Horse Play

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen

Chapter One

30 March 2284, 1800 hours CRST

ISAEC Hurin Tascheter (EC 28) Equuleus sector, range from Camelot 1,750 light years.

Captain Sir Jamie Brennan Somers, Commanding Officer of the Hurin Tascheter, was handing off the duty watch to his Weapons Officer, LCDR Carolia Hartens, a human from the South Continent of Brigadoon. “You have the deck and the conn, Weps,” he said, formalizing the watch relief.

“I have the conn, aye, Captain. Have a good night,” she said in reply as she took the command console, the displays changing to the Brigadoon syllabary from Standard Terrestrial English, as well as the chair changing to Carolia’s ergonomics.

“I hope to, Weps. More reports from Headquarters to wade through about the Ratzis. Maybe something useful will be in the pile,” Jamie said with a faint smile. Many years of experience in Star Fleet and other forces led him to believe there would be nothing new, just like the past six weeks of patrol out here in the boonies of the ISA, watching for Ratzi activity.

The Ratzis are a species of intelligent warlike rats that Captain Somers himself had stumbled across six years before, when they attacked a remote colony in the Ursa Minor sector shortly before a scheduled port visit by the Hurin. The Ratzis reproduce by cloning, only the highest ranks being direct copies of the founder of the species several centuries ago. Lower ranks are ‘dumbed down’ to varying degrees, depending on their determined position in the hierarchy. Their initial attack, after first contact, laid waste to much of the planet Brigadoon, destroying Ramirez Station in orbit and killing many on the ground. It took a determined push by the ISA to drive the Ratzis off Brigadoon, and for the past five years, the search was on for more Ratzi colonies, the object being obliteration. Ratzis do not negotiate, they take. In this war, no quarter is given nor taken.

Jamie went not to his stateroom right away, but to the Wardroom, for dinner. Many of the off-duty ship’s officers were there, the cooks that day having prepared a rather good beef roast for the more humanlike species, as well as equivalents for other species. Present at the Captain’s table were the Chief Engineer, Commander Beauregard Alton (Beau) Davis, a Saganized human from Dogpatch; Commander Minagawa Seiryuu, the Executive Officer, a Saganized human from Earth; Lieutenant Commander L’Dan M’Ranx, the Assistant Chief Engineer, a Saganized Baastari (humanoid house cat) from Baastar; and Commander Sardon, the Science Officer, a Sasquatch from Tau Ceti II. After pleasantries, the five got to digging in to the beef, except for Sardon, who is a vegetarian, like all the Sasquatch are. Yeti are carnivores, Sasquatch are not.

“A question for you, Captain,” Commander Seiryuu asked. He was young for his rank, but in Jamie’s almost seventy years of service, he was known for spotting and training potential Commanding Officers. Those that pass Jamie’s tutelage generally move on to flag rank. Jamie himself could (and has) taken flag rank, but he prefers to be an Exploration Cruiser captain rather than a desk-bound admiral.

“Go ahead, Luke,” Jamie said, using the Commander’s true name, not the one he took when his Sagan powers erupted, enabling the red-headed man’s transformation into a blue dragon.

“What I want to know is, if we do find any Ratzis out here, should we report in or attack first before reporting? It’s going to take several days for any backup to arrive this far out,” Luke asked.

“All depends on what we find, Luke. If it’s small, we wipe them out and move on. If it’s not small, hide, sneak, and call for reinforcements. The battlestarship Gilgamesh can make it here in three days at ahead flank if I give the word,” Jamie told his exec. Jamie knew of the battlestarship’s capabilities, having commanded that ship during the early parts of the war.

Luke smiled shyly as he said, “Times like this makes me wish I was still Science Officer aboard the Sinbad,” referring to his previous assignment aboard a smaller scout ship, to the amusement of the other officers at the table, who have been attached to the Hurin for some time already. Luke himself has only been aboard the Hurin now for ten weeks, reporting aboard when the ship entered a refit phase prior to the current deployment. The previous Executive Officer, Commander Wilma Flaherty, had detached to take command of the destroyer Polaris.

“Don’t let it get to you, kid,” growled Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx. “If we felt you didn’t have what it takes, you wouldn’t be sitting where you are now.” M’Ranx was Chief of the Boat when the Hurin first met up with the Ratzis, and even commanded the ship for a while when Captain Somers was assigned to the Gilgamesh in the early phases of the war.

“Y’all got that raht, Master Chief,” Commander Davis chipped in with in his characteristic Dogpatch drawl. Only the old timers aboard the ship referred to L’Dan as ‘Master Chief’, except the Chief Flight Officer, Lieutenant Annelise Khaball. She called L’Dan, in the privacy of restricted company, ‘Father’. Everyone else called Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx ‘the old bastard’, but not to his gray furry face. Not more than once, that is.

“Everyone set for casualty drills tomorrow?” Jamie asked.

