Voyages of the Lightbringer: Episode 1: Artifact Hunting

Chapters

Vacation Mysteries
The Star Chariot
The Spider Pirates

Vacation Mysteries

"Captain's Star Log; Equus Date: 2/26/2274: After our recent victory at the Star Forge and the collapse of J'ula's alliance, my friends and I feel we should wine down before taking up the duties of exploring the stars. Thanks to some recommendations from Princess Twilight and the crew of the starship Harmony, we've decided on the perfect place to visit: Risa. While we've never been there, we've heard quite the positive reviews of the world and it's luxuries, and we hope to join in on the fun while it's here!"

Risian Islands, Vacation Resort|

I took a glass of Rokassa juice to my lips with my magic, taking a drink as I admired the beautiful sight of the two suns of the Risa system sitting still in the sky. We'd arrived at Risa in less than half an hour, and after beaming down to the surface, we decided to take a look around to get to know the areas and natives of the large island that held the large resort on it's southern end. By the time we were done, we then asked to find a place to relax and enjoy ourselves at the wondrous island.

As I savored the fine taste of the Risian beverage, I set the drink down, Calamity digging into a nice, steaming bowl of Risian beans as Velvet Remedy began the conversation. "Well, I'm quite impressed by the quality of this food, I'd have almost been spoiled if I lived here!"

I smiled at my friend, wiping my muzzle with a cloth as I replied. "Yeah, I can see why they don't have this stuff available all across the galaxy."

"They must've grown those beans naturally," Velvet said as she pointed a hoof at Calamity's beans, the stallion wiping his muzzle with a cloth in his hoof as my friend continued. "I wouldn't be surprised if they told us that."

"Ah'd talked t' one o' the cooks while y'all waited, and they said all of the food is made that way."

We had ceased our conversation as we saw Steelhooves and Commander Snowdrop trot over to us, a small statue being held by the pegasus mare in her right wing. The statue had the appearance of a large head with four small pieces coming out of it, under the head was a small body with two legs and two arms. It was made of wood.

The unarmored Applejack's Ranger smiled as he spoke to us. "While you were relishing in the treats of Risa, we had stopped over to pick up one of the island's souvenirs sold by that gentleman there. They call this statue a Horga'hn." Snowdrop set the small statue on the table in front of us, her and Steelhooves taking a seat next to us as the latter spoke again. "Xenith has decided to take a walk around the island, she is intrigued by the creatures around the area."

Velvet gave a joyful smirk as she replied to Steelhooves, Pyrelight hovering at the medical mare's side. "I wouldn't blame her, this place has many beautiful birds around here, I was wondering if Pyrelight here would want one as a friend." The green Balefire Phoenix cooed to Velvet, the rest of us letting out chuckles as I replied.

"Yeah, which one do you think would get together with her? I've seen some Passion Wings, Seasprays, and even one of the rare Sunset Streamers!" Velvet pondered for a moment as I took another drink from the juice in my magic, the charcoal mare speaking once more as I swallowed my drink.

"You know, I think we should try finding some eggs for the researchers, perhaps they could choose the best one for Pyrelight to play with." Calamity smiled at her words before he replied to her decision.

"Ah heard some participants o' that Horga'hn hunt found a few durin' their search for them, ya think I could go and find one fer ya?" We looked to Velvet for her answer as Calamity finished, the next hunt for those little statues would be in about half an hour, so we had plenty of time to decide before it would start.

Calamity's wife smiled as she gave her response to her husband. "That's a wonderful idea, it'd be perfect for our honeymoon here."

As we all nodded and muttered in agreement, Admiral Stone trotted over to us, a small device strapped to his back. It was one of those fancy floaters the visitors and natives of the island would use to fly around the island, this one was Yellow and had a black central booster, three smaller ones on the underside of the floater and two more being held by two thin pylons.

The admiral smiled as he spoke to us, myself setting my drink down to listen. "Hello everyone, I take it you're all enjoying the break?"

"Am I?" I said with a smile before continuing, the admiral building his own smile to join mine. "The food here is amazing! I've never had such delicious drinks like this, not even Tenpony Tower had this kind of stuff." My smile faltered slightly as I finished with, "Well, yeah, the place was providing the best they could get from a post-apocalyptic Equestria, but still."

We all laughed at my comment before Wyatt replied. "Yeah, they even have a competition that will give you one of their new corvettes. That is, if you can keep up your pace. The event takes almost a month to finish without getting some additional voucher from the Lobi Consortium."

As Calamity and Velvet continued to eat their food, Wyatt focused on me, the human pulling out a small device as he spoke to me. "And, as much as I hate to interrupt the fun, I've got a call from artifact hunter Sovak, he wished to speak with you in private."

