Chapter 1: Bolts and Face-Melting Screwdrivers
Chapter 1: Bolts and Face-Melting Screwdrivers
A quick glance to her console's speedometer told Rainbow Dash that she was travelling at over seven hundred meters-per-second.
The Rainbolt weaved through the asteroid-filled space, its compact, angular hull having no trouble manoeuvring past the fairly-spaced-apart chunks of rock.
Several empty energy-drink cans, a miniature basketball and a digital tablet displaying an unread page from the latest Daring Do book rolled around the back of the ship's cool-blue metal cockpit interior.
“Applejack,” Rainbow said to the blank computer screen to her left. “Stupid thing...”
Lifting up her left fore-hoof from gripping the flight stick, she lightly tapped the monitor and was awarded with a display of animated grey static.
“Damn it,” she muttered, deciding to kick the metal console underneath. After a loud thunk, the screen finally came to life and displayed the face of a surprised mare.
“U-uh, greetings, Lieutenant,” the mare on the screen said.
“Cocoa? Where's your captain?” Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes focused forward while she effortlessly manoeuvred her fighter ship between three large asteroids.
“Actually, right here—”
“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack said frantically after shoving Cocoa aside, sitting down on her seat. “Are ya picking 'em up too?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow answered, soaring over another large asteroid before dodging two smaller ones. “They breached the perimeter about twenty seconds ago.”
“There should be six of 'em,” said Applejack. “Closing in on our asteroid cluster at four-hundred meters-per-second. We've only got a few minutes a'fore they get within firin' range of us.”
Rainbow's body was planted against the back of her seat as the thrust from her ship's powerful engines continued to push the space vessel forward. Despite the enchantments on her cockpit to lessen the g-force from the impossibly high accelerations, Rainbow still found it difficult to move her body.
The metallic blue finish to the Rainbolt's miraculously smooth hull gleamed against the distant sun's orange rays, and its two curved and wide triangular wings circled each other in spirals while the ship danced in acrobatic barrel-rolls and turns.
“Don't fire unless they show signs of aggression,” Applejack said while adjusting the slightly-lopsided Stetson on her head. “Try 'n contact 'em first.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know all the protocols,” Rainbow said. “It's not like you were expecting anyone else, right?”
“Aside from the next freighter that's supposed to be due in forty minutes,” responded Applejack. “We're always expectin' pirates, Rainbow. That's why we've got you.”
“You've made a good choice to have me, then,” Rainbow said, grinning while Applejack rolled her eyes at her cocky sheen. “Think it's FlimFlam goons? Maybe Hawks.”
“After the Namyda thing, I suspect the FlimFlams are still licking their wounds,” Applejack chuckled.
“Yeah, those stupid Super-Speedy-thingy-whatever things kinda backfired on them,” said Rainbow. “At least these guys here are clocking in supersonic.”
“Just get to them quick, and fly safe of course,” Applejack said. “Might as well as keep this transmission on so we can keep in contact.”
“Yep.”
Finally, the Rainbolt cleared the asteroid field and soared freely through open space. Her body was more heavily pressed to her seat as her ship continued to accelerate, the speedometer reading speeds at nearly fourteen-hundred meters-per-second.
The distance from the six unidentified signatures on her radar console read less than one-hundred kilometers away, prompting her to release her grip on the flight stick as she flicked a switch on the side of her helmet.
“This is First Lieutenant Rainbow Dash of the Shadowbolts, Special Force branch Alpha under the Wonderbolts of the Royal Equestrian Navy. Identify yourselves,” she said into her helmet microphones with poise.
Silence stretched for several moments, Rainbow's broadcast not provoking any response from the quickly approaching spacecraft. The proximity on her radar read a distance of less than eighty kilometers from her targets, the rapidly declining number causing Rainbow to fidget in anxiousness.
Looking through the view from her cockpit, she could vaguely make out the six ships as distant tiny black dots against the colourful canvas of space.
“This is Lieutenant Rainbow Dash. You are in a restricted area,” Rainbow spoke, her voice a hint more threatening. “Identify yourselves, or I will be forced open fire on you.”
This time, the speakers inside of her helmet blared to life with an introduction of loud static until a raspy female voice began to speak.
“...And what do you expect to do against six of us?” it teased.
“I'm glad you asked.” Rainbow Dash grinned, clearing her throat. “First, I am flying a Shadowbolt Mark-II; a special interceptor-class fighter ship only assigned to my unique branch. Second, I'm armed with crystalline Lancer Hull-Melter missiles and dual Hydra Multi-Chamber Gauss Cannons with enough calibre to rip through adamantium. They are guided by prototype pseudo-future-seeking tracking technology only developed by Starswirl Innovations who are also exclusively a part of the Equestrian Forces. Third, the Shadowbolt Mark-II is also the fastest fighter vessel hull—”
“—In the universe,” the voice interrupted calmly.
“...And mine is—“
“—Custom fit with all those good rigs only you can go on to list forever. Ever the boastful one, Rainbow Dash.” The voice chuckled. “Regardless, through all of your yapping, we already have a lock on you.”
“And I, you... Gilda,” Rainbow sneered. “I knew it was gonna be Hawks.”
“I appreciate the welcome,” Gilda responded, her voice grating against Rainbow Dash's ears like sandpaper. “So what's gonna happen, Rainbow Dash? Do we have to blast you to into space-scrap to get to the miners?”
“Very funny, but you forget that your crappy ships won't be able to keep up with me,” she retorted. “I bet I could fly faster than your ships with my own two wings.”
“It's still six-on-one.”
“And I've killed better pilots with fancier ships in bigger groups,” Rainbow pointed out. “You know what happened at Virolaut.”
“There were five Shadowbolts at Virolaut,” Gilda defended, her deep voice losing its composure.
“And we took down a battlecruiser of the Capra Cartel no less,” Rainbow added. “Never-mind the entire fleet-escort.”
Gilda pointedly went silent.
Beginning to slightly divert her ship's course as it breached the twenty-kilometer distance mark from the targets, the Rainbolt began to circle the group like a shark. All six ships had stopped moving, and the g-force that was pushing Rainbow Dash to her seat loosened while she maintained a steady speed.
“Turn back now or that hefty bounty on your head will convince me to take action,” she threatened.
