Chapter 2
Scootaloo hummed a jaunty tune as she galloped through the trees as fast as she could, her little wings buzzing excitedly as she ran. She was sure that Sweetie Belle was wrong and that the wish from the comet would make her fly any day now. Raising her head, she stared at the flashes of blue sky that broke through the treetops, imagining herself not running across the ground but flying at supersonic speed in the air. “One day soon!” she muttered, biting her bottom lip in eager anticipation, lost in her thoughts.
It was due to this that she ran head-first into the discarded telescope tripod.
“What the?” Scootaloo rubbed her head as she prodded the strange contraption that had sunk slightly into the mud. At her touch, one of the legs cracked and gave way. She stared up at the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse, nestled in the tree above her. “Hey, Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Why’s there a hat stand down here?”
There was no reply. Shrugging, she began to climb up towards the doorway.
Scootaloo had reached the top when Sweetie Belle’s head bobbed into view. “Hi Scootaloo!” Sweetie whispered, looking about conspiratorially. “You can’t come up here I’m afraid. I’m… redecorating!”
“Redecor-what?” Scootaloo pulled herself up onto the platform that surrounded the clubhouse, trying to peer around her friend. “Why does that mean I can’t come in, it’s all of our clubhouse! What if you get a redecorating cutie mark?”
Sweetie Belle moved to block Scootaloo’s view of the interior. “It’s really, really important redecorating!” she stressed. “I mean, if you were doing some painting, you wouldn’t want some pony to put their hooves over it, would you? This is exactly the same thing!”
Scootaloo thought about this for a moment. “I guess…” She frowned, though she couldn’t make the logic work quite right in her head. She was sure Sweetie Belle wouldn’t lie though. “In that case I’ll just have to practise my flying!” she exclaimed brightly.
Sweetie Belle’s mouth hung open in amazement. “You can fly?” she gasped. “Scootaloo, that’s amazing!”
Scootaloo shrugged, puffing at a curl of her mane that drifted down in front of her eyes. “Well, not yet, but I did make that wish over a week ago, so it’s bound to come true when I least expect it! That’s how wishes work!” With that, she spread her little wings and leapt backwards off the platform towards the ground.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes opened wide in panic, and she stared over the edge of the tree house. Half-expecting to see Scootaloo soar away into the clouds, instead she was met with a loud crashing noise, and the sight of a dazed Scootaloo lying sprawled below. “Are you okay?” she called down.
“Yeah!” Scootaloo called back. “I just need to work on missing the ground!”
When she was sure that Scootaloo had departed, Sweetie Belle slipped back into the clubhouse. Navigator was still lying in the same corner where Sweetie had found the strange pony an hour ago but now with a branch tied securely to a broken hoof, to help it mend.
“That was my best friend Scootaloo!” Sweetie whispered to Navigator. “I’ve known her all my life; we should tell her about you, she could help! She’s the best flier in all Equestria, or at least she’s gonna be! She can do anything!”
Navigator’s voice stuttered out from under the mask in its unnatural crackly tone. “N-no, Sweetie Belle. You promised me! The less ponies that know, the better, trust me! Now, can you see the battery?” Navigator pushed the battery towards her with one black-clad hoof.
Sweetie Belle stared at the battery for a moment. “I can get somepony to fill it up!” she chirped out. “Twilight Sparkle can do it, she’s the best unicorn in Equestria! And I can be super sneaky so she won’t know why I need it!”
Navigator’s head shook. “No, Sweetie Belle, they’ll ask questions and then they’ll find me, and I won’t be able to carry out my mission. It has to be you, do you understand?” Slowly and painfully, Navigator shuffled forwards. “I believe in you, Sweetie Belle. Just pour some magic into the battery, like pouring a glass of water.”
“But I can’t…” Sweetie Belle trembled slightly, looking towards the open door, and then back to the battery. She made a decision – she had promised to help after all. Scrunching up her face in utmost concentration she focused on the battery, her horn glowing with a soft light. She tried to visualise filling the battery up, using all her willpower to funnel the magic into it. Her head started to throb hard, beads of sweat pricking out on her forehead as a pounding headache filled her thoughts. “Come on, come on!” she cried, stomping her little hooves on the floor before finally collapsing and gasping for breath.
She saw the battery in front of her. There was a thin measuring gauge on the side, and a tiny speck of colour at the very bottom of the gauge to show the power level. “Oh,” she squeaked sadly. “I thought I’d done better than that.”
