//------------------------------//
// Training for the Future 
// Story: The New Era for Equus 
// by Robert Emerald Fountain 
//------------------------------//

One year after rescuing both the Paw Patrol and the visitors from Disney, Flurry Heart became the new ruler over the Crystal Empire after Cadence retired. She was getting acclimated to her new role as leader when a scroll came to her from Canterlot.

**

Dear Flurry Heart,

I have had a recent idea cross my mind. I have decided that our new allies from Adventure Bay along with Mickey and his crew should be trained for piloting their own starships, and they should receive war training. You never know when you will need to defend yourself. I am putting you in charge of the training. 

Yours sincerely,

Aunt Twilight Sparkle

**

Flurry knew that this would not be an easy task, but she and Twilight both knew that she was experienced in leadership and knew how to direct a mission. So she accepted and appointed some officials to take her place while she was carrying out the training. She boarded the train and set off for Canterlot. Meeting her aunt in the throne room, she listened carefully to what Twilight had to say.

“The easiest way to carry out the starship training is to use simulators. We already have enough from when we modernized Equestria. The war training will be different, depending on the individuals. Ryder along with Mickey and his friends can be trained for both space battles and hand-in-hand combat. The pups and the cats, on the other hand, can only be trained for space battles. Regardless, I know you can get them trained well enough so they are ready for anything.”, explained Twilight

Flurry was quick to reply.

“You can count on me, Aunt Twilight. I will make sure they do not miss anything. Also, I might be able to train the pups and the cats for hand-in-hand battles by using weapons mounted in their backpacks that are triggered by a mouthpiece.”, Flurry replied.

“There’s my brave niece.”, Twilight said with a warm smile.

Flurry took a bow and headed to the communications tower in Canterlot.

Ryder and the pups were playing ball when a tone sounded to indicate an incoming call. 

“This is Ryder, go ahead.”

“Ryder, this is Flurry Heart. Aunt Twilight has decided to give you guys some training for solo space piloting and for space battles. The training starts in two weeks. We are training our other allies as well.”, said Flurry.

“That sounds great. We will get there as soon as we can. Our ship is being refueled right now, but we will take off once we are finished.”, Ryder replied.

The Space Patroller was finished with refueling four hours later. Once Ryder had gotten word to the Cat Pack, everyone got together and took the elevator down to the hangar. Once all systems were confirmed nominal, the ship took off and Ryder set a course for Equus. Since this was not an urgent mission, there was no need to use the warp engines. This meant that everyone could enjoy the scenery and beauty of space during the trip.

**

Mickey had gathered his crew together for a space exploration and had already taken off when they received the call from Flurry.

“This is Mickey. Go ahead Flurry Heart.”, he said.

“It looks like you were getting ready for a space flight of some sort. I can tell this because you are wearing your Captain’s uniform and your friends are seated around you.”, said Flurry.

“You would be correct. We were about to begin a space exploration when you called in.”, Mickey confirmed. 

“Perfect timing then. Aunt Twilight has decided to give you and your friends some extensive training in solo space piloting and in space battles. The training begins in two weeks, so there is no need to rush. The Paw Patrol is being trained as well, so you will see each other again.”

Mickey and his friends were excited about seeing Ryder and the pups again. They set their course for Equus and set the ship to autopilot. This was a more relaxed flight, so they had time to take in the beauty of space and enjoy the view out the windows.

As both of the ally ships made their way to Equus, they appeared on each other’s radar screens.

When both ships came close enough to each other, they established contact.

“Space Patroller to Disneystar. It’s great to see you guys again.”, said Ryder.

“Same goes for us, Ryder. At least this time we are not in danger and needing rescue.”, replied Minnie.

Soon, they arrived in orbit around Equus and Twilight radioed Flurry.

“Both ships have come up on radar. Get to the training area and send them the location.”, she said.

Flurry acknowledged and made her way to the training site. Once Neighsay had cleared the allies for atmospheric entry, they descended to the ground and landed safely. They disembarked on land vehicles and followed a mapped out route to the training area where Flurry was waiting for them. After driving through dense woods for an hour, they reached a clearing where the Harmony was docked. Flurry opened the gate and led them to a large elevator platform that took them underground to a massive complex with its own barracks for the allies. Once everyone had set out their supplies in the barracks, they grouped back together and Flurry spoke to them.

