Act I - 01 - When We Were Young
Act I:
"The Shape of Things to Come"
Chapter One:
"When We Were Young"
A rainbow colored streak shot across the bright blue sky of Ponyville. The rambunctious filly flew at top speed towards the cloud bank above, trying to go as high as she could.
In her ear was tucked a small receiver, through which she could hear the endless protests of her stick-in-the-mud uncle.
“You little brat I know you hear me! Get home this instant! Your mother’s going to have a fit when she knows you’ve been playing around the construction center while she was at Moonbase. Do you hear me?!”
The filly simply rolled her eyes and reached a hand into her ear, yanking out the receiver and tossing it away. “Sorry Uncle, can’t hear ya.” she chuckled, pumping her wings even harder as she climbed higher. She cleared the cloud bank and exploded into the glorious sunlight above the clouds. She hovered there for a moment, taking deep breaths, letting the pure air fill her lungs. It was so quiet and still above the clouds, almost as if she had gone through a portal into an entirely new world, where it was just her and the sky, alone together. It was beautiful.
She let out a long, deeply pleased sigh and reached into the pocket of her flight pants, pulling out a slender metallic device and hooking it to a strap on her left arm. She then pulled out a pair of earbuds and put them in her ears and connected them to the device. Pressing a button on the device, she smiled contently as the sound of a guitar tuning up greeted her ears.
“Hey, hey, momma said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove!” The high voice of the lead singer chimed, as the filly prepared herself for the crowning moment. The barely audible sound of drum sticks tapping together to set the time greeted her ears and she dived just as the roar of crashing guitar chords exploded from her head phones. Her body fell like a stone back through the clouds as she dived, a cone of air forming around her face as she fell faster and faster, down and down towards the ground. The cloud bank cleared again and the filly smiled in determination as the ground came closer and closer. At the last possible second she pulled up, the cone of air breaking in front of her and a rainbow colored ring of light exploded behind her, as she rocketed skywards, her wings pumping.
“Whoo-hoo!” she cried at the top of her lungs, making sure that the entire town could hear her. A quick glance behind her told her the truth. She had pulled it off, a legendary sonic rainboom. And she was only twelve.
Now for the real fun! she thought mischievously as she turned towards the large looming structures of the Ghastly Gorge Construction Center, where she knew she was going to have the best obstacle course in Equestria.
She flew low over the ground, being sure to dodge and weave around the trees. The clump of trees cleared and she took in the sight of the gigantic mechanical structures of the Construction Center. She cast a dismissive glance at the large holographic sign that stated: “NO FLYING IN THIS AREA”
“Pfft, as if,” she muttered, taking a breath and pumping her wings again, the music still ringing in her ears. She flew past the sign and made her way towards the cranes. She flew up and landed on the crane, taking a moment to take in the view and catching her breath. The half-finished bodies of several starships lay before her, with hundreds of workers running about like ants on the hulls. The flicker of thousands of welding torches flickered in and out and the filly let out a content sigh.
Ready... she stood to her feet, stretching as she readied herself for take off. Steady... she took a couple of steps forward, leaning over the abyss. Go.
She started a new song and once more let herself fall off the crane and into the mile deep canyon, spreading her wings and pumping as she powered her way towards the looming structure of a particularly large starship. She ducked, dodged and weaved through the half-finished spacecraft, ignoring the sounds of protest from the various construction workers who she blew past, leaving a brightly colored rainbow contrail in her wake. Her music continued to play, locking her in her own little world, where she was queen of the skies, the fastest pony in all of Equestria, if not the galaxy. However, her fantasy world faded once the last song on her playlist ended, and her ears could catch the obnoxious noise of sirens behind her.
Ugh...perfect. she mentally grumbled, casting a begrudging look over her shoulder to see several security officers chasing after her.
“Citizen, we advise you leave this area now or face arrest.” One called out, megaphone amplifying his voice. Smirking, the filly flipped onto her back as she flew and called out to the the security officers.
“Come and get me you bozos!” she laughed, flipping them off and speeding up to fly away. She tucked her arms against her body to reduce drag and increase her speed. The security officers sped up as well, aided by the hoverbikes three of them were using. The filly simply rolled her eyes and did a loop-de-loop, diving back down deeper into the canyon below. However, her path was soon interrupted by a halo of teal green magic that unexpectedly enveloped her, dragging her to a halt.
"Hey! What gives?!" She shouted in protest as she felt her wings close and be pinned against her body. She turned her head to see the security officer who had called out to her, a gruff looking unicorn. His arms were crossed and he looked down at her disapprovingly.
"We're taking you home filly. State your name." He asked, his voiced somewhat distorted by the helmet he was wearing. The filly shot him a dirty look, crossing her arms in bitter frustration.
