Starcraft: Wings of Friendshipby Lord FrigusChaptersPrologueChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixProloguePrologue Twilight Sparkle was walking through Ponyville with purpose one day. The occasion? She had just completed a spell that would allow the Elements of Harmony to their bearers in an instant, making it much easier to use them in case another major threat came to Equestria. She paused for a moment and thought back on how much easier it would have been to defeat Chrysalis three months earlier if they had the use of the spell. It would have even been useful against Discord, for that matter. Oh well, what's passed is past, and Twilight still needed to meet her friends and test the spell. Of course, the Princesses would have to be there to supervise in case something went wrong, but Twilight had triple checked her calculations several times just to make sure. Her calculations, as she was pleased to know, were absolutely correct and now the spell just needed to be tested. Twilight looked up from her ponderings to find her vision full of pink. "Heya Twilight! You've been standing in the road for a long time, are you thinking about something? You excited to go to Canterlot to try the spell you've been working on? I know I am! Ooh, ooh, you think there will be a celebration for when the spell works? I know there will be! There has to be! There can't not be a celebration! After all it's a big deal what the spell is supposed to do! Oooh I'm so excited--" "PINKIE!" Twilight exclaimed with an exasperated look on her face. "Yes, Twilight?" "While I understand your enthusiasm, I don't think there's going to be a party after the test." Twilight explained, almost instantly regretting it as Pinkie's cheer suddenly flipped to depression. Panicking, Twilight quickly amended her previous statement. "No no no no no no, what I meant was, uh, no party unless you planned it Pinkie. Yeah, it wouldn't be right to impose on the Princesses' hospitality like that, right?" Pinkie perked up immediately after hearing those words. "You're right, Twilight. -gasp- That means I need my Party Cannon!" At that, the party pony rushed off to her home in the loft above Sugarcube Corner, leaving a dust cloud in her wake. Twilight shook her head and made her way to the train station where most of her friends were waiting, except for Pinkie Pie. No, wait, Pinkie is over there saying hi to the engineer. How did she beat me here? Twilight wondered. Before she could get lost in that particular minefield, she turned her attention to the rest of her friends. "Hey girls." she greeted them, smiling warmly. "All set for the trip to Canterlot?" "Oh you know I'm always ready, darling." Rarity replied, motioning to the numerous suitcases that always accompanied her trips to Canterlot. "It's lovely that I'll be able to return. How I do love the sophistication of it all." "Yeah, well, keep in mind, 'lil-Miss-Perfect, that we're all on official business for tha' Princesses." Applejack pointed out. "There aint gonna be time for y'all to be foolin' around." Twilight chuckled as the farm pony and fashionista traded quips for a while. She turned to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to properly greet them. "Are you two ready as well?" "Oh yes, Twilight." Fluttershy replied with a sweet smile. Rainbow just snorted in an irritated manner. "They better let us on the train soon." she grumbled "I just want to get this over with so I can practice my act for the Wonderbolts." As if reading her mind, the conductor announced the all aboard and the six friends were allowed to board the train. The trip up to the mountain city was uneventful and allowed Twilight the time to look over her notes once more. Something was nagging her about it, but she couldn't place her hoof on whatever it was. She brushed the thought aside, figuring that it was just nervousness from presenting a spell she created to her instructor. As they approached the city, they could see the massive towers of the palace rising above the rest of Canterlot. In the setting sun it was quite a sight to behold. Seeing as it was sunset, it was the perfect time for the friends to meet with the Princesses. Celestia would be available since she had just lowered the sun and Luna would be just getting ready to raise the moon. Twilight knew they had to hurry; despite that it was only going to take a few minutes, both princesses needed to be there and Celestia was fairly infamous for falling asleep once the moon was up, now that it was no longer her duty to do so. They arrived at the throne room and bowed deeply to both Princesses, who were awaiting them on their thrones. "Twilight Sparkle," Celestia began, "how good it is to see you again, and for once not under dire circumstances." Celestia chuckled at this along with the rest of the ponies in the room. "As I understand it you've managed to complete the spell for teleporting the Elements?" "I have, Princess." Twilight replied. Celestia beamed back at her student. "May we see it?" Twilight nodded and lit up her horn in preparation for the spell. Mystic runes began to float around her friends and herself. She felt the powers of the Elements through her friends and could see that they were beginning to materialize. Then things went wrong. She could still feel the force of her spell bringing the Elements into the room, but there was another force she recognized. She could feel the form of energy that typically allowed teleportation. NO! What did I do wrong!? she wondered as the magic surged and she felt her body breaking up into the energy that would allow her to rapidly travel vast distances. Darkness overcame her as the rest of her body vanished with a poof. After a few moments of darkness, Twilight felt herself reforming. However, the spell had taken so much out of her that as soon as she had materialized, she began to black out. The last thing she could remember before falling onto the cold, hard ground was the sound of metal moving against metal and then nothing. Chapter OneChapter One Twilight's first thoughts when she came to were something along these lines: WHERE THE BUCK AM I!? She would have liked to have spoken this, but she was suspended in a green fluid with various tubes going into her mouth and down her throat. Before she was given a chance to panic, she took notice of the room she was in. From what she could tell, the room was entirely made of metal, with many lights and various sounds, all muffled by whatever fluid she was in. Continuing her look around the room, Twilight noticed a creature in front of what looked like a glowing window. It was, from what she could tell, bipedal with next to no hair, aside from on the top of its head, which was a rat's nest. It was wearing a lab coat that went down to its legs and wore black shoes. After a minute, it looked up, seemed to get excited, and left the room through a couple of sliding doors. When it had left was when Twilight began to panic. Oh sweet Celestia, where am I? How did I get here? What in Equestria was that thing? She would have mused further were it not for the creature coming back, with another one with it. The new creature looked much older than the first one. It had a simple shirt on with jeans and a vest with many bulging pockets. The two were talking. It was slightly muffled, but somehow she could still understand them. "Are you sure?" the new one asked in a gravely voice that she deemed to be male. "Positive. It definitely isn't Protoss and there aren't any traces of Zerg in its DNA, though its DNA did find a partial match in the data systems." the first replied, also male, but much higher. "It seems to match with an old genus of equines, though with several differences." He motioned to the top of her head. "We can't tell what it's used for, but it's clearly a horn." "And what's that other thing on top of its head?" the second asked. "That we don't know." the first one replied, looking kind of sheepish. "We couldn't remove it and whenever we scan it the devices start to go haywire." At this point, Twilight began to struggle. She tried using her magic to break free, but she had not enough energy. The two noticed this and watched as Twilight positioned her forehooves on the glass and, using all the strength she could muster, bucked the other side of the tube she was in. The tube then shattered, green fluid flowing everywhere and left Twilight on the floor with several cuts and scrapes on her legs from the broken glass. The two creatures backed off, the older one standing in front of the younger with a black device pulled out and pointed right at Twilight. Twilight, coughing and spluttering, made a mental note: Never let that stuff get into my mouth again. Ever. After a few moments of that, Twilight pulled herself up and got a good look at the two creatures. They both had pale, pink skin, almost cream colored, but that was where the similarities ended. The first one had slightly reddish hair and it was very untidy. His face seemed young and full of excitement. The other's hair was sleek and black, though with some grey in it to show his years. His face was much more weathered and had some facial hair in the form of a beard. He seemed to have a sense of suspicion about him. After a few minute of the three of them staring at each other, the one in the lab coat stood in front of the other, blocking Twilight's view of the device. "Sir, I can't let you shoot it. Who knows what it could do for our research!? We don't even know if it's hostile!" "But what if it is? It just smashed through your stasis cell, Stetman. How do we know it won't try to attack us?" the other replied. "I have a name and gender, you know." Twilight said indignantly. "And I would never hurt anypony unless they were hurting me or my friends." The two looked shocked at hearing Twilight speak, seemingly reeling from the fact that they had kept a fully sentient being in a stasis cell. The one who's name seemed to be Stetman spoke up. "You can talk?" "Of course I can!" Twilight replied angrily. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and I demand to know where I am this instant!" The older one stepped forward. "My apologies, Ms Sparkle. We didn't know that you were.. well.. sentient." he said apologetically. "Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Jim Raynor, commander of this fine vessel known as the Hyperion. This man here is Egon Stetman, lead scientific researcher on board. We are currently making our way from the planet Char. If you don't mind me asking, where are you from?" Twilight hid her confusion from Raynor and Stetman about where they were and decided to answer Jim's question. "I'm from Equestria." she said. "It's ruled by Princesses... Celestia... and..." That's when the realization hit her: Where are my friends? Somewhere within the Hyperion... Some of the crew members within the Hyperion thought they were hearing things throughout the day. For some, it was high-pitched laughter, for others it was hushed voices. Several shrugged it off, but it spooked several others. It wasn't until later that they heard a message go through the PA system. A message in a voice they all recognized as Raynor's. "Attention all crew members, I have been informed by a recent... addition to our group that there are several, well, ponies on board the ship. They are..." they all heard some ruffling of papers, " ah. There are five of them. An orange one who answers to Applejack, a blue one who answers to Rainbow Dash, a yellow one who answers to Fluttershy, a white one who answers to Rarity, and a pink one who answers to Pinkie Pie. Keep in mind, not only are these five sentient, they are also probably very scared. Do not give them reason to fear you. Just lead them to the bridge of the Hyperion. "Now, this message goes to the ponies in question. Your friend Twilight is here, and she wants me to let you know that she's waiting on the bridge for you as well. Just try to find a crew member and have them lead you to the bridge. I give you my word as the commander of this vessel that no harm will come to you. That is all." Chapter TwoChapter Two Twilight and Raynor were studying the astral map when the doors to the bridge opened up. A man wearing a uniform with short, black hair stepped into the room, followed closely by a white unicorn and a yellow pegasus. Twilight perked up at the sight of Rarity and Fluttershy, immediately went over to them and pulled them into a group hug. Meanwhile, Raynor walked over to the new man, whom he greeted as an old