The Conquest of Space: The Saga of Dawn Sparkle
Chapter 2: These are the Voyages of the Starship Magic
The brilliant white light began to fade as the bridge came into focus. I looked around at my fellow officers, all in various states of daze and confusion due to the sudden interstellar transport. Joe, in particular, wore a wall-eyed expression that reminded me of a certain pegasus mare back in Ponyville. I took a moment to regain my composure and looked out the main viewing screen. Only black space with glowing, twinkling stars met my gaze.
“Helmsman, why have we stopped? This is not the Cat’s Eye Nebula.”
“That is correct. I don’t know we have stopped ma’am.”
“Why don’t you know?” I said in a huff, “Did you find any aberrations in your navigation calculation or any other logical explanation of why we are here?”
“I have no logical explanation, but I do have a baffling explanation.”
“Explain, Bed.”
“My console has been jammed.”
“How so?”
“Strawberry, I think,” he then reached down with his hoof and took a small, sticky, pink blob and put it in his mouth. “I stand corrected, raspberry.”
“That is impossible!” I get up and canter over to his station hoping that this is just some practical joke, but as I live and breathe a sticky, pink jam was oozing out of the buttons and levers of his station.
“Captain, this may be a bad time, but my station has been turned into a giant carrot,” Stardust added.
“We are getting reports from all over the ship of strange and inexplicable occurrences. Captain, what do we do?” Joe asked. All of the ponies on the bridge then began to murmur and whisper amongst themselves.
“Quiet!” I order. All of the ponies on deck are suddenly silent at my outburst. At that moment an epiphany hit, “So, correct me if I’m wrong, but we have strange, inexplicable phenomina, unusual events and chaotic happenings. Sound familiar?” “Not really.” Royal pipes up. I let out an exasperated sigh, “This sounds like Discord’s work.”
The offending creature suddenly appeared on my deck, “Oh Dawn, you are a clever one. But I thought you would have figured this out in ’ten seconds flat’ as a one Rainbow Dash would put it.”
Despite my best effort of self control, I could not help but unleash a loud accusation, with much venom in my voice, “What do you want, Discord?”
He changed his appearance to that of a Canterlot noble, complete with monocle and top hat, “Why, to chat, old sport.”
“And causing chaos to my crew and ship is the way you wish to make me talk?”
He lost the clothes and grew a mass of fluff that made him look like a mutant sheep, “Well,” he said sheepishly, “Ponies won’t talk to me if I just ask. I need to get their attention.”
Upon hearing that, my anger began to dissipate. I knew that despite his reformation, ponies were slow to trust Discord and he had very much the same stigma as Luna, although to a much more extreme degree.
“Alright, Discord. We seem to have started off on the wrong hoof here,” I said as cordially as I could manage. “What would you like to talk about, my friend?”
Discord dropped the sheepskin and just looked at me for a minute. “That’s better. And I’m your friend? That’s a mighty strong word to be throwing ‘round these here parts" he said with a look of incredulity on his face and a cowboy hat on his head.
“If my mom can trust you, so can I. If you were truly evil, you could have destroyed me already so, but since I stand here before you, you must be capable of friendship.’’
“Well…. I was just going to personally wish you luck on you maiden voyage, but… since you have shown me kindness…” his face turned sour, “unlike some royal monarchs I know….” He returned to his usual manic smile, “I will share with you some information.” He face turned into one of seriousness, or something like it. With Discord it is hard to tell, “I’m not sure if you were aware, but I am the god of prophesy as the future is as chaotic and malleable as the present. As such I have had a vision. It is ‘cryptic’ (he empisized that word with air quotes) as you ponies call it, and even I do not fully understand its implications, but of this I’m sure: it deals with the near future and you, Dawn Sparkle, are mentioned in its verse
.
For generations those of claw and hoof,
Have lived in peace, prosperity and love
Beings of callous intentions stand aloof,
From the stars, a danger descends from above.
Two princesses, one fair and one foul,
Will be found to be powerless to save their ward
Blood will be let and friendship will run afoul
Tears of fear and anger will be the only reward
With friendship and magic Chaos was redeemed
The world that shunned them needs them again
Only order and chaos can prevent the screams
Magic and science together can stay the pain
Magic that begets magic, this is the key.
