3020 Celestial Calendar- New Appleoosa

In a BattleSteed hangar that has been temporarily repurposed into a classroom, three hundred young aspiring 'Steed pilots filter in and gather 'round in small knots of creatures, chattering and laughing. A side door opens and a golden-scaled dragon stolls in wearing the jumpsuit of an MRRB instructor. Walking to the front of the hangar converted into a temporary classroom, he pulls down an old projection screen, grumbling curses as it hangs up a few times, forcing him to have to retract and pull it back several times until it was fully extended.

"Alright everycreature, quiet down and find a seat."

Most creatures quieted down and found a seat, though a few continued to stand around with their small cliques,chattering in softer tones.

"I SAID SIT THE FUCK DOWN AND SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I'LL SELL ALL YOUR SORRY HIDES TO A PLEASURE MERCHANT WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO BE SOLD TO A PERIPHERY WHOREHOUSE!", the dragon bellowed. The remaining creatures immediately shut up and scrambled to the few remaining seats. "Welcome to the first of many classes of the MRRB 'Steed pilot training course. As per the mandates of the Mercenary Review and Regulatory Board, here on all of your first day, you will be shown two instructional VidReels. The first one is about the history of of the Equus Hegemony, the Harmony League,the Amber Glow Civil War and the Equestria Sphere. Keep your flanks glued to those chairs, your eyes glued to that screen and whatever listening orifices open, there will be many times knowing your histories will greatly benefit a 'Steed jock."

A couple assistants wheeled an ancient video cassette projector, that looked to be comprised of mismatched spare parts and duct tape than anything else, on a rickety stand. The gold-scaled dragon muttered curses as he picked through the video cassettes that were scattered on the stand. Finding the right cassette, he inserted it into the slot and switched the projector on. As the test pattern with the words 'adjust focus and tracking' were projected on the screen, the dragon twisted the tracking wheel with a thumb and twisted a couple of nobs by the projector's lens to bring the picture into as clear as possible for a the old projector and well-used cassette. With a quick signal of his claws to one of the ponies who brought in the projector, the dragon silently called for the lights to be cut off and then walked to the side of the class room.

The image changed to block letter that read 'History of the Equus Hegemony, Equestria Sphere and the Amber Glow civil war' as a series of trumpets played a washed-out sounding fanfare over the speakers. A voice of a pony who probably dies of old age two hundred years ago spoke in the voice over in a gravelly,whiskey-soaked tone.

"Greetings and welcome class to the Mercenary Review and Ratings Board mandatory history lecture. I know that many of you creatures out there may be asking 'Why do I need to know about history that I learned in school? I'm going to be a hot-as-shit 'Steed jock!' Well let me tell you why fucko! Not everycreature grew upon some rich, well-to-do world that had the luxury of going to a school or having to suck on mamma and daddy's taint when they wanted money for liquor or hookers or expensive blow!"

The sound crackled for a minute before the voice over started again, this time with the narrator sounding a little more reserved, or at least a little more sober.

"Many most creatures of the Equestria Sphere grew up on poor worlds, usually as dirt farmers or scrap pickers. Even fewer had the opportunity to attend one of the SteedWarrior schools offered by the great houses. 'How were they able to afford to attend a MRRB classes?' I hear some of you ask. How the fuck would I be able to here them asking any questions?! Or how would they be able to ask me any question?! By Luna's jiggly teats! This is fucking stupid. I don't care, I know I'm supposed to read off the script, but this pure condescension to these fuck sticks! I would read it as written if it wasn't fucking stupid" Through the speaker came the distorted sound of something clinking in a glass, followed by liquid pouring and then swallowing said liquid. "Ah! That's better! *hic* *burp* What I wouldn't give to have Luna, or any of the other retired alicorn princesses rub their teats in my face just once. I'd die a happy stallion. The sound of more liquid pouring followed by swallowing came through the speakers. "No, I won't slow down on my drinking. Well maybe you should have hired an actual voice actor rather than a stallion who got arrested because he got drunk, pissed off a balcony and accidentally peed on the head of the heir-apparent of house Ember. I know there's vid of me shouting at that scale-back to get his attention before unleashing my mighty stream of justice. Maybe I wouldn't have pissed on him if those fuckos of the Draconic Combine cared more about many-much armor like they were some bad actor playing a samurai from one of those ancient movies from Equus! No! I won't slow down. No! You can't have my bottle! Give it back! Because! Because, I need it to finish. I said give me back my bottle! I'll kick your plot and anally rape your mother is what I'll do!" The distorted sounds of fighting and shouting came through the speakers right before the sound cut out.

When the sound came back on, there was the soft sound of the click of a gun before the narrator started talking again, this time with a nervous tone in his voice.

