Chapters Twilight Jane Sparkle was a starship captain for the Realm. It had taken her a long time to achieve such a rank, but it had been worth it. Now she was going to her ruler, the princess of the Realm, named Celestia, to receive her crew. Also, maybe a mission. She thought. It is the highest honor to receive a mission. Maybe I've earned it. She arrived at the council room and was ushered inside immediately. Inside were lots of people.
"Welcome." Said the princess, gesturing for her to sit down. "This is your crew, Captain Twilight. The department heads and their seconds are as follows: Commander Rain Bo Dash and Lieutenant Commander Tanner Kenneth Dash of the navigation department, Commander Rachel Isabel Teir and Lieutenant Commander Opal Eliza Felidae of the maintenance department, Commander Jacklyn McKenzie Apple and Lieutenant Commander Winona Fiona Jarnim of the agricultural department, Commander Flutter Susan Hyllan and Lieutenant Commander Andy George Elriq of the health department, and Commander Pinkamena Diane Pie and Lieutenant Commander Garret Uerick Mycel of the... They organize downtime. If they see fit, they can introduce you to their department members on your mission."
"Mission?" Twilight ask. "I get to go on a mission?"
"Yes, Twilight. Now you all must know one thing before I tell you about it." Celestia looked around the room sternly. "This is not public knowledge. You may only discuss it with others in this room. There is someone looking to seize control of the Realm. The only Identification we have for them is 'The Lunar Nightmare'. I need all of you to go and retrieve the Harmony Crystals from their hiding places around the Realm. This means going into the six universes it spans and taking one from each. I would suggest finding the one in this universe first. Go now, there's no time to lose!"
Everyone followed Twilight out of the room to her starship. There, they went to their specific sectors, except for Rain. "Look, Captain. I'm betting you're wondering why there's no defense department, correct? Navigation takes care of that. I've been on a starship before, but I've never been a commander before. If I had, it wouldn't have blown up." Rain seemed kind of sad about her story, even though she didn't seem like a very emotional person otherwise. "Anyway, since I was the youngest then, and had the most family to get back to, they sent me in the escape pod. Now I have to take care of my little cousin Tanner and hope this ship doesn't go the same way." Rain walked away, into the navigation department.
Well, that wasn't very encouraging. Twilight thought. I'd better go and maintain the ship. She had to keep remembering she wasn't just thinking for herself anymore. Being a Captain meant the crew listened to her every word, didn't it?
Author's Note
All notes next chapter. Both written pre-submission. (And pre "Your paragraphs are too huge. Make them about one sentence, and then they'll be awesome. What? That makes absolutely no sense and there are other stories that don't follow that rule? We don't stinkin' care.")
"Hey, Twilight?" Said Jacklyn. "Can we stop at my homepod to get some seeds? I think I forgot to grab them on the way out." She had a country accent, Twilight noted.
'I need to be able to know who's talking to me even when I'm to busy to turn around.' she thought. 'This is going to be so much more stressful than I thought.'
"Hey, Twilight?" Said Rachel. "Can we stop at my homepod to get my tools? I think I forgot to grab them on the way out." Posh, Twilight decided immediately. Before she had time to reply to either of them, Flutter walked up.
"I hate to be interrupting, but we need to go to my homepod. My bandages are there."
"Well, we only have time to go to one place." Said Twilight. "I'd ask what you all think is the most important, but I think I know what you would say. Pinkamena, a little help here?"
"No way." Pinkamena griped. "Two qualifications must be met before I can help you. Number one, call me Pinkie, and number two, I NEED FOOD!!!!!"
"Well." Said Jacklyn. "I think we have an answer."
"It most certainly does not!" said Rachel.
"Wait." Said Flutter, in her usual quiet voice.
"We need them seeds before somebody will be of any help around here!" Jacklyn angrily countered.
"Well it's not like she'll be of any help anyways." Rachel replied.
"Wait." Flutter said again, but a bit louder this time.
"Well not all of us are one hundred percent stress free, you know!" Jacklyn was almost shouting now.
