The Janitors

by Sense of Humor

First Mission Part 1

There was brief surprise in the cockpit when Twilight discovered another medallion sitting on the dashboard and Rey held it up for everyone to examine. Motley appeared again after being called, also a hologram but seeming to acknowledge them as if she were there. “Finally found the Falcon, huh Murdock? Didn't think you'd take so long.”

“...you sure know a lot for a prerecorded message.” The man addressed sighed in irritation. If anyone guessed, they'd say he’d never really been chastised about his senses.

“I told you: Celestial!” Motley bowed, a strange sight given her body shape. “Anyway, this message will be shorter and more to the point! Pilot Rey,” She smirked as Rey stood slightly straighter. “This ship has been upgraded with a few new dashboard components, weapons systems and an indestructible hull. What you'll definitely like is the Map. It can work like an autopilot and take you to prerecorded destinations all by its lonesome. The first destination for your little team is will be on Akli’thu, a small plethora planet that is undergoing dominance by the group I told you about.”

“Well, at least she sent us to a planet that's being subjugated and not already subjugated. “ Rey received a nod from Twilight.

Jack had been quietly scanning the metal parts of the ship, wondering if they be a pretty price elsewhere but caught the statement. “I still don't know how this rusty looking thing can sail us anywhere, let alone a planet...whatever that is.”

“You will see, Captain Sparrow.” The holographic body began to glow, before suddenly halting. “Oh. Right. Try not to draw too much attention to yourselves at once. They have great numbers and the weapons to go with them.” Only after those words did the hologram collapse in on itself, leaving the group alone again.

“Boy am I glad to be going home soon. “ Harley sat down roughly on a pipe extending from the wall. “ I Do not wanna fight any more armies bent on world domination.”

“Anymore?” Daredevil voiced everyone's thoughts.

“Yeah. I started telling you guys about that bomb in my neck, remember? It was a force thing, you know? Really tiring stuff.”

Rey blinked oddly at her as she reached for a handle, sliding it upwards and causing the ship to vibrate. “well, as much as we'd all like to hear that story, I think we should take flight now.” She toggled a few switches to the side of the handle, grinning as the beeping noises they made. “There we go, girl. Prepare to be amazed, Mr.Sparrow.”

“Captain! Is that too hard for anyone to say?” He would have said much more about the matter, but the ship's sudden lurch upwards erased the notion from his mind. "Bloody 'ell! What was that?!"

The silent captain grinned all the more, gazing expectantly out of the glass windows and viewing their rise towards the sky. The tops of smaller trees fell down below their vision, and the tops of the tallest trees followed behind promptly. In seconds, their surroundings shifted entirely, pushing the treeline down beneath them in a surprising burst of speed and lifting their gazes skyward as they rose. Jack tried a feeble attempt at not seeing too impressed. "Hmm. So we can fly now. That's lovely."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!"

Smirking at the Pirates rather surprised and worried reaction, Rey shifted the handle once again and tested out the new navigation system’s autopilot. The thing made a few whirs and clicks, and soon the ship turned by itself--blasting off into a canvas of light blue and white that funneled and slithered around them in one giant tube of blinding speed. Then that blue became
a pleasant purple that signified a decrease in velocity, and that purple became black as the space around them turned into a slow moving scene.

Twilight had dozens upon dozens of books about space, with detailed sketches from Authors who access to a telescope. But nothing in any of the books she had could compare to experiencing the vast empty voice brought to life with all that floated in it. She almost couldn't believe her eyes as they drank in the sight of the giant black canvas, the Frontier that knew no boundaries as far as she knew. Stars fluttered and twinkled near or far, like ten million fireflies in the night sky above sleeping ponies. Multicolored cosmic dust wafted overhead as they traveled underneath a large planet with rings around it in an ‘X’ fashion and then raced alongside a comet with an icy blue tail trailing behind it. Shapeless dust made beautiful shapes in the far distances; paintings that painted themselves only to mesmerize its viewers. The Alicorn princess felt a little sad that she didn't have her notebook to record any of this or perhaps even a camera, but it wasn't her fault and some things were best left seen and never written. Everyone else seemed to like the scenery without commentary after all; Jack eyed a series of golden moons around an approaching planet with an impressed glint in his eye. Perhaps the luster of the moons could be compared to gold he once carried and treasured, or perhaps it reminded the captain of something else.

Godzilla at his feet gazed upon the blue tail of the comet as if hypnotized by its show of strength, but there was a sense of recognition in the glimmering eyes of the small beast. Perhaps in its past, it once looked to the sky and saw magnificent streaking lights tearing across the night sky. Perhaps he did it regularly in those days, she mused, and now he is able to do it again.

“Geez, if I wasn't trying to get home in a hurry, I might actually enjoy ten times as much as now.” Harley commented more to herself than anybody else, her interest in the comet sapping away her volume. Twilight rolled her eyes at the persistent jester, and the movement had her take notice of Rey, positioned sideways in the captain's seat. A small smile was on the woman's face, but the longer her gaze stayed out in the bright realm of space, the more her smile fell apart little by little. Twilight felt a frown come along herself; what was there to frown about?

