//------------------------------// // Episode 4: First Day jitters // Story: Star Trek: Equestria: Starfleet Academy Season 1 // by Captain_Cosmos //------------------------------// It was early Monday morning as several alarm clocks were about to go off in the dorms of Starfleet Academy. On the top floor, the Equine cadets and their bipedal friends were all fast asleep. Most had smiles on their faces, but Jessica was frowning at something in her dream. "Battle stations, report!" "Shields at maximum captain." "Weapons armed and ready sir." "Klingon birds of prey decloaking on all sides." "Evasive pattern delta 5, helm, get us clear for warp!" Suddenly, Jessica's field of view looked to get wonky as the bridge she was on suddenly looked Like it warped away without her leaving her in a black void, it wasn't space because there weren't any stars, and there was gravity. "What the? Where am I?" Jessica suddenly heard chuckling from behind her. She turned around and what she was caused her eyes to widen. In front of her was what looked like a pony, but very tall. The pony had a jet black coat and blue armor, it's eyes were green and it's hair was blue fire, completing a look that Jessica could've sworn she'd seen before, but couldn't place. Jessica could feel the power radiating from the creature as it smiled wickedly. "So, you are the Starfleet cadet that's showing the elements of harmony around this strange new land. I must say that for all I've heard about you, your mind was easier than I expected to infiltrate." Jessica arched an eyebrow. Before she could speak however, a tendril sprang out of the ground and immediately wrapped around her, holding her in place. "Hey! What the? What's going on?! What are you? Why do you look familiar?" The creature laughed. "I go by many names, but most famously, I am known as Nightmare Moon!" Jessica...drew a blank At that name but found that it was familiar. The expression on her face was evident. Nightmare Moon growled. "You May not have heard of me yet! But don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other." Jessica squinted. "Why's that?" "Because I am going to stick around for awhile. And when I'm good and ready, you, the elements of harmony, Equestria, and the universe, will feel the wrath of eternal night!" Nightmare Moon laughed maniacally. Which was earsplitting to Jessica. Nightmare Moon continued to laughed as she, and everything else around Jessica vanished. Jessica woke up in a start to the alarm clock buzzing. Looking over to it, she hit the snooze button and gathered her thoughts. 'Ok, what the heck was that? And, why the heck did it feel so real? And that thing said it's name was Nightmare Moon? Why does that name sound familiar?' Jessica was brought out of her train of thoughts by the sound of flushing coming from the bathroom. No doubt one of her new roommates had already gotten up and was in there freshening up. Jessica looked over at her clock, which read 0800hrs, and groaned "Darn it, I forgot to set my alarm for weekdays last night." Jessica shook her head and sighed. "I'll just brush my teeth, comb my hair, then pick up something quick from the mess before class." At that moment, the bathroom door opened and Jessica saw spike step out. Spike saw that Jessica was up and smiled. "Oh, morning Jessica. How'd you sleep?" "Fine." Jessica replied 95% truthfully. "You?" "I slept alright. Though I was woken up by a screeching alarm that I don't remember packing." Jessica chuckled. "Twilight probably did for you." Spike nodded. "Yep. Though she could've told me she'd do it. How did I not see her plug it in last night?" Jessica chuckled. "You were asleep when we got back last night. Remember? The dinner that turned into a pizza party?" Spike nodded. "Oh, right. Heh heh." Spike rubbed the back of his head while Jessica noticed soothing missing. "Hey spike, where is twilight?" Spike shrugged. "Probably in the Academy library getting in some reading time before class. Meaning we'll have to stop there before class so she isn't late." Jessica chuckled. "This is gonna be a problem every weekday isn't it?" Spike nodded. "Probably. There are books in that library that she's never seen before. It's gonna be tough go get her to leave." Jessica giggled. "I'm sure we'll manage. You go on ahead. I'll catch up in a minute." Spike nodded and left the dorm, Jessica's smile faded as she launched into thinking mode whilst she was brushing her teeth and combing her. 