"The name's Rainbow. Rainbow Dash."
/////////////////////////
Across the stars lay the planet of Saddle Arabia, center of logic in an illogical universe. In the center of the capital city of El Halbad, stood the palatial Temple of Learning. Inside the truly tremendous hallways walked a fifteen year old Twilight Sparkle. In her arms were cradled several dozen large books that she was ready to study for her classes.
The sound of footfalls behind her, however, distracted her and she stopped walking. She could sense the presence of several Saddle Arabians standing behind her.
“I presume that you have prepared new insults for me today.” she said, her voice level and calm as she turned around, readying herself for the daily dose of belittling and mockery from her purebred peers. The three other Saddle Arabians, all looking to be around seventeen years old, loomed over her, standing a good head and shoulders taller than her, all of them looking down with characteristic dispassionate gazes.
“Affirmative.” The eldest, a colt, spoke, tipping his head slightly. Twilight simply looked him in the eyes, already prepared for the oncoming insult.
“I believe this is your thirty-fifth attempt to elicit an emotional response. So far, they have all been ineffective.” she stated plainly.
The second Saddle Arabian, also a colt, nodded, cutting to the chase. “You are neither Saddle Arabian nor Equestrian. Therefore you have no place in this universe.”
Twilight swallowed, a pulse of sadness shooting through her. They were correct of course. She belonged to neither world. Her very existence was irrational. Her Equestrian side told her that she was what Equestrian’s would call ‘a freak’. How else could a Saddle Arabian be cursed with the emotions or the diminutive frame of an Equestrian?
“Look, is that an abnormal bone growth sprouting from her cranium?” The third Saddle Arabian, a mare, asked, pointing a light blue finger towards Twilight's horn. Twilight instinctively reached a hand up to brush against the horn. Yet another example of her differences from the rest of the Saddle Arabians. No other Saddle Arabian had anything resembling a horn. It felt strange to have a spear of bone jutting out of her forehead.
“Correct. And what of the mark upon her thigh?” The eldest said, pointing an accusing finger towards Twilight’s thigh, taking advantage of the opening in the side of her skirt. Normally, Saddle Arabian’s thighs were bare, and therefore, in the traditional garb worn by mares thirteen and up, there would be nothing to look at except their coat. In Twilight’s case it was the opposite. Imprinted on her lavender coat was a six-pointed star surrounded by a starburst pattern of five smaller stars. She moved her leg in an attempt to cover her cutie mark with her skirt.
“Do you assume that it might be some form of racial differentiation?” The second one said, raising an eyebrow and turning to his peers.
“And look. She has Equestrian eyes. They look sad don’t they?” the third one said, her voice containing the slightest touch of gleeful malice. Twilight could immediately tell that her eyes had begun to water slightly, and she blinked for a moment, hoping to clear away the tears.
“Perhaps we require physical stimuli in order to elicit an emotional response from her.” The eldest said, before shoving Twilight down to the ground with a sharp push. She yelped in pain as she hit the floor, spilling her books everywhere. A flash of white burst across her vision as her head hit the floor. Shaking her head to clear it, she looked up at her tormentors, who now loomed over her even more. She felt an intense urge to cry, but held back, instead letting her eyes water.
“He’s a traitor you know. Your father. For marrying that Equestrian whore.” The eldest Saddle Arabian said, a barely perceptible smile spreading across his muzzle as he put special emphasis on the last word. Twilight looked up to him.
“What?” she asked, her whole body tensing up in anger. How dare he offend her mother in such a way?
“I feel no need to repeat myself, for we know your hearing is perfectly functional.” the Saddle Arabian replied. That acted as the final nail in the coffin and Twilight felt the anger that had been welling up inside of her boil over.
“TAKE THAT BACK!” she shrieked as her hands balled up into a pair of fists and her horn glowed magenta and she leapt towards the bully, who attempted to step out of the way. However, by the time he tried to move, she had already slammed into him, sending the both of them toppling to the floor. The Saddle Arabian kicked and swung his arms out, managing to score one two hits. Twilight ignored them and continued to punch the Saddle Arabian over and over again, all of her anger and rage coming out in a massive wave, with her using her magic to pin him to the floor. Her anger was mixed with a strong dose of sadness, as a stream of tears poured from her eyes.
Twilight continued to pummel the colt underneath her, when she was all of a sudden hefted into the air, kicking and screaming. She turned around to see her father holding her tightly, dragging her away from the now battered and bruised colt, who was now rolling over in pain, his peers gathered around him.
“Twilight cease this at once!” her father ordered, his voice stern. Her father’s commanding tone seemed to snap Twilight out of her rageful state and her cries changed from cries of anger to sobs as she surrendered to her emotions completely. Her father cradled her gently, silently carrying her out of the room, her crying into his shoulder.
