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                         Fragments                         
                        -by IGIBAB-                        
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           Chapter 1 - Captain Twilight Sparkle            
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Chapter 1 - Captain Twilight Sparkle
"Friendship Cottage, please check your trajectory, you're deviating a few degrees from the landing pontoon's azimuth."
Twilight nearly jumped off of her seat when she heard the blurred voice coming from the radio. She briefly shook her head to refocus on her current task, that was: Making this ship land without wrecking Canterlot's spaceport. Not quite an easy deal, especially when taking into account all the parameters that made a landing more difficult than what it seemed from the ground.
Releasing the right control lever for a moment so as to toggle the lateral correctors, Twilight's stare abnormally lingered on her hand.
A bright purple color, thus as usual. Coated by the normal gloves that all pilots wear, made of some kind of adhesive leather, letting her upper phalanges free. Nothing differed from what she had always known, but somehow, that hand seemed new. Or at least, a little foreign.
"Friendship Cottage!" said the controller's voice, getting impatient. "Rectify your trajectory."
Twilight jumped again, before pressing the button on top of her lever and enunciating out loud:
"Roger. Correcting trajectory."
Once the mic was off, she said to herself:
"Get yourself together, Twilight! This is not the time to fail!"
This time, her movements were more confident. With her right hand, she triggered the correctors, while her left hand slowed down the ship, preparing it for landing on top of the support designed for it.
She put her doubts in a corner of her mind, but it still intrigued her. Why did she react like that? She had not even answered the first call, when it was the procedure! Procedure that she had learned by heart at the pilot school. And that feeling... Damn it, this was not the first time she was using her hand to pilot a ship, wasn't it?! She had nearly committed an irreparable mistake because of foolish sensations like those!
But now wasn't the time to think about that. Landing was the priority. It was her ultimate test, and also the first time she had, quite literally, the life of other people in her hands, including her crew. Oh, of course, there had been training courses in space, but always accompanied. Here, she was alone and in charge.
The speed was decreasing, she was aligned with the hangar. Everything would go fine. Everything had to go fine. Her hands were clenched on the sticks, slightly shaking.
It's a shame she was so stressed. She didn't even enjoy the view, despite it being wonderful, the dream of many young flightless humans. The spaceport, immense cluster of gray and of round shapes, with an uncountable number of control towers pointing to the sky. It was the only zone in the whole country where no one was ever seen flying, this part was solely dedicated to spaceships. In the distance, one could make out the rest of the city, which the spaceport was the center of. And the ultimate point, the perfect middle of all those lives and buildings, was the EGCC, Equestria's General Control Center. The second largest dome of the region.
A little stepping noise was heard behind Twilight, followed by a door opening, and an orange hand, meant to be reassuring, landed on her shoulder without her giving it even a glance, focused on her action.
"It's the last step, ain't it?" her second-in-command smiled.
"Applejack, don't distract me please," the purple human answered a bit abruptly. "Get your hand off."
The woman named Applejack obliged, letting the pilot to her own devices, observing in silence, behind Twilight's leather seat, crossing her hands behind her back. Incidentally, the orange woman couldn't help herself but to intertwine her fingers over and over, amused by it, for a reason she couldn't grasp.
Suddenly, without a warning, a voice came out of a loudspeaker, making the pilot jump once more.
"Hello hello, here is your gunner, I'm letting you know that I'm bored."
Behind it, the two heard another unhappy voice yelling:
"Pinkie!"
"What?" the first one answered, as if she hadn't done anything wrong. "I'm keeping the crew informed of my state, it's important, isn't it? It's not like I have anything else to do."
"Stop distracting the captain!" the second voice kept on scolding.
Indeed, Twilight was completely tensed up on her control levers, fingers even more clenched than before. Applejack sighed and pushed a button on the instrument panel, cutting the cockpit's loudspeaker and the two others in their argument.
The pilot didn't relax however, nor did she take the time to thank her second-in-command. On the ground, men were busy helping with the landing, bright signs waved in a precise manner, according to a strict code. Apparently, Twilight was arriving at the right speed and everything was going smoothly.
She only had to make the ship touchdown. With her foot, she pressed on a pedal that made the ship vertically go down above the landing space, consisting of four metal arcs onto which she had to put the ship.
The rest was done by the lever, progressively, she wedged the Friendship Cottage in place almost perfectly, even if she took some time to do it.
"Maneuver ended," the voice on the radio said, before adding with a way less formal tone. "Good job, captain. The commander awaits you in his meeting room, you and your second-in-command. The rest of the crew is asked to see their respective supervisors."
Twilight suddenly blew out all the air she had held back in a long sigh of relief, letting go of her controls.
"Congratulations! A perfect landing!" Applejack joyfully complimented. "Just goes to show you had nothin' to worry about!"
The captain wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her glove and allowed herself to do something she usually thought to be too inconsiderate: turn off the ship with her magic. Her hands were too clammy to do any other action anyway. So, she turned on that horn she had on her forehead – as some humans had – and cut the ship's main power, or, as they said in the field, pushed the off button. In reality, it wasn't a button, but more like a giant lever, followed by a series of knobs to turn. But aerospace was like this too: a sometimes surprisingly simple vocabulary.
She slumped tiredly on her seat, taking a moment to breathe. She had done it. The final test to become a pilot in Equestria's fleet. Finally!
"Alright, Imma tell the others to go see their supervisors," Applejack said, patting her captain's shoulder. "I'll wait for ya down there."
Her right-hand woman walked out of the large semi-circular cockpit, the door shutting behind her, leaving the horned human alone, in the midst of all those fading lights.
Now that the reactors were shut down, she could distinctively make out the sound of this civilization around her. Equestria, Canterlot. Teeming with millions of lives, engine noises, reactors.
Soon, she would be far from all of this, on a mission, somewhere else, in space. What would her first task be? Resupply the moon, first base ever built on a place other than earth, kingdom of the great Luna? Or would she be sent to New Equestria, the great colony? Take samples not far from the Draconnequine system, with its six stars in perfect rotation? So many possibilities!
The same excitement as the one she felt when she had signed up for pilot school rose in her. She jumped off her seat, heading out the door, and threw herself down the ship's central hallway.
It was a light ship, quite classic, the model most represented in Equestria's fleet. Thirty-five thousand three hundred and twelve ships, about forty-two point thirty-four percent of the whole fleet, according to the most recent data publicly available. Twilight knew it, she had learned it by heart. She also drew a plan of the spacecraft in her head as she went down the corridor. Of course, knowing one's ship was among a captain's first duties.
Behind her, the cockpit with an air-tight door. On her left, the captain's quarters and, on her right, the second-in-command's. Then, still on the right, a meeting room and, logically on the left, the kitchen and cafeteria. In the middle of the hallway, there was a ladder, going to the ceiling. The turret, a classic defense system, mostly used to destroy asteroids on the way.
It was also weird, when one thought about it. All spacecraft were equipped with at least a bare minimum of defenses, and the crews, even the tiniest ones, were composed of at least one gunner. All of this despite the fact that no form of life intelligent enough to pose a threat had ever manifested itself. Being overly cautious was certainly better than being caught off guard, but to go as far as to buy gear worth thousands, if not millions of bits, for each spaceship... Oh well.
On her left again, the laboratory. Very useful in case of the discovery of an unknown matter. It could also be used as a sickbay. Then, on her right, the rest of the crew's quarters. Another door and then was the engine room on the left and the depot on the right.
It was a bit like a house in space, in a straight line and where the entrance was located at the end of a corridor. And very crooked, the house. And made of metal. Okay, outside of the fact people were living in it, it was nothing like a house. But Twilight enjoyed the comparison.
The ramp allowing the crew to get to the ground was already deployed and Applejack was waiting for her captain down there, her hand still raised in the air, waving to the rest of the crew which had just gone away. She turned around towards Twilight when she heard the sound of her steps on the cold metal of the pontoon and greeted her with a frank smile.
Her appearance was quite peculiar when looked at in more detail. Her outfit was the usual one for a second-in-command, required and practical, but she had the weird habit of topping it with a hat totally typical from the great countryside, dating from before the technological rise of Equestria. Long blond hair, going down to the middle of her back, and a skin with a relatively light orange. And her renowned accent that was sometimes encountered in the population.
Twilight walked up to her side, without bothering to stop, and Applejack followed her rhythm. The captain was in a good mood, but she still had trouble initiating conversation with her own crew. Crew which had been assigned at random, like many but not all, towards the end of her training, six months prior. At least, she was able to talk to them and to have a bit of respect shown towards her. And, in the worst case, her right-hand woman seemed full of good will and way more easily authoritative. She would assist her a bit and all would be well.
They both headed out the hangar by the great door, leading to one of the spaceport's hallways. Large enough to fit a whole street, house included, in it, and so long that the end was lost in an endless glimmer of small flickering lights, signaling an arrival, a take-off, and so on.
If from outside, that huge complex looked modern and metallic, inside, it had a little hint of medieval look in its conception. Maybe it was the ceiling, fifteen meters high, forming a vault, or that constant noise of metal being hit, reminiscent of the forges from the olden days. Twilight was incapable of putting her finger on the precise reason.
Or, again, maybe it was because the end of the hallway, which led to the EGCC, had fully retained its architecture, dating back more than a millennium ago now. An inside looking like stone, statues of heroes from the past, portraits... It probably influenced the general impression the rest of the spaceport gave off.
The EGCC was a maze of hallways and stairs, of elevators, that had been progressively updated along the years and the technological progress. A legend even said that a bunch of secret passageways existed in those walls, reserved only to the elites and the princesses, allowing them to move rapidly without being seen. Even if, in itself, it was really childish to believe it.
And nearly at the center, the council room, which Twilight had already visited during her training. But this time, she would get out of it as an official pilot. The double-doors of her future were opening.
An auditorium, with successive and elevated rows of seats and desks. A few people were already here. Seven of them.
In the first row, Captain Whooves, pilot of the TARDIS – a tall human with brown hair and skin – sitting next to his second-in-command, Derpy Hooves, who he was trying to calm down the excitement of, as she couldn't stop speaking.
Not too far from them, still in the first row, Captain Octavia Melody was calmly blowing the smoke from her tea, legs politely crossed, while her second-in-command, and pilot of the Symphonia, Vinyl Scratch, was listening to music behind an imposing headset, bopping her head to the rhythm, tapping the desk with her hand.
In the back, among the last and highest rows, Captain Lyra Heartstrings, pilot of the Humanity, seemed to be elsewhere, staring at her own hands with a weird fascination. Her second-in-command, Bonbon, looked a little bit embarrassed by the fact they were so far away from the front, because of her captain's eccentricity.
Behind the central desk, the one reserved for the leaders, turned towards the rest of the assembly, the chief commander Shining Armor addressed a discreet smile to his little sister when she entered the room, before returning to the formal stance expected of his rank.
"Looks like all that was missin' was us," Applejack whispered to her captain.
The two of them walked in after the commander had gestured his hand towards them, and took a seat in the front row. Twilight then noticed that, behind Shining Armor, sat down on thrones located way higher, on a balcony, the princesses, with their great ethereal hair, were observing them in silence, with a calm face.
Applejack and her captain realized it was too late to bow. But the princesses weren't the kind to hold it against them, especially with Twilight. In fact, they sent them a little benevolent smile, way more in line with their temper than those serious faces, which they quickly went back to.
Shining Armor cleared his throat to be sure that everyone was paying attention, including Vinyl, who took off her helmet, as well as Lyra who received a little nudge in the ribs from her second-in-command. Then, the horned began:
"First of all, congratulations to all of you for successfully passing the last test to become members of the Canterlot fleet. Many are the applicants each year, and almost as many fail. You represent the elite of our pilots."
At this moment, a perfectly incongruous noise was heard, immediately followed by Bonbon becoming bright red, suddenly lowering herself on her seat. Shining Armor didn't blame her for this rumbling and pursued:
"I'm sure you're all waiting for your first mission departure, alone in space, with eagerness. This is why you are here. You will all go, today, in..."
He looked at the great clock located in the back of the auditorium, displaying two pm.
"... an hour, precisely. You will be heading towards the Crystal Constellation, to join our outpost there. Once you arrive, princess Cadance will give you orders regarding the exploration mission to which you are assigned."
"What!?" Vinyl suddenly shouted, standing up, visibly outraged.
The others had confined themselves to displaying disappointed faces, but on the whole, they shared this sentiment of injustice. Exploring had nothing interesting going for it, ninety-five percents of the journey consisted in waiting for something to show up, and the five percents left were only comprised of banal discoveries.
The commander didn't reply, not even deigning to look at the horned woman.
Octavia gently put her cup back in her saucer, ordering with her calmest voice:
"Vinyl, sit back down."
Her second-in-command turned a revolted face towards her.
"Captain, we're not going to...!"
Octavia looked at her sternly and Vinyl immediately gave up all protest, sitting back on her chair with a grumpy face.