Beau leaned back in his chair. “Oh, hell yeah, Cap,” he drawled. “The Master Chief and ah done come up with some truly fiendish drills. We all may have a buncha rookies aboahd now, but by the tahm we get back home, they won’t be rookies no moah.”

L’Dan smiled after swallowing a piece of beef. “Oh, yeah. When we get complaints later about how unreal they seem to be, I can just point to the records of the actual events. The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it’s stranger than we CAN imagine.”

Sardon, who had said little during dinner, chose to speak up. “Thus, proving just how evil you two can be, when it comes to being teachers,” he said in his deep rich voice. No matter what inducements he has been offered, Sardon would not sing in front of ship’s company. L’Dan has been trying now for many years.

“Evil? Me? Ah’m not evil, Space is. Ah just know how to out-trick it,” Beau said in reply, to L’Dan’s nod as the Baastari sipped some wine. “As does the Master Chief.”

31 March 2284, 0400 hours CRST

“Bridge to Captain Somers”

Jamie’s eyes snapped open as he lay in his bed. “Captain here. Go ahead, Bridge.”

“Captain, this is Lieutenant Khaball. Picking up a Ratzi ship on long-range sensors, vector zero-nine-seven plus twenty-three, velocity one point six. Thirty-second course projection has it heading to a K-class star, catalogued as Equuleus seven-three-seven-zero-nine. Range to ship is five light-years. Pursue or shadow, Captain?” the duty officer asked.

“Shadow it, Lieutenant. Close to three light-years distance, activate stealth measures. I want to see where they are heading out here, and what they have there,” Jamie ordered.

“Close to three light-years and shadow. Activate stealth measures, Bridge aye.”

Jamie decided it was a good time to get up, shower and dress as he felt the faint vibration of additional ZPE generators coming on line, to handle the increased speed and stealth screening requirements. After completing his morning chores, he headed not to the wardroom, but the upper decks snack bar before going to the bridge. He fixed himself a warm buttered croissant and ate it on his way to the Bridge, taking a mug of coffee as well.

He waved the crew at ease as he entered the Bridge, proceeding to his office, where he called up the ship’s computer avatar, Hurin. Hurin is based off a character from Kitsu history, a famous explorer in their pre-technological days. “Hurin, what is in the database about this Ratzi ship’s destination?” Jamie asked.

“Not much, Captain. It has never been surveyed by any probe from any of the ISA’s members, just several telescopic surveys. It is of spectral class K, and has eleven planets, six of which are of a gas giant nature. It can be guessed that there is at least one planet in the life zone, but no hard proof,” the red foxlike holo-avatar said as it ‘paced’ in front of Jamie’s desk, its leather coat flapping some in a non-existent wind.

“How about surrounding stars? What’s known about them?” Jamie asked.

“Equuleus seven-three-seven-zero-nine is at the edge of a loose cluster of stars. The only thing of note about the cluster is that it does harbor a star magic node closer to the core, but that’s it. It’s too distant from the ISA core for more than a notation. I’m sure it is in someone’s Someday File for exploration,” Hurin said.

“But nothing now. Well, we are an exploration cruiser, so we may as well explore it,” Jamie sighed, thinking of options. He had one, but he was reluctant to use it.

Hurin sat down in a holographic chair across from Jamie. “I know that look on your face, Jamie. You’re thinking about using the lurt to do a quick scan, even at range. Veronica’s a good lady, for a Mephit.” ‘Lurt’ being the short form for Long Range Telepath, or LRT.

“Not to mention being an utter fangirl over me, even after being aboard for a year now.” Thirty years before, Jamie, then commanding the exploration cruiser Haastoren, discovered the Mephit home world and gained them membership in the ISA. Many Mephit who have left their home world regard Jamie with particular respect. Some, like Veronica, carry it to extremes.

“Don’t ask her directly, then. Relay the request through Sardon or George Jurgens. That will contain her enthusiasm,” Hurin advised. George Jurgens is the communications officer, an older Ulrongh who’s been aboard the Hurin for some years now.

“Sounds like a plan to me. How long until we get within scan range of seven-three-seven-zero-nine?” Jamie asked.

“At current speeds, about seven hours. That will still give the Ratzis a two-hour time advantage over us, if we wish to remain undetected.”

Jamie chewed on that datum as he sipped some more coffee. “Being undetected is the better plan of attack. Knowing the Ratzis, once they spot us, they will swarm our way. We may have a speed advantage, but odds to bodkins they have a numbers advantage.”

“Unless it’s a new colony. Neither us nor the Ratzis have ever been out this way, according to my database. Unless this place is something that only the upper echelons of Ratzi society know about, and we have not interrogated anyone from the upper five tiers yet. They suicide before interrogation,” Hurin reminded Jamie. “Plus, we’ve never been able to CyberTap their complete database. If we could get a read on this, we’ll get one big boost.”