“Big girl talk, now,” Gilda taunted.
“At least I grew up,” Rainbow shot back. “I know what's best for myself and others.”
“Keep telling yourself that, Dash. As far as I'm concerned, you're still the most ignorant person I know.”
“Don't even start with that. You chose this life!” Rainbow scolded. “What did you hope to accomplish here, Gilda?”
“To be honest, I wasn't expecting you,” Gilda snarled back. “But you shouldn't underestimate your enemies so easily, Rainbow Dash. One slip and you're done for.”
“It's hard to overestimate people who stoop lower than you,” Rainbow said. “You already know what will happen if we dance here. Are you gonna leave, or am I going to have to do this the hard way?”
“You're not worth the effort, Dash. We're leaving,” Gilda said bitterly in submission. “And you should really drop the habit of colouring everything blue or rainbows. It doesn't make your ship very... intimidating.”
“It's a necessity.” Rainbow shrugged. “The paint job makes my ship fast.”
“I'll be seeing you soon.”
“You'd better hope not,” Rainbow threatened, but went unheard as the six pirate ships disappeared into nothingness. Another voice began to speak through her helmet's speakers.
“'Soon?' What'd she mean by that?”
“Nothing, Ay-Jay. Just hollow threats.” Rainbow Dash sighed. After lightly pulling on a lever to tune down her propulsion power, she twisted the flight stick in her hooves and began to turn the Rainbolt back towards the asteroid field. "They were already setting their warp coordinates as soon as they realized who they were messing with."
“I don't doubt that,” Applejack chuckled. “After we fill this freighter and the next, we'll head back to the station.”
“Alrighty,” Rainbow responded.
“In two days, we've got an important meeting to go to. I need you to be there, Rainbow Dash. Princess' orders, 'n all.”
::::~::::
“Ya got any sevens?” a stallion asked the pony in front of him.
“Nope. Go fish,” the other stallion responded.
“Dangit. Got any—”
“Cal, Dish, get back to your stations ya lazy bums. We're almost done this run,” Applejack ordered from the front of the room. Cal and Dish grumbled, dropping their playing cards and getting up from their table to get back to work. “We were almost raided by pirates, an' you two are sittin' there playin' cards.”
“Sorry, Cap'n,” said Cal as he plopped down onto a seat in front of a computer terminal.
A dozen ponies were seated around the relatively tight quarters of a small control room where the air was cold and tense. The greenish-grey metal of the walls and floor never made much for an exciting work atmosphere.
Most of the ponies were seated in front of computers that gave off dim, white glows, many of them clad in casual wear enough to keep themselves warm.
“Mining cycle six just completed, cycle seven is starting now,” one stallion called out, seated in front of a computer screen that displayed the power-usage gauges of the ship's quantum incision lasers.
“Cargo capacity of the McIntosh VI freighter at seventy-eight percent. Approximately one-thousand meters cubed remain,” said Dish who had taken his seat at a different computer terminal for fleet status.
“Good. Shut off lasers four and five, that should be enough for now," Applejack ordered. Among the rest of the ponies in the room, she was the only one standing. "Shut down the others once cycle seven is complete.”
The gentle roars of the mana-nuclear reactors nestled in the bowels of the craft softened as their workloads decreased. Lowly hums from air ducts and the many electro-magic subsystems were also among the many continuous noises vibrating throughout the ship.
Through the large observation window at the front of the room, a massive golden-brown hued asteroid covered most of the view. Applejack's eyes wearily wandered the rough texture of the rock as it blocked out the endless corridors of space behind it.
Three long beams of thin white lasers originating from various points on the vessel were connected with the asteroid, cutting off sizable chunks of rock and ore. Non-piloted worker drones hovered around the space, collecting the pieces of rock that were separated from the main body before zooming off out of sight from the observation window.
Applejack and her crew had been at work for several hours. Coupled with the pirate situation that she had Rainbow Dash resolve moments earlier, her legs felt stiff and her mind was focused on getting the task done.
“Cycle seven is complete. Shutting off quantum lasers one, two, and three,” a mare in front of a large terminal said as she flicked a few switches on her console. The three beams of light attacking the asteroid blinked out of existence.
“Captain Applejack,” another mare called out from her seat. Applejack turned from her view of the observation window and looked her way. “Incoming transmission from the McIntosh VI.”
“Alright, Cocoa,” she responded, making her way over to the mare's computer station. “Sorry about shovin' you aside earlier.”
“It's no problem, Captain,” Cocoa said, moving out of the way to let her sit down on her seat.
Displayed on the monitor of the communication console was the face of a yellow-coated stallion wearing a similar brown vest and hat to Applejack.
“Cuz'n Applejack! The McIntosh VI is fully loaded an' about to warp out to the station to unload, thanks to your hard work.” The stallion on the screen smiled, his lively voice blaring through the computer's speakers.
“Braeburn, all I did was boss my crew around.” She rolled her eyes.
Applejack's ship began to rotate and the asteroid disappeared from the observation window, the distant form of the McIntosh VI cargo ship taking its place.
“I'll still never understand why you're out here. Ya could do something more interesting than sittin' inside of a chunk of metal in the middle of space, blasting rocks with photons,” Braeburn commented.
“Why do my employees like to tease me?” Applejack mock-frowned.
“I reckon it's the fact that you're out here doin' the same work as us lowly miners,” Braeburn chuckled. “Not that it's a bad thing!”
The freighter's massive hull that mostly consisted of its eight large cargo containers dwarfed even the largest of asteroids in the asteroid field. Three large mana-burner engines pushed the thousands of tons of steel and cargo, their powerful blue flames visually lengthening as the freighter readied itself for warp.
“All multistage mana-coils are conducting maximum power. Engines are fully piped,” a mare's voice called out from the background of Braeburn's transmission. “We are one-hundred percent aligned with warp coordinates, and passage will open in t-minus thirty-five seconds.”
“Well, we better get goin'. I think cousin Red Delicious is gonna be bringing the McIntosh III up here in our place,” Braeburn said, pulling thick black straps from his seat over himself. “An' be sure to give my thanks to Miss Dash. I'm always thankful when she saves our hides with that fancy ship o' hers.”
“I will. I'll see you back at the station, Braeburn,” Applejack responded before giving him a final nod, standing up after terminating the call.