friend. "Matt, I see you've found two of our stowaways." Raynor said, smiling at the ponies' glee at being together again as Twilight began to tell them what had happened to her. "Truth be told, it was more like they found me." Matt chuckled. "I was on my way back from the reactor when they ran into me. To be honest, sir, I thought you had lost it when you made that announcement. Now I see you were being completely serious." "I still find it hard to believe myself." Raynor said, turning to Twilight and the two of her friends who had been found. She was just finishing up her side of the story. "... so I explained that you all must have been on board." Twilight was saying. "I gave him your names and a basic description of what you looked like and he agreed to send a message through the ship. We waited for a while, studying the ships astral map to try and find our home, but we haven't really had any luck yet." She got depressed after saying that. "I'm sorry for this, girls." "You've go nothing to be sorry for, Twilight" Rarity said. "I'm sure it was just a mistake." Fluttershy said quietly. "She's right." Rarity confirmed. "Whatever happened, at least we are back together. Well... some of us anyway." Twilight gave a sheepish smile. "Thanks for forgiving me, girls. I just wish I knew what happened with the others..." She looked down, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "It's just... I-I want to go home. I don't know where we are and nothing makes sense..." Fluttershy and Rarity looked to each other, each wearing an expression of pain as they saw their typically strong leader break into sobs, broken by her lack of understanding. They nodded and both went to comfort her, reassuring her that it wasn't her fault and that she would find a way out of the mess they were in. Meanwhile, Matt pulled Raynor aside. "Sir..." Matt began. Raynor shook his head. "I know, Matt. These girls are so innocent and confused. I know we can't afford to send anyone to find their planet, so I think our best course of action would be to find the rest of their friends so they at least have each other." Raynor turned over to the astral map and began to stare into it. He could notice the sobs of despair quieting into sniffles and, eventually, nothing. "Jim?" He turned around to see Twilight looking up at him. He stooped down to be able to look her in her eyes. "Yes, Twilight?" "I wanted to thank you for all that you've done. I know it hasn't been much, but it means a lot to me." the lavender mare said quietly. "Trust me, it was the least I could do. And believe me when I say I'm going to do everything in my power to help get you home. You have my word." Rarity was fussing over her mane, despite it looking as pristine as ever, though she was shortly interrupted by a noise. There was a loud crackle over the PA system as someone spoke over the loudspeakers. "Raynor, it's Swann. We've got a bit of a situation here down in the Armory. I think you ought to come down and have a look." "What kind of situation?" Jim asked. "I think it's best you come and see for yourself." Swann replied. "Hang on a sec." They could hear Swann yelling away from the microphone. "HEY! GET DOWN FROM THERE! YOU'RE GONNA BREAK-" there was a resounding crash as the sound of tons of metal falling to the ground assaulted their ears. "-it..." The line was cut and Jim looked to Matt. "I want you to look after these three until I get back, okay?" Jim ordered. "Yes sir." was Matt's response. Jim nodded to Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy and headed out the doorway. "So... Rarity," Twilight began. "what happened to you?" "Well, if you insist I would be happy to tell you of our little... adventure." Rarity said. "I found myself in a corridor made of metal, of all things. I was reminded of the caves of the diamond dogs, but without the dirt and gemstones, of course. I guess it wasn't very much like the diamond dogs' caves..." "Rarity, you're getting sidetracked..." Twilight muttered. "What? Oh, yes, of course. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to find Fluttershy fairly quickly, hiding behind some crates. Truth be told I only found her because I heard her whimpering. The poor mare was terrified, and for good reason too. We saw these creatures, but we didn't know what they were. Although, now we do know. They clearly resembled Mr. Horner and Mr. Raynor. I was quick to comfort her and we waited for a while. After some time, Fluttershy fell asleep and I watched over her, though I must admit I started to doze off myself. "We were awakened by the announcement by your friend, Mr. Raynor, that we were to be found. Fluttershy was worried that it was a trap, but I assured her otherwise as I could hear your voice in the background. Not long after we set out, we came across Mr. Horner over there. He seemed as surprised about us as were about him, and he was so well dressed, I decided he must be a respectable... creature to be as sharp as he was. Well, he led us here and we were reunited. I just wish our other friends would hurry, this stress has most certainly NOT been helpful to my mane." Twilight and Fluttershy chuckled at the familiarity of it all. Jim made his way towards the Armory, all the while the sounds of crashing machinery and the shouts of Swann were getting louder. As he reached the Armory, it became strangely quiet. Cautiously, Jim opened the door and stepped inside. What struck him first was the low level of light. He could vaguely make out the shapes of the various crates and tech on the ground. Looking around, Jim continued his advance into the room. He stepped up to the main podium and activated it. In a flash, all of the lights turned on and temporarily blinded Jim, who covered his face with his arms. When he lowered them, he found himself face to face with a bright pink pony with blue eyes. "SURPRISE!" Chapter ThreeA/N: My editor was unavailable to edit this one, so I hope any mistakes aren't too glaring. Chapter Three Jim stuttered for a moment, taking in the sight of the current state of the Armory. In front of him was the pink mare whom he could only assume was Pinkie Pie. As he looked around, Jim began to note the new... decor. It was redecorated to match a young child's birthday party, complete with multi-colored streamers and balloons. What struck him, though, was the large, wooden table in the middle of the room. There were several glass bowls with various colored liquids in them and large plates with what appeared to be pastries. Then he saw the cake. To say he laughed would be an understatement. He was howling with laughter, practically floored at that, at the sight of his Armory, a factory of death, made into a party room. It wasn't for a few minutes that he could stand up again and turn to face the pink pony, who was wearing the largest smile that he'd ever seen. "Hehe, something tells me you're Pinkie Pie." Jim said, still chuckling. "Oh I'm so glad you could make it!" Pinkie replied, still smiling. "I mean, I know this is your space ship and all, but I'm super excited now that you're here so we can have a party! Do you humans like parties? Well you must because you were laughing a whole lot just now and I really really really want you to enjoy this party! So, what do you think?" "It's nice, but I don't have the materials to have a party like this." Jim mused. "Where did you get all of this?" He motioned to all of the decorations and food in the room. "Oh, that's an easy one." Pinkie reached behind her and pulled out what appeared to be a medieval style cannon. The barrel was baby blue and its wheels were purple with a pink trim along the outside and the image of a daisy in the center. "This is my party cannon. I never leave home without it!" Jim was impressed by the simple contraption... until a few moments later when some details about it suddenly made no sense. "Hey, Pinkie. Can I ask you something?' "You mean other than what you just asked me?" she responded. "Uh, yeah. I was wondering, how does your party cannon work? Also, where did you get it?" Jim asked. "Oh well it works like this." Pinkie turned the cannon away from Jim. "You just press this..." Pinkie pressed her hoof to the fuse on the cannon. "And... KABOOM!" A blast was heard as the party cannon went off, shooting more streamers and confetti into the room. "The party can now begin. Where did I get it? I built it, of course! My very own design and everything!" Jim put his hand to his head and sighed. "No, Pinkie. What I meant was-" Before he could finish his thought, the doors to the Armory opened, with Twilight and Matt walking in followed by Rarity and Fluttershy, along with two ponies he didn't recognize. A few minutes passed in silence after Rarity had finished her explanation of how she and Fluttershy made it to the bridge, and for most of that time Twilight sat in thought. She was thinking not only of her missing friends, but also of home and of Spike. Most ponies already knew that they were as close as any siblings, so it was really hurting Twilight to know it would be a while until she would see him again. Letting out a sigh, Twilight brushed those thoughts aside, strengthening her resolve to find a way to make it back to Equestria with her friends. Twilight then let out a gasp in realization. She quickly stood up, causing her friends and Matt to look at her and walked over to Matt, who had been examining the astral map. "Matt, would it be okay if we went to the Armory?" she politely asked. "I'm not sure that's the best idea, Ms. Sparkle." Matt replied. "Please, just call me Twilight." Twilight said. "I want to go because I have a few suspicions about what's going on down there." "Do you think it might be one of our friends, darling?" Rarity asked. "Actually, yes." Twilight responded. "And I think I know who it is as well." "If you think it's your friend, then I trust your judgment." Matt said. "You know your friends better than I do. I insist that you allow me to come with you, though. You don't know your way through the ship yet and we wouldn't want you to get lost." Twilight thanked Matt for agreeing with her. She encouraged Rarity and Fluttershy to come along. Rarity was fairly quick to accept, though it took a little persuasion to get Fluttershy to come along. After a few minutes they were quickly making their way through the halls of the ship. Twilight took this time to take in all of the various technologies in the ship. It was... different, to say the least. Twilight had never seen so much metal in one place before, but there was a kind of beauty to it all. How everything seemed to work together in harmony to allow such a massive vessel. If only a fraction of this technology could be bought back to Equestria... Twilight was snapped out of her reverie when she walked headfirst into something coming out of a doorway perpendicular to the hallway they were in. The impact of walking into another being forced Twilight to fall back and sit down, making her more than just a little disoriented. Shaking her head to clear it, she saw two very familiar ponies in front of her. "Applejack! Rainbow!" Twilight cried with glee, pulling the two ponies in question into a hug. "I'm so glad to see you girls." "Aww, come on, Twi." Applejack said. "Ya'll had nothin' to worry 'bout us two, ain't that right, Rainbow?" "Of course!" Rainbow said, wearing a proud grin. "Besides, we can take care of ourselves pretty well. After all, we are two of the toughest ponies in Ponyville, though I'm obviously tougher." Twilight couldn't help but let her smile grow. It seemed that, even with everything that had been going on, her friends were no worse for the wear. "Hey, Twi." Applejack began. "How 'bout you introduce the two of us to your 'friend' here?" she motioned to Matt. "Oh, this is Matt Horner." Twilight replied. "He's the one who found Rarity and Fluttershy. He's been really helpful to us, along with a kind man known as Jim Raynor." Applejack walked up to Matt and put out her hoof. "My name's Applejack. It's a pleasure meetin' you, Mr. Horner." Matt took her hoof and shook it. "Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine." "It's very nice to meet you, too." Matt replied. "Oh!" Twilight exclaimed. "I almost forgot, we need to get to the Armory." Twilight continued down the corridor. "You two can tell us what happened to you while we walk." The rest of the group caught up with Twilight and Rainbow began telling them all what had happened. "We woke up in an empty room. I don't know what it was for, but it being made of metal