I raised an eyebrow at the admiral's words, my friends joining my surprise as I stood up, trotted over and took the communicator before replying. "Alright, let me find someplace private before I answer." Admiral Stone nodded as I looked to my friends, Velvet speaking for the others as they gave smiles towards me.

"Good luck, Littlepip. Don't strain yourself." I nodded as I started trotting out of the large room, passing through the open hallway and turning to my right to one of the archways.

I had found a small area behind a bush that stuck out near the edge of the island. There was barely anyone over here, so I would hopefully not be heard while I talked to Sovak about the mission. Taking a breath, I pulled out the communicator and tapped it, a male voice speaking through a second later.

"Ah, I take it you've decided to help, my friend?" I cleared my throat as I replied to Sovak.

"Yep, what do you need me to find for this little scavenger hunt of yours?" I said politely as the Ferengi scavenger spoke back.

"I would more so call it a large scavenger hunt this time, my friend. You see, I've gotten a call from your friends at the U.A. a bit ago and they've told me that there's an artifact here that is not like the others, much less from this universe." I raised an eyebrow as my contact continued. "They say it's from your universe, and if it were to fall into the wrong hands, the finder could use it to do quite some damage to this place. I of course can't have anyone else go and find it because of the risk it poses, and given your record and recent fulfillments, you were the right choice for the job."

I smiled as I was ready to go on a little hunt for an important piece of hardware from my home, taking another look around my area before responding. "You got it, I was hoping to go flying around this place at some point today."

"I had hoped so. Also, you won't be alone on this mission, your friends have sent one of their older agents here to help you out. She said she knows about you and your friends, and she wants to get to know a fellow agent like yourself during the hunt. I hope that isn't a problem."

"No, I'd be happy to." I replied as I started to look towards the floater vendor at one of the huts near the beach. "But first, I've got to get a floater."

Before Sovak replied to me, I heard the sound of a transporter behind me. Turning to look, I saw a small white floater with a blue glow on the power cell. The Ferengi hunter's voice then spoke. "Ah yes, about that, I have a floater that I got for a few trips around the island a while ago. I think you'll need it for this one, just make sure it gets back in working order, please."

I smiled gleefully at the small floater as I replied. "Thanks, it'll be in perfect condition when it comes back to ya."

"Good, now, you should get started quickly, your assistant should find you somewhere around the island at some point. Good luck."

As the signal cut out, I picked up the floater and its control grips in my magic, strapping the device around my waist and holding the controllers in front of me. As I pressed a button, the floater activated, my body lifting into the air a moment later. I took a look around myself as I tried to understand how the floater worked. "Wow, this'll be much easier than lifting myself around this place." I said with a slight chortle as I pressed the controls, myself flying higher into the sky as I looked to my Pipbuck.

I tapped the small device to initialized my scanner, and after a few seconds, it was ready. As I examined the area, I saw that I was at the same height as the resort hotel's roof. After taking in the beauty of the island, I continued forward, constantly tapping my scanner every minute to keep an eye out for the hidden treasure.

(==o)

Almost half an hour had passed and I'd found nothing, though my scanner said I was getting closer to it. As I reached a high point in the late afternoon sky of Risa, I took a look at the view. It was like a sight I'd expected to see only in a dream, the mountain was illuminated by the light shining down from the binary suns up above, several natives with floaters and birds flew about the island as they enjoyed the day above their home. I think I felt a tear slowly slide down my face as I admire the gorgeous sight.

My moment of sightseeing was short-lived when I heard a sudden burst of energy from under me, a moment later, another flyer flew up to my level, an advanced purple floater boasting on her back. It took me a moment to notice that this flyer was an earth pony, she was a blue-coated mare with a purple mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a poison joke plant.

As I recovered from my shock caused by the sudden arrival, the mare spoke up. From how she sounded, I think I heard a faint accent in her voice. "Hey there, Littlepip! Ya ready for this little hunt of ours?"

I took a breath as I replied with a slight bit of annoyance. "Yeah, just don't pop up like that, I could've fallen!"

The young blue mare looked at me with guilt before speaking again. "Oh, sorry. I was just so excited to meet ya that I couldn't stop myself."

I realized my rude response to my comrade's arrival and returned the guilty feeling as I replied. "Ah...It's alright, I was a little rude there. I was just in the middle of a brief sightseeing break."

My friend laughed as she spoke. "I can see that, that'll teach me a lesson with interrupting someone in a trance." We both chuckled a bit before she began her introduction. "Oh, I guess I haven't told ya my name yet, have I? I'm Jokeblue, Homage's old friend from the Wasteland. Ya heard about me from her, right?"