She returned to the observation deck, watching as the McIntosh VI finally transitioned into warp. The massive freighter, weighing several hundreds of thousands of tons with its payload, was but a bright flash before disappearing completely before Applejack could blink once.
After the ship had left, nothing then obscured her view of the vast portrait of space. Applejack never got sick of stargazing regardless of how much of her life she had bestowed among the stars; the strange ethereal shapes and vibrant iridescence of the distant galaxies dotted with millions of stars often brought her mind to somnolent ease.
It was like a painting that was both dark and bright, and dull but bleeding an everlasting spectrum of colours. Even if only for awhile, she wanted to reach out and embrace the vivid scene that she could not easily describe with diction.
And yet, it taunted her like a faded kiss.
“Dammit,” exclaimed Cal, snapping Applejack out of her stupor. She sighed, making her way over to the distressed employee who was casting a glare at his computer screen.
“What is it?” she asked, walking up to the stallion's station.
“Uh, nothing,” he responded, scrambling to press a few buttons before Applejack could get a good look at his screen.
“Your employees really suck at Hoof Fighter,” snickered Rainbow Dash through the computer's speakers.
“Dangit, Rainbow,” Applejack groaned. “Stop using our bandwidth for video games.”
::::~::::
“...And by replacing the palladium alloy mana-coil with a germanium-based coil, I can increase the efficiency of the arcane-flow by approximately forty percent,” said Twilight while she adjusted the small video camera of the computer monitor beside her.
A lone cone of yellow light shining from an overhead lamp in the otherwise dark room bathed a screwdriver-shaped device within Twilight's magical grasp. Looking down at the pile of mechanical components in front of her, she picked out a small metallic coil and levitated it up to level with the device.
“I am now removing the palladium coil from the Portable Microwave Mark-VII,” Twilight told the web-cam.
She unscrewed the bottom of the handle of the Portable Microwave Mark-VII and pulled out a metal coil similar in appearance to the one she had picked up from the pile. Placing the old metal coil onto the table to her side, she carefully slid the new one in its place and re-attached the handle's lid.
“Now we just have to test,” Twilight said, shutting off the video camera.
“And... do you need the old coil anymore?” asked a boyish voice to her left. Twilight rolled her eyes under plastic safety goggles.
“No, Spike, we don't need it anymore,” she said, smirking while she turned to face her lab assistant. “Why?”
“Um, nothing...” Spike mumbled.
“Oh, Spike,” Twilight giggled, levitating the little metal coil from the table and giving it to Spike. “You can have it.”
“Sweet!” Spike exclaimed, hungrily grabbing the metal coil in his claws and popping it into his mouth. “Ywou're thwe bwest, Twi!”
After switching off the small overhead lamp, Twilight flicked the room's main light switch. White light from the large ceiling lamps bathed the room, the many white tables and stainless-steel sinks shimmering under the bright luster.
“Hello, Twilight!” sung a cheery voice from the other side of the room. An overly-energetic mare wearing a similar lab-coat to Twilight's was hopping in place at the open doorway, a shiny name-tag reading 'Dr. Pie' gleaming from her coat's breast pocket. “What'cha doin'?”
“Hi, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight greeted. “We just finished replacing all of the components for the PM Mark-VII.”
Pinkie scrunched up her nose in thought.
“But my last name isn't Mark,” she pointed out.
Spike raised an eyebrow while Twilight rolled her eyes.
“No, Pinkie, the Portable Microwave Mark-VII,” she giggled. “Anyways, we were just about to do some testing. You can watch if you want.”
“Okie-dokie,” Pinkie said, closing the door and hopping over to the pair. “I was gonna ask if you guys wanted to go for lunch, but I always like watching sciency stuff.”
“Story of my life,” Twilight remarked, smirking.
She set the PM Mark-VII on the table in front of her and began to focus on her magic, long tendrils of warm magenta light beginning to exude from her horn and feed into the device.
“Spike, while I charge this for a little bit, go over to the fridge and get me one of the frozen TV-dinners, please,” Twilight said, her eyes shut while magic emitted from her horn. Thin blue strips on the handle of the PM Mark-VII began to glow an ethereal blue.
“Alright,” Spike said, walking over to the fridge at other side of the room. He returned to Twilight and Pinkie while holding a small cardboard box, bits of frost clinging to the its lid.
“Thanks,” said Twilight as she looked up, magic no longer flowing from her horn. She took the box from Spike, set it down on the table and slowly peeled one of its corners open.
“Is this safe?” Spike asked while pulling plastic safety goggles over his eyes, Pinkie following suit.
“It should be,” Twilight said. “The last models didn't yield too many problems aside from efficiency issues.”
Picking up the PM Mark-VII, Twilight fed its thin-barrelled end through the box's opening and began to turn a few dials on its handle.
“Mashed potatoes and gravy,” Pinkie whispered, reading the contents of the box. “Whoever invented gravy must be one of the greatest ponies in history,” she said dreamily.
“You're making me more hungry,” Spike said to Pinkie while Twilight fiddled with the device. “Even though that palladium was pretty tasty.”
“I wish I could eat metal or gems,” Pinkie said. “I would totally bake a metal-flavoured pie.”
She paused.
“Actually that sounds kind of painful for some reason,” she whispered. “No offence, Spike.”
“None taken. You're the one with the doctorate,” said Spike. He muttered, “Somehow...”
“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed, shooting him a brief, scolding glare before turning back to the PM Mark-VII.
“It's okay, Twilight!” Pinkie giggled. “I get that a lot. You have to admit, he has a point—me being the premium party-pony of Scientistville and all. Never-mind just the Starswirl Innovations building.”
For a few moments, the two of them watched Twilight work with different levels of amusement, the soft clicks from the PM Mark-VII's switches being the only sound in the room before Pinkie broke the silence.
“Did you use palladium for the coil?” she asked Twilight.
“Mhmm,” Twilight answered, fiddling with more of the device's controls while she spoke. “Well, the previous model anyways.”
“Huh,” Pinkie said. “What're you using now?”
After giving a last look-over with the PM Mark-VII's settings, Twilight smiled in satisfaction.
“Germanium,” she finally answered.
“Germa—wait!” Pinkie exclaimed, but was too late.