“That’s true, Hurin, but we won’t be able to get close enough to get a good read before they spot us. Looks like it’s hurry up and wait time,” Jamie sighed, sitting back in his chair. “Send a data package back to Camelot and ensure the Meesers are brought up to speed as well.” The Meesers are a member species of the ISA, being developed from a lab rat accident a bit more than a century ago. Little intelligent white mice that have phenomenal genetic memory capability and a penchant for speaking a rather antiquated form of Standard Terrestrial English. What one learns get passed on to his or her descendants.

Several hours later, the Ratzi ship dropped out of stardrive in the target system, fading from the Hurin’s sensors until they got a lot closer. Scans showed no other stardrive traffic within five light-years, so the Hurin slowly moved in to the fringes of the system, attempting to learn what was going on there. Jamie ordered two probes launched, both of which were heavily stealthed and equipped with magic-powered sensors, magic being the one force Ratzis could not screen against, or even comprehend, from all the gathered data on them. Unfortunately for the ISA, good mages with potent offensive and defensive capabilities are extremely scarce. Information gatherers are more common, and the Hurin had three aboard who work in the Sciences department. Within a few hours, data started coming in. Sardon met with Jamie in his office.

“Captain, first reports are in. The Ratzi base is a very small one, essentially the same as an outpost we would leave on a T-type world for research purposes. There is a grounded cutter-type ship there, and the ship we tracked appears to be a supply tender. The planet itself can be considered a T-type, but only just.

“What is quite interesting is that we are detecting traces of magic using life forms inside the station, of a type not in the database. Definitely not native to the planet, either,” Sardon reported.

“Send in the Marines?” Jamie thought out loud.

Sardon called up some overhead pictures of the site. “If we act fast enough. These unknown life forms will be a complication.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing Major Ryudan can’t handle. Let’s get him up here, shall we?” Jamie said before keying the intercom. “Major Ryudan, report to the Captain’s office.”

Author's Note

Chapter One of a new adventure. What sort of trouble will ensue? Stay tuned for further developments!

Chapter Twelve

Just before the expected arrival of the Ratzis, the Mane Six were on the Hurin, in the Forward Lounge, with their designated watcher, Lieutenant Khaball. Twilight Sparkle raised a question that had been bothering her.

“Lieutenant, why is the Admiral setting up this defense-in-depth structure? During planning, I never had the chance to ask.”

Lieutenant Khaball smiled a little. Picking up her tablet, she linked it to the window and started sketching. “What you have not taken into consideration is the sheer speeds that happen while in stardrive, Princess. The Ratzi fleet is moving at one light-year per hour. Just how many kilometers are in a light-year? Do you know what a light-year is?” she asked.

“I know it is a big distance. Just how big is it?” Twilight asked.

Annelise started writing on her tablet, the numbers coming up on the window. "Light travels at three hundred thousand kilometers per second. Sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, twenty-four hours in a day, three hundred sixty-five and one-quarter days in a Standard Terrestrial year. Doing the multiplication shows a light-year is a very large distance. Essentially, one light-year an hour is eight thousand seven hundred sixty-six times lightspeed.

“Now, when going at those speeds, coming OUT of stardrive requires absolute split-second timing and absolute precision navigation. What is generally done is to come out of stardrive at some distance from your destination, get a fix on its location in real space, then hop back into stardrive on a millisecond timer, gradually getting closer to your target. Both Ratzis and the ISA use the same methods in interstellar flight. It’s just safer that way,” Annelise concluded.

Rainbow Dash let out a whistle as she looked up at the numbers. “I thought I was fast…” she said in tones of admiration. “Think you can teach me to fly like you do?”

“Once all this is over, first I’ll take you through real space flight training. When you pass that, then I’ll teach you stardrive. Mind you, I’m an unforgiving teacher. So is space,” Lieutenant Khaball cautioned.

As Rainbow Dash thought, Twilight took the chance to speak. “So, your Admiral is setting one fleet out where you expect the Ratzis to drop out of stardrive and attack there. After that, the second fleet is waiting at the second stopping point, and so on. Now I’m beginning to see.”

Lieutenant Khaball nodded. “Yes. For each ship that the fleets take out, that’s one less we will have to worry about here in Equestrian orbit. The fewer we have to fight, the easier the job will be. I know Princess Celestia has a surprise waiting, but what can it be?”

Twilight and the girls giggled some. “It’s something we take for granted here. Remember, we were told their super magic-killing gun only has a short range, from Equestria to the sun, right?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with the weapon?” Annelise asked, confused.

“Princess Celestia raises and lowers the sun, Princess Luna raises and lowers the moon. Think on that for a moment.” Twilight said.

Annelise still looked confused. “You say that like it’s true,” she said in reply.

“Because it IS!” Pinkie Pie said gleefully.

