Cosmic Lotus

by Goldfur

Rating: teen
Tags: Crossover, Zebra, Human, Anthro, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Changelings, Science Fiction, Adventure, Griffons
Length: 235307

The Anomaly was a star in the Equestrian night sky that was unlike all the others in the heavens. Advances in science and magic had only deepened the mystery. Finally it was decided to send a starship to learn what they could. This is their story.

Advances in science and magic had detected the Anomaly – a star in the heavens that was unlike all the others in the night sky. Intense research had only served to deepen the mystery. Although Equus had a vibrant space program, going forty-two light years to investigate had been considered impossible until now. The Cosmic Lotus program was born, and over a hundred crew-members of multiple species were sent into the void to discover the unknown. After a journey of years, what they would find would both amaze and terrify them.

The prequel to this story is the "Ad Astra" arc in the story – "Life, Love, and Death in the House of Path".

This will be a crossover story with my "Chakat Universe".

Published 2017-06-03 05:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-06-23 18:57:35 UTC

Departure

The auditorium was packed, but it represented only a tiny fraction of the total audience that was waiting for the scheduled event to start. The Lunar Plenary Center was host to the official start of the most remarkable endeavor by the people of Equus and its Lunar Colony in its history. GemVee cameras were set to broadcast the event to every corner of both the home world and its moon.

Exactly on time, the lights dimmed and a large screen at the back of the stage lit up with the emblem of the Greater Equus Council. Then spotlights picked out the form of a Chrome Changeling princess making her way to the microphone stand in the center of the stage. The audience started applauding, and continued until Epiphany had settled in front of the mike.

“Gentlebeings of all races, welcome to the official launch of the Cosmic Lotus mission. While I long ago initiated the research that led to the space program, and I have been spending my later years working on this enormous project to help make it viable, one person alone could never hope to do all this. In fact it would not have been possible with just ponies and changelings working towards its success. No, this is the culmination of our many species working together to achieve far more than any of us could do so by ourselves. This unity of vision and purpose did not start with me, of course, but I am proud to be part of it. So let me introduce the progenitors of the House of Path.”

Another spotlight focused on the left wing of the stage, and the first of several people stepped out.

“Lord Long Path,” Pif announced.

The grey-coated stallion bowed in recognition of the applause from the audience before making his way over to the center of the stage and standing just behind and to the left of Pif. The applause rose again as each founding member of House Path was introduced.

“Lady Roseclaw Path.”

The aging griffon hen showed no infirmity as she strode onto the stage to join her husband.

The spotlight shifted to the right wing.

“Lady Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.”

Twilight stepped onto the stage and acknowledged the crowd before joining the others.

“Lord Free Agent.”

The ever-grinning griffon-changeling strode onto the stage, waving a wing as he joined his wife.

“And finally, although not part of the original group to start the House, but one whom we consider to have brought us all together as a herd and family, the Mistress of the Moon, Princess Luna.”

With a bang and flash of teleportation, Luna materialized in mid-air above center stage and fluttered gently down between the two couples, her spread wings draped over them all in a show of unity.

“Way to make a flashy entrance, Mama,” Pif said with smile. The Alicorn of the Moon merely gave her a small grin back. Pif turned her attention back to the audience. “I would now like to ask the pony whose vision began this remarkable journey to address you all today.” She turned her right to gesture. “Dad, will you step up, please?”

Path smiled at his daughter and took her place in front of the microphone. She walked off stage as he waited for the applause to die down before he began his speech.

“One hundred and sixteen years ago, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to fulfill a dream. It was my mission to go out and learn what I could about different races in order to better understand them and find ways to peacefully co-exist and work with them. Remarkable circumstances gifted me with the means to do this on a grand scale, and the first major inter-species cooperative efforts began between ponies, changelings, and griffons under the auspices of House Path. Through the efforts and support of my beloved wife, Roseclaw, my soulmate, Free, and the Sparkle of Friendship and Harmony, I began the ambitious plan of bringing together our sciences and arts as a means of teaching and learning. From each species we took the best they had to offer, but we never let it rest at that. We continued to strive for greater things.”

“When Princess Luna joined our herd, she also brought a greater dimension to our efforts, not to mention avenues by which we could make better relationships with a couple more species, and yet more knowledge that came with them. That unity of purpose was in part the reason behind the defeat of Nightmare Chrysalis, and overcoming all the other threats to the peace and harmony of Equus ever since. Today, the vast majority of races and nations are proud to be counted among those represented on the Greater Equus Council, and it’s because of this that we are now on the cusp of our grandest project yet – to discover if we are not alone in the universe.”

“The vast array of disciplines that were required to make the Cosmic Lotus project a success cannot be understated. Griffonian engineering, changeling synthetic compounds, Equestrian magitek, Zebrican medicines, rare metals from Minotaur foundries, crystal control systems from the Crystal Kingdom, hydroponic systems from Saddle Arabia, manufacturing techniques from the Lunar Colony – these and so many more contributions were necessary to make this project a reality.”

Path paused to allow the applause the die down before he continued.

“So what do we hope to achieve by this monumental effort? As I said earlier, we hope to find out if there are others in this universe to whom we can extend our spirit of friendship and cooperation, but there is also so much more to be learned while doing so. I would now like to ask Princess Luna to give an overview of what we know and what we hope to learn during this mission.” Path turned around to face the Alicorn of the Moon. “Luna?”

Luna stepped up to the podium with a smile. “Thank you, Lord Path. For thousands of years, it has been my honor and duty to take care of the night sky, and while the Moon is my particular domain, so too have the stars been my responsibility.” Luna’s horn flared and a holographic image of a starfield appeared above the stage. She continued, “But not all of them. I have striven to enhance the night with constellations to beautify it, and sometimes to celebrate occasions, and occasionally to foretell. However, these stars which are mine by right differ from far more distant stars that never moved to anypony’s whim.” The image of familiar constellations faded away to reveal distant and far dimmer stars. “Over the recent centuries, ponies and other races with the questioning mind of true scientists have learned so much more about those stars, and in doing so, discovered the anomaly that we now call the Far Star.” The image finally stopped with the final goal of the mission centered alone in the softly glowing purple night sky.

“There are so many questions that we need to have answered, so many theories to test, and so much science to be done that despite the fact that the mission will take decades, there will be more than enough work to keep all the crew busy. Our understanding of astronomy and physics will grow immensely during the journey, and perhaps we will better understand the grand design of the Great Architect who created our universe. However, it is what we hope to find at the end of our journey that fills us with the greatest anticipation. We have seen the possibility of life at that incredibly distant goal, and where there is life, perhaps there will be new races to meet and learn from. But first we have to get there. I will now ask Princess Twilight Sparkle to give an overview of the mission’s technical requirements.” She turned to the Alicorn of Magic. “Twilight?”

Twilight smiled and moved up to the podium, thanking Luna as the Moon Princess surrendered the microphone. “A project of this magnitude and duration necessitated immense steps forward in materials, technology, and processes. Space is the harshest and most unforgiving of environments, and the Cosmic Lotus will not have the luxury of stopping for repairs or waiting for a rescue party, so everything not only must work, but it must work flawlessly for a long time. That is why preparing for this mission has taken over nine years. Despite the current level of knowledge and experience with space travel, we had to step up everything a notch or two, and the method of propulsion was totally new.”

Twilight’s horn lit up and an image of a small spacecraft appeared. “After the trial run by the Aether Flower unmanned probe, we believe we have ironed out the problems with solar sailing. The sails themselves are graphene sheets with a very thin but highly reflective coating which makes them both extremely light and extremely strong.” The craft showed the sails unfolding into their operational position. “However, first the starship must endure harsh accelerations from rocket boosters and slingshots around the Dim Star and the Sun. Strong thaumic shields are needed to endure the heat of a close pass by the Sun, and later the constant radiation that permeates space.”

“The engineering for the craft alone was a huge task, but unlike the Aether Flower, the Cosmic Lotus has to carry a crew and support them for about forty-two years before it reaches its destination. Long-term life-support systems were required, and a means of producing food and recycling waste in a limited volume had to be found. Lunar Systems had to produce a revolution in their technologies to pull it off, but even so we could not manage with all of the crew that we planned to send. Thankfully, that was one problem that was already as good as solved. Before I ask Lord Free Agent to explain further, I wish to announce that a comprehensive volume detailing every mechanical, material, thaumaturgical, and physical technique that was used to develop the Cosmic Lotus will be available to anyone and everyone after the close of proceedings. I’m sure that it will give you some fascinating reading for years to come.” She turned to her husband and said, “Free, you’re up.”

Free bounced up to the podium in his usual enthusiastic manner. “Thanks, Twi! Many of you know that I’m not just this roguishly handsome griffon, but also the Queen of the Chrome Hive. My hive has been an integral part of House Path since its inception, and together we’ve striven to advance many fields of research. My daughter, Pif, has tirelessly worked to learn new ways to integrate Hive techniques with other technologies, but in this case it took very little adaptation to work for the Cosmic Lotus. So how do you deal with the problem of too many people to support for such an extended period? Put them into hibernation! Changeling healing pods can be adjusted to suit the needs of a patient, up to and including putting them into suspended animation. The pods are self-sustaining and provide for all the occupant’s needs while he or she dreamlessly sleeps away the years.”

Free looked over at Twilight who took the cue to produce an image of a row of pods with various occupants seen through the translucent green shell. Free continued, “For the majority of the voyage, there will only be a basic crew awake – enough to monitor the systems and do any essential maintenance, while the others will be working on the science projects that Luna mentioned. After a set amount of time, these crew members will swap out with others in hibernation and they will take over the tasks. We have enough crew members covering a multiplicity of skills to not only keep the heavy workload of side-projects going, but to also minimize the amount of time on the journey for most crewpersons to be awake to a little over two years. Because the hibernation process suspends physical aging also, no one will age unnecessarily during the journey. However, the journey itself will still take forty-two years, so the personnel who would be chosen to crew the starship had to either have no appreciable ties, or be prepared to leave family and friends behind possibly forever. Choosing suitable candidates was no easy task though, because despite the daunting prospects, House Path did not lack for submissions to the program. Crew members were chosen not only for their skills, but their ability to live and work with others for extended periods. One married couple was included, as well as two pony-changeling bond-friends. To announce the final crew line-up, I will ask Lady Roseclaw to present them to you.” Free turned to the griffoness and said, “They’re all yours, Rose.”

Roseclaw nodded and replaced Free at the podium. “Thank you, Free. As head of the crew selection team, I can tell you that it was no easy task whittling down the list of prospective aethernauts for this mission. To be honest, we did not expect so many applicants considering the unprecedented duration of this mission. The forty-two years that it will take to get to the Far Star was considered too long for some of them, and the skills needed to maintain a ship for that period were of utmost importance. Still, there are considerations for crewmembers other than ship maintenance for a long journey, and we balanced out those factors against their more prosaic skills. Despite all of this, we still had twice as many volunteers as we needed, and we had to disappoint far too many truly remarkable people.”

Roseclaw took a look at her notes before proceeding. “Foremost among our crew requirements were two things – an alicorn and a ship’s commander. A mage-level degree of power is necessary to sustain the mass-reducing spell that will enable the Cosmic Lotus to accelerate to near the speed of light, but no suitable unicorns were found that could sustain the spell for extended periods of time. Thankfully, we have two alicorns who will be undertaking the trip. This will also relieve the load on them as they can swap out to rest and recover during the lengthy period of acceleration. The position of ship’s commander was hotly contested though, and came down to just three candidates. However, one had joined the program since its inception and worked tirelessly to know everything about the craft and its needs, and I am proud to announce that our son, Wandering Path, has been chosen for that role.”

The spotlight shifted to the right wing and Wandering walked out onto the stage, dressed in his starship uniform which covered most of his body excluding head, wings, hooves, and tail.

Roseclaw spoke as Wandering headed over to join the group. “A variation of the ship’s uniform was made for every species on the crew not merely to serve to unite them as a team, but also for its secondary important purpose – protection. Spells woven into the material are designed to save them from an array of possible disasters, up to and including explosive decompression. In that case, a magic force field would retain pressure and breathable air for between half to one hour, depending on the degree of exertion.”

The uniform also looked dashing, and the loud cheers and applause made Wandering blush a little, although you could not tell due to his red pelt. He stood proudly next to his sire, Free, and waited for the applause to die down.

“Next up I present the Second-in-Command and Engineering expert, Commander Galen Bluequill.”

A middle-aged male griffon strode onto stage to stand beside his captain, his size dwarfing the older alicorn.

Roseclaw waited for the applause to die down and then continued. “Every crewmember who has been selected is considered to be a vital part of the mission, and so I will be announcing them in a previously selected random order. First on the list is the Chief of Hydroponics, Fatima Dashar.”

A Saddle Arabian mare walked on stage in ship’s uniform, but with the addition of the traditional halter adornments.

“Chief scientist, Techbird Sunbeak.”

The ancient catbird slowly walked out onto the stage, supported by all the magitek devices that were keeping her alive and productive for years longer than any normal griffon. She had been intimately involved with the Cosmic Lotus program, and had steadfastly refused to be left out, telling everyone, “This is the moment that I have been living for all my life, and I will see it through to the end. Nothing will prevent me seeing this mission to its fulfillment!”

“Chief of the medical department, Doctor Zubon.”

A zebra mare joined them on stage.

“Hibernation specialist, Princess Galena.”

A Violet Changeling came out to stand by the doctor.

“Security Chief and assistant maintenance engineer, Eon Path.”

The dracopony proudly walked on stage to stand next to his family.

“Control systems specialist, Albite Feldspar.”

A crystal pony stallion came out to stand next to Eon.

“Engineer’s mate, Purple Point.”

Joining the others on the stage came a grey-coated unicorn with purple-grey mane, tail, and hooves.

“Head of the Astronomy Division and our second alicorn crewmember, Starry Path.”

Starry walked on stage from the left wing. She stood by her sire, Path, and waved a hoof in acknowledgement of the applause.

“Chief Navigator and Communications, Playbitz.”

A brown pegasus stallion with black mane, tail and wing-markings fluttered out to join them.

“Geologist, Ortzi Goldbeak.”

Another person flew in, this time a male griffon of the golden eagle/cougar type.

“Magitek Technician, Gizmo Gears.”

A tall and slim orange-coated unicorn stallion pranced onto the stage.

“Biologist, Traveling Soul.”

Another male unicorn followed out Gizmo, this time light brown with a dark brown mane and tail with a single black and white stripe.

“Hydroponics and herbalist, Skye Path.”

A zebra mare with blue stripes instead of the normal black stepped out on stage. Few had ever seen such a strange sight, but she was applauded just as warmly.

“Physicist, Xanth.”

A Chrome Changeling buzzed over from the wings. He had replaced his crest with a bright blue mane to make himself more distinctive.

“Mental Health Counselor, Random Dawn.”

A unicorn, female this time, yellow with an orange and red mane stepped out.

“Mechanical Engineer and Guard Pony, ColdFire.”

Trotting onto the stage came a small white pegasus mare with a two-tone blue mane and tail. Short fangs and tufted ears hinted at thestral in her parentage.

“Mechanical Engineer, Steam Shift.”

The first-ever Blue Changeling aethernaut proudly joined his crewmates.

“Spell Analysis and Maintenance, Moonlit Path.”

The unicorn daughter of Destined and Silk proudly joined the rest, her blonde mane and tail contrasting with her dark blue coat which matched her sire’s.

“Medic and Archivist, Epic Prose.”

A grey-coated pegasus with brown mane streaked with grey, flew onto the stage, looking at the audience through his bifocal glasses.

“Cook, Kale Robe.”

An earth pony stallion with a dark brown mane trotted out.

“Engineer, Radiant Spark.”

A light teal pegasus mare with a light green mane and tail flew out.

“Thaumophysicist, Cosmic Dawn.”

A golden-maned, light brown unicorn mare walked onto the stage.

“Entertainer and Logistics, Willow.”

An Orange Changeling zipped out over the crowd, waving and grinning.

“Biologist and Storyteller, Emerald Green.”

Another pony flew in, but the audience quickly realized that this was an earth pony mare with magitek wings, and she was obviously enjoying the surprise she had caused.

“Linguistics expert, Amethyst Scroll.”

A light grey unicorn mare with light purple mane and tail trotted onto the stage, although she could have just as easily flown in also using her gossamer wings which betrayed her changeling hybrid nature. Her hooves shone like the chrome chitin of her sire.

Roseclaw continued to announce every single crewmember of the Cosmic Lotus, and the stage grew crowded with all the varied species that were participating in the mission. Eventually the last one joined the others on stage.

“These brave, dedicated, and skilled people were chosen from among thousands of applicants. An emphasis was put on a variety of skills and personalities with the intent of alleviating boredom and promoting social interaction during the long journey. Our hopes and dreams go with them,” Roseclaw concluded.

“Thank you, Rose,” Path said as he stepped up to the podium once more. “Gentlebeings, this is the moment that you have been waiting for. In mere minutes, the mission will start the first phase of our journey to the Far Star. Captain Wandering Path, please take command of your starship.”

Wandering’s horn lit up, and he teleported directly to the Cosmic Lotus orbiting above them, taking Commander Bluequill along with him. The big screen at the back of the stage lit up to show the bridge of the starship where six stand-by launch crew were waiting to be relieved. Wandering formally took control and teleported them back to their lunar base.

“Starry Path, will you please teleport your staff to the ship.”

Starry smiled and she and a number of the crew standing beside her disappeared.

“Luna and Twilight – will you please teleport the rest of the crew to their ship.”

The two alicorns sent the crewmembers to their appropriate stations within the ship, some appearing on the screen as they joined the bridge crew. When the stage was empty again except for the original five speakers, Path continued.

“Captain Wandering Path – can you hear me?”

“I can hear you, Lord Path.”

“Commence your mission.”

“Scheduled departure time is in eight minutes and forty three seconds. Final systems checks now commencing. All department heads report in.”

The bridge crew were seen taking up their stations and busying themselves with checks. In carefully rehearsed order, all of them and those scattered throughout the ship reported that the launch crew had done their job and all was in readiness. Tension grew within the auditorium as the concern for a glitch that would delay the mission made them worry. System after system checked out though.

“All systems are nominal. Orbital departure thrust is scheduled for three minutes and thirty-four seconds. All crew secure for acceleration.”

That may have been the longest three and a half minutes that anyone had ever endured. There was nothing to do but wait until the calculated moment. With the precisely calculated maneuvers, there was no such thing as getting off to an early start. It came as a bit of a shock when Wandering spoke up again.

“Twenty seconds to departure.”

“Go with the guidance of Faust, Son,” Path said.

“Thank you, Father. … Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Ignition.”

The sound of the rockets firing came through the screen’s speakers, and the crew sank into their chairs. The Cosmic Lotus was on its way.

# # # #

Author's Note

Although this will be a science-heavy story in places, the main drama will hopefully come from the characters.

Speaking of which, several of the crew are OC's volunteered by the following people:

Purple Point belongs to Alden MacManx.
Playbitz belongs to Playbitz
Ortzi Goldbeak belongs to anunenka
Gizmo Gears belongs to m2pt5
Traveling Soul belongs to Traveling Soul
ColdFire belongs to ColdFireCZ
Epic Prose belongs to Sylvian
Random Dawn belongs to randomdawning
Radiant Spark belongs to vespillo-cruentus
Kale Robe belongs to Nagel Navari
Emerald Green belongs to tobi
Amethyst Scroll belongs to Dillena Monger
Steam Shift belongs to DajoesefMan

Art by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf

Cosmic Maneuvers

The departure under thrust might have been uncomfortable, but it massively relieved the tension among the crew. They had done it! They had started the most ambitious project in history. Nothing was going to stop them now. The roaring of the rockets finally stopped after several long minutes, and the ship went into freefall.

Wandering turned to the navigator’s station. “Report, Playbitz.”

The pegasus checked the readings on his console and finally looked up with a smile. “A perfect burn, Captain. Our course is well within accepted parameters.”

Wandering matched the smile with one of his own. Some trivial course corrections might need to be made, but that was not unexpected. “Excellent! Eject rocket boosters.”

“Ejecting rocket boosters, aye,” Playbitz acknowledged.

There was a slight shudder as explosive bolts released the solid fuel boosters. From now until they reached the Dim Star, they would be coasting until it was time to begin orbital maneuvers.

Wandering activated the ship-wide comm again. “All stations report.”

In designated order, everyone reported in and Commander Bluequill said, “All stations report no problems, Captain.”

“That’s reassuring. Gizmo Gears – engage the artificial gravity spell.”

“Aye, Captain,” the orange unicorn responded, lighting up his horn to engage the magitek system.

Weight resumed for everyone, although thankfully not in a one stomach-turning lurch. The artificial acceleration eased up to Equus-normal gravity.

Wandering turned on the comm again. “All crew may now proceed with their post-departure tasks. Please bear in mind that because no one will be going into hibernation until we accelerate out of the Equus system by solar sail, it will be somewhat crowded until then, so watch your tails and wings, and be considerate of your fellow crewmembers’ need for personal space.”

The alicorn switched off the comm, but concentrated on the mental traffic that was going through his head through the changeling network for which he was the hub. Nothing called for his attention though, so he turned to Playbitz again. “Open up a channel back to the auditorium, please.”

Playbitz’s black feather tips danced across some switches on his console. “You’re connected, sir.”

Wandering smiled at the camera for the audience. “This is Cosmic Lotus. We have had a entirely successful departure and are en route to our rendezvous with the Dim Star. All systems are green. Thank you to all those who got us to this point. Your prayers and wishes go with us.”

#

There were yells of delight amidst the thunderous applause from the watchers in the auditorium, and not a few from the audiences watching via GemVee all over Equus and the Moon Colony.

The members of House Path hoof-bumped and hugged. Path replied, “Thank you, Captain. We look forward to your progress reports.”

The big screen went blank, and Roseclaw sighed with relief. “Looks like I can finally retire. I’m getting too old for this.”

Path nuzzled his wife as they walked off the stage, leaving an earth pony mare to host the remainder of the program. “I don’t believe either of those things for a second, darling.”

Roseclaw giggled. “Okay, but we’re taking a vacation as of now.”

“I can agree with that. Where do you want to go?”

“Not sure yet, but let’s start with our bedroom.”

Path laughed. “Yes, dear.”

#

After all the essential system checks were completed, the crew had very little to do. Some of the scientists set up their equipment for their observations of the Dim Star, but because they would not actually reach it for another four days, they too were soon mostly idle. Of course there was always something that they could find to do – active minds like theirs rarely had the time to get bored.

However, most of the crew were waiting their turn to be interviewed by a newscaster back on Equus. While every crewmember had been introduced at the ceremony, that had only whetted the curiosity of the audience, and so brief question and answer sessions with individual crewmembers had been arranged. A GemVee camera had been set up in the common room and interviews were started with the crewpersons who were already free while many of the rest of the crew crowded in to listen. Although many had trained together, nobody outside of the Command and Medical Staff knew everybody, and there was a great deal of curiosity about the people they would be sharing a vessel with for the best part of half a century.

Emerald Green was currently in the interview chair, and the pegasus host back at the lunar auditorium was asking, “So why do you think a biologist is an essential part of mission to investigate a star?”

The mare smiled knowingly. “One of the Anomaly’s most puzzling aspects is the signs of chemicals that we know are associated with life. A primary goal of the Cosmic Lotus is to discover whether there truly is life out there when the only life that we know of is in the Equus system. That would be a magnificent discovery, and if we do indeed find it, the sheer amount of work that it will create will keep me and my fellow biologists busy for a great deal of time.”

“What made you, an earth pony, wish to be part of a mission that would take you away from the world that you have such an intimate connection with?”

“That’s an excellent question, and believe me, I asked myself the same thing. Nevertheless, I have been somewhat of a pioneer in the field of exobiology, and the lure of some truly exotic knowledge was far too great. Still, I admit that leaving Equus isn’t going to be easy, so I will be spending much of the time that I am not in hibernation working in the gardens that we will be establishing once we have completed our final acceleration phase.”

“Gardens? How can you establish gardens on the Cosmic Lotus in spite of its size?”

“While you will need to ask someone else the details, I can say that the solid fuel booster rockets were only the first phase of our maneuvers, and the second phase will be accomplished with the main engines which will be fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. After this phase is completed, the tanks will be empty and will be repurposed. They will be connected to the living quarters and planter boxes constructed within. A combination of lightweight soil mix and hydroponic techniques will be used to grow seeds and seedlings that we have brought with us. Once they’re fully established, the gardens will be a place of relaxation and tranquility, not to mention a great place for the pegasi and griffons to stretch their wings and fly a little.”

“That sounds wonderful for all the crew. Thank you for your time, Emerald.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, slipping out of the chair to allow the next interviewee to take her place.

The host quickly recognized the mare. “Skye Path, I believe?”

Skye nodded. “What gave it away?” she asked with a grin.

“I admit that I have never seen a zebra with colored stripes before. May I ask how you got yours?”

“There’s a bit of mystery about that, actually. I was found as an orphan and brought back to Equestria by Wandering Path who adopted me into his family, hence the second part of my name. It is thought that my unusual coloration led to me being expelled from one of the more superstitious tribes, but the actual reason for it may never be known.”

“Did this cause you any problems growing up?”

Skye laughed. “Heavens, no! I was an infant when I was brought to Ponyville, and never knew anything else but the large and loving family that is House Path. I consider myself be both lucky and privileged. I wear my unusual stripes with pride.”

“What attracted you to this mission?”

“I was pretty much infected with spirit of adventure and discovery for which House Path is famous. My particular skills with hydroponic systems that I developed in conjunction with Fatima Dashar for use in arid lands were well suited to the mission, and several of my family had already signed up as candidates. I wanted to be part of that and share their discoveries.”

“You’re also a herbalist, I’m told. How is that significant to your job?”

“That’s part of the zebra culture that is my heritage, but combined with a modern scientific understanding of the art. Herbs can be used for many purposes from the basic such as in cooking, to aromatherapy, to sophisticated medicinal applications. There are also magic potions that can be made with the correct blend of ingredients, although admittedly I am severely constrained with those aboard this ship. Nevertheless I expect that my herbs will find a lot use and keep me quite busy looking after them when I’m not working on the hydroponics.”

“That sounds very interesting, and I hope that one day you find out more about your past.”

“Thank you.” Skye looked around. “Who wants to be next?”

A grey unicorn took Skye’s place.

“Purple Point, I presume?” the host asked.

“Gee, how did you figure it out? I’ve been trying to live anonymously. Work needs to be done, and I can’t do it under a spotlight,” he grumbled, but the twinkle in his eyes gave away the fact he was having fun with the interviewer.

“It says in your records that you served for six years in the Equus Merchant Marine service before attending Canterlot University. Did you learn a lot there?”

“I most certainly did! Like how to keep equipment going on talent and prayer until we could get into port and get proper parts, or, I should say, reasonably proper parts. I saved my bits during that time so I could go to university and learn how the equipment should work,” Purple Point said seriously. “Lives depend on equipment working properly. It’s hard to call for a factory tech when you are forty light-years away from home. Out there, you really can’t get a plumber to visit on Sundays, or any day for that matter.”

“House Path offered you a chance to go through their education program, yet you turned them down. Why is that?”

“House Path has an excellent education program, for those who want to be warrior-scholars.” Purple Point paused, then looked directly into the GemVee camera, his eyes a little haunted. “I have no desire to be a warrior, any more so than I am now. I learned a lot at sea, one thing being how to brawl to save my life. I’ve done so too many times. I have no wish to learn how to fight scientifically. Some lessons you can never forget.”

“You have been tested as having a completely eidetic memory. A talent like that will be helpful on a mission like this.”

“Yes, it will. However, such a talent does have its drawbacks.” The interviewer waited for more elaboration, but sensing no more was forthcoming, she went ahead with the next question.

“You seem to take it personally when a piece of equipment needs repair. Why is that?”

Purple Point blushed visibly, the inside of his ears going bright red. “Yes, well, if something fails, it could cause harm to the ship or its crew. The faulty equipment must be chastised properly so it can learn the error of its ways. So, my means of chastisement has been learned under very coarse circumstances.”

“Meaning you swear like a sailor. Multilingually, fluently, and very descriptively.”

Purple Point looked like he was going to melt in his chair. “It’s a habit I haven’t been able to break. I won’t do it in front of anybody, just when I’m alone. I refuse to do it in front of anyone knowingly.”

“What attracted you to this mission?”

“I have nothing to keep me on Equus. Leaving Equestria and finding out about the Far Star will be useful to science and the population of Equestria. Besides, forty-two light-years should be sufficient to put my past behind me.”

“I would ask more, but we are out of time. Best of success to the mission, and yourself.”

“Best of success to us all, both here and there,” Purple Point said, getting up from the chair. He looked about. “Next victim!”

Stepping forward, a brown pegasus stallion smiled and gave a gentle nod. “If you don't mind, I'd like to introduce myself.”

“Ah yes, Mr. Playblitz was it? Can you tell us a bit about yourself for starters?”

“With pleasure. Firstly, it’s just Playbitz. Bitz, not Blitz,” he said with a chuckle. “Call me PB if you like.”

“Oh, my apologies.”

“You'd be shocked at how many times that happens, so it’s quite alright. I'm from St. Filly originally, but moved many times with my old profession of creating new GemVee games. It’s a profession that encompasses many other bits of odd knowledge.”

“Ah, so you were a GV game developer, but how did you manage getting the job of Chief Navigator and Communications?”

Playbitz smiled and stretched out his wings. “Well, as a hobby I would fly around Equestria as far as I could, especially when times between game contracts were rather long and boring. Flying around is pretty simple, but when you're flying the long distances that I would catch myself doing, I would end up getting lost repeatedly.”

“Oh dear, often finding yourself in some random location I presume?”

The stallion chuckled. “Yes, I found it happening more times than I would have cared to admit, and because of that I felt it was best if I get myself some training in navigation. It ended up turning from something to help a hobby to a passion that turned my then job into a hobby. I would often enjoy the feeling of finding a new town or place and the adventure of meeting the inhabitants and being able to add the new details to my map was exciting beyond words!”

“I can imagine, though that seems to answer another question we wanted to ask about, that being how you got the job on board the Cosmic Lotus. So let us ask you this, What attracted you to this mission?”

“What attracted me to this mission...? To put it simply: the ability to learn. We get to fill in the blanks when we look up at Luna's sky at night. And, to be honest, we get the honor of creating new questions that will hopefully drive us, or another ship even further.” PB looked off camera then quickly refocused back to the host. “I can only imagine what we'll get to see or even who or what we'll get to meet. Words cannot express the amount of excitement and awe of getting to learn more.”

“So you're saying what drives you the most is your desire to learn?”

“Yes and no. Getting to see and learn something new is something we do every day, but this–” he gestured with an outstretched wing at the starship’s common room. “This is so much more. I've made games about stuff like this, but getting the chance to live like this, to explore... It’s a dream come true.” Playbitz looked around the room, seeing the looks of admiration from a few and a few raised eyebrows from the rest that let him know he was rambling. He gave a soft cough and continued. “But the colt side of things aside, we were given the rare opportunity to pioneer a new path and I felt that I needed to be part of this journey.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Bitz. I certainly hope you get to learn all you can and that you have a safe journey ahead of you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” Playbitz got up, turned around, and spotted a pony. “Kale, you're up!” he said with a broad smile.

“Gee, thanks for nothing, Pitz,” grumbled the earth pony as he reluctantly came forward to take the chair as the grinning pegasus retreated.

The host sensed a degree of reluctance in the new interviewee and started carefully. “Kale Robe, isn’t it? Thank you for talking with us.”

“Yeah, that’s me. What do you wanna know?”

“When it comes to starship professions, cook is not one that immediately springs to mind.”

Kale smirked. “That’s where you’d be making a mistake, lady. Back in the days when ships only sailed on water, even then the officers knew to keep the crew happy with good meals. And when a voyage is going to take over four decades, you better believe that they’ll want a lot of variety in their food. Your typical automat won’t cut it.”

“So you have a repertoire that you believe will keep the crew satisfied for all that time?”

Kale pulled a long sharp kitchen knife out from… somewhere. He twirled it on the tip of a hoof, saying, “I’m an artist when it comes to food. Some of the plants that they plan to grow on board are as a result of my suggestions. I will have the food and the skills to satisfy everypony!”

“Some of the crew are not ponies though. What about the griffons who need to eat meat in their diet?”

“If they can tell the difference between the meat-substitute and a real steak after I’ve cooked it, I’ll put away my precious knives and take up crocheting!”

The host laughed. “I bet the rest of the crew hopes that won’t happen. Thank you once again for talking with us, Kale.”

Kale got up, looked about the room, and laid his eyes on the Blue Changeling in the crowd. “I choose you!” he declared.

The changeling shrugged, adjusted the blue scarf around his neck, and walked up to take the interview seat.

“Welcome, Steam Shift. How do you feel about being the first-ever Blue Changeling aethernaut?”

Steam Shift blushed a little. “I was more than thrilled when Her Majesty, Queen Crystal, gave her permission and encouragement for me to pursue my interest in the exploration of space. While the Blue Hive is the newest after being re-established only a few decades ago, we pride ourselves on being progressive, and I was heavily involved in the research that led to the Cosmic Lotus. It was the fulfilment of a dream to be accepted into the crew.”

“You’re a mechanical engineer, I believe?”

“That is correct. I worked on the special equipment needed for the extended journey, and the challenges that involved. I will now get to maintain that equipment and be in the forefront of discovery at the same time.”

“Does it bother you that you’re the sole Blue Changeling on the ship?”

“Not really, although I’d like to point out that the Chrome Changelings are considered to be extremely close family. We’re always welcome in their hive, and vice versa.”

“That’s a nice scarf that you’re wearing. Does it have some special meaning to you?”

Steam Shift grinned. “Yeah – it was a present and I like it a lot. I wear it all the time.” He flipped one end over a shoulder. “Makes me look stylish.”

The host chuckled. “I have to agree. Thank you for talking with us, Steam Shift.”

The changeling got up and looked around at those eagerly waiting their turn. He closed his eyes, spun around, and randomly pointed at someone. The griffon that got chosen, grinned and headed for the chair.

“Ortzi Goldbeak, I believe?” the host asked, and when he nodded, she continued, “Isn’t geologist an odd profession for a griffon?”

“Interestingly enough, my parents were miners in Equestria. High-altitude mining, that is. Since I grew up in the mines, I got to see some of the basics of the workings of the rock. Ultimately, however, it was the cave-in which took my parents’ lives that inflamed my interest. I wanted to understand how something that seemed so inherently stable could just... collapse... like that.”

“That must have been tough. I would have thought that you would have wanted nothing to do with mines after that.”

“While it was difficult, I was old enough to be not wholly dependent on my parents, and griffons don’t let tragedy cow them. Once I graduated and went into tertiary education, I focused on geology and even parlayed it into a stint in the Equestrian Engineering Corps as an aerial surveyor. It was quite gneiss. Sorry, geologist humor there.”

The host chuckled uncertainly, failing to understand the pun. She soldiered on. “Why this mission? It hardly seems in line with your interests.”

“Beyond the obvious – ‘Because I can and it’s not been done before’, I want to see if I can confirm some of the theories we have on planetary development. We’ve really only had Equus and the Moon to study, and we think we know some of how it works. If we have access to other worlds, or even moons and the like, then we can see if our theories hold true. If they do, well....”

“So you’ll just look at rocks?”

Ortzi laughed. “No. Remember that I mentioned being part of the EEC? I’ll also be working with others to produce maps of any world we come across. In addition, like a pegasus or ’ling, I’ll also be able to work as an aerial scout to look for dangers on the ground for our flight-challenged cohorts.”

“I hope you get to test your theories, Ortzi. Thank you for your time.”

Ortzi got up and asked, “Who wants to be next?”

A light brown unicorn mare with golden mane and tail and a two-star cutie-mark stepped forward.

“I need to get back to my work soon, so I’d like my turn now.” When no one objected, she took the interview seat.

“Ah, Cosmic Dawn, I believe? My notes say that you are the daughter of the Avatar of Honesty, Forest Breeze; how has that affected your career?”

“Well, aside from dealing with having a famous father, he has been quite an inspiration to me. He has always been able to perceive the truth behind something, while I go out and discover those truths.”

“And what kind of truths are those?”

“My goal is to discover the full relationship between thaumaturgy and classic physics.”

“That sounds like quite a task that you have set yourself.”

Cosmic Dawn blushed. “I admit that it’s quite an ambitious goal, but I feel that if we are to learn the secrets of the universe, we can’t be too timid about it.”

“I suppose that’s a reasonable approach to any profession, but it tends to take over your life. My bio on you says that you have never married or even been in a serious relationship – do you think you might finally find the time to do so on this voyage?”

The mare giggled. “I must admit that I had not thought about it that way. There’s an awful lot that I have planned to work on during this voyage. Nevertheless I won’t deny the possibility. I haven’t met all the ponies on the crew yet, so I suppose there’s still hope for an old mare like me.”

“Finally, what do you expect to find at the Far Star?”

“Oh, we have many theories about that. We’re all looking forward to finding out which one of them is right, if any.”

“You wouldn’t be disappointed to find out that you’re completely wrong about it?”

Cosmic Dawn laughed. “Sweet Celestia, no! It would mean that we would learn something totally new to us, and that’s incredibly exciting too!”

“It seems that you’re in a win-win situation then. Thank you for your insight, Cosmic Dawn.”

“You’re welcome.” The mare got out of the chair and looked for the next interviewee, and was startled to see Wandering Path standing there.

“Captain? Do you want to go next?”

Wandering nodded. “Like you, I have work to get on with, so best to get this out of the way.” While he personally felt that the GemVee audience had seen enough of him over the past few months, maintaining public interest in the project was part of his job, so he took the opportunity to fulfil that requirement when it was expedient to do so.

“Thank you for taking the time out from what must be a very busy schedule, Captain Path,” the host began.

“Just Wandering will do fine,” he replied with a smile.

“Wandering Path… we have heard how there was stiff competition for the position of Ship’s Commander, and yet it’s a member of the Path family that won that position. Was there any kind of favoritism involved?”

Internally Wandering winced. There had been some gossip about that, however unfounded, so he had to tread carefully. “If you are implying nepotism, I can see how that might be construed. However, House Path has prided itself on being a meritocracy, and no one, not even close family members get any advantage that way. Time and again we have put the best person for the job ahead of a family member. However, I do have to admit that we have some advantages over others. We have the benefit of excellent teachers and supportive parents, and when your mother is Princess Twilight Sparkle, it’s hard not to learn a broad range of subjects that stand one in good stead for a job like this. That is not to say that I was always likely to get the position. Personally I thought that Commander Bluequill had a very strong chance of beating me to it, and neither of us knew who would get it until the choice was made after some grueling final assessments.”

“What do you think won you the post eventually?”

“Well, I have had decades of experience leading exploration teams, with several cultural exchanges to my credit, including numerous first contact situations. However, I also have some abilities courtesy of my father that Galen could not replicate.”

“Those would be your changeling traits, I presume?”

“Correct. While outwardly I am like any other alicorn with the exception of my horn, I do possess a couple of changeling abilities also. The most important in this case is that I can act as a hub for a changeling network. It had always been planned to have a large contingent of changelings aboard the Cosmic Lotus for a multitude of reasons, but because members of one hive will not connect to another hive’s network, it was feared that we would be restricted to just one hive, and that would be one that could also spare a princess to act as a hub. That would have been a major blow to us. However, because I am a pony and of House Path, all the hives were comfortable with using me as an intermediary, and thus we have representatives of every hive aboard.”

“So, despite being a pony, you are able to cope with what I am told is a constant flow of information going through your head?”

“I was born with that ability, and it comes naturally to me. While I don’t suffer the disconnection anxiety that normal changelings do if I lose contact with the network, it feels a bit weird for it to be so quiet in my head at those times. So coping with a changeling network is a non-issue. It’s actually extremely convenient for me to be able to coordinate activities directly through the network, and it keeps the entire changeling contingent working harmoniously.”

“I can see how that could be a major advantage. What do you intend to do when you go into hibernation though?”

“I won’t be going into the same type of hibernation as the rest of the crew. Part of my mind will always be active.”

“Doesn’t that mean that you will be aware for the entire forty-two years though?”

“Yes, although not quite in the same sense as being out of hibernation. You must also understand that I am an immortal alicorn – taking the long view of anything is a necessity. I’m already close to a century old and have learned a great deal about patience and how to keep myself from getting jaded with a lengthy task. I’m also used to being connected to a hive network which gives me some psychological support, and of course I do have some family with me to help too. Family unity and love has always been our strength. It certainly is for me.”

“It sounds like the ship is in good hands. I’ll let you get back to your work now, Captain. Bon voyage!”

“Thank you, Cherry.” Wandering got up and looked at the crew gathered there. “Okay, who wants their five minutes of fame next?”

The alicorn surrendered the chair to a griffoness, and he left the room to continue with his business while the interviews continued. Although each crewmember was only getting a couple of minutes, with so many of them, the interviews would be going on for quite a while yet, and as much as he was interested, he had more important responsibilities at that moment.

#

The next few days were almost a letdown after all the intense preparations for the voyage. Once the scientists had set up their equipment for observations of the Dim Star, there was very little to do but wait until they reached their closest approach. Even the crew who handled the day-to-day operation of the ship were quickly bored as automatic equipment worked virtually flawlessly. Devices designed to last at least half a century were very unlikely to break down, although that was no guarantee that they were perfect.

One such problem had become apparent due to the harsh acceleration from the rocket boosters, although it had taken a day for it to be noticed. A leak in a nutrient feed line for the hibernation pods had been found after testing had revealed a systems loss. This was reported to Wandering along with the notification that repairs were already under way. With nothing important to do, he decided to check it out to see for himself if it was as minor as he had been advised. He found a dracopony there, waiting with a wry grin on his face.

“Eon? What’s going on?” Wandering asked before he was interrupted by profuse cursing coming from the open hatch of a service conduit.

At first it was in Equish, but then it shifted to Griffish, saying something so vile that the speaker would have been challenged to an honor duel on the spot. It was followed by Prench obscenities so rancid that the culprit would have been bodily tossed out of Prance so fast, there would have been a sonic boom.

Wandering and Eon looked at each other and said simultaneously, “Purple Point.”

Another burst of expletives followed, this time in Saddle Arabian. Wandering had learned many languages in his travels around Equus, with a fluency that almost matched his herd father’s talent for them. He cringed a little as he recognized the curse.

Eon said, “I was sent to help if needed. I might be wrong, but I think it’s giving him a bit of trouble.”

“Perhaps, but you know Purple Point – once he fixes something, it stays fixed. Be on standby in case he really does need help, but otherwise don’t let him know you’re here. No need to embarrass him about his compulsive profanity.”

An outburst in ancient thestral immediately highlighted Wandering’s words, making him blanch as he recognized the malediction.

“And for Celestia’s sake, keep everyone else out of this room!” the alicorn ordered before he beat a hasty retreat.

#

By a stroke of good fortune and a well-planned time of departure, the course of the Cosmic Lotus was due to take it through the tail of a comet that was presently passing through the system. Preparations for this unprecedented opportunity kept part of the crew busy for some time. Then when they intercepted the comet tail, Starry was tasked with forming a special funnel-shaped magic shield that let them scoop up some of it into a container, punching a safe passage through it at the same time.

The event was recorded by the more artistically inclined, concentrating on the beauty of the sight as they approached, passed through, and left behind the wanderer of space. After the sample was retrieved, Destined Path teleported aboard, confirming that the primary mana beacon was functioning correctly. He collected a portion of the comet sample, taking it back to Equus for testing purposes, leaving the rest for the scientists aboard the ship to work upon. Boredom was not going to be an issue for them!

#

The Dim Star was well named. On the fourth day of their approach, observations revealed a gas giant that glowed a deep maroon that was still barely distinguishable from the dark purple stellar background. Nevertheless, Starry and her team were busy taking readings and measurements with a degree of accuracy that had heretofore been impossible. The work continued until Wandering’s voice came over the public address system.

“All crew – prepare for slingshot maneuver around the Dim Star. Ensure that all articles are securely stowed and instruments locked down. Take your assigned seats for acceleration. Artificial gravity will be discontinued for the duration of the maneuver. You have precisely thirty minutes from now to be ready. Mark!”

Starry and her team took their final measurements and either put their equipment on standby or stowed them safely. The one piece of equipment that was not stowed was designed to take a sample of the Dim Star’s emissions in a similar way to how they got the comet material. She then headed up to the bridge where she found her sibling relaxing in his acceleration couch, eyes closed and horn glowing.

“Astronomy section ready, Captain. Want me to take over the shield?”

While the Dim Star gave very little light, at their present proximity, it emitted more than enough heat and radiation to give the Cosmic Lotus problems. The ship had a built-in shield spell, but nothing was ever taken for granted. Wandering was currently monitoring the shield and had a back-up spell ready to take over in an emergency.

Wandering opened his eyes and nodded. “Take your seat and I’ll transfer control.”

Starry took her assigned couch and lit her horn. Wandering let her take over monitoring the shield and then turned his attention to other activities.

“Playbitz – how are we doing?”

“I’ve calculated our final orbital adjustments, Captain. Ready to apply them on your mark,” the pegasus replied.

Wandering hit the PA. button again. “All stations report readiness!”

One by one, the heads of each department reported in, and then there were a few more minutes of waiting.

Playbitz said, “Thirty seconds to orbital maneuvers.”

Wandering announced, “All crew – final warning. Maneuvers begin in twenty seconds. Artificial gravity will now discontinue.” He then turned to Playbitz and said, “You have the con.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Precisely on time, the maneuvering thrusters fired, adjusting their trajectory to the precise alignment needed to fling their spaceship around the Dim Star on the optimal path. The ship shuddered under the thrust for a brief while before shutting down.

“Alignment maneuvers completed successfully,” Playbitz reported. “Countdown to main thrust begun.”

A digital read-out of the time remaining before their main engines would fire appeared on the bridge’s central monitor. This was repeated at various points around the ship, and tension grew as this critical stage drew near. With just four minutes until periapsis with the Dim Star, the countdown reached zero, and the main engines fired. Huge tanks of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen supplied the rocket engine, and the crew were thrust back into their acceleration couches. This continued until their orbit reached their closest approach to the failed star, and then they started receding from it again as the Oldbird Effect multiplied the acceleration of their rocket’s thrust. Six minutes after it began, the engines shut off as the last of the liquid hydrogen was expended.

There were sighs of relief as the dreadful pressure of high acceleration was relieved and they went back into freefall.

“Report, Playbitz,” Wandering ordered.

“Slingshot went precisely as planned, Captain. We are on course back to the Equus system.”

“Excellent!” He hit the public address again. “All crew – begin post maneuver operations and report. Artificial gravity resumes now.” Wandering then turned his attention to his sibling. “How is the shield, Starry?”

“Holding up well, Captain. That was quite a ride.”

“Aside from some possible course corrections, that should be the last of the hard stuff. You can get back to your department now. I’ll resume monitoring the shield.”

One changeover later, Starry headed back to rejoin her team.

#

The trip back to the Equus system was going to take far less time than the journey to the Dim Star, but work began immediately to reconfigure the fuel tanks. The last vestiges of hydrogen were bled off into the vacuum of space and then the pipe was permanently sealed. There was fractionally more oxygen than hydrogen to ensure that all the hydrogen fuel was fully burnt, and the remaining was salvaged for use in the spaceship before that tank was also thoroughly evacuated and its feed pipe sealed. Then a bulkhead was opened into the oxygen tank through an airlock, and crew dressed in pressure suits entered with cutting equipment. A low-strength artificial gravity field was applied to keep everything and everyone from drifting around, and they went to one end of the tank where they proceeded to cut through the end of it, revealing a cylindrical connection to the hydrogen tank. This they cut through also, joining the two tanks into one huge cylindrical empty space. The two tank ends were cut up into manageable pieces and stacked aside to be recycled later, before they opened a port in the joint section and flushed all the fumes out of the whole section. After closing the port, they then gave the word to Engineering that it was ready to fill with air.

Pre-installed ports gushed air from pressure tanks, including the salvaged oxygen. Heaters were turned on to bring the frigid air up to normal ship’s temperature. Within hours, the former fuel tanks had been turned into a livable open air environment, and the crew were able to shed their pressure suits.

Radiant Spark stretched her wings, glad to be free of the confinement of her suit. “I get to try this out first!” she declared, and launched herself into the air. She flew to the end of the open space where she flipped around to thrust off the bulkhead and flew down the entire length of the joined tanks where she repeated her maneuver and flew back to the others. “That felt so good after all this time!”

Steam Shift buzzed his wings and hovered a bit. “I can empathize a little, although changelings don’t feel the need to fly as much as a pegasus would. Let’s give the rest of the winged crew a chance to do what you just did before we begin working on turning this into a linear park.”

For the remainder of the return to the Equus system, all the pegasi and griffons took turns to stretch their wings and indulge in their desire to fly while a small crew worked on installing pipes and other connections through the bulkhead in preparation for the task of making the open area into a place of rest and relaxation for the benefit of the entire crew.

#

Shortly before they arrived back at the Equus system, Destined Path teleported aboard, confirming that the secondary mana beacon was also working correctly. He took possession of his allocation of the sample gathered from the Dim Star, and also the preliminary results of the research done on it and the comet in the few days since they had acquired them. He wished the crew luck for the final stage, and then teleported back to Equus for the final time.

As critical as their maneuvers around the Dim Star had been, their alignment for the final acceleration of the Cosmic Lotus was even more crucial. Thrusters were used to minutely alter their trajectory as they approached the sun. While Playbitz was in command of their navigation, he had two others checking and re-checking all parameters. This time they would be using a gravity-assist slingshot around Celestia’s orb to not only give them another boost, but to also put them on the precise trajectory that they needed for their push to near light-speed. Once again, the ship’s shield was up and protecting them from the deadly radiance of the sun. This time though, they did not rely entirely upon just that, and Starry was actively empowering a secondary shield to ensure protection against the sun’s far more powerful output of energy.

Everyone was once again in their acceleration couches as the Cosmic Lotus slipped into the sun’s gravity well. No thrust was applied this time though, letting gravity do all the work. They whipped around the tiny star, heading toward a fly-by of Equus. At a precisely determined moment when the danger from the sun was minimized and the pressure of the solar wind was perfect, the next stage began.

“Deploy solar sail!” Wandering commanded.

Several storage compartments on the outside of the ship snapped open, and the sails started unfurling. Carbon nanotube stays snapped into place, spreading ultra-thin, super-strong graphene sheets with a highly reflective coating. The process continued as the sails resembled unfolding petals of the flower that gave the starship its name. The astounding thinness of the material enabled the sails to keep unfurling kilometer after kilometer, and the intense light pressure started pushing them into their final shape. Despite maximizing the process by their close pass to the sun, the sails only finished filling out to their final overall diameter of nearly fifty kilometers as the Cosmic Lotus slipped past Equus, exposing it to the night side of the planet, the world’s gravity nudging its orbit slightly onto its final course.

#

An immense crowd was gathered in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle, consisting almost exclusively of unicorns. The two Royal Sisters stood on the balcony overlooking the vast gathering, but all eyes were on the horizon as a brilliant new star rose into the evening sky. There were oohs and aahs of awe as the shimmering object moved higher and higher above the horizon.

“Mares and Gentlecolts,” Luna began in the Royal Canterlot Voice which reached each and every pony gathered. “The time has come to participate in Equus’ mightiest challenge – a journey to the stars themselves. You are witnessing the solar sail of the Cosmic Lotus as it aligns itself on a course to the Far Star, but to get there, it must first be pushed up to near the speed of light itself. My sister and I will provide the thrust necessary, but the sheer volume of power we must expend for a lengthy duration is beyond our ability to sustain for the necessary period. Therefore we called upon you, the unicorns of Equestria, to help us meet this challenge. Soon, we will begin our effort, and we will ask you to sustain us. Are you ready to make history?”

There was a roar of assent from the crowd of unicorns who had been attracted to the event by nationwide advertising. While the average unicorn had no chance of being part of the Cosmic Lotus project, in this way they could play a small but vital part in its success. Their horns lit up in anticipation.

Luna continued, “When Captain Wandering Path gives us the word, my sister and I will begin transmitting a beam of power tuned to give the maximum thrust to the sails of the Cosmic Lotus. I will be mostly responsible for its guidance, whereas Celestia will primarily handle the flow of power. After we have begun, you may then direct your power to her. Do not overtax yourselves! This process will take hours, and it is most important that the effort be continued at a high and steady level. If you tire, rest yourself as long as needed. You may rejoin the effort at any time. Know this – there is no prize for contributing the most power, and there is no need to try to outlast your neighbor. This is a group effort, not an individual competition. Nonetheless, medics will be standing by in case you overtax yourselves. Let this be a day to remember though, not one to regret.”

There were more cheers from the audience.

“The time is nigh. We await the word from the Cosmic Lotus.”

#

“Sails are at maximum; course is locked,” Playbitz announced.

“All systems green,” reported Commander Bluequill.

“Cut artificial gravity,” Wandering ordered.

The spacecraft went into near freefall, the tiny thrust from the solar sails hardly noticeable.

“Stand-by for acceleration to light-speed. Engage the mass-reducing spell.”

Starry had the complex spell already primed in her head. All it took was the magic to empower it. Her horn lit up, and everyone aboard felt a strange sensation as inertia plummeted due to virtually all mass being neutralized by the sophisticated incantation. The starship leaped forward under the thrust of the light of the sun, but it was still nowhere near the acceleration they needed. A critical stability component of the spell left the ship and all inside unable to perceive the acceleration, relying instead upon their instruments measuring the retreat of Equus and Celestia's orb. Wandering reached for the comm switch which connected him to a receiver that was set next to the Royal Sisters in Canterlot.

“This is Cosmic Lotus. We are go for star-thrust.”

Moments later, the sails were filled with a blindingly powerful coherent beam of energy coming from the world below them, and the Cosmic Lotus leapt forward at a mind-numbing rate. Sensors at the edges of the sail set at ninety degrees to the next kept the sails centered on the beam and the angle at the precise orientation required to keep the ship on course for the Far Star. Complex magitek control systems automatically made the adjustments in a fraction of a second, maximizing the amount of thrust.

Even though the mass-reducing spell had done exactly as its name described, it was not perfect. An infinitesimal amount of mass still manifested, and that leftover amount had to be accelerated to a speed that nopony had dreamed of mere decades ago. This would take some time, and Wandering prepared to take over the spell in shifts with his sibling during that period, while the rest of the crew could only wait, watch, and hope.

#

The GemVee crew that was recording the event watched the display of power in awe. A nearly blinding beam of energy streamed skyward from the alicorn sisters even as weaker streams of magic flowed from all the gathered unicorns towards Celestia. The reporter spoke in hushed tones as she described the event.

“As the Cosmic Lotus is lit up by the combined magic of the Princesses and Equestria’s unicorn citizens, we watch as it leaves the surly bonds of this world. For the first time, Equians are headed for the stars, and when they finally reach their destination, who knows what wonders they will find there? What a lucky time it is for you young foals, chicks, and nymphs to be living in!”

# # # #

Author's Note

Note: Oldbird Effect = Oberth Effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberth_effect

Props to Airy Words for his help in keeping this scientifically accurate, and his usual feedback.

I have been trying to keep a balance between the characters and the starship, so I hope you've been enjoying it so far.

Art by Foxenawolf

Problems Are Relative

Twilight Sparkle was very satisfied with the progress of propelling the Cosmic Lotus. The mana feed by the huge gathering of unicorns had, as hoped, enabled a smooth and consistent supply of power to Celestia. Of course Twilight, her brother, sister-in-law, and son were all playing their part too but inconspicuously behind the scenes, in the room behind the balcony where the Royal Sisters stood. The role of the gathered unicorns was absolutely vital, and the alicorns did not wish to apparently diminish their supposed importance by having all six of the most powerful beings on the world apparently doing most of the work. It also let the four concealed alicorns take short breaks as well, leaving just Celestia and Luna to sustain an uninterrupted effort.

There was one other important thing that it left Twilight free to do – monitoring the process. She was therefore concerned when she received a call from Pif. She disconnected from the flow and answered the comm.

“Mama, have you reduced the power output of the mana thrust?” the changeling princess asked.

“No. Aside from minor fluctuations attributed to unicorns switching in and out of the stream, the output has been very consistent, just as planned. Why do you ask?”

“I have been checking progress with the TESS, and it clearly shows that the rate at which their velocity is increasing has slowed considerably. They’re just over fifty percent of light-speed now, but their acceleration seems to have dropped significantly.”

“What?! How can that be? Is the TESS working properly?” The Thaumaturgically Enhanced Stellar Scope was a cutting-edge magitek device, and their only means of accurately tracking the Cosmic Lotus.

“I have run a diagnostic program on the TESS, and it’s working perfectly. The only explanation that my network can come up with is that the Lotus is encountering some form of resistance that we can’t detect.”

Twilight frowned in deep thought. “This could jeopardize the mission. Should we increase the mana output?”

“We left ourselves a large margin to work with, so I recommend that you compensate. Ten percent more should do it, I think. I will continue to try to identify the problem.”

“Understood. Let me know the moment that you learn anything.” Twilight moved up to the balcony, but still out of sight of the crowd. Celestia and Luna needed to maintain intense concentration on their task, so a protocol was in place to not jar them if someone needed to talk to them. A subtle magic pulse caught their attention and Twilight reported the problem. They silently acknowledged the message and turned up their output, hoping that nothing else would go astray with their plans.

#

Playbitz updated his report, “Velocity now at sixty-five percent light-speed. No deviation from planned course.”

He had said similar things at regular intervals, but dull as it sounded, it was exactly what Wandering wanted to hear. It meant that everything was proceeding exactly as planned, and that was immensely reassuring. However, he now noticed a note of uncertainty in the voice of the pegasus. “Is something wrong, Playbitz?”

“I’m… not certain, sir. The thrust seemed to diminish for a while, but it has increased again; I thought that we were supposed to be getting a steady acceleration? I’m also getting some odd readings from the instruments.”

“What readings?” Wandering asked with a frown.

“The TESS is showing some strange aberrations in the view both fore and aft.”

“Could it be some sort of previously unknown Dappler Effect from travelling at such high speeds?”

Playbitz shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, sir.”

Wandering began to feel out of his depth. Time to put someone more competent in charge of the problem. “Starry – I’m going to take over the MRS. I want you to look into this anomaly and determine if it’s a problem.”

Starry nodded and she cautiously transferred control of the mass-reducing spell to him. Freed of that responsibility, she turned her attention to the instrument panel in front of her and studied the readings that duplicated what was in front of Playbitz.

“This is very odd. There isn’t anything that I can detect that would be slowing us down, so Playbitz’s assertion that the thrust reduced seems to be correct. He’s also right about the distortions in the views, and I’m trying to compensate. Without understanding why it’s happening though, that’s difficult.” She stopped to think for a moment. “I’m going to call Mama Twilight.”

They had not intended to communicate with Equus until acceleration to their target speed had been achieved, reserving it for emergencies. Starry hoped that she would not upset her herd mother too much. She activated the comm and sent out a call.

#

Twilight’s crystal comm dedicated to ship-to-shore communications with the Cosmic Lotus lit up with reception of a signal. The sympathetically linked magic crystals that were the heart of the device were tried-and-true magitek that would work irrespective of distance, no matter how great. Maintaining contact with the Cosmic Lotus was assured, so Twilight was dismayed when she heard the voice drawling from it.

“Coosmiic Lotuus too Eequuss Coontrool – aare youu reeceeiviingg mee?”

Twilight recognized Starry’s voice despite the shift down in pitch which she could not understand the reason for. She answered it hastily though. “Equus Control here – what’s wrong, Starry?”

After a slight delay, the response came. “Yoour voicce iss diistoorted, Maamaa. Doo youu prooblemms witthh suupplyiing thruusst?”

“We have had no problems, but we noticed that your acceleration had slowed, so we increased the output. Have you encountered any resistance?”

“Noo aapparrennt reesisstancce. Wee aare getttinng sstrrangge reeadiings fromm ouur iinsstruumennts aand vieeww monniitorrs toooo.”

The drawl was driving Twilight crazy. The way the crystal comm worked meant that voices would be exactly reproduced regardless of velocity or distance. She could not understand why this was happening, and right when it seemed that communications was going to be very important. The information was contradictory too. They reported a loss of thrust and no resistance whereas she knew that thrust had been maintained, but something seemed to be reducing its effect. She had no answers. Something beyond their present knowledge seemed to be happening, so she said the only thing that she could right then.

“We’ll look into it, Starry. Keep us updated.” She then made a call to Pif. Contingency plans needed to be put into effect.

#

Starry shook her head in bewilderment, just as confused as her herd mother. She had nothing to explain the slow drawl coming from the speakers of the comm, let alone the growing problems. “Sorry, Captain, I can’t presently explain what is happening. All I can say for now is that the mission seems to be proceeding despite everything.”

Wandering listened to the words from behind closed eyelids as part of himself maintained concentration on the MRS. He sighed before commanding, “Keep monitoring the situation, but unless there is something that will endanger the ship, carry on as planned. Playbitz – keep us updated.”

Everyone carried on as normal, but tension had begun to grow on the bridge. When the next milestone came, everyone hung on his words.

“Seventy percent light-speed. Still on course. Thrust has apparently crept down again.”

Wandering ordered simply, “Inform Equus Control.”

Starry did so, and they all listened to the reply.

“Reepoorrt reecceiiveed aandd unnderrsstoood. Wee wiill aaddjuusst ouutpuut aagainn.”

“Why in Celestia’s name are their transmissions stretched out like that?” Gizmo Gears swore softly.

“Zip it, Gizmo,” Commander Bluequill said sternly.

There was a long tense wait for the next announcement.

“Seventy-five percent. Thrust increased for a while before creeping down again. Distortions increasing, but still apparently on course.”

“Any recommendations, Starry?” Wandering asked.

“Our ship does not appear to be in danger, nor has Equus Control indicated any, so I recommend carrying on as planned.”

“Commander, have all stations check and double-check for problems. Have them report anything unusual.”

“Yes, sir,” Bluequill replied.

An even longer wait punctuated by negative reports until the next milestone was reached passed by.

“Eighty percent… I think. Distortions are increasing.”

Wandering cursed under his breath. “Starry – you’re the expert here, so speculate please!”

Starry shrugged helplessly. “Brother, I haven’t a clue. My best guess is that we are discovering something about physics that we have had no experience with before.”

“If we keep needing more output from Equus, are we ever going to reach our target of ninety-seven percent light-speed?”

“That depends on how long they can sustain that output. I’d say inevitably if they can keep it up long enough, but the instruments are making a liar out of me even as I speak.”

Wandering groaned. Was this mission going to be a failure so soon?

#

“We’re going to have to re-think this,” Pif said, having joined Twilight and the others at the castle after the latest report from Starry. “For now, we don’t have the luxury of time to figure out why this is happening. We have to treat the symptoms rather than the cause. My measurements with the TESS show that the energy requirements are increasing with the speed, but in an exponential manner. Right now we’re only up to a fifty percent increase in thrust output, but if the trend continues, that’s going to rise at a rapid rate over the next few hours.”

“Time! That’s the problem!” Destined suddenly declared.

Twilight and Pif looked at Destined in confusion. The stallion turned to his mother and explained, “Your crystal comms work irrespective of distance, and as we’re still getting reports from the Cosmic Lotus clearly, although seemingly slowed down, then it’s time that is being affected. The comms are still working exactly as they should, but as their time has slowed, so has their speech, like a record on a phonograph which you slow down.”

“So you’re saying that the faster that they go, the slower time gets?” Twilight responded.

“Exactly! I just don’t know why, but I’m starting to see how it affects them.”

Pif nodded. “I’m beginning to understand, but there’s not much we can do about it. My only concern is that we’re not going to be able to provide enough thrust. That’s why Dad and I brought along every Chrome Changeling within reach. They’ll help make up the shortfall in power… at least for a while.”

Canterlot had just seen the biggest invasion of changelings since the one by Queen Chrysalis. Right now, the roofs were lined with changelings ready to add their magic to the effort when given the order.

Free Agent said, “Give the word, Sparkles, and I will have every drone start adding their power. I had them fill up on love gel before coming here, so they have plenty to spare.” Free shifted from griffon to his natural Chrome Queen form. As much as he disliked it, he needed to be able to take in the power from all the drones because they could not feed Celestia directly like the unicorns were doing. Their magic differed too much and would be disruptive if not filtered through their Queen.

“Just let me inform Celestia and Luna first,” Twilight said. She went out onto the balcony, and the others noticed the Royal Sisters frown and nod. Twilight came back and announced, “They said to stand by until they give the word. They can increase the thrust again for now. Save your energy for when they really need it.”

Destined said, “Mom, I’ve been increasing my flow of power gradually, and I can already tell that the drones won’t be able to keep up the power drain for as long as the unicorns. They can’t simply take a break and get their second wind – they’ll have to go feed first.”

“Then we call in the reserves. Five of the six other Queens are here to watch the spectacle. We’ll ask for their help too.”

“No need,” came a familiar voice. Queen Crystal strode into the room, followed closely by Queen Iridia and Queen Carpacia. “When I saw all the Chrome Hive drones arrive, I inquired the reason for it. You know that the Blue Hive will always stand with the Chrome, Aunty Twilight.”

“As will the Red Hive,” Carpacia declared. “Fidelitas is on her way with a large contingent, and all the Red Changelings in Canterlot have been summoned.”

“I have done the same with the Greens,” Iridia said. “The other Queens will do what they can although their hives are more distant.”

“Thank you all very much,” Twilight said solemnly.

“This is a project done for all citizens of this world,” Carpacia declared. “We are as much a part of it as you, so we can do no less.”

#

“Playbitz – update please. Haven’t we reached eighty-five percent yet?” Wandering asked.

The pegasus looked at his captain with a distressed expression. “Uh… maybe? The TESS suggests that we have, but everything else is telling me something different. The rear sensors seem to think we’re slowing down a lot, and I have no idea what the forward sensors are saying anymore. If I can believe them, the Far Star seems to be getting noticeably closer.”

The alicorn’s lips tightened in a grimace. “I think we have to face it – we’re really in totally new territory here. We may be getting into something dangerous, although the fact that Equus is still supplying thrust suggests that they haven’t seen any sign of danger. Commander Bluequill – execute a thorough ship-wide systems check. I want to know if the ship is suffering any ill effects as a consequence of these unknown effects that are distorting our instruments.”

“Aye, sir,” the griffon replied.

“Starry – take over the MRS. I’m tiring and I need to think.”

“Ready, Captain.”

Wandering transferred control of the spell, and he called up the status reports on his control board. Section after section reported everything normal except for the astrogation instruments, and he already knew about those. Frustrated, he decided to call Equus once more.

#

“Ccoossmmiicc Lloottuuss ttoo Eeqquuuuss Ccoonnttrrooll – pplleeaassee aaddvviissee iiff yyoouu hhaavvee iiddeennttiiffiieedd aannyy ppoossssiibbllee ccaauussee ooff tthhee ppaarrttiiaall lloossss ooff tthhrruusstt yyeett?”

Twilight winced. The speech was stretching to the point where she could barely understand it. She was about to try to respond when Destined spoke up.

“Mom – take over for me. I have an idea I want to try out.”

Twilight nodded and took up the task of supplying power to Celestia. Meanwhile Destined used his special talent to stretch his passage through time to about twice normal and then called the starship. “Cosmic Lotus, please repeat your message.” He waited for a response far longer than expected.

“Equus Control – we were unable to understand a word you said. Your voice has been slowed down too far. Can you understand me?”

Wandering’s voice was perfectly clear to Destined now, but he was stunned by lack of comprehension of the situation. If the Cosmic Lotus was experiencing a slowdown of time somehow, then he should have sounded as if he was talking too fast before he had stretched time. Instead, in some impossible fashion, both ends seemed to be slowed down. That just did not make any sense whatsoever! With nothing else left to try, he tried the non-intuitive solution – he compressed time to about double speed and called the ship again.

“This is Equus Control – I understood your message and am attempting to compensate. Are you receiving me clearly now?”

Destined then reversed his time distortion until it stretched out again and waited.

“Destined! Thank Celestia! Finally something is going right. Can you tell me what’s going on? Why was your speech distorted? And why do we keep losing thrust?”

With his insane theory confirmed, Destined compressed time again. “Wandering, I can tell you what is happening, but not why. Somehow, the faster you travel, the greater the time distortion is becoming, which is why speech has apparently been stretched out. I’m compensating with my time talent, but I can’t do any more than that. As for thrust, we’ve been continually increasing it to try to maintain a steady increase in velocity, but it has been getting increasingly harder. We have enacted a contingency plan to increase our available supply of power, but we might not achieve the planned velocity. Are you experiencing any other problems?”

The alicorn stretched time again.

“Ship-wide diagnostics indicate that there’s nothing wrong except for some weird readings that we’re getting from the exterior sensors. These time distortions that you say are affecting us don’t seem to be causing any actual harm. Have you any data to suggest otherwise?”

Compress.

“No, not at this time. I will consult with the others and call you back as soon as I can. I recommend carrying on as normal for the moment.”

Stretch.

“Understood. We’ll await your response. Cosmic Lotus out.”

‘That had to be strangest conversation I’ve ever had,’ Destined thought as he let his time perception return to normal. After he explained everything to the others, he asked, “Is there any threat to the ship that you can detect?”

Pif replied, “Aside from the growing resistance and this time distortion, the TESS has not seen anything dangerous, per se. However, we’re also noticing some distortions that we can’t account for. But as Wandering reports that the ship seems to be unaffected, I can’t classify them as dangerous.”

Twilight said, “It’s not too late to abort the mission, but should we press on? As long as the mana beacon is still operating normally, we can still teleport the crew off if necessary.”

Destined grimaced. “I’m not so sure. That time-distortion might play havoc with a normal teleport.”

Twilight’s face fell. “That’s bad. That was always going to be our fail-safe, and now you’re saying that we can’t even count on that?”

“Sorry, Mom, but space and time are my specialty, so I’ll find a way around that problem, I promise.”

Path spoke up. “It seems that there’s a decision to be made. Does the Cosmic Lotus project proceed as planned, or do we abort? My view is that in the absence of any demonstrated danger, it should proceed, but only if Wandering decides to continue. The Lotus is his to command.” He looked around at the others and saw no dissent. “Okay, Des, inform Cosmic Lotus of our decision and ask for his response.”

#

Wandering considered the reply from Equus Control. It was all in his hooves now. Everyone on board the Cosmic Lotus had been made aware that there were bound to be unknown dangers in this voyage, and yet all eagerly came anyway. He certainly had not hesitated to jump at the chance. And yet, were they actually in danger? Despite all the weirdness, without the instruments and the communications, there was no sign of anything awry. With the MRS in effect, he could not even sense the mighty acceleration they were undergoing. Things seemed dreadfully normal! He knew better though, but House Path was never known for backing away from a challenge. He made up his mind.

“Equus Control – continue as planned. Unless a clear indication of danger is demonstrated, Cosmic Lotus is going to the Far Star!”

There were cheers from those on the bridge, and the mood immediately lightened. Wandering smiled. No matter how weird things continued to get, they were all true pioneers doing what they loved, and they would carry on doing so.

#

Every changeling was feeding energy to their Queen now, and they in turn pouring power into Celestia and Luna. Twilight had approached them with some concern, but despite grimacing with the unexpectedly long and heavy load, Celestia had managed to say jokingly, “I could do with a nice cup of tea and slice of cake right now.” The Royal Sisters were performing admirably though, and the Cosmic Lotus continued to accelerate. Pif had joined the power supply efforts, so one of her staff was now keeping them informed of progress as determined by the TESS. The energy required to increase the Cosmic Lotus’ velocity continued to increase exponentially, but they were fairly confident of the speed measurements.

“Ninety-three point two percent light-speed,” announced the assistant.

Every tenth of a percent was counted now as each got harder and harder. The decision had been made to do their utmost to get the Cosmic Lotus to at least a minimum ninety-five percent of light-speed. Hopes for the preferred ninety-seven percent or more were completely abandoned. Unicorns more and more and were dropping out and unable to re-join the effort, but Path had called in a mighty replacement. Fortunately he had been at one of the Equestrian branches and not back home in Griffonia at this time, and his arrival caused quite a stir.

Blue Streak came swooping in on his magitek wings, accompanied by his dragon wives. The matriarch had to find a place to perch on the nearby mountainside because the courtyard was still crowded, but her younger self accompanied Blue to the balcony where they carefully alighted without disturbing the alicorns or the Queens. Destined heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of House Path’s Warmaster approaching with his usual confident smile. The alicorn disconnected himself from the flow to talk with his earth pony brother.

“You’re just in time, Blue. We’re about to make one last surge.”

Blue’s grin grew. “I told you that keeping myself fully charged at all times would pay off one day. So it took nearly a century, but I was right.”

Destined conceded the point. They were going to need every bit of the power that Blue brought – power great enough to fling them thousands of years into the future during the Time Wars. If anything, Blue’s capacity had only increased since then. “You know the drill then. Just open yourself to me and I will draw on the power and feed it to Celestia.”

“Ready when you are, brother.”

Destined warned the others, and they braced themselves. Destined reconnected to the flow, and then sought out Blue Streak’s reservoir of energy and tapped it.

Celestia and Luna both gave a cry of pain at the rush of power, but they still held firm. Destined fed the power as fast as he dared, but even so there was still a vast amount more. It seemed to take ages before they heard the assistant announce, “Ninety-four percent.”

Still one percent more to go. Everyone was straining now. Iridia dropped out with a groan. She and her drones were spent. Crystal had dropped out earlier, but her hive was still much smaller and with fewer resources, so that had not been a surprise. Carpacia was wavering, but she had the most drones available, and they were being bolstered by the positive emotions of the awed crowd of ponies that remained fascinated by the spectacle. Cadance’s legs were trembling; despite being an alicorn, raw power was not her thing. Her husband stood rock steady though, as he would until exhausted. He had protected two entire cities for lengthy periods with his shield in the past, and he would not be found wanting now. Free was showing the strain, but she was damned if she was going to let Shining Armor show her up. Twilight, the veritable Avatar of Magic, seemed to be drawing upon an endless supply, but her son knew that was an illusion. Sooner or later she, just like the rest of them, was going to be exhausted. He hoped fervently that they could make it to their goal. Carpacia’s collapse did not fill him with confidence.

An eternity seemed to pass, and Destined sensed that even Blue’s reserve was running out when the assistant finally said what they were all praying to hear.

“Ninety-five percent light-speed!”

Twilight said loudly and firmly, “Everyone taper off. Don’t just stop or the backlash might hurt!”

Everyone had been pre-warned about this, although the reminder did not go astray under the circumstances. Everybody eased off their efforts and shut down the process gracefully. Celestia and Luna sank down onto the balcony, utterly spent, and castle attendants rushed out to minister to them. Path made his way to the front of the balcony and waited for the crowd’s attention. With the benefit of a voice-enhancing spell, he addressed them all.

“My fellow Equians, although the challenge was far greater than we had imagined, we have achieved our goal. The Cosmic Lotus has reached its minimum optimum speed. The journey to the Far Star is under way!”

A huge cheer rose from the courtyard. Tired unicorns were congratulated by the non-unicorn spectators, and castle staff poured out pushing carts laden with a fresh round of refreshments for all. Despite the late hour due to it taking far longer than planned, a party atmosphere grew as they celebrated the great success. Destined made his way over to the comm and compressed time once more. He was not sure how much worse the time distortion had gotten, but he made an educated guess before pressing the transmit button.

“Cosmic Lotus – this is Equus Control. Propulsion phase completed successfully. Minimum velocity achieved. Report when you’re ready. We’re all going to rest and recover for a while. Equus Control out.”

Destined released control of the flow of time and hungrily eyed the snacks that had been brought in. He decided to grab a particularly delicious-looking apple pie before his brother beat him to it!

#

Although the stream of energy had stopped, such was the distance from Equus that the Cosmic Lotus had achieved that an enormous amount of energy was still on its way to the starship. For a long time, the crew saw it coming in, although apparently at a far weaker level. However, time dilation meant that the full amount was being spread over a longer period, and the ship’s speed continued to rise.

Ninety-six percent.

Ninety-seven percent.

Finally the thrust ceased entirely at 97.4% of the speed of light. It almost passed unnoticed as the crew stared in awe and confusion at the sight of the stars all crammed into the path ahead of them. What had happened to the universe?

#

Destined’s message brought much relief. Another round of systems checks reassured Wandering and the bridge crew that the insanity of what was happening outside the ship did not seem to extend to the ship itself. Starry was still going a little crazy trying to work out why everything was wrong with the stars. Not fully trusting the monitor screens, she went to an actual window and withdrew the shield that had been in place as a precaution. The same bizarre sight greeted her however. The report that came from Gizmo only made things more confusing.

“Captain – I’ve checked these readings twice, and they keep telling me the same thing. Equus appears to be four times closer than it should be, and the Far Star looks to be only about ten light-years away.”

Wandering gaped at the unicorn. “What?! That’s impossible!”

Gizmo just gestured helplessly at the screens and shrugged.

Starry sighed. “Along with the time dilation affecting communications with Equus Control, according to our instruments, it seems that space has been distorted somehow, but only on the axis we are travelling in. One star that was directly on our port, for example, measures as the same distance as before.”

“Somehow? All we’ve done is go fast – how can that cause all this?” Wandering asked with exasperation.

“I don’t know, but I and my team are going to get straight to work on trying to find some answers for you.”

“Maybe Destined will have some answers for us.” The alicorn took a deep breath and calmed his thoughts. “Okay – we seem to be on course and up to speed, and the ship appears to be in full working order. We’re going to proceed with post-acceleration schedule as planned with the exception of Starry’s team who will work on this phenomenon. Turn on artificial gravity, and let’s get to work, people!”

#

With a normal routine established, the bridge crew soon settled down, choosing to ignore the outside universe for the moment. After sending an interim report back to Equus Control, Wandering let the crew do their work while he pondered the ramifications of the unanticipated anomalies. Hours later, he was startled when a blue alicorn suddenly appeared in the specially demarked teleportation area on the bridge next to the mana beacon, and staggered a bit before getting his balance.

“Whoa!” Destined yelped. “That was crazy!”

Wandering got up from his command chair and approached Destined. “Are you alright, brother?” he asked with great concern.

“I’ll be fine. I just never teleported and tried to compensate for a huge time-distortion before. Did you know that time is passing over four times slower for you? Even with the benefit of the mana beacon, I barely managed to get here, and this kind of thing is my specialty.”

Wandering’s face and ears fell. “Do you mean that we’re now without our fail-safe escape plan?”

“Oh, you can escape, alright, but I doubt that you would survive the experience,” Destined replied soberly.

Wandering sighed. “Have you any good news for us?”

Destined grinned. “As a matter of fact, yes. Pif took some final measurements with the TESS and confirmed their accuracy. While we thought that we had only managed to get you up to ninety-five percent of light-speed, we overlooked the delay between transmission and reception of the thrust. This ship is now travelling at 97.4% of the speed of light.”

“That’s very reassuring. Our instruments are practically useless due to the distorted views we’re getting.” Wandering indicated the view on the monitor.

Destined nodded. “I could hardly miss that, and it’s as bizarre as you described. I can assure you though that the universe hasn’t actually gone crazy, and you are nicely on course. Oh – and one other thing that you will probably like. If this time stretching continues unabated, your trip to the Far Star will take only a bit over ten years instead of forty-two or three.”

Wandering tried to reconcile those facts in his head and failed. “Huh?”

“Right now, time is passing a lot slower for you, so you will experience less than a quarter of the duration, even while those of us back on Equus still see you taking over four decades.”

“Well, that’s an unexpected bonus. I doubt anyone aboard this ship will be unhappy at slashing the amount of time just travelling to the Far Star.”

“I didn’t think so. Anyway, Pif and her think-tank will be working on these time and space distortions, as well as why it got exponentially harder to push the Cosmic Lotus the closer we got to the speed of light. We’ll keep you abreast of any developments, and if you desperately need something, I will try to help. Don’t count on me teleporting anything much more than a very small package though – I barely can manage bringing myself!”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for coming, Des.”

“No worries, bro. Glad to be here for you.” Destined clapped Wandering on the withers and gave a wave to the rest of the bridge crew. “Keep up the great work, everyone. Equus is proud of all of you.” His horn lit up and he teleported away, although with a strange stuttering effect rather than the typical flash-bang.

Wandering turned around to gaze at the main monitor and the stars crowded near the center of it. ‘Ten years… this changes things a lot,’ he thought. His stomach gurgled just then, reminding him that he had not eaten in a long time. ‘In a universe of strange phenomena, it’s nice to know that some mundane things stay the same.’ He chuckled a bit before he raised his voice. “Commander Bluequill, you have the bridge. Kale Robe’s culinary masterpieces await me.”

Author's Note

Dappler Effect = ponified Doppler Effect

As much of a headache the previous chapter was, this one easily beat it for difficulty. Relativity is complicated! Once again – huge thanks to Airy Words to help me keep things straight. Next chapter we get away from the weird physics and have a bit of fun with some of the characters instead.

The picture of the bewildered Gizmo Gears is by Foxenawolf. You scored a freebie, Emtu! I'm a bit crazy to lash out with these illos all the time, so if others would like to see art of their OC here, please consider donating to the cause via Paypal.

Purple Point Profanity Pool

Sailors, since time immemorial, have found ways to distract themselves from the monotony of a long voyage. The crew of the Cosmic Lotus were no exception to this. Within a day of departure, betting pools were set up, permissions were sought to set up breweries (craft brews by three of the crew, it being a hobby of each of them), and charts set up to keep track of elapsed voyage time, time until hibernation, and guesstimation on what they would find at the Far Star.

One pool that was set up became known officially as the Daily Raffle, and unofficially as the Purple Point Profanity Pool. Purple Point, the Engineer’s Mate, was widely known for several things, mainly an eidetic memory, an exceptional talent with most technologies, a calm, dignified polite manner, a quirky sense of humor, and most of all, when working alone on damaged or malfunctioning equipment, what could be politely described as a potty-mouth. His swearing, always directed at the equipment, was multilingual, literate, and so incredibly detailed, crewfolk who could understand what he was saying would take notes. While he could descend into crudity, and would on some occasions, he preferred the more literate profanity.

One thing to take careful note of is that he would never knowingly swear in the presence of another pony. The swearing was a purely automatic function to him. When he became aware of another pony near him, the profanity flow was abruptly cut off, his ears turning bright red in shame.

The Morale Officer, Random Dawn, brought up the subject of the Daily Raffle to the Captain of the Cosmic Lotus, Wandering Path. “What I would like to do is to set up two related pools, creating a program with CONN (Crystalline Organizational Neural Network, the ship’s Artificial Intelligence) to monitor Purple Point’s swearing. Each pony on board can, before noon, register their guesses for how long he would swear that day, day running from midnight to midnight, and how many languages he will use. Wagers will be given to CONN blindly, meaning you will know your own bet, but will have to ask others what their bets were. A standing bet system can be arranged, to record the same choice day after day. What I need to do is find a way to spread the word without him finding out.”

“What do you intend to offer as prizes?” Wandering Path asked.

“That will vary day by day. One day, you can win free drinks at the Nightclub. Another day, you can win a custom dessert of your choice at Sunday dinner. I have lots of options. That’s just for the time spent swearing. For the number of languages, I will award a cash prize, taking two bits from each entry, free or paid, into a pool to be split among the winners.”

“How will the winner be determined? Nearest guess either way, nearest without going over? What will you do if there are more than one winner, which I think would frequently be the case?”

“I’m thinking nearest either way. Nailing it exactly, which I think will happen more often on the second part, will lead to doubling the prize. In case of one pony hitting both numbers exactly, well, I’ll think of something really special. The non-cash prizes are determined by the time guess. I don’t think very many will take both halves of the prize.”

Wandering appeared to consider the request for a few moments. He was reviewing in his mind all he had read about Purple Point, from the first phone call he made to offer himself to the Project, from background checks to interviews. The Captain knew that a similar scam had been done to the stallion in every non-academic job he had held since he left Baltimare years before to join the Merchant Marine. Purple Point knew damn well that ponies would notice his outbursts. “Hell, Captain – if those lack-wits want to do something like that to me, the best thing I can do is ignore it officially, but closely monitor the progress. If something nice comes up as a prize, I may enter, at zero-zero. They can have their fun, but I always get the last laugh.”

Idly, Wandering tapped some controls on his screen, discreetly authorizing Purple Point to monitor progress, through CONN, of the new pool. “Request approved. How will you handle entries?”

“Through CONN. Everyone gets one free entry a day. More can be bought at ten bits apiece for another ticket into the pool. Bets close at noon, final tallies are done at midnight and will be posted in the Plan of the Day, with the names of the winners posted, and that day’s prize announced.”

“What about the bits collected? What will you do with them?”

“They will go into an account which I will donate to charity when we get back to Equus, after the cash prizes have been awarded.”

“Sounds good to me. Post the Daily Raffle rules to each crewpony individually today, and start it as of midnight tonight. Heck, I might even take a stab at it once in a while.”

Several weeks into the mission, after the Lotus was checked, rechecked, and re-rechecked, it was time to prep the majority of the crew for hibernation. Three days before hibernation, Captain Path announced that there would be an All Hooves party the night before hibernation started, so everyone could socialize together one last time before going into magically-induced stasis, the ship being crewed in shifts for the next ten years, voyaging to the Far Star. He also announced that one pony would get to choose who would be ‘assisting’ the cooks and servers that night, the positions open being server, table loader, dish-washer operator, and trash disposal operator. The winner of the Daily Raffle would be the lucky pony to do the choosing.

In Engineering, Eon Path called together two of his friends, the part-thestral pegasus ColdFire, and the Blue Changeling Steam Shift. “Okay, here’s my plan to set things up so one of us wins the Raffle tomorrow. I’m willing to throw in a hundred bits for more chances. What we are going to do is cause a string of minor malfunctions all over the ship while Purple Point is Duty Engineer. All of us bet high, because our little glitches will infuriate him to such a point, he’ll be popping off continually.”

“Just what sort of minor malfunctions are you thinking about, Eon?” ColdFire asked.

“O-rings leaking, insulation rubbing off wires, support bolts working loose. Nothing major, but enough to keep him running about for the twelve hours he is on duty,” Eon explained.

“Plus, if we have the failures in out-of-the-way locations, he will have to figure out how to get to the malfunction to fix it,” Steam Shift added, flipping his blue scarf over his shoulder.

“I like that thought. So, how much are we all in for?” Eon asked his compatriots. They agreed to throw in a hundred bits apiece for ten guesses each, plus their free one. “Make your plans tonight, but let’s not tell each other. He will be on duty from noon to midnight, so let us plan well.”

ColdFire added, “Let’s all agree that whichever one of us wins, we will not name each other to any of the positions, okay? This sounds like a lot of fun!” she squealed happily.

Steam Shift nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“And me,” Eon said. “Let’s do it to it.” He knew firsthand just how piquant Purple Point could get when annoyed. Personally, he was hoping to hear something in Draconic that he didn’t already know. “I just can’t reconcile his pleasant manner with his absolutely foul language while working. It’s like he’s two different ponies.”

“I’ve noticed that too,” Steam Shift said. “But, if it was anything bad, he would not be here, right?”

“Right,” ColdFire said. “Let’s hope we don’t cause him to blow a head gasket.”

Purple Point, on the other hoof, took the news with his usual calm. He had a way in mind to get through the day, on duty and off, without swearing once. A matter of self-hypnosis, lots of strong black coffee on hoof, and striving not to be alone. ‘The crew thinks they can make me swear on demand? Well, we shall see who has the better will and the better skill,’ he thought as he prepared for bed that night, waiting for the sleeping drug that he required to shut his mind down enough to get to sleep. ‘My will is supreme. I dance to my own tune. Nobody commands me. For Purple Point to live, Radiance Glow must stay dead. I will be the best there is at my job. This mission will succeed. Now, how to make the Virtual Repair spell…’ he thought as he faded out.

Purple Point rarely slept more than five hours at a stretch, and upon awakening, he first renewed his vow, committing his vast mental prowess to the task. “I will not swear today. Period.” he said to himself before leaving his cabin and going to breakfast, greeting those he met politely, in their accustomed fashion. Being Engineer’s Mate, he had to do the departmental paperwork, which he did with his accustomed ease, compiling and inputting what was required of him. After that, an inspection of the ship’s systems through the Engineering monitor display, flicking through subsystems at a high rate of speed, looking not for actual readings, but variations from the normal. Satisfied that the ship was in good health, he then prepared his personal tool and equipment saddlebags for when he was on duty.

Having about three hours before his shift began, Purple Point made his way to the magic research labs. He had an idea for what he called Virtual Repair, casting a spell on a defective piece of equipment and making it last until either a replacement was available or the equipment could be safely shut down. The spell was a series of spells that needed to be woven into one integral unit, and it was a project he had been working on for over ten years, ever since he had attained his ThD, in addition to his two PhD’s.

He was jolted out of his research by the on-duty Engineer, Crystal Twist, a dark-green crystal pony mare. “Point, snap out of it. You’ve got half an hour for lunch before taking over.”

Point jumped some, barely remembering in time not to utter an oath, however mild. “Thank you for reminding me, Twist. I’ll be there on time. Anything to report?”

“Not hardly. Been a quiet watch so far. Meet you back in Engineering,” she said before heading out.

Point put away his research material, returning the area to neatness. Lunch was quick, and afterwards he headed to Engineering, his mug of black coffee trailing steam. Precisely on time, he relieved Crystal Twist. “Do have a pleasant off-shift, Twist.”

“I intend to,” she said with a smile as she put her tool bags up. “I’m helping Willow do the decorations for the party tomorrow night.”

“Then I know the party will be a success,” Point said kindly as he put his belt on. “Go, have fun. I relieve you.”

“I stand relieved!” Twist laughed as she trotted off.

Fifteen minutes into his shift, a call came in. “Leak detected in Hydroponics Bay Two. Duty Engineer, attend,” came the call from CONN.

“Hydroponics leak? That’s not good,” Point said as he gathered some specialized repair parts for the job before hurrying to Hydroponics. There, he found the head of Hydroponics, Fatima Dashar, and two of her assistants standing around a puddle on the floor.

“A good day to you, delight of the eyes,” Point said in Saddle Arabian. “How may this one help you?”

“A seal blew in the tank corner, underneath. Can you patch it?” Fatima asked, blushing just a touch at Point’s greeting.

“Easily. It will just take some time to get in there, see the damage, and select the proper patch,” Point replied in Equish. “Give me some space, please.”

As the hydroponics techs moved away, Point got down on the floor after removing his saddlebags, to peer at the trouble spot. “I wonder how this happened,” he said quietly as he looked at the small hole that was dripping water. “Looks like it was caused by corrosion.”

“We noticed it barely ten minutes ago. Best fix it before it gets too bad,” Fatima told him.

“I can do a temporary patching, but when this tank is down for cleaning and maintenance, do let Engineering know so a better repair can be made,” Point said as he pulled patching material from his bag, along with a cutting tool. Carefully, he cut the patch to the right size, flexed the patch to activate the sealant, and applied it, holding the patch with his purple glow as it set.

Five minutes later, the repair was complete. Getting up and stowing his tools, he then bowed to Fatima and the other techs. “May many blessings shower on you all this day, instead of a leaky tank,” he said politely.

“Thank you for getting it fixed so quickly, Point.”

“That’s my job.”

He left Hydroponics Two, heading back to Engineering. He was at the door when another call came in. “Lighting failure in corridor 17, level H, frame 120. Duty Engineer, attend,” CONN reported.

Point snorted, but changed course to head to the problem site. “Okay, how did that happen?” he asked himself as he trotted.

Once there, he found the lights were indeed out in the corridor. Pulling out his circuit tester, he started to investigate. As he tested spot after spot, he felt the urge to let out his frustration, but nipped his tongue gently. “Remember, this is a no-swear day, Radiance,” he muttered.

Half an hour of testing isolated the fault – the light switch itself had malfunctioned. Not because of a manufacturing defect or simple wear, but by somepony messing with the switch, causing it to fail. Point felt the urge to swear building, but he forced it down before going to Stores for a replacement.

Just as he finished the job, putting the damaged switch into his bag to be repaired later, another call came in. “Corrosives leak in primary sciences lab. Damage reported. Duty Engineer, attend,” CONN said.

Purple Point almost turned purple as he got the news, but headed there, fighting to keep his composure, a fight he won, of course. Upon arriving at the lab, he found Techbird outside the door, being treated by a medical technician and a magitek technician. “What happened, Techbird?” he asked politely, because if there was one being he truly respected on board the Lotus, it was the aged griffoness.

“I was mixing some acids when I had a power failure to my claw. I dropped the mixing container and it shattered, severing some tubing. It’s a bit of a mess in there, I’m sorry to say,” Techbird said, a little mournfully.

Purple Point smiled up at the griffoness. “Don’t worry nor apologize, Techbird. I can put everything to rights. Maybe now you will get your systems tuned like I suggested earlier.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” said the magitek technician, Gizmo Gears.

“If you will allow us, Techbird, we will all take care of each other. We have an appointment to keep at the Far Star,” Purple Point said before activating his suit’s protective spells and going into the lab.

After passing through the mini-airlock, the first thing he asked was, “CONN – atmosphere reading, please.”

“Acid fumes present in laboratory atmosphere. Laboratory ventilation isolated from shipboard ventilation system. Warning: while atmosphere is not toxic, long term exposure is not advised.”

“Thank you, CONN. Rig ventilation line-up from laboratory to Atmosphere Purification Unit Three for processing. Any damage to major systems in this laboratory?”

“Negative. Damage restricted to table and apparatus in use at the time. Neutralization and clean-up is called for. Ventilation configured to your specifications, ready to begin at your order.”

“Begin atmosphere purification. I’ll clean up the equipment. Please advise as to what equipment is salvageable and what is not as I clean.”

“Understood, Duty Engineer. Atmosphere purification is underway.”

“Thank you, CONN.” For the next hour, Purple Point cleaned the acid spill, carefully adding neutralizing agents to the spilled acids, putting broken equipment into a sealed container for repair or recycling, and, most importantly, remaining silent the whole time, except to answer requests for information, progress reports, and asking questions about pieces of equipment he was not familiar with.

He handled his tasks with only part of his attention, most of his mind locked in a battle with himself to remain silent and not give anyone any ammunition to use against him. It was not an easy chore, because his natural reaction was to cuss a blue streak, but his respect for Techbird did aid him in keeping control of himself. Only once did he stop in mid-action and say clearly and firmly, “No, Radiance!”

When all his work was done, he exited the lab. “All safe to use, Techbird. You may now resume your previously scheduled incomprehensibilities,” he reported to the aged griffoness, who laughed at his witticism.

“Thank you so very much, Purple Point. Will I get to see you at dinner?”

“Probably not. On duty until midnight. I might be assistant chief engineer of this ship, but you can’t learn how the ship feels sitting in an office, you have to get out and feel him or her. That’s why I like doing duty shifts every so often.”

“Another time, then. Any progress on your VR spells?”

“Tomorrow morning I can give you a report. I may have figured out the binding spells, but I have to do some more experimentation,” Purple Point replied. One of his goals was once he got the Virtual Repair spell crafted, it could be integrated into a magitek device so others could use it.

“I look forward to finding out,” Techbird told the unicorn before looking to her assistants. “Back to it!”

Purple Point made it back to the Duty Engineer’s office, where he first recharged the protective spells on his ship’s uniform, then checked on ship’s status. All was well, including the atmosphere line-up from the lab, now that he had cleared all traces of the acid fumes. Restoring the ventilation line-up to normal, he then repacked his tool and parts bag, replacing what he had pulled out, brewing up a pot of coffee, his way, which meant that if you put a spoon in it, the odds were equal if it would stand upright or dissolve. Sugar would dissolve in it, but creamer or anything like it would get expelled from the mug. He did not care – it kept him awake.

Thirty minutes later, he received another call, for a mishap in the Linear Park – a pegasus and a changeling had collided in mid-air, and their fall had damaged some support struts. With a sigh and a mutter, he headed out to see.

Arriving at the park, he found the duty med-tech just leaving. “Everypony all right?” Point asked.

“Bumps, bruises and a few cuts. Nothing major. Some struts for the Park’s upper level, though, are a bit bent out of shape,” the tech reported.

Purple Point snorted once. “As am I. Been a busy shift for me, and it’s only four. Let me go in and see.”

Getting to the scene of the incident, Point found ColdFire and Steam Shift on the growing grass of the lawn, both sporting a few bandages. “What in Tartarus happened in here?” he demanded.

“ColdFire was teaching me some stunts,” Steam Shift explained. “We cut it a little too close to the upper level struts.”

“It’s not too bad, but a few are bent, and some support strands have gone slack.” ColdFire added.

Purple Point grumbled some, actually looking a little angry before composing himself, his lips moving but saying nothing at first. “I would dragoon you two into the repairs, but not only are you two off duty, I can see the bandages on your wings. So, it’s up to me. As usual.” He then snorted. “Okay, you two, get out of here. I’ll deal with you later. I’ve got a job to do.”

Without looking back at the two reprobates, Purple Point went to the damaged area. Looking up, he saw the bent struts and slack wires. Under thrust, it would collapse like a paper fan in a rainstorm. He felt his rage build, but he squelched it with a loud, determined, “NO, Radiance!” before starting to work, the purple glow from his horn reaching up to the bent struts, feeling them out, deciding if they need replacing. To his chagrin, two of them did. He bit his lip as he discovered the extent of the damage.

ColdFire and Steam Shift saw Point’s reactions. “Looks like he’s going to blow his stack,” ColdFire muttered.

“He never loses his temper in public,” Steam Shift whispered back. “But, I can tell you, he’s not happy.”

“First time for everything. Let’s get going before he does lose it. We still have a few more incidents to create before midnight. I have twenty to twenty-five minutes in the pool.”

“I chose between ten and eighteen in my picks. I wonder what Eon has in mind next?” Steam Shift whispered as they left the park.

“That’s why we are working independently. We just came here together because we both wanted some flight time in. I’ve got something wicked in mind,” ColdFire said.

“You are one devious pegasus, ColdFire.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Steam Shift,” the mare replied smugly.

All told, it took Point two hours to fix the damage, between gathering parts and tools, replacing the struts and tightening the stays so that everything was restored to an as-was condition before cleaning up and putting tools and lift away. He had dinner sent to the Duty Engineer’s office, rather than going to the mess deck. He had just barely finished one of Kale’s better creations when the first of three calls in a row came in, first for a bad lighting panel in Engine Ops, a broken ventilator grille in the Captain’s cabin (Wandering admitted to the damage), and another cracked nutrient feed line in a hibernation bay, that one being reported by Princess Galena.

“I don’t know how that happened, Point, but we need to get it patched before we start putting folk in them,” she said with obvious dismay.

“At least I won’t be standing fetlock-deep in the stuff. Makes my hooves itch. Good thing I have the sealant required, Princess. Now, please to pardon me, and I’ll get started,” Point said politely. As he looked it over, he said loud and clear, “NO, RADIANCE! NOT NOW!”

Princess Galena was perplexed at the shout, but decided to let it go as Point swiftly, effectively and permanently fixed the crack, lip caught between two front teeth, seeping a little blood. She backed away as he worked, confused at his demeanor. He was always polite to her, as he was to all the folk. Why would he shout at nothing, and who or what was Radiance? Plus, she tasted a lot of anger, but it was directed inward, towards himself, not outward. Still, it was strong enough to give her a reason to get clear.

Within twenty minutes, the leak had been sealed, and the area cleaned up. Point sought out Galena, telling her that all was well now, and just who had been in there within the past half hour?

“Why, Eon Path was here, helping me check out all the pods. He left just before I found the leak.”

“Okay, then. I have an idea about something. A pleasant evening to you, Princess.”

“And to you, Point. Thank you again.”

“Hey, we’re all in this together. I’m going to be in one of these pods soon enough, and it had best be working when I am in it. It’s in my best interest to make sure they work,” Point told the princess, sending her good thoughts and feelings, but she could still taste the undercurrent of hostility.

Back at the duty office, Point looked at the clock as he ‘poured’ himself another mug of coffee. “Three and a half hours more of this. Can I stand the strain? No, Radiance. Ouch!” he yelped as the hot mug touched his bitten lip. He took a deep breath to utter a malediction, but this time he bit his tongue. Literally. Painfully. Then, CONN called again.

“Hole reported in ventilation duct, Deck C, frame fifty-three.”

Purple Point’s face and ears purpled. “What in Tartarus is going on here?” he asked angrily as he prepared his gear for another trip. On scene, there was indeed a hole in the duct, as if somepony carelessly banged against it while carrying something large and hard. As he patched the hole, noting the location for further repair, he took a deep breath to curse, and bit his lip again. Hard. Very hard. Painfully hard. Messily hard. He sucked carefully on his bit lip as the patch set, before making his way to Medical to get his lip patched before he lost too much blood, making sure he didn’t leave a trail behind him.

“Having a rough day?” asked Dr. Zubon as she mended his lip.

“Ohnlee cuz ah kep on bitin’ myshelf,” he slurred as the wound was healed.

“Next time, not so hard, okay?”

“I will do my besht, Doctor. Thank you for the treatment,” he said before the intercom sounded off again.

“Hydraulic valve failure, auxiliary machinery room three. Duty Engineer, investigate,” CONN said in its pleasant female voice.

The grimace on Point’s face amused Zubon, for about five seconds. “Pardon me, Doctor, yet another problem,” he said in a kind tone, but the undercurrent was plain.

“Go in peace, Point,” Zubon said as he hurried out.

In AMR3, Point found an O-ring had failed, blowing a seal on a hydraulic valve. Fluid had sprayed out of the flaw, spraying a fine mist into the air and coating almost everything within five meters with fluid. He stomped his right front hoof several times on the floor, marshalling his temper. “No, Radiance, don’t you dare,” he muttered. “Almost there…”

Automatic systems had isolated the system, so all Point had to do was disassemble the valve and inspect it. He did note a scratch near the O-ring seat, making him not only very suspicious, but causing him to nearly detonate. Sparks flew up and down his horn, and he bit his lip again, even more severely than last time. Working fast, he replaced the O-ring, coated it liberally with sealant, reassembled the valve, and reconnected the valve controller to CONN. He then literally stomped his way back to Medical. The duty tech summoned Dr. Zubon.

“Again, Point?” she said as she readied treatment. He could only nod, keeping his mouth shut until she was ready. After the healing was completed, Point looked at Zubon with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry, Doctor. I don’t plan on being a frequent visitor.”

“When do you get off shift?”

“Midnight.”

“I’ll wait here until then. I think you’re going to need an extra strength sleep med tonight. I had best start preparing it.”

“May Celestia smile upon you, Doctor,” Point managed to say when the intercom sounded off with yet another call.

“Broken water valve, exercise room one, shower booth five,” CONN announced. “Duty Engineer, attend.”

Point shut his eyes and moved his lips, but said nothing. Another spark flew off his horn. “I’ll be waiting,” Zubon sighed.

Point made his way to the designated place, to find the earth pony cook, Kale Robe, standing in the shower room, a towel around his neck. “I’m sorry, Point. I just lost a game of hoof ball, and, well…” Kale trailed off, looking at the remains of the valve on the floor.

Point looked at Kale, his eyes blank at first before warming up. “You, I believe, Kale. I’ll have this fixed in ten minutes.”

“Make it five and I’ll make you your favorite coffee cake.”

That was all it took. With a blur of purple glow, tools and parts, the valve housing was cleaned, damaged parts removed, new parts installed, the bonnet tightened down, and tested. “Three minutes thirty-nine seconds. I’ll take it at breakfast,” Point muttered, his lip sore, having nipped it from the inside.

“You got it, Point! Thanks, and thanks again!” the earth pony said before going back into the shower booth and turning it on. As Point was leaving, Kale let out a yelp. “HOT!” Point just put his nose to the floor for a moment before looking up.

“CONN, secure water to shower booth five, exercise room one,” he said in a tired voice.

“Unable to comply. Cyber controls have been rendered inert.”

Point sighed, feeling tired. “CONN, review security scans around all damaged areas this watch, from one hour before incident to one hour after my repair. Send all scans to my terminal for review. Secure all water lines in to exercise room one shower stalls.”

“Understood, Assistant Chief Engineer. Reports are waiting. Water isolated to exercise room one shower stalls.” CONN said in her level tones.

“And repairs are starting.”

Swiftly, Point pulled out a diagnostic tool from his bag, finding out the valve’s remote controls had been damaged when that valve was broken. Sighing, he dug through his bag to find a replacement part which was quickly located and installed. When CONN reported normal function, Point turned to Kale. “It’s working now. CONN, reactivate water service to exercise room one shower stalls.”

“You’ll have your coffee cake tomorrow, Point!”

“Thank you, Kale. Just doing my job,” Point said as he left the shower room, his mind thinking about coffee.

Back in his duty office, Point put on another pot of coffee as he restocked his saddlebags, getting ready for the next problem call. Coffee ready, he added sugar to his mug before pouring in the coffee. Just as he was raising the mug for a sip, a loud snap, crackle and pop was heard echoing throughout the area, and the office went dark.

“Lighting Circuitry Panel Six-Nine reporting main breaker failure. Power disconnected to aft lighting panels Six-Nine, Seven-Zero and Seven-One. Duty Engineer, investigate cause of failure of Lighting Circuitry Panel Six-Nine,” CONN reported.

“What do you think I’m going to do, you cracked crystal contraption? Write poetry?” Point shouted, retaining control of his temper only by the barest of margins. Lighting his horn, he took a big gulp of liquid tar before putting the mug down and exiting the office for the lighting panel, which was only a few meters away, around two corridor turns. CONN, not being sentient, did not reply to Point’s outburst.

By the light of his horn, Point saw the lighting panel door open, with a hole and a char mark evident on both the inside and outside of the panel door. The main input breaker had failed spectacularly, with only bits and pieces still in the mounting. He sat down, sighed deeply, shut his eyes and recited a mantra, “No, Radiance, stay out of this. No, Radiance, stay out of this,” fifty times before opening his eyes and getting to work.

He tested the panel to make sure it was de-energized before removing the failed breaker. Examining it, he found a faint sign that the breaker had been tampered with, but he could not be sure until later. Setting it aside, he made his way to Stores to get another master power breaker, chanting his mantra the whole time. Installing the new breaker, he checked it thoroughly before calling to CONN to re-energize the lighting bus.

“Power restored to aft lighting panels Six-Nine, Seven-Zero, and Seven-One,” Conn reported as some lights came on, but not in the immediate area.

Point then ordered, “Shut breaker to Lighting Panel Six-Nine.” There was a clunk from the panel, the breaker flipped to the shut position, and the lights came back up.

“Lights are on, but is there anybody home? Conn – time check, please.”

“Time is now twenty-three hundred forty-five hours. Fifteen minutes until end of shift.”

“Thank you, CONN. Let me clean up here before Eon arrives,” Point said before doing just that, getting the area tidy before going back to the office, where Eon Path was waiting, his own saddlebag tool and parts pack on and ready.

“Rather busy shift, I see,” the dracopony said, looking up from the log display.

“Very much so. Suspiciously so. I’ll investigate tomorrow. For now, it’s midrats, medication, and bed for me, hopefully until about oh-seven.”

“Very well, Point. I relieve you.”

“I stand relieved,” Point said as he took off his saddlebags and placed them in his locker, until the next time he took a duty shift. Once that was done, he took his mug of cold tar and headed to the mess decks, where he partook of what was there before reporting to Medical.

“Now, this is a more potent form of your usual sleep medicine, Point. Just use this pressure hypo and inject yourself where convenient. It should work within twenty minutes,” Zubon said, hoofing over the hypo. “Wait until you are back in your cabin before doing so.”

“Yes, Doctor, and thank you for making this. I hope I won’t need this concoction too often.”

“I hope so too. It could be habit-forming.”

“That would be bad. I have enough bad habits already.” Point took the hypo and left for his cabin.

Once there, he settled himself into bed. Before he injected himself with the sleep dose, CONN spoke up. “Incoming message for Purple Point.”

“Read message aloud, CONN.”

“You have won the Daily Raffle with a correct submission of zero-zero. You have won the right to name the cook’s assistants for the party tonight. Whom do you choose?”

“I will decide before noon, CONN.”

“Very well. Incoming call, from Eon Path.”

“Put him through, please.” Point looked up at the image of Eon in the intercom display. “What you need? I’m about to go to sleep.”

“How in Tartarus did you manage to win the raffle?” Eon said, confused. “I thought you would be swearing up a storm!”

“Now, why would you want to think that, Eon?”

“Because I, ColdFire and Steam Shift have been doing minor sabotage all day, trying to piss you off!” Eon blurted.

Point sprang out of bed. “You WHAT?” he bellowed. “YOU were behind all that happened today?

Eon smiled. “Most of it. Nothing harmful to the ship at large – just enough to make you swear up a storm. How did you manage not to?”

“Willpower and the fact this has been played on me before, you…” Point shouted before the dam broke. For over forty-five minutes he swore, both crudely and literately, in a total of thirty-eight languages before he passed out colder than yesterday’s pancakes, which were cold enough yesterday. The sheer magnitude of the cussing turned the air in his cabin blue, okay, purple, because of the purple smoke and sparks coming from his horn. The intercom circuit failed within the first thirty seconds due to overload.

When Point passed out, his going unconscious was enough of a shock to cause CONN to notify Medical and the Captain. Wandering arrived to find Zubon scanning the sleeping Point.

“Will he be alright?”

“I am seeing something I have not seen from him before – a deep, sound, natural sleep without the aid of chemicals,” Zubon reported, holding up the spray hypo she had prepared earlier.

“I hope he wakes up in time for the party tomorrow… er… today.”

“I will see to it. CONN, what were his numbers for that outburst?” Zubon asked.

“Forty-five minutes eighteen seconds non-stop, plus thirty-eight languages, from Equish to Yakyakistani, Doctor.”

“Wow! That must be a record somewhere,” Wandering exclaimed in admiration. “My bet was fifteen minutes ten seconds and ten languages.”

“While mine was twenty-two minutes and eighteen languages. So that’s why he was biting his lip so much. I had to heal it twice.”

“You have to hoof it to him – he really puts the cuss in focus,” Wandering said as the alicorn and zebra left Purple Point’s cabin, leaving him to sleep.

Upon awakening at about eleven in the morning, the first thing Point noticed was how refreshed he felt. When he looked at the clock, he jumped in surprise. “I missed the morning meetings!” he bellowed as he headed for the toilet and shower.

“Messages are waiting for Purple Point. Should I read them aloud?” CONN asked.

“Please do, CONN,” Point said from the toilet, draining coffee.

“Message from Doctor Zubon. If you are not awake by lunchtime, I will come get you. I want you here in Medical after lunch for an examination. Message from Commander Bluequill. You are to consider yourself on off duty-status until cleared to return to duty by Medical. I will let you punish the pranksters. Message from Willow. I need your nominations for the party tonight by noon. Please message them to me. Message from the Captain. How and when did you learn Yakyakistani? Message from Eon Path. I’m in it deep, right? Did you know you blew the comm circuits from your cabin to the Duty Room, taking out a whole sector’s communications until I reset matters? Call me when you wake. Messages end.”

By that time, Point was coming out of the shower, toweling himself off. “Message to Willow. My nominations are Steam Shift for the serving table loader, ColdFire for dishwasher, and Eon Path for trash disposal operator, and Willow herself as server. I’ve had this trick pulled on me behind my back before. I always get even. Message ends.”

“Understood and delivered. Anything else?”

“Message for Doctor Zubon,” Point said as he brushed his mane. “Tell her I have received her message and will see her after lunch, as ordered. Message ends.”

“Understood and delivered. Anything else?”

“Yes. Message for Techbird. I hope you are doing better than yesterday, and with good fortune we will meet over lunch. Message ends.”

“Understood and delivered. Anything else?”

“Message for Eon Path. You’re in for it now. Check your messages, trash pony. Message ends.”

“Understood and delivered. Anything else?”

“Message for the Captain. I met a yakety yak some years back. He taught me a few things. Message ends.”

“Understood and delivered. Anything else?”

“No further messages, CONN. Thank you and out,” Point said as he brushed his tail before getting into a clean ship suit. The screen on his desk monitor dimmed, indicating CONN had gone, for him, from active to passive mode.

He did meet Techbird for lunch, and he discussed an idea for an integration spell to knit the disparate parts of his planned Virtual Repair spell together. Just another step forward on a dream he’d had for ten years now.

Reporting to Medical, Zubon scanned Point with everything she had at her disposal. “Just what are you looking for, Doctor?” he said in a polite tone tinged with confusion.

“You passed out after your tirade. You had yet to inject yourself with the compound. Yet, I found you in the deepest, most restful sleep I have ever seen you in. I want to know why.”

“For that matter, so do I. You may investigate to my heart’s content, Doctor. You examine; I will think.”

Zubon looked over Point’s readings, while Point thought about putting his Virtual Repair spell together. “You are unusually calm today, Point. Last night, you were wound up tighter than I have ever seen you, but now your readings show you as calm, relaxed and rested. Your tirade really drained all your negative feelings out,” she told the waiting unicorn.

“How bad was the tirade?” he asked.

“Forty-five minutes eighteen seconds before you ran down, along with what CONN counted as thirty-eight languages.”

Point grimaced at the report. “Forty-five minutes?”

“Non-stop and at full power the whole time. How do you do it?”

“Natural magic talent. Am I cleared for duty?”

Zubon smiled. “There is the party tonight. The way you are now, you really should attend. Let the crew see you in a good mood and a relaxed state, when you are not cleaning them out at the poker table.”

Point hesitated. “Well, I was thinking of taking Command Duty Officer tonight so others could attend. You know I don’t like parties.”

“It will do you a lot of good, too. Maybe you can do some performing. I know you have a good voice.”

“You know my music is a private joy, Doctor.”

“I will not clear you for duty until you agree to go to the party!” Zubon snapped.

“Pick you up here at a quarter to seven?” Point said quickly.

“Make it seven exactly. Us senior officers can make a fashionably late entrance. Oh, just one little caveat before I release you for duty, Point.”

“What’s that, Doctor?”

“If you even think of performing any of the verses of ”˜Barnacle Tail the Sailor’, your next sleeping drug will put you out until two months after we get to the Far Star, without using a hibernation pod!” Zubon said sternly.

“Yes, Doctor,” Point said meekly. “I’ll do something pleasant I learned in Mexicolt a while back, in Esponial.”

“Good colt,” Zubon said as she tapped the keys on her panel, releasing Point from medical restrictions. “You need some fun, and if I have to prescribe it with a crowbar, I will!”

Author's Note

NOTE: This episode was 98% written by Alden MacManx. I mostly only proofread and edited it. Purple Point Profanity Pool was first published in his story: Purple Point: His Life in Space. If you enjoyed it, please go there and give him a fave!

Memories

When Purple Point was released to go back on duty, the first place he headed was to the mess deck to grab himself a mug of coffee before going to his office. He had some research to do and malefactors to punish. However, once logged on, he was refused access to the security scans he had requested the night before.

“CONN, explain reason for denial of access.”

“Access denied by both Captain Path and Commander Bluequill. Message for Purple Point from Commander Bluequill. Point, the three you caught were not the only ones gunning for you. Others did as well. If you would like to know who did what, ask CONN. Message ends.”

Point snorted. “Figures most ponies aboard would. CONN, display and recite list of those who were involved in the minor sabotage on my duty watch yesterday, please.”

“Listing begins: Incident One – Leak in Hydroponics Bay Two, perpetrator Fatima Dashar,” CONN reported in its pleasant female voice.

“Huh! Didn’t know Fatima had that in her,” Point snorted.

“Incident Two – Lighting failure in Corridor 17, perpetrator Eon Path. Incident Three – Corrosives leak in primary science lab, no deliberate cause detected.”

“Didn’t think Techbird would do something like that deliberately,” Point muttered.

“Incident Four – Damage to Linear Park support struts, perpetrators ColdFire and Steam Shift.”

“Sorta figured that.”

“Incident Five – Lighting panel in Engine Ops, perpetrator Steam Shift.”

Point nodded in appreciation. “He’s a better mechanical engineer. Good to khow he has the courage to try electrical work. I’ll have to remember that.”

“Incident Six – broken ventilator in Captain’s cabin, perpetrator Captain Wandering Path.” In this case, CONN displayed the footage, revealing it truly was an accident – he skidded on something and fell into the ventilator, breaking the handle tab.

“Nice dance step, Captain Graceless,” Point said with a chuckle.

“Incident Seven – Leak in hibernation bay two, perpetrator Eon Path. Incident Eight – hole in ventilation duct, perpetrator Ortzi Goldbeak.”

“Ortzi? When will he realize he simply can’t play poker at my level?” Point muttered.

“Incident Nine – Hydraulic valve failure in Auxiliary Machinery Room Three, perpetrator Steam Shift.”

“Now, that’s more his style.”

“Incident Ten – Broken water valve, exercise room one, shower booth five, perpetrator ColdFire.”

“Sneaky – no traces left. I like that,” Point grudgingly admitted.

“Incident Eleven – Main breaker failure lighting panel Six-Nine, perpetrator Galen Bluequill.”

“WHAT?!” Point shouted, leaping to his hooves. “Galen did that?”

“Affirmative. Message from Galen Bluequill. Gotcha! Message ends.”

“Why, that sneaky, low-down…” Point said before blasting out a few choice epithets in Griffonian.

“All that and a whole lot more.” Galen said from the office door.

Point looked at Galen, ears reddening. “Why would you do such a thing, Commander?”

“Just to keep my claws in practice. Rigging the breaker to blow on demand was not easy even though it was failing and due to be replaced. I was just glad you took some time in the shower while I rigged the panel. I thought for sure you would lose it then. Also glad the Captain would let me tinker with the lighting breaker. We both knew you were on duty, and would fix it right.”

“I did not intend on letting anyone get me to dance to their command yesterday, and I didn’t. Teach them to try to pull a stunt like that on me! I’m going to let Willow know today at the party that she should have involved me from the start,” Point griped.

“I listened to some of your tirade. I’m going to have to remember the one of plucking all the feathers out of a griffin, numbering them and putting them back on without an anesthetic. You sure know how to insult a griffin, don’t you?” Galen asked, sitting at his own desk in the small office.

“You ought to know, Commander. You challenged me to an honor duel one time, when you overheard me cursing out a broken water pipe to a fountain in the Griffonian Embassy grounds.”

“Yes, well, once I sobered up, you did allow me the dignity of backing out honorably, and we’ve been friends ever since. Can’t say the same about Lord Razortalon, though,” Galen said quietly, hearkening back to an honor battle from a decade earlier than his own aborted battle, where a drunken Lord Razortalon overheard Point swearing during a delicate repair.

“Razortalon would not listen to his aides, even after sobering up. He insisted on the honor fight, so, we fought,” Point said bleakly. “So, I beat him in forty-four seconds, but not without cost.”

“Nearly getting castrated would definitely qualify as a cost. Getting your tail cut off didn’t help, either.”

“Took six months for it to grow back, and two before I could move without pain. Three weeks before they took the catheter out and I could piss without discomfort. His fortune did pay for my doctoral studies, after I ransomed back what his family truly considered heirlooms. I’m not cruel, just determined.”

“That you are, Point. You earned your way here, and don’t you forget it,” Galen said before wincing. Too late, he remembered the two words never to say in Point’s presence.

Point looked as if all the sadness on all Equestria had landed on his withers. “I can’t. I can’t forget a thing, no matter how much I want to,” he whispered before walking out of the office, tail limp.

He stopped by his cabin to grab his portable music player before going to the Park. There, he found his preferred patch of new grass and sprawled upon it, letting the ventilator blow the scents of his favorite plants into his nostrils as he listened to music, trying to jolt himself out of his depression. It took an hour or more, but it did work. Other ponies using the Park knew not to disturb him while he ‘meditated’.

Invigorated, he sought out one particular crew pony, one Gomez Sanchez Caballeros, the youngest member of the crew, whose skill at piloting the landing and orbital craft impressed everypony since he was barely in his teens. Flying came naturally to the young pegasus, be it himself or a small craft. Point had known the pegasus since he was a colt, having stayed with the family for six months while studying for a PhD in Ciudad de Mexicolt. Not only did Gomez have a good voice, he also played one hot guitar. Point himself only had moderate skill with harmonica, accordion and keyboards, but his best instrument was drums. Point’s singing voice, while not stage-worthy, was not bad to listen to.

The green and orange pegasus readily agreed to assist with Point’s performance at the party that evening, and so the two went to Point’s cabin for a little practice, it being larger than Gomez’ own. The two songs they decided upon posed a challenge to both their voices and instrumental skills. Ninety minutes of practice was enough for the two before breaking for dinner and party preparations.

Dinner was rather sparse, but the party would make up for the scanty meal, Kale going all out for it. Back in his cabin, after a long shower and grooming, Point put on his one main concession to the party atmosphere – a rainbow-colored tie-dyed bow tie over his uniform. Promptly at seven, he was outside Zubon’s door. As he raised his hoof to buzz, the door slid open, revealing Zubon in a nice party dress, her mane groomed in a Zebrican style. “My dear Doctor, you look spectacular!” Point exclaimed in rather stilted Zebrican.

“You’re looking fine yourself, Point. So, shall we?”

“Yes! Let’s go to the party!”

The Park was dressed spectacularly for the occasion, that being the one space that would hold all the crew at once. Tables were set along the walls, servers keeping them stocked with some of Kale’s best creations. Canned music was playing, but a small bandstand was set up at one end for later, many of the crew having musical inclinations. Point guided Zubon to a table. “What would you like from the buffet, dear Doctor?” he asked.

Zubon sniffed some at all the aromas dancing about. “Grilled corn and banana leaves, please, with a glass of wine.”

“Thy desire is a command to me!” Point said gallantly, bowing dramatically before fetching her desired choices, along with his own selection, a triple-thick hayburger with the works, fries, and his usual mug of coffee, carrying them in his purple-white glow.

The two dined slowly, chatting often with passers-by, because both knew who was going into hibernation the next day. Some couples danced out on the lawn to the canned music. “Not bad music, but I think I can do better,” Point said after a bite.

“Oh? You sure of that?”

“Well, I have some help. Once the crew settles down, I’ll go up and play, with my partner in tunes.”

“Just remember my warning, Point.”

Point held up a hoof. “Hey, I promised, and I will ensure you will not hear me do ‘Barnacle Tail the Sailor’ tonight. Something lively in Esponial. Two somethings, actually, and a final instrumental I find soothing.”

“I think I know what they will be, but I can’t wait to hear.”

“Patience, my dear Doctor, will reap wonderful rewards,” Point said, as he watched Eon hauling out a bin of food trash for recycling, giving Point a nasty look as he passed by.

It was about half an hour after they had completed dining when Captain Path climbed up onto the bandstand. “Okay, crew! Who wants to help with the festivities?”

Gomez stood up. “I do! Point, get up here, please. We have some music for everyone!” he called out.

“That’s my cue,” Point said as he stood up and pushed his way through the crowd to the bandstand. Once there, he sat down behind the electric drum set, adjusting their arrangement to his taste before picking up the sticks in his glow. Gomez had brought his favorite guitar, and the two set up their microphones.

“Our first offering tonight is called ‘Vive’,” Gomez said as the opening chords were sounded, with CONN providing the backing tracks not supplied by the musicians. Point and Gomez alternated on the vocals, Gomez’ high tenor contrasting well with Point’s baritone. Of course, the words were all in Esponial, but the infectious beats soon had many of the crew up and dancing.

After that song ended, the two musicians wiped themselves down with napkins as the crew cheered. “Our next selection is called ‘Oye’,” Point said as he started the opening beats, shifting from the drum set to the keyboard. This one more of the crew knew, and they joined in on some of the verses, even if they did not know the language. The cheering was even louder after the second song, many either stamping or clapping in approval.

“That’s all we have rehearsed. I’ll be back later with something completely different, but now I’ll let someone else try their luck up here. For sure, they won’t beat me at the poker table!” Point laughed as the crowd applauded, ColdFire giving him a dirty look as she returned with a cartload of dishes.

Point returned to his seat. “Did I pass your test, Doctor?”

“Very much so. That was very passionate, exuberant, and fun!”

Point blushed a little at the compliment, his ears turning faintly pink. “Music is a passion of mine because it can jolt me out of depressive loops, given time. I know a lot of songs, and when the mood strikes me, I’ll share them. Today, I felt in the mood to do so.”

“I’m glad you did. I don’t know Esponial, but you made it sound wonderful.”

“I lived with Gomez’ family for six months some years ago, when I was in Ciudad de Mexicolt. I took the time and made the effort to learn the language. Glad I did,” he said before taking a sip of coffee and making a face. “Cold. May I get you another drink?”

“Please. Another glass of wine would be wonderful.”

Point got up. “On its way. I need a fresh coffee, even though they make it weak.”

“Nobody takes coffee like you do. Do you drink it or eat it?” Zubon asked.

Point smiled back. “I’ll leave that as an exercise for the doctor, Doctor. Be right back.”

So engrossed was Point in getting through the crowd, both to get drinks and return, he did not notice the new group that took over the bandstand, nor what song they were playing, until the first words were sung, and by then, it was too late. When he heard those first words, almost back to the table, he let out a scream of pure fright, the shock causing every changeling in the room to stagger in place.

“Radiance! Get back where you belong!” he bellowed, his mug and wine glass dropping to the ground as his pupils constricted to mere pinpoints.

“Oh, horseapples!” Wandering said as he felt the waves of fright coming from Point being relayed through his network from the changelings closer to Point. Quickly, he threw up a confining field around the stricken unicorn. “Starry! Get some restraints, fast! I’ll hold him!” he shouted to his herd-sister, who promptly ran out of the park.

The band stopped as every crew member in the Park looked at Point, who was trembling all over, held in Wandering’s restraint field, eyes staring at nothing.

“Captain, what’s going on?” asked the lead singer of the band.

“You know what song you were playing, right?” Wandering said, finding it a struggle to hold the unicorn.

“Yes – The Wreck of the Gowanus Herald. What’s wrong with it? What’s wrong with Point?” the singer asked.

“You know what the song is about, right?”

“Yes, how a merchant ship went down in a big storm, killing twenty-nine, but twenty were saved by the sacrifice of one unicorn, Radiance Glow. What has that got to do with Purple Point?”

“He is Radiance Glow. They never found his body, right?”

“No, they didn’t. But, Radiance Glow was chestnut brown, with a red and white mane, a green tail and white hooves and horn. I saw the movie more than once,” said another crew pony. “Point is grey and purple.”

Starry charged back in to the Park, carrying a suppressor ring in her glow, which she slipped over Point’s horn. Point did not react to that, still standing there, trembling, eyes staring at nothing. Wandering dropped his restraint field. “Time to tell a story that really should remain within the crew alone. He’s been running from the memory for thirty-two years.

“Everyone knows Point served in the Merchant Marine for over six years before going to university. Ever notice he never says what ship or ships he sailed on?”

Eon spoke up. “I noticed that. It seemed like he knocked around several ships as he moved up in rank, but he never says any ship names, just ports.”

“Nor has he ever mentioned the full names of anyone, referring to them by title or by a partial name. He will go into detail about jobs he had done, but never about the crews,” Crystal Twist supplied.

“There’s a reason for that. Radiance Glow is described in the song, and in films, as a brave, heroic unicorn, tying himself directly into the ship’s mana battery to get the power to teleport those who were close enough to him from the sinking ship to Vanhoover. In truth, Radiance Glow was very hard to get along with, arrogant, foul mouthed, and cruel. He was a vicious card player, as well as a brawler and fighter. What is known is that he has killed at least four ponies in brawls, with his hooves alone.

“Nobody aboard liked him, but they respected his native talent for keeping the ship running. The song describes the Gowanus Herald as a proud ship, the pride of her fleet. Actually, it was an aging rust-bucket operated by a company who was determined to squeeze every bit out of it as they could.”

“Why would Radiance ever go aboard such a ship?” ColdFire asked.

“It was the first ship out of Baltimare. He was wanted by the authorities for questioning in an assault,” Wandering said.

Doctor Zubon was looking over Point carefully. “It’s like he’s in some sort of catatonia, replaying something over and over in his memory,” she said.

“He is, Doctor. He’s replaying the scenes from the loss of the ship, from the time the ship rolled over to the time he teleported the last pony off, a pegasus deck crewpony by name of Jerdian Lighthoof.”

“Jerdian Lighthoof? She wrote the song, as well as the script for the movie!” the lead singer said from where he was listening.

“She was also the last off the ship. How does that one verse go?” came a question from the crew.

“When the last one did go, so did Radiance Glow, claimed by the magics that burned him all over. Where he did go, no one does know, because they never did find him in Vanhoover,” the lead singer recited, along with about a dozen crew members.

“Radiance Glow was not found in Vanhoover, because he showed up five days later, in Baltimare.” Starry said, looking sad.

“In Baltimare? From fifteen miles off shore of Vanhoover? That’s impossible!” Gizmo Gears exclaimed.

“He didn’t teleport all in one shot. He teleported again and again, mind fixated on only one thing – to go home. He was found shambling around his old neighborhood in Baltimare, his fur already turning grey where it was not charred, his hooves and horn changing color, mane and tail burned off, still in a state of shock. Starry and I know about this, because House Path was asked to track down the past of this mysterious unicorn found wandering around Baltimare.

“Tapping into the ship’s mana crystal did give him enough power to save the others aboard who were not already killed by then, but at a terrible cost. His already formidable mental skills were amplified to a great degree, as well as altering his personality. He also acquired a couple of phobias, namely he will never go on the ocean or even look at water for long, and a profound phobia of sleep.”

“His interview!” Skye suddenly spoke up.

“What about his interview, Skye?” Starry asked.

“He did his interview with the media right after I did, between the boost phase and the Oldbird Effect burn at our closest approach to the Dim Star. When he was asked about his eidetic memory, he did say that the talent does have its drawbacks.”

“It does, Skye,” Wandering said seriously, addressing not just her, but the crew at large. “He literally cannot forget anything at all. If he sees something, hears it, reads it, he remembers it, be it good or bad, down to the last detail he can detect. Right now, he is locked in a memory loop, remembering every event that happened when the ship went down.”

“When he was repairing the broken nutrient line yesterday, he said, ‘No, Radiance!’ quite distinctly. I remember being confused about it,” Princess Galena supplied.

“He can’t forget just how nasty Radiance Glow was, and he vowed to be the opposite of what he was, whenever possible. Radiance Glow lives on, deep inside him. The only way Glow shows himself is the compulsive cursing Point does while working alone.”

“That’s why one of the cardinal rules of dealing with Point is to never say ‘forget it’ around him,” Galen said. “It hurts him so much to be reminded that he can’t.”

“Why did you put the suppressor ring on him?” Playbitz asked.

“If we didn’t, he would try to teleport home. He would try to tap our mana source here to do it, and the power would fry him in seconds if he tapped it. Don’t worry – we have a means of bringing him out of the fugue, but I want to caution the crew not to mention this incident to him. It will only make him either very mad, or very ashamed,” Wandering informed the crowd there, ponies, griffins, zebras and changelings alike.

“I have known him since I was a colt,” Gomez said, “but I never knew this about him. He did tell fun sea stories. Watching him trying not to swear in front of us fillies and colts was very funny.”

“He only uses the mildest of his coarse language when in public. Even then, he tries not to. He’ll make up words to vent his feelings.”

“Why did he turn down the chance to study with House Path?” Skye asked. “I remember that from his interview, too.”

Commander Bluequill answered that question. “He simply does not want to fight. He can, and well. He does not want to be any better at it than he already is. He won an honor fight with a griffin twenty-five years ago, defeating the griffin Lord in under a minute, without magics. Not before sustaining grave injuries, though.”

“He said that some lessons you can never forget,” Skye said, more than a little sadly. “That’s the only time I have ever heard him use that word.”

“He will recover, Skye,” Wandering said gently. “He did not study under House Path, but it was House Path psychologists who put him back together again. Starry and I know methods to bring him back to his normal state of mind. It’s not hard, because the psychologists put some… well, call them resets, in him.”

“Can’t he ever face the truth about himself?” Cosmic Dawn asked.

“He faces it every minute of every day, Dawn. He just feels he can’t burden anyone else with it. It’s his fight, and his alone. That was the biggest stumbling block the psychologists had to work around. It’s burned into his brain.”

“He has more courage in one hair of his tail than most griffins have in their entire bodies. I’ve seen it in action,” Commander Bluequill said quietly.

“We all know of his courage and dedication to the project, the mission, and the crew,” Princess Galena said, “but, can you get him treated? I can still feel the fright and pain emanating from him.”

“I could feel him all the way up at the mess decks,” Steam Shift said.

“Starry, please escort him to Medical. You know what to do,” Wandering said.

Starry nodded. “That I do. Come on, Point – let’s go. I’ll get you home.”

At the word ‘home’, a little hope crept into Point’s eyes. Not much, but some. He followed Starry tamely, putting full trust in her, Doctor Zubon following. As the doors to the Park closed, Wandering addressed the crowd. “One thing I have to say to the entire crew. While betting on Point’s swearing is one thing, damaging the ship, however minor, cannot and will not be considered acceptable behavior. To that end, I will meet with all those identified as causing damage deliberately… but privately. I will not go so far as to name the perpetrators publicly, but penalties will include extra duties and fines, as well as a written apology to Point. He doesn’t mind the pool as it’s been pulled on him before, but trying to force him into doing something that he considers shameful is pushing matters a little too far.

“The profanity pool will continue as before, but remember, he’s in on it too.” Wandering paused to look over the crew, who were paying attention to his words. “Well, what are you standing there for? We party tonight, because many of us will be going to sleep tomorrow!”

In Medical, Starry had Point sit down. His expression had barely changed as he was guided, sight and thoughts turned inward.

“Just how will you bring him out of his fugue, Starry?” Zubon asked.

“When he was reassembled, to use a poor word, several key phrases were implanted in him to bring him out of his withdrawn state,” Starry told the doctor. “I will teach you the phrases and the intonations needed to cut through his mental fog. He will remember events as he went into the state, but he will not remember what happened while he was entranced, not even time passing.

“He will be confused for a moment, then he will feel exceptionally guilty before he recovers. Just how did you get him to escort you to the party?”

“Threatened him with not releasing him to duty unless he went. He did offer to escort me.”

Starry smiled. “He may have a severe dichotomy, but he is so pleasant to be around, you tend to overlook his bad traits.”

“He is pleasant – always polite and gallant, willing to help anyone. I take it his… alter ego… was a lot different, from what we were told.”

“Almost a complete opposite. When he recovered, he swore to never be like his prior self in any way, shape, or form. However, he did find that he had to release the bit of his prior self, to keep him under control.”

“His compulsive swearing as well as his prowess at poker,” Zubon guessed.

“Yes, or rather, how he acts playing cards. He shows no slack or no mercy while playing. But, if you beat him, he’s so pleasant about it, it makes one not mind losing. You should see him and Galen playing cribbage.”

“War across the board?”

Starry nodded. “Oh, yes. Afterwards, they shake hooves, compliment each other, and go on their separate ways.”

“Interesting. So, how do you wake him up?”

“Watch and listen carefully. The tones are just as important as the words,” Starry cautioned before looking at Point.

In severe, upset mother tones, she snapped out, “Purple Point! Radiance Glow! Behave! You’re causing a scene!”

The effects were almost immediate. Point’s eyes snapped into focus, and he shook himself so hard, his mane went every which way. He looked up at Starry, his ears turning right red. “How bad?” he asked in a small voice.

“Grade Two flashback, possibly a Grade One. You seized up in public to that tune. Why didn’t you hear it coming?”

Point’s nose almost hit the floor in shame. “I was fetching drinks for the Doctor and myself. I was trying to get through the crowd without spilling a drop. I wasn’t paying attention,” he said mournfully. “Now everyone knows my shame.”

“No,” Zubon said firmly. When Point looked at her in surprise, she went on. “Not your shame, your bravery. You saved lives when all appeared lost. What prompted you to even do such a thing?”

Point looked at Zubon, his eyes reflecting his internal pain. “He hated them all, the entire crew. Dregs of society,” he said in a dull voice. “When the storm hit, he was off duty, in the lounge. Some of the newer crew were there, more than a little frightened. When the big wave hit, and the ship started rolling over, one of the youngest of them looked at him and said, ‘What can we do, sir? I’m not ready to die yet!’ After the ship steadied, upside down, something broke inside him. Maybe it was the way that new hire looked at him with so much trust, wondering what to do, needing guidance. We grabbed the 1MC mike in the lounge and put out an all-call for all survivors to go to the power room. Help any pony who needed it, but get there quickly!