I stared at her in shock upon her saying her name, this was my love's old friend from their adventures, and I was looking at her! But... how did they get her into commission? Wasn't Jokeblue killed by a raider trap during one of their adventures?

"Uh... right, so you're her old friend. And how did they bring you back this time?" I said as Jokeblue cocked her head, then righted herself as she realized what I was getting at.

"Oh, yeah! My "death" as you know it, well, ya see, before I "died" in that death trap, I took a moment to do somethin' private when those boys from the U.A. showed up. They told me of what happened in the historical records and asked if I would like to have a position in their Temporal Division, and while I was a bit hesitant, I heard that my lo-.... our love Homage would make it just fine in the Wastes and I took up the offer."

As I tried to put the pieces together, I asked for one last detail. "Okay, but how did Homage see-" I stopped as I thought of what it was. "Oh wait, let me guess: Hologram?"

The blue mare that was Homage's old friend nodded in agreement before continuing. "Yeah, and after some time with them, they told me about this little artifact ya would be huntin' for in the future, and I took up the job of doin' this mission. And... well, here we are."

We laughed again, this time for about half a minute. As we both calmed down from our little talk, I spoke to her with a smile. "Well, that's quite the interesting story there, Jokeblue. I'm happy to be helping you in this job."

Jokeblue smiled as she replied back. "Yeah, they didn't tell Sovak this, but I've got quite the story to tell about that Star Blaster of Homage's."

"Oh?" I said as we began flying towards the signature, both of us checking our scanners as I continued. "What about it?"

Jokeblue frowned as she started her story. "Well, ya see, that blaster wasn't any ol' weapon forged by the stars themselves. From what I've been told and shown, that weapon was a unique pistol which was custom built by a Ferengi and his workers."

I raised an eyebrow at that, I had thought about what Homage had told me during one of our nights together. “Long story, one night, Jokeblue and I were poking our hooves around Fetlock, trying to find a Stable we’d heard rumors about, when there was a strange explosion that lit up the clouds above. At first, we thought it was thunder, but then all sorts of debris started raining out of the sky. Chunks of the strangest sky-wagon you ever laid eyes on. We took cover in a burned-out passenger wagon. When it was over, I found that thing amongst the rubble.”

As I saw my scanner confirm our distance to the target, I looked to Homage's old friend. "Well, do you think you can give me the whole story? I assume you were briefed on story about how they got there."

Jokeblue smiled as she turned her head to me, her scanner also confirming our approach to the artifact as she answered me. "Definitely, it could help us kill time while we look for the artifact."

I smiled as we flew together, checking our scanners again as Jokeblue began the story. "Ya see, that Ferengi guy I mentioned was a friend of Sovak's a while ago, and he was contracted by a mercenary to make these special weapons for him. Unfortunately, however... that little delivery trip would not go as planned..."

The Star Chariot

Location: Alpha Quadrant, Mizar Sector

Year: 2409

The system was illuminated by a brilliant glare by the large sun that sat in the center of the 13 Ceti System, a single ship flying by the bright ball of fire. The ship was of Ferengi design, an orange shuttlecraft that had two small arms for wings at the front and a hull that extended outwards.

In the cockpit of the shuttle, a single Ferengi and his co-pilot were seated in their chairs, operating the control console as the latter spoke up. "Well, I must say, our customer must be daring for requesting such unique weaponry from us, Krevak."

"Indeed," Replied Krevak, looking to a nearby box that sat beside his chair before continuing. "And these babies will ring up quite the profit!"

A few days ago, Krevak was contacted by a very shady individual, one who had wanted a new set of elite weapons for his mission deep in Breen territory. While the rich Ferengi was a little hesitant to send himself on a shipping trip into dangerous space, his lust for latinum was stronger than his wits, and so he agreed. As of now, he was nearing the place that they would meet at, exchange the new weapons, and they would both be on their way.

As Krevak checked his console for a sign of their customer, he didn't see any friendly signatures on his map. He raised an eyebrow. "Strange, he's not here. Perform a deep scan, he might have landed on the planet."

"Yes sir." The co-pilot said before he did his work. As his console beeped after a minute or two, he spoke. "This is strange, indeed. I'm not detecting anything on sensors, perhaps we've been duped?"

Krevak looked a bit frustrated at his customer's actions as he spoke, trying to hold himself together. "Well, he'd better be here soon, I didn't make these guns and come out here just to fi-" The Ferengi merchant stopped as he heard his console beep, his co-pilot checking it before responding again.

"I'm detecting several fighters approaching us on an attack vector! They register as Tholian signatures!" The two looked to their window as they saw their visitors, there were three ships in formation, they were made up of three bulky sections attached to the center section, a small engine boasting off of the aft side.

