Set up/Interview beginning
The hard clicks of stilettos echoed off the concrete hallway. Stella was on the rampage. Not only did she have several high ranking diplomats on speed dial, all of which were waiting next to their own personal red phones, waiting to hear the worst, already planning on end of the world procedures, but she also had a personal chip on her shoulder for not being the first one notified that there was any news to be had about the matter. Touch pad in hand, she marched into the interrogation room of the worlds single most secret and secure holding facilities, more than a mile under ground.
After a quick retina scan, voice verification and badge flash, the sliding doors opened with an electric- fooosh.
The room, like the corridor was simple. A single light hung from the ceiling, illuminating the center of the room. One wall held a single way window, and two chairs sat by a table made of the same light, but sturdy, compound. Stella wasted no time in pulling up her own chair, laying her touch pad on the table, and sitting, her hands folded expectantly, looking at the shadowy side of the room.
“Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice.” Her words were crisp, and held no tone of thankfulness.
“I figure you should know the emergency had passed.” The occupant on the other side of the table replied.
Stella touched a few things on the pad. “This is Stella Conwell, head of the Planetary Security and Threat Assessment Department. I am Joined by...?”
There was a pregnant pause.
“Steam. Steam Haze.”
“Steam Haze.” Stella continued, as if the name was common, though she did pause, adding. “That's a...Unique name.”
The creature on the other side of the table, just out of view of the limited light, leaned in. His skin was black, red hair hanging loosely around his neck, and bangs swept to the side. A black, misshapen, short horn stood proudly on his forehead. His eyes, red irises slit only by thin black pupils regared her with amusement. His attire, from what the Head of the Planetary Security and Threat Assessment Department could see, was odd, as if he had come out of the 1800s.
Steam Haze pulled out a pack of cigarets out of his shirt pocket. “Mind if I smoke?”
“Yes.” Stella replied. She hated dealing with aliens. Ponies and fur balls were tolerable, but these, 'Changlings' were a whole new mess altogether.
“Thought I'd ask.” He replied, pulling one out and lighting it with a slight glow of his horn before taking a deep pull, blowing out a cloud of smoke, letting it waif into the air conditioned room.
Stella chose not to argue. She had more pressing questions on her mind. “We're here to hear the accounts about the Great Calamity.”
Steam withdrew back out of the light, only being lit by the orange tip of his smoldering cigaret. “You really want to hear about that. You want to know how a mixed match bunch of humans, Ponies, a Fox and Changling managed to save the galaxy right from under your nose, eh?” He paused to give a light chuckle. “Well, that's a long story.”
“I'm her to learn the truth.” Stella sniffed stiffly.
The Changling leaned forward so far that he was nose to nose with the human, studying her eyes intently. “Since when did a high official like you, who is tasked with keeping your little world functioning as if there is no other life out there but your own, keeping people in the dark about what's really going on out there, care about the truth?” He kept her gaze for thirty seconds, until she blinked.
“I tell the people what they need to know.” She replied stoically, skirting the damning question.
Steam sat back again. “Ah, what do I care? So, you want a nice bedtime story?” He took a long pull on burning paper and leaves before exhaling slowly. “Let me start from the beginning then.”
The embers of my cigaret drifted to the ground. Looking around the smoky port of Manehatten I gave a happy little sigh. Back home. I'd been doing some planet hoping for the last few months. My small, but reliable transport ships, the STS Manticore, was docked behind me, getting fueled and some needed repairs. Back home again.
I couldn't help it. As I threw the finished cig on the ground, I chuckled to myself. Its funny. The one place where you should be yourself, is the one place you can't afford to, if you want to do business. I was Captain Red again, adopting a persona I had gotten a while back, during one of the smaller spats the Hive had with the Empire. Sure, it was all over now, but Equines have a long and sharp memory. For they were concerned, this was just a reprieve from the actual fighting.
“Cap!” I could hear Peter's boots on the metal gang plank. “I'm going into the main city to see if I can't find anything useful.”
“We leave at sundown.” I warned. “Don't make me leave you.”
Peter, my mechanic, was a tall kid, not quite twenty, but had the brain that seemed to run like an a super computer rather than a boy. His blond hair and light complexion made him popular with the ladies, although he was quite shy. All around, he's a good kid, for a human.