surprised me. Anyway, we decided we'd never find out where we were if we just stayed huddled in one place. Not that we were scared or anything, just... in shock. Yeah, in shock. "Well, we were going through one hallway after another when we heard a voice everywhere. It kinda reminded me of how we could hear Discord when we couldn't see him. The voice said something about our names and what we looked like, and told others what to do if they found us. Then it told us to try and find someone to take us to a bridge or something. "Personally, I thought it was a trap, but Applejack here said she could hear you, Twilight, and said we should try and follow it's instructions. I trusted her and, not much later, we ran into you! Well, I did, anyway..." Rainbow smiled sheepishly at that. "Sorry about that." Twilight chuckled. "Don't be. I ran into you. There's just so much about this place that's so fascinating." Twilight's eyes sparkled with intrigue as she looked around at the corridor again. Before she could get lost in thought again, Matt informed them that they had reached the Armory. The doors quickly slid open, revealing a perplexed Jim Raynor, Pinkie Pie, and the weirdest looking party room Twilight had ever seen. Chapter FourChapter Four To be fair, Twilight had been expecting Pinkie to be responsible for the ruckus being caused within the Armory. Matt, on the other hand, had not. With all of the balloons, streamers, confetti and treats, he couldn't help but adopt an expression similar to that of Jim's. "Sir... what happened in here?" he asked. Jim shook his head slowly, regaining his composure. "Pinkie Pie happened." he said. "But... how?" Twilight spoke up. "I think it would be for the best if you don't think too much about it." she explained. "Trust me, nothing good can come of it." Jim shook his head even more, like he was trying to forget something and was unable to. Matt merely straightened himself up and whispered something in Jim's ear. Jim nodded and turned to face Rainbow and Applejack. Before introductions could be made, though, Pinkie jumped in front of Jim and started bouncing excitedly. "You know," she began, "there's a bunch of party here with nobody enjoying it!" Twilight chuckled. "I agree, and there's no party like a Pinkie Pie party. Why don't we all get introduced while enjoying the refreshments Pinkie's prepared for us?" "Aww yeah!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Let's party!" The others made their own agreements with the idea and the party began. Each of the mares took this time as well to explain what had happened to each of them leading to their reunion. All of them except for Pinkie, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for most of the party. "Pinkie, darling, is something the matter?" Rarity asked. "I don't know." Pinkie replied. "I feel like something is about to happen, but my Pinkie Sense isn't going off. It's really starting to bother me-" Pinkie cut herself off as her eyes went wide and she stopped moving completely for a moment. This frightened her friends as she never sits still for any length of time, at least until she spoke up. "Knee pinch... nose itch... spine twitch... Huh, that's weird. I've never had that kind of combo before." Jim looked to Twilight for an explanation, the confusion clearly etched on his face. Twilight chuckled, glad to see that yet another thing about her friends was unchanged: Pinkie's Pinkie Sense. "That was what we call Pinkie Sense." Twilight explained. "It's a phenomena that exists about Pinkie that allows her to predict the future in the very short term, though nopony's sure why. I tried figuring out once and it didn't really end well. It's just one of the things about Pinkie that makes her Pinkie." A look of worry crossed Twilight's face for a moment. "However, this combo is unknown." She turned to Pinkie. "I thought you knew all of the various meanings of your Pinkie Sense." "I thought I did too!" Pinkie said, a little distraught. "What if this is something really bad? I don't want anything else bad to happen because that would be no good." "Come on now, sugarcube." Applejack comforted Pinkie. "What's the worst it could be?" As if tempting fate by that statement, the sound of a woman's voice could be heard coming over the intercom. "Warning: Zerg Incoming. Prepare vessel for attack." This visibly startled Jim, along with Swann and Matt. The three stood up immediately and gave each other a worried glance. Jim then whispered to Matt, saying something that Twilight couldn't hear. He then turned to Swann. "I want you to get the Vikings and the Wraiths manned and out there defending the Hyperion." he said. "We don't know how many Zerg are going to be out there, so I'll leave the exact number up to you." "Sure thing boss." the engineer confirmed and proceeded to start preparing various pieces of tech in the room via the pedestal near the edge of the raised platform. Jim then turned to face Twilight, who was, at this point, very confused. "Jim, what going on? What are these 'Zerg'? What are 'Vikings' and 'Wraiths'?" she asked. "I'm sorry for this Twilight, but I can't tell you that right now." he said. He kneeled down to look her in the eyes. "I promise I will once this is over. For now, though, I want you and your friends to wait on the bridge with Matt. You should be safe there." "Safe from what?" Rainbow asked. "What's going on!?" Jim sighed. "You'll know soon enough." He then turned and walked out of the Armory, with an expression of grim determination on his face. It wasn't long after when Rainbow decided there had been enough standing around for one day. "Come on!" she practically yelled. "I wanna know what's going on!" "I agree, Rainbow." Twilight said, nodding. She turned to Matt. "Could you please tell us what's going on?" "I can, but we need to get to the bridge now. I can show you once we're there." On the Bridge Twilight stared in awe out of the main window of the Hyperion's bridge. The scene outside was like nothing she'd ever seen before. There were these creatures, insect-like and reddish in color. They had wings that appeared to leathery, like those of a bats. They were slender, with what appeared to be two mouths, near what Twilight perceived to be the top of their bodies and on near the bottom. The mouth on the bottom of each of the creatures appeared to be shooting some kind of projectile. There must have been hundreds of these things, but it was what they were shooting at that caught Twilight's attention. There were two mechanized vehicles firing back at the creatures, one slightly triangular in shape and the other appeared to be three arms coming off of a central point. The triangular ships were firing cylindrical object at the creatures, objects that exploded on impact. The others appeared to be firing beams of energy at them. While the six ponies watched the battle with great interest, Matt issued an order through one of the many terminals on the bridge. "I want all batteries to open fire on the Zerg." he ordered. There was a "Yessir" from the other side. Matt chuckled and walked up to Twilight and said "Watch this." The ship's outer lights began to glow brighter in several distinct spots along its length. Each spot grew brighter until they began rapidly firing energy blasts, each blast hitting a Zerg and avoiding the other ships with pinpoint accuracy. Twilight's jaw dropped at the display of power as it soon became apparent that the creatures were almost all gone. While most of the girls were fairly impressed by the display, Fluttershy seemed almost outraged. Twilight noticed this and watched in horror as Fluttershy stomped up to Matt and looked him right in the eyes with her Stare. "How could you do something like that?!" she yelled, Matt taken aback by the sudden outburst and increasingly cold stare he was receiving from the pegasus. "How could you just kill ALL of those creatures?!" "Miss Fluttershy, I can explain." he replied, somewhat shaken. "Those creatures are called mutalisks, and they are a subspecies of a parasitic race called the Zerg. They are a ruthless race that seeks to destroy and assimilate all species of the universe into themselves." Matt was standing his ground against Fluttershy at this point. "Those creatures would have likely killed us or worse had we not defended ourselves against them." "Oh.. I'm so sorry... I didn't know..." Fluttershy said quietly, beginning to cry. Matt breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey now, it's okay. I shouldn't have snapped back at you. You didn't know what they were, so why wouldn't you react that way?" "Y-you mean it?" Fluttershy asked, sniffling slightly. "Of course." Matt replied. He was surprised when she pulled him into a hug, but he returned it nonetheless. It was quite some time later that Jim returned to the bridge. He saw five of the six ponies discussing something while Twilight was at one of the terminals. He walked over to Matt, who had been examining the astral map. "How'd it go?" he asked. "Well, sir, they took it far better than I'd thought they would, to be honest." Matt replied. "After it was over, they were quiet for a while until Twilight wanted to access some of the ship's files." Matt made a point to avoid mentioning Fluttershy's little... outburst. "What kinds of files?" Jim asked. "Files on the various units at our command." Matt said. "She got the hang of the terminal fairly quickly and has even bookmarked a few blueprints for enhanced suits that Swann's been working on." Jim thought about this information for a few moments when Twilight looked up from the terminal she was at. She quickly trotted over to Jim. "I have something I want to talk to you about." she said. "Could you please come look at this with me?" "Sure thing, Twilight." Jim responded. Twilight led him over to the terminal that she had be working at. He could see that she had the armor templates for the marauders, firebats, reapers, and medics up on the screen. "Your technology is so much more advanced than that of Equestrian, but I happen to have some knowledge of computers." She pulled her hoof across the screen and pressed several buttons. "I was able to take the designs for these few armor types and play around with them a bit. I think you might be interested to see what I've come up with." Twilight pressed another on-screen button and the armor designs shifted. They now resembled the forms of ponies. "Swann, get up to the bridge. Now." Chapter FiveChapter Five Twilight watched as Swann rubbed his chin, going over her redesigns of the armored suits that he'd created. She may not have been the best at computers, but she was always a fast learner. The idea was quite simple, really. Twilight felt the need to help Jim and his comrades. They seemed like good people and, from what she had read in the ship's logs, they would need all the help they could get. Though she didn't quite know what the Protoss or Xel'Naga were, she could tell that they were obviously very powerful and was determined to help in any way she could. Twilight knew there wasn't much they could do as they were. Although her magic was varied and powerful, it was not combat based. Other than Rainbow and AJ, her friends were even less suited for battle than she was. She came across the designs fairly quickly in her search through the terminal, examining them and redesigning them to be quadruped in nature. Though they were just rough models at this point, she was sure that hard work would make them useable. Swann looked over to Twilight, his expression unreadable. "Miss Sparkle, have you ever learned about engineering or complex electrical system?" She shook her head. "Not formally, no. I've been able to teach myself some basics, but technology like this doesn't exist back on our world." Swann let out a low whistle. "Then, damn. I'm impressed. There are a few flaws in the designs, but getting around them would be fairly simple." He looked back the designs. "There is a bit of a problem though. Our standard power sources won't be compatible. We'll need something else." Twilight heard a loud gasp behind her. She turned and saw Pinkie standing up, her eyes wide open and mouth agape. "Uhh, Pinkie? You okay?" she asked. Pinkie nodded vigorously. "I just had the best idea ever! what if we use the Elements of Harmony as the power source? I mean, they're already tapped into our friendship and are really, really powerful, so they'd make, like, the best power sources ever since they'll never run out of energy and- mmph mmph" Applejack had cut