Heaven Sent
Captain’s Log, Stardate 47933.1
After a healthy dose of uncertain fear, it appears as though Lord Crump’s reports of this Rosalina character were greatly exaggerated. She has expressed minimal-to-no desire for his return to her for charges, stating that she was just looking for him because of a lack of other things to do concerning the Void. Curiously, she seemed to think inviting us over to her Comet Observatory for dinner was the most important item on her to-do list.
Naturally, I accepted. Commander Tails and Counselor Troi will be accompanying me.
~~~
Picard was struck by the beauty. “I’m sitting on a grass lawn looking out at the vacuum of space without a barrier between us.”
“There is a kinetic field that retains the atmosphere,” Rosalina reported. Even seated, she was still significantly taller than them—if she had stood, she would have dwarfed even the tallest human. And yet, Picard did not feel threatened in the slightest.
“It’s… amazing,” Tails said, scratching his head as he examined the stars. “I have no idea how you did it.”
“A lot of time, patience, and hard work. It also helped that I could work on it over time for thousands of years.”
“That… would do it.”
Some of the star creatures that called the Comet Observatory home—Lumas—drifted over. They were pudgy little five-pointed blobs of color and eyes that giggled when they moved. They provided Picard and his crew lunch; including, to Picard’s delight, freshly brewed tea. He took the teacup first and tasted it. “Of course, Earl Grey. How did you know?”
“I have my ways,” Rosalina said, smiling softly. “Like a certain lion you know better than you might think.”
Picard nodded slowly. “Ah…”
“Do you care to elaborate?” Troi asked.
Rosalina shook her head. “I don’t think I will, Counselor.”
“What can you tell us about yourself?” Tails asked.
“I am the guardian of the Lumas.” She waved her hand, prompting a blue one to nestle up in her fingers. “And, in a sense, the guardian of the galaxy itself, for all is stardust, and they are of the stars themselves. I oversee an integral part of the universe’s life cycle, of birth… and death.” She looked to Picard with her single visible eye. “An unnatural death built on anger and tragedy currently threatens that process.”
“The Void,” Picard nodded.
“I have known for some time that it was coming, as I have known that you would arrive, though when it was revealed to me I did not foresee its exact nature.” A soft smirk crawled up her face. “It’s what I get for choosing to think as I do.”
Picard didn’t understand what that meant and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. He sipped his tea. “What are we, to you?”
“In the most basic of senses, you are housing a criminal that has incurred my attention one too many times. But he is, in the end, of little consequence—just a man seeking his own selfish ambition. I leave him to do with as you please, which I suspect will be to keep him held until the Void is dealt with. In the secondary sense, I find you fascinating. Your ship design is clearly Hume, while you have a Mobian on board. It is rare enough for one of your ships to slip through the fabric between realities, it is rarer still to have an integrated crew of multiple worlds. And, in the third sense… you are here, thinking yourselves heroes in the quest to end the Void.”
“Are we?”
“Yes. No.” Her smile widened. “Paradoxes like that are so delightful, don’t you think?”
“I find them confusing,” Tails said.
“I find them intriguing,” Troi countered. “Rosalina…”
“I will not answer the question you are about to ask, Troi.”
Troi shifted uncomfortably but fell silent.
“Then how about this,” Picard said, folding his hands together. “Tell me, do you know the location of this universe’s Pure Heart?”
“I do.”
“Can you take us there?”
Rosaline closed her eye, smiling softly. “Not you, Picard. I will only send the chosen there.”
“Surely you—”
“It is within my power, Captain. It is not within my will. The chosen of the Light Prognosticus will go alone, with no hope of backup.”
“But—”
“Captain.” She leaned in, eye twinkling. “Trust me.”
Picard sat back. “I do not believe we have much of a choice.”
“You can still choose to go along with it willingly, or you can make it difficult. You always have a choice, Captain.”
“I choose willingly,” Picard said with a soft chuckle. “Besides, I cannot find it in my heart to believe you mean us any harm.”
“But I do,” Rosalina said, sitting back. “Not physical harm, of course. But there are other kinds of harm.”
“Trials?”
“Of a sort.”
“Then I welcome them.” Picard folded his hands together. “Experience is what makes us stronger, after all.”
“I would say be careful what you wish for… but you are wholly honest.” She placed a hand on his, nodding to him. “Your crew, on the other hand, is uncertain.”
“But loyal. Finest ship in the fleet.”
“You are right about that. They are. One might even say unnaturally so.”
“What does that mean…?”
Smiling coyly, Rosalina stood to her full height. “I am going to order the Comet Observatory to return to the aptly named Mushroom World. It will take less than a minute to arrive. Would you like to accompany me, or would you like to return to your ship?”
“I would love to, but I must stay with the ship,” Picard said. “I’m afraid this will cut our lunch short.”
Rosalina nodded. “Naturally. Do call ahead for me, would you?”