"I don't see how that has anything to do with it." Rachel said coldly.
"WAIT!!!" Flutter shouted. Everyone turned to look at her. "Um... Jacklyn, I think one of your department members has your seeds... I think his name was Mac. And Rachel, I heard Opal talking to Andy and saying she picked up your tools before she went to the briefing. So, maybe we could get my bandages and not waste more time arguing." She was back to being quiet.
"Come to think of it," Jacklyn mused. "I think I heard Nurse Redheart saying she dropped by your place and grabbed your stuff. We should get directly on this mission, now shouldn't we." Nodding in agreement, they went on their way.
Later that night, Twilight opened her journal. She was hoping to fill it with the lessons she learned on the ship about being a captain. 'Now... How to start... Ah, I know. "Day One: Today I learned that I don't have to make every choice myself. The same goes for solving conflicts between members of the crew, and I hope I befriend every one of them. They seem like interesting characters, even if some of them are a little cliche. Even though I feel as if I may already know them, they may still exhibit some surprising traits. Why, even today Flutter surprised us all by shouting when we weren't paying attention to what she was saying, even though it was definitely important. Rain insists on working all day, all night on navigation. If she hasn't rested by tomorrow night, I might have to order her to. I hope it doesn't come to that. Anyway, I think I'm rambling a bit, so goodbye for now!
Author's Note
How do you like it? Is it good? I hope so! Please leave some constructive criticism for my first MLP fic. :) Thanks!
--Luna
(LOL signing off like a Twilight.)
Twilight paced back and forth. "So you're saying we're heading for a planet filled with rainbows?" She asked Rain.
"Yup." Said Rain. "And I'm also saying that the rainbows affect the coloring of everything there. I heard in some places the grass is pink!" Rain said the last word with a bit of disgust.
'Okay...' decided Twilight. Definitely a--
"Captain! Rain! There's a ship firing at us!" shouted Pinkie as she ran into the room. "We need our shield up A-S-A-P!"
"Talk to Rachel about that." Grumbled Rain. "The Darned thing isn't working!"
"Oh no! What about the cannons?" Pinkie said, fear encroaching on her normally cheery voice.
"I'm not sure. Tanner! Fire up the rear cannons!" Rain ordered her cousin.
"Alright, Rain, but the ship is to our port side. It appears to be attempting to board." Tanner replied as he quickly assessed the situation.
"So fire up the port side cannons!" Rain shouted.
"Alright!" said Tanner. "Port side cannons functioning smoothly. Evacuate everyone to the break room!"
"Now hold on a second." Said Jacklyn as she entered the room. "Rain, have you analyzed the projectiles?"
"You can't tell me what to do!" Said Rain indignantly.
"Well I'm not." Jacklyn said sternly. "Have you or haven't you?"
"Well... No, but they're taking out our engines!"
"Well, we're in anti-gravity right now, so no falling to worry about, and Rachel could always fix them up later." Jacklyn pointed out. "Besides, you still need to teach your little cousin how to fire them cannons."
Rain sighed. "Alright, you win... Stun beams. And we're being boarded, no hail or anything."
"Well." Said Rachel, "It appears I have to fix some manners and some engines."
"And a shield..." muttered Tanner.
"Of course, Tanner. Now, Twilight, bring an entourage of the defense department and go meet them. I'll come with you, if you want, but it's all up to you, really." Rachel said.
"Er... Of course!" Said Twilight. "Rain, do you have any suggestions for who would be a good choice here?"
"Well... This is going to be my first full day with this crew, so... Not really." Said Rain. "I've just been really busy teaching Tanner how to manage this stuff, I'm sorry."
"Well... I will be needing some volunteers in about three seconds." Twilight pointed out.
"Alright." Rain said. "Amy, Habatchi, and Oli, Go with Twilight to meet our new 'friends'. Tanner and I will hail the ship." After ordering her department members, she and Tanner began to push buttons.
"Rachel," Twilight said. "I think you should come with me. Let's go!" And with that command, the entourage left the piloting center.
