Demons & Nightmares, M4, Pt. 1

>At some point the small fleet had transitioned from the firmament in which the planet Equis resides to the populated galaxy Chrysalis was shunted into

>Screening well ahead of the two ships, the two of you search for a adequate place to drop out of this galaxy's unused slipspace

>Since the dreamscape doesn't care for dimensions, you look for people dreaming

 

>According to Luna's observations the dreamscape is perceived by everyone in a way that makes sense to the individual, albeit with a few core rules

>Many perceptions are very similar while a few exceptions can drive an ill-prepared outside observer insane

>To Luna and Nightmare Moon, the dreamscape appears as the cloudless night sky with Equestria underneath

>Nebulae and clusters of "stars" are formed wherever ponies sleep in close proximity

>To you it is just the void

>The black around small dream bubbles to you is the ultimate unknown

>Every threat that your imagination conjures up is just behind you, below you, above you, and just beyond the black in front of your eyes

>Staying out of sight for now, but yet at the same time sliding leisurely closer

 

>Now, with you and Nightmare together, it is a mix

>The void is there beyond the dreams, but the demure dream bubbles are now bright colorful stars

>The location of the individual stars roughly equates to the individual's physical location

>And since it's an entire galaxy filled with people who dream, the dreamscape to you two is practically a map of this particular Milky Way

 

>Nightmare aims for a remote system in Alliance space, her speed and focus unrestricted by the distance from her body

>You both scan the dream stars of people sleeping on transiting ships, orbital stations, and some of the planets themselves

>Some are bright, some are dim

>Some small, some large, some fluctuating

>Every color and color combination can be found in one star or another

>Some allow you to see into the dream, some are opaque

>Each of these attributes display the state of mind for that individual, and the meanings can be different for each person

>Luna and Nightmare Moon have the best intuition for all of this

>You are learning, but for the most part you go along for the ride

>Now, when you're passing another planet, it's you who spots someone's-no, somepony's dream that doesn't belong

>In its center you see a white unicorn on a wooden stage

 

>You tap the side of Nightmare's neck

>She turns and looks at where you're pointing

>In the next instance the two of you are accelerating towards a planet's surface where a pink and white dream is shining

>Both of you are so focused on the young mare's dream that a moving star, likely one of a hover car's dozing passenger, clips Nightmare's legs

>She gets yanked out from under you instantly

>Surprised, you continue on and meteor into the target a moment later

 

>Luckily the physics of this dream is forgiving

>You don't crunch and bounce, but flatten into a paper-thin pancake face-down onto furnished wood

>You strain to peel your face off of the floor, but once you do your body pops back to its normal shapes

>You look up

>Sweetie Bell is standing at the front of the stage, performing warm ups with her voice

>Beyond is a massive old theater

>All of the thousands of red seats are empty, though the stage lights are on

>You stand up slowly

>Despite it being a cartoonish dream, you feel sore from that fall

>You look up, but don't see your partner descending from the stage's rafters

>You clamp down on a sudden pang of panic

"Ah, she'll come along shortly."

>"Who?"

>You look back at Sweetie Bell, who had flipped around in an instant

>She has that dream-trance dim in her eyes

>She's not lucid

>And if Nightmare Moon's not here to take control of the dream, then asking questions might just make her wake up

>So you roll with the dream

 

>You shrug,

"The director. She got caught up on something on the way here. We just have to wait a little."

>"Oh."

>Whatever string of tangents she was on which led to this scene is now broken

>Now you take the lead,

"You can continue to warm up until she arrives, then we can start."

>She nods slowly, then instant-flips back around

>It's still Sweetie's dream and her mind could snap to another thought even with your presence

>So you take several quiet steps to remain in her field of vision

>She asks impulsively,

>"Do you want to warm up?"

>You realize that she probably doesn't recognize you

>It has been about six years since you last talked to her and her sister

>She sure has grown since then

>You spot the musical note that is her cutie mark

 

>You shake your head,

"I'm not one to sing. I'm just a stagehand."

>She tilts her head

>Her eyes become just a little brighter

>"Why don't you want to sing?"

>Two years of refusing to partake in impromptu musicals flash through your mind

>Sweetie Bell, her subconscious focused on you, can sense the aura of embarrassment and stubbornness forming around you

"I-"

>You push away from those thoughts, only to dredge up much more unpleasant memories

>You cannot stop yourself from saying,

"I didn't like those songs,"

>You try to stop yourself, but your mind works against you and starts playing one of the songs you did sing

>You hear several oscillators quietly play a harmony out of nowhere, with one tinkling out a beat

>It takes a lot of will to cease the music before the vocals could start

>'Though little Sweetie Bell here would sing it wonderfully with you.'

>You "physically" reel from that thought and the voice in your head that said it

>You want to wake up, but you cannot

>Sweetie Bell's eyes become lucid, and she sees you for the first time

>Right as you're failing to hold back a cascade of dark thoughts that twist the space around you

>"Sean?"

 

>It it then Nightmare Moon arrives

>She impacts the stage with the velocity of an artillery shell

>Her blurry form explodes into black smog

>Sweetie Bell, restricted to normal movements in the alicorn's presence, turns around to see the twinkling cloud

>She gasps and scrambles back, stumbles, then pushes herself back into you

>You gently stop her with a hand on her shoulder, your thoughts mercifully clear again

"Sweetie Bell, it's okay."

>You look up at Nightmare as she coalesces back into her true form sans armor

>Her frustration is obvious

"Everything alright?"

>Her aquamarine cat's eyes look up in exasperation

>She sighs

>"It seems that me standing up after a fall is frightening enough to bring about a night terror."

>She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, but stops halfway

>You see her tongue work along one cheek, then the other

>She shrugs,

>"I might have snarled in the poor girl's direction."

>She mocks the expression and her bright white fangs flash against her lips

>"I had to calm her down. Apologies for the delay."

 

>You look down at Sweetie Bell,

"Miss Bell, what's your situation?"

>She looks up at you, blinking

>"My what?"

"Your situation. The planet you're on; it's a human colony, right?"

>She remembers and nods,

>"Yeah. There are some other aliens, but most of them are nice."

"So the people there are treating you well?"

>She nods again

>"Yeah."

>She smiles sheepishly,

>"I'm kind of a celebrity."

"Okay, then we'll be diplomatic. Can you tell the leader of the colony that you have people coming to take you back to Equestria?"

>She looks at you strangely,

>"Take me back?"

>You hesitate,

"Do you want to go back?"

>Then you realize she's remembering what exactly happened to her back in Ponyville

>Had Nightmare Moon not taken control, the quiet theater would certainly be replaced by the Carasol Boutique

>A moment before it had been blown apart and burned down by Wraith mortar fire

 

>"Did-did Rarity-?"

>She can only say her older sister's name before the vice in her chest becomes too much

>Even with Nightmare walking right up to the two of you, the space around Sweetie's pink mane distorts

>You lay a hand on her shoulder,

"We're looking for her. Applebloom and Scootaloo are still waiting for you."

>The mention of her best friends lifts her out of her despair

 

>Then she remembers something else and looks up at Nightmare Moon,

>"What about the others?"

>The alicorn lifts an eyebrow,

>"Others?"

>"The other ponies. They found us all over."

"All over this galaxy?"

>She nods

>"They're trying to get us all together. I'm going to get picked up in a few days."

>You look up at Nightmare,

"We'll have to be diplomatic when we get there anyways, it seems."

>She nods, then looks up,

>"The fleet will pass us by shortly."

>You sigh,

"Alright. Miss Bell, tell those in charge that there'll be a change of plans for them. We'll make contact and sort things out."

>She looks at you for a time, then says reservedly,

>"Okay."

>She probably has made new friends in the months she's been here

>You pat her shoulder

 

>Nightmare speaks,

>"We must go, Spartan."

>You nod, then look down at Sweetie Bell

"We're getting everypony home, Miss Bell. Just hang on a little longer. Nightmare Moon."

>The two of you smile,

"Let's leave her something pleasant."

>With a snap of your fingers, she plucks you out of Sweetie Bell's dream and immerses her back into it by leaving a self-playing piano to sing along to

 

>Nightmare Moon pulls you up with impossible acceleration away from the planet sprinkled with dreams

>She isn't lying about the fleet of two ex-Covenant ships passing you

>Being in slipspace, they are going faster than light

>Thankfully, speed doesn't matter when your mass is zero, and the dreamscape doesn't give a damn about different dimensions

>Not that anything that can dream lives naturally in slipspace

 

>You both slam back into your bodies and snap awake

>Nightmare Moon stands up and lights up her horn to activate the console you were sleeping under

>You, having slept in your armor, activate your comms,

"Bridge, Sierra."

>Captain Mizzen answers with her ancient yet strong voice

>"Sierra, Bridge, go ahead."

"Captain, change of plans. Turn the fleet back around and set course for this planet."

>Nightmare, working on the console that is sharing its screen with one on the bridge, highlights the disturbance in slipspace Sweetie Bell is on

>"Is there a human colony there, Sierra?"

"Affirmative, and a pony."

>The Captain's voice doesn't change from its professional tone

>"We're to rescue them?"

"We'll punch back into real space some distance away. I don't want to scare the colonists and any orbital traffic more than we already will. We'll establish contact and conduct negotiations."

>"Understood, altering course. Anything else?"

"We'll certainly have more developments when we get there, Captain. I'll have a fleet-wide briefing once we get more information. Sierra out."

 

>You cut comms, then strain your stiff muscles as you stand up

>The single huragok left on the corvette, Glides Low, floats close to you and gives a concerned whine

>You and Nightmare Moon have been hugging the modified slipspace drive for hours now

>With the Forerunner's tech welded onto it, the Engineers have been constantly checking it, even when not in use

>You're pretty sure that the previous shipmaster had to punitively condition them from removing the additional hardware

>You step aside and let the floating compulsive fixer check on the drive

>The purple pillar in the room just forward of the corvette's engines is inert right now, but in a few hours it will allow the ship to pass back into real space

 

()()()

 

>You and Nightmare spend the remaining hours in slipspace touring the ship

>All of the ponies, most being seasoned terrestrial sailors with a few specialist exceptions, are in an expectant mood

>They have gone through their first deployment without seeing any combat, which is both a blessing and a curse

>On one hand: they have gotten their proverbial space feet wet without disaster

>On the other: you still do not known how they will react when the time finally comes

>Pirates throwing cannonballs and insults at you on the high seas is one thing

>Pirates firing coilguns and missiles at you in the vast void is another

>You voice this observation to Nightmare Moon as the two of you walk down the deserted hallway to the bridge

>She shrugs with her black wings

>"If the pirates and slavers of your memories have not changed, then we need not be concerned."

>You nod as you wait for the door at the end of the purple hallway to unlock and slide open

"Right, and no one in this galaxy knows about Covy ships yet."

 

>The bridge, located at the front of the ship with a view outside instead of the usual Covenant doctrine of being tucked into the armored center, is buzzing with the low hum of dozens of inside voices

>You manage to catch one of the ponies announcing over the ship's intercom system, "One minute to real space transit," as you cross the large open bridge towards the hologram

>The rhythm of your armored boots and Nightmare's bare hooves cut above the noise

>In the center of the domed room is a massive hologram that is half buried into the floor

>The corvette and the battlecruiser are being displayed right now, with graphs of Equestrian text showing the stats of decently-running vessels

>Above each ship you note their respective names:

>Their Majesties' Ship Nocturnal

>Her Majesty's Ship Doppelganger

"We finally agreed on names, it seems."

>"Much to my sailors' relief."

 

>Captain Mizzen walks around the translucent hologram to join the two of you

>Her salty coat underneath her old navy uniform and her bleached mane tucked under her worn tricorn hat is evidence enough of her age

>Her sea blue eyes are still sharp and boring into you and Nightmare

>"We accrued so much bad luck on that last voyage, we're bound to get into a shooting match here."

>You nod,

"With how this galaxy is, Captain, it's probable. Plenty of pirates preying on these colonies. And then there're the Terminus systems. I wouldn't be surprised if some warlord got a hold of one of ours. Hopefully we can get the Alliance to back us up if we have to do some raiding."

>Another familiar voice answers you,

>"I can help with that."

>You all turn to Sour Dough

>You've been meeting with him constantly for weeks after the invasion was fought off, and you still can't believe how much your brother-in-law has grown

>Same sandy coat and black mane, but his bright blue eyes have a fire in them

>He's also smiling a lot more than when you first met almost a decade ago

>"Especially if we waylay some pirates for them."