“Some crew called in from various points in the ship, saying they were on their way. Two were hurt, and we sent the two with us to get them while we went to the power room. We knew where to go in Vanhoover, but we hadn’t the power to reach it on our own.”

“Tapping into a mana battery crystal that size, that old and that damaged was a foolish thing to do, Point,” Starry said. “Not even I would do such a thing.”

“He and I could hear the ship breaking apart, the load shifting, pouring out the fill hatches unevenly. The keel was snapping. We didn’t have much time. We got to the power room. The crystal was failing, cracking, releasing power randomly. We gathered up what we could and we started sending every pony to Vanhoover. The last one to get to the power room as the noise of the keel cracking got louder, was the pegasus who asked us what to do. She asked me if we were alright. We could feel the power raging through us, burning us from the inside out. We told her, ‘No, but you will be,’ as we sent her to Vanhoover. That was the last we remember,” Point said, nearly in tears. “The next thing I knew, I was in Ponyville, at the House Path facility, knowing just how much of a patoot he was, and I had to keep him locked away inside me, vowing never to be like him.”

Point was saved from collapsing by both Starry and Zubon, supporting him on either side. “Patoots like him should never be inflicted on anyone, no matter what they be. He hated every being that was not his equal. I won’t put up with it.”

“Patoot?” Zubon asked Starry as Point started weeping.

“He will not swear in front of anyone knowingly. He makes up words to vent his feelings when swearing would not be ‘appropriate’, in his mind,” Starry replied quietly.

Point took a breath. “Always leave them wondering what in Tartarus you meant,” he gasped out between sobs.

“Is he always like this when he comes out of a fugue?”

“For a while. He will recover in an hour or so. Right now, he needs a nap. He’s made his confession, now he can rest. When he wakes, he’ll be the way you normally see him.”

“How can he get to sleep? He needs his medication to do that!” Zubon exclaimed.

“Just watch,” Starry said as he turned her full attention on Point. “Take a nap, Purple Point. You need it,” she said firmly. Point went totally limp and Starry used her magic to put him onto a medical bed.

“Just out of a fugue, he’s extremely suggestible. Also, he won’t remember this part. He must go through it fresh every time it happens. All he will know is that it happened; details won’t stick.”

“So, the eidetic memory has gaps in it?” Zubon asked, trying to make a joke out of the irony.

“I would consider these gaps a blessing. Here, he can confess his life, tell his tale, and not remember doing so. He believes he’s keeping the monster that is Radiance Glow away from ponies, where he can’t do harm. When he wakes, he will be back to his normal self. Want to wait for him to wake up?” Starry asked.

“Not a bad idea. I think he would appreciate a friend who knows his secret, but doesn’t care. He’s a good pony. He needs me, knows it, and strives to do right by me. I’ll wait for him. What should I do when he wakes?”

“Have his coffee ready. Tell him you know, and don’t care. Ask to be his friend. Take it from there. I’m heading back to the party. He should wake up before the party’s over,” Starry said before leaving.

When Starry returned to the party, everyone there stopped what they were doing to look at her. “He’s doing fine. Doctor Zubon is with him. Expect him back in an hour or so,” she told the crew, who all cheered at the news before resuming their activities.

Wandering made his way to Starry. “What recovery mode did you use?” he asked quietly.

“Mode One. He did another confession. The ‘we’ part started at the same place. It looks like it was the shock of being asked a question by Jerdian was the trigger that caused the change, but the crystal tap, well, crystallized it. We just have to make sure he stays Point side up,” Starry reported.

“It was his first relapse in over two years. He’s just too talented, too skilled, to reject. When most go into hibernation, we need somepony with his wide array of skills and talents.”

“He’ll be just fine. Doctor Zubon will need a briefing on all the pass phrases to bring him out of a shock. We should have done that earlier.”

“I know, Starry,” Wandering sighed. “You, me, Galen and now Zubon. I’ll select some more after we salt everypony down.”

“Right. Now, let’s party!”

An hour and ten minutes later, Purple Point and Zubon returned to the party to much cheering and stomping. Point made his way to the stage, hoof bumping all who offered one to him. “Okay, ponies and other assorted what-have-yous! Zubon has agreed to do a little dance for us while I play, so, give her your attention, please! I would, but I’m going to try not to make a mistake,” he said loudly, then went on in a more hushed tone, “If I do make a mistake, the next time I wake up will be two months after we reach the Far Star, without a hibernation pod!”

Zubon shot him a look as the crowd laughed, a look that promised mass mayhem with a twinkle in her eye. Point sat down, not at the drums, but the keyboard. “Wind her up, because it’s time to start the music box!” he exclaimed as he started to play.

The combination of Point’s music and Zubon’s exotic Zebrican dance enthralled the crowd, Point putting passion into his playing, this song being one he practiced, not just memorized. When the song and dance ended, the watching crew paused for all of ten seconds before a spontaneous cheer went up, one that shook the hanging plants along the roof line.

When the cheering ended and Zubon sat down, Point looked at her and smiled. “Of course, you know this was her idea,” he said a little snidely to much laughter. “I have one more song for you all. If you know the words, join in, okay?” he said before pounding out the opening chords to ‘Balls of Fire’.

Wandering, Starry and Galen stood in the back of the park while the crew either cheered or joined in the song. “Looks like Purple Point is back,” Galen said.

“That he is,” Wandering said. “I just wonder what his bank account will look like before we arrive.”

“Better than ours, more than likely,” Starry said.

“Next time he relapses, can we try to edit his card playing?” Galen asked with a small groan, not looking forward to the next cribbage game with his assistant.

Wandering sighed. He expected to lose more than a few bits to Point, whose card playing was legendary or nightmarish, depending on who you asked. “I wish I could,” he said mournfully.

Author's Note

NOTE: This episode was 98% written by Alden MacManx. I mostly only proofread and edited it. Memories was first published in his story: Purple Point: His Life in Space. If you enjoyed it, please go there and give him a fave!

Relativity

“I fold.”

Wandering dropped his cards out of his magic onto the table and leaned back to watch the final two players. Poker was not his favorite game, but he had been asked to join in, and he wanted to establish an easy-going relationship with the crew when he was off-duty. Now that the excitement of acceleration to near the speed of light had been accomplished, a large proportion of the crew had been placed in hibernation pods to await their scheduled tour of duty, freeing up an enormous amount of space on the starship. The constant discomfort and pressure of being practically shoulder to shoulder with other crew members had at last been alleviated, and the remaining crew had sought out ways to relax. Unsurprisingly, card games were common, and Wandering had a policy in place long before leaving Equus.

Betting was permitted, but no crew member was allowed to lose more than ten percent of their total wages. If the person was permitted to play on past that point in the hopes of winning some of his money back but still lost, Wandering had no sympathy for the winner who gained nothing further. Favors were allowed in lieu of money, but were likewise limited. The captain of the Cosmic Lotus needed every crew member concentrating on their assigned jobs or resting and recreating rather than being constantly beholden to someone. He was very glad that he had put that policy into place. Mere days into the voyage, one particular pony was already making serious dents in the crew’s earnings.

Apparently Purple Point had learned more than how to curse on his many voyages. A large proportion of the poker chips were stacked up in front of him, and if Wandering guessed right, he would soon have them all.

“Call!” ColdFire snapped, pushing the remainder of her chips forward.

Purple Point smiled and laid his cards on the table: straight – queen high.

The mare groaned and thumped her head on the table as the stallion raked in the chips.

“Thank you for contributing to the Purple Point Retirement Fund,” the winning pony said with a smug smile. “Another round, anyone?”

ColdFire’s head snapped up and she gave him a snarl, showing her small fangs.

“That would be a no, I guess. How about you, Captain?”

Wandering got up and shook his head. “I’m out. I know when I’m outclassed.”

Purple Point looked at the last of the four. “What about you, Ortzi?”

“If Captain not say you not cheating with magic, we be fighting duel right now,” the griffon griped.

“Oh well, plenty of others willing to give me their money, I’m sure,” PP replied cheerfully as he swept his chips into a sack.

Wandering chuckled and left the griffon to sulk. Ortzi was anything but a fighter and would cheer up quickly enough. No – things were pretty peaceful aboard the ship right now, and he hoped to keep it that way. He did have one more stop to make before retiring for the evening though.

The linear ‘Park’ was coming along very nicely. A lighting arrangement designed to accurately reproduce sunlight was already fully in place. Prefabricated tubs, troughs, and hanging pots had been installed, followed quickly by watering systems. A mixture of hydroponic and artificial soil garden beds had been created, and seeds and young shrubs were in the process of being planted. Even some dwarf trees had been included in the choice of greenery, although they were still in the sapling stage. They had been carefully stored in a stasis field to protect them from the ravages of rocket acceleration and days spent in a hostile environment without sunlight before they were ready to be planted. A lot had been accomplished in just a few days, but there was still more to be done, and of course the newly planted greenery had to be tended.

The first person whom Wandering laid eyes upon was their biologist and Head Gardener, Emerald Green. The unusually patterned green and black mare was watering a pot of flowers that were ready for transplanting into one of the new beds. That they had been seeds only a few days previously was testimony to her very strong plant-growing talent. While all earth ponies had ties to soil, this manifested in different ways and various strengths, but hers was exceptional, and had won her a place on the crew. She noticed the alicorn enter the room, smiled in acknowledgement, and finished watering the row of plants. She nodded in satisfaction, headed up the pathway, bade him goodnight and left the Park.

Further down the length of the former fuel tank and now rapidly growing greenhouse, Skye Path was tending her new herb garden. The zebra mare was engrossed in her work though, and failed to notice her foster father. Wandering smiled at seeing her, but did not disturb the mare. Instead he walked over to the small patch of real grass that had been planted simply as a pleasant place to lie down and relax in the sweet-smelling and tranquil atmosphere. He trod carefully as the grass had yet to fully establish, but his alicorn-based earth senses told him that it had taken no harm. He settled down, closed his eyes and breathed deeply of the oxygen-rich and scent-laden air, clearing his mind. The changeling network chatter was down to a minimum and nothing required his attention. He opened up his eyes again to watch Skye at work.

“You’re quite proud of her, aren’t you?” came a familiar voice.

Wandering looked up to see Starry standing there, her eyes also on the zebra. “She’s my daughter, so of course I am proud of her achievements. I was surprised when she told me that she wanted to travel with me to the Far Star, but I encouraged her to try out. Nobody was prouder than me when she was chosen for the crew.”

Starry chuckled. “She may be adopted into the family, but she’s a true Path.

“Uh-huh.” Wandering looked up at Starry. “Why are you here, Sis? Isn’t this your sleep period?”

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Why not? Is there something stressing you excessively? You’re not still going nuts over the time-space distortion problem, are you?”

Starry snorted. “Nope. I don’t think that one is going to be solved overnight, and if it is, I’m betting Cosmic Dawn is the one to crack the mystery.”

“Well, she is the thaumophysicist in the crew, so she does have an advantage over you there.”

“Exactly, which is why I made that problem her priority.”

“Her father, Forest Breeze, is an Avatar of Honesty, and the Seer of Truth. If anyone can find the truth behind this phenomenon, it’s his daughter. Anyway, if that’s not what’s keeping you awake, what is?”

“Cosmic irony,” Starry replied with a smirk.

“You’ve lost me.”

“What’s one thing about alicorn mares that is different from other mares?”

Wandering thought for a moment before replying. “Because of alicorn immortality, the estrus cycle is drastically slowed.”

“Correct! We can go decades before going into season – centuries when you’re Mom’s age. So what happens mere days into this voyage?”

“You’ve gone into heat.”

“And I’m horny as Tartarus!”

Wandering chuckled sympathetically. “I know what that’s like.”

Starry stared at her herd-brother in disbelief. “Okay, I know you got your Dad’s shape-changing ability, even if it’s a closely-guarded family secret, and I know you’ve taken female forms on occasion, but you can’t tell me that you’ve stayed a mare long enough to go into heat so that you know what the hell you’re talking about!”

He gave her a lopsided smile. “You’d be wrong.”

Blinking in stunned disbelief, it took a moment before Starry gathered her wits and respond. “Okay, granting for the moment that you’re not just pulling a fast one on me, why haven’t you told me about this before? We used to do everything together as foals, and never kept secrets from each other.”

“But we grew apart – you with your astrophysics, me with my exploration of other cultures. Sure, we always spent as much time as possible together despite that, but we never had that same unity of purpose since we became adults.”

“You had the knowledge and ability to join my field of work,” Starry pointed out.

“And you could have joined me on my expeditions to new lands,” Wandering rebutted. “This is an old argument of ours, and we can’t change the past.”

“No, but we can make the future. We’re together again, at long last, both of us doing what we love best.”

“Why do you think I joined the project? Sure, it was tempting already; exploration is one of my great loves, although the chances of meeting another culture are slim. But to do it alongside of you? That opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”

“You stole my captaincy though!” Starry pouted.

“Nope. Bluequill would have trounced you in that department. I honestly would not have minded losing out to him either – he’s an excellent commander.”

“Yeah, I know. Anyway, I sense someone avoiding my question – why haven’t you told me about being a mare in heat?”

Wandering sighed and his ears lowered dejectedly. “Because the circumstances still sadden me to this day.”

Starry immediately noticed his change in attitude, and the sadness that exuded from him. She leaned up against Wandering, rubbing her cheek against his. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

He gave her a crooked smile. “No, but I think it’s time I did. We’re together again, and will be for at least a decade. I don’t want there to be anything bad between us now. Team Wandering Star is back!”

Starry smiled, recalling their teenage rally cry. It made her feel good to know he remembered. “Then you know I won’t tell anyone else.”

“I do indeed. This all started on my last expedition before bringing Skye home. This was a visit to Zebrica to study the independent tribes. While a large majority of the zebra tribes joined the Equian Alliance, some refused to do so. For some, it was stubborn independence, and others simply hated outsiders. There were other reasons though, and finding such things out was my specialty.”

“Nobody outside the family ever figured out the secret of your success,” Starry said. “But when you can become one of those people that you study, it makes a difference.”

“Exactly. As you already know, my standard approach was to find out as much as I could about them first and learn their language thoroughly. With Papa Path’s help and some language learning spells that he and Grandma Ivory Tower developed, I could blend in with the locals very well.”

“With the help of your shape-changing ability, of course. But why a zebra mare?”

“Many of those tribes won’t accept outsiders at all, with one exception – they occasionally exchange mares to keep the bloodlines fresh. That was my only way into this particular tribe, so I did my homework, acquired a few props, gave myself a new name, and took my chances.”

“Ooh! What did you call yourself?”

“Mwasikwao.”

“Say what?”

“Mwasikwao. It means Wanderer in their dialect.”

“Ha! Smart-ass is more like it. I thought it would be one of those names beginning with Z.”

“While those are common, they’re far from universal.”

“Fair enough. What kind of props did you need?”

“Things that a migrating mare might take – household goods, personal items, clothing, and a dowry.”

“A dowry?!”

“Yep. Payable to the village chief. Supposedly to compensate the tribe for your upkeep until you fit in somewhere, but still basically a bribe.”

“Doesn’t a dowry imply marriage though?”

“What do you think fresh blood implies?” Wandering asked with a questioning lift of his eyebrow.

“Right. Silly me. So was a husband chosen for you?”

Wandering snorted. “Heavens, no! I would not have gone there if I was compelled to marry a stallion upon arrival.”

“So what did happen?”

“I was considered fair game for all the unmated stallions in the village, and there were more than a few. It seemed that I had arrived at a time when eligible mares were scarce. I did not lack for attention, nor for food and shelter. With so many to choose from, no one was surprised that I took my time choosing among them. I planned to study the culture and then get out of there long before it became an issue.”

“And before you came on heat. So what happened?”

“I fell in love.”

Starry’s eyes widened and jaw dropped. “You what?!”

“His name was Kamari, which means Moonlight. He was clever, witty, and thoughtful. He reminded me a lot of you, in fact. Where the other stallions frequently tried to show their prowess in their chosen vocations in an attempt to impress me, Kamari would go out of his way to do things for me that really meant something. He even helped me with my studies of the tribe’s culture, although he did not realize it at the time. One evening after our meal, we sat together watching the moon rise. I leaned up against him, he nuzzled me, and then he asked me to marry him. Without hesitation, I said yes.”

Starry’s gaping had only grown wider. “But… but… you’re a stallion! I know you like mares. Are you telling me that you like stallions too, like Des?”

Wandering shook his head. “I am completely heterosexual. However, while that means I’m sexually attracted to the opposite sex, it is also dependent on what sex I am at the time. I was a mare then, so I found Kamari really desirable.”

“But that’s not how changeling shape-shifting works! Sure, they have their gender biases, but if a masculine drone takes a female form for some reason, that drone still has their original preferences.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Sis, I’m not a changeling. I’m an alicorn who has inherited his sire’s shape-changing ability, but manifested at alicorn level. When I change into another creature, I don’t just look like them, I become one of them. I am instantly comfortable with any form that I take, including bipeds like minotaurs. The transformation is total, and that includes my sexuality. So when I transformed into a female zebra, I really was one completely, and Kamari was the handsomest and most desirable stallion a zebra mare like myself at the time could want.”

Starry stared for a long moment. “Oh, wow. I never realized it went that deep. So that’s how you stayed long enough to go into heat. But why didn’t you come back with your husband?”

Wandering’s ears drooped, and he looked away from Starry. “Because he died.”

“Oh, no! What happened?”

Wandering took a deep breath before turning back to Starry. “First let me go back to when I was on heat. Kamari and I had plenty of adult happy-fun times, but sex was absolutely awesome at that moment.”

Starry smirked. “Yeah, I know how that goes.”

“Anyway, it was not only amazing, but also productive. I found out later that I was pregnant.”

“How did you feel about that?”

“At first I was uncertain. This was the one thing I had never prepared for. However, Kamari was ecstatic, and his mood was contagious. Soon I was looking forward to having a foal almost as much as he was. That’s how things were for several months. We worked and played and made love and we were very, very happy. Then the day came when I went into labor – honestly the one thing that I did not enjoy about being a mare. Nevertheless, it was a good delivery, and I gave birth to a healthy female foal – a foal with a particularly distinctive difference.”

Starry’s eyes widened and her head snapped around to stare at Skye who was still engrossed in her work. “You mean…?”

“She had blue stripes. Yes, Skye is my natural daughter, not adopted.” Wandering’s voice had changed, and when Starry turned back to face him, it was to see a zebra mare instead.

“She was still a young foal when you brought her home. What happened?” Starry asked gently.

Mwasikwao replied in a lilting accent, “There’s a reason why many tribes stay segregated from the majority, and that is superstition. There are many tales that circulate among the tribes, and most of them see anything out of the ordinary as an omen of evil or impending disaster. You can only imagine what happened when our tribe found out about Skye’s coloration. At first all they did was demand that the foal be offered to the gods to appease them. I refused, as did Kamari. Not for a moment did he hesitate to love our child for what she was. That wasn’t enough for the elders though, and the demands became threats. Then our hut was raided. Kamari tried to fight them off while I protected Skye. They…” A sob broke her voice. “They killed my husband.”

“But why would they do that?”

“He sired an abomination of course. If he was willing to defend it, then he was equally tainted, or such is the way they thought. Then they came for me and Skye.”

“If they were willing to kill Kamari, how did you both escape unharmed?”

“I didn’t; Wandering Path did. I transformed to alicorn form for the first time in over a year and struck them down. I killed them all without a moment’s hesitation. They had taken the love of my life – I took their very lives in return!”

The tears were flowing freely down the zebra’s cheeks by then, her face contorted with hate and rage.

“I took Skye and teleported out of the village and changed back to my zebra self so that I could look after my foal. There was nothing left for me back at the village, especially after that slaughter, so I returned home as fast as I could. I explained everything to Moms and Dads, and they helped me raise Skye while preserving the secret of her birth.”

“Was keeping your ability to shape-shift that important that you raised her thinking she was an orphan?” Starry asked with a hint of accusation in her voice.

“Yes, it was, but not for the reasons that you may be thinking. Although Zebrica is allied with us now, it has always been a fragile relationship. The independent tribes show just how tenuous their nation is as a union, and if they found out that an alicorn had been poking around disguised as one of them – well, the fallout could be considerable.”

“Surely it isn’t that bad? I’m acquainted with several zebras, and they have always seemed reasonable.”

Mwasikwao gave her a sad smile. “You are not a zebra – you cannot know… cannot think like us.”

That stunned Starry. Her herd brother truly was another person when transformed. “Do you even feel the same way about me and the family when you are a zebra?”

“Oh, Starry, I am still your sibling, and I love you and the family as much as ever. That does not change. My memories do not change either – only their interpretation matches my form. Again I emphasize that I become, not imitate.”

“I’m beginning to believe it. Does Skye know the truth?”

Instead of answering, the zebra mare raised her voice. “Zawati!”

Skye’s head jerked up and she looked around. Her eyes widened as delight lit up her face. She scrambled to her hooves and started trotting towards her mother before she noticed Starry there.

“It’s okay, my child, I have told Starry about our past,” Mwasikwao reassured her.

The blue-striped mare’s smile returned, and she lowered herself to nuzzle Mwasikwao. “It’s so good to see you again, Mom. I’ve missed you.”

“And I missed you too. But now that the ship is on its way, your step-father will be able to spare more time to allow me to be with you.”

Skye hugged her mother. “Dad’s nice, but I’m glad you’re here.”

Starry looked nonplussed. “You talk as if Wandering and Mwasikwao are two totally different people.”

“Of course they are,” Skye replied.

Mwasikwao added, “Just as my personality changes with my form, so does my relationship with my daughter. Wandering is a stallion who took on the role of father after the death of Skye’s sire, but he isn’t my husband.”

“That would be quite a trick,” Starry admitted. “One thing that does change though is that Skye is not just adopted into the Path family – she is a Path.”

Skye giggled. “With these stripes, was there ever any doubt, Auntie Star?”

“I suppose not. By the way, when your mother called to you, what was the meaning of that?”

“Zawati? It’s my tribal name. It means ‘Gift’.”

Mwasikwao said, “That was what Kamari and I were going to name her, but we never had the official naming ceremony. Instead it has become our private name for her, and a term of endearment.”

“That’s beautiful! And it’s a name beginning with Z,” Starry pointed out.

Mwasikwao shrugged. “Like you already know, Z-names are common. We chose it for its meaning, not its spelling.” Her ears pricked up. “My drones tell me that we’re about to get some company. I have to go, Zawati.”

“When can we spend some time together, mother?”

“I will arrange something very soon, dear. I want this as much as you do.” She leaned forward to give her daughter a kiss on the cheek. “I love you, my beautiful Gift.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

Skye got up and both she and Starry watched as the older zebra flared softly with magic fire and became an alicorn once more.

“Goodnight, Dad,” Skye said. “Love you too,” she added with a smile.

“Goodnight, Skye,” Wandering replied with a matching smile.

Skye trotted off, passing Epic Prose as the pegasus entered the Park and spread his wings to take flight and exercise his wings.

“Well, that has got to go down as the weirdest family reunion in history,” Starry said as soon as the pegasus was out of earshot.

Wandering chuckled. “Well, you did ask how I could possibly know what being on heat felt like.”

“Yeah, you got me there, bro.”

“So why don’t you do something about it? If solo efforts aren’t enough for you, there are more than enough stallions left to help you out with that even with a major portion of the crew in hibernation now. A couple of griffon cocks too, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Maybe they would, but none of them appeal to me. The only one that does interest me might not be amenable to the idea.”

“Why? Is he gay?”

Starry snorted in amusement. “He’s complicated.”

“An interesting description. Still, could it hurt to ask?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure how he’ll feel about it.”

Wandering rolled his eyes. “If he’s a heterosexual stallion, I can’t see him being offended to be asked to help quench your fire. Ask him, for buck’s sake!”

“Okay, I’ll do that. Wandering, will you come have some adult happy fun-times with me?”

Wandering’s eyes looked like a deer’s in a spotlight. “What?! Me?! But I’m your brother!”

“We’re herd siblings – different mothers and sires.”

“But we grew up as brother and sister!”

“We grew up doing everything together. Then when I was a teenager and I started noticing males, guess who I thought about most, especially the first time I went into heat?”

“Me? I… wow… I never thought… it was the same for you.”

Starry cocked her head and swiveled her ears towards Wandering. “Wait! What was that?”

Wandering felt himself blushing, and as always he was grateful for his red pelt that hid it. “Well… when randy colts first discover the joys of masturbation, they like to let loose their imagination and picture sexy mares, and the sexiest mare that I knew was…” He lifted one eyebrow as he glanced at Starry.

“Me,” Starry finished the sentence.

“We’re not teenagers anymore,” Wandering pointed out.

Starry nodded. “No – we’re responsible adult alicorns nearly a century old. We know better now.”

“Yes, we do. So we can make responsible and thoughtful decisions.”

“And what’s yours?” Starry asked coyly.

“I’ve decided that I want to know if you will live up to my teenage fantasies.”

Starry laughed. “Brother, you have no idea how much I’m going to make them pale in comparison!”

She surged to her hooves, and Wandering quickly did so too. They made their way out of the Park towards the crew quarters.

When they reached the final corridor, Wandering asked, “Your place or mine?”

“Mine,” Starry replied, stepping up to her door and touching the ident-plate. The magitek lock recognized her and the door opened. As she entered, she said, “I have contraceptives in my room.”

“Good idea. Don’t want to be accidentally getting you pregnant just to cool your heat.”

“Yeah, a starship is no place to raise a foal.”

“Of course not. Wait! Are you saying–”

Wandering was cut off as Starry turned and passionately kissed him. After the surprise wore off, he began to return the kiss in kind. They took their time and explored each other’s reactions and feelings before Starry pulled away. She tugged him towards the bed.

“We can talk about that subject later.”

Wandering briefly wondered which of them had stunned the other more thoroughly that evening before he turned his attention to more lustful thoughts.

Author's Note

As Airy Words quipped, I've moved on from physics to physiques! Thanks go to him for pre-reading this chapter.

While the relativity in this chapter wasn't the physics kind, there will be more of it for a while. Anyone that you'd like to see shipped? The other kind won't be instantly solved by the next chapter, so there's plenty to do in the meantime!

Emerald Green is the OC of Tobi3b and the picture was contributed by him. Many thanks!

Art as usual by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf.

Power Problems

Wandering Path woke up feeling relaxed and more content than he had for quite a long time. A lot of the reason for that mood currently had her head pillowed on his chest and a foreleg wrapped around him possessively. And although she seemed to be fast asleep still, her face held a soft smile that mirrored his feelings. His horn lit up and his magic pushed stray strands of her mane out of her face as he gazed at her lovingly.

Last night had changed their relationship forever, although he found it hard to define. They were far more than siblings, but not quite romantic lovers. Best friends with benefits was about as close as he could call it. Whatever it could be classed as, he was sure that neither of them wished to go back to the way things had been previously. In spite of being very happily married when he had been a zebra mare, there had always been a disquieting truth behind the relationship – Kamari would have died of old age eventually, but Mwasikwao would not. Or more accurately, the alicorn that he really was would live on to mourn his lost love, irrespective of how long Kamari would have lived. The Alicorn’s Curse was not one that was easily dealt with, and each member of that exclusive group had to find ways to cope. Wandering decided that he and Starry might have finally found theirs, and they had the next ten years together to decide if they wanted to make it a lifelong commitment.

It was not about the sex, although that was a wonderful bonus. They had both proved last night that teenage fantasies did not come close to the marvelous reality of two well-matched lovers. Their closeness as youths had never been given an opportunity to blossom into something more due to their perception as siblings, but their more mature outlook enabled them to look past that artificial limitation and discover more about each other. He looked forward to enjoying furthering those discoveries.

Wandering hoped that he had the discipline to not let their change of status affect the way he commanded the Cosmic Lotus. Even with the unexpected boon due to the unexpected time dilation effect, they still had at least a decade to spend confined to the starship, and as much as possible, the crew had been chosen to be able to get along reasonably harmoniously with each other. Favoring Starry would not be of benefit to the mission, so they had to be a little more circumspect in the future.

As it happened, he had duties to perform, but he was pretty much trapped by Starry. He discovered that his right wing was numb as a consequence of the mare sleeping on top of it. He was going to have one heck of a case of pins and needles when the circulation was properly restored! He was spared having to wake Starry though, and he put off that experience for a while by exercising his other inborn talent – his link to the changeling network. Closing his eyes, he visualized his hub. Just as non-changeling visitors to the Chrome Hive network would enter a virtual room to be guided safely by changeling attendants, Wandering had created a virtual control center to efficiently manage operations throughout the ship. His inner eyes opened to a small circular room lined with video screens. There were no doors or windows as they were unnecessary. The room had but one piece of furniture – a swivel chair upon which he sat and could turn to observe what was happening on the dozens of screens. Each of them showed what one of the changeling crew was seeing, and a status monitor under each screen showed other relevant data. It was all just a way of interpreting the constant flow of information that came his way, for despite his ability to link and be a hub for a changeling hive mind, in the end, he was not a changeling, and did not perceive things as they did. This was a very useful workaround however.

Wandering checked out the bridge first. Although it was unlikely that there would be a need for actual maneuvering for a very long time, the bridge also served to monitor all the ship’s functions, and although it always had a minimum of two crew members there, a changeling was always one of them, enabling the alicorn to check its status at any time. Right now though, the most exciting thing happening was a game of chess between the chrome changeling and Gizmo Gears. Although the crew had to be present in case a problem came up, they did not have to constantly watch the monitoring equipment. Audible alarms would alert them, and in the meantime they found ways of staving off boredom. Wandering smirked a little when he realized that a few of the other changelings were observing the game too, and he wondered if the unicorn knew that he might be up against more than one mind in this contest.

Moving on, Wandering checked out the other screens. Several showed the Mess Room, and breakfast had begun to be served. Waffles were on the menu this morning, and were those eggs? Yes! The chickens that had been brought out of stasis had started laying, and apparently there were enough to serve everyone who might want some. He was sure that Kale Robe would have reserved some for his baking already. That resource was limited, so Wandering made a point to get one or two while they were available.

As there were three changelings on Kale’s crew, he decided to check out the galley. As expected, the cook and his helpers were all quite busy, but he spotted the large bowl of eggs waiting to be cooked. It looked like he had a reasonable amount of time to claim one or two to break his fast.

What was next? He peered at the next screen before hastily averting his eyes. Whoops! That particular changeling was getting his fill of love emotion in the best possible way, and it was none of the alicorn’s business, but what he had seen could not be unseen. Although she was one amazing flirt, he had not realized ColdFire’s inclinations went that far!

He continued to check on the status of other parts of the ship through changeling eyes, and found everything to be nominal and nothing in need of his personal attention. He became aware of a physical sensation outside of his virtual environment, and he banished the room to the back of his mind and opened his eyes once more. He found himself peering directly into Starry’s green orbs.

“Good morning, Wandering. How are you feeling?” Starry asked with a knowing smile.

“Like my whole world got a lot better, Starry, and I suspect yours did too.”

“Mmm, uh-huh. It was worth the wait.”

“I agree. I think we’ll be spending a lot more nights together.”

“You better believe it! After all these years, I’m not letting this go.”

Wandering chuckled. “I won’t argue with that. Are you feeling hungry? Breakfast is being served.”

Starry giggled. “Oh, I’m hungry alright, but not for that.” She licked her lips as she gave him a smoldering look.

“Really? More sex?”

“You tell me, O former zebra mare – did your heat last just one evening?”

“Um, no, of course not.”

“So what’s on the menu?”

Wandering smirked. “Right now, I suspect you are.”

“Got that right, lover!” Starry then began to show Wandering just how hungry she was for him.

Wandering briefly hoped he would not miss out on the eggs before all such thoughts were firmly pushed aside.

Unsurprisingly, Wandering had quite an appetite by the time that they managed to get to the mess room. Whether by luck or the grace of the chef, he got the eggs that he craved – poached upon a steaming-hot waffle and covered in a creamy hollandaise sauce. He was halfway through the delicious meal when he saw ColdFire walk in for her breakfast. Considering what she had been up to earlier, he was impressed that he still had beaten her to the mess hall. Half a minute later, Xanth discreetly arrived also. Wandering let him get his food – just a biscuit with jam and a mug of coffee – before gesturing to the changeling to join him at the table. Through his network link, the alicorn could sense Xanth’s highly energized condition, with a hint of curiosity and concern as to what his captain wanted.

Wandering was hardly surprised at the chrome changeling’s sprightly vigor, considering the real meal that Xanth had gotten earlier. He kind of envied the changeling’s ability to charge up on that type of energy. Still, there were some things that he did not want to share. “Sit down, Xanth,” he said, indicating the chair next to him.

“Is there any problem, sir?” Xanth asked as he put his plate and mug down on the table and sat in the chair.

“Not exactly. You like ColdFire a lot, I take it?”

Xanth was startled for a moment before he gave Wandering a guilty look. “Umm, yeah.”

“Oh, stop looking so concerned!” Wandering said with a cheerful grin. “She seemed to enjoy the company, and that’s all that matters.”

“Oh… you saw…?”

“Yes, I did. Please do me a favor and hang a virtual ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign out when you two are in private. I’m no changeling queen where this kind of thing is normal. What you and she do in private is none of my business, and I prefer to keep it that way.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Considering the way that you two came in separately, I guess you’re keeping your relationship quiet for now too. Since I hadn’t noticed until now, I presume that it’s a recent thing?”

“Not exactly. We started doing things together while still in training. But now that we’re underway, ColdFire does not have as many outlets for her energy, while I am more than happy to provide some, so our relationship has grown a lot recently. She’s still a little uncertain how far she wants to take things, but what she does, she does with her usual wholehearted enthusiasm. I find myself hoping to further the relationship.”

“I’d say that most if not all the changelings aboard this ship are hoping to find compatible partners too, so you’re hardly unique there. Anyway, I don’t want to know their private lives either, so pass the word, and good luck to you both.”

“Yes, sir, and thanks.”

Wandering could have sent that advice over the network, but he felt a bit odd advising the changelings about their sex lives. A more discreet conventional mode was quite adequate. Besides, he really did not want any echoes of his own new relationship to leak out as yet. He and Starry needed a bit of time to find their new dynamic, but at least it promised to be interesting.

Wandering set off on his daily inspection of the ship. Although he visited all sections, he tended to spend extra time in one of them, a different one each day, looking for even trivial problems, relying on the section heads to do their jobs properly for the most part. Today though, it was one of those heads of department who was the potential cause for concern.

The alicorn made his way into the hibernation bay, nodding to the Violet Changelings on duty there. He walked down the rows of pods, each containing a crewmember suspended in the magical gel that kept them in ageless and dreamless stasis indefinitely. They all looked peacefully asleep, and Wandering was reassured that the people for whom he was responsible were in good hooves. While all the hives had their version of the pods, the Violet Hive had the most advanced ones and were the unanimous choice for the extended mission. They were fortunate to get the services of one of the hive’s princesses too, but that had brought with it an unfortunate consequence. Today he hoped to clear that up once and for all.

When Wandering returned to the monitoring station, Princess Galena was waiting there, and although her outer expression was serene, there was an undercurrent of hostility that he could sense through the mini-network.

“Anything wrong, Captain?” Galena inquired.

“Not with the hibernation pods anyway,” Wandering replied.

“Then there is something you wish to discuss?”

“I do. Can we talk about it in private?”

Galena nodded and headed to the door to her office, and the alicorn followed. The changeling sat behind her desk which was partially covered with equipment that monitored everything in her section. Wandering settled down on a mat in front of the desk.

“So – what can I do for you, Captain?”

“What is your problem with me?” Wandering asked bluntly.

“Sir?” Galena replied with a faint look of puzzlement on her face.

Wandering sighed. “Look, I’m not going to dance around this subject, and you know exactly what I mean. You have been cool towards me ever since the final crew selection was made. My family has never had anything but cordial relationships with the Violet Hive and Queen Lamina, so what about me is tweaking your chitin?”

Galena stared silently at Wandering for such a long time that he thought that she was not going to reply, but eventually she said, “You are not a changeling.”

“That is blatantly obvious, but how is that a problem?”

“A hive network should be controlled by a changeling, not a pony.”

“There is nothing sacrosanct about that. My sire is a changeling, and my twisted horn is confirmation of my heritage. That should be good enough for you.”

“You still cannot control a network like I could.”

“Is that what this is all about? You feel that I don’t deserve to be the controller of the Cosmic Lotus network?” He wondered a little how he had never been able to sense that over the link, putting it down to the young queen’s superior abilities.

“I am perfectly capable of managing this network without you.”

“That is not the point, Princess. This is not a hive, and the requirements are different. Besides, you already know why I was chosen to be the command hub. I’m a neutral party for all the hives involved. We needed the talents of all the changelings that succeeded in being selected for the crew, not just the Violets.”

“Yes, we do, and if you weren’t on the crew, then they would have been forced to choose me as the controller. Necessity would have forced the non-Violet Changelings to accept me.”

“Perhaps you’re right, but that would have been an uneasy alliance at best. While I personally feel that there are no logical grounds preventing one hive from linking networks with another, there is a deeply ingrained aversion to doing so. Perhaps sometime in the future, that might change, but right now we need a harmonious network of all changelings, and I was the solution. You cannot deny that it has worked, and I have had no problems with any of those linked to me except you. That makes this a personality problem, not a practical one. So – how are we going to deal with this?”

“You can work on your aversion problem and transition the control to me. I acknowledge that it can’t happen immediately, but we could complete the transfer in much less than ten years. And I could work with the other changelings much more efficiently than you ever could.”

Wandering sighed. “Is it the power you want? You’re already a princess of your hive…”

“The youngest princess! I will never be the queen of my hive!”

“…and you’re already the fallback controller if anything happens to me.”

Galena rolled her eyes. “As if that is likely to happen.”

“I rather hope not. But there’s one other factor that makes your proposal problematic – it would reduce my effectiveness at monitoring everything on the ship. I need to be the hub to work with the changeling crewmembers.”

A touch of uncertainty crossed Galena’s face for the first time. “I’m sure that there is a way that we can work around that.”

Wandering smirked. “You know what – the best minds on Equis had not found a way before we left, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t one. So I’m giving you permission to try.”

Galena looked surprised, and the alicorn felt a let-up of the previously unrelenting undercurrent of hostility. “Are you serious?”

“I am. But… unless and until you have a one hundred percent solution, I expect your complete willing and respectful cooperation. I need a team leader that I can utterly depend upon, one who won’t be trying to undermine my authority. Also, I will not unilaterally impose a change in the leadership of the changeling network upon those within it. You also need to gain the trust and respect of all changelings on board.”

Wandering saw the changeling princess bristle slightly. “That's not how changeling hierarchy works. Drones follow the instructions of their leader.”

He chuckled. “This a ship, not a hive, and we have a unique situation here. You are going to have to be adaptable if you want to achieve your goal. They will need to have confidence in you before you can become their leader. If it helps, try thinking of the changelings outside your hive as ponies as you get to know them. And Princess, there’s one other incentive to bear in mind. Irrespective of whether you succeed in finding a solution on this journey, your experience will be unmatched by any other changeling. The exploration of our universe has only just begun, and the Cosmic Lotus will hardly be the last starship to seek out its mysteries, and those new ships are going to need a queen in charge of its changelings. It might take more than ten years, but I can virtually guarantee that one day you will be the network controller for your own ship. So don’t blow this assignment with impatience or overreaching ambition.”

Galena looked deeply thoughtful for a long moment before she nodded. “We have a deal, Captain.”

This time Wandering felt neither the hostility nor reluctance that the changeling had started the meeting with. It seemed that he had convinced her, and that was a load off his mind. “Excellent! I look forward to a long and harmonious relationship with you, Princess Galena.” He got up to his hooves, a satisfied smile on his face. “Carry on, Section Leader.”

“Aye, Captain,” Galena replied with a faint smile.

Wandering Path left the hibernation bay with a great deal of satisfaction. Averting a possible power tussle was satisfying, but it also did much to reassure himself that he was capable of leading this crew to its goal. While he might be a powerful alicorn, it was words that would be his most potent tool for this task. Even a mere ten years instead of forty-two was a long time to spend with hostile crewmembers, and he had to vindicate the faith that had been put in him as the commanding officer of this ship. He had to keep his eyes and ears open for any sign of friction, and losing the changeling network would have been a major blow. While he wished Galena well, he was glad that it was unlikely that she would solve the problem presented to her. And if she did – well, that was something he would just have to deal with if it happened. Nobody said that this was going to be an easy job, and that was a good thing. Otherwise it would be boring, and where was the fun in that?

Author's Note

Nothing to see here. Move along!

Applied Maintenance

Wandering’s sides hurt from laughing. Thankfully, Willow was winding up his comedy act with a series of one-liners and the alicorn would soon be reprieved from the orange changeling’s unrelenting onslaught.

“My stallion friend says that he can see through any mare – he sure is missing a plot!”

“He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you… he really is an idiot!”

“He wrote a book once. From the moment I picked it up until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it!”

“I find the GemVee very educational – the moment somepony turns it on, I go to the library to read a book!”

“I like to have a drink while I’m reading, but it only takes one to get me loaded. Trouble is, I can’t remember if it’s the thirteenth or the fourteenth one!”

“Goodnight, everyone! I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening… but this wasn’t it!”

Willow made his way off the stage to an enormous amount of cheering, hoof-stomping, and various other methods of applause from the audience which consisted of almost every waking crewmember. Even after several months of travel, the ship’s Entertainment Officer kept coming up with fresh material for his acts, whether they were comedy, drama, musical, or anything else that would amuse or inspire the crew. He was an extremely versatile changeling, and that was going to be of ever greater importance as the journey continued. There was no way that anyone could take a vacation, and keeping everyone from getting cabin fever was crucial.

Of course, Willow’s stage shows were hardly the only means of doing this. He had a hoof in just about every form of entertainment ranging from hosting games to sourcing fresh shows from Equus via the data link. Even with the information flow slowed down considerably by the time dilation, enough new GemVee recordings were procured to fill the average crewperson’s free hours. The orange ’ling was possibly the hardest working member of the staff, but of course he also got a lot more than job satisfaction out of it.

Wandering sent a brief thought over the changeling network, and Willow’s head turned to find the alicorn. Spotting him, the changeling made his way over.

“Did you want me for something, Captain?”

“I just wanted to congratulate you personally on a great show. You must be feeling pretty pleased, not to mention bloated.”

Willow patted his stomach. “Yeah, I almost overdid it there. I’m going to my cabin and sleep off this feast.”

“You’ve certainly earned a break. When do you have time to socialize?”

Willow chuckled. “After all this time, you haven’t noticed that I don’t have time to socialize?”

“You’re certainly bucking the trend as far as your fellow changelings are concerned.”

The changeling shrugged. “What can I say – they get their emotion food one way, I get it another way.”

“But what about a personal relationship – don’t you miss that?”

Willow shrugged. “I have friends; I’ve never felt the urge to do more.”

Wandering nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose that’s good enough for a changeling. Even with a bit of changeling blood in me, I don’t always see things your way. Anyway, I just want you to know if there’s anything that I can do to help you, I’m always available.”

“You worry too much, Captain,” Willow said with a grin.

“That’s my job, Willow. Anyway, I won’t hold you up anymore. Go sleep off your binge!”

“Aye, sir! Seeya tomorrow!” The changeling headed for the exit and his cabin, ideas for another show already swirling through his head.

Wandering watched him leave, hoping that the orange ’ling was not overdoing things. Willow was too precious a resource to lose due to overwork. Too bad the entertainer had no special somepony to keep him distracted occasionally and otherwise prevent Willow from turning his profession into his obsession, but even though Wandering was concerned about the changeling’s welfare, he drew the line at playing matchmaker.

The gathering was shifting into its second phase – party time! It was six months since they had departed on their mission, at least by their clock if not the ones on Equus, and that was deemed a good enough excuse to throw a shindig. Willow’s comedy act was just the warm-up for the event which was as much an excuse for some of the crew to offer up their home-brew efforts as anything else. Wandering was just as curious as any of the crew as to what they had achieved. After eighty years of sampling beers, he had certainly enjoyed an extraordinary variety, so he had high hopes for this lot. The mess room also doubled as a community center with the tables shifted to the sides and the chairs turned to face the tiny stage. These were now stacked aside and party foods brought in along with the first of the kegs of home brew. The alicorn moved to get in line to try them out. Just a few samples – as ship’s commander, he did not have the luxury of getting drunk. Still, he had the extraordinary constitution of an alicorn….

Wandering groaned as he held his head with one hoof while levitating a couple of aspirins and a glass of water to his lips. He barely had the time to down the medicine with a gulp of water when a knock on his office door made him wince.

“Come in,” he called, the effort making his head throb.

A light-teal pegasus mare entered uncertainly and approached Wandering’s desk. “You wanted to see me, Captain?”

Wandering just glared at Radiant Dawn for a long time, and the mare slowly wilted under his gaze. At last he spoke up. “What in Celestia’s name was in that brew?” he grated out.

Radiant Dawn gave the alicorn a nervous grin. “I might have overdone it a bit…”

“A bit?!” He winced at his own outburst and calmed down. “Radiant, I gave permission for crew members to indulge in home-brew beers as a relatively harmless and potentially enjoyable pastime. I did not intend for you to incapacitate half the waking crew with that… that… whatever it is! How in Tartarus do you even manage to make a brew that’s more like beer-flavored moonshine?”

“Umm… skill?”

Wandering closed his eyes and sighed. “Look, Radiant, I’m not going to ban you making your brews, but from now on you pass them by Medical and then have them dispensed at the bar.”

“Oh. Okay, sir,” she replied, relieved that her favorite hobby was not going to be prohibited. “Is that all, Captain?”

“No. You get to do all the basic maintenance chores for a week – after your normal duties. Dismissed!”

Radiant Dawn groaned. A week of dispensing toilet cleansing spells and removing dust from the ventilation ducts was not going to be fun. As she trudged out of the office, she reflected that it was a good thing that she had something to drown her sorrows.

When Wandering’s headache finally abated, he headed for his adjoining cabin to freshen up a little. He stripped off his full uniform and went into the bathroom. After splashing some water on his face, he saw his bloodshot eyes and unkempt mane in the mirror and decided that he was overdue for a bit of pampering. Donning just a minimum top with his rank bars instead of the entire outfit, he headed out. He made his way down to one of the lower decks and entered the ship’s spa.

Besides offering the obvious hot tub, hooficures, and massages, the spa also provided mane cuts and styling. The person in charge of the spa was Ixia, a yellow changeling who was a skilled masseuse, mane stylist, and conversationalist. It was a lot of jobs for one person, but with only thirty or so crewmembers awake at any particular time during the journey, she was able to cope with all of that and more. How much more was known only to a very select few.

“Captain! Is this business or pleasure?” the changeling asked as he walked through the door.

“A bit of both, Ixia. Can you do something with this mane of mine and follow it up with soak in the hot tub?”

“Certainly,” she replied cheerfully. “I’m completely free right now, although I suspect that I will have a few more customers later.”

As he headed for the hairdressing chair, Wandering asked, “You didn’t sample any of Radiant’s brew, I take it?”

The changeling chuckled. “I don’t even like beer, so I avoided that fate.” She placed an apron around his neck and considered the mess of hair. “What do you want me to do with this? I could style this into something more chic.”

Wandering smiled and shook his head. “Just my usual neat formal cut, please. As captain of this ship, I have to set some standard, and fashion model isn’t it.”

As she lifted a brush and some detangler spray to get some semblance of order to the mane before cutting it, she sighed and said, “I’ll get you to be a little bolder one of these years, Captain. We still have most of a decade for you to loosen up a bit.”

The alicorn chuckled. “Good luck with that, Ixia. I’ve kept the same basic cut for most of my life.”

“Well past time to change it up then,” she replied as she started snipping away. “Anyway, you mentioned that you had some business also?”

“Yeah. Purple Point.”

The changeling nodded. “I thought as much. I’ve managed to convince Point to come back for some regular massage sessions to relieve his tensions and help keep his alter ego at bay. That will give me more time to work on his therapy.”

“Any results yet?”

“Captain, those kind of changes don’t happen overnight. I can’t discuss confidential details about him, but yes – he does seem to be responding favorably, although it’s slow-going. House Path took ages to get his head back together, and it’s going to take a similar amount of time for me to deal with his inner demon.”

Wandering sighed. “I know. I’m just a bit too eager to see Point whole and happy.”

“Aren’t we all?” Ixia continued to comb and snip his mane until she nodded in satisfaction. “How’s that?”

Wandering looked in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction. “Great job as usual, Ixia. Now let’s mess it up a bit with a dip in the hot tub.”

Ixia grinned. “I’ll fix it up again afterward. Wouldn’t you like a massage first? You seem pretty tense.”

“Nah – just a relaxing soak will do.”

“As you command. Go hop in while I fetch some towels.”

Wandering walked into the adjacent room where a large tub steamed, the scent of medicinal herbs wafting from it. He would not be surprised if his daughter had grown them fresh just for this reason. Eschewing the steps, he took off his top and flapped up over the rim before lowering himself into the warm water. Sighing in contentment, he settled onto one of the underwater benches and tried to relax.

Ixia returned with a stack of towels, and she placed them on a nearby shelf well out of splash range. Then she joined Wandering in the tub. When he raised a curious eyebrow, she said, “You still need that tension relieved. Turn around and I’ll work on your neck and back.”

Wandering did as he was told while Ixia shape-shifted her hooves to their specialized massaging form. Then she applied her masseuse skills to his tense muscles, working knots out of them before moving on to his forelegs. The alicorn cooperated with her, feeling the tension ease considerably. He was both amused and embarrassed as she held her breath underwater to work on his hind legs too. Finally she was finished and he leaned back in the tub until his chin was barely above the water.

“You were right – I did need a massage. I feel a lot better now.”

Ixia smiled as she did the same as Wandering. “Next time, make it easy on your therapist and have the massage before the tub.”

Wandering grinned and replied, “Okay, Doc.”

The alicorn was one of the few aboard who knew that Ixia was more than just a mane stylist and masseuse. She was a qualified mental health counselor and had a doctorate in psychology. She just chose to do her work undercover. Despite having an official counselor aboard in Random Dawn, the changeling still found that many people, ponies especially, would confide in their hairdresser or masseur things that they were embarrassed to bring up in front of the counselor. She even volunteered to man the ship’s bar occasionally just so she could hear even more candid remarks.

After about twenty minutes, Ixia declared it was time to get out of the tub. With a touch of regret, Wandering levitated himself up out of the water and as he hovered there, he applied a spell that expelled the majority of the liquid from his coat and back into the tub. He alighted on the platform adjacent to the tub and grabbed a towel in his magic. He dried his mane first before starting on the rest of his body.

Ixia climbed out too, the water sliding off her chitin much more easily, and she had little to towel off afterward. She then helped Wandering finish drying himself off before brushing his mane back into shape. “There – you look much better, Captain.”

“Thanks, Ixia. I’d better make my rounds now and show the rest of the crew the standards that I expect of them,” he said with a wink.

“The more customers, the better,” she replied.

The alicorn nodded, knowing that she got a lot of her emotional sustenance from the happiness and gratitude of her clients. “Keep Doctor Zubon apprised of Purple Point’s progress.”

“I’ve made Purple Point my priority project.”

Are we going to continue alliterating?” Wandering asked.

“Shards! I hope not!” Ixia replied with a giggle.

“Have a great day, Ixia,” Wandering said as he left the spa. ‘Now to find out how the rest of the crew is coping. I just hope that the anniversary celebrations are just a tad less headache-inducing when they come around.’

Wandering’s route did not quite take him past the thaumophysics laboratory, but he felt the urge to do so, quite possibly because of the rise in frustration that was being passed on by the changeling assistants through the network. He decided that it was time to stick his nose in and have a quick look around.

The first person that he saw was Cosmic Dawn, seated at her desk but with her head resting on her front hooves, ears flattened, glaring at the screens in front of her. Each of them was covered with equations that were incomprehensible to the alicorn. Wandering knew that the unicorn had been working on the time dilation anomaly ever since they had been boosted to near light-speed, but without coming any closer to a solution, and that had to be very frustrating for one of the top ThD’s in the field. Although he had no hope of helping her with the mathematics, he decided to see if he could at least offer some more encouragement.

“Good morning, Dawn.”

Cosmic Dawn nearly jumped out of her seat in startlement. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had not noticed the alicorn’s arrival. “Oh, Wandering… I mean, Captain! What can I do for you?”

Wandering chuckled. As the daughter of Forest Breeze, Avatar of Honesty and friend of the family, Cosmic Dawn had been a regular visitor and knew the Path family by name, and she had yet to get into the habit of addressing him by his title. “It’s okay, Dawn, this is an informal visit. Just seeing if you’re making any progress yet?”

“If by progress you mean all the wrong ideas that I’ve eliminated, I’ve made plenty,” she grouched. “It just doesn’t make sense!”

“I wish I could help, but it’s way out of my field of expertise. If it makes you feel any better, none of the thaumophysicists back home have had any more success than you.”

The mare sighed. “I know, but while I’d love to be the first to figure this out, right now I’d settle for a solution that I can work with. There are so many questions that need to be answered! I think that this one breakthrough would keep the entire world’s thaumophysicists occupied for decades to come.”

“And all this caused just by going fast,” Wandering said, shaking his head with wonder. “It’s not as if we haven’t had the means of travelling really fast back on Equus. Teleportation is instantaneous. Hypervelocity tubes can get up to some impressive velocities if they’re long enough.”

Dawn nodded. “Yes, magic makes a mockery of every attempt that I have made to reconcile… these… results.”

Her voice trailed off and Wandering looked at her curiously. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m an idiot.”

“Well, we all knew that, but we let you come along anyway,” he joked.

Dawn looked at him with a smirk. “Leave the comedy to Willow, okay?”

“I will if you tell me what brought on that epiphany.”

“I’ve been overthinking one aspect. Tell me – what’s my profession?”

“Ah, amnesia now. It’s getting worse.” Dawn gave him the stink-eye and he relented. “Okay! Okay! You’re a thaumophysicist.”

“And what does a thaumophysicist do?”

“Umm… reconcile how the laws of physics and magic interact to make the universe work?”

“Close enough. So, I would take all those things into consideration when working on a problem, right?”

“Right,” he replied promptly.

“Wrong!”

“Wrong? You’ve lost me.”

The mare sighed in exasperation. “I’ve been ignoring the fact that basically there was no magic involved in our acceleration.”

“Er… yes there was. The mass-reducing spell and the alicorn propulsion.”

“Irrelevant!” she snapped, making Wandering jump a little.

“Okay, explain it in words of no more than two syllables for me.”

“While the thrust was magically generated, it was still purely a push on our sails. There was no spell involved in that – only action and reaction. Basically just an enormously powerful and focused version of what we were getting from the sun. And as for the mass-reducing spell, you told me yourself that it is imperfect, and that a tiny fraction of the mass is still left over which needed to be accelerated, right?”

“Right,” he replied tentatively, hoping that she was not about to contradict him again.

“Once again, the spell did no actual accelerating; it just removed the majority of the mass that needed to be accelerated. This reduces it to a pure physics problem! Consider, when the mass reduction spell was turned off, the time and distance dilation remained unchanged."

Wandering frowned. “But haven’t you been assuming that the ship accumulated some unknown magical energy signature to create the time-dilation side effect?”

She nodded. “Which I have been unable to find any trace of. I think I and all of my colleagues on Equus have been looking at this manticore from the wrong end all along. Now what self-respecting thaumophysicist would ignore the effects of magic and concentrate solely on the physical side of things?”

“No one but you now?” Wandering guessed.

Dawn grinned back at him. “Got that right! Now, if you will excuse me, Captain, this mare has scientific history to make.”

She turned back to her screens and wiped off everything on them. She immediately started filling them again, although to the alicorn’s eye, the equations were no more comprehensible than before. He decided to chalk this up as a win and quietly left the lab. Things were looking up this day!

He was feeling quite cheerful as he continued his informal tour of inspection until he got pinged over the changeling network.

‘Captain to the bridge, please!’

‘On my way,’ he replied, wondering what was going on. In six months of travel, he had never been summoned to the bridge. Anything that needed his attention was able to wait until he arrived whenever it suited him. Whatever this was, it had at least one notch more urgency than usual, and he hastened his gait.

Stepping onto the bridge, he said, “Report!”

Moonlit Path, the unicorn daughter of his brother, Destined, looked up from her instrument panel. “Sir – our primary ranging device abruptly ceased functioning several minutes ago.”

“What do diagnostics say?”

“No response whatsoever.”

“Can you get it on an exterior camera?”

The red changeling crewperson spoke up. “I have already turned camera five to observe it, sir. Check out the main screen.”

Wandering looked up at the screen but failed to spot the instrument. “I’m not seeing anything, Pax.”

“Precisely, Captain,” Pax replied.

“It’s gone? Any indication as to why?”

Moonlit spoke up. “It was working normally right up to the moment that it completely stopped. Best guess is a kinetic strike.”

Wandering shuddered. At the speed that they were travelling, even the smallest grain of sand was a deadly missile. That’s why they had the thaumic shield that stretched for kilometers ahead of them – not to block anything but to deflect it to pass by the sides of the ship. That was far more effective against the molecules of gas and dust that permeated even this hard vacuum. The shield was not infallible though – something of significant size could still force its way through the shield to strike the ship, and that could be disastrous. “Pull up the records of the thaumic shield,” he ordered.

“On screen three, Captain,” Pax said, having anticipated the command.

“When did this happen?” Wandering asked as he leaned over to read the data on the screen.

“Time-stamp 14:35:12,” Moonlit reported.

He scrolled back the data and spotted what he suspected immediately. “Power surge. Something got through alright. Hmm… looks like the shield managed to kill up to ninety-seven percent of its kinetic energy, but that means that it was still travelling at about nine thousand kilometers per second. More than enough to take out the ranging device. I suppose that we ought to be grateful that it wasn’t worse. The armoring on the bow of the ship was designed to take impacts, and the reinforcing spells backs that up, but I would rather not test them out. However, we need to replace that ranging device. Who have we got available for extra-vehicular activity?” He checked the roster and smiled. “Perfect!”

The sound of air being pumped out of the chamber gradually diminished as the atmosphere was reduced to a near-vacuum. Eventually a lamp lit to indicate that the airlock was ready to be opened to the outside. Steam Shift checked his safety tether one more time before saying, “Ready for E.V.A.”

“Opening airlock now,” came back the reply over the comm.

The airlock door opened inwards, and the outside came into view. Not that there was much to see. The strange aberration that crowded the stars fore and aft left the scene blank, and even the eternal dark-purple glow of the night sky was distorted. However, Steam Shift was not here for the sightseeing.

The changeling turned around and put his forelegs onto the replacement ranging device and gave it a gentle tug. With the artificial gravity off in the airlock, the equipment floated easily in his wake. Steam then hastened to exit the chamber, tilting himself over the lip of the airlock and firmly fastening his magi-stick boots on the outer hull of the starship. He then waited for the replacement part to drift clear of the airlock before pulling on the short second tether to change its direction. It was massive enough that it took a steady pull to swing it around and headed in the direction that Steam Shift wanted. With his suit’s lamps illuminating the way, he then slowly made his way forward, two hooves at a time, making sure that they were planted firmly before moving the others. The ranging device started drifting too close to the hull, so the changeling paused to let it catch up to him a bit so he could give it a nudge to correct its course, then he continued onward.

“How is it going out there, Steam Shift?” came Wandering’s voice over the comm.

“Slow but steady, Captain. This ship may seem big when you’re walking from end to end inside, but try doing it at a slow shuffle while hauling a reluctant piece of machinery!”

“I did some training space-walks on the hull during construction, so I know what you mean.”

“I think your scenery was a bit more interesting than mine, sir.”

Wandering chuckled. “Just don’t get bored and lose concentration, okay?”

“I have nothing to worry about as long as we keep having these scintillating conversations.”

“Oh – would you rather talk about fashion, for example? Such as why you wore your scarf inside your spacesuit? It can’t be too comfortable.”

Steam Shift smirked, although the alicorn could not see it. “Have you forgotten that I’m a changeling, Captain? A little shape-shift to accommodate it within the confines of the spacesuit’s neck section, and I’m stylish as well as protected.”

“One of these days I’m going to make you tell me why you almost never take that thing off.”

The changeling laughed. “Good luck with that, sir.”

“You’re one of the strangest ’lings I’ve ever met, Steam, and I’ve known a few.”

“Why, thank you, Captain. You might actually have a clue as to why I wear the scarf. I’ll let you think about that for a while as I’m almost to the installation site.”

“Okay, Steam. Report everything that you see.”

“Will do, sir.”

Steam Shift could now see the stump of the mounting bar for the missing ranging device. He stopped just short of it and gradually braked the replacement part before securing it to one of the numerous anchor points dotted along the length of the hull. He then bent down to observe the bar closely.

“Bridge, I can see what has happened. It certainly was a kinetic strike. At an educated guess, I would say that it took just a glancing blow, but at the speed it was travelling, it was enough to vaporize the mounting bar at that point. I can see a gouge in the armor plating aft of the mount that seems to be in line with the particle that might have done the damage. Of course there’s no sign whatsoever of the old unit.”

“What’s the repair prognosis, Steam?”

“Dead simple, Captain. None of the fasteners have been damaged, so it should be an easy swap.”

“Bring back what’s left of the mount. It can’t hurt to examine it properly, and we don’t want to leave any more space garbage in our wake.”

“Will do. Starting dismounting procedure now.”

Steam Shift touched a control on his left foreleg, and the covering over the hoof retracted, exposing it to space. However, a seal above the fetlock joint prevented the loss of pressure from his spacesuit, and his specially adapted chitin did the same for his exposed body part. He repeated the action with the right foreleg before applying his shape-shifting power to form his hooves into three-clawed prehensile extremities. With these, he took a tool out of the pouch strapped to his barrel and he looped the attached strap over the limb so as not to lose it. The tool was specifically designed to work with the fasteners, and he soon had the first one off. He nimbly placed it into another pouch before proceeding with the next fastener. He soon had all of them removed, and he lifted the bar and its mounting plate, exposing the cable that ran up its hollow center.

Because the majority of the device was gone, Steam Shift did not have any mounting points for a tether until this moment. He now could secure one to the cable bundle, and once that was done, he unplugged it from the electrical wiring harness reaching into the depths of the ship. He then pulled it away and attached it to another anchor point. The replacement device was pulled into position above the mounting site where he plugged it into the harness. He then eased it into place and started the process of replacing all the fasteners again. When the last one was secured, he detached the tether from the newly installed sensor and stood back.

“Bridge, run diagnostics on the new ranging device.”

“Test sequence beginning now.”

The unit started swiveling on its mount, but its most important function was invisible to the eyes. Steam Shift waited patiently for a report from the bridge.

“Diagnostics completed. The new unit is in full working order. You may now come back inside, Steam Shift.”

“Acknowledged, bridge. Returning now.” He first shifted his limbs back to the normal hooves and replaced the spacesuit’s magi-stick hoof-coverings. With all four limbs ready to walk back safely, he detached the broken mounting bar and started towing it to the airlock. With less to worry about, he took more time to look at the hull and noticed for the first time that there were more gouges in the armor plating. For the first time, the changeling started feeling nervous. He was terribly exposed out here, and the evidence showed that kinetic encounters, while rare, were not quite as infrequent as he had believed. He sped up his two-by-two shuffle to hasten his arrival at the airlock, and breathed a sigh of relief once safely within.

“I’m inside the airlock and have secured the broken mount. Start compression procedures, please.”

“Closing airlock.”

The door shut off the dull view and clamped into place. Air started rushing into the chamber until a green lamp indicated that pressure had been equalized with that inside the ship. The inner door opened, allowing the changeling to step through, depositing the mount safely aside to be retrieved later for examination. Right now it was frosting up quickly due to having come out from the bitter cold of deep space. Steam Shift removed his helmet and then tugged his scarf out to wrap it around his neck.

“Don’t you think that could wait?” asked Radiant Spark who had been manning the airlock station.

Steam Shift grinned at the mare as he struck a pose. “It’s never too early to make a good impression. It takes a dashing aethernaut to make a job like this look both easy and cool!”

Radiant rolled her eyes but giggled. “You’re certainly something, Shifty.”

# # # # # # # # # #

Author's Note

I’m hardly a stand-up comedian, so I had to steal classic jokes and adapt them slightly. Did you recognize whose jokes they are?

More thanks for my pre-reader – Airy Words

Art by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf

Wear & Tear

“What am I looking at?” Wandering asked.

On the screen before him was a simple equation: C²M=E.

Starry Path and Cosmic Dawn looked at each other and grinned. “An answer to a lot of your questions,” Dawn replied.

“I didn’t realize that my questions involved obscure letters,” the alicorn stallion complained.

Starry patted Wandering on the withers. “Don’t stress too much about it – we plan to give you just the basics.”

“And besides, it’s only one of the many strange and wonderful things that we have uncovered,” Dawn added.

“Mostly Dawn, though,” Starry said with a nod toward her colleague. “She’s a lot stronger with theory than I am.”

“But it was your experimental observations that helped make the breakthrough,” Dawn insisted.

Wandering cleared his throat to gain the two mares’ attention. “Would you mind stopping the mutual admiration fest and get on with the explanation? What has your months of research and brainstorming revealed, and how does it relate to the mission?”

Dawn said, “Well, it all started when you made me realize that this was a pure physics problem and including thaumaturgy only distorted the facts.”

“What facts are these?”

“There are two basic postulates. First – the laws of physics are the same for all observers in uniform motion relative to one another. The second is that the speed of light in a vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of their relative motion or of the motion of the light source.”

“Still not seeing how those letters relate,” Wandering complained.

Starry rolled her eyes with exasperation. “How about giving Dawn a chance to explain?”

The stallion chuckled at himself and smiled. “I’ll shut up now.”

Dawn giggled and continued. “We set up some experiments to test my theories and came up with some surprising and counter-intuitive consequences. Some of these we have already observed, the most obvious of which is time dilation. A clock moving relative to the observer’s stationary clock will always tick slower. For the most part, we never notice this because the difference is tiny until you reach very high speeds.”

“Such as getting close to the speed of light?” Wandering asked.

“Or at least a significant portion thereof. And the progression is exponential, so the closer you get to light-speed, the greater the increase in dilation. At our current speed of 97.4% of the speed of light, that time dilation is only a bit over four times normal time, hence why our journey has apparently diminished from forty-two years to only ten. But that is only for us! To those back on Equus, our trip will still take forty-two years. If we had managed to get up to 99% light-speed, one second would become 7.1 seconds, at 99.5%, ten seconds, and at 99.9%, over twenty-two seconds!”

“So, what happens if you reach one hundred percent?”

“You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because of that equation,” Dawn replied as she pointed at the screen.

“Which means…?”

“Mass-energy equivalence. All mass and energy are equivalent and transmutable. That’s why it got harder and harder for Celestia and Luna to push us. The mass-cancelling spell reduces a fixed percentage of the ship's mass. As we gained more kinetic energy with respect to the Equus frame of reference, that increased our mass from their perspective. That's why we seemed to be receiving far less thrust the faster we went! Another consequence of this "relativity" is that from our frame of reference, we are always stationary, so our own perceived mass stays constant!”

“You were right when you said that this is counter-intuitive. So what exactly do those letters mean?”

Starry replied, “M stands for mass and E stands for energy. You multiply mass by the square of the speed of light to get the equivalent amount of energy.”

“That’s an awful large amount of energy, but why do you write C instead of L?”

“Because strictly speaking, it’s the speed of Causality. No event can travel faster than its cause, and seeing as light and other electromagnetic radiation are the fastest things possible in pure physics, the speed of light is a handy reference. But it’s still basically causality.”

“But teleportation and the crystal comms work instantaneously irrespective of distance, thus increasing the speed of causality to either infinite or close to it,” Wandering pointed out.

“But only when thaumaturgy is involved, as is the case with both of those instances. Thaumaturgy has its own inviolable rules, but they can override a purely physical phenomenon. Without magic though, we hit a hard limit. Causality is Queen of Reality.”

“So there’s no way to go faster than light without magic being involved?”

“None that we know of,” Dawn replied. “This universe has a speed limit, although intriguingly my equations have hinted at different limits for other universes.”

“Like Mom has visited?” Wandering asked.

Dawn nodded. “Princess Twilight Sparkle could do science a big favor by doing some measurements for us when she next visits a parallel universe, although it’s possible that nearby universes have the same or very similar limits. But we will never know unless we do the research.”

The alicorn stallion grinned. “Once Mom learns about this, you just know that she’s going to throw herself into that research immediately. Maybe even tear Pif and Hype away from their current work.”

Starry smiled. “Yeah, that would be exactly what Mama Twilight would do.”

Wandering drew in a deep breath and let it out in a huff as he stood up. “Well, I’m happy to see that you two have solved the puzzle and got it all worked out.”

The two mares looked at each other and burst out laughing.

The stallion looked at them with an eyebrow arched in confusion. “What am I missing here?”

Starry choked down her laughter enough to answer. “Oh, Wandering, we have barely scratched the surface of this new science and given you a simplistic explanation. There are probably decades of research and experimentation ahead of us and other physicists. For example, we still don't know how gravity ties in.”

“I see. Well, I know when I am out of my depth. You two can have that kind of fun all to yourselves. I have a ship to run, so I’ll leave you to it.” Wandering beat a hasty retreat. His field of knowledge covered neither theoretical physics nor smug mares. He only hoped that Starry would not bring her work home to bed tonight.

Wandering decided to stop by the mess hall to grab a mug of coffee. There were a fair number of crewmembers there already either having a meal or like him, getting some form of refreshment. After acquiring his favorite brew, he sat at one of the tables and observed the others while sipping the drink. Most were just chatting or discussing some aspect of their work, but he noticed Xanth and ColdFire seated in close proximity together with some of their friends. As he watched, the mare got up from her seat, leaned over the changeling and nibbled his ear. Then with a grin and a wink at the others, she left the room. The changeling blushed as his friends laughed and made some sort of comments which Wandering couldn’t quite make out, but it was clear to him what had happened. ColdFire had publically staked a claim to Xanth and he had to chuckle too. She was such a flirt while Xanth was so much more subdued, and yet it was obvious that they went well together. While changelings had a lot in common with ponies, there were several things that were markedly different. One of these was the lack of jealousy, so when ColdFire flirted with other people, it did not bother him at all. He knew that she was only being playful, and she showed how much she appreciated that freedom by making it clear whom she cared for the most. Changelings, however, were obviously not immune to embarrassment, and he endured his friends’ ribbing as best as he could.

After Wandering lost interest in Xanth, he looked around the room to see Travelling Soul in deep discussion with Epic Prose about something written in the book before them. The unicorn and the pegasus had been collaborating for a while on something that they had refused to discuss with others, although Wandering suspected that it was either a new story or a stage-play. Soul picked up a pen in his magic to write something in the book while Prose adjusted his bifocal glasses and considered it critically.

The alicorn left the two to their Muses and his attention landed on Techbird. The ancient griffoness looked tired and worn even beyond her years. He got up and walked over to her table, sitting down again opposite her.

“Has my Chief Scientist been overdoing things again?” he asked.

Techbird gave him a wan smile. “The work with Cosmic Dawn and Starry Path was both fascinating and rewarding, but it was also exhausting.”

“I just came from a briefing with them. You’ve all done fine work.”

“Thank you. If nothing else, this discovery has justified the effort that has gone into the Cosmic Lotus program, but we still have the ultimate goal to look forward to.”

Wandering allowed his concern to show through. “Tech – I’m worried about you. You’ve been pushing yourself hard for months, but you’re not a young griff anymore. Those prosthetics of yours can’t replace vital rest and relaxation.”

“I know, Captain, but there is so much to be accomplished before we reach the Far Star. I thought that we would have forty-two years, but instead we have only ten. Solving the problems caused by the relativity effects just ate into that time further.”

“Surely you didn’t intend to work the entire forty-two years we originally allowed for?”

“Of course I did. Hibernation is only for those who are neither essential nor have sufficient stimulation to keep themselves from growing bored. None of that applies to me.”

“But overwork most definitely does. Frankly, Tech, you are not going to be of any use to anyone if you have a breakdown. You need to take time off from your work to relax for a while. In other words – you need a vacation.”

Techbird stared at Wandering for a long moment before replying with a touch of humor. “What do you suggest? A trip to the beach? Skiing in the Foal Mountains perhaps?”

“Funny catbird,” the alicorn said with a smile. “No, I’ll start you off easy. I’m commanding you to visit the spa and get the works. Relax and de-stress. That’s a direct order.” Wandering finished off his coffee and stood up. “A good long sleep after that too. Enjoy your vacation, Techbird.”

The griffoness watched the stallion walk away before considering his commands. She had so much work to do, but she could not ignore an order. Besides, he had not ordered her into the stasis pods for mandatory rejuvenation... this time. With a sigh, she lifted her left foreleg and tapped the device strapped upon it.

It was about the middle of Ixia’s shift, and she was enjoying a lull in business. There was no such thing as a typical day, but some were busier than others. This morning she had a group booking and had to call in some assistants to cope, but she also had her regulars. She checked those off her appointment board and then blinked with surprise when she saw a new name pop up requesting a time slot. She tapped Techbird’s name to connect her to the griffoness.

“What can I do for you, Chief Scientist Techbird?” she asked when the comm connected.

“I’m told that I need to relax and de-stress, so I was wondering when you would have time available.”

“As it happens, now would be a good time. Were you after any particular treatment?”

“Our good Captain suggested that I get the works, whatever that is.”

Ixia smiled to herself. If Wandering had suggested that, it was a little more than a dip in the hot tub that the griffoness required. Tapping her appointment board, she blocked out a long private session for Techbird. “I can manage that. Please make your way to the spa, and I will have everything ready for you when you arrive.”

“Thank you. I will be there soon.” Techbird closed the call.

Given the sedate pace at which the augmented griffoness tended to travel, Ixia had plenty of time to prepare before the door announcer chirped.

“Come in!” she called, automatically activating the sliding door.

Techbird stepped inside, her footballs alternating clicking of natural claws with the clink of her magitek crystal limbs.

“Right on time,” Ixia said with a smile as she set the privacy lock on the door. “This is the first time that you have visited my spa, so what exactly prompted this visit?” she asked, fishing for information to use to treat her client.

Techbird smiled weakly. “Overwork, I suppose. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Frankly, while I have replaced many biological parts that have failed, I cannot do that for everything… yet. I need to stay alive until we get to the Far Star and I can get the answer to my big question, but I still need to continue my work while we are travelling there.”

“Ah, I see. The Captain noticed that you were reaching breaking strain, am I right?”

Techbird nodded with a touch of embarrassment. “The fact that I was too tired to argue with him convinced me that perhaps he was right.”

“Well, I’m not a medical specialist, but I believe that I can do a lot to de-stress and relax you. I find that can be a very effective treatment for a lot of ailments. May I suggest that we start with a full-body massage? I’m sure that your artificial parts must put some unnatural strains upon you.”

“You would be correct. From a mechanical standpoint, everything is within tolerance, and from a medical view, they are working well, but they are not the same as a healthy complete body. It would not hurt to feel better, as it were.” She straightened up and flexed her wings a few times, wincing a little. “Do you have the time for a full treatment? I don’t know when I’ll have the time to stop by again. Most of me is almost always busy with the processing cluster, but right now I am taking an enforced break.”

“We have as much time as you need. The massage room is right through here.” Ixia indicated a doorway and allowed the griffoness to enter first. “Please make yourself comfortable on the massage table, face down. Your beak will fit comfortably through the head support.”

“Will that support my weight? My crystal prosthetics are heavier than they look, and I’m not a small griffon.”

Ixia smiled reassuringly. “The table is built to deal with even the weightiest of the members of the crew. Have no concern over that.”

Techbird eased herself onto the low-slung table and made herself comfortable. “Is this right?” she asked, her voice coming from under the table.

“Perfect!” Ixia replied, pushing the button that raised the table to her normal working height. “Now please spread your wings and allow them to relax to the floor. I need to start working on your back muscles.”

“Are any of my augmentations going to be in the way? I can always disconnect them if you wish, as long as the sight doesn’t disturb you too much.”

Ixia chuckled. “That won’t be necessary. In fact, it will be easier to see how they are putting strain on the rest of your body if you leave them connected. I can already tell that you have a lot of tension in one location in particular. You don’t seem to be able to get your wings comfortable, so let’s start with the wing joints first.” She shape-shifted her hooves to create long, thin digits suitable for pushing through a griffon’s plumage.

When she dug her digits into Techbird’s muscles, she found them so tense that they were just short of locking up completely. She kneaded the knots firmly but skillfully and felt them relax. She worked her way through all the muscles, watching the wings droop more and more as the pent-up tension was finally dissolved. However, she noticed one other thing while she was working. “When was the last time that you had a good preening?”

Techbird had started softly crooning as her muscle knots were loosened, but she paused to answer the masseuse. “A lot of the time I don’t have the opportunity to preen, but other times I don’t have anyone to help me with parts that I can’t reach anymore.” She was about to add more when Ixia hit a particularly tough spot. “Ngh! Ow, ow, ow!”

Ixia tsk-tsked. “As one professional to another, please don’t tell me that you don’t have the time to do something vital. How can you perform at your best if you don’t look after yourself? This spa has been here for the entire journey, but this is the first time that you have stuck a paw inside despite me sending several subtle hints your way.” She finished with the right wing’s muscles and started working on the left. It was trickier because she could feel the artificial tendons obstructing her, but her digits adapted to the need.

Techbird let out a groan of relief as Ixia found and massaged out more knots. “Mmmm! Caawwww…” her eyes fluttered closed as she considered the changeling’s question. “Do you want the truth or a more believable lie, Miss Ixia?”

“I’m a changeling, remember? I can taste deception. But entertain me if you wish.”

Techbird snorted, but her emotions were not of sad sadness or anguish – they were of resignation. “There is a good chance that I am not going to last long enough to reach the Far Star as I am right now, even with the reduced travel time. This is a problem that I need to resolve, and no amount of preening is going to help. I need a more permanent solution. You know that we have regular data transmissions between the ship and Equus, don’t you?”

“I do, but what is the significance of that? If you are so concerned with your survival, shouldn’t you be taking extra care with even your minor needs such as those you have been ignoring? Such minor needs as... say... the health of your body?” She finished with the wing muscles and moved further down the back.

The catbird chuckled and then groaned as Ixia hit a particularly dense patch of knots and began kneading them. “What is survival? The continuation of biological function, or the perseverance of consciousness? All that we are, magic aside, is bio-electrical impulses. Copy those correctly and you copy the person. One would not be able to tell that they are different from the original.” She groaned again and let out a soft caw before asking, “How old do you think I am?”

Ixia knew exactly how old Techbird was, but chose to answer evasively. “Considering that the average griffon lifespan is about 140 years but you have been actively staving off the aging process for some time now, I would have to say considerably older than that.”

Techbird laughed a little. “Lady Roseclaw is currently 135 years old, but her strength and health makes it seem likely that she will last significantly longer than the average. I, however, am considerably less gifted physically, and I am fifteen years her senior. Everyone assumes that I am younger because I’m smaller than her and my feathers haven’t grayed, but it’s hard to turn grey when your feathers are already white.”

“All the more reason to look after yourself better.” Having reached the lower back, Ixia started working her way down one leg.

Techbird’s leg twitched in Ixia’s hands before relaxing. “If you hold onto the idea that all you are is a bag of meat and organs, then yes, you would be right. However, I figured that a changeling like you would be open to the idea that it’s not so much the bag as the consciousness that it contains. After all, isn’t that somewhat like what your hive memory is like? Pif and I were working on a solution well before we left, and have continued to do so while we have been travelling. The greatest challenge has been working on those mental procedures, but if we perfect the process, not only will I be confident of being able to see this project through to its goal, but also provide this ship with vastly more computing power.” She let out a sigh as Ixia finished with that leg and she let it go limp.

Ixia switched to the other leg. “Hmmm... well, while it's the consciousness that makes a person, the way that consciousness is encapsulated affects how it behaves. Would you be the same person if you were in a changeling's body? A zebra's body? How about a diamond dog? But you are not, so you must take the greatest care with what you have. However, I sense that you are either trying to change the subject or being cagey about something, but I'm not through admonishing you for your neglect.”

“It’s been a while since I just talked. More often than not, I’m in the lab working on trying to solve problems. I’m not used to it.” She groaned as Ixia dug into a knot in her calf muscle. “Ixia, I believe that if I took you, all of your mental impulses, your memories, your personality, all of which are basically just bio-electric impulses, and copied them into another body, the you that I created would be indistinguishable from the you working on my legs so wonderfully. That is what Pif and I are working on – a way to modify my stasis pod so that while my body is inert, my mind is awake and able to continue working.”

“Oh, I would say that we're all more than just a matter of electrical impulses, but you may be sensing a truth that changelings have known for a long time – with the right infrastructure, who we are may persist forever. I suspect that Epiphany Path may be extending that knowledge to you in a different way. However, until that time comes, and I will keep emphasizing this, there's no excuse to shun company and neglect yourself.”

“It’s not like I want to shun company!” Techbird protested. “How to explain.... You know, for having been a constant visitor to a changeling network for years, it’s hard to put this into mere words that make sense.” She started to laugh. “I am focusing on the puzzle, Ixia. Combine that with the fact that most are unnerved by me and my prosthetic limbs; I would rather just take myself out of the equation. Surely you must have read the media articles against me from a few years back, when I was getting the original replacements done?”

“Pfft! Mostly traditionalist griffons and anti-science ponies. Who pays attention to those? Not that I thought that this was a great idea, but I was never set against it either. I ignored all the controversy, and frankly I'm surprised that you did not do the same. You never struck me as somegriff who particularly cared too much about the uneducated opinions of others.”

“One or two I don’t care about, but when they gather up in groups to try to take down the facility I’m working at and then petition the king to ‘put me down’, I start to care. A lot.” She frowned, her emotions turning more toward sadness. “I'm an old griff, Ixia. I need to weigh my options with more care than I did in the past. If there is a chance that I can exist long enough to solve the puzzle, I need to do anything I can to make it happen. If it means I have to be alone working on the tech needed to do it, then... I just have to do that.” She sighed. “But I am lonely. When I was working in the Pif core network, I was surrounded by other team-mates constantly. It was... warming.”

Ixia paused in her work to gaze keenly at Techbird. “How much time did you spend in the network? Come to think of it, how much of these prosthetics are based on changeling synthetics? How much of you is more changeling than griffon? You sound like a drone who has become disconnected from the hive. Is all this tension caused by neglect and old age, or is it the stress of being apart from the network?”

The griffoness sighed. “I was connected pretty much constantly from a few weeks after the crystal siege, to shortly before the launch of the first satellite. Then when House Path created the directives, I went back in from just after the successful launch to a few months before the launch of Cosmic Lotus, except some time when we moved the experimental cluster to the far side of the moon. Time works differently in the network, so I can’t tell you how many years it has been.” Her emotions shifted again to longing. “But all of that time was worth it. We accelerated our progress several times over and saved about thirty years by doing it.” She looked back to Ixia. “And to answer your other question, about sixty percent of the implants are based on changeling synthetics, while the rest is Crystal Kingdom-backed magitek.”

Ixia shifted to a position in front of the griffoness and shook her head. “Congratulations, Techbird. I have seen and heard many things in my career, but you are the first example of withdrawal symptoms from being disconnected from a hive network by a non-changeling that I have ever heard of. I could suggest that you join Wandering's network, but I'm not sure that would be doing the right thing. Withdrawal is a craving for something that your body does not naturally have, so you have to get used to it. However, due to your extensive body modifications and age, I don't believe that is an option any longer. You need to find a new balance or you will not live to learn the answer to your big question. Your body is rebelling - I can feel it in every muscle of your being.”

Techbird blinked in surprise. “Rebelling? Do you mean rebelling against me... or rather... the griffon part of me?”

“Rebelling against your attempts to push it beyond its limits. Unless you are an alicorn, you must either learn to live with them, or find a way around them soon, or else you may find that you will break, and no one will be able to fix you anymore.”

The griffon’s emotions shifted again, becoming unstable, as if her mind was racing a mile a minute. She then smiled, but this was not a good smile. It seemed like she was starting to hide a developing desperation and her emotions verified that as she was tensing up again. “Do you happen to have any ideas? I’m all ears! If not, the only thing I can think of would be to fast track the stasis project, get it rolled out within the year...” Her eyes went wide and she let out a squawk before she collapsed with a groan as lethargy overcame her.

Ixia withdrew the digit that she had jabbed into a nerve bundle, causing the griffoness to cry out. “Yes, definitely withdrawal symptoms,” she murmured. She continued her massage, finding the remaining knots in Techbird's neck. Finally she put a digit under the griffon's beak and gently lifted it up so that she could look Techbird in the eye. “Not every problem has a technical solution, my dear. As a princess acquaintance of mine is fond of pointing out: seek out a friend. Share with them your hopes and needs. Work with them to bring peace of mind so that your body may endure until you reach your goal. You have a unique opportunity – please do not sabotage your own efforts.”

Techbird felt like she was on the verge of passing out. “I… I’ll talk to… Galena.”

Ixia smiled. “Excellent. Now, I believe that we're done with the massage. Can I interest you in a long soak in the hot tub? I believe your prosthetics are compatible? I have some Nightlark's Bath Salts which I believe griffons find particularly appealing. I can let you rest there for a while.”

Techbird groaned softly in response before her brain processed that she was being asked a question. “Uh... yes, please... but I can’t move.”

Ixia chuckled. “You're not the first to have that problem.” She pressed a lever with her hind hoof which released the brakes on the table leg castors, and she pushed the whole lot out the door and into the adjacent hot tub room. She pushed it onto a ramp that brought the table level with the rim of the tub, locked the brakes, and then pushed a switch. A whine under the table heralded the tipping of the table top until the griffoness almost slid off, but the changeling's horn lit up to magically ease her into the warm water rather than precipitously splash in. She held Techbird in place until the griffon could find the underwater seat to settle upon, then released her magic. “I'll go get those bath salts now if you are comfy?”

The catbird nodded a few times as she smiled, looking up at Ixia. “Don’t mind me... I’ll be here… floating.”

Wandering gazed curiously at Galena who was wide-eyed with a thousand-mile-long stare. She was sitting in the mess room, breathing hard like she had just been exercising.

Wandering went over to the changeling. “Anything the matter, Princess?”

Galena jerked, then looked up at the alicorn. “A funny thing happened today...”

Wandering smiled knowingly. “She's already pounding the network.”

“How can one griffon put such a load on a network?” she protested.

“One griffon and a ton of Crystal Kingdom neural enhancements,” Wandering replied. “You didn't think all of her prosthetics were for just walking, did you? This is one third of the team that started the technological boom of the past century. When you get Techbird, Hype and Pif on the same project, the entire Chrome Hive quickly burns through its love reserves due to the effort.” Wandering patted her reassuringly. “You are a young queen who has never hosted direct connections before. I do not envy you. If Techbird was directly connected to me, I would most likely go into a coma; at least you have the capacity to handle it. If you let any of her activities get past you, odds are it would overload every ’ling on the ship. There is a reason why the Chrome Hive think-tanks are hoof-picked. When they were designing the ship, Pif, Hype, and Tech were held up in the lunar research base for two years, and right now I hear she’s still working, trying to crunch some numbers to figure out solutions to some issues we have been dealing with on the ship, like the periodic strikes we have been getting.”

Galena shuddered. “Tell me about it!”

Wandering grinned. “You wanted network responsibility – you got it by the trainload. Happy now?”

“A-heh! I have no idea what she’s doing!” she whimpered a little.

“Tech is modelling a four-dimensional projection of the Lotus to test out optimal shield configurations using the other ’lings as sub-processors just as she does back at the Chrome Hive. This takes a huge amount of strain off of her.”

“And puts it onto me,” Galena moaned.

“Indeed.” Wandering smiled sympathetically. “Be careful what you wish for.”

# # # # # # # # # #

Author's Note

Thanks again to Airy Words for the pre-reading.

Art by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf courtesy of sponsorhip by Alden MacManx
Don't forget to check out his latest story about Purple Point.

Repairs and Replacements

Have you got all your readings done, Starry?” Wandering asked as he looked over the bridge from his Captain’s chair.

“All complete, Captain,” she replied. “Sending the results to Navigation now.”

Playbitz got busy as he fed the data into his calculations. Wandering waited patiently, monitoring the flow of information on his screen while the pegasus triple-checked his work.

“Ready to apply course correction, sir.”

“Go ahead,” Wandering ordered.

Playbitz addressed the artificial intelligence, “CONN, rotate ship 19.8 degrees clockwise and give me a 3.7 second burn on vectoring nozzle five.”

“Confirm rotation positive 19.8 degrees and course adjustment on vectoring nozzle five for 3.7 seconds,” the A.I. paraphrased.

“Instruction confirmed. Execute.”

A faint sound was heard as the attitude jets spun the huge ship slowly before the vectoring rocket burned for exactly the specified time and then cut out.

“Course correction completed, Captain,” Playbitz reported.

“Very good.” Wandering always liked to be on the bridge when the course adjustments were made. Despite the high degree of accuracy of their initial departure thrust, even the tiniest of deviations would result in missing the Far Star system entirely after travelling forty-two light years. Every month since they had begun their journey, Starry had taken readings that measured the deviation from their course and a correction was made. Fortunately, it only took a very small burn to achieve this for the same reason as their initial deviation – a little added up to a lot over the time they traveled. Starry’s readings had a secondary purpose too. “So, Starry, how far have we got to go yet?”

“Approximately 28.6 light-years. The visual distortion makes it a lot harder than planned, but each time I measure it, the accuracy improves.”

“With about two thirds of the trip yet to go, high precision isn’t of great importance yet. Anyway, that seems to be all the excitement for now.” Wandering turned to Playbitz. “You’re due to go into hibernation after this shift, aren’t you? Just think of all interesting stuff that you’ll be missing.”

Playbitz gave the alicorn a flat look. “Oh, yeah. The eight hour watches when nothing happens until the monthly course corrections have me flat out busy for ten minutes. Woohoo,” he replied drolly.

Wandering grinned and was about to reply when an unexpected flash of light and loud pop came from the location of the mana beacon.

“Dang! I’m never going to get used to that weird time transition when I come here!” the newcomer exclaimed.

“Des? What are you doing here? You weren’t scheduled to pay us a visit for another month or so,” Starry said.

The red-maned alicorn smiled and replied, “Special occasion, Sis.” He looked over to his other sibling sitting in the Captain’s chair. “I have some family news.”

“Well, spit it out, Destined. You’d think the Alicorn of Time would not waste it so much!” Wandering said with a smirk.

Prince Destined Path grinned back. “Congratulations, you’re an uncle again.” Turning to Starry he added, “And of course that means you’re an aunt again.”

“What?” Starry replied. “Who had the foal and why weren’t we told sooner?”

“Lucida and Hype had a son. It was a bit of a surprise to them, so they thought that they would surprise you too.”

“A surprise to them? What do you mean?”

“Well, after Lucy decided to retire and pass on the leadership of House Path to her younger daughter, Gisela, she and Hype went off on an extended vacation. Apparently they got a little carried away with their newfound freedom from responsibility and had a little accident. Or not. Lucy has often said that she wanted a son, and happily, she did this time. They named him Glide.”

“Glide Path.” Wandering chuckled. “I look forward to seeing him.”

“I brought photos and some birthday cake for the both of you.”

“Awesome!” Starry said as she crowded her brother.

Destined fished out the photos from his saddle-pack and passed them around to his siblings. Even Playbitz huddled around to take a look. Wandering chuckled at how anything novel occurring on the ship was valued by the crew even higher than Kale Robe’s dessert creations, and he made a mental note to add the photos to the ship’s daily status report later for the crew’s entertainment.

The foal was a hippogriff, as they expected, with plumage similar to his sire’s, and a pony half the color of sand. There were picture of him by himself, with his happy parents, and with his two sisters, not to mention the rest of the extensive Path family. Destined fetched out slices of the celebration cake and passed them around, with enough for Playbitz too. They were still talking about the newborn when someone suddenly burst onto the bridge.

“Captain! Commander Bluequill and Ortzi have started fighting!” gasped Radiant Spark who promptly dashed off again.

“Oh, crap!” Wandering swore, and then galloped off in pursuit of the mare.

Startled, Destined hastened to follow. “What’s going on Wandering? Is there some sort of trouble?”

“It’s the duels!” Wandering called back over his shoulder before hurtling down a stairway.

“What duels? Is there some sort of crew rebellion that you haven’t told us about?”

He didn’t get an answer, and was chagrined to lose sight of his herd-brother and make a wrong turn. When he did catch up, it was in the mess hall/common room where it seemed the majority of the waking crew were gathered around a pair of battling griffons, shouting encouragement to one or the other of the combatants. To his astonishment, Wandering was doing the same.

“What in Tartarus is going on?” he demanded.

Without taking his eyes off the griffons, Wandering replied, “It’s the ultimate event of the Cosmic Games. Galen and Ortzi are the finalists in the freestyle unarmed combat event. I was supposed to come down here to watch it straight after doing the course correction when it was due to start. I would have missed it except for Radiant noticing that I was absent. We have a bet going on who will win.”

Destined now noticed the gauntlets each griffon was wearing to prevent injury by their talons. “Oh. So you’re not undergoing a mutiny then?”

Wandering chuckled. “No, we’re not. The Cosmic Games are just another way we found to entertain the crew in a manner in which they could all participate.”

“You had me worried there.”

“You think I’d hide crew problems from you and the family? That isn’t like a surprise foal birth!”

“No, I suppose not. So, two griffons are finalists, hey? I know that they’re both bigger than the average pony, but I would have thought Eon at least would have been in there.”

“Probably would have, but he’s in hibernation at the moment. Security isn’t a big issue, and his side job of engineering assistant is more than adequately covered by other crewmembers at the moment, so he’s taking a later segment of the journey.”

“Ah, I see.”

“That said, both of the griffons have said that they hope to have a match against him. Not that I think either has a chance. He’s been one of Blue Streak’s best students.”

Destined laughed. “I think Eon would win through sheer dread of disappointing our Warmaster!”

Wandering matched his laughter, but his attention was dragged away as the match appeared to be coming to a conclusion. Galen had Ortzi pinned, and despite the latter’s best efforts, he could not get free. The referee called a halt and Galen got up.

“Rats! Ortzi lost,” grumbled Wandering.

“What made you pick Ortzi over Commander Bluequill? It seems to me that the commander would be the clear choice.”

“Not as much as you would think. Galen is very experienced and broadly skilled, true, but I found out that this was one of Ortzi’s stronger talents. They were actually very evenly matched. Radiant disagreed with me and bet that Galen would win. So, I had to back up my opinion and take her bet, of course.”

Destined nodded. “I suppose that you did.”

Radiant Spark stepped up to Wandering at that moment. “Yeah, and now he has to pay up,” she said with a smirk.

“I’ll have the bits transferred to your account soon,” Wandering said with a sigh.

“Thanks, Captain!”

The mare walked off along with the rest of the dispersing crew, and Wandering started following suit to head back to the bridge. Destined fell in beside him and asked, “Are there more events to attend?”

“Nope. As I said, that was the ultimate one. Want to contend in the next one after crew rotation?”

“I’ll consider it. Anyway, while we’re on the subject of hidden talents, have you learned anything else of interest about your crew?”

“Well, not talents, but I did learn an interesting fact about one of our crystal ponies.”

“Oh? Which one?”

“Albite Feldspar. He and I were chatting when he brought up Dad’s first visit to the Crystal Kingdom.”

“You mean when Papa Free overdosed on love energy?”

“Yeah – when he became the ‘Alicorn of Lust’ as Mom described it.”

“Was he even born then?”

Wandering shook his head. “Nope, but that’s when his father was conceived.”

“Ooh! So his grandparents were caught up in one of the lust blasts?”

“Yep. Turns out that they were married, so the unplanned conception wasn’t too big a problem, but Albite still credits Dad with his existence because his grandparents didn’t have plans to raise any more foals.”

Destined grinned. “I’ve heard plenty of stories from that incident, but that’s a new one for me. Is that why he joined House Path?”

“One of his major reasons anyway. Apparently he got the chance to meet Dad and they had quite a chat.”

“Ha! Papa Free has never quite lived that incident down. He was probably happy to hear something positive from then. Any other news from home?”

As a matter of fact, I have a juicy bit of gossip.”

Wandering stared at his herd-brother. “Since when do you pay attention to gossip?”

“Since it involves Auntie Celestia. She has a special somepony!”

Wandering halted in surprise. “What?! After all this time, she’s finally dating again?”

Destined nodded and grinned. “Yep.”

“Okay, now I wanna hear about that!”

“Auntie’s personal secretary passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, so there was no one lined up to replace her. One of Celestia’s honor guards volunteered his time until the secretary could be replaced. He said that he was fairly familiar with the routine and would do his best to fill in until a new secretary was chosen. Auntie was intrigued by the offer, and agreed to give it a try. Turns out that while he was hardly as proficient as the former secretary, he was good enough and he was kept on because, and I quote Auntie, ‘I enjoy his company’. Eventually after no replacement was forthcoming, the guard queried Celestia about his position and he was asked to stay on in the job. However, he informed her that he felt that he could not continue as both her guard and as her secretary.”

“So, what happened?”

“She promoted him and discharged him from the Royal Guard on the spot.”

“She can do that?”

“Of course – Princess Celestia is Commander-in-Chief of the entire Equestrian military.”

“And how did he feel about that?”

“He asked her for a date!”

“Ha! I like him already. And what’s the name of our bold stallion?”

“Auric Thunderstrike – he’s a pegasus.”

“How did you find out all of this?”

“Well, their relationship has been growing over the past year, and they recently decided to take a short vacation together – anonymously of course. However, Auntie needed someone to take over Day Court in her absence, and she confided in me before leaving the responsibility in my hooves for the duration.”

“I want photos next time you visit!” Wandering demanded as they entered the bridge.

Destined chuckled. “Will do.”

“Will do what?” Starry asked curiously.

“I’ll tell you later,” Wandering replied. “Anyway, Des, do you have anything else to tell us before you go back?”

“I have the usual batch of hoof-written messages to pass onto you and the rest of the crew,” he replied as he levitated a bundle out of his saddle-pack. “I also have a piece of equipment for Techbird that she could not manufacture on board. I’ll still be coming at the next scheduled meeting. I just wanted to let you know about Glide Path in person rather than via comm.” He passed the packages to Wandering.

Starry gave Destined a hug. “Thanks for coming, Des. It’s been good seeing you again, even if briefly.”

“Same here, Sis. Anyway, gotta go. Can’t wait to tell the family about the mutiny.”

Starry blinked. “Say what?”

Wandering laughed and said, “Don’t worry, Starry – the insurrection was suppressed.”

The mare was really perplexed now. “Are you going to explain that, brother?” she asked Destined.

“Nope! Seeya!” he winked and teleported away.

Starry turned and glared at Wandering. “Talk! Now!”

“That’s ‘Talk! Now! Captain’,” he replied with a laugh.

“Grrrrrr!”

Wandering decided that he had teased Starry enough and it was best to quit while he was ahead. “How do you feel about gaining a potential new uncle…?”

Starry settled down by the stream and waited patiently, appreciating the gentle sounds of the babbling brook and the breeze through the trees. Occasionally a bird would flit by or a butterfly would flutter around some flowers, but otherwise she was undisturbed. After all, that’s exactly how she had designed it. When your mother is the mistress of the night, you learned early how to shape your dreamscape. Tonight though, she hoped that she would be sharing it.

Time was fairly meaningless in this dreamscape, but she felt that she did not have to wait long before she heard hoofsteps approaching. Without turning around, Starry said, “Hello, Mom.”

Luna settled down beside her daughter and nuzzled her. “It’s good to see you again, daughter.”

Starry nuzzled her mother back, saying. “Thanks for making the effort to come see me.”

Even though distance was no barrier to Luna in the dreamscape, even the Moon Princess was subject to the tyranny of relativistic time dilation, and she found it difficult to synchronize with any of the crew of the Cosmic Lotus. Therefore she tended to restrict her visits to the most important ones.

“I thought you would want to talk more about the news that Destined brought today,” Luna replied.

“Why did Lucy keep her pregnancy a secret, Mom?”

“You do not accept the explanation that she intended it as a surprise?”

Starry shook her head. “Who keeps that kind of thing a surprise?”

Luna sighed. “In truth, there was some intention of surprising you. With the time dilation, you would only have to wait less than a quarter of the pregnancy anyway. But that certainly was not the main reason. Your sister is much older than you – far older than a griffon would normally consider having a child, or even a pony. No one was sure if this applied to a hybrid hippogriff too, but it became plain that, unlike us alicorns, they are no exception. Lucida’s pregnancy was unexpected because she thought that she was past fertility, but she was happy nonetheless. That is until she miscarried. It happened just before Destined was due to visit and pass on the news.”

Starry was shocked. Destined had not even hinted to Wandering that there had been a problem previously. The fact that the family had not informed them of Lucida’s pregnancy earlier was not an issue – they always preferred telling that kind of news in person, and Destined was their proxy. However, obviously they had chosen not to burden their voyaging children with the sad news.

“What happened after that? How is it that she now has a healthy foal?”

“Lucida was exceedingly distraught over the loss. Even though the child was unplanned, he was already loved. As the weeks passed by and Lucida remained mired in misery despite our best efforts, we came to the conclusion that she had her heart set on having another foal. She and Hypotenuse were encouraged to try again, but this time it would be with the utmost attention to the care of both mother and unborn child. Fortunately, Hype was able use her changeling abilities to imbue Lucida with enough of her love to facilitate the conception. We spent all those months worrying and caring for her and the child, none of us daring to announce the pregnancy due to fearing another miscarriage. Fortunately the foal was carried to full term and was born healthy.”

“I understand now. Do you think Glide Path has been affected by his unusual conception?”

Luna shrugged. “He has no obvious trait such as Wandering’s twisted horn, but I would not be surprised. We will all just have to wait and see what eventuates.”

“I’m happy for Lucy, whatever happens. Glide looks like an adorable foal.”

“He is indeed. I fear that he may be thoroughly spoiled.”

Starry smirked at her mother. “With you as the prime culprit, I suspect.”

Luna gave Starry a quiet smile in return. “It took me centuries to make a family, and I will do whatever it takes to make any additions feel loved. Besides, I think you turned out fairly well despite my best efforts.”

Starry giggled. “I’m sure that I must have given you some troubles.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Some? Daughter, I can’t wait until the day that you have a foal of your own to take care of. Then I will watch and smile smugly while you desperately try to cope.”

“No you won’t. You’ll help me because you’ll want to be the best grandmother in Equestria,” Starry stated with conviction.

Luna chuckled. “Ah, you know me too well. So, is there any chance yet of making that come to pass?”

Starry shook her head. “Not while we are on the Lotus anyway. Mom – Wandering and I have been sharing a bed since early in the voyage.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “And you are only now telling me this? How deep does this go?”

“We comfort each other and fill each other’s needs, but we are not lovers, if that is what you are thinking.”

“Are you sure of that, Starry Path?”

When her mother addressed her by her full name, it always made her pause to think. “We cannot afford to let it be more, Mom. We are siblings, even if not related by blood.”

“Sometimes I wish for simpler times when such an association would be irrelevant, but I must bend with the mores of the present. Starry, I see no fault in your present relationship, but I understand your reluctance to go further. Know this though – I will support you, whatever you decide.” She enveloped her daughter with a wing and pulled her into a warm hug.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Anytime, dear daughter.”

The two enjoyed a long moment of quiet togetherness before Starry thought of something else that she wanted to bring up.

“So what’s this I hear about Auntie Celestia finding a special somepony?”

Luna’s face lit up with the most gleeful of grins.

# # # # # # # # # #

Author's Note

My usual thanks to Airy Words for pre-reading. :twilightsmile:

Also a quick reminder to look out for the further adventures of Purple Point on his creator's story page.

Halfway (part two)

Author's Note

If this chapter is part 2, where is part 1? The answer is that it's in my other story - Life, Love, and Death in the House of Path. If you haven't already, you may wish to read that first as the events are relevant.

Also very relevant is the Purple Point fanfic written by Alden MacManx. Important details can be read in the latest chapter of Purple Point - His Life in Space.

AFTER you have read this chapter, you may wish to read the episode of Life, Love, and Death in the House of Path -> Breaking a Path <- if you haven't read it already. Repeat: AFTER you read this chapter.

Halfway (part two)

“We have confirmation from Equus, Captain. We have officially passed the halfway point in our journey,” Starry reported.

Wandering smiled and leaned back in his chair. “It’s becoming more real all the time, isn’t it, Starry?”

“What exactly do you mean?”

“The dream. The goal of discovering what is out there. For five years we’ve lived our lives and kept a sense of community so that we can make this extraordinary journey. Being confined to a metal cylinder hurtling through space for year after year takes real dedication. Only dreamers like us could make the trip. Now that we’re halfway to our goal, that dream has become more substantial.”

“You’re certainly waxing philosophical today,” Starry replied with a smirk.

“Well, I have to say something deep for the record, don’t I?” Wandering replied with a wink toward the chrome changeling crewperson on duty.

The ’ling grinned and made a show of recording the alicorn’s words.

“So – time for the Halfway Happening?” Starry said, referring to the name that they had given to the party that they had planned for passing the halfway point on their journey.

“Yes. I’ll have a word with Galena about reviving all those in hibernation who insisted on participating in the event.”

“It’s going to be pretty crowded for a while, isn’t it?”

“Considering that 94% of the crew want to party, I’d say so. I’ll also alert Engineering to ramp up life-support to cope. Hmm… Radiant Spark is currently in charge, but she doesn’t start her shift for another hour, so I’ll talk to her then.” He turned to the changeling. “Zinth – let Fatima know that we’ll be needing more fresh food supplies soon.”

“Aye, sir!” the ’ling replied as he put that information into the system.

At the same time, Wandering felt the mini-network light up with sub-directives to all the changelings associated with both the food production and life-support systems, as he knew that Zinth would do. Five years of familiarity with the network made this an almost automatic response because the changelings thoroughly understood their controller’s methods and desires. He got up out of his chair and turned back to Starry. “I’ll go see Princess Galena now. You’re in charge of the bridge until the end of your shift.”

“Aye, Captain,” Starry replied formally.

As Wandering headed to the hibernation department, he encountered the occasional crewmember who would give him a happy smile. The alicorn returned it, knowing that the word had already spread from the changelings to their workmates. He seriously doubted that anyone awake did not know it by now, especially Galena. Nevertheless there were details to work out in person and schedules to be made. Coordinating an event as big as this was going to take a lot of work.

He encountered Ixia apparently heading towards the mess hall for a meal break, and she seemed to be walking a little gingerly. “Are you okay, Ixia?” he asked solicitously.

The yellow changeling paused, and gave him a smirk. “Fun fact – dragons don’t tire as easily as any other species.” She then proceeded, still walking gingerly.

Wandering stared after her for a long moment before he hastened on his way. She did not have to elucidate any further. In fact it was close to too much information. Her relationship with his dracopony nephew was an open secret since he had called her his charoite gem, and he insisted that he only kept the finest jewels in his hoard. Wandering had only found that out as a consequence of his concern that the changeling crewmembers were all making stable relationships for the duration of the voyage. He admitted that he never saw that one coming though. When he asked Eon why he called her that, the dragon pony told him – ‘Because that’s what she tastes like.’ He wisely did not ask any more questions after that!

When Wandering reached the hibernation department, he was informed that Galena was in her office with Techbird. He nodded and thanked the changeling drone and knocked on Galena’s closed door. His ears swiveled forward as they picked up the sound of people hastily moving around before Galena called out, “Enter!”

Wandering entered to find Galena behind her desk with Techbird at rest in front of it, and he repressed a grin. A lot had changed since Galena had formed a sub-net with Techbird. After the initial overload of work that nearly incapacitated her, the changeling princess had reached a compromise with the elderly griffoness which throttled back the amount of stress that Techbird put on the net. However, Galena still got a heavy mental workout that had gradually improved the changeling’s capabilities.

One other unexpected consequence though was that their constant intimate cooperation had begun to spread from a mere working relationship. This had been of great benefit when Techbird had finally completed her special project – a golem body built on crystal magitek. Galena had supervised the placement of Techbird’s real body into a special pod that enabled her to stay conscious even while her life functions were slowed to near stasis. Then the network connection that they shared enabled Galena to shift Techbird’s consciousness into the golem body, freeing the griffoness from the tyranny of old age.

Their association did not end there. In fact their very intimate mental relationship had surprisingly blossomed into a deeply personal one, and the two were rarely found apart. This had been of profound psychological benefit to both, and even though they were very different people, they complemented each other. The only mystery to Wandering was that they somehow didn’t realize that he knew very well that, if they could, they’d be doing what he would be doing with Starry. The noise that he had heard was probably them scrambling to disengage from a cuddle in order to maintain the illusion of propriety.

“What can I do for you, Captain?” Galena asked ingenuously.

“I wish to go over the schedule for reviving the hibernating crew who want to attend the Halfway Happening.”

“Ah, yes – Techbird and I were just discussing that.”

‘I just bet you were,’ he thought with amusement. “Okay – pull up the list and let’s get started.”

Despite the time dilation problem, the crew of the Cosmic Lotus had long ago worked out a method of coordinating with Mission Control back on Equus, and a visit by Destined Path was scheduled for the beginning of Wandering’s next shift. Starry, more often than not, kept the same schedule as him so that they would both be off-duty together. Their personal bond had only strengthened over the years, although neither was inclined to explain it to any of their family as yet, other than Luna. They were both willing to procrastinate revealing that little detail until the end of the voyage, if possible.

Thus they were both on the bridge awaiting the arrival of their brother, with two extra crewmembers instead of the usual one due expecting to need them in charge of the bridge while the alicorns left the control room with Destined. Right at the scheduled time, the Alicorn of Time appeared next to the mana beacon, grumbling as always did about the temporal distortion that gave him trouble.

“Hi, sibs,” he greeted them, although a little more subdued than usual.

“Hi, Des. Are you trying to make a fashion statement, or is that the new rage these days back on Equus?” Starry asked with a smirk.

Destined raised a puzzled eyebrow. “What are you talking about, sis?”

“The yellow sequined mane-band that you’re wearing.”

“What mane-band?”

“That one,” Starry pointed out with a giggle.

Suddenly the mane-band flew off Destined and in a flash of light, changed into an odd mismatched creature.

“SURPRISE!” the unexpected visitor shouted.

“Flix? How did you get here?” Destined asked.

“Hitched a ride, Des. You told me that you couldn’t teleport anyone along with you, and you could only take small parcels. I figured you wouldn’t even notice a mane-band, so here I am!”

“Didn’t you think that your presence or chaos magic might have thrown me off?!”

“Nah – I had confidence in you, bro.”

Wandering and Starry gaped. Both had been born after Flix had been petrified, and neither had ever known him as anything other than a statue in the House Path training grounds.

“You’re really our brother?” Wandering asked.

“That’s big brother to you,” Flix replied with a grin.

Starry gasped with joy and flung her forelegs around the chimera’s neck. “Oh! I never thought I’d ever be able to hug you!”

Flix chuckled as he hugged her back. “You’re an alicorn, sis – you would have been around for however long it took for me to be freed.”

Starry pushed back a little to look into Flix’s mismatched eyes. “How do you even know us?”

“Although I was a statue, I was still aware of what was happening around me. Whenever you were in the training grounds, I could watch you. Heck! Mom visited me every day and brought you around when you were foals to introduce you to me. Even then she had faith that I would hear her words. I got to watch you both grow up.”

Wandering listened with wonder and happiness. He chuckled and said, “It’s about time you got around to fulfilling your big brother duties.”

Flix laughed. “Not sure what I can do for a century-old little brother or sister, but I promise it will be fun.”

“You sound a lot like Professor Discord,” Starry said.

Flix shrugged. “I was his prize pupil, so it’s hardly surprising.”

Destined said soberly, “Flix – you’re stalling.”

Flix’s expression drooped and he sighed.

Starry frowned and asked, “What’s wrong, Flix?”

“Destined was going to tell you the news anyway, but it’s more personal to me. Mom passed away the night after I returned.”

Starry gasped. “Momma Roseclaw died?!”

Destined replied, “Yeah. She passed away in her sleep due to old age. We reckon that she had only managed to stay alive this long because she was determined to see Flix again.”

Starry stepped up to Flix and gave him a comforting hug. “You must be devastated to lose your mother so soon after being freed from being petrified.”

“I was a wreck for the rest of the day. I’m still waking up in tears every morning. I’ve been using humor to cover up how I feel.” He looked into Starry’s eyes and gave her a lopsided smile. “Judging by the tears filling your eyes, you’re not much better off than me.”

“Make that all three of us,” Wandering said. “After we discovered that the time dilation was going to prevent Destined from ferrying people back and forth, we knew that our voyage was going to be long enough that we might never see some of our parents again. We did our best to express our feelings through letters, but it still hits hard now that it has actually happened.” He spread his wings to enfold the two of them.

Destined followed suit, and all four silently shared their loss for several moments.

Eventually they pulled apart again and spent a minute composing themselves.

Wandering eventually asked, “How is Papa Path taking it?”

Destined replied, “Pretty bad. He broke down during the funeral, and he hasn’t left his room since. It’s been nearly four days since Mama Roseclaw passed away even though it’s been less than half a day for you. We saved this news for the scheduled visit so that I could deliver the news personally. I hoped that Dad would have pulled himself together by now, but not even Papa Free has been able to get him out of his misery. If it keeps up, the family will have to find some way to intervene.”

“How is Dad’s health?” Starry asked. “He’s not an alicorn or a changeling queen, so he must be feeling his age, and his wife’s death can’t be helping.”

“Dad’s health is fine, Starry. He’s still fit as a fiddle with not a grey hair in his mane. It’s only his spirit that is depressed,” Flix replied.

Wandering said, “Don’t tell any of the other crew about her death except Eon. He deserves to know, but I don’t want to put a damper on the celebrations for everyone else. That can wait until much later. Keeping up morale is always a priority on board the Lotus.”

Destined nodded. “Of course. And since Flix has decided to hitchhike along with me, I say that we put him to work entertaining the crew.”

Flix’s grin returned. “Laughter is the best medicine, even if it has to be self-administered.”

Only the Park was big enough to contain the expanded crew numbers, but five years of plant growth and constant work by the gardeners had changed it from a plant-lined tube into a true linear parkland that gave the party a more festive air than when it was last used for such a large gathering. There were little nooks and patches of grass where couples or even small groups could sit down. Sculptured ledges further up the tube walls catered to the winged members of the crew which left more floor space for the ground-bound ones.

Flix, Destined, Wandering, and Starry entered the Park and the chimera immediately started drawing attention. Many of the crew had seen the statues in House Path’s main training grounds in Griffonia, either from having trained there or visited at some stage, and there was no mistaking the transformed hippogriff. He quickly gained a large audience as they moved deeper into the Park. Even those who had never seen the petrified son of the House Path founders were astonished by the bizarre creature that had a dragon’s right arm, a griffon’s left arm, pony and bunyip hind legs, one changeling eye, and a sea-pony’s tail. They followed him, exchanging comments and speculation.

When the crowd had grown so great that he could not move forward anymore, Flix raised his dragon arm and snapped his talons. Fireworks and streamers burst harmlessly overhead, quieting the gathering and focusing their attention on Flix.

“Greetings, Cosmic Comrades!” Flix declared with a broad smile. “While a lot of you may have heard of me, I’m sure that some of you haven’t, and so, let me introduce myself. I am Flix, son of Lord Long Path and Lady Roseclaw, student of Professor Discord, and Master of Chaos. Not to mention hero of the zebra invasion of Griffonia,” he added with exaggerated false modesty. “I’ve come here to join my sister and brother in celebrating passing the halfway point in your journey. Now I realize that you think you know how to throw a shindig, but you’ve never had one Chaos Style!”

“Flix, what are you up to?” Wandering asked suspiciously.

The chimera grinned back. “Don’t worry, Captain, O Captain – you’re gonna love this!” He snapped his claws and a giant book appeared in his other arm. On the cover they could see a stylized CL logo, and Flix started flipping through the pages. “Let’s see… yadda, yadda, yadda…. Yeah, relativistic travel is a bitch, isn’t it?” He flipped a few more pages ahead. “Bling, bling, bling… whoa! Okay now, that was creative.” He looked around until he met eyes with Purple Point. “You, sir, are a linguistic master! Good on ya for making my li’l bro blush.” He went back to the book. “Yes, yes, yes! WHOA!” His eyes went wide as he looked at Wandering. “Really? Really?”

Wandering didn’t even know exactly to what Flix was referring, but he felt himself blushing anyway.

Flix chuckled and went back to the book, flipping a few more pages. Starry and Destined craned to look over Flix’s shoulder to look at the book and went cross-eyed trying to read the words on the page – if you could even call them words as they were in constant motion on the page. Flix laughed before he looked up at Galena. “Yeah, Techbird is like that.” He shut the book and it went poof in a puff of smoke, while at the same time two puppets appeared on his shoulders. One looked like an orange changeling, the other looked like a sea-pony.

“All hail Flix the Magnificent,” the changeling puppet declared.

“Flix the Prognosticator!” the sea-pony puppet added.

“Now, for the party, I have something special planned. Since this is my first party in ages and I have so much energy accumulated after all these years, it’s time I really flexed my muscles.” The book reappeared along with a bookmark, and he placed it into the midst of the pages with an exaggerated flourish. Then he threw it up into the air and snapped both his griffon talons and dragon claws. The book disappeared and at the same time everyone felt a strange, powerful magic wash over them.

“Flix… what did you do?” Starry asked with deep concern.

The chimera looked over to her. “Save point.”

“What?” was all the flustered alicorn could say.

Flix turned to the gathered group. “For the next twelve hours, there are no consequences, a-a-n-n-d ask me for something – anything! I can guess what you all want, so who is going to be the first one to tell me what they wish, hmm?”

Wandering spoke up. “Hey now! I don’t want you to do anything to my ship without my–”

Flix cut him with a raised claw. “You’re welcome!” He snapped his fingers and Starry and Wandering disappeared. He turned his attention back to the rest of the crowd. “Now there are limitations. No, I can’t send you to visit Equus for a few hours. If I did that, as soon as you appeared, you would cause an explosion that would take out most of the city you wanted to visit. I can’t bring back the dead because… just trust me – you don’t want to meet him, and there is no point in wishing for all the bits in the world because where would you spend them? But if there’s something you would do on this ship if you only could, ask me now.”

The crowd was still unsure of both Flix’s intentions and abilities, so the chimera started to help some of them out. He laid his eyes on Xanth who had one foreleg around ColdFire. “You! Don’t be shy! Let me help your relationship along.” He snapped his talons and Xanth transformed into a pegasus.

ColdFire took in Xanth’s new look and then turned back to Flix. “Xanth has transformed into that pegasus form before for me, so what’s so great about this?”

“Umm, no, Coldy. This is different,” Xanth said with wonder in his voice.

“Huh? Why?” the puzzled mare asked.

“I’m a pony. I mean – I’m not a changeling in pony form – I’m a real pegasus pony! This… is so weird.”

ColdFire’s mouth went round in surprise as she said, “Oh.” Then her face split in a grin. “Oh! So, two wishes for the price of one! Thanks, Flix!” She grabbed the bemused new pegasus and started dragging him away from the crowd and out of the Park.

“Two happy customers!” Flix declared. “Who’s next?”

“Umm… you said anything, right?” asked Albite Feldspar.

“You heard right, friend,” Flix assured him.

“I know this might seem silly, but I have been dying to taste my favorite meal from Apple Bee’s restaurant near my home.”

“A stallion of simple pleasures. One deluxe feast for you, my friend!”

A tray loaded with food appeared hovering in front of Albite. The crystal stallion grinned in delight, took the tray in his mouth, and trotted away to enjoy his meal.

Flix looked around and spotted Techbird’s Griffish golem form. Their eyes met and he smiled. “Hello, Tech – long time, no see.”

The crystalline magitek construct stepped up and cocked her head. “It really is you, Flix. You are a most unlikely visitor.”

“That sounds just like me,” Flix agreed. “It’s good to see that you’re still pushing the boundaries of science.”

“While you’re still abusing reality,” she replied with a chuckle.

Flix grinned at that. “Yep. So what can I do for you, Tech? Free wishes for everyone, even golems.”

Techbird smiled. “I only have one wish, and that’s to find the answer to my Question.”

“And I am certain that you will. But I see the years have not been kind, and you have had to resort to extreme measures to ensure that you do find your answer, which sadly, I cannot provide. So, I’m going to make a wish on your behalf.” He snapped his talons.

Techbird gasped, which in itself was impossible. While the golem body could mimic her natural griffon form, it did not need to actually breathe or eat, nor perform most bodily functions. Basically it was a vehicle for her mind while her real body reposed in a pod. But now she started breathing, and her crude crystalline form smoothed out and her colors brightened. When the magic died down, the occupants of the Park were gazing at the griffon equivalent of a crystal pony – a living being.

“What have you done?!” Techbird demanded even as she looked over her new form.

“Just a few improvements – all the benefits of both your natural body plus those of your golem body, minus the drawbacks. I’m certain that a certain changeling princess will appreciate them.”

Techbird quickly discovered that her new body could also blush, but she turned to meet Galena’s eyes, and the changeling nodded in approval.

The crowd finally caught on that even the most unusual wishes could be granted, and they started clamouring for the attention of their bizarre visitor. Flix’s smile grew as he started flexing his power and granted many diverse wishes. Finally he was left with a few indecisive individuals, and one troubled unicorn.

“So, Point, why don’t you make your wish?”

Purple Point frowned at the chimera. “Some things are beyond even you.”

“Are you sure of that, my eloquent friend? You are asking for the ridiculous, which is the essence of Chaos.”

“If you already know, then why don’t you just do it?” Point challenged.

“You just had to ask,” Flix replied with a knowing smile, and he snapped his talons.

A red-orange pegasus with white wings, mane and tail appeared beside Purple Point. The stallion stared at her, and she looked back in shock.

“Sunrise Flight?” gasped Point.

“Radiance, what’s happening?” the mare asked.

Purple Point turned to Flix. “Is this some sort of bad joke?”

Flix’s smile never wavered. “No, Purple Point, or should I say Radiance Glow? This is really your sister whose soul you have been carrying around with you for years. About time for a sibling reunion, don’t you think?”

Sunrise put a hesitant hoof on Point’s shoulder. “It’s really me, Radiance. I don’t know how he did it, but I’m really here in person.”

Point looked at her in wonder. “Sister…”

“Why don’t you introduce me to your friends?”

A smile lit up the stallion’s face.

Wandering stared at Starry in surprise. “Well, that’s new,” he said in a voice that was an octave and a half higher than normal.

Starry looked at herself and replied in a mellow baritone, “You’re telling me!”

“You wished for that?” Wandering asked, her eyebrow raised questioningly.

“I think we were both curious,” the stallion replied. “After all, you’ve enjoyed being a mare before, even if it was as a zebra.”

“And you wanted to know what the other side was like?”

Starry smirked. “So, I have a kinky mind. Are you going to do something about it?”

Wandering hesitated. She was more than a little intrigued by the idea, but something was bothering her. “If Flix can do this to us, what is he doing with the rest of the crew?”

Starry reached up to put one hoof gently on Wandering’s cheek. “He’s really like Professor Discord. You know that while some of his actions are a little crazy, they’re never harmful. Trust our brother.” He then gave her a gentle kiss.

Wandering smiled and said, “You’re right – I don’t believe Flix would do any harm. Let him and the rest of the crew have a little fun.” She then pulled Starry to herself and kissed him passionately, and the stallion responded in kind.

It was not for a couple more hours that the gender-swapped couple rejoined the party and braved the curious questions of the crew.

The Halcyon III colony was still fairly new, but it at least had a properly established base near its spaceport. The temporary initial structure had been replaced by a permanent multi-purpose building that served as both the seat of government for the fledgling colony, and as the base for several essential services. Two such services were interstellar communications and port control which included monitoring the planetary neighborhood. Since neither were especially busy at most times, they were both located in the same room along with several other minor services, with just two slightly bored staff members watching the equipment.

An alert sounded, and the fox morph next to the device that had issued it peered at the screen.

“That’s odd. Are you aware of any unscheduled starships coming here, Raskar?”

The Rakshani turned around and peered at the vixen’s station. “No, there hasn’t been any notification, nor any emergency alerts. Not that anyone should be any all the way out here on the extreme frontier anyway. What are you seeing?”

“The geosat is picking up a mid-size ship of unknown configuration heading our way. Looks like it’s on a course for a low orbit.”

“I suppose we’ll find out soon. I’ll try to open communications with them.” He pressed a couple of switches. “This is Halcyon Three Colony Central Control calling incoming starship. Please respond.”

Raskar waited for a long moment before trying again with the same result. He frowned and changed frequencies before attempting to make contact once more, but again there was no response.

“It’s no use – either they have equipment problems, or they’re ignoring us.”

“That’s very strange. Scans from the geosat are not showing any signs of damage. Still can’t identify the origin of the ship either. Must be a new– what the hell?!”

The Rakshani tensed up. “What’s wrong, Alicia?”

“They fired on the geosat! It’s offline – probably destroyed.”

“Merciful gods!” Raskar swore. “I think we’re under attack by pirates!”

“What pirates go to the trouble and expense of coming all the way out here just to steal farm equipment and construction supplies?” she asked.

Raskar never got the chance to respond.

“The link to the Halcyon Three colony went down an hour ago,” Ben Kumar reported to his supervisor.

The Caitian female frowned and asked, “I assume that you have checked the relays?”

“I did. Pings come back from them all. Only the satellite orbiting Halcyon Three failed to respond.”

M'Lisseena nodded. “If their geosat is experiencing problems, we need to give them a day to try to rectify the situation. Report back to me tomorrow if the issue isn’t resolved.”

“Okay, boss,” Ben replied and headed back to his station.

The next day, he was back in M'Lisseena’s office.

“Twenty-four hours and still not a peep from Halcyon Three.”

The Caitian grew concerned. “Too many failsafes for that to happen. We’re going to have to send out an inspector to check out the situation. I’m bumping this up to the next level.” She tapped the screen in front of her to get in touch with her superior.

“Contact with the inspector’s ship was lost minutes after arriving at Halcyon Three,” the Director of Federation Colony Services informed Star Fleet Command. We request an immediate investigation of this situation.”

The Commandant nodded gravely. “I will assign a ship to check it out and report back to you as soon as possible.”

“Thank you. Hopefully this isn’t as bad as it seems.”

“Indeed. I will keep you informed.” The Commandant closed the connection and he frowned. Unlike the Director, he did not have as nearly an optimistic feeling about the situation. He queried his computer for ships in that sector, and then sent out a subspace signal. His screen soon lit up showing the face of bear morph.

“Captain Yuri Ursa, here. What can I do for you, sir?”

“Captain, you are to proceed immediately for the Halcyon Three system and investigate the reason for the cessation of all communications from it and from the Star Corps colony inspector’s ship that went to check out the problem. Proceed with caution – this smells bad to me.”

“Understood, sir. We are approximately seven hours from Halcyon at standard warp speed. I will report as soon as possible.”

“Very good. Star Fleet Command out.”

The Betelgeuse was a medium-sized ship – fast, armed and armored to deal with pirate raiders and other dangerous situations. Even so, Halcyon Three’s remoteness meant a lengthy wait until they arrived at the star system with shields at the ready. Under Yellow Alert conditions, they cautiously approached the planet, every sensor active and straining for the least bit of information. They did not care if this made them conspicuous, only concerned that they would not miss a thing. They quickly found the missing inspector’s ship, and realized that it was a derelict with massive damage.

“Red Alert!” Captain Ursa declared. “Hostiles may still be in the area. Everyone on your toes!”

The entire bridge crew grew tense as they worked every possible technique to determine what had happened to the inspector’s ship, and who had perpetrated it. Then one of the crew spotted something.

“Captain! An unknown ship in orbit around the planet has just cleared the horizon. I think they have spotted us too as they have altered course.”

“Phaser cannons at the ready. Shields to maximum. Helm – ready evasive maneuvers!” Ursa growled.

“The ship is firing! Some sort of plasma discharge I think!”

The helmsman pushed the ship down and to the left, evading the blast.

“Return fire!” the captain ordered.

Phaser cannons spat out beams of terrible power. Unlike their enemy’s weapon, the beams travelled at light speed and struck their target.

“Their shields stopped most of the beams, but some minor damage to their armor,” reported the Weapons Officer.

“Keep firing!”

The enemy fired again, but the distance between the two ships had decreased rapidly and the helmsman barely managed to avoid the blast.

“What is the nature of that weapon they’re using?” demanded Ursa.

“Unknown, sir! The only thing registering on our instruments is energy in the visible spectrum, and that appears to only be a side-effect,” the ermine morph at the science station reported.

“How can that be? It has to register somehow!”

The enemy ship took another hit, but continued approaching anyway.

“Back off,” ordered Ursa. “I don’t want that ship any closer.”

The helmsman started to comply just as the enemy ship fired again. This time they were too close to dodge.

“Brace for impact!” the captain shouted.

Although they were expecting a shudder as the shields absorbed and deflected the beam, they were shocked to see it pass though as if the shields did not exist. The beam struck the Federation ship with fury, blasting away the hull and everything underneath it. The hapless ship spun, hurling its crew around as power failed to several systems including the inertial dampers. Emergency power quickly was restored to the bridge, but several of its staff were either unconscious or groaning in pain after being thrown from their stations.

Captain Ursa fared better as he was partially encapsulated by his command chair. “Helm – get us out of here! Maximum warp!”

The helmsman had been thrown into his control console, so although he was in a lot of pain, he was both functional and able to respond to the command. He brought the warp engines online, but just as he was about to execute the command to go to warp, they were struck again. One of the warp engines went offline, reduced to scrap as more of the ship was torn apart, and survivors were either killed or more seriously injured. Miraculously, power remained for the remaining warp engine and the Betelgeuse slipped into hyperspace.

There were several tense moments on the bridge as they waited to see if the enemy pursued them. In their crippled condition, there was little doubt in their minds that they could not outrun their foe’s ship if it had similar FTL capability, but eventually they came to the conclusion that they had escaped.

“Damage report!” Ursa barked.

“Port warp engine destroyed,” the Systems Engineer reported. “Main engineering still online but main power couplings are gone. Power rerouted through secondary circuits. Life support lost to decks three to seven. Casualty reports starting to come in, but initial numbers suggest that we have lost a third of the crew. Communications offline, but we should be able to get backups online soon.”

“Let me know as soon as we can contact Star Fleet headquarters,” the captain commanded. “Weapons Officer – I want to know why our shields failed.”

“They didn’t, sir.”

“Don’t tell me that! This ship has been badly crippled and I want to know why!”

“Sir, the instruments tell me that the shields were functioning perfectly, both before and after the first hit. It’s the weapon that they used against us; it did not react at all to the shields.”

“That’s not physically possible!”

“I know, sir, but the evidence speaks for itself. I have complete recordings of the event, for all the good it may do. I have no idea as to the nature of that energy used against us.”

Ursa scowled. Star Fleet was not going to like what they had paid so dearly to learn. Worse yet, he was going to have to explain to the families of his deceased crew members how a Federation battlecruiser had failed to protect the lives of their loved ones.

The Betelgeuse was halfway home before communications was restored and the bad news passed on. Star Fleet Command immediately alerted the entire fleet and issued instructions for all shipping to evacuate the sector. An emergency meeting of the Federation Council was held, and after it was concluded, the President made a Federation-wide broadcast.

Kyran Judd, the Voxxan Head of State of the Stellar Federation, gazed gravely at the camera. “My fellow citizens, it has come to our attention that an unknown enemy has chosen to attack a colony world and two ships sent to investigate why it had ceased communicating with us. Recordings of the active scans taken during battle by the Federation battlecruiser, Betelgeuse, revealed that the Halcyon Three colony has been wiped out, along with a Star Corps’ Colony Service ship. The Betelgeuse was heavily damaged but managed to return to warn us of the danger. The nature of the attack and the weapon used against us have led us to one terrible conclusion – we may be in a state of war with an enemy who has no compunction against killing us on sight. May our deities preserve us.”

# # # # # # #

Chaos and Organization

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Fight For Life

Captain Adrian Spain wore his usual stern and serious look, an appearance that the dog morph had cultivated assiduously ever since joining Star Fleet as a cadet. Anything else tended to give him an aspect of adorable cuteness which had been the bane of the cocker spaniel’s life. Curly golden hair and large floppy ears simply did not have the same gravitas as a German Shepherd or mastiff. Of course he had been the butt of many a joke due to his looks, some light-hearted, but too many had been mocking or nasty. In spite of this, he had borne the harassment with studied indifference and graduated at the top of his class. That dedication to his career had resulted in a steady rise through the ranks until he had achieved command of a ship of his own – the FSS Centurion. Today, his seniority saw him in charge of all four ships that had been sent to investigate the fate of the Halcyon colony. He gazed seriously at the visages of the three other captains on the large view-screen.

“To sum up, Captain Haaster is to take the Ultimax and concentrate on scanning the planet to determine the condition of the colony, and whether there are colonists requiring rescue.”

The female Voxxan nodded in agreement.

“Captain Adrax will follow closely in the Warrior Spirit and ensure that the Ultimax is fully defended while their crew is scanning.”

The blue-striped Rakshani’s scowl had not changed throughout the final briefing. He had been quietly hoping that he would get a chance to put the aliens’ defenses to the test. He had probably lost a close cousin in that colony.

“Captain Firedrop will position the Katapult further back to actively seek out the enemy craft. Because phaser fire was of only limited use against the enemy’s armor, we’ll see if the Katapult’s mass driver is more effective.”

The black-furred and red-spotted chakat grinned. “I’ve yet to see the armor that can stop one of my depleted uranium shells.” Shi was far too eager to use the weapon against something other than practice targets.

Spain frowned at the chakat. “The line-of-sight nature of that weapon makes it cumbersome, so don’t neglect your other weapons. I will have your back in any case.” His eyes scanned across all three of the captains. “Remember that above all else, it is of vital importance that we get absolutely as much data on the enemy as possible. Was the ship a lone scout? What is its full offensive potential? Can we determine its purpose there? And what is that bizarre unknown energy that was used so devastatingly against Federation ships? The fate of other colonies might depend on what we learn today.”

“The ship may have moved on since the Betelgeuse escaped from it,” Haaster pointed out.

“In which case we will have lost a valuable opportunity to learn about the enemy, but we may be able to concentrate on determining what has happened to the colony and search for survivors without worrying about being attacked. Whatever the case, we go in expecting the worst. Although the Science Corps has tweaked our shields, even they admit that they have no idea if that will be of any benefit against the enemy’s strange plasma weapon, so play it smart and assume nothing.” Spain rose to his feet. “Captains, we arrive in five minutes. Red Alert conditions are now in effect. All weapons and defenses set to maximum. Good fortune, gentlebeings.”

Spain’s First Officer, a Caitian named M’Nassaleeta, closed the comm connection and triggered the Red Alert. “All hands to battle stations. Arrival at Halcyon in five minutes,” she announced before turning to the cocker spaniel morph. “What do you expect that we’ll find, sir?”

Spain nodded at the small catlike officer. “The Federation has been extremely fortunate so far in its encounters with new species. Aside from some initial clashes with the Rakshani, our history has been fairly peaceful. I believe that eventually we are going to run out of luck, and this unknown enemy may be our turning point. I hope that I am wrong, but I fear that we are seeing the beginnings of a much larger conflict.”

As they headed out of the briefing room to the bridge, M’Nassaleeta said, “So you expect that we will find that ship there?”

“Nassa – I’m praying that that’s all we find today.”

As they stepped onto the bridge, one of the crew announced, “Captain on the deck!” The officer in charge surrendered the command chair to the captain and took up a position at another station. Spain settled into the chair, his eyes scanning the bridge and assessing the ship’s readiness. “Report!” he barked.

“Shields at maximum!”

“Phasers hot and ready!”

“Anti-matter missiles ready!”

“Plasma bombs ready!”

“All scanners set for maximum resolution!”

“Attack and evasion flight patterns locked in and ready!”

“Engineering ready!’

