• Published 30th Nov 2012
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Into the Black: A Mare's Tale - shirotora



Twilight is flung into the farthest reaches of the galaxy

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Chapter 4: Grand Tour

Twilight was woken by a knock at the door.

“Spike, get that please,” She said.

The knocking continued.

“Darn it Spike,” She groaned as she sat up.

It took a few seconds for her to remember where she was. She wasn't in her library, safe and sound in Ponyville. She was Celestia knows where, on a craft floating through space, at war with a terrifying group of beings that want to destroy everything. The knock at the door rang again.

“Hold on,” She called as she wrapped the door in her magical aura.

Twilight choked back a yelp at the sight of the creature at her door. It reminded her of an ant, but much bigger and with a proboscis instead of mandibles. Its thorax sat upright, with a pair of arms extending from the sides. It brought it's left arm in front of it and a voice emitted from a device on it's wrist.

“Forgive us. It is our purpose to ensure cessation of hibernation.” The machine had a feminine voice. “You must partake of sustenance intake. This will be available for one hour, thirty seven minutes.”

“Um... Thanks?” replied the unicorn as she watched the insect-like being move to the next door.

Her attention was brought back to the spartan living quarters she was given. There was nothing but a dresser and a surprisingly comfy bed. After making a mental note to ask about getting something to decorate the place, Twilight decided that breakfast was just what she needed. She jumped out of bed and levitated a brush one of the female humans had given her. She straightened her mane and stepped out the door only to realize that she had absolutely no idea where she was.

“Hey, pony girl,” called a familiar voice, “You look lost.”

Twilight looked to her left to see Debby approaching her in what looked like a wheel chair. The unicorn smiled at the pilot and waved.

“Hello Debby. I am lost.” She said, “Very lost. This place is gigantic. Could you please help me find the cafe?”

“Pff HA. Cafe?” the Aviva's response was concerning to say the least, “That's a good one. Cafes serve real food. All we have is a mess hall. C'mon, I was on my way to get some grub anyway.”

As the unicorn followed her escort she struck up a conversation, “So you eat insects?”

“What?! No! What gave you that idea?” asked Debby laughing at the unicorn’s conclusion.

“You said you were going to get some grubs, like insect larvae,” replied Twilight.

Debby laughed, “Grub is slang for food genius.”

“Oh, of course.” Twilight blushed from embarrassment.

“Ya know, you're alright for a nerd,” stated Debby.

“Hey, I’m not a nerd. I’m a scholar,” Twilight defended.

“And that's different, how?” countered the half human.

“A nerd is somepony who is overly analytical, socially awkward, and-oh Celestia I’m a nerd.” The revelation hit a little softer than Twilight would have assumed.

“Haha, don't worry about it,” Debby chuckled, patting the pony on the back, “Out here, nerds rule. They keep this boat afloat.”

The pair entered a small room and stopped. Debby pushed a button on the wall and waited.

“What are we doing?” Twilight asked, “Why are we sitting here?”

As if to answer, the door they had just entered slid open to reveal a hallway that wasn't there before.

“I'm guessing you don't have lifts where you're from,” said Debby, noticing the confused look on Twilight's face.

“We do but not like that,” replied the unicorn, “They're just used to move heavy equipment and building materials around.”

“If you find that amazing, I got some things to show you that I know you’ll love. Here we are.” The injured Aviva lead the lavender mare into a large room filled with at least a dozen different races, ranging from humans and Aviva to things that look more like small dragons, all eating. “Right this way.” Twilight was led to a line of various beings waiting to get fed.

“Scrambled eggs, pancakes, and fruit, if you would please.” Twilight ordered her breakfast.

The short stocky server let out a bellowing laugh, “I don't even need to see ya to know you're new.” He served up a tray with a disgusting looking brown goo.

“We don't have real food anymore, but we'll get some when we stop in port in a few days,” responded Debby, “Let's go pony girl.”

“Yo! Twilight, Debby!” called a voice from over the crowd.

“Curt!” Twilight replied with a smile.

“What's up, Cunt,” debby greeted.

“Nothin much, Chicken Wing,” he replied, “How was your first night, Twilight?”

“Not too great. I kept having nightmares about... that... at least the bed was soft.” The unicorn quickly changed the subject, “Honestly I was expecting the beds to be hard as rocks, but it wasn't so bad.”

“That's cause you got an officers room.” Seth commented.

“Oh, good morning, Seth,” Twilight greeted the large human, “I didn't see you there.”

“I'm hurt.” He exclaimed, clutching his chest dramatically “I thought we were friends.”

“So you do make jokes,” Twilight teased.

“Only when I’m not on the job,” replied Seth.

“So, Debby, do you mind if I ask what happened?” Twilight pointed to the pilot's leg.

“I broke it trying out a new stunt on my board,” she said.

“Hmmm,” Twilight looked at the leg in thought, “I might be able to help. I know a spell that accelerates the bodies natural healing ability. It won't heal you instantly, but it'll have you back on your feet by tomorrow.”

“Whoa, really?” asked Debby with an excited grin.

