Cosmic Dust

Another planet, another scan. The progress bar grew in size little by little, taking several minutes to advance each time. Every time it did, a notification sound was played on the speakers.

*BEEP*

As if it had life of its own, the pony’s body rolled out of the couch, hitting her muzzle on the ground. The pain was intense, making stars flash in her eyes. Sighing, Dust pulled herself back up while massaging her aching jaw. ‘If that damn alert wakes me up one more time I’m bucking it to oblivion!’

As she relieved her pain, her hoof touched something off. The fur around her mouth felt rough, and at the same time sticky. Her eyes widened, realizing she had drooled during sleep.

While Dust made sure there was no evidence of her embarrassing situation, Naden wrote the latest report with Tokra’s assistance, who had left Jake’s communicator and now strangely lied stickied to the deck’s overhead. He had been going their last planet’s elemental analysis, in order to provide more insight to the scientific expeditions that would soon follow to the planets signed with Naden’s approval.

After the valley planet, which they came to call P001, they visited three more exoplanets, the current being the third. The first, P002, underwent a fiery apocalypse, active volcanos swarming the land all over the globe. The second, P003, had luscious vegetation, and a considerable amount of water, but unfortunately no animal life. Still, it was a good opportunity for Dust to stretch her legs, and relieve herself as well. ‘Seriously, what ship designed for long space travel doesn’t have a restroom?’

After a relatively short session of hypertravel, this third planet looked promising. From the already collected data, it could be concluded that there was indeed sentient life; now if it was intelligent or not, one could not be certain. Being way bigger than the previous visited planets, the unusual mass would crush anyone who left the ship’s simulated gravitational environment without proper equipment.

After arranging her mane and making sure her rosy cheeks returned to their natural colour, Dust noticed the one sat up front. Jake looked as if he was half dead in his seat, his arms falling limp from the sides. They hadn’t exchanged a single word since Koopak’s incident, the disagreement in their points of view being too great. Yet now he looked worse than ever, and Dust was worried that her spell could be failing. Swallowing her pride, the pony came forth to ask: “Are you okay- oh.”

Jake’s eyes pointed downwards as he stared at nothing in particular. His mouth moved to mutter something, but his voice did not cooperate. The dark shades under his eyes were a dead giveaway of what truly afflicted him.

His head bobbed when she shook him with a hoof. He turned slightly, looking face to face to the pony next to him. Jake struggled to keep focus in her, his veiny eyes trembling inside their sockets. He turned back forward, facing the back of the pilot’s seat.

“Jake, have you been sleeping at all?” the pony asked with concern.

No matter how hard she tried, their mental connection remained silent. ‘Am I not being able to reach him, or is he just ignoring me?’ Betting on the latter, she walked away to check on Koopak. She simply wasn’t in the mood to deal with Jake.

In the back section, Koopak opened one of the ration containers, eagerly looking forward to eat. As the tin box allowed air to enter, a green flame flashed as fast as it disappeared, the inflammable gas inside instantly cooking the meal. While the hungry marekus feasted, Dust came closer, interested in having a share. The quick reminder of how bad it smelled took her appetite away.

Giving up on doing anything productive, the pony decided to resume her previous activity, laying down on the couch, she allowed the intelligent fabric assume her shape, enveloping her body in one tight embrace.

‘I guess I’ll eat later. I wasn’t aware berserkers ate such nasty tasting food. I almost feel sorry for Naden... has he eaten anything, though? I could swear he didn’t even touch Ilyth’s people’s soup... Ohhh that soup. What I would give for another serving. Perhaps his species doesn’t need to eat as much? Jake, what do you- oh, nevermind. I’ll just...’ Feeling her consciousness slip away, the pony offered no resistance to what was to come. She felt more tired than usual, probably thanks to Jake’s unwillingness to sleep, for whatever reason. Slowly, but surely, the world faded away below her hooves, the realm of dreams ready to welcome her...

*BEEP*

“Gah!”