"Our customers, I suspect." Krevak said as he watched the three ships fly closer to his own, tapping his console before ordering to his co-pilot, "Ready shields and weapons, destroy the squadron!"

The two tapped their consoles as the Tholian fighters split out of formation, several blue beams of tetryon energy shooting out from them and hitting the shields of the shuttle.

Krevak tapped his console as he fired several disruptor bolts at the fighter to their right, the ship's shields flickering from the impacting lasers as he spoke. "Let's see how you do against my new tractors, bugboy." As he tapped the console again, a field of energy hit the Tholian vessel, holding it in place as the co-pilot tapped his console, several blue torpedoes shooting out of the shuttle and hitting the fighter, breaking through it's shields and sending the fighter to oblivion.

As the shuttle started to turn to it's left, the second Widow fighter flew in front of the shuttlecraft, firing a trio of energy-based torpedoes at it's forward side. The ship shook as the shields flickered out, giving the two other attackers a hole in Krevak's defenses.

As the shuttle's co-pilot looked at his console, he grew fearful. "One of the ships is transmitting a transporter signature, we're being boarded!" Krevak looked behind him to see a single Tholian beam into the room, its form protected in an environmental suit as to keep it alive on alien vessels.

A computerized voice spoke out from the Tholian's suit. "YOUR CONTINUED RESISTANCE IS INTOLERABLE." As the Tholian prepared to fire, the co-pilot got out of his seat and pulled out a pistol, a red beam firing at the Tholian as it's armor was struck. Krevak then tapped a button on the box as it opened, revealing two very strange pistols within, they had the appearance of a blaster similar to that of an old design from several 20th Century Earth entertainment programs. It was a chrome pistol with two rings around the barrel, a small blue section boasting off the side, along with a small fin on the top.

As Krevak pulled out one of the pistols, he looked back to see the Tholian still standing, a small dent in it's armor showing a slight breach. A yellow bolt of energy shot out from one of the spider's claws, the co-pilot being hit square in the chest as he fell to the floor. Krevak quickly aimed the pistol at the Tholian and fired, the purple beam of energy reducing the invader to nothing but ash in seconds.

As the shuttle shook from another shot courtesy of the Tholian fighters, Krevak tapped his console as he restored power to the forward shield. He then tapped his console as he turned the ship again, facing one of the incoming Tholian ships.

"Enjoy my missiles, you pests!" He said as he tapped his console once more, several small projectiles flying out from the fighter and hitting the fighter, the ship exploding as they broke through the shields.

Krevak then turned the ship around again, the last fighter ringing around him as he tapped his console, catching the small fighter in a tractor beam. As the ship slowed from the beam, the Ferengi tapped his panel again, a flurry of quantum torpedoes shooting towards the fighter, hitting it hard.

As the fire cleared, Krevak saw the ship was still there, it's engine bleeding out fire and plasma as he slowed the shuttle. He tapped his console to get a scan, only to receive a beep from it as the fighter started to explode.

"Curses, they're detonating their own warp core!" The Ferengi said as the ship started to blow up again, the shockwave hitting the shuttle and knocking it back.

The left console that was once operated by the co-pilot exploded a second later, sparks flying out of it as Krevak held his chair, steadying himself. As the ship ceased it's shaking, Krevak checked his console again. He grew a frown as he saw that the ship's engines were offline. He then raised an eyebrow as he saw another signature appear on his map, taking a breath as he saw it wasn't another hostile.

As he looked up to the window of the shuttlecraft, he saw a large blue anomaly appear in front of the shuttle, which grew in size as the shuttle neared it. Krevak got out of his chair to inspect his co-pilot's body lying on the ground as the shuttle drifted into the wormhole. He was dead, and the Ferengi couldn't do anything about it.

"It was nice knowing ya, old pal." Krevak said as he stood back up, taking a seat at his console as his ship exited the wormhole and entered another system. He took in the new surroundings that the system had, a single planet with a lone moon and a sun. He was very surprised to see a large section of the planet covered by a large cloud. "Must be quite the storm down there." The Ferengi said with curiosity as he examined the surface, his stupor interrupted when his console beeped.

He grew worried as he checked it. Some of the debris from the Tholian fighter had been brought with his ship, and a good chunk of it was flying right at his shuttle.

"Emergency thrusters, don't fail me now." Krevak pleaded as he tapped his console, a rejecting beep sounding as his face went pale. The thrusters were damaged from one of the torpedoes that breached the shields during the dogfight at Ceti 13.

