. I'm-" *cough* "I'm free. The voices are gone." *cough* "At last."
She retched out blood and two shriveled blobs. Her medical training allowed her to quickly identify what they were. She took a deep breath with an extra pair of lungs she didn't know she had.
"Are you sure your fine?" Came the male voice.
It was quickly replaced by the Princess. "Hang tight shuttle two. We are a week out from you."
"I read you." Stella responded and she paused siting upright in shock. Looking down at her hoof she did something that the old her would have called insane; the irony that she likely was insane was not lost on her. She pulled at her skin and watched as it peeled cleaning off revealing black carapace underneath. Stella felt strangely calm and empty and spoke without a hint of the previous stress. "Control, I am unfit for duty. Please mark the time and take control of the ship. I am... going to shower... I'll talk to you in the morning."
"We read you. Mission Control out."
Author's Note
Well... First story I have made for the public to read. Enjoy!
Credit to BreakDown for "Princess Twilight 'Nocturne' Sparkle" in "The Overworked Alicorn". Obviously i plan to take this kinda 'oc' in a bold new direction. I might not need to give this credit but still; 'Nocturne' is not my idea.
onboard E.S.P. "Petri Dish"
It was a simple office; a table, three chairs and a screen or two on the walls. A single window led out into empty space and Celestia's sun could be seen in the distance. Despite the OCD of its usual occupant there was a thin layer of dust present; that was because its owner hated to actually work here on the few times it was required.
It was here that a lavender color mare was writing letters to the families of the seven ponies that died over the course of just a few days. Her mane was short and styled in a sassy spiky way for this century and her cutie mark was a simple magenta star burst with six black stars surrounding it. She was nude, a rarity out in space, except a simple silver necklace.
Princess Nocturne stared vacantly at a blank piece of paper and debated internally as what to put down. Medically? The eighth member did, in fact, die; for about thirty seconds. Mentally? That thing (Non pony? Hybrid? Massed instrument failure? Discord on drugs? Unconfirmed regardless.) sitting in the remains of shuttle two did have Stella's memories. Psychologically? Part of Stella seemed to have died; moving more on instinct than logic it seemed unbothered by the changes when questioned later.
Her door opened with barely a hiss of machinery and her fourth student, the thing that would not leave, trotted in like he owned the place. Though to be honest she wasn't sure if she wanted him to leave; his heritage left his life expectancy a variable and was a good option for an ageless alicorn. "Hey darlin', got good news."
"Still Nocturne for another hour." Nocturne said automatically without a hint of emotion in her voice.
The pony sphinx hybrid bobbed his head, his emerald eyes held too much mirth for current times. He was wearing his vacc suit, common gossip was that he couldn't take it off, with an oxygen tank and mask strapped across his back, even his wings were covered. It as if he thought the ship would spontaneously decompress; that didn't happen anymore. "Yes, Princess Nocturne. And in a hour I will throw you onto your bed and use every muscle at my disposal to remove your stress."
She raised an eyebrow. "As much as I would love to see you in all your glory I'll have to pass. Sex will have to wait."
"Oh Celestia! You thought I was talking about sex? I am so sorry!" He exclaimed placing his paws on his cheeks. "I was just thinking of a massage for your kinks."
She nodded. "I do have a headache."
"I got another head you can focus on."
. . .
"I still have to pass. We are still on for tomorrow though." She sighed leaning back into her chair stretching so to crack a few stiff joints. "So Ai'ari, what is the good news?"
"In a flash of light our feather treasure left. Its light now found on the royal's-" -sigh- "Remember Moonshine from the teleportation accident?" -she nodded- "Well... she turned up on the moon. The changelings are deporting her as we speak."
She smiled for the first time in days. She shoved all thoughts about the distance and just about everything else down into a deep dark hole; there would be time for study later. "She is safe and sound?"
"A little underfed. And spooked." He paused, his ears drooped. "However... we won't know if they... um... did something to her till after she gets back into our custody; the hive that found her does, still, practice making Quasi. Your conference call is still on; in under ten minutes. Our latest novelty hasn't moved; It is only through the thermal cameras that we know she is still alive in there. I do wonder-"
Nocturne held up one hoof for silence. "Wait, we got to walk and talk to make it." She trotted out the door with Ai'ari following closely behind and he did indeed keep talking. She appreciated his candor.
