Chapters Flurry Heart's Return to Equus
After eight and a half years marooned in space, Flurry Heart has managed to get a video journal to her mom. This journal gave details of how she has sustained herself in space for all of this time. She has also been able to contact her mom and a project has commenced in order to bring her home. A starship called the Alicorn has been constructed for the rescue mission and everybody is ready to bring her back to Eqqus. Not only are the Young Six participating in the mission, but Mickey Mouse and his friends, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and Toodles, along with Minnie’s twin nieces, Millie and Melody, have volunteered to join the mission as well.
It is now eleven years, eleven months, and sixteen days since Flurry Heart escaped from the Syknoian queen. Will she be coming home, or is she going to perish?
Flurry Heart's Return to Equus
After getting word from launch control that the access bridge was being retracted, the crew began powering up the cockpit controls. Once the controls were at full power, Mickey prepared to start counting down for Gallus to engage the engines. He was suddenly cut off by a violent shaking sensation that startled everyone, including himself. Millie and Melody hugged each other in nervousness. When the shaking died down, everyone was still frozen from nervousness. Suddenly, everyone felt as if gravity was pulling them both backwards and to the left.
"WE'RE TILTING!", cried Minnie as she read a warning which had come up on her console's screen which displayed the ship's current angle.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?", asked Daisy in a panicked voice.
A call from Cadence answered Daisy's question. The tone in her voice indicated that she was desperate.
"CONDITION RED! An underwater earthquake is what caused that large amount of shaking you felt. That's the strongest it has been in several years. The pad is so close to the plate border that the quake has weakened the seafloor under the support legs. In other words, the seafloor is collapsing under the launchpad's massive weight. You don't have time to do the countdown anymore. You must take off before the launchpad sinks under the water and takes the ship down with it. Otherwise, you will be trapped and possibly suffocate after running out of air. In the worst case, the ship could explode and kill you instantly. Even if you survive, you would not be able to launch again for several more years."
"We didn't come all this way to give up at the first glitch.", said Ocellus with a snarl.
Realizing that she and Cadence were right, Mickey wasted no time in giving the order to launch.
"Gallus, PUNCH IT!", he shouted.
"AFFIRMATIVE!", Gallus yelled in determination.
He slammed the launch button and the engines fired off. The vibration was intense, and some of them felt as if they were getting a heavy massage. As the launchpad continued sinking under the water, the ship lifted off and left the pad in only seconds.
"We have cleared the tower.", said Donald excitedly.
The shuttle climbed higher and higher into the sky and then the engines fired harder to break through gravity. During the ascent, Goofy started to feel uneasy. Once they had made it into space and started opening their helmets, Goofy started feeling nauseated. He grabbed a sickness bag and released fluids that were rushing to his mouth. He made sure to wash his face and get rid of the bag afterwards. After he jettisoned the bag, he started feeling better.
"I hate motion sickness.", he said upon returning to the cockpit.
Yona engaged the gravity core and everyone felt themselves being pulled down gently. Once they were back in their seats, they checked all of their systems and then docked the shuttle on board the Alicorn . Once they were seated in the Alicorn's cockpit, they plugged in the star coordinates that Cadence had gotten from Flurry's video journal.
"Course is set.", said Toodles.
"Once the star drive is charged, I will count down on your mark.", Mickey said to Goofy.
Goofy started the charge sequence for the star drive. It took two minutes to warm up, but it soon charged up to 100%.
"Mark!", said Goofy.
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, NOW!", yelled Mickey.
Goofy engaged the star drive and the ship shot in the direction of the asteroid. From Mission Control in Canterlot, Cadence watched as the ship disappeared from satellite range.
"Godspeed, and good luck.", she said to herself in hopes of the mission being successful.
Flurry Heart's Return to Equus
When the star drive kicked in, everyone was pulled backwards in their seats. About three hours later, the star drive disengaged the warp and the Alicorn was brought to a halt. The large amount of inertia caused the systems to temporarily shut off, but they came back on after a minute. When the ship dropped out of warp, everyone was thrown forward in their seats.
"Did that not just feel weird?", asked Smolder dizzily.
"That felt weird.", said Mickey.
“Millie and I have double-vision from that large amount of g-force.”, said Melody.
“All systems are back online, and we made it. That’s the good news. The bad news is, we overshot our arrival target outside the nebula by two-million miles. We’re actually INSIDE the nebula. As a matter of fact, we are almost to the asteroid.”, said Toodles.
“Monitors are coming back on.”, said Minnie as the screens lit back up.
