The blue and green world grew steadily larger with each passing moment as they closed in on it. Each detail revealed itself more clearly. Dark lines broke up the continents. Oceans shimmered and sparkled in the light of the nearby star. It was a lovely Earth-style planet. If one simply ignored where the continents happened to be, one could easily confuse one for the other.

Twilight nodded at the image on the main screen. "That looks promising. We have a lock on the seed's signal?"

Harriet perked up. "Affirmative." She poked her console. "Firing down our first wave of probes."

Twilight held out a hoof to Harriet. "Hold that order. Bring up the location on the screen first."

The map view changed, showing a tight area that was beeping and pulsing with the distress signal. The image grew to show more detail, focusing on one section of land. A complex series of trees and waterfalls were present.

Another pony adjusted his hat. "It's wonderful! What could have made this seed a failure? This planet looks marvelous, sir."

Harriet rubbed at her chin. "Weird." She zoomed in closer. "The details don't add up. We're not detecting any sort of terraforming efforts."

Twilight rested a hoof on her chin as she leaned forward. "Looks can be deceiving." She threw a hoof forward. "Launch those probes. Let's get a closer look at this planet before we put a single crewmember down there."

Harriet moved instantly, "Aye, ma'am." She flicked at the controls. "Sending the probe network to the coordinates. Let's see what's happening here."

A chorus of beeps and whistles were their first answer as data flooded into the ship from the probes. New numbers flooded the console as specific amounts of gasses were the first to arrive.

Fluttershy appeared without calling. "That air looks tolerable, um, ma'am." She vanished just as quickly.

The temperature was acceptable. Radiation, also fine. All the numbers pointed at a world that would be a delightful one to live on. Twilight pointed at one thing. "There's fauna. Maybe some hostile local species was the issue?"

Harriet was tapping her chin with her pen. "Mmm. It's a possibility." She sat up a little straighter. "If there's something down there, we can easily bring it aboard for study."

Twilight tapped her hooves together. "We're not here to study. We just want our crew to reach the seed, unharmed, and retrieve it and any surviving ponies."

"And maybe study it, a little." Harriet chuckled softly. "The more we know about these things, the better our chances of keeping all our people safe."

Twilight hesitated on that. "Study the seed, yes. Studying local fauna won't really assist us, other than making sure they don't harm out crew."

Rarity appeared on the main screen. "There's no life in that area that could be hurting anyone. The probe readings show no animal life, or much of anything, for miles around. Darling, I know the last one rattled you, but trust in your lovely team mates. They will see this through."

"That doesn't make sense!" Twilight frowned deeply. "The ship had been sitting there for a while. That would give enough time for animals to come investigate and even attempt to settle in."

Rarity clapped her hooves together. "I'm only repeating what the probes are telling us, dear. You won't know why until you actually send some down to see for themselves, darling."

Twilight extended a hoof slowly. "Rainbow Dash is ready and able. If the air is breathable, and no creature of any size is present, it's her time to shine." She pressed a button. "Da—"

Rainbow was in the room before she could finish the word. "Time to fly? No call backs this time! I'll handle this one."

Twilight couldn't help but laugh at that. "Fine, go, and be safe."

Rainbow left with a single powerful flap.

Cadance stepped forward in holographic form. "There is one way there'd be no fauna settling in around the seed after this time."

Twilight perked an ear. "You thought of a reason? Please, share."

Cadance shivered slightly. "One idea comes to mind. If the seed made the area around it unattractive to life. Not affecting the planet, or we'd see it, but just the local area."

Twilight leaned in as her friend spoke. "But how?"

Cadance bit at her lower lip with her teeth. "A weapon. Something specifically designed to protect them against predators while they worked."

They could but guess. It was time to actually move. As some more slowly made their way to shuttles to prepare for launch, Rainbow hurled herself out of the nearest airlock and soared towards the planet. "I ever mention I love this body? Because I do. It's so awesome." She banked towards her target, coming in hot into the atmosphere.

"Rainbow?" Twilight tapped at her ear. "How are you feeling? Is it good?"

Rainbow dove directly for the island where the signal was coming from. "Ah! A bit of friction!" The 'bit' was enough to turn her into a pony fireball as she plummeted. She struck the ground with spray of dirt and stones as she made a new impact crater. "Made it!"

"Rainbow?" Twilight tapped at her ear. "How are you feeling? Is it good there? Really? Do I need to—"

"Twilight! Seriously, this planet is totally fine." Rainbow walked along the shoreline of the tiny island. She kept her wings out a bit as they repaired themselves. "It's, you know, actually kinda pretty." She turned left and right. "Like Equestria, before things went sideways. I can see some birds in the distance."

Twilight pulled up a camera feed from Rainbow's side. "I'm seeing it too."

Rainbow held out her front hooves, displaying her limbs and flanks. "Totally fine!" She laughed, enjoying her near immortality. "Now let's go check out that seed." She waved a hoof, pulling up her map of the area and where the seed was being detected. "On the case." Wings still healing, she broke into a trot.

It didn't take long to reach the clearing, and in it, the seed. It was in an odd position, resting in a ring of dirt. Surrounding it was a veritable wall of trees, overgrown and casting dark shadows across the area. "Huh."

Twilight repeated the noise. "Whatever happened, it clearly didn't upset the flora. They seem to be doing quite well for themselves. Rainbow, keep an eye out for any sapients. We have no idea how advanced they may be, from critter to creature level."

Rainbow froze in place as she stared at the seed. "Did it just move?"