her off by placing her hoof over Pinkie's mouth. “Don’t be ridiculous, Pinkie.” Applejack scolded. “There ain’t no way the Elements could work like that. ‘Sides, don’t they all need to be together to do anything?” “Actually, I think Miss Pie might be onto something there.” The doors to the research bay opened and Stetman walked inside. “I’ve been analyzing the data from each of your... Elements of Harmony and I think they may actually be the perfect solution.” He walked over to Jim and Swann, showing them the notes he’d taken down. “If my calculations are correct, then the amount of power that these things put out just as radiation would be more than enough to power the prototype suits.” Jim looked at the scientist skeptically. “You sure about that?” Stetman nodded. “Yeah, I am. In fact, designing the cores themselves should be fairly simple. The energy signature is almost identical to that of the Protoss crystal. It shouldn’t be too hard to modify the already existing plans. Jim turned to face Twilight. “Well Twilight, looks like you may very well get your wish.” Twilight beamed at this and began jumping up and down in circles around him. “Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! I promise, you won’t regret this.” She stopped in front of him. Jim chuckled. “Okay now. I get it, you want to help. For now, I recommend the six of you get some rest. You all got a big day ahead of you.” He faced Matt. “Would you take them to some quarters? Something a little nicer than the barracks. When you’re done with that, I want you to check on... her. Okay?” Matt nodded. “Of course, sir.” He led the six ponies out of the room. Once he had left, he turned to Stetman. “I want you to start designing the power core for the suits. Understood?” Stetman nodded eagerly. “Of course, sir. I’ll get started right away.” He quickly left the room and headed back to the research bay. Jim then turned to Swann, but was cut off. “I already know what you want me to do. Start designing the machines to build the suits, right?” Jim chuckled. “That’s exactly what I want you to do. Don’t spend too much time working on the schematics of the suits just yet. We can’t really work with those until we have some sort of power source and their measurements.” “I got ya.” Swann said before leaving the bridge himself, leaving Jim by himself. ‘What an odd day it’s been.’ he thought. “Well, there’s no point standing around. There’s work to be done and I’m not going to be useful tired.” At that, he walked out the doors himself, intent on getting some shuteye. =>SCII<= Twilight awoke to someone trying to wake her up. She sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes, taking in the room around her. It was styled much like the bridge, with an intricate golden trim and metal plating. There were a few computer screens, though they were off. Currently, the only light was coming from an overhead fluorescent lamp that was putting off a very low level of light. She looked over to see that it was Rainbow Dash who had woken her. “Rainbow?” she said groggily. “What are you doing?” Rainbow scratched her head sheepishly. “Well, uhh, I kinda woke up earlier than usual. Nopony else was awake so I decided to take a look at the Elements. I mean, it’s not like we get to see them when it’s not an emergency, right?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And?” she asked with suspicion. They had placed the Elements of Harmony in a box that Matt had kindly produced for them before they had gone to sleep. “Well, I think it’s better if you see for yourself.” Dash took off and was back with the box before Twilight could respond. Twilight took the box in her magical aura and opened it. What she found was surprising enough to make her gasp. “They were like this when you found them?” Rainbow nodded. “You didn't touch them or anything?” Rainbow shook her head. Inside the box were six gems, one of each color of the Elements. The were several inches from end to end with a hexagonal prism shape, the ends of which came to a point. They gave off the same energy as the elements had, which led Twilight to the conclusion that these were the Elements, just changed form. Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “You’re not mad or anything, are you?” she asked. Twilight grinned. “No. In fact, this could actually help us.” =>SCII<= Jim watched the movement of machines within the Research Bay. Stetman was quivering with excitement, observing the new machinery construct something amazing. Twilight observed as well, mesmerized by the motion of the construction arms building a new power core. It had not been long since Twilight had been made aware of the change to the Elements, yet the machines were up and running in a matter of hours and constructing the devices to harness their energy. “You sure about this, Stetman?” Jim asked, a bit of apprehension in his voice. “Well, not entirely, sir. But I don’t think anything bad will happen, if that’s what you mean.” the scientist replied. “I mean, look at all of the upgrades we got from researching the Protoss crystal and Zerg bio sample.” He grinned proudly. Jim rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. Just how much longer will this take? Swann’s been wanting to get his hands on this. Said something about wanting to get to work on the suits.” Stetman pushed his glasses on his face. “As far as I can tell, it should be done just about now. Ah, there it is!” Right on time the machine’s arms came to a halt and lowered back into the floor. What remained was a cylinder of grey metal, with glass panes in between the various bars running its length. Within was the Element of Honesty, giving off its orange aura, but no longer giving off energy. Each end of the capsule had indents designed to allow power to flow through. Twilight’s eyes gleamed as she watched Stetman take the capsule and examine it. His grin grew even wider as he declared it a success. Twilight took the capsule in her magic, much to Stetman’s surprise, and examined it herself. She couldn't feel the same energy as before, but she knew it was still there. Jim walked over to the screen near the door. “Swann, I’m sending you the schematics for the power cores. Get to work on the new suits, understood?” Swann’s voice came from the screen. “I hear ya, Jim. I’ll get those machines made and running within an hour. The first prototype will be ready first thing tomorrow.” Jim grinned. “That’s good to hear. Let me know when they’re ready.” The screen turned dark and Jim turned to Twilight. “Well, Twilight, by this time tomorrow your wish will come true. The first prototype suit will be ready for testing, so it won’t be long until the suits are ready for all of you. In the meantime, Stetman here will get the other Elements ready and you can feel free to explore the ship. Matt will be around to get you all when the time comes, okay?” Twilight nodded and gave the capsule back to Stetman. Jim then led her back to the ponies’ sleeping quarters to meet up with the others. =>SCII<= “So, what happened? Did it work? Are the Elements okay?” Twilight was greeted by a barrage of questions when she walked into the room she shared with her five best friends. She sighed a bit. “Yes, everything’s fine. The Elements are safe and are being prepared for the suits as we speak. I’m not sure how they transformed the way they did, but they seemed to sense our need for them to change.” Twilight explained the situation with the preparation of the suits. She then told them about Jim’s suggestion to explore the ship. She wholeheartedly supported this idea, explaining that this was their new home and it would be a good idea to get to know the ship and it’s crew. After having a quick meal, the six left the room and made their way through the ship. Chapter SixChapter 6 Twilight wandered the ship for a while, just marveling at the incredible complexity of the machinery that made up the various corridors and rooms. The crew of the ship, though aware of the presence of the ponies, still stared whenever she walked by. It was different from usual for her, but Twilight didn't mind the attention. The humans were just as fascinating to her as she was to them. In her time wandering, Twilight got a feel of the ship’s layout. She figured that she knew how to get to the most important places with relative ease. The bridge was easy to find, as were the armory and research bay as she had visited them all before. She had some trouble finding the cantina, but when she did she found it a little too rowdy for her own tastes. Something about the cantina bothered her, though. It felt as if someone had been watching her, aside from the crew members unaccustomed to seeing a purple unicorn. She brushed off the feeling and returned to the halls of the ship. It wasn't long, though, that she ran into somebody else while examining their more advanced technology. The collision sent her to the ground and when she looked up, she saw an imposing figure. He wore a dark suit with lines that ran up and down it that occasionally pulsed red. The suit covered most of his body, save for his head, which was a dark brown tone, and he had even darker hair which was braided into dreadlocks. “Well well well. What ‘ave we ‘ere?” The man smiled, but it was a sinister smile, the kind of smile of someone who was untrustworthy. It unsettled Twilight, to say the least. “The name’s Tosh. I heard about ya from the captain. So, what be your name, little one?” “Um, w-well. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” she said, frightened by the man. She could tell there was something different about him, but she couldn’t put her hoof on what it was. That unsettled her even further. “I-if you d-don’t mind, I’m gonna get going.” She tried to walk around him, but Tosh held her back and lowered himself to her level and looked her right in the eyes. “Now, now, don’t be frightened. This won’t hurt a bit.” Twilight felt compelled to look right back into his eyes. They were pale, but she didn’t have time to truly register this as she felt her magical energy begin to drain. She tried to break away, but was unable to. They remained this way for several minutes, Twilight getting weaker and weaker with every passing moment. She could feel her heart beating faster to try and make up for the loss of energy, as well as her breathing pace pick up. Twilight could just about see a cloud of darkness overcome the edges of her vision when one of the corridor doors opened up. “Tosh! What are you doing!” Tosh broke the connection between the two of them and stood up. Twilight fell to the floor and turned her head, seeing Jim Raynor in the doorway, looking very angry. “Ah, Raynor. I was just checking somet’ing ‘bout one of our guests here.” Tosh chuckled. Jim quickly went to Twilight’s side, helping her to her hooves. He turned to Tosh, anger in his voice. “I thought I had told you not to use that on anyone on board.” The man merely chuckled. “What’s wrong, Raynor? I was just testing her psionic potential. Th’ girl’s got more power than anyone else on board this ship.” “I don’t care what kind of potential she has, Tosh. You and I both know how dangerous that ability is.” Jim seemed to be shaking with rage. “Sometimes, I think I should have listened to Nova. You can’t be trusted.” With that, he led Twilight out of the hall and into a nearby elevator. They stood in the elevator silently for a few minutes. Twilight looked up to Jim. “Hey... Jim? Shouldn't we, you know, hit a button to make the elevator go?” He looked down at her and chuckled. “Yeah, I guess we should.” He reached over and pressed one of the buttons on the touch screen and the elevator lurched into motion. “Who was that man?” She asked, a little weakly. Jim frowned. “Gabriel Tosh. Former Spectre for the Dominion and currently a bit of a mercenary. He helped me against the Dominion but I never much agreed with him on certain things. One of which being the way he treats others.” He knelt in front of Twilight. “How are you feeling.” She took a deep breath. “Like I’ve been drained of all my energy... What did he do?” “It’s an ability of his that he calls consumption. He drains the energy out of another living thing and uses it for himself. It’s a cruel thing to use and I strictly forbade him from doing it on board.” Jim let out a sigh. “At least it’s good to see that you’re fine now. Come on, lets get you back to your room. I’m sure you’re exhausted.” Author's Note Gonna do the next few chapters from the viewpoints of the mane six. Hope you guys enjoyed it!