Twilight glanced up at Daredevil briefly, her mouth opening before closing sharply. Still, she could see him angle his head down from her peripheral vision and then tilt it back up. “No, I can't sense of any of that.”

Her ears flattened a little against her mane. “Sorry.”

“You didn't do anything wrong. You're just curious.” He said, while his mind tried to conjure up an image of space or anything to visualize where he was. Difficult as it was to imagine earth by itself, he would attempt to imagine another frontier. It wasn't easy at all to picture and he soon reluctantly looked down at Twilight again.

“...How does it look?” When she gave him a look, he continued. “Describe it to me.”

"Describe? Well...um...It's very dark." The Alicorn explained as she herself looked for words to describe space. "But there are tiny specks of light here and there. There's even a few suns up close, though not too close of course. " She paused to search the scenery more. "Its...kinda like somepony dashed multicolored glitter over big
black paper. But so much bigger...and brighter."

"Very descriptive."

The ghost of a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, the action odd when combined with his mask. Twilight hummed in response and fell captive to the silence and scenery again. The constant hum of the ship's engines provided a good ambiance for the six passengers, and time passed quickly even if it only felt like a few short minutes. The mare was just admiring the new, fascinating sights of the solar system they entered when Rey suddenly gained everyone's attention.

"We're here." Their captain pointed out the atmosphere of the planet that they were entering, previously unnoticed by the captivated pony. Twilight stalked forward with wide eyes and watched the giant grey clouds rush past them in their descent, suddenly disappearing altogether to display a troublesome sight. If there was a largely populated area here before, all that remained now was charred debris and the miniscule remains of buildings. Giant blimp-like vehicles parade over the land in an endless patrol, not noticing the tiny speck descending from the clouds and surveying everything. Twilight blinked worriedly; the only time she'd seen anything near this level of destruction was her fight with Tirek.

Daredevil turned his head to any and everyone in the ship, but no one described anything to him. He didn't complain, yet. Twilight was more than willing to voice her opinions. "Um...if this is what we're supposed to save..."

"No, there's untouched land over to the left, see? Heavily guarded." Rey pointed west of the barren wasteland and revealed a more elevated terrain with bigger buildings and roadwork. Even from their height and distance, they could all make out the bustling crowds in between buildings and the blimps that circled like vultures. "I think the majority of the planet resides there for now."

Harley, feigning disinterest, crossed her arms. "Well, let's hope this ship is packin', cuz otherwise yer all screwed big time."

Twilight poked Rey's side gently. "We should land now, while we're still unnoticed. Maybe we can devise a plan to sneak in and see just what we're up against."

The woman was about to voice her agreement with that, but Daredevil raised a fist and hissed between his teeth in a quieting motion. Everyone stared intently as he appeared to focus on something beyond the noise of the ship's flight. After a long stretch of quiet, he gestured towards the back of the Falcon. "No, It's too late to maintain stealth. We've already been spotted." He smacked his lips slightly. "I can taste the rust of one of their ships behind us. Not that much bigger than our own, but I can smell their weapon. It's large. "

"Are you sure you're not really the devil himself, mate?" Sparrow squinted at him accusingly.

"Land now! You are unauthorized to fly in this sector! Land and prepare to be arrested for Trespassing, or you will be gunned down!"

Harley gripped her bat tighter, trying to find some window to look out of. Seeing none, she gave up with an irritated sigh. "They better not shoot us outta the sky."

Twilight looked to the captain of the Falcon. "So...now what?"

Rey sighed, shrugged and sat in thought. She pushed forward on the handles while pulling back on an unknown lever. The Falcon slowed down and lost it's noise level as a result. She pulled her lightsaber into closer range, before nodding at her back-up pilot. "Now...we do like you said. See what we're up against."

Author's Note:

Life is tough and time-consuming! Hence why this took so long! Hopefully i get more time to work on this and all thother stories too.

Comments

[Boltstrike58]

So, the fate of several planets rests on a team that includes Harley Quinn, and Captain Jack Sparrow.
...We're doomed.

[Arc Angel]

Huh, first to review, that's never happen me before, assuming that somebody else didn't manage post theirs before I posted mine.

You know it's funny, I completely forgot about the story, which of course made the update a pleasant surprise. Not a lot of meat here but definitely entertaining what is there.

Slightly ironic is seeing as I'm going to see Justice League tonight

Also weirdly the character I look forward to the most to seeing in action is Jack. Don't know why, I have a feeling the others are going to be wholly surprised when he shows off his unique bag of tricks. That being his innate ability to make stuff up as he goes along.

So keep up the good work, can't wait to see what happens next.

[The Bricklayer]

8566962
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

[Commander Darklight]

8567070
ah but you forget we have a twilight the mare that fought tirek to a standstill

[The Bricklayer]

8567368
Question is, will her comrades drive her insane before they can save anyone?