Navigator patted her gently on the mane. “It’s okay, Sweetie Belle,” the pony soothed. “You did great. We can try again later. Now, get some rest, I need you to find the box for me.”
***
“Stupid Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo crashed through the undergrowth, limping slightly from her fall. Something about her friend had seemed slightly off – perhaps she really was trying to get a redecorating cutie mark all by herself? But that wasn’t like Sweetie Belle, not at all.
She gave her little wings another flap. They buzzed uselessly at her sides. If only she could fly, then she could hurt her legs as much as she wanted and not have to limp all the way home. It wouldn’t be long now, she mused. Then she could really get to work in impressing everypony.
Scootaloo was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the ground suddenly turning into a deep slope, and yelped as she fell onto her injured hoof, rolling down the sharp incline until she stopped with a hard bump at the bottom of a small pit.
“What the hay…” She clambered back to her hooves and looked about. The earth was blackened and charred, as if a mighty hoof had punched the ground with a force huge enough to create a crater in the middle of the forest. The sides were not too steep, and Scootaloo was just about to clamber back out when her attention was drawn to the middle of the crater.
Lying embedded in the scorched ground was a small metal box. Scootaloo gingerly reached out to touch its charred surface and then withdrew quickly. It was warm.
Examining the box more closely she could smell the whiff of burning. It was as if the box had been set on fire, and the ornate-looking top was coated in soot and ashes. Spitting on her forehoof, Scootaloo started to scrub at the lid to reveal flashes of metal beneath the grime and what could only be a large red ruby inset in the middle.
Scootaloo popped her head out of the crater, looking about in case there was anypony about who might have owned the box, but the woods were quiet. She gazed underneath the ruby at traces of writing that had been written in what looked like silver. She rubbed harder at the box to reveal the words. Four simple letters that took her breath away:
“WISH”
It was a gift from the comet! It must be! An answer to her wish. “Thank you comet!” Scootaloo called up at the sky, as she got to work extracting the box.
***
Sweetie Belle collapsed the moment she reached home, panting for breath on the doormat. It had been an exhausting day searching the forest and surrounding farmland for the box Navigator spoke of. She had found two beehives, a nest of vipers and what she was convinced was a modern art sculpture (but probably a kettle that had been thrown away). The box however, remained undiscovered for the moment.
She had been slightly worried to report her failure to Navigator; she still wasn’t completely sure about the strange pony, but Navigator had just slouched down and told her that she might have more luck tomorrow.
Sweetie Belle thought the pony sounded sad.
“Oh, Sweetie Belle, look at the state you’re in! So uncouth!” Sweetie stopped lounging on the doormat to stare up at her big sister Rarity who for some reason was taking exception to the large amount of brambles that had accumulated in Sweetie Belle’s curly mane.
Sweetie Belle fluttered her big green eyes upwards as cutely as she could in the way that always seemed to melt the hearts of adult ponies. “I was only playing!” she chirped, “I can stay in tomorrow and help you about the house if you want!”
Rarity’s eye twitched and she gently shooed her messy little sister towards the kitchen. “No, I… I think it’s good you’re getting some fresh air!” she stuttered out firmly. “Now eat up before your dinner gets cold! And have you seen my hat stand? I’m sure it was here yesterday!”
Sweetie Belle hopped up onto a chair and stared down at the bowl in front of her. She was just about to start eating and sate her rumbling stomach when she realised that Navigator hadn’t eaten anything – if Sweetie Belle was hungry, how hungry would Navigator be? She quickly gulped down a few mouthfuls and looked across the table at Rarity. “Rarity, I’m gonna go stargazing again later with Scoots and Apple Bloom, can I take the rest of my dinner with me?” She fluttered her eyelashes again.
“Certainly not!” Rarity flung her nose up with a tut. “You eat your dinner at the dinner table, Sweetie Belle, that’s what polite little fillies do!”
Sweetie Belle grumbled as she screwed up her face and tried to think of a way to sneak the rest of her dinner out to give to Navigator without arousing suspicions. Through the kitchen window, she saw a birds nest perched up in a tree, the mother bird spitting out food for her young. In a flash of inspiration, Sweetie Belle gulped the rest of the meal down in one motion, holding it in her bulging cheeks, and then with an innocent smile, vaulted from the table and out the door.