Matter gave no resistance to the Viper’s ridiculous speeds as it launched itself out of P004. The windshields were kept down, once activated to protect the sturdy glass against the crushing effect of the planetary giant’s gravity, it now blocked the intense light from blinding the ship’s occupants. The captain remained still in his seat, not even flinching, suggesting he might have finally fallen asleep. The continuous humming of the engines was almost inaudible, yet it was soothing enough to invite the recently awoken pony back into the realm of dreams.

It had, at least, had the desired effect on the human sat up front. Her ears finally caught up to the snores that almost blended with the background noise, creating a disturbing symphony not even Koopak could bare. The hyperactive marekus pressed his hands hard against his ears, his glossy black eyes jumping everywhere in look of an escape.

After verifying if she was in decent composure, Dust hopped off her heavenly bed and trotted next to the soulbound companion. Although the temperature inside the deck felt perfect, his whole body shook in place, his teeth clashing as his jaw trembled. Along with the constant movement under his eyelids, everything pointed that the human was in pain. Even though she wanted to wake him up, the reminder that he urgently needed to rest held her hoof. Instead, she tapped on Koopak’s shoulder in order to grab his attention. His skin felt harsh, dry. He was in urgent need to hydrate himself, outside the spacecraft. The Viper’s air filters continuously sucked any extra humidity, sapping the poor alien’s agility.

“What is problem, Little Dust?” he promptly stood up, ready to aid his friend in any way possible.

After a bit of struggle, pony and marekus managed to carry the human into the adaptable couch, his body carving its shape as soon as it came in contact. His quivering attenuated, not stopping entirely. Not being able to tell why, the pony felt relieved. ‘Sleep well.’

“You creatures go from mutual conflict to truces all the time, I simply cannot understand why, or how.” Tokra broke the silence, his voice coming from everywhere.

Looking upwards, Dust noticed the pink volkar hanging from the overhead, threatening to fall down at each stretch, only to pull himself up. “I expected someone as knowledgeable as you to understand, especially after messing with Jake’s brain.”

“I did not mess with the boy’s brain, I programmed it. Just like you can program a ship’s navigation system.” his voice boomed from the surroundings. Moving to look better, she noticed that part of the volkar’s body was embedded into a panel, probably using the Viper’s internal systems to communicate. “And I do understand, forgive me if I misconstructed my assessment. I meant only to convey that I cannot... conceptualize these mental reactions.”

‘It’s like I’m speaking to an AI then.’

With a press of a button, the windshield covers retracted to their idle positions. The Captain had either been aware all that time, or some alarms inside his crimson red shell alerted the berserker to the imminent arrival. Without warning the Viper had left FTL and now orbited a small, bronze moon which in turn spinned around a blue gas giant. “Initiating approach, be seated.”

After having been tossed around like a ragdoll in P004, Koopak jumped into the nearest seat and stood still, his whole body tensing up. Disregarding the discomfort the humanoid designed seats provided, Dust did the same. ‘Why are there so many humanoids anyway? They weren’t nearly as numerous, or as varied as last time.’ the pony wondered. ‘True, it has been over a thousand years, but species don’t change that much in such a short amount of time... And I could swear there were other species in the berserker ranks...’

The sun scorched the soil, heat waves distorting the horizon. Emptying a bottle, the marekus drank half the water in despair, the rest soaking his body.

“Catch.” the captain warned, tossing the backpack at the human. Still tired, Jake couldn’t react in time, the bag hitting his head. “Wake up. Don’t be thinking I’ll wait for your beauty sleep. Let’s move.”

The mountainous formations extended in intricate patterns in every direction, sculpted over the ages by wind and water. The landscape didn’t seem to have met much of the second in the last few years though. Not a single root sprouted from the dry, cracked floor. Each step they took dissolved the soil, the geology of the land lacking consistency to hold its own.

“Couldn’t we have landed on the night side? Somewhere less hot?” Dust complained between her panting. The sweat running down her face forced the pony to move away the hair that kept gluing itself to her forehead. ‘My mane hasn’t been the same. It used to float freely, but it has been flattening down ever since I fell on Earth... Did it depend on my magic? Or perhaps my closeness to Mother?’

“We are here for a good reason.”