Annelise thought some more, looking at all six ponies, settling on her friend, Rainbow Dash, who just nodded, a smile on her face. “Oh, my stars and garters…” Annelise said breathlessly, as comprehension landed on her head like a Ratzi kinetic strike from orbit.

“Now you see?” Rainbow Dash said to her friend.

“Princess Luna controls the moon, Princess Celestia controls the sun. The Ratzis are not going to have a good day,” Annelise said firmly.

“We sure hope not,” Twilight said in return.

On the bridge, Captain Somers, Commander Seiryuu and Commander Sardon were at their stations, monitoring the telemetry being sent from the Alliance’s fleet. “Contact in one minute minus,” Captain Somers said quietly, watching the displays.

“Let’s hope our projections are on the mark,” Commander Seiryuu said quietly.

“They usually are, Luke,” Captain Somers replied. Together, the three watched and waited. The displays lit up suddenly, dots, knots and lines of different colors lighting up the tactical displays for about forty-five seconds before the red lights of the Ratzi ships blinked out, coming back on at the Union’s position. Again, red and green lights this time filled the screen, this time for thirty seconds before going out and coming back on at the Gilgamesh’s position. This time, red and blue lights appeared.

“Captain to Princess Twilight. You may begin,” Jamie said into the intercom.

“Starting now,” Twilight replied. Down in the Forward Lounge, Lieutenant Khaball witnessed the six mares rising up, a rainbow nimbus surrounding them before the light lanced out to the Ratzi fleet.

Annelise witnessed some sort of struggle going on, the faces of the mares showing strain. “Found the one… feeling resistance…” Twilight said.

“Which ship is he on?” Annelise asked quickly.

“Little one at back… focusing there… follow rainbow…”

Annelise activated her shipboard comm. “Khaball to Captain! Ratzi leader is in a small ship at the rear of formation. Pass the word, follow the rainbow!” she shouted into the device.

“Confirm receipt of the information, Lieutenant. Passing word to the Commodore,” the Captain answered.

On the Bridge, Jamie promptly relayed the information to the Gilgamesh before taking personal control of the sun guns. “Weapons, prepare all missile batteries and secondary weapons. Any Ratzi small ships approach, fire at will. Let the large ships close in,” he ordered. “Exar shields to full power.”

“Aye, Captain. Missiles and secondary batteries are primed and ready. Fire at will. External Armor at full power.” Lieutenant Commander Hartens acknowledged, sending word to the gunners, activating Exar fields, and patching through fire control information.

Captain Somers primed all five sun guns with spectral class O rounds. “Sardon, lock number two gun on the Ratzi leader’s ship. I want to put a bolt right through his drive section,” he ordered.

“Focusing sensors. Following the rainbow,” Sardon grunted, ignoring the other ships as much as he could. The two Ratzi battlestarships closed in on Equestria, but still had a while to go. Other ships were dicing with the Gilgamesh’s battle group. Occasional flares and flashes could be seen as ships fought and died on both sides.

Once Jamie had a good fix, he rapid-fired six rounds from the sun gun. Spectral type O stars radiate much of their light in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, so the bolts were not as brilliant as the class G bolts fired earlier. “Three hits, Captain. Target craft is no longer under acceleration.”

“Very well, Mister Sardon. Right now, the Ratzis are going according to their plan. Good thing they don’t change the plan very often,” Jamie commented as he reloaded the sun guns with class A shells, in case they were needed later. “Miss Khaball, status report.”

Down in the Forward Lounge, the ponies were struggling to work their magic, then suddenly their struggles ceased, and the rainbow wave of energy shone straight and true, Twilight’s eyes glowing a brilliant white. “Captain, they were having issues before. Now, they are not. Whatever’s happening seems to be going well,” she reported.

“I managed three hits on the leader’s command ship with vampire typesetters, Lieutenant. It’s not going anywhere.”

“Good to hear, Captain. No type O errors, then. Remind me never to go shooting with you. I don’t stand a chance,” Lieutenant Khaball said wryly.

“Knew you had some smarts, Lieutenant. Keep me posted. Captain out.”

It was only a few seconds later when Twilight and the rest lost their rainbow nimbus and settled to the floor. Rainbow Dash looked up at her shipboard friend. “We got him, Annelise! He put up a fight, but we cut him off and he stopped fighting!” she said with excitement.

Twilight Sparkle spoke up. “Whoever or whatever was controlling the Ratzi stopped when the ship lost power. Right now, he’s quite confused, wondering what’s going on, unsure of what to do. From what I understand, they can last about three hours before they will have trouble breathing aboard that ship.”

“Can we stop the fleet?” Lieutenant Khaball asked.

“No. The ships have their orders, to get the magic killer up close to Equestria and fire. With no power, he cannot call them back. They would not listen anyhow. I had a trace about a second commander, but I could not make sense of who or where,” Twilight reported.

“I hope your princess’ plans work,” Lieutenant Khaball said as she tapped her shipboard comm to relay the findings to the Captain.

