Chapters One year ago...
Equus was visited without warning by Mickey Mouse and his friends when their ship got damaged by an exploding star. Knowing that the rescue mission would be dangerous, Twilight called in Ryder and the PAW Patrol, whom they had rescued three months prior. During both missions, Twilight has had Cadence fill in for her in Canterlot. At this point, Cadence has retired and Flurry Heart is now the leader over the Crystal Empire. What plans might be in store for Twilight on how to prep her new allies for the future?
Ryder and the pups were playing ball when a tone sounded to indicate an incoming call.
"This is Ryder, go ahead."
"Ryder, this is Flurry Heart. Aunt Twilight has decided to give you guys some training for solo space piloting and for space battles. The training starts in two weeks. We are training our other allies as well."
"Understood. We will get there as soon as we can. Our ship is being refueled right now, but we will take off once we are finished."
The Space Patroller was finished with refueling four hours later. Once Ryder had gotten word to the Cat Pack, everyone got together and took the elevator down to the hangar. Once all systems were confirmed nominal, the ship took off and Ryder set a course for Equus. Since this was not an urgent mission, there was no need to use the warp engines. This meant that everyone could enjoy the scenery and beauty of space during the trip.
Mickey had gathered his crew together for a space exploration and already taken off when they received the call from Flurry.
"This is Mickey, go ahead Flurry Heart.", he said.
"It looks like you were getting ready for a space flight of some sort. I can tell this because you are wearing your Captain's uniform and your friends are seated around you.", said Flurry.
"You would be correct. We were about to begin a space exploration when you called in.", Mickey confirmed.
"Perfect timing then. Aunt Twilight has decided to give you and your friends some extensive training in solo space piloting and in space battles. The training begins in two weeks, so there is no need to rush. The PAW Patrol is being trained as well, so you will see each other again."
Mickey and his friends were excited about seeing Ryder and the pups again. They set their course for Equus and set the ship to auto-pilot. This was a more relaxed flight, so they had time to take in the beauty of space and enjoy the view out the windows.
As both of the ally ships made their way to Equus, they appeared on each other's radar screens.
When both ships came close enough to each other, they established contact.
"Space Patroller to Disneystar . It's great to see you again.", said Ryder.
"Same for us. At least this time we are not in danger and needing rescue.", replied Minnie.
Soon, they arrived in orbit around Equus and Twilight radioed Flurry.
"Both ships have come up on radar. Get to the training area and send them the location.", she said.
Flurry acknowledged and made her way to the training site. Once Neighsay had cleared the allies for atmospheric entry, they descended to the ground and landed safely. They disembarked on land vehicles and followed a mapped out route to the training area where Flurry was waiting for them. After driving through dense woods for an hour, they reached a clearing where the Harmony was docked. Flurry opened the gate and led them to a large elevator platform that took them underground to a massive complex with its own barracks for the allies. Once everyone had set out their supplies in the barracks, they grouped back together and Flurry spoke to them.
"This way please. Training starts next week, and there is a lot you need to know.", she said as she opened the doors to a meeting room.
Both groups of allies followed her and then took seats around the room.
Once everyone was seated, Flurry Heart took the floor and spoke to them.
"This is the training center where all members of the Equestrian Fleet were brought to gear up for space travel, search and rescue, and battle. When you all were here last year, we looked over your records and saw that all of you have rescue training. There are two stages of training that you will go through while you're here. Stage one involves learning how to pilot your own starship. Stage two involves scenarios where you must battle other ships in space. All of you with hands will be given a third stage where you must learn how to defend yourself in hand-in-hand combat with weapons, whereas the pups and the cats will do hand-in-hand with only their paws. All of the training for starships will be done with simulators that project real life images on screens around you. Above all, when going through starship battle training, you will be in simulators next to each other so you can work as a team."
Everyone understood the parameters that Flurry had just stated. The pups and the cats understood why they would be unable to go through weapons training. After Flurry had given the rundown of everything they would expect in their training, she released them to get some sleep because the training would start early the next morning. They headed to the barracks and laid down for the night.
Flurry Heart was getting acclimated to her new role as leader of the Crystal Empire when a scroll came to her from Canterlot.
**
Dear Flurry Heart,
I have had a recent idea cross my mind. I have decided that our new allies from Adventure Bay along with Mickey and his crew should be trained for piloting their own starships, and they should receive war training. You never know when you will need to defend yourself. I am putting you in charge of the training.
Yours sincerely,
Aunt Twilight Sparkle
**
Flurry knew that this would not be an easy task, but she and Twilight both knew that she was experienced in leadership and knew how to direct a mission. So she accepted and appointed some officials to take her place while she was carrying out the training. She boarded the train and set off for Canterlot. Meeting her aunt in the throne room, she listened carefully to what Twilight had to say.
"The easiest way to carry out the starship training is to use simulators. We already have enough from when we modernized Equestria. The war training will be different, depending on the individuals. Ryder along with Mickey and his friends can be trained for both space battles and hand-in-hand combat. The pups and the cats, on the other hand, can only be trained for space battles. Regardless, I know you can get them trained well enough so they are ready for anything."
Flurry was quick to reply.
"You can count on me, Aunt Twilight. I will make sure they do not miss anything."
"That's my niece.", Twilight said with a warm smile.
Flurry took a bow and headed to the communications tower in Canterlot.
At 6:00 AM the next morning, Flurry got everyone up to begin their training for space flight. Leading them to the meeting room, she started with an explanatory portion to get everyone introduced to how a personal starship worked.
"There are several components to a personal ship. Some of the critical pieces are the engines, wings, and the cockpit. Later on, you will learn how to open the wings and fire weapons in battle.", she explained as she talked the group through the basics of a starship.
After leading them to the simulator room, she had each of the members get in a chamber and get situated to begin the session. What she left as a surprise was that there were scanners in the chambers that would tell the consoles to automatically arrange themselves to each individual's personal taste. After the hatches were shut on the chambers, each of the allies began with the launch sequence. First, they were given a guided set of instructions on how to power up their ship, and then how to start the engines. Following the instructions was a snap and they were given further instructions on how to fly the ships. Skye was the only one who did not need the instructions, because she always flew a helicopter.
Everyone else was nervous in the beginning, but they quickly caught on and were able to ace the simulations after only four days. When Flurry looked at the results, she was impressed and knew that they were now ready to take on the next stage of the training. She congratulated everyone on their successes and then told them what was next.
"You have tomorrow off since you have been training hard for the past four days. The next day is when you will start the battle phase of your training."
Everyone acknowledged what she had told her and then she opened up a pathway to the battle simulators. The chambers here were closer to each other and had cameras and microphones so the occupants could see and speak to each other. Taking note that the battle phase would be more sophisticated, the allies headed back to the barracks and turned in for the night.