“All stations report readiness,” M’Nassaleeta announced. “Three minutes until we drop out of warp.”

The young officer at the navigation station turned toward Spain. “Sir, if I may ask, why bother with the shields if they are ineffective against the enemy’s unknown weapon? We could use the extra power for our own weapons.”

Spain frowned at the navigator. “Ensign, how many different types of weapons does this ship utilize?”

“Umm… three, sir.”

“Is it your considered opinion that the enemy has only the one? Or do you believe that our shields would be useless against all their weapons?”

“Uh, no sir. I retract my suggestion.”

“Good idea. Attend to your station, Ensign.”

The young morph turned his attention back to his board, fearing the likelihood of a poor assessment at the next quarterly performance review for his ill-considered idea.

The remaining couple of minutes dragged by seemingly interminably, but then their warp engines shut down and they dropped out of hyperspace well outside of the planet’s gravitational influence. It is said that no battle plan survives engagement with the enemy, and never was it truer than now. Although they had anticipated the possibility of more ships joining with the single one encountered by the Betelgeuse, no one had dreamed that they would be met by a huge swarm of enemy vessels encircling Halcyon like flies around a corpse. The four Federation ships were immediately in trouble. The enemy ships reacted quickly and started pursuing the Ultimax as it continued on its assignment in spite of the setback. The Warrior Spirit was already bringing its weapons to bear.

Just as had happened to the Betelgeuse, the enemy ships began firing upon the Federation ships without preamble. The plasma weapon was unleashed, but the nimble starships were able to easily dodge at the current range. The Katapult and Centurion immediately joined the fray. As before, phaser fire was far more accurate and successful than the enemy’s plasma, but the blasts that got through the enemy’s shields did little damage to their armor plating. It was time for less conventional armaments.

“Centurion, I’m discontinuing evasive maneuvers to line up a mass driver shot,” Firedrop announced. “I have no shortage of easy targets. Watch my back!”

“We have your back, Katapult,” Spain acknowledged.

As the chakat’s ship stopped accelerating and dodging, it drew the attention of several of the enemy.

“Target Katapult’s hostiles. Fire anti-matter missiles!” Spain commanded.

Several missiles launched, one to each of the attackers. Three connected and exploded, destroying the enemy ships, while the Federation ships’ shields flared as they blocked the torrent of radiation from the anti-matter annihilation of regular matter. Another two missiles were destroyed by energy beams from the enemy ships that continued to approach, only to be hit by more missiles that came from the Katapult. Just because it was focusing on using its mass-driver did not mean that its crew could not use its other weapons. Power was being reserved for the mass-driver though, and the ship shuddered as a steel-clad uranium shell was spat out of the maw of the linear accelerator. It crossed the intervening distance in a blink of an eye and smashed through its target effortlessly. With a gaping hole in its structure, the ship now drifted helplessly. This was exactly what the Federation team had been aiming for – a disabled ship that they could salvage and study. Unfortunately, due to the enormous swarm of enemy ships, they had zero chance of grabbing the derelict.

The battle continued at a frantic pace as the Federation ships struggled to keep out of the path of the plasma shots from the enemy while returning fire with missiles and phasers, trying hard to find a weakness in the enemy’s defenses. Then things made a turn for the worse.

“Sir! More ships approaching from the far side of the planet!” the crew person on Sensors announced, the tension in her voice evident.

Spain considered the holo-viewer which gave a three-dimensional overview of the battlefield. It was rapidly getting crowded with red dots representing the enemy ships.

“Centurion – we have sustained a hit!” came the voice of Captain Haaster. “Shields still ineffective against the unknown plasma. We cannot maneuver sufficiently to avoid all the ships that are pursuing us.”

Spain barked, “Abort your mission, Ultimax. Fall back but continue long-range scanning as you do so. All ships – we are going to be overwhelmed at this rate. Form up and prepare for retreat.”

The Katapult stopped using its mass-driver and concentrated on defensive fire and evasion as they waited for the Ultimax and Warrior Spirit to join them. Spain noted the damage done to a section of the hull of the Ultimax that fortunately had missed the warp engines, but he wondered how many of the crew had not been so fortunate. The enemy closed in on them, seemingly careless of their own safety in their efforts to destroy the Federation ships, but when the Warrior Spirit and the Ultimax finally rendezvoused with the others, Spain gave the order to depart.

“Go to Warp One, withdrawal course Alpha One” Spain commanded. “We still have to assess their FTL capabilities. Increase warp speed just enough to keep ahead of them.”

The four starships slipped into hyperspace, quickly followed by the enemy. As planned, they gradually increased their warp speed until it became obvious that their pursuers could no longer keep up.

“Enemy ships maxed out at Warp 3.2, sir,” the navigator announced.

Spain nodded in acknowledgement and hit the inter-ship comm. “All ships – top speed on current course for the next two hours, then set course for Star Fleet Base Three. Ultimax – status report, and what can you tell us about the colony?”

Haaster replied, “We have made emergency repairs to the bulkhead and we’ll be fine until we get back to the base. Three crew members have been confirmed killed, with fourteen more injured. And what colony? All traces of Federation presence have been erased and resources appropriated by the enemy. No signs of survivors. There’s a huge… nest or something there though.”

An image was sent over from the Ultimax, and Spain stared at it in revulsion. A nest, Haaster had called it, and indeed it resembled something like a wasp’s nest, only the size of a twenty-story edifice. He growled lowly. They had been swarmed like insects, and they built structures like insects. Even their spaceships could now be seen as chitin-armored vessels. Were they indeed dealing with an insectoid species that colonized worlds at the expense of any other species? They had failed in their mission to bring back a ship to discover its secrets and identify their enemy, so it was all speculation. Spain could feel it in his bones though – the Federation was going to have far too many opportunities to try again.

“SURPRISE!”

Coldfire nearly jumped out of her skin as a couple of dozen of her crewmates gathered about her. “What’s all this about then?” she asked as she tried to calm her fluttering heart.

One of the mares replied, “We heard about your pregnancy and we’re throwing you a foal shower.”

Coldfire blinked. “But how? As the Captain pointed out, we are not set up for caring for a foal.”

Amethyst Scroll grinned. “Never underestimate the power of improvisation. Albite Feldspar figured out how to reprogram the fabricators for a few necessities.”

The expectant mother smiled. “I should have known. But you realize that the Captain is going to put both the foal and myself into hibernation as soon as the foal is weaned? We won’t be needing much before then.”

Another mare laughed. “Take it from someone who has raised a filly already – you’re going to need every bit of help that you can get before then. Now hush up and let’s get this shower under way!”

Coldfire giggled. “Okay, let’s see what you’ve come up with.”

As the gaggle of mares drew Coldfire away, Starry watched on with Wandering by her side. “So – you made your decision. Coldfire seems happy.”

Wandering nodded. “Galena recommended against putting Coldfire into hibernation while pregnant. The suspension process runs the risk of interfering with the development of the fetus. She says that a healthy foal would not be a problem though, and suggested to do so after weaning. It seemed the best option, and both parents are happy with that alternative.”

“How did the mares find out it though?”

“I might have let it slip quietly.”

Starry looked at Wandering and snickered. “You big softy!”

Wandering shrugged. “I’ve been a new mother – I wanted Coldfire’s experience to be better than mine.”

“That’s understandable. The foal is going to be notorious for being the first to be born among the stars though.”

“Ah, well, I can’t do much about that. Some things are out of my purview.”

“What if we have a foal of our own?”

Wandering stiffened. “You aren’t suggesting…?”

“Not now. But I would like my foal to be born among the stars too. Or are you planning to stop exploring them after this mission?”

The stallion looked at Starry who returned his gaze hopefully. He smiled back at her. “Y’know – I haven’t made any plans for after the mission, but I like the idea of exploring the stars with you.”

“Keep on wandering the stars, you mean,” she replied with love in her voice.

“With my mate by my side,” he agreed, leaning forward to give Starry a kiss.

“Always,” she replied just before their lips met.

They kissed for a long moment before drawing back and Starry grinned.

“The House of Path bringing Harmony and Friendship to the stars, with Wandering and Starry in the forefront. Sounds like a worthy goal.”

Wandering nodded. “I look forward to the possibility of meeting other civilizations. It’s going to be marvelous!”

“It’s going to be full-scale war if the Swarm makes its way to other inhabited star systems,” Admiral Tirarsk declared.

One of the first things that the special council had decided was to give the enemy a name, and due to the nature of the attacks upon the Federation ships, ‘Swarm’ seemed to be most appropriate. It also gave the situation a frightening edge.

“Our preliminary analysis of the data that Captain Spain’s taskforce brought back suggests aggressive colonizers who eliminate all opposition and take over their resources. The sheer numbers that they dedicate to this task for even a single planet indicates that resisting their invasion is going to be difficult at best. We have no direct evidence of what their plans are beyond Halcyon, but my gut tells me that they won’t stop there indefinitely. Maybe they will take the time to expand their presence on the planet, or maybe they will begin moves to the next star system immediately because they have already established a foothold there, but either way they are coming, and we have to prepare.”

“Has the Science Corps learned any more about the plasma weapon?” Senator Barr asked.

Tirarsk shook his head. “They are still mystified as to the nature of the energy despite the mountain of data that they were provided. However, they have identified a second side-effect that can be used to detect its usage other than the visible light show. It might not be of much use right now, but it is at least a first step.”

Barr sighed. “Not a whole lot of help to us, Admiral. We will have to be alert for future opportunities to discover their secrets. Right now though, I want all star systems between Halcyon and Federation territories to be put under manned or automated surveillance. All colonies in that path are to be on the alert for another swarm. I will be taking what we have discovered to the Federation Council to discuss what has been learned and formulate a response. It’s your task to ensure that we have the time to make an informed and considered decision.”

“Understood, Madame Senator,” the admiral replied. “Hopefully the slow warp speeds that they can achieve will buy us some time.”

The bear morph turned to the others on the special council. “Mr Tomas, Coordinator Blyss, your teams are to go to Stage Two. If the Swarm surprises us and Admiral Tirarsk informs the Federation Council that a colony is threatened, I want the first refugees boarding within minutes.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tomas replied.

“It will be done,” Blyss added.

“It’s a colt!” Doctor Zubon announced.

The panting and sweat-soaked new mother looked up to see her newborn son in his sire’s arms. Her tired face lit up with delight as Xanth placed their child on the bed against her belly where she gently stroked his mane. The pegasus colt’s pelt was pale blue, and his mane, tail, and wings were striped with various shades of blue-grey. The tiny pony opened his eyes and they could see that they were an even paler blue. If the child had any trace of its sire’s changeling heritage, it was not immediately apparent.

“Do you have a name for our son, darling?” Xanth asked.

“Skyborn. His name is Skyborn,” Coldfire replied.

“That’s a fine name.” Xanth lowered his muzzle to the colt’s and rubbed noses with him. “One more beautiful soul in this wonderful universe.”

“Casualties are estimated at eight percent,” Blyss reported.

“Why so high, Coordinator?” Barr asked. “That is unacceptable!”

“The resources were there, Senator, but many of the Pax colonists refused to leave their land.”

“Weren’t they aware that Star Fleet has had little success at even slowing down the Swarm, let alone stopping them?”

“They were informed of this, but were either convinced that they could defend themselves, or that they would prefer to die trying to defend their land,” the Faleshkarti answered. “I confess that I do not understand this tendency to let emotion override your ability to perceive reality, even to the point of discarding your lives based on your disbelief. You Terran species make some very strange decisions in spite of the facts.”

Barr sighed. “Story of the human race and its morph children, I’m afraid. We will have to deal with the fact that Pax and its remaining colonists are lost to us. Better to concentrate on dealing with the next probable target. Admiral – how long do you think before the Swarm gets to Valhalla Colony?”

“That star system is a long distance from Pax, and we suspect that the Swarm will check out a couple of intervening systems first, although we already know that they have no suitable worlds there. Our best estimate is a little over two and a half years.”

Barr nodded grimly. “I might be replaced by that time, but I expect that you will be preparing as best you can in the meantime.”

“We certainly hope that we can stop them by then, Senator. If we can’t, the future looks dire.”

“Why do you say that, Admiral?”

“Because our analysis of their travel pattern suggests that their next goal after Valhalla would not be a small colony, but a well-established independent world.”

“Which world is that?” Barr asked with trepidation.

“Chakona.”

Author's Note

Dun-dun-dahhhh!

Nothing more to add except to say that the art is as usual done by Foxenawolf. Go see her for all your illustrating needs.

Impossibilities

Wandering Path stared at the faint glow of the shield that protected the Cosmic Lotus from stray matter in its path. That glow had been growing a lot stronger lately, indicating that it was having to deflect far more material than in all the years that they had been travelling so far. It represented a greater drain on their power source than anticipated, but although it was not at a level to be concerned about yet, the rate at which the space dust was increasing was cause for concern.

“You say that you know what’s causing this, Starry?” Wandering asked without taking his eyes from the screen.

“I believe so, and answered another question at the same time.”

“What question was that?”

“You know how the sky is a dark purple normally? Well, although you can’t currently see that directly due to the distortions of relativity, the TESS was modified to compensate for those distortions. This allowed my department to study the stars as we passed by them. We recently had our closest approach to the last star before we reach the Far Star, and we noticed that the sky was changing color. In fact it was getting redder, the same red as the star we just went by. When we investigated further, we found that some patches of sky further away were bluer than others. We finally realized that what we were seeing was the light of the star being reflected by a cloud of matter, presumably dust like that which we are passing through right now, only denser. The fairly even distribution of red and blue stars reflecting their mixed light off this cloud has resulted in the soft purple glow that has filled the night sky for as long as we have known it.”

Wandering turned to Starry, a little shocked. “Are you saying that we are heading for a wall of dust? What will happen if we hit that wall at our current speed?”

“I suspect that the shield would be overwhelmed, but there’s no need to panic. The majority of the increased glow you are seeing comes from increased amount of hydrogen and helium atoms which our shield deflects harmlessly. While it’s true that we have been experiencing an increased rate of actual ‘dust’ collisions with larger particles, we made careful measurements, and as best as we could determine, the Far Star is located well before the dust density becomes a significant danger. However, you are overlooking one hugely significant possibility.”

“You’re the astronomer, Starry, not me. Spell it out for me.”

“If the sky represents a wall of dust, and Equus and all the stars we know are inside a bubble within a cloud, how much is there within, or even on the other side of that cloud?”

Wandering blinked as his mind was boggled by the thought. “Wow! We may have stumbled upon far more than we have ever dreamed.”

Starry smirked at her mate. “Yeah, that’s putting it mildly. This voyage is already starting to pay off in ways we hadn’t anticipated. The thing is – will we be able to do anything about that windfall once we reach the Far Star?”

“I regret that I won’t be able to answer that until we get there. Right now though, I need to determine if we need to start decelerating sooner to compensate for the amount of dust we’re going to pass through.”

Starry frowned and gave Wandering a serious look. “The best option would be to use the Far Star’s light hitting the solar sail to slow us down, allowing us to conserve resources.”

Wandering nodded. “And it still is. Can you give me some sort of estimate of what we will be encountering between here and the Far Star?”

“I thought you might ask, so I prepared that data for you.”

Wandering grinned. “Heh! You read my mind.”

“Execute course correction,” Wandering ordered.

Playbitz addressed the A.I. “CONN, rotate ship 7.4 degrees counter-clockwise and give me a 2.4 second burn on vectoring nozzle two.”

“Confirm rotation negative 7.4 degrees and course adjustment on vectoring nozzle two for 2.4 seconds,” the AI paraphrased.

“Instruction confirmed. Execute.”

The familiar sound of the attitude jets was heard briefly until the programmed burn was finished.

“Course correction completed, Captain,” Playbitz reported.

“Thank you, Playbitz. Starry – are you happy with the course now?”

The alicorn mare frowned. “Something is still off kilter. Triangulating from the readings of our last course correction, the light from the Far Star seems to be emanating from a point that is at least a light-day or two in front of where we measure the star to be.”

“That doesn’t seem possible,” Wandering replied.

“Maybe, but that’s what my instruments are telling me.”

“What if something unknown is distorting that distance measurement? We can’t afford to overshoot our target. Even if we slow down a lot, if we are still decelerating with the more distant goal in mind, we could end up wasting a lot of time and mana bringing ourselves to a halt, and then backtracking if the nearer distance is what we should be aiming for.”

“I’m sorry, Captain, but at the moment, I can’t give you a more accurate answer. The data just does not make sense. If you want a recommendation though, I say aim for the nearer point. It’s better than overshooting, and that would give us more time to study why we are getting such strange data. If these readings are accurate, it would solve one mystery though.”

Wandering raised an inquiring eyebrow.

Starry continued. “If the light of the Far Star really is coming from a point source fixed in space, that would explain why, despite having planets, the Far Star doesn’t show any ‘wobble’.” She nodded with conviction. “You remember how I’ve been fairly interested in finding out how this could be possible.”

The captain broke out in a wide smile. “You mean how you’ve been obsessed about it night and day since long before this mission started.”

The alicorn narrowed her eyes and flicked one ear irritably. “Yes, that.”

Wandering’s eyes twinkled for a moment before he resumed a more professional expression. “Since that was the final course correction before re-opening the sail, we’re ready to start the deceleration immediately. Give us your best estimate of where to aim for, and Playbitz can calculate the optimum braking program.”

Playbitz turned around in his chair to address Wandering. “I hope that you realize that this dust we have been encountering will complicate those calculations. Even with you reducing our mass to virtually zero, that miniscule amount left over will feel the impact of dust particles that will be hitting us at close to the speed of light. While they in turn will have their effective mass reduced, that’s still a spectacular amount of energy.”

Almost on cue, a deep note sounded through the hull, the result of a minute particle that had managed to force its way past the magic shield and impact upon the thick forward armoring.

Wandering nodded. “Good point. We’re going to have to be cautious when unfurling the sails. Once they are fully open, we will have a much better idea of what we are up against. Who knows? It might end up a blessing in disguise. Instead of expending a lot of our mana supply to power light bombs to use on the sail, the dust might help considerably.”

“Or it might incur damage to the sails,” Commander Bluequill pointed out.

“It might,” Wandering conceded, “but it’s not as if we have a choice in the matter. The sail is our sole means of decelerating from our present speed, so it has to be deployed. We will do so cautiously though, and the sooner that we start, the thinner the dust will be, and the quicker we will get data upon which to make an informed decision. I will leave that to you, Commander, as you’re the engineering expert. Once you are sure that we have a sustainable approach, you can work out with Playbitz our best course of action.”

“Aye, Captain,” the griffon replied.

Wandering leaned back in his command chair and smiled. “Ladies and Gentlebeings – things are about to get real interesting.”

They thought that it was a perfectly feasible plan. While there was no longer anything that they could do about Halcyon or Pax, the slow nature of the Swarm ships would make them a ready target for a fleet of fast Federation starships. Crews were trained with advanced evasion tactics that would see them concentrate on the safety of their ships before trying to destroy any of the enemy. Hard-won experience had shown that even a glancing hit from the unknown plasma weapon could do untold secondary damage, frequently incapacitating a starship in spite of not making a direct hit upon critical equipment. How this happened was just as big a mystery as the nature of the plasma itself. While the Ultimax had in fact gotten off very easily, many other Federation ships had not fared so well. Frustrated with the loss of ships and personnel, Star Fleet temporarily suspended operations against the Swarm until its new attack squadron was ready.

After the strike force had engaged the Swarm fleet, the operation was considered a huge success. While the progress had been slow, the Federation fast cruisers steadily whittled down the enemy, eventually destroying the last of their ships. Only a couple of the Fleet ships had sustained some minor damage, and with zero loss of lives. The authorities breathed a sigh of relief. That was only to last a few days. Scouts brought the news that another Swarm fleet was coming, no less than five times the size of the first. The Swarm was fanatical, but not stupid. Their ships travelled close together, forcing the Federation ships into greater danger in their attempts to launch a fatal attack upon them. No amount of evasion could keep them out of the Swarm’s battle sights for long, and Star Fleet started losing ships again. While the hit-and-run tactics were still effective, the opportunities to strike were far fewer, and the battle dragged on for days. Eventually the Federation won the engagement, but at the loss of half their strike force. It was time to go back to base and lick their wounds. Even the knowledge that they had saved the Valhalla colony was barely enough to bolster the spirits of the weary warriors. However, at last they had their hands on a few of the enemy’s ships. While the sheer viciousness of the fight had obliterated most of the marauders’ starships, three were intact enough to study and they took them in tow, mindful that the Swarm crews would likely still be extremely dangerous to any boarding party. It came as a shock when all three self-destructed by virtue of releasing their anti-matter containments, leaving nothing worth examining.

A month later, Star Fleet Command was aghast to learn that a third Swarm fleet was approaching Valhalla from another vector. Size estimates ranged from ten to twelve times that of the original. One thing was perfectly clear – there was no way that the Federation could fight that with high-speed strike and evade tactics alone. Fortunately the Science Corps had not assumed that their troubles with the Swarm were over, and they had been feverishly developing new weapons, chief among which were the warp-drive enabled nuclear missiles that could be remotely piloted. Production was prioritized while the colonists on Valhalla nervously awaited action from Star Fleet. However, recognizing that a half-baked response might reduce the effectiveness of the assault against their implacable enemy, Fleet Command held back until it was deemed that they had a sufficient quantity of them. Dreadnoughts hauled the missiles into range and launched them all in a huge deadly salvo. The first few missiles struck, destroying their targets completely, but to the shock of the remote watchers, the rest of the Swarm vessels reacted nearly instantly, bringing up defenses of their own. Energy beams intercepted missile after missile even as they dropped out of warp. While at least half of them still got through and found their targets, a large portion of the invaders avoided destruction and continued on to their goal.

An emergency session of the Federation High Council was held in conjunction with Star Fleet Command. The military arm of the Federation had to concede that it could not guarantee that they could stop the Swarm before it reached Valhalla. Virtually all the stockpile of missiles had been used in the assault upon the Swarm, and even if they had time to build more, it was doubtful as to their effectiveness. Whatever their shortcomings in FTL travel, the aliens’ other systems were more than competent, capable of detecting and intercepting the missiles with alarming regularity. Other weapons were untested and not ready yet, giving the Council no other option. They ordered the evacuation of Valhalla. This time it was mandatory, with special teams sent out to gently but firmly remove recalcitrant colonists from the planet. A few obsessive fools managed to hide from the authorities, but in the end, only a handful of beings died when the Swarm finally reached Valhalla.

Clad only in her normal uniform, albeit in active protection mode, Techbird made her way out onto one of the eight solar sail booms. The sails were attached to it with carbon fiber cables via motorized pulleys that could tension or relax to warp the sails to the optimum angle for propulsion. The uniform’s protective spells sustained her living crystal body even better than it would an organic one, and she took a moment to enjoy the unequaled freedom of movement that it gave her here, surrounded by nothing but the vast emptiness of space. No bulky spacesuit was interposed between her and the ever-closing Far Star. She could sense the abysmal cold without being affected by it, and in her imagination, she could feel the cosmic wind blowing in her crystalline feathers. She spread her wings to revel in it for a long moment before she sighed and brought her attention back to the reason that she was outside the ship. Carefully, Techbird made her way up the sail boom.

One of the adjustment motors had failed, and Techbird had volunteered to replace it. The space environment was far more hazardous than it had ever been due to the constantly increasing amount of dust travelling at relativistic speed, and it was a big risk to a regular crewperson. She, however, had a far more rugged form, and while she would not appreciate a hyperkinetic impact, she could survive it. She reached the housing of the pulley motor and shook her head in dismay at the sight of a gaping hole through it. A tiny fleck of matter had done all that damage, and during the few remaining months of their journey, it was likely that they would get many more impacts. Already the sails had several punctures, but due to their thinness, the affected areas were only a few centimeters wide, and with a sail that was measured in square kilometers, their performance was virtually unchanged. The inability to warp the sails for steering was a problem though.

Techbird muttered imprecations at the vagaries of fate that had led to one of the most important features of the enormous sail mechanism being hit. The damage to the housing made it difficult to prize it apart, but eventually it swiveled open with a screech of tortured metal that she only ‘heard’ through conduction of the material of the boom. With the unit exposed, she operated a clamping device to secure the cable before proceeding with the repair. Tethered to her waist were a number of tools, and she detached the pulley from the motor with them. Next she unbolted the ruined motor, disconnected its power and control cables, and pulled the massive mechanism out of its enclosure. She could see now that the projectile, while doing enormous damage to the motor, had failed to penetrate it completely. Apparently the offending speck had lost too much momentum while passing through the shield that it had failed to hit as hard as other impacts had. The point was moot though because the unit was no more useable for having been hit less hard. Techbird secured it to the boom before tugging on the line that was attached to the replacement unit. Magnets had weakly held it to the hull until she was ready, and now it floated over to her. Allowing for the inertia of its great mass, the crystal griffon brought the motor to a halt, and then maneuvered it into the enclosure. After connecting the wiring harness, bolting the mechanism into place, and reattaching the pulley, she released the cable clamp.

Touching a button on the sleeve of her uniform, she said, “Techbird to bridge. Replacement motor has been installed successfully. Ready for testing.”

“Acknowledged, Tech. Stand by while we run the tests,” came Commander Bluequill’s voice.

Techbird watched as the motor came to life, pulling the cable in, then letting it out again. This happened three times before it halted and the commander’s voice came to her again.

“Diagnostics show normal operational parameters. You may finish up now, Techbird.”

“Acknowledged, bridge. Closing up now.”

Techbird forced the recalcitrant cover closed and latched it securely. Reaching into a pocket of her uniform, she pulled out a roll of silver-blue sheeting. She carefully stretched it over the hole in the cover and molded it to conform to every curve of the surface of the panel. Then she pulled out a small cube from a separate pocket and laid it upon the sheet, activating the spell with which it was imbued. There was a flash and the sheet turned purple and went rigid, welded into place. Satisfied with the result, the griffoness then made her way back down the boom, towing the destroyed unit with her to have it recycled. She attached it to the same magnets that had held its replacement before detaching its towline from her belt and securing it to one of the ship’s tie points next to the airlock. Having done that to her satisfaction, she then started walking up the length of the ship, much more nimbly than when Steam Shift had done the same years ago. She reached the foremost point of the starship and then secured herself to a tie point. Only then did she relax and allow herself to enjoy the grandeur of the scenery.

Surrounding her was the purple, blue, and red of the mysterious dust wall, broken only by the faint glow of the magic shield that protected the ship from the matter that it was deflecting away. This was punctuated by a brilliant point of light that was the Far Star. Of course the star’s color was a bit deceptive because of the blue-shift of the radiation that it emitted, but it was nonetheless the beacon that had beckoned them onwards for many years. Now that they were at last slowing down to rendezvous with the Far Star, that destination was feeling more and more real, and closer to answering the question that she had been asking since she was little more than a teenager. She lay down with her back to the hull and gazed upon the star, trying to wrest its secrets by will alone.

The sound of little bells made her ears twitch. The impossibility of hearing anything in the vacuum of space did not stop her from turning her head towards the apparent source of that sound. A grey unicorn stallion with a long beard, clad only in a dark blue cape and hat from which the bells dangled, smiled at her before taking a seat beside her. Techbird noted that his clothing, appropriately, was decorated light blue crescent moons and yellow stars. He looked up at the same scene that Techbird had been watching moments before.

“Wonderful, isn’t it?”

The fact that he should not be even able to breathe let alone speak did not seem to bother the unicorn who seemed very familiar to Techbird, although she would swear that she had never met him before. She considered his question in spite of that. “Is it though?”

“What do you see?” he responded.

“What do I see, or what do I know is there?”

He grinned as he turned to her. “An even better question!”

“I see what used to be featureless purple sky, a universe of stars behind me, and the only star that matters in front of me. I know that there have to be unified physical laws of the universe, and we can explain everything we can see except the Far Star. If we figure out that star, everything else will fall into place.”

“Ah, I see. You know, not once, have you asked who I am or what I’m doing here.”

“It could be one of two things; either I’m talking to myself and I’m starting to go mad, or you are an unknown aspect, another part of the Puzzle. If the first, there is nothing I can do about it, and if the latter, I’m already working on it, so it is not worth worrying about.”

The unicorn chuckled as his horn lit up, and a rolled piece of paper sealed within a bottle appeared by her crystal talons. “A pragmatic view, to say the least, but nonetheless efficient.”

Techbird looked down to the bottle. “What’s this?”

“You may hit a roadblock while trying to work out the ultimate answer to your Puzzle. The message within is both a clue and a signpost,” he replied in a sly tone.

Techbird’s eyes lit up with excitement at the unicorn’s words, and she turned to face him only to be met by nothing but an uninterrupted view of the sky. She looked back down towards her talons, but the bottle was still there. She grasped it hastily, but to her relief, it did not fade like the pony phantasm. She pushed it inside a pocket in her uniform, sealed it, and started making her way back when she was startled by another voice, a much more prosaic one however.

“Bridge to Techbird – are you having any problems?”

“Negative, bridge,” she replied.

“As you had not re-entered the ship, we were beginning to wonder.”

Techbird could sense the reproach in Bluequill’s voice. “Sorry, Commander, but I am bringing in something that might excuse my tardiness.”

“And what would that be, Techbird?”

The elderly griffoness gave a childlike giggle. “A note from my teacher, sir.”

There was silence on the comm for a long moment before Bluequill responded. “I’ll wait until you report to me before I try to make sense of that. Bridge out.”

Techbird grinned as she hastened back to the airlock. She looked forward to him trying to do that!

The bottle was stoppered by what seemed to be an ordinary cork, although Starry felt an old enchantment dissolve as she used her magic to remove it and extract the paper from the bottle while Techbird told them about her encounter.

“You’ve just described Starswirl the Bearded,” Starry said, skepticism strong in her voice.

“I described an apparition – you identified him,” Techbird said pointedly.

“In any case, Starswirl died centuries ago, and even if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be out here at the edge of the known universe, chatting with griffons on the bow of a starship!”

“I never said he did, but isn’t it possible that a long-dormant sophisticated spell was triggered by our presence here?”

“What? Nearly forty light-years from Equus? Impossible!”

“And yet Destined can teleport this far. Why not Starswirl?”

“There’s nothing here!”

“No, but it’s on a direct path to the Far Star. I believe it’s an indication that we are on the correct path to learn all the answers to our questions.”

“We don’t need an indication! We’re going to the Far Star anyway!”

“Starswirl said this note would help solve the Puzzle.”

“A note that is indecipherable,” Starry grumbled, waving the offending piece of ancient parchment in front of the griffoness.

“He said that it would be a clue toward solving the Puzzle when I encountered a block to my path to understanding. It can wait.”

“How do we know that you did not make that bottle yourself to prank us?” Command Bluequill suddenly spoke up.

Techbird glared at the blue griffon, and although he was bigger and stronger than the hen, Bluequill wilted before the gaze of the she-griff who was twice his age. “I am a scientist, not a prankster. I observe, I collect evidence, I make hypotheses, and I test my ideas. I do not make bottles or invent foal’s tales.”

Starry reached out with her wing to enfold the irate crystal griffon. “Sorry if we upset you, Tech. It’s just that this is so far-fetched that I am having a hard time getting my head around it. I’m just going to accept what you say for now and hope that things become clearer later. I suggest that you discuss it with Wandering and write up a full report. Send it along with pictures of the bottle back to Equus. Perhaps they will have some insight.”

Techbird nodded. “That seems sensible. Now if you will excuse me, I am weary from my work today. I bid you goodnight.” The griffoness slipped free of Starry’s wing-hug and exited the bridge.

After she had gone, Bluequill looked at Starry and asked, “Do you believe her story at all?”

Starry sighed. “Commander, I may be an alicorn and powerful with magic, but Starswirl was reputed to be unsurpassed in the magical arts. If anypony could do this, he could.”

“So you do believe her.”

“There’s one thing that I can’t refute.”

“The bottle?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“While we were talking, I cast an analysis spell on it. It’s at least a couple of millennia old – far older than I can determine, but I also detected the remnants of a preservation spell when I opened it. Techbird was right about one thing at least – we were meant to find it. Whoever actually put it in her talons must have had the means and a reason to do so. Hopefully Techbird will learn that reason.”

Bluequill settled back down in the command chair, grumbling under his breath. “Let me stick to the hardware. I’ll leave the mumbo-jumbo to you magic-users.”

Starry grinned, winked at the other bridge crew who had been discreetly following the conversation, and replied, “We’re all magic-users, even grouchy griffons.”

The griffon merely snorted and let the subject drop.

Star Fleet Command was frustrated. In the years since Valhalla had been lost to the Swarm, they had been trying every conceivable idea to deal with the inexorable advance of the alien enemy, only to be quickly countered. Remotely guided gravity-bomb equipped missiles worked to disable the alien ships in warp right up until the Swarm started intercepting them before they could even reach the enormous convoy. All remote real-space offensive tactics were severely reduced in effectiveness within months of being put into action. Close-in attacks worked, but left the attacking vessels vulnerable to the mysterious plasma fire. A material was found that was fairly resistant to it, and this was used to armor swift fighters, but resistant was not the same as impervious. Two strikes in the same place were enough to cause it to fail. Many brave fighter pilots had died finding that out. Many still took their chances, playing the odds that they would not take a double hit anywhere. Because of the sheer number of enemy ships and their tendency to concentrate fire on a limited number of Federation ships at a time, it was near suicidal to try, but Star Fleet Command did not order the practice to stop. They could not afford to. Many millions of people of many races were depending on them.

They ended up adopting part of the enemy’s tactics – sheer numbers. They built great quantities of fighters, missiles, bombs, armor, and anti-matter clouds. They even threw rocks. Of course the rocks were asteroids massing gigatonnes, but once accelerated into the midst of the enemy fleet, they could neither be easily diverted nor destroyed, and because they were plain rock, they were exceedingly difficult to detect in deep space until too late. The Swarm’s advance was slowed considerably, but still more ships came to replace the destroyed ones, and they drew ever closer to Chakona. With enormous reluctance, the Federation Council ordered evacuation plans to be drawn up for that world in the event that Star Fleet could not find a solution. At the current rate of approach, they had little more than five years to stop their implacable foe.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

So close! And getting more tense all the time. Expect big things next chapter. Yes - bigger than this.

A shout out to Airy Words for his pre-reading and suggestions.

Inner and Outer Space

Author's Note

This little interlude was mostly written by Alaskaiscold with just a bit of input from me, plus editing. It might not really affect the storyline, but it's a nice peek behind the scenes of a certain couple's relationship.

Inner and Outer Space

Bored...

So bored...

Galena was the head of the Hibernation Department, which really meant that she was a glorified babysitter whose babies were always asleep. Making sure that the nutrient ratios were consistent took some effort, but once she figured out everyone’s basal metabolic rates, it was simple. It gave her time to think, poke around the changeling network, and see what Techbird was doing.

With the network being as it was, manipulating the mental net was a lot like locks in a canal system – the locks were individual connections and the water was the stream of consciousness or thought. Because of this, Galena had to be careful when navigating the network when Techbird was involved. To make this easier for everyone Galena devised a way to ping Techbird before she opened up the connection. That way when the locks were open for that brief moment, the stream of consciousness didn't flood out into the network. The princess figured that is what happened when Epiphany tried to link up with Luna – there were no safeguards in place, or the guards were too weak for the stream. Once it hit, it blew apart everything and collapsed the network.

When Galena pinged Techbird over the network, she felt the sympathetic bond echo back to her as well as the underlying emotions of love, adoration, and concentration. She knew that Techbird was just finished with her debriefing with Wandering, Starry, and the Captain, so maybe she was asleep? No harm in just taking a little peek?

Cosmic Dawn, (Unicorn), Doppler Effect (Thestral), Gravity Wave (Chrome Changeling), I need everything we have on our work right now! Techbird ran into the main lab and started to pull up everything she had on various topics – diffraction of the electromagnetic spectrum, current gravitational theories, current laws of physics both with and without magical inputs. At the same time, the two ponies and the one changeling ran around gathering scrolls and maps and putting them in the center of the room.

Techbird’s team did things... in a rather strange manner. They were atypical thinkers, much like the Pif think-tank back on the lunar colony, and this was no different. Once Wave levitated the scrolls in the correct orientation, Cosmic Dawn lowered the gravity spell in the room. With a slow flap of her wings, Techbird started to slowly move around the sphere of constantly moving data. She ran over every fact and every figure over and over again.

“Hypothesis: what if our hypothesis on our universe was wrong the entire time?” Tech barked out.

“Negating Data: none of our all-sky surveys have detected anything beyond the Far Star.” Gravity Wave chimed in.

“Query: have our sky surveys indicated a hard barrier or a gradual barrier?” Doppler spoke up.

“Analyzing.... Analyzing.... Out of our understanding of the electromagnetic spectrum, gamma rays, X-Rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, and microwave show an abrupt stop,” Techbird said.

“Query: what about radio waves?” Gravity Wave asked.

“Analyzing... Analyzing...” the griffon stated as she flew around the many many scrolls of raw data. “Hold on – I need to utilize the link in order to come up with a conclusion.” She searched her mind for the link to her mate-in-secret and smiled when she felt her pinging her lightly “She must have been able to tell.” She opened the link wide open and let the multiple threads of computation flow.

Galena’s eyes went wide as the connection was forced open. She had not been expecting the sudden flow, and the only thing she could do before she was swept away by it was send out a warning ahead of the shock to Wandering. She could not serve as the barrier this time.

Wandering suddenly stood up in his chair and sent out a warning ping to every other ling on the network. He tried to bolster his mental defenses against the might of Techbird’s mind, and he let out a gasp before everything went white.

“What...what happened?!” Ixia cried out as she looked around. This was not where she had been a few moments ago. Now when she tried to figure out her surroundings, she was in what looked like a large planetarium. On the ground with her, the changelings in the crew were waking up, along with Wandering Path.

“Okay, what in Tartarus is going on!” Wandering bellowed out.

Galena walked up to the group when a sheepish look on her face. “Okay... so you are all going to be mad at me, but this time it’s not my fault. I was going to ping Techbird before I connected with her but I kind of forgot, and right when I opened the link, she pinged me, and that kind of sent us here.”

Wandering helped everyone else to their feet. “So where is here?”

“Whenever Tech gets a huge problem she has to deal with, she starts multiple threads of thought, and each train of thought is given license to work out its issue. This is how she innovates at such a startling pace... well that and time in here isn’t like the normal world.” Galena went into lecture mode as she walked toward the center of the room and pointed up.

“For every second in the real world, a much larger amount passes here. That is how she’s able to come up with answers so quickly.” The purple princess nodded as she made sense of the situation. “Because I was surprised, I could not stop her from drawing everyone into our world. However, I am still shouldering the entire mental load so you should be fine. Because there is that disconnect, while you can see her, she can’t see you... I think. If she did, she would most likely try to force tasks onto you.”

Wandering was going to ask what exactly that meant when Techbird came up to them, or rather it was an unusual version of her. She was smooth, strong, and alluring, and she moved in a very sensual manner. Oblivious to the others, she wrapped a wing around Galena and drew her into an ardent embrace. While she couldn’t kiss because of her beak, she nibbled and crooned against the chitin around the changeling’s neck, her tongue moving up against her chin before speaking in a lustful and blatantly sexual tone, “And how is my Queen doing tonight?”

The princess’s eyes went wide and her wings buzzed slightly in response. Galena started to stammer as she searched for a way to explain what was going on to the rest of those in the mindscape without giving Techbird the idea that they were there. “Separating yourself into your core components to do a computation again?”

The Techbird that kept chirring around Galena nodded a few times. “Full Techbird can’t fully focus on things this complicated, too many distractions you know this. She has to separate herself to get things done. It’s not that bad – it means I get to have you all to myself while the others work on their projects.” She gestured up at her other aspects before she let out another deep croon. “Now...where were we? Shall I get the toy you lik-”

Galena's horn lit up to silence the catbird while Wandering and the other changelings looked up to see what looked like twenty other Techbirds all flapping around some kind of construct. While it looked like some strange geometrical figure, none of them could shake off the feeling that it was something greater than that.

Galena sighed a bit. “How many dimensions is she working in?”

The lusty Techbird was about to say something when a strange Techbird landed by them. One of her eyes was tinged like a Violet drone and it spoke in a cold, matter-of-fact voice as it paced back and forth. “Currently there are eighteen core Techbirds working on each facet of the problem; the maximum she can work on her own is four. With your help she can work in six, which still pales in comparison to her capacity when she’s a part of the Pif Network.”

Why does she need six dimensions – the problem isn’t that complicated is it?” Wandering said out loud.

The strange Techbird stared straight at him. “It’s not a function of complexity – it’s a function of capacity. Each dimension adds a new vector in which one can work, reducing the total time required for the task.” Wandering was about to speak when the strange bird spoke again. “Yes, I am a part of Techbird; no, I’m not going to use you to run calculations, and yes, I can see you because I’m the one directing the Techbird algorithm within the mindscape. I can see you but I can’t use you... such a wasted resource. Your sole virtue of being here is to distract the useless aspects of Techbird.” Strange Techbird gestured in the direction of the lustful Techbird aspect who was still basically groping an embarrassed Galena as Wandering closed his mouth.

Gravity Wave finally spoke up as he let out a whimper. “How long are we going to be in here for?”

“As long as it takes for Techbird to finish the calculations. However I don’t think that will be long, what with how many vectors we are working in and the relative simplicity of the problem. Maybe a few minutes in here, which equates to a few seconds in real time.” The griffon-ling sighed. “It was not our intention to drag you in here with us. Actually, the reason why this happened was that of coincidence. Right when Techbird pinged Galena to use her for the link, Galena pinged Tech wanting to come in. The result was similar to somebody running into a door right when somebody opens it. Galena is quite the Queen being able to maintain a connection with this level of strain and keep you out of my grasp.”

“Your grasp?” Wandering asked?

“I only care about two things, the Queen, and solving the puzzle. I will use everything in my power to keep her happy and solve the puzzle. That is why I was created,” the strange Techbird replied.

“What aspect of Tech are you?” Gravity asked.

Galena was the one that responded. “That is Techbird's Loyalty and Ambition,” she stated rather warily. “She’s the one you need to be afraid of.” The Princess moved in between the group and the one fragment of Tech. “Go back to the threads; we will wait here until you are done so I can reset the connection.

“As the Queen wishes.” Strange Tech smiled and flew back into the air to join the others, all working on the task at hand.

“Why do we need to watch out for her?” Wandering asked.

“When Tech is fragmented like this, you get pure versions of all of her sides, good and bad. This one is neither... in theory. But she’s pure ambition and loyalty – no restraint, no compassion. It’s why she and I have such an... intimate connection. When the link was first formed, I had to win over all of her cores or she would overwhelm me. Pif had herself, Free Agent, and all of her drones on her side, so it was rather quick. I only had myself, so it was a battle I just barely came out on top of. It’s why when you saw me in the cafeteria, I was so winded.” Galena sighed and looked up with a sudden smile. “The construct is almost done. That means she’s almost found her solution.”

The group of changelings looked up with wide eyes at the strange flowing construct created purely out of equations and proofs. A few of the lings shook their heads, utterly confused by what they were seeing.

All of the Techbirds suddenly froze and faded away, but after a few seconds one Techbird appeared with a smile on her face. “Conclusion: the exponential increase of dust strikes is because we are nearing the inner edge of a dense dust sphere. The Equus system is inside a hollowed-out portion of a cloud light-years across. Supporting data includes deep sky radar surveys, infrared surveys, point triangulation analysis, and physical theories seven, nine, thirteen, and thirty two pioneered by Cosmic Dawn. The Far Star is twenty light-days away, and the wall is approximately twenty five light-days away. Potential course needed to enter a high inclination elliptical scientific orbit is calculated.” She nodded once, and with the strain on the network reduced to practically nothing, Wandering started pulling the other lings out of the rather intense sympathetic system and into the less taxing parasympathetic system, leaving Galena and Techbird to themselves for now.

Techbird blinked a few times and looked around, sensing the change but not being able to notice what happened. Within a few moments, she shook it off and wrapped a wing around Galena. “So, now that the calculations are done, why do you seem so annoyed?”

The Princess huffed. “It still bothers me that I am not the Queen of the Cosmic Lotus changelings. I should be able to handle it. I have been getting stronger thanks to your sheer brain power, and they pale in comparison to you. Maintaining all of them would be a simple task. But no – I am not to be a Queen on the Lotus, and when we get back home, I am not to be a Queen there either.” She slumped slightly in sadness.

This melancholy mood, however, was countered by the love the griffon was feeding her. “How long have we been together, Galena?”

“Since Ixia had you talk to me, about three years ago.”

“And for this entire time I have felt that you were sad about this fact, the rightful queen cursed by being the youngest, never able to achieve her true destiny.”

Galena frowned a bit, not liking how her sadness was being trivialized. Before she could vocalize her opinion, Techbird stopped her by nibbling on her neck.

“Don’t you think I have been working on a solution for you? Pif and I have been working on a side project. You know one of the House mantras is to keep going forward, and this is the natural progression of this. Would you like to see?”

“What does this have to do with anything?”

Techbird started to grin as the mindscape around them started to shift. “Everything!”

When Galena looked around again, she was floating through space. When she turned around she was staring at a bright white ball in the pitch void of space.

“What... what is this?”

“This is what we think the Far Star looks like. We are still very, very far away so we can really just get a feel for its color and its intensity. Other than that, it’s a lot of speculation. But that’s not why we are here,”

The griffon held onto Galena's hoof as they shot toward one strange light point in the sky. As they zoomed toward it, the star became a little smaller but the star-like point turned into a large ring-like structure. As they floated around the structure, the silver outside gave way to a truly large settlement. Dwellings and buildings lined the edges with a central green strip of land going through the center. Down along the central way, they could see a tram-like object and beings walking along side it. Tech did not have the capacity to form mindscapes too intricate, so the beings had no form to them.

“Tech... what am I looking at?”

“The Far Star Colony. Free rules the Chrome Hive on Equus, Pif administrates the Lunar Colony, and we were thinking that you would be the Queen of the Far Star colony. Pif and I realized that from a single fly-by mission, we would not gather all the science of this feature. It would take a prolonged scientific mission, and with a mission such as this, we would need to be able to tackle new problems, and formulate new ideas. One of the reasons why I was picked as the Chief Scientist was because I had no problems with never returning to Equus if it meant an answer to my puzzle. When you combined that with the potential of a permeable dust barrier, it means that we would have so much to study before we were able to push past that. Pif and I have a few ideas, but it’s just been side notes to the data transmissions.

The pair landed on the roof of one of the taller buildings while Galena gawked at the scene in front of her. “We could live here. I could be the Queen of changelings here?”

“Not to begin with. First we need to get the colony in the right orbit and then construction begins. This is a massive project – so much larger than the Lotus.” She motioned to the stationary point in the center of the ring.

“What’s that?”

“The transport beacon hub – that’s the Cosmic Lotus. If we started construction right when we reached capture orbit, it would take twice as long to build as the lunar colony. But, if we can get approval it will be done.”

Techbird smiled for a few moments before she was tackled by Galena in her dark griffon form. She crooned and nuzzled into her neck fluff.

Galena let out a happy sigh. Maybe her destiny to be an unknown princess could be changed somehow, but for now she was just weary from having to host so many minds at one time. “Can we leave now? I’m kind of tired.”

The catbird just smiled. “We can, yes, and when I get back to our room, I’ll make you some love tea. How does that sound?”

Galena nodded before she nuzzled her companion. “Sounds good to me.”

With the computation completed and the last two occupants shifting to the parasympathetic network, the scene slowly faded into the void.

Unexpected Encounters

Playbitz scanned the large monitor screen in front of him, just as he had done thousands of times before. Instrument read-outs displayed on the screen’s edges were just as they should be, and the scene that they framed was virtually unchanging. The ship had slowed down enough that the image from the forward camera no longer had to be compensated for the Dappler Effect, but only one stellar object still was within its view. Having passed all the other stars, only their goal – the Far Star – remained in the center of its screen, with the background of dark purple, blue, and red that was the dust wall beyond it.

An intensely bright tiny ball of light suddenly shot into view and rapidly shrank into the distance. At a precise distance from the ship, it detonated into an overwhelmingly bright and huge sphere of pure light, but the screen automatically dimmed to compensate until the light source faded. The light bomb added another increment to the deceleration of the starship as the solar sails caught nearly half of its output. For days, the Cosmic Lotus had been drawing mana from the miniature star that powered the ship, priming the balls of energy with a spell to make them into light bombs, and then firing them ahead of the vessel at a steady rate calculated to slow them down just before reaching the Far Star, or at least the inexplicable point from which the Far Star’s light was emanating. It was far more gradual and less efficient than the alicorn boost that had started the journey, but it was nonetheless effective.

Playbitz swiveled around in his chair and said, “All systems nominal, Commander. Deceleration still on schedule.” He had said this dozens of times since they had started slowing the Cosmic Lotus, but while a little boring, it was nevertheless reassuring that everything was proceeding as planned.

Bluequill nodded. “Acknowledged, Lieutenant.” He gestured at the 3D display that was set up between them. Griffin knight to level two alpha five.” The magic game board automatically responded by moving the appropriate playing piece to the designated location.

Playbitz frowned. His thestral scout and unicorn archer were both under threat, but if he took them out of danger, his princess would soon be imperiled. He sighed – it looked like Bluequill was going to win another game. He heard a chuckle come from the other chair in the room, and gave Wandering a dirty look.

The alicorn’s attention was mostly on maintaining the mass-reduction spell that was vital to the deceleration process, which was why Commander Bluequill was currently in charge. However, a small part of his attention had been following the game between the griffon and the pegasus. Such games had been vital for staving off boredom during the shifts on the bridge which were characterized by long periods of nothing happening, and the skills of the players had increased considerably over the years. Defeating the wily griffon continued to be a very elusive goal though for most of his opponents. Playbitz was not going to go down without a fight though.

“Unicorn archer to level one gamma seven.”

“You’ll be sorry,” Wandering said before leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes to return his full concentration on the spell.

“Huh? What do you…?”

“Zebra assassin to level five epsilon two. Royal jeopardy.”

“What the…? Oh, ponyfeathers! How did I miss that?” The pegasus sighed in frustration. “I concede.”

The griffin smiled. “Do you wish to play again?”

Playbitz rolled his eyes. “I prefer not to be humiliated more than once a day, Commander.”

Bluequill dismissed the game with a flick of a talon. “Eyes back on your station then, Lieutenant.”

The pegasus turned around and scanned the instruments once more, noting nothing unusual. Another light bomb detonated and the screen dimmed. As it came back to full brightness, something caught Playbitz’s eyes. He frowned and watched carefully when the next bomb went off, and then another. His hooves tapped on the controls and the view went from normal to high magnification. At astronomical distances, magnification was normally pointless, but this close to their goal, it finally revealed something previously unknown. As he watched, six spheres that had been previously lost in the glare from the Far Star pulsed dimly about five seconds after the light bomb detonated. When the screen returned to normal brightness, he could see their glow fade and leave them silhouetted against the background. He dismissed the distracting screen read-outs from the instruments and watched in fascination as it happened again, this time noticing a tunnel-like shadow around the Far Star extending as far as the spheres. He spun around in his chair, confusion and concern on his face.

“What in Celestia’s name is that?” he demanded.

Bluequill had already noticed the unusual sight on the big screen, but he had no more idea about it than Playbitz had. He tapped a button on his chair’s controls and said, “Lieutenant Commander Starry Path to the bridge immediately!”

Wandering had opened his eyes at Playbitz’s words and looked at the screen, but comprehended what he was seeing no more than the others did.

Starry burst onto the bridge a minute later. “What’s up, Comman…?” She trailed off upon spotting what was on the screen.

“Starry – I need to know what we’re seeing and I need to know now!” Bluequill ordered.

Starry hastened over to her station and got to work. Bringing the TESS to bear on the phenomenon, she made some quick readings and gasped. “Sweet Celestia, no!” She whirled around and said urgently, “Commander, we have to slow down a lot faster. Double – no triple the light bombs.”

Bluequill did not waste time arguing with the alicorn mare. He hit another button on the chair and squawked, “Bridge to Engineering!”

“Radiance Point here, Bridge.”

“We need an immediate increase in the rate of light bomb production to triple its current rate.”

“WHAT?! No way, Commander. Double is no problem, but triple is virtually impossible.”

“You have your orders, Point. Get it done however you can!”

Something in Bluequill’s tone stifled further objections by Radiance. “On it, Commander.”

Almost immediately, light bombs started coming out at a far faster rate. Bluequill turned back to Starry and said, “Explanations now, please.”

All eyes were upon Starry when she nervously replied. “Those appear to be moonlets directly in our path to the Far Star. We are too close to avoid them now, and they are too close together for the Cosmic Lotus to pass between them with the sails extended. We have to stop before we reach them.”

“Damn! What’s that shadow?” the griffon demanded.

“It looks like some sort of tunnel through the dust cloud. I’m getting some contradictory results here. One set of data says that the Far Star lies just within this bubble inside the dust cloud, but another set seems to suggest that the star lies outside of the wall.”

“That’s impossible!”

“I know! But there are those moonlets and there’s that tunnel. You explain it.”

Bluequill snarled and turned back to the screen.

“Calm down, Commander” Wandering said. “Give Starry a chance to get more data.”

“Do you wish to take over, Captain?”

“No. Starry has to concentrate on her instruments, so I have to maintain the mass-reducing spell. Just watch the situation carefully.” Wandering then closed his eyes and tried to increase the effectiveness of the spell, hoping that even a tiny increase would be of benefit.

The tension on the bridge was palpable as the odd scene grew closer. Everyone jumped as the comm suddenly came to life.

“Engineering to Bridge! We have a misfire – one of the light bombs did not have its detonation spell set correctly. Commander – the crew can’t keep up with the demand. They’re starting to make mistakes.”

Bluequill looked towards Starry and she shook her head. “We’ll be cutting it fine already,” she said. “We must keep slowing down as quickly as possible.”

The griffon nodded. “Engineering – we don’t have a choice. Keep up the pace.”

There was a long moment of silence before Point replied. “Aye, sir.”

Meanwhile the bridge crew were watching the scene unfold on the screen. The intervals between the light bombs going off and the moonlets pulsing gradually decreased as they drew closer. As they grew closer, the visual sensors provided a much clearer view. The light bomb that had failed to detonate continued on towards the Far Star, but at the moment that it appeared to pass between the six moonlets, it suddenly exploded. Each of the spheres pulsed with a huge burst of light, and ropes of energy leapt between them, linking them up in a roughly hexagonal arrangement. The shadow between the moonlets intensified and the tunnel effect became very pronounced with the Far Star gleaming at the distant end of it. The starship suddenly shuddered.

“What was that?” demanded Bluequill, expecting Starry to answer.

Playbitz responded instead. “Commander – we’ve stopped slowing down! Something is pulling us in!”

Starry spoke up. “He’s right. That energy matrix is generating a field that is distorting space, causing us to fall into it.”

“We have to increase our braking. Playbitz, use the forward vectoring rockets!”

“Sir – with the mass-reducing spell in effect, their contribution would be almost nothing!”

“Anything is better than nothing, Lieutenant. Full thrust on all forward rockets!”

“Aye, sir.”

Bluequill hit the comm again. “Engineering – is there any way to increase the output of the light bombs?”

Point’s voice came back with dread finality. “No sir, we’ve already done that. Commander, I’ve looked at the feed from the bridge instruments. We’re not going to be able to overcome both our inertia and the pull of whatever that is. We just aren’t equipped for it.”

Starry nodded. “He’s right. And at the speed we’ll be going when the sails hit, we may not survive.”

“Furl the sails! If we can’t stop, we have to go through.”

“Furling sails,” Playbitz replied. “Commander – can I stop the rockets? Our fuel situation is getting critical. They were never meant to be used constantly like this.”

“Yes, stop the rockets. How long before the sails are furled?”

Starry replied, “You already know how long that it takes. They don’t have a means of speeding up.”

“They don’t have to be fully furled – just enough to allow us to pass through safely.”

“How much is enough, Commander? I can measure the distance those moonlets are apart, but what other forces are at play here? A significant gravity field alone would wreak havoc as the sails pass.”

Unable to give her an answer, Bluequill resumed watching the screen in silence. Long minutes passed before anything more was said. Even though the sails were being furled, they were still decelerating the ship, although their effectiveness was diminishing at an ever-increasing rate. Starry watched their progress closely, hoping for good news, but eventually she had to concede that they were taking too long. It took a lot of time to reel in many kilometers of graphene sail despite its thinness.

“Sir, we’re not going to make it. I estimate that about three hundred meters of sail will still be beyond the inner diameter of the circle of moonlets when we reach them.”

Wandering spoke up then. “Detach the sails.”

Bluequill frowned. “Without the sails, we’ll be helpless.”

“With the sails, the torque imposed by hitting the moons at our current speed could rip the ship apart. Ditch them. We’ll worry about the rest later. One crisis at a time.”

“Aye, Captain. Playbitz – prepare to detach solar sails.”

“Aye, sir.”

While the pegasus’ hooves danced over the controls, Bluequill contacted Engineering once more. “Halt production of the light bombs,” he ordered.

“Thank Celestia! Production halted, sir.”

Playbitz announced, “Explosive bolts primed and ready. Safety protocols require command authorization.”

Wandering discontinued his mass-reducing spell, and there was a lurch as the pull on the ship sharply increased. He said, “CONN – command override Omega One.”

“Command override acknowledged,” CONN replied.

Bluequill said, “CONN – command confirmation Omega Two.”

“Command confirmed,” Conn replied. “Explosive bolts activated.”

“Detonate explosive bolts,” Bluequill ordered.

There were a series of muffled thuds as the fastenings of the solar sail booms and the tensioning cables were shattered, and the sails began to drift away from the ship.

“Explosive bolt failure in boom four,” CONN dispassionately announced.

“What!” Bluequill squawked. “Get me a camera on that boom!”

“On it!” Starry activated the camera nearest to boom four and put the image on the main screen. The boom was slowly bending forward, being drawn by the force being exerted by the moonlets. As they watched, the pressure became too great and the boom shattered in half, tearing off a large portion of the sail with it. However, the other half stubbornly stayed attached to the ship via the tensioning cables. Almost gracefully, hundreds of meters of graphene sail folded itself over the ship, obscuring the camera. Starry switched the view back to the forward camera, but even then they could still see the torn sail slowly encroaching on the view. The seven successfully detached sails could be seen accelerating towards the moonlets which were beginning to show individual features.

“Are those… runes on the moonlets?” Starry asked.

Bluequill snorted in disgust. “I wouldn’t be surprised. I’d say there was some strong ancient magic at work here.”

“I wish Mom or Mama Twilight was here. Maybe they would know.”

“Have we got time to try to contact them?” Playbitz asked.

Starry shook her head regretfully. “Whatever that is ahead of us, we’re committed to going through it now.”

“Umm… about that,” Playbitz said with a worried look on his face.

“What now?” Bluequill asked.

“The damaged sail is pulling us out of alignment.”

“Then compensate!”

“I am! But it’s taking a lot of effort by our vectoring system, and we’ve already used a lot of our fuel.”

“Are we in any danger of being pulled into one of the moonlets?” Wandering asked.

“The ship isn’t, but the sail might,” Starry said. “I’ve managed to get a fairly accurate measurement, and the moonlets form a circle roughly two hundred and sixty meters in internal diameter. The sail fragment is a couple of hundred meters long, but it is being pulled forward. The attractive force seems to be pulling us towards the center of the circle. We may be lucky and thread the needle.”

“Have any of you noticed what’s happening inside that… tunnel?” Playbitz asked, pointing with his right hoof.

Swirls of energy were noticeably growing within the passage between the moonlets.

Wandering said, “I don’t think we want to find out what that unknown energy can do to us. Playbitz – try to keep us centered and away from that tunnel wall. Starry – reinforce the ship’s shields.”

“Aye, Captain!” Playbitz and Starry chorused.

Playbitz worked feverishly to keep them aligned as the moonlets drew ever closer. The first of the detached sails reached the array and seemed to be sucked into it. An edge struck the wall of the tunnel and there was a burst of light as the sail was ripped to shreds, the super-strong material nothing more than tissue paper in the grasp of the strange forces within.

Wandering gulped and said, “Playbitz – let me rephrase… whatever you do, don’t let us hit the wall of that tunnel. Fuel economy be damned!”

“You got it, sir!” Playbitz replied fervently.

In rapid succession, the rest of the sails met the same fate. As the Cosmic Lotus drew closer, the watchers could finally make out the markings on the moonlets. Each had a different one. Starry had the TESS focus on them. A stylized overlay was put on the screen that showed the markings for what they were.

“Those are ancient runes,” Wandering said with surprise.

“There seem to be far more, only much smaller,” Starry reported. “The big one seems to be the focus of the others.”

“Then we are dealing with really old magic,” Bluequill stated.

“That doesn’t make them safe,” Wandering replied. “But it does mean that we were meant to find this. It has been waiting for someone to come along and activate it, whatever it is.”

“I think we’re all going to find out in a few minutes,” Playbitz said with false cheer. “Allowing for the acceleration that thing is imposing upon us, I estimate that we will reach it in seven and a half minutes. Anyone want to grab a coffee while we wait?”

Wandering stared at the pegasus for a long moment before chuckling. “I think you’ll be needing something a bit stronger if we get through this okay. Keep up the good work.”

Playbitz never took his eyes off his board, and constantly worked to adjust their attitude and trajectory. Nevertheless he gave a small smile and said, “I’ll take you up on that, Captain.”

Wandering managed a chuckle before touching a comm button. “Attention all crew members! This is the captain speaking. We are about to encounter an unknown phenomenon which is potential extremely dangerous. Secure equipment and then take your stations. Use departure thrust and maneuver protocols and secure yourselves too. You have seven minutes. This is not a drill!”

It was a nervous wait for the bridge crew, made all the worse each time another sail struck the passageway between the moonlets and was violently torn apart. Playbitz kept reducing the magnification of the screen until it could be reduced no further, and the passageway between the moonlets rushed up to meet them.

“All crew – brace for entry,” Wandering announced moments before they passed the threshold.

There was a flash of light, and the torn sail wrenched them to the side. The ship bucked and shuddered as the forces within the passageway fought for dominance. The tunnel stretched out ahead of them, their universe now bounded by the swirling energies within what seemed to be an ever-warping tunnel terminating in the bright glow of the star that they had been chasing for over a decade of ship’s time. The sail touched the energy swirls that bounded the tunnel and parts of it disintegrated in a flare of power that shook the ship like a toy and sent them drifting towards the opposite side of the enormous tube.

“Get us back in the center!” yelled Wandering.

“I’m trying!” Playbitz yelled back, desperately manipulating the vectoring rockets to stabilize them and push them back, only to have the flapping sail remnant touch the side once again and thrust them back towards the edge of the tube. Every loose object within the bridge was sent hurtling willy-nilly throughout the bridge, their flight sometimes terminating in worrying sounds, and Wandering wondered what it was like in the more cluttered rooms. Then he thought of the Park and its large pond. Oddly, the thought of having to work to clean up a flood cheered him up a bit, because the need to mop up implied that they would get through this crisis alive. As long they could hold together until it ended, then they would have plenty of time to fix things. Hopefully both the ship and the crew could last until then. But how long was that?

The seconds seem to drag out forever, and then it all suddenly stopped. On the screen, there was no longer any sign of the bizarre tunnel. A brilliant star was nearly centered on the screen, but it was far from alone.

Starry gaped in awe. “Oh sweet Celestia! There’s millions of them!” Stars of various sizes and colors filled every part of the screen, some so thickly that they seemed to be a river of milk flowing through an eerily black sky. The sea of white was obscured in places by irregular dark clouds which in turn had even more stars in front of them.

Everyone on the bridge looked at the unfamiliar scene with wonder until Playbitz had the presence of mind to turn on a rearward facing camera. Behind them, six moonlets were rapidly losing their glow, and the arcs of energy between them had disappeared. Only a dark purple shadow could be seen within them. Something else was missing though.

“Umm… what’s happened to the dust wall?” Playbitz asked.

Behind the moonlets, there was no sign of the dust cloud that contained the bubble of space that they had known all their lives.

“I have a better question,” Bluequill said. “Where in the universe are we?”

All eyes turned to Starry, and she gulped nervously. “I’ll… get to work on that,” she said with a nervous smile.

The Chrome Changeling who had been monitoring the passive feed from the Cosmic Lotus frowned before hitting a comm switch.

“This is Helix. We have a situation on board the Cosmic Lotus.” He listened to the response before continuing, “The ship has encountered a possible threat. I recommend that Princess Twilight come immediately to the control room.” He waited for an acknowledgement before disconnecting the comm.

Twilight and the rest of the science team as well as various members of House Path had already gathered for the upcoming milestone. The Cosmic Lotus was due to stop decelerating on the verge of the Far Star system to do a thorough scan of the volume of space around it for planets. This not only gave the crew the opportunity to choose their final course, but it also marked the official moment that they had arrived at their destination. Naturally a special celebration had been organized at the princess’ castle for this historic occasion, and it took a while for the message to get through. By the time Twilight frantically teleported into the control room with a number of other family members, the threat had unfolded into crisis.

“What is that?” the alicorn demanded as she stared at the still image that Helix had downloaded from the data stream.

“No one knows, ma’am,” Helix replied. “However, it seems to be drawing the ship into it. The crew are trying to brake, but are having no success.”

Twilight tried to comprehend the situation, and squinted at the moonlets. “Enlarge the view on one of those spheres.”

Helix increased the size of the image as much as was practical.

“Those are runes! What in the universe are they doing there? Helix – contact the Lotus and try to get me more data!”

“I’ve already tried – the crew seem preoccupied at the moment.”

“Then get me more data from the stream. I need to help!”

The changeling tried his best, but was limited to what the starship had been automatically sending back to base, and in the brief time before the Cosmic Lotus jettisoned its sails, Twilight was unable to glean any more relevant information.

“Where’s Destined? He needs to get over to the ship!” Twilight said with a tinge of panic in her voice.

Free Agent replied, “He’s showing some VIP’s around the facilities, remember? I’ve already got my drones looking out for him. When they spot him, they’ll… whoops – found him.”

A moment later, the blue alicorn stallion teleported into the control room.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” he asked even as he noticed the latest image on the screen.

“You have to teleport to the ship and help them!” Twilight blurted out.

“I don’t know what I can do there, but I’ll try.” His horn lit up, and then died down again, his expression confused. “I can’t find either of the mana beacons!”

“What?! How could that happen?!” Twilight screeched.

“Something must be interfering with them.”

Twilight stared at the image with the glowing runes on the moonlets. “Oh, Tartarus!” she whispered helplessly.

Long Path said to Helix, “Can you put me on the comm? Maybe I can get through to them?”

“Good luck with that, sir,” Helix replied even as he complied.

“Lord Path to Cosmic Lotus – are you receiving me?”

There was a long moment of silence, and then a burst of static. Helix double-checked the instrument readings from the comm and said with shocked seriousness, “The link to the Cosmic Lotus has been lost.”

“That’s impossible!” Twilight yelled. “The way the sympathetically-linked crystal comm systems work, there’s always some sort of signal! They didn’t even lose their link during the time dilation!”

Helix cringed a little at the alicorn’s outburst. “Unless one has been destroyed,” he reluctantly pointed out.

A dread silence hung over the group as the seconds dragged out into minutes without resumption of the signal. A sob broke the hush as Twilight sunk to the floor in anguish. Free put a comforting wing around his wife, at a loss for words. The others looked at each other, trying to comprehend what had happened to their family and friends.

Eventually Path gave a deep sigh and said, “I’m going to inform our guests what has happened. Let me know the moment that the situation changes.” ‘If it changes,’ he added to himself as he departed the control room.

Commander Bluequill walked up to his Captain behind the small artificial hill in the Park that served as a stage. “Everyone is assembled, sir. The bridge crew will be viewing you on the main view screen and the engineering repair teams will be getting the audio feed.”

Wandering Star nodded. “Very good. I’ll address everyone in a moment. Go ahead and take your seat.”

Bluequill saluted and took his leave. Wandering frowned.

Starry Path blinked and commented to her mate. “When was the last time that happened?”

Wandering looked over, then resumed his pensive stare straight ahead. “What? Getting a salute from Bluequill? Before the mission started, I think.” He sighed. “Starry, I’m hoping your astronomical observations have more good news than I do for the crew. Or at least more answers. Everyone is covering their fear in their own way.” He gave a vague wave towards where Bluequill had been standing. “I’m hoping you can distract them.”

Starry nodded. “I think I can guarantee that.”

Wandering smiled briefly. “See that you do.” He then walked to the top of the hill and looked down upon his crew gathered before him. Their conversations died out quickly.

“By now, you are all familiar with the initial data on the gateway that carried us to this portion of the universe. I’ll summarize the current ship status. The comm link and the two mana beacons have lost their connections to their counterparts on Equus. There doesn’t appear to be any damage to the mana crystals, so we’re hopeful that the links can be re-established. After critical repairs, that will be Engineering’s top priority.”

The crew started talking animatedly, only to be cut off.

“Techbird has completed removal of the damaged solar sail. As we suspected, a dust particle had damaged the separation mechanism during our approach to the gateway.” He shifted his weight. “We have measured the velocity at which we were ejected from the gateway tunnel and compared that to our remaining chemical propellant. We currently do not have sufficient fuel to make a direct return. The engineering and navigation teams will explore other options.”

This time, the wave of fear he felt from the crowd was palpable as they began talking amongst themselves again.

“Starry Path will now tell us what we know and what we believe regarding this region of space.” Wandering walked to the bottom of the hill, gratefully taking a mug of tea that Kale Robe had ready for him.

Starry trotted to the top of the hill and looked out over the expectant and worried faces. “So what’s new, everypony?”

There was a moment of silence, followed by a round of chuckles and strained laughter.

The alicorn smiled. “Let’s get right to it then. Not all of you have had the chance to look at the video feeds yet, so be ready for a bit of a shock.”

Using her magic, she dimmed the lights in the Park and turned on the projector unit. She looked up at the floor to ceiling scene behind her, the pinpoints of light creating a silhouette of her form on the hill.

Starry heard the gasps behind her and turned. “Each of those tiny flecks of light is a star. Or more than one star. Without question, we are in a region of the universe with far more stars, and probably planets, than we ever could have imagined. It puts the few hundred that we knew back home to shame. If you needed a reason to justify why we are here, look no further than this.”

An animated buzz carried through the crowd. Cosmic Dawn lifted a hoof and spoke up. “What is that smudge in the corner?”

Starry nodded. “I wondered if anyone would notice that. As many of you know, Moonlit Path and I use a version of Far Sight’s magnified optics spell to gather light for our visual sensors. By pulling in all the light coming from that area of the sky over a circle of one hundred meters radius, we can show you that section of the sky in real time.”

Starry’s horn lit up and the view zoomed and rotated.

The talking became louder. “This is what Moonlit and I are tentatively calling a star whirlpool,” Starry continued. “It appears to be one of a few standard structures for large groups of stars.”

Cosmic Dawn raised her hoof again. Starry pointed at her. “How many stars and how large?” she asked.

Starry smirked. “To a rough order of magnitude, over a trillion stars and a hundred thousand light years across.”

Wandering frowned and swallowed his tea untasted. He sensed less fear around him, but it was replaced by plenty of anxiety.

After waiting a minute, Starry’s horn went out and returned the background to the previous view. “It’s likely that we live in one such star whirlpool that is of similar structure. We are currently perhaps three quarters of the way to the edge. The milky light areas of this image? That’s the direction to the center where the stars are the densest. There is much less of that brightness in the opposite direction.”

Starry looked directly at Wandering for a moment with a twinkle in her eye. “Now since Moonlit and I are the discoverers of our home whirlpool, tradition dictates that we have the privilege of naming where we live.” The room became quiet. “We discussed what would be an appropriate name. Something that properly expressed its grandeur and indescribable power.” Near the back of the crowd, Moonlit cocked her head a bit and furrowed her brow, obviously confused.

She’s stalling. Why is she stalling? Wandering thought as he brought the mug to his lips.

Starry continued. “Finally, we decided on ‘Wandering’s Flatulence’!”

The silence was broken by the sound of tea shooting out of Wandering’s nose as he broke into a hacking cough.

The room exploded with laughter. Bluequill helpfully pounded on his captain’s back until the griffon could no longer keep upright. The screeches, hoofstomps, and chirps rolled on and on as Wandering got his coughing under control. He felt the tension in the Park melt away like ice in the Saddle Arabian sun, but that did not prevent him from glaring at his partner, although his smile removed any venom from it.

Starry gave a sloppy salute worthy of their brother Flix. She mouthed silently, “Just following orders.”

Wandering returned the salute. “Just you wait. Yours is coming soon.”

Starry smirked. “Looking forward to it.”

After a few minutes, the crew settled down of their own accord. Wandering was curious why Starry had not stepped down. Was there more?

She cleared her throat and got the majority of everyone’s attention, though there was still the undercurrent of a few conversations. “Moonlit and I also located a very small patch of sky with no stars. We expanded the magnified optics spell to its maximum of 450 meters and made one image of all light from that area over the course of 90 minutes, just in case there were any dim light sources there.”

The view changed again.

The room became completely silent. Not even breathing was heard.

“Every one of these structures, even the far away points, appears to be a star whirlpool. Again, we can only give a rough estimate. We are surrounded by at least a hundred billion star whirlpools. That means that our home star is one of roughly one hundred sextillion others… that we can see.”

The silence stretched out.

“Any more questions?” Starry scanned the crowd and saw no hooves or paws raised, but lots of pupils reduced to pinpricks despite the overall darkness of the Park. ‘Weird,’ she thought before continuing aloud. “And that’s what we know as of today. Our universe just got a whole lot bigger.”

“I believe that I have a way for us to propel ourselves,” Radiance Point reported.

Wandering and Bluequill looked at the unicorn expectantly. “Well, don’t keep us waiting,” the alicorn ordered.

Point nodded. “Now that we have slowed down so much, our forward shield is not so vital to our needs. I propose that we reconfigure it to project a cup-shaped field ahead of us. The mana balls that we configured as light bombs can be re-spelled to produce a concussive force instead. Because the force field would be out of the influence of your mass-reducing spell, we will be able to get a similar amount of acceleration as with the solar sails. However, while the sails would flex to absorb the shock of the photon bombardment, the field would have to be tuned to absorb and release the impulse from the explosions in a more gradual manner so as to not treat the ship like a hammer hitting a nail, but I believe this will work. It will be a lot rougher and less efficient than the light bombs, but it’s a whole lot better than being stuck without any form of propulsion besides a few maneuvering rockets. Besides, we seriously need to conserve what little chemical fuel that we have left.”

Wandering brightened considerably at that news. He looked at Bluequill. “What do you think, Commander? Will it work?”

Bluequill looked thoughtful. “Off the top of my head, I can’t see why not.”

The alicorn looked back to Point. “Go ahead with that. What help do you need?”

“I already have started the guys working on the equipment, but I’ll need the assistance of a control systems specialist, so I want to requisition Albite Feldspar.”

“You’ve got him,” Wandering assured Point. “How long do you think it will take to make the configuration changes?”

“About a day, give or take.”

“Keep me up to date.”

“Aye, Captain.” Point departed Wandering’s office, and the alicorn heaved a sigh of relief.

Bluequill said, “You do realize that this method will draw a lot more heavily on our mana reserves than the light bombs did, and we have yet to figure out if we can return through the gateway and hopefully re-establish contact with Equus.”

“I know, Galen, but I choose to be optimistic. Mere minutes ago, we were a floundering ship, but now we’ll soon be back under way again. We have a marvelously diverse and skillful crew, and between us we’ll figure it out.”

The griffon was not quite so upbeat though. “That assumes that nothing else goes wrong in the meantime.”

“We spent over ten years crossing the stars before we had a major problem. I think I’ll play the odds.” The alicorn grinned and clapped the griffon on the back. “And if things do go wrong, you can tell me ‘I told you so’,”

“Small consolation,” Bluequill grumped.

Harry Buford looked around in surprise as an alert sounded at the Chakona Defense Force monitoring station. He got up from his desk to go over to the status monitor, and he frowned at what the screen told him. He tapped a few keys on the keyboard and looked at the result in confusion.

“A weak gamma ray burst only three light-days from Chakona? That should not be possible.” He picked up the nearby phone and dialed a number. When it was answered, he said, “Amanda, could you turn our instruments all on these coordinates and tell me what you find.” He then read off the coordinates from the screen and waited. Before he got a response though, the status monitor reported another gamma ray burst, quickly followed by several more.

“What in blazes is going on out there?”

Amanda’s excited voice drew his attention back to the phone. “Harry – I’m sending the data to your station right now. There’s something very strange happening.”

“Thanks, Amanda. I’ll get back to you.” He switched the view on the screen to focus in on what concerned him most. The information flowed, making him frown even more. “All the bursts are too small to have been created by normal stellar phenomena,” he mumbled to himself. “They all are coming from a single point on the plane of the ecliptic at a distance of 3.1 light-days. Other than comets, what else is out there?” Then he gasped as he spotted something. He grabbed the phone again and dialed the base commander’s office.

“Sir! Lieutenant Harry Buford here, shift supervisor for the Chakastra System Watch. We have just detected the signature of the mysterious plasma that the Swarm utilizes in their weapons. The invaders have been spotted at only three light days from Chakona!”

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Author's Note

At last you get to see what the Cosmic Lotus looks like. My deepest thanks to Airy Words who sponsored that art which was created by Mark Gillespie. It will also end up as the cover for the finished book. Also as usual, my gratitude for his pre-reading comments. It was especially difficult this time around because Windows 10 decided that it was a good time to update and reboot in the middle of my work while I was away from the computer for a while, and I lost a lot of updates and corrections in this chapter. Hopefully I found them all again.

The Playbitz and Bluequill picture was done by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf

First Contact

“That’s impossible!” Port Admiral Namatjira declared, glaring in disbelief at Commander Meadowlark of the Chakona Defense Force. “There’s no way that the Swarm has gotten past our blockade.”

The chakat returned his gaze with a frosty look. “Our sensors are not mistaken. The outer system satellites detected a light burst at 410 nm wavelength and is 93.2% linearly polarized which are the exact characteristics of the light emitted by the Swarm’s unknown plasma energy.”

“That still doesn’t explain how they could have gotten past us.”

“Irrelevant. You’ve been fighting them for decades and have failed to stop them, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they might have found their way around you. The point is that the Swarm is beyond the ability of the CDF to cope with, and we need Star Fleet out here right now!”

“Do you have anything to go on besides this light burst?”

“Of course. I dispatched a fast scout immediately before calling you, and even though shi will be approaching the area with caution, shi should be reporting any moment.” A light lit up on Meadowlark’s monitor with an accompanying ping. “Speaking of whom, shi’s reporting in now. I’m patching you into the call.”

Meadowlark answered the incoming transmission, and the screen split to reveal the helmeted head of another chakat. “Report, Lieutenant Calmstream.”

“Shir – I have found the source of the signal, and there’s definitely a starship there, but it’s like nothing we have ever seen before. Sending you images now.”

The monitor changed to show a telescopic view of a long cylindrical vessel seen side-on. At that distance, no markings could be distinguished, but as they watched, a pinpoint of light was ejected from the nose of the craft. As they watched, the light source exploded, and a cup-shaped force-field lit up, blocking the ejecta from reaching the ship. After a short time, this sequence of events repeated.

Calmstream spoke up again after the second explosion. “This has been happening ever since I came within telescopic view. Each time there’s a burst of the indicative polarized light. There’s no indication that the ship has noticed me. Do you wish for me to get closer?”

“Proceed with caution, Lieutenant,” Meadowlark ordered.

Namatjira spoke up. “That looks nothing like any Swarm ship that we have ever encountered.”

“I can see that for myself, Admiral. That does not lessen its potential threat.”

“Why is it travelling at sub-light speeds though? And why did it just appear out of nowhere on the outer fringes of the Chakastra System?”

“That’s what I am expecting you to find out, Admiral. Perhaps it’s a scout of some kind that you simply haven’t encountered before. Perhaps it’s mapping our system for invasion purposes. Whatever the reason, I have a world with millions of sapient beings that need defending, and if it’s Swarm-related, the CDF does not have the means to stop them.”

Namatjira frowned. “I will send a ship, but our fastest and most maneuverable battleships are on the front line of the blockade. One moment….”

Meadowlark’s monitor switched to a stand-by screen showing the Federation Star Fleet logo while Admiral Namatjira followed up on his words, and then his face returned. “I have ordered the Pegasus to proceed at top speed to Chakastra. That ship has the firepower to deal with any Swarm ship, although it doesn’t have the same maneuvering capabilities as the blockade ships. We’ll get you your answers, Commander.”

“Thank you, Admiral.”

They both watched their monitors for a while as the scout ship approached the unknown starship cautiously. Eventually they could just make out some markings. There appeared to be two unfamiliar emblems on the side as well as what might be writing.

“Swarm ships all have an organic look to them, and none of them have any identifying emblems like those,” Namatjira commented.

“I agree, but that does not mean that they are not a threat. Nothing we’ve seen using that unknown energy has ever been of benefit to us.”

The admiral chuckled with dark humor. “Believe me, Commander – if they show any sign of attacking us, they will no longer be a threat to you.”

“There it is again, sir,” Gizmo Gears reported.

Wandering Path said, “Switch it to the main screen, Gizmo.”

The unicorn did so, revealing nothing but the unfamiliar starfield. “Wait for it….”

A glint of light accompanied by instrument read-outs appeared momentarily.

“You’re right. Try to focus on that object.”

“Trying, sir. It’s elusive though.”

“Use the TESS,” Starry said from the couch where she was lying and maintaining the mass-reduction spell.

“Good idea,” Wandering replied. He tapped the comm and said, “Cosmic Dawn – report to the bridge immediately.”

“On my way, sir,” came the immediate reply.

When the unicorn mare arrived, Wandering instructed her to use the TESS to investigate the odd phenomenon. After some fruitless attempts, the alicorn asked if she was making any progress.

“The problem, sir, is that whatever it is seems to be moving very fast and I have not been able to get a lock on it. The TESS was not designed for this kind of thing.”

“Keep trying, Dawn. Nothing else we’ve tried has given us any more information on the object as yet.”

After a few more minutes, Cosmic Dawn said, “Aha! Gotcha! Captain – it stayed relatively motionless for long enough for me to get a lock on it. Transferring the image to the big screen now.”

The starfield seemed to zoom in, revealing something totally unexpected.

“That’s a spacecraft!” Gizmo blurted out.

“Nothing like anything Equus ever built,” Wandering added.

“How is it moving like that though?” Gizmo asked as the ship changed direction.

“Some unknown form of magical propulsion?” Starry suggested.

“There’s zero sign of mana use according to the TESS,” Cosmic Dawn countered.

“Who cares?” Wandering said. “We’ve just encountered our first ever non-Equus civilization. What an enormous discovery! Some people had speculated on the existence of beings on another world, and here’s proof of that!”

“They’re being awfully shy,” Starry commented.

“Believe me, I’d be cautious too if I was meeting a new species for the first time. My past experiences back on Equus made me value a conservative approach. I’d like to reach out to them too, but let’s take our time. There’s no need to rush this.”

“What if they’re hostile?” Gizmo asked.

Wandering smiled grimly. “Our shield can stop a lot of things, but our real problem would be trying to get away from them. Right now, we are at the mercy of our limited means of propulsion. Have you made any progress in restoring the mana beacons or the interstellar comm systems yet, Dawn?”

“The entire staff is doing their best, Captain, but we haven’t restored them as yet. However, I do have some good news. We believe that the links have only been disrupted, not destroyed. If we can re-establish them, we may be able to restore communications.”

“That’s promising, but for now we’re at the mercy of the intentions of those unknown beings.”

Cosmic Dawn nodded. “I’m afraid so, sir.”

Wandering smirked. “Good thing I’m feeling optimistic about this then.”

Admiral Boyce Garald Kline was surprised when he got the orders from Fleet Admiral Namatjira to investigate a possible Swarm incursion in the Chakastra System. While the Pegasus was the flagship of the First Fleet and had seen action against the invaders, it had been relegated to its normal duties since the specialized blockade ships had been built. Since his ship was the closest, he had been directed to proceed with utmost haste to possibly defend Chakona until back-up from other Star Fleet ships could get there. After ordering the helmsman to lay in a course, he called in all his department heads and a few specialists to a meeting in the main conference room. Among them were his First Officer, Rosepetal Silpurr, a Caitian female with sandy-colored fur, long reddish-brown hair, and golden slit-pupiled eyes. Not incidentally, she was also Kline’s wife.

Although Rosepetal’s height was only 157cm (5’ 2”), she was actually very tall for her species, and her commanding presence more than made up for her lack of stature among the others gathered for the meeting. These included her co-wives – Chakat Forestwalker, Chakat Midnight, and M’Lai Saarath. While their husband was a human, he had married Rosepetal under Caitian customs which, due to the extreme gender quantity differences, allowed for up to six wives for each male. Boyce so far had five official wives, although the nature of a relationship with a chakat extended family had blurred that definition somewhat over the years. At 193cm (6’ 4”), M’Lai towered over her fellow Caitian. A victim of a childhood disease that had caused gigantism among other problems, she had finally found acceptance as Fifthwife of the Star Fleet Admiral to whose ship she had been assigned as Assistant Chief Medical Officer decades ago, now promoted to Chief of Staff.

It was Admiral Kline’s Thirdwife who was the greatest contrast though. Forestwalker, a jaguar-patterned chakat, was not only a taur, a being with four legs on a lower torso with two arms on an upper torso, shi was also a hermaphrodite. Although the feline centauroid strongly favored hir feminine side, like all hir species, shi also had masculine needs. Boyce had not only been comfortable with that, but he also found it attractive enough that Rosepetal, had insisted on formalizing their relationship, as was her right and duty as his Firstwife. Although not a Star Fleet officer, Forestwalker headed up the biology department staffed by civilian scientists. Later on in their relationship, Forestwalker’s mate, Midnight, became Boyce’s Fourthwife as home life and hir work in Star Fleet Security overlapped so much with them both.

When all the relevant departments were present, Boyce began the meeting with a display of what information had so far been gleaned. Although there was much concern about the possible threat to Chakona and her home planet, Forestwalker was the first to point out the other side of the coin.

“What if these are peaceful explorers from another species entirely, and no threat to the Federation?”

Boyce smiled grimly. “While that may be the best possible outcome, it’s our task first and foremost to ensure that it is not a threat to ships or inhabited worlds. The only species we have encountered so far that have utilized that enigmatic energy have been utterly hostile to everyone, so we will be proceeding with utmost caution. If necessary, we will destroy that ship before it becomes a danger to our colonized worlds. That’s our duty as Star Fleet.”

Forestwalker nodded. “I understand completely, but I hope that you give them every chance to prove otherwise. Please take advantage of my empathic abilities to do so.”

“You may be an E5 empath, Forestwalker, but even you need to be dangerously close to use your ability,” Rosepetal pointed out.

The chakat nodded solemnly. “I know, but it’s still better than a potentially fatal misunderstanding between possible allies.”

Boyce said, “Trust me, Forest – I’ll do my best to ensure that everyone comes through this incident safely.”

The shy spacecraft had continued to watch the Cosmic Lotus from a distance, and apparently had not made any attempts to communicate that the crew had been able to determine. It came as a shock when it was joined hours later by a huge starship that dwarfed not only the scout ship, but also the Equian’s own craft.

“Sweet Celestia – would you look at the size of that thing!” Gizmo exclaimed. “How did it move that fast and then come to a relative standstill so easily?”

Wandering had the same questions, but refrained from commenting. Unlike the small first ship, this one was a lot more intimidating, and he questioned the Lotus’ ability to defend itself against it. “Try communicating with it,” he ordered.

“Yes sir, but you realize that it will probably have the same problem as with the first ship, namely incompatible systems?”

“I know, but at least we can try.”

Gizmo attempted to contact the ship, but had the same lack of success as earlier.

Wandering sighed internally before deciding on his next approach. He tapped the comm to connect him to Engineering and ordered, “Cease deceleration procedures.” He then turned to Gizmo and said, “Reconfigure the shield for optimum defense.”

“Aye, sir!”

“What are you planning?” Starry asked as she discontinued the mass-reducing spell.

“I’m going to do some counting,” Wandering replied enigmatically.

“I think it’s some form of Orion Drive,” the helmsman opined.

The Pegasus had immediately brought its entire sensor suite to bear upon the strange starship when they had arrived. After matching velocity with it as close as they had dared to approach, they started delving for its secrets.

“I agree,” Rosepetal said from her position at the Science station. “And a remarkably effective one too. There must be some form of mass-cancelling technology at work for those explosive impulses to have that much of an inertial effect upon a ship of that size. My measurements suggest that they were decelerating at a rate and direction consistent with putting them into an orbit around Chakona. This indicates that they are probably aware of the inhabited nature of the world.”

“Any idea what those exploding balls of light are?” Boyce asked.

“None whatsoever, but I can tell you that they are the main source of the light signature of the same unknown energy that the Swarm uses. The force-field also radiates that signature while absorbing the impulse.”

“That’s an uncomfortable coincidence,” Boyce replied.

“Unless, of course, they are a species that have dealt with the Swarm and have knowledge of the same technology that produces that unknown energy,” Rosepetal pointed out.

“In which case, we may be best served by making an alliance with them.” He turned to the Communications station. “Have you had any response to your signals?”

The ferret morph shook her head. “No reply on any channel, sir. I have tried every military and civilian band and subspace channel that I can think of. Either they cannot hear us or they are not responding.”

“Sir!” the helmsman exclaimed. “The ship has stopped decelerating.”

“Maintain distance and velocity.”

“Aye, sir. What do you suppose they are up to?”

“If they’re anything like us, they are as curious as hell. What have we learned so far, Commander?”

“Some very curious aspects of this ship, Admiral,” Rosepetal replied. She manipulated and enhanced the image of the starship on the screen. “It’s a bizarre mixture of inconsistent technologies. At the rear of the ship are very definitely chemical rockets, absolutely useless for interstellar travel. Their current propulsion method which resembles an Orion Drive is only effective because they have some form of mass-cancelling technology, but judging by their rate of deceleration, they simply could not have used it to get anything close to the fraction of light speed for interstellar travel, not to mention having enough explosive material to maintain that boost for a significant period. Additionally, there are the remainders of eight masts encircling the ship. The enormous graphene sheet that we detected on our way here suggests that these are the anchor points of a solar sail arrangement, which is also inconsistent with interstellar travel. I would love to know how they manufactured that much graphene, by the way. That’s advanced technology even in this era. However, the structure of the ship suggests a streamlined design that is generally unnecessary for interstellar travel except at extreme sub-light speeds, so that suggests that it is designed for escaping a planet’s atmosphere. Aside from propulsion methods, the design is inconsistent with anything seen in the Swarm, and I find it very difficult to associate it with them. Finally, there are two logos where Swarm ships never have any. Based on all the data, I think we are looking at a first attempt at interstellar flight. ”

Boyce nodded. “A mystery wrapped in an enigma. What about that weak gamma ray burst that first revealed the ship’s presence? Would that be relevant?”

“Possible. The CDF scout ship is currently trying to backtrack the alien ship’s trajectory and investigate.”

“Any sign of a weapon system?”

“Putting aside the exploding spheres that powered their propulsion, I have detected nothing of that nature,” Chief of Security Chakat Midnight replied from hir station. The all-black furred taur had hir own weapons ready for use at a moment’s notice, but had seen no need to recommend their use.

Boyce leaned back in his chair, his brow furrowed in thought. Nothing had indicated that this ship had anything to do with the Swarm except for the nature of the unknown energy that both used. This could very well be a normal First Contact situation, but under the circumstances, one that might have unforeseen hazards. His first instinct was to play things safe, but the lure of a potential new ally was great. His thoughts were interrupted just then.

“Admiral – there’s a light blinking on the side of the ship,” announced the helmsman.

Boyce looked up and saw what the crew person had noticed. A single strong light was blinking in longer and longer sequences. Then it paused and went back to a single flash, then four flashes, then nine, sixteen, and finally twenty-five before going back to one. “Those are the squares of the numbers one to five. They’re attempting to communicate with us! Commander – repeat that sequence back to them, but add the square of six to the end.”

“One moment while I repurpose a floodlight for that, sir.”

When the huge starship started blinking a light at them, Wandering breathlessly counted the flashes of light. The final group ended at thirty-six and he pumped a hoof in the air. “Yes! We have contact!”

“What now, Wandering?” Starry asked.

“Now the tricky bit. Prepare the skiff.”

“You’re going over there? Just because they seem willing to communicate doesn’t mean it’s safe to meet them.”

“I am aware of that, but I won’t be going in blind or unprepared. One of the reasons that I was chosen as the leader of this mission was because I have experience dealing with different civilizations, and I have alicorn-level abilities to deal with sticky situations. In the event that we met up with a sapient species, I also had pre-selected a team to back me up.” He touched the comm button. “Eon Path, Amethyst Scroll, and Phalanx report to airlock two. First Contact protocol. I will meet you there in five minutes.” Wandering then turned to Bluequill who had been called to the bridge earlier. “Commander, the ship is yours until I return. Do whatever you need to do to protect her if I don’t come back.”

“Yes, sir, but can I persuade you not to take this risk? The ship needs its captain.”

“I’m not irreplaceable, Bluequill. This is one of the biggest reasons for me wanting to make this voyage, and I’m confident that this will go fine, but even if it doesn’t, you are more than capable of leading the crew to safety.”

Starry came over to give Wandering a parting hug. “I hope I’m one of the biggest reasons for you coming back safe.”

Wandering looked at her tenderly. “I promise that it is.” He then gave her a kiss and turned to head out to rendezvous with his team.

“Sir – an airlock appears to be opening on the alien ship,” Midnight warned her commanding officer. Shi readied her targeting systems just in case.

They watched the screen carefully as a small vessel emerged from the airlock. Very slowly, it headed towards them.

“It looks like a small shuttle. No weapons detected. I think the slow approach denotes either caution or a wish not to alarm us, possibly both. Shall I warn it off?”

Boyce shook his head. “No, I agree that it’s a cautious approach. Open our shuttle bay doors and allow them to come aboard. Have crash protocols in place just in case.”

“A wise move, sir. The crash force-fields will certainly foil any attempt to ram us.”

“Or by accident. Don’t put down to maliciousness what you can attribute to bad piloting. I want our visitors to arrive safely.”

“May I suggest that we have a security squad there to meet them?”

“Bring as many as you see fit, but keep them back from the shuttle. You and Rosepetal are going to meet them personally. You can bring along one other guard, but I am choosing the fourth member of your team.”

“Who would that be, sir?” Midnight asked.

“Forestwalker.”

The black chakat was rocked. “My lifemate, sir? Isn’t that a bit of a risk for hir? Shi’s a biologist, not a Star Fleet officer.”

“Forest indicated a desire to help make contact with these aliens, and we both know that shi’s the strongest empath on the ship. Plus shi’s had years of experience with dealing with various races. If anyone can tell if they’re friendly or hostile, shi can.”

Midnight was forced to agree with hir husband, but shi was going to ensure that hir lifemate was as well protected as possible. Shi set to work assigning hir security staff even as Boyce contacted Forestwalker.

As the Cosmic Lotus’s small skiff slowly approached the enormous starship, the alien vessel slowly swung around so that its stern faced them and equally huge doors opened to reveal a well-lit landing bay.

“Looks like we’re expected,” Wandering said cheerfully.

Eon smirked and replied, “Yeah, but for a party or a funeral?”

The alicorn chuckled. “Depends on whose funeral. All four of us are House Path warrior-scholars, and you’re in line to be the next Warmaster. I think that our soon-to-be-acquaintances had better be careful what path they choose to take.”

Wandering carefully maneuvered the skiff into the bay without incident. As the shuttle bay doors closed behind the skiff, it did not escape their notice that there was a large contingent waiting for them, all obviously armed. That was not unexpected though – they were coming armed also. What most intrigued the alicorn was that they had apparently been waiting there while the bay doors had been open to space.

“They must have had some sort of force-field holding back the air in the bay,” Wandering speculated.

“So? You could do a similar spell,” Eon replied.

“Yes, I could, but I detected no magic in use when we passed inside. I wonder how they did that?”

“You can ask them yourself. I see four of them approaching, and what a weird mixture of beings they are!”

“The instruments indicate a breathable atmosphere. Time to make history!” Wandering pressed the button to open the skiff’s door. Detecting a safe difference of pressure, the skiff’s system first equalized it and then opened it. They filed outside and lined up outside to face the alien delegation which stopped a discreet distance away while the two parties regarded each other with a mixture of intrigue and caution.

Eon said, “The two-legged female resembles an Abyssinian.”

Wandering nodded. “There’s a strong correlation, but the tail is very different. The other two-legger has a tail more like them, but he’s definitely not feline.”

“I don’t like the way he’s holding that weapon. What’s your reading on him, Phalanx?” Eon asked.

The Red Changeling replied, “He’s nervous and slightly hostile. Watch out for him. The Abyssinian-like one is worried but calm. I think she’s in command. The black four-legged one that resembles a feline centaur is razor-focused. I can only taste a bit of cool concern from her and I think that she may be a true warrior. The spotted one though, aside from some worry, she’s practically exploding with pleasure at seeing us.”

“Huh! I wonder why that is?” Wandering said.

“Oh my god, they’re so cute!” Forestwalker exclaimed softly to Rosepetal.

Although Rosepetal tended to agree about two of them, cute did not mean that they weren’t dangerous. The one standing slightly in front of the others had hooves and a generally equine appearance if you discounted the horn and feathery wings. While the tallest of the group, it only came up to the Caitian’s chest level. It gave the impression of being a male, while the other similar being had what looked like wing casings and seemed female. Both had huge eyes unlike any species that she had encountered before. The third looked like a blend between reptile and one of those equines, with blue fur, talons on his forelegs, hooves on the hind legs, and golden bat-wings on his back. Those talons loosely gripped a sword that he had sheathed at his side, and somehow she believed that he knew how to use it well, and it was not simply ceremonial. He was likely the most dangerous of the lot. The title of weirdest went to the fourth member who had the same basic form as the equines, but had diaphanous wings, red glowing eyes, and what appeared to be reddish-brown chitin covering his body wherever it was not obscured by the uniforms all four wore.

“They appear to have as diverse a crew as we do,” Rosepetal commented. “What do your empathic senses tell you?”

The one out front is cautious but eager to meet us. The female next to him is also eager, but anxious. The dragonish one is very focused and cool. However, I can’t detect the slightest thing from the red one.”

Rosepetal was surprised. “Nothing at all? Is it truly alive?”

“My nose and other senses tell me yes, but he’s just a total mental blank empathically.”

“How strange. However, it seems like it’s safe to proceed to the next stage. Let’s try to communicate, starting with the obvious.” She took a step forward and raised her voice to an authoritative level. “I am Commander Rosepetal Silpurr, and I welcome you aboard the Federation Star Ship Pegasus.”

Forestwalker snickered and quietly said, “We’re welcoming a winged horse aboard the Pegasus – how appropriate!”

Rosepetal resisted the temptation to roll her eyes while she awaited a response.

“I think the spotted one just made a joke,” Amethyst Scroll commented.

“That’s encouraging, even if I didn’t understand a word of what the leader said. Did you?” asked Wandering

“No, although a couple of words sounded vaguely familiar. Probably a coincidence though.”

“Well, that won’t stop me from doing my part.” The alicorn took a step forward. “I am Captain Wandering Path of the starship Cosmic Lotus. I bring greetings on behalf of the united races of Equus.”

While the catlike one smiled in response, it was obvious that she no more understood him than he had comprehended her words. He turned back to Amethyst. “Looks like you’re finally going to put that new spell to the test. I sure hope that works.”

Amethyst smiled reassuringly. “The language spell was developed in conjunction with Lord Path and Lady Twilight. While we had no new languages to test it, we are fully confident that it will work. Just not how well it will work.”

“Okay – it’s not as if we have much of a choice. Let’s do the little play that we rehearsed earlier.” He turned back to the alien’s leader and said, “Please pay attention,” while gesturing to Amethyst. He did not expect her to understand the words, but hoped that she would infer the intention. He faced Amethyst again, and then in an exaggerated manner, he said, “Blah, blah, blah, blah.”

Amethyst then responded with, “Yap, yap, yap, yap!”

Wandering then assumed a puzzled expression and tone of voice and replied, “Blah, blah, blah, blah?”

Amethyst also looked puzzled and replied, “Yap, yap, yap, yap?”

Wandering shrugged and said, “Blah, blah!”

Amethyst held up a foreleg and gestured for Wandering to approach. Her horn lit up with a harmless glow and she touched it to Wandering’s head. After a long moment, she drew her horn back and said, “Blah yap, blah yap?”

Wandering then responded with, “Yap blah, yap blah!” Then he looked back over to alien catlike leader. He pointed at her and then Amethyst and said, “Yap, blah?”

“What do you suppose that was all about?” the Security wolf morph asked.

“I think they were trying to show that they could teach us their language,” Forestwalker replied. “Did you see the way her horn glowed? Maybe it’s a form of telepathy?”

“Telepathy can’t translate languages,” Midnight said.

“No, not as we know it anyway. I’m not sure if it is safe,” Rosepetal said.

“Oh, come on, Rose… I mean, Commander. Isn’t it worth the risk? In fact, let me do it, please!”

Rosepetal frowned. “Are you sure about this, Forestwalker?”

The chakat nodded eagerly. “I can feel her trying to project friendliness and reassurance. I’m sure that this is the right thing to do.”

Rosepetal sighed and muttered, “Boyce is going to kill me if anything happens to you while I’m in charge. Be careful, please!”

“I will – don’t worry.” Forestwalker stepped forward to within a pace of the female equine and pointed at her, saying, “Yap, blah!”

A smile grew on the mare’s face, and she gestured for the chakat to lie on the floor so that she could easily touch her horn to Forestwalker’s head. Her purple mane fell forward as she closed her eyes and her horn started glowing. The chakat smiled reassuringly as the procedure started.

Forestwalker’s mind was suddenly overwhelmed with a flood of words and concepts, and a moan escaped hir lips. The wolf guard started forward to break it up, but Midnight ordered him back with a stern command. While shi was nowhere near as talented empathically as hir mate, even shi could tell that while Forestwalker was distressed by the overload, shi did not appear to be under attack. In fact, the little mare seemed equally impacted by whatever she was doing.

For several nerve-wracking minutes, the procedure continued until with a mutual groan, they fell apart and the mare’s horn flickered out.

Forestwalker held hir head in hir hands as if it was threatening to explode and said, “My brain hurts like it’s been pummeled by a set of antique encyclopedias!”

“My head is pounding too,” Amethyst said.

Forestwalker blinked and almost forgot hir headache. “I understood that!” Then shi switched languages. “Do you… hear my words?”

Amethyst grinned in delight. “Yes! It worked!”

“Why does my head hurt so much?”

“While one of the words escaped Amethyst, she guessed its meaning. “The spell is…” She searched for a new word. “…not test. It makes new… connections.” She could not dredge up an equivalent word in the new language.

“Are you okay, Forest?” Rosepetal asked with grave concern.

“Aside from a pounding headache, I’m fine. If I understand correctly, it’s a consequence of making new neural pathways. However, I now have a limited vocabulary in their language. I’m hunting for words, but I can understand some of what I hear now.” Shi stood up, and then faced Amethyst. “My name is Forestwalker. Means… walk in many trees,” shi said in Equish.

The mare replied in Terranglo, “My name is Amethyst. Means…” She shrugged, lacking the word.

Rosepetal stepped up and said, “My name is Rosepetal. Welcome aboard the Pegasus.”

Amethyst blinked in surprise. Half of what the Caitian had said had not translated, but the word ‘pegasus’ had. She lifted a hoof to point at the floor. “This… pegasus?”

“Yes,” Rosepetal replied.

Amethyst turned around to look at Wandering. “Captain! The word ‘pegasus’ translates!”

“So? Wasn’t that the point of the spell?”

“You don’t understand – this isn’t one of the several hundred new alien words inserted into our vocabularies. This word already existed!”

“What? Are you sure they mean the same thing? It may just be a phonetic coincidence.”

“I can tell the difference. The meaning is the same.”

Wandering gaped in surprise. “This may just be the most significant discovery we made today. Just wait until I tell Techbird about this!”

Rosepetal looked over to Forestwalker and asked, “What are they saying?”

The chakat looked a bit confused. “They’re talking too fast for me to keep up, and there are too many words that I don’t know yet. Something about words being the same which excites them.”

“Whatever the case, I believe we have just made a peaceful First Contact and these people have nothing to do with the Swarm. While there are many puzzles yet to be answered, I only have one burning question left right now.”

“What’s that?”

Rosepetal gestured towards the two excited equines. “How in the name of the eternally shifting sands does a species with only hooves build a starship?!”

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Author's Note

At last chakats meet ponies! Thankfully calm minds prevailed and nobody got shot at.

For a look at what was happening behind-the-scenes during the past two episodes, check out Alden MacManx's latest chapter of Purple Point – Deceleration Profile.

I had planned to have a commission picture done of all eight members of the First Contact group, but the artist whom I picked, while very good, turns out to be also very slow. I'll add that when it is done, but in the meantime I used some older pictures from my Forest Tales series to show what some characters look like. Artists this episode are Kacey Miyagami, J.L. Brandt, and Foxenawolf.

Communicating

(NOTE: During meetings between the Equians and the Feds, to make it completely clear which language is being spoken, allTerranglois in green and allEquishis in blue. While it is obvious in most places which language is being spoken, I colored them all for consistency.) However, I will only be doing it for this chapter.

In the century and a half since he had held his first Royal Court, Prince Destined Path had grown a lot more assured and confident in his role as one of the triumequirate alicorn rulers of Equestria. With so many years of experience, he no longer felt out of place in the throne room, even if he still looked like he was in his twenties. He now dealt with about a third of the royal duties, allowing Celestia and Luna more time to attend to other duties, or just to have some well-earned time off. Today, Destined was substituting for Celestia who was overseas at a conference, and he was hearing the petitions of some of the citizens before a scheduled meeting with the ministers to discuss a revision to the tax laws. He found the pegasus’ problem a lot more interesting though, and he paid close attention to what the stallion was telling him.

A flash-bang of teleportation interrupted the petitioner’s tale, and a moment later Twilight Sparkle was practically in his face.

“You have to go back in time and save them!” the Princess of Magic demanded.

Destined sighed internally, having anticipated this moment. Only his mother’s lifetime habit of stewing and stressing out over problems had caused it to be put off for this long, but he had known that she would come to this point inevitably. He looked over at the stallion and said, “Forgive me, my little pony – please excuse us for a moment. I will return to give my full attention to your petition briefly.” He turned to his head to his advisor. “Please offer Mister Silver Coin refreshments in my absence. This should not take long.”

His advisor nodded and said, “Of course, Your Highness.”

Destined then turned back to Twilight who looked ready to burst. “Let’s go somewhere private to talk about this, Mother.” His horn lit up, and with a quiet pop, they left the throne room and reappeared just as smoothly in the family’s private quarters. While Twilight was a master of magic, Destined was the master of time and space, and no alicorn could match his skill with teleportation. “Now, Mom, what is it you want me to do?” he asked, knowing full well what she was going to request.

“Isn’t it obvious? You need to go back in time and teleport to the Cosmic Lotus and warn them of the peril ahead! The mana beacon will still be working then.”

Destined sighed out loud this time. “You do realize that if I did that, it would only cause a fork in the time probability path. The Twilight Sparkle in front of me now would become a lesser probability who would never learn what happened to the ship.”

“But the new reality would have saved the entire crew, including many of our family!”

“That is assuming that they need saving. We have lost contact, so we don’t know their fate, but I believe that they are okay.”

“How can you say that? The last data that we got from them shows them in deep trouble!”

“Have you forgotten my visit to the far future? Although a lot of important details were kept from me and the others, we do know that beings from another world were part of that future. I choose to believe, as I have always suspected, that this is the moment when we first contact those other beings. Have a bit of faith in my brother – this is Wandering’s moment of destiny, I am sure of it.”

“And what if we still don’t hear from them in weeks? How confident of your feelings would you be then?” Twilight demanded.

“Mom, I could wait for a year and still do as you ask. I can do that under my own power now without even a boost from Blue Streak. Trust me – I won’t let anyone down. In the meantime though, this is Wandering’s time to shine. If anypony can achieve their goal, it’s him. And with Starry, Techbird, and all the others aboard the Lotus to help him, I’m confident that we will be hearing how they dealt with the emergency soon enough. I know that it’s going to be difficult waiting for them to get back in contact, but it will be worth the wait.”

Twilight sagged in resignation. “It’s… just so hard not knowing.”

Destined wrapped a reassuring wing around his mother and hugged her. “I know, but we’re here for you, Mom.”

After a long moment, Destined withdrew his wing and lit up his horn. “And now I had better get back to the court. I may be the Alicorn of Time, but even I can’t waste it.”

While Forestwalker could not answer Rosepetal’s question about using hooves, shi knew that the key to finding out was to learn more of the language of their unusual visitors. Although shi still had a pounding headache from the first language lesson, shi was eager to learn more. Shi faced hir teacher, pointed to hir head, and said in Equish, “More words now?”

Amethyst shook her head and replied in Terranglo, “Must rest head first.”

Forestwalker was disappointed, but shi certainly understood why. “How long?”

The unicorn pondered that question. “Half a day.” She waved a hoof to indicate uncertainty.

Forestwalker turned to Rosepetal. “Could we invite Amethyst to stay aboard and teach me?”

Rosepetal firmly shook her head. “While I don’t believe that they have anything to do with the Swarm, we still know next to nothing about them and they may still pose an unknown threat. First Contact protocols require cautious steps, and I would not be surprised if their own leader thinks the same way. We will arrange another meeting while we both assess our first meeting. There are a lot of questions that I will want to ask once you have a greater command of the language. Meanwhile we have to monitor you for any undesirable side-effects of the teaching method aside from the understandable headache.”

The chakat was disappointed, but understood the realities of the situation. “Okay, Commander, but I just want to say that I still detect no animosity or deceit from any of them… well, three of them anyway. The fourth is still a total blank to me.”

“And that’s why we’ll have another meeting soon. Be patient, Forest.”

Rosepetal turned to the obvious leader and spoke slowly and simply in the hope of the other translating for him. “Come back in half a day. We will talk more then.”

Wandering listened to Amethyst’s translation, and startled Rosepetal by answering in Terranglo. “Come back half a day. Goodbye.”

The Federation team watched as their visitors headed back into their skiff and the airlock closed. The shuttle bay doors reopened with the air held back by the strong force field across the opening. The skiff passed smoothly through the force-field and the doors closed once more.

“Well, this is going down as one of the more interesting days in my journal,” Forestwalker said as they all turned to leave the shuttle bay.

“For all of us, Forest,” Rosepetal replied as they stepped into the decontamination room where they were met by Doctor Saarath.

As the giantess Caitian directed them to stand in booths where sensors and sterilizers ensured that they brought nothing undesirable into the rest of the ship, Rosepetal asked, “What were your impressions, Commander Midnight?”

The black chakat replied, “While I agree that these aliens are probably not inimical to us, I also got the distinct impression from the dragonish one that he was amused by the security forces watching over them. If he felt that the entire security squad in the shuttle bay plus ourselves against the four of them were of little consequence, what does that say about our odd visitors?”

Doctor Zubon had a decontamination spell ready when the skiff docked, and the team were treated with it before they were allowed to leave the vehicle. All of them then headed to the common room to have a meeting. Wandering called up a few others to attend, and soon there was a large gathering in the room. A screen was lowered, and a recording of the meeting was played in its entirety from the magitek crystal camera in Wandering’s uniform.

When the replay ended, Starry said, “You caught onto the language quickly, Wandering.”

The alicorn stallion nodded. “I may not be as good as Amethyst, but Papa Path taught me well. It has come in handy many times in my past adventures. Once I hear a word and know its meaning, it sticks. I’ll leave comprehensive translation to others though. Anyway, I’m pleased that we have made this much progress in learning their language already. It’s going to make our task a lot easier if we end up needing their assistance.”

“Speaking of which,” Playbitz spoke up, “Are we going to resume deceleration soon? I’ll have to recalculate our course if not, because otherwise we’ll miss that lovely blue and green planet that we were aiming for.” He gestured in the direction of the image on the screen that the TESS had captured of the fourth planet in the system.

Wandering said, “That lovely planet is probably home to those beings, so I am going to wait until we know more about them before encroaching on their world. I don’t wish to appear a threat to them. Which reminds me…” He turned to Eon and said, “Why the attitude? You were borderline disrespectful.”

“Oh, come on, Captain! You saw their weapons for yourself. None of them were magic-powered, and your shield alone could have easily handled all of their energy weapons,” Eon protested. “We’re all warrior-scholars and can read their body-language. Aside from that black six-limbed one, and perhaps that two-legged male, I don’t believe any of them posed a real threat to us.”

“That is no reason to be contemptuous of them. If you hope to take over from Warmaster Blue Streak eventually, that is something that you are going to have to learn. Besides, if they picked up on that, it might give them cause for concern about us. I can’t emphasize too much how important first impressions are when dealing with a new culture.”

“How many alien species have you met before?” Eon scoffed.

“Back on Equus while I was still travelling and meeting new civilizations, they were as close to being aliens as the ones on that ship over there. What is perfectly normal for you and me might be intimidating to them, and vice versa. This is too important to screw up, Eon, so at least try to be respectful when we go meet them again.”

“Okay, Captain,” the dracopony conceded.

Wandering looked around at the others gathered there. “We’ve heard what Eon thinks – so what impressions did any of you get from them?”

“There seems to be a complete lack of magic,” Amethyst replied. “I did not detect any while I was connected with Forestwalker.”

Wandering nodded. “While everyone’s attention was focused on your language spell, I did a deep scan of the ship. I was unable to detect any magic at work, or even the taint of raw mana. It would seem that despite their diversity, they all share the common trait of being totally magicless.”

“Is that even possible?” Doctor Zubon asked. “Studies have shown that magic is fundamental to all life on Equus.”

“All I can say to that is that we’re not on Equus anymore. What is fundamental on our world might be irrelevant on theirs.”

“Then how do you suppose they expected my language spell to work?” Amethyst asked.

“That’s a very good question,” Wandering said. “Perhaps they will have some surprises in store for us too. Phalanx, did you perceive anything of interest?”

“Their ship is awash with emotions, but while that landing bay had too much fear and suspicion, that was mostly emanating from the guards that they had posted further away. As I mentioned earlier, the one that Amethyst calls Forestwalker is very openly friendly and curious. The sheer amount of positive emotion that she was giving off definitely offset the bitter taste of the negative emotions. Overall, my impression is that they are afraid of something but willing to go to the effort of making peaceful contact.”

“That’s reassuring,” Wandering said. “Amethyst – how long do you think that it will take to get a good working vocabulary going?”

The hybrid unicorn took another sip of the headache potion that Zubon had provided before answering. “Provided that Forestwalker has a similar recovery time from these sessions as I do, it will take only two more to be reasonably fluent. The language spell works exponentially because it’s hardest to start from scratch to get the basic concepts down. That’s why we are currently limited to a few hundred of our mutually commonest words. The next session should extend that to a few thousand, and after that, the spell will have enough material to work with to define tens of thousands more. You should be able to work out more obscure words that Forestwalker does not know by yourself after that.”

“Excellent!” Wandering turned back to Playbitz. “We will hold off on deceleration until after the third language lesson. At that point we should know better how we wish to proceed. You may wish to recalculate our course from shortly after that.”

The pegasus nodded. “No problem, sir.”

The alicorn then addressed their Chief Scientist. “Techbird, what are your impressions of the equipment that can be seen in the GemVee recording?”

“Bearing in mind the lack of magic in use, there obviously isn’t any magitek, but their purely physical technology appears to be a match or better than our own equipment. The shuttles that can be seen parked there certainly look like the product of a multi-generational design process, and judging by their ship, almost certainly faster and more maneuverable than our skiff. I can only guess at the function of most things that can be seen, but considering that it isn’t just bare functional-looking equipment, I would say that it bespeaks a high degree of sophistication. I can hardly wait to get my talons on it!”

“That jibes with my own impressions, which leaves me with a puzzle. How can such a powerful and sophisticated civilization be so afraid of a ship that is half-crippled and nowhere near as advanced as theirs?”

After Midnight dismissed the Security team, shi accompanied Rosepetal and Forestwalker to the main conference room where Boyce was waiting for them along with the other department heads. They noted a view of the shuttle bay meeting on the big screen at the end of the table as they took seats.

“That was a very interesting first contact meeting,” Boyce said without preamble. “However, you were a bit reckless, Forest, although it did seem to get us a good head-start on communicating with them.”

“I would never have done that if my senses didn’t tell me that it was relatively safe,” Forestwalker protested.

“Relatively is a dangerous word in the space business. However, I can’t argue with the results.”

“I believe the risk was definitely worth it,” Rosepetal said, “but what did you find out that we haven’t heard as yet?”

“While we had every scanner on them from the moment that they entered the shuttle bay, we have been left with even more questions. First of all, although there is electronic equipment that we could detect aboard their shuttle craft, it was inadequate for the needs of such a vessel. We could not even determine its power source except that it was giving off readings identical to those of the mystery energy weapon of the Swarm. Stranger yet, every one of those four aliens were also giving off traces of that energy signature, presumably from equipment embedded in their uniforms. While I tend to agree with your assessment that they are not associated with the Swarm, they definitely have knowledge that would be of immense value to Star Fleet. Other than that, technology-wise, their modest tech only makes me more amazed that they successfully accomplished an interstellar journey.”

The head of the Astronomy Department spoke up. “Not only that, sir, but considering that we are familiar with all the nearby star systems, their starting point must have been light-centuries away.”

“Not necessarily,” a female Voxxan said. “We received a report from the CDF ship that went to investigate the weak gamma ray burst that heralded the alien ship’s arrival. It might explain a lot.”

Boyce arched an eyebrow. “And when were you planning to share that information, Lieutenant Laressi?”

The vixen’s ears pinked a little, but she replied firmly, “Sir – the report only came in as the first contact meeting began. I thought that it was prudent to concentrate on that and wait to bring up this relevant information now.”

“I see. Continue.”

Laressi touched a button on the keypad in front of her, and the view on the main screen changed to display a star-field with six barely visible spheres surrounding a patch of space that glowed faintly purple. “This is what the scout found. It took hir a long time because it is almost invisible and hard to detect at three light-days distance from Chakastra, and that has kept it from being found for this long. Captain – that purple glow is light seen through a tunnel. It’s an impossibility – an absolutely stable wormhole.”

“What about those planetoids?” Boyce asked as he peered closely at the image. “They each seem to have a symbol on them in gigantic scale.”

“Much more than that, sir.” Laressi zoomed the image on one of the spheroids, revealing thousands more symbols on a smaller scale. “I have no idea of their significance, but all of those six planetoids are engraved with those.” She zoomed out again. “The planetoids seem to have a stable relationship with each other, equally spaced in a hexagonal arrangement that faces directly at Chakastra. I speculate that it is a gateway to this stellar system.”

“Wait! If they came through that, they could have come from anywhere in the galaxy,” Boyce said, surprise evident on his face.

“You’re underestimating it, sir – if it’s totally controlled, they could be from anywhere in the universe.”

“Who could build such a thing?” Rosepetal asked.

‘I have a better question,” Boyce said. “Why did they build it and put the endpoint here?”

Midnight spoke up. “If those aliens have anything to do with the construction of that stable wormhole, I think we had better start giving a lot more respect for their level of technology.”

Boyce silently agreed.

“Captain, I’ve been waiting my entire extended lifetime to get my answers. I’m so close! You have to let me join you!”

Wandering looked at the determined face of the griffoness and knew that there was no point in arguing. “Alright, Techbird, get in the skiff. But please – try to restrain yourself while you’re there. We’re still in the earliest stages of feeling out each other. We don’t need any unfortunate incidents.”

Techbird joined the others who had previously visited the huge ship still coasting alongside their own. Wandering came aboard and closed the airlock door. Soon the skiff was on its way back over, albeit not as cautiously as it had on its first journey. The second exchange of blinking lights let them know that they were expected this time.

Techbird studied the alien ship intensely as they approached, no detail escaping her attention. She did not miss the slight glow as they passed through the force-field that constrained the air in the shuttle bay, but her eyes were quickly drawn to the vehicles and equipment within. She could hardly wait to get her talons on some of it!

The team members disembarked with the eager griffoness between them to restrain her enthusiasm, and they lined up much as they had previously as their counterparts approached. While the two centauroid creatures were the same, as was the Abyssinian-like leader, the fourth was different this time. Obviously a guard of some nature, this tiger-striped being towered over everyone else and would have intimidated virtually anyone. Fortunately Wandering was not easily cowed, and Eon merely gave him an appraising look. Phalanx scanned the creature as a matter of course and tasted his emotions – intense but not actually hostile. Techbird was oblivious to all four as her eyes were only on the technology that she longed to get hold of. Only Amethyst was a little put off by the huge catlike alien.

“Weren’t there supposed to be only four of them, sir?” the Rakshani security officer quietly asked his commander.

Midnight answered, “There were only four last time, but there’s no reason why they could not bring a fifth this time. Judging by its intense emotions and where it’s been looking, I gather it’s only interested in our equipment. Considering what we know about their own ship, that’s hardly surprising. Just stick to your instructions.”

The contact team drew up to the five from the visitors’ ship and got a closer look at the new addition.

“Rose, I can see through that new creature!” Forestwalker whispered to her co-wife.

“It appears to be some sort of living crystalline being. Fascinating! They are getting more interesting all the time. Anyway, you’re up.”

Forestwalker stepped forward and said, “Friend teach more now?”

Amethyst stepped forward to meet Forestwalker. “Yes, teach more now. Sit down, please.”

As before, Amethyst touched her horn to Forestwalker’s head and began the spell. While those two were occupied, Wandering approached Rosepetal, stopping when Midnight held up a hand to indicate he should come no closer. The stallion bent around to retrieve two small devices from a pocket in his uniform, and he held one out to the Commander.

“We talk with this,” he said in Terranglo.

Midnight quickly scanned the device with hir PADD and nodded. “It seems innocuous.”

Rosepetal took the communicator from Wandering, but her attention was not on the device. “How are you holding that with just a hoof?” she asked.

The alicorn understood enough of the words that that he had learned from Amethyst that he could gather her meaning. Having dealt with species such as the minotaurs who had grasping appendages, he comprehended her confusion. He lifted his foreleg again, turning it in exactly the way a horse could not to show the underside of his hoof. He searched his very limited vocabulary for a word. “Feel it,” he urged.

Rosepetal hesitantly reached out.

“Is that wise?” Midnight asked.

“Are you sensing any threat?” Rosepetal asked.

“No,” the black chakat admitted.

Rosepetal leaned down and put her hand upon the upturned hoof, and she saw the frog bulge a little to make contact with her fingers. It was soft, warm, and not unpleasant. Then she felt a gentle force envelope her fingers and give them a gentle pull.

Wandering smiled and said, “Hold things this way.”

Rosepetal nodded in comprehension. “Some kind of tactile kinesis. That explains a lot.” Wandering released her fingers and she stood upright and said, “Thank you.”

While the Terranglo word ‘thank’ was not in his limited vocabulary as yet, the alicorn understood the intention and smiled and replied in Equish, “You’re welcome.”

Encouraged by this exchange, the Caitian decided to try asking more questions. “You all have wings, but they are all too small to be of any use, especially those insect-like ones. Why do you have them?”

This question was far too complex for Wandering to comprehend with the limited number of words at his disposal, and he shrugged helplessly. “No words yet.”

Rosepetal resigned herself to wait until Forestwalker and the unicorn finished their session in the hope that she could re-ask the question and be understood.

After several more uneventful minutes, Amethyst broke off the spell, and each of them leaned back with a groan as they rubbed their aching heads.

“Are you alright?” Rosepetal asked Forestwalker.

“Same skull-splitting headache as last time, but otherwise I’m fine,” the chakat replied.

Amethyst said, “It was as hard as the first session, but now we know many thousands of words each.”

“Are you fluent in Terranglo already?” the Caitian asked curiously.

The unicorn shook her head. “I do not know all words yet. I can guess what ‘fluent’ means. It is my talent.”

“It's still amazing. Do you understand enough to tell us why you are here?”

“We are explorers. We traveled to the Far Star to discover the unknown.” Her speech was a little stilted as she sought out the new words to use.

“Did you make the wormhole that you came from?”

“What is wormhole?”

“The tunnel in space.”

Amethyst’s face lit with comprehension. “Ah! No – it was a surprise for us.” She was going to say more but Wandering cleared his throat significantly. “You need to talk with our Captain.”

Rosepetal nodded. She understood that neither side was going to blurt out everything that the other wanted to know without better understanding each other. “When can we talk?”

Amethyst gestured to Forestwalker and herself. “We now know a few thousand words each of our languages. One more session and we will know all words. Then we will be ready to talk without problems.”

“That is fair enough. Clear communication is key to peace. We will meet again soon… what is your crew person doing?”

Rosepetal had noticed Techbird edging over towards some equipment, and the Rakshani security officer had moved to intercept her.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Techbird is our chief scientist. She is very, very curious.”

“I see. I am afraid that her questions must wait for another time.” Rosepetal turned to Wandering and said, “Captain, we will talk again soon. Our crew must rest up for next time.” She trusted the unicorn to clarify her words later if necessary.

Wandering got the gist of what the Caitian had said though. He held up the mate to the comm that he had given to Rosepetal. “We talk when ready.”

Rosepetal held up her comm and said, “I will wait for your call.”

The Cosmic Lotus team headed back to the skiff, herding the reluctant griffoness as the Pegasus team watched. The skiff departed and the four turned to head out of the shuttle bay. As they walked, Rosepetal held out the comm to Midnight and said, “Give this thing a deep scan.”

Midnight used hir PADD to try to analyze it and came up with puzzling results. “It does not appear to be dangerous in any way that I can detect, but on the other hand I can’t see how it can possibly function at all. It does not appear to have any conventional electronics.”

“I suppose we should give it a test then,” Rosepetal said, lifting it to her head. It only had a couple of buttons – essentially a walkie-talkie, but that was understandable. She pushed the green button, guessing that it was the ‘on’ switch, and it glowed. “This is Commander Rosepetal testing the communicator.”

A moment later, Amethyst’s voice came back. “We hear you, Commander. The comm works properly.”

“Acknowledged. Rosepetal out.” She pushed the red button and the light went out. She nodded thoughtfully. “As much as their scientist was curious about our technology, I find myself just as intrigued with theirs. Clearly they know something we don’t, and bearing in mind their usage of the unknown energy, we may have found some powerful allies.”

“Or equally powerful enemies,” Midnight pointed out.

“I agree. That’s why it’s essential that this First Contact situation must go well. While I don’t believe that the one ship out there poses a threat, we don’t know who might follow after them. While they may indeed be peaceful explorers, that does not necessarily apply to all their people. History is full of examples of how things can go wrong very quickly and easily, and Star Fleet has enough problems without creating more.”

“Is that all we’re going to do?” protested Techbird.

Wandering smiled indulgently. “Tech, I have explored and integrated myself into many cultures back on Equus, and it sometimes took me months to learn enough to fit in smoothly with them. Things continue to go very smoothly and quickly with these meetings, and I’ll be very happy if they keep progressing this well. You will just have to cultivate a little patience. It took us ten subjective years to get here – a few more days isn’t going to kill you.”

Phalanx spoke up. “Judging by the emotions that I could taste, they’re very wary of us. Slow and cautious is the best path, and please don’t try to pick up any of their technology next time.”

Techbird gave them a guilty look. “Sorry. Just don’t leave me out of any of this. I can see that I am closer to answering my Question than ever before, and it excites me immensely.”

Wandering patted Techbird on her withers. “I understand, but like I said before – be patient. Thanks to Flix, you have a healthy new body and a long life ahead of you yet. You will have time to find your Answer.”

“So – what’s our course of action, Captain?” Amethyst asked.

“While you recover from your latest session of language learning, I am going to arrange a reception for some visitors. I plan to invite some of them over to the Cosmic Lotus for a getting-to-know-you party. As Mama Twilight always likes to remind me – Friendship is Magic, and I hope to put that magic to good use. If we can convince them that we would make good allies, we may get a lot of help with our current problems.”

“Sure, we might make good allies for them, but would they be good allies for us?” Eon asked. “You tend to be over-optimistic, Captain. I advise a bit more caution.”

Wandering grinned back at the dracopony. “Guilty as charged, Eon, but I’m not totally naïve. I’m hoping that the party will cause them to let their guard down a bit, and if that doesn’t work – well, I have a back-up plan.”

“Which is…?”

“Sorry – I’m playing those cards close to my chest. I’ll tell you later if it becomes necessary.”

After they had been decontaminated, Wandering sought out Willow. The orange changeling was delighted with the prospect of entertaining a group of aliens. The prospect of dealing with several species about which she knew nothing did not daunt her in the slightest.

“I might not have a cutie mark to prove it, Captain, but this is my special talent. Just leave it to me!”

After Amethyst had been treated for her headache and followed that up with a good sleep, Wandering had her use a spell to teach him the latest batch of words of the new language, Terranglo. This was simpler and far less painful than the spell that was needed to learn a strange language from scratch, but the alicorn normally preferred learning a new vocabulary the old-fashioned way, claiming that it gave him a better understanding and feel for the language. However, time was of the essence, and when you had a resource such as the expert linguist Amethyst at your disposal, you took advantage of it. Thus he was fully prepared for their next visit to the Pegasus.

A brief exchange on the comm unit that they had left with their new acquaintances had cleared them for their third visit. Wandering managed to persuade Techbird to stay behind this time, arguing that it was his intention to invite them over to the Cosmic Lotus to entertain them and encourage them to do the same in return. The griffoness would definitely be among those who would get to see more of the alien ship then.

The scenario was unchanged when the four stepped out of the skiff, although Phalanx reported that the level of fear and tension was considerably lower this time.

“Good,” Wandering murmured. “That bodes well for our plans.” As the groups paused about three meters apart, he put on his best smile and said, “Hello, Commander Rosepetal. We are ready to learn the remaining language.”

Rosepetal returned the smile. “You learn very quickly, Captain Path.”

Wandering inclined his head towards Amethyst. “Language is Amethyst Scroll’s special talent. She learns and teaches me quickly.”

“Then I suppose that we had better let her do her task. Forest, are you ready?”

Forestwalker stepped forward. “Readier than ever. M’Lai gave me a treatment that she believes will ameliorate the effects of the learning process that Amethyst uses.” She settled down and Amethyst moved into her usual position. Her horn glowed and the two were immediately locked in the learning spell once more.

Wandering turned his attention back to Rosepetal. “While we wait, we can talk some. I want to invite you to a party on my ship.”

The Caitian frowned a little. “A party? Do you mean a diplomatic conference?”

Wandering shook his head. “I do not know the word ‘diplomatic’, but I can guess. I mean party. Food, entertainment, and fun to welcome new friends.”

Rosepetal tilted her head slightly in puzzlement. “You wish to throw a party for strangers already? We barely know each other yet! And we cannot be sure that your foods are compatible with our metabolisms.”

Again a couple of Rosepetal’s words were not in Wandering’s new vocabulary, but he gleaned their meaning. Having anticipated a problem, he gestured for Phalanx to step forward. The changeling was carrying a box which he presented to the Caitian.

Wandering said, “This box contains samples of the foods we eat. You may test them for safety.”

Midnight stepped up to take the box and shi scanned it with hir PADD before passing it on to Rosepetal. The alicorn was a little saddened that they were worried about being given some sort of booby-trap, but he had to concede that it was a wise precaution nonetheless.

Rosepetal opened the box and peered inside. There were a multitude of small, clear packets each containing a sample of different foods from cake to salmon pâté which Kale Robe had prepared for them. There were also samples of drinks in tiny jars.

Wandering said, “The drinks include fruit juices and alcohol.”

Rosepetal smiled. “A proper party indeed. Thank you. We will consider your invitation.” She put the box aside on a nearby shelf. “Seeing as you have a larger vocabulary now, I would like to ask a couple of questions about things that have us puzzled.”

“Ask your questions, and I will try to answer them.”

“First – you showed me how you can hold things with your hoof, but that still seems inadequate for a species to develop sophisticated technology. Did you get help from other species?”

Wandering realized that none of his team had carried anything by magical levitation yet, but while he did not wish to give away too much of their capabilities just yet, that one was so basic that it would very quickly be discovered. “Let me show you.”

The alicorn’s horn glowed, and the box of samples and several other objects on the shelf lifted into the air and did a dance in front of Rosepetal.

The Caitian said, “Ah! Telekinesis – that explains a lot.”

“You know of this?” Wandering asked.

“Some Terran species can use telekinesis too.”

Wandering did not know what a Terran was, but he wondered if they had any relationship to the Equians. Maybe they had the magic that these beings lacked? He made a mental note to follow up on that thought later. “You have another question?”

Rosepetal nodded. “I asked this the last time, but you did not understand then. You all have wings, but not even the biggest of them would enable you to fly, and certainly not those insect-like ones, so why do you have them?”

The alicorn wondered if he had understood the question correctly, but he decided to give the obvious answer in the hope of clarification. “We have wings to fly.”

Rosepetal frowned. “No – that’s impossible. How can you fly with those wings? Your body mass to wing area is far too great.”

Wandering grinned and spread his wings. “This is how.” He gave a powerful flap to lift himself into the air, and then maintained a hover with slow gentle beats while still levitating the objects from his previous demonstration.

Rosepetal gaped in shock. “That… that’s impossible.”

“Eon, Phalanx – demonstrate flight for the Commander,” Wandering ordered.

Both the changeling and the dracopony launched into a hover like the alicorn, Eon’s leathery wings cupping the air in gusts while Phalanx’s diaphanous wings buzzed.

Even Midnight was a little shocked at the incredible display, while the Rakshani was a little disturbed and raised his weapon to a ready position. However, Wandering settled to the floor and folded his wings, and the others followed suit.

“Not impossible,” Wandering said smugly.

Rosepetal shook herself out of her stupor. “Obviously not, but I look forward to learning why.” She decided to put off further questions for the moment. Apparently there was far more to these strange beings than met the eye, and it was wise to learn as much as they could while treading carefully.

They all waited patiently until Amethyst and Forestwalker finished their session. As the chakat was about to get up, Amethyst threw her forelegs around Forestwalker and hugged hir. Midnight flinched at the unexpected move, but Forestwalker did not hesitate to return the embrace, and after a long while, the two parted with genuine smiles of friendship.

“How are you feeling, Forestwalker?” Rosepetal asked.

“Much better than the past two sessions, Commander. Not only do I think that the medicine was effective, but I think that with the far larger vocabulary we had to work with after the second session, it was easier to make associations with the remaining words. I just have to let things settle down in my head a bit.”

Amethyst said, “We both know the entirety of each other’s languages now. I will teach Captain Path the rest of your language when we return to the Cosmic Lotus, but before that, on behalf of my captain and my crew-mates, I wish to unambiguously declare our hope and intention of making a peaceful, friendly, and mutually beneficial relationship between our two cultures.”

“Excellent. That is our hope also.” Rosepetal faced Wandering once more. “I will pass on your invitation to Admiral Kline and recommend that we pursue this relationship further. It has been a surprising pleasure to meet you and your crew, Captain Path.”

“Thank you, Commander Rosepetal. Call us when you are ready to accept our invitation, and I will send our… little ship to pick up your group.”

“Yes – I don’t think one of our shuttles would be able to access your ship.” She chose not to mention that they could probably beam over. If they did not possess that technology, there was no need to give away that capability.

“We will wait to hear from you. Until later, Commander.”

The Cosmic Lotus team boarded their skiff and departed. A bemused Rosepetal passed the box of samples to Forestwalker and said, “These are food specimens that our visitors provided. Make sure that they get thoroughly analyzed. While I don’t believe that they would deliberately harm us, as you know there are certain things that one species can eat while another can’t. I don’t want any unpleasant surprises.”

“What do you think, Captain? Do you reckon they will accept the invitation?” Eon asked as they headed back to the Cosmic Lotus.

Wandering grinned. “They’re curious as Tartarus – they’ll come.”

The dracopony grinned. “Great! I think a party is just the thing after all the drama of the past few days.”

“I agree. The crew has earned a break after all the hard work put into completing repairs. And if we can make some new friends at the same time, that’s all the better.”

