Star Ponies: The Original Seriesby Stormcrow117ChaptersLinesCheatingLogicalPrideLinesIn the year of 2006 Celestial Era... Captain's log Enterprise has begun it's five year mission of exploring the cosmos. Though I cannot say what will come from this adventure, I will say that I have an experienced crew behind me. This ship, the CSS Enterprise, some would call the most advanced ship in the fleet. Others- “Captain Dash! This is engineering!” Others would say otherwise. Rainbow Dash tapped the comm system on the Captain's chair. “What is it Applejack?” “Dash everything is in shambles. What did that replacement engineer do while Ah was away?” Applejack had been back visiting the family on the farm for shore leave when the Enterprise had to go scan an anomaly. “Honestly Captain, if Ah didn't know any better, Ah'd say you put a moose in charge down here while Ah was gone.” Rainbow snickered to herself. It was an elk she put in charge of engineering. “Well Applejack, do we have power for Warp?” Enterprise had to be at a planet on the outside of the Neutral Zone. The Neutral Zone was an area of space between the Celestial Federation, and the Saddleon Empire. The planet itself was in dispute over which side it was on. Federation of Saddleon? A question Enterprise would have to answer. “Ah think ah can get it ready in just- there! Warp ready Captain.” "Thank you, AJ. Ms. Sparkle." Rainbow turned to her science officer. The lavendar unicorn looked up from her console, her expression betraying none of the emotions displayed by the rest of the crew. "Are all systems go?" “Yes, Captain. All systems are nominal." Her voice was measured, professional. Logical. Nothing but logical, Rainbow thought. “Communications?” Rainbow turned to the communications officer, Rarity. “Captain all communications are working and Starfleet has cleared us from the system.” Rarity on the other hand was a social butterfly- and a bit of a fashion nut. Rainbow chuckled at the Canterlot accent she was sporting, it was a little fancy for her taste. “Ops, how are we doing?” Rainbow talked to the Dragon sitting in front of her. “All weapons are ready just in case Captain.” Spike the Dragon was apparently a skilled student- taught by Twilight, a young “wiz kid”. “Hel-” “I'm ready to get this pony show on the road Captain!” The helm was piloted by an excited ball of Energy named, “Pinkie Pie,” a skilled pilot apparently. “Good. Medical?” Rainbow was now checking in with medical, who was commanded by an old friend of Rainbow Dash's, a pony named “Forest.” “What do you want Dash?” the communicator rudely rang. “All set to go Bones?” Bones was a nickname for Forest- for his medical prowess. “We've been ready to go for hours, for such a fast pony you know how to take your sweet flankin' time!” The comm went off. Everybody looked at Dash, who could only shrug. “Helm, take us out of here to planet Doohan.” “Yes sireebob!” With that, Pinkie hit a few commands into the computer, and sent them on their way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forest was working on an experiment on Pony tissue when Rainbow Dash came in. “What do you want Dash?” Forest said while he was working. He was making careful cuts with a laser when Rainbow patted him on the back. “Can't an old friend come down and visit once and a while?” She asked eyes full of innocence. Forest sighed. Because of that distraction, the laser went off it's mark and ruined the whole tissue “Well now that I'm not busy, thanks to an old friend coming down and ruining an experiment.” Forest tossed the laser over to his nurse, Fluttershy, who struggled to catch it. “Now what do you want?” “I actually need your opinion on the upcoming mission.” Forest sat back in his doctor's chair and reclined, looking at Rainbow. “Well the planet either belongs to us or it doesn't Dash. Plus we don't know what the civilization on the planet wants.” Forest frowned. “It'd be a whole lot simpler if they just didn't colonize the planet and left it as a big stupid rock, but no! They just decided, 'Hey since it has oxygen, it's good enough for us!'” Rainbow facehoofed, Forest would always get on long rants about the stupidity of others. “C'mon Forest, you know people need to explore new worlds, it's how our society works.” Forest chuckled. “Society- ha. Our society always does seem to get us into trouble.” Forest stood back up and began examining some case files. “Well, maybe you can entertain the people of Doohan.” Rainbow Dash made her way out of the room, nodding to Fluttershy. Forest looked back to Rainbow. “What do I look like? A Moondancer?!" Cheating6 years ago... “Hey Forest!” Rainbow Dash called out to her doctor friend from across the quad at Starfleet Academy. Starfleet was started by Princess Luna, who upon discovering the great expanse, wanted ponies to move beyond their planet of Equestria and seek out new life. Rainbow zoomed across the quad and crashed into her friend. He scoffed at her and pushed her off. “Damn it Rainbow, watch where you're going you crazy-” He was cut off by a hoof that Rainbow slammed into his mouth. “Listen, I need you for tomorrow.” She pulled the hoof out of his mouth. “I'm taking the test again.” “Again?! Dash are you insane?!” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I knew you'd react like this. C'mon, I need you there tomorrow.” Forest lightly bonked Rainbow on the head. “Dash, it's the Kobyashi Maru test. You failed it once, you failed it twice, and now you're going for three? Nobody passes that test!” Rainbow bonked him back. “Well I'm going to pass it tomorrow, and I want you there on the science station.” Forest rolled his eyes. “Why not get one of those science brains from the Celestial Class? All they do is study all day long, I'm sure they need a break.” He pointed over to the part of the Academy that held most of the high achieving Science students who signed up only to become teachers or researchers. Their time as commissioned officers was brief. “And besides, it never occurred to you that I was busy?” “Well yeah, but then I remembered you owed me one after I helped you out with that business involving a certain Orion Pony-” Forest stopped Rainbow from continuing. He knew he was beat. “Point taken, I'll be there. He looked down sullen. “What time?” He asked. “10:00. Be there!” Just then, Rainbow turned to see a yellow pegasus mare with light green eyes floating around. “And it looks like I've got my project for today. See ya later!” With that, Rainbow zoomed off to get her latest target. She was known to get around a lot. And it wasn't just mares, it was with colts too, and she was always cool and in control. “What a load.” Forest said as he went back to his book. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow was ten minutes early, just sitting in the simulator room, waiting to begin a test that was deemed, “unbeatable”. She was determined to beat the unbeatable test. Many other cadets entered the room shortly after-wards, followed by Forest, who took his seat at the science station. “You ready for this Rainbow?” Forest asked while logging into his terminal. Rainbow smiled. “I'm always ready Forest.” She reclined in her chair. “This is where I belong.” For the longest time, Rainbow had dreamed of taking to the skies, and when other worlds were discovered and were made reachable, she dreamed of going there, being the best of the best. The intercom crackled, announcing the beginning of the test. “The simulation is about to begin. Ready yourselves.” This was it, the moment, the start of the dreaded Kobyashi Maru. The lights dimmed, and on the screens in the simulator room showed the great expanse of space. The cadets heard a loud beeping from the Comm system. “Captain, we're receiving a distress signal.” The Communication Cadet sounded bored in her position. Maybe because she had seen cadets fail so many times it was as much a routine as brushing her teeth. “It's from the Kobyashi Maru Ma'am. It has lost power and is requesting aid.” Rainbow turned to Forest. “What's their position Mr. Forest?” She seems really into it. Forest thought. “Inside the Saddleon Neutral Zone-” Before he had a chance to finish, Rainbow slammed her hoof down on the arm rest of the chair and yelled, “Take us in there!” Or maybe not. The senior officer in the simulator room turned to Rainbow. “May I remind the Captain if we enter the Neutral Zone that we will be violating the treaty that-” “I'm aware of that Mister, carry on.” Rainbow's face had a look of certainty, just like she always did. “Entering the Neutral Zone Captain, we are now in violation of the treaty.” The monitor then displayed a ship a drift in space. Heavily damaged, leaking plasma, a situation no Captain would ever want to see their ship in. “Hail the Kobyashi Maru.” The communication officer tapped a few buttons but the console only replied with negative beeps. “Ma'am, the Kobyashi Maru isn't respond-” “Captain! Saddleon Warbirds decloaking!” The monitor showed three ships around the Kobyashi Maru. The Saddleon Empire was a war machine. Combat was their life, war was their creed. “They're firing on us Captain, our shields are up!” “Alert sickbay to prepare for casualties.” Everybody turned to Rainbow. No one ever ordered that. They always had the Saddleons on their minds first. Forest was the first to speak. “What about the Saddleons Dash? We've got to take them down, and their shields won't make it easy.” “Are the shields up Mr. Forest?” Forest turned to his console, the shields on the ships were in fact down. “No, they're not.” Forest turned to Rainbow who still had that determined look of hers. You could say that was her poker face, because she had it on in every situation she found herself in. “Fire on all enemy Warbirds, use as much ammo as you need Tactical.” The tactical officer was smiling, he never had a chance to fire on Saddleons in the test. Payback time. “Yes Ma'am.” With that order, the monitor showed the destruction of the three Saddleon ships. All that was left was the Kobyashi Maru, waiting to be rescued. “Begin rescue operation. So, we took out three Saddleon ships, no crew members were injured, and the rescue of the Kobyashi Maru is underway.” Rainbow pulled out an apple and took a bite out of it. The intercom blared, “Rainbow Dash, please report to the Headmistresses office.” Forest just stood shocked as he watched his friend leave the Simulator to go face the wrath of an enemy far worse than any Saddleon. Princess Luna could make or break Rainbow Dash's career. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Luna looked at the Pegasus she had in front of her. She was looking for words to describe the aura this Cadet had. Smug? Maybe. Arrogant? Close. Confident? Yes, she displayed confidence that few students ever display. “Cadet Rainbow Dash, I'm sure you know why you're here.” Rainbow, who was standing at attention, gave a simple answer. “No Ma'am.” Luna shook her head. “You're here because you committed an academic vernacular. You cheated.” Rainbow continued standing there, words not even phasing her. “Why did you cheat?” “Because Ma'am... I don't believe in a No-Win Scenario.” Luna got up and slammed her desk. “IT'S A TEST OF CHARACTER CADET!” Luna was using the old Canterlot voice, she only used this to get a point across. “How we deal with death is how we deal with life.” “I don't believe in losing ma'am, and between having my crew live or having them die I'd gladly cheat again.”Luna was surprised by this answer. She did have a point. She cheated on the test, but she also cheated on the test which was in it of itself a cheat. Luna sat back down at her desk. “You're dismissed Cadet. I'll call for you when I reach my judgment.” Rainbow saluted and left the room, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts. “How do I give a commendation for cheating?” LogicalTwilight Sparkle sat in her quarters meditating. Her thoughts drifted from everything she needed to do aboard the ship. Scans, analysis, crew reports, for anyone else it would be an overwhelming lot of duties to put on a single being. For Twilight Sparkle, she could do these things while taking two tests of high intelligence and reading, “Rise and Fall of the 2nd Great and Bountiful Griffon Empire”, a book noted to be over 2,000 pages long. Suffice to say, she was intelligent and very powerful. She thought back to when she first tried to get into the Academy. 10 Years Ago... Twilight Sparkle was a young filly when she first tried for Starfleet. She often fantasized about being a scientist finding new ways to lead the planet of Equestria into a new age. But first she needed to take an entrance exam. She of course passed the written exam with flying colors, all she did was sit and study all day and eat and exercise only when necessary. But she also needed to take an exam showing her magical ability. This was by far the toughest part of the exam, only ponies that were truly gifted in magic passed, all others were either passed off to the Engineering section of Starfleet or got new jobs. Twilight was unsure of herself, but her father, Dusk Light, a famous ambassador expected her to pass. Her mother, Moonlight was supportive and tried to tell Twilight that she was so bright and that any future she wanted awaited her. From Twilight's point of view, this was it. In the exam room was Twilight and the board of the science academy. The board was composed of two unicorns, a dragon, and an avion. An Avion was a bird like creature that had the qualities of a bi-pedal creature. Twilight was as nervous as