Rarity shook her head and sighed. “Oh, to be young again!”
***
“Blaaaargh!” Sweetie Belle expelled the contents of her cheeks onto the floor in front of Navigator and then looked up, chest bursting with pride at how clever she had been.
Navigator stared at the meal for a moment. “That would have been a good idea,” the pony stated hesitantly, “if it wasn’t soup.” The cold soup started to slowly seep into the wooden floorboards of the clubhouse.
Sweetie Belle bowed her head at the mess she had made. “I’m sorry!” she mumbled. “I didn’t think it through.” She felt a hoof weakly patting her on the side.
“I know, Sweetie, I know. You’re a good friend.” Navigator’s head tilted slightly. “There’s some apple trees nearby, maybe you can get me some apples later. But first…” the visored helmet nodded towards the battery again. “Could you try to fill it up a bit more. For me?”
Sweetie Belle trembled a bit at the thought, memories of the painful magical headache coming back to her. She hadn’t felt that bad since the last time she’d eaten ice cream too fast. “I… I dunno. Is it important?”
Navigator nodded, staring out of the window. The stars had begun to emerge into the darkening sky, but there was one speck of light moving slowly across the heavens. The comet was brighter now, easily seen by the naked eye if only for brief moments every night. “If I can’t find the box, I need to be at full power,” Navigator turned back to Sweetie Belle, pushing the battery forwards. “We only have a few days before they come for me.”
***
Sweetie Belle tried to use those few days the best she could, and her exertions soon turned into a routine. Every morning she would trot down to the clubhouse to check that Navigator was still okay, before chasing away an inquisitive Scootaloo and Apple Bloom and spending the rest of the day searching further and further afield for any sign of the box.
There was no sign of it. Every day Navigator would get more and more agitated, but was strangely unwilling to reveal what was inside it apart from the fact that it was “the most important thing in the world”.
The star pony was reluctant to answer any questions about what it was like to live in the stars; instead every day their conversation became more and more feverish and slurred. Sweetie Belle suspected that the fall from the sky had broken more than just a hoof – Navigator’s breathing grew more haggard as the time wore on, and the pony was still unable to stand. To Sweetie Belle’s eyes, her friend was getting weaker and weaker.
Finally, one night Sweetie Belle came back to the tree house to find Navigator gone. The pile of sweets and apples that she had gathered for the pony to eat lay untouched on the floor and the only sound in the room was the door as it banged open and shut in the wind.
Sweetie looked out of the window up at the night sky. There was no sign of the comet now, but she had seen it when she was walking through the forest, even bigger and brighter than it had ever been, before flicking out of existence. Perhaps Navigator had gone back to the stars without saying goodbye?
Sweetie Belle then glanced down and saw that she was wrong. In the moonlight she could make out the body of a pony that lay sprawled across the ground, unmoving. The speed in which she bolted out of the tree house surprised even her.
Sweetie barely had time to skid to a halt as she barrelled into the body of Navigator. She shook the black-suited pony with all her might but there was no movement apart from the lowest, most ragged breathing Sweetie had ever heard. “What are you doing out here?” she squealed in the cold night air. “You should be inside getting better!” She started to quiver, all alone in the woods with the star pony. It had gone too far. She needed to get help. She had to get help.
She began to move in the direction of Ponyville, freezing as a thought crossed her mind. What if Navigator was so ill she died before she could return? She had to make sure Navigator would be okay until she could get specialist attention. There was a bottle of water in the clubhouse; Sweetie Belle quickly clambered back up and retrieved it, launching herself down the wooden steps and back to her friend.
Her friend. Sweetie Belle constantly thought of Navigator as a friend, but she didn’t know anything about the pony, apart from the constant pleas for help and requests for secrecy. That wasn’t something that friends did, was it? She hovered the water bottle over the pony’s helmet, looking for any sign of where she should pour the water, hesitating before deciding not to pour the water into the grille-like device inset into the front.
“Navigator, wake up!” Sweetie Belle shook the pony again, harder this time. She was met only by more ragged breathing. Gulping hard, her heart thumping away in her chest, she came to a decision. She fumbled her hooves around the bottom of the helmet, and gave a tug at what seemed to be some sort of catch. She leapt back in shock as a hiss of steam escaped from a valve, before deciding it was safe and forcing the other catches open.
