Arrow 19: Rescue Missionby Lord King CocoonChaptersArchive One: Opposite WorldArchive Two: Parties, Ponies, Princesses, and PartiesArchive Three: Slow DayArchive One: Opposite WorldArrow 19 Crew Count: 20 Captain: Marshall Bennett Head Technician: Patricia Dean Head Scientist: Erica Dean Head Medic: Troy Storey Head Astrophysicist: Stephanie Mettz Diplomatic Representatives: Alec Willey (American Union), Troy Storey (Australia), Erica Dean (European Union), Trisha Powell (United Kingdom) Representative’s Log: Alec Willey March 17th, 2262 @ 23:37, GMT We have just arrived in the Omega Centauri II system to what has been nicknamed the ‘Opposite World’. Though it was later named Equus, it still holds the nickname of Opposite World because of how it seems to defy the laws of logic. My expertise is in computer programming, not stellar physics. But it doesn’t take an astrophysicist to know that an object of lesser mass is supposed to orbit an object of greater mass. Not the other way around. This is the first log entry using the new communication system. Trish and her father helped to develop the technology for long-distance communication. It’s far from instant communication. We’ve estimated that the communications take anywhere from a few days to as long as a month for the other end to receive the entry. From what I understand, the hard drive of this computer is capable of creating a connection with a “twin” computer (for lack of a better word). The hard drives create an artificial wormhole. It’s only a few micrometers in diameter, but it’s a connection nonetheless. Regardless of what this communication system does, the intent is to give this computer to the… (Would they be called Equeeshians?) The locals of the planet. In any case, if we’re going to have interstellar allies, it’s only fair that we have some means of communication. As glad as I am to be on this mission (I’ve wanted to be an astronaut since I was a little kid), I still don’t think I’m as deserving of it as others believe. Sure, I’ve been tested and trained in space travel in order to go on this mission, and I know my way around diplomacy. But I only got recognized because of my father’s involvement in the military. Speaking of my father, he’s also the captain of this mission. And if you think that the captain being my father earns me special attention, you’d be right. That is if by ‘special’ you mean ‘lack of any acknowledgment whatsoever’. As far as he’s concerned, this crew only has 19 members. [EDIT: DELETE LAST THREE SENTENCES] Sorry about that. Personal issues like that belong in my personal logs. Anyway, the crew was told not to make any log entries on this computer until we reached Equus. That way, GSA can make a better calculation of how long it takes for transmissions to travel at this distance. Technically, we weren’t supposed to start using this computer until we landed on the surface. But the intent is to test the distance. But we’re now within a million kilometers, so the difference would be minuscule. We still got another day or so before we enter orbit. But as far as I’m concerned, our mission has started. And if you don’t like it, you can [CENSORED]. Sorry about that. I guess being stuck in this oversized soda can for six months is getting under my skin a little. I don’t know, maybe I’m just tired. It’s late after all. Normally I’m a night owl. But we’ve needed to get up early the last few days for preparations. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Trisha Powell March 19th, 2262 @ 08:21, GMT I see that Alec has already made a log entry. I don’t know if he mentioned in the log entry why we’re on this mission. But here it is. Obviously, because of the last Arrow mission, ‘Lone Ranger’, we couldn’t just have a crew of one again. It’s still a relatively small crew, but we have everyone and everything we need. Anyway, we’re here for two. The first is because the Global Space Agency wanted to send proper diplomatic representatives to Equus. We’ve got representatives from North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia going to the surface, because the ships only have four seats. But there are representatives from Africa and South America on the crew as well. We’d take representatives from Antarctica. But I don’t know how penguins can act as representatives. Alec: “Ha ha. Very funny.” Trish: “Why so serious, Alec?” Alec: “You took that from that movie from the twenty-first century, didn’t you?” Trish: “You liked it and you know it.” Alec: “How can I know something if I don’t know I know it?” Sorry about that. Alec’s being grumpy this morning. Alec: “I’m not grumpy.” The second reason we’re out here is as a rescue mission to retrieve captain Randy Edwards. The reason I got noticed for this mission was because of my help in the mechanics of how the new communication system works. My grandfather was the one who came up with the original concept of the WHC hard drive. But my father and I were in charge of developing it. Basically, the WHC hard drive uses an artificially created wormhole to communicate. And in order to keep the wormhole stable, we use quantum fibers. In short, the WHC drive allows for the universe’s strongest wifi signal. Alec: “Are you making a log entry explaining to GSA what they already know?” Trish: “Well, I was supposed to make a log entry, but I didn’t know what else to say.” Alec: “What about entering orbit?” Trish: “Oh yeah.” Sorry again. Alec isn’t a morning person. So his attitude in the morning is bollocks. Alec: “My attitude is not…wait. What’s ‘bollocks’?” Trish: “It means you’re being a grump.” Alec: “I’m NOT a grump!” Anyway, we entered orbit over Equus last night. And tomorrow, we’re going down to the surface. Only four of us will go down to the surface. Me, Mister Grumpy, Alec: “I’M NOT GRUMPY!” …the head scientist, and the head medic. Both myself and Mister Grumpy… Alec: [incomprehensible grumbling] …both have scientific knowledge. And Alec… Alec: “Thank you.” …has some medical training. But our main focus is on diplomacy. Well, I don’t have much else to say today. So I guess I’ll just say over and out. Alec: “You do know you don’t have to say “over and out” when…” [END LOG] Personal Log: Alec Willey March 19th, 2262 @ 13:17 GMT Why did you all put me on a crew with Captain Bennett? At least when I was younger, his ignoring me could’ve been from not being around. The last time I’ve seen him was when I was three. Now he’s actively ignoring me. I’m here and he still doesn’t acknowledge my existence. I’ve lived nearly 28 years without him, so it doesn’t bother me that he’s ignoring me. What does bother me is the fact that considering the conditions, him ignoring me makes it feel like he doesn’t even consider me as part of the crew. It’s been six months on a mission, where he only had direct contact with nineteen other people. And he has actively interacted with eighteen of those nineteen people. Six months, and I’m the only one he actively ignores. I honestly don’t care if he doesn’t treat me like a son, because I had no intention of treating him like a father. I wouldn’t even care if he were an [CENSORED] towards me because at least he’d acknowledge my existence! But Marshall doesn’t even treat me like a crew member! That’s right, I didn’t call him ‘captain’ there, because he doesn’t deserve it! If he isn’t gonna treat me like a member of this crew, then I’m not gonna treat him like a captain! He has made it clear that he doesn’t consider me a member of his crew, so in return, I’m not gonna consider him as my captain! Why? Why did the higher-ups at GSA put me and Marshall together? Did you think that being father and son, we’d work well together? Or was it just random chance? I personally believe there were others more deserving to be on this mission than I am. And considering the situation, I’m wishing I wasn’t chosen. Whenever Marshall has ordered me to do something, it was basically what he had everyone do at the time. And I wouldn’t even hear about it until someone else told me. If he’s not gonna command me, then I refuse to do anything else he has me do unless he tells me directly. If I have to hear about it through someone else, then as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t apply to me. If you want me to do what Marshall wants, then you’ll have to take it up with him. I’m gonna go apologize to Trish for how I acted earlier. She’s a nice person. It’s just that she’s a little too excitable. [END LOG] Medical Log: Patricia Storey March 19th, 2262 @ 18:38, GMT First thing tomorrow morning, my husband, Troy, will be accompanying the crew of the landing party. The group had come in for examinations before their descent. And they’ve all check out fine physically. However, I feel it’s my duty to note an observation. During the past few weeks, I’ve noticed Alec has been becoming more and more irritable. My husband and I have been friends of his for a while now, and Troy can tell when something is bothering him. And if something’s bothering him, he’s usually willing to tell him (if Troy hasn’t found it out beforehand). I think six months of being cooped up in this ship is starting to get to him. And that’s what concerns me. As I’ve said, we’ve known him for a while. And he’s never shown signs of being the type to get irritable under these conditions. In fact, he tends to like his personal space, and watching the stars in the sky tends to soothe him. And being in an environment where he’s constantly seeing the stars should help soothe him. In fact, perhaps it does and I’d hate to see him if we weren’t traveling the stars. Either way, it’s odd behavior for him. I just recently looked up the personnel files on him, and I saw that he’s the son of the Captain. It’s strange that he hasn’t mentioned it. I’ve known that he hasn’t seen his father since he was just a little kid. But I never knew beforehand who his father was. Perhaps there’s tension between them. But that wouldn’t explain why he’s only now getting agitated by it. Perhaps it’s a combination of several factors. One of them may even be that his birthday is coming up next month, though I don’t see why that would bother him in any way. From what I’ve heard from Captain Edwards’ logs, one of the… (sigh) …one of the…ponies (I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that. Part of me is still convinced this is all an April Fools prank or something.), Pink Pie would most likely be willing to throw him a good birthday party. Then again, Alec is a bit of an introvert. And from what I understand, Pink Pie is the complete opposite of an introvert and may overwhelm him. I guess it depends. Alec isn’t a complete introvert. I guess we’ll just have to see and wait until the time comes. I don’t have much else to say, so I’ll end this log here. [END LOG] Down on the surface of the planet of Equus, there stood a large crystalline form that resembled a tree. The old treehouse library had burned down when a rogue lightning bolt struck the tree. The fire was contained, but Golden Oaks Library was beyond repair. But the fire did trigger Captain Edward’s PTSD when his ship exploded to activate. Thankfully, the Tree of Harmony offered to give Twilight a new home. Twilight had become a princess after finishing an old unfinished spell from Starswirl the Bearded. This feat of magic caused a metamorphosis that gave her wings, making Twilight a winged unicorn. And just recently, she had been acting as the parole officer to Starlight Glimmer. Randy Edwards now lives on his own in Ponyville, being offered residence. Twilight offered to let him stay with her. But he knew that he couldn’t rely on her forever. Thankfully, he was able to develop a translation device, though he has been picking up more and more of the Equestrian language. He realized many of the vocalizations he thought were beyond a human’s vocal range actually were not. Still, there were still a decent number of vocalizations that he couldn’t make. Thankfully, some ponies could understand what he was trying to say. Then there were times when he got laughed at, either because of bad grammar or saying something different from what he intended to say. Randy had been given a pair of prosthetic legs that Twilight built. And even though she couldn’t enchant them to move at Randy’s will, seeing as humans had a natural