Twilight flicked the power switch on the side of the PM Mark-VII.
The room was engulfed in a blinding white light.
::::~::::
“Ugh,” Twilight groaned before shaking her mane dry. “How could I be so stupid!”
“It's okay, Twilight! At least it wasn't as bad as your single-pixel TV idea,” said Pinkie while scrubbing her own damp mane with a towel. “There's a reason why Doctor Amethyst said not to use anything but palladium or less mana-conductive metals. At least until we find a better way to stabilize arcane-flow.”
“I know, I know...” said Twilight, levitating off her soaked lab-coat and placing it on the floor. “I thought I could pull it off by using an alloy of only thirty-seven percent germanium.”
“The low-class rail-guns use a twenty-three percent germanium-based alloy for their spires,” Pinkie said matter-of-factly. Twilight winced.
The two scientists and lab assistant stood in a brightly-lit hallway, puddles of water littering the white ceramic floor between them and an opened doorway that billowed out remnant trails of smoke. Several ponies, most of them clad in white lab-coats, had gathered to see the phenomenon.
Sitting on the floor beside Twilight lay the innate form of the PM Mark-VII prototype.
“At least we got of there alright,” Twilight said from under her now-frizzly-and-dry mane. “Thank Celestia the sprinklers came on when they did.”
After a moment of silence and more towel-scrubbing, Twilight levitated up the PM Mark-VII with enough care to handle an extremely-volatile doomsday device. With a cautious twist, she unscrewed the handle's lid and removed the metallic coil from within.
“Okay, Spike,” Twilight said while hovering the objects over to him, “take this down to Weapon's Testing.”
“Uh, alright,” he said, shrugging out of his towels and taking the objects with his claws before turning to walk down the hallway. “You owe me, though; that guy kind of creeps me out.”
“Just give it to him and leave,” Twilight said. She sighed, turning to face Pinkie after Spike had made it further down the hallway. “Another failed experiment.”
“Hey, there's no need to be so grumpy over it!” said Pinkie, cheerfully. “Besides, most of our scientific breakthroughs are from stuff like this.”
Suddenly, the large double-doors at the end of the hallway burst open and a pegasus clumsily flew through after Spike had pushed passed them.
“Derpy!” Pinkie called, wincing as Derpy accidentally crashed into a group of ponies on her way over before finally setting down before the two mares.
“Hiya, Pinkie! And it's actually Derpy-Bot-number-8502,” it said in a synthetic yet lively voice.
“Oh. I can never tell you a part from the original aside from your voices,” Pinkie admitted.
“What can I say? My master is an expert at this sciency stuff,” the Derpy-Bot proudly said, puffing out its chest before turning to Twilight. “Oh! I've got a letter for you, Doctor Sparkle.”
“A letter?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. “Like a package?”
“Nope, just a letter.”
“But, nopony sends physical mail unless—”
“Yep-yep,” the Derpy-Bot interrupted, reaching into one of its saddlebags and taking out a smooth papyrus envelope with its mouth. Sealing the lips of the letter was a golden sticker that was embossed with a mark of a sun-half-moon.
“The Royal Seal...” Twilight said to herself, her eyes widening in recognition.
“You know how it goes. Digital stuff's too easy to steal nowadays,” the Derpy-Bot said before giving a small salute. “Without further ado, I must be off!”
“Goodbye, Derpy-Bot-number-8502!” Pinkie said, giving a retaliation salute before the Derpy-Bot turned and flew down the hallway from the direction it had come from.
“Stickers like this are enchanted to only allow the intended reader to open it,” murmured Twilight, slowly rotating the envelope in front of her. “The only other ones I've ever gotten were when Princess Celestia took me as her own personal protege and when I was hired at Starswirl Innovations.”
“Ooh, then I wonder what this one's about!” Pinkie said, squishing her head beside Twilight's while she opened the envelope.
Twilight gently pushed her aside and read out loud enough for the both of them to hear.
My faithful student, Dr. Twilight Sparkle,
I have a mission for you to embark on, and it will not be an easy task.
An untouched planet in the Archer system, known as Archer III, has caught our interest, and we have commissioned several parties within the Equestrian Nation to do a colonization attempt. In two days, there will be a meeting in a space station owned by Sweet Asteroid Acres that is orbiting the neighbouring planet, Archer IV. All who are important to this operation are going to be present at this meeting, and I want you to attend.
I have arranged for transport to include both you and your colleague, Pinkie Pie, that will leave tonight. I am sorry for such a brief warning, but any inconveniences that this will cause you or Pinkie will be compensated. However, you will be gone for a month if not a few, at least.
I wish for this to be a good learning experience for the two of you.
Rest assured, my sister will also be personally attending this operation. More will be revealed when you reach the station tomorrow.
With love,
Princess Celestia
"...Pinkie, pack your things," said Twilight, pausing for a moment before taking off into a gallop. Shrugging to herself, Pinkie followed.
::::~::::
Intel
The Wonderbolts are the elite fighting-force branch of the Royal Equestrian Navy (REN). They serve both as the Navy's backbone and also as the spearhead for most military operations. Only the best, for both planetary and astral combat, are recruited into it. They also harness the best technology the Nation has to offer.
The Shadowbolts, formed only roughly six decades ago by Captain Firefly and Second Lieutenant Surprise, is a special branch of the Wonderbolts dedicated to combat the rise of organized crime. While a legitimate part of the REN, their focus is to act as highly-trained mercenaries which companies may hire for security; intercepting pirate raids on mining operations or trade routes are some of their most common tasks. Some of their more risk-intensive jobs include skirmishes on bandit outposts or patrolling hostile-controlled space.
While acting as independent mercenaries, many Shadowbolts love to modify their already top-notch equipment. Coupled with the combat skill of a Wonderbolt, this turns the Shadowbolts into possibly the best geared and one of the most fearsome fighting forces within the Equestrian Nation.
::::~::::
Chapter 2: We Ride
“Pin cushion!” she called, her sing-song voice echoing off of the brightly decorated walls of the workroom. With deep, sapphire-blue eyes, Rarity carefully scrutinized the fabric-covered pony-mannequin in front of her.
Walking up beside her, a life-like mechanical pegasus assistant held a tomato-coloured pin cushion with its mouth. Several needles were removed as they became wrapped in a blue aura, soon finding themselves plunging into different parts of the unfinished dress on the mannequin.
