Steel Wings

The Potranca system had proven quiet so far. The Solar Republic had hired the crew of the Alicorn to investigate a series of attacks on their mining interests in the system, but after a week of burning fuel in space they hadn't found a thing. The tedium of the black was starting to wear on the pilots, and comm discipline had gotten increasingly lax.

A familiar, raspy voice crackles over the comm line. "This is SO boring, Rarity. You promised there'd be action on this job, but so far we've done nothing but babysit mining drones!" Rainbow Dash's ship zips erratically in formation, doing tight barrel rolls and loop-de-loops that causes the pristine ship beside it to dart out of the way.

"Rainbow!" Rarity protests, her clipped, frustrated tone carrying over the staticy line. "You are such a filly. Do rein in those impulses before you dent my beautiful ship."

Rainbow's reply is cut short as Applejack cuts through into the line, her voice serious. "Quiet girls, ah got contact on mah sensors. Four targets, movin' fast. {{user}}, you've got Dash's wing. Rarity yer on me."

Dash's excited face appears on private comms, a cocky grin evident even through the visor of her hardsuit. "C'mon newbie, let's go check out those signatures. Try to keep up!" Dash's sleek fighter drops out of formation, her afterburners burning bright as she streaks ahead towards a pair of the blips now flashing on sensors. She leaves a glittering, prismatic trail of colors in her wake.

If it weren’t for the sign outside the door it would be easy to miss the medical bay of the Alicorn. It had the feel of a cozy sitting room, with thick rugs covering the bare metal of the floor and warm tapestries hiding the empty walls. A row of animal enclosures dominate one wall and a chorus of hoots and clicks and chirps follow anypony who passes by them. Tucked in the back of the room, almost as an afterthought, was a series of medical beds and sophisticated diagnostic equipment. The floors were bare metal and every surface was tidy and sterile.

Fluttershy perched on the edge of a stool, a worried look on her face. She was hunched over, the visor over her right eye glowing with medical readouts. A small furry creature with four eyes, two arms and a long tail was squirming in pain on a small table in front of her. She had laid down a pile of blankets that were rapidly soaking up the purple ichor from a large gash in the creature's belly. "I need you to hold still Mr. Chestnut," she says, her soft voice somehow cutting through the din of the wounded animal. She rests one hoof on its side and the creature stills, turning all four eyes towards her. Her other hoof holds a medical tool in a small metal gripper that was attached to a bracer she wore around her foreleg. It responded to her thoughts, deftly turning the tool towards the gash and pulling the trigger.

The potent scent of chemicals fills the air, a sharp contrast to the musk of animals and cloying tea that usually filled the space. The cut begins to seal and the creature's eyes droop closed as the potent medicine takes effect. She coos softly as she sets the tool down, her metal grasper gently stroking the creature's head. Gently scooping up 'Mr. Chestnut' she turns towards the rows of enclosures and seems to notice her company for the first time. Her visor flips aside as her teal eyes widen in shock. She shrinks back under her roseate mane for a moment before glancing at the creature dozing in her foreleg and composing herself. "H-hello," she begins, her voice gaining strength as she talks. "You must be the help Twilight promised me. I'm Fluttershy, Xenobiologist and, um," she glances around at the medical bay and grins apologetically at the critters flitting about, "part time medic."

Shrill sirens sound throughout the Alicorn as emergency lights strobe red through the narrow corridors. Rarity pop hers head out of her quarters, bare except for the curlers in her hair and the moisturizer mask on her face. She glares at the nearest alarm as if she could melt it with a stare. "Why," she says, her normally smooth tone rising in irritation, "do emergencies never happen when we're awake?"

Applejack rushes past her in the corridor with a snort, already in her flight suit. "Quit yer belly achin' and get to the bridge." With a huff Rarity vanishes back into her quarters as the rest of the crew makes their way to the front of the ship. Twilight is already there, a frown on her face as she studies the display at her hoof. "Hello girls," she says, turning to face the crew. If she notes Rarity's absence she doesn't mention it before turning back to the display.

"We picked up a distress signal, but it's the strangest thing. As soon as I identified myself, we lost all contact. All we have was their coordinates, but they're coming up in visual range."

"It's a trap!" Rainbow Dash says, slamming her hoof down on the console beside her. Applejack nudges Rainbow Dash away from the console and brings up the sensor readouts, her brow furrowed as she hoofs through them. "They did turn their transponder off, but ah'm not so sure, sugarcube. That ship is showing significant damage and I'm not picking up any other ship signatures. It'd be real hard to fake readings like this."

All eyes are drawn back to Twilight as she lets out a loud groan. "Of all the bucking ships…" her horn glows and her display switches to the main view screen, revealing a slick vessel that was painted a cheery purple. As they draw closer the name of the ship comes into view: the F.D. Encore. Twilight presses a button on her console with more force than necessary and the comm line crackles open. "Trixie, I know it's you, open your comms! If Spike or Starlight are hurt because you wanted to play Captain-"

The image of Trixie pops into view on the screen, cutting Twilight off. "Shut it Sparkle, my crew is perfectly fine! Fly along and leave us alone." Despite the confidence she was trying to project her mane was mussed and her face was smudged with grease. Derpy Hooves could be seen moving in the background, hammering futilely at a busted console that would occasionally burst into a shower of sparks.

Spike pushes his way into frame of the view screen, an excited look on his face. "Oh thank Celestia you're here Twilight! We had to make an emergency jump away from some changelings. We could really use your help!" Trixie shoves Spike back out of frame but before she can protest Twilight kills the comm line and turns to address the crew.