>You cross your arms,

"If our luck is as bad as the Captain fears, then that'll be sooner rather than later."

>And talking lightly about it is asking for fate to send you a curve ball, but getting intel from pirate captains and favors from the Alliance will save you precious time

 

>A pony down in one of the shallow "pits" that flank the hologram calls out,

>"Ten seconds to real space transit."

>The ship's intercom repeats the announcement and everyone, even you, plant their feet or brace against something

>Covenant ships transit in and out of slipspace seamlessly, and so do UNSC ships to an extent, but the first jump had this crew thrown off of their hooves when they jumped out faster than intended and "slammed the brakes"

>But there have been around a dozen slipspace transits since then, so you all feel no shift in the ship's artificial gravity this time

>The hologram shrinks the two warships down to nothing, then brings up a light-delayed view of the system you had just jumped into

>A main sequence star orbited by a couple of baked rocks, a gas giant, and a somewhat habitable world

>The planet itself is sandy and red, but the topology and surrounding space is quickly eaten up by icons

>After some time, the ship's many sensors start picking up real time information and place down an overwhelming amount of Covenant glyphs onto the hologram

>Captain Mizzen manipulates the dispay to focus on the planet, with more data streaming in as she does so

>Equestrian text slowly replaces the glyphs as the in-house software translates, but you have learned well enough to speed read the readings

>In the pile of layering glyphs, clusters of "reclaimers" become highlighted on the planet, densely packed into a few towns sprinkled around a continent-spanning mountain range

>Above the largest town is a fleet of five small ships

>One is actually on the surface, right next to the colony

>The other four are way too close together as they loiter in high orbit

 

>All four of you lean in towards the hologram

>Captain Mizzen focuses in on the ships

>Other glyphs denoting unknown biologicals populate the obvious warships, which are all different from each other

>That is the clear giveaway for all of the navy veterans

>Then there is the bulky one on the surface inside the colony

>The unknown aliens are swarming the streets the ship, herding humans towards it

>In the few seconds you observe, several colonists stop and annotating glyphs of "deceased" appear next to them

>In the middle of the largest group of captured humans is another glyph that is immediately translated into Equestrian:

>Unicorn

>You kick yourself inwardly for opening your mouth and tempting faith

 

>"Slavers."

>The bridge becomes quiet and turns to the alicorn

>Nightmare Moon's eyes are dark

>Her voice is low and invites no debate,

>"Captain, bring this fleet to battle stations."

>The Captain nods and turns to the rest of the bridge

>"Battle stations. Engines: all ahead full. Helm: take us right to that fleet, and somepony get me Speaker."

>A pony in one of the pits turns and slams her hoof on a projected button on her console

>The recording of a clanging bell plays all over the ship

>The few ponies milling about the bridge gallop to their assigned stations

>Some leave and some arrive

>All have a grim look about them

>This is the first time that bell sounded with enemy ships in sight

 

>Captain Mizzen marches over to the front of the bridge to a console with a large screen

>The officer manning the console next to her reports,

>"Ma'am, I have Speaker."

>Mizzen hops onto the platform made for ponies to reach the screen and presses a button on its corner

>Speaker's uncanny form appears on it

>The feed seems to come from a wide-angled lens, since it shows all of the raised dais in the center of the battlecruiser's bridge

>Behind Speaker, changelings swarm about under dim purple lights

>Yet in the seething scene you see the five members of Team Claymore standing at the consoles on the dais, unbothered by the hundreds of changelings buzzing and shuffling around them

 

>The Captain asks,

>"Speaker, are you aware of the situation?"

>His default-calm voice comes through in a thin layer of static,

>"I've been informed that pirates are attacking this colony and are stealing humans along with one of your citizens. Since we're accelerating, I assume we are going to engage these pirates?"

>"That is correct. At the least we are going to prevent them from leaving this system with those captives. Sean? Nightmare Moon?"

>The two of you leave Sour at the hologram to join her

"Captain?"

>"What is their weaponry, do you think?"

>You remember from your time here

"Coilguns and missiles, with lasers for point defense. Those are the standard for warships. With these little frigates, though, I'm not worried about them piercing the Doppelganger's shields."

>The captain thinks for a moment

>"Will they flee once they see us?"

>Nightmare Moon answers,

>"Perhaps, but we must cut off their most obvious escape route regardless of their cowardice."

>She reaches out on the hologram and highlights two sections of space away from the planet

>One on the other side of the planet

>The other is a ways behind their fleet, relative to you

"The two mass relays connected to this sector are in those directions,"

>You look to Speaker and Team Claymore

"If they try to run, we'll focus on disabling the landed ship and boarding it. We’ll take out the others. If the lander happens to stay put, we'll put together an assault force."

>Speaker and Henri nod,

>"Understood."

 

>You step back and tell the Captain,

"We have some time before the combat maneuvers begin."

>The naval officer mare sitting next to you all frowns,

>"Why?"

>Her distorted reflection in your golden visor is probably what makes her clamp her jaw shut

"Why do we have time?"

>She takes a moment to unclench her jaw and nod

>"Don't they have hours to get out of there?"

>Given that she and the rest of this crew hadn't seriously thought about fighting in space until three months ago, and with how frantically busy everyone on this ship has been since then, you find this understandable

"Light has a set speed we only notice in space. The civilizations of this galaxy have some ways around it in terms of communication, but there aren't any comm buoys around here. It'll be some time before the light of our arrival reaches those guys' sensors."

>You gesture to the hologram, still showing Sour the fleet of ships

"Even then, everyone here uses thermals to detect ships, and those too can't see faster than light on their own. We've got a huge advantage with our own sensors."

>Captain Mizzen nods,

>"We can react much faster than them."

 

>You turn to the screen, crossing your armored arms

"With that said, I should have had us jump in closer."

>Nightmare Moon replies with a firm tone,

>"We couldn't know."

>You purse your lips and nod

"Right. Let's just hope we can catch them."

>Captain Mizzen turns to another mare at a console and asks for ETA

>You know she's not satisfied with the response and she's thinking about pushing the engines further

"Don't damage the engines yet. If they do get away, we have ways of tracking them. Plus if the colony got out a distress call, then we'll has have Alliance ships here within hours. If we can link up with them, these guys will have a whole wolfpack after them."

>The Captain glances up at you,

>"Can't they just outrun us all?"

"Maybe the Alliance ships if they get a big-enough lead, but our slipspace drives aren't restricted to the Mass Relay system. These routes across the galaxy can get pretty windy, especially if some relays are guarded. If we can get an idea of where they're going, we can head them off."

>The Captain shuffles in place

>"And that's only if this slaver ship escapes?"

"Correct."

>You step away to look at Nightmare, Mizzen, and Speaker

"This'll be quite the debut for us, so let's not disappoint."

 

>You all wait for a long time as the distance is closed

>Captain Mizzen and Speaker exchange the status of their ships, despite both of them having seen such data before you entered the bridge

>Speaker talks of how the hive is acclimatizing to the battlecruiser

>Queen Chrysalis' hive, before the ship they're now crewing crashed into it, was a three-dimensional maze of tunnels that were interrupted by chambers of varying utility

>Covenant ships, with the exception of the corvette, is similar in the layout of it's interior and then some

>The ship's tangle of deck ways aren't symmetrical along the ship’s axis and, thanks to the Covenant's creative use of artificial gravity, many hallways change orientation between ends

>There are very few ladders, but still

>Corkscrews, two floors instead of floor and ceiling on some decks, and all of them look the same

>While you and the other Spartans have previous experience, the Equestrians find it mind-boggling

>The changelings, on the other hand, just want to switch the boat's color scheme to something that doesn't remind them of Princess Cadence or Professor Sparkle

 

>You walk away from the small talk and approach Sour Dough

>He's been manipulating the hologram this whole time, looking at the raid and sifting through the still-onrushing data

>He has a look of pure concentration on his face

>You watch him silently in a way a stranger would find creepy

>Finally he sighs, stops, and rubs his eyes

>"So much data and all we can do is close the distance."

>You nod,

"Yeah."

>"You and Jane ever had to wait like this?"

"As part of a naval engagement? No."

>You have to remember long ago for anything similar

>It's been eight years

"We had to stuff ourselves into slispace-capable drop pods for Torpedo. We spent hours in those pods before falling onto Pegasi Delta."

>You look at the hologram

"With that, it was just us and the Covenant at the refinery,"

>A pause

"And the ships we didn't see above the refinery."

>"Yeah."

>The two of you both stare at the sobering display

>You know he's feeling a deep frustration, mingling with the memory of terror from many weeks ago when he learned that his wife and family were being hunted by a Brute kill team half a continent away

>You yourself are feeling a smoldering resignation, with the occasional tic of much darker thoughts

 

>Scenes like this one had played out before you many times

>Most of them were face to face and the tormentors unable to outrun you, with the dark thoughts threatening to fill your head and become manifest

>You glance down at Sour

>If he had to look at more than faceless points of data, would he become startled by what springs out of nowhere in his head?

>Possible

>The mindset of ponies are practically the same to humans

>A hyper-social pack-prey species that brought itself into civilization, with the biggest difference between them and humanity being innate access to a powerful field known simply as "magic"

>A thousand years of peace and an aversion to violence were swept away by the invasion, laying bare a will to survive not just by evasion and strength of numbers, but a willingness to turn and enact violence on a threat

>Said violence includes everything from biting to throwing celestial bodies around like baseballs

 

>Some time later, and over an hour before entering engagement range, the slaver pirates react

>The ships in orbit begin to reorient facing you

>They arrange themselves into a loose diamond formation square on to your approach

>They remain stationary for now

>Now is the time to choose whether or not to send a message

>A quick talk between Captain Mizzen, Speaker, and yourself conclude to keep this fleet as mysterious as can be and keep quiet

>The fact that your two ships are accelerating straight towards the slaver fleet at an impressive rate is enough of a statement

 

>The raiding force in the colony begins herding what captives they have towards the ship,

>Several slavers, defenders, and captives die in the first few minutes as the fighting intensifies

>Sweetie Bell is still in the middle of the captive press of humans as the collective is pushed at the cost of those on the outer layer of the press

>The ship itself has a perimeter of slavers around it, but it is surrounded by small teams of humans

>Many minutes slip away as the slavers drive their captives onto the ship

>Everyone looking at the situation becomes restless as the last of the living captives are pulled and shoved into the ship, followed by the surprisingly well-drilled retreat of the ship's security

>These aliens, at least the ground team, are professionals

>Yet thanks to the efforts of the colony's defenders, their departure is delayed long enough that you might catch them

>That is: if the militarized mass transport ship is as slow as it looks

 

>It isn't

 

>As soon as the ramp doors close, the bulk lander shoots off the ground

>Estimates are produced in seconds, and it doesn't look good

>Captain Mizzen talks with Speaker again

>A plan is set

>The distance closes as the transport ship breaks through the atmosphere

>The diamond formation starts to move with it, making damn sure to block you, but they might as well be standing still compared to your velocity

>Just before you enter the pirate's suspected engagement range, your two ships make their moves

>The corvette cuts its acceleration by a tiny fraction, allowing the battlecruiser to pull ahead

>Nocturne then ducks in close to the underside of the shielded Doppleganger, filling the view from the bridge

>All of the corvette's weapons are readied

>The battlecruiser's only offensive option is a single plasma torpedo launcher, hastily repaired days before, but damage isn't its role in this engagement

>The officers focusing on the enemy fleet start reporting

>"All four ships have fired railcannons."

>"Transport ship has passed lower atmosphere, is accelerating."

>Captain Mizzen, with Speaker still listening, responds coolly,

>"Both ships: divert course down by point five degrees. Once the projectiles pass, reverse angle. Maintain acceleration."

>She isn't going to damage the engines by shoving them into flank speed, but she sure as hell isn't going to slow down

>At this speed, your two ships are on the borderline of experiencing light distortions

>Not enough to mess with time, but enough to make landing a straight shot on you difficult

>The same went for your shots, of course, but you're counting on your homing plasma torpedoes for this flyby

 

>Speaker's image flickers and the battlecruiser's acceleration dips for an instant

>A watch officer reports,

>"One hit on Doppleganger. The other three shots missed."

>You hear Hitomi call out from behind Speaker,

>"Minimal damage to shields."