“Navigator, I’m going to take off your helmet!” she whispered urgently. “I know you don’t want me to, but I need to give you water, then I’ll get help!” There was still no response. Grasping the edges of the helmet, Sweetie Belle pulled with all her strength and with a pop it came free, sending her flying backwards.
Sweetie Belle slowly extracted herself from the helmet and stared at the revealed face of the star pony which rested unconscious on the forest floor in front of her. It was a mare, who continued to breathe raggedly, though to Sweetie’s ears it sounded much more natural than it had through the helmet. That was not what concerned Sweetie at that moment however. Her throat dried up as she stepped forwards, scarcely believing what she was seeing. It was impossible.
Quickly she remembered her motivations, and pushed the water bottle up to the pony’s mouth, gently trickling the water in as to not choke her. She stared at the pony’s face for a moment longer, until Navigator began to stir, coughing gently. This spurred Sweetie into action, picking up the helmet and pressing it back into place until the catches clicked. Immediately the coughing took on a rougher, more static-filled sound as it filtered through the helmet.
“Sweetie Belle?” Navigator started to stir, trying to move before falling with a whimper. “There’s not much time!” she croaked. “I t-thought I was well enough to s-search for the box myself. I n-need to have it before they t-try to stop me. Y-you have to tru–”
“It’s okay.” Sweetie Belle smiled down at her friend from the stars, her expression tinged with concern. “I trust you, Navigator, I’ll do anything to help you, but what can I do?” She shook her head sadly. “You’re still hurt from falling and you won’t get better until you get some proper help!”
“The battery!” Navigator tried again to pull herself up, but her leg gave way and she crumpled back down. “T-there might be enough charge t-to fix the suit. T-that will heal me.”
Sweetie Belle turned to retrieve the battery from the tree house, but paused as the night sky above suddenly burst with light as a blazing ball as big as the sun exploded into view to roar across the heavens before vanishing as suddenly as it came. The sky was silent and dark again.
“It’s not a comet, is it?” she whispered.
“No,” Navigator replied weakly. “No, Sweetie Belle, it’s a ship. And it’s been crashing for two weeks. I’m out of time.”
Sweetie Belle ran as hard as she could to retrieve the battery and fill it with one last burst of magical energy.
This time, she gave it everything she had.
***
Scootaloo sat back in her crumpled bed sheets as she gave one final polish of the box with her rag, tilting it up to the moonlight to get a better view. She had spent the last few days diligently cleaning the mysterious box until the last speck of soot was gone from its surface.
The box almost shone in the moonlight. At first she had thought it was mostly wooden, but it seemed to be a mixture of brass and copper and silver and all sorts of other metals, all inscribed in complex patterns that ran over the surface. It was surprisingly light too, as if it was hollow, but when Scootaloo shook it, there didn’t seem to be anything rattling inside. There wasn’t even an obvious sign of any lid or way to open it. It was just… a box.
She gazed again at the ruby inset in the top. If Scootaloo didn’t know better, she would have thought that it was gently glowing of its own volition, illuminating the letters beneath it in an eerie red light. But of course, rubies didn’t do that. It was just the reflection of the moonlight.
Laying back in bed, Scootaloo hugged the box, staring out of the window as a bright flash of light exploded in the sky and then vanished again. It was as if the comet had returned for a brief instant just to applaud her for her progress so far.
“Thank you, comet!” she called to the already fading ball of light in the sky. “But… what do I do now? Are my wings in the box?” She shook the box again. It didn’t feel like there was anything there. The words ‘WISH’ inscribed on the top seemed to mock her slightly. “I wish…” she mumbled, furrowing her forehead. “I wish I could fly! I wish!” With determination, Scootaloo leapt off her bed, wings fluttering furiously and uselessly as she crashed to the ground with a crunch.
“Ow! What am I doing wrong?” Scootaloo picked herself up as quietly as possible and clambered back onto her mattress, concentrating hard on the complex patterns inscribed in the box’s surface. There were lines, grooves, patterns, circles. They reminded her of some of the star diagrams in Sweetie Belle’s book; completely indecipherable, but pretty.
She slowly traced her hooved around the largest circle, a gold cog-like pattern that surrounded the ruby. A sudden hissing noise caused her to snatch her hoof back as steam escaped from invisible cracks in the box’s surface. With the grinding of ancient clockwork wheels, the circle of metal started to turn. Scootaloo watched, mouth open as the ruby glowed brighter for a moment, the geometric shapes on all the sides of the box ticking round until they stopped and the box fell dark.