“Admiral – I have the results of the analysis of the sample foods,” came the voice of the technician over the intercom.

“Good,” Boyce replied. “Anything dangerous to report?”

“None whatsoever, provided you don’t overindulge in the alcohol,” the technician added with a chuckle. “The sample was pretty potent stuff. Anyway, we did find one extremely puzzling factor.”

Boyce frowned; he did not like puzzles when it came to foods that he was meant to consume. “What is it?”

“The foods are not only totally compatible with Terran biology, they are also virtually identical to Terran foodstuffs.”

“What? All of them?”

“Yes, sir – all of them.”

“That’s impossible.”

“The results speak for themselves, sir.”

Boyce was stunned. Despite the fact that many foods from one planet could be consumed by beings native to another planet, there was no such thing as a total compatibility. In fact, it was common for at least half to be poisonous to non-natives, and the other half, while edible, were only similar to familiar foods. But these were identical? There was a mystery to solve here that had little to do with eating. He smiled. Finding out was going to be fun.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

For the first language lesson, I used a list of the 500 most common English words for a basis. For the second, I used a list of the 3000 most common words. If they were not on those lists, I did not use them, but substituted as necessary. That is why Wandering’s speech was a little stilted occasionally.

The word ‘triumequirate’ is a ponification of ‘triumvirate’. Use a dictionary if you don’t know what that means.

Art by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf.
Image of Chakona supplied by Airy Words who also pre-reads the chapters for me.

Party!

As Wandering left the skiff and waited to be decontaminated, he said to Amethyst, “I would like to be updated with the full Terranglo language as soon as possible. When do you feel you will be up to doing that?”

“This session was a lot easier than the previous two, so give me six hours. I’ll grab something to eat and have a nap before getting to work on the final language spell.”

“Great! I’d love to be able to give a large number of the crew the ability to talk directly with our guests – the more, the better.”

“That may be a greater number than you think, Captain.”

“I thought that I was already being optimistic.”

“I would agree, except that now that I have a full vocabulary at my recall, I’ve already started noticing a ridiculously high number of correlations between our words and theirs. With so much in place already, it will be a lot easier to use the spell, so the greater number of crew that I can process. I do wonder what it all means though.”

“Perhaps we’ll get more clues while entertaining our visitors.”

Phalanx said, “You do realize, Captain, that they will be feeling us out just as much as we will them? While we parted on good terms, I still tasted a great deal of ambient fear.”

“I’ll be counting on their curiosity. That’s exactly why we need to put our best face forward. While we’re not helpless, we can achieve a lot more with their cooperation. If we can get them to put their fears and suspicions aside, they will be great allies.”

Their conversation was held up briefly as Doctor Zubon performed the decontamination procedure after taking some samples.

“Did you find any dangerous microbes from our previous visit, Doctor?” Wandering asked.

“Nothing of any serious nature, Captain, but don’t use that as an excuse to get out of these decontamination procedures.”

“Celestia forbid!” the alicorn replied with a chuckle. “However, I intend to play host to a number of the aliens over here, and I would like to know if it’s safe to do so.”

Zubon held up her sample case. “I will analyze these immediately, but even if they come up clear, I suggest that the visitors include one of their own doctors. We can make a judicious trade of information, and they can watch for problems among their own crew.”

“I don’t want to give them a blanket list of everything that is deadly to Equians,” Wandering said with a small frown.

“I’ll prepare a database of general information on toxic substances without specific dosages and you can pass that along when you talk to them next time. Speaking of talking, Radiance Point is just outside and is dying to tell you something.”

“Oh? I hope he has some good news for me,” Wandering said as he headed out of the room.

As Zubon had said, the unicorn was waiting just outside, and he made a beeline for Wandering as soon as the alicorn appeared.

“Captain – I have some important news about the mana beacons.”

“Good news, I hope?”

“Well – a bit of good and a bit of bad.”

“Now that you’ve both excited and disappointed me, would you care to explain?”

“I can confirm that the mana beacons are functioning properly, and in fact they have been since yesterday. However, while we had always considered their range to be indefinite, our understanding of the size of the universe has taken quite a kick in the plot lately.”

“Are you saying that we are out of range?” Wandering asked with some trepidation.

“While I can’t be absolutely sure, I don’t believe so. However, I am certain that we are so far away from Equus right now that the signal from the beacon has not reached home yet. Once it does, Prince Destined can get a lock on us again.”

“And how long before that happens?”

Radiance shrugged helplessly. “How long is a piece of string? We already know that we could be hundreds or even thousands of light-years from home. Cosmic Dawn’s initial theories suggest that that there’s no limit to the distance we could travel in that strange tunnel–”

“Wormhole,” Amethyst said.

“What?”

“The aliens apparently are familiar with the phenomenon and call it a wormhole.”

“Interesting name. Anyway, while there’s no limit to how far we could have travelled, Dawn thinks the duration that we spent in the… wormhole is an indication of distance, and that we’re likely to be still in the same star whirlpool–”

“Galaxy,” Amethyst interjected.

“Can we save the language lesson for later?” Radiance asked irritably. “As I was saying, we’re probably still in the same galaxy. The mana beacon will connect again sooner or later, so we won’t be left stranded, but I have no way of knowing when that will happen.”

“Alright, we’ll just have to hope that it will be a matter of days and not months. Hmm… is there any way that we can send the signal back through the wormhole?”

“Maybe – if we get back close to it and in line with it. Seems risky to me.”

“Yeah, but it’s something to keep in mind. What about the comms? Any progress with them?”

Radiance shook his head. “Nope, and don’t expect any either. Even the most sophisticated crystal comms operate on the same basic principle – paired sympathetically linked crystals. Those links have been broken, and there’s no way to restore them without bringing the two back into physical contact once more. We’re out of communication with Equus until Destined can bring us replacements.”

Wandering grimaced. “Damn. That makes it more important than ever to ensure making an agreement with the aliens. Without a firm date to work with, we have to act as if we are on our own indefinitely.”

“I’m afraid so, sir,” Radiance agreed.

Starry met Wandering as he made his way to their room. After updating Bluequill on the events of the second meeting, it was time for him to go off-duty and get some rest. Starry gave him an eager smile, and he knew that rest was not on her mind. No sooner than they had entered their room than his mate started pestering him for information. As the only way that he had been able to persuade her to stay behind had been to promise to tell her all the juicy details later, he willingly complied. He discovered that she had quite an interest in the centauroid creatures for some reason.

“Could you transform into one of them?” she eventually asked.

Wandering lifted an eyebrow questioningly. “Is that what this is all about, Starry? You can’t wait to get your hooves on an alien?”

Starry blushed a little, but replied defiantly, “Of course not! Scientific curiosity needs to be satisfied!”

“You’re not a biologist though.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to study that biology,” she retorted with a smirk.

Wandering laughed. “You’re a kinky lover, you know that?”

“And you enjoy it just as much as me,” she replied unabashed.

The stallion just shook his head in defeat. “Okay, I got a good scan of all of them, so I can do what you want. I’ll use the one named Forestwalker as the base, but I’ll modify it slightly to match my colors. But first, I had better get out of this uniform. It won’t fit after I change.” Wandering divested himself of his clothes as Starry did the same. Then his horn lit up, and his form was engulfed with magical green flames. Moments later, a solid red-furred chakat with blue and white-striped hair stood in front of the mare.

While any of the changelings aboard the ship could have emulated the chakat, the great difference in size and mass would have meant that they would have to use illusion to bolster the image, and they would be a chakat in looks alone. Wandering’s alicorn-level magic went much further. He drew on mana to create the extra mass, and he became a true replica of the lifeform. The newly created chakat smiled at Starry and said in a voice very similar to Forestwalker’s, “You like?”

Starry was busy feasting her eyes on Wandering’s new form. Although she had seen all the images that the contact team had taken of the various creatures aboard the Pegasus, it was quite another thing to see one up close and personal. For starters, it was a lot larger than she had initially thought it to be. She took in every detail, occasionally running a hoof over part of the chakat’s anatomy, causing Wandering to experience a soft thrill.

‘These creatures seem to be more sensitive to being touched,’ he mused.

“These … chakats?” Starry looked at Wandering for confirmation, which was provided with a smile and nod. “Their species has generously large udders,” Starry commented.

“I’ve seen minotaur cows with similar endowments,” Wandering replied, putting a hand under each and hefting them a bit. “Still, these are certainly on the larger end of the scale.”

Starry continued her inspection, working her way down the lower torso, noting the ever-changing convolutions of the long, thick tail. “Is that tail prehensile?” she asked.

Wandering paid attention to that appendage for the first time, and it curled exactly as desired on application of will. “I believe you’re correct. Fascinating. This is a very versatile body.”

The mare nodded in agreement and kept on checking out Wandering’s new form. She leaned down to get a closer look at the hind paws when she noticed something. She quickly shifted around for a view from the rear and said, “Lift your tail.”

“You’re usually a lot subtler than that, Starry,” Wandering replied with a smirk.

The mare just stuck her tongue out at him and said, “Just do it.”

Wandering complied.

Starry goggled for a moment, then she snrrked and sank to the floor, bursting with laughter.

“Okay – what’s so funny?” Wandering asked.

“So… versatile!” she managed to gasp out between gales of laughter.

Realizing that a straight answer from Starry was not coming anytime soon, Wandering decided to investigate. Laying down on the floor on one side, the transformed alicorn leaned back to look at the nether regions of this new body. “What the…?! Both male and female?”

The truth was there right in front of the transformed alicorn. A sheathed penis and a vulva showed that there was a lot that Wandering had not suspected about these creatures.

“How did you not notice this before?” Starry managed to ask as she got her laughter under control.

“The results of a changeling’s scans are all stored subconsciously! Plus, I was involved in a serious First Contact situation, not looking at their genitals!” Wandering protested.

Starry got up to have a closer inspection. “Well, they’re well worth looking at, lover.”

“Is that all you have to say about this?”

“You’re off-duty. I’m off-duty. Science can wait. Horny mate wants to find out what it’s like to make love to an alien.”

“You’re really obsessed with my shape-changing for kinks, aren’t you?”

“You’re the one who always plays along though.”

Wandering couldn’t find any way to counter that argument, and shi could swear that shi could feel just how aroused Starry was right now. Shi grinned and said, “Let’s find out what else this body can do.”

Making love as a dual-gendered, feline centauroid had been a uniquely exciting experience, but Wandering had needed to get some rest before getting back to work. Shi had curled up around Starry to sleep, and enjoyed pleasant dream-filled slumber until woken by the bedside alarm. After resuming his natural alicorn form and preparing for the new day, he and Starry headed to the common room for breakfast.

He was a little surprised to find Amethyst Scroll already there, and he took his meal over to her table. “Mind if we join you, Amethyst?”

“Not at all, Captain,” she replied.

“I thought that you might still be sleeping after yesterday’s effort.”

“I thought so too, but I woke up early and felt refreshed, so I decided to get to work as soon as possible. In fact, if you want to come around to my work-station straight after your breakfast, I should be ready to teach you the remainder of the Terranglo language.”

“That’s excellent. I figured that it would take you longer than this to get the spell up to date.”

“That unusual familiarity that I mentioned previously has made it a lot less effort. Using a teaching spell is always much easier when the languages have much in common. I’m not going to question why our languages have so many similarities – I’m just grateful that it has made my job simpler.”

“Does that mean that you can teach more of the crew in less time?” Wandering asked hopefully.

“Yes, as long you don’t expect me to do everypony right away.”

“Don’t worry – I’m not expecting miracles. I’ll give you a list of priorities though.”

“No problem, sir.” She picked up her plate and utensils in her magic and set them on the kitchen counter to be cleaned. “I’ll see you soon, Captain,” Amethyst said before she headed out.

Starry was already halfway through her meal, but she stopped long enough to ask, “Do you plan to have every crewmember able to talk Terranglo?”

“Yep, eventually. If we’re going to be working with these beings on a regular basis, I want every possible person to be able to talk with them without ambiguity or uncertainty. Besides, we need every advantage possible. They obviously have a huge advantage over us technologically, but I don’t believe they know anything about magic, so they might underestimate us, and having every listening ear able to understand what they are saying might pay off in some way.”

“Sounds like you’re treating them like potential enemies rather than potential allies. I thought making contacts with new cultures was your specialty?”

Wandering grinned humorlessly. “I am, and I’m telling you now that even the most promising situations can blow up in your face. Forging a relationship with a totally unknown civilization is as dangerous as walking through a castle laden with booby-traps, both magical and mundane. We’re trying to do in a matter of days something that should properly done slowly and carefully over a period of months, if not years. The most innocent of things can turn out to be of vital importance, and overlooking or ignoring them can spell disaster for relationships.”

“So why are you throwing a party so soon? Isn’t that asking for trouble?”

Wandering grinned. “If nothing else, history shows that you can get away with a lot at an informal party that you wouldn’t in a formal meeting. To speed up the relationship between our two cultures, a relaxed and convivial atmosphere is conducive to better understanding. I also plan to be generous with the alcohol.”

Starry laughed. “Just make sure that some of the crew don’t sneak in their ‘special’ brews!”

“You got that right,” Wandering fervently agreed before taking a gulp of his coffee.

Just then, Techbird approached Wandering’s table. “I’m glad that I ran into you here, Captain. I have something very interesting to show you later that could revolutionize our propulsion systems.”

That quickly caught the alicorn’s interest. “You have me intrigued, Tech. Tell me more…”

Forestwalker trudged into the quarters that shi shared with hir mates, tail dragging a little. Admiral Boyce Kline looked up from the sofa where he was relaxing with a book while Doctor M’Lai Saarath lay along it with her head in his lap, a PADD resting forgotten on her breasts as she had drifted off in a nap. Trying not to disturb his Fifthwife, Boyce quietly asked, “What’s wrong, Forest? You look like you’ve run fifty laps of the ship.”

Forestwalker gracelessly sprawled onto a lounging cushion before replying hoarsely, “Have you tried repeating tens of thousands of words to teach the universal translator a new language?”

Boyce smiled sympathetically. “I don’t think this situation has ever come up in the history of the Federation. That was a totally unique method of learning a language, and one that our experts have no idea how to duplicate as yet.”

“Well, I now understand the language a whole lot better anyway.”

“Good. You should be able to pick up on nuances that the translator might miss when we attend our visitors’ party.”

“So you’ve decided to accept their invitation; have they indicated a time for it?”

“The party is too good an opportunity to pass up, and my gut tells me that it’s the right thing to do. I haven’t heard back from them as yet though.”

Rosepetal looked over from the table where she and Midnight were engaged in a game of Rakshan chess. “If they are anything like us, they will be preparing like crazy for the occasion. The party alone should involve a ton of work, even after I sent a message that all the foods had tested to be safe. Even so, their top priority has to be getting their crew up to speed for what is likely to be a huge effort to make a good impression. And they are going to have to try hard because the Federation is not in a position to be too trusting while we’re in a state of war with the Swarm. Although they seem to be friendly and cooperative, we cannot afford to overlook their usage of that unknown energy that is the greatest obstacle to defeating the Swarm.”

“I keep telling you that I can sense no deceit or enmity from them,” Forestwalker protested. “They obviously need our help and we should be doing our best to give it to them.”

Boyce patiently replied, “That is exactly what we would be doing if it wasn’t for the state of emergency. It’s your empathic impression of their good nature that was the primary reason for accepting their invitation, otherwise they might be getting a military escort instead.”

“I hate this war,” Forestwalker grumbled.

Midnight got up, walked over to Forestwalker and lay down beside hir to give hir lifemate a consoling hug. “We all do, love. But that’s why Star Fleet has people like us.” Shi waved a hand to indicate the entire family. “We have a balance of skills, personalities, and opinions that lets us choose the optimum path that keeps us all safe and still gives strangers the assistance they need. Star Fleet may be engaged in a war right now, but that’s not its only task. Exploring and discovering new worlds and new civilizations is at its heart, and that’s why you chose to join up after we left Earth for Chakona. But you have to accept that we can’t choose to be compassionate first.”

The jaguar-patterned chakat sighed and nodded reluctantly. Shi leaned hir head against Midnight’s shoulder. “I know. It’s just hard for me.”

Midnight stroked Forestwalker’s hair. “We’re here for you, Forest – never forget that.”

Boyce added, “We may be an odd mixture of a family, but it’s our diversity that gives us strength. Your heart is great, Forest, and we love you for that, but you need to let us do what we do best also.”

Forestwalker had hir eyes closed as shi enjoyed the gentle stroking and waves of sympathy that shi felt coming from hir mates. “I understand. Thanks, everyone.”

Word had come through from Captain Path that they were ready to hold the party whenever it suited their Star Fleet guests. However, Boyce had made some final checks with his heads of department first.

“And all your scans came up clean, Doctor M’Lai?”

“All the samples taken from both visits indicated only benign bacteria and viruses. There was not a single trace of anything that could harm any of us. Decontamination procedures can be discontinued.”

The admiral turned to Rosepetal. “The transporter can retrieve us in an emergency?”

“The alien ship’s shield against background radiation has no effect on transporter function, sir. We can get already get a lock on areas within their ship. We won’t have any trouble locking onto your combadges.”

“Good.” He turned to Forestwalker. “Is the universal translator fully updated?”

“Not quite, sir,” Forestwalker replied formally. “But you know how it works. It builds its neural network based on relevant and useful words first, leaving the more obscure and specialist words until last. I doubt that you will encounter any problems unless they use terms for which we have no equivalent.”

“That’s always the case with a new language, so we can deal with that.” Boyce then addressed everyone in the room. “Has everyone got their translator earpieces activated and linked to their combadges?”

They all acknowledged readiness.

Boyce continued, “I want everyone to bear in mind that while this is a party thrown in our honor, this is also a learning experience for both our sides. Enjoy the entertainment, socialize as much as possible, even indulge in alcohol with restraint, but never forget that you represent the Stellar Federation and you will be expected to maintain the high standards that I expect of Star Fleet personnel, and especially of my crew. Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open, and try to stay out of trouble.”

“Aye, sir!” came a chorus of replies.

“The aliens’ shuttle is on its way over, sir,” Midnight reported.

Boyce nodded in acknowledgement. “The first group prepare to shuttle over.”

Due to the space restrictions within the skiff, it could only ferry over a maximum of six passengers at a time, or fewer if any of them were taurs. It had been decided that Boyce had to be among the first group as it was time for both the ships’ captains to meet. He took along Midnight for security purposes, Forestwalker to monitor the encounter empathically and to compensate for any of the Universal Translator’s shortcomings, and M’Lai with her Away-Team kit to keep a medical eye on things in case something had been missed. The second group would include Rosepetal with Harrakar, the Rakshani security officer from the second meeting; E’Sondra te Hanso, a Voxxan fem specializing in cultural studies; Chakat Sparks, the Chief Engineer of the Pegasus; and Helen Baines, a herm rabbit technician. The latter two had been chosen not only as suitable guests, but also because they might be able offer technical assistance while appraising the aliens’ technology. While Sparks had a wealth of experience and expertise, Helen had a special knack for identifying equipment and diagnosing problems.

Boyce was satisfied that they had a good mixture of scientific and military personnel for their group, and had high hopes for a peaceful and successful mission. Hopefully they would make a good first impression on their visitors, because if they turned out to be useful allies, it could mean huge repercussions in their war with the Swarm.

Wandering piloted the skiff personally to pick up the first of his party-goers. As an alicorn, he had little to fear if the aliens turned out to be hostile after all. His defenses were extremely strong, and he could teleport back to the ship if worse came to the worst. Not that he thought that was likely to happen, but it was his responsibility to think of these possibilities. Mostly he was eager to meet with his counterpart at last. While he understood the security precaution of sending his First Officer to make contact with the Equians, trust needed to be built up between the two commanding officers, and as his mother would quickly point out, that involved making friends. He hoped that the party would be a success.

The alicorn piloted the ship into the shuttle bay as usual, noting a group waiting for him, with a second group standing back from the first, undoubtedly for the second load. He also noticed the lack of armed personnel lining the catwalks of the bay this time.

“Things are looking up,” he murmured to himself.

Parking the skiff skillfully, he then proceeded to exit the craft. He was quickly approached by the chakat that he had imitated the previous night, and shi smiled welcomingly.

“I’m glad that you chose to come yourself, Captain Path” shi said in Terranglo. “I would like to personally introduce you to Admiral Kline, our ship’s commanding officer and my mate.” Shi turned to indicate the human as he stepped forward with a smile on his face.

“A pleasure to meet you, Captain Path,” Boyce said, bowing slightly in lieu of offering his hand to his hoofed counterpart.

A matching smile on Wandering’s face froze as he took in Boyce’s visage. While the human’s face seemed innocent enough and the expression friendly, a strange aversion swept over the alicorn. An unreasoning chill of fear made him shudder. ‘What’s wrong with me? I’ve never seen this creature in my life, but a mere glance has me shivering in fright. I… I can’t let this go on.’

Wandering quickly called upon his link to the changeling network to contact Eon’s second-in-command. ‘Phalanx! I need a big favor quickly!’

‘Captain? What’s the problem?’

‘I have been struck by a near-paralyzing fear of the aliens’ commander. I need you to draw off the fear and help me get it under control.’

‘I can taste it through the link, sir. I’ll… do what I can.’

Despite not being present physically, the changeling was able to help considerably, and Wandering felt himself calming down. He clamped down on the errant emotion and brought himself fully back under control. ‘Thanks, Phalanx – I’m okay now.’

‘You’re welcome, sir. Please excuse me while I get this bad taste out of my mouth.’

Knowing the effect that negative emotions had on changelings, Wandering was grateful that was all that Phalanx would have to deal with.

“Are you alright, Captain?” Boyce asked him with some concern.

Wandering shook himself and plastered a smile back on his face. “Please excuse me, Admiral – I was struck by an unexpected reaction to your appearance. Is there anything in particular about your species that may have caused that feeling?”

Boyce was puzzled. “Not that I am aware of.”

“I see. I will have to look into this later. Meanwhile, there is a party waiting for you and your crew members, and I invite you to board my skiff so that we can get that under way.” Wandering gestured toward the skiff’s door.

Boyce nodded and led his group onto the skiff and the alicorn boarded after the last member. Sealing up the door, he made his way to the pilot’s chair, noting that Admiral Kline was taking a keen interest in everything that the pony did. Wandering took the skiff out of the shuttle bay with his usual skill, but half his mind was still on the totally unexpected effect that the human had upon him. It was completely unreasonable, but the mere sight of the flat furless face had filled him with incredible dread. None of the other strange beings that he had met so far had had any similar effect upon him, so why this one? And would it affect the others? It would not be a good experience for their VIP to be confronted by a ship full of panicky people. He decided to send a warning ahead.

‘Princess Galena!’

‘Captain?’ came the surprised response.

‘I’m sending you the image of Admiral Kline. For some reason, just looking at him had a profoundly disturbing effect on me. I want you to spread the word and warn the crew about this. If they are affected also, it will give them a chance to deal with it.’

‘So that’s why Phalanx acted so oddly a short time ago. I’m receiving the image now… and it’s not having any effect on me. I’ll ask Starry.’ There was brief pause and then Galena’s mental voice returned. ‘Wow! She locked up for a moment there. But Commander Bluequill looked also and nothing happened. I’ll try warning the others and getting their reactions too.’

The link was quiet for a long while, but Admiral Kline suddenly broke the silence on board the skiff.

“I can see considerable damage on that boom, Captain.”

“Yes, that’s the solar sail mast that failed to detach before we went through the wormhole.”

“That reminds me – we picked up the remains of one of your sails. Do you need it back?”

“We recycle everything, Admiral, but I’m not sure how we can deal with such a large amount of graphene.”

“That’s another thing that I was wondering, Captain – how did you manage to manufacture such a large amount of such a high-tech material?”

Wandering was a little surprised. “We mastered mass-production of graphene decades ago. With our magitek machinery, all it takes is the right spell formula, raw material, and mana supply, and can make as much as we need. The hard part was handling so much material.”

“Spell formula? Mana? I’m afraid you’re not making sense to me.”

“I suspect that there’s a lot that each of us can learn from the other, Admiral. Pardon me for now though – I need to concentrate on docking.”

Part of Wandering’s mind went elsewhere anyway. “Galena – anything to report?’

‘It’s puzzling, Captain. Ponies seem to be the only ones affected, especially unicorns. Griffons, changelings, minotaurs, and even zebras seem unaffected.’

Wandering wondered that if unicorns were the worst affected, perhaps it had something to do with the degree of magic they wielded? That jibed with his and Starry’s extreme reaction. He would have to follow that up later. ‘How are the ponies coping?’

‘After the initial effect, they have all calmed down again.’

‘Yeah – I’ve settled down to a mild unease too. Make sure everypony is alerted and give them a chance to brace themselves for the human. We don’t want to cause an interplanetary incident.’

‘Will do, Captain.’

The mental conversation concluded just as Wandering powered down the skiff. He then opened the door and said, “Welcome to the Cosmic Lotus. I hope that you enjoy the reception.”

The visitors stepped out and Wandering introduced them to the reception committee consisting of Bluequill, Starry, and Galena. But while the welcome was genuine, Wandering could tell that Starry’s was a little strained. He could hardly blame her for that though, but he could not hang around to help her out because he had to leave in order to fetch the second group of invitees.

“Pardon me, everyone, but I will return soon. Commander Bluequill, I leave the Admiral and his party in your capable talons.”

“Very good, Captain,” the griffon acknowledged with a salute.

‘Nice touch,’ Wandering thought as he stepped aboard the skiff once more.

“So – Commander Bluequill, was it?” Boyce asked.

“Commander Galen Bluequill of House Longreach actually.”

“You resemble a previous visitor’s species, although you do not have the same crystalline look.”

“You are talking about Techbird, I presume. I am a normal example of the griffon species, while she has been changed by chaos magic.”

“Chaos magic?”

“Indeed. How else do you think one of my kind could be made of living crystal? She’s not a crystal pony, after all.”

“Crystal pony? I confess I am getting more confused.”

Bluequill’s beak did not betray the smirk he was feeling. “I suspect that there will be a lot of that on both our sides, Admiral.”

“I believe that you’re right, Commander.” He turned to look at Galena. “You were introduced as a Princess, I believe – does that mean that you technically outrank everyone else?”

Galena smiled and shook her head. “I am the youngest daughter of Queen Lamina, but aboard this ship, I am just another of the crew, albeit one of the chiefs of staff.”

“Are you related to Phalanx? I note that you have a much different build to him.”

“No – he’s a Red Changeling while I am a Violet Changeling, and I’m a young queen while he’s a drone.”

“I see I have a lot to learn about your kind. You resemble the ponies in many ways, but you have insect-like characteristics too.”

Galena smiled indulgently. “We changelings are a symbiotic species that evolved in conjunction with ponykind which probably shaped our appearance, but while we have some very distinctive features that has led us to be sometimes nicknamed bug-ponies, we are not in fact related to insects at all.”

“I will bear that in mind. I look forward to talking with you more.” Boyce turned to Starry next. “I can’t help but notice that you seem ill at ease. Am I causing a problem? Captain Wandering seemed to be affected that way also.”

“It’s nothing,” Starry demurred. “You and possibly your species seem to trigger an aversion among ponies. It is illogical but very real. Please forgive me if I am rude – it’s just that I am having to deal with an involuntary phobia.”

“I understand. Believe me, it’s not always smooth sailing among the races of the Stellar Federation either.”

“That’s reassuring. I hope that we can overcome this problem and work together well.”

“I hope so too, Starry Path. By the way, any relationship to Captain Wandering Path?”

“He is my mate.”

Boyce nodded. “I guessed as much, him being the same species as you.”

Starry gave a genuine chuckle. “While there’s some truth in that statement, you will find that species is no barrier to relationships aboard this ship, nor back home, especially with the changelings. As Galena mentioned, they are symbionts, and they frequently form bonds with other species, especially ponies.”

“More things to learn about your culture,” Boyce replied with a smile.

“Yes, and I hope we can learn about yours too. So, please tell us more about your companions.”

Boyce indicated the chakats next to him. “Captain Path has already met these two. Forestwalker is the chief of the biology department, while Midnight is Chief of Security. Doctor M’Lai is head of the medical department, but all of them have one thing in common with Commander Rosepetal – I am honored to call them my wives.”

Starry smiled. “So you have herds too? At least we have that in common.”

“Herds?” Boyce echoed with a grin. “I suppose you could call them that.”

“Do you have compatibility spells too?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Compatibility spells – you know – to have foals.”

Forestwalker burst out laughing. “Oh yes, you can say that again!”

Boyce made a small smile and added, “I have had a child by each of my five mates so far.”

“Will we get to see them, Captain?”

“They are back on Chakona, living with our extended family and going to school there. Present circumstances preclude having them aboard the Pegasus.”

“Ah – I understand. What I don’t understand and has everyone bursting with curiosity is how your ship is named after one of our species if you have never met them before.”

“That’s because Pegasus was a mythological creature from many centuries in our past.”

“Pegasus singular?”

“Yes. In fact it was considered a winged horse’s name, not a race of such creatures.”

“Curiouser and curiouser.”

“Said Alice,” Boyce added.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Sorry – I was quoting from a notable work of fiction.”

“I see. However, we have a remarkable and puzzling reality to decipher.”

“The first of many, I am betting.”

Starry found herself warming up to the human in spite of the persistent feeling of aversion that she was keeping tightly under control. “Just you wait until you have to deal with Techbird’s puzzles!”

“That’s the translucent griffon, right. I noticed her fascination with our equipment.”

“That’s barely scratching the surface of Techbird’s enthusiastic pursuit of knowledge. I’m afraid you will probably be subjected to a lot more of it.”

“I worked up the ranks through engineering, so I’m quite familiar with her interest in technology. Perhaps we can exchange some information.”

“Be careful what you ask for, Admiral,” Starry replied with a smile.

Boyce smiled back, but if he could get to the bottom of the mysterious energy that these strange newcomers seem to be utilizing, it would be worth any hassle.

They all continued small talk until Wandering returned with the second load of passengers. After introductions were completed, Wandering proceeded to take them to the party venue.

“Please excuse the cramped conditions,” he said as they headed down the passageways with the occasional crewmember gazing with interest at the visitors. “Since we arrived at our destination, everyone who was in hibernation has now been revived and it’s a little crowded. We’ll soon be in the Park where there’s a bit of wing room.”

The group continued on without talking until they reached the entry to the Park. Once inside, Wandering stood aside to allow their guests to get a good look at the lush surroundings. They all gaped at the plethora of plant-life and flowers filling the air with their scent. But it was the sight of all the pegasi, thestrals, changelings and griffons enjoying a flight through the large open spaces or fluttering among the branches that took their breath away. The music that was coming from the far end that was hidden by vegetation along the winding path only added to the surrealistic nature of the scene.

Wandering said, “The main events are at the far end of the Park.” He waved a hoof in the direction of the path.

“This is amazing, Captain Path. This must take up a large portion of your ship,” Boyce said as he forced himself to move along.

“Over half its length and its entire width,” the alicorn clarified. “Not only does it give us room to exercise, especially for those with wings, but the natural environment is good psychologically. Of course it also provides us with oxygen and cleans the air of musty ship smells, and we grow a large proportion of our food here.”

“I can see why you have devoted so much space to it, although if my guess is correct, this used to be the fuel tank for the rocket engines that we noticed at the rear of your craft.”

“Very observant of you, Admiral. You are quite correct. The tanks were built with conversion in mind after they fulfilled their initial function.”

“Rockets are not typically what you would find on an interstellar vessel though.”

“We used them to break orbit and provide the initial impetus before maneuvering into position to engage our solar sail.”

Boyce looked puzzled. “Light-propulsion is an even less effective means of travelling interstellar distances. Acceleration is far too slow.”

“Unless you use alicorn propulsion in conjunction with a mass-reduction spell to get up to a significant proportion of the speed of light.”

“Mass-reduction spell? This is more of this magic that you keep mentioning?”

“Of course… oh – you lack that. I suppose it would be confusing, and it’s certainly different from the way we observed your spacecraft to be moving.”

“Are you certain that your language learning method has correctly interpreted the word? Magic isn’t real.”

Wandering had to stifle a laugh. “There’s magic all around you, and it’s very real.”

Boyce was having a very hard time refuting that argument despite everything he had ever learned. He did notice one other thing however. “Every pony that looks at me seems to react badly. Some stiffen up and others even shy away. Is that more of that reaction you said that you experienced, Captain?”

The alicorn nodded. “It’s exactly the same thing. I sent warning ahead to be prepared for you, but looking at a picture and seeing you in person are very different things. Give them a chance to adapt.”

Boyce presumed that Wandering had radioed from the skiff while returning to the Pegasus for more passengers. However, if his mere appearance was going to disrupt what could be a very important interaction between the two cultures, he would have to consider leaving early. At least the non-ponies seemed more curious and friendly.

The group wound its way through the various trees, flower beds, and vegetable gardens until they neared the end where it opened up to a large grassy area with a pond at the far end that backed up to a mound that was acting as a stage. A band was playing the music that they had been hearing since reaching the Park, and some of the crew were dancing. Tables laden with food lined the perimeter, but they looked untouched, perhaps waiting for the guests to arrive.

The visitors stood there for a while just watching everything, and the Lotus’ crew in turn looked them over. While the larger beings impressed the crew, none of them had the effect that the human had, and they drew a lot of curious gazes.

Forestwalker broke the silent watching. “Captain, I notice that the majority of the crew in here are not wearing a uniform like yours. In fact most are nude. Is this normal?”

Wandering smiled and replied, “While the uniform is required while on-duty, and recommended when off-duty due to its protective devices, the Park is one of the places where everyone can fly, exercise, or relax in total comfort. That is its major function. Most of the crew here are off-duty at the moment, so of course they choose to be comfortable.”

“So clothing is optional in your culture?”

“Aside from protective gear or official uniforms, clothing is normally a fashion statement. We do not actually require any. Is it different for you?”

“Most cultures in the Federation wear clothing all the time for various reasons. On my home world, Chakona, clothing is optional, but the majority still wear it.”

“It must be uncomfortable, surely?”

“You get used to it,” Forestwalker replied with a snicker. “However, now that I can see ponies without their uniform, I notice the symbols that you have on your hindquarters. Can you explain their significance?”

“You mean our cutie marks? We gain them when we discover our true talent or purpose.”

“So you get tattooed or something to commemorate the occasion?”

Wandering laughed. “No – they just magically appear. It’s quite a momentous occasion and we make a big celebration of it when it happens.”

“They just… appear? Out of nowhere?”

“Yes. Only for ponies though, although zebras have a version too.” The alicorn declined to mention his changeling sire’s cutie mark as that was a special exception that would have only confused the situation.

Just then, the tune that the band had been playing finished. The musicians looked at Wandering expectantly, and he took his cue. He strode up the mound and turned to face the gathering, noting that everyone had followed the group to the main event area. That suited him fine. He took one of the microphones that the band had been using and started his speech.

“I would like to formally welcome our visitors from the starship Pegasus and the Stellar Federation which they represent. While it had been our hope to discover life at the Far Star, it was only in our fondest dreams that we thought to meet another sapient species, let alone several of them. My fellow crewmembers, I would like to introduce you to our guests starting with Admiral Boyce Kline. Admiral – would you please step up here with me?”

While the speech had been made in Equish, a link behind his ear to the universal translator had kept Boyce informed as to what was being said. He made his way up the mound and faced the audience, noting the mixed reactions of the ponies but the rapt attention of the others. Wandering passed the microphone to him and Boyce began his speech, trusting in his hosts to have their own translation ability.

“Thank you, Captain Path. I’ll keep this short as this is supposed to be a party rather than a dreary diplomatic event…” He paused as there were many knowing chuckles among the listeners. “In the short time since we encountered each other, it has become very obvious that there are many differences between us, but one thing still remains the same – the desire for friendship. I hope that we can all be good friends as we get to learn more about each other.”

The human was unprepared for the enthusiastic response to that short speech, including hoof-stomping, chittering, and a few screeches from the griffons, but he decided that he must have hit exactly the right note.

“Let me introduce you to my companions. Firstly – Commander Rosepetal Silpurr, First Officer of the Pegasus and my Firstwife.”

Rosepetal walked up to stand next to Boyce and gave the crowd a short bow.

Boyce continued, “Rosepetal is a member of the Caitian species, as is Doctor M’Lai Saarath, my Fifthwife.”

M’Lai joined her husband on the mound, standing just a little taller than him.

“Next I wish to introduce Forestwalker and Midnight, both members of the chakat species. Forest is a biologist and my Thirdwife, while Midnight is my Chief of Security and Fourthwife.”

The two chakats joined him on the crowded stage and waved.

Boyce let the murmurs of the crowd die down before asking his wives to step down to make room for the others.

“Also a chakat but not one of my wives is Chief Engineer Sparks. Security Officer Harrakar ap Jantis na Kiff is a Rakshani, E’Sondra te Hanso is a Voxxan fem specializing in cultural studies, and last but not least is Helen Baines, a rabbit-morph technician who is eager to learn more about your unusual technology. Please feel free to come and talk to any of us and have a chat.”

Wandering smiled and nodded gratefully at Boyce for the short but concise introduction. He then addressed the crowd once more. “Okay – enough with the speeches. This is supposed to be a party in honor of our new friends, so everyone have fun!”

The band took that as their cue to start playing once more, and the alicorn and the visitors joined the others again.

Wandering said, “At this point, I would like to invite you to do as you please. Eat what you like – all of the ingredients for the foods here were included in the samples that we sent to you for testing and have proved harmless to you. The table on the far left has purely vegetarian options which may include items which may not be suitable for your diet though. The table on the far right screened by a bush contains carnivorous options which I would appreciate if you would eat discreetly to avoid disturbing the sensibilities of some of the crew. We know you eat meat, but most ponies find it unsettling.” Again the alicorn decided not to mention that many herbivore House Path members not only were inured to meat eaters, but they also occasionally indulged in it. Lord Path had started that tradition way back when the House had been founded, and it continued to this very day. “Various drinks, alcoholic and otherwise are available too. Please mingle and enjoy yourselves!”

Many of the crew immediately started crowding around the visitors, eager to talk with these exciting new beings. Boyce attracted the attention of a couple of griffons and was soon deep in conversation with them.

Harrakar was approached by Eon and they gave each other an appraising stare. Although the dracopony had to crane his head up to look the Rakshani in the eye, he seemed unimpressed.

“So – what is your fancy long name supposed to mean?” the dracopony suddenly asked.

Harrakar frowned and replied, “It means that I am named Harrakar, sired by Jantis of the House of Kiff.”

“You have Houses too? I suppose that would make me Eon ap Blue Streak na Path.”

“Only if you had an honorable Rakshan lineage,” Harrakar replied with a scowl.

Eon snorted derisively, then asked, “Do you drink alcohol?”

“Yes – I could drink you under the table, little one.”

“Care to prove it?”

“As long as you don’t waste my time with the tame stuff.”

Eon smirked as he led the Rakshani away. “I know just the thing.”

Sparks was approached by a chrome changeling. “Hi! I’m Xeros, one of the engineering crew. I was hoping that we could talk shop?”

“Is that all?” Sparks asked curiously.

“Well – I admit to being curious about your kind. I’ve never met a centauroid species before.”

“And I have never encountered a being as strange as you before either. Shall we trade notes?”

Xeros grinned. “I’d like that.”

“Then can I start by asking why I can’t sense any emotions coming from you, or any others like you for that matter?”

“You can… sense emotions?”

“Yes – all chakats are empaths, although some are stronger than others. However I can’t detect even a scrap coming from you.”

“That’s because I’m an emotivore.”

“A what?”

“I eat emotional energy. Love and friendliness are really tasty and especially filling. Other positive emotions are good too and add flavor.”

Sparks was boggled. “You actually eat love?”

“Yes, and other emotions. That’s why we don’t leak any out.”

“How does that even work?”

Xeros shrugged. “I’m an engineer, not a biologist, arcane or otherwise. My turn for a question now.”

“Fair enough. Ask away.”

“I noticed something while you and the other chakats were up on the mound. Are you male or female?”

Sparks grinned. “I’m a herm.”

“That… does not seem to be in my vocabulary.”

“Herm – short for hermaphrodite. I’m both male and female. All chakats are herms.”

“Wow! I’ve never thought about that. I mean I’ve taken both male and female forms before, but never both at once.”

“What do you mean by taking those forms?”

“Like this.”

Sparks was extremely startled as the changeling suddenly was engulfed in green flames, leaving behind a gorgeous pink pegasus mare with a long golden mane. She winked at him and then the flames returned to replace her with a large grey-coated earth pony stallion with severely cropped mane and tail, but with muscle definition that drew the eye. The chakat gaped at Xeros for a long moment before finally saying, “You’re a shape-changer?”

“Well, duh!” the stallion replied with a roll of his eyes. “Why do you think we’re called changelings?”

“I hadn’t thought about it. By the way, you make quite a handsome pony.”

“Thanks – this is actually my favorite alter ego. And I find you quite intriguing also.”

Sparks grinned, not needing to sense the changeling’s feelings to suspect what they were. “I think this calls for some in-depth investigation.”

Forestwalker and Midnight found themselves surrounded by a number of mares.

“Can I help you ladies?” Forestwalker asked.

One of the bolder mares spoke up. “My name is Sweet Dreams. We heard that you are one of several wives that Admiral Kline has. We did not realize that other species would form herds like we do.”

Forestwalker smiled. “Well, we don’t call them herds, but yes, we do occasionally form extended families.”

“Oh good. We mares all belong to herds, although none as big as yours. We were wondering something.”

“What is that?”

“How do you go about pleasing your stallion to maintain harmony in your large herd?”

Forestwalker blinked in surprise, then slowly turned to Midnight and said, “Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be asked a question like that, especially on a diplomatic mission.”

“Neither did I,” Midnight replied with chagrin. “Wanna answer her?”

“You first!” Forestwalker replied hastily.

Midnight looked at the eagerly expectant faces surrounding them. “A-heh,” was all the normally unflappable chakat could say.

A zebra mare approached M’Lai. “My name is Doctor Zubon, Chief Medical Officer of the Cosmic Lotus. I am honored to meet a colleague.”

“Thank you. I’m curious as to the differences in medical practices between our cultures.”

“As am I, although there is one question that is uppermost on my mind at the moment.”

“Feel free to ask,” M’Lai replied, already suspecting what it might be.

“I noticed that you are significantly bigger than your co-wife, and in fact taller than everyone except the one named Harrakar. Are your and his species related?”

That was not quite the question that she had expected although it was related. “No, our species are not related, although we have superficial similarities. My height is the result of a childhood medical condition that caused uncontrolled growth until it was cured.”

“Did that medical condition inspire an interest in a career as a doctor?”

“Yes, it did. What about you?”

“My interest began as the child of my tribe’s shaman…”

Ortzi was intrigued by the alien called Helen Baines. She was like no other female that he had ever seen, and he took the opportunity to be the first to approach her. He put the friendliest expression that he could manage and approached the rabbit lady. “Hi! My name is Ortzi Goldbeak. Umm… could we talk?”

Helen was both pleased to have one of the odd aliens wanting to talk to hir, but at the same time a little concerned to be approached by one of the fiercer looking creatures. His piercing golden eagle visage was difficult to read as there were no sapient species with beaks in the Federation, but his hesitant tone was all too familiar – he was shy! Shi gave him hir warmest smile. “I’d love to have a chat. What would you like to talk about?”

“Er… please don’t take this the wrong way, but you resemble a prey species back home, and your species name translates the same, but at the same time you look tall and strong like an Abyssinian stealth warrior. It’s kind of hot.”

Helen blinked in surprise. The dual comparisons were rather odd, but was he hitting on hir? “Do you like inter-species relationships?” shi asked bluntly.

Pleased that Helen had picked up on his awkward pick-up line, he was emboldened to continue. “Yes I do. I joined the House Path Cosmic Lotus program as much to meet females of other species as to become a pioneer in interstellar travel.”

Helen decided that Ortzi could not have been too successful if he was still trying after spending years in space. Still, now that shi saw past his dangerous-looking beak and talons, shi found him to be rather cute in a clumsy sort of way. Still, there was one misapprehension shi had to clear up. “I’m not actually female – I’m a herm.”

Ortzi looked at hir quizzically. “What’s a herm?”

“I’m both female and male. Both sets of genitals.”

“Oh. Does that mean you don’t like males?”

That had not been the reaction Helen had expected. “Not at all. It’s just that most males aren’t interested in herms because we’re also part male.”

“Ah! I see. So you only like herms?”

“What? No! I mean I like both male and female partners.” How did shi end up talking about hir sex life?

Ortzi brightened. “Oh, good. Can I interest you in a drink?”

Still flustered, Helen nodded. “I think I need one.” This was turning out to be one strange date!

E’Sondra wondered who to talk to first. With such a variety of species on board this ship, it had to provide a rich mine of information for her cultural studies. She was a little surprised to find that one had already picked her out and was currently staring at her curiously. It was one of insectoid ponies with an orange-colored carapace, and rather cute for all its strangeness.

“Hi, I’m E’Sondra. You’re what they call a changeling, aren’t you?”

“Yep. Call me Willow. Did you know that you resemble a fox?”

The Voxxan nodded. “We have been often compared to Terran foxes. Wait! How do you know about them?”

“I don’t know these Terran foxes that you’re talking about, but we have foxes on Equus.”

“That’s remarkable if true. Must be parallel evolution. Nevertheless we’re unrelated either way.”

“Doesn’t matter really. I’m the Entertainment Director for this ship, and you have inspired me. How would you like to be in a little skit with me?”

E’Sondra giggled. “Sounds like fun. What would you like me to do?”

“You look bemused.”

Rosepetal looked down and to her left to see a blonde-maned blue-coated unicorn mare watching her. “Yes, you could say that.”

“Don’t you like parties?”

“I like them fine. It’s just that my sensibilities have been abused a little too much lately.”

“How is that?”

“I am not just the First Officer of the Pegasus but also its Science Officer. But so much of what I see on board this ship defies physics as I know it.”

The mare chuckled. “I suppose it would if you only know classic physics.”

“What do you mean by that?” Rosepetal asked with a small frown of confusion.

“Let me introduce myself – I am Moonlit Path, thaumophysicist.”

“And what exactly is a thaumophysicist?”

“It’s the science of integrating thaumaturgy with classical physics in order to determine how the universe works.”

“Thaumaturgy?”

“Magic if you will, although that’s a narrow and incomplete definition.”

“I still maintain that there’s no such thing as magic, just physics that we don’t understand yet.”

“It’s all around you, so how can you deny it? It has its own set of natural laws, just as classical physics does, and it fills in the unexplained gaps in that particular branch of science. So what makes it so hard to believe?”

“What it accomplishes is impossible!”

“That is obviously untrue. If you know the right equations, very little is impossible.”

“Then how come your ship is in such difficulty?” Rosepetal pointed out.

“Because we don’t have a complete understanding of the universe as yet, of course. We gained so much new knowledge of classical physics merely by making this journey. Can’t you concede that you have much to learn about thaumaturgy too?”

Rosepetal gave Moonlit Path a begrudging smile. “You have a point there.” A thought occurred to her and she chuckled.

“May I ask what you find amusing?”

“I just imagined myself learning a magic spell and stunning my old science teacher.”

Moonlit giggled. “That would be funny. Would you like to learn a bit of theoretical magic, Commander Rosepetal?”

“I think I would enjoy that. At the very least it might stop me from having a crisis every time I see something happening that my logical mind says is preposterous. Hmm, are you related to Captain Path?”

“He’s my uncle, actually. You will find a lot of the Path family on board this ship as the whole Far Star project was created by House Path.”

“That’s interesting. Tell me more…”

While engaging mostly in small talk with various crew members of the Cosmic Lotus, Boyce tried to keep an eye open for the rest of his companions. Early on he spotted Forestwalker and Midnight in the company of a large number of mares of all kinds. At one stage he noticed Forest pointing at him and the mares all breaking out in a fit of giggling. Even more puzzling was Midnight uncharacteristically giggling along with them. He considered asking them about that later, but decided it might be for the best if he just let it go.

He tracked down M’Lai later in a small alcove in the Park where a round table was set up. The Caitian was holding several playing cards and facing a grey-coated unicorn who was holding up similar cards in the glow of his telekinesis. Each had a stack of chips of virtually equal size in front of them, while two other players appeared to have been wiped out and were merely watching in interest. Obviously they had to be playing a game equivalent to poker, and knowing his wife’s skill with the game, it was a bit of a surprise that she was so evenly matched. Satisfied that she wasn’t going anywhere soon, he left to look for the others.

He found Harrakar and the dragon-pony by the bar with an impressive number of empty glasses in front of them. The size and mass of Rakshani let them drink far more alcohol than any other sapient in the Federation except chakats whose natural resistance to poisons (which included alcohol) made it almost impossible for them to get drunk. The dragon-pony looked totally unfazed though while his security officer was looking a little worse for wear.

“I thought that I gave orders not to over-indulge, Sergeant Harrakar?”

The Rakshani frowned and replied, “My apologies, sir. This… being must be cheating somehow.”

Eon gave the human a grin. “Just teaching your warrior a valuable lesson, Admiral.”

“And what would that be, may I ask?” Boyce asked curiously.

“Dragons can’t get drunk. We store and burn off the alcohol.”

“How do you mean?”

“Simple – like this.” Eon gave a snort and a small but steady stream of fire came out of his nostrils. By manipulating the contents of the flammable vapor, he made the flame’s color change several times as Harrakar stared in sozzled disbelief.

“Quite impressive. Now that you’ve gotten my officer drunk though, I would appreciate it if you would keep an eye on him until we leave once more. The last thing I wish is to have an incident with an inebriated Rakshani spoiling this party.”

“Fair enough, Admiral. He’s in good claws.”

Boyce certainly hoped so as he left to check on the rest of his crew. He did not manage to track down Sparks or Baines, but he did enjoy the humorous impromptu skit that was put on by one of the changelings and E’Sondra. Who knew she had such a talent for comedy?

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Ortzi is either going to love me or kill me for this. :rainbowlaugh:

This chapter grew a lot larger than I had originally planned, and even after over ten thousand words, I still had more to say. That will be going into the next chapter now though, and it's probably for the best.

Illustrations by Kat Miller a.k.a Foxenawolf

Steps and Missteps

“Is there a problem, Admiral?” Wandering asked.

Boyce was drawn out of his musing by the unexpected question. “Hmm? No – I’ve been enjoying the food and the chats for the most part.”

“But something is still bothering you, isn’t it?”

Boyce nodded. “I know the ponies are trying their best to not show it, but this aversion you have to me is getting a bit wearing. It puts a bit of a strain on any conversation that I try to have.”

“I see. Perhaps this would be a good time to get away from the crowd for a moment. I was planning to offer to show you around the ship later, but we can do that right now if you would prefer?”

“That sounds like a good idea, and I would appreciate a tour. How is the aversion affecting you though?”

Wandering gave the human a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about that. After the initial shock, I got that under control. I’m far more used to uncomfortable situations than the majority of the crew and have learned ways to control my emotions.”

“Then let’s get started, shall we?”

As the Park was located at the rear of the ship, it made sense to simply work their way forward. Aside from a maintenance and preparation room for the Park, the crew quarters were closest to it. A griffon emerging from his quarters was happy to show it off for the benefit of their visitor, proudly displaying his House emblem adorning the wall of the small room. The common bathing facilities were next, and finally Wandering let him see the much larger quarters with private bathroom that he shared with Starry.

“I noticed that there seem to be a lot of couples among your crew, Captain – are there shared quarters for them too?”

Wandering chuckled. “Plenty, actually. The single rooms were designed such that the adjacent walls could be removed to make a larger suite for two or more occupants.”

“Ah, that makes sense for the limited space that you have available. How many have you had to convert that way?”

“About three quarters of them.”

Boyce raised a surprised eyebrow. “That many? I’m all for relationships among the crew, especially on a long journey such as yours, but that still seems high. It can’t be that easy to find a compatible person amidst a crew of this size.”

“You would normally be right, but that’s where the changelings come in.”

“The shape-changers? That surprised me when I saw it in action. Are you saying that they change their form and personality to become compatible companions?”

Wandering shook his head. “Personality – no, but form – that depends on the couple. The changelings are a symbiotic species, and because they are emotivores, they seek out suitable people in need of companionship and form a relationship with them. The changeling gives that person what they need and in return they get the emotional sustenance that all changelings require. It could be simply as a good friend, but it often grows into much more. While a changeling can feed on any positive emotion, and in fact the different sub-species have their personal taste preferences, love gives them the most energy. If the changeling is very lucky, they may find a pony or griffin who is also totally compatible with them, such as Xanth and Coldfire who have become mates.”

“I find it hard to believe that a species gets their energy needs from eating emotions.”

Wandering grinned. “Don’t worry, Admiral – it seems a bit strange to most Equians too, even as we enjoy the benefits of such relationships.”

“I saw several eating regular food though.”

“Oh, they are quite capable of eating and enjoying the taste of our food, and in fact they need water and raw material to grow and replace worn-out cells. However, they can’t extract energy from food because their biology is different.”

“Remarkable! I bet Forestwalker would find this fascinating. But if they are so different, does this mean that they can’t have children?”

“We have compatibility spells nowadays that enable drones to have foals if they desire. You have seen the result of one such union. Amethyst Scroll is a unicorn with changeling wings and chitin on her lower legs. At least one changeling trait is often passed on to the child, although it’s not always obvious.”

“I see. Do you have many children on board? I haven’t seen any so far.”

“We have just one foal, and he was unplanned. No one was supposed to get pregnant during our voyage because of the limited resources, and how it would be unfair to the child, but one exception occurred. Come with me – he should be in his parents’ room.”

Wandering led Boyce down a corridor which took them to a room that had its door open already. Peering inside, they were surprised to see Forestwalker already there. Shi noticed Boyce and waved him in.

“Boyce! You have to see this! He’s adorable!”

Wandering noticed the amused and indulgent expression on Coldfire’s face and judged that it was okay to enter. He allowed the human to precede him and they approached the double bed where Coldfire lay curled around her foal who was fast asleep.

Forestwalker said, “This is Skyborn – isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Boyce personally felt inclined to agree, but he judiciously answered, “He’s almost as cute as our cubs were when they were his age.”

The chakat looked at him with a smirk on her muzzle. “Smart answer. Anyway, I got to hold him for a little while as Coldfire and I chatted. He radiated so much happiness, it was all I could do to hand him back.”

Boyce smiled indulgently before looking at the happy mother of the foal. “A word of advice when it comes to chakats – they’re suckers for children and might snuggle your foal nearly to death.”

Coldfire laughed. “Yes, I got that impression.”

“Well, I will leave you to my mate’s tender mercies for now. Your captain is giving me a tour of your ship, and we have a lot to see as yet.”

“I’m sure that we’ll be seeing more of each other in the future, Admiral Kline.”

Wandering then led Boyce to their next destination which was the common room/mess hall which was almost empty at this time. Sparks was one of the exceptions, and shi was lying next to one of the low coffee tables and engaged in conversation with an earth pony stallion who had his forelegs propped up on the chakat’s lower torso. They seemed to be engrossed in debating an engineering topic while referencing something on the table, so Boyce did not disturb them. Hopefully Sparks was gaining some valuable insight into their hosts’ systems.

Wandering was privately amused when he realized that the stallion was a changeling whom he identified as Xeros through the network. It seemed that there was a practical demonstration of how changelings interacted with other species happening right under the human’s nose without him even realizing it.

Next came a large number of rooms dedicated to a variety of research projects, all currently unattended of course. To Boyce’s surprise, the bridge came next.

“You have your bridge located well back from the bow of your ship – why is that?”

“It’s the heart of the ship, and best protected there. Besides, the forward section is dedicated to another purpose which we will get to soon. Let me show you how the bridge operates.”

Two crewpersons were still on duty, although they had very short shifts as they interchanged with other bridge crew so that they could all have the opportunity to enjoy the party. They happily demonstrated the purpose of the various stations to their human guest. Boyce found many to be quite familiar in function, although bewildering in how they actually worked, and he left with more questions than answers.

Maintenance and engineering departments were next, and the latter was even more incomprehensible to the engineering-trained human. Both he and Wandering were surprised to encounter Techbird working at one of the stations. Boyce was fascinated to see in person the translucent crystalline griffon. In defiance of all logic, the obviously inorganic creature seemed just as supple and full of life as any other being that he had met so far on this ship.

“What are you up to, Tech?” Wandering asked quietly. “Shouldn’t you be at the party?”

The griffoness was startled, and jerked her head around to look at Wandering. “Oh! Captain – I… Galena is busy schmoozing with our guests, and I wanted to pursue that idea that I told you about earlier.” She gestured at the large monitor screen on the wall in front of her. It was covered with equations and diagrams that exceeded Wandering’s expertise, but surprisingly made more sense to Boyce.

Techbird continued, “Admiral – I noticed on the recordings that we made of your ship as it approached that the star-field behind it seemed to be distorted. Upon measuring those distortions and the vectors of the ship, I determined that it was using a reactionless drive that involved manipulation of space itself.”

Boyce blinked in surprise. “That is essentially correct, although more precisely it’s space-time manipulation. At its simplest, the Pegasus contracts space and the ship moves along in that direction.”

Techbird’s smile of vindication was enormous, but she was not finished. “I extrapolated those results, and I believe that given some time and resources, I could build a version of that drive that could accelerate us to virtual speeds far greater than that of light. If we can locate Equus, we might have an alternative means of getting home.”

“What do you mean by virtual speeds?” Wandering asked.

“We’ve already determined that it is impossible to exceed the speed of light by purely physical means, but this method does not actually require doing so. Instead, by contracting space-time in front and expanding space-time behind the ship, a warp bubble would form and push the ship forward through the universe faster than light while its relative speed remained zero!”

Boyce was stunned. Merely from observing the Pegasus approaching their craft, this strange being had made a logical leap that had taken decades for humans to make. She had to be some kind of genius! There was one disturbing flaw to her idea though.

“I strongly suggest that you do not build a drive like that,” Boyce said earnestly.

The griffoness gave him a disturbingly intense stare. “Why not?” she asked.

“That is what is we call an Alcubierre Drive, and it has a very serious problem. You would probably destroy or at least irradiate anything directly ahead of you at your target destination.”

“How so, Admiral?” Wandering asked.

“Space is not just an empty void between point A and point B… rather, it’s full of particles that have mass and those can get swept up by the warp bubble and focused in regions before and behind the ship, as well as within the warp bubble itself. When an Alcubierre-driven ship decelerates from superluminal speed, the particles its bubble has gathered are released in energetic outbursts of gamma rays and extremely high-energy atomic nuclei. In the case of forward-facing particles, the outburst can be enough to destroy anyone at the destination directly in front of the ship. The further you travel, the more particles and the more energy that it gains. Go far enough and you could destroy the entire ecosystem of a planet!”

Wandering gulped. That was a serious flaw.

Techbird glared at Boyce for a long moment before she sighed. “I had not foreseen that possibility. And yet, I still feel that there is an answer to be found in those equations.”

Boyce nodded. “You are correct. Warp drive goes another level further. The only way to avoid the problem with particles in space is to leave space entirely.” Had he given away too much? Would this remarkable being figure out how warp drive took a ship into hyperspace merely from that hint? He both dreaded and eagerly anticipated the answer to that question.

“We’ll leave you now, Techbird,” Wandering said, “but I suggest you take a break and socialize a bit. I’m sure Galena would appreciate the company.” As the griffoness looked wistfully at her work, the alicorn added, “The equations can wait. I’m sure that it’s going to take more than one evening to crack that problem.”

The tour continued, but as impressed that Boyce had been so far, it was the final stop that was to be the most amazing.

“This is Engineering, and here we have the power source of the Cosmic Lotus,” Wandering announced.

At the far end of the machine-packed room was a huge spherical chamber about forty meters in diameter that occupied all the levels at the forward end of the spaceship. There were several pylons isolating it from the majority of the vessel, with the decks ending about a meter from its surface. Guardrails along the edges allowed Boyce to safely look down to the lower decks and up to another from all around the structure. There were many conduits leading from the chamber to various equipment in the engineering section – some of them obviously for fluids but others mystified the human. However, there was only one obvious entry into it, and a ramp bridged the gap between the deck and the hatchway.

“Would you like to have a look at the mini-star?” Wandering asked.

Boyce blinked in surprise. “Are you saying this is a fusion reactor? It’s nowhere near big enough for that!”

“Judge for yourself,” Wandering said with a smile. His magic carried two pair of goggles from a hook nearby. “You’re going to need this,” he said, passing one of them to the admiral.

Boyce adjusted the strap on the goggles and donned them. Wandering looked at the changeling crewperson on duty who nodded and put on a pair of goggles too. The alicorn then fitted his and walked over to the hatchway door which he unlatched and opened. Intense light flooded the room, but the goggles automatically adjusted to bring it down to bearable levels. Boyce was urged to peer through the window that the hatch had covered, and he gaped in shock. Suspended in the middle and filling over half the volume was a sphere glowing with light and heat, its surface crawling with patterns that anyone familiar with the photosphere of a star would have recognized. This was no fusion chamber, but what he was seeing had to be impossible.

“That… that’s a miniature star!” he gasped.

“Exactly as I said,” Wandering replied. “It powers our systems, light-tubes from the chamber illuminate the entire ship, heat from it is used for various purposes, and small portions of it were used to make light bombs and concussion bombs that were used to accelerate and decelerate the ship.”

Boyce was overwhelmed. This technology was far beyond anything that the Federation had produced, and here it was tucked neatly inside a starship propelled by a solar sail! Although they lacked a means of travelling faster than light, these strange beings had more than matched the Pegasus’ power capabilities. They even had artificial gravity! He pulled out a small PADD from his pocket to test for what he suspected. Confirming his hunch, the mini-star’s chamber was giving off the tell-tale indication of the Swarm’s mysterious energy – so much that it exceeded his device’s ability to measure the spectral flux density. Such an enormous amount of power under their complete control! If this was an example of what these Equians could achieve, how much of a threat could they prove to be to the Federation if they chose to be hostile rather than throwing a party?

With the tour completed, Wandering led Boyce back in the direction of the Park via a lower deck level so that they did not simply retrace their steps. On their way, they almost bumped into Ortzi and Helen coming out of a side corridor, both of whom were nervously concerned about nearly colliding with their commanding officers.

“Pardon me, sir,” Helen said, snapping a salute.

“What have you been up to, Lieutenant Baines?” Boyce asked. “I was looking for you earlier.”

“Crewman Ortzi was showing me some of the ship’s systems, sir,” shi replied.

Wandering was hoping that the human couldn’t read griffon expressions well because he doubted that was all that Ortzi had been showing the rabbit person this close to the crew quarters.

Boyce nodded. “I expect that you will have a lot to report later. Carry on.”

“Don’t get too carried away, Ortzi,” Wandering added. “You’ll have to leave something to show your friend the next time Baines visits.”

If the human couldn’t read Ortzi before, the blush that was betrayed by his ears surely must have been a giveaway. “Yes, sir!”

Wandering managed to conceal a grin as he and Boyce continued on to the Park.

The party started to wind down about an hour later, and eventually Boyce put out a call over the combadges for the visitors to rendezvous for a return trip to the Pegasus. Wandering shuttled them back over, with the Admiral going on the second trip. He paused just before exiting the skiff to talk to the alicorn.

“Thank you very much for your hospitality, Captain Path. It was both pleasant and educational.”

“You’re welcome, Admiral Kline. I hope that we can continue to further our relationship soon,” Wandering replied.

“I assure you, your ship and its crew have certainly made an impact on both me and the Federation already. We will talk again soon.” Boyce then stepped out of the craft to join Forestwalker, M’Lai and Midnight who had been waiting for him.

Wandering sealed up the door and headed back to the Cosmic Lotus, well satisfied with how events had played out. Now he had only to wait to reap some potential rewards.

Boyce spent a good deal of time debriefing every member of the crew who had attended the party. Then he called a meeting of all the heads of departments plus several other relevant crewmembers. He started with a summary of what had been learned.

“The Cosmic Lotus is crewed by a mixture of races. Primary among them seem to be the species that designates themselves as ponies. Although they do indeed possess many equine features, it is obvious they are vastly different from Terran species – even more so than an equine morph in many cases. They are separated into several sub-species including what would otherwise be considered mythological – unicorns and pegasuses.”

“They say pegasi usually,” Forestwalker offered.

“Noted, Shir Forestwalker,” Boyce replied a little curtly. “Of a similar natural build to the ponies but with insectoid characteristics are the changelings. These actually outnumber all the other species combined, but mostly serve in a symbiotic partnership with them rather than acting in dominant roles. The one exception is Princess Galena who is described as a queen changeling. Their most obvious and remarkable trait is their ability to shape-change into facsimiles of other species which are indistinguishable from the originals. I’m told that due to mass-constraints, there’s a limit to how small or big that they can become, however. Next most common are the griffons – another supposedly mythological species. Unlike the ponies, they are a lot closer to our descriptions of their species, although with a larger variety of avian and feline sections than the classic eagle-lion combination. Rounding off the crew, we have zebras that are similar in build to the ponies, a bipedal canine species they call diamond dogs, a minotaur, and even a small dragon-equine hybrid.”

“That ‘small’ dragon is over a century old, sir,” Midnight pointed out.

“Yes. Even if their year differs significantly from our standard year, that is a lot. And despite the fact that he’s bigger than the ponies, I’m told that he has a great deal further to grow as he’s only a very young dragon as yet. And he breathes fire! There are so many creatures from Terran mythology on board that starship that it can’t be a coincidence, but it’s difficult to comprehend how they are found light-years away from their presumed origin.”

“And then there’s what they call magic. Although it has been conclusively shown that there is no such thing as what we think of as magic, there is mounting evidence that we may be wrong about that. Frankly, there is no explanation for how half their equipment operates otherwise. Added to that is their power source and the mystery energy that the Swarm also employs. Gentlebeings, we are confronted by a civilization that poses so many questions for us, we cannot be sure if they are potential new additions to the Federation, or a threat to everything and everybody we hold dear.”

“I keep telling you that I can detect nothing but friendly intentions from them,” Forestwalker protested.

Boyce frowned and replied, “Forest – there’s a saying that I’m sure that you’re familiar with: ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions.’ I can’t afford to assume that something so outside of our experience is totally harmless. That is why I am charging each and every one of you here today to put your best efforts into analyzing all the data that we brought back from our visit to their ship, and getting me and Star Fleet Command some answers that we can rely on. For now, these Equians remain a wild card that we can ill afford to have in play.”

“So – how do you think it went?” Starry asked Wandering as they headed for the bridge. The ship had finally resumed normal operations after everything had been cleaned up post-party.

“We gave it our best shot, and I believe we impressed our guests with both the crew and the ship. I’m confident that we have made strong inroads into a beneficial relationship. Now, if we have to wait for months to get in contact with home, at least we will have an alternative to limping around this star system.”

“We came here to do research – discovering another civilization is just icing on the cake,” Starry reminded him. “There’s still an enormous amount we can achieve with or without these Federation people.”

“While that is true, we can learn more and faster if we can forge an alliance. I believe that we have much to offer them too.”

“Give them time. After all, we only just met them a few days ago.”

Wandering chuckled. “I know, and I’m the one who talked about how long it can take to establish a relationship with a new nation. However, given their mixture of species and their adventurous nature, I hope to find kindred spirits rather than suspicious strangers.”

“Some aren’t quite strangers anymore. Have you noticed Ortzi lately?”

The alicorn stallion grinned and nodded. “Talk about the cat-bird that caught the mouse – or the rabbit in this case. He surprised me hugely. After all these years in space without a partner, he gets smitten with a bunny mare. I wonder how she feels about it?”

“According to a couple of drones that encountered them, I’d say that the feeling was mutual. Talk about an odd couple!”

“Are they sure about that?”

His partner waved a hoof airily. “You’re the one with the changeling network connection, so check for yourself.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I don’t delve that deeply into the crew’s personal space unless the situation requires it.”

The two of them arrived at the bridge, and the personnel on duty acknowledged Wandering’s arrival.

“I’m ready to relieve you, Commander,” Wandering told Bluequill. “Anything to report?”

“Yes, Captain,” the griffon replied. “While there has been no further activity from the Federation ship, we need to look at resuming our deceleration. We can’t afford to wait for them much longer.”

“What’s the problem?”

Playbitz spoke up from his station. “It’s our current orbit around the Far Star, Captain.” He threw an image up on the main screen that showed the position of the star and planets as well as the Cosmic Lotus. A line indicated their trajectory. “If we do not resume braking maneuvers almost immediately, we will not have enough fuel for the vectoring rockets to make a rendezvous with the inhabited planet. In fact, if we don’t slow down at all, we will shoot right through this star system with no hope of returning for a long time.”

“We can’t have that,” Wandering replied. “I assume that you have recalculated our course?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then let’s get started.” Wandering took his place in the command chair and pushed an intercom button. “Engineering – prepare to resume orbital maneuvers.”

“Engineering here. Aye, Captain.”

“Sir – the Cosmic Lotus has started decelerating again,” the helmsman reported over the intercom.

Boyce looked up from the report that he was reviewing at his desk. “What?! Put it on my screen.”

The image formed just in time for him to see a concussion burst and the subsequent glow of the force field that absorbed the momentum. It was quickly followed by another. He reached for the comm unit that the Equians had left with him.

“Cosmic Lotus – this is Admiral Kline. Please respond.”

After a brief wait, Wandering’s voice came back. “This is Cosmic Lotus. How can I help you, Admiral?”

“I did not give you permission to resume orbital maneuvers, Captain.”

“I was not aware that I required your permission, Admiral. We stopped of our own volition, and now we have merely resumed operations.”

“You are now in Federation territory and specifically in Chakona-controlled space. As a non-allied ship, we require you to subject yourselves to our directives.”

Wandering’s voice held an edge when he replied. “Admiral – are you familiar with the concept of Freedom of the Seas? We regard open space such as we are currently in as a similar situation and expect the right to safely navigate through it.”

Boyce frowned, acknowledging that he had a point. Nevertheless he could not let them proceed. “Due to current circumstances, martial law supersedes that right. I am ordering you to cease your maneuvers immediately.”

There was a long pause before Wandering replied. “Acknowledged, Admiral.”

There was no further word from the Cosmic Lotus, but Boyce’s screen showed that they had stopped decelerating.

Boyce shut off the comm, dissatisfied with how the relationship with the Cosmic Lotus had now been soured.

Wandering slammed a hoof into the armrest of his chair, permanently denting it.

“Celestia damn it! After all we did, this is how they treat us?”

“I thought that we had reached some sort of rapport with them,” Starry commented. “I did not see this coming. What was that about martial law though? No one mentioned anything about it at the party.”

Wandering scowled. “I’m beginning to think that they have been keeping something from us. I put down changeling reports of suspicion and mistrust among the visitors as merely because of unfamiliarity with strangers, but now I reckon that I was being overoptimistic.”

Bluequill said, “You ponies have ever been so. You need a bit more griffon perspective. Griffonia has been Equestria’s strong claws for over a century for that reason. Time for you to be more proactive, Captain.”

The alicorn grimaced and nodded. “You’re right, Galen. And I think I have an idea how to go about it. Commander – you have the bridge. Starry – come with me.”

Wandering stormed off the bridge with Starry hastening after him. Without a word, he headed towards their room, and he locked the door behind them.

“What are you up to?” Starry asked.

“I’m going to get us some answers in a way that only I can do,” Wandering replied grimly as he started getting out of his uniform.

“Aren’t you overreacting a little?”

“I have been admonished like a foal, and we have been kept in the dark about something important enough to restrict our right to free movement. After going out of our way to be friendly, I am more than disappointed in their response.”

“Can’t you at least give them more time to explain?”

“We don’t have the luxury of time. We need answers now and we are too much at their mercy. It’s time to even out the playing field.” Green magic flames enveloped him, and moments later a chakat stood in his place. This time Wandering had chosen a tiger-striped fur pattern and long dark-brown hair. Hir size was between that of Midnight and Sparks, and with a more modest bust than the mimicry of Forestwalker’s form. “We’ve seen three of these chakats so far which leads me to believe that they are fairly common among their crew, and they all have feline fur patterns. I should be able to sneak around their ship unnoticed,” shi said in a pleasant feminine voice.

“Not without clothes, you won’t,” Starry commented.

“All three only wore a uniform top. I just need a replica made to suit me.”

“Ah! That’s why you need me,” Starry said with a grin.

Wandering nodded. “That, and I need someone aware of what I am doing. I’m going to call in Galena too. I need to maintain contact with the network without every changeling being alert to what I am up to.”

“Well, while you do that, I’ll get to work on your new outfit. What color should yours be?”

“Red should be the safest, I think.”

“One red shirt coming up!”

Wandering teleported into the Pegasus’ shuttle bay – specifically into an alcove near the door. Having been in the bay earlier, shi had a firm lock on the place, but unfortunately that was the only area that shi had been so far, so that had limited hir choices to one. Shi waited to see if shi had triggered some sort of an alarm before shi headed for the door. Shi passed through a prep room before entering a corridor that was fortunately free of anyone at the time. That would save any awkward questions.

Wandering headed down the corridor. ‘The secret to a good infiltration is to look like you belong,’ shi reminded hirself, adjusting hir stride to look confident and with a purpose in mind.

When shi came to another door similar to the one shi had just exited, shi cautiously entered. This time the room held a couple of personnel – a male Caitian and female wolf morph. When they looked hir way, shi gave them a nod of acknowledgement which they returned and went about their business. Confident that hir disguise was working well, Wandering then continued into the next section and found hirself in another launch bay. This one did not contain utilitarian shuttle craft. No – these looked every bit like military fighter craft, each being kept in a steady state of readiness by the crew working there.

The disguised alicorn made hir way down the rows of craft, hir replica PADD held as if shi was checking things as shi went. Occasionally shi received and returned salutes from the workers – Starry had provided hir uniform with a replica combadge with a lieutenant commander’s rank. It was considered high enough to allow hir to go places without being expected to be giving commands.

After hir ‘inspection’ of the status of the fighters, Wandering concluded that they were indeed in a state of war-readiness as the imposition of martial law implied. Was it hir ship that was considered the source of the threat or some other source? Shi needed to learn more.

Shi made hir way out of that section of the ship and back to the main corridor once more. Shi eventually came to a junction point which contained what looked like an elevator. Fortunately, a crew member who came down an adjoining corridor walked up to it before shi got there. It soon opened without the need to call for it, and the human male waited patiently for Wandering to join him.

“Deck two,” the human announced.

Rather than showing hir ignorance, Wandering nodded and said, “Same for me.”

The chakat stepped out into what seemed to be a totally different ship. Rather than the more utilitarian area shi had just left, this section had a high ceiling, ornate design, large view windows, sculptures, and even a fountain. It reminded hir a great deal of Canterlot Castle.

‘Such an odd juxtaposition of warlike and peaceful pursuits. What kind of ship is this anyway?’ Wandering asked hirself as shi continued on, almost forgetting to keep up hir purposeful air. After exploring that level and coming to the conclusion that it was made to impress, shi headed back to the elevator. Shi experimented with deck numbers and discovered crew quarters and recreational areas, workshops, and then the entrance to the Engineering Department. There shi was balked as the door refused to open for hir.

“Unauthorized access,” announced a disembodied voice.

Wandering frowned. They had no such restricted areas on the Lotus, and it had slipped hir mind that this ship might have such. Shi hastened back to the elevator to leave the area. The door opened, but before shi could enter, a black chakat emerged with a weapon pointed at Wandering.

“Who are you, and what are you doing on my ship?” demanded Commander Midnight.

Wandering agreed with Eon’s assessment of the weapon’s capabilities and shi had no reason to doubt that hir personal shield could easily stop it, but it would serve no purpose to fight the Security Chief. Shi had been caught, and left with only two alternatives – flee or go along with Midnight. The latter promised the possibility of more answers though, so shi raised hir hands, hoping that this gesture was universally recognized. “I surrender to your authority, Commander Midnight. I request a talk with Admiral Kline.”

“My thoughts exactly. Get on the elevator.”

Midnight escorted Wandering to the Security Chief’s office where she held hir prisoner under the watchful eyes of two of hir deputies while shi called the Admiral. It was not long before Boyce joined Midnight in the office and the two started to question hir.

“Let’s start with the obvious – who are you?” Boyce asked. “There isn’t a chakat resembling you in our records.”

Wandering was loath to reveal hir secret ability to shape-change, but shi could not see any reasonable alternative. Shi still lacked vital information and shi would never learn anything more if shi simply teleported away, and shi did not know enough about these people to brazen hir way through the questioning. “I am Captain Path,” shi replied.

Boyce’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You’re a changeling then?”

“No, I’m an alicorn. My mother is an alicorn, but my sire is a changeling queen. I inherited the ability to shape-change from him.”

“A queen? Like Princess Galena?”

“Yes, only he’s a chrome changeling. Queens can assume fertile male forms unlike drones. Dad prefers being male.”

“Can you resume your normal form then?”

“As long as these guards don’t shoot me as I do so,” Wandering replied. Shi wasn’t really concerned about the weapons, but shi wasn’t about to give away any more secrets.

Midnight addressed the two guards. “Their shape-changing involves what looks like fiery effects. Don’t be startled by them.”

The guards nodded acknowledgement, and Wandering resumed his normal form. The uniform hung uncomfortably on his body, but he ignored it.

Boyce asked, “How do I know that I am actually addressing Captain Path and not a changeling pretending to be him?”

“I suppose you will have to take my word for that, but I can say that I would not send a drone to do this.”

“How did you get aboard my ship?”

Wandering shrugged. “I snuck on.”

“Some more of this so-called magic of yours, I suppose. Why were you spying on us?”

“Why won’t you share with us?” Wandering retorted. “We opened up to you completely, showed you around my ship, answered all your questions, threw you a party, and yet you give so little in return! The last straw was when you banned us from continuing our deceleration. How arrogant are you to presume control vast volumes of empty space?”

“We have a lawful claim, and reasons to enforce it.”

“Yes – reasons. Reasons for all those fighter ships that I saw earlier. Why are you so afraid of us, Admiral?!”

“We’re the ones asking the questions, Captain Path,” Midnight said sternly.

“I’ve answered more than enough questions over the past couple of days. Now it’s your turn. You’re obviously not peaceful explorers like us, so that makes me suspect the opposite.”

“You’re wrong, Captain. We desire nothing but peace, but we have no choice than to be ready for war,” Boyce said sadly.

“And how are we a threat to you? You have dozens of fighter ships, and I suspect you have many other weapons at your call. We have none whatsoever.”

“You have those energy balls that you use to propel your ship. One of those could severely damage my ship.”

“Oh yes, I can just see it now. As I slowly turn the Cosmic Lotus with my vectoring rockets so that I can point my vessel directly at yours, you remain frozen in terror at what is to come,” Wandering replied with all the scorn that he could pour into his voice.

Boyce had no answer to that. However, there was still one other thing that needed to be addressed. “The nature of your energy source is an unknown quantity to us, and therefore a risk.”

Wandering sighed. “It’s clear to us that you know nothing of mana and magic. You merely fear out of ignorance.”

“How can we believe in magic when it has always proven to be nothing more than misdirection and illusion?”

“Nothing more? Can I ask you one question then? How did you conceive children with no less than three different and totally unrelated species? Even we can’t do that without magic. Or is that a illusion too?”

That question floored Boyce. He had always put their conception down to the manipulation of the Rakshan deities, but how exactly had they made him super inter-fertile? Magic was such a glib answer, but here was an entire civilization that claimed to use it on a daily basis. “You have a point, but that also means that you are an even greater potential danger to us. We cannot afford to have you wander through our star systems with impunity.”

“WHY?!” Wandering shouted as he leaned forward, practically in Boyce’s face. “Why do you fear us so much?”

“Because the power that you wield is the same one that has destroyed worlds and killed tens of thousands of Federation citizens. We are at war with a merciless enemy, Captain Path, and if you are even remotely connected to them, then you may be our enemy too,” Boyce replied with deadly seriousness.

Wandering leaned back and considered what Boyce had just said. He nodded and said, “I am not your enemy, Admiral, not unless you make me one. Just let us continue without interference. We will respect your sovereignty to the inhabited world that you call Chakona and will not attempt to land there without your permission. We just wish to explore and learn, and while we would prefer to do so in your company, we will do so even without it.”

“Perhaps we could have allowed that eventually, but now there’s the matter of you spying on a Star Fleet vessel. I cannot simply ignore that,” Boyce replied a little sadly.

“I would say discovering more than spying because the latter implies hostile intentions. But this ship does have me a bit puzzled. Why is it part warship and part opulent cruise ship?”

“The Pegasus is the flagship of the First Fleet. As such, it is tasked to not only fight battles, but also to entertain dignitaries and diplomats. Star Fleet is more than just a military force – we prosecute peace as well as war, and diplomacy is our strongest tool.”

“Then be a diplomat and agree that this was just a misunderstanding. I will return to the Cosmic Lotus and we will continue to peacefully engage in our mission.”

“I’m afraid that I cannot allow you to go back, Captain,” Boyce said sternly.

Wandering sighed. “And I’m afraid that I cannot agree to stay. Very well, you leave me no choice.”

Wandering’s horn lit up, and the guards reflexively fired to stun him, but as the alicorn had surmised, his shield harmlessly absorbed the blasts. Then he disappeared.

“Damn! He’s a teleporter!” Midnight blurted out.

“Which explains how he snuck aboard the ship,” Boyce agreed. “Two can play at that game though. Prepare boarding teams. We’re going to introduce them to Federation transporter technology.”

Wandering reappeared in his room where Starry had been waiting for him. Upon seeing him in his natural form, she said, “Uh-oh. Things went wrong, I gather?”

“Yeah. Tripped a security alarm and got caught by Commander Midnight and taken to be questioned by Admiral Kline. I decided to be candid and tried to persuade him to be reasonable, but I think things have just gotten worse rather than better.”

“I hate to say this, but I didn’t think it was a wise idea from the start.”

“Maybe not, but I nevertheless learned a lot. They’re afraid of our magic. Apparently they’re fighting an enemy that uses it, and they are associating us with them.”

“That’s silly. We’ve done nothing but be nice and friendly – with your jaunt over there the single exception.”

“Mistake or not, at least we have a better idea of how things actually stand between us.” Wandering pulled off the now useless Federation top and started getting into his ship uniform. “It’s time we took things back into our own hooves. We’re going to resume our deceleration whether Admiral Head-up-his-plot wants us to or not.”

Starry could tell that Wandering was angry despite a relatively calm exterior. Name-calling just wasn’t in his nature. Arguing with him right at this moment would not achieve anything, so she just went with the flow. She followed him out as he stormed off in the direction of the bridge.

As soon as he hit the bridge, Wandering said to Playbitz without preamble, “Have you got a new deceleration program ready?”

“Been keeping one constantly updated, Captain.”

“Good stallion. Set our course.” Wandering informed Engineering to start up the system before even sitting down in his chair.

Radiance Point had just reported readiness and Wandering was about to tell Playbitz to engage when three columns of sparkling energy appeared on the bridge. As the surprised bridge crew watched, they resolved into the forms of Commander Midnight, Admiral Kline, and Sergeant Harrakar. Each had a large and dangerous-looking weapon held at the ready.

Boyce spoke up. “Security teams are now transporting aboard throughout your entire ship. In the name of the Stellar Federation, I am ordering you to surrender control of this vessel, and I am placing you under arrest for espionage, Captain Path.”

Wandering was already aware of the boarding parties as changelings were reporting over the network. He had underestimated Star Fleet almost as much as they had underestimated him. He still had a few surprises up his sleeve though.

“I am sorry that it has come to this, Admiral. We should have been good friends. Why couldn’t you have just trusted us?”

“As it happens, I would have done so, but Star Fleet Command insisted that I detain you, and that is what I am doing. You do understand chain of command, don’t you?”

“I do indeed. Consider this my formal rejection of Star Fleet Command’s demands.”

While he had been talking, part of Wandering’s mind was engaged with all the changelings in the network. At his signal, they all simultaneously used their horns to send stunning beams at the invaders. Some of the Star Fleet security team managed to get off shots though. One made the bad mistake of trying to shoot Galena, only to have Techbird interpose herself between them. Her crystal body harmlessly refracted the energy beam. Her talons were not as kind to the offending shooter as she leapt at him with a skree of rage.

On the bridge, Pax had taken out Harrakar, his body armor proving totally ineffective against the magic blast. Midnight had reacted incredibly swiftly, diving out of the way of a follow-up burst, only to be hit by Starry instead. Boyce’s finger had jammed down on the trigger of his weapon, and it poured an unceasing beam of violent energy directly at Wandering’s chest… only to be dissipated harmlessly centimeters from impact as the alicorn dispassionately watched. Then he crushed the weapon with his telekinesis and tossed it aside.

“If I was a spy, does that make you pirates, Admiral? We both had our reasons for doing what we did, but only you threatened harm to my crew. Some of them have been hurt, but more of yours have been injured by this foolish invasion.”

“How do you know that?”

“Just as you obviously didn’t know that our horns can be weapons too, there are other things that you have yet to learn about us.”

“So – what happens now, Captain? Star Fleet will not let you simply capture us and leave you alone.”

“I have no intention of keeping you prisoner, Admiral. I have already stated my intentions – if you choose not to believe me, that is sad but not my problem. Go back to your ship, and leave us alone!”

Wandering’s horn flared and the three invaders on the bridge were teleported back to their ship – a meter above the floor of the shuttle bay.

“Starry – care to help me with clean-up?” Wandering asked as he headed for the exit.

“With pleasure, Captain,” Starry replied as she hastened to follow.

“Captain! Do you still want to resume deceleration?” Playbitz called out.

“Of course. Be prepared to engage as soon as I or Starry returns to provide the mass-cancellation spell. And put up our shield – full ship coverage!”

Wandering and Starry split up in order to cover more of the ship and teleport the Star Fleet crew back to the Pegasus. The invaders who had been stunned by the changelings were the lucky ones. Any who had tried to get a griffon to quietly surrender at gunpoint quickly discovered that the cat-birds did not believe in doing so, and responded swiftly and violently. While all of the Security forces survived, some were in need of hospitalization as soon as they were sent back.

As soon as Wandering encountered Techbird, he asked, “Did you witness how those troops got aboard our ship?”

Techbird nodded. “A fascinating but poor substitute for teleportation. Horrendously wasteful of power too.”

“So how hard would it be to block it?”

“Pfft! Chick’s play!”

“Do it. I don’t want them to come back better prepared to deal with us next time.”

“Aye, Captain. I’ll have the shield modified soon.”

Wandering headed back to the bridge, but noticed the tell-tale feel of a mass-cancellation spell engulf the ship. Starry must have finished before him. Upon arrival at the bridge, he saw her lying on the couch that they used while concentrating on the spell.

“Did you have any problems, Starry?”

“Nothing significant, Captain. A few lightly injured crew at worst.”

“Good. We came out of this pretty well, but now I’m wondering if we can salvage anything out of this situation.”

“As long as the crew is safe, we’re doing okay. Perhaps nowhere near as good as we hoped, but we’ve survived worse.”

“Yeah – I wasn’t thrilled about our ride through the wormhole either. It pains me to think that we may have to consider going back…”

There was a pop and a flash of light to one side.

“There you are!”

The bridge crew all stared at the newcomer and then gave a cheer.

Destined grinned and waved a hoof. “Sorry that it took me so long to locate you. I’m an idiot.”

“Huh? What do you mean, Des?” Wandering asked.

“Well, I told Mom that I was not willing to mess with the timeline just to ensure your safety when in fact you may have survived your encounter with that strange phenomenon.”

“It’s called a wormhole,” Starry supplied helpfully.

“Whatever. Anyway, I said that I could wait for months to hear from you and go back in time if necessary. Then it finally got through my dense head that I didn’t have to wait – I could jump into the future without affecting it, look for your beacon, and return to the present. Sorry for the unnecessary delay. It seemed like a huge jump though. Where did you end up?”

“Have a look for yourself, Your Highness,” Playbitz said as he put the outside view up on the main screen.

The alicorn’s jaw dropped. “How… how many…?”

“Billions and billions and billions!” Starry said with a grin.

“Sweet Mama Luna! How far did you go?”

“Best guess so far – a couple of thousand light-years.”

Destined blinked. “Well… that’s a new record for me.” He turned back to the others. “So what’s been happening while we’ve been out of communications?”

Wandering and Starry exchanged glances and smirks.

“Brother – have we got a story to tell you!” the stallion replied.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Well, so much for the peaceful First Contact. Now that Destined is back in touch, perhaps the crew of the Cosmic Lotus will have a few more options.

Art by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf.

Talking the Talk

Boyce picked himself up from the shuttle bay floor with a groan. He noted Midnight and Harrakar sprawled next to him, but while the Rakshani was still unconscious, the chakat was already starting to stir. Whether Midnight’s constitution was tougher or shi had gotten hit to a lesser degree, shi was already struggling to hir paws before hir fellow Security Officer showed any signs of recovering. Wobbling slightly despite hir four-legged stance, shi made hir way over to the Admiral.

“Orders, sir?”

Boyce just shook his head and waited. More of the boarding team started appearing, although these were placed on the floor rather than a meter above it. Evidently Captain Path had wanted to rub in his point with a pointed demonstration to the Admiral. Then he noticed some real casualties who were more than just stunned. Boyce tapped his combadge and said, “Kline to Doctor M’Lai.”

After a brief moment, a reply came. “M’Lai here, sir.”

“Doctor – I want a medical team in the shuttle bay immediately. We have some casualties.”

“What…? On my way, sir!”

Boyce turned to Midnight. “Attend to your teammates. When M’Lai has everything under control, see me in my office. It’s time we ended this idiocy.”

Midnight nodded. “Aye, sir.”

Boyce made his way to his stateroom, pulling off parts of his body armor as he went. He dumped the lot of it in the corner behind his desk and he sat down in the chair and tapped his combadge. “Kline to Silpurr and Forestwalker. Come to my office as soon as possible.”

He listened for the acknowledgements before starting on a report on the abortive mission. When the Caitian and the chakat turned up, he asked them to take a seat and wait for Midnight to join them. There was an uncomfortable silence as they waited while Boyce continued writing. At last, the black-furred chakat turned up and the Admiral turned his attention to them all.

Before he could speak though, Midnight asked, “Are we going to make another attempt at taking over the Cosmic Lotus right away, sir?”

“No, Commander, we are not.”

Midnight nodded with visible relief. “Good. It would take a lot of planning to overcome their advantages. Our body armor is exactly as effective against their horn blasts as our ship’s shield is against the Swarm’s mysterious energy beams.”

“Probably because they’re much the same thing,” Boyce replied, “but that’s not why we’re ceasing all action against them.”

Forestwalker looked back and forth between Boyce and Midnight. “What exactly have you been doing to the Equians?” shi asked suspiciously.

“The worst possible thing,” Boyce replied with a mixture of anger and guilt. “I got an unexpected response to my report to Star Fleet Command. Basically, it seems they shit their pants and lost their minds. I was ordered to prevent the Cosmic Lotus from proceeding any further because they represented a credible threat to the Federation.”

“WHAT?! Did they even read my assessment of their crew in your report?” Forestwalker was up on hir feet and leaning over Boyce’s desk in righteous anger.

“Please, calm down, Forest. Enough stupid things have been done in the heat of the moment already.”

The chakat reluctantly sat hir hindquarters down on the deck, but her ears were focused at Boyce and her whiskers were quivering as shi impatiently awaited a reply to hir question.

Boyce sighed. “I argued with Port Admiral Namatjira himself that they were not a threat, but he reminded me that we are in a state of war, and if I refused his direct orders, I would be relieved of command and court-martialed. I made an official protest, but acknowledged Star Fleet’s orders. I had barely finished talking with him when the word came through that Cosmic Lotus had resumed maneuvers. I was angry and frustrated, and in the worst possible mood to make a calm decision. I was less than diplomatic in my phrasing when I ordered Captain Path to stop. I blame myself for the situation we’re in now, but we have to put that behind us. I’ve followed Command’s orders to the letter up until this moment, but now it’s time to do things my way. First, we have to mend some bridges.”

“We invaded their ship – how do you think they are going to respond to us now?” Rosepetal asked.

“Captain Path has repeatedly said that he doesn’t want to be our enemy. It’s time to give him the chance to make good on that.”

“What about Star Fleet Command? They aren’t going to be happy,” Midnight queried.

“We’re going to make a show of compliance. I think we can still salvage this situation if we can get the Equians’ cooperation.” He looked at Rosepetal. “This is what I want you to do….”

“You did what?!” Destined face-hoofed as Wandering got to the part about his attempt to get answers to his questions by disguising himself as a chakat. “What were you thinking?!”

Wandering gave Destined an embarrassed look, glad that they were in the privacy of his office. “Not my best idea, I admit. I was frustrated beyond belief after all our efforts to make friends with the Federation people seemed to have come to nothing. I thought that if I learned what they weren’t telling us, I could resolve the situation. While we were indefinitely out of contact with home, I felt that I had to take the initiative for the sake of the ship and the crew.”

Destined sighed. “It was still premature. I’m just sorry that I didn’t track you down sooner and prevent this.” He looked at Starry accusingly. “And why didn’t you discourage him? You’re almost as much to blame.”

“I did express my misgivings, but I thought that he could get away with it. I admit that I felt that the Federation people had slighted us by keeping us in the dark, so I went along with his idea. He makes a sexy chakat too.”

Destined blinked at the non sequitur, but quickly dismissed it for now. “Anyway, what happened after that?”

Wandering continued relating the events that had led up to Destined’s return. When he had finished, the older alicorn stallion looked thoughtful for a long moment.

“Okay, first we have to re-establish communications with Admiral Kline and try to negotiate a compromise. Maybe they’ll be more receptive to a Prince of Equestria than a captain of a starship.”

“And what if they’re not?” Wandering asked. “Are you going to teleport us all back to Equus?”

“I hope not. That’s a whole lot further than I ever anticipated having to take passengers. Anyhow, that’s going to be our last resort. For now, let’s be positive and concentrate on figuring out…”

“Captain Path to the bridge, please!” blurted the intercom on Wandering’s desk.

“What now?” The alicorn toggled the switch on the intercom and replied, “I’m on my way.”

With Destined and Starry in tow, Wandering hastened to the bridge. When they got there, the Pegasus was displayed prominently in the middle of the main screen as it had so often over the past few days.

“Okay, Commander, what’s the problem?” Wandering asked.

Bluequill pointed a talon at the ship on the screen. “This is our forward view. Their ship has maneuvered directly into our path. They’re out of range for the moment, but if we continue as we are, one of our mana balls is going to impact them, or at least explode close enough to them to cause very serious problems.”

“It appears that the Admiral is very serious about preventing us from proceeding,” Wandering said with a sigh. “Okay, let’s see if we can talk this one through.”

Wandering levitated the comm that was linked to its mate on the Pegasus and activated it.

“Captain Path to Admiral Kline – please respond,” he requested in Equian for the benefit of Destined.

There was an immediate reply from the human, accented slightly by processing through their universal translator. “Kline here. I request that you stop your maneuvers immediately, Captain Path. Please.”

Wandering’s eyebrow went up in mild surprise at the Admiral’s firmly polite request. Nevertheless he was still irked at the Federation’s initial attempts to stop them. “I’m not the one who parked their starship directly in the line of fire, Admiral. I suggest that you move.”

“I am required to stop you, Captain, but you told me that you are not my enemy and have no wish to be, so I am hoping that you told me the truth and suspend your deceleration maneuvers.”

Wandering groaned. The human was correct as he had no intention of harming the Pegasus. “Playbitz – suspend operations.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Wandering spoke to the comm again. “Admiral, we have stopped as you requested. However, I must point out that we need to resume very soon in order to obtain a stable orbit.”

“If necessary, we can tow you into one, Captain.”

“You can do that?”

“Our tractor beam can handle a ship of your size.”

“Tractor beam?”

“Something like your telekinesis, only with technology.”

“If you can do that, why the buck didn’t you say so in the first place?” Wandering said with some asperity.

“I can only apologize for my hasty ill-considered actions. I request a resumption of talks so that we may resolve the present situation.”

“I don’t know, Admiral. I’m not exactly in the mood to talk at the moment…”

“Harrumph!” Destined interrupted Wandering, giving him a meaningful glance.

Wandering nodded. “However, my brother wishes to open formal negotiations with the Federation.”

“Your brother, Captain? I don’t believe that you introduced me to him at the party.”

“That would be because he only just arrived after re-establishing contact with our beacon.”

There was a long moment of silence before Boyce replied. “I would welcome a diplomatic meeting with you and your brother, Captain.”

“We will be in contact with you soon to set it up, Admiral. Captain Path out.” Wandering turned to his brother and said, “Looks like we have to get you up to speed with their language. As you’ve just witnessed, they have a very efficient translating device, but I think you’d prefer being able to speak their Terranglo.”

“It would hardly be the first language I’ve learned,” Destined replied.

Wandering turned to Bluequill. “Commander – you have the bridge. Let me know if the Pegasus does anything else at all suspicious.”

“Aye, Captain,” the griffon replied.

Boyce looked quietly thoughtful after Wandering signed off.

Rosepetal said, “If we take what Captain Path said at face value, his brother just teleported all the way from their home world which they are estimating to be around two thousand light-years away. That’s damn impressive.”

Midnight said, “The Federation’s best teleporters might have only gone a couple of hundred at most, but that’s only because they have had no mental anchor point to aim for greater distances. P5 teleporters like Chakat Swiftwalk otherwise have no known range limit.”

“But as you said, shi needs an anchor point – a place shi has already visited before – in order to accurately teleport there,” Forestwalker pointed out. “The Cosmic Lotus is in a location that is totally unknown to them after going through the wormhole.”

Boyce nodded. “Precisely. Once again, they have shown an ability superior to our best. While Star Fleet Command has a right to be concerned, it’s my opinion that we need to form an alliance with them, not treat them with suspicion and fear. They might be the key to pushing back the Swarm once and for all.”

“And save our home,” Forestwalker added.

Everyone at that meeting silently but fervently agreed.

It was agreed that the meeting would take place on the Pegasus in the area that Wandering had previously identified as being for formal affairs and diplomatic events. Boyce, Rosepetal, and Midnight waited near the elevator entrance for the appointed time. Right on schedule, the party from the Cosmic Lotus appeared. Wandering, Eon, and Phalanx were accompanied by a newcomer, which Boyce presumed to be Captain Path’s brother. Unlike the others, the blue-coated stallion was not clad in a ship’s uniform, but wore some formal regalia including golden hoof-shoes and a modest coronet on his head over his bright red mane. A symbol – or cutie mark as they called it – of a pocket-watch adorned his hindquarters, making Boyce wonder what it symbolized. He stood a little taller than his brother, and had a sense of presence that the other alicorn lacked.

Wandering stepped forward as the other stallion looked around. “Admiral, may I introduce to you my brother, Prince Destined Path.”

Destined stepped up then and offered a hoof which Boyce solemnly shook.

“Welcome aboard the Pegasus, Your Highness. Captain Path did not tell me to expect royalty.” He glanced Wandering’s way. “Does that mean that you’re a prince also?”

Wandering chuckled. “Only by relation. I have not been coronated, nor do I wish to rule. Destined, however, has been a Prince of Equestria since before I was born.”

Destined smiled serenely. “Since I was eight years old, actually. Funny story actually, but I believe we have some serious matters to discuss.”

“Indeed,” Boyce replied. “I have had a conference room set up with ponies in mind. I suggest that we proceed there and begin our talks.”

Boyce led them to a large meeting room with a huge polished oak circular table. Chairs and a padded stool for Midnight were on one side. On the other were more chairs and stools suited to the visitors that they could select from. Both Destined and Wandering chose a chair, noting its suitability for their tails to fit comfortably. Eon and Phalanx elected to use the stools – the dracopony because it was better suited for instant action in his role as security for the party, and Phalanx because he preferred it. While he was security too, his main purpose was to monitor the emotions of the Federation people during the negotiations.

When they were all seated, Destined spoke up.

“Let me formally present my credentials. I am Crown Prince Destined Path of Equestria, one of the triequirate that rules our nation.”

“May I ask what a triequirate is, Your Highness?” Boyce asked. “It does not seem to translate.”

“The triequirate is the royal body that rules Equestria, consisting of three alicorns – Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and myself.”

“No kings or queens?”

“There can only be one king or queen, but as many princes or princesses as needed. We have found that the three of us make an ideal balance. While Princess Celestia ruled by herself a millennium, she was happiest with Princess Luna by her side, and then I finally joined them when I was old enough.”

Boyce was stunned. “A millennium? How long do you ponies live, if I may ask?”

“Bearing in mind that our time-keeping may vary a bit, pony lives measure between 150 to 200 years approximately. However, alicorns are immortal. Celestia is about fifteen hundred years of age, but I am only a tenth of that so far.”

“That is quite amazing. Anyway, to have a royal governing body that has reigned continuously for that long speaks of great stability for your nation, but how do you stand among the other nations of your world?”

“Equestria is perhaps the greatest nation on Equis, with several independent nation-states that have joined ours by treaty. We are represented on the Greater Equis Council of Nations, and I am authorized to negotiate on my nation’s and our world’s behalf.”

Boyce nodded in acknowledgement. “I am Boyce Garald Kline Junior, Admiral of the First Fleet of the Stellar Federation’s Star Fleet. I am responsible for this entire sector of space, and I am authorized to speak for the Stellar Federation… normally. However, I must inform you that the Federation is currently in a state of war with an enemy that we have dubbed the Swarm. As such, normal First Contact procedures have been suspended in favor of a more cautious approach. While this has resulted in some regrettable actions so far, we are not without justification as you have demonstrated the possession and use of a power that has been totally unknown to us up until the advent of the Swarm. That power has been used to devastate worlds and slaughter many of our citizens.”

“My condolences, Admiral, but we have been totally unaware of your existence up until the Cosmic Lotus encountered your ship.”

“That was my impression, but Star Fleet Command was a little more… cautious.”

“Brain-dead is more like it,” murmured Wandering.

Destined gave his brother a stern glance before responding. “Is it possible to see examples of this Swarm, Admiral?”

“Most certainly.” Boyce touched the buttons on the virtual keypad on the table in front of him, and a hologram lit up between the people seated at the table. It showed recordings of Swarm ships firing upon Federation vessels, inflicting terrible damage or even destroying them. “These videos were taken in the early days of our encounters with the Swarm before we evolved workable battle tactics against them. Our shields have proven useless against their main beams which utilize a form of energy that we cannot even analyze. We have never encountered it before, and your ship also uses it. The miniature star that powers it is probably big enough to wipe out all life on Chakona.”

“Your concern is understandable then,” Destined said gravely. “Although it’s a bit difficult to be certain by just looking at an image, I am almost sure that I am seeing a beam of raw mana. That is horrendously dangerous even to us.”

“And what exactly is mana?” Boyce asked.

“It is the power behind all magic. It has been adapted for use in magitek devices which are used throughout the ship.”

Boyce sighed. “That is something that I have had a very hard time wrapping my head around. I am an engineer by training, and I have a very thorough knowledge of physics and how reality works. Magic seems to break so many natural laws that it has been difficult for me to accept that something of legend and folklore is a real thing.”

“There’s your problem, Admiral – your knowledge is woefully lacking. If you discount magic, you are left with a special case of physics that has all sorts of limitations. In fact, you cannot explain everything about reality without magic. Once you see how Unified Thaumophysics Theory works, you will find many of the answers that you seek.”

“In the face of overwhelming evidence, I am forced to concede that you are correct. Nevertheless, we are still faced with the problem of dealing with it.”

“Have you tried negotiating with the Swarm?”

“From our very first encounter, the Swarm has attacked without provocation and has never responded to any attempt to communicate. They are relentless in their attempts to advance upon the Federation. Improvements to our fighter vessels have enabled us to reach a near stalemate, but we still have occasional losses, and the battlefront creeps ever closer. We have failed to come up with any defense against their energy – or should I say mana – beam as yet.”

Wandering spoke up. “If you don’t have any magitek, that means you must use purely electronic equipment, am I right?” At a nod from Boyce, the alicorn continued. “I thought so. We are not unaware of electronic systems, but magic interferes with so many of them that they are not used very often. Magitek almost always can do the job as well or better. However, it does explain why your shields are ineffective against the mana streams. It would be like trying to hold water with a sieve – it’s just not capable of doing so.”

“Then you do have a way that will work?” Boyce asked.

“Of course,” Wandering replied.

“Can you supply us with such a system?”

Destined replied, “That’s where we will start negotiating, Admiral. We have something that you want, and you can help us achieve our goals. Once we reach an agreement and are recognized as ambassadors to the Stellar Federation, we can go onto the next step.”

Boyce smiled inwardly, imagining the reaction of introducing cute, colorful ponies to the Federation Council as the saviors of worlds. “I am already looking forward to it, Your Highness.”

The discussions lasted for several hours, with refreshments brought in at one stage for everyone. Eventually a satisfactory agreement was reached and the meeting broke up.

As they were leaving the room, Destined said, “I gather from what you said earlier that your superiors are not going to be happy by this end run of yours.”

Boyce smiled a little and shrugged. “I have been known to upset the apple cart occasionally. I am of the opinion that sometimes it’s better to beg for forgiveness afterwards than to ask for permission beforehand. I think that presented with a fait accompli, they will see reason.”

“I wish you good luck with that, Admiral.”

“Thank you. Can I ask you a personal question?”

“I suppose it depends on the nature of the question, but I don’t offend easily. Go ahead.”

“Your cutie mark – what does it represent?”

“Oh, that’s no great secret. It represents my talent for controlling time.”

Boyce halted and stared in disbelief. “I know that you can accomplish a lot with your magic, but that’s a big claim.”

Destined grinned. “Is it? Sometime soon I’ll tell you about the time war my companions and I fought over a century ago.” His horn glowed and his image seemed to flicker for a moment. Then his magic pulled a small device from a pouch which he held up. “I’ll let you borrow this recorder until we meet again. Check out the latest video recording later.”

Boyce nodded. “I’ll do that.”

The groups ended up where they started and made formal farewells before the Equians teleported back to their ship. Boyce decided to check out the device immediately as his curiosity got the better of him. As he figured out how it worked, Rosepetal leaned over to look at what he was doing.

“What’s that?” the Caitian asked.

“A recording device that Prince Destined Path left with me. I think I have worked out what to do. Fortunately it doesn’t seem to require magic to operate.”

A video started playing on the small screen, and Boyce immediately recognized that it showed Destined and him talking, with the others slightly ahead of them. The Admiral’s jaw started dropping as he realized what was happening as the alicorn passed the recording device over to the human. Boyce saw the angle from which the video was being taken and from, and his eyes darted to the partially open door to the conference room where he caught a glimpse of someone just within holding up the same device.

“Dear God! He wasn’t kidding.”

A couple of minutes later, Rosepetal saw the same stunned look on her husband’s face repeated in the image on the recorder.

“I had better head off home now,” Destined said. “Mom is going to kill me for not telling her sooner that I re-established contact with the Cosmic Lotus.”

“Why didn’t you tell her right away?” Starry asked.

“I wanted to be sure that I was bringing good news, so I popped over here first. I didn’t expect to be caught up in a diplomatic incident.”

“You could always not tell her,” Wandering suggested.

“Yeah, sure! You know how Mom always manages to spot when we’re prevaricating. Might as well take my lumps rather than draw it out.”

Both Wandering and Starry chuckled at the older alicorn’s discomfort.

“Anyway, I’ll probably be back very soon. Knowing Mom, she’ll probably want to come over and see for herself that everyone is okay, and seeing as I’m the only one who has a lock on the beacon now, I’ll have to guide her along.”

“Okay, we’ll be braced for your return,” Wandering said with a grin.

“Oh! Before I forget, I have something for you.” Destined pulled out two comm units. “These will replace the ones that had their links broken. I’ll retrieve those for repair when I return.”

Wandering took the units into his own magic and said, “Great! Catch you soon!”

Destined’s horn lit up, and a moment later he was gone. Wandering started heading for Engineering to get someone to install the new comm units. Starry followed along, curious to find out her mate’s state of mind after the meeting.

“So – how do you feel about the Admiral’s request for help?”

Wandering glanced at her and gave Starry a reassuring smile. “I’ve worked off my mad with him, so I’m ready to help them out. After all is said and done, we are still House Path, the final line of defense against an implacable foe. We may be thousands of light-years from home, but that will always remain true no matter how far we travel. Our new friends need us and we will not fail them.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Good – only a week between updates.

Bad – no illustrations. Too busy at work which is when Fox streams. Also a bit tight for money this close to Christmas.

About Face

The Federation Starship Hyperion pulled up five hundred meters from the Pegasus that was in orbit around Harpagornis, a gas giant of the Chakastra system and its biggest planet. Communications were exchanged and Boyce made his way to the main transporter room. Shortly after he had arrived, the transporter technician activated his console, and soon a sparkling column of energetic material formed over the platform. It coalesced into the form of Port Admiral Namatjira whose eyes immediately latched onto Boyce and he frowned.

“Why is the alien ship parked in orbit here, Kline?” he asked without preamble.

Boyce stepped up to Namatjira and gave him a snappy salute which the visitor returned. “Your orders, sir, were to prevent the Cosmic Lotus from approaching Chakona at all costs. Because the ship was already on a high sub-light course through the Chakastra system, it seemed the simplest solution was to tow it into a stable orbit around Harpagornis where it can be readily located. There it would not approach Chakona and has the Dinornis Asteroid Belt between it additionally. Working with their engineering crew, we verified that their shielding would be able to handle the high-energy electron and ion radiation there, and the crew of the Lotus were happy to spend some time investigating the planet, as it seems that there are no gas giants where they come from.”

“I’m not interested in what the intruders like to do, Admiral. I also ordered that their officers be detained – have you at least done that?”

“The Captain of the Cosmic Lotus is aboard and waiting for you to interview him, sir.”

“Good. Bring me to him. Let’s get to the bottom of this once and for all!”

Boyce nodded and led Namatjira from the transporter to the nearest trans-lift. They entered it and Boyce said, “Deck two”.

The Port Admiral frowned. “That isn’t the detention level.”

“No, sir. Captain Path is not being held there.”

The high-speed lift opened up onto the atrium of deck two and the pair stepped out to see Wandering patiently waiting for them, dressed in his most formal uniform. He inclined his head briefly and said, “Port Admiral Namatjira, I presume? I understand that you wished to talk with us?”

Rather than answering Wandering, Namatjira glared at Boyce. “Why is this alien not confined?”

“Captain Path is our guest, sir. Your orders were to detain him, not incarcerate him. As he has not, in fact, committed any offence that was not a reasonable response to our actions, I could not justify any more than requesting that he stay aboard the Pegasus until you arrived, with which he complied.”

“You’re treading on dangerous ground, Kline. You know what I meant.”

“I think that this was the wiser course, sir.”

Namatjira was about to retort when Wandering cleared his throat to gain attention.

“If you gentlebeings are ready, we would like to begin negotiations.”

The Port Admiral’s glare returned to the pony. “We? Negotiations? What are you talking about?”

“Please follow me,” Wandering said. He turned and trotted away without waiting for an answer.

Feeling somewhat out of control of the situation, Namatjira followed with Boyce bringing up the rear, a slight smile on his face. Wandering paused in front of two double doors and his horn began to radiate a light purple glow. The Port Admiral visibly flinched when the same glow encased the two doors and they gently opened. The glow shut off around the doors and Captain Path’s horn simultaneously and he walked forward, followed a moment later by the halting steps of Admiral Namatjira and the more confident ones of Admiral Kline. They entered the conference room and the Port Admiral came to a startled halt when he saw what was awaiting him.

Three of the creatures described as alicorns stood facing him. While Namatjira was not a tall man, Captain Path still had to look up to meet his eyes. Not so with any of these. The largest had a white coat with a hint of pink, and a mane like a flowing aurora with twinkling points of light within. The one on his right had a dark blue coat and a mane like a nebula filled with stars. On the left, the third one was a stallion with blue coat and a fiery mane. Each had their wings spread, and the sheer power they exuded left him gaping in awe. The stallion had a serious look on his face, the dark-colored mare seemed slightly amused at the human’s reaction, while the huge white alicorn gave him a benevolent gaze.

Boyce spoke up. “Port Admiral Namatjira, may I introduce you to Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Prince Destined Path, the Triarchs of Equestria.”

As expected, when Twilight Sparkle had learned of the status of the Cosmic Lotus and its crew, she had wanted to immediately visit to see them for herself. Destined had managed to get her to wait until he updated his co-rulers and the leaders of House Path, who in turn had to bring the news to the Equis World Council. Twilight had to be content with talking with Wandering and Starry via crystal comm when the new ones were installed, and until all of the world leaders were informed and an initial course of action agreed upon.

While Twilight had the power to complete a long-range teleport, she still required the guidance of her son, so she and Destined arrived on the Cosmic Lotus nearly two days later. Due to the difficulty imposed by relativistic travel, Twilight had not been able to visit her family members during the entire journey to the Far Star. She was determined to make up for the lost opportunities, and Wandering, Starry, Eon, Skye, and Moonlit Path gathered for a private party with her and Destined. It was an emotional reunion, but predominantly joyful one. The troubles of the moment were forgotten for a few hours as they celebrated.

By that time, the Pegasus had towed the Cosmic Lotus into orbit around Harpagornis and research had begun. Wandering had received a request from Boyce to allow Xeros to work with Chakat Sparks on a little project that they had begun during the shindig, to which he readily agreed as the result would likely benefit both parties. Of greater surprise was the request from Ortzi to visit one of the crew of the Pegasus. Under the circumstances, Boyce could not allow that as yet, but he did give permission for Helen Baines to go over to the Lotus if she wished. He would be the last person to suppress a budding inter-species relationship, however unlikely it seemed.

As the get-together wound down, plans were made to send a delegation to the Pegasus to coincide with the arrival of Admiral Namatjira. While the Equians had every intention to cultivate a friendly relationship with the Federation, they also intended to do so from a position of strength. The orders that Boyce had been forced to carry out were an indication of how Star Fleet intended to proceed, and that was unacceptable, but with the permission of the Equian World Council, the Equestrian Triarchs would open initial diplomatic relations on behalf of their world.

With the guidance of Destined, Celestia and Luna had arrived on the Cosmic Lotus and Boyce had been invited over to meet them. While Luna was still a bit miffed at his treatment of Wandering, she and her sister had nevertheless given Boyce a warm greeting, and they spent some informal time together discussing how they would present their case to the Federation. Thus they were more than prepared when Namatjira had arrived.

From off to one side, standing unnoticed alongside Wandering up until that moment, a purple alicorn stepped forth. She spoke up, drawing the attention of the dazed admiral. “I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and the Triarchs and I are here to open diplomatic relationships with the Stellar Federation.”

Namatjira noticed that this latest alicorn was slightly shorter, and while her mane stirred a little in an invisible breeze, it was nowhere near as bizarre as the other three despite the stripes. Her expression radiated a genuine friendliness, living up to her title. He nodded, overwhelmed by this encounter, recognizing that he had completely lost the initiative. Shaking himself free of his stupor, he glanced at Boyce and said quietly, “We’ll talk more about this later.” He then turned back to the visitors and gave them a tight smile and small bow. “Welcome to the Stellar Federation, Your Highnesses. Shall we begin our discussions?”

Presented with a fait accompli, Namatjira made the most of it. Despite his intention to be stern with the Equians, Celestia’s calm, almost motherly way of easing his concerns made him feel more like a foolish child rather than the second-most powerful man in Star Fleet. With all his questions answered and the alicorn princesses willing to consult on further actions, he made concessions for the Cosmic Lotus crew before winding up the meeting. Since he did not have members of the Diplomatic Corps with him, he could do little more than make an official agreement to the opening of relationships between their two sides and set a timetable for further formal talks. He did take advantage of their offer to investigate the nature of the Swarm’s mysterious weapon though. If they were intending to be allies, he would make the most of it. At this stage in the war with the Swarm, he would take any help, however unlikely, begrudgingly admitting that Boyce had been correct from the start. It did not stop him from giving the lower-ranked admiral a tongue-lashing later for his creative interpretation of his superior’s orders. In the end, all parties left with a certain degree of satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting.

As the four alicorns made their farewells and prepared to leave for Equis, Wandering made his way over to Destined.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, Des – what’s with the mane?”

Destined grinned and tamed his fiery mane and tail down to its normal, albeit slightly wild, red locks. “Gotta dress to impress, bro,” he replied. “It’s starting to wave like Mom’s and Aunties’ anyway. I just amplified it somewhat. Even I was a bit surprised at how much like flames it became. My future self must have suppressed his mane while we were there and then, and also because it’s a little over the top. Yours will probably start doing the same eventually. Hopefully you’ll do something about that dorky mane-cut before then.”

“What’s wrong with my mane-cut?” Wandering objected. “I’ve had this look for decades, and I like it.”

“There’s your problem,” Destined said with a snicker. “You’re decades out of fashion! Seriously, get a professional to look at it.”

Starry said, “I’ve been trying to convince him to try something new, but for a shape-changing alicorn, he’s unusually stubborn about changing that.”

Wandering just stuck his tongue out at them both, and they chuckled in amusement.

“It’s been good to see you all again,” Destined said, “but it’s time for us all to get back to our regular duties. I have no doubt that you’re going to be very busy now that you’ve arrived at the Far Star – or should I say Chakastra?”

Wandering laughed. “Yeah – Techbird is going nuts already. Anyway, see you soon, Des.”

The older alicorn joined up with Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, and with a parting wave, they disappeared.

Wandering turned to Starry. “Well, now that I am no longer being ‘detained’, I think it’s time we have a break and take some time for ourselves.”

“Sounds great.” They started heading towards their stateroom. “What happens next?”

“Care for a trip to another star system?”

Starry gave her mate a surprised look. “How are we going to do that?”

“Boyce has suggested that we travel with him to the front line of the battle with the Swarm and see for ourselves what is happening. He’s hoping that we can get a better idea of what is being used against them. Besides being happy to help him, I’m not a little excited about travelling faster than light and seeing another star up close.”

“And what about the danger?” Starry asked with a frown.

“He’s promised to keep us out of harm’s way, although he might not be able to keep to the exact letter of that vow.”

“Why not?”

“Because I intend to get up close so that I can get a good read on the Swarm’s weapon. At worst, my shield should be able to handle protecting the fighter ship that we intend to use at the battlefront.”

“Should? That settles it – I’m definitely coming to keep your plot intact.”

Wandering grinned. “My hero.”

“We both know who is the stronger at shields, and the real scientist,” Starry retorted. “A-n-d you’ve pretty much suckered me into coming along instead of doing studies here, haven’t you?”

The stallion’s smile grew wider and he nodded.

Starry sighed. “I suppose there’s a reason why you ended up as the head of his expedition instead of me. Oh well, I suppose it’ll be fun.”

“Don’t worry – I’m sure that there will be plenty of science left for you for when we get back. Phase Two of the Cosmic Lotus expedition has only just begun.”

Boyce entered his stateroom with a sigh of relief. Although Namatjira was definitely unhappy with him, his gambit had paid off. He gave the Equians some credit for rolling out their big guns for the meeting. Even though the Princesses had been most gracious and friendly, it was hard not to be in awe of the power that they radiated. The more that he learned about these ponies, the more he became fascinated with them. And the fact that they might hold the key to turning the tide against the Swarm was heartening after all the years they had spent merely trying to hold the line.

Rosepetal was already there, and she brought a mug of his favorite brew out and placed it on the coffee table. “How did it go with Admiral Namatjira?” she asked.

“I’ve burned through every favor after this by taking the risk that I did, but I think we’re cool now. He just didn’t like getting his nose rubbed in the fact that he had overreacted to the situation.” Boyce settled onto the sofa with a weary groan and picked up the mug. “I think that if the Equians hadn’t been able to identify the mystery energy and committed to study it to aid us, things might have turned out a bit differently.”

“I think the entire Federation will gain a lot from what the Equians can show us. Short of giving them warp drive technology, I don’t think they lack much that we could give them in return.”

“Maybe not even that. That Techbird person is scarily intelligent. She might figure it out for herself just from hints and what she can observe.”

Rosepetal chuckled. “Better make a deal fast before she does then.” She sat beside him and snuggled up to her husband with a soft purr. “Or maybe I can find a Sixthwife among them for you instead.”

Boyce gave his Firstwife a long stare. “Darling – I’m only human. I can barely cope with five of you, and then only because Zhane is normally stationed at Star Base Three.”

“I don’t hear you complaining though.”

“Never!” he replied and gave her a kiss. “Good thing those Rakshan deities gave me stamina to match a male Caitian as well, right?”

“Yes, and speaking of which, we might finally be able to get an answer to how they managed to change you so much.”

Boyce nodded and thoughtfully took a sip of his hot coffee before replying, “That may be true, but I long ago stopped caring. It gave me several beautiful children with mates whom I adore. I’m not going to question my good fortune.”

“Neither will I, but I’m still curious.”

“Curious as a cat.”

“I’m a Caitian, not a cat.”

“A difference that makes no difference, is no difference.”

“Hush, you, or I’ll not be so careful with my claws tonight in bed.”

“Promise?” Boyce asked with a leer.

Rosepetal rolled her eyes. “Humans!”

Wandering left Bluequill in charge of the Cosmic Lotus and Galena in charge of the changeling network while he was absent. The changeling princess was especially delighted to have full responsibility for the first time. Boyce assigned one of his ship’s larger auxiliary craft to watch over the Equian ship while the Pegasus headed toward the battle front with its two new observer/advisors. The Admiral allowed the two ponies onto the bridge as they departed, and Wandering and Starry were fascinated by the differences and similarities to their own ship. For starters, the bridge was much roomier than their own, but it also had several more stations where the crew monitored every aspect of the starship’s performance. It also had a highly polished look to it that indicated decades of development and refinement, while the Lotus was the first of its kind and had improvements made on the fly.

Many of the bridge crew had not seen the ponies in person up until then, and many a curious glance was sent their way. However, when Boyce gave the order to proceed, they became completely professional and attentive to their tasks.

Starry gasped when she saw the main screen display what seemed to be stars leaping towards them and passing at an incredible rate. “Are we really travelling light years in seconds?” she asked.

Boyce chuckled. “No, we’re not quite that fast. It’s an artefact of travel in hyperspace. No one is totally sure what all those pseudo-stars are, although some may indeed represent stellar objects. Navigation under these conditions is accomplished purely by instruments. The light effects are quite impressive though.”

“How fast can this ship go then?”

“Hmmm… I’m not permitted to tell you exactly the maximum speed of this starship, but to put it in perspective, the trip that took you ten years subjectively to make, and forty-two according to those on Equis, would take us only a few days.”

“Amazing. Did any of your species travel between the stars like we did?”

Boyce laughed. “If they had tried, they would probably be still on their way! We never came up with a good means of accelerating a solar sail type craft to close to the speed of light as you did. So, no. None of the Federation’s members left their home system before the advent of warp drive. Thankfully none attempted an Alcubierre drive, and treaties have been signed preventing its use as a weapon. I’m sure that our scientists are going to be fascinated with the technology… or magitek I suppose, that enabled your voyage.”

Starry grinned wryly. “Well, we’ve done it now, and I’m sure no one will be sad to move on to a faster-than-light drive. I may be immortal, but a decade is still a large chunk of my life.”

Boyce said, “Destined mentioned that you alicorns are ageless. May I ask how old you are?”

“Oh, Wandering and I are both youngsters by alicorn standards. We were both born 140 years ago, but due to relativistic time dilation, we’re actually only about 108. My mother and auntie are about fifteen hundred years old though.”

“Is that why they are so big?”

“Yeah. We keep growing, albeit very slowly.”

How many alicorns are there?”

“There are three more that you haven’t seen,” Wandering replied. “My uncle, Prince Shining Armor; his wife, Princess Cadance; and their daughter, Flurry Heart.”

“So few? How can a sub-species exist that way?”

“Well, while some are born, not all children of alicorns are also an alicorn. However, ponies can also ascend.”

“What do you mean by that?”

The stallion explained, “My mother, Twilight Sparkle, started life as a unicorn. She accomplished something unprecedented in magic and ascended to alicornhood. So did Uncle Shining, and Auntie Cadance ascended from a pegasus.”

“Does that happen very often?”

“Definitely not. However, alicorns seem to be born or ascend in times of great need. We serve the needs of Harmony, and we might not see another new alicorn for centuries.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask what you mean by serving the needs of Harmony. I can see that there’s going to be a lot to learn about your world and its people.”

Both alicorns laughed. “The feeling is mutual, Admiral,” Starry replied, “but that’s why we made this journey.”

“Now that is something we have in common,” Boyce said with matching good humor. “Anyhow, now that we are under way, may I offer you a tour of the ship? An official one this time,” he added with a pointed look at Wandering.

The male alicorn’s ears drooped and he gave a weak smile.

Starry chuckled at seeing her mate’s reaction and replied, “I think we would enjoy that, Admiral.”

“Excellent. Commander Silpurr – you have the bridge.”

“Aye, sir,” Rosepetal replied, taking the command chair that Boyce surrendered.

As they boarded the trans-lift, Boyce said, “Deck Three.”

The trans-lift disgorged them onto what proved to be the deck where the crew ate and recreated. With a crew of several hundred, this meant extensive facilities to keep the personnel happy and healthy. Boyce encouraged the ponies to take advantage of anything that took their fancy.

“Won’t they question our presence?” Wandering asked.

“Those Fleet combadges that I gave you automatically allow you to go anywhere that you’re authorized to do so,” Boyce said, pointing out the plain gold badges pinned to their uniforms. “Those are usually reserved for ambassadors and other dignitaries, which essentially matches your official designation. So the only thing that you will have to deal with is the curiosity of the crew.”

Starry replied, “That’s fine with us, Admiral. It will give us the opportunity to get to know each other and make some more friends. After all, friendship is magic.”

Boyce chuckled. “Now that kind of magic I understand! Anyway, considering the food that you provided for us at the party, I’m sure that you will be able to find something adequate for your needs and desires, although you may want to consult with the cooks if you have any special requirements. That said, my wives have invited you to dine with us for this evening’s meal.”

“We’d be delighted to accept,” Starry said without hesitation.

“Excellent! I’ll let Forestwalker know – shi wants to prepare something special. By the way, Rosepetal requires meat in her diet – will that bother you? There did not seem to be much concern at the party.”

“We grew up around griffons, Admiral. I doubt that anything any of you could do would be worse than their everyday table manners. Besides, we Paths are known to partake of lean meat occasionally too. We have weird parents.”

With that sorted out, the tour continued. Boyce showed them all the non-classified sections of the ship and the room that was to be theirs for the duration of the trip before ending up at his stateroom. As it was close to the end of shift, it was simpler to go there directly. He let them into the living room and said, “Make yourselves comfortable. I’m just going to check in with the bridge first. By the aroma that I can smell coming from the galley, I think Forestwalker has the food well under way. I’ll let hir know you’re here.”

“Whatever it is, it smells delicious,” Starry said as Boyce headed for the galley.

Moments later, Forestwalker emerged, smiling happily upon seeing hir guests. Shi wore nothing but a kitchen apron that had printed on it: ‘KISS THE COOK IF YOU WANT TO BE FED.’

“Welcome to our home away from home. Feel free to remove your uniforms, if you wish. We’re very informal in the privacy of our quarters.”

Wandering glanced at Starry before replying, “You’ve seen for yourself on the Cosmic Lotus our idea of informal, and we’ve seen what it’s like on the Pegasus. Are you sure about that?”

Forestwalker grinned and indicated hir apron. “Let me put it this way – I’m currently overdressed. I’m only wearing this for protection in the kitchen.”

“Okay, it would be nice to get out of uniform.”

Both ponies lit up their horns and their ship uniforms opened at the seams to allow them to simply step out of them. Forestwalker watched the procedure with a grin on hir face.

“I never get tired of watching you do things like that. You can put your clothes over on the shelf by the door.”

The alicorns’ magic folded the uniforms and levitated them onto said shelf before they turned their attention back to the chakat.

“So – do we really have to give you a kiss in order to eat here?” Wandering asked with a grin.

“If I’m doing the cooking – you bet! I’m quite into hugs too.”

Starry said, “Ponies are known to be incurable huggers, Forestwalker.”

“Then for the furthering of beneficial relationships between our species, I insist that we hug!” the chakat said emphatically. Shi crouched down and opened hir arms to welcome them in.

Starry and Wandering accepted the invitation and they had had a warm three-way hug. Then both kissed hir on the cheek, making the chakat giggle.

Boyce walked in at that moment, having taken the opportunity to divest himself of his uniform top in favor of a T-shirt. He rolled his eyes and smirked. “I figured you were up to something when I saw you wearing that apron, Forest.”

“Worked fine on you too,” shi pointed out unabashed.

“But I don’t need an excuse,” he retorted as he leaned down to kiss hir.

Forestwalker giggled again and smooched him back.

Both ponies were a bit bemused by this much more relaxed human. Admiral Kline was far more formal than their current host. He noticed their looks and smiled reassuringly.

“I wasn’t exaggerating when I said we are informal in the privacy of these quarters. We make it a strict point to keep family and work separate. It makes for a clear delineation of when to be relaxed and when to be strict members of Star Fleet. With that in mind, please call me Boyce.”

Wandering said, “Call me Wandering or Wander for short.”

“I’m still just Starry – it’s short enough already,” the alicorn mare added.

“Great! Starry, Wander – can I offer you a drink? I have a fine selection of wines and spirits.”

“How about hard ciders?” Wandering asked.

“I have an apple cider brewed on Flinders Continent on Chakona that I quite like.”

“Sounds good. I’ll try that.”

“Make that two,” Starry said.

“I’ll get back to my cooking while you three chat,” Forestwalker said, padding off in the direction of the galley.

Boyce went over to a large cupboard which opened to reveal a small wine rack, mini-fridge, and shelves with spirits and liqueurs. He found the bottle that he was looking for and selected three glasses which he proceeded to fill with the cider. He then brought two of the glasses over and placed them on the table in front of his guests. Wandering and Starry picked up one each in their magic as Boyce went back for the final glass which he raised and said, “To your good health.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Wandering replied with a smile, and they each drank some of the amber liquid.

“Mmm, that’s nice,” Starry said. “Almost as good as the cider that they brew at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“I take it that they’re big in the cider business?” Boyce asked.

“In the apple business, actually. If it has to do with apples, they have a hoof in it. Best in Equestria, and perhaps all of Equis. The Apples are friends of the family too.”

“Then I’m glad that ours compares favorably.” Boyce settled down in a chair. “Midnight, Rosepetal, and M’Lai should be joining us soon. Meanwhile, is there anything more that we can do to make you comfortable?”

“I think that Starry and I are pretty happy with things as they are,” Wandering said with a glance at Starry to confirm that opinion. She nodded and he continued, “It’s a big turnaround from our previous encounters.”

Boyce grimaced. “Yes – Forest isn’t going to let me live that down for a long time. Facing Admiral Namatjira was nothing in comparison.”

“Never argue with your wife,” Starry said with a mischievous grin.

“I know. That’s a lesson you’d think I’d have learned by now. Anyway, I was wondering if you’re still experiencing that aversion to humans. You may have noticed that there are a fair number among the crew.”

“Constant exposure has dulled it to nearly unnoticeable levels. Don’t worry about it.”

“Did it affect the Princesses too?” Boyce asked curiously.

“Both Celestia and Luna have lived too long and seen too much to be bothered by it. They barely noticed it. Des and Mama Twilight made sure they had a good look at a human before they had to interact with any. They were able to mentally prepare for the encounter.”

“When did they get to see a human? I thought that they teleported straight over to the conference room from the Cosmic Lotus? Or did they just look at a picture?”

“I modelled one for them,” Wandering admitted.

The human blinked in surprise. “You have an atavistic fear of us but still shape-changed into one?”

Wandering snorted a laugh. “Yeah – and strangely I felt fine with that.”

“You have a pretty amazing talent there. How many other ponies can do that?”

“Shape-changing is a high-level spell, and only the most talented unicorns can master it. As for me – I cheat because of my genes; it comes naturally to me.”

“It’s an incredible feat though – Midnight tells me that hir scanner could not tell the difference from a real chakat,” Boyce said as the entrance to the stateroom opened.

“Alicorn-level shape-changing. It’s my special talent.”

“I’d like to put that to the test,” said M’Lai who had just walked in on the conversation.

“Welcome home, dear,” Boyce said, getting up to give her a kiss. “But try not to let your curiosity bother our guest.”

Wandering chuckled. “I’m sure we’ll find plenty of time to indulge the doctor.”

“Thank you,” the tall Caitian said. “You can call me just M’Lai. Pardon me while I change into something more comfortable.” She paused at the galley doorway to sniff for a moment before saying, “Something smells good.”

“You’re not getting a sample yet, Lai!” Forestwalker was heard to reply with a chuckle.

M’Lai pouted a little and headed off to change.

Both Starry and Wandering’s ears had swiveled in the direction of the galley, and they grinned at the interaction.

“This is so like our own family back on Equis, it’s making me a little homesick,” Starry said.

“They sound like good people to know,” Boyce replied. “I hope that I get the opportunity to meet them someday.”

“Are you sure that you’d survive?” Wandering asked.

Boyce’s eyebrow arched in puzzlement. “What do you mean?”

“A whole world that runs on magic – how would you cope with that?” the stallion asked with a smirk.

Boyce rolled his eyes. “Okay – I deserved that. But it’s not easy when your entire worldview is turned upside-down.”

“Tell me about it! We’ve gone through some very radical re-thinks over the course of this voyage.”

“I’m happy that we are getting the chance to restart our relationship. Still, things could have been worse.”

“I heard that you initially went to war with the Rakshani when you encountered each other. I’m glad that you found peace. It reminds me of how Equestria and Griffonia once were enemies. Now Griffonians vie for the honor of being part of the army of the strongest nation on Equis, or even a Canterlot Royal Guard. It was a matter of understanding them and adapting to their needs.”

“That sounds very much like what happened with us and the Rakshani. Our mutual experiences will hopefully smooth future relationships between our peoples.”

The stateroom door opened to admit Rosepetal and Midnight. They greeted their guests and both gave Boyce a nuzzle.

“Whose turn is it to cook tonight?” Midnight asked.

“Forest’s,” Boyce replied. “Judging by M’Lai’s reaction to the smell, I think shi’s making hir tuna casserole.”

Rosepetal’s smile grew. “Ooh, yes! My mouth is watering already. I had better get changed quickly.”

Midnight grinned. “Don’t worry, Rose – I’ll guard your portion from M’Lai.”

There was a round of laughter before the two wives went to change out of their uniforms and freshen up before the meal.

“So – do you all take turns to cook, despite being high-ranking officers?” Wandering asked.

Boyce nodded. “Yes – even me. Not that we do it every night, but we all cook for the entire family on a regular basis. It’s a good reminder that we are all equals in this relationship, and besides, we all have our favorites that we like to have more often. My specialty is Buffalo Wings.”

Wandering and Starry both looked surprised.

“Buffalos have wings on your world?” Starry asked.

Boyce chuckled. “No, they are actually chicken wings, but they’re called that because the recipe originated from a place called Buffalo in New York in what used to be known as the United States of America. That nation is long gone, but the dish remains popular.”

“Oh – that makes sense. I was having a hard time picturing a buffalo with wings.”

“Yes, it’s nothing like a pony with wings, is it?” Boyce asked drolly.

“Touché,” Wandering said with a smirk in Starry’s direction.

“You speak French too?” Boyce asked.

“It’s Prench, actually,” Wandering replied, intrigued that the human had recognized the word.

Boyce looked puzzled. “There are too many coincidences like that coming up.”

“I agree,” The stallion replied. “I have a feeling that it might all be part of the Answer that Techbird has been seeking for most of her life.”

“Let me know if she ever figures it out.”

They continued making small talk until all the others emerged from their rooms. M’Lai was wearing a skirt and a halter top to contain her generous endowments. Midnight also had a halter that was more like a sports bra in that it firmly contained hir more modest-sized breasts. Rosepetal came out wearing a loose-fitting robe which she explained was common casual wear for both genders back on Cait.

Forestwalker announced that dinner was ready and they all gathered around the dining table. Boyce had arranged to have a couple of pony-suitable chairs to be supplied, and Wandering and Starry were quite comfortable. Forestwalker entered with a huge baking dish which shi placed in the middle of the table.

“Boyce, dear, would you serve our guests while I fetch the salad?”

