Dead Space: Divergence

The sun was high in the sky when the six friends gathered in the library. Excited by the revelations of the day before, and ready to brave the realms beyond today, they could hardly sit still. Silence found them all when Twilight rose up, holding the mystic book in her magical grasp as well as a few note cards.

“Okay, today marks an important day in history. We six friends—”

“Hey, what about me?” interjected Spike.

“Oops! Sorry Spike. Seven friends... will travel to untold lands for the sake of Ponyville. No, for all of Equestria!”

“No need to make it all sappy Twilight. You’re just wasting time,” interrupted the blue pegasus.

“Well, excuse me for trying to make it exciting.” Twilight responded, flicking her tail at Rainbow Dash.

“Not ta burst yer bubble, but it already is excitin’. Besides, if we skip this whole speech, we’ll have more time to explore the unknown and what not,” added Applejack. Twilight threw the note cards she had prepared on the ground in frustration.

“Fine, let’s get started. Applejack please step forward.” Applejack didn’t step forward. Instead, everypony else took a step back. “You are the first to travel to the other worlds with this spell. I don’t know what will happen so I want your full attention. First we need to select a destination.”

“Anywhere.”

“Applejack, this is serious!”

“Ah don’t know, Twilight! Anywhere that ain’t Equestria.”

“Just look through the book and-”

“Tha first one!”

“Are you sure, Applej—”

“You said pick and ah did! Ah wanna go to tha first place in tha book.” Applejack stamped her foot in frustration, which Twilight responded to with a snort.

“Okay. So are you ready?” Twilight circled around Applejack, sizing her up. Even though she had seen her friend plenty of times, she was mentally preparing to use the new spell.

“Ya bet yer apples, ah am!”

“Hold still.” A strong magical aura surrounded the Earth Pony lifting her from her hooves. Light was building up swiftly, and a deafening boom erupted in the room. All the ponies took cover from the apparent explosion.

“Is everypony alright?” asked Twilight looking around. The spell must have failed. I hope everyone is okay. She did a quick headcount. Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. That’s everyone. Everyone except for… “Applejack! It worked! It worked, it worked, it worked!” Twilight chanted as she danced around while her friends recovered from the blast.

“Ugh, my head hurts,” Rainbow groaned. She was in the air when the blast occurred, and the force pushed her into a bookshelf. Pinke was bouncing on a stack of books that Fluttershy was hiding behind, and Rarity was fixing her mane with Spike’s help. But Applejack wasn’t there, just as Twilight stated. “Where is Applejack, exactly?”

“That’s easy. According to the book, she’s on Mars.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Spike in amazement.

“Mars? Where is that?” Rainbow had an uneasy feeling welling up in her chest.

“I don’t really know, but it can’t be bad if it’s in the book. Right?”

“How do you know?”

“Don’t worry, Rainbow. There’s some kind of settlement there that can support life, or at least that’s what the book says,” Twilight replied. She opened the book and turned back to the first chapter, hoping to reaffirm her findings for Rainbow Dash’s sake.

The whole time she did, Rainbow Dash’s gaze didn’t falter from Twilight. I trust your skills Twilight, and I trust Applejack’s wit. But I’m still uncomfortable with this. “Okay, she’s safe. But do we have any way to contact her wherever she is?”

“We just… just… hmm. How do we talk to her?” Twilight continued searching through her book with Rainbow Dash over her shoulder. Every page that she turned seemed to increase her friend’s agitation.

“You mean you didn’t take the time to figure that out!?”

“Oh my gosh, what if she’s in trouble!” Pinkie cried.

“Calm down, Pinkie, I’m sure she’s fine.”

“I know Applejack can take care of herself, but I still want to be sure, darling. We all do.” Twilight looked at all her friends staring at her, their eyes tense and full of questions.

“Okay, keep your hooves on, all of you. I’ll find out how to get in contact with her. In the mean time, I have some things I need from the Quills and Sofas shop if anyone wants to help me.”

“You want us to go shopping for you? Not cool,” replied Rainbow with a big frown on her face.

“Okay, fine. I didn’t want to say it this way but you asked for it. Get out! If I’m going to find answers, I want to do it in the most calm and stable environment.” Rainbow’s frown lessened in magnitude, but it was still there. Fluttershy trotted up so quietly that Twilight didn’t notice her until she felt the gentle tap on her shoulder.

“Umm, Twilight. Rarity and I will take care of those groceries.”

“Absolutely! I need to stop by the fabric shop anyways.” Twilight pulled a small scrap of paper with a list of supplies on it and a sack of bits. Rarity gladly accepted the list, but she wouldn’t take the bits. “Don’t worry, Twilight. You focus on that book, we’ll deal with this list. Let’s go, Fluttershy. Bye ladies.”

“And I almost forgot! I need to watch Sugarcube Corner for Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Bye!” Pinkie was gone in a flash. Spike opened his mouth to say something, but he changed his mind and quietly slipped upstairs while Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash.