"So, see. She spun this cocoon thing and then... well. Her heat ratings just drop. So what I think she is in a coma or something. A few others kind of have the same opinion."
"I would go into a coma too if I had the option." Nocturne deadpanned. She nodded at a pair of researchers that bowed at her passing. They quietly muttered their greetings to 'Princess Nocturne' and again Twilight mourned the passing of the years as she was being treated like the other princesses.
Like you don't encourage such behavior with your 'professional' attitude. I can't believe you gave up last century. Came a sarcastic voice in her head.
Shut up, Twilight.
The pair walked down the hallway barely looking either left or right as they passed through the labs. Inside the rooms were a collection of teams and solo researchers working on a number of projects. Most were focused on psychic energy, some were on solving the faster than light travel problem. Alright, it was solved; we were instead on the problem of building a ship that wouldn't fall apart after one use. Though a hyper speed propelled engine did have a future in weapons development if hostile xenomorphs was the norm.
"Really?" She couldn't help but pick up on mockery in the tone; like it was so obvious as to why. But that was the point wasn't it? He wanted it to be voiced.
"Well yeah. What does she got? Bits of herself on the floor. A bridge with nothing but a black box and user manuals for reading material. One garbled transmission we received talked about Chrome Blitz and I quote 'Turned into a monster and ate Blue Neuron'. Which leads me believe all the food in there is unable to keep her alive. She could vary well be carnivorous; we picked all ponies to avoid unique diets. Easy logistics! If she could put herself on stasis with a cocoon then that might be the only thing to keep her alive." She paused for a moment. "And from going insane."
"Insane. The opposite of sane. A state of mind that is not normal. Does she qualify as insane? Not like she is a pony anymore." Ai'ari mussed looking off to the side.
Anything she might have said was derailed when someone appeared in front of them in a flash of light. Dressed fully in a vacc suit the figure immediately padded itself down, with forelegs baring hands, as if checking that every limb was accounted for. It looked like a griffin if one based that on the vacc suit's shape. There were a few on station even with relations with the griffins at a low.
The figure undid the mask and Nocturne sighed with relief. "Hey Gezel. Did you just teleport your whole suit unaided?"
The red feathered griffin grinned, hazel eyes full of happiness, snapping to attention with a crisp salute. "You bet Princess! I meant to go outside but I did go the required distance!"
Nocturne walked around the young griffin checking for anything out of place. "Don't get yourself killed."
"Oh I will!" A pause. "I mean; I won't! 'I will stay safe' is what I meant." She slammed her mask shut and cantered off. She called out in a muffled voice. "You know what I mean!"
With a slight smile Nocturne rounded the corner and entered the command section of the ship that also housed the communication array. The hallway lacked any windows and it took no time at all to reach the door she needed.
"So." Ai'ari continued. "We ran the numbers and the team will encounter Shuttle Two bridge ahead of schedule."
"They are travelling towards each other." Nocturne deadpanned.
"Right. We are thinking about four days there and then four days back. Commander Blueblood was wondering how we wanted to deal with Stella. She used the words 'dead or alive' though."
Nocturne stopped in her tracks in front of the door upon hearing this. She turned to face Ai'ari hoping it was a joke but the look on his face was serious. "We take her alive. If she attacks the marines she is free to retaliate but we need her. Intact.
He nodded. "I figured that would be the case but she asked me to run it by you. Also wants to discuss future security measures with you. Before Stella arrives. Also the Almighty Lunchbox has radioed in; they will dock a few hours after breakfast tomorrow."
"Still can't get over that name."
"They're changelings. I love the irony of them also transporting our personnel." He said grinning.
Moving into the room she never noticed when Ai'ari had left or even whether the door closed. In the octagonal room of screens and cameras only one thing held her attention; A familiar off white alicorn with mane flowing in an unknown breeze.