“This way please. Training starts next week, and there is a lot you need to know.”, she said as she opened the doors to a meeting room.

Both groups of allies followed her and then took seats around the room. Once everyone was seated, Flurry Heart took the floor and spoke to them.

“This is the training center where all members of the Equestrian Fleet were brought to gear up for space travel, search and rescue, and battle. When you all were here last year, we looked over your records and saw that all of you have rescue training. There are two stages of training that you will go through while you’re here. Stage one involves learning how to pilot your own starship. Stage two involves scenarios where you must battle other ships in space. All of you with hands will be given a third stage where you must learn how to defend yourself in hand-in-hand combat with weapons, whereas the pups and the cats will do hand-in-hand with voice-activated weapons in their backpacks. All of the training for starships will be done with simulators that project real life images on screens around you. Above all, when going through starship battle training, you will be in simulators next to each other so you can work as a team.”

Everyone understood the parameters that Flurry had just stated. The pups and the cats understood why they would be unable to go through weapons training. After Flurry had given the rundown of everything they would expect in their training, she released them to get some sleep because the training would start early the next morning. They headed to the barracks and laid down for the night.

At 6:00 AM the next morning, Flurry got everyone up to begin their training for space flight. Leading them to the meeting room, she started with an explanatory portion to get everyone introduced to how a personal starship worked.

“There are several components to a personal ship. Some of the critical pieces are the engines, the wings, and the cockpit. Later on, you will learn how to open the wings and fire weapons in battle.”, she explained as she talked the group through the basics of a starship.

After leading them to the simulator room, she had each of the members get in a chamber and get situated to begin the session. What she left as a surprise was that there were scanners in the chambers that would tell the consoles to automatically arrange themselves to each individual’s personal taste. After the hatches were shut on the chambers, each of the allies began with the launch sequence. First, they were given a guided set of instructions on how to power up their ship, and then how to start the engines. Following the instructions was a snap and they were given further instructions on how to fly the ships. Skye did not need as much instruction for the flight since she always flew a helicopter, but she did learn how to deploy and fire weapons. 

Everyone else was nervous in the beginning, but they quickly caught on and were able to ace the simulations after only four days. When Flurry looked at the results, she was impressed and knew that they were now ready to take on the next stage of the training. She congratulated everyone on their successes and then told them what was next.

“You have tomorrow off since you have been training hard for the past four days. The next day is when you will start the battle phase of your training.”, she explained.

Everyone acknowledged what she had told her and then she opened up a pathway to the battle simulators. The chambers here were closer to each other and had cameras and microphones so the occupants could see and speak to each other. Taking note that the battle phase would be more sophisticated, the allies headed back to the barracks and turned in for the night.

After a day to chill out from the hard training they had received on piloting their own ships, it was time for the new allies to learn the basics of space battles. Everything started with an introduction to wings and the different types of weapons on starships. After getting seated in the meeting room, Flurry started explaining how the wings could change position in a battle scenario.

“In battle terms, the wings are referred to as “Strike Foils” or “S-Foils”. So, if the wings need to be opened; you must say to lock S-Foils in attack position. This basically means to open your wings. As this simulation shows, the wings on one of our fighter ships are comprised of two sets of three pieces. Two pieces on each set are hinged. When the wings open up, the two pieces on the top and bottom will swivel 30 degrees up or down.”, she said.

Everyone was shocked at her description of how the wings would open up for battle. They were about to learn how many weapons they would have in their arsenal to use in battle.

“The main weapon is your lasers. They will deal significant damage to an enemy, but they are not the only weapon you have. Other weapons you have include missiles, torpedoes, and electromagnetic pulses, or E M P’s.”, explained Flurry Heart.

“That’s quite a spread. We might be able to take down anything that gets in our way.”, said Daisy.

“Don’t overestimate yourself, Daisy. You must also keep a close eye on your shields. If they get too low, you will have to pull away to recharge. Otherwise, you will be killed when your ship is destroyed.”, said Flurry.

Hearing this made everyone nervous, but it also told them that keeping tabs on their defenses was critical. They were ready to begin training for battle in space.

Once everybody was ready to begin their war training, Flurry led them to the simulators and they got inside. After powering up, they took in a warning from Flurry before starting the simulation. 

“This training will be harder than your previous sessions. It is likely that you will have more failed missions during this. I know this because it happened to me and anyone else who went through this training. I will be in a simulator myself to keep an eye on each of you.”, she explained.