"If no one has any questions," the commander resumed. "Join back your respective ships. At three, you'll take off."
"Yes, sir," the new recruits replied without much motivation.
Shining Armor's horn turned on and the door opened. The captains and their second-in-commands stood up and began to leave.
"Captain Twilight Sparkle," the commander shouted out, before she and Applejack left.
The second-in-command smiled and went ahead, saying:
"I'll organize preparations."
Twilight thanked her with a glance, before turning back to her brother. The princess had left their thrones by a corridor located behind. Lyra and Bonbon went past them and headed out. They were now alone in the room.
"What is it, commander?" Twilight asked.
He laughed a bit, hearing her formal tone, and his sister giggled as well. Nevertheless, he quickly took back his serious face, looking a bit worried.
"Don't be reckless, please. Space is dangerous."
"What do you think could happen to us?" Twilight smiled, shrugging. "We're going on exploration. The only risk is to get lost, and judging by our equipment, the chances of that happening are slim."
The commander looked left and right, checking if they were truly alone, before he added in an undertone:
"I shouldn't tell you this, but strange things have been happening recently near the Crystal Constellation."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll ask Cadance, she knows more than I do."
Twilight rubbed her chin with one hand, her mind now imagining what kind of dangers might lay ahead of them.
"In any case, stay careful, Twilight."
"Come on, now! That ship has to be ready to take off in an hour!"
Applejack looked with firmness at the crew in front of her.
Rainbow Dash was one of those winged humans. Her skin was a pale blue like the sky, her rainbow hair medium short, tied in a bun for practical reasons. Indeed, she was the mechanic of the ship, wearing her work overalls and a few oil stains.
Pinkie Pie, the gunner, candy pink and with straight hair, was negligently picking her nose, with an expression that seemed as affected by all this as a duck is by the stock exchange prices. Her clothes were pretty heavy, allowing anyone to guess easily what her post was. She was most likely going to be the hardest crew member to manage.
Rarity, a white horned with purple hair, tied in a bun as well, was only wearing an ordinary outfit, albeit very stylized and probably picked with the greatest care. Her work clothes were only limited to an apron, and she wasn't wearing it most of the time. Yes, she was a cook, a rare thing for a horned, but she carried out this task without complaining.
And Fluttershy, in her white biochemist coat, with her long and curved pink hair and her yellow skin. A winged human, a flying, as they were called. She had also been trained in medicine.
It was the classic composition of every crew. Each one had their role, and had to stick to it.
"What are y'all waiting for!?" Applejack raved about the inactivity of her men, or rather her women.
"Well, the truth is," Rainbow explained. "I already checked the engine before we took off for the test, so I don't really have anything else to do."
"The turret is loaded," Pinkie distractedly added. "And I doubt it'll be of any use."
"I did the inventory of the supplies during the flight," Rarity followed, crossing her arms.
"And I have all the materials I need," Fluttershy whispered while slightly looking away, hands in her pockets.
Applejack opened wide eyes.
"Y'all got nothin' to do?" she said in disbelief.
"No," the crew answered in sync.
"Right... Well, get in, then. We'll wait for the captain to take off."
The fateful hour was approaching. Even if the mission wasn't promising to be of utmost thrill, all were excited just by the idea of going, finally, into space. And not just a little trip around the planet, no, a real journey beyond the system, far away. A jump into the almost-unknown.
And that feeling was shared by all the crews. The hangars were slowly opening their sliding roofs, and each member prepared themselves on their own.
"Friendship Cottage reporting," Twilight said into her mic, the radio being linked with all the ships in the expedition. "Everything is in order on our side. We're ready to take off."
She magically pulled down the levers for the third preheating phase and got ready to turn on the reactors. Applejack was, as the procedure required, by her sides for the takeoff, solemnly standing behind the chair. The horned woman strengthened the grip on her controls.
No chief had been designated, but Twilight had felt inspired to take the floor first. A kind of rivalry existed in this promotion, notably Twilight towards the most privileged, Octavia, and having her get to take center stage by initiating the conversation was out of the question.
A voice suddenly pierced everyone's eardrums on the radio.
"A coffee! Bonbon! Where's my coffee!?"
"Turn off the radio!" Bonbon lectured, before slamming her finger on the button to cut the mic.
Lyra looked particularly excited. For an unknown reason, the fresh-mint colored horned couldn't stay in place, tapping buttons and levers without activating them.
"Calm down, captain!" Bonbon scolded with more vigor than a second-in-command should. "What has gotten into you!?"
Lyra stared at Bonbon with big eyes similar to those of a child to which one had just announced the best news in the world. She suddenly reached out her hand towards Bonbon, spreading her five fingers right in front of her face. The second-in-command recoiled a bit by fear, and astonished.
"I don't know why," the captain delighted in each word, with a large smile, close to madness. "But I feel super happy to have hands today!"
And she went off in a great laugh, holding her hands right in front of her, which didn't reassure her second-in-command one bit.
"A coffeeeeeee!" Lyra asked again.
"Never before takeoff!" Bonbon tried to reason. "It's against the rules!"
"I need a coffee!"
Lyra's eyes searched around, anywhere where a potential and improbable coffee machine might have been.
"After the takeoff!" Bonbon maintained, gaining back some firmness.
"Argh!"
Lyra growled and suddenly turned on the motors, beginning all the procedures with nervous, quick and shaking movements. She smashed the mic switch and threw into the radio:
"Humanity, ready to take off! Move your buns, I want my coffee!"
"TARDIS, ready to take off," Captain Whooves replied with a slight sigh, next to his right-hand woman, also piloting.
"Symphonia?" Twilight called.
In the cockpit of the Symphonia, Octavia was finishing, with her usual calm, a new cup of tea. Sat down in her seat, a bit far from the control panel, she was the only non-horned human to be captain in this promotion, with Whooves. As such, piloting, which was easier done with the help of magic, was reserved to her second. Not like Octavia couldn't have done it herself, but it was almost beneath her at this point. And Vinyl was busying herself with energy.
"Yeah! Symphonia ready to blast!"
The captain had a little smile, but added:
"Vinyl, a little calm please."
A slow music rose in the cockpit, a classical one, chosen by Octavia. She softly raised her hands and mimicked the gestures of a conductor, with slow and inspired movements. Even if it wasn't her favorite genre, her second-in-command tuned herself, out of respect for the rhythm, with the music's beat, and continued her actions in a softer way.
"Takeoff phase initiated," said the control tower's voice. "Good luck!"
The reactors vibrated, levers were pulled, and the four ships took off in a throbbing sound.
First in line, Lyra and the Humanity split the sky, the captain moved by her desire to have her coffee, followed by the TARDIS, then the Friendship Cottage, and, finally, the Symphonia, moving at a really calm pace.
Immediately, Lyra turned to Bonbon, who was bringing her a still warm cup with a smile. The horned swallowed the beverage in an instant, displaying a face of total relaxation right after. She took in a deep breath, before letting it out, far from all this agitation she had felt.
Next to their ship, which was built on the same elongated model as the Friendship Cottage, another one, more rectangular and illuminated in white, passed by.
"Allow me to take the lead," said the voice of Captain Whooves on their radio.
"Please do," Lyra answered with a blissfully happy smile, as the controls were operated by magic.
Behind, the Friendship Cottage was about to get to their level. A sudden playfulness coming to her, Lyra turned her radio on.
"Well then, Captain Melody, getting left behind? Doesn't look like the top of the class of our promotion!"
The Symphonia was indeed losing a bit of ground compared to the others. The ship was of a rounded design, and its cockpit was clearly separated from the rest. It was a sphere in front of the ship, attached by a small corridor. The whole thing looked like a beast with a long neck, without legs and spotting fins. Some kind of sea creature.
Inside, the music was coming to an end. The captain, who had stood up, carried away by the music, was concluding by little gestures following the melody lowering in volume, which explained their loss of speed. Once the last note played, ignoring Lyra, she said:
"Vinyl, B-side."
Her right-hand woman smirked and didn't need to hear that twice. With her horn, she changed track, still piloting the ship.
Octavia sat down, intertwining her hands and putting her head on top of it with a little satisfied smile.
The new music began. A music that had nothing to do with the previous one. From classic, it was now dubstep. And right from the first noise, Vinyl stepped on the gas, launching the ship forward. Taking on a sudden acceleration the Symphonia went past the other spacecrafts like a shot, forcing them to pick up the pace to not be left behind. Even if she was calm of nature, Captain Octavia had her pride.
"Ha ha! Always the same!" Applejack laughed.
Twilight had just adapted her speed to the one now imposed by the Symphonia. It was no use competing to see who could go the fastest, Octavia had the upper hand with her ship. Darn privileges. Speaking of the devil.
"We're stabilizing at cruising speed until we get to the first cape," Octavia informed.
"TADRIS, Roger that."
"Humanity, Roger that."
"Friendship Cottage, Roger that."
Twilight activated the cruise control and relaxed a bit. They were going to head in that direction for a while, to get to the first cape. In other words, she didn't have to touch the controls, except in case of major trouble.
Yet, Applejack and her stayed there, gazing upon the space under their eyes. The emptiness. What they had always dreamed of, what they had heard about for as far as they could remember. And that state of awe, faced with the immensity of the universe, was shared by all the crews.
In the end, Applejack gave a little tap on Twilight's shoulder.
"Well, I'm going to check that everyone's doin' their job!"
And with those words, she headed out by the door, leaving her captain alone in front of the universe.
In the first part of the hallway, things were quiet. Aside from that blue arm which grabbed her as soon as she was out, pressing her against the wall.
"So then, giving me orders now?" whispered a soft voice.
"Rainbow! Stop! It ain't the time for that!" Applejack reprimanded in a low voice, refusing to be seen in such a situation.
"Oh? Not the time? I think it is."
The flying's grip had softened and her face was right in front of Applejack's, so close she could feel her breath and smell her perfume, oh so intoxicating to her senses.
"S-Stop, I tell ya," Applejack tried, with way less conviction.
"We can settle that in your quarters if you want."
Applejack was about to accept the very tempting proposition of her lover, when her eyes widened, staring at something behind the flying. The latter turned her head.
The gunner was climbing down her ladder. She froze on the spot and stayed blocked in her movement, looking with big round eyes at the couple, both of them stunned.
A heavy silence settled. Then the pink one burst out laughing, almost to the point her jaw dropped. A laugh that amplified and attracted the rest of the crew, as the two lovers quickly got away from one-another. The gunner would have them pay for her silence, but it was better if that truth didn't come out. Applejack glared at Dash, as Pinkie kept on laughing, still on her ladder.
In fact, after a few seconds, that laugh, not understood by Fluttershy and Rarity, mostly became worrying. She wasn't even catching her breath, the laugh growing, again and again, going so far as to piss off the two lovers.
"Now, listen, Pinkie..." Rainbow Dash began.
But she was cut. All of the sudden, the laugh evaporated, the soft and pink hair of Pinkie inflated like a balloon, and her own body toppled, letting go of the ladder. She fell heavily on the floor, unconscious.
Author's Note
The awkward moment where I realize I've become worst at characterization.
Also, space adventure, yay! I'm open to comments about the translation ("second-in-command" is really annoying. In French we just say "second")
And yes, went full-on references for the ships.

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          Chapter 2 - Pinkie Cape Party - part 1           
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Chapter 2 - Pinkie Cape Party - part 1
Captain Lyra was sitting down on her piloting seat, legs crossed and laying on the instrument panel, an empty cup of coffee right next to her. She was looking at space, the light of the unmoving stars, and the blue flames from the TARDIS reactors, in front of her, a bit to the left. Equestria was already far behind them, thousands of kilometers away.
The great windshield gave an exceptional view. A shame they had taken off during the middle of the day, flying by the moon would have been even more grandiose.
In her leather captain suit with short sleeves, she was thinking. That inexpressible joy was still present in her, without her knowing why. But it had faded, and she felt like she had missed a step.
The door opened.
"So, Bonbon, everything's alright on our side?" the captain asked without even turning around.
"No fainting in our crew, if that's what you're asking for. Although, Berry is probably going to pass out soon, but that's something different."
Since it was only the two of them in this room, they didn't really have to keep to the ranks, and Bonbon allowed herself to be less formal. The same was true for Vinyl and Octavia.
Lyra pressed the radio button.
"Humanity, no sign of fainting on our side either. I don't know what has gotten into your gunner, but it has nothing to do with what they were served at the cafeteria at least. Check the air mix, just in case."
"Thanks, Humanity," Twilight answered. "We already went to see, nothing abnormal."
"Understood. Good luck either way."
Twilight sighed. The journey wasn't off to a great start. Pinkie, without any reason, had fallen unconscious. Currently, the others were taking care of her in the infirmary.
The pink woman was laying on the only bed in the lab, reserved just for this kind of occasion, with a full set of various instruments, beeping regularly. Fluttershy was reading some kind of notebook. In front of the bed, the three other crew members were awaiting the verdict.