Everyone was shocked by how many more asteroids were in the nebula, but they knew which one they had to reach. They started flying more slowly toward the asteroid until they reached it. This particular asteroid was close to the size of a small moon. Searching carefully, Daisy scanned the surface for the entrance to the cave where Flurry's ship had entered twelve years ago. The search did not take long, because Daisy’s scanner quickly picked up the radio antenna that Flurry had placed at the edge of the cave.
"There's the cave. I've got the antenna on radar.", she said.
“I volunteer to perform a spacewalk to tell Flurry that we’re here.”, said Minnie.
"Then it's time to shine.", said Sandbar.
Minnie put her helmet back on and entered an airlock designed for E V A. After strapping on an MMU, she opened the hatch and exited the ship. As she reached the cave, Flurry came up on her own jetpack. She had picked up the Alicorn on her ship's computer.
"It's good to see that you guys made it out here. I can't wait to come home. Flurry said as she gave Minnie a hug."
"Minnie Mouse to Alicorn ; Flurry Heart emerged from the cave as I was coming in. She had picked us up on her scanner. Let's get her ship out of here."
"Copy that, Minnie. I am deploying the grappling legs in order to latch onto the asteroid.", replied Yona.
Four arms extended off of the underside of the ship around the cargo bay doors. The threaded tips were diamond dusted and began screwing into the hard rock. Once the Alicorn was secure, the bay doors were opened and Mickey, Millie, and Melody joined Minnie outside with tow-cables. They were ready to extract Flurry's starship for its journey home.
Flurry Heart's Return to Equus
"Want to count us down?", asked Gallus as Flurry Heart fastened her seatbelt.
"I was hoping you would ask me that.", she replied.
As the star drive charged up, the coordinates for Eqqus were plugged into the computer as the destination.
"Course set for Equus.", said Toodles as he plugged himself into the console.
Flurry began counting down once the star drive was fully charged.
"Five, four, three, two, one!", said Flurry.
Goofy fired the engines and the Alicorn zoomed for Eqqus. As they arrived in orbit, Thorax saw them via satellite. He reported this to Cadence immediately.
"Cadence, satellites show the Alicorn reentering Eqqus' orbit."
A radio message confirmed his report.
"Alicorn to Canterlot. We're home, with one extra passenger. Flurry Heart has come home.", said Mickey.
Cadence began to cry joyfully when she received the news.
Flurry had insisted on flying down on her ship because the landing gear was still functional, she had repaired the main engines, and the parachutes were not damaged. She appointed Minnie and her nieces to come with her and they boarded. Yona opened the bay doors and the Peacekeeper was released to fly freely. Once they were clear, the remaining crew members flew to the Alicorn 's dock and boarded the shuttle to come back down. Once the shuttle had undocked, Flurry radioed Canterlot from her ship.
"Peacekeeper to Canterlot. This is Flurry Heart. My landing equipment is still operational, so I am coming in myself. The Alicorn has docked at her hangar and the crew is coming down on the shuttle. Minnie, Millie, and Melody are the only ones with exceptions; because they’re riding with me."
"Copy that, my dear. Be careful.", replied Cadence.
Flurry acknowledged and she carried out the deorbit burn. They dove down toward the ground at 17,000 MPH in the reentry corridor. The plasma that was created around the ship induced radio blackout, but it only lasted four minutes. Flurry dropped the wheels and the ship touched down on a runway near Canterlot. Minnie was given the chance to open the parachutes. She flipped a switch and the parachutes were released. They unfurled and slowed the Peacekeeper to a halt. Once the cabin was safely depressurized, Flurry opened the loading ramp, took off her helmet, and ran into Cadence's waiting hooves. They crushed each other in a tight hug and burst into tears.
"My girl, my dear, sweet girl. Welcome home.", Cadence said through tears.
"I've missed you, Mom.", Flurry choked out.
**The following week...**
Cameras flashed and fireworks exploded overhead as Flurry walked proudly down the aisle during her *Welcome Home* ceremony. Cadence was waiting for her when she reached the front of the room. Flurry turned around and spread her wings. The Young Six stood to her left while Mickey and his friends stood to her right. Once Thorax had awarded them medals of honor with crossed phoenix feathers, which was Equestria’s HIGHEST award for heroism, the crew members took a bow and then turned to face the audience.
"Let's all give a hand for the brave souls who brought my baby home!", Cadence hollered.
Everyone erupted with applause, cheering, clapping, and even shooting streamers. The story of her return was in the papers the next day.