ProloguePrologue Twilight Sparkle was walking through Ponyville with purpose one day. The occasion? She had just completed a spell that would allow the Elements of Harmony to their bearers in an instant, making it much easier to use them in case another major threat came to Equestria. She paused for a moment and thought back on how much easier it would have been to defeat Chrysalis three months earlier if they had the use of the spell. It would have even been useful against Discord, for that matter. Oh well, what's passed is past, and Twilight still needed to meet her friends and test the spell. Of course, the Princesses would have to be there to supervise in case something went wrong, but Twilight had triple checked her calculations several times just to make sure. Her calculations, as she was pleased to know, were absolutely correct and now the spell just needed to be tested. Twilight looked up from her ponderings to find her vision full of pink. "Heya Twilight! You've been standing in the road for a long time, are you thinking about something? You excited to go to Canterlot to try the spell you've been working on? I know I am! Ooh, ooh, you think there will be a celebration for when the spell works? I know there will be! There has to be! There can't not be a celebration! After all it's a big deal what the spell is supposed to do! Oooh I'm so excited--" "PINKIE!" Twilight exclaimed with an exasperated look on her face. "Yes, Twilight?" "While I understand your enthusiasm, I don't think there's going to be a party after the test." Twilight explained, almost instantly regretting it as Pinkie's cheer suddenly flipped to depression. Panicking, Twilight quickly amended her previous statement. "No no no no no no, what I meant was, uh, no party unless you planned it Pinkie. Yeah, it wouldn't be right to impose on the Princesses' hospitality like that, right?" Pinkie perked up immediately after hearing those words. "You're right, Twilight. -gasp- That means I need my Party Cannon!" At that, the party pony rushed off to her home in the loft above Sugarcube Corner, leaving a dust cloud in her wake. Twilight shook her head and made her way to the train station where most of her friends were waiting, except for Pinkie Pie. No, wait, Pinkie is over there saying hi to the engineer. How did she beat me here? Twilight wondered. Before she could get lost in that particular minefield, she turned her attention to the rest of her friends. "Hey girls." she greeted them, smiling warmly. "All set for the trip to Canterlot?" "Oh you know I'm always ready, darling." Rarity replied, motioning to the numerous suitcases that always accompanied her trips to Canterlot. "It's lovely that I'll be able to return. How I do love the sophistication of it all." "Yeah, well, keep in mind, 'lil-Miss-Perfect, that we're all on official business for tha' Princesses." Applejack pointed out. "There aint gonna be time for y'all to be foolin' around." Twilight chuckled as the farm pony and fashionista traded quips for a while. She turned to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to properly greet them. "Are you two ready as well?" "Oh yes, Twilight." Fluttershy replied with a sweet smile. Rainbow just snorted in an irritated manner. "They better let us on the train soon." she grumbled "I just want to get this over with so I can practice my act for the Wonderbolts." As if reading her mind, the conductor announced the all aboard and the six friends were allowed to board the train. The trip up to the mountain city was uneventful and allowed Twilight the time to look over her notes once more. Something was nagging her about it, but she couldn't place her hoof on whatever it was. She brushed the thought aside, figuring that it was just nervousness from presenting a spell she created to her instructor. As they approached the city, they could see the massive towers of the palace rising above the rest of Canterlot. In the setting sun it was quite a sight to behold. Seeing as it was sunset, it was the perfect time for the friends to meet with the Princesses. Celestia would be available since she had just lowered the sun and Luna would be just getting ready to raise the moon. Twilight knew they had to hurry; despite that it was only going to take a few minutes, both princesses needed to be there and Celestia was fairly infamous for falling asleep once the moon was up, now that it was no longer her duty to do so. They arrived at the throne room and bowed deeply to both Princesses, who were awaiting them on their thrones. "Twilight Sparkle," Celestia began, "how good it is to see you again, and for once not under dire circumstances." Celestia chuckled at this along with the rest of the ponies in the room. "As I understand it you've managed to complete the spell for teleporting the Elements?" "I have, Princess." Twilight replied. Celestia beamed back at her student. "May we see it?" Twilight nodded and lit up her horn in preparation for the spell. Mystic runes began to float around her friends and herself. She felt the powers of the Elements through her friends and could see that they were beginning to materialize. Then things went wrong. She could still feel the force of her spell bringing the Elements into the room, but there was another force she recognized. She could feel the form of energy that typically allowed teleportation. NO! What did I do wrong!? she wondered as the magic surged and she felt her body breaking up into the energy that would allow her to rapidly travel vast distances. Darkness overcame her as the rest of her body vanished with a poof. After a few moments of darkness, Twilight felt herself reforming. However, the spell had taken so much out of her that as soon as she had materialized, she began to black out. The last thing she could remember before falling onto the cold, hard ground was the sound of metal moving against metal and then nothing.
Chapter OneChapter One Twilight's first thoughts when she came to were something along these lines: WHERE THE BUCK AM I!? She would have liked to have spoken this, but she was suspended in a green fluid with various tubes going into her mouth and down her throat. Before she was given a chance to panic, she took notice of the room she was in. From what she could tell, the room was entirely made of metal, with many lights and various sounds, all muffled by whatever fluid she was in. Continuing her look around the room, Twilight noticed a creature in front of what looked like a glowing window. It was, from what she could tell, bipedal with next to no hair, aside from on the top of its head, which was a rat's nest. It was wearing a lab coat that went down to its legs and wore black shoes. After a minute, it looked up, seemed to get excited, and left the room through a couple of sliding doors. When it had left was when Twilight began to panic. Oh sweet Celestia, where am I? How did I get here? What in Equestria was that thing? She would have mused further were it not for the creature coming back, with another one with it. The new creature looked much older than the first one. It had a simple shirt on with jeans and a vest with many bulging pockets. The two were talking. It was slightly muffled, but somehow she could still understand them. "Are you sure?" the new one asked in a gravely voice that she deemed to be male. "Positive. It definitely isn't Protoss and there aren't any traces of Zerg in its DNA, though its DNA did find a partial match in the data systems." the first replied, also male, but much higher. "It seems to match with an old genus of equines, though with several differences." He motioned to the top of her head. "We can't tell what it's used for, but it's clearly a horn." "And what's that other thing on top of its head?" the second asked. "That we don't know." the first one replied, looking kind of sheepish. "We couldn't remove it and whenever we scan it the devices start to go haywire." At this point, Twilight began to struggle. She tried using her magic to break free, but she had not enough energy. The two noticed this and watched as Twilight positioned her forehooves on the glass and, using all the strength she could muster, bucked the other side of the tube she was in. The tube then shattered, green fluid flowing everywhere and left Twilight on the floor with several cuts and scrapes on her legs from the broken glass. The two creatures backed off, the older one standing in front of the younger with a black device pulled out and pointed right at Twilight. Twilight, coughing and spluttering, made a mental note: Never let that stuff get into my mouth again. Ever. After a few moments of that, Twilight pulled herself up and got a good look at the two creatures. They both had pale, pink skin, almost cream colored, but that was where the similarities ended. The first one had slightly reddish hair and it was very untidy. His face seemed young and full of excitement. The other's hair was sleek and black, though with some grey in it to show his years. His face was much more weathered and had some facial hair in the form of a beard. He seemed to have a sense of suspicion about him. After a few minute of the three of them staring at each other, the one in the lab coat stood in front of the other, blocking Twilight's view of the device. "Sir, I can't let you shoot it. Who knows what it could do for our research!? We don't even know if it's hostile!" "But what if it is? It just smashed through your stasis cell, Stetman. How do we know it won't try to attack us?" the other replied. "I have a name and gender, you know." Twilight said indignantly. "And I would never hurt anypony unless they were hurting me or my friends." The two looked shocked at hearing Twilight speak, seemingly reeling from the fact that they had kept a fully sentient being in a stasis cell. The one who's name seemed to be Stetman spoke up. "You can talk?" "Of course I can!" Twilight replied angrily. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and I demand to know where I am this instant!" The older one stepped forward. "My apologies, Ms Sparkle. We didn't know that you were.. well.. sentient." he said apologetically. "Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Jim Raynor, commander of this fine vessel known as the Hyperion. This man here is Egon Stetman, lead scientific researcher on board. We are currently making our way from the planet Char. If you don't mind me asking, where are you from?" Twilight hid her confusion from Raynor and Stetman about where they were and decided to answer Jim's question. "I'm from Equestria." she said. "It's ruled by Princesses... Celestia... and..." That's when the realization hit her: Where are my friends? Somewhere within the Hyperion... Some of the crew members within the Hyperion thought they were hearing things throughout the day. For some, it was high-pitched laughter, for others it was hushed voices. Several shrugged it off, but it spooked several others. It wasn't until later that they heard a message go through the PA system. A message in a voice they all recognized as Raynor's. "Attention all crew members, I have been informed by a recent... addition to our group that there are several, well, ponies on board the ship. They are..." they all heard some ruffling of papers, " ah. There are five of them. An orange one who answers to Applejack, a blue one who answers to Rainbow Dash, a yellow one who answers to Fluttershy, a white one who answers to Rarity, and a pink one who answers to Pinkie Pie. Keep in mind, not only are these five sentient, they are also probably very scared. Do not give them reason to fear you. Just lead them to the bridge of the Hyperion. "Now, this message goes to the ponies in question. Your friend Twilight is here, and she wants me to let you know that she's waiting on the bridge for you as well. Just try to find a crew member and have them lead you to the bridge. I give you my word as the commander of this vessel that no harm will come to you. That is all."