"Twilight! How are you holding up?" Celestia's voice held concern and warmth and Twilight wanted to just talk; unload all her troubles onto her old teacher. A slight grin grace her lips.
"I have been better Princess. It's not every day I lose a whole crew." Twilight said taking one last moment before the meeting truly started.
The screens on either side of Celestia lit up revealing two figures; Luna who was sitting on some ship in orbit of Equis. And Khirala, who was one of the few changeling Queens with Equestrian citizenship. Her barrel and part of her neck was covered in black chitin while the rest was a sickly green fur. Her mane though was dark red as was her eyes.
"Today, on such short notice, it is just the four of us. Tell us all about it." Celestia soothed.
"We do hope that thee sent a fabricated recording?" Luna asked hopefully, her voiced sounding far too high pitched and young for Twilight's liking. It couldn't be helped really; The architect who designed Luna's ship forgot to account for her size and Luna simply shrunk through magic instead. She looked painfully normal and tiny even with nothing in the screen to compare her to.
"We wish. 'We' as in everyone present today." Nocturne said sourly.
She took a deep breath before continuing.
"Yesterday at twenty three fifty six Shuttle Two, which was on a emergency return, came within range to allow high speed data streaming and remote control. Staff was alerted and we started getting ready to take stock of the present situation. At oh hundred and five my team was just getting together at our stations and the computers were already streaming the personal logs of the crew."
"At that time the airlocks started." She swallowed a lump in her throat and tried her best to keep her voice steady. "Their ship was already on lockdown and broadcasting a emergency beacon warning of possible unknown pathogen. A quick scan revealed that nothing was outside; nothing that the scanners could pick up."
"The video I sent was the next two minutes before and just after the loss of Shuttle Two. The airlock did pick up strange readings from the life scanner but otherwise the creature could only be seen and heard." Nocturne lifted up a remote that rested under the screen Celestia was currently displayed on.
Pressing the right buttons without even looking at it a forth screen came on for her and replaced her for the others. On the screen one could see two ponies looking intently at a door, their fur and manes had a dull color and was unkempt. They were also covered in blood, fresh and old, with the new blood having come from the third pony on the screen. Sprawled on the floor against the wall was the last medical professional onboard; Crimson Scalpel. She was sharp and witty as her name might suggest with a grim sort of humor. Twilight was going to miss her.
The door opened and what could only be called a great blackness was just beyond. It was a little unnerving to see something that black as even empty space had stars. First one arm, ending with a normal hand, came out and then the other. Then a head came out the airlock door with a four tentacles where the mouth should be, four yellow eyes and a mass of tentacles on the top of the head. Nocturne, and several other scientists, noticed earlier that those last tentacles never moved and flopped around lazily like normal messy hair.
Nocturne started talking again as soon as the door opened. "As you can see the creature has almost no color to it at all and is hard to see in any lightings. Also the creature is easily bigger than you, Celestia."
"The two ponies there are not resisting?" Luna asked with a note of confusion on her voice.
"Hardly; they opened the doors for it and allowed it to eat them. We received a few communications from some of the crew days earlier and they made a small religion out of the creature. It is unclear if the creature directed them or a side effect of whatever it did." Nocturne glanced at the screen and noticed that the creature grabbed the first pony by the neck. She wrapped her hooves around it's face in a hug while a pair of mouth tentacles wrapped around her neck.
Nocturne turned away from the screen when the second pair dived into the mare's ears. The pony flinched but tried to hug it hard. "We are of the belief that the creature is eating their brains. Though we have no clear evidence."
Khirala spoke up for the first time watching the couple sit there quietly in an embrace. "I know it would have been a bad idea but leaving the ship intact would have left plenty of evidence behind; that you could look at now. It is possible that with no crew left the creature might have simply left."
Luna made a noise but Nocturne couldn't tell if it was approval or disapproval over the idea but Celestia hummed a moment before asking question; "Was there a reason for blowing up the ship? The vid you sent showed the creature not being able to use doors unaided. I assume the bridge is still intact?"