>Now that should scare them proper

 

>As your fleet corrects its course, Captain Mizzen mutters, "Now it's our turn," before ordering, "Fire all torpedoes."

>The corvette shudders as every torpedo is fired to either side and below you

>The battlecruiser's single torpedo is launched upwards

>You turn to the hologram, which Sour had switched to encompass your engagement

>Data is still streaming in and cluttering up the display, but your outgoing fire is all too obvious

>Your fleet is already leaving the fired rounds behind as you blast through the enemy's formation

>No missiles are fired at you from the ships

>Instead you watch as each one turns in a random sidelong direction to try and evade the incoming balls of magnetically-condensed plasma

All of the torpedoes find their targets and home in

>You can tell that at least the two small ships to either side of you are going to die

>They're smaller than UNSC frigates, and even a heavy Paris class gets crippled by a single torpedo hit amidships

>The kinetic shields sported by every warship in this galaxy does nothing against pure plasma

>And two of the torpedoes are heading for them at an inescapable angle

>You let the watch officers monitor the doomed ships and focus on the transport

>It has accelerated more and is now practically out of the planet's atmosphere

>You cannot remember specifics, but it is around this distance from the planet that ships can engage their eezio core and jump from one star system to another

>Now is the crucial moment

>A plasma torpedo would destroy the lightly armored ship outright, along with the broadside heavy plasma cannons

>The lances are point defense weapons that can be very accurate

>Accurate enough to disable engines without damaging other systems

>The problem is their relatively short range

>Hence your speed

>At this rate, you will hit the ship within thirty seconds

>No one speaks

 

>A cylinder of blue distortion forms around the ship a second before its mass turns to near-zero and it blasts itself to another system

 

>Gasps, hisses, and quiet curses sound all around you

>Captain Mizzen, Nightmare Moon, and yourself glare at the empty space

>The Captain takes a deep breath before turning to a watch officer

>"What's the status on the remaining ships?"

>The reply comes instantly in monotone,

>"Enemy ships two and four destroyed. One evaded and jumped ten seconds ago. Three's engines and main weapon are gone. Life support is still active."

>"Any escape pods launched?"

>"Negative, Captain."

>"Any survivors at all?"

>"Nine signs still onboard, Captain."

>The scowl on Mizzen's craggy face matches her tone,

>"Bring the fleet around and plot an intercept course to that crippled ship. Sean, Nightmare Moon."

>You both turn to face her squarely

>"A boarding is in order."

>You and Nightmare glance at each other,

>She sees your near-imperceptible grin

>You see the gleam in her aqua eyes

 

()()()

 

>Two hours later, you join Nightmare Moon as she paces back and forth mechanically along the hangar's port door, currently shut

>It takes that long to turn, decelerate, and approach the stricken pirate ship

>The first forty minutes sees you, Nightmare, and Sour finding Aden and Shal, then marching over to the hanger and briefing the platoon of Equestrian Marines

>After the briefing, the platoon diffuses around the large circular hanger, littered with heavy equipment, Shal's inert phantom dropship, and piles of wooden crates

 

>At first most of the ponies are visibly giddy, excited by such a unique opportunity as being the first Equestrians to board an enemy ship in space on their own terms

>That giddiness slowly evolves into nervousness with so much time to think about what might go wrong

>The sergeants try to keep the ponies busy with securing everything to the deck, but that lasts only another thirty minutes before there is nothing else to do but wait

>All thirty-three ponies are currently going through a cycle of rechecking the gear on themselves and their buddies, asking if anything new is happening, playing cards, and staring at a point in space somewhere in or outside of the hangar

 

>The minutes tick by and you change your pace

>You stop at one end of the shielded hangar door and wait

>When Nightmare reaches the other end you resume pacing, passing her in the middle

>She glances at you inquisitively on the first pass

>It is on the seventh pass that you notice a faint, but unnatural tingle pulse around the side of your body opposite to her

>With your helmet on, you look closely at the nearby marines

>As the black alicorn passes by the closest one, you see their ears snapping up for an instant, their tails twitching, and their active resistance against looking around either at her or at where they feel like they are being watched from

>Even Aden, who has sat back-straight next to the crates holding all of your weapons this whole time, occasionally turns his golden visor towards her, then you

>With nothing else to do, everyone involuntarily focuses on the unsettling aura emanating from Nightmare

 

>Sour, now donned in the sage-green spaced plating of marine armor, drifts over to the two of you

>His helmet and self-contained-breathing-apparatus hangs from a short strap tied to his back, dangling opposite of his rifle rig

>The fur in the white stripe on his snout is standing up, but his voice is steady when he asks,

>"Lady Moon, do you know why you're giving off an aura of fear?"

>Lady Moon, that's a new one

>His whispering is almost drowned out by the ambiance of the hangar, but the ears of the nearby marines perk up

>Both you and Nightmare stop

>She raises her head and searches for an answer in the ceiling

>"No."

>She looks down at Sour, smiling

>"Answering that mystery will only spoil it."

 

>The platoon sergeant announces ten minutes to intercept

>The lieutenant orders everypony to assemble by squad at the port door

>You and Aden gather your rifles and join them

>Shal is already with them with his ranger's harness and teardrop-shaped needler rifle

>Three squads of ten ponies each, with first squad having the platoon leader, platoon sergeant, and platoon medic

>With everyone having a small magical radio set, and this being the only platoon on this deployment, there is no need to bring a dedicated radiopony

>Sour attaches himself to first squad, Aden and Shal to second, and you to third

>Five minutes to go, and the lieutenant gives his signal to Nightmare

>The alicorn smiles before dissolving into smog

>The opaque ink slowly expands to fill the whole hanger

>A small open space forms around the platoon, lit up by dozens of aquamarine eyes

>They look over everyone one last time, before facing forward

 

>Two minutes

>You connect to the bridge,

"Open port side."

>None of you sans Nightmare see it, but you can hear the reinforced door sliding away into its recess

>Now their is a just a thin shield between all of you and the void

>In each squad, the unicorns start their spells

>Instead of squad automatic or anti-tank weapons, each squad has two unicorns

>All of them are old Canterlot Guard, with their defensive spell sets supplemented by newer spells learned a year ago

>Now they all prepare a brand new spell that they've been practicing for a full month

>Each unicorn pair concentrates as an oily two-toned bubble begins to form around each squad

>They are all porous for now, but the magic casters need as much prep as they can get to have your crude method of EVA work

 

>One minute

>It's a long wait

>If a marine is not casting a spell, they're psyching themselves up

>The unicorns wait until the last few seconds to make their bubbles airtight and pressurized

>Ten seconds,

>You order the bridge,

"Cut gravs."

>The ambiance of the hangar changes

>You feel a sense of falling

>You all push yourselves up off the floor

"Nightmare."

>The eye-filled smog nudges the bubbles forward and through the blue-tinged shielding

 

>The sounds of the hangar disappear as well as most of Nightmare's eyes

>Captain Mizzen navigated the corvette well and brought you within several hundred meters, as well as synchronize with the tumbling motions of the drifting pirate vessel

>That's still several hundred meters of traveling through space untethered with all of the stars and the planet spinning around you

>Nightmare doesn't allow any of you to see outside her smog as she pushes and pulls you along, but it's probably for the better

>You have never been comfortable with extra vehicular activity during training, even after several exercises

>Everypony here would be stricken with either terror or awe

>The unicorns need the least amount of distractions right now

>You look at your pair and their breathing is steady

>Their eyes are half shut and the light of their horns as well as the bubble itself is consistent

>It takes a few minutes until your bubbles start to decelerate

>The other marines stay quiet as they float in place for the benefit of the unicorns

>They all glance at you at some point, and you give each of them a nod

 

>Finally, Nightmare's voice echoes through bubbles in a whisper,

>"Contact in five, four."

>All of you gently twist yourselves so your feet and hooves face "down"

>The smog expands "below"

>Out of the darkness emerges a hull of sun-bleached metal

>You all activate magnetic and insulated boots as you land

>Except for one marine next to you, who activates one boot too early and slams himself sidelong into the hull with a clang

>He reflexively deactivates the boots and floats upwards, starting a panicked string of curses

>You reach out and grab him by one flailing leg, pulling him down so he can attach to the hull properly

>He mumbles out a shaky, "Thanks."

>He then shivers, "Celestia, that metal's cold."

>And he contacted it for only an instant

>Already some of the air you brought over from the corvette is freezing on the void-exposed shell

>You look to the closest set of cat's eyes and ask,

"How are we looking, Nightmare?"

>Several more sets of eyes open and stare at you,

>"All touched down and accounted for. First and second are moving towards where the engines were. They'll find an opening."

"Then let's get moving to the airlock."

>You turn to the squad leader,

"On me."

>With that, you turn in the direction of the ship's bow and take the short stomping strides one takes with magnetic boots in null gravity

>The squad follows, gaining the rhythm they've practiced for days on end

 

>Your memory and the hours of visual scanning are proven right when you reach the front of the hundred-meter-long ship

>It's an old ship built somewhere in the Terminus systems, but it's a poor copy of an even older Turian frigate design

>There are no windows for you to breach

>The main airlock is located right behind the helm

>You find the faint outline of the door and a small latch for the panel cover

"Cutter."

>The marine, lugging much more than just his armor, rifle, and SCBA, stomps his way over next to you

>The rusted-steel earth pony removes his glare shades off of the front of his bucket, but pauses and asks in his Boston analogous accent,

>"You, uh, wanna try the hatch first, Spartan? Just 'n case?"

>After a pause, you reach down and pull on the latch

>The cover hinges over, and you're greeted with a very familiar orange holographic interface

>Cutter glares at it suspiciously

>"Huh. They still have the door powered?"

>You guess,

"Must be connected to life support."

>"No mechanical safety bolt? An emergency manual release lever or somethin'?"

"Nope. Not for something made out in the Terminus systems. Out there, any safety standards above minimal are for chumps."

>You're grateful that you had worked with these symbols plenty of times to memorize standard galactic code

>Not that it matters since you're denied when you attempt to open the outer airlock

>You try again for good measure, but you get another flash of red

>You shrug,

"Locked, and I've got nothing to slice into it with. It was worth a try."

 

>You close the panel and slap the marine on the shoulder

"Alright, Cutter, your turn."

>He grins and attaches a custom welder's mask to his helmet, but keeps it up

>He then takes out a shiny insulated apron and gloves and puts them all on over his armor

>"Here, you might want to hold this out. Keep everypony else from goin' blind."

>He gives you a bundled-up wool blanket

>You unfold it and drape it as wide as you can over Cutter and yourself

>"Hinges should be here and here, right?"

"Should be."

>"Perfect."

>He pulls out what looks to you like an ancient plasma torch

>Holding onto it with his mouth, Cutter finally takes out a black metal canister that is partially encasing a particularly large white crystal

>Both objects have Miss Sparkle's cutie mark printed on them

>Cutter screws the canister into the bottom of the torch, then pushes down metal clasps built into the torch

>With one last visual inspection, Cutter gives the tool an appreciative nod before headbanging his welder's mask down and announcing,

>"Lightin' the match!"

 

>He twists a valve at the base of the fuel tank's throat by a quarter turn, then holds down a trigger on the torch

>A small blue jet of plasma bursts into existence, emitting a quiet hiss

>He mutters to himself,

>"'ere we go."

>He throws the valve fully open

>The small blue flame instantly surges into a roaring white hot jet

>Nightmare's smog turns from an inky black to a glaring pearlesent

>You're surprised the whole thing doesn't fly out of Cutter's hooves

>Instead he quickly jabs the enchanted cutting torch down

>The jet practically punches a hole into the seal of the airlock

>Nothing explodes, so it seems the airlock was already vented

>He does two deep cuts in twenty seconds, leaving two glowing rends in the seal

>Just to be sure, he uses the last of the crystal’s energy to cut out the central panel

>Of course the outer door doesn't just float off, so you turn to one of the battle mages

 

()()()

 

>You are Captain Mizzen

>It has been over fifteen minutes since the boarding party shoved off

>Meanwhile you have been switching your monitoring back and forth between the team's progress and the surrounding space

>And Speaker as he provides overwatch with his ship

>Tied to this dead vessel, your corvette is extremely vulnerable

>And while Speaker has cooperated fully so far, you still don't trust him

>At least you have Sean's fellow Spartans on that battlecruiser

>After witnessing Jane's performance at Shining and Cadence's wedding, you are sure that five of them can subdue the whole hive on that ship

 

>You switch the hologram back to the colony

>More heavy vehicle traffic is inbound to the raided settlement from the surrounding towns

>At least the relief response is fast and thorough

>You had to be the first and only response to a pirate raid quite a few times

>Too few of those times you were able to catch up to the pirates

>You hope you can catch these ones

 

>You switch back to your own vessel and the one the away team is boarding

>Just in time to see something blast out from where Sean's team is located

"What was that?"

