The red wasteland spreads before his eyes. Rocks blend in with the surface. A heavy layers of dust, untouched by pony hooves, covers everything. The sheer fact that the planet in question has a breathable atmosphere is a miracle in itself. Behind him, a once majestic starship sits half buried and on fire. It's windows lay shattered. The bridge is half visible above the ground. The engines stick up in the air at an angle. Between the two depressing sights, sits a pony with blue hair. A horn on his head and wings on his back, he is a rare breed. A jet-black jumpsuit covers his body. One wing is twisted at an unnatural angle, and scratches and burns dot his body.
"The captain. Gone." Tears form in his eyes, and fall to the parched ground. He straightens up and looks at the surroundings.
On the horizon, larger rocks dot the surface.
"Good as any place to set up camp" he thinks. With what seems like a great effort, First Officer Dann starts towards the rocks.
Seconds turn to minutes. Minutes turn to hours. The alien sun beats down upon the sole life form. Each step is labored. Breath comes uneasily. The task of wandering becomes repetitive, and his mind wanders to the actions that led to this.
"NO! I will not take HER with me."
The aging mare stands above the young filly. Her eyes look curiously at the surroundings. The mare stares intently at the ships second in command. A good friend.
"Please. She wants to learn the ropes. And, there's no better place to do that than on this ship."
His wings flare in a sign of anger. They were set to leave yesterday, and the extra delay does not improve his mood.
"She'll just get in the way. We have to get this cargo to Cetrax-3 in two days. That was yesterday."
He sighs, and looks back up.
"Alright. You're busy, I understand." Gesturing for the filly to follow, he walks through the hatch onto the station. She takes another look around the corridor, and follows.
Dann turns back towards the bridge. Trotting at a brisk pace, he reaches there quickly.
"Captain. We're ready to undock."
The captain, a young, but competent, grey unicorn, motions towards the helmspony.
"Squid. Takes us away from the station."
The pony, a slender gray mare, acknowledges. The ship shutters as the view on the screen changes. The station, outlined by the distant moon, moves from view as the ship maneuvers away. The stars seem to shift as they orientate.
"Ender. Is the course set?" The captain asks. A black unicorn, console set against the far wall, replies.
"Course set to Cetrax-3." The captain nods. The moon falls out of view and a field of starts covers the screen.
"Engage."
The starts seem to jump towards the ship as they are propelled through space. The navigator speaks up.
"We will arrive in twenty-two and a half standard hours." The captain nods.
"Good. Get some rest everyone. Squid, you stay and make sure every thing goes smoothly."
As the three ponies exit the bridge, Dann gives Ender an approving nod. "Nice job with those calculations." He smiles, shyly. A brilliant pony, Ender has a hard time making friends. "I'm heading to the cargo bay to check on the cargo. No telling what mess he jump made down there." Ender nods and turns toward his room.
In the cargo bay, boxes line the walls, filled with food, water, and supplies. A large, clear, container covered in a decorative cloth sits against the back wall. The faint illumination dances over the parts the cloth doesn't cover, revealing the contents as a clear liquid. Dann approaches the container. A strip of lights and controls sit at eye level. "Yo! How you doing in there?" A synthetic voice responds. "I've been better." With a few powerful beats of his wings, he is near the top of the hold and the container. Latching onto the cloth, it falls away. Inside the tank, a fish swims aimlessly in circles, a trident in fin. A bubble sits to one side of the holding.
"We'll arrive in a little less than a day." He starts checking the panel. All vitals check out.
"Oh. Good. I'll finally be free of this stupid cell." He gives what Dann guesses is the fish approximation of a smile.
"And we'll be free of having to buy giant bottles of fish-food. Please tell me, why must we season giant fish flakes before giving them to you?"
"Have you ever tasted fish flakes. Ghastly. That season is the only thing that makes it palpable. The seasoning is the least you can do. You can do marvelous things with fish flakes. Saute, grind, grill, fill, squeeze, blend..." The ramblings continue on even after Dann has left.