“Oh.” Scootaloo prodded the box. It didn’t light up again. “It’s a puzzle.” Her face fell.
“I’m no good at puzzles.”
***
Carrot Top gave a heavy sigh and dropped the plough into the hard earth. The field was still only half-furrowed and it was getting difficult to see, even by the light of the moon. She shivered in the cool night air as she looked up to the stars in the sky.
It was all Berry Punch’s fault, distracting her throughout the whole day with various illicit substances. Partying all day didn’t help to sow the carrot seeds though, and so now Carrot Top found herself working through the night to get her crops planted. Farming relied on very strict timetables, after all.
She shook her head in frustration, cursing Berry Punch’s name. It was too dark and too cold to work. Thinking for a moment, she closed her eyes and under her breath began to whisper: “Dear Princess Celestia. Please can you bring out the sun just for a little bit…”
She trailed off uncertainly. She needed the sun to do her work, but it was night-time – surely she should be praying to Luna, Princess of the Night. But Luna had a moon, she didn’t have a sun. Carrot Top didn’t think so, but didn’t want to pray to the wrong princess and risk getting smited. She wasn’t even sure if the princesses listened to prayers, but it was worth a shot.
Carrot Top cleared her throat, speaking up at the sky a bit more loudly this time. “Dear Princess Celestia. I really need some more time to furrow the soil, can you please put the sun back in the sky for a bit?” She stood awkwardly, waiting. Hopefully Princess Luna hadn’t been too upset at the petition to shorten the night.
The sky remained dark and cold. Carrot Top’s shoulders slumped as she started to feel even sillier for praying to Celestia. Placing a hoof on the plough she readied herself to get back to work, firming it up against the hard ground.
A bright flash of light exploded into the sky above her. Carrot Top dropped the plough as she skidded backwards into the earth, mouth hanging open while she shielded her eyes from the bright sphere in the sky. “Thank you, princess, thank you!” She squealed happily, clapping her hooves together.
The celebration did not last long. As Carrot Top watched, the ball of light grew larger and larger, and a roaring, whistling noise filled the night air. The sun was falling! “No! No, don’t smite me!” Carrot Top willed her fear-frozen limbs to move, galloping as hard as she could across the half-ploughed field as the flaming ball rocketed downwards, its motion through the air sending tremors across the ground.
Carrot Top leapt over a small mound of earth for protection as the sun smashed into her field like a skipping-stone across water, bouncing a fiery path as it roared past her until finally stopping, having carved out a deep muddy ditch for itself in the middle of the field.
Carrot Top swallowed hard, gingerly approaching the flaming ball which was now silent save for the crackling of the fire that surrounded it as it lay motionless in the field. “T-thank you p-princess!” she squealed upwards. “T-thank you for giving me the sun a-and ploughing my field!” She surveyed the carnage the sun had made of her field on its crash landing. Needless to say she wouldn’t be asking for Princess Celestia’s help in future.
The sun wasn’t as hot as she had imagined it to be. She could approach quite closely, and could see that rather than being a ball of pure fire like she had always read about, it was in fact a large metal sphere that was covered in dimming flames. She looked at it in concern. Was the sun going out? Was she supposed to look after it properly? Did Princess Celestia expect her to put it back in the sky?
As these problems circled around her head there came from within the sun a clanging noise, and a large door swung open in the side. Carrot Top watched with growing terror as two ponies dressed in strange black armour covered in glowing neon strips of light clambered out and onto the ground in front of her.
“H-hello?” Carrot Top surveyed the newcomers. If Princess Celestia had sent them, then they must be friendly. Perhaps they were here to help plant the carrot seeds? “Welcome to Equestria!” Carrot Top enunciated slowly and clearly. “I keep my carrot seeds in my house.”
The ponies looked at each other. At least, Carrot Top assumed they were ponies. Instead of faces they both had large featureless helmets which reflected the fields around them and gave no indication as to their identities. One of them had a slightly larger pointed helmet, as if room for a horn. The other seemed to be a pegasus, with black-clad wings at its side. The inside of the sun didn’t look big enough to fly about in to Carrot Top, but she didn’t like to judge others.
