Space Magic
Gemini Shadow wandered the top floor of the Canterlot mall, thinking. In the year that had passed since she and the girls had gone to Camp Everfree and gained new magical powers, she’d managed to gain a better understanding of how Equestrian magic worked. But that wasn't why she was here: today, she was here to get a signed copy of the first book of shooting scripts for one of her favorite television shows, New Endeavours, the latest installment of the Star Trot science fiction franchise.
As she walked, a commercial playing on a nearby TV attracted her attention: “Are you an aspiring author?”
Gem thought this over for a moment. “Well, I suppose so.”
“Do you and your friends like to write stories in your spare time?” asked the TV.
Gemini smiled and nodded. “Oh, most certainly!”
“Do you want to win a cash prize?” inquired the commercial.
Gem shrugged. “Well, I don’t exactly need the money, but there’s nothing wrong with a little extra cash now and then.”
“Then enter the official Star Trot Novel Competition!” exclaimed the announcer. “Each contestant will have one month to write a novel-length original adventure set in the universe of the popular Star Trot: New Endeavours television series, and at the end of the month, your entries will be judged by the creators and co-writers themselves, Crystal Levita and Dusk Runner! ONE lucky winner will then receive a $30,000 cash prize and an exclusive trip to the set of the first Star Trot:New Endeavours movie, now filming in Applewood! So sharpen those pencils and put on your thinking caps, because you could be boldly going where no one else has gone before! Sign up now at the booth near the smoothie kiosk.”
Gem oohed excitedly and clapped her hands. “What a wonderful opportunity! I’ll sign us up straight away!” And without further ado, she ran off toward the smoothie kiosk.
When she got there however, she was dismayed to find a group of girls in Crystal Prep uniforms already there. Rarity smiled deviously as she signed her group’s name onto the form. “Oh, we're certain to win! I don't even think those Canterlot High girls have signed up yet!”
“You mean like the one standing right behind you?” Gem said dryly. She frowned and crossed her arms. “I honestly hoped I could go the rest of my life without bumping into you lot again.”
“I could say the same for you, darling,” Rarity replied, turning around to face Gem. “I assume you've come to enter that ragtag bunch of misfits of yours into the contest as well?”
Gem nodded. “Certainly. I admit I’m surprised to find you all here, I would've thought you,” she pointed at Rarity, “would have thought science fiction of any sort to be uncouth.”
"Ordinarily, yes," Rarity admitted, "But after that little stunt you pulled at the Friendship Games, I've been positively itching for a chance to get revenge!"
"Excuse me?!" Gem shot back. "As I recall, you five were the ones responsible for Twilight transforming into Midnight Sparkle in the first place! Do you have any idea how hard that was on her? When we went to Camp Everfree, she kept having these terrible nightmares about Midnight, and was constantly afraid that she'd turn back. As far as I'm concerned, I'm placing the blame for everything that happened on you." She hmphed. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"
There was a very long silence as the five Crystal Preppers considered Gem's words, all of them looking sad and forlorn as the truth of what they'd done hit them. Finally, Applejack spoke. She took off her stetson and looked down at the ground, then said, "Shoot... Ah had no idea we hurt her that badly."
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash piped up, running her fingers through her multi-colored hair. "And actually? If we had to do the Games all over again? I wouldn't even give Cinch the time of day, let alone sing that stupid song!"
"We are trying to get better," Fluttershy added. "I don't know if you heard, Gemini, but they fired Principal Cinch a month or two after the Games. Dean Cadance is the Principal now, and she's not nearly as mean as Cinch was."
"Cinch was a great big meanie mean pants!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Principal Cadance has taken a particular interest in our case," Rarity said, gesturing to herself and the others. "She's made it clear to us that the way we treated Twilight... and Miss Emerald, was completely uncalled for and could have ended very badly for everyone."
"So I guess what we're tryin' ta say is," said Applejack, "We're awful sorry, sugarcube."