“Now some blue fabric, please,” Rarity said, not taking her eyes off of her work. Another mechanical pegasus, exactly similar in appearance to the first, poked through the tall surrounding lavender curtains and approached Rarity while balancing a bolt of smooth blue fabric on its back. “You Derpy-Bots really are so helpful.”
“Thank you, Miss Rarity!” both of the Derpy-Bots said in unison.
Rarity levitated the roll of fabric off of the Derpy-Bot's back and unwound several measurements of it, snipping off rectangular sections with a floating pair of scissors.
“A little more here... a few pins, and done!” Rarity exclaimed, finally letting the fabric in her levitation rest. “Well, not done, but I can relax for now.”
She smiled in relief, her weary eyes relaxing in satisfaction for her latest work on the unfinished dress in front of her.
“Is that all, Miss Rarity?” asked the Derpy-Bot who had brought the bolt of fabric.
“For now. I will take a twenty minute lunch break,” Rarity said while she left the curtained seclusion of her workroom. “Clean up the scraps on the floor will you?”
She exited the room through a magenta-coloured door and appeared in a decorated hallway, walking towards a spiralling stairway that led downwards to the first floor of her fashion boutique.
While she made her way down the stairs, however, she heard the front door of the store open. After bolting down the rest of the steps and finally stepping onto the lavender ceramic tiles of the first floor, Rarity quickly made her way towards the store front through the mazes of dress-filled clothing racks.
“I'm sorry but we are closed for lunch right now—”
She stopped, noticing who had entered her boutique despite the 'Closed' sign.
A unicorn mare, clad in charcoal-coloured tight-fitting armour, looked at Rarity with bright golden eyes. The mare's sea-green furred face brightened into a smile and she brushed aside several strands of her slightly-messy bright-teal mane with a quick glow from her horn.
A badge on the armoured pad of her right shoulder displayed the letters 'LY' inside of a red shield insignia.
“Lyra!” Rarity greeted after recovering from her surprise. “What brings you to my boutique?”
“Hey, Rarity,” Lyra said as she began to walk over to Rarity, her armoured boots making loud clicks against the floor's incredibly clean tiles. “You've received a letter at HQ, but I've taken liberty and decided to deliver it to you personally.”
“A letter? From who?” asked Rarity.
“Here,” Lyra said as she opened her saddlebag and levitated out a white envelope.
A golden sticker sealed the lips.
“It has the Royal Seal,” she pointed out. “It must be straight from the top.”
“Oh dear. The Royal Seal?” Rarity said, suddenly feeling as though all the air had left her lungs. She took the envelope from Lyra's grasp with her levitation. “It was addressed to me, alone?”
“Yep. The guard who dropped it off said that it should specifically be for your eyes only, and I'd guess that means I should take my leave as soon as possible,” Lyra said.
“Very well Lyra.,” Rarity said uneasily. “I'll catch you later.”
She turned her gaze from Lyra to the floating envelope. While she reluctantly rotated it in her magical grasp, eyeing it as though it were an active bomb, she did not notice Lyra staring.
“Rarity,” Lyra said, catching her attention. “Whatever it is, I know you can do it. If anything, it's only fitting that you were chosen.”
“T-thank you, Lyra...” Rarity responded, her voice slightly wavering. “It... it's just that this is definitely a first,” she chuckled.
“Solo assignments are really kept in hush-hush, huh,” Lyra pointed out, wincing a little when she noticed Rarity fidget slightly. Giving out a small sigh, she put on a reassuring smile. “Don't worry, okay? Remember, you practically handled the Pyrelate op by yourself.”
Rarity didn't reply and instead gave an uneasy nod, casting another frustrated-yet-worrisome gaze at the envelope in her grasp.
“Rarity,” Lyra said, once again seizing Rarity's attention before placing a hoof on the distraught unicorn's shoulder.
Rarity smiled.
“We ride,” the two of them said in unison before giving each other a warm hug.
“Good luck,” Lyra said after a moment, breaking off the embrace and giving a small wink before turning towards the shop's door.
Rarity silently walked with Lyra, closing the door behind her after she left the boutique.
She stood in front of the closed door for several silent moments, her face blank as though her mind were spinning with questions. After giving a small sigh to snap her out of her hypnosis, she slowly turned herself around before quickly making her way back towards the stairs. Nearly tripping a few times, she made her way up the narrow steps before bursting into her workroom with the envelope floating close beside her.
“Darlings, I'll need you to tend to the first floor,” Rarity announced to her Derpy-Bot workers as she briskly walked towards a large door on the other side of the room. “Clean up and then close up shop—I will be closing up early for today.”
The two Derpy Bots looked at each other, shrugged, and made their way to the first floor.
Rarity stopped in front of the door, quickly dialling in a seven digit code on the door's keypad and scanning her eye at the door's optical lens. After a moment of anxious silence, the door groaned several drawn-out mechanical noises as it opened to reveal a rather small and plain room. A lone, hanging lamp that dangled from the middle of the room's ceiling provided a dim light that barely illuminated the room's contents.
A weapon rack on the left side of the room above a wooden work-desk held up several hoof pistols, rifles and electronic gadgets that gleamed against what little of the pale light they could. Shrouded in darkness against the opposite wall was a large, glass case whose contents were indistinguishable.
Rarity sighed, closing the large metal door behind her and turning towards the wooden work bench.
A glint from the centre of the room caught her attention.
“Happy to see me, Tom?” Rarity giggled, winking at the wide and circular lens of the sleek, white-painted sniper rifle sitting on top of the velvet-coated table in the centre of the room.
With a new-found spring in her step, she turned back to the work desk and began to open the envelope.
::::~::::
“Okay, Pinkie, be careful with this one. It has all the beakers and vials,” Twilight said while she slowly inched her way up the metal ramp, levitating several large boxes behind her.
Awaiting her at the top of the climb was the entrance to a sleek, golden-coloured high-class commercial space shuttle that only those of high importance used. Shining from the main fin of the ship's tail, the royal insignia of a sun-half-moon gleamed against the orange rays from the distant evening sun.