resistance to magic, she was able to enchant the legs to anticipate movement based on Spike’s legs. They weren’t perfect and certainly couldn’t give him the same amount of locomotion that he lost. But considering that he was able to walk again, it was still an advantage. Randy was outside that night, looking through his telescope at the night sky when he noticed something. It wasn’t a star, so his first assumption that may it was a comet or something. But it was too close to the planet. It wasn’t until he saw blinking lights that he realized what it was he was seeing. It’s been five years since Randy has last seen a human. And now, four years after the Arrow 18 was sent back to earth. Randy increased the magnification so that he could see the ship in more detail. It was hard to make out, but there was no mistaking it. Written on the side of the ship was “Arrow 19”. Immediately, Randy ran the best he could to Twilight’s crystalline castle. When he arrived, he knocked on the door furiously. Randy was thankful at this moment that she was a night owl. She answered the door to see Randy with an excited expression on her face…as well as a few cuts and bruises. “Randy, what happened to you?” Twilight asked in concern. “Have you ever tried running with these legs?” Randy said with a chuckle, not even trying to contain his excitement, “Have you looked through your telescope recently?” “No. Why?” Twilight asked. Randy gave her the coordinates. She pointed her telescope in that direction and saw something she remembered seeing four years ago, “They‘ve come to get you! You’re going home!” The joy of the news quickly began to fade as the realization sunk in. He was going to leave what has been his home for over four years. “If I know GSA, they’ll probably want to stay for a while to do their own research,” Randy said, “So it’s a fair assumption that I’ll still be here for a little while longer.” “In other words, it’s just delaying the inevitable,” Twilight sighed. Captain’s Log: Marshall Bennett March 20th, 2262 @ 07:38 GMT The team of four representatives going down to the surface will be boarding one of the two transport vehicles. I’ll be seeing them off at 08:00 hours. They’ll be taking the Blue Pegasus down to the surface. The second transport, the Black Griffon, will stay here in case something goes wrong and we have to assist the ground team. The ground team will be made up of our head scientist and linguist, and representative of the European Union, Erica Dean, our head medical specialist and technician, and representative of Australia, Troy Storey, the scientist and head of the team who developed the prototype for the new communication system, and representative of the United Kingdom, Trisha Powell, and the fourth… the philosopher, and representative of the American Union, Alec Willey. Personally, I don’t think we should have someone who has a profession of having their head in the clouds. [EDIT: LAST SENTENCE DELETED] I’ll save my personal opinions on the matter for my personal log. For now, it’s time for me to see the ground team off, so I must go now. [END LOG] Blue Pegasus Video Log/Transcription: Descent March 20th, 2262 @ 08:07 GMT [INITIATING VIDEO FEED] (Troy) “Is everyone strapped in?” (Erica) “Yes.” (Alec) “Yeah.” (Trish) “Ay, captain!” (Alec) “This isn’t Star Trek, Trish.” (Trish) “I know. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun with it.” (Alec) “Well, at least Troy would make a better captain than the one on the Arrow.” [SYSTEMS CHECK…] (Erica) “There’s no need to be disrespectful.” (Alec) “Tell that to him.” [SYSTEMS CHECK = PASSED] [AUTOMATED SYSTEMS CHECK…] (Alec) “I wouldn’t call ignoring the existence of a crew member as ‘respect’.” (Erica) “He’s only showing you the same respect you’re showing him. He’s the commanding officer of this mission, therefore he deserves our respect.” (Alec) “Respect is earned, not given. One’s rank doesn’t ‘earn’ respect. Besides, I’m not the one who started it. I never gave him any reason to treat me no better than a piece of luggage.” [AUTOMATED SYSTEMS CHECK = PASSED] [SYSTEMS READY] [INITIATING LAUNCHING SEQUENCE] (Alec) “In fact, how many orders have you gotten from him that came straight from him, and how many have you gotten that you heard through someone else?! Because I’ll bet the ratios you give are higher than mine!” (Erica) “Alec…” (Alec) “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if, in his logs, he refers to this as being a team of three plus one piece of cargo! AND GUESS WHO’S THE CARGO!” [LAUNCHING SEQUENCE = SUCCESSFUL] (Erica) “Alec, calm dow-” (Alec) “DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF BEING TREATED LIKE-” (Erica) “TROY NEEDS TO FOCUS! AND HE CAN’T WITH YOU SHOUTING IN HIS EAR! (Alec) … (Erica) “If you need to vent your frustrations, do it after we land on the surface where we don’t have to worry about someone focusing on the ship’s systems.” (Alec) … [BLUE PEGASUS’ DEPARTURE FROM ARROW 19 = SUCCESSFUL] (Troy) “Alec, take a few deep breaths and cool down a little. One of the reasons you were chosen for this mission was because of your ability to use rational thinking to override emotional irrationality.” (Alec) *slow deep breathing* (Trish) “Are you feeling better, Alec?” (Alec) … (Trish) “Alec?” (Alec) … (Troy) “Let him be for now. It’s how he calms down, by becoming unresponsive. For him, it’s kind of like a meditative state.” [INITIATING ORBITAL DESCENT] (Alec) … (Trish) … (Erica) … (Troy) … (Trish) “If the Blue Pegasus has an automated system, then why do we need a pilot?” (Alec) … “The automated system can act as an autopilot and make calculations and adjustments to compensate for human error. But it’d be foolish to put the lives of people in the trust of an AI without someone there to monitor the system. And if something were to go wrong with the automated system, we’d need a pilot to fly the Blue Pegasus to safety. In short, no matter how sophisticated an AI is, it will never truly be able to replicate human intuition.” (Erica) “That’s another reason for him being chosen on this mission. His understanding and ability to research what he’s getting involved in.” (Trish) “Wow! What else do you know about the Blue Pegasus?” (Alec) … (Troy) “You should take that as a compliment. Alec chose to answer your question before he was finished cooling down. That’s not something he’ll do with just anybody.” (Trish) “Oh, okay…I think.” (Alec) … (Troy) … (Erica) … (Trish) … (Alec) *laughing* [ENTERING EQUUS’ ATMOSPHERE] [EXPERIENCING HIGH TURBULENCE] [VIDEO FEED INTERRUPTED] … … … [ATMOSPHERE SUCCESSFULLY ENTERED] [HIGH TURBULENCE ENDED] [VIDEO FEED RESTORED] (Erica) “…were having a mental breakdown or something!” (Troy) “I think when Trish asked that question, the shift in the topic was so jarring that his frustration was just gone.” [INITIATING ATMOSPHERIC DESCENT] (Troy) “Coupled with the fact that he tends to feel good after venting like that…” (Trish) “He couldn’t help but laugh.” (Alec) “I’m sorry if I worried you, Erica. It’s just when Trish changed the topic without any warning whatsoever, I just thought it was so random.” (Erica) “Well, at least you’re back in a good mood.” (Alec) *typing on a computer screen* (Trish) “What are you doing?” [SYSTEM NAVIGATION ACCESSED] (Alec) “I’m accessing the ship’s navigational systems.” (Erica) “You’re WHAT?! You don’t have authorization to-” (Alec) “The ship is programmed to land near the capital city. But I don’t believe that’s the wisest choice. I believe the best option is to land near where the Ravenstar originally landed. They would be more familiar with what to expect. Besides, the capital city is still within travel distance.” [WARNING: NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN ALTERED] (Alec) “There, the automated system should guide us to the original landing site.” (Erica) “You know GSA won’t be pleased with you messing with the ship’s programming like that, right?” (Trish) “Aren’t you the one who said that the reason Alec was chosen was because of his ability to study what he was getting into? He got into the Blue Pegasus, so he must have studied its systems, including how to access and modify them.” (Alec) “And even if the higher-ups are displeased with what I did, I think they would agree that the ends justify the means in this case. And it’s not like I’m causing damage. After all, they’ll understand my reasoning once they watch this video themselves.” (Erica) “What video?” (Alec) “You mean you didn’t know we were being recorded? I personally took notice of the camera over there as we came in. *points to the camera* I’m sure that it’s just for monitoring descent and ascent procedures though, to make sure that everything went smoothly, and learn from mistakes made if things didn’t go smoothly. *looks towards the camera* That is only what it’s used for, right?” (Erica) “And what if they’re used for more than that?” (Trish) “Then he’ll do what he did with the navigational systems.” (Alec) “You’re a fast learner.” (Troy) “That’s one of the reasons she was chosen.” [APPROACHING DESIGNATED COORDINATES] [INITIATING LANDING SEQUENCE] (Troy) “Everyone, brace for impact!” (Alec) … (Trish) … (Erica) … (Troy) … [LANDING SEQUENCE = SUCCESSFUL] =WELCOME TO EQUUS, TERRA SQUAD= (Erica) “I wasn’t expecting a greeting. And why wasn’t I informed of the name Terra Squad?” (Troy) “Because there wasn’t a greeting, and we weren’t designated as Terra Squad?” (Troy)(Erica) *looks towards Alec* (Alec) *grinning smugly* “I thought we deserved a title with a little more flare than “ground team”. And don’t tell me you don’t think it sounds good. And it’s generally the same thing. Terra means ground, and squad means team. If GSA has a problem with it, then they can speak to me directly.” (Trish) “I like it!” [END VIDEO FEED] Author's Note The “American Union” is my fictional alliance between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. I also raised the crew count, while lowering how many of them are mentioned since most of them wouldn’t play a major part in the story anyway. “Bollocks” is a form of British slang. I’ll leave it up to you to look it up. Archive Two: Parties, Ponies, Princesses, and PartiesRepresentative’s Log: Erica Dean March 21st, 2262 @ 07:42 GMT When we successfully landed on the surface and got out, we expected a whole new world. We expected to see brightly colored equine-like creatures everywhere. We expected there to be excitement from our arrival. And we even anticipated the possibility of Captain Edwards to be ready to greet us. Do you know what we didn’t expect? A welcome party. And just to clarify, I don’t mean a group of people… ponies… whatever… there waiting to greet us when we arrived. Though in hindsight, it can be described as that as well. No, this was a literal party! A celebration! With music, games, dancing, food and drinks, the works! And boy can ponies party! From the point we touched down and got out to long into the night, it was a party. And the odd thing was that when we saw Captain Edwards, he said that he made sure it was a small party. If that was a small party, what were they originally planning?! An entire week-long party?! Anyway, during that party, I was able to catch a few pony words and their translations. Like the pony words for ‘party’, ‘welcome’, ‘Ponyville’, etcetera, etcetera. There were also four banners. One of them was in English, saying “Welcome to Ponyvile”. I can only assume the other three said the same thing. One of them used English letters, but I assume was in the pony language. And the other two I assume were the English and Pony translations of “Welcome to Ponyville” written in their own lettering. I later found out that the banner was supposed to say “Ponyville”, not “Ponyvile”, but the foals that made the banner didn’t quite know the English spelling. I gotta give these ponies credit. They make good food. It’s so similar to some of the food back on Earth but different at the same time. Perhaps I’ll run a DNA test on one of those apples some time, as well as do a little translating. Trish had been videotaping some of the party, and I’m sure she got a shot of the banners. As for the offer that GSA told me, I have not given the offer to Captain Edwards yet. I couldn’t do it during the party because…it was a party. The locals wanted to welcome us, whereas business would be better done in a calmer, more professional environment. Well, that’s about all I have to say for now. [ADDITIONAL NOTE] One last thing. Did you know ponies know how to make prosthetic limbs? Apparently, Captain Edwards was given a pair of prosthetic legs, allowing him to walk again. I noticed that they’re a bit clumsy. But it’s still impressive nonetheless. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Troy Story March 21st, 2262 @ 08:17 GMT The first thing I plan on doing today is to test everyone’s blood sugar levels. When the ponies party, they party hard. And as with any party, there were party snacks. And with how many party snacks there were…it’s a good thing there’s a medical officer on this mission that Alec had officially dubbed as “Terra Squad”. I’d criticize him for hacking into the ship’s system, but it was harmless, and quite intuitive on his part. I’m sure the video log will provide the proper details about that. Potential diabetic concerns aside, let me tell you about how these ponies party. To say it was unexpected would be an understatement… [LOG SECTION DELETED] Apparently, Erica had already said just about everything I just said in her own log entry. So it’s best not to waste storage space on what had already been said. Rambling aside, I’d like to take notice of Alec during that party. He actually handled himself well during that party…for the most part. To be more accurate, he did well for being an introvert. But that pink pony, the hostess of the party, overwhelms him like flipping a switch. He had to get out of the crowd to calm his mind. I kept an eye on him from a distance to make sure something didn’t happen. After all, who knows what will happen here, especially when he becomes unresponsive. This is where things got interesting. There was this yellow pony who seemed to also take notice of him. She approached him cautiously, almost as if she were afraid of what he may do to her if she got close. She tried poking him a few times, hiding behind a rock each time. When it got through her head that he wasn’t reacting, she became more insistent, knocking him down in the process. When he got back up, this startled her, running to hide again. But just got back into the same position as before as if nothing happened. I’ve got to give that pony credit for her persistence, even if she seemed a bit timid. I wonder if ponies can sense when something’s wrong. After several minutes of poking him, she got a reaction from him. Nothing special, just him reaching his hand towards her…causing her to run and hide again. It occurs to me that maybe that pony is an introvert like Alec, who also may have needed some time away from the excitement. But I digress. Alec held his hand out, unmoving, before bringing it back to himself. Seeing him back in his closed-off position got the pony’s attention. She moved towards him to try again. He reached out again, which caused her to flinch, but didn’t run. He kept his hand out as if tempting a dog to sniff it. He was letting her come to him. After a few moments, she took his offer and reached her hoof to his hand. That led to them shaking hands…hooves…you get the idea. To Alec, this was his first contact. A true interaction with a pony who understood him better. Now that he opened up a little, she offered him a half-eaten cupcake, appearing ashamed that she didn’t have a full one to offer. But he smiled and accepted it, splitting it in half so that they could share. At this point, I rejoined the party, since I felt he was in the presence of someone who wanted to make sure he was comfortable. It was fascinating watching them share this dialogue without uttering a single word. They knew that they couldn’t just talk. In short, actions speak louder than words. It’s something you have to witness for yourself. Unfortunately, Trish didn’t record the event. At least not that I know of. Well, I guess I’ll finish this off by convincing Alec to give his report. That is if he wakes up sometime in the next five hours. I’m sure GSA doesn’t have to be told again that Alec is not a morning person. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Trisha Powell March 21st, 2262 @ 09:07 GMT Good morning GSA! I know the doctor said Alec would make the next log. But we all know he’s not waking up anytime soon. Doc had given me a- Doc: “So now I have the nickname of ‘Doc’?” Trish: “What? Don’t you like it?” Doc: “Just as long as you remember that I do have a real name.” As I was saying, Doc had given me and Erica diabetes checks. Really? It’s not like one night of binging on sweets is gonna give us diabetes. Doc: “Well considering that the only one at that party that ate more sweets than you was that pink pony, I think I have reason to be concerned.” Trish: “I didn’t eat that much.” Doc: “If I tested your blood and it came up negative, I wouldn’t even have to be worried about testing the rest of us.” [EDIT: THE NAME ‘TROY’ HAS BEEN CHANGED TO ‘DOC’] So the Doc does have a sense of humor. Anyway, to describe the party, I’ll just upload the video. [INITIATING VIDEO FEED] (Alec) “So do you think GSA will approve of our new title of Terra Squad?” (Troy) “I don’t think they’ll like that you so easily hacked the system. But the intent was good, so I don’t think they’ll have a reason to deny that title.” (Trish) “You guys don’t mind that I’m recording, right?” (Alec) “I’d do it too. It’s not every day you step foot on an alien world. Although I’d be more impressed if this world actually looked alien. *The hatch to the Blue Pegasus opens* (Erica) “Well, the gravity on thi-” (Ponies) “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” (Randy) “Or as they say here, Muhk’yu ot Llive’eenop.” *Several ponies cringe* (Twilight) “What he meant to say was Muhkleu ut Lliv’eenwuhp.” (Trish) “Hey! You’re that pony from that video who manipulates Captain Edwards with cuteness!” *Twilight laughs awkwardly as she blushes* (Randy) “This pony who uses cuteness as a weapon is named Twilight Sparkle.” (Erica) “I remember her from the first video log of the two of you. If I remember correctly, your name in your native tongue is Tyahlya’oot L’krahpss?” (Twilight) “How did you-” (Erica) “One of my specialties is translating foreign languages.” *Erica heads off with Twilight, Alec and Troy follow Randy, a shot of the Welcome banners* (Pinkie) “Hi! Me Eekneep Yop! What your name?!” (Trish) “My name’s Trish! I’m here representing the United Kingdom!” *Pinkie looks confused* (Trish) “How much of our language do you know?” (Pinkie) “Uh…” (Trish) “How much can you talk like us?” (Pinkie) “Oh! Little! Me have… me have hard big word!” (Trish) “I…think I understand you.” (Pinkie) “Cupcake?!” *Pinkie hands Trish a cupcake, Trish takes the cupcake* [NEXT SCENE] [NOTE: Scene includes alien dialogue being externally translated. Translated dialogue will be marked for later reference.] *Alec and Troy are talking with three fillies* (Alec) “So Twilight taught you her translation spell?” (Sweetie Belle) ~“Yep! Pretty neat, huh?” (Alec) “Yeah, it is!” (Troy) “So, what do Cutie Mark Crusaders do?” (Apple Bloom) ~“Originally, we were tryin’ to work together to get our cutie marks. But when we got our marks, we realized that our special talent was to help others with their cutie marks. So we either help other ponies to get their cutie marks, or we help other ponies rediscover what their cutie marks mean.” (Troy) “That seems like a lot of responsibility for ponies your age.” (Scootaloo) ~“What’s that supposed to mean?! Are you saying we’re just fillies?!” (Alec) “We’re not saying you’re just fillies. But you are fillies.” *Sweetie Belle appears to be strained* (Apple Bloom) ~“Are you okay, Sweetie Belle? Yer not lookin’ too good.” (Sweetie Belle) ~“I’m fine. This spell just takes a lot of energy.” (Troy) “I can imagine. Languages are complex.” (Alec) “So how did you three get your cutie marks?” (Scootaloo) ~“Well, it basically happened when we convinced the bully to use her special talent for good.” *Sweetie Belle passes out* (Apple Bloom) “Eetyus Lebb! Eenwuhpmuss teg ple’h!” (Alec) “Uh-oh! Without Sweetie Belle, the translation spell is deactivated!” (Scootaloo) “Tow? Uth nushialznayrt lepss!” (Troy) “I think she just over-exerted herself. But I’m not exactly familiar with pony biology.” (Alec) “I’ll get Twilight! She can also act as a translator!” *Alec leaves* … *Alec returns with Twilight and Erica* (Twilight) “What happened?!” (Troy) “I believe Sweetie Belle over-exerted herself trying to use the translation spell. I think she’ll be okay. But I wanted a second opinion.” (Alec) “And another translator.” *Twilight’s horn lights up* (Twilight) “I told Sweetie Belle not to use that spell for too long. She’ll be alright. But she may have a headache when she wakes up. I’ll go get Rarity so she can take her home.” [END VIDEO FEED] The rest of the video is basically just more partying. I’ll include the rest if you want to watch it. But I think I got what I wanted in. Alec: “Is it my turn yet?” Doc: “It was supposed to be your turn awhile ago.” Trish: “It looks like the grump is finally awake!” Alec: “I’m not grumpy. Actually, wasn’t I supposed to make my log before you?” Doc: “Well, if you had woken up earlier, you would’ve.” Well, it seems grumpy has woken up. And since- Alec: “I’m not grumpy!” -I have nothing more to say, I’ll end my log here and let grumpy make his log. [EDIT: THE NAME ‘ALEC’ HAS BEEN CHANGED TO ‘GRUMPY’] [END LOG] Personal Log: Grumpy March 21st, 2262 @ 09:41 GMT Does my log entry say… Damnit, Trish! Now I gotta change that back. [END LOG] [EDIT: THE NAME ‘GRUMPY’ HAS BEEN CHANGED TO ‘ALEC’] Personal Log: Alec Willey March 21st, 2262 @ 09:43 GMT There! Anyway, I know this is supposed to be an official log. But I doubt I have anything else to say about yesterday that the others haven’t already said. Especially considering that Trish had recorded the party on video. Though, it’s impressive how alike their style of partying is to ours. Though in this case, it was like New Years’ in the middle of Time Square. This is a personal log because it’s just that… personal. Then again, the others did see me and probably documented it anyway. But my point of view is more emotional and can’t be properly described without the emotion. Let’s just get this out in the open. It’s no question that the GSA knows that I’m an introvert. Unfortunately, the party was hosted by an introvert’s worst nightmare. That pink hostess of the party, I’m not gonna say I hate her. In fact, the party was fun, despite being an introvert. However, that doesn’t change that she is just too hyper! Eventually, it got so intense that I had to get out of there and relax. I was right at the breaking point. I found a hill that was relatively quiet and away from the party. So I sat there. Can anyone in the GSA understand how frustrating it is to love a party, but can’t partake in it because of having excitement limitations that being introverted places on you? Well, that’s how I felt sitting on that hill. Frustrated because I wanted to go back to the party and have fun, but couldn’t on the account that being introverted wouldn’t allow me to have fun! But, the point wasn’t the party, the point was on the hill. I say that Troy was keeping an eye on me, but didn’t mind. I don’t like feeling like I’m a special case. But it’s Troy’s job. And I did go off on my own in an unfamiliar planet… heh… I call it “unfamiliar” even though the terrain of this planet is so earth-like. But I digress. While I was sitting on that hill, a timid yellow pegasus slowly came up to me. The best way to describe her was like a deer that was curious about something but was ready to bolt at the slightest sign of movement. In fact, I could describe it as worse. She came up and touched me to get my attention, and she ran and hid behind a rock, and I didn’t even move. I was still in my “recovery mode”, so I wasn’t gonna respond to her. She tried this a few times. Eventually, it came down to her using more force, which knocked me over. And just like a deer, the slightest sign of movement, in this case, me getting up, caused her to run. For how timid that pony was, I gotta give her credit for how determined she was. After more poking, I finally got to reach out to her. And guess what