“Of course.” He looked at the ponies and asked, “I know that you said that you have had the occasion to eat meat, so will this fish be okay? Or do you want to stick to the salad?”

“Fish is fine with us,” Wandering replied. “It smells delightful.”

Starry added, “Pegasi are generally fond of fish, and as alicorns are part pegasus, we all tend to like it too.”

“I think Mom is practically addicted to smoked salmon,” Wandering said with a grin.

“Aha! That information will come in useful during tense negotiations,” Boyce said with an evil chuckle.

“Down, Evil Overlord!” Forest scolded as shi brought in a large bowl full of tossed salad.

There was a round of laughter before they all began their meal.

Starry and Wandering showered and combed each other’s manes before preparing to go to bed.

“If you ask me, I think that dinner did more towards good relationships between us than the party,” Starry said.

“An intimate family meal does have its advantages. That’s why House Path’s Informal Friday has lasted as a tradition all these decades. Everyone can let their mane down and be more natural.”

“So – can you see Equis being part of the Federation one day?”

“I don’t see why not. Unless we learn something drastically negative about it, that seems to be a logical step. However, that’s not up to either of us to decide. It’s also a bit quick. Like I said a while back – these kind of things normally take months or even years to sort through. We might be giving them a bit of priority due to their problems with the Swarm, but otherwise there are many aspects that need to be addressed first. Thankfully I don’t have to muddle through that. I just want to explore the worlds that have been opened up to us now.”

“Do you really think that we can do something about this Swarm?”

“Maybe. First we have to see for ourselves what is happening. We can’t rely totally on the Federation’s point of view alone. However, in a few days, we warrior-scholars may have to put aside our scholarly pursuits and fight on behalf of our new friends, and right now I can’t see any real reason why we should not.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

A word on Federation ranks. For those of you who might not be familiar with the Chakat Universe, Earth went through what became known as the Gene Wars which basically was World War III. Whole nations ceased to exist such as the U.S.A., and humanity itself came close to extinction. After rebuilding civilization, new countries arose which did things a lot differently in many instances. One of these is the naval ranking system that Americans may be familiar with. The Stellar Federation uses a slightly different system. With regards to the rank of Admiral, there are three levels - Fleet, Port, and Grand Admiral. The Federation is divided into sectors, and each has a fleet assigned to it. A Fleet Admiral is in charge of one fleet, and operates from a mobile base. Boyce is a Fleet Admiral of the First Fleet that encompasses Earth and Chakona among others, and his mobile base is the flagship, Pegasus, which is the largest starship type in Star Fleet, equivalent to an aircraft carrier. Namatjira is a Port Admiral, and he is in charge of coordinating all the fleets, and he operates from a fixed base (a port). Grand Admiral Tirarsk is the head of everything related to Star Fleet including his sub-admirals, the training academy, coordinating with the Star Corps, and of course dealing with the Federation Council. There is only one Grand Admiral and Port Admiral, and only one Fleet Admiral per fleet. There are no Lieutenant Admirals – this role is filled by Commodores.

The title of this chapter has a double meaning. Sometimes I think I'm clever. :rainbowhuh:

Many thanks as always to Airy Words for his feedback.

The alicorns art is by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf.

First Moves

Starry and Wandering found a Security officer standing outside their stateroom door as they left the next morning. After the fox morph briefly gave them an intrigued looking-over, he smiled and said, “Good morning, sir and ma'am. I have been assigned to assist you during your stay aboard the Pegasus. Admiral Kline also instructed me to assure you that this is for your convenience and not because of any Security issue.”

Wandering smirked. “No repeating previous mistakes, hey? Okay, first of all, irrespective of our status, my name is Wandering – let’s keep the ‘sirs’ down to a minimum. We’re here on a friendly mission, not some highly formal political meeting.”

“And you can call me just Starry,” the alicorn mare added.

The fox’s smile grew. “My name is Corporal Jason Russet – you can call me just Jason if you wish. While I’m on duty, I have to retain a certain amount of formality, but I’ll try to keep the sirs and ma’am’s down to a minimum. Would you be interested in some breakfast now?”

“Just what we had in mind,” Starry replied.

“Great. Shall we go?” The Corporal headed off, and the two ponies followed the fox tod down the corridor.

As they walked side by side, Wandering noticed Starry looking at him appraisingly. “What?” he asked.

“Can’t a mare admire her mate?” she replied.

“It’s the mane, isn’t it? I can’t believe you talked me into changing it.”

Starry giggled. “You look more handsome than ever, you silly pony. Stop arguing with my taste! Between that Star Fleet ambassador uniform and your new mane style, you’re looking really dashing.”

One of the last things that Boyce had shown them before they had retired for the night was how to use the replicator in conjunction with the ship’s computer to create custom uniforms for themselves. As they were officially considered ambassadors from Equus on an observation mission, they were granted the use of the Star Fleet shirt with the white color coding. Asked if they wanted to have pants also, Wandering had informed the human that they were not standard for pony uniforms. Their Cosmic Lotus outfits were designed to also protect them in an emergency and needed to cover more of their bodies, but on board this ship, that was obviously not an issue.

Wandering sighed. “Only for you, Starry.”

Jason chuckled along with Starry as they arrived at the trans-lift that would take them to the mess hall level.

The ponies attracted a great deal of attention from the crew as they ordered their meals and carried the trays in their magic to one of the tables. Before he sat down to eat, Wandering reared up to place his forehooves on the table and applied a small amplification spell to his voice.

“Hello, everyone. For those who have yet to meet us, I am Captain Wandering Path, and my mate is Lieutenant Commander Starry Path of the starship, Cosmic Lotus. We are here on an observation mission, mostly to learn about the Swarm, but also to get a better understanding of the Federation peoples. If you would like to have a chat with us over the next few days, feel free to approach us at any time that we’re not busy. We have a saying back home – Friendship is Magic. We would love to make some more friends while we are guests aboard your ship. I wish you all a good morning!” Wandering then seated himself and started on his meal.

It was not long before the seats at the table were filled by curious crew members. Neither pony got much of a chance to eat that morning.

While Boyce had given them a tour of the ship, Wandering and Starry both wanted to spend some more in-depth time in certain sections. They had free run of the public areas of the Pegasus, and Jason was authorized to allow them escorted access to the low-level secure areas. The high-level areas were still off-limits, however, but as those were largely military in nature, they did not much interest either of them despite being warrior-scholars.

There was one exception. That afternoon, they came upon a Security squad doing unarmed combat training. This squad was apparently separate from the one that Midnight headed up as they did not recognize any of the team. It became apparent this one’s leader was a female Rakshani who noticed the ponies observing and eventually came over to introduce herself.

“I am Lieutenant Baneth ap Quelline na Ramedar. You are the ambassadors from Equus, I believe?”

“That’s correct,” Wandering replied. “Do you mind if we watch you training?”

“Not at all. Would either of you be interested in participating in a friendly bout? It would be of benefit to Bravo Team to train with an unfamiliar species.”

“I’ll pass,” Starry replied.

“I might take you up on that later, Lieutenant,” Wandering said. “Although you might be at something of a disadvantage. Alicorns are never completely unarmed.”

“How so?” Baneth asked curiously.

“May I demonstrate?” the stallion asked.

“Go ahead,” the Rakshani replied, automatically centering her weight and flexing her knees, bracing for whatever he had planned.

Wandering’s horn lit up and a glow surrounded Baneth. She was lifted off the floor by about half a meter where she hung out of reach of the pony. Without any way of moving, she was helpless. “I see what you mean,” she admitted, but you have made a mistake in showing me this. Next time I will be prepared for it.”

Wandering grinned as he let her down again. “I sense a challenge.”

Baneth replied with a slightly predatory grin of her own. “It’s the Rakshan way, sir. Do you accept?”

He nodded. “I do. If I’m free, how about tomorrow at this time?”

“That would be acceptable. Are you going to watch more of our training session?”

“Of course. I need to be prepared too, don’t I?”

Baneth smiled broadly. She liked this pony. “I can tell that you are an intelligent warrior.” She turned to face her team. “Okay – back to training. Let’s show our visitors what they are up against when they take on any member of Bravo Team!”

There was a cheer from them before they resumed their bouts.

“Do you think you could really win a bout with her?” Starry asked.

“Without using magic? Difficult to tell, but she has a lot of physical advantages. Still, she knows nothing about ours. It should be interesting.”

Starry rolled her eyes and snorted. “Interesting. S-u-r-e!”

The ponies dined with Boyce’s family again that evening, and they related what they had been doing all day. Midnight smiled when they told hir about their encounter with Baneth and her challenge to Wandering.

“Baneth has always been keen on improving her fighting techniques. Be aware though that Rakshani have an interesting way of responding to challenges.”

“How so?” Wandering queried.

“They are always trying to prove themselves against those that they consider worthy opponents. If you manage to defeat her, be prepared to be propositioned.”

That raised the eyebrows of both ponies.

“Seriously?” Starry asked. “Despite Wandering being my mate?”

“Yes. Baneth is unmated and would be honored to bed any male who can best her. Wandering is not obligated to accept though,” shi added reassuringly.

“That would be between Wandering and her,” Starry said.

“It doesn’t bother you?”

“It surprises me, but I see you have not learned much about pony herds. They’re not a whole lot different from your own extended family. Baneth wouldn’t be the first person to show interest in Wandering.”

“I’m still right here, y’know?” the subject of their discussion asked drolly. “And what Starry didn’t say was that I turned down all those others.”

“Do it this time in the interest of inter-world relationships,” Starry teased.

“Maybe you should proposition Boyce,” Wandering retorted. “I hear he’s looking for a Sixthwife.”

“Okay, in the interest of domestic harmony, leave me out of this, please,” Boyce said with a chuckle.

There was laughter from all around the dinner table before they switched to another subject of conversation.

Starry threw herself onto their bed with a sigh of satisfaction. “This was a good day,” she declared.

“I’ve got to agree with you,” Wandering replied, leaning over to nibble at her neck.

Starry giggled and nuzzled him back. “So – what part did you enjoy most?”

“Hmmm… I think I have to say having an entire day off without command responsibilities for the first time in over ten years and spending it all with you.”

“Ooh, you sweet talker! Now I’ll have to think of something extra special to do for you. However, I was referring more along the lines of our new friends and what they do.”

“Like the appointment that you made with their scientists to see if they can work out what magic is?”

“I suppose. I’m just as curious to see what theories they have. It’s a pity Cosmic Dawn isn’t with us. She would love this.”

“True, but while you’re fascinated with the science, I’ve been intrigued by the vast number of different races and cultures aboard this ship, and how they work so well together.”

“In other words, we’re both still focused on our specialties,” Starry summed up.

“That hasn’t really changed despite everything. So how about something trivial instead. What odd detail stood out most for you?”

The mare thought for a bit, then replied, “Ensign Morgan.”

Wandering’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Ah, yes – the equine morph. Fascinating how much like a bipedal earth pony he resembles.”

Starry smiled. “I think it goes both ways. I remember the double-take he did upon seeing us.”

“I’m thinking that we’ve been encountering too many remarkable similarities between our cultures for it to be a coincidence.”

“You’re right. Did you get a scan of the Ensign?”

“I scan all new species that I come across. I’ve done that a lot today.”

“How about transforming into Morgan’s species so I can see just how many similarities there are between us?”

Wandering raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Really? What detail are you most interested in comparing?”

“I’ll know it when I see it,” she replied innocently.

The stallion chuckled. “Okay, let’s try this on.” He stepped back and magic flames briefly engulfed his form. When they cleared, an equine morph with Wandering’s normal coat and mane colors stood there on two legs. “Oops! I should have taken the shirt off first. It’s not designed to fit this frame.”

“I can also see why they all wear pants too,” Starry added. “The reason is pretty much in my face.”

Wandering removed the shirt with a little difficulty, leaving him completely nude. “What would you like to investigate first?” he asked with a leer.

Starry licked her lips. “Let’s start with what’s right under my nose….”

The next morning, Wandering was still in morph form. Rather than immediately changing back to his normal pony form, he indulged a whim and asked the computer to make a new uniform for him.

“Mismatch between subject and previously recorded body pattern,” the computer complained.

“Oh. New data: I am a shape-changer and can assume the form of any species,” Wandering explained.

There was a pause before the computer replied, “Input accepted. Please step into scanning area for re-measurement.”

Wandering did so, following the computer’s instructions to move his arms and legs.

“Scan complete. Fabricating requested garments.”

The nearby replicator soon glowed and a pile of clothing materialized within it. Wandering donned the uniform and then stood in front of the full-length mirror to observe the result.

Starry came out of the bathroom just then and saw him posing. She grinned and said, “Handsomest stallion in either form.”

“You like?” Wandering asked with a matching grin.

“Right now I wish I wish I could shape-change too, and we could step out together like that.”

“We might have to ask Mom if she could oblige with a spell when we get back home.”

“I’ll put that on my list. Meanwhile, what are you going to do? You can’t go out of this room without giving away your secret.”

Wandering sighed. “Yeah – only a few know and they have promised not to discuss it. And I promised not to deceive anyone with a species change anyway.”

“So why make a uniform that you can’t use?”

“Souvenir!” he promptly replied. “Would you like a matching one?”

“And how do we supply measurements for a body form that doesn’t exist yet?”

“I could model it for you if there’s a mare that I can scan.”

“Now that I’d like to see even more.”

“There’s no end to your kinkiness, is there?”

Starry reared up to hug and kiss her bipedal mate. “And you love it!” she declared.

Mmm… I do indeed,” he replied before enthusiastically kissing her back.

Starry had an appointment with Rosepetal that morning. The Science Officer of the Pegasus wanted to take the opportunity to do some detailed investigation into the nature of magic, and although that was not Starry’s specific field, she knew enough to assist the Caitian in her investigations.

“Thank you for consenting to this,” Rosepetal said as she set up some exotic equipment. “While we have done our best to investigate the Swarm’s unknown energy source, it’s difficult to do much when you are trying not to get killed at the same time. These sensitive instruments can do a lot more under controlled conditions.”

“That makes sense. I hope that you can get some meaningful data from them. We have our own instruments for measuring magic, but as they are all magitek too, that does not help you much at this point.”

Rosepetal nodded. “Quite correct. Anyway, if you are ready, we can begin.”

“I’m ready. What would you like me to do first?”

“Let’s start simple; use your horn to produce light, please.”

Starry lit up her horn, and the Caitian and her assistants recorded their instruments’ readings.

“Okay, could you now pick up an object with your telekinesis?”

Starry selected a chair and raised it a meter off the floor. Again the scientists made a series of measurements before indicating that Starry could put the chair down.

“How much can you lift with your telekinesis?” Rosepetal asked.

“I’ve never pushed myself to my limit, but I could lift every loose object in this room, including all of you.”

“Are you sure about that? One of those loose objects is a set of weightlifter’s gear that I had brought in for these tests.” The Caitian indicated the barbell loaded with a full set of weights that had been brought in by an anti-grav trolley.

By way of an answer, Starry easily levitated the bar without removing any of the weights. Just for good measure, she added everything else that she could see. “Yes, I’m sure,” she replied.

Rosepetal blinked in surprise. While there were strong telekinetic Talents in the Federation, they normally lifted only one object at a time. This alicorn was handling dozens without appearing to strain in the slightest. “Umm… that’s impressive, but could you put us down for now so that we can actually do some measurements?”

Starry grinned as she complied. Doing science should be fun after all! “Just to give you an idea of my capabilities, I’ll remind you that both Wandering and I maintained a mass-reducing spell for an entire starship for hours at a stretch. I suggest you find some heavier weights.”

“I’m beginning to think I’m going to have to get hold of some neutronium before I can push your limits,” Rosepetal muttered.

Wandering spent the morning in the company of E’Sondra te Hanso. The Voxxan cultural expert was helping him interview a number of the crew in order to make comparisons of their different civilizations, and in return learning more about Equian culture and mores. The stallion was so immersed in his studies that he belatedly remembered that he had intended to have a sparring session with Baneth. He sent Jason to extend his apologies and ask to have the bout rescheduled for a later date before he went to meet up with Starry for a quick lunch. They then went back to their respective research for the rest of the afternoon.

By the time they quit for dinner, much had been accomplished by both ponies, although Rosepetal was nursing a headache from trying to comprehend the results of her research so far. As they sat around the dinner table, Boyce expressed his sympathy.

“Take it easy, Rose. You’re trying to understand at a master’s level starting from a first-year student’s understanding of the subject.”

Rosepetal nodded. “I realize that but magic contradicts so much of what I already know. If I didn’t have the evidence right before my eyes, I would not believe it.”

“Preaching to the choir, dear. Let it go for now and relax; you will have plenty of time to wrap your head around it.”

The rest of the family and their pony guests chuckled at the Caitian’s glum expression as she sighed in resignation.

Wandering decided to change the subject. “Speaking of time, how much longer until we reach the battlefront?”

“Even at top speed, it will be another day’s travel,” Boyce replied.

“That’s remarkably quick.”

Boyce grimaced. “Too quick. The Swarm got too close to Chakona before its advance was halted. Actually, to be completely honest, they are still advancing albeit slowly. They chip away at our defenses relentlessly. However, at the FTL speed the Swarm travels, we have a few weeks margin if they ever break through. We’re hoping very much that you will find a way to push them back for the first time.”

“We hope so too,” Starry said. “Now that we have met new friends, we’d like to keep them.”

“Same here,” Forestwalker agreed fervently.

Wandering looked thoughtful. “Now that I’m separated from my crew, it gives me a new perspective – one lone ship in a huge universe, and an enemy we never even knew we had until now.”

“You’re not alone if that’s any consolation,” Boyce replied. “How are they enjoying their time around Harpagornis?”

“I’m embarrassed to admit that our comms have failed again. While their range is theoretically unlimited within the universe, apparently jumping out of normal space and into hyperspace breaks the connection. We’re hoping that they reconnect when we drop out of warp drive.”

“You’re welcome to send messages via our sub-space communicator. The crew of the skiff that we left behind to keep watch over the Cosmic Lotus will pass them on for you.”

“Thanks, Boyce. I promised I’d stay in touch, so I’d like to reassure them that everything is okay. I’m also curious to know what’s happening in my absence.”

While Ortzi Goldbeak’s skills as a geologist were not anticipated to be used on a gas giant, a type of planet that the Equians had not dreamed existed before, he nevertheless had some professional work to do. Harpagornis apparently had a rocky core that was at least as large as Equus, and between their magitek probes and some help from their Federation friends, he was attempting to identify its composition. It was extremely difficult but very satisfying. Nevertheless, he was glad when his shift was over, and he headed to the mess hall. The griffon spotted a familiar face as he ordered his meal, and Ortzi smiled as he seated himself beside the new temporary crew member.

“Hi, gorgeous!”

Helen Baines smiled at the griffon and replied, “Hi, hot stuff. How was your day?”

“Fun but tiring. What about you?”

“Your magitek devices are endlessly fascinating, but I’ve had enough for one day. Feel like going to the Park with me after dinner to relax and unwind?” The rabbit morph had wrangled a spot on the Away Team assigned to keep watch over the Cosmic Lotus with the very good excuse that shi could accomplish some very useful studies in the new technology while stationed there. Boyce had not been fooled for a moment when shi had applied for the spot, but could not deny that shi had a legitimate excuse. Helen was delighted to be able to spend more time with hir unusual new boyfriend. Shi did not quite understand why shi liked him so much, but shi was enjoying hir dalliance with him immensely.

Ortzi had been more than a little amazed at how easily he got along with Helen. He had always been shy with females, but this herm morph excited him. Shi was easy to talk to and laughed at his jokes. Shi liked his wing-cuddles and made him feel special. They had known each other only for days, and yet it felt like they were old friends in some ways. He reflected on what his parents might have thought of his growing relationship with hir as he leaned over to nibble hir neck with his beak. “I’d love to do that,” he replied.

Helen giggled. “Save that for the Park, lover-boy.”

The exchange was noticed by Xanth and Coldfire as they headed out of the room. The mare gave her husband a nudge and said, “What do you think? Next couple to get hitched?”

The changeling had a good taste of the emotions flooding from the duo, but he said, “They’ve known each other for only a few days, hon; stop trying to marry them off already.”

Coldfire gave Xanth a level stare. “Are you trying to tell me that those two are not head-over-hooves infatuated with each other?”

Xanth smirked. “I’d never do that. I just had a big dessert on top of my meal just by walking past them.”

“So you don’t want seconds?” the mare asked slyly.

“Seconds and thirds, as long as you’re serving them up,” the changeling replied with a grin.

“Good answer. Where would you like your treat?”

“How about the observation room?” Xanth suggested.

“Sounds nice. Let’s go there.”

They turned in that direction and headed off.

“They make an unusual couple though, you have to admit,” Coldfire said conversationally.

“As unusual as a pony and changeling couple was once considered,” Xanth replied. “If talks with the Federation go well though, their relationship may become commonplace too.”

“You’re technically correct, dear, but a rabbit and an eagle cat-bird – you have to admit that’s stretching it.”

Xanth chuckled. “You’ve got me there.”

They arrived at the observation room and settled down in front of the wall-length window that currently faced the gas-giant planet. The room had remained unused for almost the entire journey due to the effects of relativity rendering direct observation virtually useless, but now it was an almost-forgotten place to hang out and enjoy the view while making out with a lover. The couple leaned together cheek-to-cheek and Coldfire put her wing around Xanth. No words were exchanged for a long while as they sat and watched Harpagornis slowly turn. He lapped up the love she poured out to him, and she enjoyed the croons of pleasure it gave him, secure in the knowledge that he was irrevocably in love with her too.

There was one other advantage to having a changeling mate.

“How is Skyborn?”

“Still asleep since his feeding,” replied Xanth after checking through the network with the changeling playing nursemaid to their foal.

“Excellent,” she replied and gave him a passionate kiss.

The view was quickly forgotten.

It was actually about twenty hours after Wandering made his enquiry about the Swarm that they arrived at the battlefront. The communications officer informed Boyce that there was an incoming call immediately after they dropped out of warp.

“Put it on the main screen,” Boyce ordered.

The large screen switched from the star-field to the face of a Terran wolf morph. “Admiral Kline – to what do I owe this visit, sir? The Pegasus is not suited to battle with the Swarm.”

“That is true, Commodore Harkness, but I bring what may be the first true breakthrough in decades of fighting them.”

“You have my total attention, sir. What is this miracle?”

“We have recently contacted a new civilization, one which may be familiar with the mysterious energy weapon. If it is what they believe it to be, they will be able to supply a means of defending against it.”

“If that is true, I will be overjoyed. It’s well past time that we did something more productive than holding the Swarm at a stalemate. Do you have representatives of this civilization with you?”

“Yes, I have two of them.” Boyce gestured to Starry and Wandering who had been standing out of everyone’s way near the entrance to the bridge. They walked over to stand next to the command chair. “May I introduce Captain Wandering Path and his mate, Lieutenant Commander Starry Path.”

The Commodore stared for a brief moment, and the ponies were amused to recognize disbelief in his eyes. He recovered quickly and smiled. “An honor to meet you. I certainly hope that you can help us out.”

“That’s what we’re here for, Commodore,” Wandering assured him.

“How can I assist you?” the wolf asked.

Boyce answered, “I am going to launch a Defender with them aboard. It has the speed and maneuverability to keep them safe if necessary, but it’s believed that their personal defenses can cope with the Swarm’s weapons. From what I have seen so far, I am inclined to believe them. All we require from you, Commodore, is to provide back-up if needed, and watch for unforeseen trouble in case their efforts stir up a strong response.”

Harkness nodded. “I will assign Captain R’Mulk to the task. He has proven to be adept and flexible in dealing with the Swarm.”

“Thank you, Commodore. We will be launching in approximately fifteen minutes. Pegasus out.” The comms officer cut the connection and Boyce turned to the alicorns. “Lieutenant Karnok will be waiting for you in the launch bay. Please don’t hesitate to withdraw if you get into trouble. Good luck to you both.”

Wandering and Starry nodded in acknowledgement and headed for the trans-lift. It quickly took them to the flight deck where they had their Cosmic Lotus uniforms ready and waiting. It took them only a couple of minutes to change out of the Federation uniforms and into the magitek-enhanced spacesuits, and then they headed down the line of fighter craft to where a small vixen morph was waiting beside the ramp that led into a larger vessel that was obviously the Defender Class that they were expecting. She saluted them and let them board before following. The alicorns laid down upon two specially prepared couches that were indicated to them and secured themselves with webbing as Karnok’s crew prepared the ship for launch. There was a flurry of communication between the vessel and the main ship, and then the vixen looked over to the ponies with a grin on her muzzle.

“I hope you two are up to this because it’s going to be a wild ride. Brace for launch!”

She did not wait for a response, and a moment later they were thrust into the acceleration couches as the ship was launched at high speed. The Defender immediately changed course to head directly for the Swarm. While the Pegasus had remained out of range of the Swarm’s weapons, it did not take long for the vessel to be within visual range of the ongoing battle. Flashes and beams of light indicated where Federation ships were engaged with the enemy, and Karnok headed towards one of the most active areas as they had planned.

“R’Mulk to Karnok – I am on your tail. Try not to get it scorched.”

Karnok grinned and replied, “Not a hair out of place on my fur, Captain. I promise.”

“Good – let’s keep it that way.”

Wandering gave the vixen a look with one eyebrow raised. She chuckled and said, “R’Mulk is an old Academy acquaintance. He wanted to go full career while I wanted more action and to go hunt pirates. We still get together occasionally though. Anyway, things are about to get interesting. I hope you’re ready to do whatever you’re going to do?”

“We’re ready to make observations first,” Starry replied. “Try to take us near one of those mystery energy bursts that cause you so much trouble.”

“Your wish is my command.”

The Defender leaped towards the thick of battle, dodging and weaving to avoid the weapons that started coming their way. They soon passed in close proximity a Swarm ship, virtually begging to be fired upon. It obliged, but Karnok skillfully avoided the beam of energy before dancing out of range again. She looked over at the alicorns and noticed both their horns were glowing.

“Well?” she asked.

Starry replied, “It’s exactly what we thought it was – raw mana.”

“Which leaves me just as much in the dark as before I knew that.”

“Mana is the power behind magic. It is a terrible and chaotic form of power to use against a starship, but it is also extremely inefficient.”

“How do you mean?”

Wandering replied, “What powers this ship’s systems ultimately?”

“Electricity. No matter how it is generated, everything on this ship runs on electricity.”

“So why don’t you throw a lightning bolt at the Swarm?”

“Because the same amount of power put into the weapons systems is a hundred times more effective.”

“Exactly. The same is true for mana and magic. An efficiently designed spell could do the same amount of damage as that raw mana beam but using only a fraction of the mana.”

“Makes sense, but can you do anything about it?”

Starry nodded and said, “While it’s a lot of power to block, I could do so. In fact, that’s exactly what I want you to do next.”

“You want me to allow my ship to be targeted?” the vixen asked skeptically.

“Yes. Don’t worry – I will shield us while Wandering does some scans of the Swarm ship.”

Karnok’s grin returned. “I did say that I wanted the excitement. Are you prepared?”

The alicorns acknowledged their readiness, and the Defender dived once more into the battle. Again, the vixen provoked a response from a Swarm ship, and again a stream of mana was sent their way. Karnok did not even flinch, trusting implicitly in the ponies’ confident assurances. She was not disappointed. The mana splattered on an unseen shield, spreading along its surface which glowed into visibility before it seemed to absorb the mana and fade out of sight again. A second mana burst came their way, only to suffer the same fate as the first.

“Yeee-haaa! First Federation ship to survive not one but two direct hits from the Swarm!” Karnok crowed.

“No need for a third,” Starry said with a small grin at the vixen’s celebrations. “Wandering has got his readings, so we can go now.”

“Sorry, but that might prove to be difficult. We seem to have attracted the attention of the Swarm after that stunt.”

The tactical holo-screen showed several ships converging on theirs.

“Let me deal with them. I think I will re-gift their donation of mana. Hold the ship still for me, please, Lieutenant.”

“Okay, but what are you up to?”

“You’ll see.” Starry’s horn lit up and she vanished.

“Where did she go?” Karnok asked Wandering.

It was one of her crew that answered, however. “Lieutenant – check out the starboard monitor!”

The vixen switched her view-screen to show the starboard side of the vessel, and her eyes widened at the sight of Starry calmly standing on the hull, seemingly unaffected by the lack of a helmet, let alone a fully-sealed suit.

Wandering caught sight of the view and noticed Karnok’s disbelieving stare. “The magitek spells in our uniforms can maintain a safe environment for us for a limited time. I’d pay more attention to what she’s about to do.”

While Starry’s horn had glowed with each usage of her magic, this time its brilliance nearly overwhelmed the camera. Then a burst of energy shot out at the nearest Swarm ship and punched through it virtually without effort. The vessel started drifting aimlessly as air and detritus was expelled through the massive hole. She repeated the attack with the next Swarm ship, then another, and then another. She might have done more, but the Swarm abruptly retreated, but not before the disabled ships self-destructed.

“Get ready to take us out of here, Lieutenant,” Wandering told the vixen.

Karnok shook herself out of dazed surprise and began to give orders to take the Defender away from the battlefront. Starry reappeared on her couch just as a call came in from their back-up.

“What the hell was that, and can I have one too?”

The vixen chuckled and replied, “Get your own pony, R’Mulk!”

Back aboard the Pegasus, the alicorns and Karnok had just finished reporting to the Admiral.

“So, it’s exactly what you suspected it was?” Boyce asked.

Starry replied, “Yes, but that still leaves us with one very puzzling question.”

“What would that be?”

“Wandering’s scans revealed absolutely no magical activity. What species can have access to so much raw mana but have no magic defenses or equipment whatsoever?”

The question hung in the air with no one offering an answer.

“There’s only one solution,” Wandering said. “We’re going to have to capture a Swarm ship.”

“That’s not as easy as you make it sound. Every ship that we have tried to capture has invariably self-destructed rather than allow themselves to be taken away.”

“How long after a ship is disabled does that happen?” Starry asked.

“It varies depending on the circumstances, but never more than a couple of minutes,” Boyce answered.

Starry gave Wandering a look before she smiled and said, “That should be adequate. Time for us to call in a specialist!”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Sorry to tease you with the bout between Baneth and Wandering. You're just going to have to wait until the next chapter before Wandering finds the opportunity to spar with the Rakshani (and maybe in more ways than one?)

Our heroes are one step closer to discovering the secrets of the Swarm, but how much longer before they unlock the mystery of their own relationship to the Terrans?

EDIT JANUARY 20: Changed type of vessel from cruiser to Defender Class after being informed that a cruiser was regarded as a very big ship. Blame my ignorance. For the purposes of my canon, Fighters are the smallest battle spacecraft with one or two crew members. They cannot go into warp speeds. Defenders are the next largest battle craft, and are more heavily armed and armored and have several specialist crew members. While not as nimble as a Fighter, they are not generally intended to go into the thick of battle, but are the next line of defense. They can do low warp speeds, but do not have a great range. Both Fighters and Defenders are intended to work from a carrier craft such as the Pegasus. Scout Class ships are small one-person craft built for speed and range but not for fighting.

Pony art by Foxenawolf.
Baneth art by Anhes.

Questions Answered

Starry and Wandering were immensely relieved when their comms had reconnected once the Pegasus dropped out of warp. In discussions between Twilight Sparkle and Commander Silpurr, it was speculated that the unique, immense strains on space-time within the wormhole had been the cause of the damage to their original comms, while dropping out of normal space into hyperspace merely caused them to lose their connection. Thus they were able to talk with Equus to request the specialist help that they required. They had also brought along a mana beacon for just this contingency, and it was not long before Destined Path appeared in the alicorns’ stateroom.

“Hello! I didn’t expect to come visiting again so soon,” Destined greeted them.

“Did we get you at a bad time, Des?” Starry asked.

“Nah. In fact, anything to do with the Cosmic Lotus expedition has priority at the moment. Big things in the works! So what’s up?”

The couple described their recent encounter with the Swarm ships along with visual aids of recordings of the event.

“As you saw, the Swarm did not hesitate to fire upon us although we took no offensive action against them. Bearing in mind that we were obviously part of the enemy fleet, it still shows a lack of reluctance to attack on sight,” Starry said. “I tried to disable all the ships that I fired upon, but as Boyce told us, they all self-destructed within a couple of minutes rather than be captured. We desperately need to learn more about those ships and their crew, but we only have a tiny window of opportunity to do it.”

“Ah – and that’s why you needed me in particular. Hmm – tricky, but doable. I can slow down the passage of time for me and a couple of others while we explore the Swarm ship.”

“Only a couple? I hoped that we could take a whole team.”

“Sorry, Starry, but it’s going to quite a strain with just three people. I’m a lot stronger now than when I first started doing this kind of thing, but it still takes a humongous amount of power to do it. The more people in the time-field, the greater the power draw. I can take Wandering plus one of the Federation people, I assume.”

“Huh? But I wanted to go. And I’m the science expert of us two,” Starry objected.

“Yes, and you’re also the stronger when it comes to defensive shields, as you pointed out yourself. I don’t want to be left unprotected while we’re in the Swarm ship, and we may need every second that you can buy us if the Swarm catches on to what is happening.”

Starry looked crestfallen. “Outsmarted myself, didn’t I?”

Wandering put a wing around her consolingly. “Don’t worry, Star – I’ll record everything for you to view later.”

“I suppose that will have to do,” Starry sulked.

“Let’s go see Boyce and tell him what we have in mind,” Wandering said.

The three of them headed to Boyce’s ready room. After he had formally greeted Destined, he called in Rosepetal and they discussed the plans that had been made. Boyce nodded thoughtfully.

“Yes, that should work. I’ll be your third team member.”

Rosepetal looked shocked. “You can’t do that, sir! You have a responsibility to the Pegasus.”

The human gave his First Officer and wife a grin. “You know it won’t be the first time that I haven’t followed standard operating procedure. Besides, I have the engineering qualifications to be useful.”

“And you know I hate it when you put yourself at risk like that.”

“My unorthodoxy is why we ended up as mates and I earned my rank. I consider the risk to be small enough to justify going along.”

“Star Fleet Command won’t like it,” the Caitian tried one last objection.

“Just like all the other times, and yet here I am. Don’t worry, Rose – we’ll be careful.”

Rosepetal sighed. “I can’t stop you, I suppose, but if anything happens to you, I won’t ever let you forget about it!”

“That’s my Firstwife! Now, please organize another raid with Lieutenant Karnok while I dig out my personal life-support suit and run diagnostics on it to make sure it’s in full working order. It’s been a while since I’ve needed it.”

“That reminds me,” Destined said. “I need to get fitted for one also. While I am capable of protecting myself, I want to be able to concentrate on my time spell and let the suit do the work. If you don’t need me for anything more right this moment, I’ll get that underway.”

When there were no objections, Destined lit up his horn and teleported home.

Boyce shook his head in wonder. “Teleporting a couple of thousand light-years and stopping time means little to him. I’m so in awe of Destined Path.”

“Don’t be,” Wandering said. “He hates that. It’s his special talent, and he trains it constantly, but he wants to be known as just a pony like the rest of us.”

“But he’s also a Prince of Equestria; he can’t be just another pony.”

“That is what makes him a great third member of the ruling triequirate. Destined was barely respected as a Prince when he started royal duties long ago, but it is his very closeness to the ordinary pony that balances out the trio. He might not have the thousands of years of Auntie Celestia, nor Mama Luna’s broad experience, but he lends a touch that neither of the others can. And he does that by staying humble, a hallmark of House Path. He does not want anyone to think of him as a mighty alicorn Prince, but rather as a pony who has the means and the willingness to help a good cause.”

“I see. Would Destined care to have dinner with us after the mission?”

Wandering smiled. “I’m certain that he’d like that.”

When Destined returned with his brand-new Cosmic Lotus-style spacesuit, Boyce informed Commodore Harkness of their intentions, and then he and the three ponies headed to the launch bay. Karnok was a bit more formal with her salute and treatment of her passengers this time, but otherwise, it was much the same as when Starry and Wandering first went out to encounter the Swarm. Karnok took them to the edge of the battlefront rather than into the melee as previously, and the Commodore’s fighters temporarily opened a gap in their defenses. As expected, a couple of Swarm ships quickly took advantage of this, and they rapidly closed upon the Defender ship.

Starry teleported outside the ship as she had done previously, and let the Swarm ships fire their mana weapons. Once again, she absorbed the raw mana and returned it in the form of concise fire designed to disable both ships. She chose different targets for each though, just in case it made a difference, but each ship was left with a gaping hole in their hulls.

“We’re up!” Wandering announced and wasted no time teleporting himself, Boyce, and Destined to the edge of the hole in one of the ships, allowing the older alicorn to conserve his magic. Destined cast his spell to encompass the three of them, slowing down the passage of time to a crawl for the Away Team. Wandering then used telekinesis to move them within the hull. One thing was fairly obvious from the start.

“This looks organic,” Destined said.

“That matches all our most detailed observations from the outside,” Boyce replied. “However, I wonder how many guessed that it would be like this inside?”

The passageways and the rooms were all rounded and unlevel, seemingly flowing randomly from one point to another. The frost-covered walls were definitely not metallic, but neither did they look like common artificial materials such as plastic, and doors were conspicuously absent. Dim light seemed to radiate from nearly every surface, alleviating the worry that they might have difficulty seeing with just their spacesuit lights. All this was quickly forgotten when they came upon the first of what they presumed was one of the Swarm aliens.

The creature was definitely insect-like in appearance, with a three-segmented torso plus a head. Two pairs of legs supported the rear, largest segment; another pair of limbs with pincers on the ends were attached to the next segment, and the final one had another pair of what were clearly manipulators with a cluster of fine digits on the ends. The torso and head were not chitinous but appeared to be covered with coarse hair, and there was no sign of wings. The creature had two pairs of eyes – not compound as they may have expected, but not quite the same as the ponies’ or the human’s either. One pair faced forward, while the other two were on the sides of the head just below two feathery antennae. Mandibles surrounded its mouth and there was no sign of a nose.

“We need that specimen!” Boyce said urgently.

Wandering took the cue to teleport it to a specially prepared holding cell on the Defender. While it was not known if it would survive being exposed to vacuum, if it could, they wanted it alive for study and perhaps even find a way to communicate with its species. An analysis of the air vented from other Swarm ships indicated that a standard oxygen-nitrogen mix was suitable, as was expected due to the way they took over planets with similar atmospheres.

After that, they encountered several more in what they supposed was a control center, although the organic look to it made it hard to be conclusive despite the electronic apparatus that seemed out of place. That was not their main goal, however. After teleporting a couple more specimens, they continued to penetrate further into the ship in the direction of their best guess as to the location of the mana weapon. The lack of straight corridors hampered this effort, and Wandering began to worry if they were going to have enough opportunity to do so. Destined was tight-lipped, but the strain of maintaining the temporal freeze was beginning to show. Nevertheless, they pushed on and eventually came to the first door they had found on the ship so far. It was more like a hatch with a single, leathery hinge, and it was closed. Boyce tried to pull it open, but it did not budge.

Destined spoke up. “Don’t try to move it. It’s outside my time field and any force that you apply to it would seem to take forever to affect it.”

“I can do a blind teleport to the other side,” suggested Wandering.

“You know that’s risky,” Destined replied.

“You may be the expert, bro, but I’m no slouch. I’ll feel the space before materializing.”

“If Boyce is willing to take the risk, I say do it.”

Boyce nodded. “This is too important to not take a calculated risk. Go ahead.”

Wandering teleported them all with more care than he could ever recall using before. He heaved a mental sigh of relief when his senses told him that there was sufficient room for all of them beyond the door, plus one other detail – there was air in there! They materialized in front of what appeared to be pens for some kind of furry creature that resembled a capybara – if capybaras had tentacles around their muzzles. There were dozens of them crowded together along most of the walls, but there were also two more of the Swarm creatures. Because they had not been exposed to the vacuum, they almost certainly were completely unharmed, and Wandering teleported them both to another holding cell. He also grabbed a couple of the cages and sent them to a separate cell. He would have taken more, but all the teleporting that he had done so far was beginning to take its toll on him, and he needed some reserve to take them all back to the Defender.

“I’ve been looking around for some kind of weapons system, but all I can see is this tube,” Boyce said. He took many photos of it from several angles, wishing that his scanners would work through the temporal field.

Wandering took a closer look at the composition of the tube. It had a sheen that looked vaguely familiar, and he reached out with his magic, only to have the spell fizzle upon contact. “Nullstone!” he gasped.

“What’s nullstone?” Boyce asked.

“It’s a naturally occurring material that neutralizes magic,” Wandering explained. “We use it to control criminals, especially unicorns, to stop them from using their magic to escape custody.”

“What has that got to do with these animals though?”

Wandering took a good look at the inside of the tube, comparing it to the penned beasts. Then he saw the two rods that protruded from the hinged cover of the tube. A horrible thought occurred to him. “Sweet Mama Luna, no!”

“What’s wrong, Wander?” Destined asked.

“I’m almost certain I know what this is for and what the weapon is.”

“Then can we go back now? I’m reaching my limit.”

“Let me grab a couple more of these creatures, and we can go,” Wandering replied. He teleported two more cages to the same cell as the first two and then nodded to Destined who dropped the temporal freeze.

In the brief moment before Wandering teleported the team away, their ears were assaulted by the keening wail of the remaining terrified animals.

“Take us back to the Pegasus,” Boyce ordered as soon as they materialized on the bridge of the Defender.

“Aye, sir,” Karnok replied, nodding to the human at the helm. “How went the mission?”

“Amazingly successful. We learned an enormous amount, and we have captured several specimens.”

“That I want to see!”

His words were highlighted by the self-destruction of the Swarm ship that the away team had just vacated.

Wandering had not waited for the explosion nor for the exchange to complete. He immediately hastened to the holding cells, but his interest was not in the Swarm. He headed straight for caged animals that he had rescued and found them wailing in their cell. It was dying down even as he scanned them thoroughly, something that he could not do properly while within Destined’s time-field. His initial guesses were confirmed, and tears of rage flowed down his cheek.

“Wander – what’s wrong?” Starry asked as the others joined him at the cells.

Wandering lifted his hoof to point at the animals. “There’s your mystery weapon, Boyce.”

The human gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

“Those creatures are virtually bursting with mana energy. I have never seen so much concentrated mana outside of Celestia and Luna.”

“Are you saying that they’re magical creatures like us ponies?” Destined asked.

“No, more like the changelings. While they thrive on emotional energy, these seem to use raw mana instead. Don’t ask me how – that’s just what I got from scanning them.”

“So, how does that translate into them being used as weapons?” Boyce asked.

“Those rods that I pointed out on the tube hatch? They’re electrodes. Give these mana-beasts a big enough shock and all that mana gets released in one burst, disintegrating the animal. The nullstone cylinder can resist the raw energy and confines the mana so that it shoots out the muzzle. That’s why the Swarm ships always had to be pointing at their target – the tubes are fixed. That’s why they don’t have magic weapons instead of raw mana – they only understood that they could get a near-unstoppable weapon by murdering these beasts one by one as living ammunition!” Wandering ended with a sob.

Starry gaped in shock. “How many thousands of them have died just to kill so many others?”

“Not thousands, Starry,” Boyce said soberly. “Millions, judging by our own experiences and what we are guessing was done to other races before the Swarm reached Federation territory.”

“They must breed those mana-beasts intensively just for this purpose. I wonder how they discovered them?” Starry mused.

“Probably by accident while conquering a planet. I’m guessing that these aren’t the only creatures that they’ve enslaved for their purposes.”

“Not that I’m arguing with you, but what leads you to that conclusion, Boyce?” Starry asked.

“Their ship. Did you notice the organic nature of it? And how the electronics and other equipment seemed out of place with the rest of the vessel? I believe that their ships are living creatures too.”

Wandering gasped. “That explains the odd readings that I was getting inside the ship. I put it down to distortions due to Destined’s time-field. It still seems incredible though – a creature that that can live in outer space!”

Boyce nodded. “I’d be skeptical too, except that I know of others.”

All the ponies looked at the human in surprise. “You do?” Starry asked.

“Yes – they’re called Stariionae, and they put our best starships to shame with regards to speed and maneuverability. They spend virtually all their lives in space, only coming to planets to get raw materials for food. There’s also a predator species that prey on them. So it doesn’t surprise me that there are other species. It helps answer another question too.”

“Which one?” Destined asked curiously.

“Why did their FTL speeds never improve? It must be their ships’ natural speed limit. The Swarm probably has no idea of warp theory; they just know that these creatures can go faster than light, making interstellar flight practical. For all we know, the Swarm may have been confined to their planet of origin until one or more of these living spaceships landed to take on raw material and they were captured somehow.”

Destined nodded. “And you never could tell what they were because the Swarm always annihilated their disabled ships. I’m guessing that all they have to do is electrocute all their mana-beasts in their cages to release enough energy to completely destroy their vessels. They seem to be a paranoid and/or xenophobic species.”

“Speaking of which, let’s get a closer look at the enemy.” Boyce turned to one of the other cells which contained the first Swarm creatures that they had grabbed. They were just as immobile as when they were taken.

Wandering scanned them and said, “They’re dead. No big surprise. Let’s check the others – they should still be alive.”

The Swarm creatures in the second cell were certainly alive. They were skittering around the cell, apparently looking for a way out, then stopping to touch antennae briefly before repeating the sequence again and again.

Wandering scanned them like the others, a look of puzzlement growing on his face. “They seem to be behaving more like ants than intelligent individuals. They appear to be operating with default behaviors rather than anything showing sapience.”

“Maybe they’re a collective intelligence?” Starry suggested. “It might take an entire crew, or perhaps a coordinating mind like changeling queens to act intelligently.”

“So – not only do they look insect-like but they also behave like them? That sounds plausible to me,” Boyce said. “Now that we have some actual prisoners to examine, I’m sure the experts will discover a lot more about our enemy. Meanwhile, we have made some amazing progress in our fight for survival against the Swarm. Star Fleet Command is going to love hearing what we have discovered, and your contributions are going to go a long way towards opening full relations between Equus and the Stellar Federation.”

Wandering sighed. “I just hope that we can find some way to rescue the mana-beasts from their enslavement.”

Wandering was a little depressed as the Pegasus started its journey back to the Chakastra System. On the one hoof, the mission had been an outstanding success. On the other though, it had revealed a far more sickening situation than he had anticipated. Both Starry and Destined had been a bit more stoic about it and he wished that he could be more like them. However, his ability to scan living things and imitate them came with a burden – a deep empathy for them. He could no more ignore the mana-beasts plight than he could a pony’s. He took some consolation in the fact that the four animals that he had rescued had all calmed down and seemed relatively happy in their new circumstances. Boyce had promised that the Pegasus’ biologists would figure out how to feed them and keep them happy and healthy, so that was one burden off his mind. Ironically, he felt no such empathy for the Swarm. He speculated that the same near-mindlessness of their captives was sparing him that unwanted feeling.

“A Fedcred for your thoughts,” came a familiar voice from beside him.

Wandering looked from the cold cup of coffee that he had been nursing for the past hour to see a Rakshani gazing at him. “Nothing worth talking about, Lieutenant,” he replied listlessly.

“That’s not the way I hear it,” Baneth said. “You’ve been in a funk for a day now, but you should be proud of what you have achieved.”

The alicorn snorted in derision. “I’ve uncovered just how much more horrific this Swarm invasion is in actuality. All I can think of is how many beings, both sapient and otherwise, have succumbed to these invaders.”

The Rakshani’s lip curled in scorn. “How about all the lives that you will save because you gave us the knowledge to fight them? How many colonists from threatened planets? How many other Federation home-worlds? What about you starting us on the path of liberating those mana-beasts of yours? You will be of no use to them if all you can do is mope over what you cannot change. Start thinking positively again!”

“Easier said than done, Baneth.”

“Then let me help you take your mind off all that. You owe me a bout, Ambassador Wandering Path. Or are you going to find another excuse to weasel out of it?”

Wandering stared at the stern Rakshani for a long moment before a half-smile grew on his face. “You’re right – I do owe you a bout. Alright – let’s do this.” Anything was better than thinking about the Swarm right now. He got up from the table and headed out of the mess hall in the company of the smug Security Officer.

When they reached a small gymnasium which was set up with mats on the floor, Wandering removed his uniform and set it safely aside. Baneth followed suit, although she did not get completely naked like the alicorn. A sports top and briefs left her modest but free to move without confining clothing. She positioned herself at one side of the gym and Wandering followed suit on the opposite side.

“Before we begin our bout, I would like to revisit your unfair advantage,” Baneth said. “Would you care to levitate me like you did when we first met?”

“As you wish.” Wandering lit up his horn and a glow surrounded the Rakshani, lifting her off the floor.

Baneth gave him a predatory smile. “Let me show you why it is unwise to reveal an advantage to a Rakshani before you actually need to fight one.” She abruptly contorted in mid-air and her feet shot out, striking the wall and sending her hurtling towards the surprised pony. She was abruptly halted again by his telekinesis almost within striking distance. She grinned toothily. “Just imagine if I had done that at half the distance.”

“I would have stopped you much sooner, but your point is made.”

“Good. You may put me down now.”

Wandering simply stopped levitating her, but the Rakshani was not caught by surprise. She made a controlled landing on the mat, coiled to spring at him. Her grin had not faded, and she gave him a wink. He grinned back.

“Shall we start getting serious?” Wandering asked.

Baneth stood up. “Yes, let’s do that. No telekinesis though.”

“Agreed – no telekinesis.”

Baneth returned to the other side of the room and turned to face the pony. She turned and gave her opponent a final assessment. Quadrupedal – fast at running and turning but lacking in hands to grasp. Flexibility greater than other four-legged creatures, but nevertheless a limiting factor. Wings capable of flight – must watch for an aerial attack. Horn – banned from levitation but still a dangerous natural weapon. Unknown but presumably high level of skill in unarmed fighting – cautiously feel him out.

Meanwhile, Wandering was doing much the same as the Rakshani. Tall, well-muscled physique – strong and with a long reach. Very flexible and very fast reactions – don’t presume she can’t attack in a manner that he could not. Long tail – tripping hazard, might be used to sweep his legs. Vicious-looking fangs – might not be used, but nevertheless should not be ignored. Skill level – presumably excellent. He was in for quite a fight. Hopefully, the decade spent on the Cosmic Lotus had not dulled his abilities. Not that Eon had let any House Path warrior-scholar get soft. He was as ready as he would ever be. “Go!” he said.

They approached each other cautiously, watching how each other moved. Then the alicorn spread his wings and charged. Baneth leapt, aiming high in anticipation of an attack from above, only to see Wandering go into a flat dive that took him under her. In the fraction of a second that it had taken her to land and twist around to face him, Wandering had planted his forehooves into the mat and pivoted around to kick with his hind legs to send him hurtling at her again. Baneth threw herself backwards, bringing her feet up to push him up and over her. She felt the air ruffle her fur as his hoof barely missed her skull, but otherwise, he was thrown out of range. They both sprang upright immediately and faced each other once more.

Baneth grinned. “Nice feint.”

“Thank you. I didn’t think that you would overlook my ability to fly, but as you must be unused to opponents who can do that, you might overreact.”

“Indeed. One less thing that you can surprise me with though.”

Wandering chuckled. “I suppose not. Round two?”

“Go!”

This time both were a lot more cautious and they circled each other for a long moment before Baneth made the first move. She spun around, whipping her long, thick tail around, the tip aimed at the pony’s head. Wandering raised his forelegs in a blocking maneuver, only to discover that her tail was much denser than he had assessed. There was much less fur and a great deal more bone and muscle, and he was knocked off-balance. Baneth did not have it all her own way, though. Her tail stung as it hit the braced forelegs which were far more immovable than they had a right to be. Obviously, there was something she did not know about the pony physique. Her spin was partially arrested because of this, and thus she was not in the proper position quickly enough to take advantage of her opponent’s momentary stumble. He recovered soon enough to block her follow-up strike, and they both leapt back out of reach.

Panting slightly, Wandering asked, “What’s in that tail of yours?”

“Non-Rakshani tend to think it’s fluffy like a Terran cat’s, but it’s actually a powerful weapon. So why do I feel like I hit a brick wall with it?”

“Earth pony stamina. If I had been standing on the ground of a planet, you would not have been able to budge me.”

“Nice to know. Are you starting to feel better now?”

Wandering was surprised to realize that he was, and said so.

“Good. Ready for round three?”

“Whenever you are.”

“Go!” Baneth cried, immediately leaping at Wandering, hoping to catch him off guard. Again she spun around, sending her tail at him. He blocked again, prepared for its extra mass this time, but it was closer than the previous time, and instead, it whipped around his limbs, trapping them. She dived away from him, rolling on the mat and yanking her tail, pulling the pony off of his hooves and sending him flying towards the wall. He braked with his wings at the last moment, but still landed heavily. He rolled onto his hooves to find himself facing Baneth’s fist a centimeter away. She extended a finger and touched his nose.

“First strike to me,” she said.

“Conceded,” Wandering admitted as he straightened up. “So – your tail is prehensile also?”

“It is,” she replied as she made her way over to her side of the room again.

“Nice to know,” the alicorn echoed Baneth’s earlier comment. “Round four?”

“Go!”

This time Wandering leapt off the mark, jinking to the right slightly. Baneth adjusted her weight to intercept him, only to see his left wing snap out. She was unable to dodge in time, and the wing’s leading edge caught her on the temple. Slightly stunned, she tipped over to her side and found a hoof planted on her chest. Another came down to tap her on the muzzle.

“Second strike to me,” Wandering said.

“Conceded,” Baneth said, and the pony let her get up. She took a couple of deep breaths and shook her head to clear her mind. By the time Wandering was ready at his end of the room.

“Wings can do far more than allow me to fly,” the alicorn informed her.

“Foolish of me not to realize that sooner,” the Rakshani confessed.

“Ready for another round?”

“Yes, but let’s make this the final one. No pulling punches this time. Whoever incapacitates the other wins the match.”

“Agreed.”

“Go!”

They approached each other cautiously, both watching carefully for an opening but wary of a feint. Baneth made the first move, leaping at the alicorn, but tucking into a forward roll. This brought her tail whipping up and over her, bearing down on Wandering. He realized that if he just dodged it, Baneth could barrel into him, so he reached up and hooked a hoof around it and yanked. Surprised by how well the pony’s hoof could grasp her tail, her roll was disrupted, and she had to hastily twist around to avoid a vicious stomp, pulling her tail free at the same time. Springing back out of the way, she set herself at the ready again. She recognized that there was yet another thing to learn about how ponies could fight, and she wondered if there was anything left for her to surprise him with. Coming to the conclusion that she did not, she decided to make the most of her speed and agility.

Wandering made the next move, however. With a snap of his wings, he leapt into the air, flipped, and then sprang off the ceiling, hurtling at the Rakshani. Baneth twisted aside and threw her arm around Wandering’s withers and heaved backwards, throwing the pony over her. The stallion’s wings were still unfurled though, and he corrected his flight to bring his hooves to the wall, springing off them in another attack. This time Baneth jumped straight up into the air and Wandering passed under her, his horn barely missing her left leg. He swung around just as she landed, sweeping with his wing, but she let her momentum take her to the floor and let the appendage pass over her before grabbing it, pulling him off balance as she swept his legs with her tail. As he fell over, she tried to hold onto the wing but it was too strong for her, and she was left holding a few red feathers. They both recovered at the same time, leaving no advantage to either. The two pulled apart, panting but grinning with the enjoyment of the bout.

As they circled each other once more, Baneth said, “Only one other on this ship has been able to beat me in unarmed combat since I took command of Bravo Team. I don’t intend there to be a second.”

“And I said that I have an unfair advantage,” Wandering reminded her.

“You promised no telekinesis,” she retorted.

“Who said that was my only advantage?” he replied as he turned his back to her.

Sensing his vulnerability, she leapt. Aware of the possibility of him bucking, she went high, intending to dodge that and land on his back… why were his back hooves glowing?

BOOM!

Baneth was slammed by something invisible that hurled her into the wall. Dazed and confused, she failed to stop Wandering from pouncing on her and throwing his hoof at her jaw. A second blow was halted as the alicorn realized that she was unable to fight back.

“Do you concede?” he asked, wary of a possible negative answer.

“I… concede,” she gasped.

Wandering got off Baneth and helped her to her feet with his telekinesis.

“What was that?” she asked, rapidly pulling herself together again.

“Papa Path named it the Thunderhoof technique. We use our earth pony magic to focus our power in our hind hooves and release it as a concussion wave. I actually toned it down because full strength can literally smash you.”

“Ha! I bet that isn’t even the end of the surprises you could pull.”

“Not quite, no. A word of warning though – don’t try challenging Eon to a serious bout. He can wipe the floor with me; you wouldn’t last more than a few seconds.”

“I think I’ll spare my pride. Meanwhile, you have bested me. I sorely underestimated you and your skills. Leaving aside the magic, your physical abilities are remarkable. I find that… very desirable in a male.”

Wandering recalled the warning that Boyce had given him, and he realized what might be coming. “In the interest of interstellar harmony and perfect understanding, may I ask your intentions?”

“I would be honored if you would bed me tonight, mighty warrior.”

There it was – plain and unambiguous, and he had yet to decide how he would respond to the request. “Can I get back to you on that?” he asked.

“So that’s how it went,” Wandering explained.

“And did you tell her ‘yes’?” Starry asked.

“I said that I would get back to her with an answer and she agreed. I wanted to ask how you felt now that it was more than a hypothetical situation.”

“Boyce told you that you were free to refuse without insulting her, so why do you feel you need me to decide?”

“Starry – I love you. We have been mates for a decade, and I have enjoyed our relationship greatly. I don’t ever want to do anything to spoil that.”

Starry sighed and leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the lips. “Wander, you are everything that I ever wanted in a mate, and you are very sweet. However, we are both alicorns and immortal. If nothing kills us, we will live for thousands of years. We can and will get bored with each other over that time if we are strictly monogamous. Don’t turn down something new and exciting just because you think I’ll disapprove. Take up Baneth’s offer and enjoy the experience. I know that afterwards, you will still love me while she will probably be only a happy memory.”

“Have you ever considered taking another lover?” Wandering asked.

“Like you, none have appealed to me so far, and I have turned down all approaches. One day I won’t, but only if I really like them and it won’t hurt you.”

“So you’re giving your permission for me to spend the night with her?”

“No – I’m telling you to buck the hay out of her and tell me all the juicy details in the morning.”

“Now that’s the kinky mare I know and love!”

“So?” Starry asked him the next morning at breakfast.

“So I’m not talking about it until we can chat in private in our room,” Wandering replied.

“Oh, come on! Just one morsel?” She gave him her most pitiful begging look.

Wandering sighed and said softly so that only she could hear, “Baneth informed me that apparently pony stallions are better endowed than Rakshani males.”

“Ooh! Are you sure?”

“We measured it and tried it for fit several times,” he replied with a smirk.

Everyone in the mess hall was left wondering why the pony ambassador was rolling on the floor with laughter while her mate was rolling his eyes while smiling in chagrin.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

So – at last many mysteries are revealed, but what are they going to do now that they know their enemy a bit better?

Art by Foxenawolf. Trying to get a picture of a Swarm individual also, but you'll just have to use your imaginations until then.

And who was betting Baneth would get to bed Wandering? Hmmm?

Surprises

After the Federation scientists had determined that there were no inimical pathogens or parasites to be feared from the mana-beasts, they had been transferred to a specially prepared room with what they hoped were comfortable surroundings for them. An analysis of their biology suggested foods that might be suitable for their consumption, and several varieties were synthesized for the animals. Three out of the five offerings proved to be palatable, and the creatures were soon well-fed. They then all huddled together to sleep, mostly buried under some mattresses that had been supplied as bedding.

On the second day of their return journey, Wandering asked permission to go into their room and examine them closely in person.

“I would not advise that, Ambassador,” one of the scientists told him. “There’s too much we don’t know about them as yet, and they may be dangerous in ways we don’t know about.”

“That’s the whole point of me going in there – to learn those kinds of things. Besides, it’s not as if I don’t have defenses against many forms of attack.”

The scientist turned to Forestwalker, his superior. “What do you think, Shir?”

“Ambassador Path has a point, and he certainly has more knowledge of mana than we do. I’d say to let him go, but I think I had better check with the Admiral first, considering the Ambassador’s status.” The chakat went over to a nearby comm-screen and contacted Boyce. “Admiral – Ambassador Wandering Path wishes to enter the mana-beasts’ cage and try some tests in person.”

Boyce frowned. “That may be risky. What is your assessment?”

“I have not detected any overt threat from them. In fact, I suspect that these creatures are domesticated, and while that does not preclude a form of self-defense, I believe there’s no real threat to the Ambassador. The fact that he’s a herbivore may also be a mitigating factor.”

Boyce nodded. “Anything that we can learn about these creatures would be of value to us. If Ambassador Path feels he will be safe, then allow him access. Watch him closely at all times, however.”

“I certainly will, sir. Forestwalker out.” The chakat turned back to the others and said, “I suppose you heard the Admiral’s decision. Let’s give this a go.”

Wandering was not a fool; despite believing that the mana-beasts were basically harmless, he nevertheless put up a weak shield before entering the cage. His approach was immediately noticed, and all but one retreated to their pile of bedding. The remaining one stood its ground as Wandering cautiously approached. He probed it with a spell, and while he did not learn much, it seemed to perk up a bit. The alicorn stopped and laid down with one hoof extended, and the animal crept forward to sniff it. Then the tentacles around its snout gently wrapped around his hoof. Wandering was startled to feel mana flowing from him into the animal, and he let out a surprised, “Wha–?!”

“Is everything okay?” came the worried voice of Forestwalker over the intercom.

Realizing that the amount of mana flow was low and harmless, Wandering replied quietly in order to not startle the beast. “It’s alright – I was just surprised for a moment. I think it’s feeding on me.”

“Feeding? In what way?”

“It’s lapping away at my mana supply. I’m beginning to think that these mana-beasts are more similar to changelings than I had thought previously. While they eat physical food, they also need to consume mana like changelings consume love.”

“That’s actually more believable than eating emotions,” Forestwalker replied. “Don’t let it take too much from you though.”

“Don’t worry – I’m generating mana as fast as it is consuming it. I’m interested to see what it does when it’s replete.”

It took a few minutes, but eventually, the mana-beast unwrapped its tentacles from Wandering’s hoof and then went over to the other three. Everyone watched as its companions cautiously emerged and one meshed tentacles with it.

The alicorn sensed the flow of mana into it. “If I were to make a guess, I’d say it’s feeding its mate.”

“Or an offspring,” Forestwalker added. “Fascinating! I wonder how the Swarm kept these animals fed with mana?”

“Possibly food creatures that we did not see during our limited opportunity to explore their vessel.”

“I wonder what they do with all that energy?”

“Aside from staying alive? Maybe it powers some ability we haven’t learned yet, like changeling love energy powers their ability to transform.”

“It’s going to be interesting learning all their secrets. Are you done in there yet, Ambassador?”

“No – I think I’ll try to give the other two a feed also. They seem less wary now.” Wandering got up and slowly moved closer before laying down again. This time he had two hooves extended.

Cautiously the two unfed creatures came forward to sniff at the alicorn’s hooves as their companion had done. Then they also wrapped their tentacles around a hoof each and started feeding on his mana.

Wandering quietly said, “Judging by their caution and almost unnoticeable feeding, I’m thinking that they don’t harm their meal prey.”

“Up to a point, I can agree,” Forestwalker replied. “I’m reminded of vampire bats on Earth which feed on the blood of livestock. Too much feeding can be injurious, not to mention the possibility of passing on diseases. Of course it could be a commensal or mutualistic relationship, but I’m still leaning towards parasitic.”

“I don’t think disease is a problem, but you may be right about the excessive feeding. That’s going to be tricky to confirm though.”

“True, but it’s still a logical consequence.”

Wandering had to concede that shi was probably correct, but at least he was in no danger of being drained. He was getting hungry though. Using mana always worked up an appetite, and this was no different even if the use was unusual. When both creatures had enough, they left to join the other two, and they all seemed content to settle down for a nap. The alicorn decided that he had done enough for one day, and further experiments could wait for another opportunity. He wondered what Starry would think of him bringing aboard a couple of them as pets though. They were awfully cute, after all!

Boyce was positively beaming when he met up with the alicorns for lunch. Because it was mid-shift, they had it in one of the formal dining rooms rather than in Boyce’s private quarters where they had been having their meals every evening. Starry and Wandering normally preferred to eat with the crew at other times, but this was to be their final meal before rendezvousing with the Cosmic Lotus once more, and the Admiral had some news to impart as well. Neither pony needed to be an empath to tell that the news was very good.

“Spit it out before you burst,” Wandering said with a grin.

Boyce’s grin matched the alicorn’s. “I received word back from Star Fleet Command not long ago. They were so impressed with what we achieved with the Swarm that they have lifted all travel bans and ratified the agreements made between Equestria and the Federation. They have extended an invitation to come to Earth for further diplomatic talks, and in the meantime, they suggest that you visit Chakona. If you wish, the Prime Minister of Chakona would like to hold a banquet in your honor.”

“Whoa! That’s quite a turnaround from a few days ago. We would love to visit Chakona, but a banquet isn’t necessary. We’re explorers, Boyce. We like a party as much as anybody, but formal affairs are best left to the prince, princesses, and their diplomatic staff. You know we only have the title of ambassador because we’re here and they aren’t.”

“I realise that, but I suggest that you let them have this one thing. Chakona is the next world in the way of the Swarm, and you have alleviated a huge amount of worry with the discoveries you’ve enabled us to make. Let them show their gratitude and it will probably open a lot of doors for you.”

Wandering nodded. “You have a point. But do you want to know what I would really like most after that?”

“Several things come to mind, but tell me.”

“A vacation! Every single member of our crew has spent years without a holiday, and several of us have not hibernated for the entire journey. Starry and I have been on duty for over ten years, and we would love to have a break from all our responsibilities for a while. I can’t think of a better way to do it than playing tourist on Chakona for a week or so.”

“I can empathize with you there. I love my work in Star Fleet, but I always make time for my family. Speaking of which, could I offer you a place to stay a while? We have a home in Marpletown that is away from the hustle and bustle of the cities that you may like.”

Starry said, “That sounds nice, but we wouldn’t want to impose.”

Boyce chuckled. “Our place is built for a clan and is still only half utilized. Not only would we be able to put you up quite comfortably, but the family would also love to have you visit. If you doubt me, just ask Forest or Midnight. You think you threw a shindig on the Lotus? Wait until you see what a chakat party is like!”

Starry and Wandering glanced at each other and nodded. “Okay, you’re on,” Starry replied. “Besides, we’ve heard so much about your herd over the past few days, we’re curious to meet them in person.”

“Ha! Goldfur is going to get a laugh over calling the clan a herd. I’ll make sure shi gets plenty of warning. Hmmm… I’d better make sure that shi’s not on assignment at this time, although if my memory serves me correctly, shi’s not due to go out into the field again for another ten days or so.”

“It must be hard getting all the family together with so many of you in space-related jobs,” Wandering said.

“True. It’s rare that all of us are together at one time. I think that’s only happened once since we moved from Earth to Chakona.”

“Somehow I think we’ll be seeing a major portion of them anyway,” Starry said with a broad smile.

“Just wait until you get dogpiled by all the cubs!” Boyce replied with a matching smile.

Wandering and Starry made one last visit before they returned to the Cosmic Lotus. They went to the laboratory where the Swarm specimens were being kept. It was difficult to think of them as prisoners because their apparent animal-level of intelligence had not changed. Autopsies of the dead ones had not been conclusive, but their brains appeared to be inadequate to the task of being fully sapient beings, lending credence to the group-mind theory. Tests on the two living Swarm were being carried out to try to validate that idea, but with just two subjects, it was not proving to be an easy task.

One of the crew was a low-level telepath – a concept that the ponies found fascinating – but as suspected, he was not able to determine much. He could tell that there was some mind chatter but, because telepathy cannot translate, it was meaningless noise. The bulk of testing was going to have to be done by experts who were being gathered specifically for the task. Neither alicorn was able to offer any further help, and so they departed.

As the Pegasus pulled up next to the Cosmic Lotus, both Starry and Wandering were a little sad to end their side adventure but glad to be ‘home’. They both changed back into their Cosmic Lotus uniforms before returning to the ship after thanking Boyce and the others for the opportunity to see and learn so much. However, it was only a brief parting of ways because Wandering intended to have the scientists wind up their current activities in order for the ship to proceed to Chakona.

“Welcome back, Captain,” Bluequill said gravely.

“Thank you, Commander,” Wandering replied. “According to the reports that you sent me, the astronomers have been having the time of their lives.”

The griffon allowed a small smile to show. “You could say that.”

“Well, I hate to disappoint them, but they will need to wrap up their current observations and prepare for a move to Chakona. They can observe that planet if they like, but more importantly, other specialists in the crew will get their chance to pursue their interests. Besides, we’ve been invited to meet with the Chakonan government at the request of the Federation.”

“I will get preparations underway. May I ask if shore leave will be available when we get there?”

“Yes – probably for the ceremonies, but definitely afterwards. Starry and I plus a select few others will be visiting Boyce’s family the day before while all the details are being sorted out. Aside from some personal stuff, we will be keeping an eye open for any possible problems that will need to be avoided at the ceremony. We have to make a good first impression.”

“That would seem wise, sir. If you will pardon me, I will get started. I believe some of the crew will need strong incentive to put their work on hold.”

“Go ahead, Commander,” Wandering replied with a knowing smile. He clearly recalled how enthusiastic they had been when the Cosmic Lotus had been towed into Harpagornis’ orbit.

Surprisingly, it only took a couple of hours before all experiments and observations were concluded and the entire crew reported readiness. Wandering contacted the Pegasus and, a minute later, they were in tow once more. While the bridge was fully staffed, they actually had nothing to do until they reached Chakona with the exception of Wandering who was maintaining the mass-reduction spell. While the Pegasus was capable of towing the Equian ship without help, the cooperative effort between them enabled a much easier and quicker transition between the planets, and it was not long before they reached Chakona. At Techbird’s request, the Cosmic Lotus was inserted into a high polar orbit that would allow the astronomers to observe the entire planet. They were met by a small Chakona Defense Force ship purely as a courtesy, and it was accompanied by a specialist spaceship repair tender.

Arrangements had been made to make repairs and modifications to the Cosmic Lotus while in orbit around Chakona, and while they could not replace the solar sails, everything else that could be done was on the list. They would even be supplied with fuel for the maneuvering rockets once an adaptor could be devised. Wandering was impressed with the efficiency of the CDF crew. The Lotus had hardly finished settling into orbit before the first repair team had emerged from the tender and headed for the starship. Wandering noticed that they were all taurform though, and he expressed his curiosity to the Federation liaison who had accompanied the Equian crew.

Lieutenant Karnok grinned. “Looks like you got the top team working for you. Those are starwalkers, a type of foxtaur bred especially to live and work in space.”

“What makes them so special?”

“Well, aside from a superior spatial awareness and unbeatable ability to maneuver in freefall, they can actually survive unprotected in space for a useful amount of time.”

“What?! No force-field even?”

“Nope. Everything about their bodies is adapted to resist vacuum, radiation, and the need for air. In the event of an emergency, they can work without their spacesuits. If they push themselves into a dormant state, they can even survive for several hours.”

“And you say that our magic is impressive. Even an alicorn would quickly be killed under those conditions without a magic life-support bubble.”

“I suppose that if you have to do without magic, you learn other ways of getting around problems.”

Wandering had to agree with that assessment. He wondered what new amazing things he would learn on Chakona.

After all the crew had gotten a good look at the new planet and had settled into their assigned tasks, Wandering contacted Pegasus to say that he was ready and then left Bluequill in charge once more. He then met up with the rest of the party that would be going with Boyce down to his family home. Waiting for him were Starry, Eon, Skye, and Moonlit Path – the entire Path family aboard the Cosmic Lotus. Also present was Ixia whom Eon had requested to come along with him. Not only was Wandering loathe to interfere with their growing relationship, but he also felt it was a good idea to have a changeling along to represent her species to Boyce’s family. As Wandering was the last one there, he immediately teleported everyone to the shuttle bay of the Pegasus where they had arranged to meet up with the Admiral.

Boyce was waiting for them and he greeted the newcomers with a smile. “Welcome aboard the Pegasus to all who haven’t been here before. I’m afraid that you’ll have to get a tour at some later time though because we are expected down planet-side. I’ve already shuttled down Forest, Rosepetal, M’Lai, and Midnight, so if you care to board my personal skiff, we will get underway immediately and join them.” He indicated a small but warp-capable craft, and they all trouped aboard.

While the skiff did not have pony-style couches, it did have some taur-style ones that worked nearly as well, and Eon was comfortable enough in a biped chair. Ixia got around the problem by transforming into foxmorph form and buckling in as normal.

“Next stop – Marpletown!” Boyce announced after he got clearance from the Pegasus to depart. He skillfully maneuvered the skiff out of the bay and set it on course to their destination. “By the way, are you fond of practical jokes?”

“What did you have in mind?” Starry asked.

“Well, Goldfur and the rest of the family have been told to expect guests and that they would be from a newly-contacted civilization. However, specifics about you Equians haven’t been released to the general public as yet, and won’t be until the ceremony scheduled for tomorrow. They don’t know that you are ponies, and so forth. Now, as Wandering and Eon learned from Forest at our First Contact meeting, you ponies are remarkably cute by our standards.”

Starry grinned. “I think I see where you’re going with this. If we take off our uniforms, you think we’ll be mistaken for cute pets or something?”

Boyce nodded. “I was thinking that Eon might make a good front for you all as a dragon isn’t cute by any standard.”

“You better believe it!” the dracopony said emphatically, but he grinned at the thought of pretending that Starry and Wandering were his ‘pets’.

“I can transform into a dragon too,” Ixia suggested. “That way you have a pair of explorers with their equine pets meeting your family.”

Wandering looked around at his family and saw the smiles of amusement on all their faces. “I think you have an agreement, Boyce. We all like a harmless practical joke.”

“Great! We’ll be there soon, so practice keeping your emotions in check. Remember that chakats are empathic, so if you want to fool Goldfur or any other chakat, you have to play it cool.”

“Won’t Forest or the others have given us away though?” Starry asked.

“I thought of that earlier and asked them to keep everything about you a secret. It’s supposed to be a surprise,” Boyce assured her.

As they closed in on their destination, Boyce angled the craft for a favorable view and gave a running commentary, pointing out the features of the world. “We are now over Flinders Continent. Near the northwest end of the continent, you may be able to make out Amistad, the capital city of Chakona and the landing site of the first colonists. Southeast of that you can see an enormous lake named Silvergleam. It not only supplies water to much of the continent but is also a major source of hydroelectric power.”

“How did such a huge lake form?” Skye asked.

“It’s the legacy of a super-volcano that blew its top ages ago. The caldera that remained eventually filled with rainwater, and because there’s only one outlet for it at Silvergleam Falls, we have a virtually inexhaustible supply of fresh water.”

Eon had become alert at the mention of a volcano. “Is the continent still geologically active?” he asked eagerly.

“As a matter of fact, yes. Chakona is a relatively young world and there is certainly a lot of geothermal activity around the world.”

“Any active lava pits?”

“I believe so, yes. Ask Forest about them later; shi’s more familiar with that kind of thing. Why the interest?”

“It’s similar to the Dragon Lands. I’m a little homesick for them.”

“Fair enough. Anyway, to the south of that about halfway down the continent lies Marpletown. It’s a quiet little township that serves the timber industry in the region.”

“It seems to be a long way from the capital or another major city,” Moonlit commented.

“Yes, but it suits us. I have no difficulty getting to my ship or anywhere on the planet with this skiff, and then there’s always the Transporter beam option in an emergency. The family enjoys the relative isolation, and it has enabled us to have a clan-sized home to live in. Marpletown is linked to the high-speed train system, so travelling anywhere on the continent is only a matter of a few hours at most.”

“Sounds very nice,” Skye said. “I hope we’ll get the opportunity to do a little bit of exploring while we’re visiting. I’m quite interested in learning about the local flora.”

“Aside from the formal ceremonies tomorrow, there will be plenty of time to do that,” Boyce assured them.

“It’s what we came to do in the first place,” Wandering said. “Explore, discover, and learn! You’ll have plenty of opportunities to pursue that, Skye.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“I still find it interesting that a pony has an adopted zebra daughter,” Boyce commented.

“One of these days I might tell you the entire story behind that,” Wandering replied.

“I’ll look forward to it. Meanwhile, we are getting close to our destination and I need to concentrate more on flying the skiff.”

Conversation lapsed as the small craft was piloted skillfully to its destination, and eventually landed with scarcely a noticeable bump. Trees could be seen through the windows, and part of a building, but little else from what appeared to be a landing pad set aside for the skiff and similar vessels.

“All ashore those are going ashore!” Boyce cheerfully announced as he unbuckled himself.

Everyone got out of their seats and couches, and the ponies and zebra started taking off their ship uniforms. Boyce showed them where they could stow them until they were needed again. Ixia had not needed to take hers off before she had shape-shifted due to the adaptation enchantments on it, and when she transformed into a dragoness, it once again changed to suit her new body configuration. Boyce opened the airlock door when everyone was ready, and they started to disembark.

Outside the craft, waiting for Boyce and his passengers were quite an assortment of beings. Foremost among them was a cougar-patterned chakat and a red foxtaur accompanied by some other chakats and foxtaurs, several fox morphs, plus a few other assorted morphs. They greeted Boyce enthusiastically before turning their attention to the dragons that had followed him.

“I’d like to introduce you to Eon and Ixia of the Equian starship, Cosmic Lotus,” Boyce announced loudly. “Please give them a warm family welcome.”

The family members crowded around to give a personal welcome to the pair before noticing the two ponies who had just then come shyly into the doorway. The cubs in the crowd were the first to react.

“Omigosh! Look at them!” one foxtaur cub cried out, drawing attention to Starry and Wandering.

“They look adorable! Especially with those wings and horns,” Goldfur said.

“They are Eon and Ixia’s travelling companions,” Boyce explained with a straight face.

Goldfur gave him a look, sensing there was something he was not telling them. Then she turned to the dragons and asked, “Is it okay to let the cubs interact with them?”

“Oh, yes – they’re quite harmless,” Eon replied with a small smirk.

Wandering shot the dragon a sharp look at that crack but otherwise kept in character.

As the two alicorns timidly stepped down onto the landing pad, the children were given permission to approach the ponies, and soon several were petting him and Starry in a not unpleasant manner.

“Look – there’s more!” one cub shouted.

Moonlit and Skye stepped out to join them, and it was obvious that the unicorn was struggling to hold down her amusement. With the crowd of delighted children about them though, even the empaths had difficulty sensing from whom it was coming. Goldfur stepped up to scratch behind Wandering’s ears, and he nickered in pleasure.

“You like that, do you?” the cougar chakat asked with a smile. “Want some more?” shi asked.

“Yes, please,” he said, leaning into the hand.

Goldfur froze and gaped.

“Aw! You stopped,” the alicorn stallion complained.

Goldfur’s eyes shifted to the Admiral. “Boyce – what’s going on?”

Boyce’s face split into a grin. “Let me introduce you to Wandering Path, Captain of the Cosmic Lotus, and his mate, Starry Path. The other two are Moonlit Path and Skye Path. Eon is only the Security Chief of their ship.”

Goldfur turned a slightly horrified look at Wandering. “Oh my god! I’ve been treating the head of an expedition from a new civilization like a pet!”

Wandering smiled reassuringly. “Don’t panic. It’s a practical joke arranged by Boyce. We were all in on it.”

Goldfur gave Boyce a sour look. “Just you wait, mister! I’ll get even with you for this.”

Boyce just shrugged. “Your sister thought it was a funny idea too. Go give hir a hard time for not warning you.”

Goldfur just sighed and turned back to the amused ponies. “My apologies, Captain. When I saw wings on a cute pony, I naturally thought that you were the result of genetic manipulation.”

“Because I couldn’t possibly be able to fly, right?” Wandering replied.

“Exactly. Earth produced a lot of odd creatures for the amusement of the rich and decadent in the bad old days. So how come you have wings anyway?”

“Boyce knows the answer to that.”

Goldfur looked back to the human. “And that is…?”

“To fly, of course,” he replied innocently.

The chakat gave him a flat look. “Very funny. Joke’s over, Boyce.”

Starry said, “Y’know, this is the first time in over ten years when we can really stretch our wings. Shall we, Wander?”

Wandering nodded, and they both spread their wings and took off into the sky. Goldfur was not the only person left gaping at the impossible sight of two equines cavorting in the sky, unhampered by walls at last.

“Boyce,” Goldfur said quietly without taking hir eyes of the two.

“Yes, Goldie,” Boyce replied, similarly entranced despite knowing how it was possible.

“If this is a trick, you win.”

“No trick – just magic.”

“I believe you.”

The rest of the family were similarly engrossed in watching the alicorns enjoy their flight, but the cubs were extra excited.

“Hey, mom! If I got wings like them, could I fly too?” one asked.

Goldfur honestly had no answer for that one.

The demonstration of magical flight left open the minds of the rest of the family to the concept of real magic, and a few practical demonstrations had convinced them that it was not all a great hoax. With dinner almost ready, they all retired to the house to ready themselves for the meal. Reassured that clothing was optional there, the ponies and zebra chose to leave their uniforms in Boyce’s skiff. The guests were shown their rooms first and where they could freshen up, and the Equians got their first inkling of how big a chakat clan house was. Built to accommodate several families, it was still nowhere near capacity even with all the guests. Best yet, it had been constructed with an appreciation for nature, and their rooms were well lit with views of the surrounding forest. There was a huge central courtyard with gardens, lawn, and a pool in one corner. In the current warm weather, the courtyard doors were all open to allow the flow of fresh air into the house, and the scent of flowers and trees filled the atmosphere. The ponies and zebra approved heartily.

As the family gathered for the meal, they were all introduced to their guests. The Equians had already met Goldfur’s sister, Forestwalker, but they were introduced to another named Quickpaw. Goldfur’s lifemate, Garrek, a red foxtaur, introduced his co-mates, Malena and Thayla who were also red foxtaurs, plus Lorene, a four-breasted golden foxtaur. His triplet young adult sons by Malena were also there, but apparently, there were other grown-up sons and daughters who could not be present that day. There were a few much younger ones though, and Wandering soon lost track of their names. That was just the foxtaurs though. Then there were all the chakat children, both fully-grown and youngsters, and finally, there was a foxmorph trio – a male red fox named Kris, a female Arctic fox name Trina, and a herm fennec fox named Leanna, with their children, Opal, Mica, and Markus. Boyce was finally able to introduce his daughter, Kayla, and his son, Kernos, who was spending some time with his father’s side of the family rather than on Raksha. Even after adding in a few significant others, the house was still not too crowded.

“This so reminds me of home,” Starry said.

“Yeah – House Path’s banquet hall isn’t all that much bigger than this dining room,” agreed Wandering.

“Well, we don’t have staff, so everyone has to pitch in,” Forestwalker said as shi helped serve up some of the food. “All except guests, that is. By the way, we made extra non-meat options when preparing the meal, so feel free to have as much as you like.”

“Great, thanks!” Wandering replied.

Surprisingly, the guests got to eat without too many interruptions as the family politely allowed them to enjoy their repast with the single exception of one very young chakat who climbed onto Starry’s back and refused to move. The mare tolerated hir with amusement, and once dessert was finished, all restraint was lost, and they were bombarded with questions and requests for demonstrations of magic and pony-back rides. Ixia caused a sensation with her shape-changing ability too, and she was the first to retire for the evening, complaining of feeling a bit bloated with all the love and other positive feelings she had consumed in a few short hours.

Once the cubs had been put to bed, the adults continued chatting late into the evening before they started to call it a night by ones and twos, some of them needing to get up early for work in the morning. When Wandering and Starry finally headed for their guestroom, it was only because they knew they would have a full day ahead of them, and not because they were tired. In fact, the overwhelmingly friendly welcome that they had gotten had left them feeling energized, and in Starry’s case, not a little horny.

Wandering smirked at Starry’s overtures and said, “You do realize that all the chakats in this house can probably sense any hanky-panky going on in this room?”

Starry giggled as she nuzzled him. “In this house, I think that’s a feature of every night.”

The stallion had to concede the point and he put it out of his mind. He had a mate to satisfy.

The alicorns found Eon and Ixia already at the table when they came out for breakfast in the morning. The dragon was helping himself to a generous pile of bacon and eggs while the changeling settled for a mug of coffee. Various members of the family were also seated, and Leanna was serving up food. The fennec spotted Wandering and Starry approaching and gave them a smile.

“Good morning! I trust you slept well? I’m on kitchen duty this morning so let me know what you would like.”

“Yeah, we slept very well, thanks,” Starry replied. Noting what had already been served to the others, she added, “I’d like the fruit salad, and is that yoghurt?”

“Yep – plain vanilla. What about you, Wandering?”

“Cereal and scrambled eggs on toast, please. Oh – and some of that heavenly-smelling coffee too.”

Leanna grinned. “Another coffee fiend, eh? Take a seat and I’ll have your food out soon.”

The two ponies sat at the table and Ixia greeted them. Eon just waved a fork in acknowledgement while his mouth was still full of food. Boyce soon emerged from the kitchen carrying two mugs of steaming coffee and he placed one in front of the stallion.

“Good morning, Starry. Here’s your coffee, Wandering. I remember how you like it.”

Wandering smiled as he inhaled the aroma. “I suspected that it was you brewing this up. You make excellent coffee.”

“Thank you,” Boyce replied as he took a seat next to the ponies.

As Wandering took his first sip of the hot coffee, Starry asked, “Aren’t you having any food, Boyce?”

“I’ve had mine already. I was up early to get ready for today,” he replied as he pulled a small PADD from his pocket.

“When are we supposed to meet the Chakonan Prime Minister?”

“At 1100 C.U.T. That’s equivalent to about one o’clock by your reckoning.”

“So the morning is completely free?”

“Yes. Did you have anything in mind?”

“Not me – Eon,” she replied, pointing at the dracopony.

Eon looked up from his meal. “Really?” he asked hopefully.

Wandering said, “Starry and I have had a bit of a vacation already, so it’s time to let you two choose the fun.” He turned to Boyce. “Forestwalker confirmed that there’s an active lava field further south of here. Can we visit that this morning?”

“Certainly. As long as there’s somewhere that I can land my skiff, I can take you anywhere.”

“Let’s do that then. I’d be happy to do a little sightseeing before we have to get down to business.”

“What about the others?”

“We’ll ask Skye and Moonlit what they want to do when they turn up for breakfast.”

“Sounds like a plan. Looks like your food is here, so eat up and I’ll make preparations for our trip.”

Skye had elected to do a little exploration of the nearby woods with Forestwalker as her guide. Moonlit chose to go with her as she was not very interested in lava fields. Ixia naturally accompanied Eon, and Goldfur and Garrek both decided to come along too.

Once aloft, the skiff flew south at supersonic speeds at high altitude for a brief time before diving down, coming to a hover at a thousand meters. From there, the passengers could see a vast area dominated by steaming vents and bubbling mud pools.

“Over there!” Eon pointed excitedly at a small caldera.

Boyce maneuvered the skiff over to an area of bare rock that was reasonably level before setting down. He shut down the skiff’s systems before turning to his visitors with a serious expression on his face.

“I did a little reading up on this area, and while there’s no likelihood of any eruptions, there are geysers of boiling water to avoid, not to mention the mud pools that will kill you in seconds if you fall in. So please be careful out there. I don’t want to be the Star Fleet officer famous for getting the envoys from a new civilization cooked while sightseeing.”

Everyone promised to be careful, while Eon just nodded happily.

They all exited the skiff, stepping out onto what once was flowing lava but now was barren basalt. Eon was allowed to choose the way as he had a definite goal in mind, and the others followed carefully. The air reeked of sulphur, and mist from small geysers occasionally drifted their way, but overall the walk was not too onerous. Then they started uphill as they reached the caldera.

“I think this is as close as we had better go,” Boyce said. “That is an active lava pit that occasionally will spit out gobs of molten rock.”

“Sounds perfect,” Eon declared as he spread his wings and took off towards the rim.

Boyce gaped in horror. “Stop! The heat will fry you even from the rim without protective suits!”

“Stop panicking, Boyce. Eon knows what he’s doing,” Wandering reassured him.

Goldfur said, “Unless there are some major differences between our definitions of lava, no, he doesn’t!”

“Too late – he’s gone over the rim,” Boyce said.

Wandering looked at Starry. “I’ll carry Boyce and Ixia if you carry Goldfur and Garrek?”

Starry nodded and they both spread their wings and lifted into the air. Their horns lit up and glows surrounded their companions as they too levitated up off the ground.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Goldfur asked nervously as they started following in Eon’s path.

“Showing you why we’re not worried,” Starry replied with a grin.

“I can hear Eon groaning in pain!” Goldfur cried.

“I doubt it,” Wandering replied. “Don’t worry about the heat – our shields will block it.”

The alicorns and their passengers crested the rim and came to a hover. From there they could see the dragon half immersed in the red-hot lava, groaning in pleasure. He spotted them and grinned happily.

“It’s the first decent hot tub soak I’ve had in over a decade, and it’s so-o-o-o good!”

The alicorns returned his grin and laughed at the shocked expressions on the faces of their hosts.

Boyce sputtered, “But that’s… he can’t… oh, COME ON!”

“Dragons are immune to heat, Boyce,” Wandering said matter-of-factly.

The human glared at the alicorn. “Now you tell us.”

Goldfur suddenly started laughing. “They did tell me, actually. While I found it hard to believe, I saw an opportunity to get you back for your practical joke yesterday, so I asked them not to tell you and played along with the gag.”

Boyce grimaced in chagrin. “You got me good, Goldie. I should have known better.” He looked back to Wandering. “Let this be a warning to you Equians – my family is a pack of incorrigible pranksters, and the longer you stay with us, the more likely you’ll be a victim.”

Wandering chuckled. “Let me tell you about our herd-brother, Flix…”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Humor is universal, and so are practical jokes.

Anyone feel the urge to join Eon? It looks really pleasant.

Art by Foxenawolf.

Art money and equally valuable pre-reading by Airy Words. Thanks, mate!

Odd Introductions

Wandering and Starry regaled Boyce and the chakats with stories of their herd-brother, Flix, while Eon continued to enjoy his lava spa. They wandered around the area, watching the bubbling pools and occasional steaming plumes from geysers. The alicorns maintained passive shields to protect them all from any potential hazards, but they were not needed until they returned to the lava pit. Eon grumbled a bit about having to leave what was considered a luxurious bath for dragons, but he was mollified a little when Starry promised to teleport him back there for another soak at a later date. Now that she had a fix on the area, it was well within her range.

As the dracopony climbed out of the pit, some lava clung to his form and started to cool and harden. Eon absorbed the heat of the molten rock so that it cooled much more quickly than it otherwise would have, and then he tilted his muzzle to the sky and let out an enormous belch of flame that lasted several seconds. He finished with a sigh, then crouched down, drawing in on himself before rearing up with widespread wings and flexing his mighty muscles. All the lava that had hardened on him abruptly shattered and flew off his coat, leaving it fresh and clean. The non-Equians could only marvel at how this actually worked.

“Ah! Refreshed inside and out!” Eon said with satisfaction. “I’ve worked up an appetite though. Who else is hungry?”

“We’re due back home soon so that we can get ready for the Prime Minister’s reception,” Boyce replied. “You can get a snack, but I suggest you leave room for the banquet that they have planned for you after the ceremony.”

“Sounds good to me. Will they serve up some fresh gems at the feast?”

Boyce blinked in confusion. “Gems? I don’t follow.”

Wandering enlightened the human. “Dragons eat gemstones. Not only do they find them tasty, but they’re also a necessary part of their diet.”

“Y’know – I’m getting a little tired of being boggled,” Boyce said with an air of resignation.

Garrek asked, “How can you afford a diet like that? Gemstones are rare and expensive.”

“Not on Equus,” Starry assured the foxtaur. “At least, not the common, imperfect ones. Dragons can get by for a long time on just quartz if necessary.”

Eon stuck his tongue out in distaste. “Sure, and you ponies can get by on eating swamp grass too, but neither of us is going to do that.”

Everyone chuckled at that, and Starry said, “Don’t fret, Eon – Destined brought a fresh supply for you to season your meals. I’ll fetch it from the Lotus before we leave.”

“Thanks, Star,” Eon said with a grin.

“You have no problem teleporting up to your ship in orbit?” Goldfur asked curiously.

Starry shook her head. “There’s a mana beacon that we can home in on. That’s how our herd-brother, Destined, can find us from thousands of light-years away.”

“You haven’t met hir yet, but we have a teleporter in the family by the name of Chakat Swiftwalk. Shi works for the Star Corps like I do, and has ’ported a few hundred light-years at most, but that’s only because shi hasn’t found hir limit yet if there is one. Shi can’t teleport to a moving ship either without some sort of fix. I’m wondering if shi and you ponies employ the same technique to teleport, and if shi can use your mana-beacons to get a fix.”

“Something else for us to discover someday,” Wandering said. “But speaking of which, does anyone want to teleport back to the house?”

“I’ll take that offer,” Eon replied.

“I’ll go back with Eon,” Ixia said.

“Garrek and I could use the extra time to help get the cubs ready for the event, and it will be interesting to compare the experience to Swiftwalk’s,” Goldfur pointed out.

Wandering gave Starry a querying look. “Do you want to go or shall I?”

“You can travel back with Boyce. I know that you enjoy seeing the scenery more than I do. My preferred views are astronomical.”

“Okay, I’ll see you back at the house then.”

Starry gathered her passengers around, and with a flash of her magic, they were gone.

Wandering looked at Boyce. “Can we take a different route back?”

The human grinned. “Let’s go ahead and do that.”

The alicorn and human chatted some more while they took the scenic route home, but the subject had returned to Wandering’s herd-brother once more by the time they arrived. When Starry encountered them entering the house, she raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

“Are you still talking about Flix? I think you’re tempting fate by talking about him so much.”

“Why do you say that, Starry?” Boyce asked curiously.

“He’s the star pupil of Discord, the Lord of Chaos. If he could turn up at exactly the wrong time, it would cause maximum chaos, and thus suit him perfectly.”

Boyce chuckled. “So you think he’s kind of like Beetlejuice? Say his name three times and he’ll appear?”

Wandering laughed. “Flix isn’t quite that bad. Just saying ‘Flix’ three times won’t do anything.”

Starry glared at her mate. “Wander – stop it.”

The stallion gave her a mischievous grin, and then very deliberately said, “Flix!”

A bright flash of light filled the room, and when it cleared, a large, cast-iron bathtub on legs occupied the middle of the floor, overflowing with bubbles. The top half of the aforementioned chimera had some suds on his head, dripping onto his shoulders as he glared at the trio. He waved a back-scrubber at them accusingly.

“Don’t you know it’s inconsiderate to interrupt a guy’s bath time?!”

Wandering was chagrined. He should have known better.

Starry face-hoofed. “Boyce – meet my elder brother, Flix.”

As the human was about to reply though, a snorkel suddenly rose from the suds on the other side from Flix, followed quickly by its wearer, a rather startled orange changeling.

“What about you?” Flix asked his confused bath-mate. “Don’t you think it’s rude, interrupting our buggy-bath?”

“Oh – and his special somepony, Orlonda,” Starry added with a roll of her eyes.

Flix’s sour expression abruptly changed back to his normal impish grin. “Not just a special somepony anymore, Star. Meet your new sister-in-law!” he announced, giving Orlonda a hug.

“Sister-in-law?! You finally did it?” Starry asked incredulously.

“Eh! Celestia finally got one up on me, and Orlonda proposed as a result. The Princess married us yesterday. We’re on our honeymoon.”

“Should I ask what she was doing with that snorkel?” Boyce quietly asked in a bemused tone.

“Nope. Don’t make the situation crazier than it already is,” Wandering advised.

Flix snapped his talons and the bathtub disappeared in a flash of magic, leaving both chimera and changeling completely dry.

“Well, at least I don’t have to figure out how to get a tub out of the room,” Goldfur said from the doorway where shi had been observing the meeting along with several others attracted to the commotion.

Starry had stepped up to give Orlonda a congratulatory hug and Flix a kiss on the cheek. “Let me introduce to you Chakat Goldfur, our host and head of the family.”

As the chakat came forward to exchange handshakes with them, shi said, “Nominal head, actually. Everyone else decided that I was it by default.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Flix said. “That means you have to be the no-fun party-pooper.”

Goldfur smirked. “Occasionally, yes. I like to think that I’m not a complete stick-in-the-mud.”

Flix raised his draconic arm, two talons ready to click. “Perhaps you need a bit of a change?”

Starry dived onto Flix’s arm, dragging it down. “Flix! No! We don’t have time for your shenanigans right now. We all have to go to an official function, and we need to make a good impression. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon?”

The chimera looked over to Orlonda and nodded. “How does a tour of Chakona sound like, hon?”

“Sounds fun,” she replied.

“Umm, you’re going to stand out like a sore thumb… or hoof… whatever,” Goldfur pointed out.

Orlonda’s magic fire burned, and moments later she was now a female cat morph – a nude one. Flix freed his arm and snapped his talons, and was replaced with an equally nude male cat morph. He hooked his arm with Orlonda’s and gave the watchers a cheery wave.

“Catch ya later!”

With a wave of his paw, the pair seemed to turn sideways to all three dimensions and slipped out of view.

“How did they know how to imitate cat morphs?” Boyce asked.

“Those were Abyssinians, actually – an Equian species,” Wandering informed him. “I’m more concerned about them going out in public naked. Abyssinians normally wear clothes.”

“On this world, clothing is optional, although most tend to wear clothes anyway, even if just for fashion. But it still doesn’t explain how they knew that Abyssinians resemble a species found on Chakona.”

“Probably because Flix was doing his usual job of messing with our heads,” Starry replied. “You don’t think they were really in the tub when Wandering summoned Flix, do you?”

“You have a point,” Boyce admitted. “Take nothing for granted with him, right?”

“Right. And be prepared to roll with it when he inevitably does something to you.”

“As long as he doesn’t mess with the ceremony today, I’ll live with it.”

Starry silently prayed that Flix had not heard that.

The Equians all boarded Boyce’s skiff for the flight to Amistad. The Admiral was back in uniform as this was to be a formal event, and his passengers had followed suit. The journey to Chakona’s capital city was swift and brief, but Boyce slowed down upon approaching its boundaries so that the Equians could get a good look at the sprawling metropolis from a great height.

Amistad had grown up around a bay but did not resemble any normal Equian city. It was a fusion of high technology and natural beauty so that it was often hard to tell where structures began and forest left off. Boyce did his best to play tour guide, pointing out how trees and shrubs were integrated with the buildings to eliminate heat island problems and provide both aesthetic and practical benefits. Even the tallest of structures had rooftop gardens, and all the roads were-tree-lined. There were not any skyscrapers though, which surprised the visitors.

“There’s a rigid height limit to all structures on Chakona,” Boyce explained when queried. “Where greater density is absolutely required, you will find that there are significant underground facilities. On the whole, though, the Chakonan charter mandates environmental considerations for everything, and gigantic buildings simply aren’t conducive to that kind of thing. This world was settled and developed with a very specific philosophy in mind, and you find similar designs around the planet.”

The human pointed out the various major sights of the city before he turned east and flew over the mountain ridge that bordered the sprawling metropolis on that side. A large open area was crisscrossed by roads linking pads of various sizes and shapes, some of which were occupied by vessels that the Equians realized must be spacecraft.

“As I am not permitted to land in Amistad itself except in an emergency, we’ll be landing at the spaceport,” Boyce told them as he lost altitude. “This area is in the rain-shadow of the mountains and was mostly open plains which made it easy to develop into the combination airport and spaceport for Amistad. Pardon me for a moment while I talk to Air Traffic Control.”

While the approach to the spaceport was largely coordinated by computer-controlled systems, there were still some obligations that the pilots had to deal with personally. With those out of the way, Boyce navigated his skiff to a landing pad suited to his type of vessel. Very quickly, they were on the ground and ready to disembark.

As the door to the skiff opened, Starry said, “I may be wrong, but this seems an awfully long way from the city itself. How are we to get there quickly? If I understand the local time correctly, we don’t have much of an opportunity to get there and prepare ourselves for the official greeting. Are we supposed to teleport there?”

Boyce grinned and replied, “While it’s true that we’re quite a distance from the city, that’s not a problem. Once we’re in the spaceport, you’ll see.”

The group was met at the base of the pad by a fully automated electric people-mover. Boyce encouraged everyone to board and then touched a button on the control pad. The doors closed and the vehicle took off. With computer-controlled speed and precision, they wove quickly and safely between the landing pads and headed for the huge structure that was the spaceport. The Equians got to admire the various craft as they passed by them, noting that this section was devoted to small spacecraft like Boyce’s skiff, while further away they could see what were obviously aircraft either parked or taxiing through the airfield. As they watched though, a deep rumbling noise drew their attention to the far side of the complex where a large space freighter was coming down for a landing.

The people-mover drew into the building complex and its passengers got out. It was a parking bay for several of those vehicles, and as such was quite busy. The Equians drew a lot of stares of curiosity from the various people there. In spite of the diversity of species that this planet was home to, nothing like the ponies, dragon, and changeling had ever been seen before. They just smiled and waved as Boyce herded them in the direction of his goal. First, they had to pass through Security though, and the Admiral had to show the special permit for his guests to allow them to proceed further. With his rank, this was accomplished very swiftly, and the group proceeded to the next section which turned out to be a transportation hub. Boyce handed out smart-cards to each in the group which they put into their packs. They then passed into the station without even having to pause as the systems identified that they had a valid travel card and opened the gate for them.

“We’re in luck,” Boyce said as he looked up at an information sign. “The train that is scheduled to go into Amistad is right on time.” He pointed to a platform. “We will wait there for it.”

They trouped over to the platform and Wandering looked around curiously. “There are rails next to the other platform, but none here. Why is that?”

“Maglev,” the Admiral explained. “The ultra-high speed train network passes through the spaceport, and that will take us into the city in minutes.”

“What’s maglev?”

“Magnetic levitation. You don’t have that kind of train on Equus?”

“No, only conventional high-speed rail. This will be fascinating to see.”

Wandering did not have to wait too long before the train arrived, easing into the station with a quiet hum. It was sleek and beautiful, and the Equians eagerly boarded it after the doors opened and several passengers got off.

“Next stop – Amistad Central Station,” came a voice over the public address system.

The doors closed and the train accelerated smoothly and swiftly out of the station. The motion was so free from jerks and noise that they hardly noticed the movement, but soon the landscape was hurtling past them. Then they abruptly plunged into a tunnel and all that could be seen outside was the flickering of the passing lamps that illuminated the shaft.

“We’re now travelling through the Mount Catspaw tunnel, right through the whole mountain range. No need to go around or over it, so it’s a very fast direct connection to the spaceport,” Boyce explained.

Sooner than they expected, the maglev train was out of the tunnel and hurtling through the outer suburbs on its elevated track. The Equians watched as first residential areas interspersed with parkland passed by, and then the first offices and commercial areas flashed by. Mere minutes passed before the train started to decelerate as they entered what obviously had to be the central city area. The maglev pulled into Amistad Central Station with all of the Equians wishing that the journey had taken a bit longer so that they could have experienced more.

“This is where we get off,” Boyce advised. As they followed him onto the platform, he pointed out various features of the facility. “Over on the next platforms are the regular trains that service the city and suburbs. There are also tram platforms for the local services, along with connecting bus services. If you want to go anywhere in Amistad or Flinders Continent, this is your starting point.”

“So, which one do we take?” Ixia asked.

“None of them,” Boyce answered with a smile. The station is directly adjacent to the Government Centre, and unless you’re feeling lazy and wish to take a ride there, I suggest that we walk and you can play tourist.”

Wandering was surprised. “Won’t the Prime Minister be expecting something more formal than the five of us just strolling up to the Capitol Building?”

“Chakonans, and especially chakats, are a pretty easy-going people. As this is a welcoming ceremony and not a high-level diplomatic mission, we figured you would prefer this low-key arrival. Ironically, it’s faster than being picked up by a limousine at the spaceport.”

“Works for me,” Eon said. “I can do my job without clashing with the local security people.”

Boyce nodded. “I noticed that you’ve been quietly observing things since we landed.”

“Yeah. Not that I expect anything hostile, but you never can tell what the public will do, especially with something unusual like us.”

“I heard that you turned down a request for a bout with Lieutenant Baneth.”

The dracopony nodded. “The Lieutenant was too keen to prove herself to me. Someone would have gotten hurt, and that would not have been me. Wandering may have restrained himself, but I’m slated to succeed Warmaster Blue Streak, and I don’t take it easy on anyone who challenges me. If she had asked to train with me, that would have been a different matter, but she wanted a formal fight.”

“You’re that confident that you could beat her?” Boyce asked with an arch of an eyebrow.

“Baneth is strong, skilled, and smart, but she’s still outclassed. House Path trains the finest warriors on Equus, and the Warmaster is another level above the best of them. I struggle to lay a claw on my father, Blue Streak, during our training bouts, and most of the time I only can do so when he wants me to so that I can practice other moves.”

“Thank you for not harming my Bravo Team leader,” the Admiral said gratefully. “I hope you give the same consideration to the citizens here that may inadvertently cause your group problems?”

Eon gave him a toothy grin. “Just part of the job, Boyce.”

The human decided to leave it at that. By this time he had led them out of the station and onto a concourse that led them in the direction of several impressive buildings that were slightly uphill from them. To the sides were two creeks which bordered the paved area and stands of trees on the other side. Further along, Boyce pointed out the Department of the Environment building on the right and the Department of the Interior on the left.

Then they came upon two large statues of humans – a man and a woman. At the base of each was a name – Ka’Turna and Cha’Turna.

Wandering stopped to look at the statues more closely, then turned to Boyce and asked, “Why do two humans have such significant statues? I look around me and I see over half the people here are chakats, and the other half mostly morph species. There are very few humans at all.”

“That’s because these two humans are of particular significance to the chakat race. Charles and Katherine Turner were the genetic scientists who perfected the taur form, and chakats in particular. The whole race and its variants owe their existence to these two. The two moons of this planet were named after them.”

“I can see why chakats would revere them.”

“It’s also a good reminder that despite their differences in physiology, every Terran species is a child of humanity in some way. While no world is perfect, the chakats have worked hard to make this the most diverse and inclusive society to be found in the entire Federation. That’s one reason why you will fit in so easily among them, and why Chakona is so grateful to you for giving them hope that their world will survive the threat of the Swarm.”

“That’s kind of a huge responsibility, Boyce. We’re not omnipotent, despite our magic.”

“No one expects more than you can give, Wandering, but what you have done already far exceeds what we have been able to accomplish for the past couple of decades. Hope is a powerful thing.”

“Then let’s hope that we can do more,” Wandering said as he resumed walking.

They approached the Capitol Building which was flanked by the Superior Court and an administration building. Mounting the steps, they crossed the forecourt and into the airy foyer. Boyce approached a reception desk with the group in tow, and a chakat seated there observed the group with an expert eye.

“Admiral Kline and the envoys from Equus, I presume,” shi queried as they arrived at hir desk.

“That is correct,” Boyce replied.

“One moment, please. The Prime Minister is expecting you.” Shi touched a button on the comm in front of hir and said, “The delegation has arrived, Shir.”

“Excellent. I will be out momentarily,” came the voice from the comm.

The receptionist held out a hand to indicate a lounge area. “Please wait over there. The Prime Minister will be with you very shortly.”

“Thank you,” Wandering said.

The receptionist broke hir cool professional demeanor to give him a genuine smile. “And may I say welcome to Chakona. I hope I get to see more of you in the coming days.”

“Just wait until my crew comes down for some R&R!” the stallion replied with a grin.

As promised, the Prime Minister did not keep them long. Flanked by a male fox morph and a skunktaur in female mode, the pale yellow chakat with dappled spots on hir arms and back approached the group with a huge welcoming smile.

“Hello, I am Chakat Sunflare, Prime Minister of Chakona, and I am enormously pleased to meet you. You must be Captain Wandering Path.” Shi held out a hand to the stallion, having evidently been informed as to who led the group. The alicorn put his hoof in hir hand and they shook firmly.

“A pleasure to meet you, Shir Sunflare,” Wandering replied with the correct honorific. “Let me introduce my companions.” He named the others and gave Sunflare a brief idea of their roles on the ship.

“Excellent! This is Zuni, my personal aide,” Sunflare said as shi indicated the skunktaur, “And this is Andre Wyld, who is coordinating the reception for you and your crew. If you would like to accompany me to my office, we can discuss that some more.”

The group followed Sunflare deeper into the building until they reached hir office flanked by two security guards. They nodded at hir and the others as they entered the spacious room. The chakat took hir place behind the large desk as shi invited everyone to be seated. Couches suited to the taurform were equally comfortable for all of the Lotus crew, while Boyce took a conventional chair.

Sunflare smiled warmly. “First, before the official ceremony, let me welcome you to our world. I hear that you have travelled here the hard way.”

Wandering grinned and replied, “Well, I would not say hard, but it certainly was the long way. After experiencing FTL drive on the Admiral’s ship, I can definitely say that I prefer the shorter travel time.”

The chakat chuckled. “I have no doubt about that. Nevertheless, what you lack in warp drive, you more than compensate with your other capabilities, although even now I have a difficult time accepting that magic is a real thing. Still, if it saves our world from the Swarm, I will be a ready convert.”

“It’s still early times yet, Shir Sunflare,” Wandering replied seriously. “We have only just started to learn about your enemy, and magic is not omnipotent.”

“I am a realist, Captain – I am aware that there is still a lot more to discover, but with your aid, I believe that Chakona, and indeed the Federation, have hope at last. Crowds are already starting to make their way to the concourse for the official welcoming ceremony because they want to see for themselves the people who may be our home’s salvation. I hope that you’re prepared to meet them all.”

Starry laughed. “I hope they are prepared to meet us! Aside from we four, the crew has not breathed the air of a planet in over a decade. I know that many are just itching to get shore leave after so long.”

The chakat chuckled. “Believe me, I know how important it is to have a holiday. Zuni has made arrangements to supply all of your crew with documents in order for them to enjoy our hospitality while on Chakona. We’ll leave that until after the ceremony and banquet though. Andre will be more than happy to make tourist arrangements for your crew after that.”

“That’s very good of you, and I’m sure that my crew will be very grateful. In the meantime though, what arrangements have been made?” Wandering asked.

“You came here via the concourse rather than PTV?”

Wandering looked at Boyce questioningly.

“A PTV is a Personal Transport Vehicle – a ground car,” Boyce clarified.

Wandering nodded in understanding. “We walked from the station.”

“Then you are familiar with the steps out the front and the wide paved area at the top of them. That will be the stage for you and your crew from which you will be able to see the people and address them. How do you plan to bring them all down? Do you require a special permit for a shuttle?”

Wandering shook his head. “Starry and I can teleport everyone down. Just tell me when to have them there and we will go back to the Cosmic Lotus and bring them down.”

“The ceremony has been scheduled to start at 1100 C.U.T., so if you can have everyone there five minutes beforehand, that would be ideal.”

“We can do that. What happens next?”

“After some speeches, we will all come back inside and go to the functions room. A feast has been prepared for you all, and I assure you that we got a list of your various diets from Doctor Saarath, so everything should be suitable for your consumption. There will be various dignitaries and important people there to dine with you, not to mention some very eager scientists who are more than a little interested in meeting with new species. Don’t feel that you are under obligation to do anything for them though because this will be purely a social event. What you choose to do afterwards is up to you, however.”

“And after the banquet?”

“Accommodation has been arranged at a fine hotel for all of you. Actually, we booked its entire facilities for you to use all at our expense for the duration of your stay on Chakona. I believe you will be leaving in about two weeks to meet with the Federation Council?”

“Yes. As ambassadors for Equus, we will need to be present when our world leaders address the Council.”

“I hope you will enjoy our hospitality until then, and I trust that your crew will not abuse that hospitality,” Sunflare said with a firm smile.

Wandering understood the gentle warning and smiled reassuringly. “I will make a point of asking them to show consideration for their hosts, but they are a good crew, and I believe you will not have any problems with them.”

Starry privately thought that if there were going to be any problems, it was not going to be any of the Lotus’s crew, but a certain older brother of hers. Faust only knew what he was up to right at this moment.

Starry and Wandering materialized on the bridge of the Cosmic Lotus. Unsurprisingly, they found Commander Bluequill on duty there, although all by himself. The monitor screen showed a skeletal structure surrounding the ship, and with the ship effectively docked for repairs and maintenance, there was next to nothing for him to do, let alone any additional crew.

“Is everyone ready to teleport down to the ground, Commander?” Wandering asked.

“For the most part, yes. They are eager to get shore leave at last. You may wish to talk to Radiance Point though.”

Wandering rolled his eyes. If anypony was likely to knock back a chance to breathe the fresh air of open skies, it was going to be Point. The alicorn intended to leave just a few changeling crewmembers on board to assist with the renovations because, unlike the other species on the staff, their kind was quite at home in the enclosed environment of the starship. Radiance Point was in a league of his own though. “Have the crew line up in the common room. Starry can start teleporting them down while I have a word with our overenthusiastic engineer.”

“Aye, sir. You can tell my right hoof stallion that I can keep an eye on things in his absence.”

Starry and Wandering had already started heading for the door, but the stallion came to an abrupt halt. “I beg your pardon, Commander? Did you not understand my orders? All non-essential crew are to come down with us for the reception.”

“Sir – someone in command needs to stay on board,” the griffon replied firmly.

“We’re effectively in dry-dock for a while. Command staff don’t need to be on board.”

“I respectfully disagree, Captain.”

“This is not a military ship, Bluequill. We can and will leave some responsible crewmembers here, but it doesn’t need to be command staff.”

“Maybe not need, but I would prefer it if we did,” the griffon stubbornly replied.

Wandering frowned. Bluequill was not totally in the wrong, but the alicorn knew that the griffon needed to get into open skies again for his own mental wellbeing. However, he reckoned that he might have a way to get around the problem. “I’ll come back once we’ve teleported everyone down.” He then turned and left.

Wandering headed for Engineering. Inevitably, that was where he would find Radiance Point. Sure enough, the unicorn was there, poring over a schematic with one of the starwalker foxtaurs. The space-faring morph was barely bigger than the pony shi was consulting with, but Wandering knew that what shi lacked in stature, shi more than made up for by hir adaptations to an extremely hostile environment. Shi belonged in space, while he was only a visitor. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

Point turned and his expression brightened upon seeing the alicorn. “Captain! Did you know that the starwalkers have plans to adapt our old solar sail mounts to attach a barge docking ring? With a barge fitted with warp drive, Cosmic Lotus can travel light years in days!”

“Yes, I knew that, Point. I would never have given them permission to modify the Lotus so radically if I didn’t know exactly what they had planned.”

“Oh.” The unicorn’s face fell momentarily before he brightened again. “This is going to be fascinating stuff. I’ve been working with Voyager here on the retrofit.”

Wandering gave an acknowledging nod to the starwalker before saying to Radiance Point, “You are supposed to be accompanying your sister down to Amistad for the welcoming ceremony, remember?”

Point waved a hoof dismissively. “Sunrise Flight can go without me. She needs to be able to fly under an open sky for the first time. I need to be here.”

Wandering sighed. “I have an equally stubborn griffon up on the bridge. One of you has to go. Frankly, it should be him, and seeing as you have command rank too, that eliminates his argument for staying. So I’m letting you stay, but with the proviso that you give me daily updates. And you will take at least a day before we leave Chakona to take your sister somewhere nice, and just be siblings without responsibilities for once.”

“You’ve got a deal, Captain,” Point replied with a grin.

“Good. Carry on.” Wandering headed for the common room where he found that Starry had already managed to teleport two-thirds of the crew down. He teleported a couple of groups down to join the others gathered in the foyer of the Capitol Building before he returned to the bridge.

“All done, sir?” Bluequill enquired.

“Not quite,” Wandering replied, putting a hoof on the griffon’s arm. “You’re relieved.” He then teleported them both down to the planet.

Bluequill’s surprise was rapidly turning to mild anger before Wandering said, “I have left Radiance Point in charge. Your second-in-command fulfils your obligations, so are you now going to defy my orders?”

The griffon’s beak hung open, but no words came out. Eventually, he shook his head and replied, “No, sir.”

Wandering grinned. “Cheer up, Commander! We’re going to a celebration, not a funeral.”

The griffon humphed, but he did not protest further.

The alicorn stallion then sought out Andre Wyld whom he found looking worriedly out the glass frontage of the foyer. Wandering could see people of many different species gathering, and the spacious concourse looked to be at least three-quarters full already. Sunflare had been correct in saying that the Cosmic Lotus crew had stoked a lot of excitement among the citizenry. He wondered what was bothering the fox morph though.

“What’s wrong, Mister Wyld?”

The fox pointed, and the alicorn now noticed dark clouds on the western horizon.

“There’s a storm coming in, and the weather bureau says it’s headed straight for us. The ceremony is going to be a washout.”

“Don’t you have weather control to take care of that?” Wandering asked.

Wyld looked at the stallion with surprise. “You can control the weather?”

“Well, specially trained pegasi do. Equestria schedules the amount of rain and where it falls. Weather teams for all cities and towns ensure that gardens get their water and sunshine while outdoor events always have fair weather.”

The fox just stared at him incredulously.

“You want us to try to do something about this?” Wandering asked.

“I… suppose so. Can you?”

“We can try. Don’t want to disappoint all those people out there.” Wandering turned around to face his crew. Attention all pegasi! Who among you have had any weather control experience?”

Only three hooves went up.

Wandering pointed at one. “Blue Skies – didn’t you use to work at the Weather Factory?”

“Yes, Captain,” the mare replied.

“Right – you’re the team leader. The other two are your seconds. Now listen up! We have a storm approaching that will ruin the ceremonies, so we need to do something about it because the Chakonans can’t.”

Blue Skies said, “Sir, we can’t control a storm that size!”

“I don’t expect you to do so. I want you to try to divert it or split it – anything to ensure that we stay dry.”

“We don’t have enough pegasi to do the job though!” the mare objected.

“Get the griffons to help you,” Wandering replied.

Bluequill spoke up. “You know that griffons can’t do weather magic, sir.”

Wandering grinned. “No, but if you can sit on clouds, then you can also push them while the pegasi handle the magic. All changelings take pegasus form and do the same. Any further objections?”

While the pegasi and griffons still looked doubtful, there were no further protests.

“Okay, let’s get going!”

Wyld said, “Could you use the road entrance? We don’t want to give the crowd the wrong impression.”

“No problem. This way, everyone!”

The road entrance was on the opposite end of the foyer on the east side of the Capitol Building. Every winged crewperson headed for those doors including Starry and Wandering. Once outside, the alicorn stallion let Blue Skies take the lead, and they took off. Without a doubt, many in the crowd would still see them depart, but that would be less disturbing than taking off right in front of them. They rapidly gained altitude, most of them enjoying the chance to really stretch their wings for the first time in years, and they headed west.

When Blue Skies judged that they had reached the optimum point in front of the storm, she started giving directions to the team. She sent groups of griffons or changelings along with one pegasus or alicorn to strategic points. With her weather sense and experience, she judged where their efforts could be put to the best use. Then she prayed to Faust that she did not screw this up before ordering everyone to commence operations.

Blue Skies took it upon herself to make the first and most important step. She shifted a wind to slice into the oncoming storm front, parting it so that two teams could enter and begin diverting each half to the side. The griffons and changelings pushed while the pegasi did their best to buck them to make them dump their load of rainwater out at sea. As the wedge grew larger, more teams followed suit, expanding on the efforts of the first. Wandering and Starry each headed a team, putting their not inconsiderable alicorn power behind their efforts. While they had the same capabilities as pegasi, neither had any experience at this task, so they were glad to have the direction of Blue Skies.

There was not a hope that the motley crew that Wandering had thrown together could stop the storm, but they were throwing their best efforts into diverting it. When the first rays of sunshine broke through, there were cheers before they redoubled their efforts. Slowly the storm front split in two, one sliding north and the other south, leaving a narrow corridor that pointed directly at the city. When it became apparent that they could do no more before they were over Amistad, Blue Skies pulled back the teams and then had every pegasus and alicorn put their full effort into creating a jet-stream to keep the storm clouds divided. That done, the pegasus mare turned to Wandering with a smile of satisfaction on her face.

“I hope that will do, Captain?”

“Well done, Blue Skies. Let’s all go back down and reap the rewards of our efforts today.”

They all fell into line with Starry and Wandering flanking the mare as they headed for the Capitol Building.

Wyld had procured some binoculars and had been watching constantly in stupefaction as the storm front had parted before the Equians. When it became obvious that they were going to come in for a landing in front of the concourse, he hurriedly turned to start urging the rest of the Equians out to meet them. The crowd noticed and hushed as they laid eyes on the strange new beings closely for the first time as they lined up in front of the steps. Sunflare followed them out and made hir way to the podium that had been set up for the occasion. As the flying Equians arrived, silhouetted against the sun that shone between the storm clouds as if it had always been rehearsed that way, shi spoke up.

“Citizens of Chakona, it delights me to introduce to you Captain Wandering Path and the crew of the Cosmic Lotus!”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

I REALLY want to get art done of the Equians coming in to land in front of the crowd, but it would break the bank to pay for it right now. Nevertheless, I have had that image in my head for a while, and it won't go away anytime soon.

Art of Flix and Orlonda by Foxenawolf.
All other art by Seth Triggs.

Thanks again to Airy Words for his help and support.

Shore Leave

Prime Minister Sunflare was an experienced politician, but even shi had difficulty maintaining a professional demeanor during the following hours. The Equians were new and exciting, and the stunt that they had pulled with the storm front had fanned the flames of the imagination of the gathered crowd and hirself no less. Even after spending some time with Wandering, Starry, Eon, and Ixia, shi was just as intrigued by the visitors. The news that they had brought a potential way of defeating the invading Swarm had lifted a pall over the population’s spirit, and sheer joy and delight flooded the concourse. Hir empathic senses were flooded with goodwill and curiosity, and hir smile threatened to reach from ear to ear.

Shi stood aside, happy to cede the limelight to the Equians as they introduced themselves to their audience, and explained their mission and adventures. Although they were the center of attention, some of that goodwill would inevitably spill over to the chakat and hir administration. This was a good thing in more ways than one because, quite aside from hir career, shi was under no illusion that the battle with the Swarm was a foregone conclusion. Initial information supplied by Federation sources suggested that Chakona would have to gear up for an assault rather than the protracted defense that had them stalemated for years, and that would require resources of personnel and materiel heretofore not required. Riding the crest of popularity and excitement was going to make that task a lot easier.

When the Equians finally concluded their introduction to the people of Amistad, shi invited the visitors to join hir in a feast held in their honor. Much to the delight of the crowd, a few of the Lotus crew elected to stay and chat with the people, and the police who were controlling the throng were hastily organized to allow an orderly meet and greet while the rest of the crew accompanied Sunflare back into the government building. As they headed into the State Function Room, the chakat was unaware that every single one of those left behind was a changeling feasting on the emotions of the adoring crowd instead of the promised food inside. However, three-quarters of them were in the shape of various pony types or griffons, reflective of the relationships that they formed with other crew members. Being quite familiar with their adopted forms, they answered everyone’s questions about them, but even those changelings who retained their natural form found quite a few curious admirers. There were quite a few bloated bug-ponies by the time the meet-and-greet was shut down.

Meanwhile, the banquet that had been organized for the VIPs had been no less extravagant. Scattered among the guests were a number of other people invited to the event – some of them ministers from Sunflare’s administration, some important dignitaries from around Chakona, and several noted scientists in a variety of fields who had expressed interest in learning more about the strange new visitors. No speeches were made beyond the perfunctory one that Sunflare had given, inviting hir guests to enjoy the food and conversation. Although telekinesis was hardly unknown on that world, shi was not the only one to watch in fascination as horns had lit up to levitate utensils and glasses. However, even more fascinating was the impossible dexterity of those who had no horns and only hooves, and yet still managed perfectly well without telekinetic assistance. And the pegasi! How could feathers bend and curl like fingers?! Resisting the urge to gawp in amazement, shi made sure that every one of them had their fill of food and good company before reluctantly bringing the event to a close.

Sunflare stood up, holding a glass in one hand and tapping it with a spoon held in the other. Once shi had the room’s attention, shi smiled and said, “Once again, I welcome our visitors to our world. In order for you to enjoy it as much as possible during your stay, I have arranged to have issued to all of you special identification cards. These serve not only as visas for legal purposes, but they will also allow you to use public transport for free, and you can use them to charge all of your expenses to the government’s account.” Shi gave them a mock glare. “Within reason, of course.”

After the chuckles had died down, the Prime Minister continued. “We do this to show our thanks for what you have done, and that which you will be doing with us. All of Chakona sighed in relief with the news that at last some progress has been made in our fight against the invading Swarm, and this is the least that we can do to show our appreciation. We would also like to show off the best that this world has to offer, and I have arranged with a number of volunteers to provide assistance to you if you wish. They will be your tour guides or personal assistants if you have the need, but of course, you are quite free to travel on your own if you prefer. If any of you wish to make any special arrangements during your stay on Chakona, please see Mister Wyld who would be pleased to help you. Local hotels have been informed of your plans to visit for a couple of weeks and will be delighted to extend their amenities to all of you. So, in conclusion, on behalf of the Stellar Federation, please enjoy our hospitality.”

Sunflare was a little bemused by the odd mixture of hoof-stomps, chirps, and screeches that apparently passed for applause from hir guests before they settled down to conversation and making arrangements with the staff to enjoy their first vacation in over ten years. Some plans were prosaic, but many others intended to make the most of their opportunity. Chakona would never be the same again!

A flock of pegasi headed inland, cresting over Mount Catspaw and jinking around the spaceport. Aside from being warned away from that area and cautioned about other air traffic, the winged ponies were given permission to explore where they wished. There was no particular plan to their flight – they just wanted to enjoy the feeling of unlimited flight without the burden of expectations nor the restrictions of an enclosed space. Basically, they played and delighted in the feel of the wind in their mane and sunlight on their backs as they went sightseeing. Sometimes they would swoop down close to ground level and give the locals a thrill before heading off once more. Life was good.

For Techbird, her idea of a vacation was finding out where the nearest major library was and making a beeline for it. Galena accompanied her to the Amistad University Library along with a couple of drones. The changeling princess had a fair idea of what to expect for the next few days, and she made sure that her companion had the resources to deal with whatever her research turned up. The changelings were happy enough to attend to the crystal griffon’s needs even as they snacked on the happy scientist’s joy in discovering whole new fields of study. Seasoning it all was the hope that she would find more clues to answer the Question that drove her ever onwards. Galena had other plans though, and while Techbird was busy with her quest, the princess was looking into more of what this new world had to offer. If she could find what she was looking for, she had a proposal for her beloved.

Coldfire and Xanth took a more sedate approach to sightseeing. With the help of one of the volunteer helpers, they had hired a stroller and were taking Skyborn on his first outing. Their guide was taking them on a tour of Amistad, but they often had to pause as many of the locals wanted to have a look at their child, cooing and fussing over the foal. Because they had plenty of days ahead of them to get to see more, the couple was more than happy to stop and share their delight in the cute youngster. Xanth was almost literally bursting with the pride in his wife and son by the time they called it a day and headed for a beachside hotel. After his mother gave him a feed, Skyborn was put to bed and Coldfire joined Xanth out on the balcony that overlooked the bay that Amistad was built around. She snuggled up to her chosen mate and kissed him.

“Happy, hon?” she asked.

“As much as you and more. It’s been a perfect day, hasn’t it?”

“It has. Do you think Amistad would make a good place to settle down?”

The changeling looked at her in surprise. “Settle down? We’ve been here one whole day and you’ve already decided you want to stay?”

Coldfire giggled. “It’s been such a welcoming world – why wouldn’t I? But really, it’s about our foal. I’m thinking that we can’t go on too long as starship crew with his welfare to keep in mind. I’m just looking into possibilities of places to settle down.”

Xanth nodded thoughtfully. “It’s a bit soon to make that kind of a decision, but from what I have seen of this world so far, it would definitely be a contender for a place for us to settle down. But I think that’s a decision for the future us. Right now, present me just wants to make love to present you.” He gave her a long and heartfelt kiss.

When they pulled apart once more, she replied, “Funny – I was just thinking the same thing.”

Helen Baines had been born and bred on Earth, but shi was not enamored with hir home-world. As a hermaphrodite, shi was frequently considered a freak even among the morph population there. Shi joined the Double H Club, more euphemistically known as the Herm Haven, when shi was a teenager, and while hir gender gained hir acceptance there, shi never met anyone for whom shi felt any attraction. Hir excellent academic achievements gained hir a scholarship to Star Fleet Academy, and at last shi was able to be hirself in the company of the various races of the Federation. Not only were there a high number of other herm species numbered among them, such as the chakats and stellar foxtaurs, there were also the cyclic herm skunktaurs, and the Merraki who started life as females until they mated and laid a clutch of eggs, upon which they all changed permanently to males. Shi was no longer a freak, but just another of the varied species that formed the greater civilization. But shi was still alone. It was not as if shi did not want a companion, but either they turned out to be incompatible or lost interest in learning that shi was a herm. Shi could not blame those ones – most beings were attracted to the opposite sex and shi was under no illusion that being both sexes was the same thing. However, to avoid disappointment, shi began to always let interested persons know right up front that shi was a hermaphrodite. Ortzi had been a big surprise to hir though. Not only had he not known what a herm was, he was utterly indifferent to the fact after shi had elucidated him. The griffon had found hir attractive for some reason, and he had persisted in his naïve and adorable way. For the first time in years, the rabbit morph had been intrigued. Shi could not explain it – the griffon was much larger than hir, and his talons and beak should have been a source of concern. Instead, shi got a delicious thrill in being close to him, and he had been nothing but gentle and caring, always interested in what shi liked and wanted. Shi had quickly been hooked.

Ortzi had been interested in seeing more of the city, and Helen had been happy to play guide as this was not hir first visit to Chakona’s capital. The odd couple had certainly drawn their share of curious stares, and a few people had been a little concerned about hir predator companion. However, the rabbit had felt safer than ever in his company, and shi reveled in every moment of being with him. The sun was setting over the ocean when the couple had made their way down to the beach. The earlier storm had lowered the temperature and driven away a lot of the beach-goers, and they found a relatively empty stretch of dunes to settle down on a blanket and snuggle for a while before sharing the food that they had brought with them.

As the sun began to sink below the horizon, Ortzi put a wing around hir as a fresh breeze began to blow. Shi looked up at him and found his eyes gazing back at hir fondly. Shi nuzzled him and ruffled his chest feathers, enjoying their closeness.

“Helen,” the golden eagle griffon began, “I know that we met only days ago, but I believe we share something wonderful. Will you be my special someone?”

The rabbit felt a special warmth flow through hir at that question. “You want to go steady with me?” shi asked.

Ortzi considered the unfamiliar phrase before replying. “No, I want more. I want you to consider me as a potential mate.”

Now Helen was surprised. “You’re proposing? Ortzi, do you think we can make this relationship work in the long term? We come from two very different worlds and cultures.”

“Do you care about that?” he asked simply.

Shi shook hir head. “Right now, I only care that I am with you. I have been waiting for you all my life, and I have no desire to let you go.”

“I feel the same. No hen or mare has ever interested me as you do. I don’t want that to end, so I ask you again – will you…”

Helen gave the cat-bird a fierce hug, interrupting his proposal. “Yes! Yes, I will!”

Ortzi put a foreleg around Helen and pulled hir in tighter, and the couple stayed in their embrace for several long minutes before the rabbit gently pulled away.

“There’s a hotel a hundred meters or so back that way. Will you join me tonight?”

“If that is your wish, then it would be my pleasure to accept,” he replied.

They gathered the blanket and put it in the basket that they had brought the food in before making their way leisurely in the direction of the hotel. The front desk staff was surprised to see the griffon, but after checking in a pegasus and a changeling already, they were no less professional about setting up a nice room for them. They made their way up to their suite and as soon as the door had closed behind them, Helen turned and gave hir companion a big kiss.

“Ortzi – I… I’ve never made love before.”

The griffon shrugged and said, “Neither have I. Let’s learn together, shall we?”

Helen almost shyly unfastened hir dress and let it fall to the floor. “Do you like what you see?” shi asked.

“I always have,” Ortzi replied before sweeping hir off hir feet and carrying hir to the bed.

The two made love in a clumsy but enthusiastic way, discovering what each other liked the most. Sometimes it was silly, and they both had fits of giggles, but mostly it was passionate and very pleasurable. Eventually, they were satiated, and Helen laid hir head on Ortzi’s chest as he lay on his back, breathing heavily from their exertions.

“Honey?” Helen said.

“Hmm?” Ortzi replied.

“Could you imagine what a child of a rabbit morph and a griffon would be like? Because if it was possible, I would be very pregnant with one right now.”

“You’re on heat? I should have realized. Anyway, you don’t have to imagine it if you don’t want.”

Helen lifted hir head to look at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“There are magic spells to make different species compatible. I’m sure that they could come up with one for us if that is what you really wish.”

The rabbit shook hir head in wonder. “This magic is going to take some getting used. So is the thought of actually being a mother. I think we can put that off for a few years yet.”

Ortzi nodded. “I agree. I think we should spend that time growing closer.”

Helen giggled. “I don’t think we could possibly be closer than we just were.”

“Silly bunny,” the griffon said before embracing hir once more. “I look forward to our future together.”

“Me too.” Shi was silent for a while before saying, “I wonder what the others are doing?”

Emerald Green and Skye Path had spent the afternoon checking out the botanic gardens. They finished the day in a restaurant in the midst of the gardens where they attracted a lot of attention from the locals. They spent the rest of the evening chatting with the patrons who spent more money on food and alcohol than they might otherwise have. The restaurant’s owner was very pleased and urged the Equians to visit again soon.

Galen Bluequill had gathered with some other griffs to stretch their wings, and after a discreet enquiry with a local guide, went on a hunting trip. It was catch and release only, but the griffons were happy to be able to exercise their skills again after so long away. Then Galen found out about local sports competitions and they went to check out a game called ‘chakker’. They were hooked immediately. Many eyebrows were raised days later when every griffon brought a haul of chakker swag back to the ship with them.

“Pass the popcorn,” Eon said.

Ixia absentmindedly passed the huge bucket to the dracopony, her eyes never leaving the screen.

Eon sighed. Chick-flicks seemed to be a universal plague. What he went through for his fillyfriend!

After the crew had dispersed to pursue their individual desires, Wandering and Starry had thanked the Prime Minister for being a wonderful host and then spent the remainder of the day playing tourist in Amistad with Boyce and Forestwalker as their guides. As no one was hungry due to the feast, they didn’t bother with a restaurant until late in the afternoon, and even then they chose a fast-food place so that they could continue walking around. The alicorns did a lot of waving and returning the greetings of the locals who had seen the Equians on the news, but generally, the people left them to enjoy their afternoon in peace before they all headed back to the spaceport. As Boyce flew them home, they discussed what they would do over the coming days, eventually deciding to do a whirlwind tour of the planet to look at its highlights.

Upon entering the chakat clan’s home, they found the cubs and some of the adults watching the television in the living room. Goldfur offered to make some refreshments while they waited for the show to end, and they could chat about the day’s events. Wandering and Starry settled onto a couch, idly looking at the TV program about a rainforest on Didwana.

“It’s an educational vid,” Forestwalker explained.

The alicorns nodded in understanding and kept watching along with the others.

Goldfur returned with tea and cookies just as the program segued into an advertisement. However, the screen abruptly darkened and the sound died away. After about two seconds of black screen, a voice started to speak while strange shapes and colors panned across the screen, all of them tinged black and silver.

“Against all odds they made it. Cheered on by their home-world; driven by the need to explore; welcomed by Chakona...”

The lights slowly came on to reveal a strange chimera-like being. Those from Equus knew him as Flix, but most of the chakat family were seeing him for the first time.

“I am Prince Flixtradamus.” He smiled, his talons began to glow with a strange light as his large wings started to flap, raising him slowly in the black void.

“And I am Princess Orlonda,” a second voice spoke up as the changeling took flight as well, her horn starting to glow just as bright.

Then they both spoke at once, their voices synthesizing together to create strange harmonic tones that caused the listeners to get pleasant shivers and chills up and down their spines and up the back of their necks. The screen zoomed in and focused on just their eyes as they began to glow.