“So do I, Annelise.”

Captain Somers listened to Lieutenant Khaball’s report before calling Commodore Harkennon. “Have someone put a traction beam on the craft that had the neon rainbow strike it, Commodore. I have been informed the Level One Ratzi aboard has been neutralized,” he reported.

“Good to hear, Captain. Nice shooting with the sun guns from a million kays out.”

“Just have to apply some good old Kentucky windage, as my father says. How goes the rest of the battle?”

“Proceeding according to plan, Captain. We’re picking off the small fry, letting the bigger ships come in almost unimpeded. We fight them in to a hundred thousand, then we back off and let the Princesses do their thing,” the Commodore said, reflecting her worry.

“If the Princesses have something in mind, I would not doubt them at all. Just pay attention and have your recorders set,” Jamie replied. “Where you want me?”

“Come on out and join the party, if you want. You handle any fish in this sector,” the Commodore told him, a patch of space being highlighted on his tactical display. “Just make sure you get to a hundred thousand kays out or more. Other than that, have fun!”

“You got it, Commodore! Tascheter out.”

Jamie disconnected from that call and ordered the helm to take the ship out of Equestria orbit out to the battle. One little blip of the stardrive had them in position, and the Hurin Tascheter displayed the fact that it was an exploration CRUISER and had the armaments to prove it. Before the Ratzi battlestarships and some cruisers passed the hundred-thousand-kilometer mark, the Hurin had accounted for two ship kills of its own and assists in two others. The arrival of the greater portions of the Union’s and Alliance’s fleets made the Gilgamesh’s battle that much easier. Jamie and the others all watched as the Ratzi battlestarships, and what was left of their fleet, moved into firing position.

Of ninety ships the Ratzis started with, only fourteen were left to move into Equestrian orbit, those being the two battlestarships, three cruisers, five destroyers, one scout and three noncombatants. As the battlestarships pivoted, bringing the magic-killing gun to bear, Jamie leaned over in his chair and said to Commander Seiryuu, “Now you’re going to see what the Princesses have tucked up their metaphorical sleeves, Luke.”

“If it is what I think it is, it’s going to drive me to drink. Not that I do not believe in magic, it’s the sheer scale of the operation that stuns me,” Luke said, his eyes on the large bridge monitor.

“Believe me when I say I understand, Luke.”

Author's Note

Princess Celestia controls the sun, Princess Luna controls the moon... give me a break. That can't be real, right? Orbital dynamics dictate otherwise, right?

How much do you wanna bet, pallie?

Chapter Two

It was a bright, sunny morning at North Shore, a mining town in the northern part of Equestria, about a hundred or so miles from the Crystal Empire. Two fishing boats were out on the Great Lake, the shift in the mine had just went down the shafts to dig out iron ore, the smelter already up and running, three pegasi aloft to ensure the smoke from the smelter stack stayed away from the town. Farmers were up, tending their fields and flocks. The school bell rang, summoning foals to class. All in all, another wonderful day. Too bad it was not going to last.

“What’s that?” Fair Winds, the junior member of the pegasus weather squad asked, pointing with a hoof towards a light in the sky, off to the east and north.

“I don’t know,” Altostratus, the second member of the weather trio said, looking at the light as it slowly brightened in the morning sky. “What do you think, Rain?” she asked the leader of the squad, Rain Maker.

The senior pegasus watched as a sound started to become audible, a sound like distant thunder, but it grew louder, and it didn’t stop. “Trouble, more than likely. Fair, head for South Shore and spread the word. Somethings not right here.”

“On it, Rain!” the just-out-of-fillyhood mare said, turning on a wingtip and heading off as fast as she could, which was quite fast, her cutie mark that of a cloud being blown by a wind.

“What should we do now, Rain?” Altostratus asked as the light resolved into a large semi-sculpted metal box, noise coming from it. Ponies in the town were coming outside, looking for the source of the noise.

“Watch and report, Alto. Let’s see what it is up to.”

The two mares headed up some more as the box landed on the shore of the Great Lake, the thundering noise fading. Ponies from town came out to look at it as it sat there, the metal pinging quietly as it cooled. The townsponies could see black spidery-looking marks on the skin of the metal craft, but it was unlike anything they had seen before.

For about fifteen minutes, the box just sat there, doing nothing as the townsponies gathered around the unusual object. Then, a door opened on one side of the box, a side door. Standing inside were four beings that walked upright yet were wearing black armor and helmets over their heads, helmets with long pointed snouts. The four beings pointed sticks they were carrying, and a brilliant white light sprang from the ends of the sticks, four ponies dropping silently to the ground.

The townsfolk on that side of the box started to run in panic. The four beings fired again, and four more ponies fell. A unicorn guards pony fired back with her horn, but the blast not only had no effect, she became the ninth pony to fall. The nine ponies were dragged into the box by the strange beings, the door closed, and the thunder started again before the box lifted off the ground, heading up into the sky, soon disappearing from sight.