**
EQUESTRIA NATIONAL NEWS
**FLURRY HEART RETURNS TO EQUESTRIA**
Nineteen years ago, Flurry Heart was the lead scientist on the Harmony ’s mission to explore the uncharted regions of deep space. Seven years later, the Harmony reached a crashed ship and the crew discovered a queen from the carnivorous Syknoian race, which proceeded to kill most of the crew. Had Flurry not escaped and sent an emergency message, Eqqus' inhabitants would have perished painfully in the war that was coming. Refusing to allow this, Princess Cadence brought together a fleet to destroy this carnivorous alien race, and the war was won by this fleet along with some new allies. These new allies were Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Millie Mouse, Melody Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, and Toodles. Flurry Heart has now come home. She refused to give up on survival, and she will be remembered for many years to come.
**
The ore that Flurry had collected was quickly melted down and purified. The resulting iron and cobalt were used in the ongoing construction of the Harmony-A . After several months, the ship was ready to fly. Once it was launched, the crew explored many more of the uncharted regions of space. Luckily, they didn't come across anymore hostile alien races. Those that they did encounter were peaceful and learned about Eqqus and its long history for many years to come.
Flurry Heart's Return to Equus
All of the members were quarantined before the launch in order to decontaminate them and as protection against all pathogens. After two weeks, the weather conditions were ideal for a launch to be safely carried out. Everyone was assisted in getting their space suits on and they were sealed shut and pressurized with filtered air.
"Is everybody ready?", inquired Cadence.
Everyone said yes and they were led to two helicopters outside. The rotors were already spinning when they were led outside. Once the doors were closed, the helicopters left the landing pads and set off for the North Luna Ocean. When they reached the launchpad, it was already dark, due to the fact that they had left Canterlot in the late afternoon. The launch was going to be done at NIGHT. Lights shown all around the shuttle and reporters were waiting to take pictures as the crew was boarding. The helicopter doors were opened and everyone got off. Cameras flashed, crowds cheered, and fireworks exploded overhead to commemorate the crew embarking on this quest to bring Flurry Heart home. The crew met the pad workers in the white room right outside the shuttle. This was different than a regular white room because it was also an airlock. The outer door was closed and ultraviolet lights came on to kill any germs. Then the airlock was repressurized to that of the shuttle's interior. After this, the inner door was opened and then the main hatch was opened so everyone could enter the cockpit.
On the cockpit's floor were ridges that acted as a ladder. The crew members used these ridges in order to climb up to their seats. The workers were wearing harnesses and tethered themselves near the seats to help everyone strap in. Mickey and his friends did not know how this type of seatbelt worked, because it had four separate straps that hooked into one central point. Ocellus explained how this worked before getting into her own seat. Each of the straps had to be fastened in to its own spot on the middle buckle and then the workers would tighten the straps. The center part had a quick-release handle that would turn side to side in order to release the straps. Once everyone was tightly strapped in, the workers left the ship and sealed the hatch shut. It was the moment they had all been training for. In a few minutes, Mickey would count down and Gallus would throw the switch to ignite the main engines and send the ship into space.
Flurry Heart's Return to Equus
Extracting the Peacekeeper
Flurry led the group sixty feet down and they reached the Peacekeeper . They started attaching the magnetic tips of the tow-cables to the hull and then started the winches. These cables had to be pulled slow enough to avoid breaking them, yet fast enough to not take forever. Pulling the ship out was not a fast process, because the lines had to be continuously monitored to make sure they were not too tight or too loose. Half of the way out, there was a snag, because Flurry had missed a spot when clearing the sides of the cave shaft.
"Stop the winches. There is a sharp spot that could scratch Flurry's ship.", said Mickey as Flurry pulled out her diamond drill.
Flurry gave the drill to Melody and she started smoothing the sharp points. Once they were smoothed down, Mickey gave an "All-Clear" and the winches were started back up. After clearing the edge of the cave, the winches were stopped again and two were extended to the front of the ship. These two were reeled in until the ship was parallel to the bay doors. Then the other two were restarted to pull the ship into the cargo bay.
Once the ship was inside, the lines were taken off and the five used small bursts of air from their jetpacks to align the ship with three clamps that would be closed around it for bracing. As they got closer, Flurry entered the cockpit and readied a crosshairs that would line up with a target on the forward wall. Once they were aligned, Flurry notified Minnie and Mickey. They engaged the clamps and the ship was held still. At last, the cargo bay doors were sealed shut and the area was repressurized.
"I can't believe it. After nineteen years in space, I am finally going home.", Flurry said as she let out tears of joy and took off her helmet.
Flurry followed Mickey and Minnie back to the cockpit and they fastened their seatbelts.