The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds

by Kamahido

Chapter 14 - Focus Group

Arc returns to the Main Hall. Dinky and her friends are waiting for him patiently.

“Sorry about that.”

“We understand, dad.”

“So, are you four ready to get moving?”

Sweetie Belle nods. “Sure! But… where?”

“I thought we’d go far a bit of a ride. A change of perspective is good for everyone.”

Babs Seed looks confused. “I don’t get it.”

Arc chuckles. “You will. Follow me.”

Dinky and her friends follow Arc outside. They walk around to the back of the building to the new ship. Dinky gasps.

“Dad, is that the Lunar Destiny?!”

Apple Bloom tilts her head to one side. “It looks a bit different from what I remember.”

Sweetie Belle looks to Arc. “Could it be the new paint job?”

Babs Seed points a hoof at the bow of the ship. “What that!”

Looking up they spot a familiar symbol painted on the hull. Dinky looks up to her father.

“Dad, why is your crest painted there?”

Arc grins. “Because this is mine.”

Apple Bloom raises an eyebrow. “So, it’s NOT the Lunar Destiny?”

Arc shakes his head. “No. It’s a whole different ship entirely.”

Dinky looks to him excitedly. “Can we go aboard?!”

Babs grins. “Yeah! I wanna see the inside!”

“Sure. Let’s go.”

They head for the mammoth ship’s gangplank and enter through the Main Hatch. Arc leads them down the corridor toward the Bridge. Sweetie Belle looks around.

“This ship is pretty big for just one!”

Apple Bloom turns to Arc. “Yeah! Why’s your ship need to be so huge?”

He shrugs as they step onto the Bridge. “Probably because it was built more as a warship then the Lunar Destiny was.”

Dinky looks nervous. “A warship?!”

Tight Ship walks over and salutes. “With all the trouble that seems to find the Hero of Light, the princesses felt he needed a more… durable vessel.”

“Really? I’m not THAT bad! …am I?”

Soarin chuckles. “Apparently you are, sir.”

Wrangler nods. “When Princess Cadance told Hard Hat this was going to be your ship, he cancelled most of the orders for luxurious furniture and amenities, sir.”

Sweetie Belle looks around. “I thought this place looked a bit more spartan on the inside.”

Moon Dancer nods. “That’s not to say the ship isn’t fit for a princess or the Hero of Light though.

Arc grins. “Agreed. My room is still quite nice.”

Dinky hops up and down. “I can’t wait to see it!”

Thunderlane laughs. “Thanks to the bits saved on all the unnecessary stuff, they were able to put in a bigger engine!”

Wrangler nods. “And better weapons!”

Arc grins. “So we can blast whatever we can’t outrun. I like it!”

Lemon Hearts looks over. “Yes, well… all the ship lacks right now is a name, sir.”

Tight Ship looks to Arc. “It’s your vessel, sir. You should have the honor of naming it.”

Apple Bloom hops up and down anxiously with Dinky. “Oh boy! I bet he’ll come up with something really cool!”

“Yeah! What do you think, dad?”

“I’ve been considering that very matter since yesterday. After all, we can’t keep calling it ‘Experimental Ship #3’ forever.”

Babs Seed looks up to him. “So what did you come up with?”

“How about ‘The Equinox’?”

Sweetie Belle looks confused. “What’s that?”

Apple Bloom’s eyes light up. “I know! It’s the time of the year where the day and night are the same length!”

Dinky nods. “Yeah! That’s a really cool name, dad!”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Babs Seed turns to her cousin. “How did you know that, Apple Bloom?”

“Us Apples have to learn how to watch the seasons from a young age. Harvest too early and you’ll have bad apples. Too late and you won’t get all your crops in on time.”

Sweetie Belle puts a hoof to her chin. “Really? I never knew that.”

Dinky giggles. “Me either.”

Apple Bloom smiles happily. “Wow! I actually knew something Dinky didn’t!”

Babs Seed looks over to Arc. “She’s the smartest foal in our class. Up until now, I kinda thought she knew everything.”

Dinky shakes her head. “Nah! My dad’s smarter than I am!”

“In any case…”

Arc turns to Captain Tight Ship.

“I’d like to take a bit of a flight with these four.”

“Yes sir. Where should we go?”

Arc thinks for a moment. “Nowhere in particular. I just thought we could fly around. Give the new ship a good workout.”