Krevak grabbed his seat tightly as he braced for impact with the debris. As the ship was hit, the Ferengi's console exploded, knocking him out of his seat. He hit the ground hard, the shuttle shaking as the vessel's klaxon sounded within the ship. Krevak didn't hear it, though, the explosion along with the rough landing onto the floor had knocked him unconscious. As his body lay on the floor, the shuttle drifted faster towards the planet, heat bouncing off of the shields around the crashing shuttlecraft.

The night sky was dark in the damaged area of Fetlock, made even darker thanks to the cloud cover. At a small street within the town, two ponies trotted about the area, the grey mare with a blue mane and tail speaking to her friend. "So, you think this place will still be running for us, Joke?"

The blue mare with purple mane and tail replied with a smile. "Of course, Homage, I'm sure we're bound to find a pot of gold when we get there! Sure, not many stables have survived the dangers of the Wasteland, but from what I've heard, we shouldn't have any doubt 'bout it."

"I hope so, I could use a bit of rest when we get the-" Homage ceased her sentence as she and her friend heard a loud boom from above. As they looked, they saw nothing in the sky other than the grey cloud cover deployed by the Enclave.

"Was that thunder, Jokeblue?" Homage asked her friend as she replied.

"I don't recall a storm bein' planned tonight." As she replied, the two saw a large orange glow burst out of the clouds, several more following it down.

"RUN!" Jokeblue yelled as the two ponies raced for a nearby chariot, having taken damage from the bombs when they fell on the Last Day. As they crouched behind it, they heard another boom from behind the chariot, the ground shaking as a wave of dust and small bits of rubble flew outwards from the explosion.

As the dust cleared, the two mares stood up, Homage taking a peek around the chariot to see what had hit the ground. They saw a small, strange vehicle crashed within a small building, one of it's small wings on fire and the back of the ship blackened from the heat.

"What is that?" Homage asked as she slowly walked toward the crashed spaceship, Jokeblue following her cautiously.

"Maybe something the Enclave were workin' on?" The blue mare replied as she and her friend stopped in front of the small ship, examining the damage and area around it.

As she looked around the ground, Homage locked her eyes on a strange gun that sat right near the ship's backside, an empty box sitting next to it. Curious, she picked up the gun in her magic, examining it as Jokeblue joined her.

"What's this thing?" Homage asked as she saw the trigger on the weapon, pointing it at a small rock on the ground before pressing it. The two mares jumped in surprise as the rock was struck by the purple bolt of energy, reduced to nothing but ash.

"Okay... definitely not from the Enclave." Homage said as she looked to her friend, who looked upwards to the sky as she spoke to her friend.

"It has to be, we've invented similar weapons like that too, ya know." Homage frowned a bit as she replied.

"Yeah, but not like this thing. It seems... strange, too strange for even such a powerful group as the Enclave." The two mares ceased their stares and looked at the gun, Homage smiling as she spoke once more. "I think I'll hold on to it, we might need it sometime." Jokeblue hesitantly nodded as she and her friend began trotting along the road once more, leaving the burning star vessel behind as they continued their search for the rumored stable.

(==o)

I stared at Jokeblue as she finished the story, my mouth agape as I took in all of that information. So, it seems that that blaster Homage showed me was from a Ferengi merchant who was scammed and almost murdered by a group of Tholians that trapped him in the system he was in. Fortunately, though, one of his two delivery items had survived the crash.

As I shook my head and focused again, I spoke to Homage's old friend. "Wow, so that's how it got there?"

"Ya can count on that, and from what I know, the weapon was at it's max setting, hence why it vaporized anything it struck at." Jokeblue said back to me as I smiled, another part of the mystery solved thanks to a little storytelling.

Jokeblue continued. "And ya remember how there were two of them that he made back there? Well, the other pistol's the one we're lookin' for."

Okay, maybe not.

"I see." I checked my scanner again, we were much closer to the artifact now. I assumed we were only a few meters away at this point.

As we flew closer to our target, I asked my new friend, "Do you think anyone else will be coming after it?"

Jokeblue gave an unsure shrug as she replied. "Not sure, from what I know, the Tholians abandoned the search after discovering the wreckage of their ships."

"Let's hope you're right." I said with a faint smile as my Pipbuck beeped, it's scanner detecting our target below us. We both flew ourselves down to a small area near the volcano, stopping as we saw it. It was the other blaster that the Ferengi pilot had used in his fight against the Tholians, other than some scorch marks from the crash, it was practically unscathed.

We both smiled as we found the secret treasure, Jokeblue deactivating her floater as she examined the pistol.

"Jackpot." The blue mare said as I deactivated my floater as well, landing and trotting beside her as we stared at the customized weapon.