* * *
"So this is our little greeting party." Said one of the people who had boarded the ship. "I was expecting something more..."
Rachel tensed. Were these people here just to criticize them?
"We'd like to speak to your captain." said one of them. "Or at least your navigation head of department."
Twilight immediately took offense, but she kept her cool pretty well. "I'm actually the captain of the ship. And our navigation head of department is currently in the process of hailing your ship; a courtesy you forgot to take with us. Now, what is the meaning of this?"
Rachel took the liberty of adding "And if you wanted to board our ship, you could have just asked instead of disabling our engines."
The man chuckled. "You honestly think I have to be patronized by you? I don't have time for this. If this ship is really run by women, than it's probably some sort of traveling orphanage or something. We may as well let you deal with our little stowaway."
That was it. Rachel grabbed her wrench and hit the man upside the head, knocking him unconscious. "Anyone else have a problem with how this ship is run? No? Good." The last word was said with some added malice. The men ran back through the tube connecting the ships, dragging their fallen comrade with them, and leaving behind a struggling sack.
"Rachel, what did you do?" Said Twilight, shocked at what her head of maintenance had done. "They could--"
"Relax, Twilight. We won't get in trouble with the princess for my little outburst. Those men don't work for Celestia."
"Right.. The would have received an update on their dVices telling them the basic information about Starship Equestria. Also, we should probably--"
The sack split open, allowing a young boy to exit it. "Thanks a lot." He said.
"You're purple!" Exclaimed Twilight, causing the boy to facepalm.
"Yeah, I know. I come from Downside on Prism. You know, the planet with lots of colors?"
"Yes, actually." Said Rachel. "We're orbiting right now. We can take you back to your home, if you want."
"No! I don't wanna go home! I hate it there!"
"Alright, You can stay with us. Twilight, why don't you go check in on Rain. She's probably got the other ship captain on screen by now."
"Alright. I'll go." Said Twilight.
"Good." Said Rachel. 'Now for a little bit of clean up.'
Author's Note
Hard to get through! FimFiction got stuck on "You're pressing 'i'? You must want italicized font!" mode. Several Times. :( Also, if your wondering about the voices for the Lieutenant Commanders, then I'll try and find them suitable sound-alikes on youtube.
"So, after Rachel knocked one out with a wrench, they all left, leaving us with with little purple and green dude." Amy didn't like giving status reports. She was horrible at it, and every mission control manager person she had ever served under had always sighed when she got selected to give them, which she nearly always did because of her rotten luck.
"And is there and way this person may be a threat to security?" Rain asked, leaving her with this horrible, gut wrenching feeling that her head of department just wanted to see if Ensign Amy Motomani was still up for her job in the navigation department. "Well, he could be a highly trained spy kid with some sort of communication device, or a suicide bomber that could explode the ship any minute, or he could be a midget intending on highjacking the ship to some undisclosed location, or maybe even to a disclosed one. He might want to slowly pick off our crew one by one using a colorless, odorless potion that only he can brew, or--"
"Numbers one and two are valid security risks. Number three might have been if Tanner hadn't hailed downside and confirmed his identity. His parents want him back, but the social security of Prism confirms he was being abused and they were attempting to extract him from his home anyway. They were going to send us old fashioned spacefood for him, but I told them that we have artificial gravity and that if none of their ships did we would come get real food ourselves, which Tanner is in the process of piloting the ship to do. You are going on break as you've done enough already. Back to your concerns, number four is a bit silly. You are dismissed, ensign." Rain really needed something from the break room herself, but her truffle would have wait. She needed to check on Tanner.
* * *
They were downside now, and it was the first time Flutter had seen any animals in months. Plants fared well in the artificial gravity, but animals such as cats always overestimated their jumps by just a little in the 7/8 gravity she was accustomed to. Sure, she felt a little heavy outside the ship, but she wasn't too far so she could always go in if it overwhelmed her. Unfortunately, something was drawing her farther away from the ship without her noticing. Sure, it might have been the sheer beauty of the place, but that wasn't it. It was something more powerful than that.