“Naturally.” Picard stood up. “We’ll take the shuttle back, now.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Rosalina said, taking out what appeared to be a wand from her sleeve. “My ‘transporters’ work just fine. Where would you like to be sent?”
“Transporter bay three,” Picard said, tapping his communicator. “Enterprise, Rosalina will be beaming us to transporter bay.”
“Acknowledged.”
A second later, he, Troi, and Tails appeared on the transporter pad in the Enterprise in a flash of blue light.
“Captain, she’s hiding something,” Troi said.
“She’s hiding a lot of things,” Picard said. “At least she was kind enough to make it obvious that she was.”
“I don’t trust her.”
“I do not believe we have much choice… it is preferable to go along willingly, don’t you think?”
“I’m gonna agree with the Captain here,” Tails said. “She knows where the Pure Heart is and she’s going to send the heroes to it. The Light Prognosticus doesn’t say much about us, as far as I know.”
“We are secondary,” Picard mused. “Our journey in the previous world accomplished nothing for the mission, and it looks as though we will not be permitted to accomplish anything in this one.”
“It’s deeply unsettling to me,” Troi said. “It is as though something is conspiring against us to keep us… out.”
“A prophecy, perhaps?” Picard said, chuckling.
“Sir, I’m not sure you’re saying that in a joking manner anymore.”
“And if I’m not?”
“I…” Troi paused. “I am unsure.”
Picard nodded. “The feeling is mutual, Counselor.”
~~~
Cortez’ ship floated in the middle of the ocean, waiting.
“I can’t believe you got me kicked out of Delfino,” Cortez grumbled. “I was just getting a nice tooth-shine!”
“Um, yeah… sorry.” Toph scratched the back of her head. “I kinda wanted to show him who was boss.”
“Yarrr…” Cortez glared at her. “Next time you conquer your enemy, I want to be there for it. Consider it… payment.”
“Hey, if you’re around, you’re free to watch. Tickets to the Blind Bandit show are always in season!”
“Yar hahah! I like your spirit!” The joy in his tone vanished in an instant. “You still owe me.”
“Y-yes pirate skeleton ghost man,” Toph stammered.
On the prow of the ship, Vivian looked at the island receding in the distance.
“The Comet Observatory will be with us shortly,” Data said, joining her.
“Did we even need to go to the island?” Vivian asked.
“We have learned invaluable information about the past of our situation. We do not have all the pieces as of now, but I am sure your sister’s story will be invaluable.”
“Yeah, but…” She frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t remember any of that, but it’s my story too. I was there. For a moment there, I felt like I was one of you guys, but then O’Chunks came and I had no idea what was going on and…” She stopped talking, instead opting to focus on the pattern her finger as making on the wet wood of the ship.
“I did not fit in at first either. They did not even consider me one of the ‘heroes’ at the start. I was a friend and an assistant on the outside—it wasn’t until later that we realized I was mentioned in the Light Prognosticus. After that, I was adapted in. When Caspian came in, I could see his separation from the others. But he proved to be an amazing help, and I think of him as part of us. Your journey will no doubt be the same.”
“Except Caspian hates me.”
“He has difficulty accepting what you are.”
“Hmph…” Vivian glared at the receding island in the distance. “There’s so much going on I don’t understand.”
“I believe everyone shares that sentiment.”
Behind them, Twilight burst out into laughter. Her conversation partner, Cosmo, frowned. “Did… I say something amusing?”
“Well, no, but, yes?” Twilight smiled sheepishly. “Of course you wouldn’t find it funny. But I was just reminded of the time Pinkie cloned herself a million times.”
“How… how is that related at all?”
“Her mind makes weird leaps of logic,” Toph answered.
“I think I missed the start of this conversation,” Caspian said, blinking. “What was Cosmo talking about?”
“Well, I wa—” Cosmo stopped herself. “Twilight? Are you okay?”
Twilight frowned. “Pinkie… I wonder if she’s doing okay. She was always the happiest, most bouncy of us. Almost nothing could get her down. But… almost nothing.” She shook her head. “It’s been months. I haven’t heard or seen anything about any of them. I… feel so distant.”
“Hey.” Cosmo lifted her head up. “You have us, right? We’re not replacements, but…”
“But you are my friends,” Twilight said with a nod. “It’s… it’s hard, sometimes. But you all let me smile even in times like this.” She wrapped Cosmo in a wing hug.
“Introduce us to your other friends when we save them, got it?” Toph asked.
“Oh, of course! I might have to warn you about Pinkie, though she—”
There was a burst of color that interrupted Twilight and drew their eyes to the sky. The Comet Observatory had arrived, its elegant castle-like spires making all the clouds seem insignificant and bland.
“By my missing seventh arm…” Cortez breathed. “They have an awesome spaceship… And they make it look so prissy!? Put some ominous skulls on that thing, give it a few banners! And at least make it look like you’re carrying treasure! For shame!”
The Comet Observatory sunk into the ocean until its main level was at the height of Cortez’s ship’s deck. The woman they all presumed was Rosalina extended a hand to them. “Come, heroes of the Light Prognosticus. Your destiny awaits.”