“Okay, Twilight!” said Pinkie Pie as she nonchalantly tossed the box she was given onto her back before quickly making her way up the ramp. Twilight paused and rolled her eyes while the energetic colleague passed her by.
Following her up the ramp, Twilight quickly dumped her luggage inside of the shuttle before making her way back down to the star-port's landing platform. Spike, who was waiting for her at the bottom of the ramp, looked up from the pile of paper in his claws as soon as Twilight had stopped in front of him.
“Alright, now that just leaves the box with the Bucksen burners and the nanoscopes, and you should be set!” he said, saluting to Twilight as she picked up the last box on the floor.
“Thanks for coming to see us off, Spike. We may be gone for months,” said Twilight, grabbing Spike into a tight hug.
“Eeugh,” he groaned, struggling against her embrace until managing to squirm out of her grasp. “I'll miss you guys, but at least I get some alone time now. Besides, Princess Celestia wants me to be her personal assistant while you're gone.”
“We'll miss you too, Spike,” Twilight giggled. “You haven't seen the third passenger arrive yet, have you?”
“Actually, no. Lift off is in twenty minutes,” he said, flipping through the pages in his claws. “I wonder what's keeping her.”
“What's her name?” asked Twilight.
“Hmm....” Spike paused, rubbing his chin while he looked through more papers until he found the one he was looking for. “Ah, Doctor Fluttershy of the Posey Research and Development Company.”
“The—“
“Oh... um, yes?” interrupted soft voice from beside the two.
“Wuaagh!” Twilight yelped, nearly losing her levitation's grip on the box.
“Oh, did I startle you?” said a pegasus mare who had silently appeared beside Spike and Twilight. “I'm sorry.”
“Eheh, it's alright,” Twilight said, slightly dazed from nearly losing her valuable equipment. “You are Doctor Fluttershy, I presume?”
“Yes,” Fluttershy answered, nodding while she floated beside them. “Um, you are Doctor Sparkle?”
“Yep. Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Twilight greeted, smiling while she held out a foreleg for a hoof shake.
Fluttershy stared at the outstretched hoof as if she did not know what to do.
After a moment of unexpected silence, she raised her hoof and bumped it against Twilight's before giving a nervous hopeful smile.
“Um, alright! Let's uh... let's head inside now. Shall we?” said Twilight, gesturing Fluttershy to walk up the ramp with her before noticing the limited amount of luggage she carried. “You don't have anything else to bring but two saddlebags?”
“Oh, all of my equipment was put into the cargo bay,” she responded. “I was just there helping the nice work ponies in loading it all.”
“Ah, I see,” Twilight nodded, mentally kicking herself for not thinking of that sooner. “Oh, Spike. I guess this is goodbye for now!”
“Yep, goodbye!” Spike said, waving while he turned around and began to walk away. “Have fun, you three!”
“Three?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“So, Fluttershy, what exactly do you do?” Twilight asked while the two of them made their way up the ramp.
“As in what I specialize in? I'm an environmentalist, especially when it comes to flora or fauna,” Fluttershy answered softly, albeit with a hint of confidence in her voice. “But, I guess you can also call me an expert for planetary analysis.”
“Interesting!” Twilight exclaimed, glad to have a conversation going. “So you study climate and biomes, and everything that has to link with them, then?”
“Yes, I've helped with a colonization one time before,” Fluttershy answered. “It really requires a lot of coordination and a big team of different scientists.”
“Ooh, this will be my first time. I've always wanted to see what it's like,” Twilight said excitedly. “What company did you help, for the colonization?”
“The Pie Rock Farms Incorporated.”
The two mares entered the shuttle proper, and were presented with a horizontal cylindrical room that had plenty of lounge-like furniture. As they made their way towards a long, beige sofa that sat in front of a glass coffee table, Twilight gave a quick glance to the several rows of first-class seats at the other side of the room, impressed at how comfy they looked.
A flight attendant unicorn wearing a black vest on top of a white dress shirt entered the room and quietly made her way to the two mares, levitating a platter that held two filled glasses of white wine.
“Thank you,” Twilight said while she took the two wine glasses with her magic, offering one to Fluttershy.
“Um, thank you. But could you set it down by that chair over there?” Fluttershy said, gesturing to one of the first-class seats. “I can't hold it right now.”
“Oh, no problem,” Twilight said, levitating both of the wine glasses across the room and setting them down onto two seat side-tables.
“Thank you,” said Fluttershy, turning away from Twilight and making her way to the seats to put down her saddlebags.
“That will be eight bits, ma'am,” the flight attendant said in a light, monotonous voice.
“What? You have to pay for refreshments?” Twilight asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Water's free, but wine costs. Eight bits, ma'am,” the flight attendant stated again.
“Yeah... yeah. Sure. Okay,” Twilight replied, hesitating before levitating eight bits out of one of her saddlebags. She muttered something under her breath while the flight attendant took the bits, bowed, and left.
“I wonder where Pinkie is,” she said, brushing off the annoyance while she looked around the room.
“Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, making her way back to Twilight.
“Oh, that would be the third passenger coming with us,” Twilight answered. “She's my colleague.”
“What do you two do?”
“We work for Starswirl Innovations. We do, uh, i-innovative... things,” Twilight stuttered, trying to think of a way to sum up her job. Disastrous chemical explosions and rogue mechanical abominations flashed in her mind.
“Starswirl Innovations?” asked Fluttershy. “You work for the Navy?”
“Yep, pretty much. We do a lot of research and experiments to push the limits of what science has given us this far,” Twilight explained.
“Yeah, like the most-recent Exploding-Portable-Microwave!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, hopping in place beside Twilight. “I found three bits under the couch!”
“Pinkie! What the—” Twilight cut herself off, briefly closing her eyes and shaking her head before putting on a forced smile. “Never-mind. Meet Doctor Fluttershy; she works with the Posey Research and Development Company.”
“Hello, Fluttershy!” Pinkie waved erratically. “I'm Doctor Pie, but you can call me Pinkie Pie. Nice to meet you!” She lifted her hoof for a hoof-shake.
“N-nice to meet you, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy answered, reluctantly bumping her hoof against Pinkie's.
The flight attendant from before reappeared, levitating a sheet of paper to her side.
“Excuse me, ma'ams, but liftoff is in three minutes,” she said. “Please show me your boarding passes, and then you may take your seats.”