"So, what does she have?" Rainbow asked.
Fluttershy flipped a page, looking like she was comparing some things, before she answered:
"No idea. Normal heart rate, breathing, tension. Blood analysis isn't bringing any results, no presence of tumors or any disease of any kind, nor intoxication or parasites. No sign of overwork, or fatigue, or even heatstroke. In fact, according to her results, she should be in perfect shape. By the way, her state is closer to sleep than faint."
As if to back her claims, a loud snore suddenly arose from Pinkie.
"In short, she's fine," the scientist concluded.
"But people don't faint for no reason!" Applejack replied.
The yellow flying simply shrugged.
"We just have to wait for her to wake up. I don't have anything else to propose. May I remind you that I'm not a nurse by trade."
A silence followed Fluttershy's sentence. The four of them stared at the pink woman with the same interrogation in their eyes. What had happened for her to faint in the middle of laughing?
"And it doesn't come from the fact that she could have suffocated while guffawing," the pseudo-nurse completed. "While we're at it, why was she laughing so much?"
"Err..." Applejack hesitated.
"For nothing," Dash cut. "She likes to make fun of everything."
A beep suddenly echoed in the room, stronger than the others. The glance turned to the device, then to Fluttershy.
"Awakening phase," she simply announced.
Eyes locked on Pinkie. She was indeed opening her eyelids. With difficulty, blinded by the light in the room.
All of the sudden, she abruptly straightened up on her bed, making Rarity jump slightly and the sensors monitoring her flew away. She looked like she just had a revelation. She began to speak at an incredible pace and with an excited tone no one had ever knew her:
"Oh my Celestia, what happened? Where am I? Hey! Who replaced my hooves with those things?! Wait, no, those things, those are my hands, I always had them. Hold on, no I haven't, I was a pony! Hmm, why do I find myself here with those hands? And why do I have memories of my human life, even though I was a pony? Or the opposite? No, no, I remember feeling a weird sensation earlier on in the ship, that must be the explanation, something happened!"
She took on a thoughtful expression, frantically rubbing her chin and frowning, with a strange wince on her face. She finally seemed to notice the presence of the others.
"Hey, what happened to all of you as well?! Why aren't we at Twilight's place anymore? We all became humans or what?!"
The others gazed wide-eyed at her. What was she rambling on about exactly? In addition, she answered her own interrogation.
"Ah yes, it's true, we're in the same crew. Mhh, why is everything so similar between here and Equestria, yet so different? I don't get it!"
She reached her hands to her hair and rubbed them dangerously fast, yelling:
"Aaaaah! I don't understand a thing!"
"Calm down, Pinkie," Applejack tried.
"Calm down?! How do you want me to calm down?! What are we doing here?! We were all in Ponyville, in Twilight's castle then... then... I don't know."
She changed posture again, resting her chin on her fist.
"Now that I'm thinking about it, what happened? Is this the work of a new enemy trying to take over Equestria? Why were we in the castle for exactly?
"What are you talking about?" Rarity asked, intrigued.
"Twilight's castle. You know, her princess thingy with our thrones and all."
Pinkie moved her eyes to the others. Visibly, they didn't have the slightest idea as to what she meant.
"Ah, right, we only just met in this world, and Twilight isn't a princess. But at least, you remember that, don't you?"
"Remember what? Twilight being a princess?" said Dash, arching an eyebrow, mocking the gunner more than anything else.
Applejack exchanged a little glance with Fluttershy. They seemed to agree on one thing: Pinkie had completely lost it. The scientist prepared to give her an injection of sedatives, going for a syringe.
"Mhhh, it's true that I didn't remember Equestria before either. Well, I did, but not our Equestria. How come that I remembered it by the way?"
She didn't feel the sting in her arm, and suddenly found herself very tired.
"Oooh... What's happening to me...?" she said, her body wobbling left to right on her bed.
"I'm going to keep her under examination," Fluttershy followed. "Now, I know that the problem is in her brain. Maybe a trauma of some sort."
Pinkie collapsed on her pillow, going back to the dream realm.
"Right," Applejack said, scratching her head behind her hat. "I'll warn the captain."
She headed out of the infirmary, towards the cockpit.
"Get out too," Fluttershy politely added towards Dash and Rarity. "I'd rather be in the quiet."
The two others didn't need to hear it twice and left Fluttershy with Pinkie. The flying turned her attention back to the pink woman, who had very slightly gained back consciousness, her mind looking cloudy. Of course, seeing her constitution, Fluttershy should have given her a higher dose. But the fact her patient was awake eased the task a bit for her. The scientist put out a pen and note block, taking a seat on a chair next to the bed.
"Fluttershy?" Pinkie slowly asked with her sleepy voice.
"Yes?" she answered, lending her a very attentive ear and beginning her notes, determined to find what was wrong in the gunner's bonce.
"Do you remember Angel?"
Fluttershy tilted her head, slightly surprised, staring at the blue tired eyes focused on her.
"The bunny on which I did my experiments during my training?"
How did she know about that? Had Pinkie developed a gift of clairvoyance? But that only happened with the horned, and in such rare occurrences that it was qualified as a miracle. And why would someone as boorish as her be interested in that kind of thing?
Pinkie didn't reply, her gaze getting lost in the void of the metallic ceiling above her. The pen ran against the paper.
"And Discord, do you remember him?"
"Hmm," the flying in a lab coat said, rubbing her chin with the tip of her pen, searching at least a bit in his memory, just to pull the wool over Pinkie's eyes. "No. Who is he?"
Improvising herself a psychologist, Fluttershy listened to what Pinkie Pie had to tell her. Whatever the problem might be, it would transpire in her words at some point or another.
Twilight placed her hand on her face, whispering:
"I can't believe it..."
"Come on," the orange woman tried to reassure. "We don't ever need a gunner anyway, it ain't that bad."
"Yes," the captain said, trying to pull herself back together. "Let's look at the bright side! And at least, a mental disease isn't transmissible! No need for a quarantine."
She had a nervous laugh.
"How much time until the first cape?" asked the second-in-command.
"An hour, if nothing goes wrong. I'm going to warn the other crews that there is no need to worry. In any case, we're supposed to hold a reunion before the first cape."
"Just between us, I still find it quite worrying that she managed to pass the tests with a mental disorder."
The brown face of Captain Whooves looked concerned, as seen from the hologram projected on Twilight's left.
In front, Captain Octavia was the only one sat down, drinking, as usual, her cup of tea. How much of it did she swallow in a day exactly? What were the stocks in her ship?
And on the right, Captain Lyra was yawning.
Captains meeting, where each was in their personal quarters, it was the protocol. They had to take directives for the passing of the cape, and also do an assessment.
"Have you looked at your second-in-command?" Lyra commented with a little laugh, more playful than anything.
"I forbid you to make fun of her!" the man with a curved coiffure suddenly angered. "She had at least as much as yours on her test results, if not more!"
"Hey, easy now, I was just joking," the horned defended herself, surprised by so much aggressiveness.
"Well you just don't do that! You can't imagine how much mocking she had to go through to-"
"Stop!" Twilight intervened, cutting the conflict short. "This is neither the time nor the objective of this conversation. We had to decide on a running order for this cape and the next ones."
Octavia delicately put her cup back in the saucer she was holding, declaring:
"I think it's obvious, we're going to keep the same order for all the capes, it will ease things up. As to the order itself, I suggest the TARDIS should go first.
"Why is that?" the main interested party asked, intrigued.
"Your ship is maneuverable. If an obstacle presents itself, you're the best suited to dodge it despite the short timeframe."
"An obstacle? In a cape?" said Whooves with astonishment.
"Caution before all. It's the procedure," Octavia reminded.
"And I suppose that for second place, you're going to propose your ship?" said Lyra with a hint of contempt in the voice, pulling the rug out from under Twilight.
"Absolutely not. My ship is the fastest, it is more fair to leave it in the back. That way, everyone can follow the rhythm in between the capes."
Despite the accuracy of her words, one could feel an exasperating pretentiousness rearing its head in her sentence.
"Is your pilot really going to be okay with staying behind everyone?" Whooves doubted.
"A little bit of discipline will do some good to her," the gray woman with the long black hair nonchalantly replied, but not without a bit of refinement.
"Well, in that case," Twilight followed. "I suggest the Humanity and the Friendship Cottage should travel side by side."
The reactions to her proposal were varied. Octavia politely raised an eyebrow, Whooves opened surprised eyes and Lyra let out a "Huh?"
"Why the hell would you want this?" the captain of the Symphonia couldn't help herself but to ask. "The capes are wide enough to let three ships like yours go by, but still, it requires some skills."
"For once, I agree," Lyra followed, staring at Twilight on her screen. "We just began, it's not worth the risk. If we ever collide, one of us will end its run here, if not both."
Twilight bit her lip. She knew that it wouldn't be well received because of the danger it represented. But what Shining had said was still preoccupying her. Why give her such a warning, knowing full well it would bother her mind? It had to be something serious! But she couldn't explain it to them, her brother had already crossed a line by telling her. Never mind then, in any case, a problem inside a cape was a rare thing. The system was well-established by now.
She didn't insist any further.
"Mhh, fine. It was more by caution than anything, but since it is our first mission, better not to overdo things. Instead, I suggest Captain Lyra should go first."
"Fine by me," said the woman in question.
"No objections," Whooves added.
"Very well," Octavia concluded. "With that, see you all in half-an-hour for the first cape."
The screens shut off all at once, and Twilight sighed.
"I hope we'll get to the Crystal Constellation without trouble..."
Twenty-five minutes later, a call resounded through the Friendship Cottage and was repeated in every ship, by the speakers.
"First cape in view."
Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity went to the cockpit, joining Twilight. It was an important moment for them. The first time they would see a cape.
The capes, or space's stations as they were called. They were the means, developed by Equestria's greatest physicists and mages, allowing for interstellar travels without the years usually necessary for such trips, even at high speeds. Just to get to the closest system, at light speed, took eight years. And Equestria was far from reaching such a speed, and even further from having the budget and the required technology to equip all its ships with it.
So, instead, there were those apparatus named capes. The principle they used was akin to teleportation, but on a much longer distance.
They were great circles of metals, rings wide enough to let a heavy carrier go through without even scratching the painting. Put in the emptiness more often than not, far enough from any star, planets and asteroid fields, those structures had something mystical, but still commanded respect towards the individuals that had crafted them.
On the right, a little sphere, ridiculously small when compared to the rings, symbolized the living space of the customs officer, as they were called.
The largest cape was the one on the outskirts of Equestria. The same one the four ships were arriving in front of. Five immense rings, leading to the four corners of the galaxy, supposing that galaxies have corners. One could have fitted the whole spaceport through it, since it was designed to accommodate many imposing ships. But the next ones were going to be much narrower.
Whooves, as the front leader of the expedition, spoke:
"Canterlot's Cape, here is Doctor Whooves, captain of the TARDIS. I have with me the ships Humanity, Friendship Cottage and Symphonia, respectively piloted by-"
"We know that already," dryly cut a voice on the radio. "You should have signaled your arrival before. But Equestria warned us. However, think about warning the customs officers of the next capes."
"Uh... R-Roger that," the captain's voice hesitated.
The distinctive sound of a radio turning on was then heard. Someone had just joined the conversation. Octavia's voice, without any real surprise, came out of the speakers with her usual self-importance and without hesitation.
"In conformity with the protocol of this very cape, we signaled our arrival. The distance and time are those regulated by the laws of the interstellar empire of Equestria. Furthermore, Canterlot's cape is under a special rule which forces the customs officers to take action. Whether the arrival be signaled or not, it is your duty to engage conversation before the limits imposed by the laws."
A silence settled in. Then, the custom officer resumed, way less harshly:
"Indeed, I overlooked that part. Accept my apologies, I've just been assigned to this cape. I'll prepare the way for you. What is your running order?"
Octavia cut her mic and went back to sit in her chair. She didn't like her knowledge of the rules to be put into doubt, especially since the others didn't look like they had any intention of defending themselves. She reached in her pocket for a little electrical device, looking like a pager, and typed on it while Whooves carried on the discussion.
A small beep came from Twilight's pocket and she took out a similar apparatus, while Rarity was talking with Dash. On the small screen was written: "And I thought you were unbeatable when it comes to regulations... 1 - 0 in that case?"
Twilight clenched her fingers on the small device, fulminating. Yes, she had noticed this mistake, but she hadn't deemed necessary to intervene. As soon as the radio had turned on, she kewn who was going to talk. That voice... That pretentiousness... This...
"Stuck-up girl!" she said out loud in her cockpit, making the three others jump.
"W-What?" Rarity said, offended, thinking she was the target.
"This Octavia! She thinks she's above everyone else! It's infuriating!"
"Calm down, Twilight," Applejack tempered. "They are giving directives here."