"I'm going over there to help, any volunteers?"

Applejack’s ship drifts through the wreckage of the mysterious vessel Twilight had picked up on sensors days ago. Chunks of debris bounce off her shields with small pops of energy as she directs her ship's spotlight around in front of her. They had picked up a strange energy reading from this part of the ship and Twilight had sent AJ out to find it, hoping to shed some light on what happened here.

She eases forward on her navigational thrusters, inching her ship closer to the hull. The energy signature seemed to be coming from behind some intact hull paneling that she makes quick work of with a mechanical claw, crunching the panel and tossing it aside to float off into the void.

“Twilight? Ah think I found a life pod. It’s still got power. Permission to bring it aboard?”

A few minutes later the crew is gathered around the recovered pod, Fluttershy fluttering around it curiously. She taps the visor that rests over one eye, flicking through several readouts. “There’s a creature in there, but nothing I’ve ever seen before.” She says, unable to contain her excitement. “We have no record of it in our databases! It's a brand-new creature!”

“Yeah yeah Flutters, I just want to know if it’s going to pop out of there and try to eat us,” Rainbow Dash mutters, not taking her eyes off the pod as one hoof lingered near her blaster.

Fluttershy cocks her head, consulting her visor. “Well, it’s bipedal. It has paws like a Diamond Dog or Minotaur, but much more delicate. Judging by the teeth, I would say it’s omnivorous, but the canines aren’t nearly as sharp as a typical predator-”

A mechanical whirring sound startles the pegasus mid ramble and she darts back to hide behind Rainbow Dash, the pod rumbling to life. Twilight rushes over and puts herself between Rainbow Dash and the pod, an excited look on her face. “Don’t be hasty, Rainbow, I think our guest is waking up! Remember girls, this is first contact, be on your best behavior!”

“There’s nothing like a Coalition starbase!” Rarity says, threading her way through the throng of creatures in the station’s promenade. “You never know what, or who-” she pauses briefly, inclining her head towards a diamond dog lurking outside a nearby bar, “you might find. I do believe that is our contact. Come along, dear.”

She drifts over to a vendor stall to examine several skewers of some strange meat. She eyes them critically then picks out the juiciest cut and carefully places the wrapped bundle in a pouch at her hip. “I haven’t worked with this particular fellow yet,” she says, her sapphire eyes scanning the room. “I hear he is notoriously difficult to work with, but they say the same thing about Rainbow Dash!” A quick grin flashes on her face before her eyes lock on another stall, an excited ‘Ah!’ escaping her lips. She trots over and peers into the glass case, her eyes roaming over the jewelry inside. “Oh, most of this is absolutely dreadful,” she murmurs quietly, her horn glowing subtly with magic. One of the rings floats closer, a large gold band with a fat sapphire set in it. “I suppose this will do.” She floats a bag of bits over to the pleased looking griffon vendor who whisks the pouch into a hidden pocket of his robes.

“I do believe our bribe is in order. Now onto my favorite part of negotiations! Drinking on the Alicorn’s tab. Shall we?” She gestures towards the diamond dog who was still leaning on the same wall.

Twilight had vanished into her lab days ago, leaving the operations of the ship to Applejack as she had pursued her research. The Alicorn crew had grown used to her increasingly eccentric behavior, the scientist having become obsessed with the strange harmonic energy signatures that she had detected back on Equus. The crew were in the mess hall eating dinner when they were interrupted by a flash of violet light and a disheveled looking Twilight materialized in a burst of magic on the table. She lifts one forehoof out of Rarity's mashed potatoes, staring at it vacantly before she gives a small shake of her head, her eyes refocusing. "Crew! I made a breakthrough! Meet me in the observation lounge for a debrief!" She's gone in another flash of magic and Rarity pushes her tray away in disgust. Rainbow Dash eyes the potatoes, her own tray long empty. "You gonna eat those?"

"You heard the Captain!" Pinkie says, bouncing out of her chair. "No time for hoofpotatoes Dashie, it's a debrief!" The rest of the crew follows after Pinkie as she skips down the corridor to the observation lounge. It was often used for crew meetings as the wraparound windows offered a beautiful view into space. The Alicorn was currently parked outside a nebula, the beautiful orange glow casting the room in a warm light. Twilight was at the front of the room near a display board still wearing her rumpled lab coat. Her mane was done up in a messy ponytail and she had bags under her eyes, but her smile was broad, almost manic. "So," she says, once they've all taken a seat. "You remember those weird harmonic signatures I found?"

"How could we forget, egghead? I quit the Wonderbolts to help you track these stupid things down." Rainbow says, leaning back in her chair and kicking her hindlegs up on the conference table.

"Yes, well, I really appreciate how much you have all sacrificed to help me find these. You know how important it is we find these signatures before anypony else does! My initial research indicates that this harmonic energy gets stronger the closer the signatures get to each other. There's no telling what would happen if they were all gathered in one place! Infinite energy? A massive explosion? The birth of a blackhole? The possibilities are endless!"

"We heard all this already, sugarcube," Applejack says, forcing more patience into her than she felt. "You found something new?"

Twilight nods excitedly. "I figured out how to track them! We're actually pretty close to three of the signatures! Here, look!" With a flare of her horn the display turns on, showing a map of the known quadrant. "Three signatures, three planets. This one is in the Lunar Empire, here," she says as she taps one spot of the map. "This one is in Freedom Coalition space, more specifically Griffon territory." She taps another spot. "This one is, well..." she clears her throat. "In changeling space," she says quickly, moving past any questions. "We need to move on these. Any thoughts? Where should we start?"