A Space Dragon in Princess Celestia's Court

Chapter Zero: Prologue

Mission log, stardate 47457.1. Provisional Lieutenant Commander Shin'ichi N’dokason reporting. I have arrived to the next subspace relay station site. As per the mission parameters this site is 20 light years away from the previous one headed more or less on a straight line to the Andromeda Galaxy.

I look at the main view screen and see the usual; stars. Not as many as when in a galaxy but still quite a few.

“Computer begin stage one assembly of automated subspace relay platform number 1,240, please.” I say into the dimly lit and empty bridge.

“Compliance on stage one assembly of automated subspace relay platform number one, two, four, zero. Launching marker beacon, launching class eight VISION variation probes in pattern N’dokason zeta one, powering up Sphinx workpod three and cargo management unit Workbee one”, was the response that came over the bridge speakers from the computer’s bland and inflectionless baritone male voice. I respond with a thank you knowing I won’t get an answer. I stand up from the captain's chair, walk over to one of the turbolifts to my left and leave the bridge by entering the turbolift when it opens its doors.

The doors close and I say inside the turbolift, “Deck four, please.”

“Compliance to deck four.” I close my eyes for the few moments it takes to get to deck four from deck one and then open them and exit the turbolift when I hear the doors open. I head toward the main shuttlebay and after a bit of walking the empty hallways with their minimal lighting I enter the shuttlebay where the platform’s cross junction was already being assembled and where it will be towed out to the beacon. The three Sphinx work pods, a couple of the type 15 and 16 shuttle pods, a couple of cargo management units otherwise known as a Workbee, and the “Nodoka”, my Danube class runabout and several of her modules were housed, especially her photorp launcher module. I’m really proud of myself for getting Starfleet to sign off on that particular piece of hardware. The rest of the shuttlebay was filled with preassembled sections and parts for building the automated subspace relay platforms.

I walk over to the active Sphinx workpod and open the cockpit. The whole front glass lifting up on the hinge at the top. I look over the systems display from the outside of the pod making sure the mission parameters are correct. They are correct of course just like the last 1,239. Hopping inside the right seat of the Sphinx workpod I close the cockpit and begin to type in the mission start confirmation code. This part of the automated subspace relay platform assembly is mostly automatic, especially by now after 1,239 have been made and assembled this way. I just sit in the Sphinx cockpit and watch and make sure that should something go wrong, I’m there to fix it or abort it. It is a nice bit of down time where I can catch a quick nap and listen to some of my mother’s music.

“Computer verify no loose items present in the main shuttlebay, please.”

“Compliance. No unsecured items currently detected within shuttlebay one.”

“Wonderful. Computer deactivate the artificial gravity in shuttlebay one and purge the atmosphere, please.”

“Compliance. Artificial gravity in shuttlebay one deactivated. Atmosphere in shuttlebay one purged.”

“Computer open shuttlebay one doors and proceed with external automated assembly of automated subspace relay platform number 1,240, please.”

“Compliance. Opening shuttlebay one doors and initiating external automated assembly of automated subspace relay platform number one, two, four, zero.”

I lean back in the Sphinx workpod seat and watch as it maneuvers over to the assembled cross junction of the automated subspace relay platform. The Sphinx workpod turns around and I see on the display panel that the Sphinx workpod has activated the tractor beam to grab the cross junction of the automated subspace relay platform. The Sphinx workpod then pulls the automated subspace relay platform’s cross junction up and out of Shuttlebay One and into space. I watch as the Sphinx workpod pulls the cross junction into place. The Sphinx then deploys its manipulator arms and retrieves the beacon floating in space next to it. After attaching the beacon to the junction the Sphinx heads back to shuttlebay one for the next corridor segments that are all ready to be towed into place.

This is usually the point where I turn on my collection of my mother’s self performed music and take a small nap and think upon some of the knowledge I have acquired. All the major portions of the relay assembly is automated and barring anything unforeseen I won’t be needed until the fusion reactor needs to be activated. That will be in the next five hours. Turning thought into motion I turn on my mother’s music, close my eyes and fall into a nice relaxing sleep.