The captain let out her discontent in a long breath, but kept quiet to listen to what the custom officer was saying.
"... go fine, you'll have no maneuver to make. That being said, stay cautious. We're opening the portal."
"Copy that," Captain Whooves replied.
The blue rectangular ship approached the third ring, followed by the Humanity. Twilight took the controls back in her hands and aligned herself with the first two. Behind, the Symphonia did the same thing.
The third metallic circle began to crackle. On its outline, electrical and magical blue arcs were forming. A high tension was starting to rise around them, the horned feeling it first. It was a powerful and increasing sensation, which had the particularity of creating a lot of re-evaluations. When faced with such a wave of magic, one could only feel small.
Then, suddenly, the ring filled with a blue compound, halfway between solid and liquid. The TARDIS moved forward.
"Pathway opened. Have a good ride."
No messages were sent back. It was tradition, when crossing a cape. Accidents were rare, especially now. But the habit persisted, to this day, that the ship shouldn't answer the last sentence from the custom officer, to bring luck and avoid that the reply be the last words addressed to the world.
In the cockpit of the TARDIS, the crew was under tension. Captain Whooves was firmly holding on to his control levers. He took in a deep breath and drove the ship into that great pool of mana.
He vanished from the other's sight.
"Full throttle, Bonbon!" Lyra yelled in her cockpit, pointing a finger forward.
The two-color-haired second-in-command arched an eyebrow.
"You're the pilot, captain," she reminded.
"I know! Make me a coffee!"
Bonbon rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh:
"Yes, ma'am."
The turquoise horned abruptly pushed on her two command levers and the ship took a sudden acceleration, sinking into the cape and disappearing as well.
"Rainbow Dash," Twilight immediately ordered. "The engine room!"
The blue flying seemed to suddenly come back to reality, lost as she was in the contemplation of the rings. She straightened in a brief salute, answering "Yes ma'am!" before heading out by the door, trotting around.
"Our turn, now," the captain whispered, pushing on her reactors.
The ship penetrated the blue mass.
On the cockpit's window, they saw some kind of gelatin sticking to it, obstructing any vision. Twilight kept on accelerating. The spacecraft seemed to shiver, followed by a hoarse whirring sound. The metal resonated, purred as the great pilots said, and pulsated with a blue electrical light that only got more intense.
The purple horned looked at her sensors. Just one more meter and the ship would be completely through. She slowed the pace down, as the noise was getting louder, as if the ship was charging itself with mana. Because it was.
Passed! Twilight stopped everything, aside from the artificial gravity. There lay Rainbow's role, the engines didn't stop immediately from the cockpit, the mechanic had to shut them down manually and check that everything was going well.
Applejack suddenly took the mic to call the blue flying, but the latter answered before she even got to say a word:
"Everything's in order."
"Brace yourself!" the second-in-command announced.
The bodywork, which one could have sworn the blue was its original color, suddenly stopped shaking. For a second, it was a complete silence in the emptiness of space. Then, a huge blue flash blinded the passengers.
The sensation was strange, even for those that had already felt it before, sickening. The ship, and the ones aboard it, were teleported a few kilometers from its starting point. Then another flash came, and the spacecraft found itself in another place, further away in space. Then again, this time faster than the previous one.
The flashes succeeded one another, faster and faster, becoming impossible to see at some point, while the sensation, now permanent, wasn't really bothering anyone anymore.
They opened their eyes. The gel on the windshield had gone, and a quite surprising spectacle was unfolding before their eyes.
They were racing, encircled by an azure glimmer, through space. The teleportations were now happening at a crazy speed.
Usually, a teleportation can't bring someone much further than a few kilometers away, even for the best horned. The principle of a cape was to have thousands of teleportations, happening in quick successions, before the previous one was even finished. The ring was charging the ship with energy, and it slowly wore out over the little jumps in space that made the teleportations.
That system, birthed into the mind of an old bearded horned many years ago, had put into question the reality of teleportation. Up until the invention of the capes, everyone thought that teleportation was simply an instantaneous shift in space. The truth was quite different, and the Friendship Cottage's crew now had the proof lying under their eyes.
Teleportation was a form of travel faster than the speed of light, made possible by magic. How much faster? It was hard to tell since the number of teleportations wasn't exactly calculated with each trip. But fast enough for hundreds of years worth of travel to turn into mere hours.
Here is why the interplanetary emptiness was flying by under their eyes. The ship wasn't taking any pause in its teleportations. When one travels through space, the stars never seem to move because of how far away they are. Here, they could clearly be seen sliding against the blackness of space, even if it was only slightly.
"Sweet Celesita..." Rarity whispered when faced with such a spectacle.
Twilight and Applejack too were speechless. Yet someone pulled them out of their daydreaming.
"Friendship Cottage, y'all in one piece?"
Twilight immediately pressed on the radio, now linked to the others by a magical frequency.
"Yes, yes, Humanity," she hurried to answer. "Everything is going fine on our side."
"Impressive, isn't it?" Lyra let out in a breath.
She too must have been with her gaze lost into space.
"It's beyond that..." Whooves added.
"It's true that it's breathtaking," Twilight admitted.
"That's why I became a pilot," Lyra added. "To see that, at least once."
The two other ships weren't in view. They were thousands of kilometers away, gaps grew quickly under those speeds.
"Look," said Whooves. "We can already see the Dale cloud getting closer."
Indeed, the white structure of accumulated gas in suspension over millions of kilometers was slowly appearing, getting bigger at an incredibly sluggish pace.
"We'll be there in three hours, normally."
"I suggest we all wait before taking the next cape, just so we can get dinner," Lyra proposed.
"It's true that it's preferable to eat out of capes," Twilight approved.
"Fine by me," Whooves concluded.
"And what does the Symphonia think?" Lyra asked.
No answers. It's true that they hadn't thought about asking if everything was going alright for them. Lyra immediately made up for that mistake.
"Symphonia, are you alright?"
No answers either. A worrying silence floated in the cockpits for a second, before Lyra tried again:
"Symphonia, here is the Humanity, did you go through the cape, reply?!"
Still nothing. A shiver went down the three captain's spines. Could it be that...
The sound of a cello suddenly went on the radio, accompanied by Vinyl's voice filled with energy:
"Yeah, sorry for that, I didn't hear you. That thing is just pumping Tavi with inspiration, she's composing right now. What were you saying?"
"Do you mind waiting a bit before getting through the next cape so that we may all eat at a normal speed?" a Lyra at her wits' end repeated.
Did Octavia at least realize that they all got scared because of her?! Maybe, but it was most likely that she didn't care one bit.
"Okay, I'll see with her, I don't want to bother her."
"Copy that," Whooves sighed to avoid Lyra getting carried away when faced with such negligence, which would have been ironic coming from her. "With that, I suggest we stop the talk here. Check your gears, capes are bad for machinery."
"You got it!" Vinyl threw, before hanging up.
"I think it's for the better, indeed," Lyra mumbled, before shutting off her own mic.
"In that case, have a nice trip. Over."
Twilight put an end to the communication and let out a sigh.
"At least we have peace for a while," Applejack said, trying to be positive.
"Do you want something special for this evening's meal?" suddenly asked the cook.
An hour went by in the teleportation. Each had gone back to their post, Rarity was preparing dinner, while Rainbow Dash was throwing herself at a machine that seemed to present a minor defect on the lateral propulsion. It wasn't really that serious, since during teleportation the ship is turned off.
Twilight had to stay in the cockpit, to react to even the slightest alert. If a lone asteroid crossed their path, she had to act quickly, in just a few seconds.
Usually, an obstacle isn't dangerous during teleportation, since magic separates the matter being transported from the rest of space during the travel. However, being a succession of teleportations, it was possible that bad luck would make the landing space of one of them to be in the obstacle, creating a collision barely longer than a blink, yet potentially fatal.
In that case, she would have to move the ship as much as necessary. A game of reflexes among other things, which is why the TARDIS was in the front, it was by far the most maneuverable for this type of movement.
And in the laboratory, Fluttershy, still sitting on her chair, was listening to what Pinkie had to say on this so-called Equestria filled with multicolored ponies.
The gunner had just ended her story. The scientist checked her notes with a circumspect look on her face. Her patient had told her an incredible amount of things, and had managed to stay coherent all the way through, which was rare enough for a mentally ill person holding a speech that long. Normally, it always ended with contradictions. But here, nothing. Everything was logical, if she was to admit some points, like those Elements of Harmony. It would almost make for a good children show, Fluttershy thought to herself.
Was it, in fact, a universe the gunner had imagined during her childhood, which had just resurged following some shock? Fluttershy had never heard about that, but, after all, why not?
"And so, in this universe, you're saying we're all present?" the flying in a lab coat summed up. "And we represent the Elements of Harmony?"
"Do you really not remember?" Pinkie saddened, looking at her.
"I do," she lied. "Of course I do, it's just still blurry in my head. I represent kindness, is that right? And you laughter?"
Pinkie nodded and straightened on her bed to sit. She seemed upset.
"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked.
"Why am I the only one remembering?" the gunner said with a sigh, not fooled by her friend's lie.
"You remembered after fainting, right?"
"It's because I laughed. I'm sure it has something to do with that."
"Care to explain?" Fluttershy wondered, intrigued.
"I embodied my element again. Before that, I wasn't particularly cheerful, more mocking, a little bit mean and lazy. It's the opposite of what I am in Equestria. When I laughed again, my memory came back."
"So, if I'm following correctly, we would all have to embody our element once more for us to remember everything?"
"That's what I thought," Pinkie let out in a breath. "But you've already embodied yours, and nothing happened."
"I did?" Fluttershy said, surprised.
The pink woman looked at her in the eyes.
"You've been listening to me for a while now, without even believing me, just because you're trying to make me feel better. And that's very kind of you."
The flying had a little embarrassed smile, which the gunner returned.
"It's true that I didn't see it that way," Fluttershy admitted. "For me, I was just doing my job. But I think it's also because I want to help you, first and foremost."
The two of them looked each other in the eyes, with a little smile. But not for long, since Fluttershy suddenly tipped forward, falling heavily from her seat and onto the floor in a loud noise, unconscious.
At the same time, the lab door opened on an Applejack asking:
"So, is she feeling al-"
She stopped on the spot, staring at Pinkie jumping from her bed to rush to Fluttershy and get her up again.
"W-What did you do to her?!" asked the second-in-command, running to them.
"Nothing!" said the gunner, as distraught as her. "I just talked to her!"
"Get away from her!" Applejack ordered, taking Fluttershy in her arms to lay her on the bed.
Immediately, she took her pulse, while Pinkie stayed close and worried. The second-in-command let out a sigh of relief.
"It's alright, she just fainted like you did."
Applejack turned a suspicious gaze towards Pinkie.
"What did you tell her?"
"I just said that she was kind and..."
The gunner suddenly froze, seemingly understanding something. She gently slammed her fist into her hand.
"It's not enough to embody the element! You need to be conscious of it while doing it!"
"Beg yer pardon?" asked the second-in-command without getting it.
Pinkie suddenly grabbed Applejack by the shoulders, looking panicked all of the sudden.
"Applejack! Say something true! Something you would usually hide!"
"W-What?" said the orange woman, even more lost, fearing that her crew member had truly lost her mind. "Like what?"
"I don't know, find something!" Pinkie replied, talking fast, shaking her superior because of her lack of reactivity. "Here, tell me what you and Dashie were doing earlier on in the hallway! Tell me what you were doing!"
Applejack grabbed the gunner's arms and stopped her immediately, suddenly angry.
"You know darn well what you saw! And I advise you to not talk about it to anyone! Understood?!"
"What were you doing?!" the gunner kept on asking. "Tell me!"
"We're dating! There! Happy?!"
The pink woman stopped with a large smile, happy that she had said it. She couldn't help but to snort when thinking about the fact that, indeed, in this universe, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were dating.
Pinkie burst out laughing, an uncontrollable laugh. Applejack frowned, thinking she had forced her to say that just to mock her again.
"So what?! What does it change if I told you?!" she said, losing her temper.
Pinkie tried to calm down her laugh, whipping a few tears she just had. Still giggling, she answered:
"It changes that you've been honest, Applejack."
"Yeah, so what?!" the second-in-command replied, still hoping mad.
"So you should get back your memory too," Pinkie smiled.
"What are you o-"
Applejack didn't get the time to finish her sentence. She fainted and collapsed on Pinkie, who caught her before laying her delicately by Fluttershy's side.
She had guessed right! She wasn't crazy. For some unknown reason, they were all here, in this world strangely similar to the Equestria they knew, and their memories had been altered to make them think they had always lived here.
It was something extremely bizarre to recover the memory of a past, when she thought to have one already. Pinkie remembered everything that had happened in Ponyville, but also in her human life. But the latter, when she thought about it, seemed blurrier, as if it hadn't been truly lived, that those were implanted memories.
The first issue was to make everyone remember. They had to fulfill their respective element's functions, and be aware of it.