Soarin turns to Tight Ship. “It would be a good time to test everything before we head out on a real mission, sir.”

Dinky tugs at her father’s tunic. “Can we fly over to Cherry Hill Ranch?”

Apple Bloom looks out the window. “I kinda wanna see the Everfree Forest from above!”

Sweetie Belle giggles “Baltimare would be nice to see! Rarity talks about it all the time!”

Arc turns to Babs Seed as she looks out the window.

“Where would you like to go?”

“I, uh… don’t know. Anywhere the others want to, I guess.”

Arc looks to Moon Dancer. “Can you plot a course so we can fly over all of those places?”

“Yes sir.”

Tight Ship nods. “Make it happen, Thunderlane.”

Soarin turns to Arc. “We’ll take off soon, sir.”

“Is there a Game Room aboard?”

Lemon Hearts nods. “Yes, sir. However the view would be better from the Observation Deck.”

Dinky giggles. “Games sound like fun to me!”

Sweetie Belle frowns. “But I want to be able to see the scenery!”

Arc laughs. “Let’s do both.”

Apple Bloom looks confused. “Huh?”

“I’ll show you what I mean. This way.”

Arc leads the fillies off the Bridge. The door closes behind them as Wrangler turns to Tight Ship.

“Captain, how about we stress test the engines while we’re at it?”

“Sounds good. Lemon Hearts, notify Stellar Flare of our plans and prepare to take off.”

“Aye sir.”

Soarin looks nervous. “Sir? Is it really wise to have fillies aboard? I mean, this IS a military ship after all.”

“They’re with the Hero of Light. Do you want to be the one to tell him that?”

“N-no sir!”

Wrangler laughs. “They’ll be fine!”

Moon Dancer giggles. “I believe they’ve never flown before. More than likely they’ll be watching the terrain below for quite some time.”

Lemon Hearts turns to Tight Ship. “Captain, Stellar Flare wants to know if you’d like to test the weapons later in flight.”

Soarin looks over a chart. “It looks like we could make a small detour to pass over Horseshoe Bay.”

Moon Dancer nods. “It would be a perfect place to perform a weapon’s test. Nopony lives along its southern edge and it’s well within our borders.”

Tight Ship sits back down in his command chair. “Agreed.”

Meanwhile, Arc leads the fillies to the Game Room.

“Here we are.”

Dinky looks all around. “Wow! There’s so much to do here!”

A wall sized cabinet holding a multitude of board games sits silently to one side. Numerous tables and chairs are scattered around the room. Air hockey along with foosball and a small pool table sit on the other side. Sweetie Belle turns to Arc.

“What should we play first?!”

Arc head for the cabinet. “Why not take a few games up to the Observation Deck?”

Dinky nods. “Then we can play AND see the sights!”

Apple Bloom grins. “Yeah! Let’s do that!”

Babs Seed nods happily. “Uh huh!”

Sweetie Belle turns to Arc. “Can we come back later to play here?”

“If you want to, sure.”

They each pick a game and head for the Observation Deck. As they sit down the engines come to life. Babs Seed looks nervous.

“What’s that sound?!”

Dinky grins. “I think that means we’ll be taking off soon.”

Arc nods. “Yup. Let’s have a seat by a window.”

They do so as the ship slowly lifts off. Dinky looks down at the terrain.

“We’re flying south!”

Babs Seed appears unsure. “Is that good?”

Apple Bloom laughs. “It means we’re heading to Dodge Junction first!”

Sweetie Belle frowns. “Awww…”

Arc smiles at her. “You’ll get to see Baltimare as well.”

“It’s okay. I’ve just never been much for… uh… out of the way towns.”

Apple Bloom turns to Dinky. “So what should we play first?!”

“How about this one?!”

She holds up a game entitled ‘Marenopoly’. Sweetie Belle looks worried.

“Won’t that take a long time?”

Babs Seed giggles. “We have all day, remember?”

Arc nods. “She’s right. Let’s set it up.”

They do so. Babs Seed looks out the window at the clouds flying by the window as Apple Bloom turns to her.

“Babs, do you know how to play this game?”

She says nothing and continues looking out the window. Sweetie Belle waves a hoof in front of her friend’s face.

“Hello?! Anypony there?”

Shaking her head Babs looks at them.

“What?”

“I was just asking if you’ve played this game before.”

“Huh?”

Dinky turns to her father. “Sorry, dad. Babs sometimes gets like this.”