Chapter TwoChapter Two Twilight and Raynor were studying the astral map when the doors to the bridge opened up. A man wearing a uniform with short, black hair stepped into the room, followed closely by a white unicorn and a yellow pegasus. Twilight perked up at the sight of Rarity and Fluttershy, immediately went over to them and pulled them into a group hug. Meanwhile, Raynor walked over to the new man, whom he greeted as an old friend. "Matt, I see you've found two of our stowaways." Raynor said, smiling at the ponies' glee at being together again as Twilight began to tell them what had happened to her. "Truth be told, it was more like they found me." Matt chuckled. "I was on my way back from the reactor when they ran into me. To be honest, sir, I thought you had lost it when you made that announcement. Now I see you were being completely serious." "I still find it hard to believe myself." Raynor said, turning to Twilight and the two of her friends who had been found. She was just finishing up her side of the story. "... so I explained that you all must have been on board." Twilight was saying. "I gave him your names and a basic description of what you looked like and he agreed to send a message through the ship. We waited for a while, studying the ships astral map to try and find our home, but we haven't really had any luck yet." She got depressed after saying that. "I'm sorry for this, girls." "You've go nothing to be sorry for, Twilight" Rarity said. "I'm sure it was just a mistake." Fluttershy said quietly. "She's right." Rarity confirmed. "Whatever happened, at least we are back together. Well... some of us anyway." Twilight gave a sheepish smile. "Thanks for forgiving me, girls. I just wish I knew what happened with the others..." She looked down, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "It's just... I-I want to go home. I don't know where we are and nothing makes sense..." Fluttershy and Rarity looked to each other, each wearing an expression of pain as they saw their typically strong leader break into sobs, broken by her lack of understanding. They nodded and both went to comfort her, reassuring her that it wasn't her fault and that she would find a way out of the mess they were in. Meanwhile, Matt pulled Raynor aside. "Sir..." Matt began. Raynor shook his head. "I know, Matt. These girls are so innocent and confused. I know we can't afford to send anyone to find their planet, so I think our best course of action would be to find the rest of their friends so they at least have each other." Raynor turned over to the astral map and began to stare into it. He could notice the sobs of despair quieting into sniffles and, eventually, nothing. "Jim?" He turned around to see Twilight looking up at him. He stooped down to be able to look her in her eyes. "Yes, Twilight?" "I wanted to thank you for all that you've done. I know it hasn't been much, but it means a lot to me." the lavender mare said quietly. "Trust me, it was the least I could do. And believe me when I say I'm going to do everything in my power to help get you home. You have my word." Rarity was fussing over her mane, despite it looking as pristine as ever, though she was shortly interrupted by a noise. There was a loud crackle over the PA system as someone spoke over the loudspeakers. "Raynor, it's Swann. We've got a bit of a situation here down in the Armory. I think you ought to come down and have a look." "What kind of situation?" Jim asked. "I think it's best you come and see for yourself." Swann replied. "Hang on a sec." They could hear Swann yelling away from the microphone. "HEY! GET DOWN FROM THERE! YOU'RE GONNA BREAK-" there was a resounding crash as the sound of tons of metal falling to the ground assaulted their ears. "-it..." The line was cut and Jim looked to Matt. "I want you to look after these three until I get back, okay?" Jim ordered. "Yes sir." was Matt's response. Jim nodded to Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy and headed out the doorway. "So... Rarity," Twilight began. "what happened to you?" "Well, if you insist I would be happy to tell you of our little... adventure." Rarity said. "I found myself in a corridor made of metal, of all things. I was reminded of the caves of the diamond dogs, but without the dirt and gemstones, of course. I guess it wasn't very much like the diamond dogs' caves..." "Rarity, you're getting sidetracked..." Twilight muttered. "What? Oh, yes, of course. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to find Fluttershy fairly quickly, hiding behind some crates. Truth be told I only found her because I heard her whimpering. The poor mare was terrified, and for good reason too. We saw these creatures, but we didn't know what they were. Although, now we do know. They clearly resembled Mr. Horner and Mr. Raynor. I was quick to comfort her and we waited for a while. After some time, Fluttershy fell asleep and I watched over her, though I must admit I started to doze off myself. "We were awakened by the announcement by your friend, Mr. Raynor, that we were to be found. Fluttershy was worried that it was a trap, but I assured her otherwise as I could hear your voice in the background. Not long after we set out, we came across Mr. Horner over there. He seemed as surprised about us as were about him, and he was so well dressed, I decided he must be a respectable... creature to be as sharp as he was. Well, he led us here and we were reunited. I just wish our other friends would hurry, this stress has most certainly NOT been helpful to my mane." Twilight and Fluttershy chuckled at the familiarity of it all. Jim made his way towards the Armory, all the while the sounds of crashing machinery and the shouts of Swann were getting louder. As he reached the Armory, it became strangely quiet. Cautiously, Jim opened the door and stepped inside. What struck him first was the low level of light. He could vaguely make out the shapes of the various crates and tech on the ground. Looking around, Jim continued his advance into the room. He stepped up to the main podium and activated it. In a flash, all of the lights turned on and temporarily blinded Jim, who covered his face with his arms. When he lowered them, he found himself face to face with a bright pink pony with blue eyes. "SURPRISE!"
Chapter ThreeA/N: My editor was unavailable to edit this one, so I hope any mistakes aren't too glaring. Chapter Three Jim stuttered for a moment, taking in the sight of the current state of the Armory. In front of him was the pink mare whom he could only assume was Pinkie Pie. As he looked around, Jim began to note the new... decor. It was redecorated to match a young child's birthday party, complete with multi-colored streamers and balloons. What struck him, though, was the large, wooden table in the middle of the room. There were several glass bowls with various colored liquids in them and large plates with what appeared to be pastries. Then he saw the cake. To say he laughed would be an understatement. He was howling with laughter, practically floored at that, at the sight of his Armory, a factory of death, made into a party room. It wasn't for a few minutes that he could stand up again and turn to face the pink pony, who was wearing the largest smile that he'd ever seen. "Hehe, something tells me you're Pinkie Pie." Jim said, still chuckling. "Oh I'm so glad you could make it!" Pinkie replied, still smiling. "I mean, I know this is your space ship and all, but I'm super excited now that you're here so we can have a party! Do you humans like parties? Well you must because you were laughing a whole lot just now and I really really really want you to enjoy this party! So, what do you think?" "It's nice, but I don't have the materials to have a party like this." Jim mused. "Where did you get all of this?" He motioned to all of the decorations and food in the room. "Oh, that's an easy one." Pinkie reached behind her and pulled out what appeared to be a medieval style cannon. The barrel was baby blue and its wheels were purple with a pink trim along the outside and the image of a daisy in the center. "This is my party cannon. I never leave home without it!" Jim was impressed by the simple contraption... until a few moments later when some details about it suddenly made no sense. "Hey, Pinkie. Can I ask you something?' "You mean other than what you just asked me?" she responded. "Uh, yeah. I was wondering, how does your party cannon work? Also, where did you get it?" Jim asked. "Oh well it works like this." Pinkie turned the cannon away from Jim. "You just press this..." Pinkie pressed her hoof to the fuse on the cannon. "And... KABOOM!" A blast was heard as the party cannon went off, shooting more streamers and confetti into the room. "The party can now begin. Where did I get it? I built it, of course! My very own design and everything!" Jim put his hand to his head and sighed. "No, Pinkie. What I meant was-" Before he could finish his thought, the doors to the Armory opened, with Twilight and Matt walking in followed by Rarity and Fluttershy, along with two ponies he didn't recognize. A few minutes passed in silence after Rarity had finished her explanation of how she and Fluttershy made it to the bridge, and for most of that time Twilight sat in thought. She was thinking not only of her missing friends, but also of home and of Spike. Most ponies already knew that they were as close as any siblings, so it was really hurting Twilight to know it would be a while until she would see him again. Letting out a sigh, Twilight brushed those thoughts aside, strengthening her resolve to find a way to make it back to Equestria with her friends. Twilight then let out a gasp in realization. She quickly stood up, causing her friends and Matt to look at her and walked over to Matt, who had been examining the astral map. "Matt, would it be okay if we went to the Armory?" she politely asked. "I'm not sure that's the best idea, Ms. Sparkle." Matt replied. "Please, just call me Twilight." Twilight said. "I want to go because I have a few suspicions about what's going on down there." "Do you think it might be one of our friends, darling?" Rarity asked. "Actually, yes." Twilight responded. "And I think I know who it is as well." "If you think it's your friend, then I trust your judgment." Matt said. "You know your friends better than I do. I insist that you allow me to come with you, though. You don't know your way through the ship yet and we wouldn't want you to get lost." Twilight thanked Matt for agreeing with her. She encouraged Rarity and Fluttershy to come along. Rarity was fairly quick to accept, though it took a little persuasion to get Fluttershy to come along. After a few minutes they were quickly making their way through the halls of the ship. Twilight took this time to take in all of the various technologies in the ship. It was... different, to say the least. Twilight had never seen so much metal in one place before, but there was a kind of beauty to it all. How everything seemed to work together in harmony to allow such a massive vessel. If only a fraction of this technology could be bought back to Equestria... Twilight was snapped out of her reverie when she walked headfirst into something coming out of a doorway perpendicular to the hallway they were in. The impact of walking into another being forced Twilight to fall back and sit down, making her more than just a little disoriented. Shaking her head to clear it, she saw two very familiar ponies in front of her. "Applejack! Rainbow!" Twilight cried with glee, pulling the two ponies in question into a hug. "I'm so glad to see you girls." "Aww, come on, Twi." Applejack said. "Ya'll had nothin' to worry 'bout us two, ain't that right, Rainbow?" "Of course!" Rainbow said, wearing a proud grin. "Besides, we can take care of ourselves pretty well. After all, we are two of the toughest ponies in Ponyville, though I'm obviously tougher." Twilight couldn't help but let her smile grow. It seemed that, even with everything that had been going on, her friends were no worse for the wear. "Hey, Twi." Applejack began. "How 'bout you introduce the two of us to your 'friend' here?" she motioned to Matt. "Oh, this is Matt Horner." Twilight replied. "He's the one who found Rarity and Fluttershy. He's been really helpful to us, along with a kind man known as Jim Raynor." Applejack walked up to Matt and put out her hoof. "My name's Applejack. It's a pleasure meetin' you, Mr. Horner." Matt took her hoof and shook it. "Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine." "It's very nice to meet you, too." Matt replied. "Oh!" Twilight exclaimed. "I almost forgot, we need to get to the Armory." Twilight continued down the corridor. "You two can tell us what happened to you while we walk." The rest of the group caught up with Twilight and Rainbow began telling them all what had happened. "We woke up in an empty room. I don't know what it was for, but it being made of metal surprised me. Anyway, we decided we'd never find out where we were if we just stayed huddled in one place. Not that we were scared or anything, just... in shock. Yeah, in shock. "Well, we were going through one hallway after another when we heard a voice everywhere. It kinda reminded me of how we could hear Discord when we couldn't see him. The voice said something about our names and what we looked like, and told others what to do if they found us. Then it told us to try and find someone to take us to a bridge or something. "Personally, I thought it was a trap, but Applejack here said she could hear you, Twilight, and said we should try and follow it's instructions. I trusted her and, not much later, we ran into you! Well, I did, anyway..." Rainbow smiled sheepishly at that. "Sorry about that." Twilight chuckled. "Don't be. I ran into you. There's just so much about this place that's so fascinating." Twilight's eyes sparkled with intrigue as she looked around at the corridor again. Before she could get lost in thought again, Matt informed them that they had reached the Armory. The doors quickly slid open, revealing a perplexed Jim Raynor, Pinkie Pie, and the weirdest looking party room Twilight had ever seen.