Pinkie and Twilight brought out their boarding passes from their saddlebags and showed them to the flight attendant while Fluttershy made her way back to her seat to fetch hers.
“Thank you, you two may take your seats,” the flight attendant said. “We hope you enjoy your flight on The Friendship Express.”
As Fluttershy walked up to the flight attendant with her boarding pass, Pinkie and Twilight walked over to two of the first-class seats and sat down.
“Uh, ma'am?” the flight attendant said, getting Twilight's attention. “Your boarding pass said you are flying economy class.”
“Huh?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “But... wait, seriously?”
Pinkie Pie held back giggles while Fluttershy stood shocked, unsure of what to say.
“I'm sorry, ma'am, but you have to take your seat in the economy class. Unless you want to pay six-hundred bits to upgrade to first class?” the flight attendant asked.
"B-but we're the only passengers!” Twilight said frantically, beginning to panic. “Princess Celestia commissioned this shuttle and gave us these tickets!”
::::~::::
“Ma'am,” a white pegasus stallion said to Applejack. “The Friendship Express will dock in Hangar B's platform thirty-seven in approximately ten minutes.”
“Mmh?” Applejack mumbled through a mouthful of apple pie before forcefully swallowing her bite and clearing her throat. “I see. Go find Rai—Lieutenant—Rainbow Dash and tell her to meet me there ASAP.”
“Yes, ma'am,” the pegasus said, turning and flying off.
Applejack got up from her seat at the Star-Bucks and shoved the remainder of her apple pie slice down her throat. Without hesitating, she bolted out of the cafe and galloped down the brightly-lit hallways of the Winona Station towards the floor's elevators. Loud clinks echoed off the smooth metal walls as her hooves pounded against the grip-embossed steel floor.
As she swiftly passed them by, the many ponies packing the hallways gave her brief but hearty greetings.
“Captain Applejack!” said a yellow pegasus who had fallen into step beside Applejack. “Golden Delicious requests that the McIntosh IX gets a recharge on its gyro-stabilizers. We just need approval.”
“Can't you find a Chief Engineer to do that?” Applejack asked while they galloped.
“Well, yes, but the only one in the station is in the station hospital for having an apple-attack.”
Applejack stopped, forcing the pegasus to stumble slightly before regaining her composure.
“There's no such thing as an apple-attack! Ya can't ever have too many apples,” she snapped. “Gimme that form,” she demanded.
The pegasus took out a clipboard from her saddlebags that had a paper form and an ink pad attached. Hurriedly, Applejack stamped her right fore hoof on the ink pad and brought her hoof down on the form, practically kicking the whole clipboard out of the pegasus mare's hooves before wiping her hoof with a napkin.
“Th-thank you,” the mare said, rushing over to the clipboard that had hit the wall behind her.
The form was not without Applejack's hoof-signature, fortunately.
Applejack resumed galloping until she came upon a hallway with a row of five metallic elevator doors. After she had pressed one of the wall-buttons to call an elevator, however, another one of her employees came up from behind.
“Miss Applejack, may I have a word?” asked the blue-coated unicorn mare, wearing a white dress shirt that had a red pen sticking out of the breast pocket.
“Oh, yes? What is it, Colgate?”
“Uh, it's about the apple problem.”
Applejack rolled her eyes.
The large steel doors opened to reveal an unoccupied elevator, which she beckoned Colgate to enter with her. After the both of them had stepped into the spacious room, Applejack pressed one of the many circular buttons to take them to the hangar level.
“Well, many of employees in the station are beginning to question your choice of food for import,” Colgate finally said.
“Yeah? And what's their problem?” Applejack asked, her voice deadpanned. “We import a good variety of food.”
“Um, w-well, you see—the only fruit we have on board the station to feed the employees are apples, and it's beginning to drive some of them... crazy,” Colgate said, trying to keep her composure and retain eye contact.
After a small moment of tense silence, Applejack did not respond.
“Th-they just request that—well, petitioned, actually—that we start importing another kind of fruit,” Colgate said.
“We're pretty far out in the Nation,” Applejack pointed out. “What course of action do you suggest?”
“Well, the Pear Company have a nearby system—”
Colgate stopped, seeing Applejack's piercing expression.
“S-sorry, I know they're our competitors and all b-but...” Colgate trailed off, beginning to mumble.
“Relax,” Applejack said, sighing. “There's the Orange Sun Company not too far from here, too. We have good relations with them—my aunt an' uncle Orange run it.”
“G-great!” Colgate said, her expression brightening in relief. “We can come into contact with them and get some business propositions.”
Applejack chuckled.
“Well, there we go. Problem solved,” she said, giving a small grin. The elevator had stopped and its doors opened, allowing Applejack to exit while Colgate stayed inside. “Be sure to bring the proposal to m' big brother. But consult the station nutritionist first.”
“I-I am the station nutrit—“ Colgate cut herself off. “I will! Thank you, Miss Applejack!” she waved while the elevator doors closed.
Turning around, Applejack made her way through several dimly-lit hallways until she saw an entrance with a sign that was labelled as the 'Terminal.'
In the large room beyond, several ponies were seated at a circular table in the centre where they conducted the departures and arrivals of the many space craft in the hangars, displaying the times on the large digital screens above them.
Milling about the room were crowds of ponies, some of them wearing pilot jackets, helmets and visors.
“Yo, Ay-Jay!” called a raspy voice from behind her. Applejack turned to see Rainbow Dash hovering her way.
“How'd you get here before me?” Applejack asked.
“You used the elevator? I just flew down the stairwells,” Rainbow Dash answered while she touched down in front of Applejack and slightly adjusted her black long-sleeved jacket, rolling up her right sleeve to reveal a hoof pistol strapped to her foreleg.
“Ah. Well, I guess we should go greet our special guests,” said Applejack. “Princess Luna said that the three scientists from The Friendship Express are high priority.”
“Mhmm.”
“C'mon, they've probably jus' docked at the platform,” Applejack said, urging Rainbow to follow her.
::::~::::
Fluttershy and Pinkie stepped off of the ramp that led from The Friendship Express, both of them stretching and giving out drawn-out yawns.