For Rarity, that would be simple, without much doubt. Twilight too, probably. For Rainbow Dash... Pinkie was still wondering how she would manifest her element.
Oh well, she simply had to wait for Fluttershy and Applejack to wake up. They would have an idea, most likely.
But what were they doing here? Was it truly the work of a new villain, trying to take control of Equestria, like she had thought earlier?
Pinkie ended up ruffling her hair by scratching her head so much.
"Aaaaaah! I don't get it!"
As the ex-party pony was tearing her human mane out, the captains of the ships were discussing through the radio.
"So we take on a different appearance in this constellation?" Lyra was asking, surprised.
"It comes from the suns in that part of the universe," Twilight explained. "The light emitted is charged in magic, a magic specific to the constellation."
"And it's the only place where a civilization almost identical to ours was discovered," Whooves completed.
"We all know that," Octavia replied.
"And what would the goal of our exploration be, in your opinion?" Lyra asked without paying attention to her. "Why this place in particular?"
"This system is quite recent," the ignored woman immediately replied, slightly irritated. "And its configuration, its mysterious formation, and the fact that life was able to appear there makes it interesting. Since it's a new place, there are most likely resources extremely characteristic. The first one being the abundance of pure crystals, very useful to canalize magic, like what they're used for in the capes. It will be up to us to find out what this system holds."
Octavia regained her composure and finished her cup of tea.
"I would be surprised if it was that simple..." Twilight whispered.
"Hm?" said Whooves who had heard that as a static noise in the radio.
"What?" asked Lyra, who hadn't listened.
"Twilight?" Whooves called.
A little moment of silence settled in, as the captains awaited an answer from the horned. She bit her lip. Should she tell them? She sighed in silence before at least confessing her doubts.
"To me, Equestria wants to make sure the area is safe. A civilization has been discovered here, it is possible that another one, more advanced and dangerous, could be nearby. I doubt we will be told clearly, but our objective will be to unveil potential menaces for Equestria, and maybe establish contact."
Another silence, this time longer and heavier, took place. Even Lyra, who would have been first to react and said those speculations were rubbish, thought seriously about that possibility Twilight had just revealed to everyone's eyes.
"What made you think of that?" Octavia finally asked with a grave tone. "Not that I doubt you would come up with such a reflection on your own, but you're almost affirming that your version is the right one. Why?"
Twilight hesitated on answering, and Lyra did it for her:
"It's your brother, isn't it? That's what you've talked about after the reunion."
"Yes," Twilight confessed. "He did not tell me that exactly. He just advised me to stay careful and that strange things had happened in the Crystal Constellation recently."
"Things like?" Octavia pressured, frowning eyebrows that could not be more focused, next to her second-in-command.
"He didn't say anything else, just that Cadance would know more."
"Well that's perfect!" Lyra suddenly said with joy.
"W-What do you mean?" Whooves replied, not finding anything reassuring in all that.
"At least we won't be bored shitless," Vinyl approved, thinking about the same thing.
"Vinyl! Language!" her captain scolded.
"Sorry Tavi!"
The captain of the Symphonia cut her radio to reprimand her second-in-command in peace. The three others stayed silent for a little bit, waiting for her to be done.
Hating to keep someone waiting, Octavia turned her mic back on just a few seconds later, strangely calm.
"Well, in any case, I think we'll just have to ask Princess Cadance. Which won't be before tomorrow. With that being said, I'll leave you."
And the radio switched off, leaving the others quite perplexed by her attitude.
"Well..." said Lyra. "Just like she said. We'll see. We meet again at the next cape, after dinner."
"Roger that," Twilight and Whooves replied.
The radios went off and silence reigned once again in the cockpit of the Friendship Cottage.
The voice of Rainbow Dash could be heard in the hallway.
"Applejack? Where are you?"
Pinkie jumped.
"Oh no, if Dashie sees them, what is she going to say? She'll think I did something to them! Well, actually, she would be right since I did make them find their memories back, but she's going to think it's worse than that! She won't believe me when I tell her they simply fainted! Ohyoyo, what do I do?!"
Applejack and Fluttershy were still laying on the bed, eyes closed. The mechanic's steps got dangerously close to the laboratory. Pinkie hurried to lock the door and, barely a few seconds later, Rainbow Dash knocked on the metal partition.
"Fluttershy, did you see Applejack?"
Pinkie subtly cleared her throat and pulled on her best impression of Fluttershy, trying to hide the panic in her voice.
"N-No Dash, I haven't seen her. I'm still examining Pinkie."
The blue flying arched an unconvinced eyebrow.
"Are you sure everything is alright? Your voice sounds different."
"Oh shoo," Pinkie thought. "In this world, Fluttershy isn't shy! I need to change my tone!"
Silently clearing her throat again, she resumed with a much more assertive tone:
"Yes, everything is alright Rainbow, I assure you. Could you leave me? I still have to take care of our gunner."
"Alright..." said Dash, shrugging. "I'll ask Rarity then."
The mechanic was going away, when came to her ears a "Oooh, my head..." from a voice she recognized.
"Applejack?" Rainbow called, turning around towards the door.
"Rain-"
Pinkie immediately put her hand on Applejack's mouth, gesturing her to stay quiet, before adding with Fluttershy's voice:
"Oh, Pinkie, you're finally awake!"
The second-in-command, still disoriented, moved the gunner's hand away from her mouth, glaring at her, asking in a low voice:
"What?!"
"Oh yes, Fluttershy. I thought I heard Rainbow?" the pink one continued with her normal voice, quickly shaking her hand to request Applejack to stop talking.
"Is that you Pinkie?" the mechanic asked behind the door. "You sounded like Applejack."
"Applejack? No, she's not there."
Meanwhile, the one being talked about had just crossed her arms, thinking and understanding. Her memory from her pony life had come back, but she had just remembered it while realizing it wasn't simply the leftovers from a dream. And that this world too wasn't a dream.
"Okay," a visibly disappointed Rainbow answered. "Tell me if you see her. I don't want to bother Twilight and use the internal mic."
"She can't be really far," Pinkie reasoned. "The ship isn't that big."
"Yeah," Dash replied, going away to question the cook.
Pinkie waited for a few seconds, then let out a deep breath, wiping off the sweat on her forehead.
"That was close!"
Applejack looked at the gunner turning to her, and asked the dreaded question:
"What in tarnation is goin' on?"
"It's a little bit complicated, and I don't really know more than you do," Pinkie saddened. "We'll wait for Fluttershy to wake up to talk about it, okie dokie?"
The ex-farmer nodded. Pinkie was a bit reassured to not be the only one remembering Equestria.
The gray woman with the long black hair slowly removed her lips from her second-in-command's, breathing her passion out slightly, her face still close to hers. Vinyl had a little knowing smile, whispering:
"Captain, it's not right to disturb me while I'm piloting."
"That will teach you. Stopping me like that while I'm getting angry at you, you had it coming," Octavia replied with the same smile. "Thankfully, I cut the radio. Calling me Tavi in front of everyone, what were you thinking?"
The captain slowly reached her arms around her second-in-command's shoulders, who was holding she ship's controls a little less firmly than she usually did. A delicate classical tune was floating in the carefully locked cockpit.
"You quickly abandoned the conversation with the other captains," Vinyl noted. "Should I understand that I am more important than our mission?"
"You're still questioning my actions," the captain gently scolded. "Looks like you didn't learn anything."
Octavia tilted her head to kiss her partner's neck, as the latter was rising hers and turned it slightly to leave the captain all the space she needed to smell her perfume, Vinyl exhaling with a shiver of arousal running along her back.
Arousal that quickly faded when Vinyl frowned, taking on an extremely and unusual serious face.
"Captain."
"Hmm?" she answered, lifting her head back up.
Captain Whooves' voice suddenly came out of the radio, panicked:
"Alert! Planet on the trajectory! Planet on the trajectory!"
Octavia immediately ceased what she was doing and turned on the radio, while Vinyl was starting the engines.
The same commotion happened in the other ships. The reactors were turning on.
"Rose, are the machines ready?!" Whooves pressured in the internal radio.
"Ready for the maneuver!" replied the TARDIS' mechanic.
The TARDIS' sensor was pulsating more and more, pointing at the obstacle that was getting closer way too fast for it to be visible right now.
Whooves suddenly thrust his commands to the right and the ship began to spin widely. The planet was dangerously closing in while Derpy, piloting assistant, was doing her best to help her captain. The TARDIS was maneuverable, but needed two people for it. On the radar, the immense celestial body was slowly drifting away from the trajectory, but still posed a threat. The captain was clenched on his controls.
"Come on...!"
The gray dot appeared for just an instant in his field of view, in the distance. A fraction of a second later, they were already brushing past the shadowy planet drifting in the void. The spaceship suddenly grated and an alarm echoed, a red light turning on in the cockpit. The captain's ears were suddenly blocked, as Derpy shouted, while the planet was already long gone behind them:
"Entry into atmosphere! We've suffered damage to the hull!"
"Rose!" Whooves called.
"I'm on it!" said Rose's voice on the radio. "We got overcharged with magic!"
"Humanity, are you okay on your end?!"
No answers.
"Lyra!" Whooves reprimanded. "Now isn't the time for jokes! Answer!"
Once again, the silence stayed on the radio for many long seconds. Thinking it was a technical failure from his own equipment, Whooves called:
"Friendship Cottage! Do you receive me?!"
"Friendship Cottage, evasion maneuver successful. No damage taken."
Whooves' blood turned to ice.
"Humanity?"
"Symphonia, evading maneuver done without damages as well," Octavia's voice informed after a few seconds of leeway.
"Humanity!" Whooves yelled. "Lyra! Bonbon! Answer!"
"Calm down!" Twilight tempered, even if she was shaking in her seat as well. "It's... It's maybe just a technical difficulty."
"A technical difficulty which damages magical radio communication?" Octavia replied, unconvinced.
Twilight clenched her teeth and tensed up. She knew it was practically impossible. There was only one likely explanation for this sudden radio silence. Only one.
"She couldn't dodge it," Octavia let out in a breath, saying out loud what they were all thinking. "She was following the TARDIS closely, and her ship was way less maneuverable tha-"
"Stop talking about her as if she was dead!" Twilight dryly cut, yelling in her radio.
She felt a knot forming in her heart. She didn't want to hear that. Not for their first expedition. Not right from her first cape. It was impossible, the travels were safe now, and the accidents were rare, weren't they?
Octavia's sigh was heard in the mic. It seemed like even she felt quite affected by it. After all, it was their promotion that had just taken a severe blow. That group of four captains had known each other for a while, and Lyra was, unquestionably, the center of attention when it came to having a less serious ambiance. An eccentric joker.
"We will see once out of the cape," Captain Octavia concluded. "If their ship is there, it was only a technical malfunction."
Twilight was biting her lip. Not Lyra, please. Worst of all, she was the one that had suggested for the Humanity to go in second.
Far behind the group of ships flying through space, the gray planet was continuing its drift through the interstellar emptiness. There were planets like this one, freely wandering outside of any system. They were unpredictable, impossible to locate precisely due to their low light and loneliness. The captains had been the victim of bad luck for one of them to cross their path. A direct collision often meant a certain death. There was no debating it.
A heavy silence reigned on the radio. In his cockpit, Captain Whooves was trying to stay focused on what was happening, looking to chase away his dark thoughts.
A gray hand landed on his shoulder, accompanied by a voice that wanted to be reassuring.
"Lyra may be a bit airheaded, but she's a fighter. And Bonbon has a pretty strong personality. I'm sure they are fine, captain."
The brown man didn't answer. Internally, he prayed for Derpy to be right. This is all there was to do now, wait until the end of the cape, in a few tens of minutes.
Twilight turned on a private canal with the Symphonia.
"Octavia, answer me honestly."
"I hope it's just a technical malfunction, if that's what you want to know."
"Did you see something on the surface of the planet when we passed by?"
"At such speed, you do realize that-"
"Just answer me!" Twilight cut coldly. "Did you see the same thing as me?!"
Octavia stared at the speaker for a few moments, before sadly sighing, and replied, sorry:
"I thought I saw a small red-orange spot on the surface of the planet. It only lasted a fraction of a second, but Vinyl says she saw it too."
There were no answers and Captain Melody easily pictured what Twilight was thinking, which is why she added:
"Twilight. At this distance, at this speed, we don't even know the size of that thing. It could be a lake of lava, a rock formation, or even a magnetic reflection caused by a lone solar radiation. Do not draw hasty conclusions, even if I know it's your specialty."
The only response was the distinctive sound of a radio being turned off. Octavia displayed a worried pout. Even if she was acting tough and pretentious in front of the other captains, and it was in her nature, Octavia was still attached, in some way, to that old Lyra. And that story concerned her as much as the others.
Sweet Celestia, were those hours going to feel long.