The sun continues to fall on the horizon. The distant rocks continue to rise above the far reaches of sight. The lone pony's cheeks flush. Sweat beads, condenses, then falls to the lifeless ground. Faint traces of dull gray smoke are visible on the horizon. One of the planets moons is faint in the sky. The wreckage is no longer smoking. Dann's remaining wing twitches with each step. His hooves are shaking from exhaustion. His forehead is creased in determination.
BOOM
Frightened, he turns his head toward the sky. A metallic cylinder streaks toward the ground at an incredible speed. The front glows red hot. Within seconds, it is within normal view.
BOOM
The ground shakes. Dust flies into the air. Covering his face with his hoof, he coughs violently. Water starts to stream out of his eyes as dust seeps through his eyelids. Then, the dust clears. The sky returns to view. The metalic object is half visible above the ground. He can see it more clearly. Thrusters dot the top. What looks like a hatch is just visible above the ground. Realization hits him hard.
"An escape pod!" He thinks. Energy returns as he gallops toward the pod. A faint, synthesized, voice can be heard coming from the vehicle. Arriving at the vehicle, he yells.
"Hey! Fish man! Is that you?!"
A faint voice comes from the other side.
"Is that you? Thank heavens! Can you get the hatch open?"
Dann's horn glows. The door is surrounded by a magical veil. With a creak, and a groan, the metal snaps and crashes to the ground beside the pod. Inside, the fish sits scrunched against the far wall, trident propped beside him.
"I'd like to say i'm glad to see you, but, from what we saw of the planet, I won't fare much better than you have."
Dann grunts. With another magical exertion, the fish and trident are lifted out of the pod and onto his back, cradled by his remaining wing.
"Thank you, errr. I don't believe I know your name."
He starts walking past the pod and toward the mountains.
"Dann. You?"
The fish man grips the trident in both hands, looking for signs of life, hostile or not.
"To my people I am known as glubglubglubglubburbleglub. But, to oustiders, I am known as Alex."
All is quiet in the crew quarters. Everyone is either asleep or being extremely quiet. The captain snores quietly from his room. Elder lays awake, levitating star charts while he study's them. Squid sits dozing on the bridge. Dann quietly reads a mystery novel.
"What are you reading?"
Startled, he flaps his wings furiously and hits his head on the metal plating of the ceiling. His vision blurs and un-blurs. He can feel a knot forming on the top of his head, under the blue spiked mess he calls a mane. Below, a filly looks curiously at the book. A young earth pony, doesn't even have her cutie mark.
"How did you get here?" He yells down.
She looks up.
"It was easy. I just snuck back on when grandad wasn't looking. Then, I hid in the cargo bay with the fish."
Realizing he's still flying near the ceiling, he floats down to the filly.
"What's your name?" He asks, not as much mad as curious.
"Amy."
Satisfied, the filly starts levitating. Carried by Dann's magic, they move down the hall to the captains room.
"Cap! Captain!"
A few moments pass until the door opens revealing a sleepy looking captain.
"Captain. We have a stowaway."
The captain blinks. He turns and looks at a small clock on his wall. He turns back and gives a grin.
"Well then. It looks like you have a new friend for twenty hours." The door shuts and locks. With a sigh, Dann lets the filly drop to the floor.
"Now. Amy. Stay in my quarters and out of trouble. Got it?"
She nods, and they walk back to the cabin. The door snaps open as they enter. Dann lays back on the small bed, and Amy curls into a chair. The book sits near the foot of the bed. He decides to leave it for later. He turns the light out, and falls asleep without seeing a small figure exit the cabin.
The hallway is dimly lit, but, she can still find her way to one of the cabins. The door is unlocked, and she peeks in the room. A black pony sits on the bed, looking at star charts. He doesn't notice the door open and close. She backs away from the door and continues down the hall to the cargo bay. The hatch opens into the cavernous hold. The tank remains on the far wall. A box shakes slightly. As she approaches, it begins to shake more violently. The release button pulses with a dull red light. In a moment of extreme curiosity for the contents of the box, she hits the release. The top pops open, and a hairy ball of fur rockets out, bounces off the ceiling, and flies into a pile of supplies. Though no mouth is visible, it keeps making a strange sound as it bounces.