“I guess I’ll just go take a nap. Have fun reading, Egghead.” Twilight ignored Rainbow’s last comment. With nothing more to say, Rainbow Dash left Twilight alone in the library.

Twilight hopped onto the couch beside her and placed the book in front. Happy to begin reading, she couldn’t help feeling a little worried about Applejack.

Applejack’s head was ringing like a bell, a clear signal that something had happened. Most of Twilight’s spells do that, she thought to herself as she stood up.

She took a good look at the environment she had been sent to. It was a huge area enclosed in a glass case like a fishbowl. The terrain was a rusted reddish color, and the sky was black with millions of stars overhead. It’s real. There are other worlds out there, not just Equestria. This one looks kinda weird though.

A heavy rumbling broke her train of thought. The first thing that came to mind was earthquake, but the next thing Applejack saw quickly disbanded that thought. A small cargo vessel flew overhead, shaking the ground underneath.

“What the hay is that!” Applejack shouted. She backed up into the door of a larger structure. The cold touch of the steel door made Applejack jump, before she turned around to see the obstruction. The door had a blue light in the center that spun around. It stopped spinning and the door slid open, but Applejack stood frozen. She wasn’t a pony to be considered a scaredy-filly, but this strange new environment shook her right to the core.

Another ship flew by. This one landed right next to the structure she was standing in front of. The roar of the engines died down, followed by the hiss of a hatch opening. She didn’t think twice about entering the structure behind her now. With the hoofsteps rapidly approaching, she darted inside to avoid being seen. She quietly made her way to a small window. Things were getting off of the vessel, but they weren’t ponies. They stood on two limbs, and were covered in metal.

“What did ah get maself into?” Applejack whispered to herself. She was trying to stop herself from shaking as waves of panic and terror came over her. The metal monsters approached her hiding spot and came to a stop right in front of the window. A mechanical whir was heard, and the metal began to shrink away, uncovering fleshy faces on the two creatures in front of her. “They… they ain’t metal, but they’re still some kinda critter ah haven’t seen.” Applejack uttered in pure shock.

“I’m glad we finally got this shipment,” said one figure to the other.

“Yeah, I didn’t think I would ever be able to cross it off of my to-do list.”

“We should go check in with command.”

“Yeah. While we’re there, we can ask them what the USG Kellion is doing here.” One of the two motioned to the structure Applejack was spying from. “Must be an engineering fix or some other shit like that.”

“I don’t see why they don’t just decommission some of the older ships. The USG Ishimura is on it’s thirty-fifth planet cracking mission.”

“Thirty-five planet cracks already? I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what they’re fixing.” They walked away toward the large buildings to the center of the station, leaving a very confused Applejack behind.

“Planet cracks, engineerin’? This place is gettin’ too weird. Ah need to get out of here.” She looked around frantically before stopping to think. Wait… Twilight didn’t tell me how to go back. What if ah’m stuck here forever!? A new wave of panic was slowly washing over her with the realization that she was stuck, but her thoughts were interrupted by a chime coming from a strange looking device embedded into the wall next to her. The chime was followed by a very calm female voice.

“USG Kellion crew report to your ship. Shock-Gate coordinates set to Aegis VII for emergency engineering mission. Shock-Gate will begin realigning the Shock Ring in thirty minutes, takeoff procedures should begin in ten minutes followed by initial launch. Thank you for using the CEC Mars Shock Point Facility. Safe travels.”

That didn’t make a lick of sense. ‘Kelling crew, takeoff procedures, Shock thingy facility?’ Ah just wanna go home. She look out of the window again, and noticed a group of those things standing at the door to the structure. She counted five, but that wasn’t her concern. She climbed into a locker, and watched all of them get on the structure.

“Chen, Johnston,” boomed a loud and commanding voice. “Prep the Kellion for flight. Kendra, get on communications. Isaac, check navigation.”

‘Yes, sir!’ resounded from all of them, and they all got to work on glowing screens.

A loud hiss was heard followed by a dull hum of the engines coming to life. The vessel shuddered lightly, awaiting takeoff. Applejack opened the locker door just enough to see the things standing before her.

“Kellion prepped and ready. Awaiting orders.”

“Good.”

“Navigation coordinates set to Shock Ring, sir.”

“Excellent, Isaac.”

“Comms set up. We’re getting a green light from the control tower.”

“Thank you, Ms. Daniels. Make a direct route to the Shock Ring. We need to shock out before the next coordinates are set in.”

Applejack didn’t want to give her hiding place away, so she stayed in the locker quietly, waiting for some hope of getting home. Twilight. Ah hope yer doin’ something to fix this mess. Because ah don’t like the way things are lookin’.

As the ship approached the exit to the Shock Point Facility, Isaac Clarke leaned back in his chair thinking to himself. I’ll be there soon, Nicole. He opened up a video that he had received from his girlfriend just a day ago. Same thing I always see. The video displayed Nicole Brennan sitting and talking to a video recorder. Before he started the playback, he held on tightly to the seat while the USG Kellion exited the artificial gravity being maintained by the Shock Point Facility. Once the ship transitioned out, he let out a sigh and began the video.