Applejack crossed her arms and legs, thinking, while Pinkie was holding her own feet, sitting cross-legged on the bed, visibly trying to understand. Fluttershy, sitting down as well, was completely shocked.
"Maybe it's a post-takeoff syndrome doing this to me," she thought out loud, before suddenly adding, even more panicked. "What did I just say...?"
Among the crew, they had all changed personalities while changing lives. Once the memories back, both pasts were colliding. For Applejack, it wasn't that different, her way of being was similar in both universes. Pinkie possessed a few nuances, being more mocking in this human world, with less light humor, less nonsense. But her old personality had become the dominant one once again with the return of her memory.
On the other hand, Fluttershy was the one for whom the change was the roughest. Her shyness was, in this world, pure loneliness. An interest towards other species only motivated by the gain of knowledge. Pinkie found she resembled Twilight a bit, at her beginnings in Ponyville. That's why the flying was now torn between her shy pony version and the even-tempered scientist.
"Oh my goodness," she lamented. "I can't believe I've done experiments on animals! The poor little babies!"
"Think well, Fluttershy," Pinkie advised. "If you look closely, you'll see the memories from this world are blurry, because they are fake."
"I think she's right on that," Applejack approved.
"But that's normal!" the yellow woman said, losing her temper. "It's a cerebral reflex to condition the brain! To distort reality to better adapt to it!"
The gunner and the second-in-command exchanged a gaze. The transition wasn't going to be easy, but it would occur, Pinkie was sure of it.
"You'll see, Fluttershy," she said. "We're going to make everyone recover their memory, that way you'll be convinced it's not just a reflex or whatever."
The scientist took on a thoughtful expression, muttering:
"Hmm, it's true that if our recollections stay coherent in-between them, then there's a chance for them to be the truth... I've never seen collective hallucination on that scale. Even if my mind might have been influenced by what Pinkie said, Applejack's brain didn't endure that exposition, and yet she's telling the same thing."
"Eyup," the second-in-command confirmed.
"To me," Pinkie added. "The best is to try and make everyone find their memories back after dinner. First with Rarity."
"That way, Twilight won't ask questions," Applejack approved. "And Ah think I have a plan for our captain to remember everythin'"
"And I have one for Rarity!" Pinkie exclaimed, happy. "That's perfect!"
"But we shouldn't do that while in the cape," the one with a hat pointed out, before standing up. "I'll go in the cockpit."
"Don't forget that Rainbow was looking for you," Pinkie reminded, before snorting.
Applejack froze in her movement towards the exit of the lab. She had forgotten about that. Her cheeks became red as she remembered the relationship she had with the mechanic in this world. What she had done with Rainbow.
"What's so funny?" Fluttershy asked, unaware.
"You see-" Pinkie started with a great smile.
"That world is a lot of rubbish!" Applejack cut before unlocking the door and heading out.
Turning right immediately, she went with an energetic step towards the piloting cabin. It was strange to be in that ship, which she both knew and was discovering at the same time. Her memories were mixing and putting themselves back in place. The Applejack from Sweet Apple Acres was gathering the memories from the Applejack of the spaceport of Canterlot. The reflexes of life in space were coming back to her, her role, her actions. For sure, this was quite the change from her farm. But, at the same time, she had been living here since her childhood so it didn't seem that foreign, and even familiar. A little time of adaptation would probably be necessary. But the most important was the remaining question, the one they could all think about once their memories would be back: What in tarnation were they doing here?!
The door opened and Applejack said to her captain:
"So? Is everythin' alright?"
Walking up to Twilight, she noticed that something was wrong. The purple woman had her hands clenched on her levers, her back slightly hunched on her seat. The second-in-command softly laid a hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong, sugarcube?"
"The Humanity..." Twilight said with a lump in her throat. "There was a planet on our trajectory and we lost contact..."
Applejack's heart sank.
"Maybe it's just a malfunction, right?" she tried.
"It's... unlikely... very much so... We'll only get an answer when we're out of the cape."
"Here is the TARDIS," said on the radio the deeply stressed voice of Captain Whooves. "Exiting the cape in one minute. The deceleration has begun."
Applejack stayed behind Twilight and put both hands on her shoulders to try and show support. The minute went by slowly and, as it did, the concern and anxiety of the captains and second-in-commands only increased. The trickling down of seconds got to its end, as the ship was coming to a stop, the blue light encircling them now gone.
From the Friendship Cottage, they could see the dusts around spreading, planets and stars in formation. On the left, the TARDIS was floating in the void, drifting, yet to start its engine again.
"Symphonia," Octavia announced with a tone way less rough than ordinary. "No visual or radar traces of the spaceship Humanity..."
The purple fist slammed down on the instrument panel, Applejack's hands tightened around her captain's shoulders. Twilight stayed stooped, her head laying right next to her fist, trying to hold back her tears, in vain.
In the TARDIS, it was in his hands that the saddened face of the captain had found refuge. His second-in-command was holding him with her modest strengths.
With the back of her thumb, Octavia whipped away the drop that beaded from her eyes and went to the music player of the ship.
"Vinyl, activate the radio please," the gray woman breathed out. "And plug in the internal speaker."
The second-in-command with the smoked glasses, affected by that news, let the mic on.
Octavia pressed a button, and a slow, powerful, profound music rose in the three remaining ships of the expedition. Twilight and Whooves turned on their internal radio as well, so that the words may echo through their whole group.
With a solemn voice filled with respect, Octavia pronounced:
"Today, Equestria laments the loss of six of its children. For the conquest of space and the good of their nation, the following crew members lost their lives: Captain Lyra Heartstrings. Lieutenant Bonbon. Maintenance officer Berry Punch. Researcher Nurse Redheart. Supply manager Mrs Cakes. Gunner Thunderlane.
The spacecraft Humanity crashed on a dwarf rock planet when crossing a cape, at the following approximate coordinates: 78.45, 12.58, 17.21."
A minute of silence followed Octavia's speech, during which only the sound of music could be heard. The space conquest hymn, an age-old music, with a deep meaning embedded in it for all the drivers of space, inspiring respect, passion, hope and regret.
The crews were now aware of this terrible news, and the shared feeling was one of emptiness, caught by the brutality of this disappearance, weighing on the hearts as much as the loss itself.
"Message received," then said the voice of the custom officer in the arriving cape, after waiting in silence. "We will transmit it to Canterlot and the families. Do you have a personal message you want to add?"
Octavia took in a deep breath and followed, this time talking with her feelings:
"I didn't get the chance to know the members of her crew, but I knew Lyra. She was a bon vivant, maybe not the best captain there ever was, but an exemplary pilot and someone really pleasant."
"Bonbon too!" Vinyl added.
"She was caring and smiling," Derpy sobbed.
Whooves, who had been the closest to Lyra because of their common birth town, removed his hands from his face and sniffed along with every words he spoke:
"I could give you an unending speech about each of them... I knew them well... They were all special, but deep down, they were good people. Endearing people. A word for Lyra. I am... relieved she was able to accomplish her dream of witnessing the crossing of a cape. I had just hoped that we would cross more than one, together..."
The captain's voice drowned in his own tears.
It was Twilight's turn. For several moments already, her pager had kept on emitting little beeps, indicating messages that the purple horned wasn't reading. She had only looked at the first one, who simply said "It's not our fault.". Octavia hadn't got any answers, and she was sending this message to Twilight on loop.
It was her fault! She had suggested for Lyra's ship to go in front! She had exposed her to danger! It should have been her in second place, not Lyra!"
She turned on her radio, tears running down her cheeks and the voice completely deformed by her cries.
"Sorry..." she begged.
"Twilight!" Octavia intervened, but she was cut.
"THEY HAVE TO KNOW!... All their families... Their close ones... They have the right to know who... who's to blame..."
"It's not your fault, for goodness' sake!" Octavia thundered.
"It is!" Twilight desperately yelled. "I was the one... that proposed for her to go first..."
"It was just that: a proposition!" the gray women retorted. "Lyra accepted it! No one could have foreseen what happened, it was a one in a billion!"
"Then I should have taken that into account!"
The tears wouldn't stop running on Twilight's face. In addition to sorrow, a huge guilt was eating her. She was angry at herself, to such a degree that nothing was rational in her behavior anymore.
"It's my ship that should have been in second and-"
"You would have crashed the same way!" Octavia coldly cut. "Are you even thinking about what you're saying?! We're not just talking about your life, but your whole crew! Is this the way a captain should talk?! Is this really you, Twilight?!"
The purple woman couldn't find anything to reply. Her breath was getting quicker.
"That'll do for the message!" Octavia said, ending the conversation.
From the radio came a long empathetic sigh, pushed by the custom officer.
"Listen, Captain Sparkle. Accidents happen, sometimes. This is how things are. It's not your fault. You took a decision that even the greatest pilots would have never contested. Nothing could have prepared you for this. There are no people at fault here, everyone fulfilled its role."
Twilight's mouth slowly closed, as her breathing calmed down. Applejack, still holding her shoulders, had not said any words since earlier. The custom officer added, evidently sorry:
"It's harsh, even more so for young pilots like you. I can assure you that space is not like that. Take the time to forget about that unpleasant moment, and after that, you can fully live your lives as astronauts. I'll cut the things you've said, Captain Twilight, it is not something the families need to hear along such news."
Twilight didn't reply. The custom officer sighed again.
"You're going to the cape for the Crystal Constellation, is that right? Stop next to it for half-an-hour, and look at space. In that part, you can see the whole cloud. It's a magnificent spectacle. Worth a look."
"Thank you for your advice," Octavia answered. "We'll free the exit of the cape."
"Roger that. Good luck."
The custom officer's radio cut, leaving the three crews now alone.
"Twilight," Applejack said, gently tapping her captain's shoulder. "Go take some rest, I'll pilot for you. It won't be too hard."
With neither a word nor a gaze, the horned stood up from her seat and went out of the cockpit. Applejack sat down and informed:
"Lieutenant Applejack, at the controls of the Friendship Cottage."
"Yo AJ," Vinyl replied somewhat feebly. "Pretty harsh story, huh? Tavi too just went to bed."
"You said it..."
Even if that world wasn't her original universe, the ones that had died remained people she knew, in both life nonetheless. Of course she was as affected as the others, being from another world changed nothing to those feelings.
"TARDIS, you lead the way?"
Without even a reply on the radio, the rectangular blue ship began to move in the void, getting away from the exiting ring of the cape. Applejack went after it, then the Symphonia. Even if she wasn't endowed with a horn, it was easy for the second-in-command to pilot the ship in space and quiet. It was for takeoff and the great maneuvers that possession of a horn was useful.
Author's Note
Ah yes, drama, my favorite.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
          Chapter 2 - Pinkie Cape Party - part 2           
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Chapter 2 - Pinkie Cape Party - part 2
In the crew's quarters, Pinkie, Rainbow and Fluttershy feared that what they had just heard by the speaker was true.
"They're... dead?" Pinkie shivered.
As the two who had found back their memory were sitting on their respective beds, feeling the effects of the news, Dash was snuggling herself into her blankets.
"Surviving a collision while in a cape is impossible," Rainbow said.
"Precisely a one in a trillion," the yellow flying stated like a reflex, since she didn't really seem mentally present. She was only reciting what she had learned. "And that chance is only in the case of the colliding teleportation landing in an almost empty part of the obstacle, with only the hull being hit, without being perforated. In which case, they would have crossed the cape. Though collisions are so rare we have very little information about them."
"Something like that," the mechanic tossed, not particularly caring about the details. "Wake me up when it'll be time to eat."
And without any further qualms, she closed her eyes to sleep. As the mechanic, the crossing of the cape had quite exhausted her, and she already had to prepare for the next. She couldn't allow herself to pity the fate of the Humanity, or they would be the next.
In Fluttershy's head, against her own wishes, the explanation about capes and collisions was turning on loop, underlining why they were particularly fatal.
An encounter with an object during a cape meant finding yourself teleported inside. Rock being more solid than a teleporting ship, more often than not this ended with a teleportation unable to get the spacecraft back to its original size. Lyra and her crew had found themselves compressed to the size of a molecule for a brief instant.
The pink woman sat beside her, her mind someplace else as well, still shocked by all this. She gently wrapped an arm around the flying's shoulder and held her against her own torso. Fluttershy seemed to snap back to reality for a moment and snuggled against Pinkie, sobbing.
Two hours went by in a deathly silence. Not a single radio message, not a word. Even Dash could only manage a bad sleep. The cape was in view. Here again, even the customs officer hadn't tried to get in contact with them. He probably had been warned by the previous cape.
The three ships lined up next to the great ring of metal. For this cape, the circle was a little bit smaller, and there was only one. The Crystal Constellation was a very recent colony. Dinner hour was approaching.
In her quarter, laying down on her bed, the captain of the Friendship Cottage was hugging her pillow. Head buried against the cushion, her tears had stopped running down her face, but the sorrow and guilt were still eating her.