To save Equestria from this dire prophesy.
After a moment of silence, I spoke, “Did somepony write that down?” My officers just looked at each other like I’d asked them to step in the airlock. I facehoofed and shook my head.
“Wait! The computer has a voice recording of all communications on bridge,” Stardust proclaimed. “Let me go over and play it for you…. Hmm. The console seems to be a large sugar cube. This will prove to be difficult.”
Discord began to manically laugh. “That was rich. Dawn, you and your crew are the most fun I’ve had all week! Oh, but seriously, though. Stardust is right. You do have a voice recording of my prophesy that you can play back at you leisure.”
“Hold it, Discord!”
“Objection! You are going to ask about why it pertains to you. You are smart, figure it out. It has been fun, kids but I gotta skedaddle. There are places I’d need to be. Toodles!”
In a flash he was gone. I furtively looked about my bridge and saw that all the equipment was correct and as it should be, but the ponies and griffin that sat on the bridge were very much confused, shocked and even more dazed than before.
Valkyrie was the first to talk, “So, tell me, I wasn’t the only griffin or pony who imagined a large, talking, snake-like creature with random parts of other animals?”
I responded matter-of-factly, “That creature was Discord. He is the spirit of chaos and disorder, but also of creativity and inspiration. He was a malevolent creature, but though the Elements of Harmony he was reformed. And, apparently, he is also capable of faster than light travel and can survive in the vacuum of space. Any questions?”
Royal spoke up, “What was up with that sonnet? I thought prophesies had to be in iambic pentameter like Hoofer’s grand epics. And what did it mean?”
I responded, “It would seem like sonnets work for prophesies, and I’m surprised you noticed that, Royal. Prophesies often have double entendres and hidden meanings that only make sense in light of the event at hoof.”
Royal responded, “Hey, just what are you implying? Just ‘cause I bang around, doesn’t mean I cannot be cultured or knowledgeable. Being a bastard son does confer some degree of class and smartitude.”
Deciding discretion is the better part of valor, I glossed over Royal’s comment and called out to my helmsman, “Bed-o-win, please get us underway to our original destination.”
“Yes ma’am. Sorry ma’am.”
I sighed. “Just input the course and execute.” I turned to Stardust. “Stardust, can you get a copy of Discord’s message?”
“Yes ma’am.”
She fiddled with a console for a moment and then produced a thin data chip.
“Stardust?”
“Ma’am?”
“Could you come with me to my quarters? I’d like to figure out Discord’s message and you are the ship’s expert on mythology and Equestrian history.”
“Of course.”
“Joe, you have the conn.”
“Aye-aye.”
As Stardust and I were leaving the bridge, Royal said in a loud whisper, “I would’ve banged Dawn if she asked me to.”
“Royally Bucked!” I roared, “Another such comment and I’ll lock you in the brig for insubordination. Do I make myself clear?”
Royal, much taken aback by my outburst said weakly, “Yes ma’am.”
“What was that, sir?”
He then repeated with great fervor, “Yes ma’am!”
“Good. Just be sure to keep your impulses and mouth in check next time.”
“Yes ma’am. Sorry ma’am.”
Stardust and I left the bridge and wiped away a tear that I hoped Stardust didn’t see. Thankfully, she didn’t. We walked in silence down the long corridor that spans the length of the ship with only recessed doors on either side leading to living quarters, labs, workshops and supply rooms. Ahead of us we could see the yellow glow of the core room.
Stardust and I stopped at one of the doors and entered my living quarters where she trotted over to my computer and input the chip. She grabbed my electronic tablet out of the drawer and held it at the ready. She offered to me a pen and paper; call me old fashioned, but I preferred actual paper to an electronic tablet any day of the week. She played the recording over and over, trying to glean all the information we could from that crazy poetry, but after a few listenings and several futile attempts to focus, all I could think about was my explosion on the bridge and my public humiliation of Royal. He didn’t deserve that. He was just being himself.
Stardust stopped the recording and looked at me. “You did the right thing, you know?”