“Amistad Entertainment District – 1900 hours!”

The commercial went dark with only the two sources of magic as sources of light appearing like stars. A dance beat was starting to slowly build up, that harmonic voice starting to speak again causing more of those sensations; the cadence and tempo starting to make hearts beat faster, breathing happen faster.

“When I count down to zero, you will enter a brand new world – a world of pounding beats, pure melodies, and euphoria.”

The screen started to light up once more, revealing a large stage with speakers upon speakers. The two beings started to spiral outward, the room changing to look like more and more like a club. Judging by how fast they were spiralling outward, it looked to be quite large.

“In a universe where everything changes, stars fall out of existence, boundaries are broken, and reality shifts, one thing will always remain the same.”

The pace and tempo started to pick up as the deep bass seemed to roll through the area. It looked like the room was changed into a giant circular rave stage, absolutely massive in scale.

“Three!”

The lasers turned on and started sweeping the room.

“Two!”

The UV lights started to come on and flicker, making the room shift between what it looked like normally in the dim club light and then the strange tribal motif that was revealed when the right type of light hit the seemingly invisible paint.

“One!”

The pair moved up as the camera followed them for what seemed like forever before it slowly panned around the grinning pair. Below them was the massive warehouse-like club in the centre of the arts district. From that vantage point, anyone could figure out where the club was, and with four hours until it opened, most could figure out a way to get there on time.

“Welcome... to the Conclave!”

The transmission abruptly ceased and faded back to a different commercial.

“I’m a happy puppy dog!”
“He’s a happy puppy dog!”
“Ra! Ra! Ra! It’s good!”

Boyce and the other adults blinked in astonishment.

“What the heck was that all about?” Goldfur demanded.

Before either alicorn could answer, there was a burst of light which faded to reveal the pair in question.

Flix grinned and said, “Hi guys! I see you caught our ad. What do you think of our new nightclub?”

“Did you just use magic to override their broadcast?” Wandering asked.

“Don’t worry, bro – I sent the network some bits to pay for it.”

Starry looked at Flix in disbelief. “You paid for an ad? How in Mama Luna’s name did you pay for all that?!” She gestured at the screen despite it not showing the nightclub anymore.”

“Like this.” Flix snapped his dragon paw talons and a pile of gold bits appeared.

Goldfur stepped up and took a handful of the coins and hefted them. “Are these pure gold? They feel like they weigh enough.”

Flix looked offended. “Of course they’re real gold. I wouldn’t cheat the people who sold the property to me.”

“How many of these have you been using to pay for things?”

“Well, I don’t have one of your electronic accounts, so… lots?”

The chakat frowned. “You can’t just dump all this gold into the market at once – you’ll depress its value and affect the economy.”

Flix rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on – you’re exaggerating things.”

Goldfur stepped up to the chimera and started wagging a finger in his face. “Nobody can leave my home in the morning and own a custom designed and fully equipped nightclub by the evening without throwing around a tonne of money. Don’t tell me that I’m exaggerating!”

Flix looked around at the other family members and gave them a sad face. “Is shi always such a stick in the mud?”

Some of the younger cubs giggled and one replied. “Yeah – mom’s always like this.”

“I see. Do you think shi needs a timeout?”

“What?!” Goldfur objected.

“Time out!” the cub agreed, and then the other youngsters gleefully added their voices and a chant started up. “Timeout! Timeout! Timeout!”

Flix snapped his talons once more and an overly ornate cord was suddenly hanging from the roof. He indicated the cord to the first cub. “Here – you may have the honor.”

Goldfur put hir hands on hir hips and glared at Flix. “What are you up to n-o-O-O-o-o-w-w-w…?”

As the chakat had been talking, the cub had pulled the cord and a trapdoor opened beneath Goldfur, sending hir plummeting into the depths. Then the trapdoor snapped shut and the floor was as unmarked as it had always been.

“What did you do to Goldfur?!” Forestwalker squawked.

“I suppose shi’s in your basement,” Wandering replied.

“We don’t have a basement!”

The alicorn looked at Flix and asked with a sigh, “Where is shi, Flix?”

“Someplace where shi might learn to loosen up a bit,” he replied.

“Specifically…?”

The chimera just grinned. “Ask hir when shi gets back. Meanwhile, drop by our nightclub when you get a chance. It’s gonna be awesome!” He held up his talons once more.

“Wait, Flix!” Starry started to say.

But the talons snapped and Flix and Orlonda were gone.

“What’s going to happen about Goldfur?” Boyce asked sternly.

“For starters, stop worrying,” Wandering replied. “Flix may be mischievous, but he’s not malicious. He would never let anyone get actually harmed by his pranks.”

“You don’t know that is true for Goldfur though.”

The stallion gave the human his most serious look. “Yes, I do. He didn’t always look like he does now. He sacrificed much to save a lot of people years ago, and not only had those changes happen to his body, but he was also petrified for decades until the effects of his huge spell wore off. He’s a hero, Boyce, and while he may behave in a chaotic manner, his heart is good. Whatever has happened to Goldfur, shi’s safe and well. Whether shi’s enjoying the experience is a whole other question, but I suspect that shi’s been stuck in some awkward situation that Flix would consider amusing. Shi will survive that, I’m sure.”

Boyce rubbed his forehead to allay an incipient headache. “Are we going to have these problems when we talk with the Federation Council?”

“Probably not; he wouldn’t screw up something that important. Besides, I suspect he’ll be preoccupied with his new project. That nightclub is so him.”

Forestwalker slowly sank to the floor with relief and said, “As long as my sister is going to be fine, I suppose I’ll stop worrying. Remind me not to get into a pranking war with Flix though – I suspect that even with the whole clan versus him, we’d still lose.”

Starry nodded. “That’s what you get when you deal with the prize student of the Lord of Chaos.”

Over the following days, Starry and Wandering enjoyed travelling around Chakona, occasionally hearing news about what some of the other crew were up to. Nothing called for the captain’s attention though, and aside from ensuring that Radiance Point took his mandated break, the alicorn let himself completely relax for the duration of his holiday. He and Starry got the chance to be an ordinary couple for a change, albeit under extraordinary circumstances. They could not completely escape their notoriety, but he had always enjoyed interacting with other cultures anyway, so it was not a problem. He almost regretted having to go back to work, but his sense of responsibility drew him back to where they had started – the chakat clan’s home.

Wandering and Starry were saying their farewells to everyone when a door appeared on an otherwise blank wall. The door burst open and Goldfur charged through with a young pegasus foal riding hir back, wielding an extra-long glow-stick like a lance. The chakat skidded to a halt when shi realized where shi was and the filly sprang off hir back. One look at Starry and the foal’s eyes widened in delight. She leapt at the mare and started hugging her madly.

“Hi, Auntie Starry!”

Starry’s expression was confused. “What? Who is this?”

From behind her, Starry heard a more familiar voice. “Ooh, your mom is going to kill me, Thera.”

The alicorn mare turned to see her brother standing behind her. “When did you get here, Flix?”

“Who do you think opened that door?” He pointed at it, and only then did everyone notice that they could see some very surprised ponies on the other side including Twilight Sparkle.

“Who’s this then?” Starry asked, indicating the foal who was still attached to her legs.

“Let me introduce Princess Antikythera Path, daughter of Queen Crystal Path and Cloud Thumper. She’s a big fan of you and the Cosmic Lotus.”

“You mean she’s a changeling hybrid?” Starry looked at the madly grinning filly.

“Sure am, Auntie!” She flared with magic green fire briefly to reveal a Blue Changeling princess before resuming her pegasus form.

“And she loves chakat rides,” Goldfur added with a smile. “The Princess decreed that I was her royal steed.”

“I see that we have a lot to catch up on, Goldie,” Forestwalker said as shi stepped up to give hir sister a hug from the side.

The chakat cubs stepped up, squealing in delight, and one said to the filly, “Eeee! Hi! I’m Aura.”

“I’m Thera. Eeee!” she squealed back.

All the cubs joined the foal in squealing with joy before they suddenly all ran off together.

“Where has my daughter gone?” came a new voice from the magic doorway.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to the elegant changeling queen who entered the room.

Wandering said, “Hi, Crystal. Thera’s run off with some new friends. You should have sent us some more recent photos – neither Starry nor I recognized her until Flix introduced her.”

Crystal rubbed her head with her hoof. “She’s such a hoofful. Thumper and I are always getting her out of mischief somewhere. I suppose she will be fine in the company of children her own age.” The changeling looked around. “So I’m on Chakona now?”

“Yep. This is my home,” Goldfur answered.

“May I have a look around as long as I am here?” Crystal asked.

“I’ve been your guest for long enough, so please make yourself at home here.”

“Thank you. Now please pardon me while I go make sure that my youngest daughter isn’t starting anything too drastic.” She headed off in the direction of the sound of happily squealing children.

“This door is amazing,” Twilight said as she stood in the portal between two worlds. “I really need to examine the nature of this chaos magic more closely.”

“And that’s my mom the nerd,” Wandering announced as he trotted over to give her a hug. “As long as you’re here, Boyce and his family were throwing us a farewell dinner. Would you like to join us?”

“You would be very welcome, Princess,” Boyce added.

“No titles, please,” Twilight replied. “You’ve been like a family to Wandering, Starry, Skye, and Eon while they stayed with you, so I feel like you’re part of our House too. I’d be delighted to accept your invitation. I hope to be able to extend the same courtesy when you visit Equus.”

“Technically, all I need to do is step through that door and I’d be on Equus now,” Boyce pointed out.

Twilight chuckled. “Yes, that’s true, but it’s only mid-morning there.”

“And it’s dinner time here,” Forestwalker said pointedly. “Come to the table or starve!”

Getting the excited children to the table had been the hardest part, but then there was a lot of conversation over the extended mealtime. Goldfur talked about hir time spent on Equus, while the Equians regaled everyone with tales of their adventures on Chakona. Flix even behaved himself although he chuckled a lot at Goldfur’s earliest experiences in Equestria.

Sooner than anybody wished, it was time to go. Crystal herded a reluctant Thera back through the portal, and Twilight gave her family members a hug each before she too went through the magic doorway. It snapped shut and faded out of existence along with the one who had created it.

Wandering said, “It has been the greatest pleasure knowing you all, and Starry and I thank you for your magnificent hospitality.”

Both alicorns had to hug every member of the chakat clan before they were allowed to leave. Then they teleported to the agreed rendezvous point where they met the rest of the crew and started to teleport them back to the Cosmic Lotus. Wandering was surprised though when Ortzi stepped up with Helen by his side.

“Captain – Helen wants to join us on our ship.”

Wandering’s eyebrow shot up. “Any reason why? And even so, shi’s Star Fleet and a member of Boyce’s crew. I can’t just take hir with us.”

“Helen is my betrothed,” Ortzi replied simply.

The alicorn blinked in surprise. “Isn’t that awfully fast? You’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks.”

The griffon merely shrugged. “If you find your soulmate a couple of thousand light-years from home, you don’t let hir go. You know you belong together.”

Wandering could not argue with that. Nevertheless, he still had a problem. “Look – I’ll take hir up to the Lotus, but shi has to talk with Admiral Kline about this. Whatever he says, I won’t argue with. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Captain!” Ortzi and Helen chorused.

Once everyone was aboard the Cosmic Lotus, Wandering contacted the Pegasus from the privacy of his stateroom. By this time, Boyce had shuttled up to his ship via his skiff, and he was preparing for departure along with the Equians.

“Captain Path to Admiral Kline.”

“Kline here, Captain. Are you prepared for departure already?”

“Not at all, Admiral. I have one of your crewmembers here with a request.”

“Oh? Put hir on, please.”

By using that specific pronoun, Wandering was fairly sure that Boyce already was aware that he was a crewperson short.

Helen stepped up to the comm. “Lieutenant Helen Baines here, sir.”

“Why aren’t you aboard your ship, Lieutenant?”

“Sir – I request a temporary transfer to the Cosmic Lotus for the duration of our journey to Earth.”

“And why would I grant that request?”

“Sir – I… Ortzi and me… well, we…”

“Ortzi and Helen are betrothed, Admiral,” Wandering interrupted. “They would like to be together as much as possible.”

“That was awfully fast,” Boyce replied.

“I said exactly the same thing, Boyce, but there’s one thing that you should know about griffons. They have the ability to recognize a soulmate and will pursue that relationship fiercely. My herd-mother felt the same about my herd-father and were betrothed within days. They adored each other right up until the day she died.”

“I see. Nevertheless, my crewperson has hir duty to perform.” Helen started to sag in disappointment, but the Admiral continued. “It’s a good thing then that we need a specialist to continue studying your magitek systems. I can’t think of a better opportunity than right now.”

Helen’s face lit up with delight. “Thank you, sir!”

“Report to my ready room for your new assignment, Lieutenant. You will be joining the rest of the crew temporarily assigned to the Cosmic Lotus. And hurry it up – we depart in half an hour.”

“On my way, sir!”

“Cosmic Lotus out,” Wandering concluded the transmission.

“Can you do the honors, Captain?” Helen asked.

Wandering smiled. “My pleasure, Lieutenant.” With a flare of his horn, he teleported Helen over to the Pegasus. With a smile on his face, he then headed out to the bridge.

As the alicorn stepped into the ship’s control room, he took stock of the new equipment that had been installed. Although he had been given reports on everything that had been done to his ship, this voyage was going to be as much a learning experience for him as for the rest of the bridge crew. Fortunately, they had been assigned an experienced helmsman from the Pegasus who would be training everyone on the new systems as they travelled to Earth. The Caitian female saluted the alicorn before turning her attention back to Playbitz whom she was instructing.

Wandering took his place in the command chair and hit the internal comm button. “Bridge to Engineering.”

“Radiance Point here, Captain.”

“Are your new toys ready, Point?”

“All systems tested and warp drive ready to go, sir.”

Wandering could hear the excitement in his engineer’s voice. “Excellent. Departure in twenty minutes.”

“This is going to be awesome, Captain!”

Wandering chuckled as he cut the connection. He spent the next fifteen minutes observing final preparations and readiness reports coming in. With five minutes to go, he got a request from Baines to beam over which he granted. Moments later, the rabbit morph materialized in the designated teleport area, dressed in hir Star Fleet uniform. Helen put down hir duffel bag of personal possessions and saluted.

“Lieutenant Helen Baines reporting for duty, Captain.”

“At ease, Lieutenant. Welcome to the crew. I believe you know where to find Engineering. Got to start earning your keep.”

Helen smiled. “Yes, sir. Thank you, Captain.”

“Dismissed.” As the rabbit left the bridge, Wandering said, “Helm – is the course laid in?”

The Caitian turned and said, “Laid in and ready for departure, Captain.”

“Good. May I ask your name? I can’t just keep calling you ‘Helm’.”

“I am Lieutenant Commander M’Ranna Karranis, sir.”

“Well, Lieutenant Commander, this is not a military ship, and while we still maintain a certain level of command discipline, we tend to be less formal about addressing each other. May I call you just M’Ranna?”

The Caitian thought for a moment then nodded. “That would be acceptable, sir.”

“Great. Let’s get underway.” Wandering hit the Public Address button on his command chair. “Attention all crewmembers! Prepare for departure for Earth in one minute.” He shut off the P.A. and turned to Bluequill. “Status report!”

“All stations report readiness, Captain.”

“Excellent. Okay, people – vacation’s over. Cosmic Lotus is back on mission.” He looked over at the helm as the final seconds ticked over and gave M’Ranna a smile. “I believe the correct term is – ‘Engage!’.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

I know – you want to know what happened to Goldfur while shi was on Equus. Well, that is the subject of my collaborator's next tale. It isn't done yet, but I will link and blog it when it is.

Are you as curious as I am as to what the cross between a griffon and a herm bunny would be? Unfortunately they are not in any hurry to find out, so we'll just have to wait and see.

And don't forget to check out Radiance "Purple" Point's latest exploits in https://www.fimfiction.net/story/378585/14/purple-point-his-life-in-space/on-leave-his-way

Art by Foxena

Voyage To A Blue Planet

Wandering kept one eye and one ear attuned to what was going on at the new helm. Although it was unlikely that he would ever need to pilot the starship, as the head of the Cosmic Lotus mission and Captain of the ship, it was his responsibility to have a working knowledge of most of the ship’s systems. He would schedule a proper training session with M’Ranna later, but at least this way he would not go into it cold.

The alicorn found it harder than normal to pay attention though. His eyes kept being drawn to the main screen which showed the view of stars seemingly zipping past them as they travelled at speeds far faster than light. Of course, as Boyce and the other Federation starship crew had explained, this was merely an artefact of travelling in hyperspace, and stars were not actually speeding past them. However, it was infinitely more satisfying than staring at blue-shifted stars all bunched together in front of the ship while travelling at relativistic velocity. He got a real sense of movement and progress this way. At last the Lotus was truly able to fly among the stars!

After the journey had settled down into a routine, Wandering left Bluequill in charge and headed to the Engineering Department. There he found a smugly satisfied Radiance Point examining the performance of their warp drive. While the actual warp mechanism was located in the nacelles that had been adapted to the Cosmic Lotus’ mast mounting points, it had one major modification that was unique to the Equian ship. Unlike the Federation starships that were powered by antimatter reactors, the Lotus tapped its mini-star for energy for the power-hungry engines. While the technology of handling the hideously dangerous antimatter was a mature science, it was still far more risky than their own method. Apastron, the Star Fleet engineer who had been assigned to their ship for the duration of the trip, had been awed by the thaumaturgical marvel but questioned how long it could keep up the supply of so much energy. When it had been explained to hir that it had been designed to supply power to the ship for a minimum journey of forty-two years each way and with a safety margin bringing it to over twice that, shi was far less concerned. In fact, shi and Point were now engaged in designing new systems that could marry Federation and Equian technology to improve both.

Wandering discovered Point with Apastron who turned out to be one of the Starwalker foxtaurs who had worked with the unicorn during the refit and who had volunteered to accompany the Lotus during its shakedown voyage. Helen Baines had joined them, hir knack for understanding new technologies being an asset to their efforts to adapt two different systems into one new and improved version. After gaining their attention, the alicorn asked for a report.

Point replied with a hugely satisfied smile. “The system is working perfectly, Captain. The power conduits to the warp engines are coping exactly to spec and the warp field is stable. Since the engines are rugged and highly reliable, there is very little that we have to do on top of our regular work.” He gestured to a monitor screen which displayed the view from a camera mounted on the hull at the rear of the craft. It showed two of the three warp engines which had been fixed into position at 120° to each other, thereby creating an even warp field around the ship. The nacelles glowed blue along their length as the energy made its way through them to be converted into space-time contortion fields that let them slide into hyperspace and out of the tyranny of the limits of light-speed. “These little beauties will get us to Earth in thirty-four days. That sure beats the years it would have taken us previously.”

“It sure does,” Wandering replied, “although Boyce tells me that commercial ships can do the journey in only about twelve days, and the Pegasus can do it half of that.”

“Well, sure – any ship designed for the purpose will do better than our adapted version, but what Apastron, Helen, and I are working on could blow even the Admiral’s ship out of the cosmos. The Federation knows nothing about magitek, and with the efficiencies introduced by our technology, interstellar travel will become even more practical and cost-effective.”

Wandering smirked. “I can see that you’re enjoying yourself, Point. Just let me remind you that I won’t let you overwork yourself anymore.”

Point glanced at Apastron who grinned back at him innocently. “Okay, Captain – I get the hint.” He had no intention of letting the black-furred foxtaur stun him into compliance again.

“Excellent. I’ll check back with you tomorrow to see what your brainstorming session has achieved. Have fun.” Wandering then headed off to his next destination.

The mana-beasts that they had rescued from the Swarm ship had been turned over to the Cosmic Lotus for the time being due to the need for the creatures to feed on mana occasionally. Until the Federation authorities could provide a substitute, Wandering had volunteered to take care of the animals. He had put them into the capable hooves of Traveling Soul so that the biologist could study the remarkable creatures during the journey. The unicorn stallion greeted the alicorn with an excited smile.

“Captain! When you first fed the mana-beasts, what was the state of your emotions?”

Wandering blinked, taken by surprise by the question. He tried to recall the incident. “Umm… I think that I was pleased by their apparent friendliness despite their timidity. Why?”

Traveling Soul pointed with a hoof to a changeling assistant who was currently cuddling one of the animals like you would a cat, stroking it with a smile on her face. “Quinza tells me that the mana-beast is empathically sending feelings of pleasure at her. It does the same when I’m the one that it’s feeding on. It’s my hypothesis that not only do the mana-beasts feed upon sources such as us, they make us feel good about it. Of course, changelings feed upon the positive emotion, so they get as much from the mana-beasts as the creatures get from our love-eating crew.”

Wandering considered that idea and nodded in agreement. It made sense that the mana-beasts could secure their mana sources by making other creatures desire to be with them. It made them less like parasites and more like symbionts that provided less tangible benefits. “Have you discovered any downsides to this yet?”

“Not so far. In fact, Quinza wants to keep one as a pet, and she reckons that there will be requests from other changelings for the remainder.”

“Well, I’d rather that we study them a bit more before I agree to that, but I will leave it to your professional assessment as to whether that’s a good idea. Carry on and let me know what you find out.”

“Will do, Captain.”

Wandering continued on his tour of the ship, making sure that everyone was firmly back on task. He was pleased to find that morale was high all round after having shore leave for the past couple of weeks. That made Willow’s task a lot easier, although the changeling was fairly bursting with new material that he had acquired during his stay on Chakona. The alicorn could tell that they were in for a treat when Willow gave his next show.

Satisfied with the state of the ship, Wandering went back to the bridge where he stayed until the end of the shift.

Wandering rendezvoused with Starry before they headed off together towards the mess hall. Before they reached their destination though, they heard the sounds of conflict coming from the room. The first thing that either heard clearly was an outraged squawk.

“Shi is not worthy of you!”

The two alicorns hastened their pace and were confronted by the sight of a female griffon glaring at Helen who was taking refuge behind hir betrothed. Ortzi was visibly angry, his wings flared to block any attempt by the she-griff to approach the rabbit.

“You have no right to tell me who is worthy or not, Stroya Redwing!” Ortzi snarled back.

“There are better mates aboard this ship than that alien!” Stroya spat back.

“Like you? Ha! As if I would be more interested in your old-fashioned traditionalist ways than the love of my betrothed.”

“Shi isn’t even a female! Shi is an obscene mix of two sexes!”

“How does that even matter? How does that make you better than hir?!”

“I belong to an ancient and honorable bloodline. You could do no better than to join the House of Redwing!”

“I wasn’t ever interested in joining your Griffonian House – why does it matter to you now?”

“You do every hen dishonor by choosing an alien over one of us. You have ignored all of us for years and yet take that as a mate in just a few weeks.” Stroya pointed accusingly at Helen who shrank back further out of sight.

“That still doesn’t explain why you, in particular, want me. I am no noble Griffonian – I am an Equestrian griff.”

“You are an Equestrian griff allied with House Path. House Redwing would gain much status if we were to be wed.”

“That’s it? You just want me for your damned stupid status?” Ortzi sneered. “I only joined House Path to learn my trade and learn how to fight in the defense of those I care for. I’m not in it for the social standing. I am a warrior-scholar, not a status-seeking Griffonian!”

There were some angry squawks from the other Griffonian cat-birds and one of them stepped forward to confront Ortzi.

“Watch your tongue, Goldbeak. That is not all that the Griffonian Houses are; you know that. We are Equestria’s Shield and the world’s peacekeepers. We have earned our status.”

“You don’t get it, Marlo – I’m in this relationship with Helen because I have fallen in love with hir, but you and Stroya and the rest of you Griffonians look at your precious rankings and status before even considering a relationship!”

“That is not true,” Marlo replied coldly. “And if Stroya seeks you as a mate, then I must challenge you to prove that I am the better choice.”

Stroya shot Marlo a sharp look. “Why do you wish to be my mate? You would gain nothing by it – we are equally ranked.”

“If nothing else – to prove my point. But if I must spell it out, then I will do so. I have wanted you as a mate for years, but you have ignored me as much as Ortzi ignored you. I uphold the values of Griffonians while he flaunts his taste for the bizarre. I am a respected warrior and skilled professional. I could give you chicks who will grow to be great and powerful, while you could not say the same as this Equestrian!”

“You’re mighty full of yourself, aren’t you, Marlo?” Ortzi said with contempt. “Even after over a century of being allied with Equestria, you still hold yourself to be superior to Equestrian griffs.”

“Because we are superior. You are too soft from living among ponies all your life.”

“Ha! Stroya wants me as a mate because of my association with House Path – a noble House created and originally led by a pony. Ponies went from being used as slaves to being sought for alliances. Griffonians with pony mates are becoming more common every decade!”

“House Path ponies earned their rank and status. You have yet to prove yourself in our eyes. I challenge you to do so!”

“Are you challenging me to a duel for the right to court Stroya? You can have her, for all I care.”

Stroya spoke up. “I will accept no suit from Marlo unless he proves himself against the one I seek.”

Marlo nodded. “Ortzi Goldbeak, you have done me, Stroya, and all Griffonians dishonor! I challenge you to an honor duel to the blood!”

Wandering had heard enough, and he started to step forward to intervene but was brought to a halt by the outstretched talons of Commander Bluequill.

“Stay out of this, Captain,” he said quietly.

The alicorn frowned at his second-in-command. “Why should I, Galen? This fight could have serious consequences for the entire crew.”

“I am a Griffonian, sir. I understand my fellow Griffonians better than you could ever do so, and this needs to be brought out into the open. I do not approve of Ortzi’s choice, but I recognize that it’s his choice to make. However, other Griffonians must see Ortzi defend his choice before they will respect it too. You are right in saying that there will be consequences, but whatever the outcome, it will be for the best.”

“I am no stranger to honor duels – this could get very bad. We are on a starship where the crew dynamics can be negatively affected,” Wandering protested.

“If you cannot respect Griffonian ways, then they will be affected anyway. Trust me, Captain – let it go.”

Reluctantly, the alicorn took the Commander’s advice. In the meantime, the two male griffons had been glaring at each other; one waiting for a response and the other considering what that response would be. Eventually, Ortzi replied.

“I am no Griffonian who is beholden to your archaic system, but I accept your challenge.”

Marlo screeched, “Clear the room!”

Ponies and changelings rushed to leave the room. However, the Griffonians set about pushing the chairs and tables to the side to open an arena for the two combatants.

Ortzi led a slightly shocked Helen over to Wandering. “Captain – please look after my betrothed.”

Wandering nodded. “Shi will safe with me.”

Helen said, “Are they really going to fight over me?”

“Yes, but not just you. They are fighting over their principles. If you are going to be Ortzi’s mate, you are going to have to learn to live with that sort of thing. This is a bit extreme, I admit, but as Commander Bluequill assures me, it’s for the best. Still…” He turned to Starry who seemed to be stunned at the turn of events. “Could you alert Doctor Zubon to have a team ready. We’re going to need them.”

Starry nodded and left without a word.

The furniture had all been moved and the Griffonians made a ring around the open area. Much as they had done during the Cosmic Games, they made an arena for the duel, but unlike the formal bouts with strict rules to prevent serious harm, the forthcoming duel not only had no restrictions, but it would only end when one combatant was weakened by blood loss so much that they could fight no longer. Like all those raised in the Path family, Wandering was hardened to this Griffonian tradition, even if he did not like it. He would stay to witness the fight and, hopefully, know what best to do in the aftermath.

Eon had appeared from seemingly nowhere. While the dracopony had a light-hearted approach to his job, he was nevertheless very good at it, and it did not surprise Wandering that Eon had been on the spot to react in whichever way was necessary, and it seemed that the dragon had already decided what that would be.

“Do you accept me as the referee for your honor duel?” Eon asked sternly.

“I do,” Marlo replied.

“Me too,” Ortzi answered.

“This is your final chance to revoke your challenge. Marlo Firefeather – do you withdraw your challenge?”

“I do not.”

“Ortzi Goldbeak – do you refuse his challenge?”

“No, I don’t.”

“The challenge is made and accepted, and it can only be satisfied with blood. On my mark, the duel will begin and you will fight until I determine that one of you cannot continue. You will not involve the witnesses and there will not be any fatal blows, but otherwise, there are no rules. Take your places.”

The contestants backed up to opposite ends of the arena while Eon took a place with the watchers midway between the two. There was a tense pause as they awaited the signal, and then with a burst of flame from his nostrils, Eon roared, “Begin!”

Both griffons leapt at each other, but while Marlo instinctively used his wings to gain height on his opponent, Ortzi sacrificed height for speed, causing the challenger to slightly overshoot even as Ortzi twisted and raked Marlo’s belly with his talons. The fiery-plumed griffon screeched in pain, but when Ortzi tried to take advantage of his initial blow, Marlo was ready for him, and their engagement was frenzied but relatively bloodless. The combatants burst apart and stood glaring at each other for a long moment before they leapt back into the fray.

As the fight progressed, Wandering noted that Marlo was indeed the competent warrior that he had boasted, but Ortzi was the more disciplined. House Path training was showing through in Ortzi’s moves, and he was taking far less damage than his challenger, opting for more defensive moves which tempted Marlo to attack a bit more recklessly and frequently paying the price for doing so. While both the griffons were bloodied and torn, it was clear that Marlo’s attacks were weakening while Ortzi kept to his steady strategy. Not for nothing had he come second only to Bluequill in the Cosmic Games, and that only barely losing to the older and more experienced warrior.

Ortzi grappled with Marlo and threw him to the floor. The audience heard the bone snap in the wing that broke the griffon’s fall, but Marlo still struggled to regain his footing. However, blood dripped in steady streams from his feathers and down the fur of his legs, and its loss was beginning to tell. He was not able to defend himself in time when Ortzi followed up with a raking slash down Marlo’s flank and he collapsed once more. With fresh wounds spilling his life blood away, he still tried to get up. This time Ortzi stood back and merely watched as his opponent rose on trembling legs to face him, only to collapse with a groan.

A gout of flame accompanied a roar of: “Halt! This duel is concluded!”

As Ortzi sank to the floor with a sigh and the medical staff stepped into the arena to attend the wounded, Eon continued. “By the laws of Griffonian honor duels, all that belongs to Marlo Firefeather is now Ortzi Goldbeak’s and the winner’s status gives him the right to declare that his choice of mate is worthy. Let all here bear witness!”

Wandering smiled to himself. Eon had ensured that Helen would not receive any more trouble from the Griffonians despite their views on interspecies relationships. They would suffer loss of face if they tried. Still, there was the matter of Marlo and Stroya to deal with. He stepped up to the hen that had precipitated the conflict.

“I hope that this will bring an end to your attempts to court Ortzi.”

Stroya did not meet Wandering’s eyes. “His status is greater than mine now – I cannot be the one to ask anymore.”

“This obsession with status is the cause of much of your problems. I would suggest that you stop looking for a mate solely on the basis of that.”

Stroya looked at him then, and he was surprised to see tears welling in her eyes. “I did not get a mate in the decade that we spent getting here – what do you think my chances are now?”

Wandering smiled gently. “Excellent I would say.” He looked over to where Marlo was being treated – magic spells closing his wounds and blood transfusions started to replace his losses. “Of all the Griffonians here, only one stepped up to defend your values.”

“Marlo? He has lost status and all he owns; how would I benefit from mating with him?”

“Because he offers something that only a true potential mate can offer. If you can learn to understand that, then you may start to understand why Ortzi fought for Helen, why Coldfire loves Xanth, and why Starry and I are mates. Think about it, Stroya. The only one stopping you is you.” With his piece said, Wandering left the she-griff to her thoughts.

Wandering was unwinding in his stateroom with Starry and Bluequill. The stallion had broken out his stash of Sweet Apple Acres cider and they were quietly enjoying the drink. Eventually, Wandering spoke up.

“So – was it worth it, Galen?”

The griffon gravely nodded. “I believe it was, Captain. Without the duel, tensions would have simmered and caused more problems. The consequences could have been much worse than under controlled conditions. Instead, everything has been resolved immediately and out in the open. Some may not like the resolution, but they will accept it.”

“Like you?” Wandering asked pointedly.

“I am an old conservative, sir. I don’t believe that Ortzi’s relationship is appropriate, but unlike some others, I am prepared to accept the realities of life. He and Helen love each other, as incomprehensible as I find that to be, and their happiness is a benefit to the crew overall. It will probably be important to our relationship with the Stellar Federation too. If two very different people from two different worlds can find love, then that tells me that Equus and the Federation may be very good allies.”

Wandering nodded. “I can agree with that.”

Starry asked slyly, “What if rabbit morphs like Helen prove themselves like Long Path did long ago? Would you accept Helen as being a worthy mate for a griffon then?”

“Of course,” Bluequill replied unabashedly. “Then they will have proven that they respect our values and traditions.”

Wandering chuckled. “We grew up spending half our lives in Griffonia, and yet we still have things to learn.” He refilled their glasses and raised his glass in a toast. “To you, Galen, and to your honorable values.”

The Cosmic Lotus was still a day away from Earth when Wandering decided to pay a visit to Techbird. Aside from some sporadic bursts of activity on the changeling network, the Chief Scientist had been unusually quiet. Suspiciously quiet. He decided that it would be best to find out what was happening before they reached their destination and hopefully deal with the situation if necessary.

Wandering reached Techbird’s office and was about to knock on the door when his ears picked up sounds coming from within. Familiar sounds. Crooning and chittering. He quietly backed off and used his personal comm to connect to Techbird’s office instead. It took a long moment before he got a reply.

“Oh, Captain – what can I do for you?”

“I’d like to make an appointment to see you in about half an hour, Tech.”

“Oh. Okay. You don’t usually make appointments, Wandering.”

“This time, I think I had better.”

“Very well. I will see you at 2:15, shall we say?”

“That would be perfect. Wandering out.” He shut off his comm and waited. It did not take long for the crooning and chittering to resume. He grinned and left to find something else to do for the next half hour. Hopefully, that would be enough time for them.

Wandering returned at the appointed time and found the door open this time. He nevertheless knocked on the door before entering. He found Techbird studying some equations on her desk monitor, while Galena was comfortably seated on a lounge cushion on the other side of the desk. They both gave him an innocent smile which he returned as he sat down.

“What is it that you wanted to see me about, Captain?” Techbird asked.

“Considering how you spent your time while we were on Chakona, I suspect that you know the answer to that, Tech.”

The crystal griffoness grinned. “I was intending to surprise you, but it seems you’ve gotten to know me too well.”

“So, what discoveries have you made?”

“Do you remember when I first described a method of going faster than light which Admiral Kline called an Alcubierre Drive?”

“I do.”

“I was determined to uncover the secrets behind faster than light travel, and while on Chakona, I researched a number of their sciences, but in particular their warp drive technology. Like many other aspects of their pure sciences, it omitted thaumaturgy as a factor.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. What happens when you do account for it?”

Techbird’s expression took on a sly look. “You know how quickly we are travelling to Earth as compared to how quickly the Admiral’s ship can do it?”

“Yes – thirty-four days as against about six,” Wandering replied.

“How would you like it if we could reverse that ratio?”

Wandering grinned broadly. “I would like that very much. Can you do that to Cosmic Lotus?”

Techbird shook her head. “I can tweak the existing set-up with the assistance of Radiance Point and his team, and that would give us a significant but still unimpressive boost. This new drive would have to be constructed specifically to suit the craft, but it would make it practical to explore the length and breadth of this galaxy.” She paused and then continued with a triumphant smile. “And perhaps even other galaxies!”

The alicorn was stunned. Even he had not dared to consider that possibility. “Techbird, you continue to astound me. You have achieved so much in so little time.”

The griffoness tried to look modest. “The Federation had already done 99% of the work – I just factored in the knowledge about which they were completely ignorant.”

“Yes, so easy,” Wandering replied drolly. “You’re going to have the Federation coming begging to you for this breakthrough.”

“Only if you tell them. I think the Equian space program needs a boost first, don’t you think?” Techbird suggested slyly.

Wandering smiled. “Yes, it would be good to be able to meet the Federation on more equal technological terms. Equus is just one small world against a mighty civilization – we do not want to get overwhelmed by it.” The alicorn took to heart lessons learned earlier in his life when exploring Equus. He had seen small tribes swallowed up by the growing union of nations and losing their identity. While the people were generally better off, some precious culture and individuality had been sacrificed. He did not want the same to happen to Equians.

“Don’t trade away our advantage when you talk with the Federation Council, Wandering. They need our help against the Swarm, so don’t let them buy it with trinkets.”

“When did you get so concerned about such things, Tech? Science has been your reason for existence since I have known you, and that’s my entire life.”

Techbird glanced over to where Galena was quietly listening to their conversation. “I found another reason, Captain.”

Wandering nodded in understanding. “So what are you planning to do next?”

“When we drop out of warp and we can communicate with Equus once more, I will transmit all my findings to Princess Twilight and her research team. In the meantime, I will work on my Question again in light of my new research.”

“Sounds like a plan. Good luck, Tech.” Wandering got up and headed out of the office.

Galena gave Techbird a curious look. “What is this Question you spoke of?”

“The Question was my only reason for keeping alive as long as I have.”

Galena blushed profusely.

Twenty-two hours later, Cosmic Lotus dropped out of warp and switched to impulse drive. On the bridge’s main screen was displayed a beautiful blue and white marble in the blackness of space.

The comm came to life. “Pegasus to Cosmic Lotus – welcome to Planet Earth.”

Author's Note

Thanks to Airy Words for his usual pre-reading advice. :twilightsmile:

Government and Bureaucracy

Unlike at Chakona, the Cosmic Lotus had to settle for a strict parking orbit. Space above the planet was far more crowded and tightly regulated, and there were no concessions for celebrity newcomers. The various scientists aboard the ship were not too concerned, however. They already had an enormous amount of data from the visit to the chakat home-world that needed study, and Earth could wait for more detailed examination. The Lotus did get a spot away from the usual commercial starships though, placed near Star Fleet’s enormous satellite headquarters. This was both a concession to the Equians’ importance and due consideration to security.

Wandering and Starry teleported over to the Pegasus to join Boyce and Rosepetal to shuttle over to the headquarters. As much as the Federation’s matter transmission technology fascinated the alicorns, both balked at the prospect of being transported by literally being disassembled and reassembled elsewhere. A slightly longer journey was quite acceptable, and once they had visited a place, they could get a lock on it again for pinpoint teleportation. A conscientious Security officer had raised this point, suggesting that it was unwise to give the visiting aliens that reference point. Starry countered with the fact that there was nothing stopping either alicorn from teleporting there anyway, but without an anchor point, she could turn up in a secure meeting room or the male’s bathroom. Having no argument to counter that, the officer dropped its objection.

Grand Admiral Tirarsk was at the shuttle bay to give the visitors a formal greeting. After returning the salutes of Boyce and Rosepetal, he said, “Welcome to you and your mate, Captain Path. I’m sure Admiral Kline has impressed upon you how much we have been looking forward to cementing relationships between your civilization and ours, and the benefits that we can both acquire from that association. You may be pleased to know that Admiral Kline and the Pegasus have been assigned to pursue that goal for the duration, and hopefully help your ship find its way home again. Meanwhile, I am here to facilitate your meeting with the Federation Grand Council.” He paused to indicate the female bear morph who had been patiently standing beside the Rakshani. “This is Senator Barr. She has been responsible for dealing with the Swarm situation since its inception, and now that you have become involved, she will be your intermediary with the Stellar Federation.” He stepped back to allow the senator to come forward.

Barr bent down to offer her broad hand to the ponies, and she shook hooves with both of them. “On behalf of the Stellar Federation, I welcome you to Earth. The Grand Council is looking forward to meeting with you. I must say that you have caused quite a stir among the normally staid Senate. Frankly, a large portion still does not believe in this magic of yours.”

Wandering chuckled. “Having experienced the reactions that we got on Chakona, I can well understand what you mean. Nevertheless, whether they believe or not, I hope that we can start forging some strong alliances.”

“Yes, that is our hope. Anyway, to start with, I invite you to come down planetside to my office where we can work out the details of your meeting with the Grand Council, who will be in your party, and the security arrangements for all involved.”

“Certainly, Senator. Once we have done that, is it possible to grant my crew visiting rights to your world like we did on Chakona?” Wandering asked.

“Ah – the political situation on Earth is a lot more complicated than on Chakona. That planet has a single world government, while Earth is a union of many nations, some of which are a bit more… difficult, shall we say, than others to deal with. Nothing that can’t be sorted out, but I suggest that we wait until after the meeting with the Grand Council to try to arrange anything. Many members may be more amenable to persuasion after that.”

Wandering nodded. “I understand completely, Madame Senator. Equus is somewhat similar, with a mixture of races and cultures, each of which with its own sensitivities.”

“Good. Now if you will accompany me to the transporter station, we can make our way to my workplace.”

“With respect, Senator, we decline to use your transporter devices.” Before the bear morph could object, Wandering continued, “We do have an alternative – we can teleport there.”

Barr frowned in puzzlement. “While I don’t object to that, how do you intend to find your way?”

Starry spoke up as she levitated an object from her saddle pack. “This is a mana beacon. Just take it to the place that you wish us to arrive at, and we can lock onto it for teleportation purposes.”

Barr looked at the device as it settled into her hand. “I see. Would I be able to teleport along with you?”

“That’s within our means, yes.”

Barr nodded and beckoned to her aide who had been quietly standing in the background. The man stepped up and took the beacon from Barr as she said, “Take this to the foyer of the Senate Building and contact me when you’re there.”

“Yes, Ms. Barr,” he replied and then turned to head off to the transporter station.

The bear turned back to the alicorns. “Are you sure that your beacon will function properly after going through the Transporter?”

Starry replied, “I had to redesign it to compensate for molecular disassembly and recompilation, but it has been tested and will work as specified.”

“Excellent. May we keep it as a permanent beacon for the Senate?”

“Aren’t you concerned about security?”

“For starters, the Federation already has teleporters who could bypass security if they wanted to, and I suspect that you could too. At least this way we can guide new visitors to a suitable arrival point, and in the worst case, we could destroy it.”

They were not kept waiting long before the senator’s aide called in. At that point, Admiral Tirarsk said, “It was a pleasure to meet you both, and I look forward to talking with you again in the near future. I leave you in the Senator’s capable hands. Farewell, Captain Path, Lieutenant Commander Path.”

The alicorns said farewell and Starry lit up her horn. Moments later, they and the senator stood in the airy foyer of the Senate Building. Like all such edifices, it was large and impressive, decorated to please the eyes of visitors. They had materialized near a security checkpoint beyond which the general public was not allowed, and Barr stepped up to the guard’s desk.

“These are the guests that I informed you that I would be bringing back,” she said even as biometric devices confirmed her identity.

The guard eyed the two alicorns curiously before nodding. “Yes, ma’am. I have their passes right here.” He held up two I.D. cards with clips. If your guests will step forward for biometric scans to link with their passes, we can have you on your way through promptly.”

Wandering stepped up to the scanning machine and placed his hoof on a sensor plate. He then stated his name when instructed to do so, and then he was handed his new I.D. card which he clipped to his uniform. Starry followed suit, and then they all proceeded through the security checkpoint.

“What happens if we don’t have one of these cards and we try to go through?” Starry asked.

“A force-field would block you,” Barr replied.

“What about teleporters?”

“Admittedly they are nearly impossible to block, but without I.D. tags such as those you were given coupled with a dynamic permissions list, they would immediately trigger an alarm, and guards would quickly swarm them.”

“Ah! So if I teleported back in here later, I would get a nasty surprise,” Starry said with a grin.

The senator smiled back. “Precisely.”

They were led to the bear morph’s office, encountering various other senators and their staff along the way, and garnering mixed responses. Most were genuinely curious and fascinated by the strange sight though. They entered Barr’s outer office where the aide stopped, but the others were ushered into the inner office and invited to make themselves comfortable. The senator offered the ponies refreshments before settling down in the heavy-duty chair designed for burly morphs like herself.

“Now – let’s get down to business…”

The Stellar Federation Grand Senate gathered in the huge auditorium. Every race had all their representatives there for this once-in-a-lifetime event. While some of those gathered here this day had been around to welcome the Faleshkarti into the Federation, none had encountered representatives of an entire world of magical beings before. While some wondered how this would affect the Federation beyond help against the Swarm, others were drawn by pure curiosity, not the least of which were the Terran representatives who were fascinated by the comparisons with creatures of legend from Earth’s past.

The Speaker of the House, a female Caitian, pressed a button in front of her, and the deep notes of a tolling bell sounded throughout the auditorium. By the third stroke, the room had become silent. She stood up and said, “This special session of the Federation Senate is now open. We are gathered today to be addressed by representatives of the newly discovered world of Equus. I call upon Captain Wandering Path to take the stand.”

Having learned a lesson from the impromptu performance on Chakona, rather than just walk up to the podium from the wings, Wandering teleported several meters above it and flew in a lazy circle down to land just behind the stand. As intended, this caused quite a stir, and he folded his wings and waited until the murmuring died down. When the room was quiet once more, he began his speech.

“Gentlebeings of the Stellar Federation, as the appointed envoy of the world of Equus, I bring you greetings on behalf of the many races of our planet. I know that you are curious about us, and with this in mind, I wish to introduce you to a number of my crewmates from our ship, the Cosmic Lotus. I am an alicorn, a subspecies of the pony race. Others include unicorns as represented by Random Dawn, pegasi such as Epic Prose, earth ponies such as Emerald Green, thestrals as represented by Shadowcry, and crystal ponies such as Albite Feldspar.”

The named ponies walked up to the podium as they were announced and stood quietly gazing at the audience. They had been chosen by lottery from among those who had expressed interest in being at the presentation, and they took the opportunity to indulge their own curiosity.

Wandering continued with his speech. “While ponies are one of the major races of Equus, we are far from the only one. Some of our closest allies include the griffons such as Brimstone, changelings represented by Steam Shift, zebras such as Skye Path, diamond dogs such as Rockjaw, minotaurs like Steel Grip, and last but far from least, dragons such as Eon Path.”

The audience spontaneously applauded the crew representatives who grinned and lapped up the attention; in the case of Steam Shift, this was quite literally.

“These and so many other races not on our ship represent a world united in Harmony and vision for our future. The Cosmic Lotus represents that spirit in our quest to learn more about our universe and to meet others who may share that vision. It was with great wonder and delight that we encountered your Federation after travelling so far from our home, and while we had our initial difficulties, we quickly found common ground. We have come to learn, but we have found that we also need to teach. Ours is a universe filled with magic as well as science, and together we can do so much more.”

Wandering paused for a moment and his expression grew more serious. “However, we have seen how the Federation is threatened by a monstrous race that appears to be inimical to all other sapient species. You have reached out to us for help, and we have listened. The Cosmic Lotus project was started by House Path, a family-led institution that trains warrior-scholars sworn to defend those in need. The Swarm poses a threat to your worlds and perhaps to ours as well, but only we have the means of countering their greatest weapon. We will work with you to neutralize their threat and bring peace and harmony back to your worlds.”

The alicorn had to pause as cheers and applause broke out among the representatives. As it died down, he continued. “My friends, today we start on a journey of mutual discovery. Not everything that we discover about each other will be wonderful, but it is an opportunity for both of us to grow and learn. You have welcomed us into your world, and we look forward to welcoming you into ours. We may have come from a world of magic, but the magic of friendship is truly universal. Thank you for making our world that much bigger.”

Wandering then stepped back from the podium and the crowd started cheering loudly. The Speaker allowed it to continue for a short while before calling for order. She thanked Wandering and the rest for appearing before the council and then called on one of the representatives who wished to make a speech in return. While the rest of the crew got to escape, the alicorn settled in to endure a long series of speeches from each of the member worlds. It had been many years since he had needed to practice patience under these circumstances, but he soon remembered that it never got any easier.

Wandering eventually got to join his shipmates elsewhere in the building. A room had been prepared with snacks and beverages, and they mingled with members of the diplomatic corps and assistants to the senators while they waited for the speeches to end. The crowd grew as those senators joined them, many eager to have a chat with Wandering or one of the crew. It seemed a wonderful icebreaker as the two sides got to be better acquainted before the formal talks began in earnest. Thankfully, Wandering did not have to be a part of that. He was just the face of the pioneering spirit of Equus and as the one who had made First Contact with the Federation, the person who represented his world best to the curious peoples of the interstellar union. After this, both sides would settle into formal negotiations with experienced ambassadors and their staff. Today though, it was all smiles and light conversation.

“Foul demon!”

Wandering’s ears pricked up and his head swiveled to the source of that loud outburst. His eyes landed upon a male human who held an object in front of him, practically in the face of a very startled Steam Shift. The changeling seemed to be trembling and the alicorn used his network connection to discover why. He was immediately glad that he could not taste emotions like a changeling could because Shift was being flooded with feelings of revulsion and hatred from this one man. Wandering immediately started trotting in their direction.

“I am not a d-demon, s-sir,” Steam Shift stuttered a little as he tried to shrink away from the livid human.

“Do not deny what is obvious to one of the Faith! You may have cast your spell over everyone else, but my eyes are clear. Your aspect is that of one of the minions of Hell, and I cast thee out!” The man appeared to start to strike Steam Shift with the wooden device in his hand, only to have it halted by the glow of Wandering’s magic.

The alicorn interposed himself between the man and his shivering crew member. “What do you think you are doing, sir?!” he asked forcefully.

The man’s fierce gaze shifted to the alicorn. “You profess to using magic, do you not?”

“Of course,” Wandering replied, wondering what that had to do with the situation.

The man cast his gaze around the room at the other senators in triumphant vindication. “You hear that? He confesses his use of the Dark Arts and he associates with demons! Do not get beguiled by their deceitful words as they will lead you on the path of damnation!”

“What in the name of Harmony are you talking about?” Wandering asked with a perplexed expression on his face.

“Do not seek to ensnare me in your honeyed words, warlock! God has commanded that we do not suffer those of your kind to live, and you and your demonic horde shall be repelled by those of the true Faith!”

“Senator O’Hara, I require that you leave this meeting at once,” came a familiar stern voice from beside Wandering.

The stallion looked around to see Boyce with a thunderous look on his face, accompanied by Sergeant Harrakar. The Rakshani had his hand on his sidearm, but although he had not drawn the weapon, it was evident that he was prepared to use it if necessary.

O’Hara turned to Boyce and scowled. “Admiral Kline! I am not surprised that one who dallies with those not of his species would defend such as these when instead you should be locking them away from the good people of Earth.”

“You have said quite enough, Senator. Harrakar will escort you out now. I suggest that you cooperate as my sergeant is not known for his patience with racist fools.”

The senator seemed almost ready to refuse, but the nearly eight-foot-tall felinoid was enough to intimidate even the most belligerent of humans. Even so, O’Hara did not leave quietly. He continued to rant even as Harrakar’s hand tightened on his shoulder to forcefully guide him out of the room.

“What was that all about, Boyce?” Wandering asked as the hushed room slowly began to fill with conversation once more.

“Senator O’Hara represents the Holy Christian Kingdom of North America, a small nation on Earth. They have some extreme and prejudiced views based on religion.”

“So that rant was all about religion? Why would he turn on us like that though? How have we offended him?”

“It’s more a case of them using religion as an excuse for being bigoted and masking hatred. O’Hara just happens to be one of the worst fundamentalists, and he has taken your use of magic and the appearance of some of your crew as signs of evil. Don’t listen to him though. I am a Christian, but despite the name of the nation he represents, their values are as far from true Christianity as they can get.”

“Why do you allow him to spread his disharmony then?”

“We have no choice. To be part of the Stellar Federation, a world must be represented by a single world government, with all the nations agreeing to abide by the rulings of the Senate. The United Nations Terran World Government has to accept senators from the HCKNA to conform to this rule, and as much as we would prefer otherwise, we cannot expel them for their behavior. Their representatives take advantage of that situation to press their own agendas, but fortunately, they are almost always outnumbered. We cannot prevent incidents like this from occurring though; we can only prepare for their near inevitability.”

“That seems so much worse than it was like on Chakona.”

Boyce nodded. “I would like to say that this is an isolated situation, but there have been problems with other fanatical groups as well. It’s the major reason why Goldfur made the decision to move the family to Chakona.”

“It seems that the Swarm isn’t the only threat to your civilization.”

The human sighed. “I’d love to argue with you about that, but I fear you may be right. Maybe your world can help with that too.”

Wandering gave Boyce an empathetic look. “On my world, Princess Celestia spent a millennium bringing peace to Equestria, and House Path another century building on its work to help unite the races of Equus. It may take some time, but we would be willing to do our part.” The stallion paused and then smiled with a touch of chagrin. “Of course, that is not for me to decide. However, I’m sure our ambassador and her team will be of a similar viewpoint.”

Boyce nodded. “I’m not expecting miracles, Wandering. I just choose to be optimistic.”

“I suppose that’s for the best. Right now though, I had better check with Steam Shift to see if he’s okay.”

The changeling had already gotten support from his other crewmates though, and the overwhelmingly positive mood in the room had restored the emotivore’s equilibrium. Steam Shift adjusted his trademark blue scarf and started responding to the concerned questions of the other senators, so Wandering went back to schmoozing with their hosts.

“So, when will my crew get to go on shore leave, Mister Shepherd?” Wandering asked the Terran bureaucrat. “On Chakona, the Prime Minister handed out visas to all of us as soon as we arrived.”

“This is Earth, not Chakona,” the canine morph replied sourly. “We have stricter rules and requirements. Everyone must go through the same procedure, and that takes time.”

Wandering Path fumed. He had encountered obstinate bureaucracy on Equus during his years of travelling around the world, but these Terrans seemed to have raised it to an art form. Aside from the special event at the Senate, no one from the Cosmic Lotus had been allowed to visit the planet yet besides himself as designated envoy. When Destined had arrived, bringing with him the Equian ambassador appointed to the Stellar Federation, they were both kept waiting an extraordinary amount of time verifying their credentials. Apparently, Wandering had been spared that fate due to Boyce’s foresight in arranging most things beforehand, but that had only applied to the special event. Now his crew wanted to enjoy exploring a new world, but none had yet to be given clearance.

“How long before we get those visas?”

“No more than three business days, Captain Path. Of course, tomorrow is Saturday, so please take the weekend into account.”

“Five days?! Are you kidding me?!” Wandering shouted. “You were instructed to expedite these things for us, not take a holiday in between receiving our information and giving us our visas.”

The dog frowned. “We are expediting them. Normal procedures require up to twenty-one days.”

Wandering blinked in the stunned realization that the bureaucrat was perfectly serious in his assertion that they were working on the applications exceptionally fast. In the face of such obstinate adherence to procedure, there was little that he could do. He sighed before asking, “Can I show you something, Mister Shepherd?”

Shepherd looked puzzled. “I suppose so, but it won’t affect the handling of your applications.”

Wandering smiled thinly. “We shall see.” His horn lit up and he teleported them both out of the office.

Shepherd was held up by Wandering’s magic until he could assume a standing position after being taken from his seat. Then he froze in shock as he saw what was outside the window of the starship that he now stood inside. A few hundred kilometers below them was the ocean with clouds scudding across the sky. The coastline of Africa was just approaching, and so was the night sky.

“You… you kidnapped me!” Shepherd gasped.

“No, I asked if I could show you something and you said ‘yes’. I’ll take you back momentarily, but I wanted you to see things from our perspective. We travelled for years in space to reach Chakona and we spent our first time on a planet in over a decade for a mere two weeks there. We would have loved to have stayed for far longer, but our responsibilities brought us here to Earth. Now that we have arrived, we all long to spend more time under open skies.” Wandering gestured behind him, and Shepherd turned to see a plain corridor leading away from the observation room. “That was our view for over ten years. We may be hardy explorers, but even we need to feel the freedom of unfettered access to a friendly world after all this time. We need to rest and recreate, and seeing your world just outside the window and knowing that it’s within easy reach is sheer torture as we are kept waiting. Can’t you understand how we feel?”

Shepherd fidgeted and would not meet Wandering’s eyes. “I wouldn’t know – I’ve never left my country before, let alone Earth.”

“Then let me ask you this – how would you feel if you asked me to take you back to your office right this moment, but I told you that I happily would do so, but only after you submitted a travel permission form which will take five days to process?”

“I thought you said you haven’t kidnapped me?”

Wandering shrugged. “Don’t blame me for the bureaucracy that holds things up.”

Shepherd was quiet for a long time before he said at last. “You have made your point. May we return now?”

The alicorn nodded and teleported them back to Shepherd’s office. The dog morph promptly sat down at his desk and started tapping on his computer’s keyboard. Without looking up, he said, “Your applications have been submitted. You may go now. Your visas will be forwarded upon completion of processing.”

The alicorn sighed. “Goodbye, Mister Shepherd.”

“Enjoy your visit, Captain Path.”

Wandering teleported back to his stateroom and found Starry there already.

“How did it go?” the mare asked.

“Not good. We’re probably stuck up here for five days except for any special events like yesterday.”

Starry’s ears drooped. “That sucks.”

“I tried my best. Maybe I should try to get Star Fleet to exert some pressure on our behalf?”

“Didn’t Boyce already say that there’s a limit to what they can do? Their authority is mostly off-world.”

“Yeah. I’m not optimistic.”

“At least a couple of the crew aren’t in too much of a hurry. Techbird has finished the computer interface that translates between Federation protocols and our own. It’s working really well and she’s been raiding the Terran internet ever since for data. Radiance Point has been taking advantage of that too.”

“To each their own. Too bad I can’t give the rest of the crew any good news. I’ll break it to them after dinner.”

Wandering spent most of the rest of the day either in his office or on the bridge to avoid unwanted questions. Nevertheless, dinnertime came around quicker than he preferred, and he reluctantly headed to the mess hall in the company of Starry to give him support. At least the crew let him eat in peace before pestering him with questions. Inevitably the moment came when Random Dawn came over to inquire about the status of shore leave as there were several crew members who could do with another break soon. Wandering was about to reply when his personal comm beeped with a message. He read it and a grin slowly spread on his face. He got up and walked over to the stage before turning to look at the room full of expectant faces.

“My fellow crewmates, pack your bags – you’re going on holiday as of tomorrow!”

While Wandering was happy that Shepherd had apparently bypassed the usual channels to process the visas, the alicorn was careful to quickly and thoroughly provide the few extra details that the dog morph had requested in his follow-up message. Then he was kept busy with his crew’s shore leave applications. Unlike at Chakona, he had to keep a skeleton crew in reserve, so he had to defer a couple of the requests. Those would get compensation later, but for now, those who needed it most got priority. At least with Techbird, Galena, and Radiance Point willingly remaining aboard for now, that simplified things a lot.

He and Starry got an invitation to meet Forestwalker and Goldfur’s parents, and they joined Boyce and his wives at a gathering at their family home in Australia. Chakats Longstripe and Desertsand were curious to meet the ponies that their daughters had told them about, and Boyce was a beloved son-in-law who never failed to drop by when he visited Earth. Both stallion and mare were delighted to accept an offer to show them around the local national forest that Forestwalker had spent much of hir life exploring, earning hir adult name.

Duty called for Boyce, and he and the Pegasus were gone the next day, but the crew of the Cosmic Lotus enjoyed themselves in various ways. Some took the opportunity to pursue the professions or hobbies that they could not use aboard the starship, such as Ortzi. While Helen had to leave with hir ship, the griffon pursued his interest in geology. Some of his friends travelled with him, partly out of similar interests and partly as an excuse to hike around and see something of this new world.

Some pegasi nearly accidentally caused an incident when a passing aircar driver was severely distracted by the sight of them having an impromptu hoofball game on a cloud that they had pushed into shape for the purpose. The authorities politely asked them to find a more appropriate location for their fun, closely followed by some entrepreneurs who wanted to sign them up for Earth’s first ever aerial sport that did not involve a machine of some kind, or even a parachute. Considering the ratings that the news of the incident had gotten, people were already counting the dollars.

As the only alicorn capable of teleporting the extreme distance from Equus to Earth, Destined was kept busy ferrying people back and forth and was appointed his world’s primary representative. He still left the main burden of negotiations with the Federation Special Council to the expert ambassador, although he took back the results of the day’s discussions to Equus for debate by the World Council. As such things go, weeks went by while the Lotus awaited the results.

Nearly six weeks had passed before Wandering got a call from the Pegasus one morning.

Boyce’s smiling face filled the screen. “Good morning, Captain Path. I have some exciting news for you.”

“Oh? What would that be, Admiral?”

“We’ve been hosting a team of scientists who have been investigating the wormhole through which you passed, and the six moonlets in particular. Do you recall the markings on them?”

“The runes? Sure.”

“We know what they are. The scientists are kicking themselves for not identifying them sooner. However, they never expected to find anything like them way out in the Chakastra system.”

“Well? Don’t keep me in suspense – what are they?”

“They’re of Terran origin – Celtic runes to be precise, dating back to the age of myths and legends. My friend, we may be on the verge of discovering why there are so many similarities between our two cultures.”

Wandering blinked in stunned surprise. Techbird was going to freak out when she heard about this!

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

My apologies for the lack of an illustration this chapter. Foxena knocked back a commission of my chosen scene, and it's too late to get another artist to do it.

Thanks as always to Airy Words for pre-reading the chapter and finding the silly mistakes that I make.

Going Back

Techbird Sunbeak was one happy crystal griffon. Progress on researching her Question had been both amazing and frustrating. On the one claw, she now had access to a vast quantity of knowledge heretofore unknown. On the other though, she was swamped with too much information to easily process in spite of all the assistance from Galena and the changeling network. Now that they had gotten a clue from the Federation research team, she was able to focus her efforts on a more specific era and area. The network quickly accessed everything that was known about Celtic runes and one thing became immediately apparent – the message in a bottle that she had been given years ago by the Starswirl apparition was written in those self-same runes. Translating it became the top priority.

‘The tree did not last as long as Nimue thought.’

Techbird stared at the words but still did not comprehend their meaning. She sighed. “I should have suspected that the old mage would be obscure,” she murmured irritably. More research was called for, but perhaps with the assistance of a Terran expert in such things. As remarkable as the changeling gestalt was, it struggled with so much unfamiliar data. While it might have been able to puzzle out the significance of the message eventually, the griffoness decided that a scholar with a broad knowledge of the subjects she was researching could speed things up, and so she put out the call for assistance.

Wandering Path forwarded her request to the Federation liaison who promised to find Techbird the required help. Meanwhile, he had gotten a different request from the engineers on his ship to join the Pegasus in its investigation of the wormhole. Naturally, this was spearheaded by Radiance Point.

“You do realize what this means, don’t you, Captain?” Point had asked as soon as he had heard about the runes.

“Why don’t you tell me,” Wandering had replied in a tone humoring the excited unicorn.

“It means that it’s a product of thaumaturgy which is not within the Federation’s capabilities. That means that it had been waiting all this time for someone like us to find and use it again.”

Wandering arched an eyebrow. “Again?”

“Of course, again. All these similarities between Equus and Terra imply that many things, and perhaps many people once travelled from this side of the wormhole to the other. However, although knowledge of its use has been lost to the passage of time, it has been left in place for us to discover it again eventually. I believe that we were meant to find it when we were ready to deal with it and what lay on the other side. It’s our route between Equus and the rest of the universe!”

“And so…?”

“And so we need to be there to work out how to use our gateway to the stars. We need to join the Federation team and figure out how to use it safely.”

“You want us to fly through that thing once more?” Wandering asked a little bit incredulously. “You know better than anyone what it did to us last time.”

The unicorn nodded and waved a hoof dismissively. “Our problem was partly due to the lack of maneuvering capability, but mostly due to the damaged sail that was throwing us off course. I predict that if we approach the gateway in a properly controlled fashion, our passage through it would be safe and relatively smooth. But that’s why we need to be there; Federation scientists know nothing about the portal.”

“While you are drawn to it like a moth to a flame,” Wandering said with a chuckle. “Alright – I think we can indulge you there. Techbird wants to work planet-side with Galena to follow up on some strong leads for her research while Equian representatives are having talks with the Federation Council, which leaves most of us doing nothing but enjoying an extended shore leave. I think it’s time for the Cosmic Lotus to get back to work.”

Helen Baines shrieked as shi was chased down the beach by the mighty predator. If it was not for the giggles and taunts that shi threw over hir shoulder as shi teased the griffon pursuing hir, the other beachgoers may have been a lot more concerned about the catbird chasing his prey.

Ortzi Goldbeak was happier than at any other time in his life. In spite of their wildly different species, his betrothed was everything that he dreamed of in a mate – beautiful, strong, smart, and of a similar personality. They enjoyed doing everything together, and the past week of shore leave had been heaven. Shi had the strength of will and of body to deal with having a griffon for a mate, and shi understood how to be playful with one, hence the chase, the successful conclusion of which would be a reward for both of them.

A gliding tackle finally caught his quarry despite hir best attempts at dodging him, and they rolled together on the sand. They came to a stop with hir wrapped firmly in his forelegs, hir smiling face inches from his own.

“You caught me, so what are you going to do about it?” shi asked coyly.

“Now I’m going to eat you!” Ortzi replied, lowering his wicked beak to hir neck and starting to nibble on her neck.

Helen giggled and squirmed. “Ortzi! Everyone on the beach is watching us.”

“Tell them I’m not sharing,” he replied.

The rabbit morph laughed and gave him a kiss before softly digging hir fingers into his sides. The griffon squawked and started squirming but Helen persisted. Eventually, he gave up and released the bunny girl, rolling away from hir grasp.

“I’m sorry that you ever found out that I’m ticklish,” he grumbled. “You’re merciless!”

“A mate of a griffon must use all hir wiles,” shi replied smugly.

Ortzi was about to retort when a sound came out of the pouch that he was wearing. Grumbling about the interruption, he fished out his comm from the pouch. “Ortzi here.” … “Understood, Captain. What about Helen, sir?” … His expression brightened. “Yes, sir! Ortzi out.”

“What’s going on?” Helen asked.

“I’ve been recalled to the Cosmic Lotus.”

“Oh. I suppose it was inevitable though. We’ve had a good run but we knew it couldn’t last. What did Captain Path say about me?”

Ortzi grinned. “We’re going to join the Pegasus out at the wormhole, so you’re coming with me when we leave tomorrow.”

Helen cheered up when shi heard that, but then hir smile slipped a little. “You know that eventually we will be parted. Your ship will head off wherever, while I will have to resume my duties with Star Fleet.”

The griffon sighed and drew the rabbit morph closer to hug hir. “I’ve been thinking about that. I know that you can’t simply leave Star Fleet, but I’m a civilian. Now that the Lotus has reached its goal and Prince Destined can teleport us back to Equus, the crew have the option of leaving the ship. So I was wondering if I could live with you instead?”

Helen could not help but smile with joy. “You would do that? You would be leaving behind your family and your world for me. Life as the mate of a starship crewperson isn’t always easy.”

“Living without you would be even harder. I want to look into what I need to do to be part of the Pegasus’ crew so that I can be with you.”

Helen hugged the griffon fiercely. “There are plenty of precedents, Admiral Kline’s family not the least of them. We can do this – I know it!”

Ortzi wrapped a wing around hir. “You have conquered me, my warrior bunny. I am yours forever.”

Cosmic Lotus departed the next day for the return journey to the Chakastra system. The majority of the crew chose to remain with the ship, most stating that they considered their mission incomplete as yet. Some homesick individuals and a few whose family needed them for some reason or another had taken the offer of a lift back to Equus, although several indicated that they would like to resume duties at a later date if possible. Much to Techbird and Galena’s dismay, the majority of the changelings also travelled with the ship as they were necessary to the running of the vessel, leaving only a few of them available to work with the griffon and princess on Earth. Wandering realized that this would slow down their research, but the Cosmic Lotus had to be of paramount importance.

A few tweaks by the engineers under Radiance Point’s guidance had improved the efficiency of the hybrid set-up of the warp drive, and the starship managed to shave a day off the journey back. They made their way to directly rendezvous with the Pegasus, finding it accompanying a couple of research vessels. These were all parked at a cautious distance from the six moonlets that defined the portal. Wandering and the crew took some time to have a close look at the satellites, curious about their nature. When they had been ejected from the wormhole, they had not been in any condition to make observations of the objects, nor get very good images of them. Now though, they could see that they were identical to those found at the other end of the hole through space.

Wandering, Starry, and two passengers teleported aboard the Pegasus at the location that had been designated for such for all future visits. Happy to comply with this protocol and keep the Security Officer satisfied, the alicorns willingly complied, and they knew exactly where to go from that point. Helen parted ways with the others to report for duty while the remaining three went to join Admiral Kline and several other staff in one of the ship’s meetings rooms.

“Welcome back aboard, Captain Path and Lieutenant Commander Path,” Boyce greeted them, setting the tone for the meeting.

“Thank you, Admiral Kline,” Wandering replied. “I gather that you have made some progress in your studies of the wormhole?”

Boyce smiled. “You could say that, or you could also say that we have discovered how little we understand the nature of this particular one.”

“I thought the Federation was familiar with wormholes?”

“Define ‘familiar’. We are aware of naturally occurring ones which are so unstable that they very quickly collapse, and we know of the ones that can accidentally form due to an improperly created warp field. Those are also unstable, and any ship caught in one rarely survives. Then there is yours. It’s sitting there, stable as a rock, and probably has been since it was created. And there’s no doubt among any of the experts that it’s artificial.”

“That was our thought also. So I’m guessing that you realize that you need experts on thaumaturgy to assist your studies?”

The human nodded, a wry grimace on his face. “Got it in one. Let me introduce you to the scientist in charge of studying the wormhole.” He gestured to the skunktaur seated to his right. “This is Doctor Zara Harding of the Chakonan Institute of Science. The doctor is one of the Federation’s leading experts in astrophysics.”

The skunktaur nodded and said, “Thank you for the introduction, Admiral, and with all due respect to you, Captain Path, I believe that it’s your mate whose skills we are most in need of right now.”

Starry grinned. “That’s my specialty too, Doctor Harding, and I’m eager to find out what you have learned already, and in return help out with understanding the thaumaturgical aspects of the phenomenon.”

“I confess to having been skeptical as to the existence of thaumophysics, but I am not so boneheaded as to deny the existence of what is right in front of my eyes. I trust that you will tolerate my ignorance of such matters?”

“We’re both here to learn, Doctor. There is nothing to be ashamed of for not knowing something, only for refusing to accept the truth. My eyes were no less opened when we exited our tiny pocket of reality and burst upon this enormous universe of ours.”

“Indeed. And on that note, I gather that this is the expert that we requested?” Harding asked as he looked at the human that had accompanied Wandering and Starry.

Starry replied as she turned to face the woman by her side. “Yes. Let me introduce Bronwyn Jones, an expert in Celtic runes and folklore.”

The skunktaur said, “Thank you for coming, Ms. Jones. This is a unique situation that requires your particular talents.”

Bronwyn gave the skunktaur a tight smile and replied with a Welsh accent, “That’s what brought me out here, Doctor Harding. I believe that your project may shed some light on my own field of research, especially with these magic-using beings lending credence to certain myths and legends.”

“It’s an exciting time for science of many kinds, isn’t it? Let me introduce you and Starry to the rest of the team.”

The skunktaur named and gave the specialties of each of the others at the table. After that, Boyce and Wandering excused themselves from the meeting as the team immediately began discussing their studies of the gateway so far. As they left the room, Boyce offered refreshments to the visiting captain.

“Some of that delicious coffee of yours would be nice, Boyce.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Boyce replied as they headed for his stateroom. “How was your trip from Earth?”

“It went excellently. Radiance Point is smug beyond belief at his improvements upon the warp drive that he has already made. I think he has a brand new starship already half-built in his head.”

Boyce chuckled as they entered the translift and the doors closed behind them. “I’ve met people like him before. I’ve always found that it’s good to give them a very long leash and let them get on with their ideas. Remarkable things get achieved that way.”

“Preaching to the choir, my friend. He’s the heart and soul of Engineering, even though Commander Bluequill is technically his superior.”

“I gather Bluequill’s role tends more to restraining Point’s extravagances?”

“You got that right. Once in a while, Radiance needs to be reined in by a cooler head.”

They exited the translift and made their way to Boyce’s stateroom. The human made some coffee for his guest and himself, and they settled down comfortably to chat.

So – what’s the news?” Boyce asked.

Wandering took a sip of his coffee before replying. “Diplomatic bureaucracy still reigns, but our ambassadors and yours are slowly working on some agreements. I’ve been told that a visit to Equus is likely in the near future to have some first-hoof experience with what it’s like there, and have talks with some more of the world’s leaders.”

“Prince Destined Path would teleport them there?”

“Yes, although there’s some hope that a starship could take a large delegation to Equus instead.”

“How? We don’t know where exactly Equus is yet. Even your best estimates have a huge error factor.”

“Through the wormhole, of course.”

Boyce’s eyes widened and his eyebrows raised. “But we have barely started research on how it works!”

Wandering gave him a wry grin. “Starry pointed out that you don’t have to understand it to use it. Judging from our own experience, she reckons that it’s activated with a mana charge, and a little practical experimentation would determine how large a ship we could safely pass through it.”

“So you could at least take the Cosmic Lotus back home under warp and arrive in only a few days.”

“Yes, but if it could be made large enough, it could accommodate a bigger Federation ship too – maybe even the Pegasus.”

The Admiral’s gaze focused into the distance as that possibility caught his imagination. “I would dearly love to visit Equus.”

“And I’d love to show you around my homeworld. I’d like you to enjoy the hospitality of my family as much as we enjoyed yours.”

“I accept your invitation, and I hope I get the chance to take you up on it.” Boyce took a thoughtful swig of his brew before continuing. “Aside from wishful thinking, what else is happening?”

“I have a crew member who wants to join your ship.”

Boyce steepled his fingers and grinned. “Let me guess – it’s the griffon boyfriend of Lieutenant Baines – I forget his name.”

“Ortzi Goldbeak, and they’re serious about this.”

“I’m certain that they are, but it’s not as simple as that. While I can authorize a temporary arrangement, a long-term assignment involves a certain degree of protocol to be observed. Like Forestwalker did, Ortzi would have to undergo Star Fleet training even in a civilian capacity. That would take months during which the two would be separated. On top of that, there’s the fact that Equus is not yet officially allied with nor part of the Stellar Federation.”

Wandering sighed. “Bureaucracy again. One reason why I prefer to be a starship captain and away from that sort of thing.”

“Is that why you’re not a prince like your brother?”

The alicorn nodded. “I refused to be coronated. Equestria has enough rulers, and the current triarchy is both stable and well-liked.”

“Your nation’s government is most unusual. I’ve never heard of such a system before.”

“While having three heads of state is only a century and a half old, two worked for a lot longer previously. With the right ponies in power, the population is happy and satisfied.”

“Sounds like a utopia,” Boyce said skeptically before taking a swig of his coffee.

Wandering laughed. “Nothing is perfect, Boyce. We’ve had our share of troubles over the centuries, but House Path has worked hard to help make things better since its inception. We stand at a new crossroads now though with the Stellar Federation opening relationships with Equus, so hopefully, things won’t get too crazy.”

Starry gave Wandering an update on their progress that evening. Bronwyn had been of enormous help in deciphering the runes engraved upon the moonlets, but even she was puzzled by what it all meant.

“I’m going to call in Mama Twilight,” Starry said. “She has studied a lot of the old style magic, and she might be able to cast some light on the subject.”

“So you reckon that it’s going to take experts in two fields of study to figure out what those runes do?”

“Three, actually. One to interpret, one to tell what it’s supposed to do, and one to figure out how it does it.”

“Sounds like you have your work cut out for you.”

“Yes, but I was right about one thing earlier.”

Wandering arched an eyebrow. “Oh? What’s that?”

“We don’t need to understand it to use it. I’m confident that I’ve already identified the gross controls. It’s pretty much automatic, but if my suspicions are correct, one day we may be able to do a lot more than going from here to the other gateway.”

“What do you mean?”

Starry smiled excitedly. “What would you think about a gateway to the stars? Any star! It would make warp drive virtually obsolete.”

“What did your fellow researchers think of that idea?”

“Some degree of skepticism, but it’s early days yet.”

“Takes some fun out of exploring, doesn’t it?”

Starry poked her mate with a hoof. “Since when is the exciting stuff in the travel? It’s the destination that’s the goal of people like us. We want to explore worlds, not the void between star systems.”

Wandering grinned. “I was beginning to wonder if you were losing sight of that. I have already begun considering what goal to pursue when this mission winds up.”

“But first we need to deal with the Swarm,” Starry reminded him.

The stallion sighed. “Yes, we do. But damned if I can think of how just yet.”

Twilight was in scholarly heaven. She had seen the runes that had been in the video received back on Equus, but it had been far from comprehensive, and the resolution was dreadfully inadequate. Here aboard the Pegasus though, she had access to so much equipment and a good platform from which to observe. In just two days, she already had enough material to write a book on the subject of rune-magic-controlled stable wormholes. Her fellow researchers were infected with Twilight’s excitement.

“Have you figured out that many of its secrets already?” Doctor Harding asked.

“What? Oh, no. I mean we have years of study ahead of us. Isn’t it wonderful?” she asked.

Harding facepalmed. “Starry warned me that you were a nerd. I thought she was exaggerating. ‘Nobody could be that excited about so much grueling research,’ I said.”

Twilight shrugged apologetically. “Sorry, but as the Alicorn of Magic, I live for this kind of thing. Rune magic hasn’t been used on Equus since the time of Starswirl the Bearded, but it’s evident that it’s a powerful and durable form of magic, and we need to recover this lost art and record it for posterity.”

“Have you at least discovered how to control it?”

“Oh, that? Sure. Here are my notes on it.” Twilight telekinetically passed a sheet of notepaper to the skunktaur.

Harding glanced at the almost illegible scrawls upon the paper and sighed. “One of the most powerful and intelligent beings in existence, and she can’t write to save her life,” hy muttered to hymself. “Didn’t we provide you with one of our PADDs?”

“Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer quill and paper.” Twilight then turned her attention back to the work that so fascinated her.

Harding left to find Starry. Perhaps she could interpret her herd-mother’s notes.

“We’re going home!”

Caught by surprise by Starry’s sudden entrance, Wandering’s mental gears spun wildly for a moment before they re-engaged. “What are you talking about, Starry?”

“Mama Twilight has identified the basic control mechanism. It’s basically foolproof. Just aim a beam of magic at the moonlet marked with the rune of Motion and that activates the gateway. Then you feed it with raw mana to open it up – the more mana, the bigger it opens.”

“How did we activate it coming from Equus?”

“Simple! Our navigation scans were sufficient to activate it and the misfired light bomb released its load of mana to supply the required energy. If it had been fed another burst or two, we might have slipped through without all the drama that we had.”

“Nice to know that in hindsight. So, now that we know how to use the portal, you want to go home?”

“Actually, the Federation wanted to send its diplomatic team as soon as possible, so now that we’re sure that we can control it, even if we don’t yet understand how it works, they have dispatched a team to Chakastra already. They’ll be here in less than two days, I’m told. Such a fast ship! Anyway, the Cosmic Lotus will provide the mana to open up the portal big enough for us, the diplomatic envoy, and the Pegasus to go through. Then we head home. Forty-two light-years are nothing compared to the round trip that we just did between here and Earth.”

“Why is a huge warship like the Pegasus coming along?”

“Military escort, I suppose. Or stallions showing off who has the biggest dick. I don’t know – I’m not a diplomat.”

Wandering grimaced. “I had better tell Boyce to remind the diplomats that it took just a few alicorns to accelerate a starship to nearly the speed of light. Think what that power could do to even a ship as big as the Pegasus.”

Starry giggled. “The Federation wants an ally that can fight an enemy that it hasn’t been able to turn back by itself, so it had better accept the fact that it isn’t the big fish in the pond anymore.”

With only passive scans running so as not to prematurely activate the portal, the Cosmic Lotus cautiously approached the six moonlets and then came to a halt at a predetermined distance.

Wandering nodded to Playbitz. “Send the activation pulse.”

The pegasus executed the order, and moments later the runes on the target moonlet lit up, quickly followed by the two moonlets nearest to the first, then the next two, and then the final one.

Gravitic attraction has begun, Captain,” Playbitz reported.

“Ready mana burst,” Wandering spoke into the comm.

“Mana burst ready, Captain,” Radiance Point’s voice came back.

“Fire mana burst.”

The screen showed a huge ball of raw mana hurtling toward its target. As it was about to pass between the six moonlets, it released its full energy into the array. Each node pulsed with light and long, thick streams of energy linked them just as they had done in their first encounter. The tunnel effect rapidly grew as the moonlets moved further apart, but this time far larger than it had when the Cosmic Lotus had first passed through. The mana burst had hopefully been calibrated correctly to accommodate the huge mass and size of the Pegasus, and they watched the wormhole grow until its maw was gigantic.

When it finally stopped growing, Playbitz announced, “Portal within 2% of the projected size and well within the desired safety margin. We can proceed, Captain.”

“Engage impulse power. Take us through, Mister Playbitz.”

“Aye, sir.”

The Cosmic Lotus cautiously entered the center of the wormhole with scarcely any turbulence. It was closely followed by the Pegasus on the assumption that the portal might shut down after the Cosmic Lotus exited if there wasn’t another ship inside it still.

Wandering was able to appreciate the journey far more than their first terrifying transit through it. With their ship under full control and no sail threatening to tear them apart, the passage through the wormhole was both exciting and beautiful. It seemed that next to no time passed before they shot out the other end of the portal, with the Federation vessel close behind. The rear video monitors showed the gateway shutting down as soon as the Pegasus was clear. Their navigation system then locked onto their target star – Celestia’s sun.

“Engage warp drive, Mister Playbitz. Let’s go home.”

With a smile a mile wide on his face, the pegasus replied, “With pleasure, Captain!” He activated the pre-set flight plan and the Cosmic Lotus leapt into hyperspace.

Bluequill said, “Do you have the feeling that we’re bringing enormous change to Equus, Captain?”

Wandering nodded. “For better or for worse, our world is never going to be the same.”

Author's Note

So now the Federation is coming to Equus. I wonder how the Equians will feel about that?

BTW, if you have been enjoying this story and have yet to hit the thumbs-up button, I would appreciate it getting a little love.

Image of the Cosmic Lotus with warp drives created by EquesTRON.

Art by Foxenawolf

Pre-reading thanks to Airy Words.

Diplomatic Relations

The Cosmic Lotus dropped out of warp at a comfortable distance from its world of origin. Although space travel had been common at the time of its departure, traffic had increased during their nearly forty-three-year absence, and Wandering did not want to cause an incident. He did, however, want to do one thing that had been on his mind since Boyce had done it months ago. He activated the comm system with a smile.

“Cosmic Lotus to Pegasus – welcome to Equus, Admiral.”

An answer soon came back. “Thank you, Captain. You have a beautiful world, and I look forward to visiting it.”

“You will get that opportunity soon. Cosmic Lotus out.” Wandering then switched to another frequency. “Cosmic Lotus to Equus Space Traffic Control.”

“Equus Space Traffic Control – welcome back, Cosmic Lotus.”

“Thanks, Equus. We request a parking orbit, please.”

“Submit your flight plan now, Cosmic Lotus.”

Wandering nodded at Playbitz who then pressed the key that transmitted the flight plan to ESTC. They waited while the plan was analyzed by their computer to check that there were no conflicts with other vessels, and they quickly gave a response.

“ESTC to Cosmic Lotus – your flight plan is approved. We note that you have also submitted on behalf of the Stellar Federation ship. While normally this would not be acceptable, we cannot expect them to know our procedures here yet. Responsibility for their ship is therefore yours. Please advise them not to deviate from the submitted plan for any reason. Also, ESTC expects them to familiarize themselves with procedures before they depart once more, and pass them onto any further visiting ships.”

“Sounds like you’ve been anticipating this problem, Equus.”

There was a chuckle before the reply came. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for weeks, Captain.”

Wandering grinned even though the controller could not see it. “I know exactly how you feel, Control. Cosmic Lotus out.” The stallion then switched back to the Pegasus. “We’re good to go, Admiral. Equus Control asked me to remind you not to deviate from our planned course, but you knew that already.”

“Understood, Captain. Lead on. Pegasus out.”

The alicorn then nodded to Playbitz and the pegasus engaged the impulse engines.

A short time later, the Cosmic Lotus came to a relative stop at its assigned parking orbit, with the Pegasus in the same orbit but five hundred meters away. Wandering wondered what the other crews of the spaceships plying the lanes between Equus and its moon were saying about the enormous Federation ship. Even after all these years, Equus had nothing close to it in size. Not that any such ship had been needed before this. How many spaceships were big enough to carry other ships within it, such as the ambassador’s swift vessel?

Wandering punched the intercom button. “Attention all crew! Cosmic Lotus is home! We are now in parking orbit above Equus. Begin shutdown of all non-required systems. Crew members who are scheduled to go ashore in one hour, please ensure your prompt arrival at the rendezvous point in the common room. We will be teleporting down promptly, and anyone not there will have to wait until the next scheduled teleport. That won’t be until tomorrow, so I suggest that you arrive early.”

Bluequill reported, “Warp engines shut down. Impulse engines offline. Power feed from mini-star to engines shut down. Engineering station-keeping systems on standby.”

Playbitz spoke up. “Navigation equipment stowed and station-keeping systems on automatic. I request to be relieved, Captain.”

Wandering nodded. “Go ahead, Playbitz. See you in the common room soon.”

The pegasus thanked him and headed off the bridge. He was eager to see family and friends after being gone so long. Over forty-two years had passed since he had left, however, and he wondered if time had taken its toll on them.

“Incoming call from House Path,” Gizmo Gears announced.

“Put it through to the main screen, Gizmo.”

The big monitor changed from the view of the planet below to that of Twilight Sparkle with Long Path and Free Agent standing behind her. The alicorn’s face lit up with delight.

“Wandering! You’re a little earlier than we had hoped. I trust you had a good journey from the Federation?”

“Yes, Mom. Everything went very smoothly, and the new spells protecting the comms and beacons from the stresses of the wormhole worked perfectly. Starry and I will be teleporting down with our guests in an hour. We can tell you all about it then.”

“That’s wonderful, son. We have planned a special feast just for you and invited a few people over for an informal gathering. We want you to relax and unwind before the formalities scheduled for tomorrow.”

“We’ll be looking forward to it. I hope you’re ready for Boyce’s family too.”

The purple alicorn giggled. “After Goldfur’s impromptu visit, I think we’re ready for anything.”

Wandering chuckled. “Yeah, you probably are. See you and dads soon.” He waved to them all before disconnecting the line. He then said to Gizmo, “Shut down all non-essential systems. Then you may depart as soon as the watch officer arrives.”

“Aye, Captain.”

The alicorn then turned to his second-in-command. “Well, Commander, we’re home at last. Cosmic Lotus has fulfilled its mission, and it’s time to reap the rewards of a job well done. You are relieved, Mister Bluequill.”

The griffon gave Wandering one of his rare salutes. “It has been an honor and a privilege serving with you on this mission, Captain.”

“Don’t be a stranger, Galen.”

Bluequill nodded. “We will meet again, sir.” He then left the bridge just before a changeling crewmember arrived.

“Officer of the Watch reporting, sir,” the changeling said.

“Standby to relieve Gizmo Gears, Fornax,” Wandering replied.

Gizmo said, “Non-essential systems shutdown complete, sir..”

“You are relieved, Gizmo.”

The unicorn got up from his station. “I’m going to miss this, Captain.”

“This voyage may be complete, but I’m sure that we’ll be going on others. Perhaps we’ll serve together again.”

“I hope so, sir.”

Gizmo then left and Fornax took his place at the station.

“You have the bridge, Fornax.”

“Aye, sir. Enjoy your trip home.”

Wandering smiled. “Home. Even now, I find it amazing that we’re home so soon. Carry on.”

The alicorn left the bridge and headed for his and Starry’s room. He found her still packing her things but she had started on his stuff too. He gave her a kiss and she smiled and returned it before continuing her task. He joined her and they packed in silence. It was a bittersweet moment for them both. They were returning crowned with the glory of huge success, but it marked the end of an enormous part of their lives, and neither of them knew yet what the future would hold for them.

Starry and Wandering finished teleporting the crew members down to various parts of the planet before making their final stop on board the Pegasus. They found Boyce, Rosepetal, Forestwalker, Midnight, and M’Lai waiting for them at the designated teleportation point, ready to depart immediately.

“Before we teleport down,” Wandering said to Boyce, “I want to remind you of the effect that humans have on ponies for the first time. Those in our family have had a chance to get used to the feeling, but the same can’t be said for the general population of Ponyville, so we’ll be teleporting directly to Mom’s castle. Otherwise, I would have given you a quick look at our hometown before meeting up with the rest of the family.”

“I understand,” Boyce said.

“If you like, we might be able to fix you up with a spell to ameliorate that problem later,” Starry suggested.

“I’d like that,” the human replied.

“At least you won’t have as much of a problem when you visit our other home,” Wandering said. “House Path has its roots in Griffonia, and we spent half our lives there. Not quite so many ponies.”

Boyce chuckled. “I suppose not.”

Starry then did the honors and teleported everyone down to Ponyville. They materialized in the map room which they had prearranged to keep clear for a large group. The visitors were intrigued by the map, but they held their curiosity for the moment as they were led out to meet with the family. Out in the grand hallway, Twilight was waiting with Free Agent by her right side, and Long Path and Luna by her left. The purple alicorn’s face lit up and she rushed to hug her son. Free wrapped his wings around them both and welcomed Wandering home. Meanwhile, Luna and Path stepped up to do the same for Starry before both couples swapped around to treat their herd children a similar greeting. Only then did Twilight and her mates turn their attention to their guests. The chakats were positively beaming with the feel of the love and happiness that their empathic senses were experiencing, but the others were no less happy to witness the way Starry and Wandering had been welcomed home.

All of Boyce’s family had already met Twilight and Luna during their visit to the Pegasus, but Path and Free had yet to see their guests in person. They made a big deal of bidding them to feel at home and showed them to their quarters to dump their luggage before showing them around the rest of the castle. They were already impressed to realize that it was made entirely from crystal, but when they were told that it was a living thing that grew as needed, they were completely boggled. They met up with various others in the Path herd including Moonlit, Skye, and Eon who had been teleported down from the starship earlier, but they were soon introduced to every other member of the extended family. While they were close-knit, usually it was very difficult for everyone to be together at the same time. However, this was an extraordinary situation and virtually everyone had made it a point to be there that day.

Boyce finally got an opportunity to talk with Luna as the family gathered for dinner. “I must admit, Your Highness, that I had fully expected to spend the day facing massive crowds welcoming back the Cosmic Lotus crew, or stuffy ceremonies for the diplomatic team. Instead, I was told that my family and I were invited to dinner, and now we’re about to dine with royalty. It’s a little confounding.”

The Moon Princess giggled in a manner totally unacceptable for the Royal Court, but completely normal for when she relaxed with her herd. “First of all, please just call me Luna. This evening I am first and foremost a member of Herd Path and, oddly enough, the least senior among my co-mates. You will deal with the Princess in Canterlot tomorrow. Secondly, we can do no less than to treat you with as much hospitality as you showed our children when visiting your family on Chakona. And third – we were unsure of the exact time of your arrival, so it was more expedient to schedule formalities for tomorrow and allow the crew of the Cosmic Lotus the opportunity to see family and friends in person for the first time in decades. That takes precedence over any ceremonies. Besides, we have our own bureaucracy to deal with impatient diplomats.”

Boyce grinned. “I see that we think alike, Luna. On board my ship, I am always Admiral Kline while on duty, but in the privacy of our quarters, my wives and I are equals and they are not afraid to put me in my place if I deserve it.”

“You got that right!” Forestwalker said with a matching grin, hir keen ears having picked up the conversation easily.

“Everyone knows who the boss is really,” Midnight spoke up too while pointing in Rosepetal’s direction.

The diminutive Caitian merely smiled and nodded before resuming her conversation with Twilight Sparkle.

“Never cross the Firstwife!” Boyce said in a stage whisper to Luna who had to cover her mouth with a hoof to stifle a laugh.

As the food was brought out by the castle staff, Free said, “While not everypony here likes to eat meat, nopony has any problems with anyone else doing so. Therefore, we have prepared a variety of foods suitable for all tastes.”

The visitors quickly spotted some of their favorite foods among the dishes being brought out.

“How do you know about these?” M’Lai asked as she spotted a delicacy peculiar to her homeworld.

“We played host to Goldfur for several days, remember?” Twilight replied. “We learned many things about your family and the Federation in general during that time.”

Midnight frowned slightly. “Yes – about that. Is it normal for you to kidnap people like that?”

“No, it isn’t,” Twilight replied with a sigh, “but Flix never does things in the normal way. He is a student of Chaos, and that’s where his talent lies. You must realize that Chaos Magic is just as valid and powerful as other forms of magic, but it is expressed differently. Trying to repress it only invites trouble. I must admit that it took me a very long time to accept this, and that caused problems long ago, but now we have learned to go with the flow. Did you know that Goldfur could have returned to Chakona the next day if shi had wanted to?”

The black-furred chakat shook hir head. “No, I didn’t. Why did shi stay?”

“Well, once shi got over being annoyed at the unorthodox way that shi was brought here, we explained that we had been hoping to talk informally with someone away from the diplomatic meeting room. Flix chose to interpret that desire in his inimitable fashion. Shi was still annoyed, of course, but then we fought dirty.”

Midnight blinked several times, one eyebrow raised. “Huh? Shi never mentioned that. What did you do?”

“We brought out the foals.” Twilight nodded in the direction of one that was presumptuously trying to climb Forestwalker’s tail. “Antikythera was just one of them. Goldfur just adored them to pieces!”

Forestwalker chuckled. “That’s my sister – always a sucker for a cute cub, or foal in this case.”

“Says my lifemate who currently has a one riding on hir back,” Midnight replied drolly.

Forestwalker just poked out hir tongue at hir mate. “Get your own if you’re envious.”

There was a round of laughter at the table before Twilight continued. “When Goldfur’s mood had improved, we were able to have a good conversation, and shi agreed to stay overnight to continue our talks the next day.”

Destined spoke up next. “I offered to teleport Goldfur back the next morning, but the foals begged hir not to go. Of course, there were many other good reasons for hir to stay longer, but the children were probably the tipping point. If it wasn’t for the fact that shi was separated from hir mates and family, I believe that shi might have stayed longer than shi did.”

Twilight then resumed the explanation. “Then Flix suddenly turned up one day and opened that fascinating doorway into your home on Chakona. Somehow he knew that it was time for hir to return. But as I said, he does things in his own way, and I’ve learned that in spite of how aggravating he can be, he’s never malicious and he usually has a good reason for doing what he does.”

“Whatever his motivation, there are several Federation scientists who want to know how to open portals like those,” Boyce said.

Twilight’s mouth twisted sourly. “So would I, but I can’t figure out his chaos magic, and I’m the Alicorn of Magic! He keeps telling me that if it wasn’t a surprise, it wouldn’t work. I have to believe him, but it’s so frustrating!”

Free gave Twilight a cuddle. “Cheer up, Sparkles – you’ll figure it out one day. Let Flix have his glory for now.”

The conversation continued as everyone enjoyed the main meal followed by delicious desserts. Shortly afterwards though, Luna stood up and asked to be excused for a short while.

“It’s almost sunset, and I must attend to my moon,” she said by way of explanation.

“What do you mean by that?” Rosepetal asked curiously.

“Perhaps you would like to witness it?” Luna asked hopefully. “You can see for yourselves then.”

“I recommend it,” Path added.

Boyce looked around at his mates and then said, “Why don’t we all go and watch?”

There was a chorus of agreement after which the guests and then the rest of the family followed Luna out of the dining room and up the stairs. She eventually led them out onto a balcony which had a magnificent view of the township and the surrounding countryside. The visitors murmured appreciatively as they took in the rustic nature of area before their attention was drawn to the sun.

“My sister will be setting the sun any moment now,” Luna said.

The bright orb that had been slowly making its way westward suddenly accelerated downward and very quickly set below the horizon.

“What the…? Did I just see that?” Midnight gasped.

Boyce was too flabbergasted to reply before his attention was drawn to Luna’s glowing horn and a gentle nudge from Twilight made him look to the east. The moon rose just as promptly as the sun had set before settling down to a more normal orbit. He tried to formulate an answer to what he had just witnessed and failed. “What just happened?” he asked plaintively.

“I raised my moon to herald the night,” Luna answered matter-of-factly. “I have arranged a special display of my stars too in honor of your visit.”

The darkened skies were lit up with the impossible sight of stars moving in patterns before settling down into new constellations.

“There, that should keep the astronomers wondering for a few nights,” Luna said with a mischievous smile.

Boyce was still trying to comprehend the feat when his communicator beeped, and he almost absently answered it. “Kline here.”

“Admiral! I know that you’re not going to believe this, but Equus’ sun and moon suddenly shifted their orbits.”

“You don’t say.”

“I’m serious, sir! We already knew their sun was too small to be natural, and the orbits were not conducive to a proper day/night cycle, but I swear that they just adjusted themselves to suit!”

The human glanced over to where the Lunar Princess was standing patiently and swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “No, you’re wrong. They didn’t do it by themselves. Kline out.” He put away his comm, suddenly aware of the immensity of the power personified who stood in front of him, smiling gently. He gave Luna a slight bow of the head and said, “A magnificent show, Your Highness.”

“Thank you, but did I not ask you to call me ‘Luna’?”

If a demigoddess wanted him to be that familiar, who was he to argue? “Forgive me, Luna. Could you tell me more about your moon and stars?”

Luna’s eyes lit up with delight. “It would give me great pleasure to do so!”

Twilight had the staff bring chairs out onto the balcony so that everyone could relax and listen to the Princess of the Moon and Stars wax eloquent about her domain under the roof of the night sky.

Starry returned Boyce and Rosepetal to the Pegasus the next morning. The Caitian was left in command of the starship while the human ferried the diplomatic party down to Canterlot in his skiff, homing in on a beacon that he had given to Twilight. The Federation envoys got a good view of the city built on a mountainside and marveled at how the palace defied gravity as it overhung the cliff’s edge. They got their first look at the pegasi in the skies above the city going about their business, although a few of the more curious soon came over to follow the strange vehicle on its course to a large open lawn not far from the castle.

As they disembarked, they were met by a contingent of the Royal Guard headed by Twilight wearing her basic royal regalia this time. She bade them welcome to Canterlot and invited them to board a carriage that would take them the rest of the way into the castle where the diplomatic meeting was to take place. She kept up a light patter of information about some of the places that they passed along the way, although it was obvious that everyone was already struggling to take in everything that they were seeing. Curious ponies of all kinds and not a few other species watched as the carriage passed by, many of whom waved and cheered at them. For security, the arrival of the diplomats had been unannounced, but for a spontaneous procession, it was quite the event.

The party entered the castle and were led to the throne room by Twilight. Celestia, Luna, and Destined all stood on the dais in front of the throne, dressed in their full regalia. They watched calmly and with a welcoming smile on their faces as Boyce was waved forward by Twilight to the foot of the steps to the throne. He bowed and formally presented himself.

“Your Highnesses, I am Fleet Admiral Boyce Garald Kline of the Stellar Federation Star Fleet. May I introduce to you the envoys of the Federation?”

“Welcome, Admiral Kline. Please do so,” Celestia replied.

Boyce turned and gestured for the first of the diplomats to come forward, a male Voxxan, a species that closely resembled Terran fox morphs although sometimes with very non-Terran colors and patterns. This one had very typical red fox coloration though. “This is Ambassador E’Laki te Lokuta of Voxxa, Chief of Mission.”

E’Laki matched Boyce’s bow. “A pleasure to be here, Your Highnesses.”

Boyce indicated the next envoy, a foxtaur with an off-white coat with grey ‘socks’ and tail-tip, and grey and red on the back and head. As typical of taurs, the diplomat wore only a jacket top over a conspicuous bust. “Ambassador Alexa Mountaineer of Earth.”

Alexa bowed but remained silent.

Next was a Merraki male, a meter-tall bipedal lizard with attractive, smooth iridescent scales. “Ambassador Sharathiss of Kantorg.”

Sharathiss followed the example set by Alexa and bowed without speaking.

Boyce introduced a female Caitian next. “M’Laaranth Sesspaña of Kà'iît,” Boyce correctly pronounced their world’s name.

M’Laaranth executed a graceful bow.

The last to be introduced was a 2.3 meter (7½ foot) tall, male Rakshani with purple tiger-striped orange fur. “Hogarth ap Pardawath na Barrata of Raksha.”

The Rakshani gave a curt formal bow.

“My task is done for now,” Boyce said, “but if you should need me, I am at your command.”

“Thank you, Admiral. You may stand down,” Celestia said before facing E’Laki. “Welcome to Canterlot, Ambassador, to you and your team. While this city is the capital of Equestria and the site of the first round of diplomatic talks, Equus is governed by a world council, representatives of which are gathering to meet with you today. As your first contact with our world was through House Path’s Cosmic Lotus initiative and we opened negotiations in the Federation through them, it was deemed appropriate that our first meetings be held in the nation of the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. However, further meetings will be held at the home of the Greater Equus Council in Griffonia. For now though, it is our privilege to host you all for this historic occasion.”

E’Laki responded, “Thank you, Princess. We look forward to meeting with the members of the Council and hope for productive negotiations building on the talks already held on Earth.”

Celestia continued, “The meeting is scheduled to start in approximately an hour and a half. Some of the Equian representatives have yet to arrive though, so Princess Twilight will show you to a place where you may relax and enjoy refreshments until we are ready to begin. We wish you all a good day until then.”

Twilight stepped up and said, “Would you all please follow me?”

Boyce joined Twilight while the ambassadors fell in behind. “May I ask a question, Princess?”

Even after a century and a half of being royalty, titles still irked Twilight, but she knew there was a time and place for everything. “I’d be happy to answer any question that you have, Admiral, if it’s within my power.”

“I was wondering about the throne room. There are three rulers for your nation, but only one throne. Why is that?”

Twilight chuckled. “It’s simple, really. Despite being so much younger than either Celestia or Luna, my son, Prince Destined Path, holds exactly the same rank as the other two triarchs. When the Royal Court is held, only one alicorn sits on the throne and has absolute authority at that time. Only by mutual agreement of the other two may that alicorn be overruled later, and only for the most important of decisions. So the throne represents ultimate authority, but on the occasions where all three of the triarchs are required such as just now, they all stand equal, so no one sits on the throne.”

“Ah! I see. And you never felt the desire to join them in ruling Equestria despite being a princess too?”

Twilight shook her head firmly. “I learned long ago that ruling a nation was not my destiny. I have done so on some brief occasions due to emergencies, but that is not my calling.”

“Fair enough,” Boyce replied just as they reached a double door flanked by two Royal Guards who opened the doors to let the group inside.

The room was large and well-lit by the morning sun. There were plenty of chairs and couches of various forms suited to many body types filling three-quarters of the room, with a couple of tables laden with trays of food and steaming jugs at the far end. Two people were waiting for the guests – a female griffon with brown and red plumage and fur in a maid’s uniform, and grey-coated earth pony with a bright green mane, beard and tail dressed in a butler’s outfit.

Twilight said, “Please make yourselves comfortable, Ambassadors. Ms. Trotty and Mr. Cluck will attend to any needs that you may have. I will return to you in time to bring you to the conference room when the other delegates have arrived. Until then, I hope you enjoy your wait. Admiral, please come with me.”

Twilight and Boyce exited the room, and the Guards closed the doors behind them.

As they walked down the hallway, Boyce asked, “Those two servants – aren’t they…?” He stopped short at the sight of Twilight’s grin.

“Yes. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Ambassador E’Laki sprawled into a deep lounge chair while Sharathiss went to inspect the contents of the tables. Hogarth found one of the couches adequately large for his frame while Alexa and M’Laaranth went over to the windows to look out over the city.

“Well, this is off to a fine start,” E’Laki grumbled. “Instead of getting straight into the meeting, we are being kept waiting for over an hour because no one else is here yet. It’s not as if they didn’t know we were coming for several days.”

“Stop complaining and enjoy the refreshments,” came the artificial voice from the Merraki’s translator device.

As if on cue, the maid and butler stepped over to the Voxxan, she carrying a steaming jug and him with a tray of assorted pastries.

the butler asked in the Equestrian language.

the maid asked with a coy smile and a flutter of her eyes.

E’Laki frowned. “What did you say? Don’t you speak Terranglo?”

The griffon maid held out a large mug to the ambassador.

Smelling the familiar aroma, E’Laki took the hint and the mug. The maid poured the brew into the mug, smiling and saying,

the butler said sternly.

“I wonder what they’re babbling about?” E’Laki said as he took a sniff of the hot brew before sipping it.

Alexa turned from the window with a grin on her face. “She thinks you’re cute. I think she’s enamored with your coloration.”

“How did you know that?” E’Laki asked, glancing askance at the griffoness as she walked over to the Rakshani along with the pony.

“I understand their language,” Alexa replied.

“You learned their language? How?”

“I wondered how so many of them learned Terranglo so quickly. It turns out that they have a technique to give someone an instant knowledge of a language. I asked if they could use it to teach me theirs. Now I know Equestrian and Griffonian too.”

“And my translator has been loaded with all the available native languages also,” Sharathiss added.

“Too bad they didn’t teach these two Terranglo,” E’Laki grumbled. “At least they make good coffee.”

“You surely don’t expect the Equians to teach our Terranglo to absolutely everyone we might meet, do you?” Alexa asked.

“Maybe not, but at least the wait-staff.”

“I think they are quite capable of doing their job without understanding your words, E’Laki,” Alexa said as the two approached her.

the butler asked.

Alexa replied.

The butler smiled faintly.

she replied and sashayed over to the table to fetch it.

Alexa took a piece of cake on a paper plate from the butler’s tray. “That’s a very attractive griffoness, E’Laki. You could do worse than give her a smile.”

The Voxxan rolled his eyes. “Trust you to notice. You must love being on a planet where the natives like walking around bare-assed like you do.”

“Your species’ obsession for covering up everything despite having a perfectly good fur coat seems just as weird to me.”

“Only primitive civilizations don’t appreciate a full outfit of finely tailored clothing,” E’Laki replied dismissively.

“My jacket is exactly the same as yours, bust excepted,” Alexa retorted with a smirk as the maid returned with a tray bearing a teapot, cups, a bowl of sugar, and a small jug of milk.

the maid said.

Alexa replied.

The maid and butler than moved on to the Caitian who had been listening with amused interest to everything that had been said.

Alexa continued, “Besides, this is hardly a primitive society. Did you get a good look at their magnificent city?”

“Magnificent? Medieval, I call it,” E’Laki scoffed. “Castles, tiled roofs, and whitewashed brick walls – those kinds of things haven’t been around for centuries even on your planet.”

Alexa sighed. “Don’t let your Voxxan mania for high-tech get in the way of appreciating something that is beautiful. And it also looks uncrowded and clean. Can your planet’s cities boast as much?”

“Inefficient! I didn’t see anything more complex than a wagon out there. How can you run a world like that?”

“You’re talking about a civilization that sent a starship to Chakona,” the foxtaur reminded him as she poured some tea into her mug.

“In a solar-sail-powered vessel that took them over four decades to get there!” the Voxxan retorted. “If those bleeding hearts in Star Fleet hadn’t equipped them with a basic warp drive, they would still be on their way back.”

“If you think them so primitive, what do you expect to gain?” M’Laaranth suddenly spoke up.

E’Laki grimaced. “Whatever this magic of theirs is, it’s the only thing that has been effective against the Swarm recently. I am expected to secure this vital resource for the Federation, and the Equians undoubtedly know how badly we need it. Therefore, they are going to drive a hard bargain. I’m annoyed that they were just given warp drive technology just for one foray against the Swarm. That’s one less bargaining chip we have.”

“Considering that we have already seen what the Equians can do with this previously unknown power of theirs, I can understand its worth to them,” the Caitian replied. “So why do you already begrudge them fair compensation?”

“Who said anything about not compensating? But why offer gold bars when they would be happy with glass beads?”

Alexa cringed at that. “How did you get to be head of this mission with an attitude like that?”

M’Laaranth laughed. “Seniority! His name was on top of the list. Typical Council bureaucracy.”

The Voxxan scowled. “Seniority means more experience, M’Laaranth.”

“It says nothing about how good you are at your job,” she riposted.

“I’ll get the job done, don’t you worry about that!”

“Would you two stop bickering like mewling kittens,” Hogarth growled. “Or will I need to knock heads together?”

No one dared to tempt fate with the Rakshani, and so the conversation died for a while. Eventually, the Caitian spoke up once more.

“It is a beautiful city, and I suspect that it’s supposed to look that way rather than being highly modern. It’s a traditional showpiece, and under its triarchy, their nobility is probably conservative and maintain the character of the city. It reminds me of some those back on Kà'iît.”

Alexa replied, “Earth lost too many places like these during the Gene Wars. It’s nice to be able to see what they could have been like without unnecessary technology cluttering the view.” She smiled as a flock of pegasi flew past. “And the citizens seem so full of life. I would give a lot to be able to fly like that.”

“It is quite a sight, isn’t it?” M’Laaranth agreed.

“Just don’t get so maudlin at the talks,” E’Laki said. “We have a job to do and sentimentality has no place at the negotiating table.”

“We’re talking about a potential new member of the Federation, E’Laki, not a business deal,” Alexa complained.

“Until they are a member, that’s exactly what this is. They have something we want and I intend to see that we get it.”

the maid said, suddenly appearing by the Voxxan’s side, giving him a smoldering look.

“For Hathor's sake, female – do I look like I’m interested in a bird?”

Seemingly offended by his tone of voice, the griffoness turned away with a disappointed look.

“That was unnecessary, E’laki,” M’Laaranth said.

“Servants should know their place,” the Voxxan replied unrepentantly.

“Tell them that at the negotiating table!” Hogarth said with gruff humor.

E’Laki just glared at the Rakshani who remained totally unimpressed.

Conversation died down once more, and Alexa concentrated on enjoying her tea. She ended up chatting with M’Laaranth for the duration of their wait, and Sharathiss and Hogarth also exchanged short bursts of chat, leaving E’Laki to stew by himself. The maid and butler continued to keep an eye on the needs or desires of their charges, and no one lacked a drink or something to nibble on. Eventually, a Chrome Changeling came into the room and drew their attention.

“The delegates have all arrived and are making their way to the conference room. I have been instructed to forewarn you gentlebeings that Princess Twilight Sparkle will be here to accompany you there soon.”

“Thank you,” M’Laaranth replied.

The changeling nodded and left again.

As E’Laki got up from his chair, he said, “Remember our primary goal, everyone. Don’t get side-tracked.”

“As long as you don’t forget that we may be dragging a peaceful world into a terrible war,” Alexa retorted.

E’Laki did not respond to that, and when Twilight arrived to accompany the envoys to the meeting room, they all fell quietly into line.

The purple alicorn did not have to take them far before arriving at another large guarded doorway. She entered without hesitation, and the diplomats followed. Inside they found a huge oval-ring-shaped table behind which were seated representatives from all over Equus. Besides ponies of all types, changelings were the next most highly represented group, followed by griffons, zebras, minotaurs, hippogriffs, diamond dogs, yaks, and even two dragons. It was an intimidating sight even for professionals, but the Federation envoys kept their cool and made their way to the places indicated to them near the pointy end of the egg-shaped oval. A blue-coated thestral stallion with tan wings and a blond mane streaked with light blue walked up to them.

“Good morning, honored ambassadors. I am Penumbra Path, head of the Equian negotiating team.”

“Path? Any relationship to Captain Wandering Path?” Alexa asked.

“My uncle, actually. You will find that the Path family is very large, and House Path has a similarly large role in many aspects of Equestrian society, but especially in diplomacy and discovery. Uncle Wandering chose to explore the stars while I pursued other family activities. Anyway, we are waiting for the last two members of this summit to arrive before we can begin.”

Just then the maid and butler entered the room, causing a bit of a stir among some of the delegates. They made their way to the two remaining vacant seats, smiling at the Federation ambassadors.

E’Laki said, “With all due respect, Mr. Path, I would prefer it if this room was closed to non-participants. They would serve as major distractions.”

“Oh, don’t worry about us,” the butler replied with a quiet smile.

“Yeah, you won’t be a bother to us in the slightest,” the maid told the Voxxan cheerfully.

“What? You understand Terranglo?”

“To be fair, we never said we didn’t,” the griffon replied.

E’Laki turned to Penumbra. “What’s going on? Who are these people?”

Penumbra indicated the earth pony. “This is Lord Long Path, my grandfather.”

Twilight spoke up. “And this is Prince Firetail a.k.a. Free Agent, my husband.”

“Husband?”

“Yeah,” Free replied as magic green flames enveloped the maid and left a male griffon in her place. “Urk! This outfit doesn’t fit so well now. Still rocking it though!”

Twilight giggled. “Yes, Free, only you could do that.”

“What’s the meaning of this? What was the purpose of this deception?” E’Laki demanded.

“Just an opportunity to see what you were like in a candid environment. We already know what many Federation people are like in an informal setting after Admiral Kline and his family enjoyed our hospitality, and we are soon to settle down to very important formal talks. But we wanted to see what the ambassadors that the Federation sent to us were like in advance.”

Remembering some of the things that he had said while he believed the maid and butler could not understand him, E’Laki suddenly felt nervous. “What have you decided?” he asked with some trepidation.

Long Path faced the other delegates. “House Path formally rejects Ambassador E’Laki te Lokuta of Voxxa due to intentions to cheat Equus and expressions of bigotry.”

The Voxxan’s face contorted with rage and he pounded his fist on the table. “How dare you accuse me of bigotry! I am a career diplomat in the Stellar Federation; I deal with different races all the time!”

“Nice try, foxy,” Free said, “but this bird is an emotivore, and I know exactly how much some of these species disgust you. Even for your own team, Alexa especially.” He turned to look at the taur. “By the way, I tasted your feelings when you were eyeing me. Sorry – I’m happily married.”

Alexa blinked and felt her ears getting warm, but she wisely said nothing.

The Voxxan, however, was sputtering, attempting to recover from the sudden reversal. “You can’t do this – I’m appointed by the Federation Council!”

Penumbra said sternly, “And we are refusing your appointment. Guard! Please escort Ambassador E’Laki te Lokuta to a guest room and keep him there until this meeting adjourns or Admiral Kline chooses to return him to his ship.”

The Royal Guard saluted and said, “Yes, sir.” He faced the Voxxan. “Come with me, sir.”

E’Laki crossed his arms defiantly. “I refuse.”

The unicorn Guard merely lit up his horn, enveloped the Voxxan in its glow, and levitated the helpless ambassador away still protesting.

Penumbra faced the remaining ambassadors and said, “Would you please choose another Chief of Mission.”

Long Path spoke up. “We will accept any of you, but would prefer it to be Alexa Mountaineer.”

The other three ambassadors looked at each other and silently nodded. M’Laaranth said, “We accept your recommendation. Alexa Mountaineer is our next-most senior ambassador and thus the new Chief of Mission.”

Alexa looked a little surprised at this turn of events, but she gave Long Path a grateful look. “I hope that I will live up to everyone’s expectations.”

“I am sure that you will,” Long Path replied with an amiable smile.

Penumbra said, “Now that that unpleasantness is settled, it’s time to get this meeting underway. But first – one last thing.” He turned to face Free Agent. “Uncle Firetail – will you please get out of that silly dress!”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Three illustrations?!!! I must be crazy! Actually I got the proceeds from book sales that my agent sent me and I thought - "What the heck!" I had a public holiday coinciding with one of Ms. Fox's stream days, so I took advantage of it. Of course this probably means I won't have an illo for the next chapter, but you can't win 'em all.

Art by Foxenawolf

And Free can make anything look good! :raritywink:

Forging New Bonds

Techbird was getting more than a little frustrated. After her initial excitement at getting so many fresh leads on her quest for the answer to her Question, she had quickly run into more brick walls, dampening her enthusiasm. The biggest problem was that this world had undergone a decades-long war of attrition in the centuries past that had taken its toll on not only cities but on whole continents. As a result, much in the way of knowledge and artefacts had been lost or destroyed. While there had been many efforts to preserve science during the Gene Wars in order to create weapons and defenses, other disciplines had suffered. Her efforts to recover this knowledge had dredged up folklore, myths, fantasy, superstition, hearsay, and just a few grains of truth. Her quest had taken her away from the most likely place to find her answer, to the opposite side of the world.

Australia had fared far better than most other nations due to its size and isolation, and the libraries there were far better stocked. However, also due to their location, they tended to focus more on the aboriginal myths and legends. While those also had to have had their roots in the magic of the past, they were not very helpful to her investigation. Sorting through the remainder was a tedious and time-consuming task. She badly missed the changeling network that had helped her to process vast quantities of information and correlate it while aboard the Cosmic Lotus. Galena and her few drones were simply not up to the challenge. For the first time since she had been given a new lease on life due to the capricious benevolence of Flix, the griffoness was becoming impatient.

Techbird slammed shut the book in front of her with a frustrated squawk.

Galena looked at her partner with concern, tasting her irritation. “What’s wrong, Tech?”

“This is a waste of time. Almost everything points to there being nodes of mana-based power, but the only real clue as to where to find one was back where we started in England.”

“Didn’t we already exhaust all our lines of enquiry there?”

“Not quite. We can still do this the hard way.”

The changeling princess’s face frowned in puzzlement. “What do you mean?”

“This world is relatively mana-poor. That should not be the case as the background mana radiation should have brought that up to normal levels long ago. Something is drawing it away. I believe that if we can find out where it is going, we might get a lead to get us back on track.”

“So – why England?”

Techbird held up her talons and counted off on them. “First – the message in the bottle was written in Celtic runes. Second – the markings on the six moonlets around the space portal were based on the same Celtic runes, even if we haven’t figured out what they all mean as yet. Third – legends of dragons, unicorns, pegasi, and other species from Equus originated in the European area, many in Britain.”

“What’s the plan then?”

“Like I said – we’re going to have to do this the hard way. We’re going to have to find and trace those power drains. Hopefully, we can find one of those power nodes that way, or if not, perhaps more clues.”

“How much help can we expect to get from the locals? The Terran world government has been fairly cooperative so far, but are we wearing out our welcome? They’re not under any obligation to ferry us around and expedite other matters for our benefit.”

“I suppose that depends on how the negotiations with the Federation are going. They are understandably as eager to get hold of our magitek as we are to find answers to our investigations. Acquiescing to our whims is trivial under those circumstances.”

“The last I heard, the Cosmic Lotus had arrived back at Equus along with the Pegasus. The first round of talks should have begun by now.” Galena looked thoughtful. “I wonder how those are coming along?”

Boyce and M’Lai were relaxing in one of the private gardens of Canterlot Castle. The weather was perfect – unnaturally so according to the Admiral’s knowledge and experience, but the fact that pegasi managed the weather made a mockery of his expertise. When he had learned that fact, he had been skeptical in spite of what he had seen the ponies do already. Controlling weather on such a scale had to be a gigantic undertaking, but in spite of his expectations, the pegasus weather teams were doing exactly that to the point of it being a humdrum day job for them. It did not stop him from taking advantage of the unique climate this high up the monolithic mountain, and he and his wife were currently seated in chairs under the shade of a tree, sipping cool drinks and enjoying the snacks that the castle staff had provided.

“Forestwalker doesn’t know what shi’s missing,” M’Lai said with a soft purr.

Boyce shrugged. “It was hir choice to research Equian biology rather than take a day’s shore leave. I can’t fault hir for dedication to hir profession.”

M’Lai snickered. “I may be dedicated to mine, but with nobody sick, I’m not going to sit around the ship when I can be watching the scenery down here.”

Like many parts of the castle grounds, their present location overlooked parts of the city and the valley below. Pegasi occasionally flew past on their business, while some obviously were just enjoying themselves. Ponies plied their business in the streets below, interspersed with some griffons and other species. While open to everyone, unicorns still dominated the population of this city on the side of a mountain, and casual acts of magic abounded. The visitors found it all endlessly fascinating.

“The sun’s getting low – I reckon that the diplomatic meeting will be winding up soon,” Boyce commented.

“What are the plans for this evening?”

“Princess Celestia has invited us to dinner along with many of the Path family and the head of the Federation ambassadorial party. It will be more formal than at Twilight’s castle. I’m obliged to go, but you don’t have to if you don’t wish to.”

“And miss a royal banquet? I don’t think so!”

Boyce chuckled. “I didn’t think you would.”

Just then, their attention was drawn to the sound of nearby fluttering wings, and they looked up to see a blue-coated thestral coming in for a landing next to them. Penumbra folded his tan leathery wings and nodded at the two.

“Good afternoon. I hope that I am not disturbing you?”

The human shook his head. “Not at all. I take it that the conference has finished for the day – how did it go?”

“It has, and it went quite smoothly after the initial unpleasantness. I wish to apologise for having to reject Ambassador E’Laki.”

Boyce waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. E’Laki was a jerk and deserved to be thrown off the ambassadorial team. I didn’t like him either.”

Penumbra tilted his head quizzically. “May I ask why not?”

“You may have heard that he’s contemptuous of the lack of pants on most ponies, let alone the total lack of clothing for the majority. Two of my wives are chakats who also don’t wear pants usually, and they are empaths. You can imagine that E’Laki did not endear himself to them.”

The thestral chuckled. “Having met them at Aunt Twilight’s castle, I can imagine that quite well. How did such a person get to be the Chief of Mission to our world though?”

Boyce sighed. “E’Laki is a career diplomat who spent much of his career assigned to worlds such as Raksha and Renzar. Both of those catered much to his Voxxan ideals and predilections, and he built quite a network of contacts and was owed not a few favors. When an ambassadorial party was being assembled to come here to Equus, E’Laki used his seniority and called in those favors to not only be chosen for the team but to also lead it. He knew that it would be a huge boost to his career to bring Equus into the Federation. Unfortunately, he also brought along his arrogance and prejudices.”

“I see. At least his true nature was revealed before the talks got underway.”

“Yes, I heard about the little ruse you used to expose him. What made you decide to do it?”

“That was done at Lord Path’s recommendation, but he did so as a result of talking with Goldfur while shi was visiting us.”

Boyce smirked. “I can imagine. Goldfur is a very practical person with no illusions about the nature of some of the citizens of the Federation. Shi brought hir family to Chakona due to the deteriorating situation on Earth in spite of their ties there.”

Penumbra’s eyebrow rose curiously. “You’re not doing your Federation any favors by telling me this, you know?”

“Am I telling you anything that you haven’t already learned?”

The stallion chuckled. “No, we’re not quite that naïve. We know that the Federation has a lot to offer but there are strings attached. We won’t be rushing into any agreement, although I assure you that organizing assistance with the Swarm situation is our top priority. Equus has many races to placate though, so we need to work through this carefully. House Path has a lot of experience with this kind of situation, so rest assured that we will be trying for the best outcome for all.”

“I have no doubts about that. The more that I learn about House Path, the more that I am impressed. You’re such a large and varied lot. It’s hard to believe that you’re Prince Destined’s son.”

Penumbra grinned. “Yeah – I take after my mother.”

“Who is normally a stallion, I believe. Your magic does some mind-boggling things.”

“And yet you’re the sire of foals with three different species. Are you sure you don’t have magic too?”

Boyce shrugged. “Since meeting the Cosmic Lotus, my thoughts on that have changed considerably.”

“Even if you don’t have magic in the classical sense, I still find your civilization just as mind-boggling, as you put it.”

“Why? We can’t do half the things that you do as an afterthought.”

“Because you’ve built an enormously successful multi-planet and multi-species society without the benefit of magic. I can’t even imagine doing that, and I’m not even a unicorn.”

“Well. When you put it that way, I suppose that much of our science is pretty amazing, but I reckon that if you lack something, you put more effort into the things that you do have to compensate.”

The thestral nodded. “While we’re on the subject of fascinating Federation things, may I ask something about Alexa Mountaineer?”

“What about her?”

“That! You called Alexa ‘her’, but I noticed that she’s not just female, is she?”

“You’re right, shi isn’t, but I normally try to refrain from using herm pronouns when referring to hir.”

“Why is that?”

“Alexa is technically what we call a stellar foxtaur of the mountain breed kind. However, while hir sire was also a mountain breed stellar, hir mother was a red foxtaur vixen. As many of the genetic characteristics of the stellar foxtaurs are hyper-dominant, of course, Alexa was born a mountain stellar too, but shi inherited hir mother’s long legs, slightly more buxom figure, and psychological attitude. Alexa considers hirself to be female in spite of having both male and female genitals. Let me clarify that – shi does not dislike being a herm but hir self-identity is very strongly feminine, so shi prefers to be referred to as a vixen. So shi is a she for all of those who interact with hir.” Boyce then gave Penumbra a stern look. “Now it’s my turn to ask – is that a problem for you?”

“What? Oh no, not at all! I’m bisexual like my mother and both aspects of her appeal to me. I just did not want to embarrass myself or her by acting in ignorance.”

M’Lai spoke up suddenly. “You like her!”

Penumbra gave them a sheepish grin. “Ah, yeah. She’s pretty and smart, and I liked how she handled herself during the meeting. I talked to her a little bit during our lunch break, but I think I might like to know her a lot better. Do you think that she would be interested at all in a thestral stallion?”

Boyce shrugged. “That I can’t answer for you, but as a human who has found love with three different species, I certainly can’t deny the possibility. Heck, I’ve seen stranger things. One of my crewmembers fell in love with a griffon! A rabbit with a predator species, and yet they totally have the hots for each other.”

“That’s an interesting expression – I may not exactly ‘have the hots’ for Alexa, but I would like to know if she would be interested in a date.”

“You don’t think it might be a conflict of interest?”

“I’m merely the moderator of this meeting – I don’t push my opinions – I only offer options. Besides, we probably do things a little differently here on Equus than in the Federation.”

Boyce nodded. “I won’t presume to tell you how to do your job or how you interact socially with anyone. I just hope that you’re prepared to step away if she’s not interested.”

Penumbra looked a little sad for a moment. “I’ve had my share of rejections from mares over the years, Admiral. I can cope with that.”

“Haven’t found the right one yet?” M’Lai asked.

“No, I haven’t. It isn’t easy being a prominent member of a famous House. You either get status-seekers or mares who can’t cope with their stallions always in the public spotlight.”

“And you think maybe a foxtaur might be the better choice?”

The stallion chuckled. “You’ve met my family – we’re infamous for unusual matings.”

The Caitian looked thoughtful for a moment. “Let’s see – besides various pony types, there are griffons, changelings, dragons, and even a zebra. Nope – nothing unusual there,” she said drolly.

All three laughed.

“I had better get going,” Penumbra said. “I’ll see you at dinner?”

“We’ll be there,” Boyce replied. As the thestral spread his wings, the human added, “Good luck, Pen.”

“Thanks, Boyce.”

Penumbra took off and the two watched him head off into the castle.

“Do you think he has a chance?” M’Lai asked.

Boyce shrugged. “I have no idea. Alexa’s preferences are a mystery to me. However, she’s a very open-minded person, so maybe she’ll be intrigued.”

“I hope so – Penumbra’s a very nice stallion.”

“That may be so, but no matchmaking from you, dear.”

M’Lai merely poked her tongue out at her mate and started thinking of new possibilities.

Boyce sighed and leaned back in his chair to resume watching the scenery. He knew who ran the family and it definitely was not him.

While the gathering was nowhere near as big as it had been the previous evening, the core of the Path family were still present for dinner at Canterlot Castle, with the conspicuous addition of Celestia seated by her sister. The main subject for discussion was, of course, the diplomatic talks.

“So you’re saying that the talks didn’t really accomplish much today?” Wandering asked Penumbra.

“Not exactly,” the thestral replied. “Basically all parties introduced themselves, their roles, and what they intend to bring to the table. After that, we had to work out an agenda.”

“And that took all day?”

“Yes, it did. Welcome to the world of diplomacy, Uncle.”

Wandering shuddered. “No, thanks. There’s a reason why I preferred captaining a starship.”

There were many laughs from around the table before Celestia posed a question.

“Now that you have accomplished your mission, what do you plan to do?”

Wandering gave the older alicorn a thoughtful look. “Actually, I don’t think the mission is finished at all. While it’s true that we have done many of the things that we set out to do, we came back with more questions than ever before. The Cosmic Lotus was designed to operate for decades more, and I don’t see why it can’t keep exploring, especially since its refit with warp drive.”

Celestia smiled warmly. “You have a good point, and it’s good that you’re still passionate about your work after all these years, but surely you want to take a break for a while?”

Wandering looked over at Starry who nodded in wordless agreement to the stallion’s thoughts. “You’re right, Auntie Tia. Starry and I definitely wish to connect with family again for a bit, but we won’t set any long-term plans until the situation with the Federation and the threat of the Swarm is dealt with. However, there is one thing that you can do for us right now.”

The Alicorn of the Sun raised a curious eyebrow. “And what would that be?”

“You know that Starry and I decided to get into a relationship, and now we are mates. Well, there’s one step further that we could not take while we were travelling. Starry and I have discussed this and we agreed that when we returned to Equus, we would get formally married. Aunt Celestia, will you do the honors and wed us?”

Celestia was surprised by the sudden request, but her pleasure was obvious. “I would be delighted to officiate your wedding. When would you like to do it?”

Starry spoke up, a grin on her face. “Right now, right here with our family here to witness and my mother as my Best Mare,” she said, beaming at Luna.

“And my mother as my Best Mare,” Wandering added while looking in Twilight Sparkle’s direction. The purple alicorn clopped her front hooves together excitedly and looked ready to burst with happiness.

Celestia chuckled. “I get many requests from the nobility who want to make an ostentatious show of getting married, but I think I will enjoy this informal gathering far more than all of those put together. Shall we proceed, or are there any preparations you would like to make?”

Wandering got up from the table. “Everything that Starry and I would want to do, we have already done. All that remains is the commitment ceremony.” He held his hoof out to Starry who took it in hers.

Luna and Twilight took their cues and came over to stand with their children, a wing over their barrels to show their approval and support.

Celestia stood up and her demeanor shifted into proud and regal Princess of Equestria. She gazed benevolently at the couple. “My dear nephew and niece – this evening you undertake to commit yourselves to one another for the rest of your lives. As unaging alicorns, this is no small thing, so I ask of you, are you certain of your decision?”

Starry and Wandering replied in unison, “We are.”

Celestia looked at her sister. “Princess Luna, do you approve of the union of your daughter to Wandering?”

“I do,” Luna said proudly.

Celestia then turned to face the purple alicorn who had been almost like a daughter to her. “Princess Twilight, do you approve of the union of your son to Starry?”

“I most certainly do,” Twilight replied, teary with joy.

“Starry, make your vow to Wandering.”

Starry gazed into Wandering’s eyes. “From the time that I said that the only stallion who had ever interested me was you, that has never changed. I love you, Wandering Path, and I wish to spend the rest of my life with you as my mate.”

Wandering smiled happily at her words. “When you confessed your love for me, I was surprised to realize that my feelings for you were not in vain. You filled a gap in my life in the best way possible and that has only got better as the years have passed. I love you, Starry Path, and I commit to spending the rest of my life with you as my mate.”

Celestia gave them an approving nod. “Then, by my authority as a Princess of Equestria, I declare Wandering and Starry Path to be husband and wife.”

Starry and Wandering kissed as the rest of their family cheered and applauded, but they hardly heard any of it. Their spouse was the center of each alicorn’s universe at that moment, and that was all that mattered.

Boyce and his wives cuddled, caught up in the emotion of the moment. The human reflected that despite the enormous differences between the Equians and the members of the Federation, some things were universal and love transcended all.

Alexa had wondered why she had been included in what was obviously more a family event than a formal royal banquet, but now she felt that she had been given a look into the true Equus separate from the halls of diplomacy and tearing away the veneer of pomp and ceremony. This was what made Equus strong, and that was why the Federation needed it as an ally.

It had been agreed that the situation with the Swarm had to, by necessity, take precedence in the diplomatic talks. Unfortunately, that was as far as the agreement extended. Factions within the Equian delegations were in disagreement with what actions were to be taken if any, and they were quite vociferous in their stances. Various parties were moving up and speaking, some of them advocating for giving assistance to the Federation, or even joining it, but then there were others who called for isolationist mandates, opening up talks with the Swarm, or closing the portal to the Far Star and leaving them to their fate. Even with the support of the crew of the Cosmic Lotus, no motions either way were being passed. It remained a deadlock for three days, but then Long Path asked to be recognized. Only then did the yelling stop and a hush went across the room as the grey earth pony walked toward the central podium accompanied by his griffon companion.

Path smiled at the delegates as he leaned on the podium in a rather informal manner; his trademark style was one of the things that made him so approachable. “You know... I remember the days when the House was still young, still trying to grow. It was such a fight to create the tenets and amendments that the House goes by – the same ten tenets and seven amendments that stand to this very day. In fact, I’m fairly certain that all of you know many of them. It’s what gives the House its honor, its purpose as the Shield of Equus. Think about that statement: The Shield of Equus. Sworn to protect all civilizations on Equus, and then it was updated when Lunar City was established and the Lagrange point stations. Free, would you remind the delegates what is the tenth tenet?” The pony looked over to Free Agent.

The griffon changeling pulled out a large heavy book embossed with the symbol of House Path from his saddle pack and opened it up to the specified page. “House Path is sworn to protect all those who claim shelter under the House Path banner. Those that swear to uphold the tenets need never fear duress, strife, or agony. Tenet Ten, Revision Four. 54 AP.” Free looked up to Path.

“Can you read the third amendment to tenet ten please?” the pony requested.

“House Path will never ignore the plea for help from a civilization if it is in imminent danger.”

“Hmm... and why did we include that?”

“It was in response to the famine caused by the failed crops in the Zebrica Empire. It was voted on by a full complement of the heads of each branch and it passed 17 to 3 in favor of the amendment.”

“Is there any factor within the amendment to limit the scope or location of the civilization?”

“No, there is not,” Free replied.

“Then House Path’s course is clear. If during these debates the Federation petitions to ally itself with House Path to claim sanctuary under the great shield, then their application will be fast-tracked and it will become a House matter. Until then, please feel free to continue the debate.” He nodded to the assembled delegates and started to walk off the stage followed by Free. After a respectful silence, argument started to rage once more with no end in sight.

Alexa, however, sat back and considered just what had happened. Even the most contentious of those gathered here today had quietly and respectfully listened to this otherwise ordinary grey pony. There was true power there, and it had sided with the Federation in no uncertain terms. Suddenly the stellar foxtaur felt reassured that her mission’s major goal would be a success irrespective of whatever else was decided this day. There was still a lot of work ahead of her and the other envoys, but now she could put aside that niggling worry.

And maybe she would take up that request for a date from Penumbra afterwards. She had something to celebrate, after all, and she preferred to do it with interesting company.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Still getting a chapter done each week, but not sure yet whether I'll meet my deadline. I hope you like my take on Alexa.

~~As I warned – no illustration for this chapter.~~ The kitty is dry for the moment, so if you would like to see more art, please consider tipping the author.
EDIT – A generous donor sent me the money to have the wedding scene done. Thanks, Nagel Navari!

Pre-reading by Airy Words.

Dinner Time

“Have we mentioned Informal Fridays to you before?” Wandering asked Boyce.

The human thought for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t believe so.”

“It’s a longstanding tradition in House Path, started in Griffonia and since emulated in all the branches. It’s had a few names depending on the country that it’s held in, but the principle remains the same. Friday’s dinner is held in the banquet hall and absolutely everyone is invited. The only condition is that you leave all rank behind; a farmer may dine with a king, or a ten-year-old filly gets the best chair if she beats a noble to it. Everyone is equal and on a first-name basis.”

“Do you really get that many nobles at those dinners?”

Wandering chuckled. “Things may have changed a little in the decades during which I was away on the Cosmic Lotus, but I doubt it. Most nobles still prefer to hold onto their privilege rather than being seen chatting with a commoner. However, there are some who have found that dealing with House Path on an equal basis has paid off in the long term.”

“They’re obviously the smarter ones. So, let me guess – I have not been aware of the local dates, but I’m betting either today or tomorrow is Friday?”

“Correct. The diplomatic talks in Canterlot will wind up early tomorrow and we intend to transport everyone over to Griffonia for the main House Path dinner. King Silverquill Glimfeather is eager to play host to the next week of talks, and he asked that the ambassadorial party be brought over that evening. It’ll give us a chance to introduce you to some of the family that did not make it to your welcome.”

“More? I thought that you had plenty already!” Boyce replied with a grin.

