Tenacious Tabbris: Space Adventures—commentries by Rainbow Dash

To say the stars 'danced' across the viewing window would be an overestimate in their finesse at this point. It would be more accurate to say that they flew past as the speed of a falling acrobat, failing as he hit the ground face-first; that is to say, not very poetic... Anyway, the stars were flailing past at this point. Going as such speeds tends to lend how one sees space visually; big thanks to special relativity for that.

"Woah, didn't even know that these piles of crap could even go this fast. Brings up the question on if they can even stop. Hope so..."

***

"Oh look, she has the same problem as you Dash!"

"Shut up Twi."

***

"Hmm, I'll find out soon enough I suppose, Iiam is only a few AUs away." Tabbris mused, the congestion tends to spring up around Iiam randomly; therefore there's a speed limit enforced, and the officials clamp down hard on those violate the few laws of the system. Free ports like this tend to attract retirees from all walks of life as private security, especially from more unsavoury professions; perhaps in the hopes of once again living the glory days. In short, Iiam's security is legendary, and brutal.

The gravity 'sling-shot' of the planets aided the ship through the solar system with minimal effort from the engines, as per suggestion of the officials who claim the trail of the engines interferes with certain technologies, that and the ships power was getting a mite low...

Travelling at close to the speed of light is extreamly humbling, but when one sees the planets and moons fly past in mere seconds, it truly gives a good point of reference of our minor presence in the universe. Tabbris, now sitting back and allowing the not-quite-auto-pilot-but-more-like-'cruise-control' to do all work. With the all-too brief encounters with the planets of the solar system passing by, both terrestrial and not, and the vast interludes in between which shortly follower. Finally, she was allowed time to think about her situation.

She let out a melancholic sigh, this was a companioning situation... with little other worth than her reputation tied to her name, how would she proceed and survive without the means to enforce it? "Damn I've been an idiot, again... I kept telling myself that my run of luck would eventually run out! UGH! Such a fool... I swear, I wont let my pride get ahead of me again. Even if I don't have anyone to not return home to, I still owe it to myself, and my family...", a small tear ran down her eye; the pains of the past never heal; they itch and frustrate below the surface, niggling.

*Transmission channel opened.*

"Object T9-301, identify yourself and state your intention."

"Woah! Caught me off gourd there... uhhh...--"

"Object T9-301, identify yourself and state your intention."

"Yes yes, I know. Frigate Type-3 escape shuttle; my intention is to dock to seek personal ends."

"Wait a moment please, miss..."

"Yeah, okay." Miss! What, does he think I'm some sort of distressing damsel?!

"Is either your person or your ship damaged?"

"No."

"Then proceed to docking bay 21-A, have a good day ma'am."

*Transmission channel closed.*

"Ma'am... why that little--" Tabbris haltered herself and took a deep couple of breathes, "no need to get my rump rustled... I did say I wouldn't let my pride get ahead of me, so I should probably let this go. It's not like him giving me courtesy is going to instantly make me a sissy!"

***

"Once again, sounds like someone I--"

"Shut it."

***

The planet of Iiam drew ever closer by the second; the space-port was clear to the naked eye as she flew deep into the planet's atmosphere; it being visible even from a distance such as this, shows its sizeable mass and viability attested to its aesthetic. It glitters sliver into its black surroundings, as to give a vivid halo that some even came to call the 'Circle of Opportunity'. An apt name for a planet so intertwined with the past--and inevitably the future--of ponykind... and despite being coined 'free' is was rather granted by the homeworld Equus as a whole when the planet was one of the first to be targeted and found through space travel. While this was more of a mutual agreement, it is one that all legitimate standing organisations have come to respect: the sanctity of choice; that it is most prominent here...

Needless to say this agreement has acted as a catalyst for both criminals, and exceptional deeds of charity. But that is how it is designed to be. However, this is not to say that Iiam is a lawless state, no, it is ruthless to those who manipulate others to their means through 'foul play'--which is basically everything that isn't agreed to prior an agreement. If the contract says that you agreed to it; then you did. Simple.

As she closed her distance, the destination was just coming view, "Ah, there it is. Docking bay 21-A, of sector R-D..."

***

"Twi! Did you--"

"Yes Rainbow, I did see it. I'm sure it's just a coincidence..."

"Yeah well... a cool coincidence!"

"Yes Rainbow, it's a cool coincidence..."

"Damn straight!"

***

Despite the slower speed, the terminal--despite it in comparison being so small to the port-planet--stood out amongst the enormously tall building surrounding it; it's largely flat and shallow build contrasting so clearly with its surroundings on this particularly clear day. Because of her situation, this design choice was a blessing; driving through the layers of traffic occupying the skies of Iiam was a trying task at the best of times. It would be much worse if the destination wasn't such a landmark...

Tabbris prepared herself for the decent, "Primary engines disengaged, switching to elevating thrusters; now to pivot around and--OI WATCH OUT YOU RADISH MUNCHER!--hopefully avoid the inevitable idiot pilot..." She shook her head in frustration, the planet of Iiam was infamous for its terrible pilots; since the regulations for a licence here are so lax, the quality reflects that. "Seriously, it's my right of way, you might think they some people you actually utilise their brains, but nooo..."

Easing herself down to through the lines of traffic cluttering the high-rises of the city-planet was still an easy task for such a skilled pilot, if not mundane. "This would be so much easier with an autopilot..." and while the streams of traffic have been organised into various layers and speeds due to the massive amounts of accidents of the past: some pilots still choose to ignore the accepted system.

"Ah there it is, and good, it looks like they've actually lowered the hanger-door shields this time. Although that's implying they were working in the first place..." Lining her craft up for the no doubt less-than-stellar landing of the surprisingly still working shuttle, she engaged full power to the pivoting and positioning thrusters to allow for maximum manoeuvrability; edging herself closer to the target.

"Just a little more power to engines..."

*CLUNK* The ship suddenly slammed right into the hanger floor...

"Oops, it ran out of juice... well, I'm here at least!"