>An officer hesitates before answering,

>"It looks like a door hatch, Captain. They must have breached the airlock."

"I see. Well, if they're flinging them into space, let's keep an eye out for the second one-"

 

>"Captain, another ship has jumped into the system."

>The officer's words make you stop and fling the view of the hologram out to the whole area around the planet

>A new cluster of data points start forming up on the other side of the planet

>Focusing on that and stripping away the pileup of data, you see the outline of an entirely new ship

>While the ones you just fought were a mixture of stout and blocky shapes, this one is long and sleek

>It accelerates from its jump at an impressive rate, gunning for what looks like a slingshot maneuver around the planet

>"This is Speaker, moving to screen you, Captain."

>You keep yourself from rolling your eyes

>Oh, how thoughtful that he does not even wait for orders

>The battlecruiser diverts from its loitering circle around you and stops in between you and where the new ship will careen around the planet

 

"Any hails directed out way?"

>The officer in charge of the communication station consults her subordinates, then turns to you,

>"Negative, Captain, but there appears to be traffic between the new contact and the colony."

>Another officer speaks up,

>"Captain, I've been analyzing the new ship and I believe this a Systems Alliance vessel if Spartan Sean's descriptions are accurate."

>You nod at this

>It would make sense for a human ship respond to a human colony’s distress

>It will probably check the status of the colony and get their story before taking a look at your never-before-seen ships

"Then we'll let them come to us,"

>You stare at the new contact

"But why just one ship?"

 

>No answer comes, so you consult your officers and come up with a new plan

>Mere minutes after you finish you get a call,

>"Nocturnal, this is Nine-Four."

>You walk over to the nearest comms station and answer Sean,

"Go ahead, Nine-Four."

>"Nocturnal, we've secured the ship and have nine pirates in custody. Prepping them for transfer."

"Understood, Nine-Four. Wait one."

>You call Speaker, who picks up immediately,

"Doppelganger, move alongside the pirate ship and prepare a hanger to receive the boarding party and prisoners. I will contact the Alliance ship to conduct negotiations."

>"Understood, Nocturnal."

>On the video screen for Doppelganger’s bridge, you see Henri point to Kaleb and Kate, and the three Gammas leave the command dais along with a dozen changlings

>You cut the feed and switch back to Sean,

"Nine-Four, plan bee. The Nocturnal and Doppelganger are changing positions. You will be taking the prisoners to Doppelganger."

>"Understood. I was going to suggest that anyway. These guys are all Batarians. We'll remain in the ship until Doppelganger is in place. Be advised, the prisoners only have an hour of air."

"We stand advised."

>"Nine-Four out."

>He doesn't ask why the ships are trading places, but then again he's busy with the platoon securing the prisoners

>He and Nightmare Moon trust you to handle things

 

>You turn to the pits

"Helm, have us switch positions with Doppelganger. Comms, keep a watch for any signals that come our way."

>Both stations give you an, "Aye, Captain."

 

()()()

 

>You are Henri

>You, Kaleb, and Kate take your time navigating through the battlecruiser to get to the port hangar that Speaker had designated as the one he'll receive the boarding party at

>Apparently the prisoners only have so much air left, but you're more worried about walking in on something the hive doesn't want you to see

>None of the little bug ponies have made a move on you or your team yet, but your gut is telling you that it's only a matter of time

>It's why you're keeping at least two people on the bridge at all times

 

>When you enter the three-story hangar, you can see that the cloud of inky black that is Nightmare Moon is seconds away from the hangar

>The local star is streaming into the vast space, casting stark shadows against the back walls

>All of the changelings in the room are taking cover in said shadows

>While the hangar's shields are blocking out the harmful radiation as well as keeping the atmosphere in, that star is making your anti-glare software kick in

>The light is cut down to only artificial when Nightmare Moon's cloud passes the shield and starts to spread along it

>On the stern side of the docking platform that bisects the rectangular room, the smog moves to reveal three large multicolored bubbles as they land on the lowermost deck

>They pop one by one with a rush of mixing air

>Each squad of the Equestrian marine platoon surrounds three black-bagged pirates, each with a unique yet equally dirty set of work clothes

>Lots of leather, or at least synthetic analogues

>All of them are shivering from spending hours at minimal life support

>All of their wrists are bound behind their backs, and by the limited look of their hands you can tell that they're not human

>Sean said they are Batarians, but you can only go off of your imagination and his single-sentence description buried in the dozens of other species descriptions of this galaxy

>"Four-eyed bipeds that were falling out of the Council's favor due to their state-wide practice of slavery."

>That knowledge is some six years old, so things could have changed, but if these guys are mere pirates then you probably don't have to worry about a Batarian navy on the offensive

>You'll have to get more intel, but Hitomi would be more than happy to do that work once you gain access to the so-called extranet of this galaxy

 

>The smog condenses on the shield, blocking the sunlight

>You hear Nightmare Moon whisper over the battlecruiser's comm net,

>"Kill the lights."

>Now the whole hangar, which can service over a dozen pelican dropships, dips into darkness

>You're not sure what the alicorn is planning, but Sean trusts her, so you do as well

>Your low-light vision, along with infrared sensors in your helmet, let you see the marines, Spartans, and Shal silently retreat to the edges of the hangar, leaving the pirates in the middle of the now-dark hangar

>Nightmare once again whispers into the comms,

>"Speaker, enact plan: Nightmare Theater."

>"Excuse me, Miss Moon, Nightmare Theater?"

>"Ask Hitomi. She will know."

 

>You suppress a smirk

>Only your intel specialist, obsessed with information above everything else, has read the absurdly long document Sean has been writing and rewriting in his suit since he first started his universe hopping

>A number of unconventional solutions to unconventional problems, from the hopelessly serious to insultingly silly, he had brainstormed and even gamed out in dreams with Princess Luna and—later—Nightmare Moon

>His inability to be surprised shined when you and Team Claymore ran into him over a year ago and he dragged your team along in the pursuit of that rogue Prophet

>His advice to "don't overthink and just roll with it" has stuck with you ever since

 

>So now you and Claymore are rolling with this plan

 

>Hitomi begins by instructing changelings to mass up in the deck ways connected to the ground floor

>You look up the plan yourself while you wait

>Nightmare Theater is actually the first "big" plan on the list

>It has a general objective, along with its own volume of variants and contingencies

>There are even some after action reports authored by Sean and the moon alicorns, which you decide to read later

>Hitomi speaks faster, gaining back your attention,

>"Claymore, Nine-Four, One-oh-Three, get set to shadow the pirates. The marines are to bypass and secure critical systems. Nightmare, on your mark."

>You look over at the blind and cuffed Batarians

>Left alone, they are talking to each other, trying to gather together while blind

>Even with the language barrier, you can tell that they are frightened

>With IR illumination to allow your night vision to see in the dark chamber, you watch the aliens shuffle towards the center of the smooth purple floor

 

>You spot something above them

>A large tendril of smog drifting downwards from high above

>You are reminded of an old time lapse vid from earth, where the underside of an arctic ice flow extends a shaft of frozen water down to an ocean floor populated by starfish

>The opaque smoke sparkles in the sickly green of your helmet's IR light as it lowers closer to the black-bagged heads of the prisoners

>The talking gets louder

>Their movements become erratic

>Then you feel an acute cold trickle down your spine

>You almost snap around, but hold

>It's Nightmare Moon's aura

>No one, not even herself, knows how it works or how to turn it off

>Yet when she wills it, she can expand it and intensify it

>From how your instincts are insisting that a grizzly death is fast approaching, that girl is throwing all of the dials as far as they can go

>The pillar of smoke continues to descend above the cluster of Batarians' heads

>Suddenly, nine individual tendrils shoot out from the pillar, arching down

>They all grab a black bag and pluck it off of the pirate's head

 

>You see their faces

>Two sets of two black eyes, one over the other

>No nose, just segmented plates of cartilage

>Sharp teeth

>The pirates snap their heads around, then back away from the suddenly twinkling pillar of smog

>It drops into the middle of them with a surge of tiny stars giving them something to look at

>Silent, the nine of them slowly back away from the column of light

>The lights stop twinkling, then disappear entirely

>On the other side of the smog, the Batarian closest to the hangar door pauses and squints his four eyes

>In you ear, Nightmare Moon whispers,

>"Go."

 

>Nightmare Moon shows the alien something that makes him scream

>Then a giant horse's mouth opens out from the smog and snaps down on the pirate

>Two of the eight don't run immediately and instead watch, stunned as a massive equine face turns toward them

>The muffled screams of the half-eaten one is cut off when Nightmare chomps down and swallows

>One of them finally turns and runs straight towards your position

>The other simply topples over backwards, the back of his head bouncing on the deck with a meaty thump

 

>The retreating screams and cacophony of boots and hooves on the deck fade away as you focus on the Batarian running at you

>Even with his hands tied behind his back, he sprints full-tilt in the darkness, unaware that he'll run face-first into a wall

>You'd rather he not kill himself like that, so you step out to stand just beside his path

>Arm outstretched, you grab him and spin him back around

>The Batarian stops and tries to look at you, but you had activated your suit's photoreative panels

>In this darkness, he cannot see you

>Bellowing out a string of curses, he lunges forward, then to one side, but you hold firm of him

>Aquamarine spotlights burst into existence and shine down on the two of you

>You both look up to see Nightmare's eyes staring at you, only they are many times larger than normal

>That equine mouth smiles with glowing, bloodstained square teeth

>Smog creeps out from underneath her and consumes the supine form of the fainted pirate

 

>Inspiration hits you

>You take one hand and grab your Batarian's cuffs and the back of his waist belt, then grab the back of his hairless head with your other

>You lift him bodily up towards Nightmare

>When she starts gliding towards you, his curses turn into desperate pleading

>To who, you're not sure

>Her smile becomes wider and wider, splitting up to beyond her eyes

>The pirate thrashes about in your hold and kicks back, but your augmented strength is more than enough to lock him in place

>When she stops just in front of you, she opens her mouth

>Behind the buck teeth are rows and rows of shark's teeth, canines, an octopus's beak, a snake's fangs

>She lets him give out one long scream before snapping down on both of you

 

>You're not crushed, but enveloped in black with Nightmare's cyan magic flowing around you

>Your still-screaming pirate is yanked out of your grasp

>Her magic recedes from you and the smog is pulled back

>If it weren't for your helmet anti-glare, the system's sun would have blinded you

>Nightmare Moon, back to her normal proportions, smiles at you as she levitates three clumps of smog above the hangar's floor

>"Thank you for the offering, Henri."

>You shrug, then look around the now-empty space while ignoring your alert sixth sense

>Comm traffic is busy with teams reporting the pirates' positions and Hitomi coordinating to herd them towards the holding cells

 

>You point to the three man-sized clouds, two of which are still writhing

"Can they hear us?"

>She shakes her head,

>"Even without a sound barrier, they're too busy with the feeling of being eaten alive to think about what we are saying."

>The wording makes you pause,

"You mean you aren't actually eating them?"

>She inhales deeply, chin up

>"I do not eat pirates, my dear Spartan."

>Her smile becomes mischievous,

>"Misbehaving fillies, though? I will neither confirm or deny."

"Right."