"*ahem* After 'renegotiating my contract' and some 'soul searching', I have decided to continue with my court-mandated community service and not because a MRRB enforcer is holding a gun to my head.[/]" *thunk* Ow! Okay, okay! I'll read the script, just not so rough. You're not my ex-wife. *thunk* "Ow! No, no, you don't have to hit me again, I'll read it, I'll read it! Now where's the script? Thank you good sir. Yes, I noticed the rewrites. Alright, where were again? Ah, right! After the princesses unified Equus into a new era of peace, all the creatures began working together to make it a better world." The image on the screen to grainy footage of an old JumpShip spinning up its drive."As you can see on the screen now is first successful launch of a JumpShip using the Glimmer-Shimmer drive first developed by two of the brightest scientists from the Ponyville School of Technology on Equus. We apologize for quality of the footage as it was shot over one thousand years ago by the brave and courageous void sailor Zapp Apple. Ugh! Did anypony pre-read this before slapping it down before me? Brave and courageous mean the same thing. *thunk* "Ow! As you can see, this was a momentous event for all creaturekind as the...ugh!...Brave and courageous...stupid idiots, brave and courageous means the same thing. No, don't hit me again. I'll stop with the commentary. Anyways, back on topic. Though the famous scientists who first developed the formula for FTL travel, Stargleam Glimmer and Sundown Shimmer, died six months before the first launch. Many thought that no creature could survive travelling faster than the speed of light, but fortunately they were wwwwwwrrrrrrrrrooooooooo--" Static poured from the speaker as black plastic ribbon from the cassette spooled out from the projector.

"For fuck's sake!", the gold-scaled shouted as he ran to the projector, "If I've told my superiors once, I've told them a million times to spend the extra S-bits on a quality StarCom projector."

As the two ponies who brought the projector in, quickly shoved it out of the converted hangar, the dragon stood at the front of the class. "I'm sorry for that class. Anyways as we all know, if it weren't for the JumpShips, interstellar travel wouldn't be possible. Fortunately I made packets just in case somecreature had decided not to spring for the StarCom projector and instead went with a cheap periphery knock-off in the hopes of saving a few S-bits. No need whining over crushed gems, what's done is done." He pulled out a small stack of boxes containing packets. "Most of you, like me, weren't born on a well-to-do world. If you can't read, don't worry, I made sure most of the pages have properly images. What little writing there is, is required by mandate of the MRRB. If you're illiterate, just ask one of your neighbors to help you and make sure to sign up for basic adult literacy classes, as being able to read on the level of a thirteen year-old youngling is one of the requirements set in place by StarCom, the JSU and the MRRB to become a bonded merc pilot. Many of you, like myself, grew upon backwater planet and learned to pilot your great-great-great-great-granddaddy's 'Steed by your mamma or daddy and caught the attention of the MRRB when your took a potshot at some invading bandits right before a merc company showed up. The rest of you who grew upon a planet that was well-off enough to afford building schools, then help your fellow students who weren't as fortunate. I know we all came from all over the Equestria Sphere and the periphery, I know that means you're supposed to hate each other, but this is the Equus Hegemony, that means we are all equals and in my eyes you are equal, equally scum between my toes worth only to be scraped off and flung aside." He pulled stacks of laminated packets and handed them to the creatures in the first row. "Take one and pass the rest backwards."

Once every creature had a packet in hoof, paw, talon or claw, the gold-scaled dragon began the lesson. "Open to the first page. The light grey pegasus with the blonde mane is the last lord of the Harmony League, Jet Stream. The pink unicorn with the blue mane is the usurper Amber Glow." He paused to spit the foul taste out of his mouth, even though those events happened nearly five hundred years ago, they still left a bitter taste in the mouths of every creature. "The hippogriff with the blue highlighted feathers is the leader of the HLDF, the glorious general Surf Turf. If it wasn't for his struggle, Equus and the entire Hegemony would have been nothing but a bunch of dead, scorched worlds." He and every creature in the converted hangar placed a claw, talon, paw or hoof over their heart.