Meepmeepmeepmeepmeepmeepmeep meepmeepmeepmeepmeepmeepmeep
Panicking, she jumps and tries to intercept the fuzzy creature. It hits her, full force, and they fall to the ground. She shoves it back into the box and closes it. She falls beside the box, battered and bruised. Deciding that the fuzzball was enough excitement, she retreats to Dann's cabin to recover.
"And that's how I defeated the monster of Geatus-9."
The story had dragged on through another large portion of the trip. Alex, apparently, had been everywhere and had slayed various creatures. He had started to doubt the validity of the stories after he had told of how he slayed a creature that shot acid out of his eyes and had six heads. The rocks on the horizon had grown until they towered above the two. The gray smoke had become thicker. Up ahead, two dots show through the heat waves.
"Hey. Alex. What's that?"
The dots grow in size until their outlines form into two small land vehicles, barreling toward them.
"Pirates!"
He can feel Alex tense, readying for action. Magic grows in Dann's horn, waiting to be used on the thugs. Red lights fire from two cannons mounted to the sides. They hit nearby, scattering rock and dirt. They're almost upon them. He dives to the side as Alex sticks the trident out, spearing the first rider. The speared pony falls off the back as the bike skids in the dirt. His counterpart, seeing the first fall, tries to turn out of harms way. The bike skids and falls over, the rider losing his grip and rolling to the side. After sliding a ways more, it stops, leaving the rider face first in the ground a ways behind it.
As she tries to stand, she is lifted in the air by a magical force. The toughened pony struggles against the grip to no avail. A snap, and one of her legs stops struggling, and she utters a gasp of pain. The magic dissipates, and she falls to the ground, grasping for her wounded limb. Dann calmly walks over to the wounded mare and places his hoof over her neck. She looks up, no longer the tough brute on the bike. Her eyes, sad. Not the eyes of a killer. The eyes of someone that has made a mistake. He removes his hoof.
"Do you want to finish her, or shall I?" Alex asks. "I will need my trident back."
He glares at the fish on his back.
"We won't kill her." He says in a no arguing voice."Now. Help me look through these bikes."
After a half hour of searching, they find that both the bikes are in working order. Attached to the bikes are two portable guns. There are two basic medical kits. They use them to bandage Dann's many cuts, and stint both his wing and the bandits leg.
"You have two choices." Dann says to the pony. "One. You come with us. Two, you take your chances in this desert."
She looks up, blinks, and responds. "I'll join you."
They set off, the mare on one bike with disabled canons, Dann and Alex on the other, each armed with a gun.
Dann awakes, sirens blaring. The haze of sleep still messes with his vision, but he can still see the red warning lights. Amy stands in the doorway, looking around frantically. Almost jumping out of the bed, he runs to the doorway.
"Amy. Stay here!"
She nods, and he runs out of the cabin and to the bridge where everyone else is gathering. Outside the viewscreen, a dull reddish-brown planet has appeared.
"Squid! What happened?"
The mare frantically taps on the helm controls, enticing a group of angry beeps from the board.
"We were pulled from our jump, and our drive is offline! We only have main engines and maneuvering thrusters."
The captain stands in the middle of the chaos. He's known the captain long enough to know he's pondering the situation.
Finally he says to Squid. "Scan the area. If there is a ship in the area. I want to know what brought us out here. Ender. I want you to plot a course out of here. Quickly."
They acknowledge. Ender begins plotting their course, and Squid begins scanning. "Sir. Unidentified vessel approaching. We're receiving a transmission."
A voice, electronically distorted, sounds on the bridge speakers.
"Shut down all nonessential systems and prepare to be boarded."
The captains face drains of color. They are both thinking the same thing. Pirates. The unarmed cargo vessel is no match for the pirate vessel.
"We are not going to give this ship over to those pirates." He states. "Squid. Turn off the engines, but, be ready to jump start them. Also, prep the escape pods."