“And could I inquire what reasons backup your choice?” Tokra asked, startling Jake with his presence inside the chest armour.

“That.” the captain pointed a finger. Kneeling down at the edge of the cliff they had just reached, Jake stared down at the base of the canyon. Pulling out the magnifying goggles, he took a closer look. A large black creature stood idle in the ground, standing next to what appeared to be a lake, it’s dark colour suggesting it to be deep. “A ship.”

“What?” Jake asked in confusion, double checking what he had seen. “That looks like a giant beast.”

“Exactly. I went through P001’s scan with the volkar’s aid and managed to pin down a spacecraft model unregistered to our archives.” Naden explained.

Beginning to understand, Dust continued: “I see! Just like Ilyth said, a giant flying beast...”

“The Viper’s short range sensors detected it shortly after we left FTL. It has been here for as long as we arrived.”

“They might know something about the women hostages. Although they don’t seem to be the dumah we previously encountered.” Jake observed, spotting an undisclosed creature walking outside the ship.

“As I said before,” Naden recalled. “we don’t know how many they were. Let’s just get closer for now, in silence.” he accentuated the last word while looking at Koopak. The warning was in vain though, as the heat had once again taken any motivation the marekus used to exhale.

If they had anything in common, it had to be fear of heights. Pony and human held on to each other as they took their slow descent down the canyon. The floor cracked at every step, sending small fragments rolling down the steep improvised path. While Naden took point, carrying the backpack to relieve the human of any extra weight, Koopak followed behind while showing no problems trailing the descent against all odds, even though being a creature used to an aquatic environment.

“Don’t y-you let go of m-me now, you hear?” Dust attempted to sound threatening, failing badly as her nerves were clearly on the edge. Hiking was definitely not a pony’s strength, even if they had already gone through two thirds of the way down.. Her hooves pivoted in Jake’s shoulder at each step down, placing him in an even harder position.

“J-Just come down already! Stop b-being such a wuss!”

Naden stood still, observing possibles routes down the wall. A slicing sound was heard as spikes came out the captain’s boots, ensuring his balance was maintained with minimal effort.

*CRACK*

The rock under Dust’s legs gave away, tumbling down the mountain, hitting the captain on the way. His armour proved its worth by remaining, unscathed, minus the dust that covered its surface. By the time he cleaned his visor, the situation had taken a dire turn.

“Hang on!”

“I don’t have any fingers, remember?!”

The pony hanged in mid air, being held only by her hoof, which the human tried to pull at the best of his capabilities. “Damn it...”

“Gah! Pull me up! PULL ME UP!” she screamed, her hoof slowly slid from the human’s sweaty hand.

Jake closed his eyes, mustering as much strength as he could. Although he was extremely tired, the adrenaline of the situation had him on his toes. His shoulder burned with the weight, his veins wanting to pop out. ‘Fuck! Why do I have to be so weak!’

The familiar voice echoed in Dust’s mind, taking her by surprise. The re established mental connection assaulted the pony’s consciousness, numbing her body to the point where she lost all strength in her wrist.

Suddenly, all weight was lost. It almost felt like the time her Mother would disable the Strahl’s simulated gravity to save power. The difference was in the air rushing upwards around her. She was falling.

Naden punched the canyon’s wall, his fist anchoring deep into the rock as he leapt forward to catch the free-falling pony. His metallic hand slashed the air, failing to grab her in time.

The pain bursted once more in Jake’s chest, the ever growing distance between him and his lifeboat paralleling with his agony. Swaying in place, the human only managed not to fall by holding on by instinct.

Gathering the little strength he had left, he managed to open his eyes, only to face the two big black eyes coming closer. Tackling him by the waist, Koopak forced Jake to let go, joining the pony on her fall to death, if she wasn’t already.

“Let... go of me, you fucker!” the human managed to say, the distance between him and Dust being reduced.

Koopak didn’t bother to answer. Instead, he took position below the human, preparing for impact as the air hissed around them. Tokra’s voice was heard, alerting something, but the ruckus in Jake’s mind was too convoluted to process it.