happened? She hid. I was still relatively unresponsive, so it took a while for my hand to listen to my brain and return to its base position. I honestly was enjoying her company though, even if she ran and hid if one of my arm hairs moved. I was disappointed that she had run from me. But thankfully I hadn’t chased her away. She made another attempt to approach me. I held out my hand again, trying not to make the movement as sudden as before. She flinched but did not run. It then occurred to me that I didn’t even know what I was doing. My logic was that of interacting with an animal, reaching out to pet her the first time, then reaching out to let her sniff my hand like a dog getting my scent the second time. To my relief, that being after an awkward pause, she reached her hoof out to shake my hand. Thankfully, they do that too. It makes my gesture less awkward. And I’m probably not gonna tell that pony anytime soon that I was originally attempting to treat her like an animal. Now, it’s not like I wasn’t interacting with others during the party. But that was more about the Terra Squad interacting with the landing party. This however was a personal one on one interaction. I wouldn’t call it a “first contact” per se. But it was my first personal experience here. My “first contact” would’ve been with that pink pony. Emphasis on the word “contact”. I think she’s considered alien even among her own kind. But I digress. After that was out of the way, the pegasus offered me a cupcake. I noticed that she seemed ashamed about it for some reason. I then took another look at the cupcake and saw that it was already half-eaten. I didn’t want her to think I was unappreciative though. So I took the half-eaten cupcake and split it in half, giving one half to her so we could share it. She seemed to like this gesture and truly opened up to me. Well, as open as one can be when there’s a language barrier. My point is that we were both aware of the language barrier, so we didn’t even try to speak verbally. She seemed to be the quiet type anyway. At this point, I was no longer in my “recovery mode”. But with that pegasus there, I had no desire to rejoin the party. We were just content to watch the festivities from where we were. The village was beautiful when viewed at a distance when it’s lit up like that at night. And comparing it to the starry night sky created a nice contrast. An active and bright town set against a calm and quiet night sky. People today don’t seem to have that respect for that kind of beauty that they used to. With how our world has become as industrialized as it now is, there seems to be a larger desire to create larger and more fantastic structures than to go out into a forest and see the beauty that exists in nature itself. [END LOG] Archive Three: Slow DayRepresentative’s Log: Alec Willey March 22st, 2262 @ 18:32 GMT Okay, yesterday, I made a personal log that would probably be better as an official log, and now I’m making an official log that may be better as a personal log… maybe I’m wrong about that. Sorry about that awkward start. Let’s just say that today, Trish won’t have any reason to call me a grump. Because I feel I had a good day today. We all used yesterday to relax after that party. And today, we had a chance to interact with the others on a normal day… well, as normal as two creatures from different planets can be. But it’s very different than at the party. Aside from the ponies who would gather around us because of their fascination, the town was rather peaceful. Anyway, today, Erica wanted to get into contact with Twilight. I guess it makes sense that they would manage to bond. Twilight is the resident expert on the human language (save for Captain Edwards), and Erica is our linguist. Anyway, she wanted to get into contact with Twilight to work on a new translation program. I don’t know the details. Foreign languages are not my forte. But I chose to come too. Not because I was interested in what they were doing. I was just hoping that Twilight could assist in her translation spell so I could talk to Pinkie. I wanted to get to know who she was when she wasn’t partying. Thankfully, Twilight was planning on meeting up with Pinkie before we arrived anyway, Though I never learned why. Anyway, when we arrived at Sugarcube Corner, I learned that… Pinkie is that hyper. But when she’s not involved with a party, she’s not as in your face about it. With Twilight’s assistance, I was able to talk with her, learning that she lived with an entirely different family than her own. Although considering that her family name translates into “Pie”, and the other family’s name translates into “Cake”, I wonder if there is some relation. After getting to know Pinkie, I asked what that yellow pegasus’ name was. I forgot how to pronounce it. But it translates into “Flutter Shy”. I was gonna go to Flutter Shy’s… well… after I figured out where she lived. And in hindsight, it probably would’ve been better to be invited rather than to just show up. I wouldn’t want to startle her. And the language barrier would’ve been an issue too. So when I get around to it, I’ll ask Twilight if she’d be willing to set up a time for us to hang out and get to know each other, using Twilight as the translator… I don’t like having to “use” someone like that though. Anyway, before I had the chance to leave, Pinkie offered me a fresh-baked doughnut. How could I resist the opportunity? I remember when I was a kid and we had a school field trip to a Crispy Cream factory. And when we were there, we got to try freshly baked doughnuts… if heaven were a taste, that was it… having those delicious doughnuts melt in your mouth… Sorry, I got a little sidetracked. I’d say the doughnut that Pinkie made was on par with Crispy Cream, though I wouldn’t say it’s the same. They had an almost strange taste. And it makes sense when I learned that it was a clover doughnut. Trust me, it tastes better than it sounds. Anyway, as I was eating that doughnut, a couple of children… foals… came in. They wouldn’t have been any more than a few years old. And as much as I love children, I also feel awkward with them. But Pinkie insisted on introducing me to them. They were twins; brother and sister. The boy was a pegasus named Pound, and he was the roughhousing type. The girl was a unicorn named Pumpkin, and she was rather inquisitive. What caught me off guard was that they didn’t seem to question what I was. But I suppose it makes sense with Captain Edwards around. As Pumpkin asked me questions, Pound was using me as a jungle gym. I chose to indulge him by getting into different positions for him to climb. My neck is probably gonna be sore tomorrow. Well, I guess that’s all I have to say. I’m not as energetic as I used to be, and kids are full of energy. So I’m gonna go take a nap… outside. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Erica Dean March 22st, 2262 @ 19:13 GMT I’d say today was productive. I don’t have much to say since today was a rather slow day. I did manage to get together with Twilight to try and program the translation system to work with their language. I’ll be spending some more time with her to work on that, so my logs will be less frequent for a little while. Simply put, I’ll be working with her to create a translation program that would be compatible with her translator spell. I think it would be fascinating to see how Earthling technology would interact when combined with Equus magic. Twilight’s translator spell is fascinating to me because it contains an AI. At least that’s the best way I can think to describe it. I know that the term ‘AI’ is usually synonymous with a computer program. But Twilight’s spell contains a different kind of AI. Perhaps this AI is connected to the natural magic of this world. Would that mean that this world has natural internet compatibility? That’s also something to study. Twilight’s spell is capable of learning and adapting, just like an AI. The intent is to develop and translation device that doesn’t require a unicorn to cast the spell or someone there to act as a translator. I still believe learning the language on your own would be beneficial. But that takes time, and not everyone can learn other languages easily. It’s a short log entry, I know. But like I said, it was a slow day today. I’ll continue to update the progress, but will most likely be short entries. So I’ll be starting a file for update logs. I suppose the name is currently a work in progress. But you get the idea. I’ll keep you posted. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Troy Storey March 22st, 2262 @ 19:46 GMT After testing Terra Squad for any medical anomalies from that party, Alec: “I knew that name would stick!” …I’ve found nothing to be concerned about. Although I did do some testing on a cupcake that I had leftover. After breaking down the ingredients, I’ve found something interesting. It’s odd how similar many plants are in this world as with at home. But that’s not what I found odd. I don’t know if it’s specific to Pink Pie’s cupcakes, or if it’s common with these ponies. But the sweetener used wasn’t normal sugar. It seems that, at least with this cupcake, the sweetener was nectar. As in from flowers. This is fascinating on so many levels. But it’s something to take note of for anyone who may have allergies. Perhaps the use of nectar is normal for them because of flowers being a part of their natural diets. I propose that researchers back on Earth look into attempting to convert nectar into baking sugar. There’s also the fact that this is a clover cupcake. I know that Alec has already addressed this. But these are clover cupcakes, and they do have a fascinating flavor to them. I should see if we can get a recipe that can be converted for Earth clovers. This is a short log entry, as with the others posted today. It’s been a slow day. Which seems strange now that I think of it. Wouldn’t the ponies be more interested in meeting us? Alec: “Maybe everyone’s just exhausted from that welcome party we received.” Alec brings up a good point. It was probably slow because everyone’s recovering from that party. Simply put, consider this a warning. If you decide to visit Equus, you WILL get a welcome party. Alec: “Who would’ve guessed that we’d have to warn people of a welcome party.” [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Troy Storey March 23rd, 2262 @ 8:03 GMT Trish and Alec are two peas in a pod. For better or for worse. First of all, Trish never made her scheduled log entry last night. Her logic was based on Erica’s log entry about limiting her log entries for tech updates. Since yesterday was a slow day for everyone, there was nothing that much of note to mention. And between Alec, Erica, and my own log entries, her reasoning was that because she had nothing to add, there was no need for her to make her own log entry. And Alec agrees with her. If there’s nothing to add, there’s no point in making a log entry. That makes it two votes for limited log updates, one vote for daily log entries, and one abstained vote for not knowing about the vote, which qualifies as a vote for limited, since Erica specified that idea. In short, I’m agreeing to it with the caveat of myself posting daily logs. After all, if one of us doesn’t keep you updated frequently, how would you know the difference between a slow day and something going wrong? I’ll sign out now. [END LOG] Author's Note A short entry, but an update nonetheless. I’ve recently gone through the first two chapters and made a few minor edits, primarily just spelling and grammar errors. I suppose I can also use this as a way to promote Grammarly. This is not a paid promotion or anything, I just recently started using it, and it may put some editors out of work. I went through the chapter again because I’m putting effort into getting back into this story. I have 3 other projects in the works as of this edit, so that’s why I haven’t touched this story for as long as I have. This would make it 4. So there’s a lot that I’m working on at once. And thanks to Blender and a YouTube tutorial, I created models for the two ships, the Blu Pegasus and the Black Griffon. Granted, they are just reskinned of the same model. But that makes narrative sense since they ARE the same model of ship. It’s amazing what you can make simply by warping the shape of text. That ship design began as the text Biiiiiiiiii.