could be, but there was her father, staring at her with a frown on his face. It wasn't that he was angry, he always had that face on. The first part of the test consisted of advanced telekinesis, basic medical magic, and advanced engineering. That was the easiest part. The second part had Twilight discuss the fundamental parts of magical theory and how it applies to scientific analysis. The third and final part had her face her greatest fear and try to conquer it. While doing this, her magical potential could be unlocked. “Alright Twilight Sparkle,” said the avion. “Show us some magic.” Twilight looked to her mother who gave a warm smile. Her father sat there with the same expression. Twilight was first given a metal known as “Sliptonum” that resisted her magic. It wasn't impossible to lift it, just really hard. She breathed in, her horn shined, and she was able to lift the metal with relative ease. “Hrrrrrmmm,” said the dragon. “Very goooooooood, Ms. Sparkle.” The dragon then took out a knife and held it in front of Twilight. She stepped back from it. The dragon laughed and cut his hand, leaking a small amount of blood. “Repair this wound Ms. Sparkle. However, I should mention that dragon wounds are notoriously hard to repair.” Twilight sighed and activated her magic. “Because of the magic that dragons give off?” The dragon gave an affirmative grunt. Slowly, Twilight worked the wound repairing the skin cells and creating new ones to close up the wound. After a good fifteen seconds, the wound was fixed. “Ha!” He turned to the other board members. “I think that's a pass.” He went back to his seat. One of the two unicorns got up and walked over Twilight. “Alright, let's talk some engineering Twilight.” Twilight gulped. She never really liked Engineers, they always seemed to have some superiority complex towards those of the science wing. “Do you know anything about quantum warp theory or multi-spectral subspace engine design?” Twilight sat there puzzled. “I know something about quantum warp theory, but was that second part supposed to mean anything?,” she asked. The other board members kept a straight face. “Ships don't run on Rainbows sir.” The engineer smiled. “Right, what do they run on?” Twilight stared right into the unicorn's eyes. “They run on dilithium crystals, and they need to be in constant alignment. Otherwise the energy coming from the crystals won't run the ship's power or create a stable warp field.” The engineer nodded. “Okay, this one knows her stuff. Takes 1st year engineering students two years to understand that by heart. “Very good Ms. Sparkle, we shall begin with the second part of the exam,” The avion flipped a piece of paper on it's back and looked right to Twilight. “Tell me, where does magic truly come from? Where does it truly, get it's power?” “From emotions sir.” For some creatures in Equestria, their powers came from how they felt. Some relied on happiness, others sadness. Many rely on anger to get to their true power. Twilight never relied on one place for her magic, it was always from all over the emotional spectrum. The happiness to get achieve what she had always dreamed about, the sadness that came from the disconnect she had from her father, the anger that came from failing, and many other things that Twilight felt. The discussion got Twilight thinking about her own magic, and how much she used it, and how it truly was a defining characteristic of her. Twilight passed the discussion and was ready for the final phase. “Twilight, you are about to experience a great fear, one that you will truly have to conquer,” a unicorn said. “Use everything you have learned, good luck.” With that the board members activated their powers flashed and blinded Twilight with a great light. When she got her vision back, she saw that nothing had changed. “Um, I don't think the spell worked sirs.” Twilight said sheepishly. The avion rolled his eyes. “It would appear we have another failure,” he flapped down to Twilight. “If you can't connect to our spell then what's the point of you Ms. Sparkle?” The dragon landed next to the bird. “He's right you know, just another thing we get to fail.” Twilight got on her knees. “Please! Give me another chance!,” the small filly pleaded. “Maybe we should send her back to kindergarten,” the engineer remarked. “it's a good place for failures like this one to get a level that's at least insulting.” The other unicorn joined in. “Honestly Twilight if you came her unprepared and if you're not going to take the test seriously, why should we take YOU seriously.” Twilight thought she had everything prepared. She went through her checklist an infinite amount of times. The board members continued their rude remarks. She looked to her parents, her mother was absent but her father remained. She looked to Twilight who could only say, “You disappoint me.” With that, Twilight let out a cry of a creature that had lost everything. Her eyes turned white, and she was engulfed in magical energy. The world around her shattered, and before her was the board in the regular seats, her parents still there, and faces of fear on them. “Twilight! Stop!” Yelled the dragon. She couldn't hear him. The pain she felt was just too great. The board members were trying their best to contain the magic, but it was too much, and the room they were in started to break. Dusk Shine rushed to his daughter using his own magic to get close to her. He got close enough that he touched her horn with his horn. “Twilight you have to calm down. It's okay.” The magic kept coming out of Twilight like a water out of a waterfall. Dusk then touched his horn and Twilight's. “My mind, to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts.” Dusk went into Twilight's head and began to suppress the emotions coming off of Twilight. Slowly the magic started to die down, and eventually it ceased altogether. Dusk held the tired filly in his forearms. Moonlight rushed over to them and hugged Twilight. The board members breathed sighs of relief. “That power was just biblical,” said the dragon. “True, but she's far too emotional to have any rational control of it,” the engineering unicorn concluded. “But that power can't go to waste, there has to be some way to-” before the avion could finish, Dusk spoke up. “There is, the region my family is from has unicorns with very strong emotions. We have learned to control it through suppressing our emotions to the point of them being hardly there.” Dusk tapped Twilight on the nose lightly. “If you accept her into the Academy, I will teach her the ways to control her power.” The board members nodded in agreement. Present day... Twilight contemplated what it all meant. How that was the beginning of her journey, and where she was now was all over actions before now. She