*SPLASH*

Jake’s ears exploded as the water closed around him, rushing inside his body. Screaming with the impact on the lake’s surface, he squirmed almost if that would shake the pain away, an eerie cloud of blood dispersing about. The regenerative spell took effect immediately, patching cut tendons and ripped skin. With his newfound strength, Jake began punching in all directions, attempting to hit his assassin. “You bastard! *cough* Get over here!” his voice vibrated in the water, more of the liquid sliding down his throat..

Coming out of nowhere, Koopak immobilized the human, his long arms wrapping around Jake’s shoulders. “Stop! Look for little Dust!”

“What?” he asked while struggling to break free.

“Look for little Dust!” the marekus repeated himself.

Finally giving up on struggling against the unbreakable bind, Jake ran his eyes across the mystifying depths of the lake in search of the missing pony. Being way deeper than he expected, an ever darker blur of white and pink came into view, somehow standing out from the unclear water.

Naden rushed down the mountain, rappelling while using his hand to slow down his descent. A small avalanche followed him closely, the tumbling rocks releasing a cloud of dust, the enormous sound echoing in the canyon’s orange walls. He was not worried though, if there was anyone nearby, they would already be alerted of their presence.

The lake bed ended abruptly, paralleling with the very canyon that surrounded the whole vicinity. One wrong step and anyone passing by would slip into the unexpecting depths. It could be that it was a natural formation, being the last remnant of a sinuous maze of rivers that once carved the land. Or it wasn’t, and the fact that a ship descended right next to it supported such a theory. Furthermore, its positioning was in fact most intriguing. The mountainous wall adjacent to the water reserve was smooth, the result of the repeated caress of stray rains. Any precipitation that would bless this desolated canyon would slide down into the depository.

And from the edge away from it, a marekus bursted out of the water, propelled by a momentum granted only due to his extraordinary swimming prowess. Koopak held Jake below his shoulders, who did the same with the unconscious pony.

Rolling to the side, he gave Dust some space. Cleaning the water from his vision, he could see she wasn’t breathing. But she had to be alive! Otherwise... well, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to draw such a conclusion. Thanks to the adrenaline rush numbing his fatigue, Jake opened his mouth to breathe in, readying himself to supply the pony with much needed oxygen. Air was not inspired, though, instead, a small, but continuous stream of water exited his body in burst, having the human fighting to keep focus.

“Please, open her mouth.” The pink light flashed for a moment, before Tokra jumped out of the chest armour piece, falling right next to Dust.

Desperate to be of use, Koopak complied, lowering the unicorn’s jaw. In one fell swoop, the volkar slid through in his entirety through Dust’s throat. Barely moments passed, and Dust’s back arched, coughing as little spurts of water gushed out. Jake fought the soreness of his own throat and held her head below her silky mane, facilitating her breathing.Tokra jumped off, splashing next to the small puddle formed next to them, and then returning to his initial placement inside the communicator matrix.

Slowly, the pony calmed down, and her eyelids slowly unfolded back. “Huh? What happened?” she asked, confused by how Koopak and Jake looked over her with concern, the sun darkening their figures.

“You fell.” Naden clarified without a trace of emotion or fatigue in his voice, having finally reached the bottom. “Those two jumped after.”

Pulling the marekus away, Jake jumped up

Without turning to the captain, both by lack of strength and care, she kept staring at her saviours, but specially at Jake. “You... you did?” ‘I’m so glad...’

Now it was Jake’s turn to feel surprised. It had been days since he had heard the unicorn’s soothing whisper deep into his mind. Somehow, it put him at ease. Somehow, things felt right once more. Which was weird, considering everything had been wrong since he left home.

Naden walked past them, heading for the inactive shuttle, extending his plasma cannon in precaution. “Get up, let’s investigate this.” he echoed from the inside of his helmet.

“Hey, at least give her some time to rest!” Jake complained, trying to sound assertive but not too aggressive. “She almost drowned, damn it!”

“And so did you, yet you don’t show signs of exhaustion.” he replied, still maintaining the same monotonous voice. “Get up.”

“But...”

“The pony is here to accompany me, not the other way around.” the captain interrupted. “If any of you are to die in the process, so may that be your punishment.”