Eventually, the doctor realized she couldn't see the ship anymore, and that began to make her scared. She could feel something invisible tugging at her. It was almost as if it was saying Come over here, Flutter, there's something you need to see. She was of course, following it under her own free will. How foolish of her mind to suggest otherwise. It wasn't like she was being drawn to it like a piece of normal iron to a magnet. The attraction was more akin to someone going to their favorite restaurant or something. Yeah, that was it. The more Flutter thought about it, the more she began to think her brain was lying. She even tried to stop walking, but to no avail. Her body was not obeying her commands, but those of an alternate, outside force.
Eventually she arrived at wherever her body wanted her to be. It was a lovely place, filled with all kinds of animals living in peace with each other. In the center sat a marble pedestal, ornate carvings covering it from top to bottom. On top of the pedestal sat, no, floated a pink crystal that was shaped like a butterfly. Flutter still couldn't control her body as she walked up to the the crystal and reached out to touch it. Right before she could feel it under her fingers, she was knocked away.
"Who are you, and what is your business in the grove of kindness?" A voice asked her as she struggled to her feet. She looked wildly about for the source, but no obvious one presented itself. "And don't bother trying to find me, because I won't reveal myself to anyone except the bearer of this crystal or those who wish to harm others with it. One gets the stone, the other gets the boot. Can you guess which is which?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm here!" Flutter cried out in despair. "I need to get back to my ship, but something won't let me! It pulled me here! Please don't hurt me! I wanna go home!" The young woman fervently hoped this person could release her from the pull of the butterfly shaped crystal.
"Something won't let you, eh? That's what they all say. Very well, let me administer the test." The voices words struck fear into Flutters heart. When a young man in ragged clothing jumped out of a tree, she would have run if she could. "Let me tell you what is going to happen. I am going to attempt to pull you away from the stone. You should have control of your body now, so don't struggle. If I succeed, you are to leave immediately. If I fail, you are to take the crystal and do the same. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, I understand." Flutter braced herself to be pulled away from the stone. The strangers hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled. She braced herself to fly into him, but instead her arm smacked into an invisible wall. Her wrist was released, and she stood still for a second before remembering what she had to do. Grabbing the crystal butterfly, she fled from the clearing, back the way she came, slipping it into her bag as she went.
* * *
"Where were you?" Rain asked Flutter as the exhausted woman entered the ship. "We told you to wait near the ship! Half the Prism military force is out searching for you! We've been worried sick! What do you think we would do if someone got a really bad injury while our head doctor was missing, huh?" Flutter just looked at the ground, all her exhaustion forgotten in place of shame.
"I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me! One minute I was sitting nearby the ship, and the next I was in the woods and unable to control my body. I ended up--"
"Unable to control your body? Were you having a seizure or something?" This was one of her own department members. "Whatever it was sure racked you pretty hard. Why don't you lie down somewhere and we can talk about this there."
"Seizures don't normally have you walk to a clearing where you've never been before and having the strangest experience of your life." Flutter muttered as she walked over to the nearest couch. "They especially don't end up with you finding butterfly shaped crystals that when picked up allow you to leave the grove and are probably the reason you're there in the first place."
"Whoa there." Jacklyn said. "Are you sure that's what happened? It might have been a hallucination." Nobody else seemed to believe what Flutter was saying, either. Wordlessly, just to prove to herself it had happened, she reached into her bag and pulled out the crystal. Everyone gasped as it glowed in the dim light of the room.
"Wow." Rain said. "I think that's a Harmony Crystal you found." Soon the room was buzzing in agreement with those words.
BZZZZZT MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF PRISM BZZZZZT YOUR ANSWER IS REQUESTED BZZZZZT went the dVice inside Rains bag. "Shoot! I forgot to have someone man communications! Gotta go!" She dashed off and left the room back in silence.
Author's Note
Should I change the rating on this to teen? I'm getting this feeling I should, but should I?