"The seed? No." Twilight stepped closer to her monitor. "It did not move."

Rainbow turned away, working her jaw. "Something moved." She started towards the tree line between her and the pod. "Coming in. Weapons ready."

Twilight blinked. "Weapons? What weapons?"

Rainbow inclined her head towards a small torch popping out of her. "Anything's a weapon if you work hard enough."

Twilight furrowed her brow. "Uh huh. Rainbow, I'm not sure if you've heard, but that might start a fire."

Rainbow didn't bother answering that. "Wing repair complete, phew." She folded her wings on her back with a smile.

Twilight watched Rainbow closely as she moved slowly to the edge of the clearing, between two particularly thick trees. Rainbow glanced over her shoulder. The seed was still there. At least that was good news. At least until she was sent flying to the side.

She landed with a grunt but bounced to her hooves. "What the?" She craned her neck to see a branch reaching for her. She turned her torch on her arboreal foe. "Suck on this, tree!" The flames raced along the limb, burning it up to the trunk in seconds. The entire tree groaned and fell over.

Twilight stood up tall, sending her chair flying. "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah, fine." Rainbow laughed as she stepped forward. "Like some angry tree's gonna, uh oh." The other trees were reaching, joining in the battle. It seemed each and every one in that ring was mobile.

"Rainbow! Come back!" Twilight took a few steps closer to the monitor. "This planet is a monster. Leave now!"

Rainbow gave the fire-starting torch another blast, setting the tree line alight. "Twilight, calm down. They're trees. What are they going to do, bat me around? I can handle that."

Twilight stopped her calls and thought a moment. She was worried for no reason. Rainbow was tough. She could take it. "Okay, just, stay safe, please."

Rainbow jogged away from the flames, keeping an eye on them. "I'm more worried the fire will hurt the seed, but nothing I can do about that right now."

The trees were still trying to chase her. "Hey, slow down. All of you!" She flung her hooves out at them. "How are you moving?! You're all wood and bark!"

One tree tried to lash at her with a limb, only for Rainbow to catch it. She turned her torch on it, drawing out a vibrational moan of what she could assume was pain. "Shoulda known better than to mess with Dash!"

The other trees got a little more rowdy as their companion suffered, doing their best to smash Rainbow flat. One got a good hit on her, smashing her into the ground. But that was hardly an impact compared to her recent atmospheric bombardment. "That all you got?" With wild laughter, she charged the trees, setting them ablaze one by one.

Each tree burst into flames like tinder. Not even the nearby ground remained unaffected, quickly going up in flames.

Rainbow moved away from the burning fire line and towards the seed. "Heading in to grab stuff before it all burns up. Hopefully this grass fire puts itself out."

Twilight stood up taller. "I'd advise you move quick. This kind of fire is a real problem, Rainbow."

"Got it!" Rainbow charged across the grass, stopping in front of the seed. She looked left and right before she spotted the door. "Luck's on our side." She had to fly up to reach it. "The fire's less likely to get up here." She pressed her hoof to the panel. "C'mon, work!"

The ship rumbled. The door slide open suddenly with the soft whine of the parts coming to life. "Score, still working! I got it!" She punched the air. "Rainbow Dash, saving the day!"

She floated inside and scanned around. "No ponies." She shrugged at that. "Maybe they're further in?" She adjusted her jacket as she stepped into the depths of the vessel. "Still looking for 'em though."

Twilight leaned back. "Keep an eye out for their computer systems. Getting their syncs would be almost as good."

"Roger that." Rainbow turned left in a narrow hallway. "Jackpot." She hurried into the room. "Sure looks like the computer room back on our seed ship."

A screen was the first thing to draw her attention, showing the world outside. The tree line was a blazing inferno. It wasn't her fault.

Rainbow approached the monitor. "We gotta get this whole thing out of here, huh?"

"Not that screen you're looking at. Look a bit lower. It's likely behind a panel. You're looking for a particular crystal." Twilight mimed the appearance of one, not that Rainbow could see her.

Rainbow trotted up to that panel and began hoofing at it, working off a bit and poking her head inside for a peek. "Wow, there are a lot of parts in here. Crystals too. You made it sound like there'd just be one big crystal to grab."

Twilight tapped at her own panel. "Well, it's not that simple. The ship has redundancies. There are a few of them. Ideally, we'll recover all of them."

"Every crystal, got it!" Rainbow began a collection, scooping up each and everything that looked even kind of like a crystal she could see. "You can sort it out when I get back, right?"

Twilight was tapping away at her own console. "We have the processing power to do so, yes." She shook her head. "You're doing the hard part right now. Be gentle with them, and get them here without harm."

"Well, isn't that what I'm doing? Look, I got them, one, two, three..." Rainbow started dropping them on the ground around her. "And, uh, six." She narrowed her eyes, digging into the console for any more crystals. "I got all the ones I could reach easily. Is that good enough?"

"It should be." Twilight let out a little breath. "Good job. Come back here You did quite well. You've retrieved your first crystal!"

Rainbow packed the crystals away. "You don't gotta be so happy about it." She smirked as she turned away from the console. "Even if I am kinda psyched! Finally, let's notch a victory on that belt." She hurried towards the exit. "Last chance! If anypony's alive in here, say so before I leave."

No response came.

"Well, ain't that something?" Rainbow kicked the door open and made a run for it. The smoke was starting to grow thick, but she ignored that in favor of raising high into the atmosphere above it. "I'll be there in about ten. Ring Pinkie and have the party ready."

Author's Note

Rainbow is so much happier about how this mission went.

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