"Don't talk to me," Gem said softly, smiling ever so slightly. "Talk to Emerald and Twilight. I'll arrange a meeting later. In the meantime?" She smirked a bit. "You girls had best get ready, because you're speaking to one of the best essay writers at CHS." She signed her name down, and those of her friends. "Good luck, you five!" Then she left, heading back down toward the escalators.
Later that day, Gem and her friends had gathered together at Shadowfall to talk things over. "See? It's a wonderful plan," Gem was saying. "We'll each write a chapter, and then our book will win the cash prize and the set tour, and voilà!"
"You make it sound simple as pie," Raven pointed out.
Gem nodded eagerly. "That's because it is! The girls at Crystal Prep even agree. They're writing a book, too.”
Twilight and Emerald blinked in surprise. "They are?" they asked in unison.
"I-Is that a problem?" Gem asked, concerned.
Twilight shook her head rapidly. "Oh, no, it's not. Just haven't heard much about our old school since we left, I guess."
Emerald nodded in agreement, and took another long pull from her coffee cup. "Well, if you ask me, Crystal Prep has got nothin' on CHS!"
"Which reminds me," Gem says suddenly, "there's just one tiny little thing I forgot to mention." She gulped. "I told the Crystal Prep girls about the whole Midnight Sparkle incident at camp, Twilight... they seemed to realize how badly they treated you, and they want to apologize."
Twilight's jaw dropped. "No way. They really said that?"
Gem nodded. "Heard it right from Miss Applejack's mouth."
Emerald scoffed. "No offense Gem, but I'll believe it when I see it. I don't trust those five as far as I can throw 'em."
“Emerald, I’m surprised at you!” Gem said in astonishment. “I never thought you were the type to hold a grudge!”
Emerald raised an eyebrow. “Girl, have you even met me? Those five spent an entire freaking year bullying me, it was only ‘cause of Sparks turning up when she did that I didn’t jump off the roof of the school and die. If they really want to apologize and they aren’t just lying to get brownie points, then they’ll have to come over here, in person, and tell me to my face. But after the competition!” She took out her laptop and opened up her favorite word processor. “Come on girls, we got a book to write.”
“Indeed,” Gem agreed. “What shall we write?”
“I think we should write about tacos!” Sonata interrupted. Her stomach growled.
Aria facepalmed. “That’s your answer to everything. What are they gonna do? Beam down onto a planet of sentient tacos and fight off guacamole monsters?”
“YES!” Sonata shot back, and the two began another argument as they went off to get dinner.
“I propose we write a crossover,” Gem offered. “Between it and Professor X!”
Sunset shook her head. “We can’t do that, Gem. Not for the contest anyway. There’s licensing and all kinds of other legal issues to work out!”
“What if we bring back some characters from the previous series?” Adagio suggested. “I always thought Mr. Spock was rather handsome.”
“That won’t work either,” Raven pointed out. “His actor died, remember? Besides, the guy who played Kirk is too old!”
“I suggest we keep it simple and just tell one long story,” Twilight said. “And we’ll each write for our own characters.”
Sonata returned with a huge plate of tacos and sodas for everyone. “Oooh! Does that mean I get to be Dr. Hoofer’s love interest?”
“You just really want to date Alec Baldwin, don’t you?” Raven teased Sonata, taking a taco and munching on it.
Sonata blushed. “Well, he does look a lot like Longhaul…”
And so the girls worked late into the night, writing on a shared Google Doc.
Across town at Rarity’s house, the Crystal Prep 5 were planning out a story of their own. They each sat around a table, brainstorming. Rarity put her face in her hands and sighed. "I just wish I knew what we could write about," she groaned. "I'm not at all familiar with the source material!"
"Good thing you got me here then," said Rainbow brashly. "I've been watching the show with my dad since I was a kid! I've seen everything! Original Series, Next Gen, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, and all the movies!"