 

()()()

 

>You are Captain Mizzen

>The Alliance ship is in orbit above the colony

>It has its tapering prow pointed towards you, but it makes no aggressive maneuver as your two ships disengage from the tumbling pirate wreck

>You glance between the readout of the new ship and the "situation" Spartan Emily is sharing to you from inside the battlecruiser

>By accident, you broadcast the pirates' panicked screams to the bridge crew for several seconds

>Awkward silence follows for several minutes while you wait for the Alliance ship to hail you

 

>When the communications officer announces an incoming hail, you feel relief despite the significance of the upcoming dialogue

>You have the new radio channel set to a console off to the side, facing the purple curving wall of the bridge

>It is set to audio only for now, but if they want a face-to-face talk, then you have agreed that this new batch of humans were to see as little as possible for the initial contact

 

>When you open the channel, you hear somepony with a deep male voice

>They were just speaking ponish, so at least there's that

>You take a silent breath and recite the speech you had made up mere minutes ago,

"Alliance vessel, this is Captain Mizzen of Their Majesties' Ship Nocturnal. We have come here to retrieve a citizen lost to us that we have tracked to this world. According to a source, said pony was treated well by the colonists. We are grateful for their hospitality and regret we could not have arrived sooner. We engaged the fleet of Batarian slavers upon arrival, but we were unable to prevent the ship that abducted our citizen and dozens of your colonists from escaping. We are currently extracting information from the survivors of our fight, and will share with you whatever we might learn. Once we know where the ship is going, we will capture it, rescue all aboard, and bring them home. Are you willing to join us in that endeavor?"

>You take slow, deep breaths as you wait for a response

>For an ad hoc greeting, that was alright

>You had decades of sailing the high seas and dealing with all manner of groups on your own

 

>After some time, the message crosses the distance and arrives at the lone human ship

>After some more time, the deep voice answers,

>"This is Captain Anderson of the ess-ess-vee Normandy. I greet you, Captain Mizzen, and relay to you the thanks of the colonists of New Canton. Your intervention had cut the raid short and saved many human lives. Under the circumstances we can accept whatever information you find, but we are the vanguard of a flotilla and cannot leave this colony undefended until it arrives. Do you plan on leaving soon, Captain?"

>The answer comes easily enough after the hours of debate between you, Nightmare and Sean, Speaker, and the intel team,

"That depends on how fast we can extract information from the pirates and the nature of said information. I will inform you when we learn anything, Captain Anderson."

>"Very well, Captain Mizzen."

 

>With a tentative connection established, you take a slow, silent breath before taking the next step

"With that all said, Captain Anderson, may the Nocturnal and Doppelganger approach New Canton so that we can conduct,"

>You make sure to pronounce the new word correctly,

"In-person negotiations? I understand that several other Equestrians were found around Citadel space. I have a team that wants to ask about them."

 

>Now with the request sent, you wait with a hint of nervousness in your chest that you haven't felt since your first days as a Captain

>The response comes after enough time for the Alliance Captain to have a discussion with somepony,

>"You may, Captain Mizzen. Can your team land in New Canton's main spaceport? My executive officer and the surviving colonial leadership will meet them there."

"Thank you, Captain Anderson."

>You allow yourself to take a long, drawn out breath in through your nose and out through your mouth

>This is going as well as it can

 

()()()

 

>You are Henri

>The final Batarian is dumped into his individual cell by Nightmare Moon

>The cell's translucent blue shield flickers on, and the smog coalesces into her true form in the center of the brig

>The room is kept dark, and only she and a few of the pony Marines are visible to the aliens

>Not that any of them want to look at her, having retreated to the farthest corners

>She casts another spell, causing all of them to slowly lay down and fall into a deep sleep

>At a gesture from her you, Sean, and Sour Dough walk into the brig from the single doorway

 

>Sean walks over to the farthest cell and stares at the prone figure behind the shield

>He asks Nightmare,

>"You think this one is an officer?"

>She walks to his side and nods,

>"He was the most collected."

>"We'll start with him, then."

>The two of them take a seat next to the cell and rest themselves against the flat purple wall

>You look to Nightmare, then the Batarian, then Sean,

"You're going to look into his dreams?"

>"At this point it'll be nightmares, but yeah. Better to be nightmares; less likely for them to get lucid and start actively resisting."

>He shakes his head before looking back up at you,

>"This might take a while, Henri. We'll let you know when we find something."

>You nod and turn to leave, but stop and look to Sour Dough

"You want to come up to the bridge, specialist?"

>The stallion shakes his head,

>"I'll stay and forward anything to the rest of the intel team. Gotta make sure Sepia stays in the loop."

>You take one last look at Sean and Nightmare Moon resting right next to each other

>Any closer and her head would be resting on his shoulder

>You turn and leave

 

()()()

 

>You are Sean B094

>Heights are this guy's deepest fear

>Not the strangest one you've encountered, even with his profession in mind

>Most ships don't have windows, and even the freefall sensation of null-gravity can mean nothing when you're safe inside of a ship

>That's why Nightmare set up an intricate pattern of floating platforms high enough to take in the curvature of a fictional planet

>An eclipsed sun is positioned just so that the extensive mountain ranges around the edges of the eclipse's projection are contrasted by their shadows

>No wind or other nonsensical ambiance is needed

>The sight of the planet below with no safe ship to hold on to is keeping him immersed

>He's practically crawling along the narrow nondescript platforms, forced to look down whenever he reaches the end of one and has to bridge himself over to the next

>The only reason he is moving at all is due to you gliding after him

>He occasionally turns his head far enough to see your form out of the corner of his eyes

>It's not your human form in SPI armor

>At some point in the past, this Batarian came across a documentary on similar animal species found across the galaxy

>Certain sharks from earth seem to have unnerved him

>So now you are a dull-eyed great white, cruising through the air to occupy his dreaming mind while Nightmare Moon sifts through his memories

 

>Bringing up memories can affect the dream, so you don't mind when the planet starts to change colors and landmasses

>Your Batarian doesn't notice as he's too busy trying not to lose himself as he stretches across a particularly large gap

>His feet lose their grip and he claws at the other side, letting out a scream as his legs swing underneath him

>One panicked glance around to you motivates him to pull himself up and keep crawling

>But once he rises to his hands and knees you notice that he's cradling something in one arm

>It's Sweetie Bell, or at least an imitation of her

>And it's her as a filly with a blank flank, not the young mare she is today

>It has no expression and is limp like a doll, yet you're intrigued

>How does he, a pirate who wasn't down on the ground, know of the pony they had just abducted?

>Could they have known of her beforehand?

>You couldn't directly access the ship, so you don't know if they had pictures

>Unlikely

>Or perhaps they were briefed on her by someone

>Perhaps this wasn't an opportunistic raid

 

>You swim through the thin air closer to the pirate officer, making him stand up onto his feet

>Nightmare's search has the planet's atmosphere and the position of the stars changing rapidly

>You have to keep him focused on getting away from you

>You force him to start running, the unicorn doll held in his arms like a rugby ball

>He leaps over gaps now, barely taking time to look at you

>You change things up by ducking under the platforms around him

>Your dorsal fin drifting through the pattern makes him hyperventilate as he tries to get away

>No, not get away, but get to something

>Someone

 

>That someone is a ways away, clad in the universal vacuum rated armor of this galaxy

>Behind him is a projection of a binary star system with three baked rocks and a gas giant orbiting around it

>You note that system and look back at the man's armor

>It's jet black with a tinted visor

>The only adornment in the armor is a small pink crystal embedded in the sternum

>You freeze

>The pirate keeps running towards the man, galvanized all of a sudden

>After a series of risky leaps, he hurls the doll of Sweetie Bell at the figure, shouting in his language that easily translates to,

>"You want her? You can have her!"

>The momentum of the throw causes him to stumble towards a void in the platforms

>He doesn't jump, but lets his legs give out and he falls down to the planet below

>The three of you look to see the doll hit the man

>They both explode into a pink inverted pentagram that engulfs the sky

>The music blasts into your ears

 

>You're standing before you realize you're awake

>"Sean?!"

>You snap your head down at Sour Dough, fists shaking

>He stiffens up

>"Are-are you alright?"

>You take a deep breath and relax your hands

>Sour glares at something behind you

>You turn

>Nightmare Moon is still laying against the wall with her eyes closed

>Her horn is still lit an eerie cyan

>Now you relax fully

>You look at the prone pirate in his cell

"Open it."

>The marine by the cell door controls gives you a worried look

>"Sir?"

"I need to check something."

>The marine hesitates, but complies and deactivates the cell's shield

>You walk in with Sour Dough right behind you

>You stoop over the Batarian and examine his clammy forehead

>He shivers and mumbles, but doesn't wake up

>Nothing

>When you take out your knife you hear you brother-in-law whisper alarmingly,

>"Sean, what are you doing?"

>You answer in monotone,

"Checking for marks."

>You slice down the front of his leather vest and pull both it and his undershirt open

>His mottled sternum is bare

>No brands, no tattoos

>You sheath your knife and step back out of the cell

>When the shield is reactivated, you look to the marines posted here

"We need to check all of them.'

>Sour asks,

>"For marks?"

"Yes. For a specific one."

 

()()()

 

>You are Nightmare Moon

>Two hours after your interrogation of the slavers, you and two others are being shuttled down to the colony

>On your left is Sour Dough

>Spy for Equestria, brother to many, father of one with another on the way

>Compared to Sean's earliest memories of him, you are glad that his potential is being realized

>There is, however, the problem of his suspicion towards you

>Understandable with your reputation and how he learned of your relationship with Sean and Luna

>Gaining trust will take time

>On your right is Sepia

>Celestia's former secretary and, if her testimony is correct, the very first casualty of the prophet's invasion

>She never saw it coming, and did not have a pleasant time in the world she was shunted into

>You're surprised at how quickly she had picked herself back up and volunteered for this mission

>Her old position was filled already, yes, but to turn around and risk herself again is quite the show of spirit

>You guess it's because she was able to chose the challenging adventure this time

 

>Shal announces imminent landing and there is the slightest of tilts in the Phantom

>The three of you do a final check on your "uniforms," which are just matching black business suits

>Sepia and Sour had to borrow a couple from the ship's wardrobe (the Captain holds quite the collection) while you simply apply your shapeshifting abilities

>Perhaps it looks silly, but perhaps it looks more civilized and ordered that just your fur coats

>When the side ramp opens, a rush of cool air flows into the cabin, along with an unsettling smell of acid and burning filth

>This universe has its own spin to it, but you easily recognize the smell of a battle's aftermath in the wind

>The three of you also regret not having sunshades

>The afternoon sun has not yet dipped below the blocky prefab buildings surrounding the smaller landing pad

>As your eyes adjust, a small cluster of humans moves from the front of the Phantom over to the side ramp

>A couple of them are wearing white two-piece suits

>One is limping in damaged tan armor that was hastily cleaned

>The last three are in pristine black armor, wearing open-faced helmets

>One has a red stripe running down one side and has a small white 'N7' stenciled over his breast, which denotes him one of humanity's best soldiers in this galaxy

>His face looks familiar

 

>You all step down and onto the weathered pseudo-concrete

>You step forward and bow briefly to the group, black wings out,

>You hide your razor teeth as you try to be as formal as you can,

"Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for allowing us to discuss matters in person."

>The N7 nods politely,

>"We all wish it was under better circumstances, ma'am."

>That voice adds to the face,

>You first introduce yourself, then you introduce Sepia and Sour Dough as your assistant and liaison to the Equestrian Marines respectively

>The colony leaders introduce themselves

>The N7 is the last to speak,

>"I'm Commander Shepard, Executive Officer of the ess-ess-vee Normandy. These two are Lieutenant Alenko and Private Jenkins."

>You take a slow breath to keep a calm look on your face

>Sean's memories flow against your concentration, threatening to break it

>You try to shove it all aside as you keep the conversation moving

 

"I must first ask the leaders of this colony if there is any assistance we can provide to them. Are you able to cope with the casualties and damage you've sustained?"

>The man in battle-damaged armor gives a small bow

>His heavy French accent would have made his answer in English somewhat amusing, were it not for his injuries,

>"Thank you, ma'am. No. We can hold on until the rest of the Alliance arrives."

>John Shepard nods to the colonists

>"In the meantime, we can discuss the information your people 'extracted' from the Batarians, Miss Moon."

>He raises an arm and activates his omnitool, bringing up the report forwarded from his captain

>Just behind you, you hear Sepia inhale greedily

 

>The Commander displays a certain binary star system

>"We've identified the system your captain mentioned in her report. It's in the Terminus Systems, colloquially known as Bittoew. Most people in the Terminus use it as a refueling and heat-dump point. Using it as a meeting place makes sense if everyone is armed enough to fend off third parties."

>You nod,

"If what our prisoners tell us is true, then a second meeting will take place there."

>Commander Shepard brings up a galactic map, highlighting this system and Bittoew

>Even with a small screen, you can see clearly the slice of the Skylian Verge and some of the Terminus Systems sitting between here and there

>"With just one surviving escort, they won't risk getting caught by even one Alliance ship. They'll slowly snake their way up there, while we can take a direct route."