She acknowledges, and the captains plan becomes clear. He's going to wait until the pirates get close, then shoot the escape pods at them and run away.
"Done. We'll be able to launch them on your order."
"Good. How close are they?"
She checks the board. "They're 50 meters away and orientating to our port airlock."
Silence. The port camera shows the heavily armed pirate ship closing on them. A pair of heavy canons bristle from the front.
"Fire!"
Two projectiles, silent in space, fire from the side and impact into the side of the pirate ship. Deck plating is crushed and crew members are seen being sucked out of the openings. Fires can eb seen inside as the atmosphere escapes. One of their engines explodes in a fiery shockwave before dying out in the vacuum. Their ship, knocked out of place by the pods, rotates so the bow of their ship is facing the cargo ship. One of their canons fires, sending a red bolt into the ship. She rocks, sending the crew stumbling around the bridge. Squid hits the engines, launching the ship toward the planet and away from the pirates. From the rear camera, they can see the pirates steady their ship and use their remaining engines to give chase.
"Damage report!" The captain yells.
"Ruptures in the maintenance ways. Hull damage. Our control systems are fried."
The captain looks out the view screen at the planet as the damage sets in. Their control systems are fused, and they can't get to it to fix it. They can't change course from the planet.
"Everyone! Get to the remaining escape pods. We're abandoning ship."
The crew, all except for the captain, start running from the bridge to the remaining escape pods. He follows, heading to the escape pods. Then, he remembers their living cargo and the filly in his room. Turning to his room, he opens the door. The filly is siting nervously in the chair.
"We gotta go." he says, magically picking her up and setting her on his back.
"Why? Did something bad happen? Are we gonna die?"
He stops and looks at her.
"We will not die."
Dust and dirt kick up behind the bikes. The group rides side by side across the desert towards the ever expanding smoke cloud near the mountains. On the horizon, the bottom of the rocks comes into view. A small black dot appears. The smoke originates from the object, flying up into the atmosphere. It grows and ground. Details becoming more and more clear. The dot turns into a boxy shape with what looks like 2 sticks on the frond. The smoke's point of origin moves to the rear of the object. More and more becomes clear. An engine forms at the back of the object where the smoke is pouring from. The two sticks form into two canons, each much less menacing flopped in the ground. Armor plates line the surface of the revealed pirate ship. The pirate ship that had meant destruction for their ship, but could now mean salvation from the rock of a planet. Smaller dots surround the ship, remnants of it's crew working to repair it to a space worthy status. The dots form into a dozen individual ponies. In the middle of it all, an armored colt, fitted in menacing plates. Heads turn as the vehicles are noticed by the pirates. A few fire shots at the group, going wide due to the range. Their own bikes retaliate, shooting bolts from the side mounted canons near the enemies. They scatter, running to the shelter of the ship and her armored skin. The leader stands tall, the eye of the storm. Soon, they are close enough to see the mask that covers his face. The bikes slow to a crawl at the edge of the makeshift camp, edging towards the ship. Finally, they are a few meters away from the leader and the ship. Disembarking from the bikes, they stand tall before their enemy.
"You brought down our vessel and killed our captain. Now, you will either relinquish to us your vessel, or be killed." Dann says, voice wavering slightly.
A laugh erupts from the armored figure, cruel and unnatural.
"You expect to defeat me? HA! A crippled colt, a fish out of water, and a turncoat beat the me?"
More laughs from the entryways of the ship. Her crew starts to return to the yard. The odds of them winning a fight steadily decrease.
The leader just continues to laugh. And laugh. And laugh.
Then, silence.
Alex lays where he landed under the armored figure, trident sticking into his soft underbelly. Red liquid, the life force of the pony, leaks out and coats the tips of the trident. The pirate crew stares in disbelief at the sight before them. After what seems like hours of nothing, the leader falls to the ground, dead.
Then, chaos erupts as pirates rush from the shadow of the ship to avenge their captain, just like Dann has avenged his. Lasers erupt, only to be blocked by his magic. Alex squirms out from under the fallen leader, trident in hand, ready to kick tail. The turned pirate jumps on her bike, ready to ram her former comrades. A a battle cry erupts, and all hell breaks loose.