Nocturne cringed and looked back at the screen. Seeing that Crimson was next to be 'eaten' she paused the recording before the screaming started; not that the audience couldn't take it but it was unnecessary to listen to. "Weeellll... there is a surviving crewpony."
The room was vary quiet as the others digested not only what she just said but how she said it. Finally it was Luna who broke the silence. "Is she well?"
"She is not of the tentacle congregation if that is what your asking. She um... well; I'll just show you." Nocturne pressed a few buttons and switch to another video file. This one showing the bridge and angled to show a few meters into the hallway. She had been dreading showing this one as it was disturbing; both in the events and the potential implications in light of the communications. It's one thing to have a space faring predator, it's another to see a pony potentially becoming such a thing.
"This is Stella Nebulous. Served two tours here and had- Has a masters degree astrology and planetology. Also is the only non doctor with a working knowledge of medicine onboard the ship." Nocturne said as a mare raced into view. In her haste to enter the bridge she clipped her wing on the door and it fell off unnoticed by its owner. The black tentacle that replaced the wing mimicked the motions of its counterpart wing with excess length rolling up neatly into a coil. It even went so far as to have the proper kinks were the bone joints should have been. "She and Crimson were the last ones to send messages that could not be considered fanatical ramblings. Though Stella, the day before this, seemed out of it. She wasn't sleeping well either."
"She is molting her vary body?" Khirala said hesitantly noting the tentacle and barbed tail.
"It seemed that way." Nocturne said without any emotion and watched their faces as the vid continued to play. They heard it all, the screams, the tears and the sound of the creature trying to bust the door down. "She goes on to shed the rest of her skin; horn too. She was, at first, ignorant of the changes."
"Ignorant?" Celestia mused as she stared intently at the screen.
Stella, in turn, was staring out of the airlock of the bridge. Eventually her face lite up and she tore the horn blocker off with her new appendage. "I'm free!" she shouted for all to hear, her twitching maniacal face had tears streaming down her face. All giggles and fun stopped when she noticed her wing wasn't a wing.
"As you can see her new limb is full functional. This is also where her heart stopped according to the medical sensor on her uniform. We assume it started back up but that is also unconfirmed. To many unknowns. Princess Nocturne rubbed her head with one hoof.
"We read you. Mission Control out." Nocturne's own voice rang out from the recording. I don't sound like that, do I?
Celestia watched as the mare collapsed onto the floor twitching and hacking up more gore out of her mouth. It only lasted for a minute before Stella surged to her hooves tore off her uniform and proceeded to rip off all her remaining fur in large bloody clumps. Even her horn fell off with a clatter and that caused her to pause in her actions. Stella ran one hoof over her fallen horn; a single tear on her cheek and her tentacles dropped lifelessly on the floor. Finally turning towards the door she went off towards the living quarters built into the bridge; presumably to shower as not all the skin left without leaving blood behind. The video finished when she left out of sight.
"You are planning to bring her to your ship arn't you? What if she is no longer herself? What if whatever changed her changes other members of the crew?" Luna challenged.
"Oh yes I will." Nocturne said with a smile and a nod, Luna scowled at her in response. "According to communications she is not the first to suffer this transformation."
Celestia nodded in understanding. "According to a report sent three days ago the crew discovered a 'monster' onboard the ship which ate another crew member. Only their skin and a few bones were discovered. The crew removed the creature and suffered another loss in the attempt; both left the ship through the airlock as I recall."
Nocturne nodded and glanced at Khirala and saw that she was immersed in her hive mind; likely giving orders. She returned her attention back to the sisters. "Exactly. I plan to merely collect her, give her a medical exam, determine whether she is a threat to herself and the crew here. If she is sane and safe I plan to keep her around. However I still don't know if she is still herself. What happened to her or the first 'monster' did not require the alien to be physically present. So it matters little; it can happen here regardless of where Stella is. I will send a full report by ship when I can."
"I hope that you will take as many precautions as necessary. I need to sign off." Celestia said after looking off to the side of the screen.
"I will do my best." How is spike? The question died on Nocturne's lips. Spike was not due to wake up for another decade.
Celestia's screen went dark.
"I too must leave. Take care as there is no precedence for what your doing." Luna said with concern.
