The Drums of Wonder

For all their historical, economic, and cultural significance, you'd think the warp drive would have been slightly flashier while in action. Junior Engineer Louise Smith stared out at the grey surface of the region of space they currently occupied, thinking about the lack of streaking stars or extra colors. She felt distinctly cheated by this, but had resolved at the beginning of this five-month warp journey not to complain. The XO could hardly change the designs from here, after all. A drive engineer would have also told her that it was very impossible for him to change the designs due to the need to enforce casuality, but she rarely bothered thinking things like this through anyway.

At least the journey was at an end. Pretty soon they'd be stopping at Sirius a, the second star man had sent a ship to. One of the many other things she was hazy on was the exact reason why Sirius A had been picked. Perhaps it had something to do with its reference in monuments all over the world. Or maybe not.

"Smith, why are you looking out the porthole again? You do realize the view isn't gonna change until tomorrow." said a stern voice behind her. It was Senior Engineer Joe Karlson, her mentor. The mentorship program was the reason she was on this ship- there was a shortage of qualified engineers for starships, so what engineers existed trained their coworkers on the job. Joe was one of the twelve people who'd been aboard the Intrepid, the first spacecraft ever to reach another star. He was also the only crew member who knew the ins and outs of the vacuum-warp drive that kept the ship moving.

"Just thinking sir" she replied after a long pause.

He sighed in a way that was perhaps a bit too dramatic. "You need to think more about how we're going to get this tub's EM-drive to perform."

"Tub? This is the greatest starship ever built!" she replied indignantly.

"Greatness doesn't resonate the quantum vacuum, come on." He gestured at he door of the observation deck She got up form her bench and followed him down into the cold heart of the ship. As they walked down the aft access corridor, the walls grew steadily more encrusted with cabling, and a sheen of frost appeared on exposed metal.  The older man pointed out various leaks, faults, and blown fuses as they walked. She just shivered.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

The council chamber was always kept at about 37 degrees Fahrenheit. The Councilmen said this was to reduce heating costs, but those who requested audiences thought the benefit was that it would render visitors uncomfortable. This was actually part of the benefit; those with good idea to improve living conditions would not be so quick to petition them, instead getting out there and making a difference themselves. The other reason was that it really did cut down on heating costs.

Today, however, no visitors felt the chill air in the room, for the Council was in private session. A thin voice came from one member, who was especially yellowish(a sign of vitamin deficiency among their species)."The torch is working at 100% efficiency. Estimated braking time is 3 röts." they said, in the euphonic language of their species.

Another, who was a healthy tan, raised an arm."The braking sequence is all well and good, but why now? what does this system have that we do not already possess?"

The yellowish one whistle-thumped an answer."The magical field surrounding the planet is more powerful than anything we've ever seen. It appears as if the whole planet is one big ekaz!"

"How powerful," said the tan being, in a deeper tone "can one field be? Besides, you of all people should know that a natural field is more useless than a sentimental Selfless"

The darkest corner of the room was host to another being, whose color was invisible due to low lighting. A rumbling voice emanated from their mouths. "I have seen what the Third talks of, Councilman. Do not be so quick to dismiss his claims."

"But-"

"No buts, Councilman. This field has power in excess of fifty thousand growth-years. It could power our craft forever. That is why we stop here." The others recoiled; the being hidden in the darkness was known for his strange ways. If one of them disappeared after that meeting, the others would know who was at fault.

A fourth councilman, larger than all others visible, added to their adviser's words. "And it is why we must ready the landing craft. This world's indigenes must possess advanced magical knowledge, certainly worth a few million people. All in favor, say 'Aye'!"

A chorus of thuds filled the room, and before long the beings of the ship made ready for war on a scale not seen before in this galaxy. After this, the third councilman hoped, they could raise the thermostat a bit.

Highly Charged was having a day that, when compared to many of the other days in his rather short life, was somewhat lackluster. His own life was not particularly happy, but living in a Manehattan apartment with 3 other ponies was objectively better than being the gofer for the Manehattan Party Prep Board.

"You're holding up the line. You gonna buy something or what?" said the barista, snapping him out of his contemplation. He glanced behind him and saw that the line of ponies stretched out the door. One of them coughed impatiently.

"I'll have a triple mochaccino with extra mocha, three shots of espresso, and one oat and dandelion smoothie. To go." he sputtered. The barista turned and began preparing the drinks, grumbling to herself. He turned to the pony behind him and laughed nervously. "These long lines, right?" The pony frowned. He sighed and picked up the drinks as he walked out.

||  ||

"I said I wanted this smoothie with strawberries!" whined one of the ponies responsible for the destruction of Highly Charged's apartment. The others were much grimmer, sipping their drinks.

"Remind me again why these little punks get to take over the festival." whispered one of them to his neighbor.

"Apparently there were rumors that something bad keeps happening at the solstice, so the Princess sent them here to watch over things." replied his neighbor. "Not that this excuses Ms.Pie's behavior" she added, as the persnickety pink party pony pontificated on her smoothie's lack of fruity goodness.

"Gee, I sure do hope nothing goes wrong" the other remarked, dripping sarcasm.

"You sound like an idiot."