Later that day, the four Princesses met in Canterlot to hear about the incident in North Shore. Several ponies delivered their eyewitness reports, a special train run having been arranged to bring the ponies to Canterlot Castle. After the debriefing, which included projected visuals from a unicorn filmographer who was there, the film needing developing, but Arriflex could project what she saw with her magic, the Princesses considered the reports.

“Whatever they are, they must be tracked down and severely punished for taking our citizens!” Luna shouted, clearly upset by the reports.

“First thing we have to do is find them,” Twilight said in reply. “Rain Maker and Altostratus followed that box as far as they could before they had to turn back. That box just kept going higher and higher. Any ideas?”

“Sister, the night skies are yours. Anything unusual that you have not known before?” Celestia asked Luna, using her level tones to try to calm down the agitated alicorn.

Luna stopped in mid-pace, a thoughtful look on her face. She looked up at the ceiling, her wings fluttering slightly. “I do feel something… two somethings…” she whispered, her horn flickering. “One good, one… a void. The good know magic, but not like we do. The void has our little ponies.”

“What do you mean by a void?” Twilight asked.

“Beings that do not know magic, do not know love, do not know joy. All they know is how to take. Magic, to them, is nothing,” Luna whispered, her eyes looking into the distance, seeing something nopony else could.

“What about the others?” asked Cadance.

Luna’s face broke into a thin smile. “The others are many in number, of many different types. They know of magic, but they do not use it like we do. They know love, but they also know hate. They hate the ones of the void and are out to remove them all from the universe. Their hate is given with just cause. Their love is given more freely than their hate,” she said in a whisper before shaking violently as she came out of her trance, her horn flashing once before going out.

“Sister, are you all right?” Celestia asked.

Luna nodded as she sat down. “I will be. That seeing was very difficult. Both parties are very far away. The void folk will try to return, but the others will stop them, for now. They will also return our little ponies. When they arrive, we should welcome them.”

“How will we know when they come close? How can we contact them?” Twilight asked.

Celestia answered that question. “They will call us, when they figure out a way. We will not have much time to prepare, but we will be fortunate that the good folk will arrive first. Let us welcome them when they arrive.

“Twilight, you will be the main point of contact with the others. They will want to offer friendship, and who better to respond to that than you?”

“What sort of plans should I make?” Twilight said, her eyes widening as she realized the import of Celestia’s words. “What sort of ponies are they? How can…”

Her rant was cut off by a raised hoof from Celestia. “Easy, Twilight. The others want to be friends. What can be said about friendship?”

“Friendship is easy when both sides want it,” Twilight said.

“See what we can learn from them, and them from us. After we meet, life will never be the same again.”

Author's Note

This is what the ponies saw.

Chapter Three

“Cutter Encanto to Tascheter. Mission accomplished, no friendly casualties. Nine lifeforms that were Ratzi captives are aboard. Need translation assistance. Memory cores from Ratzi ships are aboard as well. You are free to destroy the base,” Major Atman Ryudan, Commander of the Hurin’s Marines reported as they lifted off the planet’s surface.

“Tascheter to Encanto. Message received, will pick you up before closing in on the Ratzi base. What is the condition of the former captives?” asked George Jurgens, the Ulrongh communications officer.

“They are all alive, but in some distress about their captivity. We’re trying to calm them down some, but communication with the species is difficult. They are intelligent and aware, but their language is not one any of us are familiar with. Fortunately, we can get through to them with my empath that we are willing to take them home, once we find where it is. Suggest Science Department be ready, along with Medical, when we arrive. Prepare a room for them to be kept in for a while, and have lots of vegetable matter ready for them,” Major Ryudan reported.

“Understood, Encanto. Will pick you up in three-zero minutes. Tascheter out.”

“Encanto out.”

Major Ryudan, a red dracoform, put down the microphone and turned in his chair to look at his exec, Master Gunnery Sergeant Mudd, a Saganized human with over thirty years’ experience in the Marines. “Opinions, Gunny?” he asked.

Gunny Mudd, a blocky human woman with reddish hair just starting to go silver, checked around the compartment. The only other beings there were the pilot and scanner operator. Assured there were no marines present, she allowed herself a small smile. “We caught them damn Ratzis completely off guard. Coming in on batteries alone kept them from detecting the zipper, and we got our zipper lock deployed before they even knew we were there. Well done on all hands.”

“What about the prisoners they had? That is unlike the Ratzis to even take prisoners, Connie,” Atman pointed out.

“That is true. It seems to me that there is something about the species the Rats are curious about. Once we go through the memory cores, maybe we’ll find out why and where.”

“That’s why we have a big science staff aboard, Gunny. Let them figure it out.”