“W-we're so high up,” squeaked Fluttershy who had peaked over the edge of the circular landing platform. Between herself and the floor of the massive hangar were several-dozen kilometers of space, despite being only on the third row of landing platforms from the bottom. “I'm afraid of heights...”
She watched while the distant hulls of many different space vessels milled about the hangar, some of them docked on platforms. Closer to the bottom of the hanger were larger landing platforms where some of the bigger ships rested.
“Finally,” Pinkie Pie said, walking up to Fluttershy. “I couldn't stand being in once place for seventeen hours!”
“You guys...” groaned a voice from the top of the ramp they had just stepped off of. “A... little help?” Twilight Sparkle grunted, levitating six boxes with her magic while carrying three on her back.
Pinkie gave out a loud snort of laughter that echoed throughout the large space, briefly getting the attention of several nearby worker ponies.
“Oh, I'll help you, Doctor Sparkle,” Fluttershy said, flying up to take two boxes off of Twilight's back.
“Th-thank you, Fluttershy,” Twilight grunted, still slightly struggling with balancing her luggage. “And you can just call me Twilight.”
Pinkie walked up to Twilight and took several more boxes, effortlessly balancing them on her back as the three mares made their way down the ramp. Carefully, they piled the boxes on the platform's floor.
“Doctor Fluttershy,” said a stallion who had come up to the mares, “the equipment you've brought along in the cargo bay are being unloaded. They will be stored in platform thirty-seven's storage.”
“Thank you, sir,” Fluttershy said before the stallion trotted away.
As Twilight stood up on her hind legs to stretch, she spotted two ponies approaching them from the wide catwalk that led to their landing platform.
“Welcome to the Winona Station, Sweet Apple Acres' Archer IV space station,” one of them said when they stopped in front of the three mares. “My name's Applejack, and this here's Lieutenant Rainbow Dash. You are Doctor Sparkle, Doctor Pie an' Doctor Fluttershy, I presume?”
“Doctor Sparkle?” Rainbow quietly asked herself after hearing their names. Twilight stepped forward.
“Yes. We came here on very short notice from Equis, on the order of Princess Celestia,” she said.
“Doctor Sparkle...” Rainbow repeated before budding Applejack, squinting her eyes as if to get a closer look at Twilight. “Doctor Sparkle! It is you!”
“You know her?” Applejack asked.
“Huh?” Twilight asked, her right eyebrow raised until her eyes widened when she recognized of the pegasus in front of her. “Hey, I remember you! You're the Shadowbolt who always orders the stuff Pin—Doctor Pie and I manufacture.”
“Pssh, yeah! Your stuff is the only stuff cool enough to be put on my ship!” Rainbow stated. “'Sup, Pinks.”
“Hi, Dashie,” Pinkie giggled, bumping her hoof on Rainbow's. “Been awhile.”
“I saw you last Thursday,” Rainbow said. “Applejack, why didn't you tell me the names of these ponies before they got here? I didn't think this would be some sort of reunion!”
“Well—I didn't think you'd know 'em, truth be told,” Applejack responded. “I'd never think you'd know these boring ol' scientists.” She chuckled.
“Hey!” Twilight retorted.
“They are boring old egghead scientists. Well, Twilight is, but she's cool. Me and Pinks go way back, though; she comes up with the weirdest sciency stuff,” Rainbow explained.
“Yup! I'm the one who invented the Party Cannon—” Pinkie piped up.
“Officially named the Anti-Matter Rail Gun Accelerator,” Twilight corrected.
“—The Pinkie-Sense-Sensors—”
“Pseudo-Future-Seeking Tracker Arrays.”
“—And the Neutron-Powered Thermal Deflection Shields,” Pinkie stated proudly.
“...That one's the correct name,” Twilight said pointedly.
“I have all of those on my ship,” said Rainbow Dash.
“I see,” Applejack said, impressed. “And what about you, Doctor Fluttershy?”
“Oh, um, you can just call me Fluttershy,” she said, slowly coming forward after silently watching the conversation going on between the ponies in front of her. “I'm nothing special. I've, um, been assigned to be the expedition's lead environmentalist, though... but I don't mean to boast.”
“Ah! The environmentalist. That's an important job, I hope you're up for it,” Applejack said, raising a hoof towards Fluttershy. “It's nice t'meet ya.”
Fluttershy, now more experienced with hoof bumps, returned a quick one to Applejack.
“Well, why don't I bring y'all to your quarters? You must all want to rest up after your trip before the meeting that starts in five hours,” Applejack said, beckoning the group of mares to follow her.
“Oh, good. I could really use a quick nap—seventeen hours sitting alone in economy class really strained my back,” Twilight whined. “Stuck with nothing to watch but the Trixie Show... lousy Friendship Express...”
“Princess Luna is gonna be at the meeting,” Applejack pointed out.
“Moon-Butt is gonna be there?” Pinkie asked. “You never told me that, Twilight!”
“Moon-B... Pinkie!” Twilight exclaimed, casting a glare. “That's rude!”
“She doesn't mind it when I call her that,” Pinkie giggled, shrugging.
::::~::::
Intel
The Apocalypse Program is a recent addition to the Equestrian Forces, having first been established one-and-a-half decades ago by General Sparkler of the Royal Equestrian Army (REA).
Graduating from the Apocalypse Program is the highest level of disciplinary achievement within the entire Equestrian Forces. Thousands of soldiers from many different branches apply each chance they get, and only three-hundred are hoof-selected to qualify.
Every two Equis-years (365 Equis-days a year), the eight month-long program takes place on the home planet of Equis, and an average of four out of the qualified three hundred graduate each time. The first four to ever graduate the program were referred to as “The Four Riders of the Apocalypse,” and thus the program became known as “The Apocalypse Program.”
They are trained extensively and have to be the best in espionage tactics, stealth, hoof-to-hoof combat, electronic warfare, psychological warfare and marksmanship. They go through high amounts of physical and mental abuse, and are required to take it all in stride.
However, the highlight of the program is focused on the strive for being the greatest snipers in the universe. The final exam of the program includes using a projectile-based E774 Sniper Rifle to hit a target nearly three kilometers away (without a spotter's assistance) in under twenty seconds of preparation time.
Even after passing all of the gruelling tests before this exam, a soldier still fails if they miss that final shot.
Graduates of the program have a saying:
“We ride.”
::::~::::