“Will do.” He started to walk off, before he turned back, as if forgetting something. “Oh, and, before I forget, I'm in the process of upgrading the tri-core dampener, so we've got more control with speed reduction. I've noticed how much you like to get chased, and make tight turns so I thought that might be helpful. Considering that I had to completely dismantle the spark intake and the fuel injector, I don't think you'll be taking off anytime soon, that is until I put it together.”
“Damnit boy! What did I tell you about playing with my ship?!”
He laughed, and waved off, leaving me to shake my head, hiding a smile. It was a game we played. I knew his father, and so he saw me more as an uncle he could mess with, but I made sure he understood when his 'messing' went to far.
“So, are we just making a pit stop, or taking on passengers?” Slick yelled down from the other side of the loading bay. Glancing over, I could see she was emptying out the trash. Slick, as she'd like to be called, was a Animite black fox we'd picked up a few years ago. I'll be damned if I'd ever found any creature, Changling, Pony, Human or Animite who could haggle like she could. She was also handy in a brawl, and knew her way around guns, making her a core member of the Manticore.
“We have room for a few, I suppose.” I called back, looked around the port. “But I don't want to be bogged down by too many civvies.”
She understood my reason why, and why I'd rather any passengers we take be non-Equestrian, if possible. She nodded and continued on freshening the place up.
I must have been lost in thought, just staring at the beautiful world around me, because it took a few polite coughs to get my attention. Lowering my few from the sky back to the earth, I saw an orange mare with a deep red mane and tail. She wore a tank top under an unbuttoned black and white plaid shirt, and work jeans, lugging a large suite case behind her.
“Can I help you?” I asked politely.
The mare smiled. “You all goin' to Kah'sbad?”
Kah'sbad was half way across the galaxy. If we did head that direction, we'd have to take a half a dozen stops on the way. I wasn't too keen to make plans for a long, and expensive voyage based off a potential customer, but considering the trade possibilities, and Slick's eloquent tongue, it may prove to be quite profitable.
“It might take a while.” I admitted. “My little puddle jumper doesn't take deep space travel well, but if you don't mind a month, maybe two, I could get you there.”
She looked a little uncomfortable with the idea of it taking so long. The way she looked at my ship gave me the impression that this would be her first space voyage. Princess's manes, I hate taking virgin travelers.
She finally nodded. “I reckin' I could afford that.” There was a note of reluctance, but that wasn't my concern.
“You'll find Slick inside. She'll point you to a room.”
As she passed me by, I caught a scent of apples from her mane. I'd only smelled that fragrance once before. “Hold up.” She paused and turned around, questioningly. “You're from Sweet Apple Acres?”
“E'yup!” She smiled. “Born'n'raised there!”
I let myself smile at her enthusiasm. “I'm a fan of that hard apple cider you sell. Got any one hand?”
She unzipped a pocket on her luggage and tossed me a little glass flask of some amber liquid. She gave me a cowgirl wink and headed up the ramp to find her new bed. She might not be as bad as I thought.
I waited around for a few hours, getting my fill of fresh air and swapping stories with other transporters. Peter had returned and was telling me how he got some kind of doohickey that would help out with our fuel economy for distance flights. Sounded promising, even though I didn't understand a word he said, other than 'save us money'.
I was thinking about packing up when a pony approached me. I could tell she was a unicorn. Unicorns radiate a certain. Fact was, that was the only way I could recognize her as one, for she wore a hooded cloak. It was by practice that I kept myself from rolling my eyes. Unicorns have a thing for trying to be mysterious.
“Is this a portal of safe travel?” She inquired in a voice that was rich and vibrant.
“Yup.”
“Could it be,” She asked, lifting a finger to place it at some point between her chest and chin, curling the others loosely. “That I am speaking to the Captain of the Manticore?”
Oh, this was a treat. Not only was she a unicorn, but she was trying the whole gypsy mystic thing. A unicorn their own aren't bad. A bit too elegant for my taste, and I do mean that in multiple ways, but a unicorn gypsy? If she wasn't acting, Celestia help me if she got on my ship. I hate mystics.