'Ok, whatever I just went through a few moments ago, it wasn't an ordinary dream. If you could call it that. Was it a figment of my imagination? And if so, what caused something like that? And if it is real. What the heck is going on here. And seriously?! Why does Nightmare Moon sound so familiar?!' Jessica set down her brushes and reached for her hairpin, a Federation emblem that tied her back hair into a ponytail. She effortlessly tied her hair up as she pondered even more. 'Whatever that thing was, it mentioned Equestria, where my new friends are from...' Jessica shook the thought out of her mind. 'No, they already have enough to deal with this week With their actual first week of classes, they don't need another worry on their list that could turn out to just be no big deal.' Jessica finished up and turned to grab her bag and stepped out of her dorm, somehow fearing that this, Nightmare Moon would be a bigger deal than she could possibly imagine. Twilight was at a table in the library with a decently sized pile of books resting on the tabletop. One of which she was reading. "In 1945, the most devastating war at the time came to an end, but Earth did not enjoy the peace humanity believed would come. Wow. Earth sure had a lot of Wars in its earlier centuries. I wonder when humanity realized that in the end, they all wanted the same thing?" "Twilight." Twilight looked up from the book to see spike dashing towards her. "Spike? How did you know I was here?" Spike gestured around him. "We're in a library, full of books that you've never read before. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that you'd end up in here on the morning." Twilight giggled. "I'm that predictable huh?" Spike nodded. "It helps that I've known you my whole life. Anyway, we need to get going, we got our first class coming up fast." Twilight frowned. "Wait, what time is it?" Jessica came walking fast to meet them. "It's 8:45 right now. And it's gonna take time to get to our first class of the day. Morning twilight." "Morning Jessica." Jessica only then just noticed the giant pile of books on the table. "Twilight, why did you take all these books off the shelf? The checkout limit is 4 and there was no way in the universe you would've been able to finish all these in one morning." Twilight arched an eyebrow and thought. "I, I honestly don't know. I guess it was just a habit I picked up back on Equuis. Before I moved to Ponyville I, didn't really have the best social life." Spike snickered. "Translation, I was her ONLY friend." Twilight shot him a glare. "I had over friends, I just, preferred reading to spending time with them...Anyway, changing the subject. We better get to class." Spike nodded. "Right. If I remember correctly, astrophysics is on the 3rd floor of the Archer building, right Jessica?" Jessica nodded. "Right spike." Twilight nodded. "Got it. Thanks Jessica. Come on spike." Spike shook his head. "I got linguistics class with Jessica first thing. Didn't you see my schedule?" Twilight smiled sheepishly. "I skimmed through it. Anyway. Make sure you pay attention spike." Spike nodded. "Of course twi. I for one don't plan on failing." Twilight nodded as she galloped off. Spike turned to Jessica. "So, ready to get to class?" Jessica nodded, but remembered something. "Yeah, you go on ahead, I'll catch up in a minute." Spike nodded. "Ok." Spike walked off while Jessica slowly made her way into one of the aisles in the library. Specifically the H-M section. "Ok, where's that Equestrian History. Equestrian history, Equestrian, aha!" Jessica found just the book she was looking for. She reached up and pulled the book off the shelf, reading the title. "History Of Equestria. 2000 years of magic... Volume one of four?!" Jessica quickly looked up to see that there were three other books just like the one in her hand on the shelf. She quickly located the volume editions and they were indeed the other volumes. She opened the book in her hand to see if there was a table of contents, and much to her surprise, there wasn't one. "Darn it, if this one doesn't have a TOC, the other ones probably don't either." Jessica groaned. "Fine. I'll just start at the beginning." She quickly located a checkout scanner hanging on the bookcase and grabbed it, scanning volumes one and two of the book. "There had better be something on nightmare moon in these. If I have a virus in my mind I need to know as soon as possible." After returning the scanner to its holster, Jessica put the books into her bag. "But that can wait for later. Right now it's time for class." Jessica nodded and sped off after spike. It was a beautiful day as Rainbow Dash was headed for the shuttlebay of Starfleet academy, where her first class