"I will send one of my ships over to provide support; at a safe distance, of course." Khirala said in a manner that sounded more like a decree. "In case you need life boats."
"And to study the effects of ponies infected?" Nocturne inquired with a raised eyebrow. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Luna's screen go dark.
"Never! One of my children will be joining you tomorrow. This event might effect more than ponies." Khirala said before turning her screen off as well.
Nocturne sat in the room a while longer while thinking of crew lost. Of friends lost.
Ai'ari cantered into the bridge while making his pre-off duty walk. The bridge itself was circular and brightly colored with an almost nauseating effect; It was standard tradition on Equestrian spaceships for the captain to add their coat colors to some part of the bridge. While Twilight technically owned the ship its captain was always somepony else; somepony with experience in naval command. This ship however has seen far too many in its already long life.
Only four others were in the room when he entered, three alicorns and one changeling drone. The ponies were all in tight suits while the drone was naked, snoozing on her chair. He turned to the one sitting in the captain's chair. "Commander Redblood."
The red and orange alicorn chuckled at the shared joke as she turned towards Ai'ari. "We're nautical in here, dear; it's captain." She clarified.
He nodded. "How is Shuttle One? I heard they have stayed uneventful in comparison to Two."
Commander/captain Blueblood glanced around worriedly at the other ponies before speaking again in a lower voice. "They are beginning to experience cabin fever, paranoia and some hysterics. Problem is that we don't know if something is happening to them or if they think something is happening to them."
He nodded. "We predicted they would get a phantom itch if we told them about Two's problems. Twilight really wanted them to know so they would be aware and better on the look out. Any talks of witch burnings yet?"
"None they have decided to share. They are still using their heads so the limited readings that are sent with the transmissions might be forgeries." She rubbed one bloodshot eye. "It's a bucking mess."
Ai'ari sighed. He was about to say something but was delayed when a buzzer went off somewhere in the room. He heard it many times before and knew exactly what it meant. Only one creature reacted to the alarm at all and that was the changeling.
Going by the nickname Sicko, she was a standard drone for Hive Calamity. With dark brown fur and bright green mane Sicko was one step removed from Queen Calamity herself. Calamity has a fiery red while Tempest switched hers to lime green. Based off a feline form instead of the usual equine every appendage ended in fangs, claws, or stingers. Being of the Stratos drone strain she was not as armored and heavy as other feline based drones and lacked the glowing eyes and holes in the wings and limbs. Another thing was the wings; instead of the usual gossamer they instead were leathery batwings.
It worked well for the Stratos attack strategy. Fly up really high and nose dive through an enemy flight at high speed relying on momentum to force their blades held in reinforced jaws to cleave through the enemy without resistance. The gossamer wings were highly maneuverable but couldn't do that type of attack without problems. The strategy was quite simple in practice. cleave through the enemy and fly back up into the sky as fast as possible and normal stupid drones would pursue only to be hit by another group of Stratos. Alert queens had two options; be hit by Stratos with joint Calamity and Tempest drones that they couldn't catch or go to the ground where Calamity excelled in combat.
After benefit the Stratos strain enjoys was heightened reflexes and mental computing needed for fast reflexes and reactions. Which spaceships were a different beast altogether it was rare to find better pilots in emergencies. Ai'ari couldn't barely track the drones limbs as she switched from screen to screen pouring over status reports in a second or two each. Her long ropy tail swished revealing her genders briefly but most didn't notice that; most noticed the poisoned barbs arrayed at the end like tail feathers. Fortunately the Stratos strain's poison was not as potent as the Viper strain and you could have an accident without needing a mad dash to an antidote. Though Ai'ari knew a secret; the Vipers, and any other poisonous drone, produced the antidote themselves.
Sliding off the seat designed after changeling pilot seats, but for pony limitations in mind, Sicko saluted Commander Blueblood. "Night shift has now begun!" A short pause as she glanced between the pony and sphinx. "Relieving you for the shift?"
Commander Blueblood nodded. "I stand relieved, once you return from your breakfast."