“Hmm?” I answered.
“Royal is your subordinate officer. He needs to be put in his place.”
“I know that I had to do it as a captain, but as a friend I was brutally mean to him. What if this damages our friendship? What if we become…. enemies?”
“If Royal is truly your friend, he will forgive you. Just ask for his forgiveness…. Just not on the bridge.”
“You know what, Stardust, you are right. Thanks for the pep talk.”
“That’s what friends are for. Now let’s stop yammering and get to hammering.”
I nodded assent and we got to work on the cryptic prophesy.
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After attacking the communiqué for a few more hours, I preceded to hear a snore erupt from across the bed.
“Oh Stardust,” I whispered with a smile. I enveloped her in my magic, still sound asleep, and took her to her quarters. After seeing to her, I looked down to hall to the core room, now enveloped in a bluish glow. I decided a moonlight stroll would do well for my nerves and I entered the core room.
I’d been to the core several times during the construction of the Magic, but even in my tired state, the room still managed to elicit a smile and a look of wonder. The Magic is what is known as a ‘mini-ark’ ship; the power of our love and friendship toward each other and our native Equestria provide the power for the ship. This room channels that power for the ship’s functions by recreating the splendor of Equestria itself by literally transplanting an acre of our beloved planet right here in the ship. The simulated sun and moon cycles, the weather and the flora and fauna are synchronized with that of my hometown, Ponyville.
Right now the full moon directly overhead indicated that it was getting late back home, but the events of the day and the ominous prophesy kept my mind doing mental gymnastics. A voice pulled me out of my thoughts, “It’s lovely, eh?”
Without even looking, I could tell it was Honeycrisp. Her unmistakable Vanhoover accent gave it away. “No matter how many times I’m here, I feel that I’m home and not aboard a starship a few light-years away.”
“You’re thinking about home, aren’t you?”
“A little bit, but mostly the events of today.”
“I heard about Discord. That aptly explains why all of my syringes became candy canes.”
I giggled at that. I’m certainly no fan of needles.
“Any idea what the prophesy entails?”
“I’m guessing that the first part relates to an alien invasion of some sort and the last part says that either myself or this ship or both can stop them. Or maybe my mom, Twilight. And maybe Discord still has a hand or claw or hoof or…um…whatever… in all of this, since he is mentioned in the poem.”
“That sounds pretty ominous, if I do say so myself. Just about as ominous as the scary, loud howl that Auntie Granny Smith heard back before Ponyville was founded. Ended up being a timberwolf, by the way.”
I rolled my eyes involuntarily at Honeycrisp’s unnecessary embellishment, but she was right that that story did bode ill.
“Care to walk for a bit, Honeycrisp? I could use some company.”
“Sure thing.”
We walked in silence for the longest time before Honeycrisp spoke,
“He’s cute you know and you should just admit that you love him.”
“What? What …er…who are you talking about?” I asked, confused and shocked.
“Royally Bucked. The love was so there. I heard about the tussle on the bridge.”
“He instigated that I wished to have sexual relations with him!”
“Do you?”
“No… well…. No! No matter how cute that flank of his is and how lovely his smile, I cannot do that! It would undermine our relationship.”
“And what is this relationship?”
“As coworkers and friends. Workmates do not bang each other!”
“And why not?”
“Because…erm….you know….it’s not professional.”
“You stress a casual atmosphere here on the Magic. There is nothing professional about working and living here.”
“I…just….can’t.”
“Come on. Live a little. I know you’ve had a crush on him ever since you met him at the ESC academy. Why don’t you give him a try?”
“I…don’t want a potentially failed relationship to get in the way of our friendship. With the close group that we are, if things went sour for Royal and me, things would sour for everypony else, especially you, Stardust, Valkyrie, Bed-o-win ….”
“I get it. You are scared and nervous and preoccupied. Take it a step at a time.”
“Geez, now you are sounding like my mother, but thanks a lot, love doctor Honeycrisp.”
“Anytime, dearest. Anytime.”
We gave each other a hug and then retired to our rooms for the night. I collapsed into my bed and fell into a dreamless, deep sleep.