Chapter FourChapter Four To be fair, Twilight had been expecting Pinkie to be responsible for the ruckus being caused within the Armory. Matt, on the other hand, had not. With all of the balloons, streamers, confetti and treats, he couldn't help but adopt an expression similar to that of Jim's. "Sir... what happened in here?" he asked. Jim shook his head slowly, regaining his composure. "Pinkie Pie happened." he said. "But... how?" Twilight spoke up. "I think it would be for the best if you don't think too much about it." she explained. "Trust me, nothing good can come of it." Jim shook his head even more, like he was trying to forget something and was unable to. Matt merely straightened himself up and whispered something in Jim's ear. Jim nodded and turned to face Rainbow and Applejack. Before introductions could be made, though, Pinkie jumped in front of Jim and started bouncing excitedly. "You know," she began, "there's a bunch of party here with nobody enjoying it!" Twilight chuckled. "I agree, and there's no party like a Pinkie Pie party. Why don't we all get introduced while enjoying the refreshments Pinkie's prepared for us?" "Aww yeah!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Let's party!" The others made their own agreements with the idea and the party began. Each of the mares took this time as well to explain what had happened to each of them leading to their reunion. All of them except for Pinkie, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for most of the party. "Pinkie, darling, is something the matter?" Rarity asked. "I don't know." Pinkie replied. "I feel like something is about to happen, but my Pinkie Sense isn't going off. It's really starting to bother me-" Pinkie cut herself off as her eyes went wide and she stopped moving completely for a moment. This frightened her friends as she never sits still for any length of time, at least until she spoke up. "Knee pinch... nose itch... spine twitch... Huh, that's weird. I've never had that kind of combo before." Jim looked to Twilight for an explanation, the confusion clearly etched on his face. Twilight chuckled, glad to see that yet another thing about her friends was unchanged: Pinkie's Pinkie Sense. "That was what we call Pinkie Sense." Twilight explained. "It's a phenomena that exists about Pinkie that allows her to predict the future in the very short term, though nopony's sure why. I tried figuring out once and it didn't really end well. It's just one of the things about Pinkie that makes her Pinkie." A look of worry crossed Twilight's face for a moment. "However, this combo is unknown." She turned to Pinkie. "I thought you knew all of the various meanings of your Pinkie Sense." "I thought I did too!" Pinkie said, a little distraught. "What if this is something really bad? I don't want anything else bad to happen because that would be no good." "Come on now, sugarcube." Applejack comforted Pinkie. "What's the worst it could be?" As if tempting fate by that statement, the sound of a woman's voice could be heard coming over the intercom. "Warning: Zerg Incoming. Prepare vessel for attack." This visibly startled Jim, along with Swann and Matt. The three stood up immediately and gave each other a worried glance. Jim then whispered to Matt, saying something that Twilight couldn't hear. He then turned to Swann. "I want you to get the Vikings and the Wraiths manned and out there defending the Hyperion." he said. "We don't know how many Zerg are going to be out there, so I'll leave the exact number up to you." "Sure thing boss." the engineer confirmed and proceeded to start preparing various pieces of tech in the room via the pedestal near the edge of the raised platform. Jim then turned to face Twilight, who was, at this point, very confused. "Jim, what going on? What are these 'Zerg'? What are 'Vikings' and 'Wraiths'?" she asked. "I'm sorry for this Twilight, but I can't tell you that right now." he said. He kneeled down to look her in the eyes. "I promise I will once this is over. For now, though, I want you and your friends to wait on the bridge with Matt. You should be safe there." "Safe from what?" Rainbow asked. "What's going on!?" Jim sighed. "You'll know soon enough." He then turned and walked out of the Armory, with an expression of grim determination on his face. It wasn't long after when Rainbow decided there had been enough standing around for one day. "Come on!" she practically yelled. "I wanna know what's going on!" "I agree, Rainbow." Twilight said, nodding. She turned to Matt. "Could you please tell us what's going on?" "I can, but we need to get to the bridge now. I can show you once we're there." On the Bridge Twilight stared in awe out of the main window of the Hyperion's bridge. The scene outside was like nothing she'd ever seen before. There were these creatures, insect-like and reddish in color. They had wings that appeared to leathery, like those of a bats. They were slender, with what appeared to be two mouths, near what Twilight perceived to be the top of their bodies and on near the bottom. The mouth on the bottom of each of the creatures appeared to be shooting some kind of projectile. There must have been hundreds of these things, but it was what they were shooting at that caught Twilight's attention. There were two mechanized vehicles firing back at the creatures, one slightly triangular in shape and the other appeared to be three arms coming off of a central point. The triangular ships were firing cylindrical object at the creatures, objects that exploded on impact. The others appeared to be firing beams of energy at them. While the six ponies watched the battle with great interest, Matt issued an order through one of the many terminals on the bridge. "I want all batteries to open fire on the Zerg." he ordered. There was a "Yessir" from the other side. Matt chuckled and walked up to Twilight and said "Watch this." The ship's outer lights began to glow brighter in several distinct spots along its length. Each spot grew brighter until they began rapidly firing energy blasts, each blast hitting a Zerg and avoiding the other ships with pinpoint accuracy. Twilight's jaw dropped at the display of power as it soon became apparent that the creatures were almost all gone. While most of the girls were fairly impressed by the display, Fluttershy seemed almost outraged. Twilight noticed this and watched in horror as Fluttershy stomped up to Matt and looked him right in the eyes with her Stare. "How could you do something like that?!" she yelled, Matt taken aback by the sudden outburst and increasingly cold stare he was receiving from the pegasus. "How could you just kill ALL of those creatures?!" "Miss Fluttershy, I can explain." he replied, somewhat shaken. "Those creatures are called mutalisks, and they are a subspecies of a parasitic race called the Zerg. They are a ruthless race that seeks to destroy and assimilate all species of the universe into themselves." Matt was standing his ground against Fluttershy at this point. "Those creatures would have likely killed us or worse had we not defended ourselves against them." "Oh.. I'm so sorry... I didn't know..." Fluttershy said quietly, beginning to cry. Matt breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey now, it's okay. I shouldn't have snapped back at you. You didn't know what they were, so why wouldn't you react that way?" "Y-you mean it?" Fluttershy asked, sniffling slightly. "Of course." Matt replied. He was surprised when she pulled him into a hug, but he returned it nonetheless. It was quite some time later that Jim returned to the bridge. He saw five of the six ponies discussing something while Twilight was at one of the terminals. He walked over to Matt, who had been examining the astral map. "How'd it go?" he asked. "Well, sir, they took it far better than I'd thought they would, to be honest." Matt replied. "After it was over, they were quiet for a while until Twilight wanted to access some of the ship's files." Matt made a point to avoid mentioning Fluttershy's little... outburst. "What kinds of files?" Jim asked. "Files on the various units at our command." Matt said. "She got the hang of the terminal fairly quickly and has even bookmarked a few blueprints for enhanced suits that Swann's been working on." Jim thought about this information for a few moments when Twilight looked up from the terminal she was at. She quickly trotted over to Jim. "I have something I want to talk to you about." she said. "Could you please come look at this with me?" "Sure thing, Twilight." Jim responded. Twilight led him over to the terminal that she had be working at. He could see that she had the armor templates for the marauders, firebats, reapers, and medics up on the screen. "Your technology is so much more advanced than that of Equestrian, but I happen to have some knowledge of computers." She pulled her hoof across the screen and pressed several buttons. "I was able to take the designs for these few armor types and play around with them a bit. I think you might be interested to see what I've come up with." Twilight pressed another on-screen button and the armor designs shifted. They now resembled the forms of ponies. "Swann, get up to the bridge. Now."