/////////////////////////
Rainbow sulked at the dinner table, arms crossed in frustration. Sitting across from her was her mother. The older mare was still dressed in her Celestial Starfleet uniform, having only just arrived back home from her job.
“Rainbow, you do realize that I’ve told you many, many times to listen to your uncle while I was away right?” She said, her voice low. Rainbow simply shifted in her chair, refusing to answer.
Firefly let out another, more frustrated sigh. “Rainbow are you listening to me? You got yourself into a ton of trouble today. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Daddy would have let me play...” Rainbow bitterly muttered under her breath. Her mother must have heard her muttering, as she let out another heavy sigh.
“Rainbow. You’re father would never have let you put yourself in danger like that. The construction site is an incredibly dangerous place for a pony your age. You could have gotten yourself seriously injured, if not worse.” Firefly pressed, motioning outside the window of their house, where the distance looming shapes of half-finished starships could be seen in the twilight.
Instead of answering, Rainbow got up out of her chair and stalked up to her room, ignoring her mother’s protests. She flew into her room and slammed the door behind her, which being made of cloud, didn’t exactly slam. Ignoring that little detail, Rainbow flopped onto the bed. She let out a heavy sigh and leaned to grab a rather old looking photo off her nightstand. It was a rather old and tarnished photo of the pony she had always been told was her father. He was sitting next to her mother, the two of them smiling broadly at the camera.
Rainbow felt a distinct empty feeling in her chest at the sight of the stallion. It only managed to make her feel as if some vitally important part of her life was missing. She let a quiet sniff and wiped a tear from her eye.
I miss you daddy... she thought, imagining what he must have sounded like. He always sounded kind and loving, his voice warm and father like, like one of the fathers from those shows on TV. She imagined what her life would have been like had she known him. All the cool things they would do together, like racing from Cloudsdale to Ponyville and back, or going camping on the moon with mom. She sighed sadly, putting the picture back on her nightstand and rolling to face the ceiling.
What would her father have wanted her to be? Her eyes drifted over the posters of the Celestial Starfleet that hung all over the room. Hanging from little strings of nilon were tiny little model starships that Rainbow had made herself. An idea started to form itself in her mind. She looked back at the picture on her nightstand and a small smile crossed her face.
I’m going to be just like you daddy... she thought. Just wait and see...
/////////////////////////
Twilight now sat quietly outside the principal's office, doing her best to maintain her treasured air of stoicism. I allowed my emotions to control me, she thought. It was most...illogical of me to act in such a primitive manner.
She looked down at her hands. The knuckles were covered with bruises, and a dull pain thudded from them. She could taste in her mouth the slightly metallic taste of some blood that came from the loose tooth from one of the punches the older Saddle Arabian had managed to land on her face.
“Twilight.” the low voice of her father attracted her attention and she looked up to see the older Saddle Arabian sit down next to her.
“Yes father?” she asked, her voice shaky in spite of herself.
“Twilight I am deeply disappointed in you. You are a Saddle Arabian, and therefore should maintain control of your emotions, no matter what others might do to cause you to lose control.” he said, his voice completely level and unemotional.
“But father...the anger I felt towards them...I could not control it.” Twilight replied, once more looking down at her hands. Her father shook his head.
“Regardless. The anger you felt is simply another emotion. And no emotion is uncontrollable.”
Twilight shook her head. “But father, they said such...” she paused, biting her lip at the memory of the offences. “Cruel things in reference of Mother.”
“Like?”
“They called her an ‘Equestrian whore’.” she said, holding herself in check as the very sounds of the words only managed to feel like a knife piercing her.
Her father let out a sigh, putting a hand on her lap. “Even so, you acted foolishly by letting your anger control you. Our species holds logic and control in the highest regards, and therefore the only way you can prove yourself to be better than those who attempt to harm you is to not allow their petty insults to override your self control.”
"But father, what do you suggest I do?” Twilight asked, trying to remain stoic as she looked up into her father’s hazel eyes. “Do you suggest that I should accept my identity as fully Saddle Arabian, and shun all aspects of my Equestrian identity, when you yourself married an Equestrian?"
Her father sighed, looking down at her.
"Twilight, the first thing you must understand is that, in my duties as Saddle Arabia's Ambassador to Equestria, I must be well versed in the traditions of Equestrian culture and to observe and understand their behavior. Marrying your mother was..." he paused, and Twilight could sense hesitation in his voice.
"Marrying my mother was what?" she pressed, once more looking up towards her father, her cool facade once more dropping for a moment to betray a hint of the pain she felt underneath.
"It was the logical thing to do Twilight," her father finally replied. Twilight looked down at the floor. Was that it? Was she nothing more then the result of a logic experiment? She felt lost, alone in a world that didn’t want her.