Cortez ground his teeth. “I better be able to get on the next one.”
“The Enterprise will rendezvous with you, if you wish,” Data said.
“Then I do! Make it so! Ya-har!”
Data cocked his head, let out a curious hum, and sent a message to the Enterprise as he boarded the Comet Observatory. Twilight, Tippi, Toph, Cosmo, Caspian, and Vivian crawled on after him.
With a flick of her wrist, the Comet Observatory lurched into space once more, but they felt no change in their inertia as they moved.
“Amazing…” Caspian said, looking over the edge of the Observatory to the world below. “A round world… It’s almost as though I could touch it…”
“We are several thousand kilometers up,” Data reported. “I would not recommend it.”
“Come,” Rosalina said, leading them to a smooth glass floor. Six circles in a hexagon shape were inscribed on it, with a seventh circle sitting in the middle. “Stand however it feels natural to you.”
Tippi ended up in the center. The rest took the order in which they had been recruited: Twilight, Toph, Cosmo, Data, Caspian, and lastly Vivian, her shadowy tendrils discoloring the glass.
“You are the chosen,” Rosalina said. “I am sending you to the galaxy—or solar system, if you prefer your terminology—that contains the Pure Heart. There will be a launcher where you arrive that will send you back to me, once you are finished. Do not use it before you are done. You will be cut off from all communication with Flipside, the Enterprise, and myself. You will have nothing to rely on aside from each other. Do you understand?”
All of them nodded in unison.
“Then go… go and obtain the Pure Heart.” She waved her hand, summoning a flat piece of shimmering metal that took the shape of a hollow, five-pointed star around them. With a twirl of her hand, she sent the star construct into a spin. The energy from the construct shunted into the seven chosen and they were launched into space with a burst of energy, sailing away not unlike a comet.
“Do well, young ones.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.037 seconds
Total duration
920 users online
373,365 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Hard work and determination?
"I read your Memory Alpha page. There's not not much to do out in space, and I ran out of books centuries ago, so I read entire wikis to the Lumas. ...I'm extremely lonely."
Rosalina apparently deciding to communicate entirely in memes today, which, to be fair, wouldn't be a first for Star Trek.
"Heroes? No. but heroes? Yes. The capitalization is important, you see. It makes it a dreadful pain to start sentences, though."
Oh, I see how it is. When a lion challenges your will you stubbornly refuse, but when a pretty lady asks you to undergo trials you do it without a second thought. I'm on to you, Picard...
"It means that if you name a ship Enterprise, it has a 50/50 chance of being the finest in the fleet or being destroyed immediately. And since you're here, it's probably not the latter. Unless you're all ghosts. Which I really hope isn't the case because Luigi is currently missing, and E. Gadd is banned from the Observatory after last time. Don't ask."
Honestly, you guys should welcome the break. It's been nothing but galaxy saving for you guys for 7 years straight, sit one out for once.
can't believe they managed to kick Cortez out at all. Or that he wasn't able to cover the damages himself.
And also it's neat. That's a good enough reason for me!
And then you murdered them all. Like, seriously, the fact that you were worried about hitting the real Pinkie means that the spell worked on things other than clones. And 'sending them back to the Mirror Pool', sure, but we don't see them in the Mirror Pool later, and even then that's just eternally trapping them... Too Many Pinkie Pies is dark.
I'm glad this is here. It has been months, even if the pacing sometimes doesn't feel like it, and Twilight wasn't separated from her friends under the best of circumstances. The fact she isn't constantly an anxious mess probably comes down to a combination of focus on her task and because she can't drive a story that way.
Nah, man, Comet Observatory is great just the way it is. Who needs intimidation when you can just be chill as hell?
thank you
Space Princess is here! And, personally, I think she works a lot better than Aslan. Being cryptic and mysterious suits her a lot better, and she lacks Aslan's weird... kindly arrogance? I don't know how else to put it. Also, she's more upfront, which helps.
Also she's pretty, that could also be it.The heroes have taken the Launch Star to the Pure Heart's hiding place; what awaits them in thisgalaxysolar system? Find out, on the next episode of Super Twilight Galax- wait, no, hold on, sorry, I mean Worlds Apart, my mistake.What’s the galaxy’s name
I expect the next chapter to start with screaming as they are flying at top speed through the vacuum of space. That or a feeling akin to being on a roller coaster. Launch stars are an effective form of travel but they would take some serious guts to use in real life.
Ah yes, Rosalina. The enigmatic cosmic queen, ineffable yet strangely limited in what she can do on her own. Her reasons and methods are her own, and there's no point in questioning either.
Shimmy would probably have a few choice words for her, but we'd be dipping into a completely different story.
In any case, definitely looking forward to the trials and the secondary characters' further grappling with their nature as secondary characters.
In one chapter Rosalina has proven herself to be a better god than Aslan could ever be. Thanks, cosmic queen.