A little beep came out of her pocket. With a slow gesture, she reached by feel for the pager thingy, before she raised her head to read the message, sniffing strongly.
"You should look outside..."
Twilight let her arm fall down along the edge of the bed, rehashing once more her morbid thoughts. After a few minutes, during which she didn't move from her bed, a new beep echoed.
"Leave me alone," the horned muttered and sighed, looking at the message nonetheless, revealing that her interlocutor knew her well enough to guess her thoughts.
"No, I refuse to abandon you. You can stay on your own for a moment if you so desire, but your crew still counts on you, Whooves as well. And me too... So get up and go to your cockpit."
The captain mumbled words without real meaning towards Octavia, externalizing the repressed anger she was feeling against herself.
Yet, she straightened up on her bed and slowly got down from it. With a sluggish pace to her steps, she went to the cockpit in which, to her surprise, the whole crew was gathered.
The five of them turned around, sending her way, each with their own manner to it, a little smile that aimed to be comforting, all sharing the same pain. Twilight tried to return it, way less convincingly however.
Applejack stood up from the captain's seat and turned it toward her, inviting Twilight to sit down. Which she did, thanking her second-in-command.
The radio mic was on, which meant that all the crews had heard her arrival. Octavia spoke softly.
"Good. I think everyone is here."
No one replied. The silence stayed in the three ships and all were able to contemplate the calm of the Dale cloud.
A myriad of small white particles were floating in the void. The black background only accentuated the blueish and reddish sparkles from the minuscule and uncountable aggregates of gas, drifting at the direction of the spatial fluctuations.
In the distance, on the right, two small forming suns, small red-orange balls, surrounded by spirals of the same color, reminiscent of the shape of galaxies. They were already slightly spinning on themselves, dragging in what passed in their reach in a majestic slowness. They were close to each other, probably would they merge with enough time.
On the entire left side of the crew's field of view, an azure cascade of particles, similar to snow, slowly and gracefully flowed, carrying in its current of magic the spatial snowdrops crossing its path. They were called dragons of mana, because they weaved randomly in the clouds, sometimes spreading and giving the impression that wings were being deployed. A slightly paler halo was engulfing the structure, giving it a ghostly aspect.
A few asteroids were rolling forward, covering themselves in particles and accumulating them on their surface, to the point where their natural gray disappeared behind a prism of surprising colors.
Two rocks collided almost in front of the ships. A shower of particles escaped in a circle from the point of contact, like the undulating surface of a calm water in which a stone has just been tossed.
The spectacle happened once more. Then again.
The custom officer hadn't lied. That vision was worth it. Faced with it, such beauty, reality itself seemed to fade for an instant, and the spirits found themselves as if confronted by their own imagination. It was soothing. In the crews, many members took on deep inspirations, before slowly letting them go, a little bit relieved of their grief.
Even Twilight found a touch of comfort in front of the great and long factory of the universe.
"We're all putting our lives on the line," Whooves told with softness, breaking the silence. "At every moment. We tend to forget it. A piloting error, a mishap, a hole in the hull... Yet, I do not regret risking my life, not even a little bit, now that I've seen this."
He had just said out loud what they all thought. He had managed to put words on that feeling.
"And it's just one of the many wonders of space," Octavia added with a smile that sounded half-impatient to discover more and half-happy to finally be able to think clearly.
Two asteroids had just gone by the dragon of mana and were beginning to spin around it, mirroring each other in their movement, getting closer to the center of the curved mana rod, little by little.
"I propose we all take a nice meal, followed by a well deserved night of sleep. We will all go through the cape tomorrow morning. What do you think?"
Whooves' suggestion was unanimously accepted. Once more, it was free time. Each could do whatever they wanted, and many stayed to contemplate the firmament.
As it was only Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie left in the cockpit, the horned, who had just cut her mic, turned her seat to the gunner, asking:
"You're feeling better by the way?"
"Yes, don't worry," the pink woman smiled. "I don't know what happened, but Fluttershy took great care of me."
"And your hair?"
Pinkie raised her eyes towards her cotton-candy mess of a coiffure. It's true that they had become inflated again as her memory had returned.
"I'm going to leave them like this, it's funnier," she replied with a great grin.
"It makes you less unfriendly I find," the captain approved, trying to find back a bit of happiness.
"Thanks Twilight! Or rather, thanks captain."
Twilight stood up from her seat.
"Good, I think it's time to eat," she said, heading out by the door.
The small in-draft she created brought in the cockpit a sweet smell of good cooking, a sign that she was right. Pinkie rushed after her, remembering how starved she was, as she always was when it came to great food. Fluttershy, who had been nervously holding her own arm for a moment now, still shaken, followed them with way less motivation.
"Whooves?"
The image on the holographic screen, in the quarters of the captain of the TARDIS, shivered with static for a bit, before stabilizing on the picture of an Octavia standing up, for once, and visibly worried.
She had asked for a private conversation with her colleague, without informing him about the topic of it.
"What is it, Captain Melody?"
"Do me a favor, simply call me Octavia. I think we'll stop with the protocol in-between us, it won't be tenable in the long run."
Whooves arched an eyebrow, surprised that her, usually so serious, would come to say they should ignore the protocol. But in that case, he didn't mind it so he didn't complain.
"As you wish. You wanted to talk to me?"
The gray woman sighed slightly, before asking:
"Do you believe in signs?"
"Not really, I'd rather follow my intuitions," he answered with the same surprise, before understanding where she was going.
"What's happening to us... First mission, an exploration. Already in itself, it's not really good news. To add to that, the admiral of the Canterlot spaceport alerts his sister, who he knows to be easily worried, on the dangers of the mission. A gunner faints without any reason. And now, we lose a whole crew in a cape despite the fact accidents are supposed to be more than rare..."
"So, if I'm getting you right..." he said, frowning and clenching his fists. "For you, a whole crew's death is just bad omen? It's all it does to you?"
The up until now soft face of Octavia became harsher, obviously hurt by his words. Even her tone was more rude.
"I didn't get to know Lyra as good as you did, but be aware that I'm crying her death all the same. Do you really think I'm sincerely insensitive? I'm only telling you that this mission could lead to a greater catastrophe than the disappearance of six of us!"
"Like?" Captain Whooves asked, starting to get angry.
"Like the death of us all!" Octavia replied, raising her voice to make him calm down. "Come on, look around you! We haven't got to the constellation that a quarter of our expedition has been wiped out!"
Whooves took a little second to get a grip of himself and used that to take a deep breath and relax. In the end, he answered, calmer:
"I think we're all still shaken by Lyra's and the other's disappearance... Maybe there are reasons to worry about the mission, but what happened in the cape was pure bad luck. We were at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Even Raggedy said so..."
The brown man's eyes slowly drifted as he said those words, which got Octavia intrigued.
"What is it?"
"Well..." Whooves hesitated. "I heard him mumble theories about magical interference earlier. He said that the cape's magic being unstable, the encounter could have led to an overcharge or a diversion from the path. In which case, they would end up in the middle of nowhere, probably years from the closest colony, but they wouldn't be-"
"Whooves," Octavia cut quite firmly, bringing him back to reality. "Why do you think this is a theory, and not something that was already observed during the years of the capes' existence?"
The captain winced, forced to see the truth in that. Yet, he seemed reluctant to fully dismiss his scientist's hypothesis. Octavia saw it, and added in a breath:
"I don't think having them drift on for years in the void, slowly running out of food and water, would be a more desirable fate than what happened to them, Whooves..."
He passed a hand on his forehead, letting out a little sigh. That faint glimmer of hope was gone, wasn't it?
"You're right..." he said, focusing back on Octavia. "Why did you want to talk about that with me and not Twilight?"
"Because she would have found a way to frame herself as the culprit of the accident once again. I'd rather wait for it to go down a bit. The second cape is going to be hard enough to cross already..."
Whooves didn't reply, but was sharing that view. No one, not even himself, wanted to see a cape anytime soon after this tragedy, but they wouldn't get the choice.
"And do you have propositions to make to prevent your bad feeling from becoming true?" he asked.
"Not for the cape... Once in the constellation, I'll think about it when we have more information about our mission. And I'd like for you to think about it on your end as well."
He was about to reply, but the sound of a door on which someone was knocking was heard on Octavia's side. She added:
"I have to go. We'll see in good time. Stay strong."
And the screen shut down without any more formalities.
In the Friendship Cottage's canteen, the meal was taking place in a heavy calm. In great part caused by Twilight. Being the captain, it was a part of her role to initiate an active discussion. Except that it had never been her strength, and the situation as well as her mood didn't lend itself to it.
Maybe she even felt that her presence was bothering the others, since she finished her plate quickly and stood up, thanking Rarity in a half-voice before heading out of the cafeteria.
Another silence followed her departure, only ruptured by the sound of the silverware.
"S-So, Pinkie?" the cook tried. "Feeling better?"
It was like a sigh of relief going through everyone. Finally, a word had been spoken.
"Yes, yes, and you, you're feeling alright?"
"Don't remind me..." Rarity let out in a short breath, putting her apron away. "I knew Mrs Cake a bit, and she was a charming person..."
"Yeah, I know. It feels weird to me too..."
"You knew her?" the horned asked, surprised.
"Well!" Applejack cut, standing up, avoiding Pinkie the occasion to commit another mistake, since she wasn't supposed to know Mrs Cake in this world. "Thanks Rarity, that was delicious. Rainbow, come over, I need to talk to ya."
"Yes, ma'am," said the flying with a fake weariness, hiding a little smile showing she very much intended on following where she had been interrupted last time.
She stood up and followed Applejack outside of the canteen, leaving Fluttershy and Pinkie alone with Rarity.
The two who had recovered their memories exchanged a little gaze, before nodding, while the horned was busy gathering the plates of everyone.
"Rarity, can you fill my plate again?" Pinkie asked with a great smile.
"Hm?" said the woman in question, surprised. "You're still hungry?"
"Being fainted whet the appetite," she pretended, handing her plate to the cook.
"Well, if you say so..."
She grabbed it by magic and replenished it again, before handing it back. In her mind, Fluttershy was crossing her feathers and fingers.
"Here."
"Thanks Rarity, it's really generous of you," the pink woman greatly thanked.
The cook arched an eyebrow.
"It's just a meal, you don't have to be so dr..."
But she couldn't finish her sentence, already keeling over. Pinkie had put down her plate and hurried to catch her in her arms as she was falling frontward.
"Phew! It worked!" Fluttershy said with relief. "I was afraid it would be a bit light..."
"Aw, I'm sure my plan would have worked too..."
"Hum, I'm not certain stealing a screw from the engine room, so that a hair pin from Rarity would have become the only solution to save us, leading her to show an act of generosity may have been a good idea..." the flying judged, without meaning to offend her.
"The upside of Applejack's is that it's faster. And we don't have to steal all the hair pins from the rest of the crew."
Pinkie sat down the unconscious horned on her chair, before returning to her plate and resuming her meal as if nothing had happened.
"I do hope Applejack can manage with Rainbow..." Fluttershy said, looking at the pink woman swallowing her second plate.
The second-in-command had brought the mechanic in her personal quarters to be in peace, but barely had the door shut that the flying pushed her on the bed, other projects being on her mind.
"Rainbow!" Applejack said firmly while the mechanic was slowly getting on top of her. "I'm serious!"
"But I am serious too," Dash sensually replied, bringing her face close to hers.
"Ah need to talk to you!" the second-in-command said categorically. Doing any of that was out of the question now that she had recovered her memory!
"And I need to take care of you," Dash whispered, not letting go of it, her hand brushing by her lover's body.
In a little bit too abrupt reflex, Applejack grabbed her arms and immobilized her, which disappointed her partner.
"What, it's that important?"
"Yes!"
Rainbow scowled and let Applejack straighten up, crossing her arms, taping on one of them with her fingers.
"Go on, I'm listening," Dash invited, passably upset.
"You know about the Humanity?"
The flying rolled her eyes.
"Yes, who do you take me for?"
The second-in-command grabbed her by the shoulders and stared at her in the eyes.
"Listen to me, Rainbow. It's an ugly thing what happen'. I know that it affects you, even if you don't act like it."
Dash looked away, her face growing softer.
"But we all have to support each other," Applejack followed. "Twilight's gonna need some help, so I need to be sure I can count on ya, Dash, because I know you're someone loyal."
Rainbow didn't reply, still fleeing Applejack's gaze. The latter shook her a bit, forcing their eyes to meet.
"You got me?"
"Yeah," almost grumbled the mechanic. "I'll help you, don't worry."
"Thanks. I knew I could count on you."
Internally, the ex-farmer sighed with relief. Rainbow had just fulfilled her element's requirements while recognizing it herself. Now it was only Twilight's turn to recover her memory.
"That's all you wanted to say?"
"Uh..." was probably the best transcription of Applejack's thoughts in that instant.
The flying pushed her gently on her back, getting on top of her again.