analyzed every step. BEEP “Bridge to Commander Sparkle,” the call box said. Twilight tapped the send button. “Yes?,” she asked. “Your presence is needed on the bridge Commander. I know you're off duty for now but-” “I'll be right there.” Twilight got into her uniform and made her way to the bridge. PrideAs Twilight entered the bridge, she saw that, for the most part, everything was calm. She turned to Rainbow Dash who was lounging in the Captain's chair. “What's the situation Captain?” “No situation Commander,” Rainbow said nonchalantly, “just wanted your company.” Twilight sighed. “With all due respect Captain, wouldn't it have made more sense for you to contact me for my company on off duty hours?” Rainbow was examining her hoof. “Tried that twice Commander, both times you said you were busy with a scan or reversing the polarity of the neutron flow or something else.” She looked to Twilight and smiled. “Figured I could learn about you on duty rather than off. And besides, the whole bridge crew could learn about each other while we're at it.” She turned to the of the crew. “Lt. Rarity, tell us about yourself.” Rarity, sitting at the comm-station, smiled and said, “Well like the Captain said, I'm Rarity. I'm from a small town called Ponyville, I joined Starfleet when after I finished college to pay off my debts and earn some money to open up my own clothing shop.” Rainbow noticed how engrossed the crew was with Rarity, her voice was easy on the ears and the view of her was fantastic as well. Ensign Spike seemed to be paying the most attention to Rarity. Spike was very young to be in Starfleet, but his intelligence for a dragon his age was astounding. His egg was hatched by Twilight Sparkle during an experiment. She took it upon herself to raise Spike and teach him everything she could. His naivety brought a lot to the bridge crew. Twilight sat at the Science Station and began her duties again. Rainbow fluttered over to Twilight. “So Commander, how are those scans coming along?” Twilight continued to look at the screen. “No anomalies Captain,” Twilight looked to another screen, “We should arrive to Doohan on schedule.” “And how are you Twilight?” Can I call you Twilight?” Rainbow was persistent. “If you wish to Captain.” Twilight turned to Rainbow, “May I ask a question?” “I encourage it” Rainbow said with a smile. “Why do you persist on so much socialization Captain?” Twilight had the same logical look on her face. Rainbow chuckled. “I want my crew to be comfortable Twilight. If they aren't comfortable with each other, how can you expect them to be at their best?” As Rainbow said this she leaned back on the safety bar on the bridge and smiled. “By expecting them to do their duty Captain,” Rainbow frowned a bit, “every single member of the crew has trained for years to go out into the galaxy. To think that socialization would improve their skill sets is illogical.” “It's not illogical Twilight, I've been in plenty of situations where a disconnected crew did poorly on a mission.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You're referencing your time served on the Farragut?” Memories flooded Rainbow's mind as she remembered a disasterous mission where she led a survey team that got killed by an unknown entity that was provoked by one of her shipmates. It killed everyone except her by chance. And it didn't stop there. It continued up to the Farragut in space and killed the crew of 200 Equestrians, including the Captain. The ship was damaged severely and Rainbow had to fend for herself on the surface for two weeks. “Yes,” Rainbow said, “There was more to it but the crew didn't trust one another and didn't follow orders.” “Or you failed to control your team, signs of a lacking command.” Twilight hit a sour point in Rainbow. “Why you-” before she could finish a loud beep rang from Twilight's console. “Captain, there's a ship coming into range.” She pressed a few buttons. “It's a Saddleon ship.” Rainbow went to the Captain's chair. “Red Alert.” An alarm blared throughout the ship. “Spike get those shields up and ready Phasers.” “Aye Captain.” Spike threw levers and switches and had the ship ready to fight. Twilight spoke up. “Ship is in visual range Captain.” Rainbow sat down. “Show me.” The screen blinked to a shot of the Saddleon ship, it was heavily armed and intimidating. A beep came from Rarity's console. “We're being hailed Captain.” Rainbow cleared her throat and reclined in her seat. “On screen,” she said casually. The screen flipped to the bridge of the Saddleon ship. It was filled with pony like creatures, except their foreheads were filled with ridges and bumps. Their coats were a deep brown and their teeth were sharp. In the middle of the bridge was a large throne like chair with a large Saddleon sitting in it. “I am Captain Tor'aq of the Saddleon Ship Rotarran. Am I speaking to Rainbow Dash? Captain of the Enterprise?” “You are.” Rainbow said. Tor'aq smiled, showing a terrifying smile. “So you're the 'Storm of Helios.'” The Captain leaned forward. “I thought you'd be older.” “And you're Tor'aq, known for destroying a fleet of Griffon ships.” Rainbow leaned forward. “I thought you'd be taller.” Tor'aq leaned back and gave a big hearty laugh. “So the rumors of your confidence are true, as well as the rumors of your beauty.” “Subtle Captain.” Rainbow leaned back. “I assume you're here to escort us all the way to Doohan?” “It is merely a precaution, we want everything to be fair now don't we?” “We do. Form up with us and we'll be on our way. And I'd like to extend and invitation to you and your senior officers to a dinner with me and my senior officers.” Tor'aq tapped his hoof against his chin. “Very well Captain, we will accept your invitation. What time?” “1900 hours.” (Side note for you Americans. 1900 hours is 7:00 PM. The more you know) “Very well Tor'aq out.” The screen blipped off. “Go to yellow alert,” Rainbow said, “never know when a Saddleon will attack.” “Aye Captain,” Spike said. Twilight walked over to Rainbow. “Captain, I would have liked to have been consulted before you invited enemies of the Federation aboard our ship.” Rainbow patted Twilight on the head. “Sorry Twilight, but I had to see what type of Stallion this guy was.” “And what did you discover.” “He's overconfident, and he thinks very highly of himself.” “I would agree, he;s much like a Captain I know.” Twilight said with a frown. “There's a difference between me and him Twilight,” Rainbow said as she made her way to the Turbo lift. “And what would that be?” Twilight asked. “Stick around, you'll find out. And call me Dash.” With that, the turbo lift doors closed and Rainbow was gone. The communicator rang with Rainbow's voice. “By the way Twilight, you have the bridge.” The communicator went off and with a curious shrug she took the Captain's chair.