Archive One: Opposite WorldArrow 19 Crew Count: 20 Captain: Marshall Bennett Head Technician: Patricia Dean Head Scientist: Erica Dean Head Medic: Troy Storey Head Astrophysicist: Stephanie Mettz Diplomatic Representatives: Alec Willey (American Union), Troy Storey (Australia), Erica Dean (European Union), Trisha Powell (United Kingdom) Representative’s Log: Alec Willey March 17th, 2262 @ 23:37, GMT We have just arrived in the Omega Centauri II system to what has been nicknamed the ‘Opposite World’. Though it was later named Equus, it still holds the nickname of Opposite World because of how it seems to defy the laws of logic. My expertise is in computer programming, not stellar physics. But it doesn’t take an astrophysicist to know that an object of lesser mass is supposed to orbit an object of greater mass. Not the other way around. This is the first log entry using the new communication system. Trish and her father helped to develop the technology for long-distance communication. It’s far from instant communication. We’ve estimated that the communications take anywhere from a few days to as long as a month for the other end to receive the entry. From what I understand, the hard drive of this computer is capable of creating a connection with a “twin” computer (for lack of a better word). The hard drives create an artificial wormhole. It’s only a few micrometers in diameter, but it’s a connection nonetheless. Regardless of what this communication system does, the intent is to give this computer to the… (Would they be called Equeeshians?) The locals of the planet. In any case, if we’re going to have interstellar allies, it’s only fair that we have some means of communication. As glad as I am to be on this mission (I’ve wanted to be an astronaut since I was a little kid), I still don’t think I’m as deserving of it as others believe. Sure, I’ve been tested and trained in space travel in order to go on this mission, and I know my way around diplomacy. But I only got recognized because of my father’s involvement in the military. Speaking of my father, he’s also the captain of this mission. And if you think that the captain being my father earns me special attention, you’d be right. That is if by ‘special’ you mean ‘lack of any acknowledgment whatsoever’. As far as he’s concerned, this crew only has 19 members. [EDIT: DELETE LAST THREE SENTENCES] Sorry about that. Personal issues like that belong in my personal logs. Anyway, the crew was told not to make any log entries on this computer until we reached Equus. That way, GSA can make a better calculation of how long it takes for transmissions to travel at this distance. Technically, we weren’t supposed to start using this computer until we landed on the surface. But the intent is to test the distance. But we’re now within a million kilometers, so the difference would be minuscule. We still got another day or so before we enter orbit. But as far as I’m concerned, our mission has started. And if you don’t like it, you can [CENSORED]. Sorry about that. I guess being stuck in this oversized soda can for six months is getting under my skin a little. I don’t know, maybe I’m just tired. It’s late after all. Normally I’m a night owl. But we’ve needed to get up early the last few days for preparations. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Trisha Powell March 19th, 2262 @ 08:21, GMT I see that Alec has already made a log entry. I don’t know if he mentioned in the log entry why we’re on this mission. But here it is. Obviously, because of the last Arrow mission, ‘Lone Ranger’, we couldn’t just have a crew of one again. It’s still a relatively small crew, but we have everyone and everything we need. Anyway, we’re here for two. The first is because the Global Space Agency wanted to send proper diplomatic representatives to Equus. We’ve got representatives from North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia going to the surface, because the ships only have four seats. But there are representatives from Africa and South America on the crew as well. We’d take representatives from Antarctica. But I don’t know how penguins can act as representatives. Alec: “Ha ha. Very funny.” Trish: “Why so serious, Alec?” Alec: “You took that from that movie from the twenty-first century, didn’t you?” Trish: “You liked it and you know it.” Alec: “How can I know something if I don’t know I know it?” Sorry about that. Alec’s being grumpy this morning. Alec: “I’m not grumpy.” The second reason we’re out here is as a rescue mission to retrieve captain Randy Edwards. The reason I got noticed for this mission was because of my help in the mechanics of how the new communication system works. My grandfather was the one who came up with the original concept of the WHC hard drive. But my father and I were in charge of developing it. Basically, the WHC hard drive uses an artificially created wormhole to communicate. And in order to keep the wormhole stable, we use quantum fibers. In short, the WHC drive allows for the universe’s strongest wifi signal. Alec: “Are you making a log entry explaining to GSA what they already know?” Trish: “Well, I was supposed to make a log entry, but I didn’t know what else to say.” Alec: “What about entering orbit?” Trish: “Oh yeah.” Sorry again. Alec isn’t a morning person. So his attitude in the morning is bollocks. Alec: “My attitude is not…wait. What’s ‘bollocks’?” Trish: “It means you’re being a grump.” Alec: “I’m NOT a grump!” Anyway, we entered orbit over Equus last night. And tomorrow, we’re going down to the surface. Only four of us will go down to the surface. Me, Mister Grumpy, Alec: “I’M NOT GRUMPY!” …the head scientist, and the head medic. Both myself and Mister Grumpy… Alec: [incomprehensible grumbling] …both have scientific knowledge. And Alec… Alec: “Thank you.” …has some medical training. But our main focus is on diplomacy. Well, I don’t have much else to say today. So I guess I’ll just say over and out. Alec: “You do know you don’t have to say “over and out” when…” [END LOG] Personal Log: Alec Willey March 19th, 2262 @ 13:17 GMT Why did you all put me on a crew with Captain Bennett? At least when I was younger, his ignoring me could’ve been from not being around. The last time I’ve seen him was when I was three. Now he’s actively ignoring me. I’m here and he still doesn’t acknowledge my existence. I’ve lived nearly 28 years without him, so it doesn’t bother me that he’s ignoring me. What does bother me is the fact that considering the conditions, him ignoring me makes it feel like he doesn’t even consider me as part of the crew. It’s been six months on a mission, where he only had direct contact with nineteen other people. And he has actively interacted with eighteen of those nineteen people. Six months, and I’m the only one he actively ignores. I honestly don’t care if he doesn’t treat me like a son, because I had no intention of treating him like a father. I wouldn’t even care if he were an [CENSORED] towards me because at least he’d acknowledge my existence! But Marshall doesn’t even treat me like a crew member! That’s right, I didn’t call him ‘captain’ there, because he doesn’t deserve it! If he isn’t gonna treat me like a member of this crew, then I’m not gonna treat him like a captain! He has made it clear that he doesn’t consider me a member of his crew, so in return, I’m not gonna consider him as my captain! Why? Why did the higher-ups at GSA put me and Marshall together? Did you think that being father and son, we’d work well together? Or was it just random chance? I personally believe there were others more deserving to be on this mission than I am. And considering the situation, I’m wishing I wasn’t chosen. Whenever Marshall has ordered me to do something, it was basically what he had everyone do at the time. And I wouldn’t even hear about it until someone else told me. If he’s not gonna command me, then I refuse to do anything else he has me do unless he tells me directly. If I have to hear about it through someone else, then as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t apply to me. If you want me to do what Marshall wants, then you’ll have to take it up with him. I’m gonna go apologize to Trish for how I acted earlier. She’s a nice person. It’s just that she’s a little too excitable. [END LOG] Medical Log: Patricia Storey March 19th, 2262 @ 18:38, GMT First thing tomorrow morning, my husband, Troy, will be accompanying the crew of the landing party. The group had come in for examinations before their descent. And they’ve all check out fine physically. However, I feel it’s my duty to note an observation. During the past few weeks, I’ve noticed Alec has been becoming more and more irritable. My husband and I have been friends of his for a while now, and Troy can tell when something is bothering him. And if something’s bothering him, he’s usually willing to tell him (if Troy hasn’t found it out beforehand). I think six months of being cooped up in this ship is starting to get to him. And that’s what concerns me. As I’ve said, we’ve known him for a while. And he’s never shown signs of being the type to get irritable under these conditions. In fact, he tends to like his personal space, and watching the stars in the sky tends to soothe him. And being in an environment where he’s constantly seeing the stars should help soothe him. In fact, perhaps it does and I’d hate to see him if we weren’t traveling the stars. Either way, it’s odd behavior for him. I just recently looked up the personnel files on him, and I saw that he’s the son of the Captain. It’s strange that he hasn’t mentioned it. I’ve known that he hasn’t seen his father since he was just a little kid. But I never knew beforehand who his father was. Perhaps there’s tension between them. But that wouldn’t explain why he’s only now getting agitated by it. Perhaps it’s a combination of several factors. One of them may even be that his birthday is coming up next month, though I don’t see why that would bother him in any way. From what I’ve heard from Captain Edwards’ logs, one of the… (sigh) …one of the…ponies (I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that. Part of me is still convinced this is all an April Fools prank or something.), Pink Pie would most likely be willing to throw him a good birthday party. Then again, Alec is a bit of an introvert. And from what I understand, Pink Pie is the complete opposite of an introvert and may overwhelm him. I guess it depends. Alec isn’t a complete introvert. I guess we’ll just have to see and wait until the time comes. I don’t have much else to say, so I’ll end this log here. [END LOG] Down on the surface of the planet of Equus, there stood a large crystalline form that resembled a tree. The old treehouse library had burned down when a rogue lightning bolt struck the tree. The fire was contained, but Golden Oaks Library was beyond repair. But the fire did trigger Captain Edward’s PTSD when his ship exploded to activate. Thankfully, the Tree of Harmony offered to give Twilight a new home. Twilight had become a princess after finishing an old unfinished spell from Starswirl the Bearded. This feat of magic caused a metamorphosis that gave her wings, making Twilight a winged unicorn. And just recently, she had been acting as the parole officer to Starlight Glimmer. Randy Edwards now lives on his own in Ponyville, being offered residence. Twilight offered to let him stay with her. But he knew that he couldn’t rely on her forever. Thankfully, he was able to develop a translation device, though he has been picking up more and more of the Equestrian language. He realized many of the vocalizations he thought were beyond a human’s vocal range actually were not. Still, there were still a decent number of vocalizations that he couldn’t make. Thankfully, some ponies could understand what he was trying to say. Then there were times when he got laughed at, either because of bad grammar or saying something different from what he intended to say. Randy had been given a pair of prosthetic legs that Twilight built. And even though she couldn’t enchant them to move at Randy’s will, seeing as humans had a natural resistance to magic, she was able to enchant the legs to anticipate