Jake hated to admit, but he was right. Dust was fulfilling her sentence, and she didn’t deserve the same amount of rights as others in the eyes of the Council. It still didn’t make it right. His muscles tensed up, containing his pent up anger as Naden walked away from the group.

Anchoring on Jake's shoulder, Dust lift herself up, her mane soaking wet against her back. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." she assured.

"But you're not fine, he can't just-"

The boy was silenced as she rested a hoof on his lips. 'Let it go. And... thank you.’

Dust had lost count of how many times Naden had surrounded the ship, thoroughly analyzing every detail, every inch of its outline. Tokra, with his passionate curiosity taking over, hopped inside through an exposed control panel that appeared to only respond to a specific input, unknown to outsiders. The plating was deep black, reflecting just enough of the sunlight to cause a slight shine. On each side, three support beams spread out, each taking a slight deviation in angle halfway through. And in the front, a crimson red visor, even darker than the berserker captain’s armour, hid however the deck of the spacecraft might look like.

‘What do you think?’ Dust asked, leaning against Jake’s shoulder while she still recovered her breath. ‘Could they be the same ones that have been tormenting Ilyth‘s village?’

‘I don’t know... that ship is so strange though, it’s only natural he mistook it for a flying creature. It looks like a giant beetle to me. Doesn’t look much practical to fly inside an atmosphere... but out there it doesn’t make any difference, after all.’

Coming back out, Tokra announced from Jake’s chest armour: “I detected an alarm system that is triggered upon breach. It would be very unwise to force our way in and announce our presence.”

“And what about crew? Anyone inside?” Naden inquired, staring at Jake’s communicator, leaving him somewhat uncomfortable.

“None that I can observe, but I cannot be certain.”

“Very well then.” Looking over the three captives, the captain announced: “The small depressions in the floor indicate someone has moved this way recently. We will move further into the canyon, and try to spot whoever came to this place. Stay close, but not too close.” he instructed.

Taking point with his plasma cannon, the captain traversed the sinuous path that seemed to tighten at every few meters. Soon, the party found themselves struggling to fit through the rocks, forcingly having to dig way for the crimson red armour to fit.

“Hum, Koopak?” Jake called for the agile marekus who had no problem passing through. “I have something to as you.”

“What is it little Jake?” he swiftly answered, keeping his pace.

“I have my suspicions why you did what you did... but why? Why did you push me down? I’m glad it worked, but it could have gone really wrong.”

Koopak looked back, his head rotating in place as his body kept hopping between the rocks. A chill went up the human’s spine upon testifying the peculiarity of mareki physiology. “Jake hurts away from Dust, no? So I brought you to Dust! And Jake also see very very well! Even better than me, I think. Is anyone on Jake’s family a marekus like Koopak?”

“Well, yeah, I know that. But why? Why not just let me be? You have no business with us, in fact, I could bet you’d be released after they find out how you have been blackmailed back in Atlantis.”

Koopak cocked his head. “What do you mean, little Jake? Friends help friends, no?”

‘Friends?’ “What do you mean friends?” Jake stopped, both to see the situation through and to rest. Dust kept on going, although her ears and her mind were both quite open. “I haven’t really trusted you since... well, ever!”

“You have not?”

Those words were enough. ‘I see. He plays innocent, yet he is smarter than he looks. Way smarter. He did think how the act on a whim back on the cliff descent, after all. Is this his way of apologizing without making me feel uncomfortable? Perhaps... Thank you, Koopak.’

Sighing in relief, Dust smiled, glad that Jake’s insecurities were lifted. Perhaps it was her imagination, but a small, magical spark rained in front of her vision, a slight heat spawning in the tip of the unicorn’s horn. Upon touching with a hoof however, she felt nothing. “Must be the heat...”

“What the hell...”

Naden stepped back in direction of the tight passage but stopped, finding it fruitless to try and hide now. As the rest of the group came closer to the sudden wide open area, the euphoria occurring in front of them became clear. A crowd of small humanoids about Dust’s size, running around like ants, going in and out of caves dug deep inside the canyon’s walls. While their presence had been noted, no reaction was received by the other end: the humanoids were too busy pushing small carts filled with rocks from one side to another, in a rush that suggested the feeling of exasperation instead of simple hyperactiveness.

