Troubleshooters: Tia and Twily

by ultra1437

Shift

It was supposed to be a routine patrol. Keep an eye out for pirates and other ne’er do wells in this area. Report if there was trouble.

Well, trouble had shown up alright. A capital ship, a dreadnaught by it’s sheer size. From the looks of it, likely stolen, with a few mismatched supporting cruisers, blockaded the trade traffic, ransoming or ransacking each ship they could, outright destroying others. As the security scout ship’s captain looked out her bridge, those pirates were making a killing, literally.

Reaching over, the scout ship’s captain hit the communicator. “Command, we’ve got a situation here. Sending live feed.”

---

Nodding to the moon still in the sky, Twilight stepped aboard her ship. Making her way down the dim hallways, she found her destination. Twilight sipped her coffee and hummed a small, jaunty song to herself as she entered the Celestia’s bridge. She sat down at her command console and no sooner did the communicator go off.

Curious, she opened the line. “REN Celestia. Captain Twilight Sparkle speaking.”

A gruff voice responded. “Sparkle, it’s Admiral Lightspeed. We’ve got a situation here and need an immediate response. Opening video feed.” A window popped up in front of her, displaying the scene. Twilight set her coffee down in it’s holder and watched.

Lightspeed commented, “We’ve found a dreadnaught and six supporting cruisers ransacking this trading lane.” A small map popped up on the window’s right, displaying the exact coordinates and location. “We’ve got a small fleet on the way, but I’m afraid it won’t be enough to stop that ‘naught.”

Twilight looked over the scene in front of her and snorted. “Send me your fleet composition and I’ll come up with something we can use. The Celestia will be ready to go inside twenty minutes.”

“Affirmative. And thanks, Twilight. We owe you one. Lightspeed out.” The audio feed cut out, but the map and video remained. A few seconds later, a list of ship names, types, and their captains popped up next to it.

Twilight chuckled before pressing a button on the command console. An alarm sounded, and the bridge was bathed in red light. She spoke immediately, “All hooves, report to the Celestia. We’ve been commissioned to help stop some pirates.”

She tapped another button and the message repeated. She sat back and sipped her coffee.

It was finished in a few minutes, just as the first of her crew filed into the bridge, trudging their way to their consoles. All around her, the ship slowly came to life. The reactors started humming, and everything from the engines, to the shield batteries and weapons powered up.

A golden flash heralded her marefriend’s arrival. Celestia yawned. “G‘morning Twi. What’s wrong?”

Twilight brought the video up on a much larger projector. “Lightspeed’s asked us to help take all that–” She pointed to the largest ship. “–out. We’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

Celestia nodded as she looked back to Twilight. “What is that ship? It looks familiar, but I can’t place its class.”

Twilight shrugged. “Lightspeed said it was a dreadnaught, but not what kind.”

Star Torus spoke up, “It’s one of those new Griffon ones. Mother Hen-class, if I’m looking at it right. It appears to be called the Hunting Party.” He stood up and moved over to the screen and pointed out several markings. “It’s definitely been stolen. It’s not even complete yet.”

Twilight blinked at it. “In any case, we’ve got to assist Lightspeed’s fleet in stopping it.”

Celestia looked over the fleet composition. She noticed one in the list and spoke, “Oh hey, we’ve got the Kindness coming. Nice to know we’ll have carrier support.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. And it’s one of the hardiest supporting vessels we’ve ever built.”

Celestia nuzzled Twilight. “Well, I’ll head down to the Supercharger and get it warmed up.”

Twilight eagerly returned the affection. “Thanks, love.”

As Celestia exited the bridge, Twilight looked over her officers. Helm was strapped in, and the sound dampeners couldn’t quite drown out the engines firing up.

“Is the board green?” was all she asked.

Helm replied first, “Aye, sir.”

The communications officer chimed in, “It is, ma’am.”

Torus spoke last, “Engineering’s green here. Ma’am.”

Twilight radioed the tower. “Canterlot Tower, this is Captain Twilight Sparkle of the REN Celestia, requesting permission to leave dock.”

“Celestia, this is Canterlot Tower. You’re clear to proceed.”

“Affirmative Tower, Celestia out. Helm, let’s get out of here.”

The docking clamps released and the Celestia was off.

---

Once in orbit, Twilight got ahold of Lightspeed’s fleet. They’d be the dark horse in the fight, teleporting in behind the pirates as the fleet itself engaged directly.

Things hadn’t gone as planned. Celestia misjudged the teleport, landing directly between the two engaging fleets. Directly in front of the dreadnaught’s charging main gun.

From the bridge, Twilight slammed down the on the intercom. “Celestia! Supercharge the banks! It’s gonna fire!”

Wasting no time, Celestia’s horn lit and she practically poured her power into the banks near her. She watched the display climb to forty, then onto fifty percent full.

Back on the bridge, Twilight called out, “Supercharger power to the forward shields!”