Applejack smirked. "Ah never thought you'd be into that kinda thang, RD."
Rainbow blushed slightly. "I couldn't exactly announce to the school that I watched this show, AJ. It might be a good show, but it's not cool. When we win though, I'm gonna get me a cameo role, and then it will be cool!"
"Ah thought we were writing this story together," AJ shot back.
Rainbow scoffed. "As if! I'm the biggest fan in the room! Besides, Rarity only signed us up because my handwriting sucks." She cracked her knuckles. "I've already got an idea for a story: forget that lovey-dovey exploration stuff, I'm gonna write about the Mirror Universe! You know, where everyone's evil!"
"Does anyone else find it kinda weird that the main characters in this show look exactly like those girls from CHS?" said Pinkie, entering the room with a tray full of snacks.
Rainbow shrugged. "I guess it's kinda weird, but then, when you've got freaky magic powers like those girls do, it doesn't really matter that much." She grabbed a soda off the tray and opened it. "Okay, let's get to work! Rares, you wanna type for me?"
"Oh, I suppose I shall," Rarity sighed. "It's hardly my fault you never learned to type properly." Her snow-white fingers were poised over the home row of her keyboard. "How would you like to begin?"
Rainbow thought this over. "How does this sound... 'Captain's log, Stardate 81634.1. I, Captain Gemini Shadow of the ISS Endeavor and the finest officer that the Equestrian Solar Empire has ever produced, am about to embark upon a brand new mission: using a newly-developed dimensional ripper, I will cross into the universe I accidentally discovered last year and use it as a launching point for a new chapter of conquest. The Federation is about to see its last sunrise.'"
Things went differently for the two competing groups of students as the month wore on. Gem and her friends worked together to write their story, and were able to finish within two weeks. The Crystal Prep 5, however, were in deep trouble. Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy no longer showed up at writing sessions, leaving only Rainbow and Rarity. And that wasn't all: two nights before submission day, a huge storm rolled into Canterlot and knocked out power to the city. Rainbow's hard drive was corrupted and had to be wiped, erasing a month's worth of work.
Rarity was furious. She refused to help Rainbow any further, citing the athlete's extreme egotism. Now, without a story and 48 hours to go until the deadline, Rainbow went out for a walk. Instead of her Crystal Prep uniform, she wore a blue hoodie and jeans.
Gem, who was at the park with Twilight, Emerald, and Twilight's dog Spike, looked up in surprise as Rainbow approached them. "Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed. "What in the world are you doing here?"
Rainbow sighed, her hands shoved in the pockets of her jeans. "You're Gemini, right? It's like this... the storm from the other day broke my hard drive, and I lost the story I was working on for that contest. None of the other girls will help me write a new one, and... well..."
She looked over at Twilight. "You're as much of a fan of the series as me. Sure, I teased you about it a lot when we were in the same school, but I didn't really mean anything that I said. I just wanted kids to think I was cool. And liking this show isn't cool."
Twilight looked back at Rainbow Dash and crossed her arms. "I'll help you write your story under one condition: you apologize to me and Emerald for everything you and the other girls did to us at Crystal Prep."
There was a long silence. Finally, Rainbow spoke. "Yeah, okay. I'm sorry for all the torment I gave you two. It really... it really wasn't in the spirit of the show."
Twilight nodded, then smiled. "That's good enough for me. How about you, Emerald?"
Emerald, who was busy scratching Spike's ears, nodded. "Yeah, I think that'll work." Then she looked over at Gem. "You want to join in?"
Gem put a hand to her chin. "Actually, I have another idea... why don't we all write a story, and submit it together?"
Rainbow's eyes widened. "No way, You'd actually do that? We don't even go to the same school!"
"And this isn't a school competition," Gem pointed out. "Besides, I think two different groups of people working toward a common goal is what this show is all about, don't you think?"
Twilight nodded. "It sure is. Want me to text the girls?"