After the Encanto was loaded back into its docking tube, the Hurin then went over to the site of the former Ratzi encampment. Once in orbit over the base, Captain Somers extended one of the five primary weapons mounts and took aim.

“Weapon locked on target, Captain,” reported the Weapons Officer, Lieutenant Commander Hartens.

Captain Somers confirmed weapons lock in his targeting reticle. Satisfied, he thumbed a button.

A shell the size of a 50 caliber round entered the breech of the gun. It then released a blast of concentrated sunlight harvested from a G-class star. The blast vaporized the atmosphere in its path, the encampment, and ten meters of soil before winking out. “Scratch one Ratzi base,” Captain Somers said with satisfaction. “Stand down from Action Stations. Secure all weapons.”

“Secure weapons and stand down from action stations, aye,” Weps responded, shutting down the one sun gun.

Captain Somers let the firing panel retract into his command console before getting up. “I’ll be down in Sciences. Lieutenant Khaball, you have the conn,” he said.

“I have the conn, aye,” Lieutenant Khaball replied, getting up from the helm and allowing one of her juniors to take over. “Helm, take us to the L-2 point behind the planet’s moon and go to full stealth,” Jamie heard as he left the bridge. He has a well-trained crew, and they show him that every day.

In Sciences, which is down in the lower tetrahedron of the Hurin’s forward hull section, Jamie caught up with Commander Sardon, who was supervising the reading of one of the two Ratzi moletronic computer cores. “Find anything yet, Sardon?”

“Nothing new so far, Captain. We’re confirming what we already knew about the Ratzis, but as of yet, we have not found the purpose of why they are out here. The one ship we followed here was indeed a supply ship, sent out here to outfit and expand the station,” Sardon said, keeping a straight face, which is usual for him.

“Have you read the other ship’s memory core yet?” Jamie asked.

“Not yet, Captain. I decided to do the tougher core first. I will keep you informed. Going to check on the former captives next?”

“Thinking about it. Chief Lovell working on the translation matrix?” Jamie asked.

“Knowing her, she should be about finished by now. Say what you may about her, she’s good at her job,” Sardon said, his eyes on the readouts of the CyberTap machine that is busy scanning the Ratzi memory core.

“Very good at it, or else she would not be here. I’ll be looking at the passengers.”

“I’ll call if I find something significant, Captain.”

Jamie went aft, out of the dual tetrahedron forward section of the ship to the rectangular block aft section, which contained the hangar bays, ten of the twelve ZPE generators, the main rotolinear drive system and other pieces of the craft that could not be stowed forward. He looked via camera into the passenger holding area from the cargo officer’s office. What he saw was startling.

There were nine small horses inside the compartment, colorful horses. Three had horns on their heads, two had wings, and four had neither. All of them but one had some sort of mark on their hind quarters, the smallest of the horses being the one without a mark. One of the ship’s doctors, Lieutenant Shylock, a Myrka gamma-caste, was inside doing a scan of one of the horned horses. “Hurin, where is Doctor Harris?” Jamie asked the computer.

“Doctor Harris is waiting outside the passenger’s compartment, Captain. Apparently, they do not like being in his presence. When they see him, they go into some sort of panic mode, so he asked Doctor Shylock to handle the exams,” Hurin advised his captain.

“Okay, so they are sensitive to vampires. One thing to remember. How is Chief Lovell doing with the translation matrix?”

“About ten minutes more, she says, then she can try it,” Hurin told Jamie. “They reacted well to her, and she to them.”

“Okay, then. I won’t rush her. Let me go out and talk to Doctor Harris.”

Jamie left the office and caught up with his Chief Medical Officer, who was looking intently at a portable display pad. “Anything interesting, Lee?” he asked.

Lee looked up from his pad, his pale blue eyes focusing on Jamie’s intense green. “Quite a bit, actually. They are all mammalian, able to handle terrestrial type foodstuffs without any difficulty,” he reported in the cultured British accent he inherited from his mother, who was formerly Queen Alice of Great Britain before her death and resurrection as a vampire. “They also incorporate magic into their biology and are able to use it in type-specific ways.”

“Oh, really? Do you think they have anything to do with the star magic source some light-years further on?”

“Could very well be, Jamie. I don’t have any records of that star magic node, so I cannot say for sure, but I’m willing to bet you could be right. For instance, the winged ones can fly, the plain horses have remarkable strength and stamina, and the horned ones can channel power through their horns. What they can do with it, I don’t know yet.”

“How did they react to you?” Jamie asked.

“They all cowered into a corner once I entered the room and would not move until I backed out and closed the door. That’s why Shylock is in there now. I suggest we keep vampires and Damphyr away from them until we do some more research,” Doctor Harris advised.

“Well, once we talk to them, maybe we can get some answers from them and figure out our next move, like taking them home, once we figure out where it is,” Jamie said quietly, his brow furrowed in thought.

His thoughts were interrupted by a bosun’s whistle. “Bridge to Captain Somers.”