The Spider Pirates

Jokeblue and I stared at the small blaster for a good long moment, admiring the sight of it. It was just like the one Homage had shown me back at Tenpony Tower, the gun sitting within a sandy crater.

As I turned to face Jokeblue, I realized something that made this situation make less sense. "Wait, if the other pistol was on the shuttlecraft, how'd it get here all of a sudden?"

Jokeblue gave an apologetic expression as she gave her answer. "Oh yeah, about that. Ya see, before the U.A. was formed, the first Preserver sphere that Admiral Stone and the crew of the Harmony discovered had two gateway generators that were malfunctioning. This is what brought not only Twilight and her friends to this universe, but the Ferengi shuttle to our home as well." She then looked down at the star blaster, myself joining her as she finished. "And it seems that another anomaly appeared within the shuttle and took this blaster with it to this place."

I nodded as I now understood the manner of how this blaster got to Risa. I tapped my Pipbuck and scanned the blaster, the small device beeping when I got the results. "And it seems to be recent, too. I'm detecting faint traces of energy emanating within the crater."

Jokeblue nodded as she placed one of her floater's control holsters in her saddlebags, then moving her hoof to pick up the pistol.

"I wonder if it still works." Jokeblue said as she looked for something to shoot at with the gun in her hoof, stopping as several fields of energy appeared around us. When they faded, five Tholian officers in EV suits surrounded us, Jokeblue and I standing together in shock.

"WELL, WELL, WELL, OUR LITTLE TREASURE HUNTERS HAVE FOUND THE PROTOTYPE FOR US." The lead Tholian in gold armor said in an artificial voice as we glared at them, Little Macintosh being held in my magic as I spoke to the commander.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as the spider-like alien replied to me.

"WE ARE HERE TO ACQUIRE AN ANOMALOUS ITEM ON THIS WORLD, AND IT IS NOW IN YOUR CLUTCHES." Jokeblue held the blaster tighter as the surrounding Tholians slowly walked closer to us, trying to prevent us from escaping.

"YOU SHALL CEASE YOUR RESISTANCE AND HAND OVER THE WEAPON, WE'LL BE TAKING IT WITH US."

"Over our dead bodies." Jokeblue said angrily as we prepared ourselves, the Tholian commander lifting one of his arms as he started to try and grab the star blaster.

We jumped in surprise as an orange bolt of energy struck the Tholian commander, his body disintegrating into vapor as the other Tholians looked around, shooting into the area around us as we looked around ourselves. Another orange bolt shot out, hitting one of the other Tholians as something pushed us over into a nearby bush. When we reoriented ourselves, we looked up to see Xenith, a Phaser pistol in her mouth as she looked at us.

"Xenith?! What're you-" She cut me off as I heard another shot fire out, a loud screech from one of the Tholian soldiers sounding as my zebra friend spoke.

"Stay here, Stone and I will deal with them." I nodded as she sped away from us, tackling one of the Tholians and breaking the glass on the window of the suit with a good punch of her hoof.

As we took cover behind the bush, I took a peek through one of the openings in it to see Admiral Stone nearby, a large Phaser rifle in his hands as he shot another Tholian. "EMERGENCY ALERT, WE REQUEST REINFORCEME-" Was all I heard the Tholian say before he was vaporized by the shot.

As we saw more Tholians beaming down, the admiral rolled to a nearby bush for cover, the Tholians trying their best to hit Xenith as she bucked one of them into another.

"Security, get some people down here, we need assistance!" Wyatt said as he spoke into his combadge, a small photon grenade being thrown into the field as he got a reply.

"Right away, Admiral!" A few seconds later several more transporter beams appeared around us, Starfleet security officers appearing after them as they pulled out their weapons and ran into the firefight.

As I crouched next to Jokeblue, my Pipbuck beeped and I tapped it to answer the call. "What's wrong?"

"A Tholian Recluse has arrived in the sector, they're sending several troops to your location!" The voice of the blue alicorn said as I replied, readying Little Macintosh for a good fight.

"Stop them from sending more soldiers down, they're after an important artifact on this planet and we can't let them take it!"

"Understood." As the signal cut out, I took another peek through the bushes, seeing another Tholian knocking down one of the security officers. I pointed my gun at the spider-like bastard and fired a bullet into it's helmet, the Tholian letting out a screech of pain as it fell to the ground.

As I took cover again, I looked through the hole to see Admiral Stone pull out an old 23rd Century Starfleet Phaser pistol, a blue beam shooting out and striking another Tholian near our position. I took cover as another Tholian saw us and pointed his arm at us, a shot firing right through the hole and making it bigger.

