Space + Bats

Sweet Velvet closed her heavy saddlebags, locking the doors of her house and stared at the last shimmering traces of sunset through the clouds. She would miss these small moments of beauty, where she was going there would be no sunsets or sunrises.

It had been a long, frustrating year and she was ready for a break from her regular life.

And it had nothing to do with that nasty breakup between her and Midnight Spell.

Truly. It didn’t.

The bat pony adjusted her dress one last time and made sure her bow was tight, there was nothing worse than having it come undone during flight. She checked the compact smart bracelet on her left hoof to make sure it was fully charged, there were dozens of unanswered texts from him. She glanced back when she heard the swift rumble of a flying chariot settling near the house.

He had arrived. Sweet Velvet turned away and throwing her saddlebags on her back, she jumped towards the cold, cloudy sky just as her ex-fiancé called out. Without looking back, she beat her wings faster.

“Sweet Velvet! Come back here!” The unicorn screamed.

“I can’t hear you,” she screamed back.

“You can’t do this!” He still screamed to the skies.

She gained speed just as the unicorn started screaming obscenities at her only to be drowned out by the rushing wind. For the first time in a long time, Sweet Velvet, felt the heady rush of adrenaline sweep through her, she was excited to what the future could bring.

She relaxed for a moment, falling into a comfortable rhythm of flight and allowed the energy of it to take over, losing herself into the mire of her thoughts and her racing heart.

She headed for the largest interstellar port in all of Equestria with no real goal in mind. Sweet Velvet had no plans for the future beyond getting away.

Equestria was no longer her home. She needed to get off its surface before it swallowed her whole.

The scenery sped by as she followed the bird trails. The old, rural world slowly vanished until high-rises and metal structures surrounded her. Space City opened up around her, the colossal towers of three space-elevators reaching for the skies, dwarfing the skyscrapers that surrounded them, a couple of cloud-cities moved lazily around the space-elevator, a constant traffic of pegasi, gryphons, and even a couple dragons moved in and out carrying packets and messages from all corners of Equestria.

Space City had once been a small outpost on the south of Appleloosa, barely more than a refuelling station for trains going south into Zebria, but the city’s location near the equator and just above a ley line made it a perfect choice for the launching site of the first rockets. The influx of ponies and money turned the small town into a thriving, highly advanced city, and then when the first space elevator was built and first contact was made it turned the city into a capital of commerce that rivalled even Canterlot.

Her acute night vision could discern huge spaceships against the night sky, bigger than she remembered. The battleships and freighters dwarfed even the biggest skyscrapers in Manehattan. A pony could spend her entire life inside one of those metallic behemoths, without ever again touching firm soil.

Sweet Velvet tugged her saddlebags tighter, breathing in the arid heat of the desert. Her lungs filled up with dry, hot air that was heavily charged with the spicy aroma of food coming from dozens of food carts offering exotic specialities from other planets, tinged with the acrid smell of rocket fuel.

There’s no turning back. Her jaw tensed, she wouldn’t go back. The main gate loomed before her, the most impressive stained glass display she had ever seen, depicting the first years of space travel and culminating with the first meeting between pony and alien beings, it glistened to the point that it hurt her eyes.

Welcome to Space City, it said. Abandon hope all ye who enter here, it meant. Did you know that your survival rate decreases by about 65% once you leave Equestria? It implied. Let’s explore!

***

A huge container was unloaded by a crew of humanoid androids in front of a small crowd of ponies. The ancient artefacts inside the container were a special delivery to Ponyville’s university and would certainly attract the attention of several scholars in the coming years, but right now the ponies where fascinated by the human overseeing the process.

Somepony murmured, “I have never seen one of them before. They are so tall!”

More containers were taken off and loaded into the trucks. Giant, carnivorous plants in steel cages. Glass tubes filled with strange liquids that kept changing colours into hues that spread beyond the visible spectrum and caused headaches in anyone that looked at it for too long.

A pony in a grey suit walked beside the large, imposing human. A mare trailed behind, writing notes. The human looked at the pony in suit, knowing that if there was any kind of universal language it was red tape.

The human always felt a bit uncomfortable around ponies, being 5’11” he was never seen as particularly tall amidst humans, but among ponies, he made for quite a towering figure.

His athletic build, hazel eyes, and sharp brown hair made him all the more imposing to the ponies around.

“Everything seems in order, but due to a change in regulations the insurance company will need you to register another crew member before they certify you are cleared for flight,” the pony in a suit said.

“I don’t need any help,” the human replied briskly. “I have a full crew of androids.”

“Ah, yes, but the new legislation classify androids as machinery, not crew. A ship like yours needs to have a minimum of two certified, registered crewmembers on board. If you don’t pick an assistant, we won’t be able to clear you for take-off. We have pre-selected a few candidates, some of the best students at the Canterlot’s Space Academy.”

“I don’t have time for that,” the human grunted.

“You need to have insurance or we will dissolve your contract.” The suit explained. “We can’t have a non-insured captain working for us.”