movement based on Spike’s legs. They weren’t perfect and certainly couldn’t give him the same amount of locomotion that he lost. But considering that he was able to walk again, it was still an advantage. Randy was outside that night, looking through his telescope at the night sky when he noticed something. It wasn’t a star, so his first assumption that may it was a comet or something. But it was too close to the planet. It wasn’t until he saw blinking lights that he realized what it was he was seeing. It’s been five years since Randy has last seen a human. And now, four years after the Arrow 18 was sent back to earth. Randy increased the magnification so that he could see the ship in more detail. It was hard to make out, but there was no mistaking it. Written on the side of the ship was “Arrow 19”. Immediately, Randy ran the best he could to Twilight’s crystalline castle. When he arrived, he knocked on the door furiously. Randy was thankful at this moment that she was a night owl. She answered the door to see Randy with an excited expression on her face…as well as a few cuts and bruises. “Randy, what happened to you?” Twilight asked in concern. “Have you ever tried running with these legs?” Randy said with a chuckle, not even trying to contain his excitement, “Have you looked through your telescope recently?” “No. Why?” Twilight asked. Randy gave her the coordinates. She pointed her telescope in that direction and saw something she remembered seeing four years ago, “They‘ve come to get you! You’re going home!” The joy of the news quickly began to fade as the realization sunk in. He was going to leave what has been his home for over four years. “If I know GSA, they’ll probably want to stay for a while to do their own research,” Randy said, “So it’s a fair assumption that I’ll still be here for a little while longer.” “In other words, it’s just delaying the inevitable,” Twilight sighed. Captain’s Log: Marshall Bennett March 20th, 2262 @ 07:38 GMT The team of four representatives going down to the surface will be boarding one of the two transport vehicles. I’ll be seeing them off at 08:00 hours. They’ll be taking the Blue Pegasus down to the surface. The second transport, the Black Griffon, will stay here in case something goes wrong and we have to assist the ground team. The ground team will be made up of our head scientist and linguist, and representative of the European Union, Erica Dean, our head medical specialist and technician, and representative of Australia, Troy Storey, the scientist and head of the team who developed the prototype for the new communication system, and representative of the United Kingdom, Trisha Powell, and the fourth… the philosopher, and representative of the American Union, Alec Willey. Personally, I don’t think we should have someone who has a profession of having their head in the clouds. [EDIT: LAST SENTENCE DELETED] I’ll save my personal opinions on the matter for my personal log. For now, it’s time for me to see the ground team off, so I must go now. [END LOG] Blue Pegasus Video Log/Transcription: Descent March 20th, 2262 @ 08:07 GMT [INITIATING VIDEO FEED] (Troy) “Is everyone strapped in?” (Erica) “Yes.” (Alec) “Yeah.” (Trish) “Ay, captain!” (Alec) “This isn’t Star Trek, Trish.” (Trish) “I know. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun with it.” (Alec) “Well, at least Troy would make a better captain than the one on the Arrow.” [SYSTEMS CHECK…] (Erica) “There’s no need to be disrespectful.” (Alec) “Tell that to him.” [SYSTEMS CHECK = PASSED] [AUTOMATED SYSTEMS CHECK…] (Alec) “I wouldn’t call ignoring the existence of a crew member as ‘respect’.” (Erica) “He’s only showing you the same respect you’re showing him. He’s the commanding officer of this mission, therefore he deserves our respect.” (Alec) “Respect is earned, not given. One’s rank doesn’t ‘earn’ respect. Besides, I’m not the one who started it. I never gave him any reason to treat me no better than a piece of luggage.” [AUTOMATED SYSTEMS CHECK = PASSED] [SYSTEMS READY] [INITIATING LAUNCHING SEQUENCE] (Alec) “In fact, how many orders have you gotten from him that came straight from him, and how many have you gotten that you heard through someone else?! Because I’ll bet the ratios you give are higher than mine!” (Erica) “Alec…” (Alec) “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if, in his logs, he refers to this as being a team of three plus one piece of cargo! AND GUESS WHO’S THE CARGO!” [LAUNCHING SEQUENCE = SUCCESSFUL] (Erica) “Alec, calm dow-” (Alec) “DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF BEING TREATED LIKE-” (Erica) “TROY NEEDS TO FOCUS! AND HE CAN’T WITH YOU SHOUTING IN HIS EAR! (Alec) … (Erica) “If you need to vent your frustrations, do it after we land on the surface where we don’t have to worry about someone focusing on the ship’s systems.” (Alec) … [BLUE PEGASUS’ DEPARTURE FROM ARROW 19 = SUCCESSFUL] (Troy) “Alec, take a few deep breaths and cool down a little. One of the reasons you were chosen for this mission was because of your ability to use rational thinking to override emotional irrationality.” (Alec) *slow deep breathing* (Trish) “Are you feeling better, Alec?” (Alec) … (Trish) “Alec?” (Alec) … (Troy) “Let him be for now. It’s how he calms down, by becoming unresponsive. For him, it’s kind of like a meditative state.” [INITIATING ORBITAL DESCENT] (Alec) … (Trish) … (Erica) … (Troy) … (Trish) “If the Blue Pegasus has an automated system, then why do we need a pilot?” (Alec) … “The automated system can act as an autopilot and make calculations and adjustments to compensate for human error. But it’d be foolish to put the lives of people in the trust of an AI without someone there to monitor the system. And if something were to go wrong with the automated system, we’d need a pilot to fly the Blue Pegasus to safety. In short, no matter how sophisticated an AI is, it will never truly be able to replicate human intuition.” (Erica) “That’s another reason for him being chosen on this mission. His understanding and ability to research what he’s getting involved in.” (Trish) “Wow! What else do you know about the Blue Pegasus?” (Alec) … (Troy) “You should take that as a compliment. Alec chose to answer your question before he was finished cooling down. That’s not something he’ll do with just anybody.” (Trish) “Oh, okay…I think.” (Alec) … (Troy) … (Erica) … (Trish) … (Alec) *laughing* [ENTERING EQUUS’ ATMOSPHERE] [EXPERIENCING HIGH TURBULENCE] [VIDEO FEED INTERRUPTED] … … … [ATMOSPHERE SUCCESSFULLY ENTERED] [HIGH TURBULENCE ENDED] [VIDEO FEED RESTORED] (Erica) “…were having a mental breakdown or something!” (Troy) “I think when Trish asked that question, the shift in the topic was so jarring that his frustration was just gone.” [INITIATING ATMOSPHERIC DESCENT] (Troy) “Coupled with the fact that he tends to feel good after venting like that…” (Trish) “He couldn’t help but laugh.” (Alec) “I’m sorry if I worried you, Erica. It’s just when Trish changed the topic without any warning whatsoever, I just thought it was so random.” (Erica) “Well, at least you’re back in a good mood.” (Alec) *typing on a computer screen* (Trish) “What are you doing?” [SYSTEM NAVIGATION ACCESSED] (Alec) “I’m accessing the ship’s navigational systems.” (Erica) “You’re WHAT?! You don’t have authorization to-” (Alec) “The ship is programmed to land near the capital city. But I don’t believe that’s the wisest choice. I believe the best option is to land near where the Ravenstar originally landed. They would be more familiar with what to expect. Besides, the capital city is still within travel distance.” [WARNING: NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN ALTERED] (Alec) “There, the automated system should guide us to the original landing site.” (Erica) “You know GSA won’t be pleased with you messing with the ship’s programming like that, right?” (Trish) “Aren’t you the one who said that the reason Alec was chosen was because of his ability to study what he was getting into? He got into the Blue Pegasus, so he must have studied its systems, including how to access and modify them.” (Alec) “And even if the higher-ups are displeased with what I did, I think they would agree that the ends justify the means in this case. And it’s not like I’m causing damage. After all, they’ll understand my reasoning once they watch this video themselves.” (Erica) “What video?” (Alec) “You mean you didn’t know we were being recorded? I personally took notice of the camera over there as we came in. *points to the camera* I’m sure that it’s just for monitoring descent and ascent procedures though, to make sure that everything went smoothly, and learn from mistakes made if things didn’t go smoothly. *looks towards the camera* That is only what it’s used for, right?” (Erica) “And what if they’re used for more than that?” (Trish) “Then he’ll do what he did with the navigational systems.” (Alec) “You’re a fast learner.” (Troy) “That’s one of the reasons she was chosen.” [APPROACHING DESIGNATED COORDINATES] [INITIATING LANDING SEQUENCE] (Troy) “Everyone, brace for impact!” (Alec) … (Trish) … (Erica) … (Troy) … [LANDING SEQUENCE = SUCCESSFUL] =WELCOME TO EQUUS, TERRA SQUAD= (Erica) “I wasn’t expecting a greeting. And why wasn’t I informed of the name Terra Squad?” (Troy) “Because there wasn’t a greeting, and we weren’t designated as Terra Squad?” (Troy)(Erica) *looks towards Alec* (Alec) *grinning smugly* “I thought we deserved a title with a little more flare than “ground team”. And don’t tell me you don’t think it sounds good. And it’s generally the same thing. Terra means ground, and squad means team. If GSA has a problem with it, then they can speak to me directly.” (Trish) “I like it!” [END VIDEO FEED] Author's Note The “American Union” is my fictional alliance between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. I also raised the crew count, while lowering how many of them are mentioned since most of them wouldn’t play a major part in the story anyway. “Bollocks” is a form of British slang. I’ll leave it up to you to look it up.
Archive Two: Parties, Ponies, Princesses, and PartiesRepresentative’s Log: Erica Dean March 21st, 2262 @ 07:42 GMT When we successfully landed on the surface and got out, we expected a whole new world. We expected to see brightly colored equine-like creatures everywhere. We expected there to be excitement from our arrival. And we even anticipated the possibility of Captain Edwards to be ready to greet us. Do you know what we didn’t expect? A welcome party. And just to clarify, I don’t mean a group of people… ponies… whatever… there waiting to greet us when we arrived. Though in hindsight, it can be described as that as well. No, this was a literal party! A celebration! With music, games, dancing, food and drinks, the works! And boy can ponies party! From the point we touched down and got out to long into the night, it was a party. And the odd thing was that when we saw Captain Edwards, he said that he made sure it was a small party. If that was a small party, what were they originally planning?! An entire week-long party?! Anyway, during that party, I was able to catch a few pony words and their translations. Like the pony words for ‘party’, ‘welcome’, ‘Ponyville’, etcetera, etcetera. There were also four banners. One of them was in English, saying “Welcome to Ponyvile”. I can only assume the other three said the same thing. One of them used English letters, but I assume was in the pony language. And the other two I assume were the English and Pony translations of “Welcome to Ponyville” written in their own lettering. I later found out that the banner was supposed to say “Ponyville”, not “Ponyvile”, but the foals that made the banner didn’t quite know the English spelling. I gotta give these ponies credit. They make good food. It’s so similar to some of the food back on Earth but different at the same time. Perhaps I’ll run a DNA test on one of those apples some time, as well as do a little translating. Trish had been videotaping some of the party, and I’m sure she got a shot of the banners. As for the offer that GSA told me, I have not given the offer to Captain Edwards yet. I couldn’t do it during the party because…it was a party. The locals wanted to welcome us, whereas business would be better done in a calmer, more professional environment. Well, that’s about all I have to say for now. [ADDITIONAL NOTE] One last thing. Did you know ponies know how to make prosthetic limbs? Apparently, Captain Edwards was given a pair of prosthetic legs, allowing him to walk again. I noticed that they’re a bit clumsy. But it’s still impressive nonetheless. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Troy Story March 21st, 2262 @ 08:17 GMT The first thing I plan on doing today is to test everyone’s blood sugar levels. When the ponies party, they party hard. And as with any party, there were party snacks. And with how many party snacks there were…it’s a good thing there’s a medical officer on this mission that Alec had officially dubbed as “Terra Squad”. I’d criticize him for hacking into the ship’s system, but it was harmless, and quite intuitive on his part. I’m sure the video log will provide the proper details about that. Potential diabetic concerns aside, let me tell you about how these ponies party. To say it was unexpected would be an understatement… [LOG SECTION DELETED] Apparently, Erica had already said just about everything I just said in her own log entry. So it’s best not to waste storage space on what had already been said. Rambling aside, I’d like to take notice of Alec during that party. He actually handled himself well during that party…for the most part. To be more accurate, he did well for being an introvert. But that pink pony, the hostess of the party, overwhelms him like flipping a switch. He had to get out of the crowd to calm his mind. I kept an eye on him from a distance to make sure something didn’t happen. After all, who knows what will happen here, especially when he becomes unresponsive. This is where things got interesting. There was this yellow pony who seemed to also take notice of him. She approached him cautiously, almost as if she were afraid of what he may do to her if she got close. She tried poking him a few times, hiding behind a rock each time. When it got through her head that he wasn’t reacting, she became more insistent, knocking him down in the process. When he got back up, this startled her, running to hide again. But just got back into the same position as before as if nothing happened. I’ve got to give that pony credit for her persistence, even if she seemed a bit timid. I wonder if ponies can sense when something’s wrong. After several minutes of poking him, she got a reaction from him. Nothing special, just him reaching his hand towards her…causing her to run and hide again. It occurs to me that maybe that pony is an introvert like Alec, who also may have needed some time away from the excitement. But I digress. Alec held his hand out, unmoving, before bringing it back to himself. Seeing him back in his closed-off position got the pony’s attention. She moved towards him to try again. He reached out again, which caused her to flinch, but didn’t run. He kept his hand out as if tempting a dog to sniff it. He was letting her come to him. After a few moments, she took his offer and reached her hoof to his hand. That led to them shaking hands…hooves…you get the idea. To Alec, this was his first contact. A true interaction with a pony who understood him better. Now that he opened up a little, she offered him a half-eaten cupcake, appearing ashamed that she didn’t have a full one to offer. But he smiled and accepted it, splitting it in half so that they could share. At this point, I rejoined the party, since I felt he was in the presence of someone who wanted to make sure he was comfortable. It was fascinating watching them share this dialogue without uttering a single word. They knew that they couldn’t just talk. In short, actions speak louder than words. It’s something you have to witness for yourself. Unfortunately, Trish didn’t record the event. At least not that I know of. Well, I guess I’ll finish this off by convincing Alec to give his report. That is if he wakes up sometime in the next five hours. I’m sure GSA doesn’t have to be told again that Alec is not a morning person. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Trisha Powell March 21st, 2262 @ 09:07 GMT Good morning GSA! I know the doctor said Alec would make the next log. But we all know he’s not waking up anytime soon. Doc had given me a- Doc: “So now I have the nickname of ‘Doc’?” Trish: “What? Don’t you like it?” Doc: “Just as long as you remember that I do have a real name.” As I was saying, Doc had given me and Erica diabetes checks. Really? It’s not like one night of binging on sweets is gonna give us diabetes. Doc: “Well considering that the only one at that party that ate more sweets than you was that pink pony, I think I have reason to be concerned.” Trish: “I didn’t eat that much.” Doc: “If I tested your blood and it came up negative, I wouldn’t even have to be worried about testing the rest of us.” [EDIT: THE NAME ‘TROY’ HAS BEEN CHANGED TO ‘DOC’] So the Doc does have a sense of humor. Anyway, to describe the party, I’ll just upload the video. [INITIATING VIDEO FEED] (Alec) “So do you think GSA will approve of our new title of Terra Squad?” (Troy) “I don’t think they’ll like that you so easily hacked the system. But the intent was good, so I don’t think they’ll have a reason to deny that title.” (Trish) “You guys don’t mind that I’m recording, right?” (Alec) “I’d do it too. It’s not every day you step foot on an alien world. Although I’d be more impressed if this world actually looked alien. *The hatch to the Blue Pegasus opens* (Erica) “Well, the gravity on thi-” (Ponies) “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” (Randy) “Or as they say here, Muhk’yu ot Llive’eenop.” *Several ponies cringe* (Twilight) “What he meant to say was Muhkleu ut Lliv’eenwuhp.” (Trish) “Hey! You’re that pony from that video who manipulates Captain Edwards with cuteness!” *Twilight laughs awkwardly as she blushes* (Randy) “This pony who uses cuteness as a weapon is named Twilight Sparkle.” (Erica) “I remember her from the first video log of the two of you. If I remember correctly, your name in your native tongue is Tyahlya’oot L’krahpss?” (Twilight) “How did you-” (Erica) “One of my specialties is translating foreign languages.” *Erica heads off with Twilight, Alec and Troy follow Randy, a shot of the Welcome banners* (Pinkie) “Hi! Me Eekneep Yop! What your name?!” (Trish) “My name’s Trish! I’m here representing the United Kingdom!” *Pinkie looks confused* (Trish) “How much of our language do you know?” (Pinkie) “Uh…” (Trish) “How much can you talk like us?” (Pinkie) “Oh! Little! Me have… me have hard big word!” (Trish) “I…think I understand you.” (Pinkie) “Cupcake?!” *Pinkie hands Trish a cupcake, Trish takes the cupcake* [NEXT SCENE] [NOTE: Scene includes alien dialogue being externally translated. Translated dialogue will be marked for later reference.] *Alec and Troy are talking with three fillies* (Alec) “So Twilight taught you her translation spell?” (Sweetie Belle) ~“Yep! Pretty neat, huh?” (Alec) “Yeah, it is!” (Troy) “So, what do Cutie Mark Crusaders do?” (Apple Bloom) ~“Originally, we were tryin’ to work together to get our cutie marks. But when we got our marks, we realized that our special talent was to help others with their cutie marks. So we either help other ponies to get their cutie marks, or we help other ponies rediscover what their cutie marks mean.” (Troy) “That seems like a lot of responsibility for ponies your age.” (Scootaloo) ~“What’s that supposed to mean?! Are you saying we’re just fillies?!” (Alec) “We’re not saying you’re just fillies. But you are fillies.” *Sweetie Belle appears to be strained* (Apple Bloom) ~“Are you okay, Sweetie Belle? Yer not lookin’ too good.” (Sweetie Belle) ~“I’m fine. This spell just takes a lot of energy.” (Troy) “I can imagine. Languages are complex.” (Alec) “So how did you three get your cutie marks?” (Scootaloo) ~“Well, it basically happened when we convinced the bully to use her special talent for good.” *Sweetie Belle passes out* (Apple Bloom) “Eetyus Lebb! Eenwuhpmuss teg ple’h!” (Alec) “Uh-oh! Without Sweetie Belle, the translation spell is deactivated!” (Scootaloo) “Tow? Uth nushialznayrt lepss!” (Troy) “I think she just over-exerted herself. But I’m not exactly familiar with pony biology.” (Alec) “I’ll get Twilight! She can also act as a translator!” *Alec leaves* … *Alec returns with Twilight and Erica* (Twilight) “What happened?!” (Troy) “I believe Sweetie Belle over-exerted herself trying to use the translation spell. I think she’ll be okay. But I wanted a second opinion.” (Alec) “And another translator.” *Twilight’s horn lights up* (Twilight) “I told Sweetie Belle not to use that spell for too long. She’ll be alright. But she may have a headache when she wakes up. I’ll go get Rarity so she can take her home.” [END VIDEO FEED] The rest of the video is basically just more partying. I’ll include the rest if you want to watch it. But I think I got what I wanted in. Alec: “Is it my turn yet?” Doc: “It was supposed to be your turn awhile ago.” Trish: “It looks like the grump is finally awake!” Alec: “I’m not grumpy. Actually, wasn’t I supposed to make my log before you?” Doc: “Well, if you had woken up earlier, you would’ve.” Well, it seems grumpy has woken up. And since- Alec: “I’m not grumpy!” -I have nothing more to say, I’ll end my log here and let grumpy make his log. [EDIT: THE NAME ‘ALEC’ HAS BEEN CHANGED TO ‘GRUMPY’] [END LOG] Personal Log: Grumpy March 21st, 2262 @ 09:41 GMT Does my log entry say… Damnit, Trish! Now I gotta change that back. [END LOG] [EDIT: THE NAME ‘GRUMPY’ HAS BEEN CHANGED TO ‘ALEC’] Personal Log: Alec Willey March 21st, 2262 @ 09:43 GMT There! Anyway, I know this is supposed to be an official log. But I doubt I have anything else to say about yesterday that the others haven’t already said. Especially considering that Trish had recorded the party on video. Though, it’s impressive how alike their style of partying is to ours. Though in this case, it was like New Years’ in the middle of Time Square. This is a personal log because it’s just that… personal. Then again, the others did see me and probably documented it anyway. But my point of view is more emotional and can’t be properly described without the emotion. Let’s just get this out in the open. It’s no question that the GSA knows that I’m an introvert. Unfortunately, the party was hosted by an introvert’s worst nightmare. That pink hostess of the party, I’m not gonna say I hate her. In fact, the party was fun, despite being an introvert. However, that doesn’t change that she is just too hyper! Eventually, it got so intense that I had to get out of there and relax. I was right at the breaking point. I found a hill that was relatively quiet and away from the party. So I sat there. Can anyone in the GSA understand how frustrating it is to love a party, but can’t partake in it because of having excitement limitations that being introverted places on you? Well, that’s how I felt sitting on that hill. Frustrated because I wanted to go back to the party and have fun, but couldn’t on the account that being introverted wouldn’t allow me to have fun! But, the point wasn’t the party, the point was on the hill. I say that Troy was keeping an eye on me, but didn’t mind. I don’t like feeling like I’m a special case. But it’s Troy’s job. And I did go off on my own in an unfamiliar planet… heh… I call it “unfamiliar” even though the terrain of this planet is so earth-like. But I digress. While I was sitting on that hill, a timid yellow pegasus slowly came up to me. The best way to describe her was like a deer that was curious about something but was ready to bolt at the slightest sign of movement. In fact, I could describe it as worse. She came up and touched me to get my attention, and she ran and hid behind a rock, and I didn’t even move. I was still in my “recovery mode”, so I wasn’t gonna respond to her. She tried this a few times. Eventually, it came down to her using more force, which knocked me over. And just like a deer, the slightest sign of movement, in this case, me getting up, caused her to run. For how timid that pony was, I gotta give her credit for how determined she was. After more poking, I finally got to reach out to her. And guess what happened? She hid. I was still relatively unresponsive, so it took