I looked to Jokeblue as I crouched under the hole, she was holding out the star blaster in her hoof and was getting ready to shoot it at one of the Tholians. As she started to get up, I pulled her back by the tail as another group of Tholians beamed into the fray, one of them wearing golden armor.

As the new arrivals began firing on our friends, I heard several familiar shots from a battle saddle in the air as the whole squad of Tholians went down, save for the leader, who was still standing despite being struck. As Jokeblue and I looked into the sky, we saw Calamity above us, waving a hoof to us as he called out. "Ya okay down there, Lil'Pip?"

"Yeah, we're fine!" I replied as we saw several more Tholians beam in, the commander looking up to our pegasus friend as he gave his new soldiers orders.

"TAKE OUT THE FLYING ONE, THE REST ARE MINE!" All of the other Tholians aimed their weapons at Calamity, who flew high into the air as several shots streaked past him.

"Yowwie!" My friend said as he evaded the shots erratically, trying to find a safe area to hide while the Tholian commander made his way towards Wyatt's bush.

As the Tholians were focusing their efforts on Calamity, I aimed Little Macintosh as I pulled out a few photon grenades, activating them all and levitating them near the other Tholian soldiers. By the time they noticed them, they all exploded around them, every single Tholian in the group falling to the ground.

I looked to the commander nearby, he had deployed a shield in front of himself as to avoid the admiral and his officers as they tried to shoot him. I then saw Xenith sneaking around the Tholian commander, but he was ready for her before she noticed. He swiftly turned around, smacking Xenith with one of his arms before she hit the ground. As the zebra tried to get up quickly, the spider-like monster shot out an orange beam at Xenith, which then formed into a cocoon-like shield.

As the Tholian glared at the imprisoned zebra, he spoke up. "YOU ARE FOOLS TO OPPOSE THE ASSEMBLY, I HAVE MORE TROOPS TO SPARE FOR THIS, I COULD DO THIS ALL DA-" The Tholian was cut off as a purple beam of energy struck the armored spider, his body turning to vapor as I turned to see Jokeblue standing up, the star blaster with a smoking barrel in her hoof.

"Yes! This lil' baby still works!" The blue mare grinned excitedly as I smiled with her, my Pipbuck beeping a moment later. I tapped it to answer.

"What's the update?" I asked as the purple alicorn's voice responded.

"We've managed to disable the Tholian vessel's transporter systems, and they're retreating. They shouldn't be coming back for a while now."

"Great, we've taken care of the ground forces down here, we'll head back to the hotel to heal up."

"Good, we'll send some supplies down for you shortly. Lightbringer, out." As the signal cut out, Calamity landed beside me and Jokeblue, whistling with a smile as he saw the new weapon we had acquired.

"Well Ah'll be damned, 'Pip. Ya found that special artifact, Ah assume?" I nodded as Xenith joined us, Admiral Stone and his troops beginning their efforts on moving the Tholian corpses into a pile as I replied.

"Yep, and I've made a new friend as well." Calamity's smile grew wider as he looked a Jokeblue, the mare smiling as my best friend shook her hoof.

"Name's Calamity, darlin'. Yours?" The pegasus said as Jokeblue replied.

"Jokeblue, I'm Homage's old friend from the Wasteland." Calamity raised an eyebrow at her words, the mare blushing a little as she answered. "Long story, mind if we head back to the resort first? It's gonna take a bit."

We all nodded as we began trotting down a path that lead to the resort, Wyatt calling out behind us as he finished helping another officer place another body into the nearby pile. "We'll join you all once we get this cleaned up."

"Gotcha." I called back as we continued trotting, Jokeblue placing the star blaster in her saddlebags as we began our trip back to the Risian hotel.

It was evening by the time we got back, Velvet greeting us as we entered the lobby inside the hotel. While we were making our way back, I contacted Sovak and told him of our success. Not only was he pleased about our efforts, but he had also said that Jokeblue's superiors told him to inform her that she could have the weapon as a sort of reward, especially for the fact that it seems to have found the perfect owner. Jokeblue was ecstatic the rest of the way back, telling my friends about the star blaster's origins and how it got here. Xenith had also helped find some of the Horga'hn statues for Calamity and Velvet, the former saying he had a special surprise for Velvet when we got back.

As I took the floater Sovak let me borrow off, I tapped my combadge and spoke to the blue alicorn on the Lightbringer. "Littlepip to Lightbringer, I have a device here that belongs to Mr. Sovak on the surface, it wouldn't be a problem if you beamed it back to him, would it?"

"Not at all, it should only take a second." The voice of the tall mare said as I replied, the floater being surrounded by a blue energy field as it was beamed away.

"Thanks, Pip out." As I watched the floater disappear from sight, I trotted back to a nearby table, my friends sitting around it as I took a seat with them.