“Isaac, it’s me,” started the video. Isaac followed along word for word. “I wish I could talk to you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everything. I wish I could just talk to someone. It’s all falling apart here. I can’t believe what’s happening here. It’s strange, the little things—” And it cuts off there. He sat for a moment watching the static before he was approached by Kendra Daniels.

“You’re watching it again? Isaac, you gotta stop, it’s gonna mess with your head.”

“I know. I’m just worried, that’s all.”

“Don’t psych yourself out. We need you at your best.”

“Okay, I get it.” Isaac started the video clip again, but before Nicole started talking, Kendra swiped the video away, cancelling the playback.

“Isaac! Just stop doing this to yourself,” Kendra scolded, grabbing Isaac by the shoulder and shaking him.

“Sorry. I just can’t help it. I’m worried about her.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. You need to believe that she is.”

“She’s right Clarke, you have to hope for the best.” A black male walked up placing a hand on Isaac’s shoulder. “You have to leave that for later because I need you now.”

“Sure, Hammond. What do you need, sir?”

“Right now, I want you to perform a full scan of the ship. I want to make sure everything is in order for when we pass through the Shock Ring.”

“But Hammond, we’ll be in Shock Space for at least an hour. Can’t we do it then?” asked Kendra.

“We could, Ms. Daniels, but one can never be too careful. I want to make sure there aren’t any problems before we leave, because we won’t be coming back until the Ishimura is repaired. Better safe than sorry, right? Clarke, run a complete check.”

Isaac gave him a firm nod, and with Hammond over his shoulder, he began the full ship diagnostics. Engines, check. Electrical, check. Gravity stabilizers, check. Fuel lines, check. That’s everyth—

“I said complete,” Hammond interrupted, “check life support too, Clarke.”

“C’mon Hammond. If life support wasn’t online, we’d be dead.” Isaac couldn’t suppress a smirk with that comment which was met with a sour scowl from his commanding officer.

“Better safe than sorry, Clarke. Run the check.” Isaac wasn’t about to ignore a direct order, so he tapped a few keys starting the bio-scan of the ship.

“Life support at one hundred percent. Oxygen levels high. There’s nothing out of the ordinary.” A quick message flashed on the screen. Isaac paused before stammering the message. “Hammond? T-this can’t be right. The bio-scan is picking up… six life forms?”

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to the sunlight that surrounded her. A good cloud nap is the best way to pass the time. She stretched out her cerulean body and wings, ready to return to the library. I’m glad I decided to nap right above it. I’ll have to fly on down and see if Twilight has found anything. She dropped from the cloud and glided safely to the ground.

“Okay Twilight, what have you got?” Rainbow called out after opening the door. A quick glance around revealed that her other friends, minus Applejack, were already there, and apparently discussing something important. Fluttershy trotted to Rainbow Dash giving her a small hug.

“Rainbow, thank goodness you’re alright.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“When Rarity and I came back to Twilight’s, she told us she found the spell she was looking for.”

“I told them to go find you and Pinkie. Pinkie was at Sugarcube Corner, but we couldn’t find you at any of your napping spots. We were about to start an entire search of Ponyville to find you.”

“I was right above the library.” Rainbow pointed a hoof to the ceiling, though the gesture was effective, it wasn’t necessarily needed.

“Well since you’re here, now is as good a time as any to tell you what I’ve learned.” Everyone gathered around Twilight’s podium once again, keenly awaiting what information she had gathered about their friend. “I found a spell in the book that lets us find her wherever she is. As soon as I find her, I can bring her back easily.”

“That’s good news, dear. Find Applejack and bring her back,” replied Rarity. Twilight started the spell with a small spark of her horn. The lavender aura grew as quickly as the wind that swirled around her. She focused the energy in front of her, and a small tear in the air was being made in the middle of the library.

“Almost have it.” Twilight struggled to expand the portal in front of her, but when she did, she relaxed at the sight of the saddlebag-sized hole. Everyone gathered around, peering into the hole, delighted to see the orange mare.

“Applejack!” shouted Pinkie. With her attention drawn to her friends, Applejack made a motion with her hoof for them to remain silent.

“Applejack, I’m gonna get you out of there.”

“Just don’t be too loud. Those things are outside of this here locker,” she whispered. What things? Twilight asked herself, not hesitating to start the spell. Applejack cracked open the locker door enough for her to see out of it. “Hurry, Twi! We’re about ta go into that big hole in tha sky.”

“What the hay are you talking about, Applejack?” Rainbow blurted out rather loudly.

“Uh-oh. Ah think they heard ya. Twilight get me outta here!” pleaded Applejack. The fear in her voice made Twilight’s panic levels rise, breaking her focus even more.

“Applejack… hold… on!” I feel her in my grip. Just pull her out. In one strong tug through the portal, Applejack’s head popped into the library for a few moments before being sucked back in. Just before she could try again, the portal closed abruptly, leaving behind only the hat of their farm pony friend.