Chapter FiveChapter Five Twilight watched as Swann rubbed his chin, going over her redesigns of the armored suits that he'd created. She may not have been the best at computers, but she was always a fast learner. The idea was quite simple, really. Twilight felt the need to help Jim and his comrades. They seemed like good people and, from what she had read in the ship's logs, they would need all the help they could get. Though she didn't quite know what the Protoss or Xel'Naga were, she could tell that they were obviously very powerful and was determined to help in any way she could. Twilight knew there wasn't much they could do as they were. Although her magic was varied and powerful, it was not combat based. Other than Rainbow and AJ, her friends were even less suited for battle than she was. She came across the designs fairly quickly in her search through the terminal, examining them and redesigning them to be quadruped in nature. Though they were just rough models at this point, she was sure that hard work would make them useable. Swann looked over to Twilight, his expression unreadable. "Miss Sparkle, have you ever learned about engineering or complex electrical system?" She shook her head. "Not formally, no. I've been able to teach myself some basics, but technology like this doesn't exist back on our world." Swann let out a low whistle. "Then, damn. I'm impressed. There are a few flaws in the designs, but getting around them would be fairly simple." He looked back the designs. "There is a bit of a problem though. Our standard power sources won't be compatible. We'll need something else." Twilight heard a loud gasp behind her. She turned and saw Pinkie standing up, her eyes wide open and mouth agape. "Uhh, Pinkie? You okay?" she asked. Pinkie nodded vigorously. "I just had the best idea ever! what if we use the Elements of Harmony as the power source? I mean, they're already tapped into our friendship and are really, really powerful, so they'd make, like, the best power sources ever since they'll never run out of energy and- mmph mmph" Applejack had cut her off by placing her hoof over Pinkie's mouth. “Don’t be ridiculous, Pinkie.” Applejack scolded. “There ain’t no way the Elements could work like that. ‘Sides, don’t they all need to be together to do anything?” “Actually, I think Miss Pie might be onto something there.” The doors to the research bay opened and Stetman walked inside. “I’ve been analyzing the data from each of your... Elements of Harmony and I think they may actually be the perfect solution.” He walked over to Jim and Swann, showing them the notes he’d taken down. “If my calculations are correct, then the amount of power that these things put out just as radiation would be more than enough to power the prototype suits.” Jim looked at the scientist skeptically. “You sure about that?” Stetman nodded. “Yeah, I am. In fact, designing the cores themselves should be fairly simple. The energy signature is almost identical to that of the Protoss crystal. It shouldn’t be too hard to modify the already existing plans. Jim turned to face Twilight. “Well Twilight, looks like you may very well get your wish.” Twilight beamed at this and began jumping up and down in circles around him. “Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! I promise, you won’t regret this.” She stopped in front of him. Jim chuckled. “Okay now. I get it, you want to help. For now, I recommend the six of you get some rest. You all got a big day ahead of you.” He faced Matt. “Would you take them to some quarters? Something a little nicer than the barracks. When you’re done with that, I want you to check on... her. Okay?” Matt nodded. “Of course, sir.” He led the six ponies out of the room. Once he had left, he turned to Stetman. “I want you to start designing the power core for the suits. Understood?” Stetman nodded eagerly. “Of course, sir. I’ll get started right away.” He quickly left the room and headed back to the research bay. Jim then turned to Swann, but was cut off. “I already know what you want me to do. Start designing the machines to build the suits, right?” Jim chuckled. “That’s exactly what I want you to do. Don’t spend too much time working on the schematics of the suits just yet. We can’t really work with those until we have some sort of power source and their measurements.” “I got ya.” Swann said before leaving the bridge himself, leaving Jim by himself. ‘What an odd day it’s been.’ he thought. “Well, there’s no point standing around. There’s work to be done and I’m not going to be useful tired.” At that, he walked out the doors himself, intent on getting some shuteye. =>SCII<= Twilight awoke to someone trying to wake her up. She sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes, taking in the room around her. It was styled much like the bridge, with an intricate golden trim and metal plating. There were a few computer screens, though they were off. Currently, the only light was coming from an overhead fluorescent lamp that was putting off a very low level of light. She looked over to see that it was Rainbow Dash who had woken her. “Rainbow?” she said groggily. “What are you doing?” Rainbow scratched her head sheepishly. “Well, uhh, I kinda woke up earlier than usual. Nopony else was awake so I decided to take a look at the Elements. I mean, it’s not like we get to see them when it’s not an emergency, right?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And?” she asked with suspicion. They had placed the Elements of Harmony in a box that Matt had kindly produced for them before they had gone to sleep. “Well, I think it’s better if you see for yourself.” Dash took off and was back with the box before Twilight could respond. Twilight took the box in her magical aura and opened it. What she found was surprising enough to make her gasp. “They were like this when you found them?” Rainbow nodded. “You didn't touch them or anything?” Rainbow shook her head. Inside the box were six gems, one of each color of the Elements. The were several inches from end to end with a hexagonal prism shape, the ends of which came to a point. They gave off the same energy as the elements had, which led Twilight to the conclusion that these were the Elements, just changed form. Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. “You’re not mad or anything, are you?” she asked. Twilight grinned. “No. In fact, this could actually help us.” =>SCII<= Jim watched the movement of machines within the Research Bay. Stetman was quivering with excitement, observing the new machinery construct something amazing. Twilight observed as well, mesmerized by the motion of the construction arms building a new power core. It had not been long since Twilight had been made aware of the change to the Elements, yet the machines were up and running in a matter of hours and constructing the devices to harness their energy. “You sure about this, Stetman?” Jim asked, a bit of apprehension in his voice. “Well, not entirely, sir. But I don’t think anything bad will happen, if that’s what you mean.” the scientist replied. “I mean, look at all of the upgrades we got from researching the Protoss crystal and Zerg bio sample.” He grinned proudly. Jim rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. Just how much longer will this take? Swann’s been wanting to get his hands on this. Said something about wanting to get to work on the suits.” Stetman pushed his glasses on his face. “As far as I can tell, it should be done just about now. Ah, there it is!” Right on time the machine’s arms came to a halt and lowered back into the floor. What remained was a cylinder of grey metal, with glass panes in between the various bars running its length. Within was the Element of Honesty, giving off its orange aura, but no longer giving off energy. Each end of the capsule had indents designed to allow power to flow through. Twilight’s eyes gleamed as she watched Stetman take the capsule and examine it. His grin grew even wider as he declared it a success. Twilight took the capsule in her magic, much to Stetman’s surprise, and examined it herself. She couldn't feel the same energy as before, but she knew it was still there. Jim walked over to the screen near the door. “Swann, I’m sending you the schematics for the power cores. Get to work on the new suits, understood?” Swann’s voice came from the screen. “I hear ya, Jim. I’ll get those machines made and running within an hour. The first prototype will be ready first thing tomorrow.” Jim grinned. “That’s good to hear. Let me know when they’re ready.” The screen turned dark and Jim turned to Twilight. “Well, Twilight, by this time tomorrow your wish will come true. The first prototype suit will be ready for testing, so it won’t be long until the suits are ready for all of you. In the meantime, Stetman here will get the other Elements ready and you can feel free to explore the ship. Matt will be around to get you all when the time comes, okay?” Twilight nodded and gave the capsule back to Stetman. Jim then led her back to the ponies’ sleeping quarters to meet up with the others. =>SCII<= “So, what happened? Did it work? Are the Elements okay?” Twilight was greeted by a barrage of questions when she walked into the room she shared with her five best friends. She sighed a bit. “Yes, everything’s fine. The Elements are safe and are being prepared for the suits as we speak. I’m not sure how they transformed the way they did, but they seemed to sense our need for them to change.” Twilight explained the situation with the preparation of the suits. She then told them about Jim’s suggestion to explore the ship. She wholeheartedly supported this idea, explaining that this was their new home and it would be a good idea to get to know the ship and it’s crew. After having a quick meal, the six left the room and made their way through the ship.
Chapter SixChapter 6 Twilight wandered the ship for a while, just marveling at the incredible complexity of the machinery that made up the various corridors and rooms. The crew of the ship, though aware of the presence of the ponies, still stared whenever she walked by. It was different from usual for her, but Twilight didn't mind the attention. The humans were just as fascinating to her as she was to them. In her time wandering, Twilight got a feel of the ship’s layout. She figured that she knew how to get to the most important places with relative ease. The bridge was easy to find, as were the armory and research bay as she had visited them all before. She had some trouble finding the cantina, but when she did she found it a little too rowdy for her own tastes. Something about the cantina bothered her, though. It felt as if someone had been watching her, aside from the crew members unaccustomed to seeing a purple unicorn. She brushed off the feeling and returned to the halls of the ship. It wasn't long, though, that she ran into somebody else while examining their more advanced technology. The collision sent her to the ground and when she looked up, she saw an imposing figure. He wore a dark suit with lines that ran up and down it that occasionally pulsed red. The suit covered most of his body, save for his head, which was a dark brown tone, and he had even darker hair which was braided into dreadlocks. “Well well well. What ‘ave we ‘ere?” The man smiled, but it was a sinister smile, the kind of smile of someone who was untrustworthy. It unsettled Twilight, to say the least. “The name’s Tosh. I heard about ya from the captain. So, what be your name, little one?” “Um, w-well. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” she said, frightened by the man. She could tell there was something different about him, but she couldn’t put her hoof on what it was. That unsettled her even further. “I-if you d-don’t mind, I’m gonna get going.” She tried to walk around him, but Tosh held her back and lowered himself to her level and looked her right in the eyes. “Now, now, don’t be frightened. This won’t hurt a bit.” Twilight felt compelled to look right back into his eyes. They were pale, but she didn’t have time to truly register this as she felt her magical energy begin to drain. She tried to break away, but was unable to. They remained this way for several minutes, Twilight getting weaker and weaker with every passing moment. She could feel her heart beating faster to try and make up for the loss of energy, as well as her breathing pace pick up. Twilight could just about see a cloud of darkness overcome the edges of her vision when one of the corridor doors opened up. “Tosh! What are you doing!” Tosh broke the connection between the two of them and stood up. Twilight fell to the floor and turned her head, seeing Jim Raynor in the doorway, looking very angry. “Ah, Raynor. I was just checking somet’ing ‘bout one of our guests here.” Tosh chuckled. Jim quickly went to Twilight’s side, helping her to her hooves. He turned to Tosh, anger in his voice. “I thought I had told you not to use that on anyone on board.” The man merely chuckled. “What’s wrong, Raynor? I was just testing her psionic potential. Th’ girl’s got more power than anyone else on board this ship.” “I don’t care what kind of potential she has, Tosh. You and I both know how dangerous that ability is.” Jim seemed to be shaking with rage. “Sometimes, I think I should have listened to Nova. You can’t be trusted.” With that, he led Twilight out of the hall and into a nearby elevator. They stood in the elevator silently for a few minutes. Twilight looked up to Jim. “Hey... Jim? Shouldn't we, you know, hit a button to make the elevator go?” He looked down at her and chuckled. “Yeah, I guess we should.” He reached over and pressed one of the buttons on the touch screen and the elevator lurched into motion. “Who was that man?” She asked, a little weakly. Jim frowned. “Gabriel Tosh. Former Spectre for the Dominion and currently a bit of a mercenary. He helped me against the Dominion but I never much agreed with him on certain things. One of which being the way he treats others.” He knelt in front of Twilight. “How are you feeling.” She took a deep breath. “Like I’ve been drained of all my energy... What did he do?” “It’s an ability of his that he calls consumption. He drains the energy out of another living thing and uses it for himself. It’s a cruel thing to use and I strictly forbade him from doing it on board.” Jim let out a sigh. “At least it’s good to see that you’re fine now. Come on, lets get you back to your room. I’m sure you’re exhausted.” Author's Note Gonna do the next few chapters from the viewpoints of the mane six. Hope you guys enjoyed it!