In another place not far away from where Shin’ichi is, galactically speaking, a creature who has a horse-like head with a deer antler on the right, a blue goat horn on the left, one long fang, different-sized pupils, a snake tongue, a goat beard, and white bushy eyebrows. The creature has the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat. In addition, it has a bat's right wing, a bird-like left wing, a horse's mane, and a dragon-like snake's tail with a white tail tuft. The shape of its body resembles that of a snake. This individual is called Discord the spirit of chaos and disharmony. Discord is a male draconequus and he was talking with a winged pale light grayish gold miniature equine with a pale light grayish rose colored mane and tail. On the miniature equines hindquarters are three butterflies with cyan bodies and pink wings. This creature is called a “Pony”, and this specific pony is a pegasus female, a mare, and she is called Fluttershy. Discord and Fluttershy are currently sitting inside of Fluttershy’s house drinking tea, telling stories, and generally enjoying each other’s company.

“I told him ‘You hit me! He never hit me. His admittedly witty comeback was ‘I'm not him. So I told the brute ‘Indeed not. You're much easier to provoke. How fortunate for me. He was a very enjoyable distraction for a while.” Discord said ending whatever tale he had just told.

“Oh Discord I know this happened long before you became reformed and made friends but do you think you could have done some of those things differently?”

“True” he replied, “but at the time I was losing a traveling buddy and was upset over that. I did however assist on saving over one thousand souls from a very messy end.”

“I guess that’s good then. See you had it in you back then to be nice to everypony.” Fluttershy replied.

“Why yes my dear I think I... “ Discord trails off as he looks up at the ceiling in Fluttershy’s in a peculiar way.

“What is it Discord? Is something happening?”

“I’m not sure. I… sense something… near… Something familiar.”

“Something… bad?”

With a big smile and a twinkle in his eyes he responds with, “No. Something, someone, wonderful.”

“Some... one?” was Fluttershy’s whispered reply.

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Excerpt from the Datapad 001; The Automated Subspace Relay Station.Twilight Sparkle sat down at her kitchen table with the box that Shin had left her and a cup of tea. Apparently the box was filled with several libraries much larger than the one at Canterlot in little rectangular sticks. The box had a hand written note on top of it. “Don’t forget to recharge every 12 hours!” in Shin’s flowing writing.Twilight opens the box and inside it are several items with labels. The first and largest with a label of ‘P. A. D. D. Personal Access Display Device please recharge every 12 hours’. The second about half the size of the PADD looked like some sort of odd book holder. The label stated it was a solar charger for the PADD and that the blue side of the device should face the sun. It also had a note about recharging every 12 hours. The next item was basically several small rectangular pieces of colored glass that Shin called ‘plastic’. They were each labeled and a larger label beneath them, “isolinear optical chips’.She looked at several of the ‘chips’, one labeled “Shin’ichi N’dokason: Biography and Statistics”. Another was labeled “Starfleet History”. Another “Delpin Amazon Humans: History and Culture”. Yet  a fourth one was “Custom Technology aboard The Father’s Pride.” Following the instructions Shin had taught her before he left she turned the PADD on and saw the first screen. “DON’T FORGET TO RECHARGE ME IN 9 HOURS AND 42 MINUTES!”. Twilight sighed at Shin’s antics. She only forgot to recharge the PADD she borrowed from him while he was here the one time!Picking one of the isolinear optical chips that was labeled “Unclassified Starfleet Technology.” Skimming through a few of the entries Twilight stopped on an entry with technology that Shin had mentioned many times during his visit; the Automated Subspace Relay Platform.-----AUTOMATED SUBSPACE RELAY PLATFORM:One of the problems space explorers face is how to keep in touch over the vast distances of space. The difficulty arises because communication signals inevitably decay over time; this causes significant amounts of information to be lost, rendering the message useless. Much effort has therefore gone into devising and implementing a suitable communications network that will convey messages quickly and accurately. Scientists found that by deploying subspace relay stations at intervals of approximately 20 light years, a signal could be boosted before it started to decay. This had the added benefit of increasing the speed of the communication to as much as 60 times faster than a starship's top warp speed.There are already thousands of relay stations located in Federation space. An additional 500 come into service each year, mostly along trade lanes and in areas of ongoing exploration. During journeys into previously uncharted regions of space, starships will sometimes 'drop' a trail of temporary relay stations behind them as they go. These are often replaced by permanent stations at a later date. The Starfleet network is further supplemented by numerous civil and local communication webs throughout the galaxy.