//------------------------------// // Operation Revelation // Story: Assignment: Equestria // by Naxanz //------------------------------// Nick sat in a chair waiting for the sleep hours to end aboard the Atropos while everybody else gathered around the still unconscious captain. Besides Nick he was the only other human the ponies had ever seen in person. Even unconscious the captain still had a stern face and Nick knew that once he woke up he was going to start yelling his head off. “Hey, Rarity, could you please unlatch the captain’s pistol from his belt and give it to me?” asked Nick still staring at the lifeless captain from where he was sitting. “Why of course darling,” replied Rarity as she unfastened the gun holster from the captain’s belt and tossed it to Nick. Nick caught the pistol and laid it down on the small table next to the chair he was sitting in. It had only been about fifty minutes since Nick and the others had teleported back down to the castle. The first thing Nick had done once they had all appeared back inside the castle was sit down in the closest chair and nearly pass out. It’s been about two weeks now since Nick had first come down to this planet and within that time he had had very little time to rest and almost no time to keep personal hygiene. He was starting to grow a little bit of a beard and he didn’t smell that great either. He just wanted this whole affair to end and move on. Nick tiredly scanned the room as he waited for the captain to wake up. The mane six were all huddled around the unconscious captain and whispering about something. Celestia stood in the back of the room quietly talking with Queen Chrysalis. Nick could tell that whatever it was that they were talking about Chrysalis seemed to be annoyed. In the far left corner of the room sat the six changelings. Some of them were still in their human form while others had changed back into changelings the moment they had all returned to the castle. Shining Armor was nowhere to be seen, but Nick knew he was probably busy with all of his military stuff. As Nick watched this scene unfold he soon drifted off to sleep. --Time passes-- “Get your damn dirty paws off of me!!!” shouted a voice that caused Nick to jump awake and almost fall out of his seat. It was the captain, he had final awoken and some royal guards and changelings were all trying to hold him down. “Let go of me right now or I’m kill you! I’ll kill you all!” exclaimed the captain thrusting his body forwards with all of his might nearly knocking all of the ponies off of him. Nick grabbed for his gun and pointed it at the struggling captain. “Don’t move or I’ll shoot!” ordered Nick as he quickly set the gun to bullets instead of laser. The captain, who now had one of the changelings in a choking grip, suddenly stopped what he was doing and slowly turned to face Nick. “You...” he hissed through his teeth as he narrowed his eyes angrily. Nick stepped away from the chair he used to be sitting in and ordered the captain to sit in it. As the captain slowly made his way over to the chair Nick never took his eyes off of him. Nick could almost feel the anger and hatred seething underneath the captain’s skin as he took a seat. Two royal guards then fetched some rope and quickly tied up the captain very tightly. “I should have guessed,” spat the captain as he stared at Nick, “But how did you get onboard the Atropos, much less my room? You know what, it doesn’t matter. All that matters to me right now is seeing you dead! Nobody commits treason on me and gets away with it!” “Why are you doing this?” asked Celestia calmly. The captain turned his head in her direction and smirked, “Why? Why what? Attacking you? Because your planet has so many valuable resources that we, the humans, need. Not to mention that you have six powerful element things that I’ve never seen the likes of before.” “Okay, but why war? Instead we could negotiate and have peace,” persuaded Celestia hopingly. The captain only chuckled and replied, “Negotiate with animals? I don’t think so! Besides, you’d never agree to my terms anyway…” “Try me,” countered Celestia. There was a moment of silence as the captain and Celestia stared at each other before he replied, “You see, this planet has the perfect atmospheric conditions to be inhabited by humans. Our sole mission pertains of only two things. One, chart this unexplored section of the universe, and two, find suitable planets for human colonization.” Nick gasped, “And this planet… is perfect?” “Yes it is, I was going to announce to the crew tomorrow that that is the true reason we’ve been waging war with this planet all along. So, unless the ruler of this place is planning to just hand over this planet to us then the war shall go on! And believe me Nick, it’s almost over because the only place we have left to conquer is this capital city!” answered the captain. “That’s where you’re wrong!” countered Nick, “Why do you think we’ve brought you down here? We’re holding you hostage!” “Don’t make me laugh,” exclaimed the captain, “Have you forgotten about the rule stating that if the captain dies or is presumed dead then the first officer instantly becomes the new captain?” “No we haven’t, that’s why we’ve replaced you with a phony. Do you remember who knocked you out?” asked Nick with a smile. “B-but there’s no way,” stuttered the captain, “I thought my eyes were just playing tricks on