Having acknowledged the heads-up, everyone started by learning how to properly open their wings.

“Lock S-Foils in attack position.”, Flurry instructed after everyone had spotted the switch that opened and closed their wings. 

As the wings opened in the simulation, all of the trainees watched an LCD that displayed their ship’s orientation and status. They also saw an indication of their wings’ position. When the wings were fully opened, the position on the LCD changed to indicate that the wings were in attack position. After everyone had opened their wings, they followed Flurry’s ship to a target range where they had to shoot a certain number within a time limit. This would have been easy, but they had to watch for each other’s laser blasts in order to avoid being shot down as they were flying. The flight portion of this was easy for Skye, just like the previous portion of the training, but the addition of weapons made this a lot trickier for her. Nevertheless, she caught on quickly and everyone finished the target shooting before the time ran out. 

“Good work, everyone. Now it’s time to focus on moving targets. In the next phase of this, you will be shooting at enemy ships. Also, this will be a team effort. So, you will be helping each other to avoid getting shot down.”, Flurry explained as the screens flashed up the words: Mission Complete.

When the next simulation started, they were already in space and their wings were open. This mission involved watching radar more frequently and communicating with each other. Once they had armed their weapons, they started getting enemy readings on their radar. They opened fire in a flash to take out the enemies, but this simulation was more intricate than they anticipated. The enemies were quick to avoid their attacks and they even shot back. Some of the enemy fighters snuck up and tried to shoot them down from behind. Minnie and Ryder were the first to notice this.

“Skye, watch out. You’ve got one on your tail.”, Ryder called out.

“Mickey, I’ve got one chasing me.”, Minnie called out.

“Copy that, Minnie. I’m coming to help you out.”, Mickey replied.

Skye desperately tried to get away from the fighter that was behind her, but she was having little to no success. At one point, her shields were lowered to 50% before Ryder managed to alert Chase that Skye was in trouble. Chase rushed over and shot down the enemy. Mickey distracted the fighter who was pursuing Minnie, and then dropped a bomb to take it out. The first battle simulation was one of several that had to be completed before they were deemed ready, and it only took two days to complete. It took place in open space to make it easy, but the others would have obstacles that had to be dodged so no-one would crash. 

These simulations took a whole week to complete without any flaws because many of the trainees ran into obstacles while evading the enemies or they’d be shot down before their shields were recharged. They also fell victim to each other’s E M P’s due to being too close. However, they learned from their mistakes and soon passed all of the simulations with flying colors.

“Congratulations everyone. You are now ready for battle in space. It is now time to train you for hand-in-hand combat.”, said Flurry as everyone got out of their simulator chambers.

The next morning, Flurry led everyone to a large room that resembled a gymnasium. There were mats and replica weapons neatly arranged around the room, and there were smaller side rooms that housed what looked like helmets and replicas of guns. 

“What are the side rooms used for, Flurry?”, asked Donald.

“Good question. Those rooms are where you will be trained for ground battles. The easiest way to do that is with Virtual Reality, or VR equipment.”, she replied.

As the days passed, those with hands dueled with paintballs, fake swords, hardened rubber gloves, and their hands alone. The pups and the cats practiced with their paws and wrestled each other. They all wore helmets so they wouldn’t bite each other. In the VR areas, they wore the helmets to see what the scenario was that they were going through. Flurry even designed props for the pups and the cats to use so they’d be equipped with guns as well. These props involved a rubber piece held in the mouth that acted as the trigger. In order to fire the weapons, they would squeeze the rubber in their teeth. 

After six days in the gym, Flurry could tell that everyone was doing spectacularly with the hand-in-hand training. The next day, she said that they had all passed the training exercises and were ready to present themselves to Twilight.

After leaving the training area, everyone boarded the train to Canterlot and gave the news to Twilight that they had passed their training exercises.

“Well done to all of you. Now that you have been trained for space piloting and for war, I think you are now ready for anything that might get in your way.”, she said.

All of the allies took a bow and then returned to their ships for their journey home. Once they were home safely, they continued their normal lives while keeping an ear to the radio for anything that would necessitate utilizing the skills they had been trained for. At the same time, they built their own ships and kept them at the ready. They even did their own missions to practice taking off for real and for landing, along with shooting down targets to better their weapon skills. So far, they had not needed to take down any real enemies, but they never knew when they would have a surprise attack.