"Shortly after the Amber Glow civil war ended in twenty-seven-eighty, leaving the Harmony League shattered and the usurper dead, the bulk of HLDF vanished. Nocreature knows what happened to them, only a few small contingents were known to remain in an attempt to keep the peace. Turn to the second page. That is the picture of the HLDF, you'll notice that it's similar to the symbols that StarCom, the JSU and the MRRB. In twenty-seven-eighty-one the first succession war was raged, you'll notice in the pictures of the destroyed buildings and charred bodies. That's what happens when megaspell bombs are unleashed onto civilian populations. Throughout the first succession war the princesses were constantly calling for peace, or at least for everycreature to not deliberately target civilian targets. Obviously their pleas fell on deaf ears. But fortunately not everycreature ignored their pleas. Many tech specialists, aerospace pilots and BattleSteed jock of the few remaining HLDF regiments, along with nearly all of the JumpShip crews heeded their call in twenty-eight-fifteen. Within weeks they managed to take control of the MPG network, putting them into lockdown, ensuring that nocreature could send so much as a dear mom message. The aerospace pilots and 'Steed jocks of the remaining HLDF regiments managed to rally to them thousands of creatures who could fly a crop duster, pilot an IndustrialSteed or hold rifle, to help protect civilians. The JumpShip crews switched off the drives on their ships. There are a few recorded instances where great house forces, still on their DropShips, attempted to forcefully take control of the JumpShips. Those who weren't successfully stopped, found themselves intentionally jumped into the atmospheres of gas giants or the corona of stars. If you've never seen what happens when a JumpShip materializes too close to a star or planet, let's just say that it's not pretty. The ones who get turned into a free-floating gas cloud are the lucky ones, that's why JumpShips always materialize near the zenith or nadir of a solar system."

The dragon took a minute to collect himself before continuing. "Turn to the next page. That pict was taken right after the signing of the Equus treaty. You see that Princess Twilight is still wrapped in bandages from when she took command of an IndustrialSteed when marauders from the Abbysinian Collective launched an assault on New Equus in the Faust system, where she and the other princesses had been living after they retired. Though she was piloting a 'Steed meant to hoist steel girders, they mercilessly pounded her unarmed and unarmored 'Steed with fire as she charged their ranks. As we all know, IndustrialSteeds don't have ejection systems, witnesses said she climbed out of the main hatch and leapt from it just a split second before the core went critical."

The dragon took a breath. "Back on topic. The first things that the Equus treaty was set up StarCom, the JSU and the MRRB as neutral parties in all things, military and civilian. The second thing the treaty set up was a universal currency, the S-bit. The third thing the treaty set up was that the Equus Hegemony was neutral territory, and making it a war crime of the highest order to carry out any military action within its borders without the explicit permission of the Equus council, StarCom, the JSU and the MRRB. Now the part of the treaty that applies to us the most, all MRRB-bonded mercenaries, whether they are independent contractors or part of a house-aligned army, must be offered proper compensation for their work. As such, all who hire them, for shot-term or long-term contract, must offer before they make planetfall into any conflict zone, negotiation rights for S-bits, salvage shares and/or damage coverage. Other things such as aerospace or artillery fire support, emergency evacuation, or the retrieval of crippled and/or destroyed aerospace fighters, combat vehicles and BattleSteeds is purely optional."

"If you want to ensure that all agreed payments through contracts are paid in full, always ensure that you only accept MRRB-approved contracts. You'd be surprised how many water-headed mercs accept contracts not approved by us, and when their employer decides to renege on the deal, they find out really quick that there ain't diddly-dick we can do as it would violate our neutrality as that falls under the dealings with governments. Remember that it may be a ball ache to pay your three percent of all earnings for the completion of all MRRB-approved contracts,you can breathe easy knowing that if your employer decides to do stupid, you'll find that an army of lawyers to file suit and ensure you receive your fair cut. No planetary governor wants to see their planet's economy raked over the coals because they wanna do a stupid, so don't you go and do a stupid."

"Now finally before we break for the mess hall, there's a few things to remember besides the no shit Sherclop things to remember. One: Any aerospace fighters, VTOLs or rotary wing craft, combat vehicles and 'Steeds which have their weapons all their weapons crippled or destroyed are still considered to be viable military targets. So if you suddenly find your 'Steed's bang-bang knocked out, get the fuck outa there. Two: Intentionally targeting the cockpit of a 'Steed that has with purpose and intention has been powered down by their pilot will get your MRRB licence and bond revoked. If a 'Steed pilot intentionally powers down, it's generally a sign of an honorable surrender. Now if a 'Steed overheats and the safety kicks in, switching it off, that's not considered a power down and can be shot in the cockpit. Sometimes in the heat of combat, especially in a hot and heavy fire fight, you might not recognize the difference between a shutdown and an overheat, and you headshot the 'Steed, shit happens and most of the time that will be given a pass, combat is Tartarus. But don't be one of those waterheads that think you can trick the enemy into ignoring you by switching off in the middle of a battle, besides being incredibly stupid, you will still find your 'Steed legged, disarmed or cored by concentrated enemy fire, plus it can take a 'Steed thirty-to-ninety seconds to power back up, and that's time you won't have with any way to defend yourself with weapons or countermeasures. Three: Any military assets, vehicles, aerospace craft and 'Steeds, that don't have any weapons, you must transmit a command that the pilots and crews have thirty seconds to power down and disembark. Sometimes a 'Steed pilot will fire a warning shot across the front of the target as added incentive. After you give your warning and thirty seconds have passed, any who don't have the good enough sense to get out and run away as fast as their legs will carry them, their deaths are on their own heads and you're probably doing the galaxy a favor, all you can hope for is that they haven't reproduced and spread their stupid to another generation. Anything that is being run by remote control or on automation doesn't get that chance to surrender, so feel free to turn them into scrap."