“It’s okay. No one’s perfect. Now let’s play!”

They begin playing. Babs looks out the window constantly, looking back to the board only briefly to roll and take her turn. Dinky levitates the dice over to her friend.

“Babs? It’s still your turn.”

“But I just took one.”

Apple Bloom nods. “Right. But you rolled doubles, so you get to go again.”

Babs shakes her head. “No thanks. You can go, Sweetie Belle.”

Arc raises an eyebrow. “But it’s my turn next. We’re going clockwise, remember?”

“Oh! Uh…”

Arc looks to the filly. “Is something bothering you? You haven’t been too focused since we came onboard.”

Sweetie Belle frowns. “Yeah! And what are you looking at out there anyways?!”

Apple Bloom jumps up onto the table and looks out herself. “I don’t see anything too special. Just empty fields, boulders, and a few clouds.”

Babs Seed sighs. “It’s nothing.”

Arc looks to her. “Well, ‘nothing’ appears to have you looking pretty sad today.”

She does not respond. Dinky looks to her friends.

“Is anypony else hungry?”

Apple Bloom nods. “I am!”

Sweetie Belle giggles. “Me too!”

Arc chuckles. “I guess I could go for a snack.”

Babs Seed looks over. “Want me to run to the Cafeteria?”

“Sure. It’s on the deck below us. Just follow the signs.”

“Yes sir.”

Babs hops off her chair and quickly leaves the Observation Deck. The fillies look to one another confused. Sweetie Belle is the first to speak.

“She’s really acting weird lately.”

Dinky sighs. “More so than usual.”

Arc turns to Apple Bloom. “Does she do this at home?”

“All the time. It’s like pulling teeth to get her to do anything all the way through!”

Dinky sighs. “It’s the same at school. She almost never has her homework or pays any attention in class.”

Sweetie Belle nods. “All she does is stare out the window. If Miss Cheerilee calls on her, she doesn’t even seem to notice.”

Apple Bloom frowns. “Luckily I sit next to her and can give her chair a quick poke with my hoof. At least then she can answer with a quick ‘I don’t know’.”

“You don’t suppose this has anything to do with her and Diamond Tiara, do you?”

Dinky shakes her head. “Nah. That was quite a while ago, and she did this back then too.”

“Interesting.”

Sweetie Belle raises an eyebrow. “It is?”

“Kinda. Let’s play a different game while we wait for her to come back.”

Apple Bloom smiles. “Like what?”

Dinky holds a game up. “How about this?!”

Arc looks at the box. “Candy World?”

Sweetie Belle gasps. “Oh! I love that game!”

Apple Bloom hops around. “Me too! And it’s not time consuming either!”

Arc shrugs. “Fine. Let’s set it up.”

Dinky looks over as she opens the box. “But what about when Babs comes back?”

“Then we’ll continue our game of Monopoly.”

Sweetie Belle looks confused. “Monopoly?”

“Oh, sorry. We have a game on Earth like this.”

“Is it fun?”

“Yup. But it’s just as time consuming.”

Dinky looks to him. “Can you teach me how to play it when we go back to Earth, dad?!”

“The rules are pretty much the same.”

Sweetie Belle puts her hooves on the table. “Come on! Let’s play!”

Twenty minutes later Apple Bloom throws up her hooves.

“I win!”

Arc laughs. “Congratulations!”

Sweetie Belle looks to Dinky. “Want to play again?!”

“Sure! But, where’s Babs?”

Arc looks toward the corridor. “She never came back.”

Apple Bloom stands up. “I should go look for her.”

“How about you let me do that?”

“Dad?”

“She’s probably just busy making something special. That and I’d like a chance to talk to her.”

Sweetie Belle looks confused. “Uh… okay.”

Arc stands up. “I’ll be back soon. You three play another round of Candy World, or something.”

“Okay!”

Arc heads for the door. The fillies look at each other, confused.

“I hope there isn’t anything wrong with my cousin.”

Sweetie Belle nods. “Yeah. She’s… just confused, that all. Right?”

Dinky nods soberly. “Maybe it’s from her hard life.”

They shrug and set the game back up. Meanwhile, Arc walks down the corridor. As he nears the stairs he spots Babs Seed looking out a large window. Her front hooves rest on the pane and her nose is pressed against the glass.

“Babs?”

She jumps back from the glass with a start and whirls around to face Arc.

“S-sir! I… um… sorry.”