"Well, today's been one hell o' a day, hasn't it?" Calamity asked as Xenith replied.

"Indeed, I had not thought that a weapon like that was made by a species such as the Ferengi, much less come from another universe."

"So, does that disprove some of the myths your people had about the stars, if I may ask?" Jokeblue asked our zebra friend politely, who shook her head before replying.

"Not completely, but it does open up more possibilities to wonder about."

I smiled as I joined the conversation. "Not only that, but I think that today's gotten even better knowing that an old friend of my-" I bit my tongue as I realized my mistake, Jokeblue only smiling as I corrected myelf. "Our Homage, is back with us."

My friends and I gave smiles to our new friend, the blue mare with purple hair blushing as she spoke. "Thanks, everyone. It was nice to see y'all in person, but unfortunately, I won't be joining ya." Our smiles faltered a little as she continued. "I've got my own ship to attend to, and I can't keep her and my other friend waiting for too long, now."

As she finished, she stood up, tapping her badge as she spoke to another officer. "Jokeblue to Windsheer, ya ready for our next job, pal?"

Another male voice with a similar accent to Calamity's replied back, the stallion's eyes going wide as he heard his brother. "All set, girl. Jus' give the word an' Ah'll pick ya up."

"Good, beam me over, then." As she cut the signal out, Jokeblue looked to us one last time, a smile forming on my face as she spoke. "Oh, and everyone, could ya tell Homage I said hello?"

"You got it." I said as a blue field of energy appeared around Jokeblue, her form disappearing with the energy field as she beamed away.

As I looked to Calamity, I saw him shake his head before speaking up. "Well Ah'll be, Ah didn't know mah brother was a part of the Alliance!"

"Neither did I." I said as my friend smiled, myself forming my own as I continued. "And somehow, part of me feels like we'll see them again sometime later."

"Indeed." Velvet said as she looked to her husband, who had now come out of his stupor as she asked, "So, honey, you said you had a surprise for me, yes?"

"Oh yeah, that." As he said that, Calamity reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a large egg. Velvet grinned excitedly as she examined the shiny shell. "Ah managed t' find this at one o' the hills on the island, but Ah don't know what kind o' bird it'd be."

"It's pretty obvious that we can't, it hasn't hatched yet." Snowdrop said as she pulled out her tricorder, taking a scan of the egg as we heard a caw in the distance. Looking out, we saw Pyrelight fly in, a beautiful Risian Passion Wing flying behind her. The bird had a gorgeous mix of pink, yellow, and purple.

We all smiled as the two birds landed near Velvet Remedy, who squeed loudly as she saw one of the tropical birds of Risa up close for the first time. "Pyrelight, you're back! And you've found a friend, I see." The bird nodded as the Passion Wing hopped onto the table, taking a look at the egg Calamity had gotten.

"Whoa nelly!" The pegasus lurched away slightly, letting the bird check the egg for whatever it was looking for. After taking a good look, the bird cawed at Calamity angrily, Velvet looking on with a curious expression as she spoke to her husband.

"Wait a minute, Calamity, does that egg belong to that bird there?"

Calamity raised a defensive hoof as the bird glared at him. "Ah guess so, iffin that angry caw isn't enough t' say it. But this fella wasn't there when Ah got it!"

"Well, at least it's safe, right?" As Velvet said that, we all heard a crack from the egg on the table, the bird taking a step back as we all watched. The egg cracked several times before the shell shattered, a baby Passion Wing appearing out of it.

We all let out "aw"s as we watched the hatchling look at it's parent and Pyrelight, the baby bird letting out it's first caw as it tried to climb out of the broken egg. As it started to fall out, Pyrelight loosened it's fall, the hatchling landing on the Phoenix's wing.

"He's so adorable!" Velvet said happily as she watched the new family of birds, Calamity looking to the adult Passion Wing as he apologized.

"Eh, sorry 'bout takin' yer egg there, friend." The bird cawed in a friendly manner this time as Calamity gave a smile, Steelhooves speaking up as Velvet pet the adult Passion Wing.

"So, you think you can handle a family of birds on the ship, Velvet?" Velvet nodded happily as she continued petting the bird, Calamity watching the new family bond with us.

"Well, I guess you could say we hatched the answers to quite a few questions today, huh?" I said as my friends looked at me with confusion, then laughter as we cracked up at my bad joke together. I had had quite the adventure today, not completely relaxing, but one that satisfied me greatly. Homage's old friend was alive and well, the origin of the star blaster had been revealed, and we now had newcomers to our family for Pyrelight to have fun with. Hopefully tomorrow, we'd be ready for some real fun after a good night's rest here at Risa.