The meter stopped rising. Despite that, Celestia kept pouring power into the banks. The forward emitters shuddered before glowing gold, a matching half-bowl shield forming around the front of the ship.

The bridge’s view was obscured by the opaque shield. Visibly, the dreadnaught’s main gun sparked and lightning danced across its hull. “Brace–” Then the cannon discharged.

It all happened in slow motion to Twilight. She saw the arc of light leave the gun’s chamber. In what was actually a split second later, but felt like minutes, the massive shell collided with the supercharged shield, disintegrating and imparting its mass onto the field. The field warped and bent, but otherwise held as the shell’s remnants spilled off at a fraction the speed of light behind it.

Then it was over. The shield’s glow faded, returning to normal. She keyed the intercom again. “Celestia, power levels?”

Celestia looked over to the bank’s readout. Panting, she replied, “Twenty six percent, Captain. More than enough to get us home, but not enough for another hit like that. My reserves are pretty well done, otherwise.”

Twilight commanded, “Then let’s teleport behind them. It’ll be a few moments until it can fire that gun again, so now’s our chance.”

“Agreed, teleport in ten seconds.”

Twilight pressed a button she had programmed. A blue light lit and everypony braced themselves.

The ship shined gold and disappeared. Helm immediately took advantage of their newfound freedom and gunned the engines. The Celestia took off, before turning around sharply.

“Helm, Gunnery, target the closest cruiser.” The ship angled and soon all the fore-mounted cannons pointed at a cruiser. It was just starting to turn, but it wouldn’t be fast enough.

Twilight shouted, “All cannons, fire!”

The Celestia’s six main cannons fired several volleys, shredding the ship’s rear shields and tearing into its engines. One shot managed to find its way into the cruiser’s engineering section. The cruiser’s engines suddenly went dark and it started drifting.

“Excellent shot, gunnery!” Twilight highlighted another cruiser. “Now, let’s get that other cruiser!”

Another few volleys and a third of the dreadnaught’s support was now inoperable. A voice cut through, desperate. “Celestia this is the Kindness. We’re taking major fire from that ‘naught. We’ve taken one hit from its main gun already. Please hurry!”

“You heard them, Troubleshooters. Let’s stop that Dreadnaught.” Helm took the initiative, closing the distance behind the Hunting Party. The Celestia’s cannons fired again, not even getting close to breaching the shields.

Twilight swore. “Damnit!” She contacted the Kindness. “Kindness, we can’t break its shields. We need more firepower to overwhelm it!” Twilight’s mind furiously worked to find a solution.

“Kindness, Celestia. We’re directing all ships to help, but if that dreadnaught isn’t disabled before it fires that gun again, this ship is lost.” Twilight struck upon an epiphany.

“Affirmative Kindness, I have one idea that just might work. Celestia out.”

She called up Celestia. “Celly, shift places with me.”

“What?! Are you crazy?”

“No. You’re tired, and the most magic I’ve used today was lifting my coffee cup.”

“But this chamber was designed for me!”

“It was designed for any alicorn to use. It’s just tuned specifically for you, so you’d be the most efficient with it.”

“I still say no.”

“And I’m overruling. Celestia, you take the bridge. I will charge the ship.”

“I-Fine. Just leave your plan with the officers. I’ll be up shortly. Celestia out.”

The officers on the bridge, sans Helm, stared open mouthed at her. She regarded them as she commanded, “Alright, here’s the plan. Gunnery, I’m going to supercharge the banks, use that energy for the cannons. Strike as hard as you can. If the shields go down with some of my magic left, focus on the engines and engineering. If we can get the dreadnaught drifting, it’ll not be able to strike much. After that, go for anything that looks weak and vulnerable. Punch as many holes into it as you can. Engineering, keep forward shields full, dip into the Supercharger if you have to.” They nodded as Twilight stood.

The door ‘fwooshed’ open and Celestia walked in. “Dear, I’m not happy about this. I can’t command your ship like this…”

Twilight made her way over to Celestia and nuzzled her softly. “It’s not my ship. It’s ours.” She stepped away. “Besides, you shouldn’t have to. I just gave them the plan. It’s time for me to help in this fight.”

As Celestia sat down in her console, Twilight walked out. Making her way to the ship’s underside, she entered the Supercharger chamber. The room was mostly round, with two main consoles sitting next to each other. Along the walls were twelve large magical capacitor banks feeding into the floor and ceiling. Big and bulky, they were essentially empty giant magical batteries that needed a good charging. Some of them glowed golden, from Celestia’s magical charge present inside them. A series of magic attunement and amplification runes were etched into the floor and ceiling. She stepped into the chamber and her hackles rose, responding to the magic already in play.

“Showtime.” She stepped to the first console, verifying its readout. ‘Twenty six percent charged. Let’s fix that.’ Charging the first two banks, she noticed her reserves already a quarter missing. She checked the readout, forty one percent. Keying up to the bridge, she spoke, “Bridge, Twilight. I’m charging the banks now. Execute the plan.”