was meeting. Smiling like a filly. "I never thought I'd be excited to learn. But I get to learn how to fly starships and shuttles. Ooh, maybe I'll even learn some maneuvers I can use when flying via wings. That'd be 20% more awesome!" Rainbow did a quick loop the loop in the air before landing on the floor of the shuttlebay, where she found a group of cadets. Smiling, she trotted over to them. "Um, excuse me, hi, uh, this is where basic flight class meets right?" A few of the male cadets looked her way and smiled. One of them gestured towards the turbolift. "You must be lost, because the stables are in the quad outside, don't worry, all the other horses are friendly though." That caused the cadets within earshot to snicker, while rainbow arched a confused eyebrow. She didn't see any stables in the quad she was literally just flying over a few seconds ago, for that matter, What was a stable? "Uh, What is a stable? Jessica didn't point that out when she was giving my friends and I the tour last week." One of the cadets rolled her eyes. "Typical Jessica. Doesn't point out where we're supposed to keep the horses. Why Commandant Forrest chose her to show the new, "cadets", around is beyond me." While the other cadets muttered their agreement, and snickered, rainbow caught on the the clear insult, as well as the apparent fact that these cadets didn't think she and her friends belonged in the academy, recognizing it due to her experience with this type at junior flight camp when she was a filly. 'So that's how it's gonna be. Oh just wait until I get into the air. My wonderbolts training, and the sonic rainboom, will make anything you hotheads can do in the air look like foal's play.' Rainbow smiled, enjoying the thought of upstaging all of them when she heard a voice from behind her. "Ah, I see our newest pilot has decided to show up for class." Rainbow turned to see a bearded man who she recognized from her orientation PADD file as flight instructor Riker walking towards the group. "You must be Professor Riker." Riker nodded. "And you must be rainbow dash, our newest pilot." Rainbow Dash nodded with a smile and saluted. "Cadet Rainbow Danger Dash Ready to fly sir." Riker nodded. "I see someone is eager. You think you're fast cadet?" Rainbow nodded. "Yes sir. Fastest recorded flyer on Equuis sir." Riker smiled. "Then how about using those wings of yours and showing us what you're made of." Rainbow's eyes widened. "Are you giving me permission to break the speed limit sir?" Riker nodded. "Get in the air maggot." Rainbow smiled. "Yes sir. And I recommend you cover your ears if you've never heard a sonic rainboom before." Riker nodded as rainbow spread her wings out. Just as she was about to take off however. "Wait a minute, shouldn't someone mount the Pegasus so they can ensure it doesn't crash into anything?" That comment came from one of the other cadets, and was met with a lot of snickering. Riker turned to the cadets and gave them a stern look. "Oh, you all think that's funny do you? Well listen here maggots! Don't think I didn't hear the conversation going on before I said anything. Cadet Dash has as much right to be here as any of you. And I expect you to treat her as such. Understood?" The cadets all jumped back a little from the shouting, but nodded. "Yes sir!" "And if I hear a word of negativity towards cadet Dash again, it's straight to Commandant Forrest's office for all of you, understood?" The cadets nodded again. "Yes sir!" Riker smiled. "Good. Cadet Dash, take flight." Rainbow nodded and prepared to launch. "Watch and learn rookies." Rainbow took off at top speed and proceeded to do her best wonderbolts routine in the air, she flipped and turned and rolled and looped high above the ground. The sight from the ground was jaw dropping for the other cadets. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" "That Pegasus can really fly can she?" Riker eyed the cadets. "Still think she doesn't belong here? She could teach you maggots a thing or two." Up in the sky, rainbow dash was currently in a nosedive. Rapidly gaining speed. "Just a bit more..." her combadge beeped and riker's voice sounded. "Cadet, what are you doing?" Rainbow smiled. "Just watch sir, and everyone on the ground, cover your ears if you haven't seen a sonic rainboom before." Rainbow cut the line. From the ground the cadets and Riker watched as all of a sudden, what looked like a rainbow ring exploded from rainbow dash and rainbow started leaving a rainbow trail behind as she pulled up. Beginning to circle the shuttlebay. After a few laps, Rainbow loop the looped