LinesIn the year of 2006 Celestial Era... Captain's log Enterprise has begun it's five year mission of exploring the cosmos. Though I cannot say what will come from this adventure, I will say that I have an experienced crew behind me. This ship, the CSS Enterprise, some would call the most advanced ship in the fleet. Others- “Captain Dash! This is engineering!” Others would say otherwise. Rainbow Dash tapped the comm system on the Captain's chair. “What is it Applejack?” “Dash everything is in shambles. What did that replacement engineer do while Ah was away?” Applejack had been back visiting the family on the farm for shore leave when the Enterprise had to go scan an anomaly. “Honestly Captain, if Ah didn't know any better, Ah'd say you put a moose in charge down here while Ah was gone.” Rainbow snickered to herself. It was an elk she put in charge of engineering. “Well Applejack, do we have power for Warp?” Enterprise had to be at a planet on the outside of the Neutral Zone. The Neutral Zone was an area of space between the Celestial Federation, and the Saddleon Empire. The planet itself was in dispute over which side it was on. Federation of Saddleon? A question Enterprise would have to answer. “Ah think ah can get it ready in just- there! Warp ready Captain.” "Thank you, AJ. Ms. Sparkle." Rainbow turned to her science officer. The lavendar unicorn looked up from her console, her expression betraying none of the emotions displayed by the rest of the crew. "Are all systems go?" “Yes, Captain. All systems are nominal." Her voice was measured, professional. Logical. Nothing but logical, Rainbow thought. “Communications?” Rainbow turned to the communications officer, Rarity. “Captain all communications are working and Starfleet has cleared us from the system.” Rarity on the other hand was a social butterfly- and a bit of a fashion nut. Rainbow chuckled at the Canterlot accent she was sporting, it was a little fancy for her taste. “Ops, how are we doing?” Rainbow talked to the Dragon sitting in front of her. “All weapons are ready just in case Captain.” Spike the Dragon was apparently a skilled student- taught by Twilight, a young “wiz kid”. “Hel-” “I'm ready to get this pony show on the road Captain!” The helm was piloted by an excited ball of Energy named, “Pinkie Pie,” a skilled pilot apparently. “Good. Medical?” Rainbow was now checking in with medical, who was commanded by an old friend of Rainbow Dash's, a pony named “Forest.” “What do you want Dash?” the communicator rudely rang. “All set to go Bones?” Bones was a nickname for Forest- for his medical prowess. “We've been ready to go for hours, for such a fast pony you know how to take your sweet flankin' time!” The comm went off. Everybody looked at Dash, who could only shrug. “Helm, take us out of here to planet Doohan.” “Yes sireebob!” With that, Pinkie hit a few commands into the computer, and sent them on their way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forest was working on an experiment on Pony tissue when Rainbow Dash came in. “What do you want Dash?” Forest said while he was working. He was making careful cuts with a laser when Rainbow patted him on the back. “Can't an old friend come down and visit once and a while?” She asked eyes full of innocence. Forest sighed. Because of that distraction, the laser went off it's mark and ruined the whole tissue “Well now that I'm not busy, thanks to an old friend coming down and ruining an experiment.” Forest tossed the laser over to his nurse, Fluttershy, who struggled to catch it. “Now what do you want?” “I actually need your opinion on the upcoming mission.” Forest sat back in his doctor's chair and reclined, looking at Rainbow. “Well the planet either belongs to us or it doesn't Dash. Plus we don't know what the civilization on the planet wants.” Forest frowned. “It'd be a whole lot simpler if they just didn't colonize the planet and left it as a big stupid rock, but no! They just decided, 'Hey since it has oxygen, it's good enough for us!'” Rainbow facehoofed, Forest would always get on long rants about the stupidity of others. “C'mon Forest, you know people need to explore new worlds, it's how our society works.” Forest chuckled. “Society- ha. Our society always does seem to get us into trouble.” Forest stood back up and began examining some case files. “Well, maybe you can entertain the people of Doohan.” Rainbow Dash made her way out of the room, nodding to Fluttershy. Forest looked back to Rainbow. “What do I look like? A Moondancer?!"
Cheating6 years ago... “Hey Forest!” Rainbow Dash called out to her doctor friend from across the quad at Starfleet Academy. Starfleet was started by Princess Luna, who upon discovering the great expanse, wanted ponies to move beyond their planet of Equestria and seek out new life. Rainbow zoomed across the quad and crashed into her friend. He scoffed at her and pushed her off. “Damn it Rainbow, watch where you're going you crazy-” He was cut off by a hoof that Rainbow slammed into his mouth. “Listen, I need you for tomorrow.” She pulled the hoof out of his mouth. “I'm taking the test again.” “Again?! Dash are you insane?!” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I knew you'd react like this. C'mon, I need you there tomorrow.” Forest lightly bonked Rainbow on the head. “Dash, it's the Kobyashi Maru test. You failed it once, you failed it twice, and now you're going for three? Nobody passes that test!” Rainbow bonked him back. “Well I'm going to pass it tomorrow, and I want you there on the science station.” Forest rolled his eyes. “Why not get one of those science brains from the Celestial Class? All they do is study all day long, I'm sure they need a break.” He pointed over to the part of the Academy that held most of the high achieving Science students who signed up only to become teachers or researchers. Their time as commissioned officers was brief. “And besides, it never occurred to you that I was busy?” “Well yeah, but then I remembered you owed me one after I helped you out with that business involving a certain Orion Pony-” Forest stopped Rainbow from continuing. He knew he was beat. “Point taken, I'll be there. He looked down sullen. “What time?” He asked. “10:00. Be there!” Just then, Rainbow turned to see a yellow pegasus mare with light green eyes floating around. “And it looks like I've got my project for today. See ya later!” With that, Rainbow zoomed off to get her latest target. She was known to get around a lot. And it wasn't just mares, it was with colts too, and she was always cool and in control. “What a load.” Forest said as he went back to his book. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Rainbow was ten minutes early, just sitting in the simulator room, waiting to begin a test that was deemed, “unbeatable”. She was determined to beat the unbeatable test. Many other cadets entered the room shortly after-wards, followed by Forest, who took his seat at the science station. “You ready for this Rainbow?” Forest asked while logging into his terminal. Rainbow smiled. “I'm always ready Forest.” She reclined in her chair. “This is where I belong.” For the longest time, Rainbow had dreamed of taking to the skies, and when other worlds were discovered and were made reachable, she dreamed of going there, being the best of the best. The intercom crackled, announcing the beginning of the test. “The simulation is about to begin. Ready yourselves.” This was it, the moment, the start of the dreaded Kobyashi Maru. The lights dimmed, and on the screens in the simulator room showed the great expanse of space. The cadets heard a loud beeping from the Comm system. “Captain, we're receiving a distress signal.” The Communication Cadet sounded bored in her position. Maybe because she had seen cadets fail so many times it was as much a routine as brushing her teeth. “It's from the Kobyashi Maru Ma'am. It has lost power and is requesting aid.” Rainbow turned to Forest. “What's their position Mr. Forest?” She seems really into it. Forest thought. “Inside the Saddleon Neutral Zone-” Before he had a chance to finish, Rainbow slammed her hoof down on the arm rest of the chair and yelled, “Take us in there!” Or maybe not. The senior officer in the simulator room turned to Rainbow. “May I remind the Captain if we enter the Neutral Zone that we will be violating the treaty that-” “I'm aware of that Mister, carry on.” Rainbow's face had a look of certainty, just like she always did. “Entering the Neutral Zone Captain, we are now in violation of the treaty.” The monitor then displayed a ship a drift in space. Heavily damaged, leaking plasma, a situation no Captain would ever want to see their ship in. “Hail the Kobyashi Maru.” The communication officer tapped a few buttons but the console only replied with negative beeps. “Ma'am, the Kobyashi Maru isn't respond-” “Captain! Saddleon Warbirds decloaking!” The monitor showed three ships around the Kobyashi Maru. The Saddleon Empire was a war machine. Combat was their life, war was their creed. “They're firing on us Captain, our shields are up!” “Alert sickbay to prepare for casualties.” Everybody turned to Rainbow. No one ever ordered that. They always had the Saddleons on their minds first. Forest was the first to speak. “What about the Saddleons Dash? We've got to take them down, and their shields won't make it easy.” “Are the shields up Mr. Forest?” Forest turned to his console, the shields on the ships were in fact down. “No, they're not.” Forest turned to Rainbow who still had that determined look of hers. You could say that was her poker face, because she had it on in every situation she found herself in. “Fire on all enemy Warbirds, use as much ammo as you need Tactical.” The tactical officer was smiling, he never had a chance to fire on Saddleons in the test. Payback time. “Yes Ma'am.” With that order, the monitor showed the destruction of the three Saddleon ships. All that was left was the Kobyashi Maru, waiting to be rescued. “Begin rescue operation. So, we took out three Saddleon ships, no crew members were injured, and the rescue of the Kobyashi Maru is underway.” Rainbow pulled out an apple and took a bite out of it. The intercom blared, “Rainbow Dash, please report to the Headmistresses office.” Forest just stood shocked as he watched his friend leave the Simulator to go face the wrath of an enemy far worse than any Saddleon. Princess Luna could make or break Rainbow Dash's career. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Luna looked at the Pegasus she had in front of her. She was looking for words to describe the aura this Cadet had. Smug? Maybe. Arrogant? Close. Confident? Yes, she displayed confidence that few students ever display. “Cadet Rainbow Dash, I'm sure you know why you're here.” Rainbow, who was standing at attention, gave a simple answer. “No Ma'am.” Luna shook her head. “You're here because you committed an academic vernacular. You cheated.” Rainbow continued standing there, words not even phasing her. “Why did you cheat?” “Because Ma'am... I don't believe in a No-Win Scenario.” Luna got up and slammed her desk. “IT'S A TEST OF CHARACTER CADET!” Luna was using the old Canterlot voice, she only used this to get a point across. “How we deal with death is how we deal with life.” “I don't believe in losing ma'am, and between having my crew live or having them die I'd gladly cheat again.”Luna was surprised by this answer. She did have a point. She cheated on the test, but she also cheated on the test which was in it of itself a cheat. Luna sat back down at her desk. “You're dismissed Cadet. I'll call for you when I reach my judgment.” Rainbow saluted and left the room, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts. “How do I give a commendation for cheating?”
LogicalTwilight Sparkle sat in her quarters meditating. Her thoughts drifted from everything she needed to do aboard the ship. Scans, analysis, crew reports, for anyone else it would be an overwhelming lot of duties to put on a single being. For Twilight Sparkle, she could do these things while taking two tests of high intelligence and reading, “Rise and Fall of the 2nd Great and Bountiful Griffon Empire”, a book noted to be over 2,000 pages long. Suffice to say, she was intelligent and very powerful. She thought back to when she first tried to get into the Academy. 10 Years Ago... Twilight Sparkle was a young filly when she first tried for Starfleet. She often fantasized about being a scientist finding new ways to lead the planet of Equestria into a new age. But first she needed to take an entrance exam. She of course passed the written exam with flying colors, all she did was sit and study all day and eat and exercise only when necessary. But she also needed to take an exam showing her magical ability. This was by far the toughest part of the exam, only ponies that were truly gifted in magic passed, all others were either passed off to the Engineering section of Starfleet or got new jobs. Twilight was unsure of herself, but her father, Dusk Light, a famous ambassador expected her to pass. Her mother, Moonlight was supportive and tried to tell Twilight that she was so bright and that any future she wanted awaited her. From Twilight's point of view, this was it. In the exam room was Twilight and the board of the science academy. The board was composed of two unicorns, a dragon, and an avion. An Avion was a bird like creature that had the qualities of a bi-pedal creature. Twilight was as nervous as could be, but there was her father, staring