“If it weren't written on the barge, in big red letters, I'd almost be impressed.” I deadpanned. “Now, you have a place in mind that I can drop you off, or are you looking for a tour around the galaxy?”
Her hand dropped. “Oh. You're one of those times, huh?” She gave a heavy sigh, lifting her hood to reveal a beauty that I'd not seen in years. Her coat color was of caramel. Her mane was a smooth arch that ran down her left side, a mixture of purple and red stripes, but her eyes. Luna's Stars, they were stunning!
“Yes, I am one of those.” I smiled.
She gave me a wicked smirk. “Well, I'm glad to see a pony with some sense on his shoulders. Last few towns I preformed in thought very highly of me.” She scrunched her muzzle, like smelling rotten eggs or something. “Maybe a little too highly. I don't like names like which, and fire is bad for my complexion.”
I threw back my head and laughed. “I must admit, I myself am a bit allergic to the hot flames. My skin gets a little too dry and starts turning red.”
She chucked along with me, her eye's doing a quick size up of me. She held out a hand. “Bella. Bella Lulamoon.”
I shook her hand. “Captain Red. I'm gonna be heading to Ka'sbad. I can drop you off anywhere on the way.”
“Oh?” She thought for a moment. “I've been meaning to try my trade with the Anamites. Standard fee?”
“Unless you want to become permanent. Not often I find a gypsy with a sense of humor.”
She snorted. “I'm more of a show pony than a gypsy. It runs in the family. What would be your terms? I'm not looking to settle in any one place any time soon.”
“We can talk about that later.” I waved a hand to the storage ramp. “Welcome, oh Great and Powerful Bella Lulamoon.”
“Why thank you kind sir.” She laughed, making her way on board. I noticed that she didn't have a bag of any kind, but considering how useful unicorn magic can be to enchant objects, I assumed that she simply had a bag with a hidden space charm on it.
With that, there wasn't much else to pack up. It was unfortunate to only get a few travelers, but the next stop, Luninsa, was usually packed with people looking to move merchandise, and I had plenty of room. With a punch of a few buttons, the ramp started closing, as I pressed the cockpit intercom.
“Ready to go Soot.”
“Copy that.”
With a dull roar, the lifting thrusters kicked in. Soon, we'd be breaking the atmosphere. Guess it was time to met the new comers, and figure out what I could do about finding more work.
A brief history of the United Galactic Republic
It all really started about four thousand years ago, or so I'm told. Princess Twilight Sparkle tried an experiment. You see, in Equestria there is a magical portal that leads from Equestria to a parallel version of Equestria. A human version. I don't know details, nor do I really want to know. Most of magical science goes over my horn, but what I can tell you is it started a change in everything.
At first is was slow. Ponies started finding a new sense of balance, allowing them to walk around on their hind legs. For a while there were long debates about weather or not it's better to be on ones hind legs or on all fours. Any debate after that went out the window as soon as fingers started appearing.
It's strange to think, but all this had occurred in the first few hundred years after this experiment. It was like someone took the clock of evolution and thought 'lets jump forward a few thousand years' and spun the hour hand. So, needless to say, and quite boringly put, after the first thousand years of this super evolution, Equestrians not only had hands, but had learned how to use them to such a degree that what took humans thousands of years to understand and develop was already being implemented in everyday life.
I'm not going to drone on about the different ages of Equine development, but what's important to know is the simple fact that magic and science, hand in hand, sped up technology and understanding of the world around them to the point that after the second thousand years Equestrians had already visited the moon and were building space stations to help further space exploration.
Lets take another jump to where my part of the story plays in. By this point, the world of Equestria was one growing Empire, lead by the four Princesses: Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight Sparkle. That is when we made first contact with the Animites, anthropomorphic animals of the planet Ani-Mal. In short, we formed we formed relations and formed an alliance, for trade purposes. Not long after that, we then encouraged humans, and from there the first galactic conflict was had.
Lucky for all, that didn't even last a full hundred years and once the cease fire was issued and peace conferences were held, the United Galactic Republic was formed. How ever, the first conflict did leave the ground work for the Great Calamity to slowly build upon, as the seeds of distrust and prejudice were sown. Now, on to my story.