“But...father...what shall I do? I feel lost, like a ship without an anchor, forced to be tossed about on the stormy seas.”
Her father shook his head and placed his huge hand on his shoulder. “Nonsense Twilight. You are once more allowing your emotions to control you. You are not a ship without an anchor. You are perfectly capable of choosing and controlling of your own destiny. We all face questions in our life. A moment when we must decide which path to choose. Your question is this: Which do path shall you choose? One cannot decide for you. You must decide for yourself.”
Twilight said nothing in response, simply leaning against her father, his Saddle Arabian form dwarfing her own. He simply put an arm around her shoulder and held her close, his expression completely passive.
Just as a note, I had actually written about half of this chapter BEFORE I wrote the prologue, hence the really quick update. Don't expect the updates to come as frequently though, as I've still got all my Harmony's Warriors stories to write at the same time.
And, most likely, this story won't have nifty song quotes at the end of the chapters, mainly because I'm running out of songs to quote
Enjoy. And I know about the dialogue, but cut me some slack, we're only one chapter in. Trust me, it'll start to change next chapter.
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Nice song choices. Still reads a lot like the actual film, but, the differences are there.
I'm enjoying this so far.
~Skeeter The Lurker
2856662 Right. It'll probably start to change next chapter. Since I don't have the movie on hand as a reference, I'm doing it really all from very foggy memories (since I saw it like a month ago, and I suck at remembering things)
... first part with Dash reminds me of Treasure Planet, the part where that kid got caught flying in that restricted area by some kinda robo-cops?
Are you kidding me!?
I just came up with the idea to try to write something like this and you beat me too it. 
You even have the same picture I was going to use too.
Guess that's what I get for putting it off.
2856847 Really? What are the chances of that?
2856760 That's actually exactly what I had in mind.
That movie is awesome.
2856853 by the by, you realized that you have implied that the Saddle's and the Changelings used to be the same race? ... i got ideas when i saw that Changeling'd ship. lol
2856866 Yes I did
2856874 ... i wish there was a thing that could be done and you can play Changelings. ...lol, Changelings in Space! and Ponies. In Star Trek! I'd so play that.
2856874 oh, and what does C.S.S. stand for? is it a parallel version for the Romulan I.R.W. prefix?
2856917 Celestial StarShip
2856928.... mis-read that paragraph..... thought they were saying the name of the Changeling ship.... and thinking further back, the Star Trek version of the ship didn't have an "I.R.W." prefix either.... I must need sleep if i'm slipping like that. self-
2856680 luckily for u...im mildly autistic, and i say that film...oh, at least three times...hope u have a parallel for Pike...
2857186 yeah I do.
2857472 good...then thats done...
2857615 wow thanks. And thanks for the fave
Aww, poor Twi.
It's not easy being a victim and having no one do anything about it.
I now eagerly await the next chapter. Oh and just so people know this is what kirk thinks of pike
This is pretty interesting! Gonna keep track of 'dis. :3
Pinkie and Rarity are wearing red...
Doesn't matter, even if Pinkie is wearing red she still won't die. She's the only one who the Star Trek rule doesn't apply to.
2916182 Is that what we finally decided to call him?
And thanks you
Finally got around to reading this. Very well done, and I can actually see a rather big change already. Rainbow wanting to join Starfleet as a tribute to the father she never knew instead of being convinced like Kirk was in the movie.
2921458 exactly. She'll probably still end up being rather rebellious though, and probably get into fights all the time. But she'd probably be like, the star of the football team, constantly being lauded by everyone else because of what her father did, and that also means she can get away with practically anything (which results in her being rebellious and constantly ignoring the rules or causing some sort of problem) But this also means that she dislikes it when people only want to know her because 'She's Daughter of Hero' and then think they can exploit it.
2921538 I see.
Have some 12 Years Later.
...And hope Rainbow can stand up to the Legacy mutineers... And Long John Silver.
2965636 Ah you spotted the reference! Well done mah boi!
Not that hard if you read the comments.
2856853
2970988 Well that....and the fact that you knew exactly which track to use from the soundtrack
2971016
I really just went with the most dramatic one... But whatever.
This better be a
maybe a little bit of 
3107134 Sadly....no.
I actually don't ship
or 
Sorry to disappoint you
3107147
...
..
.
[youtube=RZg1c3BAjbk]
It was legit
I have to say that I wasn't expecting something that was basically crowbarring the MLP characters (or near-facsimiles of them) into the JJ Abrams version of Star Trek.
It's probably my aversion to that particular interpretation of the Trek-verse but I really haven't seen anything so far in this story that makes it worth my while continuing to read this story any longer. Don't get me wrong, I don't see any technical problems with your writing. It's just the story fails to interest me and setting is one that I dislike.