Sicko looked like she was about to argue but then shrugged and walked off. As she left one griffon and alicorn entered the bridge and relieved the others fro the night shift.
"Any word from-" Aiari began.
"Any of you want something from the mess hall?" Sicko asked poking her head back into the room.
Blueblood looked like she was about to say something but then snapped her mouth shut and shook her head. Sicko nodded her head before disappearing from view. "More sausage for me!"
Bloodblood made a retching noise while Ai'ari smiled. Queens across both the Moon and Equis were still divided on whether releasing the aggressive carnivorous feline drones in the last civil war counted as the best or worst thing to have happened in the Queendoms. Having intelligence and Calamity's fiery temperament the drones wasted no time carving a bloody trail through the jungles they call home.
Their inspiration was even a funny story. A common house cat took umbridge at a disguised Queen Calamity trespassing on what it had considered its territory. A great battle took place that gave Calamity a stroke of brilliance; the cat disappeared under 'mysterious circumstances' the next day.
"Any word from home?" Ai'ari asked.
Blueblood nodded and smirked. "Your not gonna believe it; a reported unicorn birth turned out to be true!"
Ai'ari's eyes widened. "Really? That would be the first one in the last thirty years! Any news pegasi or earth ponies?"
"Nope. Well... kinda. Due to an accident the number of pegasi remaining can now be counted on four hooves." Blueblood shook her head then grinned. "The last of the purists have been incarcerated. Foals are no longer getting offending appendages removed. Though some still request it to be done."
"Three parts we are made of, one of-" Ai'ari stopped his sudden riddle in mid breath. Taking a moment to organize his thoughts he started again. "Still doesn't change what's inside them. Insticts don't just go away."
Blueblood worked her jaw for a moment giving him a sad almost mournful look. "You don't have to stop that for our sakes, you know?"
"Every once in a while I weave something that the Great Brain can not unravel without effort."
"I hear that." Blueblood rose from her seat as Sicko pranced back in with a plate held in her grasp. Silently the pair walked out the bridge but Ai'ari wasn't bothered; any important news would be shared over intercom and anything private would be waiting in his room. Any physical mail would arrive with the ship tomorrow.
It wasn't until the turn towards the living quarters section of ship that Blueblood broke the silence. "How is the siege on Castle Nocturne?"
Ai'ari hummed in contemplation for a moment. "Siege faces a lull, yet the walls still shudder. The masks crack and crumble. A shame really, I think she needs them."
"If you were a stranger or a... 'supplicant? 'Sycophant'?" She grimaced at those words. The words were true but growing up among royalty diminished the fervor she might otherwise hold. "I would have to agree that she needs them up as she has grown tired of befriending ponies to only watch them die."
"Time knows no mercy." He said gravely. He looked at the alicorn next to him and wondered how much more time they had. They grew up together and he was barely an adult. Blueblood had been some of the first alicorns to be born since Flurry Heart and was one of the lucky ones to live to see one hundred and fifty one and still be in her thirties. Some of these 'alicorns' lost 'the will' and promptly withered in months or a year or two. Some aged like a normal pony.
"Yes. Unlike the Princesses we have to fight the flow of time." She looked sad but then pirked up. "But! You want more than that! Than friendship! Why are you letting off?"
"Just easing back into her. Gotta have a rhythm for it."
She snickered. "Grab life by the horns!"
"Too many cooks spoil the pot. Not a pretty sight with a rosy pot." Ai'ari said sporting a thousand yard stare.
"Yes. Which is why I'm only stirring you. I had friends once that tried." Blueblood said with a thousand yard stare of her own. It lasted only a moment before they broke into giggles that would do little fillies proud.
They stopped at a door, where they glanced at each other briefly. "Knock her off her hooves."
"That's the plan." He said as she walked on.
Author's Note
The Red Shirts are coming! The Red Shirts are coming!
Chapter 3 is coming along, 25% out of my head. Not sure about the remaining percentage. It'll get there. I kinda know what i want just not all the little details. And names! I hate naming names.
Also an old aesthetic from my Play-By-Post days leaves all spoken dialog bolded. If it isn't there is a reason for it.