Gem nodded. "Please." And within two hours, 13 teenage girls grouped together around two tables at Sugarcube Corner, having a writing session like no other. Their story was deceptively simple: a crew of two ships, the USS Endeavour and the ISS Abacus, coming together to defeat a menace that threatened them both. The Rubies wrote for the crew of the Endeavour, while the Crystal Prep 5 wrote for the crew of the Abacus. On the morning of submission day, after 24 straight hours of hard work, Gem uploaded the finished file to the website.
"Hey girls! Turn on channel 2, they're going to announce the competition winners!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly, screeching into Gem's living room.
"Already there," Raven said with a grin, pointing at the screen. All 13 girls had gathered at Shadowfall Manor to hear the announcement. On screen, a woman with curly brown hair and rectangular glasses stood beside an older man, with short grey hair and glasses of his own. Both of them stood on the Endeavour bridge set, and wore red and black command uniforms. They had the ranks of admirals.
The woman smiled. "Hello, Canterlot! I'm Crystal Levita, and this is my partner in crime, Dusk Runner. We're coming to you live from Applewood, California, where we're supervising the filming of the movie based on a little sci-fi show you might have heard of." A montage of clips from various episodes of New Endeavours played, before cutting back to Crystal and Dusk.
Dusk spoke next. "Earlier this month, we asked you, our loyal fans, to write a novel-length story set in our little universe, using our characters. And did you ever respond!"
Crystal laughed. "No kidding! You sent us 50 different stories, from 50 different perspectives! And we read them all! Some were happy, others were sad, still more had Dusk and I on the edge of our seats! And soon, we'll be publishing everything you sent us as an ebook, so that way, everyone will get to read your work!"
"But for the purposes of this contest," Dusk continued, "there can be only one winner. The envelope please!"
A stagehand handed Dusk and Crystal an envelope, which had a Starfleet insignia seal on the back. Crystal smiled. "I won't lie, I was crying by the time I finished reading the winning story. It was a perfect representation of not just what makes our show so special, but a beautiful tribute to fifty years of the franchise as a whole!" She carefully opened the letter and read, "The winner of the Star Trot Novel Contest is..."
There was a long pause. Finally, Dusk and Crystal said in unison: "THE CRYSTAL WONDERCOLTS!" A picture of all 13 girls (though only Gem and her friends were ponied up) smiling at the camera appeared on the screen.
Crystal grinned broadly. "Congratulations, ladies! Thirteen girls from different schools, coming together to make something amazing! Even magical!"
Dusk snickered. "You're not just saying that because we based our characters off of the Canterlot High team, are you?"
Crystal blushed. "Nope! I promise!" She turned back to the camera. "Anyway, Dusk and I will be in contact with you soon, so keep an eye out for any emails! As a reminder, not only have you won the contest, you've also received a trip to watch our movie being filmed," she gestured expansively to the set behind her, "and a $30,000 cash prize for you to do with as you please! Thank you, and goodnight! Starfleet out!" The screen went dark.
The 13 girls celebrated and cheered, exchanging high-fives. Finally, Gem spoke. "So, what do we do with our winnings?" Gem wondered. "I don't exactly need the money, and there's far too many of us for them to invite to the set."
Rarity huddled with her fellow Crystal Preppers before looking to Gem. "What if we took the prize money, while you eight went to the set?" she suggested.
Raven nods. "Sounds good to me. We'll be sure to tell you all about it when we get back!"
Rainbow blinked. "Wait wait wait. Does this mean we're friends now?"
Sunset nodded. "I don't see why it shouldn't!"
"Agreed," said Applejack. "How 'bout we head on down to mah family's farm for some cider?"
"Can we get tacos?!" Sonata asked at once. "I'm starved!"
Adagio laughed. "Yes, Sonata, we can get tacos." And so, the thirteen new friends headed to their cars and drove to the outskirts of Canterlot, where AJ's farm was. High above them and far far away, a ship called Endeavour warped off into the stars.