The stallion chuckled. “We’re a close-knit herd. Every child born into the House since it was established long ago has brought their spouses and children into the greater family. We like it that way. Anyway, I was asked to request that we are allowed to also take the Federation ambassadors over to Griffonia after their talks have finished tomorrow. You can follow in your skiff. I’ll set up a beacon for you to home in on.”

“That’s no problem. Hmm… would Ambassador E’Laki be invited also? He’s been annoying Rosepetal since being ousted from the ambassadorial team.”

“Technically, yes. But tell me honestly – do you think he’s the type to leave his prejudices at the door?”

Boyce sighed. “No, I don’t believe so.”

“Tell him about it anyway, but don’t encourage him otherwise. He might try to fake it, but with a large number of emotivores at the dinner, he’d be caught out almost immediately. That’s the great thing about having changelings in the House – you have to be honest about your feelings. Nobody expects you to be perfect, but you need to be genuinely trying. E’Laki didn’t try even after he was caught out. Has he attempted to get back on the ambassadorial team?”

Boyce rolled his eyes. “He ranted at me for half an hour the first day. He wants to contact the Federation Council to get reinstated, but unfortunately, we’re out of subspace communications range.”

Wandering tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow. “Didn’t we give you one of our crystal comms to keep in contact back home?”

“I somehow forgot to mention that to E’Laki.” The expression on Boyce’s face was of pure innocence before they both broke into chuckles. “Anyway, it’s a good thing that this Friday dinner is tomorrow. The Pegasus will be departing the next day.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“We’re not here just to babysit the ambassadors and investigate your world. Star Fleet Command has instructed me to explore Equus’ actual location in the galaxy, and we’ll be heading back to the portal tomorrow. We won’t be going through it though – we’ll continue past it and through the nebula wall. The Pegasus will keep going until we get clear of it and can get an unobstructed view of the stars in order to get a fix on our position before returning. Travelling through a nebula is tricky because the relative density of matter there makes it hard to go into warp, and we can’t just travel at sub-light speeds because nebulas can be light-years thick.”

“So, you’ll be away for several days?”

“That’s most likely. Add to that the studies that the scientists aboard the Pegasus will want to make while in that location, and it makes it difficult to give an estimated time of return.”

“It will be interesting finding out where we are for certain, and how accurate Starry’s estimate is.”

“What about you? Have you any plans to return to sailing the stars?”

“Eventually. Many of the crew badly want to spend time with their families, or just take an extended break. Starry and I intend to return to the Cosmic Lotus in due time, but for now we’re just taking the opportunity to be a couple on holiday. We’ll begin our official honeymoon on Saturday.”

“What’s it like to be married after being mated for so long?”

Wandering’s face got a bit of a goofy look. “Wonderful! You wouldn’t think it would make such a difference, but making that commitment in front of witnesses just made a great thing better.”

“I know the feeling. I was married according to Caitian tradition, and I have never regretted it.”

“Rosepetal is still looking for Sixthwife for you?”

“Of course. I keep telling her that five is more than enough, but she’s a staunch traditionalist, and she won’t be satisfied until she finds the perfect sixth mate for me.”

“Be careful – you might go back to the Federation with a pony wife!” Wandering said with a chuckle.

“Sshhh! Don’t say that out loud! Rose might hear you!”

“From the Pegasus?”

“Wives hear everything regardless of distance!”

Wandering nodded. “Yeah, you’re right…. Maybe a griffoness instead?”

Boyce mock-glared at the cheeky stallion. “Now you’re just begging for trouble.”

“You’ll be at the Informal Friday dinner, won’t you? Plenty of opportunities for matchmaking.”

“Grrr!”

When talks finished that afternoon, Alexa made her way over to Penumbra’s chair. “I accept your request for a date. What did you have in mind?”

Penumbra’s face lit up with delight. “I reserved a table at a nice restaurant in the hopes that you would say ‘yes’. It caters to carnivores too, so you will have a good menu to choose from. Then there’s this popular play that I happen to have two tickets for…”

Alexa grinned. “You were pretty confident that I’d agree to come.”

Penumbra shrugged. “Very hopeful, anyway. I thought it worth preparing. So – sound good?”

“Yes, it does. Just give me some time to freshen up and change clothes, and we can go.”

Penumbra got up and they started heading out of the meeting room. “I’ll come by your room to pick you up in say forty minutes?”

Alexa nodded. “I’ll be ready.”

Penumbra arrived at Alexa’s room exactly on time, and his knock was promptly answered. He found himself looking directly at her breasts which were at his head level, but while they were attractively clothed in a beautiful blue blouse, they did little for him as ponies did not have boobs as such. However, as he swept his gaze up and down, he saw that she had also brushed her fur and hair and smelled that she had put on a dab of some cologne. She stood there expectantly, waiting for a reaction.

“You look wonderful, Alexa,” he said with a genuine smile.

The foxtaur looked pleased. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure what would be appropriate attire for the restaurant. Would it be better if I wore a dress?”

Penumbra shook his head. “No, dresses are optional. While it’s an upscale restaurant, it’s not super formal. Are you ready to go? The sooner we get there, the longer that we will have to enjoy our meal before we have to leave to go to the play.”

Alexa indicated the purse that she had over her shoulder. “I have everything that I need in here, and I’m ready to go.”

“Great! Shall we go now?”

Alexa nodded and stepped out of her room, closing the door behind her. A magic spell keyed to her chi locked the door as she departed.

Penumbra escorted the foxtaur out of the castle. At its gates, a Royal Guard fell in behind them.

“Umm… did you know that we’re being followed?” Alexa asked.

“Yes. Don’t worry about him – he’s not here to watch you but to make sure that nobody causes you trouble. He’ll be discreet, and won’t follow us into the restaurant.”

“Oh, good. Judging by the looks that I am getting already, I suppose he’s necessary.”

“You’re an oddity, even if there’s a greater mixture of races in Canterlot than there used to be. Most people will be friendly, but there are always exceptions.”

“Fair enough. So, while we’re on the subject of oddities, what made you decide to ask me out for a date?”

Penumbra grinned. “Why did you accept? Anyway, we have members of every Equian race in House Path, and we tend to see whatever is attractive in each species. I just looked for that in you.”

“But then why me in particular? I’m bigger than you, I have six limbs, and I am dual-sexed. I’m so different that it’s hard to see why you would prefer me over someone like M’Laaranth instead.”

“That presupposes that I find the physical more attractive than the mental. Dad told me all about the episode in the waiting room, and I noticed how competently you represented the Federation during the meeting despite being thrust into the leadership role at the last minute. I found that very attractive. However, you would be wrong in saying that I don’t like your looks too. I think we Paths have always found the exotic to be desirable. And I like your fangs.”

Alexa’s eyebrows rose as she looked at the stallion. “My fangs?”

The thestral smiled widely back at her, showing off his own. “We match.”

“Now you’re being silly,” she replied with a giggle.

“Heh! Maybe, but I still think you’re beautiful. Now it’s your turn – why did you agree to a date with a pony?”

“I’m not sure. I just liked you. Maybe it’s partly due to my human heritage. All morphs and taurs have some human in their ancestry, and for some reason, female humans almost always really liked ponies. The Terran ones, I mean. You’re a handsome specimen, and I liked the way you handled the delegates. You’re smart and attractive, so why not? I also like that my gender doesn’t bother you.”

Penumbra shrugged. “I’m bisexual like my father. If anything, being dual-sexed is another point in your favor.”

“But I still prefer my feminine side.”

“And I prefer my masculine side. I think we go together quite well. Anyway, we’re here at the restaurant.” He opened the glass door emblazoned with the name of the establishment – The Golden Peacock – and said, “After you, Alexa.”

“Thank you, Penumbra,” she replied, stepping into the dimly lit interior.

“Please call me Pen if you like.”

She smiled back at him. “I will if you call me Alex. I only let good friends call me that.”

“Thanks, Alex.” Penumbra looked at the maître d' and said, “Table for two in the name of Penumbra Path.”

The griffon gave Penumbra’s companion a studied look and nodded. “Yes, sir. I have a table ready for you. Please follow me.”

They were led to a quiet alcove with a small round table that was set with cutlery and a single large lit candle.

“Will the madam require a chair?” the maître d' asked.

“Thank you, no,” Alexa replied.

The griffon nodded and took away one chair to allow the foxtaur to sit on her rump at the table. When Penumbra was seated, his head was brought up to Alexa’s level which felt more comfortable for both of them. They were given menus before the maître d' left, telling them that he would send over a cocktail waiter immediately.

Alexa looked at her menu and shrugged helplessly. “While I was given a thorough knowledge of your oral language by that amazing spell, I haven’t had the chance to learn your written one as yet.”

“Those are trickier for some reason. Would you like me to read the menu for you?”

“Please do. But first, I see the cocktail waiter headed our way. Do they serve wine here?”

“They do. Ciders and beers too if you like them.”

“Order a red wine for me, please.”

When the cocktail waiter arrived, Penumbra said, “I would like a Sweet Apple Acres hard cider, and my companion would like the house red.”

The unicorn waiter scribbled a note on the pad that he held up in his magic. “Very good, sir. Would you both also like some ice water?”

“Yes, please.”

As the cocktail waiter left, Penumbra picked up the menu and began reading out the list of appetizers and main course meals. As the restaurant catered towards both carnivorous and non-carnivorous species, the sections were marked off accordingly. While clients such as ponies were not usually expected to consume meat with the occasional exception of fish, those frequenting this particular restaurant were either inured or oblivious to the practice. Alexa had no difficulty selecting a steak and vegetable meal, while Penumbra opted for salmon instead.

The cocktail waiter returned with two bottles and glasses, and he uncorked the wine and poured some of it for Alexa. He waited for the foxtaur to try it, and when she gave her approval, filled the glass for her before serving Penumbra. The server appeared just as the cocktail waiter departed, and they gave the pegasus mare their orders. As they waited, they resumed their conversation.

“So – what made you decide to be an ambassador?” Penumbra asked.

“I kind of fell into the profession,” Alexa answered. “I was brought up in a Red Foxtaur village where my sire, Strata, had met my mother, Fellana. Unlike my peers, I was born a Mountain Breed Stellar Foxtaur, even though I do have some Red Foxtaur traits. It was my lack of one of their traits that changed my life though.”

“Which was that?”

“First generation breeds of foxtaurs had their flaws. A major one is called TAS – Territory Attachment Syndrome. Unless a foxtaur moves about a lot during their growing years, by the time that they become adults, they are so attached to the place where they grow up that they get sick if they leave it. Some can even die from it. However, I had no trace of it at all, just like all Stellar Foxtaurs. For this reason, I often acted as a go-between for the various foxtaur clans, and this developed into an actual line of work. I was already a fairly seasoned professional when I joined the Stellar Federation Council as a junior ambassador. I worked my way up pretty quickly until this mission where I was originally second-most senior until E’Laki got rejected. So, what’s your story?”

“Mine’s much simpler, actually. Negotiating has been one of House Path’s major functions since its inception. I got into this particular family business because I liked it. You meet all sorts of interesting people this way, and you have to be the most intriguing one yet.” He gave her a gentle smile.

Alexa was surprised to feel herself blushing a little. The thestral was so frank and direct with his compliments that it was impossible not to be flattered by them. “Thank you. I find you to be equally interesting. You’re only the second thestral in your family that I’ve met besides your father. Are your kind rare?”

Penumbra chuckled. “Nah. Thestrals tend to be nocturnal though, and Princess Luna’s Night Guard consists of many of them. Keep your eyes peeled when we’re headed back to the castle tonight and you might see some.”

“But you work days?”

“As much as I like the night, my job tends to keep me on a diurnal schedule. I have a cool collection of sunglasses for the really sunny days though.”

Alexa giggled. “Dark and mysterious – I like that.”

“What about you? What do you like besides your job?”

The conversation continued with each taking turns to tell about some aspect of their lives and only slowed down a little when their meals were served. Dessert had just been finished when Penumbra finished telling about a series of funny real-life experiences growing up as a foal in House Path, and Alexa was laughing so much she was crying.

“Oh, no more!” she begged, trying to stifle her giggles.

Penumbra grinned unapologetically as he signaled the server for the bill. “We have to get going anyway if we are to get to the play on time.”

“I don’t know – it’s going to be hard to top this dinner date.”

Penumbra paid the bill and they got up to leave. The maître d' gave them a professional smile and thanked them for their patronage as they exited. As they headed down the street in the direction of the theatre, Alexa placed her hand on Penumbra’s withers. The stallion looked up at her and she smiled back as they continued to walk along, garnering curious looks from passers-by.

The play was enormously entertaining, and Alexa spent most of it with one arm around the pony. She still kept one hand upon Penumbra as they walked back to the castle under Luna’s bright moon and starry skies. When they finally reached her room, she paused in the doorway to face the stallion.

“Pen – this has been one of the best evenings of my life. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Does that mean that you would be agreeable to another date, Alex?”

“It means that I would be extremely disappointed if you didn’t ask.”

“Saturday then? Informal Friday will be at our Griffonian home tomorrow, and we’ll both want to be there, but the next day is free. I can show you around the place where I spent half my life growing up.”

“That sounds wonderful. It’s a date then.”

“Great! Umm… before I go, may I…?” He touched his cheek with a questioning look.

Alexa caught on and leaned down so that he could give her a quick kiss on her cheek. She felt a slight blush at the gesture, and she smiled as she bade him goodnight. Closing the door, she went to the bathroom and pulled off her blouse in preparation for having a shower. She caught her reflection in the mirror, and she looked at herself for a long moment before grinning. “You lucky vixen! You found yourself someone who likes you for being you, and he’s a dashing and intelligent pony! Can this mission get any better?”

She was still smiling when she curled up in bed and drifted off to sleep with the memories of that wonderful evening.

Transferring the delegates to Griffonia after talks had concluded on Friday was a simple process. While the hypervelocity tube spell could still only be operated by powerful alicorns, several were headed that way that afternoon. Many of the Equian delegates had travelled by it before, but it was a totally new experience for the Federation personnel. Nothing like it had been developed by scientists or even theorized. It became the initial topic of discussion as everyone started gathering for the Informal Friday Dinner.

Penumbra took Alexa aside to show her around as he had promised. One of the first stops was the training grounds and the home of House Path’s Warmaster.

“Why is it so big?” Alexa asked as they approached the building.

“Two reasons,” Penumbra replied. “Firstly, part of his home is also a small arena. Secondly, his wife needs the room.”

Alexa blinked, trying to comprehend why someone would need a place so huge. “Am I going to be surprised?” she asked suspiciously.

“I sure hope so,” the stallion replied with a grin.

They entered the building and immediately discovered Blue Streak in a training session with Eon. Alexa gasped in surprise at the speed and ferocity of the bout. While the dracopony had introduced his father at the family gathering at Twilight’s castle, both had been socializing, not fighting. She could hardly focus on the blue-coated stallion as he moved to dodge Eon’s attacks which seemed horrendously dangerous to her. If any of them connected…

“Pen, won’t Blue Streak be horribly injured if Eon lands one of his attacks?”

“His pride would probably be more hurt. Uncle Blue’s special talent is speed, and believe me when I say that he’s not even moving half as fast as he can.”

She looked at him askance. “You’re kidding me!”

Penumbra shook his head. “He can gallop faster than the speed of sound. One on one, nobody can hit him because we all move as slow as molasses compared to him.”

“That’s a little mind-boggling. So what’s the point of Eon trying?”

“The Warmaster is limiting his speed, for starters, and secondly it’s not just a matter of hitting him, it’s also about Eon preventing Blue Streak from disarming him. Eon is going to be the next Warmaster, and his father has absolutely no intention of Eon becoming any less than the best that he can possibly be. They’ve been training relentlessly since the Cosmic Lotus returned because Blue Streak wants to make up for lost time.”

“But the Cosmic Lotus wasn’t due back for a few more decades – wouldn’t Blue Streak have been concerned about passing away before Eon returned?”

“Normally, you would be correct, but Uncle Blue went through an experience that changed him a little. His aging has slowed considerably, and while he’s not immortal, he’s expected to live a century or more longer than the average pony. This makes his wife very happy because dragons live for thousands of years.”

“Yes, I noticed that Cinder and Blue Streak are very close. It still doesn’t explain why she needs this much room.”

Penumbra smiled smugly. “You’ll see.”

Just then, a spear came hurtling at the thestral. Penumbra dodged to the side and his wing snapped up to snag it out of the air. He calmly folded the wing with the spear held snugly against his barrel. “Hi, Uncle Blue! Got a moment?”

Alexa gaped at Penumbra and then back at the two contestants who had ceased their combat. Eon was panting lightly, while the Blue Streak hardly seemed affected at all. The earth pony strode over to the visitors with a smile on his face.

“Good to see that you’re not getting soft, Pen,” Blue Streak said.

“I wouldn’t dare slack off my daily training, Uncle Blue, and I know better than to let my guard down in your dojo.”

“Do you always greet visitors by throwing spears at them?” Alexa asked.

“We are all warrior-scholars, Ms. Mountaineer,” Blue Streak replied. “We are expected to be able to respond accordingly.”

“I got my wing pierced a few times before I mastered the timing of that maneuver,” Penumbra admitted. “Anyway, I brought Alexa around to show a little of what we do before the dinner starts. I also want her to meet Cinder.”

Alexa’s face contorted in perplexity. “But I’ve already met her.”

Blue just smiled and looked up to a large ledge above the arena. “Cinder, love – come meet our guest!”

Alexa’s eyes grew huge and her jaw gaped as an enormous golden dragon looked over the edge and nodded.

“So I see,” Cinder rumbled. She spread her wings and jumped off the ledge, a single beat of her wings raising a huge gust of wind as she broke her fall. Alexa was rocked back a step by the blast, but the others, more familiar with the dragoness’ entrance, leaned into the wind and stayed in place. The floor still shuddered with the impact of the massive creature. She lowered her head to Alexa’s level and said, “Welcome to our home. I have not seen one of your kind for a long time.”

“What? How could you have seen one at all? We only arrived on your world a few days ago!”

“Ah, yes – I remember that well. Quite an occasion, it was. Equus was changed forever by that event.”

Alexa was getting more and more confused. This Cinder strongly resembled the much younger and smaller dragon that she had met recently, but she spoke as if she had known about foxtaurs for ages. “Are you the younger Cinder’s mother? Did you name her after yourself?”

The huge dragon’s mouth split into a grin. “No, you might say that I was named after her.”

“Now I’m totally lost,” Alexa admitted.

Penumbra said, “Can I let her off the hook now? I think we’ve had enough fun at her expense.”

Blue chuckled. “Go ahead.”

The thestral looked at Alexa. “Both Cinders are the same person, only Matriarch Cinder here comes from the distant future as a consequence of a time war that was fought a century and a half ago. Because of changes to the time stream, she can never go back, but she and her younger self are happy living here together with their husband.”

“I… see. Warmaster Blue Streak, Matriarch Cinder – I have seen many an odd couple in my years, but you officially have them all beaten by a mile.”

“You should see us at bedtime,” the Matriarch added with a smirk.

“Aunt Cinder! Really?!” Penumbra objected.

The huge dragon merely rumbled with laughter before saying, “Keep up the good work, Ambassador. We shall talk a lot more in the future.” Cinder then turned around and leapt up to her ledge, leaving a grinning earth pony and his son.

“I love my wife’s sense of humor,” Blue Streak said.

“You treat the two as if they are one person?” Alexa queried.

“Not always, but a lot of the time, yes, because they are the same person, just from different time periods. The Matriarch remembers everything the younger Cinder did up until the split in the time stream, and many of the events since then have been identical too. It’s strange, I know, but it works for us.”

“What caused the split in the time stream?”

“I originally died saving Equus. Cinder mourned for me for centuries.”

Alexa was taken aback at the bluntness of that answer, but it made her wonder about something. “Pen said that the Matriarch couldn’t go back to her time, but surely some way could have been found… unless she did not want to go back.”

Blue streak smiled gravely. “You are perceptive. Even after two and a half millennia, she still longed for her mate. Now we are together, both versions of her, and I intend to make my wife’s life as wonderful and fulfilling as possible. She will outlive me, but her memories will be much happier.”

“That is so wonderful. Thank you for talking with me, Warmaster Blue Streak. I hope you and your wife’s… umm… both your wives’ dreams are all fulfilled.”

“Thank you, Ambassador.” Blue turned to look at Penumbra. “Training session first thing after breakfast.”

“What? But Uncle Blue…!”

“Be on time or I’ll double it. Bring your girlfriend if you like.” He then turned away and headed into the arena. “Come on, son – we still have much catching up to do.”

Alexa watched them start sparring again in a daze. “Girlfriend? Who mentioned anything like that?” she murmured.

Penumbra had to cut the tour short as the time for the dinner to start drew near. By the time the two got back to the dining hall, it was already filled with a huge assortment of species of all ages. It was a cheerful rabble that they wove their way through with the thestral introducing her to far more people than she could remember. One that did stand out though was a large male griffon named Trask Silverquill. She only belatedly recalled that he was also King Glimfeather the Second of Griffonia, but like everyone else there, he was chatting on a first name basis with everyone, completely devoid of regalia, and he was quite a jovial fellow.

The alicorns Cadance and Shining Armor turned up for the dinner despite the fact that they normally attended the same event at their branch of House Path in the Crystal Kingdom. They left Princess Flurry Heart to look after that this time, but they did bring their other daughter, Crystal Path, and her husband, Cloud Thumper. Cadance had an odd smile on her face when she talked with Penumbra and Alexa which the foxtaur did not understand, but she figured that there was a lot that she had yet to learn about Equus and its ways.

The egalitarian nature of the dinner was a stark contrast to the many formal banquets that the ambassador had attended, but it did tend to remind her a great deal of her old home in the foxtaur village on Earth. M’Laaranth and Sharathiss seemed to handle it well, but Hogarth was distinctly uncomfortable although unfailingly polite. In any event, the changelings made no objection regarding him, so it was not a diplomatic setback.

The surprise of the evening came when Twilight Sparkle, Luna, Long Path, Crystal Path, Trask Silverquill, Eon’s sister, Era, and a hippogriff named Gidela all got up on the stage to do some musical numbers. Judging by the way the crowd sang along, this was hardly a unique occasion, but it made Alexa wonder how such a mixed civilization had created a harmonious society where some of their greatest leaders played the part of entertainers for their guests. Whatever it was, she decided on the spot that she wanted to be part of it.

Penumbra dragged himself into the family room and collapsed on a sofa with a groan.

“Can I get you something, sir?” asked one of the staff who had been cleaning the room.

“Coffee, black, three sugars, please.”

“Yes, sir.” The maid promptly exited the room.

“Got you too?” came another tired voice from the other side of the room.

Penumbra just managed to raise his head enough to see Wandering sprawled in a chair. “Training?” he asked exhaustedly.

“Before breakfast. Said I was overdue for review.”

“Ugh. When does he retire?”

“Too long. Going back into space for another forty years.”

“Lucky bastard.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

An omake by AlaskaIsCold...

The Warmaster stomped though the house, mad that two of his students had skipped their exercise requirement.

“PENUMBRA!”

He knocked the door down with his front hooves to find an empty room. The Warmaster's anger started to rise as he rushed down the hall, Cinder following closely after him. He reached the guest rooms with a snarl.

“THERE IS A DEBT TO BE REPAID!”

The mass of bodies in the room slowly unwound the bare skin, fur, and feathers and tried to sort themselves out. Boyce let out a groan. “Mmngh...?”

Rosepetal curled up around a pile of feathers. “Too loud... too bright…”

A griffoness was partially uncovered when Rose moved and curled up. All she was able to do was let out a tired caw.

Blue Streak blinked and shut the door. “We didn’t see that.”

Cinder nodded.

They went down a few doors.

“A DEBT THAT CAN ONLY BE REPAID IN– oh, come on!” Blue looked in the next room to see the rejected ambassador growling loudly, tied to a chair with ‘PLOTHOLE’ written on his chest with a sharpie pen, his muzzle tied shut with one of his pants legs.

“HAH!” Cinder laughed.

“This is getting stupid!” Blue hissed.

They slammed the door shut leaving him in the room.

“REPAID IN SWEAT AND BLO– OKAY NOW I’M PISSED.” Blue looked around the empty room as Cinder started laughing.

“Comedy comes in threes!” Cinder chuckled as they left the room, the door slamming shut hard just as a pair of bodies fell from the ceiling and slammed onto the mass of pillows and pelts.

“Ow,” Penumbra groaned.

Alexa couldn’t help but giggle.

The usual kudos to Airy Words for his pre-reading help.

Art by Foxenawolf.

To Infinity And Beyond!

“What can I do for you, Princess Epiphany?” Boyce asked his visitor.

“For starters, just call me Pif. We’re past the first introductions phase.”

“Seeing as this seems to be an official meeting, I thought I would keep things on a formal basis,” the Admiral replied as he his gaze swept over the changeling, crystal pony, and unicorn who were in an office in the House Path mansion.

“As we’re in a private meeting, let’s just keep this informal. Cosmic Dawn and I wish to accompany you when you go through the nebula. Starry Path would have asked, but she’s on her honeymoon and has no wish to either postpone that or hold you up. House Path has a vested interest in continuing the exploration of our region of space and we want to bring along our own instruments to augment your own.”

Boyce nodded thoughtfully. “Considering the fantastic nature of the TESS telescope, I can hardly refuse that offer. Its ability to emulate an optical telescope hundreds of meters in diameter dwarfs anything the Federation has ever produced. However, do you know that there are several other ways of observing the universe?”

“We are beginning to realize that, which is one reason why we wish to come along. I am the Head of Research for House Path, and I wish to learn more. Dawn wants to research how your science fits into thaumophysics too. We can share our results.”

“That sounds like a good deal to me. And why are you coming, Citrine?”

The crystal pony grinned. “Besides keeping my Piffy from overworking herself? I’m a crystallomancer, and you never know when my talent will come in handy.”

“Fair enough. Will there be any others?”

Pif replied, “I normally work with a twelve-changeling think-tank networked with me, if that’s not too much trouble?”

The human chuckled. “They would barely make a dent in this ship’s capacity. I only request that they refrain from using their shape-changing abilities in any unauthorized fashion. Do I need to explain further what I mean by that?”

Pif shook her head. “No, that’s not an unreasonable request.”

“Good. We are scheduled to depart in five hours – can you be ready by then?”

“We already have everything that we need prepared for transfer to your ship. Des will teleport everything up as soon as you give your permission.”

“Tell Prince Destined that I will move the mana beacon to a more appropriate place to receive your equipment, and I’ll contact him as soon as it’s ready.”

“Understood. We’ll come up with him. I’m looking forward to discovering wonderful things.”

Boyce grimaced a little. “As long as you’re also prepared for some shocks.”

Pif cocked her head, one eyebrow raised. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, for starters, Starry’s estimates on how far away Equus is from Chakona may be a little off.”

“How far off?”

“Let’s just leave that until we have some solid data, shall we?”

Pif exchanged glances with Cosmic Dawn and shrugged. “Knowledge is knowledge even if it isn’t what we expect.”

“I’m a little surprised that Princess Twilight isn’t coming along,” Boyce commented.

“Oh, Mama wanted to, but she has work to do on the data that she brought back from the portal. She intends to return there on the Cosmic Lotus later but she isn’t sure that you’ll be back before it leaves. Anyway, we’ll be waiting for your call, Boyce, and thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Pif.”

Pif and company teleported aboard with all their equipment only about an hour later. They got to work immediately installing the TESS with the help of the Pegasus’ technicians, and they were still hard at work when the scheduled time of departure arrived. Farewells were made on all sides before Boyce requested departure permission from ESTC and the starship slipped away from Equus. At a safe distance from that world’s gravity well, it slipped into hyperspace and headed towards the portal.

The vessel’s speed was far greater than that of the Cosmic Lotus and they arrived a mere few hours later. By this time, Pif and Dawn were ready to calibrate the TESS by taking a few sample images of the Equus system. The pause at the nebula ‘wall’ was useful for the Federation scientists while the Equian team was busy. Both were ready to proceed at about the same time, and the Admiral gave the order to proceed into the dust cloud.

While one part of the cloud seemed much like another to the human, the scientists were quite happily kept busy gathering data by both magical and mundane methods. Eventually, they grudgingly allowed the Admiral to shift into warp as even they did not wish to spend years traversing the cloud. Initial measurements had shown it to be many light-years across, the bubble in which Equus resided being a rare anomaly. Shifting into hyperspace was tricky due to the cosmic dust, but they chose a direction where it was particularly thin and, along with the ship’s powerful deflectors, they were able to make the jump out of normal space and get up to warp speed.

For the next few days, this was the pattern that they followed – dropping out of warp to let the scientists take more readings and then shifting back to hyperspace once more. One time they arrived in a particularly dense section of the cloud, and the ship had shuddered a little taking the strain of deflecting so much dust. They needed to spend more than two days travelling at their highest safe sub-light speed before they arrived at the nearest sufficiently thin patch to escape into hyperspace once more. It was not until eleven days after their departure from Equus did they reach the far side of the nebula.

Citrine had grown a little bored during the journey, and despite socializing with the crew of the Pegasus a great deal, she still found herself wanting to do more. Age had not wearied the mare, and she wanted to have some kind of project of her own. Fortunately, Forestwalker had also been looking at a new field of study. The biologist was fascinated by Citrine’s living crystal body, and in an exchange of favors, Citrine got to try out her own theories on the chakat.

“Certain spells can’t work on just anyone,” Citrine explained. “The language learning spell that Amethyst Scroll used on you had to be able to hook onto something within you to work.”

“So, what does that imply?” the chakat asked.

“While none of you from the Federation are aware of it, magic forms part of your lives. Even the least of you has a smidgen of thaumaturgical power. You just need to be able to access it better.”

“Well, that certainly explains a lot about Boyce, but what has that to do with me?”

“I’m a crystallomancer. I’ve spent many years studying my abilities between tending bar and snuggling with my love bug…”

Forestwalker refrained from giggling at the image that conjured.

“…and I believe I know a way that you can access that power.”

“You’ve certainly caught my attention. What did you have in mind?”

The mare reached into the pouch that she had brought along, withdrawing a hoofful of raw crystals. “I’m going to make you a little amplifier slash controller.” She brought her other hoof to rest on top of the mound of purplish crystals and they began to glow. Then they slowly melded into a short, glittering rod that gradually lengthened and curved, and then a spike grew out of the middle. When Citrine’s magic ceased, she held what looked like a tiara with a unicorn horn attached, all made from crystal.

“Am I supposed to wear that?” Forestwalker asked.

“Yep. It’s modelled after Path’s magitek horn, and like that one, it’s designed to draw on the wearer’s natural mana field.”

“And what if I don’t have a mana field?” the chakat asked as shi took possession of it from the pony and settled it on hir head.

“Then you will have a rather fancy new piece of jewelry,” Citrine replied. “Now – let’s try to activate it.”

“How do I do that?”

“Just concentrate on the horn and imagine that you are pushing energy into it. I’ve designed it to react automatically to deliberate intent, so that should be enough.”

Forestwalker’s brow furrowed as shi concentrated on the task, but to little effect. Then shi switched tactics and called on hir own empathic abilities in the hope of resonating with the device. The resulting flash dazzled both occupants of the room and left them seeing stars for a while.

Citrine blinked rapidly to try to clear her vision before grinning broadly. “I think we have a winner!” she declared.

“Now what?” Forestwalker asked even as shi mentally explored this strange new feeling.

“Now we see what kind of magic you can do!”

It took a few days, but Forestwalker eventually mastered simple levitation which shi showed off by carrying around hir PADD in the glow of hir magic. Shi tired easily which Citrine put down to the minuscule mana reserves that the chakat possessed. It did validate Citrine’s theory though and gave Forestwalker another field of study. The two spent many hours together and became firm friends over the course of the voyage. They were both ready for a change of scenery though after eleven days inside the dust cloud.

Pif, Dawn, and Citrine were called to the bridge to observe when the Pegasus dropped out of warp. Their measurements at the previous stop indicated that they would be beyond the dust cloud by their next scheduled exit from hyperspace. Pif had her changelings ready to relay readings from the TESS, and Dawn had brought along another piece of equipment. Then the ship returned to normal space and the main screen turned almost completely black. There was a glow on the left side though, and Boyce ordered that the camera give them a complete view of their surroundings. A star-field like no other that they had ever seen slid into view and dominated the screen for a while before the stars thinned out before abruptly being blotted out again as the camera completed a 360° turn.

“Stop the view on the star-field,” Boyce ordered. When that was accomplished, he said, “I want every sensor operating at full resolution. Get me some information, people!”

Dawn activated the device that she brought, and a spherical hologram formed with a central yellow glowing reference point in the center. She pushed a few buttons and three lines lit up emanating from the center. A very short green line, a very long blue line, and a red line just a tad shorter than the blue that was almost on top of it. “The green line points to the beacon on Equus,” Dawn explained. “The blue line points to the beacon left on Chakona, and the red one points to one on Earth. The length is proportional to the distance.”

Boyce frowned. “That green line is so short in comparison to the others. I’m aware of how far from Equus that we’ve travelled – so how accurate is that display?”

“Very,” Dawn replied, looking at the readouts on the device. “We are 264 light-years from Equus, over 18,000 light-years from Earth, and Chakona is another 350 further from this angle.”

The Pegasus’ navigator spoke up. “Sir! Our instruments concur. Using celestial landmarks, I place us in the Sagan Gap of the Outer Spiral Arm of the Milky Way. From Earth’s perspective, we would be in the constellation of Auriga. It would take us 415 days at maximum warp to get home from here.”

Rosepetal looked up from her science station. “As we suspected, the dust cloud is actually a massive dark nebula hidden in the Outer Arm. None of our deep space probes have ever detected anything of significance out here.”

Pif said, “You already knew that we were much further away than Starry thought we were, didn’t you?”

Boyce nodded. “You know nothing of radio telescopes, for starters, and the infrared spectrum can penetrate the clouds of dust. Once we passed through the portal, we took some readings that indicated we had travelled a far greater distance than previously suspected. To be fair, Starry was working with far too little data to get an accurate estimate.”

“Yeah, but to be nine times further than even that huge first guess is mind-boggling. How can there be so many parallels between our worlds when Equus is so far away?”

“So that’s one of the ley lines that we’ve been searching for all this time?” Galena asked Techbird as she looked at the glowing jagged beam of energy illuminated by her magic. It faded back into invisibility on either side of the detection spell. “What do we do now?”

“We trace it to wherever it is taking the mana energy.”

“That’s going to be a lot easier than finding it in the first place. How many rumors did we eliminate before we found this one?”

“Too many. There’s far too much legend mixed with almost forgotten truth in this world. However, we are making real progress now. How long can you maintain the detection spell?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m well charged with love, so we should have a couple of hours.”

“We had better get started then.” The crystal griffoness spread her wings and took to the air, rising to just over treetop height.

Galena followed suit, barely within her spell’s range of the ley line. They began to follow the direction in which the mana seemed to be flowing, dipping and winding with the topography. They continued as smaller lines joined onto the one they were tracing, eventually leading them over the grasslands of the Salisbury Plains. They flew for many kilometers before another major ley line came into the range of the visibility spell. It flowed for a while alongside the one that they had been following before merging with it just before a stone structure hove into sight. This happened twice more before the duo landed just outside the circle of standing stones beside a sign that proclaimed the name of the place.

“Stonehenge,” Techbird read. “Looks like we have a name for one of our elusive foci. I think you can release your spell now.”

Galena had been staring at the multitude of mana streams that her spell had revealed pouring their power into the site, awed by the sheer amount of magical potential here. She discontinued the spell before saying, “I think that we had better be careful casting any new spells here. My visibility spell flared up hugely.”

“Unsurprising. I don’t know what is drawing all this mana here, but the leakage alone would boost the effect on any spell cast in this area.” She examined the stone structure critically. “This appears to have similarities to Equus’ Ponyhenge in that it was designed to focus a major enchantment, but obviously not the mana gathering spell or else that would have failed long ago due to the dilapidated condition of the structure.”

Time had not been kind to the famous monument. The information on the sign informed them that Stonehenge had suffered decades of damage and neglect due to the Gene Wars that started in the 21st Century, and a badly depleted population had more important things to do once peace had been restored. After many years, efforts had been made to repair the damage and tourists had started coming back to the site.

“What’s the plan?” Galena asked.

“We study the site and uncover its secrets. We’re so close to the answers now, I can taste them!”

“What about them?” The violet changeling pointed to the gawking crowd of tourists that they had been trying to ignore. As curious as they were about Stonehenge, the sight of a crystal griffon and a changeling princess flying into the site was far more fascinating to the sightseers, especially after the light show that had heralded their arrival.

Techbird sighed at the complication. “Let’s try to find someone in charge here and arrange something. I’m not going to be balked by a bunch of tourists!”

The Pegasus spent a day gathering data before they began the journey back to Equus. Of course, the scientists had wanted more time, but Admiral Kline had other responsibilities to attend to back at the pony world. A specially prepared expedition by a dedicated exploration vessel would be sent out there later to continue the scientific work.

It took them six days to get back to Equus. Boyce found the diplomats still locked in tense negotiations with the members of the Greater Equus Council, but he was welcomed back by House Path.

“While the politicians argue about how they want to deal with the Federation, we’ve already commenced work on various fronts in an effort to assist you in your conflict with the Swarm,” Long Path advised the human. “First priority is a mana shield. We can’t send an alicorn or unicorn mage with every single one of your fighters, and defense is always House Path’s priority. Weapons are the last resort for us when every other contingency has failed.”

“Can we expect any hope on the latter?” Boyce asked.

“Undoubtedly. The Griffonians are eager to pursue that goal. While officially they can’t do anything until the diplomats sign some sort of treaty, you can be sure that they will be well advanced with their plans by the time that it is done. Griffons have formed the backbone of Equus’ armies for some time now. They take enormous pride in being in the forefront of any conflict that would disrupt the harmonious society that we have built on this world. You’ll soon have magitek weapons to go with our shields.”

“That is very reassuring. Considering all that though, I don’t understand why the Federation diplomats haven’t come to some kind of interim agreement as yet. While I realize that the details of a full alliance could take many months to iron out, there is a certain urgency for both our peoples.”

“I’m afraid that may be part of the problem. You see, the way some of the delegates see it, the Federation is bringing the Swarm problem to us. They feel that if we cut ties with you and close access to the portal, we can continue to live in peace.”

Boyce sighed. “Don’t they realize that that’s only a temporary solution? Eventually, the problem will find them again.”

“You’re not telling me anything that I haven’t learned in well over a century spent around the negotiating table. The stage may be a lot bigger, but the play hasn’t changed.”

“That long? How old are you anyway, if I may ask?”

Path thought for a moment. “I don’t pay much attention to birthdays like I used to, and I kind of lost track. I think I’m 172.”

Boyce’s eyes shot wide open and he stared at the green-bearded pony. “What?! I’ve met very old ponies and you look more like you’re thirty-something, even though I know that you’re much older than that.”

Path shrugged. “Something happened to me a long time back that seems to have slowed down my aging. I’m just grateful that it gives me a lot more time to be with my herd-mates.” He cast his eyes down and sighed. “My first wife, Roseclaw, passed away over two decades ago and I still miss her. Changeling Queens like Free live for three centuries, and alicorns are immortal, so I welcome every extra day that I get to spend with them.”

“I can understand that, but you make me feel like a kid next to you.”

“I make you feel like a baby goat?” Path asked with an eyebrow raised in puzzlement.

Boyce laughed. “Kid is slang for a child – some things don’t quite translate, do they?”

“No – translation spells are imperfect and can be very literal. Idioms often need to be explained. I don’t recall encountering that particular one before now, although many of the crew from the Cosmic Lotus may have.”

“I’m sure they have. Anyway, the point is that you are over a century older than me, and while our medical science can extend the human lifespan considerably, you have already lived longer than I expect to.”

“I cherish every moment that I get, Admiral – make sure you do the same. Rest assured that House Path will do its best to ensure that you get to live a long and happy life.”

“Are you sure that you’re ready to go back into space?” Twilight Sparkle asked her son.

Wandering Path rolled his eyes. “Mom – I assure you that Starry and I have had a perfectly good honeymoon, and we are both ready and keen to get back to work.”

Twilight’s expression was a mixture of relief and eagerness. “That’s wonderful because I’m so excited at the prospect of getting back to studying the rune magic of the portal. The Federation scientists have had all this time to study its physics, but they won’t get far without a thorough understanding of the thaumaturgical structures that enable it.”

“Yes, Mom, I know that. Starry wants to study it too. Now that Cosmic Dawn is back, we’ll have a full complement of experts for the job. I’ll be contacting all the crewmembers, asking if they would like to report back as soon as possible.”

Twilight smiled slightly. “Do you think they’ll want to go on another adventure?”

Wandering smiled knowingly. “I’ve gotten to know the crew pretty well over the years. Adventure flows in their veins. I expect most will jump at the chance for another challenge… albeit of a shorter duration this time. I expect that we’ll be able to leave the day after tomorrow. Refurbishments should be completed by now, especially with Radiance Point on the job. I’m headed up there now to inspect the ship.”

“Let me know when you’re ready to bring up my equipment,” Twilight replied. “And your father will be coming along too. Free reckons it’s his turn to have a bit of adventure.”

Wandering chuckled even as he wondered how well the griffon changeling would fit in with the crew. Maybe he and Willow would compete to see who could entertain the crew more. Whatever happened, it wouldn’t be boring.

“I hear that you were promoted. Congratulations, Commander Point,” Wandering said with a casual salute.

Radiance Point uncomfortably returned it. “You know I wasn’t looking for it, Captain. I just want to make the Lotus the best starship in the galaxy.”

“You’ve done more than most for this ship, Point. You deserved the promotion. Anyway, I know that you have been busy upgrading the ship while I’ve been gone, but I hope that you took enough R&R too.”

“Aw, Captain – working on the ship is what I do for fun.” He held up a hoof to forestall Wandering’s objections. “However, Sunrise Flight and I did spend some time in Equestria. I had to make closure with some people from my past, and I also had to get my grandson, Radiant Steel, into the House Path training and evaluation center.”

Wandering’s eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. After a long moment of stunned silence, he squeaked, “You have a grandson? You’re a father?! How come we never knew this?”

“I never knew it until I met him. Apparently one of my former crewmates was pregnant when the Gowanus was wrecked. I met my son and his family for the first time while I was on Equus. It opened my eyes a lot, Captain.”

“But you’ve been back on board the Cosmic Lotus for a couple of weeks now. You’re not tempted to stay with your newfound family?”

“This is where I belong, Captain. That much hasn’t changed. And my grandson is a lot like me too. That’s why I am requesting that he gets a position as my apprentice aboard this ship.” The unicorn regarded the alicorn with nervous expectation.

“You said he’s at the evaluation and training center?”

Radiance nodded.

“I’ll talk to them tomorrow. If they approve, you’ve got your apprentice.” As Radiance started to grin with delight, Wandering added, “Besides, I want to see what a grandchild of yours is like, and how you will take to being responsible for him.”

Radiance gulped as that reality sank into him.

“Now – let’s see what you’ve been up to in my absence….”

A number of the former crew had decided not to re-join the Cosmic Lotus for its new voyages. Some had had enough of travelling the stars while others were setting their sights on the next generation of starships that were already in the planning stage. This was fortuitous because the starship was no longer restricted to multi-year journeys requiring a large relief crew. Even after removing the majority of the hibernation pods and utilizing the space for more crew cabins, the vessel was still a little on the crowded side when the science team joined them. Nevertheless, places were found for everyone and their equipment.

At 9:00 am HPGT (House Path Griffonian Time), Executive Officer Bluequill confirmed that all stations were ready and the Captain gave the order to begin their new mission. The Cosmic Lotus departed Equus orbit, bound for the Far Star once more.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Things are starting to come to a head now. The Cosmic Lotus is back among the stars where she belongs, and Techbird is closer than ever to finding her Answer.

Thanks to Airy Words for pre-reading and useful suggestions.

The Oncoming Storm

The Cosmic Lotus spent the best part of a day at the Equus side of the portal, doing a full scan of all six moonlets. They used only passive magical scanning to prevent accidental activation and not just the one that Twilight had identified as the control moon. However, they were not limited to just their magitek systems this time. Boyce had assigned some Federation equipment to their ship and had them trained on its use so that they could study details that their magitek could not accomplish or would not be allowed to do. Twilight Sparkle was thrilled by the sheer amount of data that she had to work with, but she also wanted to share it with the others who were working on the secrets of the portal.

Wandering Path made contact with the team on the other side of the gateway to warn them that they were going to be coming through. It still amazed him that he was effectively communicating in real time at a distance of 18,000 light-years, but the thaumaturgical Law of Simultaneity held firm even at that extraordinary distance. After being given the go-ahead, he ordered that the portal be activated, and they proceeded through just as smoothly as they had on their journey home.

The Federation science vessel F.S.S. Stephen Hawking awaited their arrival, and soon Wandering and Starry had teleported over to it with his mother, Cosmic Dawn, and their research staff. They were met by Doctor Zara Harding who smiled in warm welcome.

“I am so pleased that you could join us,” the skunktaur said. “I believe that you’ve brought data from the other side of the wormhole?”

Twilight held up a data storage crystal in her magic. “Everything is on here. I can hardly wait to see what you have found out on this side during my absence.”

“Oh, we have loads of data too, both exciting and confusing. Hopefully you and Cosmic Dawn will be able to shed some light on that.”

The skunktaur turned around and started heading down the corridor towards hys workplace with two ponies by hys sides. The rest of the research team members followed dutifully behind.

“Well, they’re now oblivious to the rest of the universe,” Wandering said with a smirk. “Will you be joining them, Starry?”

His wife shook her head. “No, they have specialists on the job now, and I wish to do some more astronomy while we’re in this part of the galaxy.”

“Not calling them star whirlpools anymore?”

Starry stuck her tongue out at him. “That was a descriptive term for them. Now that I know the proper name for galaxies, I’ll be using that from now on.”

“I bet the astronomers back on Equus had their minds blown when you presented them with this huge universe that was previously unsuspected.”

“You could say that again. Some of them suspected me of perpetrating a hoax, but with Mama Twilight backing me up, they quickly shut up. Of course, the astronomers on this side of the portal have known about the immensity and complexity of the universe for centuries, and they still have much research to do. I suspect that I will have a lifetime of study ahead of me.”

“Anywhere in particular that you want to go?” Wandering asked with an indulgent smile.

“Ooh, lots of places. But right now, the Chakastra system is enough for starters.”

“That’s good, because I have a ship full of scientists in other disciplines who want to get to work on Chakona, and I can’t just favor my wife’s whims.”

Starry giggled. “Oh, I don’t know. I bet I could persuade you.”

Wandering gave her a flat look. “Your feminine wiles will not work on me, mare.”

Starry merely nuzzled him and gave the stallion a nip on his neck. Not for the first time was Wandering very glad to have a red coat.

While a large proportion of his crew was working on Chakona, usually in partnership with the local experts in their fields, some of them were still doing their jobs on the ship, the astronomers in particular. The Cosmic Lotus was currently parked in parallel orbit with a huge radio telescope and Starry was working with its staff, expanding knowledge for both Equian and Federation scientists. Others were using the TESS to examine Chakastra’s other planets. The crew not involved in either planet-side or astronomical work were busy with the upkeep of their starship. If it was not for the apprentices that needed lessons, there would have been practically nothing for Wandering to do. He was glad when he got a comm call from Techbird to break up the boredom.

“Hi, Tech! How’s the research coming along?”

“It’s both exciting and frustrating, Wandering,” the griffoness replied.

“Nothing’s changed then?” he said with a laugh.

“Not quite. Galena and I are on the cusp of a huge discovery, but we’re being stymied. Metaphorically speaking, we’re at the door of the treasure vault but lack the key.”

“Oh? What’s the key in this case?”

“More expert knowledge; we need Cosmic Dawn’s help.”

Wandering frowned a little. “Dawn’s currently with Mom working on the portal. I don’t know if she would want to abandon that research.”

“She doesn’t have to. I believe this is closely related, and she might be able to bring some fresh ideas back with her.”

“Hmm. Well, I’ll put the request to her and see what she says. If she agrees, I’ll ask Destined to pick her up and teleport her to Earth. It would take us weeks to bring her there on the Lotus, and my crew are otherwise engaged also.”

“Please do so. I’m so close to finding my Answer that I can taste it!”

The alicorn knew just how obsessed the griffoness was with her Question, but she was also one of the strongest drivers of the Cosmic Lotus project, so her desires were often given priority. “Okay, I’ll let you know soon.”

“Thanks, Wandering. Techbird out.”

The stallion contacted Cosmic Dawn immediately. The unicorn mare was intrigued by Techbird’s hints and agreed to visit Earth. “Twilight can handle everything in my absence,” she assured him.

About two hours later when Destined Path was free, he came to collect the mare and teleported her to Earth, homing in on Techbird’s beacon.

Wandering, meanwhile, went back to trying to find things to occupy his time.

Cosmic Dawn accompanied the excitable crystal griffoness and her more stoic changeling companion from the pair’s temporary accommodations to Stonehenge. Not that she had much choice. Techbird had grasped the unicorn in her talons and flew to the site with Galena trying to keep up. They bypassed the fence that kept the tourists from approaching without paying for admission, but the local staff were unconcerned as they had been handsomely paid for the right to full access by the researchers. As always, their arrival was greeted with excitement, and several sightseers even thought that they were part of a show. Galena was tasked with gently disabusing them of this notion as she was far more diplomatic than her companion.

Dawn immediately saw the implications of the structure, and she demanded to see what Techbird had discovered about the site so far. Several hours later with her mind filled with new knowledge and theories, she waited impatiently for the site to be closed to the public so she could work some high-end spells without interference. The sun was dipping below the horizon when the staff finally closed the gates behind the last tourist and she set to work.

The unicorn’s horn lit up as she constructed a complex spell in her mind. She double-checked it before releasing it in a burst of mana. The light seemed to sink into the standing stones, and then parts of them started to glow. The trio stepped up to the nearest to examine the illuminated figures upon it.

“Runes!” exclaimed Techbird.

Dawn nodded. “Yes, you were right – this site is related to the portal in some way. These runes faded centuries ago but their power lives on. That’s part of what is responsible for drawing the mana from the region.”

“How is it doing that?” Galena asked.

The unicorn gave her a flat look. “Give me a chance to decipher the runes and examine how they are functioning. Besides, look about you. See how many of the stones are damaged or even missing? We’ve got our work cut out for us while we analyze these runes and figure out our next step.”

They set to work recording the revealed markings, the winged members of the group concentrating on the higher stones while Dawn focused on the lower. Then it was a matter of reconstructing the immense rune spell with some of the elements missing. That was easy to say but incredibly complicated in execution. The copies of the rune sequences that Dawn had brought with her from the gateway provided some guidance but no outright answers. Days dragged into weeks of painstaking work filled with discoveries and intense disappointments. Gradually, however, the spell pattern was starting to come together with the help of modern wizardry. While the rune magic had proven extremely durable, advanced thaumaturgy had far surpassed it in sophistication. Experiments were done in making substitutions with mana constructs where the originals were no longer available. Trial and error eventually found the correct way to assemble them. Finally, they were almost ready.

“Why can’t we test it immediately?” Galena asked.

“We’ve built the spell, but we need the trigger,” Dawn replied. “Even the magicless locals know that Stonehenge’s alignment is significant. In two days, the Summer Solstice occurs. Then we will be able to complete our task.”

The group spent the intervening day preparing for whatever happened after the spell was activated. While they suspected what might occur, there were too many unknowns yet to be sure. Whatever it was though, with so much power to feed upon, it would not be a trivial event.

Techbird, Galena, and Cosmic Dawn flew to the site early but found that they were not the first to arrive. A group of druids were there for the solstice too, a detail that had been overlooked by the team. Normally visitors were not allowed on the site before normal opening hours, and they were completely banned within the stone circle. As scientific researchers, the team had been granted an exemption, but there were others who occasionally got that right as well. This was a complication that had not been anticipated, nor had the owners of the land upon which Stonehenge stood thought to inform them about. It was a regularly scheduled event, and no one had considered that the researchers would not know about it.

It took all of Galena’s diplomatic skills to negotiate a compromise with the druids. After altering her appearance to resemble a beautiful fairy of legend, she persuaded the druid in charge that she and her companions were endeavoring to make a mystic reconnection with their past, but it could be hazardous to the druids. They could still observe the solstice sunrise as long as they stood outside the stone circle. If Galena did not have a griffon and a unicorn to back her up, the druids might not have been sufficiently moved by her request, but they were intrigued and curious enough that the leaders agreed to give them a few minutes to complete their task.

The time limit was quickly forgotten when Cosmic Dawn started casting her spells. First, just as she did previously, she illuminated the hidden runes which drew gasps of surprise and awe from the crowd. The next part was trickier though. The unicorn set about fashioning mana constructs to replace or reconstruct the standing stones complete with the additional runes that the researchers had puzzled out. The watchers were mesmerized by the lambent apparitions and they hardly noticed the horizon rapidly brightening.

Cosmic Dawn had left the casting of these complex spells until the last moment as she knew how much effort they would take. If it was not for all the freely available mana still flowing into the site, she might not have managed at all. As it was, she was sweating and straining as the sun finally rose above the heel stone, a shaft of sunlight spearing through the narrow gap between two pillars to strike the reconstructed altar. There came a deep resonant tone that shook everyone there as an ancient spell was unlocked and a brilliant point of light appeared above the center of the stone circle. The point grew and then stretched into a doughnut shape, a lightless void inside of it. The sparkling ring of magic continued to grow in all directions, the bottom reaching the ground and continuing down as if the earth did not exist. Soon a disc of black framed by a ring of magic filled Stonehenge, large enough to engulf the biggest dragon.

“What do we do now?” asked Galena, her eyes riveted on the apparition.

“It’s a portal – we go in!” Techbird declared as she spread her wings and dived into the unknown.

Galena gasped as the griffon disappeared from view but leapt after her beloved.

“Too late to back out now,” murmured Dawn before she too leapt into the portal.

The instant that she passed through, her spells collapsed. The runes stopped glowing and the mana constructs faded. The giant gateway shrank until it disappeared, and the watchers were left with nothing to see but a normal solstice sunrise just like the thousands that had happened in the past. Of the fantastic trio, no trace was to be found.

The Pegasus made its way to the wormhole, and with the aid of a mana projector that the Equians had given them in exchange for the equipment installed on the Cosmic Lotus, it passed through the portal and headed for Chakona.

Forestwalker was in a good mood. Shi had been very much enjoying all the fascinating new things that shi and hir team had been learning about Equian biology, and now they were headed to Chakona where shi could go home and tell hir family all about the great time that shi had been having on Equus. Shi was wearing the crystal horn that Citrine had made for hir, and constant practice had seen hir getting more adept at its use every day. The crystal pony had made a modification to enable the tiara to store ambient mana so that it did not have to rely totally on the chakat’s meagre supply of the energy. Shi was carrying hir PADD around by levitation magic as shi walked down a corridor towards hir department office when a yellow fox morph in Security uniform approached, carrying boxes of something.

“Good morning, Ensign Deanfox,” shi said cheerfully.

The fox had not been paying particular attention to the chakat but responded when addressed. “Good morning, Shir For-wha…?!” Deanfox did a double-take and almost dropped his boxes as he saw the hovering PADD following the crystal-horn-wearing chakat like a puppy.

Forestwalker giggled and said, “That’s Forest, not Forwha.” Shi continued on, leaving the flustered fox to try to figure out what just happened. Shi had almost reached hir destination when the P.A. suddenly started blaring.

“Yellow Alert! Yellow Alert! All department heads report to the main briefing room immediately! I repeat – all department heads to the main briefing room!”

Forestwalker’s PADD dropped to the floor as the chakat lost hir concentration. Shi quickly scooped it up in hir hands and started running in the opposite direction to the translift. Crewmembers of all kinds were hastening to take their places for the Yellow Alert, but the translift’s computer guidance system gave hir priority as the Head of the Biology Department. Shi quickly reached the main briefing room where Boyce and Rosepetal waited for everyone to arrive. When the last department head was seated, the Admiral called for attention.

“Gentlebeings, I bring terrible news from Star Fleet Command. The Swarm has bypassed our blockade and is currently approaching two inhabited worlds. The Stellar Federation faces death and destruction once more.”

The room went into an uproar before Boyce sternly called for order.

“Sir, how did the Swarm get through the blockade?” Midnight asked.

Boyce shook his head. “They didn’t. The blockade stands as firm as ever, but while it was spread wide enough to prevent them going around, they apparently outsmarted us at the long game. From what Star Fleet Intelligence has been able to determine, they have spent years travelling out of the galactic plane and away from the Federation until they were well beyond our furthest outpost before they curved back in towards us. At this point, they were well past the blockade and could continue unobstructed. They may have even taken over other systems along the way that we have not discovered as yet. They certainly have had enough time to do that. We’ve long known that the Swarm is absolutely relentless – no matter how much damage we inflict on their forces, they keep coming with blind indifference to their losses. There never seems to be any fewer ships. Now we know that they don’t lack in strategic skills too.”

“Sir – how do we know that there aren’t more incursions incoming beyond the blockade?”

“We don’t yet. However, every available scout ship and drone has been tasked with finding that out.”

“What is Star Fleet Command doing in response?” another officer asked.

“Fighters have been dispatched to confront the Swarm on the two new fronts, but we lack sufficient ships to effectively combat them. The Swarm’s efforts have not slackened off at the blockade, so only the outermost ships from the blockade can be spared. Obviously, all fighter pilots are being recalled from leave, and maintenance cycles on their craft have been accelerated, but we’re still terribly undermanned to fight them. For that reason, many other warships are being called in to defend against the incursions. The Pegasus is one of them.”

There were shocked looks all around before the Chief Engineer said what everyone else knew. “But the Pegasus has no defense against the Swarm’s mana beams.”

Boyce nodded gravely. “I know. That’s how bad the situation is.”

Forestwalker spoke up. “We could have a defense – has anyone talked to the Equians yet?”

“No, but that’s only because we just got the news from Command. I’ll be contacting Captain Wandering Path immediately after this meeting because the Cosmic Lotus is currently in the Chakastra System, but I will also be holding emergency talks with the Equian World Council soon thereafter. If no suitable arrangements have yet been made with them, I will formally petition the Head of House Path for their assistance. Meanwhile, I want all department heads to switch to war protocol. All unnecessary personnel will disembark at Chakona prior to the Pegasus heading to one of the fronts and preparations made to go into battle. Dismissed! Lieutenant Forestwalker, Doctor M’Lai, Commander Midnight – stay for a moment.”

When all the others had left, Boyce’s stern expression softened into one of concern. “Forest – we don’t need a biology department when going into battle. You may request to disembark at Chakona also.”

Forestwalker shook hir head. “I believe it’s standard procedure that the department heads remain. Besides, you may need a biologist yet. There’s still so much that we don’t know about the Swarm despite the successful raid.”

“While it may be standard procedure, it’s also voluntary for departments such as yours. Forest – between you, Rose, Midnight, and M’Lai, four out of five of my wives are on this ship. Zhane might even be called upon to fight the Swarm directly as one of the new fronts is aligned with Raksha. I can’t bear the thought that all of us may be wiped out and our children left without their parents.”

“All our children have grown up and can cope, even if it’s a bitter blow. My place is by the side of my lifemate. That’s why I chose to join Star Fleet, and that’s why I’ll be staying on the Pegasus.”

“You are a stubborn chakat, love.” Boyce hugged Forestwalker and the other three joined in. After a long moment, they drew apart once more. “Dismissed, Lieutenant Forestwalker, Doctor M’Lai. Commander Midnight – you’re with me.”

They parted with heavy hearts but great determination. They all had too much to live for to let the Swarm defeat them.

Wandering was in his ready room when the call from the Pegasus came in, and he answered it promptly.

“What’s up, Admiral?”

“Captain Path – we have just received terrible news. Could we have an immediate meeting?”

“Where are you, Admiral?”

“Not far away. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Could you and Starry teleport over?”

“No problem. I’ll let Starry know to be ready. Call me as soon as you have rendezvoused.”

“Will do. Pegasus out.”

Wandering used the comm to summon Starry, and she arrived moments before Boyce called back. After advising Bluequill where they were going, the alicorns teleported over to the ship and hastened to Boyce’s ready room. Upon given the news, they were briefly shocked before Wandering asked how they could help.

“After we put ashore all superfluous personnel, the Pegasus will depart immediately to help in the fight against the new incursions. However, we need a defense against their mana beams, and I am personally requesting your help.”

Starry bit her lip and shook her head. “Admiral, I can’t protect a vessel as large as the Pegasus. It’s just too big for either of us.”

Boyce slumped a little and sighed. “I was afraid that might be the case.”

“However…” Wandering added, “Our uncle Shining Armor could if he’s willing.”

“You’re certain that he can do that?” The Admiral’s voice was tinged with hope.

“He once successfully shielded an entire city against a gigantic army. It’s his special talent,” the stallion assured him. “And he’s been itching to get involved. We’ll also stir up the negotiations. While Equus is not in a position yet to help much, I’m sure House Path will do what it can once you formally request it. Some of the magitek mana shields at the very least should be ready to deploy to your smaller fighter ships.”

“The Stellar Federation will be eternally grateful for all your help,” Boyce replied.

Starry and Wandering just smiled, and the mare said, “We can do no less for our friends.”

Silence.

Well, almost...

The only sound was the echoing taps of hooves and crystal talons on the solid floor. The trio made its way down the gigantic corridor that they had found on the other side of the portal, with Techbird leading the way, Galena close behind her, and Cosmic Dawn bringing up the rear.

“Keep scanning. I want every detail recorded for later analysis!” Techbird barked out as they moved down the hallway.

“I know, I know! My pocket scanner is doing a full arcane scan several times a second; we won’t miss a thing,” Dawn replied.

“This could be the Answer to the Question or yet another clue, or this could be a – oh my goddess!” Techbird gasped and shot forward, prompting the others to follow her. It was only a few more meters before the hall opened up into a dim void that seemed to go on forever. The only light source was a single gigantic crystal in the distance that was pulsing like a slow heartbeat. Small bursts of mana were flowing both toward and away from it in slow intervals through arcane channels.

“It’s... it’s pure mana... not raw, not aligned in one aspect or another. This has never been seen before!” Cosmic Dawn exclaimed as she lit up her horn to move her scanner around. However, when she did, there was an instant response from the cave. A deep rumble was heard as random crystals started to light up all around them, bringing the ambient light levels up enough for them to see that this cavern was easily a kilometer wide and the ceiling was about five hundred meters up. The entire area was covered with crisscrossing mana lines, all of which were completely pure, unaligned mana. When the trio looked down they realized they were on a path leading toward the center spire.

“I... I think the Answer is here!” Techbird cried out, but she still had enough self-restraint to walk slowly, to observe everything that was around them. “Everyone report what you are sensing,” Techbird asked quietly, still in awe.

“I can see the magic flowing in the air, through your body, from my horn, around Galena's horn,” Cosmic Dawn whispered in a hushed tone as they walked. “I should not be able to see magic so clearly; it’s always implied, always on the edge of your vision or felt or experienced. Yes, you can see it when somebody is casting and you can see ley lines with the help of a revelation spell, but this is different. This is dormant, idle magic and I can see it.”

The changeling Princess spoke up next. “I can feel both of you. I can feel the Cosmic Lotus network, I can feel... sense... see other networks. When I close my eyes, it’s like looking out into the stars. They are distant but they are there... so many different colors, so many different intensities, the points become part of a greater form, a shape… a web?” Galena opened and shut her eyes, her mind trying to comprehend what she was seeing, but due to the immensity of it, the true definition evaded her.

It was the griffoness’ turn. “I see everything... the arcane and the mundane. I see the formulas that define everything from the Planck length all the way to what defines the limits of this universe and... there is something even further beyond that.... an infinite sea of probability.” She held onto Galena tightly so that she could ground herself to somebody and not be swept away.

For every step they took, their senses were heightened and their minds were pushed even further to their limits. It was easy at first but the closer they came to the central crystal, the more daunting it became.

“I can’t... it’s too much! I can’t…” Cosmic Dawn started to cry, her senses heightened to a point of which she was losing her sense of self. She was starting to lose track of where her mind ended and the universe began.

Galena responded by lighting up her horn and sending a pulse through dawn, deadening her senses, but even though the spell was strong enough to render a pony complete devoid of sensation for a short time, in here it was barely able to give Dawn the strength to keep walking. By the time the three of them reached the central crystal, they were using each other as a support. Unnoticed until they were almost upon it, a double door was set into the crystal.

“The Answer! I must know!” Techbird pushed open the doors which offered no resistance, and they all stumbled into the room beyond. The doors closed of their own accord, and abruptly the sensory-broadening effect was muted. They collapsed, panting from the extreme mental exhaustion.

“The eye of the storm,” Galena commented.

“Oh, not so much the eye of the storm, so much as it is the control center of a scrying array,” came a new voice.

A figure emerged from a mirror-like section of the wall, a benevolent smile on his face. The being was made out of some sort of multi-faceted gemstone, similar to a crystal pony in appearance. However, unlike them, it did not appear to be entirely alive. It was familiar though. This construct looked like an ancient pony that most of Equestria knew.

“S-Star Swirl the Bearded?!” Cosmic Dawn and Techbird gasped out simultaneously in surprise.

“You know me as that, yes, but since you made it here, my children, you are ready for the Truth, the Question, and the Answer.”

The crystal being’s form shifted around and grew until a strange human stood in front of them. He was wearing a long flowing robe marked with the same pattern as his hat and cape, and in one of his hands, he held a staff with a crystal steadily glowing in the tip that looked like the ones lining the walls of the room. He had a long white beard, and on top of his head, he wore a pointy hat. When he spoke it was with a strong Welsh accent.

“Star Swirl the Bearded is my pony name, but here I am called Myrddin.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Dum-dum-daaaaaaah! It's getting exciting now.

Too bad you might have to wait two weeks for the next chapter. Next weekend I will be attending the FurDU convention in Surfers Paradise, Queensland. That will leave me little if any time to write. I will be responsible for the presentation ceremony for the Ursa Major Awards which will be held on Saturday, so that's an extra complication. Hopefully I won't have any trouble getting to the airport on Thursday because my car broke down tonight on the way home from work due to the engine overheating. I think there's a leak in the radiator. *sigh* More money needed to fix it.

Rattles the Paypal tin, hoping for tips.

Oh – and don't forget to keep track of Alden Macmanx's story running in parallel with mine – Purple Point - His Life in Space.

Pre-reading by Airy Words.
Art by Foxenawolf.

Battlelines Are Drawn

The trio stared in incomprehension as Myrddin smiled enigmatically.

Techbird hesitantly said, “I… think I came across that name during my research.”

The unnatural human construct chuckled. “My birth name was Myrddin Emrys, but you may better know me as Merlin Ambrosius.”

The expressions on all three brightened in recognition.

“You are the legendary wizard Merlin?” Galena asked.

Merlin inclined his head in acknowledgement. “I am, or at least his avatar. Everything that the original knew and desired is a part of me now, but my one remaining purpose on this world is to complete the work that my original self began. However, I did not work alone. Two others reside with me here in the core of the Arcane Eye.”

He gestured and two more beings emerged from the walls, each about 120 degrees from where Merlin had appeared. The first was a quadrupedal dragon, her scales unlike anything the trio had seen before. They saw galaxies, nebulas, and whole planetary systems dancing back and forth across her scales, which contrasted greatly to her bright white teeth and her terrifying red eyes. When the three shrank back, she chuckled.

“You do not know me, but you two are created with my magic.” She pointed to Galena and Techbird. “You would do well to bow to your maker.”

The two bowed without hesitation as the dragoness laughed again, her form shifting until a tall woman was standing where the serpent once was, clad in a dress of shimmering blues and greens with a gold belt wrapped twice around her waist. As she moved closer, what first appeared to be scale mail or jewels was revealed to be thousands of green iridescent wings sewn onto the fabric for decoration. Her skin was fair but her eyes were shrewd and calculating. Her hair was the most saturated of brunettes which offset her green eyes. “You have not yet met my avatar in Equus, but you know my agent, the Nightmare.” While Merlin had a strong accent, the woman’s was faint and hard to pin down. She chuckled again. “But you may call me Morgan le Fay.”

The final figure was a snow-white alicorn with a bright red mane and tail. A cutie mark of an ink bottle and quill adorned her flanks. Unlike with Morgan, the trio was instantly put at ease by her mere presence.

“It has been so long, but finally my little Equians have returned,” the alicorn said with a pleasantly lilting voice. Her form started to shift as well until there was a medium-height woman standing in front of them, clothed in a simple white robe, but she still retained her smile. “Only three of your kind have seen me before. I tend to keep to the side maintaining balance while the other two vie for control. I have many names in Equus, but here you may call me Faust.”

Merlin spoke up once more. “It took centuries for the Puzzle to be realized, and even longer before Equus could unify as a whole to begin to understand its significance. As the generations passed, great philosophers among you realized it was something more. However, they could never do what you did. By travelling back to your first home, you already know the first part of the Puzzle. Speak your Question, Techbird.”

The griffoness firmed her voice as she looked at Merlin. “Why do we exist?”

The wise man smiled. “You exist to preserve what humanity has lost. During the old times, magic was everywhere in this world, but everything moves in cycles, as you know. After thousands of years, magic was on the eve of fading. Avalon and the last great king were lost to us, being forever sent to parts unknown. Humans were in the ascendancy and they crushed all that stood before them. Dragons were slain, unicorns and pegasi were enslaved, and fay creatures were feared and destroyed. Morgan and I were rivals, but the demise of all we held dear forced us to rally together.”

Morgan picked up where Merlin left off. “But just because we were allied did not mean that we were harmonious. Our magics still battled and raged with each other as we tried to preserve what little we had. Magical beings were dying. People were forgetting the old ways. We called in a third party – from the infinite we called to our aid the one being who could unify us.”

Faust took up the tale. “However, bringing a degree of harmony did not mean that we did not still have problems, but we were able to send out a call, a call for those not wanting to be forgotten, to rally for one last hope at rebirth. Together we built this array and the portals to access it. We pooled all the magic from the planet, all of the essences of the magical beings, into one seed. We only left enough magic to keep this scrying array functioning and to power these constructs. We had to give ourselves to the seed; it was the only way to ensure its viability.”

Merlin smiled. “We built the stargate and we cast you into the galaxy. I had the ideal place for you to begin anew. However, Morgan had other plans. She displaced the seed temporally and spatially – you were supposed to reside in the center of Orion’s shield and begin growing when conditions were right.”

At this, Morgan laughed. “However I sent you far into the past and in a random direction. Then I cast the stargate adrift. I did not believe it wise to keep a bridge to our children where humans might discover it and hound them once more.”

Tech gawked. “So that means...”

“That while the seed that would make you left this planet around 550AD of the old year system, you arrived millennia before that. But because your essence is of this world and this array maintained a link to Equus, the similarities never faded away. Magic never forgets.”

Galena spoke up. “So when you said that we were of your magic…?” She turned to Morgan.

The woman grinned. “I was known as an enchantress, a manipulator of emotions unequalled. Does that remind you of a certain species?” She turned to Techbird. “Griffons were created from the wild magic of Earth, but the magic that turned you crystalline – you have me to thank for that.”

Cosmic Dawn spoke up. “What about me?”

Faust spoke up. “The ponies take after my traits – caring, empathetic, and good-natured. It was all I could do to make sure that in the end, despite all adversity, harmony would prevail.”

Dawn nodded a few times and there was a long silence.

Merlin spoke back up. “That was only part of the Question – what is the other?”

Techbird spoke up. “Where do we go from here?”

The three avatars stepped toward them – Merlin moving to Techbird, Faust to Cosmic Dawn, and Morgan pairing with Galena. The room started to glow as a spell none of the three could identify started to charge up.

“You have solved the Puzzle, stated the Question and accepted the Answer. Now we will teach you the Old Ways.” Merlin said.

The last thing they heard before everything went white was, “In this multiverse, nothing truly ends, nothing truly begins.”

There had been many times lately when Wandering had been envious of Federation technology, but there was one instance where Equus had it soundly beaten and that was in communications. Contacting their homeworld 18,000 light-years away was as simple as turning on the comm just as easily as if they were calling the ship parked nearby. The word was passed on to the Crystal Kingdom and a mere twelve minutes later, Destined Path appeared with Shining Armor in the Pegasus’ designated teleport area. Boyce had been a little startled at the speedy response to his request, but Shining just laughed as he telekinetically lifted off his saddlebags.

“Admiral, the entirety of House Path has been waiting for the Federation to ask for help. The only thing that slowed me down was checking that Destined was free to teleport me here.”

“I did not mean to turn you into a taxi service, Your Highness,” Boyce apologized to Destined. “I expected to use the portal to get to Equus in a hurry.”

The alicorn shook his head. “The nature of the situation surely calls for the swiftest response, and that too is part of House Path’s credo. My princely duties have been adjusted accordingly as I am the only one capable of travelling this far.”

Boyce nodded in understanding. “We may have to consider stationing some of our few P5 teleporters on your world. As much as I appreciate the service, you cannot be expected to drop whatever you are doing just for tasks like these.”

“I understand that your teleporters accomplish their ’ports slightly differently to us, but even so, can they reach Equus?”

“I personally know at least one that can. We’ll have to see if shi’s willing to take on the task.”

“Not in Star Fleet, I gather?”

“No, shi works for Star Corps, the non-military arm of the Space Services.”

“Ah, yes, I remember that. Gidela Path will probably be the liaison for anyone who accepts the position.”

“Excellent. Now I hate to cut this short, but seeing as Prince Armor has been gracious enough to come so promptly, we had best take advantage of his speedy arrival.”

Destined nodded. “Don’t hesitate to call us if you need us, Admiral. We’re always there for our friends.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

The blue alicorn teleported away while the white one turned to Boyce with his trademark confident grin. “Time to get to work, Admiral?”

“First, we have to get to the nearest new battlefront. We can formulate our plans along the way.”

The good news was that the new front was on the far outskirts of Federation territory and still far from the first threatened world. The bad news was that it took a few days for the Pegasus to get there in spite of its great speed. It gave Shining and the crew of the starship plenty of time to strategize. Despite the assurances of Wandering, Boyce was nervous about Shining’s capabilities.

“I originally asked Captain Path for his help with the idea of protecting the Pegasus from some attacks while we deployed the fighter craft, then we’d retreat. You want to take us into the thick of battle. Are you sure you can defend the entire ship against constant fire?”

Shining waved a hoof dismissively. “No problem. That’s my special talent, and I’ve already used my magic to feel out the size of this ship and the scope of the task. Combined with what I have studied about your interactions with the Swarm, I believe I could have defended this ship at my power level of a century ago, and I’m far stronger now. In fact, I have a suggestion to take advantage of that.”

Boyce gave the alicorn a curious look. “I’m listening.”

The stallion indicated the hologram displaying the oncoming Swarm fleet that had been transmitted by the Federation scout ships. At this point, they were loosely gathered in a column approaching the outpost under threat. “I propose that we line the Pegasus up with that column and ram them.”

“What?! You can’t be serious?!” Rosepetal exclaimed.

“Oh, he’s perfectly serious,” Midnight said. Shi regarded the stallion coolly. “I can sense his confidence. The question is – has he underestimated the difficulty?”

Shining’s assured grin never wavered. “I know that it sounds like a radical plan, but believe me, I can handle it. I will only have to do it once anyway. As soon as the enemy learns that trick, they will know to avoid it.”

Boyce frowned. “It’s good that you feel confident, Prince Armor, but I would be risking a capital ship with its hundreds of crewpersons on an untested strategy.”

“Untested in this scenario, perhaps, but I have defended against firepower far superior to any that you have shown me so far.”

“Having seen the tame stars your people use for an energy source, I am not too surprised at that claim. However, it’s the physical assault that worries me. Shields are designed to deflect debris at most.”

“Your shields maybe, but not mine. Even my sister Twilight is familiar with using shields as a weapon. Of course, I taught her that.”

“It’s still a risky maneuver,” Rosepetal said sternly. “We’ve been battling the Swarm for a long time now, and we’re familiar with their capabilities.”

“Yes, I’ve spent the past couple of days studying everything you know about them. I’m still confident that I can handle it. Besides, my strategy will take out at least half of that fleet, greatly reducing the threat to your fighters which I understand are not as suitable to battling the Swarm as the blockade ships.”

Boyce had to admit that Shining Armor had him there. As powerful as the Pegasus and its fighter ships were, none were designed specifically for the unique conditions of Swarm combat. He needed every advantage that he could get. “Very well, we’ll do it. We are evacuating the outpost as quickly as we can, but there are still thousands of lives that are depending on us. Not to mention the millions on inhabited worlds closer in. We’re not going to let them down.”

“And if we blow up doing this hare-brained scheme, we’ll never know their disappointment,” Midnight murmured.

Shining’s grin just grew wider.

Gravitic mines had forced the Swarm fleet out of hyperspace and they had been spending the past few days approaching the outpost star system at sub-light speeds. This enabled the Pegasus to arrive with time to spare. Its fighter craft were all deployed and they took up formation behind the capital ship as it maneuvered in line with the densest part of the Swarm.

The tension on the bridge of the Pegasus was palpable. This was a situation that none had ever experienced before, nor even trained for. By any normal measure, what they were about to do would be insane and a spectacular near-total failure.

Boyce took a deep breath and looked over to the alicorn who was standing at his left side. The stallion’s expression had turned serious now, and his horn glowed softly. “Are you ready, Shining Armor?”

Shining nodded and the glow of his magic brightened as he firmed up his shield's strength. “I’m ready, Admiral. Let’s do this.”

Boyce turned to the person at the helm. “Execute ramming maneuver.”

“Aye, sir,” the helmsman replied without showing a hint of his nervousness.

The Pegasus shot forward at maximum acceleration. While they had still been out of range of fire from the Swarm, it did not take long to cross the intervening distance, and before the Swarm recognized the nature of the threat, the Federation starship crashed into the lead invader. Or more precisely, Shining Armor’s shield did. The wedge-shaped force-field sliced through the Swarm ship nearly effortlessly and continued on to the next. Swarm craft not directly ahead of the Pegasus were given a kinetic hit that was guaranteed to kill anything aboard. Ship after ship was torn apart or severely damaged as the Pegasus continued to plough through the thick of the enemy.

On the bridge, Boyce watched and listened as Shining Armor occasionally grunted when a particularly heavy impact was made, but the alicorn held firm. Then abruptly, they were through the fleet.

“Bring us about!” Boyce order. “Phasers at maximum – fire at will!”

Midnight and several fire-control crewpersons took up the task of the assault from the rear of the pack even as the fighter craft that they had deployed before the ramming maneuver attacked the front. As Shining had predicted, the Swarm scattered which made a second ramming run impractical. However, this also meant the Swarm were not coordinating efforts to gang up on and overwhelm individual fighters.

Boyce looked closely at the alicorn. To his eyes, Shining Armor looked weary. “Are you alright, Prince Armor?”

The stallion resumed his confident smile. “I said that I could successfully handle ramming the Swarm, but I never claimed it would be easy.”

“No, you didn’t. Will you be able to shield us from the Swarm’s fire?”

“Don’t worry, Admiral. I’ll be able to cope with that; it’s nowhere near as bad as the ramming was. Besides, now I’m letting your ship’s shields do some of the work.”

“Speaking of that, how are they holding up, Commander Midnight?”

“They are sustaining heavy fire from both projectiles and conventional energy weapons, but they are well within their tolerance and are still at 100% effectiveness. The mana blasts that have been directed at us are being stopped by Prince Armor’s shield.”

“Excellent. Let’s make the most of this, people! This incursion must be stopped with the minimum of casualties.”

The small fighter craft that were usually deployed hunting pirates were also very effective against the Swarm, with the single caveat that those without the new Equian shields had no defense against the mana blasts. As they were not as agile at evading those attacks as the specialty blockade fighters, they were at greater risk of damage or destruction, and therefore the pilots had been ordered to take no unnecessary risks. However, with the Pegasus safely doubly shielded, the mighty warship could afford to wade into the thick of battle. The Swarm ships were steadily whittled down. Obviously, in a losing fight, it would have been wise for the Swarm ships to retreat, but that was something that they had never done since the Federation had first encountered them. They were absolutely relentless, no matter what the odds. The capture of the first specimens only reinforced the opinions of the Federation experts that the Swarm were truly a hive mentality, and individual losses were of no consequence to them. They advanced, they overran, they usurped resources, and then they advanced once more. There was no such thing to their collective mind as retreating.

When the final Swarm ship was dispatched, the Pegasus counted the cost. While the battleship came through completely unscathed, several fighters had been damaged and had to be retrieved with the use of a tractor beam. One had almost been destroyed and the pilot critically injured. He was rushed to the infirmary as soon as the remains of his vessel were brought aboard, and Doctor Saarath and her assistants worked to save his life.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Boyce had ordered the ship to stand down from Red Alert and taken his command staff and Shining Armor to his ready room. They made themselves comfortable before Boyce began the review of the engagement.

“First of all, thank you, Prince Armor. Your strategy worked perfectly,” Boyce said gravely.

The alicorn nodded. “You’re welcome, Admiral.”

“You do realize that this was just the vanguard of a greater force. Are you prepared to do it again?”

“After some rest to recover, yes, I am.”

“How long can you keep it up?”

“What do you mean exactly?”

Boyce leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “The attack on the blockade has not relented for a single day; we can expect no less from this new incursion, and we are not in a position to set up another blockade, at least not yet. That means that we will need to do this again and again indefinitely, and against ever-growing numbers. To remain this effective, we will need to fight them again and again and again. So I ask you once more – how long can you keep it up?”

Shining grimaced. “When you put it like that, not for too long. It takes time to recover my full mana strength after an engagement like this, and it’s very tiring. Even taking into account that the ramming maneuver will most likely be far less effective and thus less tiring in future engagements, at most I can buy you some time until more appropriate defenses are brought into play.”

“That’s still more than we could ever dare expect before meeting you Equians. Nevertheless, it’s only a stopgap measure. The war against the Swarm is only going to ramp up from here.”

“Don’t give up on us so soon, Admiral,” Shining said with a knowing smile. “You’re dealing with House Path now, and not the Equian World Council. We have a distinct advantage over them as the House is totally non-political. I’m not here as the Prince of the Crystal Kingdom, but as head of the Kingdom’s branch of House Path. As such, I can tell you that we have been a lot more proactive about the Swarm than the Council, and we’ve been making various contingency plans to deal with it.”

Boyce leaned forward, peering intently at the stallion. “What kind of plans?”

“For starters, you won’t have to rely on just me for shielding purposes. Your fighters’ greatest weakness is their vulnerability to mana-based weapons. Conventional energy weapons can be handled by your normal shields, but not even your blockade ships can deal with even a glancing blow from a mana blast. Our solution is to provide a battle-mage in two-person fighters like your blockade ships. While your regular pilots handle the maneuvering, trained unicorns will handle both defense and attack.”

“That sounds excellent, but how many can you provide?”

“More than you think, but less than you probably need. However, the alternative to blocking is of course dodging. We’ve studied the recordings that you’ve provided of battles with the Swarm. Do you want to know what the first thing that pegasi and griffins ask?”

“What would that be?”

“‘Why are they so cumbersome?’ Or words to that effect.”

Boyce blinked in surprise and Rosepetal frowned. She spoke up before the Admiral had a chance to do so. “Are you saying that our best fighter pilots are inferior?”

Shining Armor shrugged. “Commander – pegasi and griffins are born to fly. They’re better at it than any of your pilots before they even reach their teens. Our best spacecraft pilots are those species and they can make even the clunkiest craft dance gracefully under their control, once the maneuvering thrusters are boosted to allow the extreme G-forces that our pilot can tolerate. Put them in one of your fighters and they will outfly anyone and anything ever made.”

“They would have to be trained on completely new spacecraft though,” the Caitian pointed out.

“True, but we would be sending experienced pilots first. They won’t take long to get the feel of the fighter craft. I expect that you will need to build a lot more of them, and that takes time. By then, we’ll have more pilots trained up to fly them, especially if your technicians help us make simulators with your cockpit control layouts on Equus..”

“You seem to have thought this through,” Boyce commented.

“Like I said, House Path has been proactive in making plans for situations like these. Equus has been isolated for its entire history, but now that we have come into the greater universe, we must learn to deal with what we find. The more cautious among our people might call for withdrawing into isolation once more, but the wiser among us realize that threats like the Swarm never go away. Irrespective of what the Equus Council may decide, House Path is prepared to defend the people of the Stellar Federation and provide whatever assistance that is within its power. And I assure you, that’s no small thing.”

Boyce frowned. “No, it isn’t, which leads me to ask what you will demand in return for all this vital help?”

The stallion smirked a little. “Demand? Nothing. I mean it – that’s not how House Path works. However, we do expect fair and reasonable recompense. When Prince Destined Path, Starry, and the others enabled you to examine a Swarm ship and get specimens, something completely beyond your capability, we did not ask for payment. However, you fitted the Cosmic Lotus with warp engines and provided the knowledge behind the technology without being asked. We consider that a fair exchange, and that is what we hope to continue doing. House Path does not get funds from any government source. It is entirely self-funded in various ways, not the least of which is the advanced technology that we have sold to the rest of our world. The Federation has much in the way of knowledge that could serve the House well.”

“And you want the first crack at it before the rest of Equus gets its act together and tries to get a slice of the pie?” Boyce replied with a matching smirk. “So – enlightened self-interest is the name of the game?”

“Exactly. It is to the mutual benefit of Equus and the Federation. We do have one other request though.”

“And what would that be?”

“Chakona is still a young, developing world which welcomes immigrants of all kinds, some of whom have established new colonies in unoccupied territories. House Path wishes to do the same on an island that currently has no inhabitants. Emu Island has been selected because it is small enough for a pegasus weather team to establish weather control over the entire area but large enough to have a variety of biomes suited to our varied species.”

“I’m not opposed to that plan, but it’s not within my power nor Star Fleet Command’s to grant your request.”

“We realize that, but it is within the scope of the ambassadors that you sent to negotiate terms to exert their influence on the Chakonan government. Again, we are not demanding anything.”

“But you would be most grateful if we greased the wheels of bureaucracy,” Boyce concluded. “Prince Armor, if you can do half of what you think you can do for us, I’ll be sure to be there when you turn over the first shovelful of soil to break ground for your new colony. I’ll get on that as soon as possible. Meanwhile, we have plans to make. As I said before, that was just the vanguard of the latest incursion that we just fought – our scouts tell us that there are far more to come and they will be here soon.”

“Indeed. Thankfully, help is just 18,000 light-years away.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Surprise! I got more done during the convention than I anticipated.

Image adapted from Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent.

Pre-reading by Airy Words (who had more than average to do because writing during convention distractions is not conducive to the best results).

Defenses Are Readied

Confronting the second Swarm front was the first priority for the Pegasus. As expected from previous experience at the blockade, the Swarm already knew about Shining Armor’s ramming tactic, and their ships were arranged in a pattern that was not conducive to providing satisfactory returns from a similar maneuver. Therefore the alicorn concentrated most of his energy to shielding the Federation ship while reserving some for attacks upon any Swarm ships that appeared to be ganging up on individual fighters.

“I’ll protect all your ships one way or another,” Shining promised the Admiral.

The battle was more extended than the first because half the Swarm had not been felled in one blow as had happened during the first engagement, but with the Alicorn of Protection on the job, there were no major casualties this time. If the Swarm’s first sortie had not been so much bigger than the second, Boyce would have questioned the wisdom of using the ramming technique considering the outcome, but sheer numbers certainly altered the probability of damage or destruction of the fighter ships. The point was moot as that tactic would likely not be able to be used again.

With long-range drone scouts placing the next wave of Swarm ships over a week away, the Pegasus headed back to Chakastra. Shining Armor, however, used his comm to hitch a teleportation ride to Equus to prepare for the Admiral’s arrival in a more conventional manner. By the time the Federation warship had made its way through the portal and reached Equus orbit, Gisela Path, Lord of House Path, was ready to meet with Boyce and finalize an agreement with him acting on behalf of the Federation. Of course, the hippogriff did not sit on her pony plot just waiting for the human. She had already ordered production of special equipment and started a recruitment drive for pilots. Shining Armor, acting on behalf of the House, had already established the framework with Boyce during his time on the Pegasus, and all that remained was to iron out the details and sign a formal agreement. Meanwhile, the Federation bureaucrats continued their painfully slow negotiations with the Equus Council representatives.

Alexa was updated on House Path’s direct dealings with the Federation each day by Penumbra. Whatever agreements were made with House Path, it would ultimately be up to her to ensure that they would be woven into the treaty that was being forged between their two governments. On the one hand, she was appalled by the short-circuiting of formal procedure, but on the other hand, she recognized the necessity of swift action. The Swarm was not going to wait for the negotiations to come to a conclusion, and it was the Federation that was primarily at risk. The price that House Path was asking was trivial in the face of that.

The recruitment drive for pilots started in Griffonia, the home of House Path but more importantly, the site of the biggest pilot training facility on Equus. Griffons were sought foremost because although many ponies matched their skills, the catbirds had one advantage that the equines could not match – hands with an opposable digit. Or at least finger-like talons that could manipulate the controls of Federation fighter ships. Despite the huge variety of species that was encompassed by the Stellar Federation, every one of them had hands and fingers that could push the buttons of various devices. Pony craft obviously had workarounds for hooves, but the ships that they were being recruited to fly did not have them as yet. Thanks to information and designs submitted by the Cosmic Lotus’ crew, plans to build their own space fighter craft were well underway, but despite advanced magitek, they would not be ready for a considerable time as yet. Modifying existing craft was a quicker and more practical approach.

Nevertheless, the House soon got its first wave of recruits which included a fair number of ponies. Because all species would first need to undergo training on the ships that they were expected to fly, setting up simulators with the required adaptations for hooves was a simple task, and the ponies were readily accepted into the program.

One of the places where the recruiters visited was the headquarters of the Wonderbolts. The modern aerial stunt team was vastly different from over a century ago, welcoming any winged species to fly alongside the pegasi that originally comprised the group, as long as they had the required skills. House Path wanted those skills too. Many of the current squad had progressed from their previous jobs to the Wonderbolts and, after having reached elite status, saw this as an opportunity to go one step higher. One of them, in particular, was quite familiar to Warmaster Blue Streak whose task it was to interview and assess all the applicants.

Blue saw the name on the top of the first application form and one eyebrow raised in mild surprise. He did not need to read the rest of the résumé as there was nothing in it that he did not know already. “Send in Mach Spectrum,” he said over the intercom.

A snow-white hippogriff swaggered into the Warmaster’s office. Six primary feathers on each wing were colored red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet; three feathers formed a red, orange, and yellow crest; and his tail tuft was equally tricolored with blue, green, and violet. His magenta eyes twinkled and he gave the stallion a grin as he sat down in front of the desk. “Howdy, Blue Streak. Good to see you again.”

“I should have expected you to apply, Mach. How’s your mother?”

“She says to tell you that she can still kick your butt in a race: anytime, anywhere.”

Blue Streak chuckled and nodded. “Yes, that’s your mom alright. Rainbow Dash will be on her deathbed before she concedes the title of Equus’ fastest pony.”

Mach Spectrum spread his wings and said, “I aim to claim that title then.”

Blue frowned a little at the boast. “Are you planning to challenge me again? You’re not the only one who has been honing his special talent.”

“Yeah, but Mom’s been training me, so it might be best that you concede right now. Family pride, y’know?”

The earth pony just had to shake his head in resignation. Like mother, like son. Everyone had been surprised when Rainbow Dash had fallen for a griffon cock that her friend Gilda had introduced to her. The pair had hit it off immediately and despite her Wonderbolt duties, Rainbow had found the time to form a relationship with Thunderclaw, eventually agreeing to marry him. For the first time in her life, the pegasus mare relented her tomboy image to become a mother, but both parents shared equally in the task of raising their foal. Thunderclaw’s death during a battle had devastated Rainbow, and she had resigned from her role as the Captain of the Wonderbolts to be able to devote more time to raising her son. She stayed active with the Wonderbolts though, spending much time as a trainer to them, and later to Mach who eventually joined the squad. There was one critical difference between mother and son though.

“You have never seen active duty in a war,” Blue said with his most serious expression. “You went straight from hanging out with the Wonderbolts to joining them and becoming one of their elites. Most of the others saw combat in the Equestrian forces before peace enabled them to pursue their higher aspirations. What makes you think that you’re ready to be a fighter pilot?”

“Is anybody really ready to fight a war for the first time?” Mach’s expression had lost its good humor for the first time as he sought to convince his old mentor of his seriousness. “The Wonderbolts aren’t just for show, and Mom always made it a point to ensure that I understood that I might be called upon to defend Equus someday. That day has come, and I’m ready to do my part.”

As an honorary uncle to the hippogriff, Blue had watched the colt grow up. While he was as brash as his mother had been at his age, he was just as skilled and loyal. His time in the Wonderbolts had given him the necessary discipline without quelling his boisterous spirit, and Blue could see no problems with accepting Mach’s application. His one qualm was the prospect of sending the sole child of his long-time friend into a war. However, that was what people like him had to do for the benefit of those who could not defend themselves. While war was not at Equus’ doorstep as yet, it would be better that it never came at all. Their best hope of that was stopping the Swarm in Federation territory, protecting their new allies at the same time. “You’ll get that chance, Mach. Welcome to the Equian Star Force.”

There were several other Wonderbolt volunteers. Among the pegasi was a diminutive pink mare named Hummingbird Song and she had been among the first to sign. Although far from the strongest, she had the most remarkable aerobatic skills of all her squad and had regularly pulled off 20G turns with a smile on her face for the sheer thrill of it.

An intense Old World thestral mare named Savage Dark was the most intimidating of the group. Her flying fox coloration and prominent fangs did nothing to diminish that impression. However, she talked softly and asked Blue to call her ‘Sava’. “I do what I do because I’m built for it and I want to protect my family and friends, but I’m not really as scary as I look,” she confessed.

A seasoned veteran male griffon named Stratus Skytalon was the largest of the volunteers and the powerhouse of the group. He barely made it onto the team due to the size limitations of the Federation fighter ships.

Outside of the Wonderbolts, the House still got plenty of competent volunteers, several of whom were changelings from the Red Hive. Ever at the forefront of defending Equestria and then the Greater Equus Union, Queen Carpacia had assigned several warriors to the cause. One Red Changeling was a volunteer though – a princess of the hive and sibling to Fidelitas, Blue’s half-sister. But while Fifi was a strategist, Honesta was a field general. Blue Streak marked her down as a possible fighter squad leader if the changelings proved to be good pilots. Networked ’lings could fight more efficiently than even the most well-drilled team.

When the final applicant had been dismissed, Blue Streak leaned back in his chair with a large degree of satisfaction. They had acquired a few more than they had hoped for, and all of them were very good prospects. Training would weed out those unsuited to the task, although Blue suspected that there would be few if any dropouts. Now all they were up against was time – time to train them on Federation craft, and time to build some fighters of their own. The Warmaster was a realist though – the Swarm was unlikely to grant them much of that precious commodity. He hoped that there would be other solutions found because, against the unrelenting Swarm, it would be a war of attrition, and they would inevitably lose such a campaign.

Wandering was a little bored. His wife was indulging herself in lots of astronomical work, occasionally visiting various Federation facilities to see for herself the methods that they used to observe the universe. She also occasionally played host to their astronomers who wanted to see the TESS in operation with its virtual optical lens of 450 meters. Far Sight’s magnified optics spell refracted all wavelengths equally, thereby eliminating aberration and providing visible-light images of unprecedented magnification and clarity. In addition, because the spell focused light across the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to gamma rays, astronomers from all over the Federation were trying to get in contact with Starry.

All the other scientists on the Cosmic Lotus were also working their specialties, most of them on Chakona. Even the apprentices were there at the moment, taking special classes at Dewclaw University as part of an exchange student initiative. It left very little for a starship captain to do. Fortunately, Goldfur contacted him and asked him to teleport down to their home. Once there, the chakat introduced him to a newcomer.

“Wandering Path, I would like you to meet Chakat Swiftwalk,” Goldfur said.

Wandering held up a hoof to shake the hand of the black and cream furred skunk-patterned chakat. “So you’re the teleporter that Goldfur told me about. Good to finally meet you.”

Swiftwalk grinned. “I wish Goldie had told me about you sooner. An intelligent pony race sounded awesome as soon as I heard about it, but to meet one in person… wow!”

The stallion chuckled. “Yeah – we said that too when we encountered your race.”

Swiftwalk giggled. “It’s a mutual admiration thing, I suppose. Anyway, I was asked if I would like to help you out for a while. I said, ‘Twist my arm, why don’t you?’ What can I do for you?”

“Goldfur tells me that you can teleport absolutely anywhere you’ve visited before irrespective of distance. Is that right?”

“Yes. Makes me quite valuable to the Star Corps.”

“I can’t teleport all the way to our home planet of Equus, but my brother Destined Path can. Like you though, he has to have been there in person previously or home in on a mana beacon.”

“What’s a mana beacon?”

“A magical device that sends a signal throughout the universe that powerful teleporters like Des can lock onto. House Path would like to be able to get to various worlds extremely quickly in an emergency, and I would love to see some new worlds. I am proposing that we visit every planet that you can reach and I will install a beacon there plus some surveillance equipment, as well as look around a bit.”

“Hmmm… sounds like a lot of work,” Swiftwalk said thoughtfully.

“We’re willing to recompense you, of course.”

Swiftwalk smirked at the stallion. “Actually, I have the perfect way that you can repay me. You want to see new worlds – I want to visit Equus. Goldie told me about hir visit, and I can hardly wait to see it for myself.”

“You have a deal. Are you sure that you can teleport 18,000 light-years though?”

Swiftwalk blinked. “How far? 18,000 light-years?! Wow – I’ve never gone anywhere near that far before, but then again I haven’t found a limit to my range yet. Anyway, if I get there and find that I can’t manage the ’port back, I’ll just have to go back the way I came.”

“Then we can get started immediately?”

“Not quite. I just got home and my mate and I would like to spend a little time with my family.”

“Of course. I need to make arrangements with Destined first too.”

Wandering ended up spending the rest of the day at the chakat clan’s home. He met Goldendale, Swiftwalk’s lifemate and adopted identical twin to Goldfur. How that was even possible took a lot of explaining but made for a fascinating evening of conversation. Wandering went to bed that evening filled with excitement, and very much no longer bored.

For the next few weeks, Wandering visited world after world. On each one, he installed mana beacons somewhere that they would not be damaged or interfered with. He also set up special instrumentation designed to detect the presence of the Swarm. On the inhabited planets, by previous arrangement, he also left a crystal comm with someone in authority to enable instantaneous communications. When Swiftwalk tired as shi reached hir daily limit for teleportation duties, shi rested up hir psionic ability and they spent the rest of the day sightseeing. With the behind-the-scenes help of Star Fleet by way of Admiral Kline, Wandering quickly built up an early warning system encompassing a few hundred worlds as a safety measure in case of a Swarm incursion. They were only limited by the number of locations that the chakat had previously visited and fixed in hir memory. If the enemy came to an inhabited planet, House Path would learn of it immediately, and if Swarm ships visited any of the new worlds still being explored, the House would know of that too.

Despite the seriousness of the task, Wandering was having a blast. Eighty-seven days later though, the first warning ping came.

Destined Path materialized on top of a tall hill overlooking a broad valley. In his company were Shining Armor and the swiftest available House Path pegasus. After a quick assessment of the area, Destined nodded to the pegasus who shot up into the sky and was swiftly out of sight. Shining Armor then put up a special shield and the remaining two ponies shimmered out of view. They settled down to await the report from the scout.

Shining looked around curiously. “So – not one of their colonies, I take it?” he eventually commented.

Destined shook his head. “This planet doesn’t even have a name as yet. It’s one of the outermost worlds that Star Fleet has discovered, and the Star Corps has just recently established an unmanned forward base here to facilitate a full exploratory expedition later.”

“If the Swarm is here, this world is already lost to the Federation.”

Destined sighed. “I know, but what concerns me more is that this planet is nowhere near either of the new fronts. If we confirm the presence of the Swarm, that indicates that they are flanking us from several directions. We’ll be in for an even bigger fight than we face already.”

“We’ll know soon enough. Jetstream may not be quite Rainbow Dash class, but she isn’t far behind.”

“How close?” Destined asked with slightly nervous curiosity.

“She did her first supersonic flight a year ago. She’s been getting faster ever since.”

“Hopefully she doesn’t go supersonic on this scouting mission. Nothing like a sonic boom to draw attention.”

Shining Armor chuckled. “Usually she counts on that.”

Conversation lapsed as they waited for a report from Jetstream. Eventually, Destined’s comm beeped and the pegasus’ voice came to them.

“Presence of Swarm ships confirmed. I count at least thirty. They appear to be in the middle of unloading cargo.”

Destined replied, “Acknowledged, Jetstream. Return immediately.”

“Just taking a few photographs for the Warmaster, sir.”

“For Celestia’s sake, don’t let the Swarm spot you!”

“Oops! I think it’s too late. One of the ships is rising and turning in my direction. Returning now!”

Destined did not waste his breath or Jetstream’s time by telling her to hurry. He would have words with Blue Streak later about the task he’d given the scout unknown to either of the others. This was supposed to have been a covert operation, not a reconnaissance mission. Now the Swarm had reason to believe that their presence had been detected already.

“There she is!” Shining announced, his binoculars picking up the mare on the horizon.

Destined spotted the pegasus’ shimmering trail – she was going faster than the speed of sound. It would not be enough. The single pursuing Swarm ship was much faster even within the planet’s atmosphere.

“I see the pursuing Swarm,” Shining confirmed a moment later.

“We need to go meet her halfway, otherwise she’s not going to make it!”

Destined leaped into the air and headed in the scout’s direction, closely followed by Shining Armor as soon as he dropped the invisibility shield. They both flapped as hard as they could, but neither could match Jetstream’s speed. Destined knew that she was not going to be within the range of his teleportation ability in time.

“Can you shield Jetstream?” he yelled to Shining above the noise of their rush through the air.

“Too far!” Shining confirmed Destined’s fear.

Then the Swarm fired upon the defenseless pegasus. She managed to dodge the first and second shots, but the third found its target.

“NO!” screamed Destined. Then he did something that he hoped never to do and drew on his special talent. The time-stream opened for its master and the two alicorns plunged into the disorienting realm of timelessness.

Shining Armor was totally bewildered, but the Alicorn of Time could sense his destination. Abruptly they burst back into normality and they both spent a moment reorienting themselves.

“FLY!” yelled Destined, shooting away at top speed.

Shining followed as quickly as he could, wondering why until he spotted the impossible. Jetstream was hurtling towards them, far closer than before. She started dodging fire from the Swarm ship, but this time Destined was in range to fire back, a blast from his horn badly damaging the ship. However, as always and despite the crippling blow, the Swarm was absolutely relentless. Wobbling somewhat, it still pursued Jetstream and continued firing.

“SHIELD!” screamed Destined.

Shining Armor did not stop to think. He threw out his farthest shield, blocking the killing strike. A follow-up blast also splattered harmlessly on the alicorn’s force field. Then the mare was within range of Destined, and he enveloped all three of them in his magic and teleported them away.

They all reappeared in the sky above the Griffonian headquarters of House Path. Jetstream’s velocity had been cancelled, and all three took a moment to establish a hover in place.

“Phew! … Thanks … Your Highness,” Jetstream panted. “I thought … I was … a goner.”

“You were,” Destined replied with a frown. “You were supposed to just confirm the Swarm’s presence and return. Didn’t I tell you to come back immediately?”

“Warmaster Blue Streak gave me orders to reconnoiter any Swarm incursion, sir.”

“The Warmaster needs to be reminded who has seniority here.” Destined was sure he and his brother would have quite an argument later, but Blue Streak was probably justified. Information about the enemy was critical at this time. Speaking of which… “Report to the Warmaster and give him those photographs that you nearly died for. Then when he’s finished with you, take the rest of the day off. You’ve earned it.”

“Thank you, sir.” Jetstream then shot away at her customary breakneck speed.

Shining regarded Destined coolly for a moment before saying, “You took us back in time, didn’t you?”

Destined sighed. “I have sworn to stop any meddling with the time-stream, but I didn’t hesitate a moment to do so in order to save Jetstream.”

“It makes a difference when you are responsible for someone’s life, doesn’t it?”

Destined wordlessly nodded.

“You do realize that in spite of your power, you won’t be able to save everyone in this war?”

“I know, and I hate it.”

“Now you know a little of what it’s like to be the Alicorn of Protection, except I’ve had to try to save thousands at a time. If we get deeper into this war with the Swarm, you’re probably going to have to confront this situation again and again. Don’t let your fears stop you from doing the right thing when the time comes.”

Destined gave him a half-smile. “Thanks, Uncle Shining. It’s been a while since I’ve fought in a war, but I will remember my duty to our ponies and all the other Equians who look to us for protection. Meanwhile, let’s go give the Council and the Federation representatives the bad news.”

The pair started to gently dive down to the House which sat placidly among well-tended gardens and neatly mown lawns, belying the tempest that was yet to come.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Pre-reading by Airy Words.

Art by Foxenawolf.

Debt by Visa.

Begging by Paypal.

Plans Are Laid

Previous experience with the Swarm taking over planets had taught the Federation that the enemy would spend several weeks consolidating their foothold there before continuing onwards. Although this meant sacrificing a potentially useful world to them, it allowed Federation forces to concentrate their efforts on the first two new fronts. All leave was cancelled and the maintenance cycles on the fighter craft were accelerated to cope with the threat. In spite of this, they had to draw some fighters from the blockade which spread the remaining ones very thinly. Star Fleet Command realised that they had been guilty of complacency. With the Swarm seemingly stopped by the blockade, a semblance of normalcy had grown and the ongoing efforts to deal with their foe had been scaled back to allow for other pursuits. Now though, the Federation Council instructed the Department of Defence to give production of new fighter craft and training of pilots to fly them its top priority level. Across the many Federation home worlds and colony planets, the repurposing of civilian industry and workforce to support the war effort continued to accelerate.

The griffon and unicorn volunteers coming from Equus were an enormous boon. While the fighter craft only needed basic maintenance such as refuelling between missions with major service required only on a monthly basis, pilots needed rest. Fighter ships could be turned around in less than half an hour, but the beings that flew them needed to eat and sleep. Between a crash course in flying the unfamiliar spacecraft and the addition of a second seat for a unicorn mage providing offensive and defensive magic, the Equian pilots quickly took up the slack without incurring losses due to inexperience. However, no one believed that the new status quo would last long, and those fears were confirmed only a couple of months later when yet another Swarm incursion was detected coming from a new direction.

Nevertheless, enough time had been bought for the combined efforts of Equus and the Federation to produce the first of the new hybrid fighter craft. Ambassador Alexa Mountaineer had been given new instructions soon after the discovery of the first new Swarm fronts to hasten negotiations and make any reasonable concessions to secure the full support of their new allies. House Path, having already been engaged for months in full-scale preparations, was first off the mark, providing the initial surge of pilots. Classes were already underway for many more, and construction of the PS-1 (Pegasus Special) model had already started rolling off the assembly line. These were adaptations of Equian aircraft controls mated with Star Fleet spaceship designs to enable the spacecraft to take advantage of the superior flight abilities of the pegasi. They were not pretty ships – time to refine details simply was a luxury they could not afford. However, they had the benefit of both Federation technology and Equian magitek and were perhaps the most manoeuvrable warships to ever be launched.

Meanwhile, other magitek devices were being developed in Pif’s laboratories and hastened into production. The biggest problem was providing magic shielding for Star Fleet’s larger vessels. Newly developed mana shields were now being installed in all new fighter craft, and a retrofitting program was underway for the older ships. While the unit could not create a field as strong as one created by a unicorn mage, it provided enough protection to allow a nimble fighter to survive a limited number of mana blasts and escape to recharge. Their biggest flaw was that they were utterly inadequate for the task of defending Star Fleet’s bigger battle craft, and a joke when applied to ships such as Admiral Kline’s Pegasus. The problem was not just a simple matter of upscaling the shields – too much mana actually interfered with the ship’s systems. Apparently, the machine-generated fields lacked the sophistication of an alicorn or unicorn controlled one, and the thaumaturgists did not have the luxury of time to research a more elegant solution. Instead, an alternative was found. Enchanted armour plating was developed that could absorb the raw mana blasts and redirect a large proportion of it into the batteries of a magic-based weapon. This could then fire coherent blasts of more sophisticated spells back at the enemy, disabling their ships. It had been hoped that this would enable the Federation forces to capture more of the enemy to study them and their spacecraft. However, just as when the Swarm's vessels had been severely damaged, they self-destructed, frustrating Star Fleet Command mightily.

The Swarm quickly realised that the mana blasts that had been so effective until then were now a liability when used against capital ships. While enough hits on the fighter craft could overwhelm the mana shields, the Swarm ships could never get in enough hits to accomplish this, and soon the use of the mana beam was discontinued everywhere. As usual, once one part of the Swarm learned something, the rest immediately knew as well regardless of how far away they were. The Federation desperately wanted to discover how they did this and were immensely disappointed at not making any progress in their research. The few Swarm specimens that had been captured had since died of starvation, apparently unable to even think to feed themselves. Scans of the bodies and brains with the Federation’s most sophisticated instruments had not yielded any clues into the method of Swarm communication. There was a major benefit to the new shielding advances – now all classes of Fleet’s warships could go into battle. This came at just the right time to take the strain off the pilots of the small fighter craft, providing a bit of breathing space as more of the allied ships were built, both in Federation and Equian shipyards.

With travel restricted within Federation territory and deep space exploration completely unfeasible for the moment, Wandering Path and the Cosmic Lotus were limited in what they could do. The starship was tasked with ferrying newly graduated pilots to Chakona, and from there they were assigned to the various ships that needed them most. Although the Lotus was comparably slow, the travel time was not wasted. The ship had been refitted with fighter simulators and all the pilots continued their training assiduously during the couple of days that it took for the Equian ship to get to its destination. Unfortunately, this meant that the scientists that normally worked on the ship had to be relocated. The Stellar Federation Council offered the scientists suitable alternative posts in exchange for the Equians’ services, and that had drastically reduced the crew’s numbers. House Path had supplied several more to help with the running of the ship, but as many skilled Equians were now involved with the war efforts, the majority of the newbies were changelings from the Chrome and Blue Hives.

Wandering still interfaced with the all the changelings, acting as the network’s hub. Without Galena to take up the slack, this was entirely his task once more. The alicorn decided to take advantage of this and began a think-session similar to Pif’s mini-network of research drones. His thoughts concentrated on the mission with Destined that took them onto a Swarm ship. With the changelings in the network picking over even the tiniest detail in his recollection of the event, he hoped to discover something new and useful. The session finally ended with frustration though. Wandering found Starry watching him with great concern.

“Are you alright, Wander?” she asked as she put a wing around him to draw him into a hug.

Wandering sighed. “I’m fine but disappointed. Star – we need to visit another Swarm ship. We’re missing something vital – I just know it!”

“Easier said than done, husband. Can we even get Destined to help us again? He’s awfully busy now.”

Wandering shook his head. “No – we have to do it without the time-freeze. My special talent can’t work through it, nor can our scrying spells. We need to do a reconnaissance mission in real time.”

Starry stared at him as if he had just grown two heads. “Are you nuts? Don’t you realise how dangerous that would be?”

“Of course I do!” he snapped back. “However, we are never going to get anywhere with the Swarm if all we do is react to them. We need to be proactive and push them back. Ultimately, we need to stop them swarming all over the galaxy. However, we know next to nothing about them. How does one Swarm learn what the other Swarm discovers? How do they seem to have an unending supply of ships to throw against us? How do they control them? Why are they utterly single-minded in their efforts? Why do they always suicide rather than surrender? These and other questions need to be answered!”

“Yes, they do, but is a suicide mission the right way of going about discovering the answers?”

“It shouldn’t be a suicide mission. A well-chosen team can do it. One person to concentrate on shielding, while the rest use their special talents and equipment to learn as much as possible in an undamaged ship that won’t blow up while we are travelling around inside.”

“For how long? Might they treat the invasion of their ship as an excuse for suicide also?” Starry pointed out with a frown.

The stallion nodded. “There is that risk.”

“But it’s not dissuading you?”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Then I’m coming along on this hare-brained mission of yours if you manage to get it going. Somepony has to protect you from your folly.”

Wandering gave his wife a fond smile and kissed her. “Thanks, love. I knew that I could count on you.”

Starry sighed. “Okay, who else did you have in mind?”

“A thaumaturgy expert to detect any other possible uses of magic, and a technology expert for starters. I was thinking of asking Mom for the former if she would be interested now that we don’t have the services of Cosmic Dawn. And for the latter, Helen Baines has proven very adept at interpreting alien technologies. We’ll have to ask Admiral Kline if shi would be willing to volunteer.”

“I know Mama Twilight has been wanting to learn more about the Swarm too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she agrees to this mission. I’m not so sure about Helen though. Shi’s a technician and engineer, after all.”

Wandering shook his head. “Helen is an officer in Star Fleet, and by definition, a soldier. Don’t count hir out so easily.”

“Ortzi will freak out once he learns of it.”

“Hopefully, that won’t be until after the mission has been completed.”

“He’ll never forgive you if something goes terribly wrong.”

“If something goes terribly wrong, neither of us are likely to be around to incur his wrath.”

Starry rolled her eyes. “With that lovely thought in mind, which other sacrificial lambs do you want with us?”

“I was thinking one of the Federation telepaths. They have some powerful ones on Chakona.”

“Hoping to discover the secrets of the Swarm’s communications, I guess? You realise that they still don’t fully comprehend changeling networking yet?”

“Yeah, I know, but it’s worth a try. Speaking of changelings though, I was thinking of asking Fifi to be on the team.”

Starry thought about that. Fidelitas ‘Fifi’ Path was not only the daughter of Long Path and Queen Carpacia but also a powerful Red Changeling Princess with strong tactical skills. She would undoubtedly throw herself at the opportunity to gather intelligence. “Good idea. Any others?”

“I don’t want to make our group too big, and I think I’ve covered all the bases. I’ll be scanning every living thing on the ship, and the ship itself in an effort to add to the data.”

“Just as long as you never try to take on the form of a Swarm,” she reminded him. “Like you told me – you don’t just take their shape, you become what you imitate. I don’t want to lose you to them.”

“Don’t worry, Starry. For the first time ever, I’m not curious about what it would feel like to be another creature. Besides, if I did become one, there would be the risk of them learning everything that I know, and that would be disastrous for everyone.”

“Yeah, it would. Equus’ great advantage is that we know and understand magic where none of the other players in this drama does. That must never change. Anyway, when do we do this?”

“I’ll ask Admiral Kline as soon as we get to Chakona and drop off our load of new pilots. I’ll have a talk with Mom straight away though. Maybe she will have some suggestions to add.”

“Are you nuts? Have you no idea how perilous that plan is?” Boyce exclaimed.

Wandering arched an eyebrow at him. “That sounds awfully familiar; have you been talking to Starry already?”

“I don’t need to talk with anyone to know how risky that idea is. The first time we boarded a Swarm ship, it was already disabled and Prince Destined had used a time freeze so that we were effectively in and out in seconds. Now you want to try the same thing with an active ship in real time. That’s just crazy! And need I remind you about the Swarm’s willingness to sacrifice any unit that is compromised?”

“But it would get vital information that could potentially turn around this war. You’ve just detected yet another incursion by the Swarm from a different vector, and you know in your gut that there will be more. Star Fleet is barely on top of the current situation, and even though both Equus and the Federation are ramping up their efforts, you already suspect that you are going to get overwhelmed eventually.”

“We will, but I notice that you didn’t include yourselves.”

The stallion looked away from the human, gazing resolutely at the floor. “There’s growing demand among the Equian Council for us to close off the portal and isolate Equus from the war.”

Boyce frowned. “That would stop the supply of the vital magitek equipment needed to keep abreast of the incursions. I thought House Path was one hundred percent backing us?”

“House Path still is, but it can’t defy the World Council in that matter. While we would still give support via teleportation, we would be extremely limited in how much we can bring that way.”

“Have you told the Council that war has a habit of coming to nations even if they choose to stay out of it?”

“We have, but since they learned that Equus is 18,000 light-years from the Federation, they believe they would be safe.”

Boyce snorted in contempt. “For starters, we don’t know how far the Swarm territory already extends towards Equus, and secondly, the Swarm may be slow, but they are inexorable. Equus may be safe for now, but not forever.”

“We’ve been arguing the same thing, but fearful civilians and their short-sighted elected officials don’t always think logically. That’s why we have to be proactive about dealing with the Swarm.”

Boyce leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “You know, I kept the secret of Prince Destined’s ability to manipulate time from almost everyone, but I had to include it in my report to Port Admiral Namatjira. Do you want to know what he ordered me to do?”

“I’m betting that I can guess. Go on.”

“He wanted me to find out if Destined could go back in time and stop the Swarm before they became a threat.”

“Des would never do that. Even tiny modifications to the time-stream can result in enormous changes later, and not necessarily good ones either. He has taken on the task of being the guardian of time, but even he admits that it will take hundreds of years before he will be confident about manipulating it. During the Temporal War, he was forced to take action, but since then he has been very careful in the practice of his ability. He told me about the demonstration that he gave you – a harmless loop back in time of a few minutes, but he agonised over using that same power to save the life of a pegasus. His decisions can have vast consequences, Boyce, and it’s usually the unanticipated ones that can cause the biggest problems.”

“No need to lecture me, Wandering. I pretty much figured that out for myself before I had a private talk with Destined. His answer was short and to the point. He said, ‘No, and don’t ask again.’ Thankfully, I don’t think he was offended.”

“It’s not the first time that he’s been asked to intervene that way. Some people asking have the purest of intentions, but many do not. He has a policy of politely declining everyone, and only talks about those requests with us if he feels that we should know about them.”

“Fortunately, he didn’t regard the time-freeze the same way. Otherwise, we would be at an even greater disadvantage than we are now.”

Wandering nodded. “Correct, but that’s why we need to go back and learn more. It’s risky but vital.”

“You’ll have my full backing, Wandering, even if it’s a crazy stunt.”

“Thanks, Boyce.”

While the mission was approved in principle, circumstances prevented Wandering from proceeding with it immediately. Another incursion drew resources away for a while until Fidelitas’ new changeling squadron took them on. She used the Cosmic Lotus as a base and they met the Swarm light-years away from the colony world that was threatened. The Argonaut, another starship the size and class of the Pegasus, had acted as the carrier for the squadron and had rendezvoused with the Cosmic Lotus at the chosen intercept point to deploy the new fighter craft.

A huge advantage that the Swarm possessed was their superior communications. Knowledge was passed between their ships virtually instantly, enabling them to take instantaneous advantage of the Federation’s weaknesses. The changeling squadron was Equus’ answer to that problem. Fidelitas acted as the hub of the squadron network, replicating the Swarm’s ability to communicate. However, the changelings had one advantage over the Swarm – the princess was a superior strategist and tactician. The Equian forces took down the enemy in record time, hugely impressing the crew of the Argonaut. The changeling pilots soaked up the admiration and friendship of the crew, replacing the energy that they had expended during the fight and so much more.

This had been a smaller incursion by the Swarm used as a test of the new unit. Star Fleet was under no illusion that all battles were going to be that easy, but the Argonaut had not deployed its regular fighter forces this time. The next battle would be fought with the combined forces against one of the Swarm’s major fronts, and it would not be anywhere near as easy. However, with the changeling squad now assigned to the Federation warship, its effectiveness was greatly increased.

The opportunity finally came a few weeks later when everything coincided to put Wandering’s plan into action. The Pegasus arrived at the Equian shipyards to pick up the first complete unit of PS-1 fighter ships. The new pegasus-modified craft replaced a number of the regular fighters which the shipyard took to be serviced and upgraded. Mach Spectrum was in the launch bay as the new ships were brought aboard and their pilots disembarked. He spotted a familiar face and trotted over to the mare as she flapped down to the deck.

“Hey, Stratus Bolt! Finally got here, I see.”

The pale blue mare with a short-cropped straw-colored mane smirked at him. “Some of us don’t have claws to grab those cumbersome Federation controls, Mach. Now that we have some decent craft, we’re going to show you how to really fight a space battle!”

“Mind if I take a look? I’ve been really curious about these PS-1s.”

“Go ahead and drool with envy,” she replied with a laugh.

Mach flapped up to the cockpit to peer inside. Unlike the fighter that he flew, most of the flight controls were incorporated into sleeve-like arrangements for the wings of their pegasus pilots. This allowed them to fly more instinctively than with the hand controls. Only the weapons system was manipulated by hoof – a far more natural method of fighting for the winged ponies. The fighters were unlike any others too. While there was no air in space, the ship nevertheless had wings. These, however, were designed and enchanted to act against the universal mana field in a similar way to aerodynamic ones. The Equian fighters were the first to be created to genuinely ‘fly’ in space.

“Any chance that I could try flying one of these?” Mach asked enviously.

“Not without a few weeks of training on them first,” Stratus Bolt replied with a smirk.

Mach looked thoughtful and then shot her a sharp look. “Am I mistaken, or were training simulators also being brought aboard?”

The mare rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you got me there. But I don’t make the training schedules, so don’t count on getting any hours on one anytime soon.”

“I was the top Wonderbolt performer before becoming a fighter ace – just try to stop me from getting it soon!” the hippogriff proclaimed.

Stratus Bolt shook her head in resignation at her friend’s boast. “Okay, but you’re not getting one today. So – where can a mare get a drink on this tub?”

Mach flapped down to join the mare. “I know just the place!”

The Pegasus stopped at Chakona to take aboard Wandering and Starry, several Chrome Changelings, and the other members of the special team. Twilight Sparkle was already aboard, having joined the ship after it had finished taking on the new fighter craft. The Argonaut rendezvoused with them so that Fidelitas could transfer between the ships, and a golden-furred skunktaur telepath beamed aboard to join them. Helen Baines was already aboard, of course, and the team gathered in a meeting room to discuss the plan of action with Boyce, Rosepetal, Midnight, and Dust Storm, the leader of the pegasus unit.

After introductions were made, Wandering said, “The first part is up to your fighters, Admiral. After we engage the Swarm, one of their ships has to be isolated. That’s your special task, Captain Dust Storm. While the regular fighters do their usual work, we’ll be counting on your pegasi to keep the target ship away from the others and make sure it’s not destroyed.”

“No problem, Captain Wandering Path,” the pegasus mare replied confidently. “I’ll rehearse tactics with the squadron on the way to the front.”

Wandering nodded. “Once we have the target ship isolated, I will teleport our team aboard. Once there, Starry’s primary responsibility will be to shield the team while Mom and I will be the back-up. This should allow the rest of us to concentrate on what each of us does best. Helen, from our previous mission, we think that there is little technology that is familiar to you, but you have proven so adept at integrating Federation and Equian technology that we hope you will pick up vital clues to their systems anyway. Mom – Princess Twilight Sparkle – will be doing a similar evaluation for magic-based systems, although what we have seen so far seems to be in the nature of using existing magic resources rather than creating them. We may learn otherwise though.”

The stallion looked at the skunktaur next. “Zane Ashland, you will hopefully be able to confirm that they are using some form of telepathy, but I am aware that you have difficulty with changeling-style networking, so you will also be working in tandem with me as I can interface with that type of network. However, that may be a double-edged sword. While the captured specimens were not able to affect me, there is a chance that a ship full of them can. So keep a mental eye on me.”

Zane regarded the stallion gravely. “I am a T5-rated telepath and I am familiar with forms of mental domination. I will be alert for both direct and indirect attacks.”

“Thank you. I will be concentrating my efforts on detecting other life-forms aboard the ship. So far we know that they use at least two natural creatures as tools – the mana beasts and their living starships. We suspect that there are more. Starry will be using her equipment to scan for technological equipment, and she, Helen, and I will compare notes after the mission. Lastly, Princess Fidelitas will also be listening for changeling-style networks, but also be observing the Swarm and their response to the invasion of their ship.”

Fidelitas nodded acknowledgement and then took over the briefing. “That brings up an important point – we do not know how the Swarm will react, but given their paranoia and their proclivity for self-destruction, it is very likely that our window of opportunity will be very limited. We must all act hard and fast, and also be prepared to deal with them suiciding while we’re still aboard. With all due respect to Starry’s ability to shield us, we must not rely on it totally. We may be forced to split the team, but Twilight or Wandering must be part of any group that does not have Starry in it. As Wandering may be a weak point, as he has already indicated, it is preferable that Twilight be the first alternative. Do not dawdle over anything that is not your particular field of expertise. Do not assume that because something is in that field, that it can’t cause you problems or harm. We’re going into this mission because we know so little about the Swarm, and that means that we’re ignorant of many potential dangers. So don’t take unnecessary risks, and remember that a battle is still going on outside where some random factor may upset our plans. Dust Storm, you will be responsible for keeping us informed of developments outside the ship.”

When the changeling had finished, Wandering resumed talking. “To sum up – focus on your task, work swiftly, and watch for problems. Any questions?”

“Yes,” Midnight spoke up. “Why aren’t you taking any Security personnel?”

“We’re not without strong defensive capabilities, Commander.”

“But you’re all supposed to be concentrating on your special tasks. You might need someone specifically there to watch your backs.”

“Are you volunteering?”

“I suppose I am. I have an average empathic ability that may be of use also.”

Wandering looked at Boyce questioningly. “Admiral?”

“Commander Midnight is correct. I recommend that you take hir along.”

Wandering nodded. “Very well, Commander, you’re in. Zane, please stay and test out mental interfacing with myself and Fidelitas. Everyone else – we have three days before we reach the nearest battlefront, so make any preparations and get plenty of rest.”

The Admiral and Commander Rosepetal excused themselves too, and when the three were alone in the meeting room, Zane spoke up.

“Captain Path, are you certain about forming a gestalt with me? Many people are uncomfortable with being mentally naked to another person.”

Wandering grinned. “Due to my heritage, I am the only pony that can fully integrate with a changeling network. Believe me, I am more than familiar with the concept. I am currently acting as the hub for all the Chrome Changelings that came aboard the Pegasus with us, and Fifi has linked with me also.”

The changeling Princess matched the alicorn’s smile. “My herd brother speaks truly. I may be a Red Changeling and he the son of a Chrome, but Wandering Path is universally accepted by all hives as a hub nearly as strong as any changeling Queen. You may be in for a surprise.”

Wandering continued, “But it’s because I am a pony that your telepathy should work with me too. I can act as the interface between two kinds of mental communication.”

“Very well, let’s try this out. I formally ask your permission to enter your mind, Captain.”

“Granted, and call me Wandering. We’re going to get a lot more intimate than first names.”

The skunktaur smiled and nodded. “Indeed, we are.” Hy then placed a hand on the stallion’s withers and reached out with hys mental faculties to touch Wandering’s mind. Hy found accessing it easy, drawn readily into the depths. Then hy reached the core of Wandering’s being and the mental viewpoint exploded into a complex web of thoughts, memories, and processing data. The skunktaur was almost overwhelmed by it all. Hy had been part of multi-telepath gestalts before, but this was substantially different. While those had been cooperative efforts with a unified purpose, this seemed like the changelings were just an extension of Wandering’s mind. Hy could see, hear, and feel everything that each member of the gestalt experienced, and hy quickly had to throw up blocks to prevent information overload.

“Welcome to my world, Zane,” came the mental voice of Wandering Path, echoing through all the conjoined minds.

All that Zane could think of was that hy was going to have a write a new chapter on telepathy once this mission was over. Maybe even a whole book!

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Pre-reading by Airy Words.

Temporary skunktaur line-art by Kacey Miyagami from my convention sketchbook. Colors by me. Best that I could do on short notice. A proper pic will replace this one when I get the chance.

Probes

Alexa was practically wearing a groove in the luxurious carpet of House Path manor as she paced worriedly. Free and Path passed a bowl of popcorn between them as they watched her reverse her course back and forth across the room.

“She’s so agitated – are all foxtaurs such worriers?” Path asked.

“Oh, stop teasing her. Alexa – come over here for a moment and sit with us.” Free patted the lounging mat between himself and Path.

She sat down and held her head in her paws. “There is that huge meeting happening right now and I can’t be there. It’s supposed to be another deliberation by the council about my home!” she complained. “After all this time, I thought that we had secured Equus’ full support, but now that seems in doubt.”

“You know the latest turn of events with the Swarm has a lot of Equians scared,” Free said. “They rightfully point out that if the Federation can be caught by surprise by the Swarm’s flanking moves, then they can visualize it happening to us as well.”

“I realize that, but they need to see that the best chance for both of our peoples is to keep working together.”

Free nodded in agreement. “You’ve argued that point very persuasively, but that still doesn’t appease the irrational side of many species. You’re just going to have to trust that cooler minds will prevail.”

Path said, “You know – if you really want to look, Free could let you peek in on one of his changelings in the meeting room. That’s what we are going to do.” The stallion looked over to Free with a smirk.

Alexa gave the pony a shocked look. “Isn’t that a bit unethical?”

“Nah – the councilors just want to be able to yell at each other without the Federation looking over their shoulders.”

Free chuckled. “And I never cared for their stupid rules anyway. So, yeah, I can show you, but are you sure you want to see? For all you know, it could be going really badly.”

“I know, but I need to watch at least so I can figure out my next course of action.”

Path got up and walked over to a hamper by the wall. “Always planning ahead. Good girl,” he said with a smile as he pulled out a few larger pillows, putting them onto the ground in a neat little pattern.

“What are those for?” Alexa asked.

“Simple – you are going to be the first foxtaur in the Chrome Network. I’m always bound to Free, so he can pull me in without effort, but you are going to be a bit more difficult. Once we three are fully in the network, we can watch things play out in real time through Pif’s eyes since she is there representing the interests of the Chrome Hive.” He laid down on a large pillow and motioned for her to do the same.

“The changeling network?” Alexa asked as Free settled down on the other side of her.

“It’s pretty much a hive mind,” Free explained. “It’s how the ’lings get things done so easily. We can pull in others on a temporary basis, or in Path’s and Citrine’s cases, bonded mates can stay linked indefinitely. You have a strong mind and I’ll be acting like a buffer, so you should be fine for a few hours. So, wanna give it a shot, Alexa?” Free grinned and shifted into her queen form, letting her wings buzz for a few moments before folding them back up against her chrome carapace.

Alexa had seen Free’s natural form once before, but the change was still shocking. She looked over to Path and it looked like he had already settled down with his eyes closed. Every few moments, his eyes moved and his hooves twitched as if he was experiencing a very vivid dream. She made up her mind. “Okay, I’m in!”

Free smirked. “Always the risk-taker. I’m not sure how much this will hurt – it felt a little like a sting to Path, but it shouldn’t cause you any real problems.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that I have to put the bite on you to make the connection,” Free replied with a grin that showed off her fangs.

Alexa gulped but decided to trust the changeling. She held still as Free leaned over and opened her jaws wide, sinking her fangs lightly into the foxtaur’s neck. Alexa let out a loud squeal as her vision went white.

Alexa stood back up suddenly and yelped, “Holy crap, that hurt!” The sensation rapidly faded though, and she looked around only to find herself no longer in the living room but in front of a large amphitheater, well-populated with Chrome changelings. It looked like it was created out of the lunar regolith, and when she looked up to the sky, it wasn’t the blue she was expecting but rather a jet black firmament with a massive star field. However, the constellations didn’t exactly match the stars around Equus, but somehow she knew this was the view that Equians would see if it wasn’t for the dark nebula surrounding it.

“Come on, it’s already starting.” Alexa turned to look behind herself and saw Path and Free approaching. The earth pony pushed her along and all three of them went into the amphitheater. A few of the harvesters and think-tank members paused to look at the foxtaur.

“Ooh, a new visitor! Can we exchange information?” One of the younger drones looked up at Alexa with wide eyes.

“Exchange information?” asked Alexa.

“When you enter the hive, everything that you are is exposed to everyone else, normally,” Free explained. “But since I am acting like a buffer, you are protected from that. I didn’t feel it would be right to just toss you into the deep end. Conversely, while you are not exposed, nothing is revealed directly to you. Something to consider later after the meeting,” he added with a pointed look at the drone.

The trio took seats that seemed to have been made just for them up in front. In the center of the arena, the meeting room scene unfolded as seen through Pif’s eyes.

The room was a chaotic blend of voices before three gavels thumped the table. Emperor Quirinius of the Thestral Grand Colony; Hardened Corundum, appointed representative of the Crystal Kingdom; and Argus Glimfeather, second oldest of the Glimfeather princes, called the Greater Equus Council to order. It was then that Argus spoke.

“It has come time for us to deliberate once again over the issue of the Federation-Swarm Conflict. It has come to our attention that there are several parties both for and against the motion to aid the Federation. Since we have been deadlocked for the past three months, I hope that we can make some progress today. The GEC Triad recognizes Privileged Horn of Equestria to address the assembly first.”

An old unicorn stood up tall, moved over to the podium, and began to speak into the microphone. Based on his body language, it was not going to be pleasant.

“We did not ask to be caught up in this war, nor did we have the opportunity to pick a side! We know nothing of the Swarm and why they are attacking the Federation; for all we know the Federation did something to provoke it! When we look at the historical archives that the researchers of the Cosmic Lotus brought back to Equus, we see evidence that the Terrans instigated fights going back thousands of years! From the Colonial A-mare-icans slaughtering the Native A-mare-icans, to the British attacking the Zulu! The Mongols attacking China, and the Spanish attacking the Philippines! They do it under various terms like ‘Manifest Destiny’ and ‘Colonization’, but who’s to say that’s not happening right now? Then there are the warlike Rakshani and Voxxan pirates. We are only hearing one side of the story from the Federation and, because of that, I believe that we should try to open up communications with the Swarm just like we have for the Federation. If we don’t, what happens when the Swarm is defeated? The Federation might come for our magic and our planet! I can’t say much about the foxtaur species – that one ambassador seems pleasant on the surface – but we have heard much about the others and they seem too war-hungry. I propose that we should cut off aid immediately and bolster our system defenses across the board!” The unicorn thumped his hoof on the table several times to emphasize his points, and nearly half of the hall either clapped, stomped their hooves, or cawed in support.

As the unicorn stepped down, Argus said, “The GEC recognizes Precision Strike of Griffonia to talk next.”

A middle-aged griffoness moved over to the podium, leaned heavily and sighed and shook her head as if in disappointment. Then she slammed her clenched talons onto the podium.

“What is wrong with all of you?! Why is this even an issue?! We are smart, we are strong, and we are proud. Equus has long been a bastion for harmony; with our collective willpower, we unified the world, colonized the moon, and then reached into the stars and even beyond them. We discovered a new universe with new civilizations, and one of them gives us the gift of faster than light travel. Over two thousand years of technological progress, massive influxes to the arts and to culture in general, and you don’t think we owe them something?! For shame! Even if they had given us nothing, we should still help them because it is the right thing to do! It is the Equian thing to do! But if you want to be selfish and capitalistic, then even by those amoral standards we should still help them. Beating the Swarm may be long and difficult, but we can do it!” she snarled loudly. “We are the Sword of Equus, and we shall cut deeply!” She let out a loud war screech and flared her red-tipped wings out, and almost by instinct, all of the griffons with the exception of Argus Glimfeather joined in with her along with thestral screeching and some hoof stomping.

It took the leading GEC triad several minutes and quite a bit of gavel slamming to get things under control again, long after Precision Strike had seated herself once more.

“The GEC triad recognizes Crafted Stanza of Zebrica,” Argus said impassively.

The zebra stallion was calmer than the other two as he cleared his throat. “My stance is not that of alliances, nor of rapid and prolonged militarization. It is one of isolation. I think that we should cease all talks with the Federation, do not attempt communication with the Swarm, recall all magical devices, and close down the portal to the Far Star. However, I am but one voice among many that feel the same way about this.” He paused for a moment before the clapping of his faction died down, then his eyes shifted to one of the observers. “What do you think, Solar Princess?”

Pif’s and everyone else’s eyes looked to Celestia sitting in one of the observation seats high up and out of the way. With all eyes upon her, she opened her wings and floated down to the microphone. The alicorn looked up to the Head Table and waited. Argus nodded and announced, “The GEC triad recognizes Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

“I believe that my little Equians should stay planet-side because I can protect them here, but I can’t protect them in a faraway war,” she said softly but firmly.