>You're ears and brow rise

"Your captain will join us?"

>"He will, but we don't want to leave this colony undefended while it's been battered like this, even for just a day."

"Understandable. Do you know when the rest of your fleet will arrive?"

>The Commander turns off his omni tool

>"Thirteen hours. Another group was actually scheduled to come here next week, but then we got the distress call at Arcturus station and that group was unavailable, along with most of our other frigates."

>The colony's defender smiles ruefully,

>"Turnaround?"

>The Commander sighs and his fellow marines nod,

>"Yes. Unfortunate timing."

"Indeed."

 

>Nobody in your fleet would dare give the slavers such a lead, on top of the hours they already have

>At the same time, all of you have agreed that cooperating with the Systems Alliance and the Citadel Council would be for the best in the long run

>And you still need to link up with the ponies that were already found here

>A plan forms in your mind, but you don't like it

>Sean won't like it, but he'll understand

"Excuse me, but I must propose something to those in orbit."

>You look to your assistants,

"Can you confirm who else is in Citadel space?"

>They nod courteously,

>"Yes, ma'am."

>Both of them pull thick binders out of their smooth, form-fitting suits, perplexing the gathered humans

>Holding back a smile, you bow and turn to climb back into the Phantom's dark hold

>You knock on the hatch separating the cabin from the cockpit with a hoof

>It takes a suspiciously long time for your two pilots to open the hatch

>Long enough for you to look out and see Sour and Sepia cross referencing the ponies the Commander has on file with the most up to date list of Equestrians shunted or missing

>They are flipping through a lot of pages

>Shal opens the hatch and you catch his helmet hissing as it latches shut

>And there's a curious new smell as you step into the small space

>Something that's emanating from the copilot sitting stiffly in her seat and deliberately not meeting your questioning look

>Neither of them say anything as you approach the center console and connect comms to the Nocturnal

>Captain Mizzen answers and you get her up to speed as well as propose your plan

 

()()()

 

>You are Sean

>You join Aden and team Claymore on the command dais on Doppelganger’s bridge

>The changelings have managed to alter the color of the already dimmed lighting

>Now the dark purple and blue hull has a sickly green tint to it

>Speaker is talking with both Captain Mizzen and Nightmare Moon

>You've heard Nightmare's sitrep and her proposal on your way over

>Captain Mizzen and Speaker had voiced concerns which were worked out

>You had stayed silent as you walked

>Now all of your fellow Spartans step aside so you can make your way to Speaker

>He has a wide hologram feed of both Nocturnal's command deck and the Phantom's cockpit

 

>Everyone looks to you as you stop across from Nightmare

>"What do you think, Sean?"

>Despite the fact that the two of you are just looking at an image of each other, you feel something cold form in the back of your head

>It doesn't make you spine crawl, but instead calms you as would a rogue cool breeze in a hot cave

>You're glad for the sensation, because your head is overheating

>Her plan, on its own, shouldn't be a problem

>But with you, and with what's possibly waiting at the end of this chase, you're more than unsure now

>There's a horrible tightness in your chest

>You're willing to admit to yourself that you're afraid

>Then you look over at your fellow Spartans

>You can't see their faces behind their golden visors, but instead see how they stand close with you and beside you

>All of them trust you and you trust all of them

 

>You look back at Nightmare and nod,

"It's daring, but we can do it."

>Kaleb throws out,

>"We can do daring."

>Captain Mizzen coughs to hide a chuckle

 

>Nightmare Moon interjects, her attention still on you,

>"Then I will inform the Normandy's ex-oh, Commander Shepard, of our plan."

>She pats Shal and his copilot's shoulders, both of whom have been sitting there stiffly this whole time, and leaves the Phantom with you wondering about that name

>Shepard

>You knew a Shepard from when you were here before

 

()()()

 

>You are Captain Mizzen

>Several minutes later and you're speaking to Captain Anderson through a video link

>Even though you have only seen young and augmented humans up close, you instantly recognize the captain as an older seadog

>Not as old and sore in the joints as you, perhaps

>You can't help but feel some jealousy

>Still, he is more cordial to you now than when the two of you were just talking

"I look forward to seeing what the Normandy can do."

>"Likewise with Nocturnal, captain. Though,"

>Anderson frowns,

>"I haven't spoken with the captain of Doppelganger. Is there a good reason for that?"

>You sigh,

"Doppelganger's acting captain is not a pony, Captain Anderson. He and those crewing the battlecruiser are what we call changelings. They look like bug ponies, but they are a completely different species. All of them are subservient to their Queen, who we have come to learn is also held captive by Batarian slavers. We've reached a tentative agreement to work together to rescue her. I don't trust them, but we have insurance should they go rogue."

>"That being?"

>This is another part of this deployment that you don't like, but understand

>It is confusing enough for this galaxy to have colorful ponies that speak a human language and mirror human cultures suddenly appear

>It would be even more confounding to learn that humans from another firmament are riding along with more ponies that are crewing ships made by another alien species

>Sean gave several examples where him being truthful about his origins led to trouble that threatened not only himself, but the very firmaments that he was in

>You yourself pointed out that if the ponies already here knew him or Jane, they would surely have talked about them and rendered any secrecy moot

>But Sean argued discretion regardless, so you agreed to not mention the Spartans directly if no one from here brings them up

"Specialists. They know how to deal with changelings, and we're keeping them onboard Doppleganger at all times. They can operate the battlecruiser, locked in the bridge, by themselves if they have to. It shouldn't come to that."

>The frown comes again

>The possibility of the battlecruiser parked right next to his comparatively tiny frigate doesn't sit well with the captain

"Trust me, Captain Anderson, all the changelings want right now is to get their Queen back. They understand that working with us will get them to their Queen. Once that happens, we'll gain complete ownership of the Doppleganger."

>"And you have those specialists in place should the changelings refuse to give up the ship?"

>You nod with confidence,

"Correct, captain. One way or another. And I hope it will be the start of a productive partnership."

>He takes a deep breath, then nods reluctantly

>"Very well, Captain Mizzen. When will you leave?"

"I have one more personal transfer happening right now. Once that is complete, we'll depart and see who can get to Bittoew first."

 

()()()

 

>You are Sean

>You, Aden, and the other half of the platoon are waiting for the Phantom to return to the Doppleganger

>Hitomi is here too, but she's not coming with you

>She's here getting as much information out of you as possible about her new omni-tool and its functions

>Nightmare Moon came up in the Phantom with several, donated by the colonists of New Canton

>Sour and Sepia, staying on the planet, have theirs already

>It only takes a few minutes to form her own encryption key, connect Hitomi with the local network, and contact them

>Sour's voice is scratchy from the encryption process, but you hear each other clearly enough

>Hitomi reminds Sour to record and collect as much as he can on his trip into Citadel space

>He says that he'll acquire a cargo ship packed with full data servers just for her

>She hesitates long enough for you to butt in, telling him that his special talent may be covert operations, which includes intelligence gathering, but right now he is a marine ordered to safeguard the diplomatic team

>He acknowledges and Hitomi disconnects

>You notice her head drooping down

"Don't expect him to actually get you a ship of Alexandria."

>She crooks her head up at you, sidelong, then shrugs

>"I know. Jane would probably kill us both if he did."

>You let her comment go for a few seconds, then smile wickedly,

"Ya know, back in the old days stallions did wed multiple mares."

>Her helmet snaps back up to look at you squarely

>You match her glare, hips aside with your knuckles resting on them

>Even a non-Spartan can picture your cheeky smile

>"Shut up."

>Hitomi finally turns sharply away

>You cheerfully tell her,

"You'll have to talk to Jane about it, first, then wait a few years."

>"Shut up. You're as bad as Kaleb."

>She restrains herself enough to not stomp as she walks out of the hangar

>Which means she'll no longer bother you about the omni-tool

>You're fine with that, too

>She's a smart enough girl to figure it out on her own

 

>The Phantom arrives and the rest of you board

>You and Aden stand next to Nightmare Moon silently as the ramp closes

>With your backs to the hull and the cabin darkened, no one notices a trail of smog that snakes out of Nightmare's tail, hugging her leg down to the floor and crossing over to yours

>You sense the tendril race up your body and stop at the back of your helmet

>Defying reality, Nightmare Moon's essence phases through the titanium alloy armor and into the back of your skull

>An icy chill that reminds you of a late October's night fills your head as her thoughts mingle with yours

>Memories of your first time merging, violent and painful, flash through your conscious

>Both of you concentrate as your inner voices speak,

>”Your old friend has moved up in the world.”

>Her most recent memories flash through your mind

“Commander? N7? He certainly didn’t rest on his laurels after Elysium.”

>”And he now the XO of a ship you’ve never seen in your time here.”

“It’s a damn shame I can’t reveal myself. Maybe after we rescue Sweetie Bell and Chrysalis.”

>”As long as you refrain from causing too much panic and I am suddenly asked many more questions.”

“Yeah, a friend coming back from the dead tends to do that.”

>”Will you suffer being without me for this long?”

>You take a deep breath

>There are doubts

>Another cool breeze flows through your head and down your spine

>”You are yourself again, Sean, and you won’t be alone this time. I know you will succeed.”

>You smile

“And I trust you not to scare the living daylights out of every leader you meet.”

>A quick glance into your imaginings makes her chuckle out loud

>”Only you can jest and yet be sincere too.”

“Only for you, Nightmare Moon.”

>You enjoy the cool breeze again

 

>When the Phantom lands in Nocturnal’s hangar again, you all disembark

>You and Nightmare walk over to the still open bay door

>Shal asks over comms,

>”Miss Nightmare Moon, do you need to be shuttled back down to the planet?”

>”There will be no need, Ranger. Thank you.”

>When you reach the edge, you both stop and turn to each other

>You suddenly want to do many things, even in public

>She hesitates too, but then snorts and smiles at you

>”We both know this is not a final goodbye.”

>You nod, then resist looking over to see if anybody is watching

>Instead, you step toward her and bend down

>Her long horn clinks against your visor as she presses her forehead to your helmet

>You tell her in a low voice,

“In case it’s a long time until we meet again,”

>There are words you really want to say, but you think of Luna and keep them inside,

“I’ll keep dreaming, Moony.”

>She sighs, then smiles sadly,

>”And I will find them, my little Spartan.”

>She steps back and with a beat of her wings she throws herself through the shield

>You stand up as she turns back to face you and spreads her wings to their full span

>She starts to slide down as she drifts away, but before she escapes your view from the hangar, she dissolves into sparkling black smog and rockets down towards thicker atmosphere

>You finally turn to find Aden standing next to you

>”She’s quite the showoff.”

>You nod

“You should have seen her when we hijacked a Scarab and dropped it onto Ponyville.”

>Your chest flutters as you remember her on the exposed top deck, roaring with laughter as she shields the walking mining platform from incoming plasma rounds while you direct its weapons against the reinforcing armor column

>Aden looks at you

>”Is that why you’re so smitten with her?”

>You shrug

“Partially.”

>The deck rumbles as the hangar’s blast door slides over the shield

“She’s also a part of Princess Luna. Only now she’s her own complete person.”

>”How did that come about?”

>The blast door seals shut, and you lead your brother towards the crew quarters

“We’ve got time now. I’ll need it, ‘cause it’s a long story that starts a thousand years ago.”

 

()()()

 

>You are Nightmare Moon

>True to Commander Shepard's word, the Alliance reinforcements arrive on time and in force

>Properly warned and appraised of the situation, the wolfpack of frigates park themselves in orbit at a respectful distance from Doppelganger

>As several shuttles enter the evening atmosphere, you wait by the central landing pad, not far from the home you were granted a planetside night in

>Sour and Sepia are inside, busy with a trio of travel packs they had brought with them

 

>A small crowd of colonists surround you by the pad

>They are the latest ones who had found enough free time to see you

>Most only wish to simply greet you and your companions

>Quite a few ask questions

>It seems that Sweetie Bell had answered many questions about Equestria already during her stay here

>She had also told them about what had happened just before she was shunted, though it was obvious from the sympathetic looks the colonists gave as they spoke that the young mare had great trouble talking about it

>There is no mention of the Spartans, so you endure to keep it that way

>You answer the follow-up questions of, "How is Equestria now?" with,

"We have defeated the Covenant and they are on the run. We are now rebuilding and searching for those lost."