Dust rubbed her eyes, the situation being too much to process in her current condition. “Should we... say something?”

“This is first contact, right?” Jake inquired, recalling their previous fiasco. ”What are the protocols?”

“This is not first contact. The ones who arrived in the black ship came this way. They are probably inside those tunnels.” the captain pointed at them.

“Hypothesising the alien visitors are indeed of the same faction as those in P001, it is safe to assume they can communicate with the locals, and by extension, that these very same locals dominate the same dialect of Krall.” the volkar theorized.

Spotting an idle humanoid resting against a wall, refreshing himself with a water bucket, Naden moved towards him in order to interrogate. His towering presence next to the small local blot out the sun from his view, catching his attention. His eyes widened, but remained silent. “Can you understand what I speak?” the captain spoke from inside his armoured plating.

“Uh, yes?” his squeaky voice replied. Jake struggled to hold a laugh, earning a disapproving look from the pony next to him.

“Did anyone covered in black armour pass by this road?” the captain asked, kneeling down to the small humanoid’s level. Noticing his uneasiness, he encouraged: “I would be very grateful if you could cooperate.”

“Bu-but there is no one here like that!” Resting the bucket down, he got up from the ground, cleaning the dust from his body with his four fingered hands. His clothing choice was odd, several pieces of clothing clashing together, creating an indescribable cacophony. Looking over to the crowd, Dust realized everyone fit into this chaos. “As you can see, we have our hands full with all the ore mining to pay any attention to outsiders, but I am sure we would have noticed.” he justified.

“What are you mining, anyway?” Jake walked towards the caravan, curious to learn more. While Naden grunted inside his armour for having his interrogation interrupted, the small humanoid took it as a chance to break free.

“All sorts of things! Travellers come from all over for our ore, which we are experts at retrieving.”

“You mine the ore from these walls?” the captain said while trying to take a peek inside one of the tunnels. “The rocks are very fragile, these shafts could collapse at any moment.”

“We only mine where the rock is toughest! Our ancestors learned that the hard way,” he explained. “Anyway, what brings you to our outpost, besides looking for these armoured folk? I, Xen, would be glad to give you the tour.”

“Very well then. Please, take point.”

Even amidst the warm climate, a hot wave was felt while entering one of the vacant shafts, likely to already have been explored to their predetermined desirable lengths. At the turn of a corner, the little sunlight that guided their path ended abruptly, leaving Naden no choice but to turn on his armour’s lights. The darkness didn’t affect Xen’s pacing however, the little miner kept going as his eyes filtered the almost unnoticeable glowing crystal craved into the ceiling.

“Would you be interested in buying some of these glowers? They can be quite useful in dark places,” Xen bartered, his voice hinting a tone of enthusiasm, although not too excited.

“What property allows them to emit such luminescence?” Tokra asked, curious to learn more.

Turning to Jake, not possible understanding the true origin of the voice, he responded “What do you mean? They glow because they glow. That is just how it is.”

The tunnel ended as they arrived at a large opening where the walls glowed with the light of hundreds of glowstone pieces. Stashed away in a corner, a pile of metal scraps and trinkets jumped to sight, seeming out of place. Moving closer, Dust noticed that they were of the same material as the humanoid’s outfit, enticing her curiosity to further inspect the deposit.

“Why are we here?” Naden questioned.

“Some of those who come to buy us stones pay with these rare items which we, in turn, trade with those back in town.” Xen explained. “But since you are already here, you may want to buy something.”

Shrugging, Jake reminded: “I don’t think we have anything to pay you with.”

Pulling her muzzle out of the pile, Dust exclaimed: “This! We’ll buy this.” Anchoring her hindlegs in the ground, she managed to dig something out of the pile with her mouth.

‘What’s even that?’

Held by a silver string was a flat white shape, about the size of her hoof. Although hard to tell at first, the figure became easy to interpret: a crescent moon shape encrusted with six golden beads, crossed by the straight trail of a falling star. Or so it appeared to be.