“Something wrong?”

Her eyes dart around nervously. “N-no! I just stopped to look outside for a few minutes!”

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Just a few minutes. Why?”

“You left us almost twenty minutes ago.”

“I did?”

“Yes.”

Babs Seed looks down at the floor silently.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No. But I think we should have a talk.”

“W-what about?”

“Let’s take a walk. I’m sure the others would still like a snack before lunch in an hour.”

Arc leads the filly toward the Cafeteria. The smell of food greets them from Arc’s favorite room.

“Something smells tasty!”

Babs nods. “It sure does!”

Walking through the empty Cafeteria, Arc pushes open the door to the Kitchen. Lemon Hearts is hard at work stirring pots at the stove. She hurries over to Arc and salutes.

“Sir! What can I do for you?!”

“We just stopped by for a little something for me and my young friends. Any suggestions?”

Lemon Hearts thinks for a moment.

“There’s some cheese in the refrigerator and crackers in the pantry.”

Arc nods. “That should tide us over.”

Babs looks over at the pots on the stove as Arc heads for the pantry.

“What are you cooking?”

“Corn Chowder. I hope you’ll like it.”

Babs Seed hops up onto a stool. “Can I tastes some?”

“Sure!”

She gives Babs a spoonful.

“Hm… it needs something.”

Arc returns with the crackers. “Like what?”

“A bit of seasoning. Do you have any turmeric?”

Lemon Hearts nods. “Yes, I’ll fetch it from the spice rack.”

“And a little pepper!”

Lemon Hearts returns with the requested items. The filly carefully adds a bit of each before tasting it again.

“Much better!”

“Really?”

Babs gives her the spoon. “Try it for yourself.”

Lemon Hearts does so. Her eyes light up.

“That IS better!”

“How’d you learn that, Babs?”

“Granny Smith taught me! She’s really good at cooking, you know!”

Arc nods. “I’ve tasted her food in the past. Have to agree with you.”

“Yeah! Apparently they were really poor back when she was young. So she had to learn how to stretch what they had on hoof.”

“Makes sense.”

“Even when things got better for them, she never stopped practicing! Someday I wanna be just like her!”

“Yes, well… why don’t we let Lemon Hearts get back to work now?”

Babs Seed hops off the stool. “Okay!”

Arc holds out the crackers. “Can you carry these?”

“Sure!”

Babs takes the package as Arc turns to the refrigerator for the cheese. Lemon Hearts walks over to him.

“Sir? Don’t forget this.”

She holds out a cheese knife, which Arc accepts.

“Thanks!”

The pair leave the Kitchen and head back toward the corridor. As the sky comes into view Babs Seed stops and looks outside. Arc gives her a few moments before speaking.

“You really seem to like staring off into space.”

Babs jumps and looks to him apologetically.

“I… I did it again, didn’t I?”

Arc nods. “Yes. You want to tell me what’s going on?”

Babs sighs. “I wish I could, but… I don’t really know myself.”

Arc sets the knife and cheese down on a nearby table and gestures for Babs to sit down. “Why don’t you and I have a chat? Maybe we can figure this out together.”

“O-okay.”

Babs and Arc sit down at the table. She fidgets nervously and again looks out the window.

“What are you thinking right now?”

“I… um… I don’t know.”

Arc turns to the window himself. “What do you see out there?”

“N-nothing.”

“Do me a favor. Just keep looking out there.”

“Um… okay.”

Babs does as she is told.

“Now then, just let your mind wander.”

“But that’s what everypony is telling me NOT to do.”

“Well, you can for now.”

“Okay.”

“In any case, I’m going to be very quiet. Now I want you to voice whatever you’re thinking.”

“What if it’s silly?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Okay. I’ll give it a try.”

For some time there is not a sound in the Cafeteria other than the slight hum of the ship’s engines.

“How can Granny Smith make Zap Apple Jam more easily…?”

“Jam?”

“I know it’s silly.”

“No, no. Keep going with whatever you’re thinking.”

“Well. She works really hard making sure everything is perfect. From inspiring the jars to hopping over the water to the timing of every last step. There just HAS to be an easier way!”

“Just because something’s always been done a certain way doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best or only way.”

“That’s what I told Applejack! But she just told me to keep that kind of talk to myself.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because it would probably make granny mad. Or sad… or… something. I don’t know.”

Arc frowns. “That doesn’t sound like a very scientific way to make jam.”