“Yeah,” The equine mage confirmed, “Two of my friends are always competing with each other and, thus, always getting hurt. So I learned it to keep them from killing themselves.”

“Well, hell, that sounds awesome,” The temporarily crippled woman said, “Maybe I can find a way to thank you.”

“Well, you could teach me about those machines you fly.” Twilight offered.

“OK, if my legs healed by tomorrow, I’ll teach you about the fighters.” Debby agreed.

Twilight stood up and faced her new friend. “Now there is one side effect to the spell. The rapid healing causes moderate pain. It'll feel like you're trying to walk on a twisted ankle.”

“Fine by me. Pain don't bother me much,” the pilot replied.

Twilight closed her eyes focusing on her magic, her horn glowing with a lavender aura. Debby's leg was wrapped in a similar light. After a few moments she winced, holding back a grunt from the sudden pain. After a couple of minutes the glow faded and the unicorn opened her eyes again. When she looked around she saw every eye on her, most weren't friendly. She remembered what she was told about magic outside Avol.

“Um, Curt,” She said nervously, “You said only the Dratali could use magic here right?”

“Yeah, why?” replied the soldier. He looked around at the faces of the others in the mess hall, “Oh...”

“Ha!” Seth said loud enough so others could hear, “The Dratali won't know what hit them. Wait till they find out we have an adept now too!”

Seth, Debby, and Twilight looked at him like he was bonkers.

He leaned in and whispered, “Play along.”

“Right.” Twilight whispered before saying louder, “Umm... Hopefully with magic on your side... uhh... the tides will turn in our favor, and the Dratali scourge will finally be defeated.”

The expressions of disdain turned to confusion, shock, excitement, or a combination of the above. They all thought Twilight was going to fight for them. At least most did. A few of the faces in the crowd still looked rather skeptical of the magic wielding pony.

“That was a close one,” Twilight said with a sigh before taking a bite of the ‘food’. “Ack! What the hay is this?” The others laughed.

After the four ate (with difficulty on the unicorn’s part) they gave a call to the admiral to get permission to give Twilight the tour of the ship. He allowed it since she was familiar with them. The tour went smoothly. Twilight saw a large gym with equipment she knew nothing about. The theater was a lot like the one back home except with chairs for bipeds instead of ponies. The lounge had several comfy looking chairs and couches as well as a mini-movie screen that people were gathered around. After several other places they came to the most important one... the library.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

“And three months later when you came out...” mocked Rainbow Dash, getting a chuckle from everyone present.

“I probably would have if they let me,” Twilight admitted, “But I only spent an hour in there that time.”

“Oh mah stars, Twi. How did ya manage?” said AJ.

“What I'm more curious about is how they managed to get you out.” Celestia teased, “It took me four and a half hours to drag her out of the Canterlot archives on her first visit.”

“Well I'm skipping that part, because I don't want to give you guys any ideas,” stated the purple pony much to the disappointment of her audience.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The four headed toward the hangar bay. Twilight was still mad about not being allowed to stay in the library, but Debby promised her a manual on the SF-23. At least she would be able to read on something that Equestria doesn't have

The first thought Twilight had when they arrived at their destination was that it was the biggest room she had ever seen. It could probably fit over half of the homes in Ponyville.

“This is the C-98 Big Boy. Our heave transport,” Debby explained indicating a massive box like ship, “That one is the C-104 Little Boy, the one that brought you here.” They walked (and rolled) a bit farther through the hangar. “These are our combat craft, what I fly. We always work in groups of threes. The SB-7 Juggernaut, our heavy bomber.” She pointed to a ship that resembled a spearhead with wings. “That one is the SF-44 Hunter, our interceptor.” This one was the smallest vehicle in the place. It was a more cylindrical shape with a pointed nose and four small wings, two on each side, “And this bad boy is my baby, the SF-23 Executioner. This is our primary gunship. It's equipped with twin Elesian charged particle cannons, a class 3 concussion missile launcher, and an Avivan type F kinetic barrier projector.”

“Wow, that's quite, um... what does all that mean?” Twilight asked.

“Awesome, pony girl,” the half Aviva said sagely, “It means awesome.”

“Yeah, I gathered as much,” Twilight deadpanned and rolled her eyes, “What I'm asking is what are those things you listed that make it awesome.”

“Hold on, I'm no good at teaching stuff like that. That's why I'm giving you that book. It has everything you need to know,” Debby said before wheeling up to a guy at a work table, “What the fuck are you doing?”

“What does it look like I'm doing,” retorted the human man.

“It looks like you're dickin' around with your pistol instead of dickin' around with your fighter,” Debby chastised, “Stow that, I got someone to introduce you to.”

The male raised an eyebrow when he saw the lavender unicorn. “Uh, Deb, the captain's gonna flip when he finds out you brought a pet on board.”

“Excuse me.” Twilight said indignantly, “I'm not a pet, I'm a pony.”

The guy jumped back in surprise. “Holy shit it talked.”

“Idiot, this is Twilight Sparkle. Curt and Seth found her stranded on Klimese. Twilight, this is my wingman Lt. Aden Rane. He's kinda of a dweeb, but he's a pretty good pilot.”