The pegasus took a step forward. “Hello!” it stated in a deep, grating static-filled voice. Carrot Top shrunk back slightly, looking around in case she needed to make a hasty escape. Perhaps the ponies weren’t supposed to be loose. Perhaps they were like the Mare in the Moon. Perhaps…
Carrot Top’s eyes opened wide. Perhaps it was the Stallion in the Sun!
She had only just made the ‘Stallion in the Sun’ up, but it sounded just about right. “Don’t eat me or turn me into stone! Or carrots!” she gabbled out uncontrollably, clamping her mouth shut before she could get herself into any more trouble.
The pegasus shook its visored head and ran a hoof around its neck. Hissing jets of steam escaped as catches unfastened, and the pony slowly removed the heavy metal helmet. Carrot Top wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t this. The pony’s mane tumbled across their face as they shook their head free.
There was something strangely familiar about the pony, but Carrot Top couldn’t put her hoof on it.
“Hello!” the pony said, and this time free of the helmet, their voice was normal: soothing yet with a confident quality. “I know this will sound crazy, but you have to listen to us and trust us completely. My sister and I have travelled a long way to get here. There’s great danger.” The pony smiled, offering a hoof to shake. “My name’s Pound Cake, and I’m from the future.”
Carrot Top’s mind started racing. It stopped before she did herself any damage. “So… you’re not here to plant my carrots?” she whispered back.
Then she fainted.
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My bad.
Feature box, ahoy!
I'l definitely look into this later.
Anypony else see the picture and immediately thought of a Quarian from Mass Effect?
This sounds neat. I'll have to check it out! :>
I read the description and though of a cross between Dr. Who and a pedophile.
1080542
Okay. I so didn't expect this!
>Flight of the Navigator
>plot is about a doomsday device
1080886
There's a subtle difference between a doomsday device, and something that can end the world.
I haven't read this yet, but my brain was all like:
Oh, boy! A Quarian!
But then I was like:
A destructive box? HELLO TARDIS!!!
LET'S READ AND FIND OUT!!!
Wow, when Twilight Sparkle isn't being transfigured into a rock, steam locomotive, prairie dog, etc., you tell a great story. Rarely have I been more amused than your very dry description of Sweetie "cleverly" burying her sister's hats in the garden.
You've got characterization nailed.
"Whatever it was, it was definitely not Scootaloo." ... ... If you say so!
Hah! Interesting. I'd like to see where this goes, please write more
I read 'Flight of the Navigator' and instantly think of that one movie....
Brings back good memories...
Wow! So awesome!
I can't wait for the next chapter!
The plot fucking thickens like shit man. PLEASE ADD MOAR
So I just met you
And this might sound crazy
But you need to trust me
I'm the Cake's baby
So... is the navigator Applebloom?
1080420
Aaa you jinxed it!
Brilliant as always
1080479 I thought more "are you my mummy?"
That's how I like to do introductions.
"My name is kingtiger666, and I'm from the future."
That might be why all my friends are completely insane.
What a tweest!
Seriously dude, please don't leave us hanging. Who's Navigator? And what's with the box? We must know!
Very interesting so far, can't wait for the rest.
Is this a reference to the 1986 Film by chance? Nostalgia aside I can't help but think of the space ponies as Quarians now. 25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m53q3qtYsr1qcmx10o1_500.png
1087500
What a badass picture! Is that a Mass Effect thing (I've never played it :( )
There are a few nods towards that film yes (I loved it as a kid!) though more nods towards the similar film Starman if I'm honest. I like to have a wide range of homages. It'll make sense as the story progresses, I don't want to spoil anything!
1087516 Yes that's a Mass Effect thing. I'm glad that you're paying homage to awesome 80's sci-fi movies. Keep up the good work.
1087543
One day I will find a way to pay homage to Masters of the Universe (the film) and then my life will be complete.
I'm very eagerly waiting for more of this mysterious adventure.
Hrrm. Time travel is involved, so the Navigator is probably an older version of an earth pony Sweetie knows... I'm guessing Diamond Tiara, purely for the lolz.
Congrats on the EQD feature
Added to the read later pile
How did the suit land on the cloud with the magic reserves depleted? Or is that a passive enchantment?
1087516
I loved Flight of the Navigator when I was younger. Glad to see people still remember it
Also, a question:
“In that case I’ll just have to practise my...
What's the difference between 'practice' and 'practise'? Seems like one of those weird British-English idioms.
Also, let me guess: Sweetie Belle saw her future self or someone she knows in future form.