The human stifled a colorful curse under his breath. The Equestrian Space Exploration Society were his main patrons, but at the same time he didn’t wish to yield to some petty bureaucrat that had never even left the planet.

They walked past Sweet Velvet near the main entrance. She stared wide-eyed at the human and he glanced back at her.

The human was immediately caught by her red eyes and soft pink fur, the bat pony was wearing a light purple dress with matching socks, her purple and pink hair tied back with a big red bow. They locked eyes for barely a moment before the human and his group moved back towards the loading gates.

***

Josh Sinclair oversaw the cargo being taken off his ship very closely.

Most traders worked by volume, ferrying massive quantities of frozen water, hydrogen, or ores in circular routes throughout the colonized systems, but Josh catered to a more selective and distinct clientele.

His ship, the Errant Venture, was an Aphetor class light freighter/hauler and while it was an old model that had been built during the days of in-system trading, he had the ship almost entirely refitted. Its blocky hull was reinforced with nano-laminated armor; the four main engines were high tech ionic-crystal that could, at least in theory, propel the ship as fast as a racing skiff. The four maneuvering thrusters on the front were a personal addition, giving the ship unparalleled maneuverability and the capability to land in most terrestrial planets.

However, its greatest advantage was the almost complete automation, the ship had been originally designated to be operated by a crew of five, but with its state-of-the-art automated systems, Josh could comfortably operate it alone. The front cargo holder had been reconfigured to accommodate passengers, using smart materials and modular construction, the rooms could be easily reconfigured to accommodate for any of the known species or even double as cages and environmental domes when he needed to transport live cargo.

As for the crew’s accommodations, no expense had been spared. The passageways and cabins were spacious and comfortable, a rare feature in such ships where most personnel would normally be packed as tight as possible. The ship’s kitchen was equipped with a high-capacity food synthesizer that could reproduce thousands of recipes.

His own accommodations were nothing short of luxurious; the captain’s room had been completely remodeled. Anyone walking in could be excused to forget they were inside of a ship.

The captain’s room was elegant, with wide-open spaces, done in dark wood and neutral colors. The furniture was sparse on the beautiful, scarred hardwood floors. An entire wall of windows opened into a small terrarium set into a late summer weather and a small lake of crystalline waters.

Josh had made a name for himself as someone capable of carrying the most valuable cargo with absolute security and speed. He had stumbled upon the Exploration Society a few years earlier, one of their ships was in the process of being plundered by changelings, but the human managed to not only rescue the crew, but also keep the cargo of priceless relics intact. Since then, he had grown into one of the most important captains working for the Society, being trusted with the transportation and safety of priceless artefacts and samples.

Josh Sinclair’s fingers tapped the worn keypad of his black datapad to check on the ship’s status. He wanted to get back to his ship before the Society’s bureaucrats forced him to take in some inexperienced cadet fresh out of the Academy. He had found this kind of people amidst all the known races, they spent years training in simulations and memorizing textbooks, but had no experience about how things really worked once you were out of the planet.

Like most people who own their own businesses, Josh worked long hours and was used to having everything done by himself, he didn’t want to have someone else on his ship that he couldn’t trust.

“We have another job for you, one that requires utmost urgency,” the bureaucrat pony said. “The situation in Tarku’s space has turned for the worse. They have detected changeling activity on the area and their defense platforms are in desperate need of new crystals,” the grey suit turned to him just as a large carriage arrived being pulled by six strong earth ponies.

“Tarku’s space is dangerous.”

The pony laughed nervously, maybe thinking Josh was trying to be funny. “We believe your particular talents makes you the best asset in assuring the success of this venture.”

Corporate people, at least in Sinclair’s experience, liked to be vague when they were asking for something. Josh was a businessman, and a firm believer in getting to the specifics as quickly as possible.

“I’m an entrepreneur,” he said gently. “If you want me to deliver a cargo of highly volatile energy crystals in the middle of an active war zone, then you will need to make it worth my time.”

The pony pretended to consider the offer for a moment, then giving up all pretense of amicability. “The company’s usual high-risk and high-importance fees apply, but above it I have been authorized to double your regular fee for this mission.”

Josh Sinclair did his best not to smile, the offer was more tempting than he cared to admit. “So, I’m free to go?”

“Sure, as soon as you have your new crew member onboard,” the pony replied without taking his eyes from his notepad.

He watched as the magical crystals were brought in by a team of unicorns, the container looked massive, the crystals would be kept floating in an anti-grav field inside the container to keep them stable during the transport, they could be incredibly volatile and more than one cargo vessel had been reduced to a cloud of detritus due to accidents.

“Everything looks fine here. I’ll make sure the crystals are checked out by my androids and boarded,” Josh turned toward the exit.

He passed back through the gates that led to the main warehouse to arrange for supplies. If he left without being fully restocked, he may escape with the crystals and without another creature in tow. Later he would deal with the consequences; if he managed to complete the job without some useless assistant, he could pressure the Society into allowing him to bend their rules once more.