and landed on the ground, folding her wings and letting out a deep breath. "And Do earth's very first sonic rainboom, check." Riker shook himself out of his shock as the cadets picked their jaws up and began slowly clapping, and it picked up speed. "Wow." "That was amazing!" "You're definitely Pilot material." Rainbow smiled at that last one. Riker nodded. "Cadet, in all my years of instruction I have never seen flying like that. With the right training, you have a promising career ahead of you." Rainbow nodded. "Thank you sir. Now, can we get to today's class?" Riker nodded. "Right. Fall in cadet." Rainbow trotted up and stood with the other cadets. Riker regained his drill instructor demeanor. "Alright! Now that cadet Dash is finished showing off! It's time to see how well you maggots handle flight simulators! Dash! You've handled a simulator before!" Rainbow nodded. "Sir Yes sir! Cadet cosmos walked me through over the weekend sir!" "Then all of you get in a simulator and wait for further instructions!" All the cadets shouted in unison.9 "Sir Yes sir!" Several hours later, it was dinner time. “2 veggie tacos and a glass of milk, chilled.” The requested food items phased into a tray that Jessica took out of the replicator and carried over to a group of tables that her friends were occupying. Sitting herself down next to Luke. Who chuckled. “You’re really serious about your vegetarian diet.” Jessica nodded. “Yeah. I just don’t see how people can eat animals. It’s gross.” Jessica shivered as luke giggled. “A Shame really, do you know how many times I wanted to share a good pepperoni pizza with you? I’m telling you, you’re missing out.” Jessica smiled and shook her head. “I don’t think I am.” Jessica turned her attention to the equine cadets. “So, how was Your guy’s first day of class? Anything interesting?” The Equine smiled. “I finally got to do a sonic rainboom, my flight instructor wanted me to show my stuff, so I got to show off, and prove to them that I could keep up with them.” “After linguistics, history and calculus was ok.” “Starlight and I had fun showing our Astrophysics class what we knew.” “Yeah Twilight. We really showed them.” “Sunset, Applejack, Rara and I had major fun in shop class. The instructor there was very nice. And she let us make a circuit board.” Sunset chuckled. “Even though pinkie here wanted to make a party cannon instead.” Rarity chuckled. “Well I’m glad it didn’t come to that. I do not want to find my marefriend in detention. As for me and psychology, I’m definitely seeing a career as a starship counselor.” Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, psychology was interesting. As was medical basics. I’m finding that my knowledge in being a vet transfers over. So I had little difficulty understanding the material.” Jessica smiled at all the replies. “That’s Great you guys. Though, rainbow, did you imply that cadets were apprehensive?” Rainbow nodded. “I didn’t pay it any mind but I knew what they were talking about.” Jessica nodded. “Well just remember not to listen to them. You all have as much right to be here as we do. Got that?” Everyone nodded. “Don’t worry Jess, if someone gives us a hard time, we’ll just remind them that we’re just one of many species here at the academy.” Jessica smiled. “That you are.” “Hey Luke, Jessica, everyone.” Everyone turned to see Ivan and T’Nea join them. “Well howdy Ivan, T’Nea, hows it going?” “It’s going good. Just glad that Monday is over, now my brain can function properly the rest of the week.” Ivan nodded. “Yes. It would seem that many individuals here find it hard to function early in the week.” Luke chuckled. “That’s because it’s the end of the weekend bud. Everyone hates Mondays. It’s a fundamental part of being alive.” “It would seem so.” T’nea nodded. “So. How was everyone’s day? No one gave our Equine friends any trouble I hope.” Everyone shrugged. “Eh, a few words here and there but nothing more.” T’Nea smiled. “Good. Because remember the old saying. Sticks and stones...” “...can break you’re bones...” “...but words can never hurt you.” “A logical and wise saying coming from beings refusing to suppress their emotions.” Luke patted Ivan on the back. “It means ignore words of negativity Ivan. It doesn’t mean suppress emotions. I know, I know, you’re a Vulcan, but the rest of us aren’t.” “And I would not have you any other way.” Jessica Luke and T’Nea smiled. “Aww, and we love you for you too buddy.” Luke and T’Nea huffed Ivan While Jessica fistbumped with him. “Now, lets dig in shall we?” “Yeah.” Everyone dug in to their meals. To be continued.