"Can we get back to where we left?" she said with a little smile.
At this moment, Applejack was faced with two problems. The first one was that, obviously, her attempt at making Rainbow find back her memory had failed. And the second, but by far the most serious, was that she had absolutely no idea as to how she could get out of this situation, as the flying was already busy undoing the buttons of her outfit.
The worst part being that, despite how much she protested in her own thoughts, a good portion of Applejack didn't really mind.
Let's leave this poor Applejack to her "couple issues". Because, at a similar time – supposing it means something to talk about simultaneity over such distances – far from the Dale cloud where our three crews were resting, in a dark room stained from floor to ceiling, someone was there.
A girl. An adolescent, wearing a uniform similar to that of the captains, added with a colt on her belt. Standing up, straight and firm, in the middle of overturned chairs scattering the room, her skin magenta and with purple hair stripped with white, she was facing two crackling screens, returning images from two different places.
On the left, it was almost pitch black. A blackness that moved and undulated slowly, among which two red and angry eyes could be seen.
And on the right, in front of a disgusting green-khaki setting, there was a horned with black skin and green eyes shading off to turquoise.
"What is this quip!?" a deep voice thundered on the left screen. "I won't deal with a minion!"
"You'll have to make do with it nonetheless," the adolescent replied. "As if you were important enough for him to show himself..."
"I demand that-" the shape began, but the horned interrupted him coldly.
"We're not her for that. If he wants to underestimate us, it is not our problem."
"Very true," the adolescent noted. "Why did you ask for this meeting by the way?"
Each on their side, they turned to the screen displaying the two red eyes.
"The pact has been broken," the voice announced. "Intruders have penetrated my lands."
"So?" the two others asked simultaneously.
"They are only on your side of the galaxy," the youngest said. "How does it concern us?"
"The pact is clear," the shadow growled. "Whoever breaks it will be eliminated by the conjoint strengths of the others."
"Funny to hear that from the one who broke it first," the horned cackled.
"My debt has been paid! This is why I can only intervene now as well!"
"As soon as you're free, your case poses yet again another problem," the horned said with a more hidden mockery. "I wonder if we shouldn't change the terms of the pact and replace your name with Celestia and Luna."
"Just dare! This agreement cannot be changed! And what Equestria did is a pure and simple violation!"
"Equestria was never relevant in it," the horned retorted.
"Maybe, but they are getting too comfortable," the voice continued. "If you don't help me to-"
Without any warnings, the adolescent pulled her weapon out and directed it right at the screen, menacing, her voice suddenly hysterical:
"Watch your words! Don't even try to tell us what we should do, and even less impose conditions on us!"
Despite the fact the young girl was taking aim at a screen, which didn't seem that dangerous, the horned tried to ease the situation:
"Lower your gun, kid. I wouldn't mind you two killing each other, but only after we're done with our issue."
"Think twice before committing such an act, little fool," the voice despised. "I won't tolerate it a second time."
Indeed, out of nowhere, a black and transparent shard had worked its way to the young human's throat, right as she had drawn her weapon. She kept her scornful gaze and a spasm in her upper lip, but still sheathed her weird pistol, and the shard went back.
"You signed this pact," the shadow continued. "You don't have any other choice than to annihilate them. Otherwise, when I'm done with them, it'll be your turn."
"I am willing to participate," the horned answered. "At the condition that we impose a division of their territory."
"I will keep the lands they stole to me. Do whatever you please with what will be left."
The adolescent was distractedly scratching her chin.
"When will you be ready?" she asked.
"I am already," said the voice.
"Less than a week," told the horned.
"Fine," the young woman concluded. "I'll warn him and we will see."
"You have twenty-four hours," the voice growled.
The dark screen cut, quickly followed by the one with the horned.
The adolescent stayed there a moment, still scratching her chin while thinking. Then, she turned around in the now completely dark room and pulled out a flashlight.
Walking inside the wreck drifting in space, echoes of her heavy boots bouncing on each metal wall, she didn't pay any attention to the shapes lying on her path.
She suddenly stopped, something bothering her. Taking two steps back, she returned in front of a body leaning against a wall and crouched to put her face in front of his.
She took his pulse. Weak. The fainted astronaut received a few slaps on the cheek.
"Hey! Hey, you're alive? Wake up."
Slowly, he opened his eyes, coming back from a far-off place and on the brink of being unconscious again.
"What's your name?" the young girl asked.
"B-Blaze... Rainbow Blaze..."
"What division?"
"E-Eight... Fifth squadron..."
She ran the ray of light on his body, revealing a heavy wound on his belly.
"Where were you going like that?"
"We were following... a signal..."
The man with rainbow-colored hair began to topple, but was caught by the adolescent's hand.
"Hey, hey, stay with me, okay? What was your rallying point?"
The wounded searched in his memory, his vision blurry. Unable to follow a clear train of thoughts, he asked:
"Who... Who are you?"
"Your only chance of survival, so answer me."
"We had to gather... at the asteroid belt, near star number five... Help me..."
A comforting smile appeared on the adolescent's face, and she gave him a tap on the shoulder.
"Good job. Don't worry, I'll take care of you."
Still holding his shoulder, she put her flashlight in between her teeth to free one hand. She then took out her gun, put the barrel in the poor man's mouth and pulled the trigger, unleashing a flash of light which pierced his crane.
Without any qualms, she let the smoking cadaver fall, sheathing again and standing up, taking a radio on her belt and resuming her walk.
"Unit one, I'll be home in half-an-hour. Get ready, we're going to have to do some cleaning near the fifth sun."
"Roger that, unit one."
The crew members' awakening is usually scheduled at seven, Equestrian hour. But most of them were already up way before that. Each in their cockpits, the captains were already ready to initiate the departure. The custom officer had just transmitted the last formalities, and the metal ring was starting to crackle.
Tension was more present than ever. It was a feeling of uneasiness gripping everyone. Yet, the voice warned again:
"Pathway opened. Have a good ride."
After taking in a deep breath to relax himself, Whooves pushed the engines and the TARDIS dived into the immense blueish jelly, followed by the Friendship Cottage, then the Symphonia.
The ship purred once more and the cycles of teleportations started again, and everything went, for now, fine.
It's around that time that Applejack woke up from her long night. Alone in her bed, she had only been recently and kept a quite shocked impression about what she had done. Her sheets were still wrinkled from the energy the flying had deployed for a good amount of time, time they should have dedicated to sleep.
It is while asking herself if what she had lived was actually real or not that the second-in-command stood up, gathering her spread out clothes. Dressing up, something she did as a reflex even though as a pony it seemed secondary, she added the final touch by giving back its rightful place to her hat. Identical to the one she had in Equestria. Well, the pony world.
She went out of her quarters, trying to chase away the thought that she might have enjoyed her night, to focus on her close destination, the canteen.
Entering, she was welcomed by a sweet smell of hot coffee and croissants, accompanied by a "Hellow!" from a Pinkie Pie with a mouth full.
Rarity headed out of the small adjacent room she used as a kitchen, noticing the ex-farmer.
"Coffee, Applejack?" she proposed. "Sorry, I don't have any apples, they don't consider it a preservable food."
The second-in-command questioned Pinkie with a glance, but Rarity answered for her:
"She explained everything to me. I recovered my memory too."
"Glad to have you back, then! The adaptation isn't too harsh, sugarcube?"
"Tell me about it," the cook raised with a diva look. "Just the apron alone is awful. And I mean, seriously, taking care of the kitchen? I don't have anything against that type of job, but I think I deserved better, didn't I?"
"Probably," Applejack laughed, sitting at the table.
"Well, I guess at least I know what I'm eating. I'd rather have that than eating Spike's or Rainbow's cooking."
"How did it go with her by the way?" Pinkie asked, as she had just finished another croissant. "She dropped by earlier on, she was smiling, but didn't say anything."
"I couldn't do it," Applejack simply said, before quickly changing topic. "A coffee with two sugars, Rarity, please."
"That works! ... Oh my Celestia, my vocabulary is so much more boorish in this world! I can't wait until we find a way to go home!"
She went to the coffee machine, while Applejack was sighing.
"We should already try to understand why we're here," she said. "And how we got here. I'm sure Twilight would have an explanation."
"I don't remember anything, aside from the fact we were all in the castle, sitting around a table," Rarity thought out loud. "We were talking... But I don't remember the topic. And after that, we were all here for the last training exam."
"Eyup. Same thing for me. I don't get it. I can't recall what we were talkin' about, but it wasn't urgent."
"And for the other crews?" Pinkie asked. "How do we do to make them regain their memories?"
"I don't know..." Applejack sighed again. "It could be we're the only ones who can gain back our memories because we're protected by the elements or somethin'."
"Or we are the only ones to have switched worlds," Pinkie put forward, having seriously thought about it. "Just by chance, we're a group of six, and there are six members per ship."
"I don't think that means anythin'. If it was seven, Spike would have been there."
"There are only six elements of harmony," the pink woman objected. "Now that you mentioned him, what's Spike doing in this world?"
The second-in-command shrugged, while Rarity was putting down a cup of coffee right in front of her.
"Thanks, Rarity."
She quietly drank her morning coffee, while the cook was clearing Pinkie's cup with her magic.
"So, there's only Twilight and Rainbow left," the gunner concluded after a moment of silence.
"Eyup. Ah think we'll get a better picture of what's happening once-"
The door suddenly opened on a visibly exhausted Dash. Her arms falling and the back hunched, letting her great wings stick out, she walked up to the closest chair, next to Applejack, and slouched down on it more than she sat.
"Phew!"
"Good morning, Rainbow Dash," Rarity politely said.
"Yo," she replied.
"You're not in the engine room?"
"I'm taking a break. What were you talking about?"
"How to make Twilight and Dashie recover their memory," Pinkie joyfully explained.
The two others froze at the same time. It's only when looking at Rainbow in the eyes that the pink woman understood her mistake.
"Oopsie..."
Yet, nonchalantly, the flying pointed a finger at the gunner while saying to the others:
"She should be examined again, she doesn't look well."
"Probably," Applejack quickly approved, while Rarity was looking daggers at Pinkie.
The flying snickered, before bursting out laughing, to general incomprehension.
"Is something wrong, Rainbow?" the cook worried.
"You should see the look on your faces! In human form it's even more priceless!"
It took a few seconds for the three of them to understand the meaning of her words.
"Rainbow, you..."
"Of course I found my memory back, Rarity!" she guffawed.
"When!?" the pink woman asked.
"Earlier on, in the engine room. I thought about what AJ said and pow, I fainted. But since Twilight was yelling at me on the radio and the engines were still running, I only stayed unconscious for like a second."
Rainbow stretched her arms behind her head, swinging on her chair.
"So, explain to me what is all that mess. What are we doing here?"
It was four hours of travel which passed in peace. During that time, the five friends – Fluttershy having joined the conversation – talked for a while about their rather surprising situation. Unanimously, they thought it was the work of a new enemy, even if the goal and the how of all this seemed to elude them.
On the captain's side, a discussion intended to be light began between Whooves and Vinyl, Twilight and Octavia intervening only a couple of times. Both talked of the technology of magic weapons, laser guns as they were sometimes called, and Whooves clearly exposed his profound disgust for weapons, while the second-in-command with a white skin showed fascination for the topic.
Finally, approaching for a while now, the Crystal Constellation became clearly visible. Its blue suns formed a six-branched star. Strange thing, but recently explained by new discoveries, no matter from where on the outside this constellation was being looked at, that shape was always the same. It was due to the magic unleashed by the suns, giving off this vision.
And in the center, massive, shining the purest crystal-clear blue, one of the strangest suns ever observed. Beyond its titanic size and its magical radiation level way above anything else seen in the galaxy, its shape was very particular: A heart, slowly rotating on itself. Here again, no matter from where it was looked at, the heart was always right side up for the observer.
The ships slowly lost their speed, approaching one of the sun on the outskirts of the constellation. They came out not too far from the return cape, informing it that everything had gone fine this time. The place was some kind of crossroads. Eight capes, leading to the four corners of the constellation. Of course, the distances were way less impressive here. A cape only took five minutes to cross, at most.
Without waiting any further, the three spacecrafts headed for their "highway ramp".
"Just another jargon from old space backpackers," Whooves joked.
"The transformation begins," Octavia informed.
Progressively, the skin exposed to the blue light of the suns started to pale and become transparent. In the end, all those in the cockpits, only part of the ships the light easily penetrated, became translucent. Even the hair changed, by way of reaction with the magic. For the rest of the ship, the rays would take a bit more time to pierce through the hulls, but everyone would be metamorphosed sooner or later.
Whooves launched the dialogue procedure with the mini-cape and they went through the ring, straight for the center of the constellation. More precisely, the planet closest to the heart, where Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was awaiting them.
Author's Note
CHAPTERS ARE SO F*CKING LONG ITS A NIGHTMARE TO TRANSLATE
The sentence are so long in French, oh my god it's awful.