‘I don’t know.’ she mentally answered, ‘but I feel it has something to do with Mother. I just know it.’

‘You... feel?’

“Put that down, we are not here to shop,” the captain spoke out, interfering with their mental link. “Or do I need to remind you again of why you are here?”

Quickly building frustration inside her, she knew very well that nothing she could do or say would allow her to win this one. If she couldn’t change the captain’s mind, there was only one choice then: ‘Quickly, say something!’

‘Say what? Why me?’

“I said, drop it.”

“You see,” Jake began, brainstorming on what to say. Finally coming up with something, he said with confidence “Dust here, she... she used to travel with other ponies, yeah, and there was one who had a necklace just like that. If it leads us to where ponies come from, that will be another populated planet cartographed, right? Since there are no ponies in the Alliance database...?”

“I guess so... What will you want for it?” Naden asked the miner, who rubbed his hands in gratification. Noticing how he eyes the weapon strapped to his arm, the captain drew closer to the native. “What are you looking at?”

“Oh, that thingy was glowing when you arrived and I was hoping we could talk business and...”

“Trade it?” he walked even closer, leaving few space for comfort. “Here, take it,” the armoured berserker extended his arm, inviting Xen to grab his plasma cannon.

While excited at first, Xen quickly held his hand, understanding the meaning behind the challenge. “Never mind, I already have my glowstones eheh... J-just take it, for free.”

“Thank you.” Naden back away, heading for the tunnel.

‘What was that all about?’ Jake asked, perplexed by the captain’s sudden change of attitude towards a resident species.

‘It’s obvious isn’t it?’ she explained while Jake placed the necklace around her neck. ‘All he would need to say in a report to justify  Xen’s death would be that he touched his weapon without permission. He was looking for an excuse to kill him.’

‘But why?’

‘I don’t know, all that matters is that I got the necklace.’

‘What is so important about it, anyway?’

Instead of answering right away, she poked at the ground with her hoof, messing with the slightly loose rocks. Her mane fell in front of her face, impeding Jake from reading her expression. Eventually raising her head, she answered: ‘Mother had it. I am sure of it.’

The group kept following the berserker’s lead through the dark tunnels, having left Xen behind. Now coming in the opposite direction, other paths could be visible in the light, bifurcations appearing at every few steps.

“Oh, this is like a maze!” Koopak snorted at his own observation, recalling that Atlantis was already as labyrinthine as it could get.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” the pony questioned the one upfront, doubting the path they were taking.

“I am sure. I have been charting the area since we got in. I knew that midget was up to no good.”

“How so?”

“He lied to us,” he revealed, sounding frustrated, “he obviously knows of the black armoured visitors. In the scrap back in the other room there are small sheets of metal: the same metal that composes their ship’s plating.”

“How do you even know?” Jake pressed on once more. The whole thing felt fishy. “Can you tell what a metal’s composition just by looking at it?” His question met silence.

“There are treacherous people out here, trust everyone and you’ll have every atom of your body exploited in one way or another.”

“Doesn’t matter, even if these abductors weren’t the ones who bought ore with all the things back there, they still are guilty for tormenting Ilyth’s people,” Dust assured. “Let’s just focus on finding them.”

“Speaking of them...”

Cuting the light that dwelled inside the gallery, a group of dumah dashed outside in front of the entrance, carrying a wooden crate of sorts.

Raising his fist, Naden ordered the group to stop. After a few moments of inactivity, he whispered. “We will follow them at a distance. Don’t stay too close to me. And most of all, stay silent.”

Leaving the mining operation behind, the group doubled back through the canyon, Naden trailing further ahead. Sunlight barely touched the surface as the sun slowly but surely hid itself behind the mountainous walls. It was getting late, and if the night arrived before they reached the dumah vessel it might be impossible to... do whatever the captain has in mind.

‘Why don’t you tell him?’

Furring his brow in confusion, the human replied ‘Tell who, what?’

‘Koopak.’ she clarified. ‘It’s been in your mind ever since I recovered my consciousness.’