at her with a frown on his face. It wasn't that he was angry, he always had that face on. The first part of the test consisted of advanced telekinesis, basic medical magic, and advanced engineering. That was the easiest part. The second part had Twilight discuss the fundamental parts of magical theory and how it applies to scientific analysis. The third and final part had her face her greatest fear and try to conquer it. While doing this, her magical potential could be unlocked. “Alright Twilight Sparkle,” said the avion. “Show us some magic.” Twilight looked to her mother who gave a warm smile. Her father sat there with the same expression. Twilight was first given a metal known as “Sliptonum” that resisted her magic. It wasn't impossible to lift it, just really hard. She breathed in, her horn shined, and she was able to lift the metal with relative ease. “Hrrrrrmmm,” said the dragon. “Very goooooooood, Ms. Sparkle.” The dragon then took out a knife and held it in front of Twilight. She stepped back from it. The dragon laughed and cut his hand, leaking a small amount of blood. “Repair this wound Ms. Sparkle. However, I should mention that dragon wounds are notoriously hard to repair.” Twilight sighed and activated her magic. “Because of the magic that dragons give off?” The dragon gave an affirmative grunt. Slowly, Twilight worked the wound repairing the skin cells and creating new ones to close up the wound. After a good fifteen seconds, the wound was fixed. “Ha!” He turned to the other board members. “I think that's a pass.” He went back to his seat. One of the two unicorns got up and walked over Twilight. “Alright, let's talk some engineering Twilight.” Twilight gulped. She never really liked Engineers, they always seemed to have some superiority complex towards those of the science wing. “Do you know anything about quantum warp theory or multi-spectral subspace engine design?” Twilight sat there puzzled. “I know something about quantum warp theory, but was that second part supposed to mean anything?,” she asked. The other board members kept a straight face. “Ships don't run on Rainbows sir.” The engineer smiled. “Right, what do they run on?” Twilight stared right into the unicorn's eyes. “They run on dilithium crystals, and they need to be in constant alignment. Otherwise the energy coming from the crystals won't run the ship's power or create a stable warp field.” The engineer nodded. “Okay, this one knows her stuff. Takes 1st year engineering students two years to understand that by heart. “Very good Ms. Sparkle, we shall begin with the second part of the exam,” The avion flipped a piece of paper on it's back and looked right to Twilight. “Tell me, where does magic truly come from? Where does it truly, get it's power?” “From emotions sir.” For some creatures in Equestria, their powers came from how they felt. Some relied on happiness, others sadness. Many rely on anger to get to their true power. Twilight never relied on one place for her magic, it was always from all over the emotional spectrum. The happiness to get achieve what she had always dreamed about, the sadness that came from the disconnect she had from her father, the anger that came from failing, and many other things that Twilight felt. The discussion got Twilight thinking about her own magic, and how much she used it, and how it truly was a defining characteristic of her. Twilight passed the discussion and was ready for the final phase. “Twilight, you are about to experience a great fear, one that you will truly have to conquer,” a unicorn said. “Use everything you have learned, good luck.” With that the board members activated their powers flashed and blinded Twilight with a great light. When she got her vision back, she saw that nothing had changed. “Um, I don't think the spell worked sirs.” Twilight said sheepishly. The avion rolled his eyes. “It would appear we have another failure,” he flapped down to Twilight. “If you can't connect to our spell then what's the point of you Ms. Sparkle?” The dragon landed next to the bird. “He's right you know, just another thing we get to fail.” Twilight got on her knees. “Please! Give me another chance!,” the small filly pleaded. “Maybe we should send her back to kindergarten,” the engineer remarked. “it's a good place for failures like this one to get a level that's at least insulting.” The other unicorn joined in. “Honestly Twilight if you came her unprepared and if you're not going to take the test seriously, why should we take YOU seriously.” Twilight thought she had everything prepared. She went through her checklist an infinite amount of times. The board members continued their rude remarks. She looked to her parents, her mother was absent but her father remained. She looked to Twilight who could only say, “You disappoint me.” With that, Twilight let out a cry of a creature that had lost everything. Her eyes turned white, and she was engulfed in magical energy. The world around her shattered, and before her was the board in the regular seats, her parents still there, and faces of fear on them. “Twilight! Stop!” Yelled the dragon. She couldn't hear him. The pain she felt was just too great. The board members were trying their best to contain the magic, but it was too much, and the room they were in started to break. Dusk Shine rushed to his daughter using his own magic to get close to her. He got close enough that he touched her horn with his horn. “Twilight you have to calm down. It's okay.” The magic kept coming out of Twilight like a water out of a waterfall. Dusk then touched his horn and Twilight's. “My mind, to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts.” Dusk went into Twilight's head and began to suppress the emotions coming off of Twilight. Slowly the magic started to die down, and eventually it ceased altogether. Dusk held the tired filly in his forearms. Moonlight rushed over to them and hugged Twilight. The board members breathed sighs of relief. “That power was just biblical,” said the dragon. “True, but she's far too emotional to have any rational control of it,” the engineering unicorn concluded. “But that power can't go to waste, there has to be some way to-” before the avion could finish, Dusk spoke up. “There is, the region my family is from has unicorns with very strong emotions. We have learned to control it through suppressing our emotions to the point of them being hardly there.” Dusk tapped Twilight on the nose lightly. “If you accept her into the Academy, I will teach her the ways to control her power.” The board members nodded in agreement. Present day... Twilight contemplated what it all meant. How that was the beginning of her journey, and where she was now was all over actions before now. She analyzed every step. BEEP “Bridge to Commander Sparkle,” the call box said. Twilight tapped the send button. “Yes?,” she asked. “Your presence is needed on the bridge Commander. I know you're off duty for now but-” “I'll be right there.” Twilight got into her uniform and made her way to the bridge.