Twilight continued focusing on charging the banks. ‘Sixty percent. Sixty five percent.’

On the bridge, Celestia watched as the crew worked fast. Helm took the ship closer to the rear, trying her best to dodge any fire directed their way. Gunnery worked quickly, the cannons firing as fast as they could with the supercharged shells. Celestia kept an eye on the Supercharger’s readout and it kept steady, despite the constant draw.

After a minute, the draw greatly outmatched the flow into them. Celestia watched as each volley pulled the banks closer and closer to empty. Twilight’s voice called over to the bridge, “Bridge,–” Twilight panted for a few seconds. “–Twilight. I’m spent. What you’ve got is what you’ve got.” The link went dead as a thump sounded.

Gunnery yelled. “Shields are down. Hit the engines!” The six cannons trained on different engines and fired simultaneously. Three went out and trained on the engineering sections behind them.

This, as well as the rest of the battle, all went unnoticed as Celestia tore out of the bridge as she heard that thump. Not thirty seconds later she entered the chamber to see Twilight passed out next to the console, the only sign of life was her chest rising and falling as she breathed. ‘You did it, Twilight.’ She pulled her marefriend into a tight embrace, hugging Twilight like she’d disintegrate at any moment.

“Bridge to Supercharger. Anyone alive down there?” echoed through the chamber.

Celestia keyed up. “Celestia here. Twilight’s out cold, but she’ll be fine.”

“Good to know, ma’am. You might want to come up here, there’s a comm-line asking for her. Since she placed you in command, you’re gonna have to take it.”

Reluctantly, Celestia set Twilight down comfortably in the console’s chair and stood. “Affirmative, I’ll be up shortly. Celestia out.” She kissed Twilight under her horn and walked out.

Celestia arrived back in the bridge. She sat down in Twilight’s chair, opening the waiting comm link. “This is the Celestia.”

“Celestia, this is the Kindness. Whatever you just did worked. The Hunting Party’s drifting aimlessly and it’s main gun is offline. We’re mopping up the rest of them. Thank you for the help, we can take it from here.”

“Affirmative, Kindness. We’ll take our leave, then. Celestia out.” Celestia cut the link and stood up. “Helm, I’m going to teleport us back to Equus. Get us clear and brace for teleport in sixty.”

Helm nodded. “Roger that, ma’am.”

Celestia walked out and back to the Supercharger. She left Twilight to sleep at her console. She stepped over to the other one, the teleporter. Setting a destination just outside Equus, she let the remaining charge in the banks do the work for her and the ship flashed violet around her. Not even bothering to get up, she opened a comm link with the Canterlot Tower.

“Canterlot Tower, this is Acting Captain Celestia of the REN Celestia. Requesting permission to dock.”

“Acting Captain Celestia, this is Canterlot Tower. We read you. Docking permission granted.”

“Thanks Tower. For the record, the captain only needs a little R&R.”

The pony on the other end chuckled. “That’s good to hear, Acting Captain. Tower out.”

As the ship settled into dock, Twilight stirred. “Mm… wha?” She looked around blearily. “What happened?”

Celestia rushed over and checked on her marefriend. “Shh, dear. You passed out from over-extending yourself.” She held Twilight down as she tried to stand. “Sit. Dear, don’t worry. We won, thanks to you.”

Twilight had the decency to blush and look away awkwardly. “We did?”

Celestia nodded. “We did. We’re back in Canterlot now, and we saved the Kindness to boot.” She nuzzled Twilight. “Though, I’m thinking some punishment is in order for pulling rank like that.” Twilight’s ears pinned back.

“I-I…” She suddenly found her hooves very fascinating. She whispered something back.

“Twily?”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight suddenly wailed. “It was the only thing I could think of!”

Celestia scooped her up. “Twilight.”

“Please don’t punish me!”

A hoof found its way to Twilight’s mouth. She looked up to see Celestia’s half-lidded eyes. “Dear, I wasn’t talking about punishment. I was talking about punishment.” She put a lot of emphasis on the final word, throwing bedroom eyes at her marefriend.

“Oh. Oh!” Twilight’s face was more scarlet than lavender now. Her back straightened and she looked Celestia in the eyes. “Very well. I accept whatever punishment you deem fit.”

Celestia chuckled. “Well, let’s be off then. You need a little time to recuperate after that ordeal.”

Twilight’s stomach agreed, rumbling loudly. “Can we get some food first?”

Celestia nodded and the pair set off, bellies locked on to the closest all-you-can-eat buffet.

Author's Note:

Written the 10th September, 2014. Polished and rereleased 10th July, 2015.

Comments

[Dustchu]

Ahhh, nothing better then a good l fashoined space fight.
Heeheehee.

Nice job!