>You skirt around the concept of "shunting" with vagaries or the simple reply of,

"We do not fully understand it yet."

>Your diplomatic tone, or "politics talk" that your big ears catch from a distance, makes some of the older colonist suspicious

>You don't mind that too much, if it means that they'll stop asking blunt questions that might reveal the "other" humans

>Instead they knock you off balance by suddenly asking questions about yourself

 

>During the invasion all of the ponies, from the children to Celestia herself, saw you as the boogiemare who had come back to play her role in the apocalypse

>After the prophet was chased away, the ponies avoided any talk that wasn't absolutely necessary with you and never alone

>But now you are at the exact center of attention from strangers who will not hold back their curiosity

>You answer many of the same questions Sean had asked you over a year ago, during the first quiet nights after the two of you stopped fighting for dominance over his body

>Back then you were weary about questions concerning yourself, for you did not know many of the answers

>But Sean was patient and surprisingly insightful if given time to think

>You keep catching yourself wanting to talk about him in your answers

 

>At last squat and boxy shuttles arrive, spreading throughout the raided town

>Three of them land on the pad next to you

>Their side doors hinge up and Alliance marines in blue and white armor fan out

>Behind them are naval personnel offloading large crates borne by hovering carts and dollies

>The crowd parts for an Alliance officer, who asks if you are Nightmare Moon

>You stare at him for a long moment before you give him an affirmation

>You talk to the colonists one more time, accepting thanks meant for Captain Mizzen and her crew

>So suddenly busy are you that you do not notice the young girl until she is right next to you

>When your cat's eyes snap down to her she clutches her hands together above her chest, but she does not shrink back

>Instead she asks you with sincere wonder,

>"Why is your hair like that?"

>Sean never asked that

>You run through his memories to see if he asked Luna or Celestia about their ever-flowing manes

>It turns out he thought about asking Luna many times, but expected that asking about it was a faux-pas

>Sean thought it equivalent to asking her how old she was

>Or how much she weighed

>You give the little girl your best guess with a smile,

"Magic given long ago."

>She accepts that begrudgingly

>Out of the corner of your eye, you see several colonists recording you with their omni-tools

>They've been doing that ever since you returned to the surface

>You perhaps should be concerned, but you and Sean had surmised well beforehand that, no matter how you try to act, your presence is going to throw plenty of people into a speculating frenzy

 

>Your two companions emerge from the prefab house with the packs, and you all follow the officer to one of the shuttles

 

>The trip up to the chauffeuring frigate is a lot more rough than Shal would permit in his Phantom

>It's made up for by the proper reception after the shuttle lands in the leading frigate's single cramped hangar

>The ship's few remaining marines form flanking rows from the shuttle's opening door to two men in dress uniforms

>The captain of the flagship and the admiral of the scout group

>It’s obvious from his first sentence that the admiral is not happy about this arrangement

>But it appears that Captain Anderson’s message went right up the chain of command

>Now this frigate will expedite the three of you to Arcturus Station, this humanity’s hub for their naval power

>The admiral, again, states his displeasure at having his ships act as “little cruise liners,” but orders are orders

>At least the ship’s captain is indifferent towards it all

>After an exchange of salutes between him and the captain, the admiral leaves in the same shuttle you had arrived in to command his fleet from another frigate, leaving the captain to lead you all to where you will stay for the trip

 

>From Sean's memories, the relatively small Alliance warship only has a couple of state rooms

>One of them is the captain's quarters

>The other has been furnished with beds that are a step above the upright sleeping pods stuffed into one corridor of most warships

>You let Sepia and Sour choose their beds and set their packs down before claiming yours

>As soon as you are done exchanging departing pleasantries with the captain and he lets the hatch close, Sepia jumps onto the bed and opens her omni-tool

>You watch her resume browsing through the library she had downloaded from the colony's database

>Sour rechecks his pack, then looks around the small room slowly

>"I have to admit: I like the Covenant ship interiors more."

>Sepia is too engrossed in her reading to reply

"How so?"

>He gestures to the angular corners of the room

>"The ships we got are a lot smoother than this."

>Sour rises on his hind legs and pushes his forelegs into the padded bed built into the wall

>"They've installed actual beds, so they have one up on us in that."

>He thinks for a moment, then looks into the corners again

>He flicks his ears deliberately

>To those who don't live around ponies, that could have been just a tick in his muscles

>For you, the spy was indicating something about hearing

>Your first thought is listening devices

>"I wonder how their food is."

>When he finally looks to you, you shrug

"I am confident that they have done their due diligence."

>Sour glares up at the ceiling for another moment, before he hops up onto his bed and sits facing the hatch

 

>You look to Sepia

"What have you been given regarding our people?"

>The former secretary opens another orange holographic window above her raised foreleg

>Sitting upright, she uses her free hoof to scroll through a stack of profiles

>You see the mirrored images of ponies as she lists their names and where they were from

>Most from Manehattan, some from Ponyville, a few from the borders

>"They've been gathered at The Citadel, which seems to be a space station where this Citadel Council governs civilized space from."

>So far Sean's memories from his time here are still correct, but you all have to appear ignorant and let Sepia play her role in explaining the politics of this galaxy

>You ask her,

"Is the Systems Alliance subservient to the Citadel Council?"

>Sepia shakes her head as she continues speed-reading the omni-tool's codex,

>"They're an associate member with their own embassy on the Citadel, but from the few 'extranet' articles I've read humanity is looking to gain a 'Council Seat' of which there are only three."

"And who occupies those seats?"

>"The three dominant species of most of the galaxy: Asari, Salarians, and Turians. I'll need to read up more on them."

>You smile as Sepia's gaze narrows in concentration

>She's in the same flow as she would be briefing Celestia

>The diarch, well over a thousand years old, was well past needing her secretary to show strict respect to the crown

>But you are not Celestia

>Sepia realizes that and looks to you with an apology ready

>You cut it off with a raised hoof and a smile,

"You are doing well, Sepia. I am merely an ambassador."

 

>An ambassador who relishes in directing nightmares, while utilizing a beloved stagehand whom Sangheli warrior zealots had dubbed, "Demon"

>You long for his presence already, and the first dream meeting is still days away

 

()()()

 

>You are Sean

>Days of travel and speculation pass, ending in anticlimax

>The Nocturnal beats the Normandy to Bitteow by only a few hours

>It doesn't matter since it was immediately apparent upon your arrival that the slaver ship won the race by several hours

>There is no boasting or even an acknowledgment by either ship

>The prototype Alliance frigate simply arrives to see your corvette picking through a corpse-littered field well after a battle

>"It's more of a slaughter than a battle," is what Captain Mizzen has to say about it to Captain Anderson, "The ships we can identify sport the same markings as the pirates. The worst part is this,"

>She points out the ship drifting some distance away from the jump point both of you had used to get here

>The Nocturnal is staying close to it, but staying well away from the expanding cloud of debris that used to be its engines

>"This is our quarry. It appears that it was waylaid the moment it got here."

>Captain Anderson's aging face creases in thought,

>"Was there anyone left onboard?"

>Captain Mizzen shakes her head,

>"We only found one frozen Batarain corpse in the pilot's seat."

>She pauses, then glances over at you

>You turn from your screen and give her a nod

>"We managed to capture what it looks like inside."

>She displays the pictures you took yourself

>You don't look at them, since you were staring at them for way too long already

>Instead you gauge Captain Anderson's reaction while he can only see Captain Mizzen

>He recognizes the section of the old cargo ship's bow where the helm is located

>It was blown open from directed explosives

>If the backblast did not kill him, the explosive decompression would have

>The assumed captain of the ship was not floating in space because he was tied to the sturdy pilot's seat by his limbs, head, and pelvis

>The whole room was lit up by a single source of pink light

 

>You watch as the old captain sighs

>But then he stops and looks closer

>He then sees what you had saw and groans

>He pinches the bridge of his nose and thinks for a long time

>Not a good sign

>When he speaks again, he asks,

>"Captain Mizzen, do you recognize what is embedded in his chest?"

>The ancient mare glances at you before answering,

>"The files you gave us pointed towards a group within the Terminus Systems: the Devil's Hand."

>The human captain nods,

>"If the slaver ship has any surviving records of its final moments, then we need to access them. In the meantime I need to contact Arcturus station to get authoriza-"

>Anderson stops when someone speaks to him off-screen

>The voice is distant enough that the captain's microphone cannot make out the words, but you recognize the deep bass of a Turian speaking

>Why is a Turian onboard a Systems Alliance ship?

>The captain mutes himself for a quick exchange between him and the unseen Turian

>You and Captain Mizzen look at each other

>She asks a silent question, to which you shrug

>You freeze mid-shrug when Anderson unmutes himself

>"Captain Mizzen, allow me to introduce you to Spectre Nihlus."

 

>A Spectre

>Lovely

>You cannot stop yourself from palming your helmet

>You drag your hand down over your face as you look up at the bridge's ceiling

>A new voice makes you look back down at the screen

>You have met plenty of Turians during your jaunt through this galaxy

>Avian, like your galaxy's Jackals, but the similarities end there

>They're more dinosaur than bird

>Due to their home world being hit with more ultraviolet radiation, they evolved to have a relatively hard outer layer much thicker than a human's soft skin

>Instead of long, toothy beaks and hairy limbs like the Jackals, Turians have flat faces with plates of hard cartilage

>Dense limbs with three-fingered hands and digitigrade legs

>You have never seen their bare torsos, but you can imagine rounded plates covering a robust body

>It pairs well with their militaristic society, all about duty and commitment to the preservation of civilization

>This Turian's cartilage is a deep red, with beige face paint applied in a symmetrical pattern that denotes his colony of origin

>His beady eyes sport solid gold irises

>His "nose" is a layering of segmented plates

>Two flanges flank his angular, lipless mouth

>Those flanges that attach to the back of his jaw remind you of an Elite's mandibles that make up their split jaw, only these are much thinner

>More decorative and used for expression

>When he speaks, his deep voice reverberates

>"Captain Mizzen, I am Nihlus. Do you know what a Spectre is?"

>The old mare glances at your frustrated posture before answering cautiously,

>"Vaguely; an enforcement arm that answers only to the Citadel Council themselves. Very broad and overriding authority, at least from what little I read."

>Nihlus nods,

>"Correct. I'm here due to the nature of the Normandy's construction, among other things."

>His face is unreadable, but the tone of his voice remains cordial, professional

>"Now that there is direct evidence that the Devil's Hand is involved, I think it is prudent of me to participate actively in this deployment. Me and a number of my colleagues have standing orders to destroy the Devil's Hand."

>Captain Mizzen raises an eyebrow

>"And how can you assist us, Spectre Nihlus?"

>"Information."

>The Turian activates his omni-tool and sends a file over to Captain Anderson, who projects it onto the screen

 

>Nihlus narrates,

>"Ever since the Devil's Hand became active in Citadel Space a year ago, we have collected a few key pieces of information about it. At first we thought it was merely another cartel that was expanding its scope of operations outside the Terminus Systems."

>The screen showed the galaxy, with blue Citadel Space covering most of the "southwest" third of the galaxy, with a bright white dot in the center of it denoting the Citadel itself

>The "western" third of the galaxy, the Skylian Verge, has a spattering of blue Systems Alliance colonies

>And the "northern" half of the galaxy is painted orange as the Terminus Systems

>A faint pink spot expands from one point in the northwest quadrant, encroaching into Citadel Space

>"But when one Spectre went missing, and then another, the Council took interest in the coincidence of their last investigations taking place in this new sphere of influence."

>More faint pink spots turn into blobs and expand closer to the Citadel, before being stopped and surrounded by dark blue blocks

>"Normally Spectres work alone, but this time was an exception. At first, some of us attempted to infiltrate the Devil's Hand."

>Several bright blue dots went from the blocks into the pink areas, but were either repelled or snuffed out

>"Which proved to be costly. From those failures we learned that the Devil's Hand functions more as a cult than a cartel. Past the middlemen and useful idiots are devotees that can act as independently or collectively as needed."

>The dark blue blocks start breaking up the pink blotches, reducing them down to singular dots that are surrounded

>"When we began to destroy each cell, one by one, we captured several members and began learning much more about the Devil's Hand."