“It a pleasure to meet you Lt. Rane.” Twilight said as she held out a hoof.

“Call me Aden, Ms. Sparkle,” he took her hoof in his hand, “The pleasure's mine.”

“Please, call me Twilight.” She responded.

“Where's the manual for the SF-23?” Debby asked Aden.

“There's one on the desk over there,” He said, “So Twilight, I'm curious, how did you end up on Klimese?”

“A unicorn named Xander created a rift in space and it sucked us in, well most of us.” Twilight said, “It only got his head.” She shivered at the memory of finding the severed head.

“What was the deal with that guy anyway? You only told us a few details about what happened,” Curt asked.

“He used to be the head of Canterlot University's R&D department.” Twilight began, “He was given the task of identifying and deciphering an ancient tome. It was discovered in an temple that was determined to be over 5,000 years old. The book was simply named The Black Book after the black leather binding. Just the fact that the book was leather was strange, but even stranger than that was that the book was in perfect condition.”

“A five thousand year old book in perfect condition?” asked Aden, “How does that work?”

“Some kind of ancient magic,” Twilight explained, “Most of the sentient races on my world can use magic in one way or another.”

“So can you?” he asked, curious and a bit wary.

She smiled and her horn flashed, “Does that answer your question?”

Debby laughed, “Nice stash.”

“What?” asked her wingman as he felt the new handle bar mustache on his lip, “Nice. I like it. So you're an adept, huh. Sweet.”

“It's against regulations. You're shaving it,” ordered Debby.

“No need.” Twilight's horn flashed again and Aden's face was once again hair free, much to his disappointment. “Now where was I... right the book.”

“Xander was given the book to study. For a full year he worked at it but with little success, or at least that's what he said. One day my friends and I were visiting the castle when princess Celestia asked me to take a look at Xander's notes. When I was looking through them I noticed that they seemed half hearted. It was as if he didn't care. The details were shoddy, the tests were mundane and few. This didn't make sense with how enthusiastic he always seemed about the book. The only reason I could think of as to why his notes were like that was because those weren't his real notes. He was like me. He’d take notes on everything no matter how small it may have seemed. I’ve read several of his other reports on artifacts and the detail was astonishing. I knew he took better notes than what he presented, the only question was where were they. After a little searching I found them in a secret compartment in the ceiling, and what they said scared me.. he found a spell that would let him steal the magic of the princesses and rule over Equestria.”

“And if those princesses of yours are as powerful as you make them out to be, I could see why that would scare you,” Seth added.

Twilight nodded and continued, “When my friends and I went to confront him, he cast a spell that threw me out of the window and who knows what to my friends. Luckily we were only on the second story. When I got back up there he and my friends were gone. I traced the teleport spell he used and found out where he went. When I caught up with him we fought for a little before he opened a portal and flung me and his head to that planet.”

“Damn. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's traitors.” Debby seethed, “Well, here's that book you wanted. Who's want's to grab some dinner?”

With that the five of them left the hangar and grabbed some food while Twilight regaled them with stories of her adventures and fun with her friends. She told them about Nightmare Moon, Discord, and other villains she and her friends faced. They mostly enjoyed hearing about the shenanigans around Ponyville.

“So how long have you lived in Ponyville?” Aden asked.

“Eight years now.” Twilight answered, “The best eight years of my life.”

“You got family, husband, children?” Seth asked.

“I have a brother, my parents, and my adoptive little brother Spike, he’s a dragon, but no special somepony and no foals. I’ve never had time for things like that.” Twilight replied.

“Dude!” Debby practically yelled, “Your little brother’s a dragon! You are officially the second coolest person on this ship.”

They talked a while longer before Twilight let out a yawn and bid them goodnight. She found her way to her room and climbed into bed. As she laid there, her thoughts drifted to what Seth said at breakfast. Yeah, it was only a way to let everyone know that she wasn't a threat, but she couldn't help but think that she actually should use her magic to help. The only problem was how she would help. This is war, and that means if she wanted to really help she might have to kill again. The memory of that Dratali soldier she killed forced it's way to the front of her mind, sending chills down her spine.

“Can I do that again?” She asked herself aloud, “Can I kill again?”

She thought about that question for a while. She imagined one of those beings trying to hurt one of her friends back home. She pictured Rarity being shot by those terrible weapons. She imagined Applejack and her family in the burning ruins of their home. She thought of Fluttershy’s terrified face before one of those things took her life. It didn’t take much for her to get the answer she was looking for.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

“What was your answer?” Asked Cadence, though she already knew the answer.

Twilight looked up at her friends with a fierce determination in her eyes, “Yes. If anything were to threaten any of your lives I would not hesitate to kill them. I wouldn't enjoy it but I’ll do what I have to to protect my friends... all of them.”

“Why don't we take a break for now, Twilight?” Celestia suggested, “Luna and I have neglected our duties for long enough. Why don't all of you come to Canterlot with us? That way we can still attend our duties and we can still hear all about your trip.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Twilight agreed.

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