“I kinda thought so too. But Apple Bloom said that’s how it’s always been since… well, as long as she knows.”

“And you want to make it more streamlined?”

“Uh huh! You see, granny’s getting older and having trouble doing all that stuff to make the jam. I figured I should try to find a way to help out my new family!”

“That’s very nice of you.”

“Is it?”

Arc nods. “Wanting to make an elderly family member’s life a bit easier is, yes.”

Babs sighs. “All I can think of are different ways to make the jam more efficiently. At least that’s how it started.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Now I just can’t seem to concentrate on anything else!”

“Like schoolwork, huh?”

“Or my chores.”

“I see. We should probably talk to someone about this.”

Babs looks suddenly fearful.

“NO! Please!!!”

“What’s wrong?”

“If Applejack or Granny Smith found out I was daydreaming about something they told me not to all the time they’d be upset! They might even…!”

Babs is suddenly silent.

“Might what?”

She looks down at her hooves. “Send me back to the orphanage.”

“Now why would they do that?”

“Because I’m broken. Who wants a filly who can’t do what she’s told or pay attention in class?”

Arc puts a hand on her small shoulders. “They do.”

Babs looks up. “Huh?”

“The Apple family isn’t going to send you back. Not now, or ever.”

“How do you know?”

“Because they love you. Listen, do you remember the day I introduced you to them?”

“Of course! I’ll never forget it!”

“Do you remember how early it was?”

“Yeah. The sun was barely up. But they’re always up by then.”

“That’s right. Coco Pommel and I went over there that very morning to tell them about you. And do you know what Granny Smith said about it being too early?”

“What?”

“That you had waited for a family for long enough. They were THAT interested in bringing you home.”

Tears begin to form in the corners of Bab’s eyes as she smiles.

“They… they did?!”

Arc nods. “Yes. You’re a part of the Apple family now. No matter what happens.”

He puts and arm around the filly as she lowers her head and continues crying.

“I… I just care about them SO much! They took me in when NOPONY else wanted me!”

“That’s right. And they’re going to make sure you’re raised and cared for as long as you need it.”

Babs sniffles. “I… I know I’ve been making trouble for Applejack lately.”

“The meeting with Cheerilee?”

Babs nods sadly.

“Class is just so BORING to me! All I can think about is helping granny!”

“Well, you might be able to come up with a solution. But you’ll have to do something first.”

“What’s that?”

“Learn. Become a smart little filly. Use what you’re taught to figure this problem out.”

“But granny needs help now!”

Arc nods. “I know it’s not fun to wait. But if you don’t start paying attention to your lessons, you’ll never be able to get to that point.”

“I know that! I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but I just can’t do it!”

“Maybe Emerald Dream can help you.”

“Who?”

“She’s the psychologist in Ponyville. Maybe she could give you some tips on how to balance everything.”

“I hope so. Right now I’m doing my best to do everything as fast as I can! But I know I’m failing at both.”

“Applejack or Big Mac could take you to see her. I’ll talk to them about it when I take you home Sunday night.”

“Do you think they’ll be mad?”

Arc shakes his head. “I’m sure they won’t be. You shouldn’t be afraid to go to them if you have a problem though.”

“I’ll try. But it won’t be easy.”

“That much I know. But why don’t we get back to your friends?”

Babs nods. “Yeah. I’m sure they’re worried about us by now.”

Arc chuckles as the pair stand up. “Apple Bloom especially, I’m sure.”

“Why her?”

He looks over at Babs as he picks up the cheese and knife. “Because you two are family.”

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Nice start with the ship, though I hope they have a call already made for a tow and emergancy assist, with it being able to fail in all sorts of new and exiting ways. Simplest being, bigger engines means different weight distribution, stresses on teh frame, thermal management which needs even more room etc.

On Earth, the fastest MegaZeps could hit over 120 mph, faster than the biplane fighters. Certain changes to propulsion theoretically could give the same ship a top speed approaching 250mph, equivalent to a WW2 bomber on Militery Thrust. For not much more fuel consumption.

Babs better be careful. She doesnt want to end up pulling aFlim and Flam on Granny. Taking Grannys decades of evolving research into the high magic zap jam production, and finding out all she needs to do is the equivalent of Poison joke solution, normal jam, poison joke antidote.

[Solar_Wolf]

Arc turns to the widow himself. “What do you see out there?”

[Kamahido]

11731839
Fixed.