3022 Celestial Calendar-Unknown Location

Chrysalis sat behind a desk on a space station that was orbiting a planet she never bothered to learn the name of. She had been appointed to the head of communications of StarCom by the princesses almost four hundred years ago. To this day she didn't understand why they did that instead of letting her burn to death inside of that crashed DropShip. She hated the alicorns, she hated Celestia for her big fat plot that made all the stallions hot under the collar, she hated Luna for have the best teats this galaxy has even known, she hated Cadance for having the full package of curves and a smoky glare that made all the stallions and many mares weak in the knees, she hated Flurry Heart for having the sharpest with, and she hated Twilight for being so quick and resourceful. Though she hated them, she respected their ability to manipulate and trick any creature into thinking it was their idea, something that came with their long lives and it was just another thing she hated them for, though not strong enough to act against them. There was creature she hated more than any currently alive, herself. If there was another creature she hated more than the alicorns and herself, it was the dead and long rotted away Amber Glow. That little bitch was something like the thirty-second granddaughter of Cozy Glow. Oh how she still to this day loathes Cozy Glow, but Amber Glow took all of Cozy's manipulation and put it into the body of a mare who wasn't a genetic freak and added political clout to make the perfect predator, though that mare made the same mistake that she had made all those centuries ago, never underestimate Twilight Sparkle.

Chrysalis let her mind wander back all those centuries ago, back when FTL travel was brand new, when communication between the stars was relegated to the writings of science fiction. A time when she, Tirek and Cozy Glow had been released from their stone prison and into a world that was entirely alien to them. She and Tirek had been held in rooms in Canterlot Castle with automated defenses that limited their movements around the castle. It was Cozy Glow being the master manipulator, along with her odd genetic disorders, that allowed her to squirrel away on a DropShip that slated to meet a JumpShip that was destined for the edge of known space. It was there that she had disappeared. Most thought she had died out on the edge of space completely alone, until her descendant, Amber Glow, arrived on Equus.

Of course Chrysalis had opted to stay behind on Equus when Amber Glow had not only gotten into the good graced of that rat who was lord of the Harmony League and then literally blew his head off with a gem-encrusted laser pistol. The very same laser pistol that Chrysalis had used to kill Amber for her using weapons of mass destruction against unarmed and terrified civilians, the same gem-encrusted pistol that currently sat locked in the safe in her personal quarters. Sure, the former queen of the changelings wasn't above killing a few civilians here and there as a means of maintaining fear, but turning millions at a time into nothing more than piles of ash and shadows permanently burned into walls was a few billion steps too many. It was during that time when Tirek had taken a stand along with the thestrals that made up the elite Highland Guard. The only imaging from that time came from the battle where he was vaporized came from a 'Steed's imaging sensors of the battle showing the centaur fighting along side the Highland Guard and forcing back Amber Glow's forces, then a blinding white flash, then nothing.

A button blinked on the desk and Chrysalis reached out a hoof to press it. "StarCom Communications Command."

"This is Star Garnet, captain of the JumpShip Bellerophon requesting permission to depart.

Chrysalis knew of this expedition, she had helped to organize it. It was a two-part mission, travel out beyond the periphery to find out what happened to the HLDF, and to investigate the strange signals MPG arrays which were pointed towards the deep periphery had picked up, there wasn't supposed to be anything powerful enough to transmit MPG signals that far, even if they were weak. "Granted captain, and may fate guide your hooves." She switched off the communicator and walked to the window to watch. No matter how many times she had seen it, she never grew tired of a JumpShip engaging its drive. Out in the blackness of space "south" of the solar system was the distinctive blue-white flash of a JumpDrive engaging.

Author's Note

I know this prologue is a bit info dump-y, it's to set up the events of the story to come.
The first chapter will have a time jump of about 20-ish years.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoy.

If you spot any typos, have any questions or comments, wanna throw shade or pure bane, leave them down below.

Edit: Something I forgot to add. When writing the narrator on the cassette tape, I had the way Tex from Black Pant Legion playing over my headphones as inspiration.