>A pause

>More of the pink spaces were extinguished, but then others pop up around Citadel Space

>"The galaxy is no stranger to cults. However, the Devil's Hand is a rare breed. Most cults start off with a genuine and positive goal, before being corrupted or hijacked by malicious individuals. What we have here,"

>A few pink dots pop up the Terminus Systems, their influence spreading

>"Is a cult built up with the explicit purpose of utilizing life's darkest urges to bring about the destruction of all civilization."

>Captain Mizzen glances sidelong at you

>You nod slowly in agreement with Nihlus's findings

 

>The ancient captain sighs, then looks again at the galactic map for a long time

>"We need to find everyone soon."

>"Indeed, Captain, which is why,"

>The easternmost pink dot within the Terminus Systems is highlighted

>"I am taking responsibility for our next move against this known site."

>Captain Mizzen realizes where the site is and superimposes your current position on the galactic map

>Not even a day away

>Mizzen's next question is your own,

>"What is known about this site?"

>The map is replaced with blocky, holographic schematics as Nihlus explains

>"So far we have only correlated enough information to piece together what these sites within the Terminus Systems consist of, all of which appear to be very similar to each other."

>On a flat plane, the hologram forms skyscrapers that cluster into a standalone city block surrounded by tall walls

>"They are, for the most part, self-sufficient colonies whose only connection to the outside galaxy is a patrolling fleet and discreet courier system."

 

>The shape of those building are too familiar to you

>The tallest one in the center has no windows and is blank due to the restricted graphics, but you know what icon is built into its sides

>You close your eyes and take a deep breath

>You still see them floating in your vision

>A gloved hand gently grips your shoulder

>You look to see Aden standing by you

>He gives you a small nod

>You breathe deeply again and nod back

>Whatever you find in that place, you're going in there on your terms and not alone

>Well, not with Nightmare Moon

>God, you miss her terribly

>At least your first dream meeting is soon

>You have a lot to talk about

 

()()()

 

>You are Nightmare Moon

>Arcturus Station's silhouette of stacked disks and conical spires is long gone

>This humanity's largest station, while indeed impressive, is simply a hub; a nexus for the fleet

>One large station that can service several dozen capital ships at once is picturesque

>You prefer a network of smaller shipyards, with independent defense platforms sporting mass accelerator cannons spread throughout

>You smile, because you know that preference is purely Sean's influence

>Of course, you kept that all to yourself as you met with several Alliance officers on board

>More faces and names to file away, likely to never be seen again

>More conversations that you have had many times again and again

>Comparing Sean's memories with the current situation kept you attentive

 

>For instance: there are more aliens present now, most of whom are representatives of the Citadel Council

>Talks with them was were things became interesting

>Apparently your team was already booked for an express flight to the Citadel the next day, where you would be seen to your Equestrian nationals before meeting the Council itself

>That certainly sped things along

>After a small ceremony with Alliance brass to mark the beginning of a friendship between this humanity and Equestria, you and your companions are on their way to the Serphent Nebulae and the Citadel

 

>"Miss Nightmare Moon?"

>You look over at Sepia in her separate seat, which was tailored to accommodate quadrupeds comfortably

>Given the not-insignificant amount of non-humanoid species in Council space, having special seats ready makes sense

>Your assigned secretary pauses for a moment before saying,

>"I was thinking about that ceremony before we left."

>You tap your saddlebag laid before you, feeling the silver and gold olive branch you intend to deliver to Celestia

"Yes, what of it?"

>"After we rescue everypony here, are we just going to, well, leave?"

>You do not mind showing confusion on your face,

"What do you mean?"

>"When-"

>She stops and thinks it through

>You yourself start to remember conversations with Sean

>"I know we're not in a position to establish a colony or anything of the sort now, but when we get everypony back, not just from here, would it be wise to at least keep talking with these people?"

"Ah."

>Now you answer with what you and Sean brainstormed long ago,

"Perhaps. There are boons and risks to such a connection."

>"Risks?"

>You nod,

"It's not so apparent since we are forming a bond with civilized people, but think of the invasion."

>Out of the corner of your eye, you see Sour's ears flatten for a moment

>Sepia looks out the thin panoramic windows at the system's star

>"I see."

"Every venture comes with risk, of course. I'm not saying that this humanity will suddenly invade us, but to keep a connection here is to expose ourselves to an entire galaxy, with its trillions of actors both good and bad."

>Sepia thinks about that,

>"Didn't the prophet's ships have special engines?"

"Yes, and that's the caveat. I don't believe the technology here is capable of sending one of their ships to Equestria, so we have control there. Once we secure our home, having diplomatic relations with this galaxy could be fruitful."

>You join Sepia in looking out at the lone star

"But that is a long time from now. We will answer that question when we are ready. Until then, let us see to it that our ponies come home."

 

>First thing's first: reaching the Citadel with this final mass relay transit

 

>Ahead of the courier ship, at the end of a long queue, is one point in a network of mass relays that allows faster-than-light travel throughout this galaxy

>Leftovers from a galaxy-spanning empire that fell over fifty thousand years ago

>Hundreds have been found, almost all functional, and some might still be hidden

>When it is your ship's turn, it approaches what looks to you like a tuning fork fifteen kilometers long, half as long as a Covenant supercarrier

>Actually, taking in the shape, it reminds you of the two-pronged energy sword used by the Elites

>Long and thin beams made out of gray alien metal, pointing into the void towards its twin

>At the other end of the relay, where your ship maneuvers to be parallel to, the beams bulge outwards then meet to form a "C" shape

>In the center of that, three colossal gimbals, the largest being five kilometers in diameter, spin around a ball of white-blue energy

>At the speed the gimbals are spinning, even a glancing blow would obliterate your tiny diplomatic shuttle

>Long before you get too close, a connection between the courier ship's tiny mass effect drive and the mass relay is established

>Energy in the form of lighting leaps from the center of the gimbals and surrounds the ship in a mass effect field

>In an instant the mass of the ship and everything in it approach zero

>The relay launches you forward

 

>In the next instant, you stop by the other mass relay thousands of light years away

>The main engines engage and you leave the exit area that is allocated for drift >In front of you is the heart of the Serphent Nebulae

>It will be some time before you reach the Citadel, hidden in the cloud of mauve dust that is light years wide

>Time enough to have a meeting

"Excuse me, but I must rest."

 

()()()

 

>The dark concrete tunnel is very familiar

>Faint moonlight bleeds through the edges of the precisely-laid slabs that make up the roof, giving off just enough light to see vague shapes

>You check you helmet-mounted-display and see gibberish being displayed

>You blink and realize this is a dream

>You blink again and switch between different modes on your visor

>More gibberish until it all disappears, save for a single word in blood red lettering,

>"Run"

>You smile and turn around with a twirl

>She's right behind you

>Only her head is visible, twice as big as you

>Her eyes are voids directed at you

>Buck teeth set perfectly in a manic smile

>Color drained to monochrome

>You move in an instant

 

>Boop

>Or you were going for a boop on her snoot

>She instead opens her mouth impossibly wide and lets you shove your whole arm inside the new abyss

>She chomps down with a chest-thudding clack of her teeth

>The two of you stand there motionless, staring at each other, waiting for the other to blink

>You feel nothing in your arm

>In fact, you start to feel a bubbling of excitement in your chest

>Staring into her blank black eyes, you find light deep within them

>Not from stars, but from singularities

>You try to discern what they're consuming to give off such light

 

>Nightmare Moon finally blinks, replacing voids with aquamarine cat's eyes

>All of her color returns

>She looks down at you with a half-lidded glare

>You respond with a cheeky smile

>She snorts and leans back, chewing on your arm

>You step back and look down at the comically clean cross section now in your bicep

>No pain, no blood

>You can feel the "phantom" of your arm, but Nightmare's dream logic is denying its use

>With one cheek full, she tells you,

>"We wish you would play along for a little while."

 

>With a deep sigh, you remember why you need to talk with her

"Not when someone's brought the war against machines here."

>She freezes, then shrinks to her real size

>Your arm returns to you and the tunnel is replaced by the surface of her moon

>She has you standing on the lip of a crater big enough to hide a Charon-class frigate

>The light of the sun is dimmed as it passes through the distant planet's atmosphere

>You find Nightmare Moon sitting on an artificial butte overlooking the crater

>"What have you found?"

>You tell her of the empty slaver ship drifting among the ruins of a destroyed pirate fleet

>You tell her how you found the Batarian captain dead in the ship’s pilot seat, a pink crystal shoved into his chest

>You tell her what Nihlus told you all

“The crystal was a calling card. These followers are in the overt stages.”

>”The Devil’s Hand was never mentioned to us during our time on Arcturus Station.”

“These people tend to not be discussed in public.”

>”Did they call themselves the Devil’s Hand in their original world?”

“That and many more. At least a dozen separate cells were being managed by The Computer.”

>”Do you have any ideas how followers of The Computer made their way to this galaxy?”

 

>You don’t answer immediately

>Instead, after taking several deep breaths, you say,

“Take control. Keep me from losing myself.”

>When Nightmare Moon nods, you let yourself remember the worst

>Despite being warned, she almost loses control right then

>The dim light from the partial eclipse turns pink

>She sees an inverted pentagram fill up the crater

>She sees your suddenly stiff form change

>Your armor is gone

>Parts of your skin disappear to reveal crude cybernetics

>She hears several digital voices speaking in a language no human can understand

>All the while, you are trying your best to remember just Its monologues

>Its taunts

>Its promises

>All directed at you: the most interesting human It has ever found

 

>When you find the line you were searching for, you let yourself remember the end

>That wonderful end

>The killing shot blasts out over the lunar surface

>Nightmare Moon snaps the scene back to her liking just in time to see you fall to your knees

>By the time she gets to you, you remember the next several years of freedom

>Seeing Luna again

>Keeping your horrible secret from her

>Meeting Claymore and then Nightmare Moon

>This last year

 

>This time, Nightmare Moon picks you up and wraps you in a tight embrace

>It takes a moment for you to hug her back

>Your terror subsides, then disappears when she pulls away just enough to look into your eyes

>She waits for your answer, when you blink back into lucidity

“It sent one.”

>The aquamarine cat’s eyes wait

“One to this galaxy.”

>The magnitude of it all pulls you away, but she takes your chin in her hoof and pulls you back to look only at her

“It gave them all of my memories. Used the fusion reactors it had to send them everywhere. One for each place I was in. Oh no.”

>Despite it being a dream, you start to hyperventilate

>Nightmare Moon pulls you even closer

>Her eyes brighten

>Her irises flare from her slit pupils like fire

>You can not look away

 

>”Here is what we will do, my little Spartan.”

>The scenery fades into nothingness as she speaks

>”We will find all of our ponies in this galaxy. We will bring all of them home. We will run through any who bar us. Then, we will find the one It has sent here and we will take our time with them.”

>A flurry of horrid images from those last words make you blurt out,

“No.”

>The flaming gems bore into you

>You relax, almost going limp

“Just stop him.”

>”Stop him?”

>The flames die down

“Stop him. We’ll figure out what to do then.”

>She blinks, her gaze lowering

>”Very well.”

>She starts to pull away

 

>Your hands on her shoulders stop her

>You bring yourself up onto one knee, your head rising above hers

>It is then you realize what you’re about to do

>A thought of Luna stops you

“Dammit.”

>The fact you say that to the thought of Luna has you suddenly angry

“Dammit!”

>”Sean.”

>A hoof on your cheek catches you

>Her eyes are now worrying

>”Is it about her?”

>You clench your jaw and nod

>”She would not have you beating yourself over mere thoughts of her.”

>You stare down at her,

“What about if she saw what I wanted to do just then?”

>An eyebrow rises

 

>You take a moment to look at yourself

>You are about to raid a compound built by followers of a computer from another universe that was made solely to erase humanity

>To rescue the younger sister of a good friend who is also missing and a love-eating bug queen

>You are sharing a dream with the dark side of a night princess from another universe

>And your heart aches for the both of them

>You have read so many books, fiction and non, mundane and fantastical

>None of them are as complex as the situation you find yourself in

>It is only now that the absurdity crashes down on you

“Fuck it.”

 

>Your hands slide around to her withers and neck

>Her eyes widen when you pull her lips to yours

>Both of your heartbeats boom in your ears

 

>You snap awake in your bed, heart racing

>Your lips tingle

>You sit up in your bed slowly

>A part of you thinks you have made a grave mistake

>Another thinks you did exactly what you needed to do

>You are not sure which part is which