‘What have we talked... thought... whatever, about each other’s privacy?’

‘I was so weak, I had no idea what I was doing,’ she justified, raising her bottom lip, pouting mockingly. She was clearly lying. ‘Will you spill it or not? Or are you above that?’

‘What?’

‘You are afraid of thanking Koopak for saving me - us - because you don’t want to admit that the “stupid monkey” could be any smarter than you, ain’t I right?’

‘No, of course not! I would never think that! I will talk to him, rest assured.’

At least that is what he wanted to believe. Deep down, there was a small chance that might have been the true reason, that his sense of pride had taken the best of him. He tried his best not to focus on that possibility, lest Dust be given reason on the matter.

In order to prove she was wrong, Jake reached out to Koopak, giving him a nudge on the shoulder. “Hey, hum, can you wait a bit?” he whispered.

Before he could release his voice, Dust silenced the marekus with a hoof. “Remember to keep your voice down.” Koopak quickly bobbed his head back and forth. “Good. I’ll be going on ahead.”

‘You’re a real smarty pants, aren’t you?’

The pony didn’t answer, but she was unable to contain a giggle.

Jake had to get it over with fast, or the distance would start to take its toll and sap his life energy.

“What I wanted to say was... that I...” ‘Damn it, I can’t say it. Why does it have to happen now? I’m just apologizing an alien that I barely know! How does this even compare to what I told... mother...’

So far he had been successful in forgetting, keeping his mind as busy as possible with everything he was learning, and hoping his nightmares wouldn’t bring that moment back. It was folly, though. It was only a matter of time before the memories returned.

“Is little Jake feeling okay?”

“I-I’m fine.” he snapped back, quickly rubbing his watery eyes. ‘Am I stupid? Comparing such a trifling moment with their death... what kind of son am I?’

“So?”

“I-wanted-to-apologize,” he spoke all at once. “Ever since we met I’ve been doubting you, yet you risked your life to save mine... I hope you can forgive me.” Suddenly his upper muscles relaxed, allowing him to breathe in. ‘See, not so hard...’

Koopak, however, remained as unphased as calm as before. “Okay. That all little Jake had to say?’

“Uh, yes.”

Jake felt paralyzed, almost offended. All that effort for such a simple answer. Seeing how he was almost out of sight, he called out without being excessively loud. “One more thing... I don’t remember we ever mentioning that I need to be close to Dust while you were around, how come you knew to bring me down with you?”

“Jake sees very well, no? Four eyes are better than two. I can do it with my fingers, see?” And with that, the marekus returned to advancing through the canyon passage.”

“Ah, this is good cargo!”

“Indeed, brother! Maybe they will get it right this time around.”

The two dumah kept yapping while they slowly carried the heavy crate inside the beetle-like ship, through a ramp lowered on the back. Although there were very little similarities between the grey veins that stood out from from each others’ exposed charcoal skin, there was no way to ascertain if these were the same they had met before

Dark blue colours already tainted the sky, even if the scorching heat still lingered. The party kept hidden behind a set of rocks, using the goggles to inspect the aliens closely. Once more, Jake didn’t feel the need to use them. Dust was too eager to discover the kidnappers’ intent, yet she found her hooves full restraining Koopak from running off into the lake, every gentle breeze bringing the fresh hair that it exhaled.

The moment they stepped inside the ship, the ramp raised from the ground, a dust cloud hiding it whole as the engines heated up. The flying beast was about to leave.

“Damn it!” Jake runned out of hiding. “We let them get away!”

Raising from the ground, the captain revealed a vial in his hand. Empty, but it’s shape and size was enough to make it easy to identify. “The nanomachines?” Dust leaned closer to observe.

“Yes. I had Tokra hide some in the ship’s mainframe. Now we only have to track them.”

Jake washed his forehead with a hand, the buildup of sweat in his face beginning to bother the human. “You could have told us something. Anyway, can we do that in the Viper? For all we know they may go across the galaxy!”

“That is why we are returning to the Citadel. The scanners there should be strong enough to detect the vessel. Let’s go, we have a canyon to climb.”