A klaxon sounds as Dann, Amy on his back, runs down the hallway to the Cargo bay. They approach the door, and almost run into it when it doesn't automatically open. A magicall tug, and the door starts to open. After a few more pulls, it opens enough for him to squeeze through. The cargo bay is a mess. Boxes have fallen over and scattered around. A few have broken open, food and water thrown haphazardly around. On the rear wall, the tank sits, a crack slowly leaking water. The fish swims around in circles, the bubble like device on his head and trident in hand.
"Hey! Fish! The ship is going down, and we're getting you out of here."
He turns, now aware of their presence.
"Oh! Thank heavens! Lift me out of here, and we can go."
His horn starts to glow, then dissipates when he remembers that he's about to take a fish out of water.
"Don't you need some kind of container filled with water to survive?"
"Of course not! I have this." He taps the bubble on his head "This keeps water in, allowing me to survive."
The magic once again fills his horn. A veil surrounds the fish pulling him out of the tank. Water drips off his skin, making the floor wet. The fish safely in his magical grasp, they run back through the door to the escape pods. In the chamber, 4 of the escape pod airlocks are sealed, two from where they were launched at the pirates, two from where Ender and Squid had ejected. On the end, another four remain. Another jolt rocks the ship as the pirates resume firing. Dann places Amy in the nearest pod, and he lets the fish inside the next one. He uncomfortably squirms into a sitting position near the bottom of the pod.
"You guys launch. The captains still on the bridge. I'll join you guys in space."
Before they can argue, he hits both their launch buttons. The pods shut, sealing them inside. They lower into the launch tubes, and the blast door seals shut. The ship rocks lightly as they launch. He turns, running to the bridge. Inside, the captain stands calmly in the center of the room, looking at the quickly approaching planet.
"Sir. We gotta get to the escape pods."
He slowly turns and looks at the newcomer.
"The captain goes down with his ship. Get to the pods. Save yourself." Dann stands, tall and defiant.
"I won't go without you. We've been friends for years, and I won't have you lay down and die."
He sighs.
"Ok. Lets go!"
He turns quickly and barrels out of the door. Dann smiles and trails closely behind. The escape pod door opens for the captain. Dann starts walking through, only to recoil back when it snaps closed. Looking through the glass in the door, he can see the cold vacuum of space opening before him. The captain floats limply away from the bay, dead.
He stares in disbelief at the sight before him. He had saved the captain from the hands of death, only to guide him back into it's clutches.
A tear forms in his eyes. The captain had been his oldest friend. He had given him his job. He had trained him to be his successor. More and more tears joined the first, and the dam that held them back finally broke as the tears gushed down his face onto the floor, pooling on the metal.
Wiping away the tears, he straightens up. The pirates are still following the failing ship. Running to the bridge, he takes the helm. Most of the systems are fried, but, the maneuvering fins still work. The ship rocks and jumps as she enters the planets atmosphere. Fire surrounds the screen. The rear camera shows the pirates, smoke belching out of their engines start to turn off. They change their course to an exit vector, only to fall, belly down, towards the planet. Activating the maneuvering fins, the ship starts to level out. She's still falling, but, not as fast. Minutes pass. Dann makes minor adjustment to slow the descent. The ground, despite his best efforts, closes rapidly. Soon, the ground is almost upon the falling ship. Seeing the ground closing in, the last crew member jumps from his station and runs to his cabin. A might crash sounds through the ship. The cargo hold is crushed, and the bridge crashes into the alien planet. Metal rips and torques. The ship seems to tilt at an angle. Then, it's stopped.