me, because the person who knocked me out was…me!” “Exactly,” grinned Nick enjoying the captain’s concern. Suddenly a small feminine voice proclaimed, “Sleep hours aboard the Atropos have ended, communications with the Atropos have been established.” Nick knew that voice. It was Nichole, but where was she? He had never gotten her back after he had come back from the Atropos. “Oh, uh… Here’s your techno gizmo thingy Nick,” remembered Applejack as she held Nichole out to Nick, “I kinda forgot to give it back to ya after y’all returned.” “That’s okay,” replied Nick taking Nichole from Applejack, “Now let’s contact the Atropos and show them who we’ve got!” Everybody waited anxiously as Nick ordered Nicole to make communication connections with the Atropos. “Nick, this will never work. Why don’t you…” the captain was suddenly cut off as a lifelike hologram of Mark appeared in the room. “This is the USS Atropos, your speaking with the Head of Communications,” reported Mark solemnly before realizing that it was Nick, “Nick, What did I tell you about contacting the Atropos! If somebody sees me speaking with you then…” Mark was suddenly cut off as familiar voice exclaimed, “You there, who are you talking too!?” Mark winced and replied, “It’s uh….. Well it’s…. Nick…” “Let me speak with him,” ordered the voice angrily. “Yes sir,” replied Mark. The hologram of Mark suddenly changed to Bellator who was still impersonating the captain. “Aw, shit…” huffed the real captain under his breath, “You imposter, once this is all over I’m going to have you killed for this!” “Like you’ll have a chance,” ginned the phony captain maliciously, “It’s over! And there’s nothing you can do about it…” Unable to contain his anger any longer the captain suddenly released a continuous string of the worst insults and threats Nick had ever heard. After a few minutes the captain finally calmed down and stopped struggling to break free. He just sat in the chair out of breath and red-faced. “Okay,” hesitated Nick breaking the tense silence, “Bellator, I want you to connect me to the first officer.” “Uh… yeah… okay,” replied Bellator still somewhat shocked by the captain’s sudden outburst. The hologram of the phony captain suddenly changed to the first officer. “First officer speaking, who is this?” asked the first officer. There was no way; it couldn’t be. Was Nick really seeing what he thought he was seeing? Was Trent really the first officer? “T-Trent, is that you?” asked Nick surprised. “Yes, this is First Officer Trenton, and who is this?” inquired Trent. “You know who I am,” replied Nick. Trent suddenly did a double take as he realized who it was, “Nick, but how!? I just saw you last night; the captain was taking you to confinement.” Nick chuckled about to respond, but before he could Rainbow Dash suddenly cut into the conversation. “To bad for you that wasn’t the real captain!” cried Rainbow Dash jumping in front of the hologram, “It was a fake! We broke into your ship last night when you were all sleeping. How do you like that?! In your face!” Rainbow Dash then stuck out her tongue and started making teasing sounds as Trent stared at her in surprise. “What the heck Rainbow Dash!” exclaimed Nick quickly pulling her away from the still shocked hologram of Trent. “Sorry Nick, but he deserved it,” snickered Rainbow Dash trying to hide a smile. Nick only sighed as he turned to face Trent again, “When did you become the first officer? I never heard about this.” “You shouldn’t have,” replied Trent, “I got promoted after you left. And what was that blue pony saying? You infiltrated us, but how?” “Yes we did, and how we did it doesn’t matter, all that you need to know is that were holding the captain hostage,” replied Nick with a grin. “No you’re not; I just spoke with the captain a couple of minutes ago,” smirked Trent. “He’s a fake,” replied Nick turning Nicole to face the real captain who was still tied up in a chair, “This is the real one.” “No way!” exclaimed Trent in astonishment, “It can’t be.” “Well it is,” huffed the captain annoyed. Trent quickly held down a small button on the wall next to him and ordered to see the captain at once. After a little while Bellator, still disguised as the captain, walked into Trent’s room. “I’ve just been informed that you’re a fake! According to intergalactic law you will be imprisoned for life for impersonating a Starfleet officer,” announced Trent while pointing at Bellator. “So, you finally figured me out…” sighed Bellator calmly, “About time too because I was beginning to get bored of this human form.” Suddenly there was a flash of green fire as Bellator changed back into his changeling form. After getting over the shock of Bellator suddenly changing into a black pony thing Trent turned to face Nick again and announced, “So, what do you want in turn for the captain?” “I want you to end this war,” replied Nick. Trent sighed before saying, “Listen, how about this-” Trent was suddenly cut off as the captain screamed out, “STOP! Trent, the real reason I’ve been waging war with this planet is because it is the perfect planet for colonization. You can’t end the war now! Not when we’re so close! That’s why I’m giving you one last order… PUT INTO EFFECT OPERATION REVELATION! It doesn’t matter if I die too, just do it!!!” At that moment a sudden flash of green lightning suddenly struck the captain causing him to fall limp in his seat.