a while for my hand to listen to my brain and return to its base position. I honestly was enjoying her company though, even if she ran and hid if one of my arm hairs moved. I was disappointed that she had run from me. But thankfully I hadn’t chased her away. She made another attempt to approach me. I held out my hand again, trying not to make the movement as sudden as before. She flinched but did not run. It then occurred to me that I didn’t even know what I was doing. My logic was that of interacting with an animal, reaching out to pet her the first time, then reaching out to let her sniff my hand like a dog getting my scent the second time. To my relief, that being after an awkward pause, she reached her hoof out to shake my hand. Thankfully, they do that too. It makes my gesture less awkward. And I’m probably not gonna tell that pony anytime soon that I was originally attempting to treat her like an animal. Now, it’s not like I wasn’t interacting with others during the party. But that was more about the Terra Squad interacting with the landing party. This however was a personal one on one interaction. I wouldn’t call it a “first contact” per se. But it was my first personal experience here. My “first contact” would’ve been with that pink pony. Emphasis on the word “contact”. I think she’s considered alien even among her own kind. But I digress. After that was out of the way, the pegasus offered me a cupcake. I noticed that she seemed ashamed about it for some reason. I then took another look at the cupcake and saw that it was already half-eaten. I didn’t want her to think I was unappreciative though. So I took the half-eaten cupcake and split it in half, giving one half to her so we could share it. She seemed to like this gesture and truly opened up to me. Well, as open as one can be when there’s a language barrier. My point is that we were both aware of the language barrier, so we didn’t even try to speak verbally. She seemed to be the quiet type anyway. At this point, I was no longer in my “recovery mode”. But with that pegasus there, I had no desire to rejoin the party. We were just content to watch the festivities from where we were. The village was beautiful when viewed at a distance when it’s lit up like that at night. And comparing it to the starry night sky created a nice contrast. An active and bright town set against a calm and quiet night sky. People today don’t seem to have that respect for that kind of beauty that they used to. With how our world has become as industrialized as it now is, there seems to be a larger desire to create larger and more fantastic structures than to go out into a forest and see the beauty that exists in nature itself. [END LOG]
Archive Three: Slow DayRepresentative’s Log: Alec Willey March 22st, 2262 @ 18:32 GMT Okay, yesterday, I made a personal log that would probably be better as an official log, and now I’m making an official log that may be better as a personal log… maybe I’m wrong about that. Sorry about that awkward start. Let’s just say that today, Trish won’t have any reason to call me a grump. Because I feel I had a good day today. We all used yesterday to relax after that party. And today, we had a chance to interact with the others on a normal day… well, as normal as two creatures from different planets can be. But it’s very different than at the party. Aside from the ponies who would gather around us because of their fascination, the town was rather peaceful. Anyway, today, Erica wanted to get into contact with Twilight. I guess it makes sense that they would manage to bond. Twilight is the resident expert on the human language (save for Captain Edwards), and Erica is our linguist. Anyway, she wanted to get into contact with Twilight to work on a new translation program. I don’t know the details. Foreign languages are not my forte. But I chose to come too. Not because I was interested in what they were doing. I was just hoping that Twilight could assist in her translation spell so I could talk to Pinkie. I wanted to get to know who she was when she wasn’t partying. Thankfully, Twilight was planning on meeting up with Pinkie before we arrived anyway, Though I never learned why. Anyway, when we arrived at Sugarcube Corner, I learned that… Pinkie is that hyper. But when she’s not involved with a party, she’s not as in your face about it. With Twilight’s assistance, I was able to talk with her, learning that she lived with an entirely different family than her own. Although considering that her family name translates into “Pie”, and the other family’s name translates into “Cake”, I wonder if there is some relation. After getting to know Pinkie, I asked what that yellow pegasus’ name was. I forgot how to pronounce it. But it translates into “Flutter Shy”. I was gonna go to Flutter Shy’s… well… after I figured out where she lived. And in hindsight, it probably would’ve been better to be invited rather than to just show up. I wouldn’t want to startle her. And the language barrier would’ve been an issue too. So when I get around to it, I’ll ask Twilight if she’d be willing to set up a time for us to hang out and get to know each other, using Twilight as the translator… I don’t like having to “use” someone like that though. Anyway, before I had the chance to leave, Pinkie offered me a fresh-baked doughnut. How could I resist the opportunity? I remember when I was a kid and we had a school field trip to a Crispy Cream factory. And when we were there, we got to try freshly baked doughnuts… if heaven were a taste, that was it… having those delicious doughnuts melt in your mouth… Sorry, I got a little sidetracked. I’d say the doughnut that Pinkie made was on par with Crispy Cream, though I wouldn’t say it’s the same. They had an almost strange taste. And it makes sense when I learned that it was a clover doughnut. Trust me, it tastes better than it sounds. Anyway, as I was eating that doughnut, a couple of children… foals… came in. They wouldn’t have been any more than a few years old. And as much as I love children, I also feel awkward with them. But Pinkie insisted on introducing me to them. They were twins; brother and sister. The boy was a pegasus named Pound, and he was the roughhousing type. The girl was a unicorn named Pumpkin, and she was rather inquisitive. What caught me off guard was that they didn’t seem to question what I was. But I suppose it makes sense with Captain Edwards around. As Pumpkin asked me questions, Pound was using me as a jungle gym. I chose to indulge him by getting into different positions for him to climb. My neck is probably gonna be sore tomorrow. Well, I guess that’s all I have to say. I’m not as energetic as I used to be, and kids are full of energy. So I’m gonna go take a nap… outside. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Erica Dean March 22st, 2262 @ 19:13 GMT I’d say today was productive. I don’t have much to say since today was a rather slow day. I did manage to get together with Twilight to try and program the translation system to work with their language. I’ll be spending some more time with her to work on that, so my logs will be less frequent for a little while. Simply put, I’ll be working with her to create a translation program that would be compatible with her translator spell. I think it would be fascinating to see how Earthling technology would interact when combined with Equus magic. Twilight’s translator spell is fascinating to me because it contains an AI. At least that’s the best way I can think to describe it. I know that the term ‘AI’ is usually synonymous with a computer program. But Twilight’s spell contains a different kind of AI. Perhaps this AI is connected to the natural magic of this world. Would that mean that this world has natural internet compatibility? That’s also something to study. Twilight’s spell is capable of learning and adapting, just like an AI. The intent is to develop and translation device that doesn’t require a unicorn to cast the spell or someone there to act as a translator. I still believe learning the language on your own would be beneficial. But that takes time, and not everyone can learn other languages easily. It’s a short log entry, I know. But like I said, it was a slow day today. I’ll continue to update the progress, but will most likely be short entries. So I’ll be starting a file for update logs. I suppose the name is currently a work in progress. But you get the idea. I’ll keep you posted. [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Troy Storey March 22st, 2262 @ 19:46 GMT After testing Terra Squad for any medical anomalies from that party, Alec: “I knew that name would stick!” …I’ve found nothing to be concerned about. Although I did do some testing on a cupcake that I had leftover. After breaking down the ingredients, I’ve found something interesting. It’s odd how similar many plants are in this world as with at home. But that’s not what I found odd. I don’t know if it’s specific to Pink Pie’s cupcakes, or if it’s common with these ponies. But the sweetener used wasn’t normal sugar. It seems that, at least with this cupcake, the sweetener was nectar. As in from flowers. This is fascinating on so many levels. But it’s something to take note of for anyone who may have allergies. Perhaps the use of nectar is normal for them because of flowers being a part of their natural diets. I propose that researchers back on Earth look into attempting to convert nectar into baking sugar. There’s also the fact that this is a clover cupcake. I know that Alec has already addressed this. But these are clover cupcakes, and they do have a fascinating flavor to them. I should see if we can get a recipe that can be converted for Earth clovers. This is a short log entry, as with the others posted today. It’s been a slow day. Which seems strange now that I think of it. Wouldn’t the ponies be more interested in meeting us? Alec: “Maybe everyone’s just exhausted from that welcome party we received.” Alec brings up a good point. It was probably slow because everyone’s recovering from that party. Simply put, consider this a warning. If you decide to visit Equus, you WILL get a welcome party. Alec: “Who would’ve guessed that we’d have to warn people of a welcome party.” [END LOG] Representative’s Log: Troy Storey March 23rd, 2262 @ 8:03 GMT Trish and Alec are two peas in a pod. For better or for worse. First of all, Trish never made her scheduled log entry last night. Her logic was based on Erica’s log entry about limiting her log entries for tech updates. Since yesterday was a slow day for everyone, there was nothing that much of note to mention. And between Alec, Erica, and my own log entries, her reasoning was that because she had nothing to add, there was no need for her to make her own log entry. And Alec agrees with her. If there’s nothing to add, there’s no point in making a log entry. That makes it two votes for limited log updates, one vote for daily log entries, and one abstained vote for not knowing about the vote, which qualifies as a vote for limited, since Erica specified that idea. In short, I’m agreeing to it with the caveat of myself posting daily logs. After all, if one of us doesn’t keep you updated frequently, how would you know the difference between a slow day and something going wrong? I’ll sign out now. [END LOG] Author's Note A short entry, but an update nonetheless. I’ve recently gone through the first two chapters and made a few minor edits, primarily just spelling and grammar errors. I suppose I can also use this as a way to promote Grammarly. This is not a paid promotion or anything, I just recently started using it, and it may put some editors out of work. I went through the chapter again because I’m putting effort into getting back into this story. I have 3 other projects in the works as of this edit, so that’s why I haven’t touched this story for as long as I have. This would make it 4. So there’s a lot that I’m working on at once. And thanks to Blender and a YouTube tutorial, I created models for the two ships, the Blu Pegasus and the Black Griffon. Granted, they are just reskinned of the same model. But that makes narrative sense since they ARE the same model of ship. It’s amazing what you can make simply by warping the shape of text. That ship design began as the text Biiiiiiiiii.