One of the attackers rushed Dann from the side, wielding his gun like a club. Helped by his magic, he pushed the gun back into the ponies face. Taking his own gun, he shoots him twice in the chest. Another one shoots twice at Alex, hitting him once in his tail, singing it. Launched by Dann's magic, he flies through the air, wielding his trident menacingly. He lands, trident embedded deep into the attackers flank, bringing him to the ground. Their friend on the bike runs down one enemy, hitting him with the tire. A sickening crunch sounds at bones break in his back. Another enemy falls to Alex's trident. Dann spews death from his gun, bringing down three more. The enemy forces are cut in half, and they start to converge on Alex. The biker turns sharply and jumps off, flipping the bike into the group of people, crushing bones and brains. Any remaining enemies lay defenseless on the ground, and are executed by Dann's gun.
The group moves inside the derelict ship. Inside, lights flicker. Pannels on the wall hang from wires. Deck panels are missing from the floor and walls. From what they saw from the outside, the holes the pods created had been filled with the missing plating. They wander around the ship, looking for the bridge. Crew quarters lie empty, their occupants lying dead outside. The cargo bay is filled with the plunders of other ships. After exploring the ship, the find the bridge. Ment to be controlled by six people, they try and make do with three. From what the diagnostic says, the pirates repaired the engine so it works. A chair in the center indicates the captains position. Dann sits in the chair. Alex sits at the navigation station. The former pirate takes the helm.
"Engage thrusters."
A jolt, and a low rumble in the heart of the ship. Thrusters on the bottom of the ship extend and activate, spewing streams of fire into the ground. Metal creaks and groans. The ship rises slowly.
"Rotate us away from the mountains."
Thrusters on the side of the ship fire, turning it away from the mountain.
"Bring us to a starbound vector."
The bow rises slowly towards the sky.
"Bring engines to full!"
A mighty roar erupts from the back of the ship as what seems like 50 meters of flame shoot out, propelling the ship towards the sky. The ground falls away and the mountains become smaller and smaller. The planet expands below them. Large fields of dirt and rock are visible on the planet of nothing.
An explosion rocks the ship.
"What was that?" He ask.
The helmspony responds. "We just lost part of the engine assembly. If we keep this speed up, we'll get out of the atmosphere in a minute thirty, but the engine will fail in forty seconds. Should I decrease speed?"
Events flash through his mind. Leaving the station. Finding Amy. The attack. Death of the captain. The crash. Walking through the desert. Finding Alex. Sparing the raider. Killing the pirates. Taking the ship. Everything, leading to one decision.
"Divert all power to the engines."
She complies, and another jolt runs through the ship. The atmosphere parts before them, a bullet flying through the sky. Flames spew from the wrecked engine. The sound of metal snapping pierces through the rumble of the engines. Then, the rumbling stops, and the cold hands of space grasp their ship.
"We made it."
He smiles, a grin that spreads to his crew.
"It appears we have. Now, redistribute power from the engines. Bring us to the last known coordinates of the pods. We should probably pick up Ender, Squid, and Amy. The poor girl is probably scared half to death."
Epilogue
"Get that cargo secured! We don't want any of it flying about once we get to Tarsox-9."
The cargo hold of the ship fills with goods bound for the distant world. Amy, now a young adult and first officer, uses a bundle of colorful cords to hold the cargo in place. In the hatch leading to the cargo bay stands captain Dann.
"All done. We're ready, captain."
He smiles.
"Very good. Now, lets get to the bridge. Don't want to keep the customers waiting."
On the bridge, the rest of the crew wait for their captain. Ender sits at navigation. Squid sits at the helm. Sally, the former bandit, works the weapon systems. Alex relaxes in his tank. After they had delivered him o his home world, he decided to join the crew. He now works communications. The door snaps open as Dann and Amy enter the bridge. He sits in the captains chair, Amy standing beside him.
"Ready to depart Ynorb station." Squid informs him.
"Good. Release docking clamps."
A slight thump rocks the ship at the docking clamps are released and retracted.
"Set heading according to Enders course."
The ship silently turns towards a far off point in the stars, the station disappearing from the screen, only to appear on their starboard camera.
"Ready to make the jump." Squid says.
He takes a moment to look over his makeshift, unorganized, sloppy and reckless crew. He realizes something.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." He says quietly
He looks at the viewscreen. At the far off location in the stars.
"Engage."