Ok here is my guess; hope I'm not spoiling anything, but if I'm right...
*
*
*
*
I'm saying the Navigator is Scootaloo from the future... She walked on clouds... but can't fly. And she may be here to change the past to grant her younger self's wish. Which could be bad since it will change the future.
1132233
How indeed
Ah. Well, I'm looking forward to future chapters.
1085177
Dangit, me too!
"No Jaime,it's me! Your sister!"
"Are you my mummy?"
All my friend freaked out when they saw that episode
Oh dear Celestia... it's a puzzle box...
I KNEW I should have let Scoots die in the Rainbow Factory! Now she's going to open to doorway to hell! Stupid tiny-winged pegasus! This is why in the olden days ponies believed in eugenics! Imperfect ponies ALWAYS bring about the end of the world!
*waits for Pinhead Pony to show up*
I'm loving the story so far your writing is top notch and the story has just enough intrigue to keep me reading.
liked and waiting for updates!
More, please.
1142615
Shhhh
Cough cough cough
*Mashes delete key*
i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh533/Hobo_mcpancake/moar.jpg
I can't wait to see where this ends up.
Intriguing. Faved.
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In British/Commonwealth English, "practice" is the noun ("I'm going to go to accordion practice") and "practise" is the verb ("I'm going to go practise playing the accordion").
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You have my eternal gratitude... for a few hours. xD
“Yeah!” Scootaloo called back. “I just need to work on missing the ground!”
Oh, Hitchhiker's Guide <3
Oh hey, unicorn and pegasus, and the other was earth pony, maybe as I said on last one earth pony is Apple Bloom and these two are the other DANGIT SHE SAID HER NAME
But, future pony suspicion confirmed! 1/2 ain't bad. Eagerly awating more!
... so they're from the future.
Kinda had a suspicion in that direction...... aaaand apparently I'm not the only one who thought it'd be "Crusaders from the future, yay!"
...though the cake twins make sense too. Timetravel is an established concept in the MLP:FiM universe after all, I'm surprised I haven't stumbled into any other works with Pumpkin Cake using time magic or anything of the likes prior. Though the "Navigator" has to be somepony Sweetie Belle knows, or at least teh color scheme / mane must be obvious enough to deduct who the parents are - her reaction when she lifted the helmet gave that away.
If it's Applebloom, that'd go well with the "not telling a lie, just not telling the truth"-thing, and why she didn't want to tell Sweetie Belle about "how it's like, where she came from", or even giving out a more convincing false name. She didn't want to lie either. It'd also explain how she knew Sweetie Belle's name, despite being unconscious at the time when Sweetie Belle first introduced herself. Nice one there, didn't even notice that at the time.
If it *is* Applebloom, the immediate question arises - what about the other crusaders?
Yeah, obviously the ship's crewmembers were chosen for their qualifications, and not based on them being a group of childhood-friends or not. But still, curiosity and all.
Also, on the matter of their time-traveling ship - it seems somewhat unlikely for Equestrian technology to have reached that point within just a single generation, just like that. Also, the "Navigator" stated that the box contains "everything" - and Pound Cake stated that they came with a warning.
I'm taking it that means it contains information on how to deal with whatever is coming, and possibly, the very key to developing the level of technology the crew of the time-vessel possess. It might be a closed time-loop, as opposed to an attempt to alter the past - or an attempt to fulfill a closed timeloop gone wrong. (Ship crashing, crewmember jumping overboard, essential equipment lost... yeah, everything's going exactly according to plan)
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Interesting theories! The next chapter will be along in the next week or so (time permitting) so you shall see!
1240066 Lookin' forward to it, already subscribed to this story.
Also intrigued to learn what exactly is going on between the "Navigator" and the Cake-twins - there has to be a reason the "Navigator" was trying to find the box specifically before the twins arrived. There's obviously a disagreement amongst the group of time travelers.
...
"There was an explosion as the spherical craft vanished, a pounding wave of energy following in its wake that radiated outwards with the rumble of a miniature hurricane."
...on an interesting sidenote, why has the ship been "crashing for two weeks"? It's implied that it basically keeps popping in and out of existance every night - what's up with that?
This is fun, I look forward to chapter 3
Now I've got this powerful urge to watch the old movie.
Future tech, space ponies and mystery....Good job!
Any chance that this fic isn't dead ?