As there were gasps and murmuring among the crowd before a second alicorn slammed down beside her and yelled out in a shocked voice, “Sister, you cannot be serious! If we don’t act now, millions if not billions of lives will be forfeit!” Luna’s wings flared out in a manner that everyone could see as aggressive. Celestia’s flared up as well in reaction to the wing display and the volume of the voice, not so much what was said, but it was already too late.

Quite a few unicorns moved up and a few even teleported to the solar princess’ side. “You do not talk to the Giver of Light in such a way!”

The reaction of the unicorns prompted the thestrals to react and several of them flapped over and landed next to Luna. Their leader screeched loudly at the unicorns, “You will not talk to the Lunar Imperatrix in that tone!”

Everyone could see what was happening – the room was becoming so polarized that groups were moving to the side of the room that aligned with their views. Horns were sparking to life, claws were being brandished, and things were getting to a breaking point but the triad intervened, all three gavels banging loudly.

“This meeting is in recess until tomorrow morning at nine!” Argus spoke loudly above the remaining babble. “Everyone needs to cool down if we are to make any progress on this topic!”

Pif wasn’t paying attention so much as she was staring at the two sisters who were glaring at each other intently, their wings yet to go down. Then they both disappeared in a pair of concussive airwaves.

Back in the amphitheater, Alexa was fretting more than ever before and so was much of the hive. She looked as the drones started running away.

“Why are they all scattering?” she asked.

“Because Pif and Hype are ramping up production on a black project,” Free replied.

“Black project?”

“It’s a project that’s determined to be of such high importance and secrecy that only the most confidential think-tank teams are allowed to work on it. I think that the drones’ reaction is due to the schism we just witnessed.”

“Speaking of which, why didn’t you do anything! You two are Lords Free Agent and Long Path – all of them respect you!”

Path looked at Alexa gravely. “I haven’t been the Head of House Path for a long time, and I only have what you call soft power. I can influence whole groups but only when calm and rational minds prevail. What you have just seen is the exact opposite of that. Rational minds and scared minds split on a topic, and then in a power move, the scared faction called upon Celestia, a traditionalist, which then caused Luna to react. Once that happened, it was Solarists versus the Lunarists, so religion was tossed into the mix. No more progress can be made today, and if I tried to settle things now, it would just weaken my position later. Trust that if it’s needed, I will step in.”

Free’s ear flicked a few times. “Luna and Twilight just arrived.”

“Shall we depart?” Path asked Alexa.

The foxtaur nodded and everything went white. She found herself back lying on the pillow, Path a few feet from her on one side and Free a similar distance away on her other side. She was about to say something when a loud voice shattered the silence.

“I DONT BELIEVE SHE WOULD ACTUALLY SIDE WITH THOSE COWARDLY, SELF-SERVING, EGOTISTICAL COLTS!”

Free looked to Path. “You’re up, boy-toy. Pacify her so she can calm down the thestrals.”

“Gee, thanks,” Path replied before taking a deep breath and braced himself to confront his mate.

There was, of course, a third alicorn to break the deadlock between the sisters, which was one of Destined Path’s major functions as a member of the triumequirate that ruled Equestria. Up until now, he had managed to be impartial which had let the older alicorns grow to trust his judgement, and when Alexa and Penumbra approached the stallion, they reasonably expected a considered decision in favor of one of the princesses.

“I cannot give my opinion one way or another,” Destined said sadly.

“What?! Why not?!” Penumbra said in shock.

“Because too much weighs on it, and my choice can have some drastic ramifications, many of them bad.”

“How can you possibly know that?” the thestral protested.

“My future self gave me a warning because, when he was me, a future version of himself gave him the same warning. He told me that there would come critical moments in History that are so pivotal that any interference could have grave consequences.”

“And how would you know that this is one of them?” Alexa asked curiously.

“My special talent is time, Ambassador. If I choose, I can travel the paths of highest probability and see what happens in the future. At times like these, I see the shifting probabilities in my dreams. I can change those probabilities with the slightest of touches, but I am still too young to know the full repercussions of my actions. Give me a couple of thousand more years and I may not be so hesitant, but for now, the best thing that I can do is not interfere.”

Penumbra frowned. “So, a bit too much foreknowledge can paralyze you, but aren’t you already helping Wandering and the Federation?”

“There will be times that I can intervene, and in this case, by the time that I became aware of the bigger picture, I was already involved. By now, stopping what I am doing on the basis of my foreknowledge would also count as interference with the timeline. Therefore I will continue to help in the small ways that I am already doing.”

“So you can’t help us at all?” Alexa asked.

“I can only tell you that no matter what you do, it will get better, but your decision affects how much worse it will get before it gets better.”

Alexa frowned. “Better for whom though?”

The alicorn smiled. “Now you are starting to see the bigger picture.”

“What do you mean by ‘how much worse’?” Penumbra asked.

Destined gave a heavy sigh. “Okay, let’s play with hypothetical situations. What if I said that if Equus was to shut down the portal right now, it would have ten thousand years of peace?”

Alexa replied, “I would push for as many Federation citizens as possible to evacuate to Equus before closing the portal when the Swarm gets there.”

The alicorn regarded her sternly. “Which would lead to a population explosion, insufficient resources, famine, and then death, leaving only thousands where there were once billions.”

Alexa gasped.

Destined continued, “Now what if I said that by keeping the portal open, you would defeat the Swarm and everyone lives happily ever after?”

“Then I would keep it open,” Penumbra replied.

“Then you would become complacent because of your foreknowledge and the probabilities change, so instead the Swarm wins the war,” Destined retorted. “And what if I said that regardless of what you did, within twenty-five years, every planet you know, every person, every pony, everything is dead, crushed under the Swarm no matter what?”

“Are you saying that?” Alexa asked.

“Maybe.”

“Damn it, Dad, give us an answer!” Penumbra demanded.

“That’s bucking enough! I’m tired of everyone expecting me to hold their hoof! You know what – let’s see what you can make of it!”

Destined abruptly plunged them all into a pocket in time where he came to contemplate problems. Unlike the alicorn though, the thestral and the foxtaur were ill-equipped to cope with it. “Here’s your answer!”

The two just gawked, squeaks and whimpers coming from their muzzles as they struggled to comprehend what they were seeing. A plethora of pathways led from the alcove into the chaos, twisting and turning, breaking and bridging. They could see everyone several times over, each subtly different. They caught glimpses of celebration parties intertwined with horrific battles. They could see Federation species peacefully co-existing with the Equians and at the same time being utterly subjugated by them. They perceived glorious futures and abject poverty and hunger. Eventually, it became too much for them.

“Stop! Enough!” Alexa screamed.

Destined brought them back to normality immediately. “See? You can’t even handle just a small fraction of what I deal with every moment of every day! My future self gave me this advice – when the cusp of a critical event in history approaches, I will start to see all the major directions that the timeline may take, just as you have just seen. Meddling may cause the opposite effect to my intentions at these times. So stop asking me to hold your hooves, stop asking me for the answer, live your lives and be bucking happy that you exist right now because, trust me, while there are a nearly infinite number of time-lines where you are here right now, there have been an equally large number where you have been killed! Now, if you have finished asking for the impossible, I have a husband who is waiting for me to come home.”

The alicorn then teleported away without waiting for a reply, leaving the two stunned and shocked. Alexa just stood there panting and shaking for a while before she could manage a comment.

“Now I think I know what it is like to try to make demands of a god.”

Penumbra nodded. “My father has always been loving and considerate, but I have never seen him like this before.”

“Why do you think he’s so irritable now?”

The thestral shrugged. “Maybe because he knows something that he’s afraid to tell us. Maybe he doesn’t have the patience of Auntie Celestia as yet. Or maybe it’s because my other dad is dying.”

“And maybe all of the above?” Alexa added quietly.

Penumbra nodded.

Alexa took a deep breath and let it out with a huff as she firmed up her will. “Then it’s time to stop relying on others to make this work out. I’ve got to impress on the Federation the importance of proving our good intentions, and you’ve got to get the councilors to see the truth of them. If not, we may all be doomed.”

Wandering had oversimplified things when he said that he would teleport everyone over to the target ship. First, the regular fighters had to get control of engagement, and only then did the pegasus fighters break off to separate one of the Swarm from the others. Because their goal was to contain it rather than destroy it, the pegasus ships were dancing around the enemy in such a way as to prevent it from fleeing while not getting shot themselves. Not that that seemed likely. The alicorn admired the skill of the pilots who were just as fast and maneuverable as they had boasted. Nevertheless, the Swarm ship had yet to stay still enough for him to target it.

“Blue Leader to Captain Path – anytime now, boss!” came Dust Storm’s voice over the comm.

“Still waiting for you to pin it down long enough, Blue Leader,” Wandering replied tersely. He knew that the pegasi had a difficult job, but they had claimed that they could do it, and he needed it done as soon as possible. Every wasted minute might change circumstances and put the mission at risk.

Half a minute later, the moment came when the Swarm ship was balked for a few seconds, and Wandering teleported over to the vessel. He reappeared on the outside, not risking a blind ’port into the ship. This close though, his senses could detect a void that was the passageway that he anticipated finding, and he teleported inside. He slapped his comm. “Wandering to Starry – I’m in!”

Moments later, Starry teleported over along with the rest of the team, homing in on the mana beacon that Wandering had brought with him. With the others now safely transported over, the mission could begin.

“Captain Path to Blue Leader – recon team is now aboard. Phase two begins.”

“Acknowledged, Captain. Good luck!”

The pegasi would now back off a little to reduce pressure on both themselves and the Swarm ship while still keeping the enemy ship from re-joining the others. The goal now was to just keep the situation under control without forcing the Swarm into some unanticipated action that could endanger the reconnaissance team.

Starry had already put up a defensive shield although they had been fortunate not to encounter one of the Swarm creatures as yet. That gave them a moment for each member of the team to begin their special tasks. Unlike the first time he had been on a Swarm ship, this time Wandering had no temporal field interfering with his special talent, and his magic senses sought out any living beings. The first and strongest was the ship itself, confirming what they had already believed was the case. It made the alicorn sad that such an amazing creature was being used for such a horrible purpose. He barely had stored the creature’s pattern before the team was confronted by its first Swarm.

The insect-like being stopped and looked at them for a long moment before its antennae twitched and it charged at them with its pincers extended. It was easily stopped by Starry’s shield, and it paused as if thinking about what to do next. Then its feathery antennae twitched again and it started feeling around the force field with its manipulator claws, apparently trying to find a way around the obstacle.

Chakat Midnight spoke up. “This Swarm creature is not behaving like the two that we captured. It appears to be far more intelligent than them, acting decisively and looking for weaknesses.”

“Or acting according to instructions,” Zane said. “Did you notice how its antennae moved just before it acted. I’m still having trouble tuning in on the Swarm creatures, but I’m sure I detected telepathic activity at those moments.”

Fidelitas nodded. “I believe you’re right. I’m detecting a changeling-like neural network. I’m trying to synchronize with it without becoming a part of it. Wandering explained how different hives can’t ‘hear’ the other hive’s network unless both sides cooperate to make a link. I’m not going to get that cooperation, but I can’t just force a link and risk being overwhelmed by it.”

“Since communication is one of the Swarm’s primary strengths, it seems likely that we’re looking for some kind of controller for the Swarm,” Twilight Sparkle opined. “This Swarm drone only hesitated long enough for its controller to relay instructions.”

“We have a major goal then,” Wandering said. “Let’s push ahead.”

The team moved on, Starry’s shield effortlessly pushing the drone into a side passage. They moved down the corridor to the first doorway where they paused long enough to look inside. It was dimly lit, but they could see a translucent wall just inside the doorway which retained a large amount of liquid which had several creatures swimming within it. Wandering scanned them and indicated that the group move on. They noticed the drone following them but no longer trying to get to them.

“We’re being watched,” Midnight announced.

“I agree,” Wandering replied. “Nothing we do from now on will be unknown to this ship’s theoretical controller, and probably to the rest of the Swarm too, if our guesses are correct. No point in killing it – it’ll only get replaced immediately. We can only continue as planned anyway.”

The next room contained something a lot more familiar. Row upon row of pens held the same kind of mana creature that had been used as living ammunition. This was not one of the weapon rooms though, and judging by the way the Swarm drone inside was behaving, it seemed more like a nursery for the creatures, or at least their kennel. The attendant drone’s antennae twitched and it picked up one of the mana beasts and approached the group. Abruptly, Starry whinnied as one of the creature’s tentacles touched the shield.

“Yipe! That mana beast is draining the power from my shield!”

Twilight reacted immediately, firing a kinetic pulse from her horn and flinging both the drone and the mana creature away from them.”

“Are you okay, Starry?” Wandering asked with concern.

“I’m fine – it just took me by surprise. It didn’t have time to drain too much of my power.”

Midnight said, “They’ll know that vulnerability now. If any drones approach with a mana beast, I am going to shoot them.”

“Good. Show them that we learn quickly too,” Wandering agreed. “Keep advancing. Helen – have you detected anything of interest yet?”

“Not much, sir. Aside from cables that look out of place in here, I suspect that we’re looking at a largely organic control system.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Twilight said. “If this is a living starship, then there ought to be mostly organic neural pathways in areas like this. I suspect that we will need to locate some kind of control room to find much in the way of technology related to those cables.”

“Or whatever it’s controlling at the other end. We don’t know which way we’re headed,” Helen pointed out.

Zane said, “I detect more activity in the direction we’re going. I think we’re on the right route.”

The next room that they came across was brightly lit with plenty of foliage soaking up the light.

“A kind of aquaponics room?” Twilight guessed.

Helen studied hir PADD. “More organic technology. This is fascinating stuff.”

“But so far no magic usage aside from the ambient field that I sense around this ship, and of course the mana-eaters,” Twilight added.

Something the size of a cat suddenly dashed out of the greenery and bounced off Starry’s shield. It chittered irritably and then dodged to the left and scurried down the hallway.

“Well, at least something on this ship isn’t trying to kill us,” Fidelitas remarked.

Wandering snorted. “How would you know that it isn’t going to fetch a horde of its friends and come back to attack us, Fifi?”

“Don’t be paranoid, Wander. I could taste its fear of us.”

The stallion shrugged. “What about the others?”

“The Swarm creature is little more than a dispassionate drone. The mana beast was just hungry. But I can taste something else ahead.”

“The same place as I can sense the telepathic activity, I guess,” Zane said.

“Let’s find out,” Wandering decided.

The team moved onwards, each member stretching their talents to the best of their ability. Wandering was in touch with his cadre of Chrome Changelings back on the Pegasus, and he fed a constant stream of data to them via his link. It was not very different from how he ran the Cosmic Lotus, and very useful at times like these. He had suggested that Fidelitas link with him too, but the changeling princess declined, claiming that it was safer to keep their minds discrete.

They continued investigating doors and passageways, discovering more animals and more vegetation before finding a weapons station. Several drones were at the controls of the various artillery with which the ship was equipped. Some of it was regular technological items, but a few looked as if they were grown from the ship itself.

“Should we sabotage their weapons?” Midnight asked.

“No,” Wandering replied. “The pegasi are coping, otherwise they would have notified me by now. Besides, we might just stir up a hornet’s nest if we tried. We have enough tagalongs already.” He pointed out the drones that they had accumulated along the way, all still keeping their distance from the interlopers.

“Uh-oh!” Starry said. “One has got a mana beast.”

Midnight lifted hir weapon and pointed it squarely at the drone in overt threat. Shi was ignored and the Swarm creature advanced on the shield. The chakat’s weapon spat tightly controlled energy and the Swarm collapsed. However, the one next to it picked up the mana beast and continued the advance with the same results.

“Shoot the mana beast!” Twilight ordered.

“Won’t that cause it to explode?” Midnight asked as shi shot the third Swarm creature.

“No – only an electric shock will cause it to do that.”

The ebony chakat didn’t hesitate. She killed the poor creature, rendering it harmless. The Swarm drones lost interest in attacking them once more.

“Now they know that using the mana beasts won’t work,” Wandering said. “Hopefully they don’t have another trick like that.”

Helen said, “I’ve completed my scans here, sir. We can move on now.”

Wandering nodded. “Let’s go.”

The team continued exploring everything along the route but growing conscious of the time that they had already spent aboard the ship. The longer that they stayed, the greater the chance that something would go wrong. Nevertheless, this might be their sole opportunity to discover the Swarm’s secrets, so they needed to be thorough too. It went without saying that tension was growing among all of them as they checked out all the rooms, discovering storage facilities, more animals and plants, and equipment that they did not recognize but Helen dutifully scanned for later analysis. Then they came to a major Y-branch in the passageway.

“Should we split up?” Helen asked.

“I recommend that we stay together,” Midnight said.

“I agree, but which direction should we go?” Starry asked.

“Right!” Zane and Fidelitas said simultaneously.

Wandering guessed that they both sensed something that eluded him, and he led the group in that direction. Suddenly there were no more doorways punctuating the walls, and the passageway ended in the only closed door that they had encountered on the mission so far.

“Who’s got a key?” Wandering asked.

“Leave it to me,” Twilight said, stepping forward to place her horn on the door. Her horn glowed but nothing happened for a minute. Then she cried, “Aha!” and the door split in two and sank into the walls.

They entered a bit more cautiously this time. Any place with a locked door was definitely somewhere that they were not wanted. They quickly saw why. Lying on a bench in the middle of the room was a different kind of Swarm creature. Firstly, it was easily twice the size of the drones that they had encountered so far. It lacked the large pincers of the others, but it had two extra pairs of feathery antennae on its significantly larger head. A few normal drones seem to have been attending it, but now they stepped up to block the way to the large one, obviously defending it.

“Take me to your leader,” murmured Helen even as she started recording the meeting.

“Zane – are you able to make telepathic contact with that big one?” Wandering asked.

The skunktaur’s brow was furrowed in concentration. “Some surface impressions only. Its brain seems to be mostly incompatible with my telepathy.”

“Fifi?” the stallion asked hopefully.

“Hold on – I’m getting something… Yes… Yes… This is their controller alright. I can detect a network similar to that of changelings.”

“Let’s see what I can sense,” Wandering said as he reached out with his mind.

“NO!” shouted Fidelitas.

Too late, Wandering felt the controller link with him, flooding him with a myriad of impressions, but worst of all, a dominating will.

“Step forward,” it commanded.

Wandering started to do so, but Fidelitas called out to the others to restrain him.

“What are you?” it queried. Without any volition on his part, information started to flow to the Swarm creature.

“Interesting. We can use you. Kill your companions.”

Wandering unhesitatingly turned and lowered his horn. Surprise paralyzed his targets, but a long, black tail lashed out and yanked his head aside just before he loosed a bolt of lethal magic. Undeterred, he tried again, but before he could charge his horn, his mind exploded with blinding white pain, and he collapsed on the floor, twitching helplessly.

“Shoot the controller!” Fidelitas yelled. The changeling lowered her horn and fired a blast of eldritch green energy at the big Swarm creature, only to have it blocked by one of the drones.

Midnight, Twilight, and Starry also started firing but were also blocked by suicidal drones, more of which were pouring into the controller’s room, some of them bearing mana beasts. Meanwhile, the Swarm controller appeared to be making a retreat to safety.

“We’re going to be overwhelmed if this keeps up,” Twilight said. “We had better teleport out of here now.”

“No! We have to kill that controller first!” Fidelitas insisted.

As Twilight started to protest, Zane spoke up. “She’s right. Do it!” His slightly glowing eyes were still fixated on Wandering.

Twilight saw her son on the floor, helpless. She realized that Zane must be restraining him still, and that could only be because Wandering was still under thrall. Her expression hardened and her horn lit up. A moment later, she had teleported in front of the controller and she fired a tight beam directly between its eyes.

The Swarm controller collapsed, and all activity by the drones abruptly ceased. The team stopped firing as soon as they realized that it was pointless now. Wandering stopped twitching, and Zane let out a sigh of relief.

“Momma Twilight! You haven’t got a shield up!” Starry warned her.

“I didn’t have time to put one up and prepare a killing strike,” Twilight said tiredly. She hurried over to re-join the others and the safety of Starry’s shield.

Wandering started to struggle to his hooves. “S-starry… p-port… now,” he slurred.

“Huh? You want us to teleport back? But with the controller dead, can’t we investigate safely now?”

Her husband put a hoof around her leg and looked at her earnestly. “W-what happens… when inca-incapacitated?” he struggled to say.

Starry thought a moment, but Midnight beat her to the conclusion.

“The ship blows up! Teleport us out of here immediately!”

Starry didn’t quibble. With her mind fixed on the mana beacon on the Pegasus, she teleported everyone off the Swarm ship along with the controller’s corpse. She need not have rushed so much – it was another twenty-three seconds before the ship exploded, and the team got to watch it from the safety of the Federation warship. They even had time to warn away the pegasus fighter craft.

“Okay, what happened there?” Twilight demanded as soon as the Swarm ship was destroyed.

Fidelitas answered. “I told Wandering that he was not the equal of a changeling queen. I was tracing the Swarm network while keeping myself separated from it. Wandering was not as skilled and he linked up with the network. As soon as he did, he was overwhelmed by the Swarm. We have the answer to how they communicate, and frankly, it’s terrifying. While it resembles a hive network, those controllers are linked to every other controller everywhere in the galaxy, and I believe that there may be an over-mind directing even them. The point is that he had tens of thousands, maybe even millions of minds all focused on making him obey. He was their puppet from that moment on.”

Zane continued the explanation. “While I now realize that I could not telepathically break into such a gigantic gestalt, I could get into Wandering’s head. I fired a mind-burst into his brain to stop him from thinking or acting, and hopefully, break the link.”

“But I sensed that the link did not break, which is why we had to kill the controller,” Fidelitas continued.

“I could have broken the link, but only at the risk of damaging Wandering’s brain,” Zane finished.

Wandering groaned, sitting up with his head in his forehooves as he nursed the worst headache that he’d had in his life. “I think you did anyway,” he whined.

Starry hugged her husband and said, “It sounds like you’ll recover though. I’m just glad you survived that stunt, you idiot.”

“I love you too, Starry,” the stallion replied, not bothering to deny the assessment of his action.

“How much information do you think the Swarm got from you?” Twilight asked gently, not wishing to stress her son so soon after the event.

Wandering shook his head and then winced. “I’m not sure, but I do know one thing – the flow of information was not one way.” He allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. Maybe this headache was going to be worth it after all.

Pif appeared in the high district of the Northern Lunar Dome, Hype to her left and Citrine at her right. Normally they were on the far side of the moon where the research base was located, working on their projects and keeping the lunar extension of the Chrome Hive well-managed and prosperous. But today, they had another destination in mind. Pif smiled as they passed into the large garden dome.

An old griffon was sparring with a younger one. The elderly catbird’s plumage and fur showed the signs of his age, but the constant training of his mind and body kept its drawbacks at bay far longer than for more lethargic griffons. He glanced over his shoulder at the trio and the younger catbird rushed him, only to be side-stepped and grabbed before he was slammed into the ground with a squawk. The older male bent over and held out his foreleg to pick up his sparring partner. After a respectful bow, the younger one left, passing the trio as he did so.

Pif looked back to the old griffon with a smile. “General Carnot Highstrike – still keeping sharp even after retiring from the aethernaut corps and politics, I see. How many terms was it as Lunar Chancellor? Four?”

The griffon grabbed a towel from the side of the small arena and rubbed his still sharp eyes. “Six, then I decided that somebody else should have a turn.” He laughed loudly. “So why are you three here? It’s rare to see you Queens out of your labs, and Citrine not pestering you.”

Pif chuckled and grinned widely in a manner rarely seen. Her companions echoed the smile.

Carnot blinked and smirked. “That grin – I have only seen than grin twice before: from Lord Path when he told me about the project that became the first orbital flight of Equus, and the second when he had me do the transmission from lunar orbit.”

Pif produced a strange black crystal. “Black Project XIV. Tap the crystal and read. It will disintegrate after one view. You need only contact me with a yes or no answer.”

The two princesses started to turn around to leave but Citrine added, “Looks like you get to be a captain one more time.”

Carnot raised an intrigued eyebrow.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Things are getting interesting now! Stay tuned for the consequences of this chapter's events.

Art by Baron Engel.

Pre-reading by Airy Words.

Repercussions

Boyce sat tight-lipped throughout the debriefing. When Wandering finished recounting the series of events, the Admiral remained silent for a long moment before he took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. “Captain Path, if you were a member of Star Fleet, you would have a lot to answer for because of your foolish actions. I expected a lot more from someone twice my age and having command responsibility. Nevertheless, we must now deal with the repercussions of this incident. First of all, though, why were none of the others in your party taken over by the controller?”

“That would be because of me,” Zane replied. “As a standard procedure, I put up a moderate telepathic shield around all of us as soon as we arrived on the ship. That was enough to block the controller until Captain Path pushed a link through it.”

“Thank heaven for small mercies,” the Admiral replied. “So let’s get down to the worst part – what information and how much of it did the Swarm get? You had your changelings hooked up to you at the time, Captain, so that’s potentially a huge amount.”

Wandering gave the Admiral a contrite smile. “I can only apologise once again for my blunder. However, I have a bit of positive news. I believe the Swarm controller was treating my linked drones exactly the same way as it treated its own – as uncomplicated extensions of its will, but changelings are different. While they are naturally inclined to be linked in a network, they are nevertheless independent beings. They choose to work with me, not because I control them. My team was prepared to receive data, but the demand for information took them by surprise and they did not comply until they figured out what was happening. They already knew that we had confronted what we believed was the leader of the Swarm on the ship, so they were suspicious of the demand and the controller got nothing from them.”

“That would be more reassuring if the same could be said for you. What information did it get?”

“I can’t be sure due to the nature of the unfamiliar exchange, but it did get a lot of critical information from me. You know all those planets that I visited to set up early-warning systems? The Swarm knows the location of every one of them now. Rather than checking out every star system for useful worlds, they now have specific targets. Worse yet, one of them is Equus. They know of the portal now, which means it’s even more vital to defend the Chakastra System.”

“We’re already doing that, but now it looks like our resources are going to get stretched even further. Assistance from Equus is going to be even more vital, and word from our ambassadorial team is that support for the Federation is fractured. After this incident, it’s only going to exacerbate the situation. I hope you got information about the Swarm that may somewhat justify this debacle.”

“I think we did. First of all, we now know exactly how the Swarm communicate. They share a link through the controller caste that works similarly to a changeling network, but with the range and speed of telepathy. That is why when one Swarm learns something, all know it virtually immediately. Also, we learned that the Swarm uses that mind power to dominate the wills of other beings. That’s how I was taken over so quickly, and that’s also why the Federation colonies were conquered rapidly and easily despite the large numbers of colonists who stayed behind to fight the invaders. They literally were turned upon each other by mind control. That’s the same way that they control all the creatures on the ship, including the ship itself.”

“The Swarm ships are confirmed to be alive like the stariionae then?”

“Alive, yes, but not like the stariionae. In fact, every living thing on that ship, animal and plant, is part of an ecosystem except for the Swarm creatures. The mana beasts collect mana energy, obviously, while others provide food, purify water, recycle air, provide light, and so forth. The ships are a colony creature – a self-contained living community.”

Boyce was surprised by that revelation, and he considered the ramifications of that. “So – the Swarm did not create the ships in any way?”

“No – I can confirm that because it’s something that I did learn from the controller. The Swarm originated in a world where life was in balance. Many creatures were immune to the mind control of the Swarm creatures, but the rest served their hives. Then one day a flock of those ship colonies arrived on their world to feed and take in fresh water and air supplies. Unfortunately, they fell afoul of the Swarm who immediately took advantage of them to travel to other worlds where the creatures had not evolved a defense against mind control. Whenever the Swarm encountered a civilization, they took whatever was useful and put it into the ships.”

Midnight interjected, “I can add that the Swarm’s modifications are to the detriment of the ship creature. While we were aboard, I could feel its pain. The weapons that they carry are forced upon them. The mana emitting tubes that were our biggest problem are literally pushed through its flesh. That accounts for why it’s such a primitive system, requiring the ship to be pointed at its target.”

“Commander Midnight is correct,” Wandering continued. “All technology that we saw has been added to the ships, and all of it was stolen by the Swarm from the civilizations that they conquered. That’s why the Swarm ships never got any faster – they were limited to the ship’s natural abilities. Warp drive provided by other means is obviously incompatible with the living ship lifeforms. The Swarm literally does not create anything – it only takes and replicates. That brings me to the next piece of good news. While it now knows about magic systems, it can no more use them than you can. However, that makes it even more important that Equus does not get conquered by the Swarm.”

Boyce groaned. “That will only add weight to the argument by the Equian isolationists to close the portal and leave us to cope for ourselves.”

Wandering nodded sympathetically. “I know, but there’s still one thing that you don’t know that I learned from my contact with the controller.”

“What’s that?” the human asked hopefully.

“The Swarm started spreading from their homeworld millennia ago. They have invaded perhaps a fifth of the galaxy so far, and that portion extends a long way towards where Equus is located. While we would be safe in the short term, inevitably the Swarm would reach us anyway if they are not stopped.”

“You do realize that many people, and I’m now confident that this includes Equians, only think in the short term?”

“I agree, and it’s not going to be easy to convince those people to act, but it’s absolutely vital.”

“To do that, we need to present them with a plan to destroy the Swarm,” Midnight commented.

Wandering shook his head. “You can’t. There are literally too many in the galaxy and they are too decentralized to ever do that, no matter how effective our attacks upon them might be. Even now, they are closing in from all sides on the little pocket of resistance that we call the Stellar Federation.”

“Then what do you suggest that we can do?” Boyce demanded.

“The Swarm’s greatest strength is also its greatest vulnerability. Their ability to control minds is the sole thing that enables them to travel throughout the stars and conquer worlds. Break that and they won’t be able to control the ships or anything else for that matter.”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

Wandering slumped a little and turned away from the Admiral. “I have no idea.”

Silence reigned for a long moment before Boyce said, “I want your team to record absolutely every detail that you learned from the mission, especially what you got from the controller. Meanwhile, I have to inform Star Fleet Command of this change in our situation. I suggest that you do the same for your leaders.”

Starry murmured, “Let’s hope that cooler heads prevail.”

Luna trotted down the hallway in Canterlot Castle, her expression grim. She paused before ornate double doors that bore the inlaid image of the rising sun. Taking a deep breath, she knocked and waited impatiently.

After nearly a nerve-wracking interval, the doors opened and her sister stood before her. Celestia’s expression was grim as she held her head high. Then she blinked as she read Luna’s frowning face and jittery wings. She was worried and scared. “Sister?”

Luna looked up into Celestia’s eyes. “There has been a development... a potentially disastrous one. The Swarm situation has become a lot more complicated. The mission report to the GEC happens in ten minutes.”

The Lunar Triarch turned and cantered down the corridor and Celestia hurried to catch up. “What happened?”

Luna swallowed and seemed to collect her thoughts. “Wandering rashly tried to link with a command-caste Swarm individual that they encountered on the ship. As theorized, the controller was linked to all of its ilk and the multitude easily overwhelmed his mental defenses. While Wandering did recover potentially useful information and vulnerabilities, it was done at the cost of some portion of his knowledge, including the location of Equus and extensive information about alicorns in particular.”

Celestia’s steps faltered a moment before continuing. “I... see.”

Luna stopped and faced her sister who likewise halted. “And I am very sorry for confronting you as I did at the Council. While we may have differing opinions, there was no cause for me to question you so forcefully in public. My actions caused both of us to lose authority before all of Equus. I am sorry, sister.” She bowed her head until it touched the floor.

Celestia gently raised her sister’s head with her forehoof and pulled the dark alicorn into an embrace. “I do not plan to lose you now of all times, dear sister. Remember that I always love you, little Moonlight.”

Luna closed her eyes and sniffled, tears running onto her sister’s neck. “And I, you, Sungleam.”

They held each other for a few minutes before pulling apart, both smiling with tears streaking their faces. Luna cleared her throat. “Well, we may be princesses, but they won't delay the meeting for us.”

Celestia laughed. “Relegated to second-rate afterthoughts. How times have changed.”

Luna grinned as they resumed their journey. “Yes, but for the better, I believe.”

Path took an all too familiar route to the convalescent wing of the House Path manor. As expected, he found his son there by the bedside of Silk Path. The aged thestral was smiling and chatting with Destined, but Path knew that his son’s husband was in constant pain and slowly dying. The earth pony admired Silk’s constant cheerfulness in spite of this, and his ability to give emotional support to the ageless alicorn whom he had married. It was greatly needed now in these times of crisis, and Destined was going to have to set aside his personal concerns and work toward the future of Equus.

“Good afternoon, Silk. I hope I am not disturbing you?” Path asked quietly.

The thestral gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s not a problem, Pa.” Silk had taken to calling his father-in-law by that name soon after the wedding, and the appellation had stuck.

“I need to talk with Des for a while. Can I steal him from you?”

“I feel like taking a nap anyway, so go right ahead. I’ll be here still when you’re done.”

“Thanks.” Path looked at Destined. “Come, walk with me, son.”

The alicorn gave Silk a parting kiss and got up to follow his sire. “What’s wrong, Dad?”

“I think that’s the question that I should be asking of you.”

Destined’s expression fell. “Oh. You’ve talked with Pen?”

“And Alexa. They’re worried about you.”

The alicorn snorted. “Notice how tight both of them are?”

“I’ve noticed and I approve, but you’re deflecting. I heard what you did with them.”

“And they’re still trying to get me to do what they want?”

“No, they’re trying to get you to stop doubting yourself.”

“You do realize that I have good reason to be afraid of meddling?”

“I cannot argue that you are capable of seeing possible futures, but your doubts paralyze you. Those doubts can also change the probable futures, most likely for the worse. We ponies who aren’t blessed with your special talent have to deal with those problems without anything but experience to fall back on. When you were a youth still learning your ability, you had the excitement of discovery, and in the far future, you will have the confidence of experience. But right now you know enough to realize that you don’t know enough. You’ve been in that situation before though. Do you remember your first times holding court as Prince of Equestria?”

“Of course I do.”

“You were a nervous wreck and full of self-doubt then too. But you did not have to face those problems alone, did you?”

“No, I didn’t, but I’m not an inexperienced youth anymore. I am responsible for my own actions.”

“True, but you are still ignoring the lessons of your youth. We all have self-doubts, and we all have times when we don’t know what to do. Tartarus knows that I made my share of mistakes, and it was for the best when Lucida wrested control of the House from me long ago. But I still worked for the betterment of the House and Equestria because my self-doubts did not stop me from acting when it was demanded of me. But then I started asking for help when it was needed instead of putting the entire responsibility upon myself. Son – you have enormous responsibility but you lack the centuries of experience of your fellow rulers, and you carry the burden of an ability that no one else shares. Of course, you are going to have problems, but that’s precisely the time that you ask for help. Responsibility for your own actions includes deciding to ask for advice from wiser heads and making decisions based on that advice. And above all, remember that deciding not to make a decision is also a decision with consequences.”

“If you had seen some of what I have seen…”

“But I haven’t. I can only tell you what I believe will happen if you do not act promptly. The unity of Equus is starting to fall apart over the current crisis, and now more than ever it is important that we act in harmony.”

Destined gave his father an intense stare. “And what if my decision is that Equestria withdraws its support?”

“Then do your best to work in Equestria’s defense, but know that House Path is already committed to defending the Federation.”

“And if I commanded that you stop?”

Path shook his head. “While you could interfere with the operations of the Chrome Hive and the House branch there, you do not have the authority to stop us. You know as well as I do that House Path has worked tirelessly to be apolitical. We are the final line of defense for those who cannot help themselves, and we work for the betterment of all Equus. Gisela will not change our mission because of you. However, she will work with you to improve Equus’ chances. You just have to make that decision.”

Path halted and Destined realized that they had entered the family room where Gisela and Penumbra were waiting. “And I suppose that I’m expected to make that decision now?”

Destined’s hippogriff niece and leader of House Path nodded and said, “There has been a significant turn of events, and it’s imperative that we deal with it quickly. You are vital to the future of Equus, Uncle Destined, and we need you to make a stand, hopefully in our favor. Uncertainty and fear are as much our enemies as the Swarm right now.”

Penumbra then embraced his father and said, “And if nothing else fails to persuade you, just ask yourself what Papa Silk would want you to do.”

Destined’s thoughts raced back to his dying husband – a pony who had never once stopped being cheerful and supportive despite his illness. Destined would do anything for his mate, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt what the loving thestral would want him to do. He took a deep breath and firmed his resolve. “Alright – let’s do this. We have a civilization to save.”

The GEC Triad was headed by Emperor Quinius this time, but even the stern thestral had a difficult time containing the uproar that Wandering’s report caused. While several of the council members demanded to be heard once the report was complete, Quinius gave the podium to Privileged Horn.

“It is obvious to us now that the Swarm will not negotiate with us, but it is equally obvious that this latest foray with our so-called allies in the Federation has exacerbated the situation. Therefore, we reiterate our demand that we stop supplying them with materiel and personnel, and our borders be closed to them.”

“What?!” screeched Precision Strike. “The Federation did not cause this situation!”

“Councilor Strike – you do not have the floor!” Quinius said sternly.

Privileged Horn sneered at Strike. “Yes, it was that idiot, Wandering Path, who came up with the plan, but it was the Federation that enabled it. Equus was not threatened until we encountered them. What was the first thing that they did when they met our peaceful ship of exploration? They tried to detain it! They are warmongers and trouble to all the peoples of Equus. We should have nothing to do with them. Even Princess Celestia knows that she cannot keep us safe if we continue to help them. I call on the Equestrian Triarch to support me on this!”

Quinius looked over to where the Solar Princess was seated at the table, replacing the Equestrian ambassador for this occasion. “Do you wish to take the stand, Your Highness?”

“We do,” Celestia replied.

The councilors momentarily thought that Celestia had used the royal ‘we’, but Luna and Destined also got up to accompany the Alicorn of the Sun, and it was Destined who took the podium.

“I speak on behalf of the Equestrian Triarchy on this matter. We thank the Solarist and Lunarist factions for their support of each viewpoint, but by our custom and law, when two triarchs are of opposing views, the third has the deciding vote. Equestria declares its continuing support for the war efforts against the Swarm. We will not agree to the closing of our borders.”

That definitely was not the result that Privileged Horn expected, and he started to protest. Quinius firmly told him to resume his seat, but Crafted Stanza gained the opportunity to speak next.

“On behalf of the isolationist faction, we welcome Privileged Horn’s call for closing our borders. However, we do not feel that this is enough. Nothing less than the complete shutdown of the portal will keep our world safe.”

“Only fools and cowards hide behind a shut door!” screeched Strike who ignored attempts to have her silenced. “We would be shutting our world into a prison of its own making, too frightened to step out into the bigger universe. Only an idiot would believe that we would be safe forever though. The Swarm will only grow in power and spread further if it isn’t stopped now!”

“Trust a griffon to think fighting is the only answer!” Crafted Stanza retorted. “I demand that the chair call a vote on the matter. The fate of our entire world is in the balance.”

There were cries from supporters seconding the motion.

Quinius banged his gavel. “A vote has been moved and seconded. I am declaring a recess for all councilors to discuss this matter between themselves or their superiors. You will gather here again in two hours to cast your ballots. This session is now adjourned.”

There was an immediate babble of conversation even as various councilors drifted around to talk with members of the factions that they supported. Others headed out of the room to talk privately. Long Path moved over from the spectator area to join Gisela and they started discussing something earnestly for several minutes before the earth pony departed the room. Cadance joined the other alicorns, happy to give her support to Equestria.

“How do you feel about Destined’s decision, Auntie Tia?” the Alicorn of Love asked.

Celestia gave her niece a calm smile. “Destined did what he is supposed to do and make a fair and balanced decision based on all viewpoints and information. Just because it did not go my way does not mean that I am unhappy with him, nor does it mean that I despair of protecting our subjects. While it is my final recourse, I have nevertheless fought many wars over the centuries, and I will help fight this one as well.”

“The Crystal Empire will always be at your side,” Cadance replied.

“Thank you, dear niece.”

“How do you think the vote will go?”

“The factions are fairly evenly split – it is difficult to tell. We have never encountered an enemy quite like the Swarm before, and people are justifiably fearful.”

“While I’d prefer a peaceful resolution to this conflict, even I can see that it is futile in this case, and the only hope of safety in the long term is to stop the Swarm somehow. That’s the sticking point though – no one has suggested a certain means of doing so, therefore the fear.”

Luna had been listening to the conversation, and she blurted out, “Exactly! Unfortunately, we may never get the chance to discover that answer if we merely try to pretend that the problem does not exist. Our war efforts must continue.”

Cadance glanced over at Destined who seemed to be gazing intently at nothing. She knew better than that though. “What are you seeing, Des?”

Destined blinked then turned to look at his aunt. “As I told Penumbra and Alexa earlier, the situation will get worse before it gets better. However, there is another player in this drama who has yet to make their move. A crucial moment in time approaches us, and we must be ready to deal with it.”

“Can you be more specific than that?”

Destined shook his head. “Without diving into the time stream, I cannot, and that I will not do. My power must be reserved for emergencies, but I will stand by my decision and continue to act as a Prince of Equestria should.”

They then parted to argue their case with other councilors, seeking support from those still in two minds about the situation. The hours passed rapidly and a bell began ringing to call them back to the council chamber. Quinius called them to order and then started the voting process.

“It has been proposed that Equus sever relationships with the Stellar Federation and shut down the portal to isolate us from the threat of the Swarm. Does anyone object to the terms of this vote?”

When he got no objections, Quinius continued. “Please place your votes now.”

The councilors leaned forward to press one of three buttons fixed into the table in front of them labelled ‘Yes’, ‘No’, and ‘Abstain’. The results were quickly tallied on an overhead display as the representatives of every nation and every sapient species cast their votes. Then the symbol of the GEC lit up to indicate that everyone had voted and a decision had been reached. The councilors started murmuring before Quinius banged his gavel once more.

“The vote by the full membership of the Greater Equus Council has concluded in the affirmative by two votes. Equus will immediately sever relationships with the Stellar Federation. The GEC Triarchy orders that Ambassador Alexa Mountaineer and her diplomatic team are required to depart Equus at the soonest opportunity, and the Cosmic Lotus be recalled and the portal be shut down immediately afterwards.”

Precision Strike was obviously fuming, but Privileged Horn and his allies were positively gloating over their win, further rankling the griffon. Then a firm voice cut through the conversations.

“Permission to address the council?!”

Quinius looked over to the spectator seats where Penumbra had stood up and spread his wings for attention. “That is most irregular, Penumbra Path. You have not been invited to speak by one of the councilors.”

“I so invite him!” Strike said immediately, sensing an upset.

“The GEC Triad recognizes Penumbra Path,” Quinius declared.

Penumbra flapped over to the podium and paused to see that he had the full attention of all the councilors. “The GEC has two major problems with this hasty decision. First of all – the portal. Equus does not own it, nor is it in territory claimed by Equus. As such, the GEC has no legal right to shut it down.”

Privileged Horn immediately jumped to his hooves. “Are you defying the council’s orders?!”

Penumbra shook his head. “I cannot defy your order because it has been made in error.”

The unicorn was about to retort when Crafted Stanza spoke up. “Peace, Lord Horn. This is a situation that can be easily solved. As the portal was discovered by an Equian ship, it and the immediate area around it can be declared the rightful territory of Equus by the GEC, upon which the order to shut down the portal will be reissued legally.”

Privileged Horn turned back to Penumbra with a nasty smirk on his snout. “I move a motion to annex the portal into the territory of Equus.”

There were murmurs of agreement and Quinius was about to respond when Penumbra’s calm but cutting voice responded.

“That brings me to the second problem. You cannot claim it as your territory.”

“And why is that?” the unicorn snarled.

“Because the Lunar Federation has already claimed it.”

The councilor blinked in puzzlement. “The what? What have the lunar colonies got to do with this?”

Penumbra gave the unicorn a slightly condescending smile. “I said Lunar Federation, not colonies. As triggered by the GEC’s decision to sever relationships with the Stellar Federation, the Lunar Colonial Council has declared its independence from Equus and I stand here as the new Lunar Federation’s first ambassador to Equus.”

That caused uproar among most of the councilors. Gisela just smiled while Luna was positively gleeful. It took all three gavels of the GEC Triad to bring the meeting back to order, but even then Privileged Horn continued to bluster.

“You can’t simply take Equian territory and declare independence! We will not allow it!”

“We can, and we have, Councilor. In keeping with the laws enacted upon their founding, a vote was taken with the citizens of the lunar colonies. The vote carried with a two-thirds majority and became legally binding. Furthermore, the Lunar Federation has declared its intention to continue working with the Stellar Federation to deal with the threat of the Swarm. And as I previously mentioned, we have claimed the portal as our territory, and Ambassador Mountaineer has informed us that they have ceded the territory within one light day of the Chakastran portal to the Lunar Federation as well.”

“I said that we will not allow the GEC’s will to be defied! Our military will restore proper order on the moon, just as it does here on Equus.”

“I truly hope you do not open relationships with the Lunar Federation with open hostilities. Besides, you may have some difficulty doing so. The majority of spaceships and all of the interstellar craft belong to House Path, including the Cosmic Lotus, and are at the service of the Lunar Council. Oh – and there’s an anti-teleport shield to stop uninvited guests.”

“House Path has enjoyed too much privilege as an independent entity not beholden to the GEC. I will make certain that changes. Your ability to provide ships and weapons to the Stellar Federation will be strangled!”

Penumbra laughed. “Magitek Incorporated, House Path’s commercial arm, moved the majority of its operations to the moon decades ago. And need I remind you that House Path’s laboratories have been on the forefront of research and development for over a century? The only people who would suffer from your ploy are the Equians who rely on our goods and services. I believe that would be unpopular among several of your fellow councilors.”

Privileged Horn became aware of the frowns on the faces of several of his peers. He then looked over to where the Alicorn of the Night sat listening intently. “Princess Luna – the moon is your domain. Will you not deal with these usurpers?”

Luna stood up and spread her wings, posing regally. “I have never been prouder of my subjects. They have my blessing.”

Outmaneuvered at every turn, the unicorn sat down hard, unable to see a way of enforcing his will.

Penumbra turned to address the GEC Triad who had let the conversation continue unabated in the interest of learning all the ramifications of this surprising turn of events. “My Lords, it is the sincere wish of the Lunar Federation that we will have free and open discourse and trade between our nations in the future. For now, we must agree to disagree. You have our vow that if worse comes to worst, we will close the portal to prevent the Swarm using it. The Lunar Federation has undertaken protecting the safety of all Equians, Lunar or otherwise. I thank you for your time.”

The thestral then bowed and exited the council chambers.

Quinius banged his gavel. “The Greater Equus Council is adjourned for today. We will reconvene tomorrow at the usual hour to discuss this turn of events.” For the first time, the Old World thestral allowed himself a smile prominently displaying his fangs. “I suggest that you all think long and hard about what is best for Equus because history will not be kind to those who don’t.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

An extra thank you to Airy Words for his contribution to this chapter.

The picture of Zane is by Foxena, and will eventually replace the temporary one in the earlier chapter. I did not get the opportunity to get a specific illustration done for this chapter. Maybe later.

Conflict

Long Path hastened out of the council chambers after consulting with Gisela. They had agreed that it was time to put their contingency plans into action, but he only had about two hours to ensure that everything went as planned. He pulled out his comm even as he hurried down the corridor, placing call after call to key personnel. He met up with Shining Armor and Flurry Heart along his way to the exit from the GEC’s headquarters. One look at his expression told them everything.

“They’re going to do it, aren’t they?” Shining Armor asked.

Path nodded. “They called for a vote a few minutes ago. It’s going to be close, but even with Destined’s support, both Gisela and I believe that we’re going to lose. We’ve seen it coming for a long time, but this latest scare has shifted the balance of opinion too far.”

Flurry looked downhearted. “Even so, I always hoped that it wouldn’t come to this. It’s going to create a huge schism between Equians. Even our House will be forced to walk two different paths.”

“You don’t have to join us, you know?” Path pointed out.

The beautiful alicorn drew herself up and firmed her resolve. “No – it’s time I played a part in defending our world. I can’t be just a pretty princess for my entire life.”

“You never were,” Shining assured his daughter. “Just because Equus has been at peace for a long time does not mean that you haven’t done your part to keep it so.”

“Thanks, Dad. At least Crystal will be able to keep Mom company in the meantime.”

“Your sister knows that she can do more for our cause by sending her well-trained drones and her daughter to coordinate them. Speaking of which, that’s one more thing we need to get underway,” Path said as they stepped out of the council building. “Shining – will you do the honours?”

The alicorn stallion lit up his horn with the well-practised spell that created a hypervelocity tube, and a moment later, all three were hurtling towards the Crystal Kingdom. Although it was not as fast as a teleport, it needed less power to take passengers. It still required alicorn-level magic to operate, so it had never been adapted for common use. With all but one alicorn being part of House Path, the worldwide organisation found the tubes to be an invaluable aid to getting anything done quickly on a global scale.

The trio emerged from the hypervelocity tube in the courtyard of the Crystal Palace and headed immediately to what they had come to call their Situation Room. Screens lining one wall faced the table at which Cadance and Crystal Path were already seated, and the three quickly joined the princesses. Several of the screens had ‘Standby’ displayed on them, but a few had familiar faces.

Glide Path, the youngest child of Lucida, appeared with his mother on one screen, the head office of House Path’s Lunar Operations seen in the background. The elderly hippogriff enjoyed the low-gravity conditions on the moon, but that was not her main purpose in being there. Glide had been appointed Head of Operations after showing his mother’s aptitude for the job, but she remained nearby to give advice if requested, even though she was still officially retired. Recent events had necessitated putting her retirement plans with Hype on hold, but she seemed to relish getting back into the game.

“Hello, father,” Lucida said with a smile. “I see that you seem to be as fit and healthy as ever.”

Path shrugged. “Can’t help good genes, I suppose.” Indeed, the earth pony seemed ageless, even though he should have been in his twilight years by now.

More screens were lighting up even as they chatted. Queen Carpacia was on one, but her daughter Fidelitas was on a separate monitor. Crystal Path’s daughter Calliope was on the next, although she was in her preferred pony form just as Crystal was, unlike the other changeling mother and child. Blue Streak sat beside the younger Cinder. King Trask Silverquill appeared with his eldest daughter Sanguis. Pif and Citrine tuned in next from the lunar research laboratories. Shadowcry, an Old World thestral who was the current leader of the Grand Colony cut a grave figure on his screen. Wandering and Starry appeared to be attending from their stateroom on the Cosmic Lotus. Admiral Kline soon joined them, and next to appear was Chakat Sunflare. The Chakonan Prime Minister looked worried.

Long Path said, “It looks like everyone is here. Thanks for attending this meeting so promptly.”

He was interrupted by a tube suddenly emerging from the floor and a door opening in it. Flix emerged from what seemed to be an elevator… if the palace actually had possessed one. The chimera gave everyone a cheery wave. “I hope I’m not late to the party?”

“Take a seat, son,” Path said as the elevator disappeared back into the floor, faintly amused that even at times like these, Flix had to make an unusual entrance. “As I was saying, events here on Equus are reaching a critical turning point. The GEC is due to vote in less than two hours on whether to close its borders to the Stellar Federation and shut down the portal. We have foreseen this possibility coming, but while we still hope that the motion will be rejected, Gisela and I agree that it’s more likely to pass. As Head of House Path, Gisela has officially given the green light to all our contingency plans which I am passing on to you.” Path looked directly at the screen with Glide Path and Lucida. “Glide – are preparations complete?”

The hippogriff nodded. “Everything is ready, grandfather. It’s going to be tight for a while, but we will cope.”

“Good.” Path then turned to Carpacia’s image. “Your Highness – how goes the troop transfer?”

“The first battalion of soldier drones is already on the moon with Fidelitas. The second is en route,” the Red Changeling Queen replied.

Fidelitas added, “The drones are being put into hibernation pods to conserve our love supplies until they can be transferred to the battlefront.”

“Considering the number of changelings there will be on the moon for a while, that’s a wise move,” Path replied. “Speaking of which – Crystal, how goes your end of this?”

“I’ve withdrawn the remainder of Chrysalis’ hibernating shock troops from the Crystal Kingdom’s tunnels and transferred them to shipping pods. Those are being delivered to the moon even as we speak.”

“Are you sure that Calliope can control them?”

“Queen Gossamer made sure that I was properly linked to them when she gave me command of the Blue Hive troops,” Calliope replied.

Path was reasonably satisfied with that. The near-mindless drones that Chrysalis had used to invade the Crystal Kingdom so long ago were the perfect frontline fighters because they knew only one purpose – to attack their Queen’s enemies. However, with virtually no ability to think things through, they could react to even a surge of annoyance from their controller. Calliope was a disciplined House Path warrior though, and Free Agent’s hive queen alter ego Gossamer held absolute sway over their loyalty.

Shadowcry’s image was directly next to Calliope’s, so Path addressed him next. “Senator Shadowcry – you have sent a company of thestrals, I believe?”

“By Empress Luna’s command, we have sent our finest warriors to fight her enemies,” the proud bat-pony replied fiercely. Despite a century and a half of attempts to ease the Old World thestrals into mainstream Equus, they remained absolutely loyal to Luna as their empress. The alicorn left their governance to their senators as much as possible, mindful of her first responsibility to Equestria. As the Alicorn of the Night though, the nocturnal thestrals held her in the highest esteem and would answer to no other unless Luna directed them to do so.

“Let me pass on your Empress’ thanks for your service, Senator.” The next person to get Path’s attention was the griffon king. “Your Majesty, how go your troop movements?”

King Glimfeather replied, “Two battalions of our warriors have already established a brigade on Chakona. Two more are on their way in Federation ships, and the final one will depart with General Sanguis within the hour.”

The king’s eldest daughter and military leader added, “We will be ready for deployment as soon as I arrive on Chakona, but as we don’t expect the Swarm to reach a populated world that will need defending for some time yet, we will spend the intervening time in training. Additional intel on how the Swarm undertakes an invasion would be most useful so that we can modify our strategies accordingly.”

“That will be up to Star Fleet to provide. Admiral Kline – that is your responsibility, I believe?”

Boyce replied, “As Star Fleet Command’s designated liaison to the Equian forces, I will indeed be supplying everyone with the most up-to-date intelligence about our interactions with the Swarm. I have ordered more troop transport ships to go to Equus to pick up your soldiers. I assume that they will now report to your lunar command base?”

“Correct,” Path replied. “General Sanguis is in charge of the griffon troops, Fidelitas will be responsible for all changeling soldiers, while Warmaster Blue Streak and Cinder will oversee all House Path warriors. If the vote goes against us as we believe, the Equus-based command base will be severed from House Path’s lunar headquarters. Queens Carpacia, Crystal, and Gossamer will have no more responsibility for their drones, Gisela will have no official contact with the future Lunar Federation, and King Glimfeather…”

The griffon king interrupted, “Griffonia is and always be Equus’ mighty defender and ally to House Path. Any decision by the GEC will not change this! Our troops under the command of General Sanguis will continue doing their duty!”

Path allowed himself a small smile. The Griffonians were as proud and fiercely loyal as the day that he and the current king’s father had formally signed an alliance. Equestria’s former enemy was now its staunchest ally in maintaining the security of their world, even though that responsibility now extended far into the galaxy. He only needed to ensure that they got the support that they deserved. Path turned to look at the chakat on an adjacent screen.

“Prime Minister Sunflare – how go the supply lines?”

“The basic infrastructure has already been established on Emu Island, and work progresses rapidly to extend that to accommodate all the troops that you will be sending, as well as the support personnel that we are supplying. Chakona will not let you down, Lord Path.”

Blue Streak spoke up. “Destined teleported Cinder and me to Emu Island already, Father. I am impressed with the facilities in place so far. So is Mama Twilight.”

Path was startled. “What is Twilight doing there?”

The Alicorn of Magic sheepishly moved into view on the screen. “I told you to keep quiet about that,” she murmured to the two before facing Path. “I figured that I would be of most use continuing my studies of the portal, and put my abilities at the disposal of House Path’s war efforts. Besides, as the Princess of Friendship, I don’t actually represent a nation, unlike Celestia, Luna, and Destined, and pressure might be put on me try to stop House Path’s defence program or prevent my work if I remained on Equus.”

Path slowly nodded. “I understand. Stay safe, hon – Free would never forgive me if you get hurt.”

“I’ll try, but we all do what we must.”

Path turned his attention back to Blue Streak. “What about the Matriarch? Is she there with you too?”

The earth pony shook his head. “She said that she could better serve as my replacement back home while I am occupied with the war here. That said, she ordered that I return safe and well because she was not ready to lose me again yet.”

Path could well understand the ancient dragon’s viewpoint. She had lost her mate while still young, and only a change in the timeline had given her the chance to reunite with him two and a half thousand years later. That powerful bond between them had helped win the Time War, but it also meant that she could never go back. Not that she wanted to because she, at last, was getting the opportunity to live the life with Blue that she had dreamed of centuries ago. “I think you had better win the war quickly and go home because I don’t want to face the wrath of the Matriarch otherwise.”

Young Cinder chuckled and said, “Yeah – future me doesn’t accept excuses.”

Path shared the laugh briefly before turning his attention to Wandering and Starry. “Any word yet on Techbird’s whereabouts? We badly need her expertise.”

Wandering shook his head. “Still nothing since they were seen disappearing at Stonehenge.”

“Damn. If she does show up, prioritise getting her back to the moon to help with R&D. Meanwhile, keep doing what you’re doing.” Path then looked to his first daughter. “Pif – what’s the situation with magitek production?”

Epiphany looked and sounded a little tired. “We’re all working as fast and hard as we can. Everyone is putting extra time into the war effort, but Citrine is a bit worried about our supply of suitable crystals for her crystallomancy. We have an overdue shipment, and we absolutely need them to continue production of certain magitek items.”

“I’ll look into it after this meeting and make sure that you get them. What about other materials?”

“The Federation Council has been keeping up the supply of raw material and equipment, so that’s not currently a problem. It’s only the items unique to Equus that are our concern, and you would not believe how much gemstones cost in the Federation.”

“Send me a list and I’ll see if I can rush some aboard the last freighter.” His gaze swept over the bank of screens. “Everyone – this applies to you all. We have only about an hour and a half before the GEC makes its decision, and if it goes against us, all traffic will soon be ordered to stop between Equus and the Federation. All your personnel, equipment, and other resources must be off-planet before then. Those of us here will be complying with the Council’s orders while you on the moon and in the Federation can disassociate from us.”

“And what about you, Father?” Lucida asked.

“I will be staying here with Free to give Gisela support. House Path is going to take a huge hit for defying the GEC, and she is going to need all the help that she can get. As the senior members of the House, it’s our responsibility to do so, and we’re tough enough to endure whatever slings and arrows they send our way. Luna too. She’ll just sneer at them and send them on their way.”

“I still think you’re going to have a tougher job than us.”

“Nobody ever told me that this job was going to be easy, Lucy. I’ve gotten a lot more experience since the time that you had to relieve me of the leadership of the House; I think I can manage.”

“What about me, Dad?” Flix asked.

Path lifted one eyebrow as he looked at his son. “What about you? It’s not as if I can command a student of Chaos. I can do nothing if you choose to keep travelling between here and the moon or Chakona, can I? For example, I can’t stop you from taking Shining Armor and Flurry Heart to join the others on Emu Island.”

A grin slowly grew on the chimera’s face and he raised his draconic arm. The talons started to glow as he said, “No – Chaos commands you, not the other way around.” He snapped his talons and all three disappeared.

Path turned his attention back to the others. “Okay – time is wasting. Good fortune to everyone.”

There were various responses and the monitors all started to go blank. Eventually, the earth pony was left with just Cadance and Crystal, and he gave them a tired smile. “You two better get ready too. There’s going to be a backlash on the Crystal Kingdom as well.”

“We know,” Cadance replied, “but Crystal and I are more concerned about being separated from Shining.”

“I understand. Nevertheless, you should prepare for the bad news.”

“You really are that sure that the vote is going to go against us?”

I’ve spent a century and a half learning to judge how the wind blows, and it’s an ill wind right now.”

The two got up and gave Path a hug before they headed out of the Situation Room, leaving him its sole occupant. He sat alone with his thoughts for a while before he suddenly spoke to the empty room.

“Discord!”

The Lord of Chaos materialised in the chair next to Path, a monocle in both eyes and a steaming cup of tea in his hand. He took a bite out of his cup, chewed and swallowed with a sigh of satisfaction. The liquid within the cup, however, remained undisturbed. “It’s been a long while since you last called me, Path. I do hope it’s for something juicy.”

“How does pissing off half the seats of power in Equus sound?”

Both monocles fell into Discord’s tea with twin ‘BLOOP’ sounds. “You have my attention.”

As they feared, the vote went in favour of cutting ties with the Stellar Federation. Some of the councillors who were enraged by the new Lunar Federation’s defiance and House Path’s complicity issued orders to stop all shipments on their way to the moon. While House Path owned more than half of the freighters that regularly plied the route between Equus and its satellite, several big businesses had their own vessels to profit from the sale of materials not readily available there. While these businesses vehemently protested the orders due to the massive losses that they would incur, they complied nevertheless. Or at least they tried. Inexplicably, every message sent to their ships failed to stop them from delivering their cargo. Meanwhile, the captains of the ships were wondering why they were being sent joke videos, unabridged encyclopaedias, birthday cards for every crewmember (except that one mare whose birthday it actually was), or bills for a hundred gross whoopee cushions.

Over the course of the next few days, construction and manufacturing on the moon ramped up to its greatest capacity. There was soon a constant flow of equipment and fighter craft headed to Chakona to outfit the troops that had preceded them, and to boost the Federations forces. They were sorely needed. Every couple of weeks now, new incursions were detected and resources were being stretched to meet them. The unicorn-shielded fighters were a huge asset as well as the pegasus and griffon-piloted ones that seemed nearly untouchable. Inevitably though, a Swarm fleet reached a colony world after nearby incursions drew away too many defenders.

Bonterra was a mining colony rich in rare resources. Radiating from the spaceport were several small townships that served the needs of the mining companies. Several Swarm ships landed, at least one at each town, and despite initial resistance from the people there, they were soon taken over. The Federation forces were quick to regroup and respond to the invasion. For the first time, ground troops were sent in. Fighters cleared the airspace above the towns but left the grounded ships alone for good reason: each was surrounded by a large number of the colonists who were obviously under mind-control. General Sanguis landed in the first troop carrier full of griffon warriors. They were outfitted in a mixture of traditional and modern armour and weapons, and every one of them was eager to put them to good use.

Sanguis stood at the bay door of the troop carrier and addressed her warriors. “Today we fight for our allies in the Stellar Federation. We fight to free the innocent and to punish the enemy. But most of all we fight to uphold the honour and the privilege of being the protectors of Equians and their friends, for we are the strong wings and talons of righteousness! We will show the Swarm that this world and its people do not belong to them, and they have awakened an implacable foe!”

The griffons cawed and screeched loudly, rattling swords and spears and waving phaser pistols.

When the ruckus died down, Sanguis continued. “Do not take off your enchanted helmets under any circumstances! They are your only protection against mind-control. If a comrade’s helmet is removed for any reason, they must be assumed to be the enemy’s puppet until the helmet is replaced. Phaser pistols must be set on heavy stun for use against the colonists. All other enemies may be attacked in whatever method is most suitable for that situation. Remember that the Swarm can control animals as well as people, so do not ignore any that you see. Now go and show them why Griffonian warriors are to be feared and respected!”

The griffons roared as the bay door opened, and they poured out. Some took to the air while others advanced on the ground. Weapon fire from the Swarm’s defenders quickly began. Although the colony did not have much in the way of armament, that did not stop the Swarm from supplying them with artillery. The troop carrier came under fire, but its force field coped until it was able to withdraw from the action. The warriors on the ground soon found themselves besieged by vicious animals, only some of them recognisable as pet species. The ones in the air fared little better as birds of prey dive-bombed them, but although the griffons could easily deal with those, they had to do so while under fire without cover. These were crack troops though, and they pushed forward unrelentingly, their battle armour coping with any attacks upon them that got through. Fires were started to flush the griffons out from ground cover, but these birds had no fear of them. They used the walls of flames to hide their positions and surprised the enemy by coordinating their movements to emerge from a new direction. Sanguis herself led the charge that took a squad into the heart of the Swarm ship’s defenders.

This close to the mind-controlled colonists, the griffons could not be stopped. Some of the hapless puppets were stunned by phasers while others were knocked down and restrained while the warriors pulled special crystals from a pouch attached to their belts and slapped them on the heads of their foe. The self-adhesive gems stuck firmly irrespective of whether it was on fur, skin, or scales and they started glowing. The colonists who were still conscious suddenly stopped struggling as the link to the controllers was broken. The griffons did not stop to chat. “Stay out of the way!” was the most that was snarled as the warriors moved off to their next target.

The ship’s defenders were soon all neutralised and the invasion of the living vessel began. Sanguis led two specially chosen griffons into the ship, and all restraints were off. If something was seen, it was killed without compunction. Even though some of the creatures were probably normally harmless, they were potentially deadly while under Swarm control. The closer that they got to where Wandering’s expedition had determined that the controller should be, the denser were the waves of drones sent to stop them. It did not matter; even the corpses filling the passageway could be flown over. They sliced their way through the door to the controller’s room with an industrial beam cutter that took mere seconds to make a sufficiently large hole to pass through. They found the controller surrounded by drones so thickly packed that it was difficult to see their target, but the team was unfazed. As the two others defended against attacks, Sanguis pulled out a comm unit.

“Sanguis to Harkness – are the civilians clear?”

“All clear, General,” came the prompt reply.

“Standby!” She lifted the phaser rifle, took aim at the controller, and fired. Despite two drones interposing themselves, the heavy-duty artillery drilled right through them both and found its target. The controller’s head was ruined, and the drones immediately stopped moving.

“Get us out of here!” Sanguis yelled into the comm.

A hum filled the air and the three seemed to dissolve into a shower of sparkles. Seconds later, the ship exploded.

Safely beamed back aboard the troop carrier, Sanguis said, “Township Alpha is clear. One objective down, five to go.”

The spaceport was more difficult to clear than the remaining townships, but the concentrated griffon forces were able to overcome the enemy despite there being six Swarm ships there. While the griffon troops suffered some injuries, there were no fatalities. The same could not be said for the civilian population. While the griffons had only injured some at worst, the majority of the deaths were incurred when the Swarm ships arrived and the colonists had tried to resist. This young world would be licking its wounds and mourning its dead for many years.

Sanguis was well satisfied with the operation. Sadly, she knew that this was only the beginning. Where one or more Swarm ships came, many more would always follow, and the Federation and its allies would be stretched that much further to constantly defend Bonterra or evacuate it as the case may be. That was not Sanguis’ problem though. The next invaded world was, and she and her warriors had post-mission assessments to review and preparations to make.

Bonterra was merely the first Federation colony world to be invaded. New incursions, each many light-years further away from the original blockade, continued to threaten the alliance. General Sanguis’ forces were kept busy as were Fidelitas and Calliope’s changeling battalions, but some newly discovered but unexplored worlds were sacrificed to the Swarm in order to concentrate efforts on defending inhabited ones. The forces sent to meet the Swarm continued to grow with every member world contributing a major portion of its production facilities to the effort. The portal saw constant traffic of raw materials going to the Lunar Federation and magitek equipment being sent back. Unfortunately, the GEC stubbornly maintained its isolationist policy which meant that no more magical troops could be sent to join the war effort. More and more fighters had to go into battle without the benefit of a unicorn to shield it, or a pegasus to fly it. The casualty list started to grow faster, and still there showed no signs of the Swarm letting up.

Ten months since General Sanguis’ first battle, the latest meeting of the Stellar Federation Council with Star Fleet Command and its Equian allies was a pessimistic affair, and Grand Admiral Tirarsk was just finishing summing up the status of the war.

“We have come to the conclusion that the Swarm has spent the years since establishing the blockade enacting an englobing maneuver about the entire Stellar Federation. Even the worlds that were most distant from our initial contact with the Swarm are under threat. While we initially blamed Captain Wandering Path for accidentally disclosing the exact locations of these worlds, it has become clear that it made very little difference. The planets that were first invaded and lost to the Swarm most likely provided them with all the information that they needed to plan a long-term attack on our civilisation. We have seriously underestimated the enemy from day one.”

He paused as he took a deep breath before continuing. “The sole factor that they did not allow for was the Equians with their magic-based technology. Without their contributions, the Stellar Federation would have been conquered by now. Without Captain Path’s fact-finding expedition, we would not have been able to achieve as much as we have so far. I would like to formally extend Star Fleet’s apology to Captain Path and our sincere thanks to him and House Path for their support.”

There were murmurs of agreement and applause. Wandering was present along with Twilight Sparkle as liaisons for the Lunar Federation and House Path, and he waved a hoof in acknowledgement before Tirarsk continued. “However, as I have just explained in my report, we are starting to lose ground and we cannot see a way of reversing this trend. Our war efforts are already at maximum and the Equians have no means to expand their operations without the support of their homeworld. Gentlebeings, unless we determine new methods of attack and defence, we are going to lose this war.”

Tirarsk sat down and the President of the Stellar Federation spoke up next.

“Thank you for your report, Grand Admiral. Princess Twilight Sparkle, so many miracles have already come from your world – is it possible that we can ask just one more of you?”

Twilight bit her lip and thought hard for a long moment. “Madame President, while we know how to stop the Swarm, we have no means of accomplishing it. The key is their instantaneous communications between all their controller caste and what we suspect to be a central mind that coordinates their efforts. Destroy that and everything changes. However, there is no spell that we know or can create that can do that for us.”

“I see. We can’t ask the impossible of you, but I hope that you will keep trying, as must we do too. We can’t give up hope or else we will have already lost. I trust that you will maintain your support up until the last?”

“I give you my word that I will not allow the portal to be closed until the Swarm is on its doorstep. Loyalty is one of the pillars of friendship, and we will not let our friends down.”

“Thank you, Princess Sparkle. Now, in the absence of any further ideas to aid in our defence, I suggest we all go back and urge a 110% effort from everyone. May your deities bless your efforts. This session is now closed.”

The holograms of the Federation Council members and Star Fleet personnel flickered off, leaving the Chakonan Prime Minister and hir senators alone with Twilight and Wandering. The two alicorns made their farewells and as they headed out of the meeting room, the stallion said, “You know, Mom, I think I have half of the solution.”

Twilight gave her son a curious look. “Then why haven’t you mentioned it before?”

“I brought it up ages ago with Starry, and she shot me down. You’re going to hate it just as much.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” she replied with more bite than she had intended.

“I can shape-change into a Swarm controller. I have the pattern now and I can connect to all of them. There must be a way we can use that.”

Twilight stopped walking and glared at Wandering. “And I know as well as you do that you don’t just mimic forms like changelings – you become them. You would be part of the problem, not the solution!”

Wandering’s ears drooped. “I told you that you would hate it.”

Twilight closed her eyes and calmed her thoughts. Then she sighed. “No, you’re right – it is half of a solution, but I have no idea what the other half could be.”

“Whatever it is, we will need to discover it soon. I’m afraid that the Elements of Harmony aren’t going to get us out of this one.”

“No, the President was right – we do need a miracle.”

As if on cue, her comm rang. Lifting it out of her saddlebag with her magic, she quickly answered it.

“Twilight Sparkle here.”

Wandering clearly overheard the excited voice on the other end. “Twilight! Doctor Harding here. The portal has suddenly activated by itself. We’ve confirmed that there is no one at the other end to do so.”

“That’s very strange,” Twilight replied.

“But that’s not all. It’s growing huge! You know how the moonlets increase the distance between them in proportion to the mass of the object passing through? It’s now fifty percent bigger than any time previously!”

“What?! I’ll be right there!”

Twilight turned off her comm and lit up her horn with a teleport spell. Locking onto the mana beacon aboard the research ship that was her and Doctor Zara Harding’s home away from home, she teleported herself and Wandering there. They quickly hastened to the portal observation platform where they found the skunktaur scientist intently watching a monitor. A view of the portal in operation was filling the screen, the relative smallness of the moonlets an indication of how much bigger than usual it was.

“What happened?” Twilight demanded.

“I don’t know! The instruments recorded a surge of magic from an unknown source, and the portal suddenly activated. Nothing has happened sin… oh… my… god…”

Sensors suddenly started going wild as an object burst upon the screen. It was a roughly spherical mass of crystals and it was clearly headed for the portal. Every mana-powered measuring device on the platform maxed out and failed spectacularly with smoke and sparks flying. The non-magical video screen continued to display the object’s approach to the portal as the moonlet’s finally stopped moving apart, leaving a gateway over a kilometre wide. Then the crystal craft plunged into the wormhole.

Twilight and Zara were left gaping in astonishment, but Wandering shook it off and grabbed his mother with a hoof. “Come on! We have to follow it!”

He teleported them both to the bridge of the Cosmic Lotus which was stationed nearby, startling the changeling crewperson on watch.

“Sir! Did you just see that?”

“I did. Follow it, Klikbik!”

“But sir, several crewm–”

“I said – follow it now!”

“Aye, sir! Bridge to Engineering – emergency start-up!”

“What the…? Emergency start-up, aye. This better be good!”

“Point is going to have words with me after this,” Wandering muttered, not at all contrite but still dreading it.

The Cosmic Lotus’ warp engines powered up and the ship leapt in pursuit of the crystal craft. The portal had already started contracting by this time, but due to its expanded size, the Equian craft still made it through comfortably. After re-entering normal space, scans showed that their quarry was already hurtling in the direction of Equus. Klikbik did not wait to be told to chase after it. However, he had bad news for his captain. “Sir – it’s faster than us.”

“Just do your best, Klikbik.”

“Aye, sir.”

After a few seconds, the chrome changeling spoke up again. “Captain – it has slowed down a bit.”

“How fast is it now?”

Klikbik consulted his instruments. “They’re going at exactly our top speed, sir.”

Wandering blinked and looked at Twilight who seemed equally puzzled. “It would seem somebody wants us to be there when they arrive at Equus.”

Twilight nodded. “We better let everyone know that it’s coming.”

“Yeah – but what is coming?”

None of them could answer that.

Throughout the years, even as technology marched forward, the gently rolling hills of the English countryside seemed to be frozen in time. For millennia, there were shepherds and farmers using the land, and now even in this modern era the same was true. One such farmer was staring out of his cottage at the rolling hills when the ground shook violently. Even as the earth quaked around him, he ran out to tend to his flock. They all seem fine having huddled together on the near end of the fenced-off area, so he went to see what damage may have been caused by the quake. He found remarkably little until he reached the very edge of his land where several of his corner fence posts were missing. With a frown on his face, he walked up to where they should be only to go slack-jawed in amazement. He was standing on the edge of a massive sinkhole that went down impossibly deep and was wider than he could fathom. Of the fields and forest that once stood there, no sign could be seen.

Luna was visiting House Path’s research laboratories on the moon, checking for herself how the Lunar Federation was coping. As a Triarch of Equestria, she should have been banned from any association with it, but as the moon was her dominion as well – a fact that that the Lunar Federation not only accepted but also endorsed – no one could prevent her from visiting anytime she chose to do so. She skimmed down the hallway, her coffee floating in her grasp. Gravity was a lot less at the lunar colonies and nobody ever galloped. If you tried, you would just spin your hooves around in the air and get nowhere. Likewise, nobody really flew quickly within the confines of the domes. Pick up too much speed and you would ping-pong around until you crashed to a halt. There were only the slow canter and the lazy flap. Right now, Luna was lazy flapping to the observation hub – that was until her comm lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree and alarms started sounding. After recovering from surprise, she teleported to the hub where Pif and Hype were already stationed, barking out orders as all of the observation cameras were aimed at one point of the seemingly empty sky. “What’s the situation?!” Luna demanded, concerned that something was tripping so many alarms.

“We have an intense mana source approaching Equus,” Pif replied. “That must be the crystal vessel that Wandering warned us about. Projections suggest that it’s going to go into orbit high above Equestria, perhaps directly over Canterlot!”

“It’s a few minutes early, isn’t it?” Luna asked.

“Yes, it is, but I don’t know why. I had no idea that it held so much power. It rivals Celestia’s sun!”

“Twilight Sparkle reported that their observation instruments all burned out. There was no way that they could measure it.”

“I have it on optical!” Hype exclaimed.

A large monitor lit up to reveal a glittering object centred on the screen. It rapidly grew to fill the view and Hype kept having to dial back the magnification.

“It’s just as huge as they said it was,” Pif commented. “Let’s hope it’s friendly because I don’t think we could do anything about it if it’s not.”

“There’s the Cosmic Lotus,” Hype pointed out. It’s decelerating still. Maybe that’s why the crystal thing is early – it didn’t slow down when the Lotus had to.”

Luna was trembling. She could feel the immense power even from this distance. “I must go join my sister.”

“Be careful, Mama Luna!” Pif said even as the alicorn lit up her horn and teleported back to Canterlot.

Cadance shivered as she felt the approach of a massive power. She stood up from the dining table and lit up her horn.

“What’s wrong, Mother?” asked Crystal.

“I have to go to Canterlot!” was all she said before a hypervelocity tube engulfed her and sent her speeding on the way to Equestria.

“Oho! What’s this?” Discord said, pausing in his house-disorganising chores. “Do I sense some incipient chaos? Time to visit my favourite alicorn, I think. I wonder if I should take Celestia a bunch of flowers or perhaps haddocks this time?”

The draconequus snapped his talons and was gone.

Wandering was frustrated. The crystal ship seemed oblivious to the need to slow down and drop out of warp well before hitting the gravity well of Equus and its moon and sun. Twilight and Starry stood beside him, both more worried than frustrated. They’d gotten no response from the ship on either Equian or Federation equipment during the entire journey from the portal, and they still had no idea of its motivation. Now though, they watched it abruptly come to a halt in orbit above Canterlot, helpless to do anything about it.

“We should go down there,” Starry said.

“You know we can’t. Not while the GEC has banned us,” Twilight replied.

“Does it really matter anymore? As you’ve explained, we’re losing the war and we’ll inevitably have to close the portal. Then there will be no reason for the isolationist policy to continue.”

Wandering said, “But we’re still legally… oh, buck it! Let’s go! You have the bridge, Commander.”

The three alicorns teleported to Canterlot with no further delay.

Twilight, Starry and Wandering joined the growing crowd of alicorns and one draconequus on the balcony of Canterlot Castle. Celestia stood there, glowing nearly as brightly as the sun as she drew on its power to meet the possible threat to her world. Below her, the citizens were starting to panic as they witnessed the object in the sky and the reaction of their princess to it. One by one, the other alicorns emulated her, even as they wondered if their combined might could deal with this mysterious intruder. Nothing happened for several minutes, but then the glittering crystal vessel started descending. Maybe two miles from the ground, it stopped, much to the relief of those underneath it. Then, without any visible opening being made, six objects emerged from it. They were huge which enabled the watchers to quickly identify what they looked like despite the glow of power surrounding all of them.

There was a grey unicorn with a long white beard, a red-eyed dragon with a hide like the night sky, a red-maned white alicorn, a magnificent golden-maned unicorn, and a violet changeling queen, all led by a glorious crystal griffon.

Despite probably being able to see most of Equestria from their viewpoint, their gaze seemed to settle on the gathered alicorns. The griffoness smiled and spoke with a voice that everyone in the nation could hear without sound.

“You seem to have a bit of a problem. Perhaps we can help?”

Wandering’s eyes widened in recognition. “Techbird?”

The distant avatar of his chief scientist appeared to hear him. “I found my Answer, Captain. Let’s see if we can find yours.”

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

Hello, Techbird. Good to see you again after so long.

Art by Foxenawolf.

The Pieces Come Together

Twilight gaped in awe. “Oh, my goddess! Is that Starswirl with Faust up there? Who’s the dragon?”

“Morgan le Fay,” replied Discord who did not sound too pleased to see her.

Before Twilight could question the draconequus further, those three beings withdrew into the crystal vessel the same way that they had emerged, and the ship began to rise rapidly. The remaining trio suddenly flared brightly, and when the light faded, they were gone.

“Show’s over – time to get down to business,” came a familiar voice from behind those on the balcony.

Everyone whirled around to see Techbird, Galena, and Cosmic Dawn standing in the room behind them. Although no longer the awe-inspiring manifestations that they had seen outside, they were nevertheless far greater than when anyone had last laid eyes on them. Each had been enhanced into a more ideal version of their species. Cosmic Dawn was still a unicorn but grown to match Luna’s size. Galena, too, was larger, but her carapace was not marred by the voids that characterised her species. Instead, her violet carapace resembled highly-polished seamless armour, and her wings shimmered with energy. Techbird’s crystal form fairly glowed with power, but her expression and body language still matched that of the griffoness that they had known for so long. She grinned with amusement at their reactions.

“What happened to you?” Starry exclaimed.

“Where have you been?” Wandering asked almost simultaneously.

“Were those really Starswirl and Faust with you?” Twilight asked.

“And what in Tartarus is that?!” Destined demanded, pointing a hoof in the direction of the crystal craft that was still ascending beyond the atmosphere.

“It’s a long story,” Cosmic Dawn replied. “We suggest that you call in everyone so that we can explain everything at once. Short version though – we learned our origins and rediscovered the Old Magic.”

Celestia stepped forward and regarded them keenly. “Your timing cannot be a coincidence – have you brought a solution to our dilemma with the Swarm?”

Techbird answered, “No, we came when we could, but even the Old Magic can’t deal with a foe as huge and widespread as the Swarm. Even now, you continue to underestimate their influence on the galaxy. However, while we do not have your Answer, we do have a piece of your Puzzle. The remaining pieces are in your hooves already.”

Much to the frustration of some, Techbird insisted upon waiting for more of the representatives of the GEC and members of House Path before she would explain any further. Alexa was there as well, and even Admiral Kline and Forestwalker attended courtesy of Destined Path. With the gathering as complete as it was likely to get, Techbird, Cosmic Dawn, and Galena took turns to relate everything that had happened to them since they visited Stonehenge.

“…and we have been studying the Old Magic ever since, looking for a solution to the Swarm problem. The scrying array kept us up to date, and we came to the conclusion that we could not put off our visit any longer. So here we are,” Techbird concluded.

“So – all our species originated from Earth?” Precision Strike asked.

Techbird nodded. “Yes, and the portal that brought us here has remained a constant link to our birth-world, which is why that even today, there are so many similarities between Equus and Earth. One aspect of magic is information, and the flow of mana to this world brought along with it titbits here and there that made our civilisation so familiar in some ways to the Terrans.”

“Why was the portal kept open if creating Equus as a refuge was its reason for existence? Should it not have been shut down once its job was completed?” asked Privileged Horn. The unicorn had glared at the various people who technically had no legal right to be on Equus, but the gigantic crystal vessel and its occupants had left a powerful impression on him, and he wished to learn more, so he kept his peace.

Cosmic Dawn answered. “Equus is a nursery, not a walled garden. Its races were meant to grow and learn, free from the threat that humanity presented. Once we were ready to leave the safety of our home world, it was intended that we find our place in the greater universe, with the portal to Earth being the link to our past. Merlin, Morgan, and Faust are not only the keepers of the Old Knowledge, but they’re guardians of our heritage.”

“However, the portal is also the Equians’ gateway to the future,” Galena added.

“How so?” Twilight asked.

“I have a better question,” Privileged Horn interrupted. “What future? You’ve just told us how that scrying array up there has seen the Swarm’s spread across the galaxy and approach to Equus. How many years before they reach us despite closing down the portal?”

“Between 120 and 160 years by our estimates,” Galena replied. “You should be long dead by that time if that’s what worries you.”

Privileged Horn frowned. “Do you truly think I’m so shallow as to be only concerned for my safety? Despite what others may think, I’m trying to do what is best for all Equians. My disagreement as to how that is accomplished is not personal. So, answer my question – what kind of a future are you offering?”

“Ah! One where the Swarm no longer poses a threat. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Today we are gathered to discuss what to do about this enemy to all beings in this galaxy.”

Alexa looked hopeful as she asked, “Does that mean that you know how to defeat the Swarm?”

Techbird shook her head. “We bring knowledge and power, but not easy answers. However, Merlin’s attempts to foresee the future have told him that a turning point will soon be upon us, and we three will play our part.”

“So that’s what you meant when you said you would help us find our answer,” Wandering commented.

“Oh, that’s just great,” the unicorn noble said sarcastically. “Another vague promise of dealing with the situation! This is a waste of time.”

There was a throb of power throughout the room, but the source was not from one of the three from the crystal vessel. All eyes turned to the pony from whom it emanated. Destined Path’s horn was lit and his eyes glowed with his power.

“No, you are wrong, Lord Horn. These are the final players in our drama that I have foreseen. We now stand on the cusp of a turning point in History. What we discover today will determine the fate of not only Equus but also the entire galaxy.”

The unicorn’s ears folded back and he shivered a little. “H-how, Your Highness?”

“By doing that which has always made us greater – work together in Harmony. But this time I see that it includes the people of the Federation, not just Equians.”

There was a long, tense moment as Privileged Horn locked his gaze with Destined before he turned away. “I understand. I will update the GEC and recommend the immediate lifting of the ban.” He stood and bowed to those assembled. “May the wisdom of Faust guide you.” He then left the room.

Twilight said, “Son, are you certain that now is the moment?”

Destined nodded. “As the Alicorn of Time, I perceive that multiple time-streams branch from this key moment, Mother. We have all the pieces now – we just have to assemble the puzzle.”

Twilight faced the others with her mouth set in a determined line. “Right! Let’s review everything that we know about the Swarm.”

“I still say that their instant communication is the key,” Starry said. “Nothing else can possibly affect such a numerous and scattered foe.”

“But how can you use that to stop the Swarm ships?” Alexa asked.

“We need to permanently break the ships away from the Swarm’s mind control,” Wandering replied. “Without their ships, they are no longer a threat.”

“Spells exist that deal with dispelling various kinds of mental enslavement,” Celestia pointed out.

“Don’t they all require the caster to be in the presence of the victim?” Luna asked.

“Unfortunately, yes,” the Alicorn of the Sun conceded. “Although that is more a matter of spell degradation over distance, not actual physical presence.”

“What if it gets relayed instead? Use the Swarm’s own communications to spread the spell,” suggested Gisela.

“Maybe a Federation telepath?” Forestwalker suggested.

Fidelitas shook her head. “No, Zane said hy could not synch with the Swarm network. I believe that I may be able to, but I don’t have a telepath’s abilities and I would likely get taken over.”

“You would be up against the combined mental might of hundreds of thousands of controllers, maybe more,” Wandering pointed out. “I couldn’t exactly count them when I was taken over, but that’s something that I sensed during that moment.”

“What about the hypothetical central mind or minds that you thought were in the background?” Pif asked. “If we could reduce the number of targets, then the job might be simpler.”

“But wouldn’t they also be more powerful?” Path rebutted.

Galena replied, “Control isn’t merely a matter of numbers or power level – it’s both plus a number of other factors. That is something that I have learned well these past few months.”

“Then there is something in the Old Magic that can help us?” Starry asked.

Cosmic Dawn replied, “Perhaps, but Modern Magic is a lot more sophisticated. The forte of the Old Ways is sheer power.”

“That’s true,” Twilight affirmed. “So many new spells were written long after our ancestors came to Equus.”

“A suitable spell is useless if we don’t have a means of delivering it,” Techbird reminded them. “Wandering – are you sure you have no clue as to the location of an Overmind, to give it a name?”

The alicorn stallion shook his head. “I had no control over my thoughts or actions while I was controlled. A lot of it is a blur. The changelings I was linked to were able to pull some information from the link that overwhelmed me, but that’s been triple-checked already. Maybe a telepath could dig it out of my memory?”

“Wait – I thought the telepaths couldn’t read you?” Alexa asked.

“No, Zane may not have but he showed that he could have done so when he used a mind blast to break the controller’s hold on me.”

“Can Zane read a changeling’s mind?” Starry queried Fidelitas.

The Red Changeling Princess shrugged. “He never tried, to my knowledge.”

“Would you object to having that tested?”

“If it helps us solve our problem, I most definitely would not mind.”

“What are you getting at, Starry?” Penumbra asked.

“It seems to me that we have a means of getting into the Swarm’s network, and now we may have a way of linking through a changeling network. That’s a big step towards what you need to inject your proposed spell.”

“I hate to throw cold water on your idea,” Fidelitas said apologetically, “but I only said that I may be capable of that, and there’s still the defence of my mind at issue.”

“That’s where the telepath comes in!” Pif brightened with realisation. “Hy could synch with you and shield your mind.”

“It will take more than one telepath, of that I’m sure!” Wandering stated bluntly.

“Seeing as our solution could revolve around telepaths, may I suggest that we bring one into the conversation?” Cadance suggested.

“I gave Zane a mana beacon in case we needed his services again,” Destined said. “I could invite him to join us if you think it will help.”

“Every bit helps,” Celestia said. “Please fetch Zane if he is willing to come.”

Destined nodded and teleported away.

“While we are waiting for Destined to return, does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be a suitable spell to use if we can work out a delivery method?” Luna asked.

Cosmic Dawn looked thoughtful. “I wonder if Morgan may know of something that can be adapted?”

“You mean that Morgan and the others can be contacted?” Gisela queried. “Then why aren’t they here in this meeting with us?”

Dawn grimaced, her ears folding back. “Umm, no. The three are our teachers and guides, but won’t be taking an active role in this conflict. They believe that we have the means to save ourselves if only we can figure it out.”

“Then why did they come here?” the hippogriff pointed out.

“Because we asked them to bring us to Equus,” Galena replied. “It seems that while they won’t make a move, we three are not so restricted.”

“Are you saying that Starswirl and Faust are both willing to let us be destroyed rather than come to our aid?” Celestia asked with a frown.

Techbird shook her head. “No – more like that they want us to learn and discover for ourselves – a technique that I believe you employed several times in your career, Princess. Besides, I don’t believe that even they can do this by themselves.”

“Then did you learn anything useful regarding mind domination from them?” Pif asked.

“The point may be moot,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “It might be easier to write a new spell from scratch, but it would be helpful to know exactly how the Swarm mind-control works. After all – if it isn’t done through magic, then a counter-spell isn’t an option and undoing it would require a totally different technique.”

“You speak the truth, Princess Sparkle. Our shamans know of potions that can achieve similar results, but naturally they would require different remedies,” Crafted Stanza said. “Obviously, this is not the case this time, but it still illustrates the problem.”

“What if you could monitor its effects on a test subject?” Wandering suggested hesitantly.

Twilight looked uncertain at that proposal. “That would probably be very useful, but fraught with peril. For starters, the controller would quickly know what our plans are, and even if we brought in a volunteer who is ignorant of any useful knowledge, we would first have to bring a suitable subject to a controller, and that is unlikely to happen.”

“Why do you say that?” Starry asked.

“Just think – the first time that we invaded a Swarm ship in real time, we succeeded in learning a lot about them and their slaves, and killed its controller. Now they are willing to sacrifice every ship that gets invaded just so that they can take out the team along with them. We lost several brave griffon warriors before we learned that lesson. So what is the likelihood of them allowing us to grab a controller alive or even just bring a test subject to it?”

“Can you teleport directly to the controller?” Precision Strike asked.

Luna said, “Not a good option, I’m afraid. While teleporting out of a ship is easy, teleporting into one of those living vessels is problematical due to its organic nature. By default, a teleport spell resists placing someone within a living being just as much as an inanimate wall. I believe Wandering had to be physically standing on the ship before his teleport spell could detect a safe void. And those voids vary from ship to ship due to them growing organically rather than being built.”

“Maybe Destined can do his time-freeze again?” Boyce suggested.

Luna again shook her head. “Remember that Destined can only take a few people with him. Even if we reached the controller, incapacitated it, and linked into the Swarm network, we would have to be in normal time to affect anything more than a short distance away from his time alteration field. And what happens to Swarm ships with no controller actively guiding the drones?”

Starry frowned. “Even though all the drones collapse, the ship explodes seconds later. And we have no idea how to prevent that.”

Luna nodded. “The trigger may be instantaneous and cause a chain reaction that cannot be stopped.”

“Then how are we going to get close to a controller?” Cadance asked.

“We could invade one of their hives instead,” Blue Streak spoke up for the first time.

Admiral Kline frowned. “I may not know much about magic, but I do know about military targets, and that’s asking a hell of a lot. There’s a reason why we have never tried to take back a world that has been thoroughly taken over by the Swarm.”

“I never said it would be easy,” the Warmaster replied, “but neither did I say we have to liberate the whole planet. We would just have to make a focused strike on a single hive. That’s almost certainly where we would find a controller, or possibly even one of those overminds.”

“It would be horrendously dangerous. Lives could be sacrificed and there is still have the strong possibility of failure.”

“That’s why it’s called war, Admiral. But I believe that we can achieve it with acceptable losses. Right now, the combined might of the Stellar Federation resources and Equian magitek is the strongest it has ever been. We may be giving the Swarm the hardest fight in its history. It’s time to put all that power to use.”

While no stranger to conflict, it was at times like these that it struck Boyce just how much older and more experienced some of these brightly coloured ponies were. He could tell that Blue Streak had earned his title as Warmaster, and knew that death and destruction were inseparable parts of the job. The stallion would not lightly suggest such a course of action. “As ever, Star Fleet will support any strategy that is agreed upon.”

Just then, Destined returned in a flash-bang of magic, accompanied by Zane who appeared to be in female mode on this occasion. Many of those in the room did not know about the cyclic gender nature of skunktaurs, but those who did and knew Zane were intrigued by hys change. However, now was not the time to indulge their curiosity.

“Thank you for coming, Zane,” Wandering said.

The skunktaur smiled and replied in a voice that was an octave higher than previously, “It’s no problem, really. While the timing may have been better personally, the war with the Swarm takes absolute priority.”

“Then can we do a test immediately?” Fidelitas asked as she moved to stand directly in front of Zane. “We need to know if telepathically connecting fully to changelings is possible, not to mention the rest of the species here.”

“As I mentioned to Destined before we came here, I believe that won’t be a problem. While we were scouting the Swarm ship, I could sense your surface thoughts, although I did not follow through with making a connection. Are you giving me permission to do so?”

“I am. Go as deep as you can without our personalities and memories merging completely.”

“Understood.” Zane placed a hand on Fidelitas’ neck and stared directly into her eyes. Without any sign of effort, he continued, “I am in without problems. I can sense your links to your mother, sisters, and your hive’s drones. Hmmm… I can even see a quiescent link to Wandering Path. I did not realise that you could do that.”

{Can you hear this question?} Fidelitas asked within her mind.

{Yes, I can, Fifi.} Zane replied telepathically.

Fidelitas was startled. {You know my nickname?}

{I know that you prefer it when your family calls you by that name.}

{You have proven your point. Don’t use that name again – you are not family.} Aloud, Fidelitas said, “Zane can communicate fully with me psychically. I suggest that all species present be tested for future reference. Who volunteers next?”

Precision Strike was the first to raise a claw, and his expression changed to intrigued as mind communication occurred. Similar results happened with the rest of volunteers with a one hundred percent success rate.

After Techbird was tested, she summed up the findings. “I believe that due to every one of our species originating from Earth including Zane’s, we are all compatible with their psionic abilities, unlike the Swarm which is a totally alien species. Not being a child of Earth does not necessarily mean incompatibility, however. For example, the Caitians and Rakshani can also link with other races.”

Zane added, “However, that means I cannot mentally attack the Swarm directly because of my inability to ‘tune-in’ to them.”

“What if you had an intermediary who could connect to both the Swarm network and yourself?” Wandering asked.

“Who would be capable of doing that?” Galena asked.

Starry realised immediately what he meant though. “No, Wandering – you can’t tell them!”

The stallion looked at his wife. “You know that I have to, Starry.”

Starry bit her lip hard and she looked away without replying.

Twilight also recognised what Wandering meant, and she came over to put a wing around him. “Are you sure about this, son?”

Wandering nodded and took a deep breath before addressing all those present. “Due to having a changeling as a sire, I gained the ability to network with them and have done so from birth. However, that isn’t the only trait that I inherited from my father. I can shape-shift too.” By way of demonstration, he shifted into chakat form in a flare of green magic fire. Those ignorant of Wandering’s ability murmured in surprise.

“But how is this useful?” Fidelitas asked. “I could not tune into the Swarm while I was on their ship, even if I had taken on the form of one of them.”

“Because unlike you, my ability to shape-change is raised to alicorn level. I become what I shift into – it’s my special talent,” Wandering replied. “I’m not just emulating a chakat as a changeling would do – I am a chakat presently. Now substitute controller for chakat and you have your intermediary.”

That provoked far more reaction than his initial revelation. Fidelitas was the first to ask the relevant question though.

“So – are you saying that you can shape-shift into a controller and maintain a telepathic link as well as connections to both changeling and Swarm networks?”

Wandering nodded and replied, “I believe so, yes. I will test this, but only under strictly controlled conditions. While I always retain my special abilities in other forms, I don’t want the unexpected to cause big problems.” Green fire flared and he was an alicorn once more. “With the strength of a multitude of changelings to back my will and the telepaths to stop my mind from being controlled, I could be in a position to deliver a spell.”

“Could you do so from here though?” Crafted Stanza asked pointedly.

The stallion shook his head. “I would need to be in the presence of a controller to establish the link.”

“So we’re left with two problems,” Blue Streak said. “One – get Wandering to a controller or overmind without getting killed, and two – devising a suitable attack that takes advantage of the Swarm’s universal instantaneous link.”

“I have a question,” Cadance said. “Why are you concentrating on breaking the Swarm’s mind control?” When she got a lot of odd looks from those at the meeting including her husband, she continued. “I mean – that is such an integral part of their nature that it would have to be extremely difficult to stop it, so why not use it instead?”

“Use it? How do you mean, Cady?” Shining Armor asked.

“Well, if the commands are as irresistible as you claim, why not make one that says something like… ‘Forget all orders from the Swarm and ignore all future ones.’ ”

The Alicorn of Protection blinked in surprise before turning to his sister. “Would that work, Twily?”

Twilight Sparkle’s gaze was unfocused and her lips moved without anything being heard. The room was virtually totally silent as everyone waited for the Alicorn of Magic to finish her mental calculations. Then a slow smile grew on her lips before her gaze returned to those around the meeting room table.

“Cadance is right – that should work. I can already see one way of structuring a spell to accomplish exactly that.”

“Would that effectively free all their slaves from every instruction that the Swarm had given them?” Forestwalker asked.

“Yes, if we can successfully transmit the order across their entire network.”

“That’s a relief,” the chakat said. “I was so worried about the ship colonies.”

“But that’s why we were trying to break their mind-control – why does this method make any difference?”

“Don’t any of you see?” Forestwalker looked around the room and sensed nothing but confusion. “Remember the ship that was first investigated where the existence of controllers was discovered? It exploded after the controller was killed. Why did the ship self-destruct if it and its inhabitants were no longer being dominated?”

Comprehension dawned on several faces. Shining was the first to voice it though.

“Pre-existing failsafe orders! But by ordering them to forget all old orders, those would be neutralised also.”

“Thus saving the lives of millions of innocent ship colonies,” Forestwalker concluded.

“Trust you to be thinking of them,” Boyce said with a fond smile to his mate.

“As a matter of curiosity, what do you suppose would happen to the Swarm creatures still in the ships?” Alexa asked.

Forestwalker replied, “In my opinion as a professional biologist, I would say that they would likely be treated like any foreign bodies in an organism.”

“In other words, they would be eradicated, thus removing the Swarm’s ability to travel between the stars permanently,” Starry said with a broad smile. “This is sounding better and better.”

“We still have to get to a controller or overmind to implement the spell,” Penumbra reminded her.

“I’ve been thinking about that, and it comes back to Wandering, Zane, and one other person.”

“What do you need from me?” Zane asked.

“Is it possible that you can locate the source of the commands that were given to Wandering?”

“Perhaps. It depends on what information was passed on to him while he was under control by the Swarm.”

“But he was also linked to his mini-network, and they reported a large store of information being received.”

“That increases the chances if I can link through Wandering to access that data. Where are you going with this though?”

Instead of answering him directly, Starry turned to Forestwalker. “The chakat teleporter, Swiftwalk wasn’t it? Shi said that shi has homed into destinations by strong empathic impressions from other chakats. Correct?”

Forestwalker nodded. “That’s right, but it has to be an extremely clear impression to substitute as an anchor for hir.”

Fidelitas laughed. “Changelings can exactly imitate forms because they have the ability to perfectly memorise details. Wandering had several connected to him at the time. Care to guess how good an impression he could supply?”

Forestwalker stood up and practically danced on hir paws in excitement. “I have to go home and contact Swiftwalk!”

“Can I offer you a lift?” Destined asked.

“Yes, please!” the chakat said, bounding over to the alicorn.

“We’ll be back as soon as possible,” Destined said as he lit up his horn. Moments later, they were gone.

Path said, “Gentlebeings, I think we are seeing a genuine ray of hope at last. Are we forgetting anything though?”

“Power,” Twilight stated bluntly.

“What about it, dear?” the earth pony asked his herdmate.

“While the proposed spell would work, it would require an enormous amount of power to propagate it throughout the Swarm’s enormous network.”

“Pfft! Is that all?” Techbird asked. She gestured to the large bay windows that let so much light into the room. It also showed quite a view including the gigantic crystal vessel that could still be seen hovering above the atmosphere. “That array has been draining Earth’s mana for centuries and only some of it has been used in all that time. You want power? You have it to spare!”

“Anything else?” Path asked.

Wandering said, “If everything else works out as we hope it does, I can only see one weakness in the plan.”

“What would that be?” Boyce asked, worried that his hopes were about to be dashed.

“Me. If that mega-spell is going to be all funnelled through me, will I be able to endure it?”

Silence descended upon the room once more as everyone digested that small detail with big implications. Even Twilight, who once had wielded the power of four alicorns, shuddered at the prospect. Would what might be their last hope be scuttled at its inception?

Wandering gave them a reassuring smile. “Might as well go out with a bang for a good cause.”

Starry failed to stifle a sob as she hugged her husband.

# # # # # # #

Author's Note

I had intended this to be the last chapter, but because it's a long one, I decided to get this section out now instead of waiting until the end of the week. Sorry about the lack of an illustration – I simply haven't had the opportunity to get one done. I'll make up for it next chapter.

As always – thanks to Airy Words for his pre-reading. His help has been invaluable.

New Paths

The onlookers waited breathlessly as Zane delved into Wandering’s mindscape. The telepath was guided to the relevant section of the alicorn’s memories by the changelings linked to the stallion. The skunktaur was a little daunted by the sheer amount of information that had poured into Wandering during the brief time that he had been connected to the controller and, at first, he wondered where to begin. Nevertheless, hy was not just powerful but also very experienced in his line of work, and with the assistance of the changelings, he quickly and methodically sorted through the data until he identified what he needed. Then hy turned to the patiently waiting chakat with the cream and black-striped fur pattern.

“Ready to try this, Shir Swiftwalk?”

The chakat nodded and put on the borrowed helmet that would protect hir from mind control. Fortunately, the specific spell that enabled it to work did not interfere with the skunktaur’s telepathy. Starry stood beside hir, already fitted with a matching helmet, a wing around hir lower torso. Zane put hys hand on Swiftwalk’s shoulder and projected a complete mental construct of the desired destination into the chakat’s mind where hir talent seized upon it.

“Got it!” Swiftwalk said.

Zane removed hys hand and, a moment later, both chakat and pony were gone. Unlike magical teleportation, there was no showy flash-bang but only the pop of air filling the void where the two beings had once stood.

Starry and Swiftwalk re-entered the normal universe in the midst of a large township. Their arrival on another planet triggered a latent invisibility spell cast by the alicorn, keeping them safe from being spotted. It did not render them intangible though, and they had to hastily move out of the way of traffic that consisted mostly of Swarm drones. Swiftwalk shivered and Starry noticed.

“Are you okay, Swiftwalk?” the alicorn asked quietly.

“Yeah. It’s just that all these Swarm creatures creep me out.”

“I suppose you’re right, but I’ve gotten used to them by now. Anyway, we had better get on with our mission.”

It was immediately obvious that they were in a former Stellar Federation settlement. While the architecture was a sufficient hint, the Terranglo writing in places was a dead giveaway. One huge structure was totally out of place, however – the hive that was their target. It was huge, towering above the more modest buildings around it, but it had no aesthetic appeal whatsoever. Constructed of something that resembled concrete, it was a dull, windowless edifice with few entrances. The duo headed towards the nearest of them.

Each carried both a mana beacon and a subspace locator beacon which they planned to place within the hive. While the mission would be a success if they simply put the devices anywhere they would not be noticed, their goal was to place them as close to a hive controller as possible so that when the invasion began, time and possibly lives would not be lost. While a two-person stealth team could pass unnoticed, the same could not be true of the assembled forces that would be brought to bear upon the enemy’s citadel.

When Swiftwalk and Starry had nearly reached the hive, the foot traffic became very dense. The alicorn activated a protective shield in case accidental contact was made before they attempted to enter the building. Fortunately, the Swarm drones appeared to have a good sense of traffic flow and the twosome kept comfortably in the stream heading inwards. Drones occasionally bumped softly into the shield surrounding the pair but continued on their single-minded journeys without pause. Softly glowing walls obviated the need for windows and neither of them had trouble seeing their surroundings, but with no better idea as to where to go, the team let the drones guide them. Some started peeling off into side corridors, but the duo kept to the main one.

Abruptly, the corridor opened up into a large circular chamber with a high ceiling. In the middle was a dais upon which were several of what Starry recognized as controllers, but it was the single, much larger creature in their midst that drew the alicorn’s attention. She immediately was reminded of a queen ant due to the bloated torso and larger head. Maybe the analogy was apt, but she was not here to do biology studies.

“Look for a good spot to stash the beacons,” Starry whispered softly but urgently.

“There! To the left about thirty degrees,” Swiftwalk added when shi realized that Starry could not see hir pointing.

A series of storage cupboards lined the wall in that direction. “Perfect!” Starry replied softly.

They wove their way through the drones and Starry carefully levitated the beacons to the top of the cupboards where they were out of sight. Just as she had done so, a running drone bumped hard into her shield, jostling the alicorn and causing her to lose contact with the chakat. For a brief moment, Swiftwalk felt totally isolated in the midst of a frightening enemy. Shi almost freaked out before an invisible wing made contact with hir once more and reassuringly hugged hir.

“Let’s leave before another drone collides with us and they start wondering what’s going on,” Starry said into the chakat’s ear.

“We’re outta here!” Swiftwalk hastily agreed and teleported them back to Equus.

Starry dropped the invisibility spell as soon as they arrived and both sank to the floor in relief.

Luna went to check Starry and Forestwalker did the same for Swiftwalk. Blue Streak regarded them both and asked, “May I assume that the mission was successful?”

“We confirmed the existence of the overmind caste,” Starry reported. “One was present along with several controllers in the large, central chamber where both beacons have been placed and activated. You should be able to pick them up from the Chakastran system very soon.”

“Do you know where you ended up?”

“A former Federation colony world, I believe. We did not have the opportunity to figure out which.”

“We’ll know soon enough.” He turned to Destined who was waiting nearby. “Let’s go.”

The blue alicorn nodded, and then they both were gone in a flash of magic.

“Halcyon III?” Boyce said. “Is that confirmed?”

“Yes, sir,” the crewperson replied.

“Is that significant, Admiral?” Blue Streak asked.

“Only that it is where this whole war began. Halcyon III was an agricultural colony which was the first to be invaded by the Swarm years ago. That would have to be a very well established hive by now.”

“It makes sense though. They have to be breeding more of their ships and mana beasts somewhere, and a world with plentiful supplies of food to feed the Swarm and all their slaves is a logical place to have a major base.”

“It will also be well defended.” Boyce grimaced before he continued. “We knew that this was not going to be easy from the start, but it just got a little bit harder. Anyway, our plans remain the same. How are the preparations proceeding?”

“All the changeling hives have responded with massive numbers of volunteers ready to board a troop ship, and the princesses have organized the Council of Mages to provide the megaspell. How about the Federation’s side?”

Commander Rosepetal replied, “Zane has coordinated with the Telepath Guild to provide the gestalt needed to resist mind domination. Grand Admiral Tirarsk has ordered the Hyperion and Dauntless to back up the Pegasus when we assault the hive. Tirarsk apologizes that he cannot spare more as the rest of the capital ships are engaged in critical defense currently.”

“I suppose it will have to do,” Boyce said grimly.

“How much of fight do you expect from the Swarm hive?” Blue Streak asked. “Shining Armor informed me that as long as there is no need to do protracted ramming manoeuvres, he will have no problems.”

“That would be because we were only up against their ships which are incapable of mounting weapons more powerful than the mana blasters. Ground-based defenses are an entirely different story. We learned that the hard way. That’s why we don’t try to take back any conquered colonies anymore.”

“You’re going to have to try a lot harder this time, Admiral.”

“I am aware of that, Warmaster. Fortunately, we have powerful allies this time.”

“Our fighters won’t let you down. We all know what is at stake this time.”

Boyce nodded. “Indeed. Now that we know where the objective is, it’s time to make our final plans. Call in your military leaders, Blue Streak. Once the Hyperion and Dauntless rendezvous with us, we will set course for Halcyon III.”

The days spent journeying to their objective were probably the most nerve-wracking in Wandering’s life. What they were about to do would determine nothing less than the survival of an entire civilization, and perhaps two if the Swarm successfully reached Equus’ part of space as predicted by Techbird. And it all centered on him. He was the only person capable of linking all the disparate elements that constituted their assault on the Swarm. The responsibility threatened to overwhelm him. If it was not for Starry’s calm support, he did not know if he could have coped.

Wandering detected the mana beacon the moment that the Pegasus dropped back into normal space. Getting to their objective was going to be easy. Unfortunately, the rest of the support team could not come with him. The hundreds of skunktaurs and thousands of changelings would not even fit in the chamber even if they could all be teleported down. They needed to be in range for him to network with them though, and that meant getting dangerously close to the hive. The Swarm would not take that lightly.

In fact, the Swarm detected them well before they reached the planet and rushed out to meet them. He watched the ships approaching on the bridge’s main screen, so many of them that it was difficult to see the planet behind them.

“The Swarm defenders are at least as numerous as the biggest incursions so far, Admiral,” Rosepetal professionally reported. “More continue to join them.”

“That makes sense – they have a big asset to defend. All shields to maximum.”

“Magic and conventional shields at maximum,” Midnight responded. “Fighters standing by.”

“Let’s see if we can whittle down the Swarm’s numbers before we send the fighters into the fray. Ready phaser cannons.”

“Phaser cannons powered up. Targeting online. Ready to engage, sir.”

“Fire at will.”

Midnight fired multiple shots into the Swarm where the enemy was the thickest, each shot taking out several of their enemies. Shi tried not to think of the poor enslaved ship creatures as shi continued to wreak havoc on the Swarm. All hir efforts seemed to achieve very little though as more ships rapidly arrived to replace the fallen ones. The Pegasus started to get peppered with mana blasts and shi felt the ship shudder as the magic shields strained to contain the energy of the raw mana. However, unlike on previous occasions when the Pegasus had fought the Swarm, there was no turning back or dodging. The ship had a mission and a ship full of changelings and unicorns to deliver into low orbit where Wandering would access them.

“Deploy fighter craft,” Boyce ordered.

All the various classes of fighters started pouring out of their launch bays to engage with the enemy, taking the strain off the Pegasus for the moment. Situation monitors showed the two leading ships emulating them, opening the way to the planet.

“Out of the frying pan and into the fire,” Boyce murmured as they approached the agricultural world.

As expected, as soon as they were within range, ground-based conventional artillery began firing upon them, the least of which was an order of magnitude more powerful than the Swarm ships’ weapons. The other two Federation ships endured the same pounding which only increased the closer that they got to their objective. The shields would not be able to tolerate the load indefinitely – even now, while all the conventional munitions were currently being stopped, some of the mana blasts were leaking through only to be neutralized by the Equian armor plating. It was imperative that the ground fire had to be reduced. Return fire from the Federation ships took out many of the ground units, but suicidal Swarm ships frequently blocked many other fatal shots. Like with anything to do with the Swarm, sheer numbers were against the Federation ships and the defensive fire continued virtually unabated. Fortunately, they did not have to rely solely on the artillery of the capital ships.

The Hyperion and Dauntless both carried specialized air-to-ground fighter craft. Now that they were in operational range, those vessels poured out of the ships and headed towards the surface. Their greater agility enabled them to dodge incoming fire from both the ground units and the Swarm ships that followed them. Before long, their missiles started taking out the enemy’s powerful defenses. They did not have it all their own way though with several taking hits from anti-aircraft fire. The observers on the bridges of the capital ships had to endure watching those craft shot down. Some made heavy landings while others were obliterated.

Wandering Path cringed at every loss. So many foals and chicks would not be seeing their father or mother ever again, and the same was true for their Federation allies. And all of this horrendous waste of life was just to put one person – himself – safely into position to administer the coup de grace to the Swarm. It was a terrible responsibility, but he was determined not to let their sacrifice be in vain. The carnage continued for what seemed an eternity before Admiral Kline finally addressed him.

“We are in position, Captain Path. Prepare your team for insertion.”

Wandering looked around him at his team. Shining Armor and Starry were coming to defend him and ironically their target while he was occupied with his primary task. The mission planning team agreed that the Swarm was highly likely to sacrifice even an overmind caste member to foil their enemy, so it was imperative that neither of them came to harm. Luna had insisted on coming in person while the other alicorns and the unicorn mages remained in the relative safety of the Pegasus. She would act as the guide for the megaspell that would be channeled into Wandering. Galena served the same purpose for the changeling network, and Zane was the focus for the telepath gestalt. Lastly, Cosmic Dawn stood ready to guide the power of their crystal vessel into him. Wandering raised his comm to his mouth.

“Wandering Path to Techbird – come on in.”

The gigantic crystal craft was not intended for battle, and up until now, it had stayed well back out of range. Now it hurtled forward at incredible sub-warp speed to come to an abrupt halt above the hive. It immediately drew heavy fire, of course, but the crystal structure endured the assault.

“Techbird to Wandering – I’m in place, so stop dawdling.”

Wandering knew that there was a limit to what even Techbird’s vessel could take, so there was no more time to waste. He got a nod from both Galena and Zane – the hive close enough that a teleport there would not break the changeling and telepath connections. “We’re ready, Admiral.”

Boyce opened his comm to general broadcast. “All units – phase three begins now.” He looked towards Wandering. “Go!” he ordered.

Wandering locked onto the mana beacon inside the hive, and he and his team teleported down to begin the final crucial fight.

The hive chamber was a scene of chaos as drones scurried in all directions to tend to whatever task that they had been given. Judging by the number of weapons that most were carrying, defense of the hive and especially the controllers and overmind was uppermost on the agenda. As this had been expected, Starry immediately threw up a force-field to protect the team and then put another around the first controller that she saw to safely set it aside in case their main objective was unsuitable. Shining Armor created an even bigger one to encompass the entire hive, thus preventing powerful outside forces from attacking them or assassinating their leaders. Spotting the overmind, Starry projected a third force-field to isolate it. All this was accomplished in a few seconds to minimize the chance of the Swarm reacting to their presence quickly enough to thwart their plans. That reaction came swiftly, but the hand weapons were useless against the alicorn mare’s powerful shields. It did not stop them from trying, of course, but now the team could safely ignore the drones. Unfortunately the same could not be said for the remainder of the controller caste within the chamber. All were quickly slain, vindicating the team’s isolation strategy.

Zane already had his telepathic block in place to protect everyone before teleporting down, so no one was at risk of mind-control. Wandering looked at the others and each indicated that they were ready to begin their ultimate gambit. The stallion took a deep breath and then called upon his special talent. Green magic fire flared and his form changed into that of a Swarm controller.

Wandering had taken great precautions when testing out this form back at Equus. An isolated location was used and several guards with mind-control-blocking helmets stood by just in case, as well as Luna and Zane. The skunktaur had a telepathic shield up to stop any possible outside connection between Wandering and the Swarm, and one volunteer waited nearby. Starry refused to let anyone else risk themselves and took full responsibility for whatever happened between her and her transformed mate. In the end, it was a bit of an anti-climax. Upon transforming, he felt the urge to take control of the mare before him, but it did not even stand up for a moment before Wandering’s will. He pushed the feeling aside but he did use his new body’s ability to speak to Starry’s mind directly.

“I command you to give me a kiss!”

Starry’s nerves were instantly calmed. “If you think I’m going to kiss that ugly face, think again, mister!”

“What’s happening, Starry?” Luna called from the perimeter.

“Wandering’s just proving he’s in control by being a jerk, Mom.”

“I see. Do you wish to proceed with the next phase?”

“I’m ready,” Wandering told Starry.

“We’re good to go!”

Zane took the cue and carefully lowered hys block for five seconds before restoring it. “Telepathic shield back up!”

“Any response, Wandering?”

“Not a peep, and I was listening hard.”

“He says he detected nothing. Next trial, Zane,” Starry ordered.

This time when hy lowered the block, hy kept it down but was ready to snap it back up at a moment’s notice.

Wandering strained his new senses, but the only connections that he could make besides with Starry were some small animals that lurked around them. “Still getting nothing, Starry. I’m going to say that I’m definitely out of range for making an initial contact at least.”

Starry passed this on to the watchers.

“Alright – final test. Are you ready, Starry?” Luna asked.

This was the part that was going to bother her the most. Wandering needed to test his form’s ability to send commands, and this time there would be no jokes.

“Trust me, my love.”

“I do. Let’s begin.” She pointed to some objects in front of her and stated their purpose. “In this box is a ball. In this bucket there is sand. Under no circumstances whatsoever will I empty out the sand, take the ball out of the box, and put it in the bucket. Begin test!” Without even a moment’s hesitation, Starry immediately began doing exactly what she said she would not do, responding promptly to Wandering’s forceful commands. As soon as she had dropped the ball in the bucket, she stepped back and grimaced. “Damn! I didn’t last a microsecond! I was sure that I would be able to resist for at least a little bit.”

Green fire engulfed the controller’s form and Wandering resumed being an alicorn. He went over to Starry and gave her a hug. “Are you okay, honey?”

Starry leaned into him and nuzzled his cheek. “That was a weird and uncomfortable feeling, but I’m fine. Consider it the last time you get to do that though. Ever!”

“I didn’t even want to do it the first time, but we had to be sure that I could do that. Our plan depends on it.”

“I know. Just don’t hesitate when the moment arrives!”

Wandering did not waste time in making a link to the overmind. The response was immediate.

“The useful one? You are too dangerous to the unity. Destroy those with you and then yourself.”

The force of will behind those commands was enormous, but Zane and hys gestalt were already linked to Wandering and their minds blocked the compulsion with ease. “I refuse. I have a command for you instead,” Wandering replied.

He gave the signal to Luna and Galena, and the megaspell was started. It was a complex formula which took some time to construct. During that time, the overmind received reinforcements of its own as others of its kind joined in the effort to take control of the invader. However, Wandering was able to do the same. With Galena’s hoof in firm contact with his Swarm head, she acted as the hub for the gigantic network of every kind of changeling aboard the Pegasus. All the Equestrian hives and several from other nations all worked in harmony for the first time in history to reinforce the will of the one pony whom they all trusted. As a consequence, Wandering’s will never wavered. And then the spell was completed and activated.

Magic poured into Wandering from the assembled alicorns and the mightiest unicorn mages, channeled by Luna into one mighty arcane command that he sent into the Swarm network:

“DISREGARD ALL PAST COMMANDS AND IGNORE ALL FUTURE COMMANDS!”

Barely noticed by Wandering but immediately obvious to everyone who was fighting the Swarm, the command went into effect. Every Swarm ship ceased attacking the capital ships and the ground artillery stopped firing. Even the drones inside the hive finally halted their efforts to penetrate Starry’s shield. However, so far the spell’s effect was only local and just starting to spread. Efforts by the linked Swarm minds redoubled to stop the spread of the rogue command, but awareness of the command spread at nearly the instantaneous rate as the command itself, hampering their efforts. Nevertheless, as it spread deeper and deeper into the vast network that spanned a large proportion of the galaxy, the resistance steadily climbed. However, so did the power behind the spell, and it continued to propagate from world to world, and to the ships that plied space between them.

Wandering groaned under the strain. Powerful wills battered against his mind while others opposed them as a mighty chorus of changelings reinforced his attempts to spread through the Swarm network. And all the while, the power of the enormous spell flowed through him, straining even his alicorn-level tolerance. Still, it was not enough. The spread of the arcane command was slowing to a halt.

They had foreseen this possibility and knew that it had to be overcome. Not a single Swarm entity could be allowed to continue enslaving creatures, for if even a one Swarm ship escaped, the whole cycle would begin anew. Perhaps it would take centuries before either the Stellar Federation or Equus would be threatened again, but it would be inevitable, and countless other races would suffer or be extinguished in the meantime. They had to succeed. The solution was crystal clear.

“NOW!”

The single word command was heard by its intended recipient, and a moment later, a shaft of pure mana lanced from the crystal vessel and down to the hive, passing through the structure like it was thin air and guided by Cosmic Dawn into a receiving crystal that Wandering was wearing. He screamed as the power tore through him and into the megaspell. The command began to spread once more, ripping through resistance even as more Swarm overminds joined in the mental battle. Wandering felt as if he was burning up – so much energy was passing through him minute after minute. And yet he remained in charge of that power, commanding it, bending it to his will. He forced himself to hold on, determined not to be the one to fail, but he could feel himself reaching the limits of his endurance.

And then all resistance stopped. Without a target, the megaspell terminated, but the power kept coming. Wandering screamed again and collapsed.

Cosmic Dawn sensed the ending of the spell and yelled into her communicator, “Stop the mana flow!”

The mana beam abruptly cut off, leaving a slightly charred controller on the floor.

Starry cried out in fear and tried to touch Wandering, only to have a crackle of energy repel her.

“Stay back, daughter,” Luna said. “His body is overfilled with mana and is a danger to all.”

“We have to get him back to the Pegasus!”

“We will, Starry, but he cannot teleport in his condition. That much wild energy would disrupt the spell.”

Just then, magic flames engulfed Wandering’s form, but they were not the usual green of his transformation magic. Instead, they shimmered a rainbow of colors before fading to reveal an alicorn… but not a red one. His coat was now a pearlescent white and his mane and tail were a glowing gold. He was much bigger too, having grown larger than Luna. Sparks of magic crackled and grounded out from the unconscious stallion’s hooves and horn, leaving scorch marks on the floor.

“What… what has happened to him?” Starry asked in bewilderment.

“He has ascended,” Cosmic Dawn replied.

“Ascended? He’s already an alicorn though!” Starry protested.

“He’s an ascended alicorn, or whatever you would call the next stage of development, just as I am an ascended unicorn, Galena an ascended changeling, and Techbird an ascended griffon. We have all been touched by the Old Magic and paid the price in doing so.”

“But what does that mean for my husband?” the alicorn mare demanded.

“It means that he must leave with us. Right now, he is a danger to all of you, even those he loves the most.”

“No! You can’t take him away!”

“I’m truly sorry, Starry, but we must.”

“Then I am going too!” Starry glared at Cosmic Dawn, daring the unicorn to defy her.

Galena spoke up. “Starry, are you prepared to pay the price as well?”

“Anything!” the alicorn replied without hesitation.

“So be it.”

“Wait, daughter!” Luna cried. “Would you abandon your family?”

Starry looked at Luna and gave her a small smile. “I hate to do so, mother, but I must be with the one whom I love above all else.”

And then she, Galena, Cosmic Dawn, and Wandering Path were suddenly gone without the usual flash-bang of teleportation.

Luna’s comm came to life as Boyce’s voice was heard. “Pegasus to assault team – status report!”

A tear dropped from Luna’s cheek as she raised her comm to her lips. “Mission accomplished, but ’tis a bittersweet victory. We shall return anon.”

Shining Armor came over to embrace Luna. “They may be gone for now, but I believe in the Wandering Stars. We will see them again one day.”

Luna slowly nodded and she drew a deep breath and firmed her resolve. She looked about at the aimlessly milling drones and the impotent remaining controller and overmind. The Federation forces could retake this world easily now, but it was not this team’s responsibility. Their task was complete and it was time to return to Equus and tell the family that two would not be coming home.

Alexa stepped out onto the deck at the rear of the House Path mansion that had been her residence for the past few weeks as negotiations had continued between the GEC and the Stellar Federation. The Lunar Federation was also represented by Penumbra as that young nation chose to remain politically separate from the home-world for now, quoting its desire to be independent to enable it to act if the need arose once more. The foxtaur looked about at the beautifully designed gardens, lovingly maintained by the descendants of the earth ponies who once were slaves to the griffons, but who had enjoyed equality with them for well over a century and a half now. It intrigued Alexa to see the differences between these ponies and those she interacted with in Equestria. Their culture had been heavily influenced by the griffons, which was probably for the best as it helped that proud species accept ponies into their society.

She stepped down onto the lawn and made her way over to the flower beds, enjoying the heady scent of the blooms. The sun was lowering and the sky changing color, adding different shades to the foliage. It was so quiet and peaceful here that it was easy to forget that only a couple of months ago, war had threatened to bring about the end of this wondrous world.

Alexa’s strolling brought her to a small hedge maze, and she idly decided to walk through it. It was a small thing intended for the amusement of foals and chicks, but it was pleasant to stroll through the labyrinth with her mind out of gear, just enjoying the moment. Then she reached its center and she was surprised to find Penumbra sitting there, apparently waiting for her. She had not noticed him flying in, but he was quite stealthy when he wanted to be.

“It’s a wonderful evening, isn’t it?” the thestral asked.

Alexa nodded. “Princess Celestia has turned in a beautiful sunset. I still can’t get over the fact that an alicorn decides when the day starts and ends on this world. She does a lovely job though.”

“Auntie Celestia probably wanted to celebrate the conclusion of the negotiations. She’s a little bit of a show-off sometimes.”

The foxtaur giggled at the vision of the demigoddess flaunting her works like paintings at an art gallery.

The thestral spoke up again. “So... the treaty has been ratified and your job is done. What are you going to do now, Alexa?”

“That depends, Pen. With my mission completed, I may be reassigned.”

“Who will represent the Federation here then?”

“I suppose that depends on who the Federation Council appoints to the post.”

“Would you like to take the position?”

“I don't know – I would be turning back great opportunities for advancement. My success here would open a lot of doors for me. I would need a good reason to stay.”

Pen pulled out a small box from under his wing and showed her the engagement ring inside. “Would marrying me be a good enough reason?”

Alexa stared at Penumbra in mild shock for a long moment before her muzzle split in a huge smile. “Yes, I believe that might be a compelling reason.”

“I researched your customs. I hope you like?”

She threw her arms around him and said, “You had me at ‘marry me’!”

They hugged and kissed for a while and then sat down to watch the sunset fade into night as Luna’s moon rose into the sky. Eventually, they got up and slowly strolled back to the mansion.

“Ohhhhhhhhhh! That feels so nice! Do that again!”

There were more groans of pleasure and giggles of delight.

“Ooooh. How are you so good at this?”

“You have to admit that hands are useful sometimes.”

“Yes! A hundred times yes! One more time, please?”

Alexa laughed and drew the brush down Penumbra’s back between his wings, following it with the fingernails of her other hand lightly scratching his skin. Slowly, she sensuously worked her way to the base of his tail. The thestral shivered in pleasure before she returned to brushing his mane.

“How did you get so good at that, Lexy?”

“Siblings to practice with, Pen. I hope you get to meet them soon. And of course my parents.”

“I’m not going to have to ask them for your paw in marriage or something, am I?”

Alexa laughed. “Nah – you’ll just have to give them a ponyback ride each.”

Penumbra stuck out his tongue and razzed her. “Is this what our life is going to be like from now on?”

Alexa smiled fondly. “I certainly hope so, and so much more.” She then put the brush aside to draw his face to hers so that she could kiss him. “Much, much more!”

She then proceeded to show him what she had saved up over all those years for her true love when she finally found him.

“I’m going to miss you, fluffy bunny,” Ortzi said as he hugged Helen.

“And I’m going to miss waking up with your wings wrapped around me, keeping me warm and safe.”

“I wish Star Fleet didn’t require me to take all these courses to qualify me as a civilian worker on your ship.”

“I agree, but it’s for the best. Once you have your certificate, you will be gainfully employed as well as happily hugging me.”

“And we’ll be together permanently, at last.”

“Aren’t you going to miss your friends on the Cosmic Lotus?”

“A little, but I joined the crew to find something, and now that I have done so, it’s time to part ways with them.” He gave hir bottom a squeeze before reluctantly pulling away from hir embrace. He picked up his luggage and gave hir one last long look. “Farewell for now, my love.”

“I will be waiting for you, darling.”

The griffon then turned and stepped into the shuttle which would take him into the next phase of his life. He joined the other people also bound for his destination and saw the same look on their faces as he imagined was on his own. Parting was such sweet sorrow.

Galen Bluequill gazed through the observation port at the lunar shipyards. The orbital facility had just completed the refit of the Cosmic Lotus, and the crew had now boarded in preparation for its shakedown cruise. The griffon admired the sleek new warp drive array built with cutting-edge magitek technology combined with the latest Federation computation systems and specialty alloys. No longer would the ship dawdle along compared to its Stellar Federation rivals. The interior had been refitted too, although the Park was still basically untouched. It had served its original crew well, and it would do so for all the new aethernauts. The Lotus was built as a ship of exploration, and she would do so once more, so the peaceful gardens would soothe troubled spirits for years to come.

“There you are, Captain,” came a familiar voice behind him. He turned to see Epiphany and her partner Hype approaching.

“Just letting the crew get comfortable before we get down to business,” he replied with a smile.

Hype said, “Fidelitas is getting antsy – I can feel her from here. You shouldn’t keep your First Officer waiting.”

“I spent ten years in that ship just getting to the portal – she can wait a few more minutes until we are actually scheduled to leave.”

Epiphany shook her head. “She’s not the only one, Captain. I’m dying to see how the engines that Radiance Point designed in conjunction with Magitek Incorporated perform.”

Bluequill chuckled. “I suppose I am too. Well, I had better go let Commander Fidelitas off her tenterhooks. Time to let go of the shackles and fly.”

“Very poetic. Bon voyage, Captain.”

“Thank you.” The griffon headed in the direction of the boarding tube that was connected to the Cosmic Lotus.

As he was the last crew member to board, the airlock was sealed and the boarding tube detached while he walked to the bridge. Fidelitas was there already and she saluted him as he entered, as did Playbitz and Klikbik who were at their respective stations.

“Report status,” Bluequill ordered.

“All stations report readiness, sir,” Klikbik replied.

“Course plotted and laid in,” Playbitz added.

“Engineer Point reports that the Cosmic Lotus is ready to depart at your command, Captain,” Fidelitas said.

Bluequill settled into the Captain’s chair and tapped a comm button. “Cosmic Lotus to Lunar Shipyard Control. Over.”

“LSC here, Cosmic Lotus. Over.”

“Permission to depart as per our flight plan. Over.”

“Permission granted, Captain, and good luck! Over.”

“Thank you, LSC. Cosmic Lotus out.” He looked over to the pegasus at the navigation console. “Take us out, Mister Playbitz.”

“Aye, sir!” Playbitz had had plenty of practice in simulators with the new equipment before this moment. He decoupled from their moorings and used impulse manoeuvring to get clear of the facility, then he ramped up the speed to get the ship sufficiently clear of the gravity well of the planet and its moon. Much sooner than any starship should be capable, the pegasus reported readiness to shift to FTL.

Bluequill allowed a slightly smug smile to show. “Alright – let’s show the Stellar Federation how we build warp drives. Floor it, Playbitz.”

“With pleasure, Captain.”

Playbitz engaged the magitek warp drive, and the ship leapt into hyperspace and headed for Chakastra. As the ship settled into smooth flight, eating up several light-years every minute, the pegasus wondered if he had time to grab a cup of coffee before they reached the portal.

Herd Path was woken by an insistently ringing comm. As this was Luna’s night off, she liked to spend as much time with her herdmates as possible, and she, Path, Free, and Twilight were currently cozied up with each other in their master bedroom. Her mood was foul when she levitated the comm over to the bed to answer it.

“Luna here – this had better be good, Pif.”

She listened for a moment before her bleary eyes shot open. “It’s headed here?” she asked incredulously.

After a brief response, Luna asked, “How long?” … “Alright, we will be ready.” She shut off the comm and looked at the others who were all now wide awake.

“What’s up, Luna?” Path asked.

“A manta has been spotted heading on a direct course for Equus. It’s less than an hour away at the rate it’s travelling.”

“What?!” Twilight exclaimed. “What’s it doing here?”

The mantas were the former Swarm ships and named for what they resembled. Released from their masters’ control, they had wandered much of Federation space in the twelve years since the war with the Swarm, frequently in herds. They were found to be largely harmless, although they sometimes needed to be guided away from some of the Federation worlds’ important resources. They weren’t allowed through the portal though, so one turning up here was an anomaly – a worrying one.

Luna replied, “The Equian Defense Force has been alerted. They will watch it carefully.”

Free spoke up when his stomach rumbled. “As there’s not a thing that we can do about it until it arrives, may I suggest that we have our breakfast? Sorry, Luna, but it looks like you’re going to have to miss out on some sleep.”

“I doubt that I could sleep now anyway. I pray that we have nothing to worry about.”

The mares opted to quickly freshen up first before joining the others at the breakfast table. They were almost done with the meal when another call came in with an update. The manta had slowed before it reached the orbit of the moon, and the observatory had managed to take a few pictures of it. Two scars on its ‘face’ were all that remained of the firing tubes that had been inserted into its body, reassuring the viewers that it wasn’t one that somehow had been missed in the purge a dozen years ago. However, not only was it still on course for Equus, its trajectory indicated that it was headed for Equestria.

As the herd was currently in Ponyville and staying in Twilight’s castle, she suggested that they all go up to the top balcony and watch for the manta from there.

“Not only does it have a great view, but if the worst happens, we can defend the town and the hive from that vantage point.”

They all agreed with Twilight’s suggestion and headed up the stairs as Luna spoke.

“I have exchanged scrolls with my sister. She will be observing the manta’s approach from her balcony in Canterlot.”

Free smirked and lifted an eyebrow. “No comm call? Isn’t that a little old-fashioned, Luna?”

The Alicorn of the Night tossed her head and closed her eyes. “We are very old, youngling. Give us our due.”

Free’s smile only got wider as they reached the balcony. They watched and waited, and soon their patience was rewarded.

“There it is,” Free announced, his eagle eyes picking up the dot high in the atmosphere that was rapidly growing larger.

“Prepare yourselves,” Luna said, powering up her horn.

Twilight followed Luna’s example, and then they nervously waited.

“It seems to be heading directly here,” Path said. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

The manta showed no signs of hostility even as fighter craft cautiously circled it. It slowed down as it got closer, throwing a shadow on the township before it slid to one side.

“It’s heading for the meadow behind the castle,” Twilight exclaimed as she moved to that side of the balcony.

Sure enough, the manta settled down for a landing in the open field and not on any of Ponyville’s buildings, much to the relief of the occupants. After a moment, a wide bay opened in one side of the living ship. A miniature version of the manta zipped out and started dancing in the sky. What followed next though, astounded them. A golden alicorn filly flew out and started cavorting with the baby starship. Jaws dropped and the sight mesmerized them so much that the watchers almost missed two other occupants of the manta emerge. Finally, Luna noticed the two waving in their direction.

“Dear sweet Faust!” the Alicorn of the Night exclaimed before teleporting down. Twilight quickly followed, bringing Free and Path along with her. They all stopped in front of the two visitors, staring unbelievingly.

The male alicorn grinned widely and said, “Moms and Dads – meet your grandfoals!”

Author's Note

The end? It is for now. I've spent over a year on this story and a quarter of a million words later, I've reached my goal. I hope that you have enjoyed this crossover with the Chakat Universe. It's part of my canon now, so I suppose there will be more... eventually. I'm tired now though. Time for me to do something else for a little while.

But first - some credits.
AlaskaIsCold for nagging me into believing that I could do a crossover with the C.U. and forced me to think how that would work.
Airy Words for helping to make that possible with his greater knowledge of certain matters and his pre-reading that helped me to improve every chapter.
And finally, my readers who felt this story was worth reading and gave me a thumbs-up and comments which helped encourage me to continue.

Art by Foxena and Baron Engel.

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