PrideAs Twilight entered the bridge, she saw that, for the most part, everything was calm. She turned to Rainbow Dash who was lounging in the Captain's chair. “What's the situation Captain?” “No situation Commander,” Rainbow said nonchalantly, “just wanted your company.” Twilight sighed. “With all due respect Captain, wouldn't it have made more sense for you to contact me for my company on off duty hours?” Rainbow was examining her hoof. “Tried that twice Commander, both times you said you were busy with a scan or reversing the polarity of the neutron flow or something else.” She looked to Twilight and smiled. “Figured I could learn about you on duty rather than off. And besides, the whole bridge crew could learn about each other while we're at it.” She turned to the of the crew. “Lt. Rarity, tell us about yourself.” Rarity, sitting at the comm-station, smiled and said, “Well like the Captain said, I'm Rarity. I'm from a small town called Ponyville, I joined Starfleet when after I finished college to pay off my debts and earn some money to open up my own clothing shop.” Rainbow noticed how engrossed the crew was with Rarity, her voice was easy on the ears and the view of her was fantastic as well. Ensign Spike seemed to be paying the most attention to Rarity. Spike was very young to be in Starfleet, but his intelligence for a dragon his age was astounding. His egg was hatched by Twilight Sparkle during an experiment. She took it upon herself to raise Spike and teach him everything she could. His naivety brought a lot to the bridge crew. Twilight sat at the Science Station and began her duties again. Rainbow fluttered over to Twilight. “So Commander, how are those scans coming along?” Twilight continued to look at the screen. “No anomalies Captain,” Twilight looked to another screen, “We should arrive to Doohan on schedule.” “And how are you Twilight?” Can I call you Twilight?” Rainbow was persistent. “If you wish to Captain.” Twilight turned to Rainbow, “May I ask a question?” “I encourage it” Rainbow said with a smile. “Why do you persist on so much socialization Captain?” Twilight had the same logical look on her face. Rainbow chuckled. “I want my crew to be comfortable Twilight. If they aren't comfortable with each other, how can you expect them to be at their best?” As Rainbow said this she leaned back on the safety bar on the bridge and smiled. “By expecting them to do their duty Captain,” Rainbow frowned a bit, “every single member of the crew has trained for years to go out into the galaxy. To think that socialization would improve their skill sets is illogical.” “It's not illogical Twilight, I've been in plenty of situations where a disconnected crew did poorly on a mission.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You're referencing your time served on the Farragut?” Memories flooded Rainbow's mind as she remembered a disasterous mission where she led a survey team that got killed by an unknown entity that was provoked by one of her shipmates. It killed everyone except her by chance. And it didn't stop there. It continued up to the Farragut in space and killed the crew of 200 Equestrians, including the Captain. The ship was damaged severely and Rainbow had to fend for herself on the surface for two weeks. “Yes,” Rainbow said, “There was more to it but the crew didn't trust one another and didn't follow orders.” “Or you failed to control your team, signs of a lacking command.” Twilight hit a sour point in Rainbow. “Why you-” before she could finish a loud beep rang from Twilight's console. “Captain, there's a ship coming into range.” She pressed a few buttons. “It's a Saddleon ship.” Rainbow went to the Captain's chair. “Red Alert.” An alarm blared throughout the ship. “Spike get those shields up and ready Phasers.” “Aye Captain.” Spike threw levers and switches and had the ship ready to fight. Twilight spoke up. “Ship is in visual range Captain.” Rainbow sat down. “Show me.” The screen blinked to a shot of the Saddleon ship, it was heavily armed and intimidating. A beep came from Rarity's console. “We're being hailed Captain.” Rainbow cleared her throat and reclined in her seat. “On screen,” she said casually. The screen flipped to the bridge of the Saddleon ship. It was filled with pony like creatures, except their foreheads were filled with ridges and bumps. Their coats were a deep brown and their teeth were sharp. In the middle of the bridge was a large throne like chair with a large Saddleon sitting in it. “I am Captain Tor'aq of the Saddleon Ship Rotarran. Am I speaking to Rainbow Dash? Captain of the Enterprise?” “You are.” Rainbow said. Tor'aq smiled, showing a terrifying smile. “So you're the 'Storm of Helios.'” The Captain leaned forward. “I thought you'd be older.” “And you're Tor'aq, known for destroying a fleet of Griffon ships.” Rainbow leaned forward. “I thought you'd be taller.” Tor'aq leaned back and gave a big hearty laugh. “So the rumors of your confidence are true, as well as the rumors of your beauty.” “Subtle Captain.” Rainbow leaned back. “I assume you're here to escort us all the way to Doohan?” “It is merely a precaution, we want everything to be fair now don't we?” “We do. Form up with us and we'll be on our way. And I'd like to extend and invitation to you and your senior officers to a dinner with me and my senior officers.” Tor'aq tapped his hoof against his chin. “Very well Captain, we will accept your invitation. What time?” “1900 hours.” (Side note for you Americans. 1900 hours is 7:00 PM. The more you know) “Very well Tor'aq out.” The screen blipped off. “Go to yellow alert,” Rainbow said, “never know when a Saddleon will attack.” “Aye Captain,” Spike said. Twilight walked over to Rainbow. “Captain, I would have liked to have been consulted before you invited enemies of the Federation aboard our ship.” Rainbow patted Twilight on the head. “Sorry Twilight, but I had to see what type of Stallion this guy was.” “And what did you discover.” “He's overconfident, and he thinks very highly of himself.” “I would agree, he;s much like a Captain I know.” Twilight said with a frown. “There's a difference between me and him Twilight,” Rainbow said as she made her way to the Turbo lift. “And what would that be?” Twilight asked. “Stick around, you'll find out. And call me Dash.” With that, the turbo lift doors closed and Rainbow was gone. The communicator rang with Rainbow's voice. “By the way Twilight, you have the bridge.” The communicator went off and with a curious shrug she took the Captain's chair.