Jamie went to the nearest comm panel and pushed a button. “This is the Captain. Go ahead, Bridge.”

“Captain, Officer of the Deck. We’re picking up a Ratzi ship trace at extreme range, velocity two point seven, apparently heading direct for here. ETA about two hours,” Lieutenant Khaball told her captain.

“I’ll be up presently. Somers out,” he said before pushing the button again to break the connection.

“Oh, great. More company coming,” Doctor Harris muttered. “and I don’t have enough biscuits made.”

“I don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse, oh master of the galley smoke alarm…” Jamie said with a small smile as he headed for the nearest lift.

“Status report, Ms. Khaball,” Captain Somers said as he entered the Bridge.

“Captain, the Ratzi ship is approaching, but the course is not from Ratzi-held space. It’s coming in from the center of the cluster. I’ve already ordered Engineering to ensure the batteries are fully charged and have entered hush mode. ETA is about two hours, if they maintain course and speed,” the yellow Baastari said as she rose up from the command chair.

“Good plan. Any idea on what type of ship is coming in?” Jamie asked.

The sensor operator, ST1 Hawklyn, a Korang, handled that. “Won’t know for at least an hour, sir. It’s too far out for a good read, and the star mana source behind it is putting up some fuzz. Could be one of several types, but fine tuning’s going to have to wait.”

“Do a narrow scan as that ship comes in. This is an exploration cruiser, not the destroyers you have been serving on, Petty Officer Hawklyn. Passive only,” Jamie ordered.

“Narrow scan, bearing three-three-two plus twenty-eight. Will do, Captain,” the orange-furred Korang said as she turned to her panel. Korangs bear similarities to Earth orangutans, like their system-mates the Ulrongh bore semblances to chimpanzees, but both species shared the bulbous head with bulging eyes their creator species had engineered into them millennia in the past.

“And now, it’s hurry up and wait time…” muttered the Chief of the Boat, Master Chief Fire Control Technician Harry Bates, a human colonial from Proxima.

“Exactly that, COB.” Jamie said, nodding in agreement.

It took ten minutes for ST1 Hawklyn to prepare a report. “Captain, from what I can see now, what is out there is not a warship. Not a full warship, that is. It has weapons, but the power level is too low for even a Ratzi destroyer. A scout vessel, maybe?”

“Not bad, Hawklyn. Care to place a wager on that?” Jamie asked.

Hawklyn raised a hand. “No way, Captain! I may have only been aboard a few weeks, but I know not to bet with you, sir! Let’s just see what comes out.”

“Knew you were smart, Petty Officer Hawklyn. That’s why you’re here,” Jamie said. Being as senior as he is, along with being well-connected, Jamie does not hand-pick his crew, but he screens everyone Personnel sends his way, and if there is something he does not like, he has said crew member diverted elsewhere.

While waiting for the Ratzi to close, Jamie took steps to be ready for their arrival. He had all the sun guns loaded with class B shells, had the Exar fields on standby, and waited for them to come. Once the Ratzis closed to within one-half light-year, Jamie ordered the ZPE generators shut down. As the Ratzi neared, sensors got a better fix on its breakout point. As the ship came out of stardrive, it was met by five tenth-second pulses of concentrated spectral class B solar radiation, riddling its drive and power sections with holes, rendering it powerless. The cutters Encanto and Osborn headed out, with a half-squad of Marines aboard each, while the Hurin stood overwatch, sun guns reloaded.

The boarding party went as expected, the ship turning out to be some sort of science craft, not a destroyer. The Ratzi crew fell rapidly, most of the crew not being warriors, but scientists, with two Marine casualties, none serious. The computer’s memory cores were recovered and brought back for analysis, while the Hurin took the Ratzi ship under traction as some of the scientists went over what was aboard, prior to its being dropped into the star. The best way to hide one’s presence is to leave no evidence, after all.

Before releasing the ship, Captain Somers got a preliminary report on what the ship was carrying, mainly some sort of sample mix, along with a pile of written data, but done in a language nobody on board the Hurin recognized. All samples and data were removed to the Hurin before the ship was dropped, to coast into the star and vaporize.

While waiting for Sciences to finalize their reports, Jamie went back to the horse’s holding area. Chief Lovell gave him the translator she had programmed. “This should work, but remember, there’s going to be gaps in it until we can learn more,” the rather rotund human mage advised the Captain.

“Advice noted, Chief. Wish me luck,” Jamie said as he clipped the small box to his uniform suit’s lapel.

“You have it, Captain,” she said as the door opened and Jamie went into the room to face the horses.

Jamie looked over the assembled group of colorful little horses. “Hello, all. I’m Captain Jamie Somers, commanding the exploration cruiser Hurin Tascheter. I would like to take you all home, but we need to find your home before we bring you back,” he said in level tones, the box talking slightly out of synch with his words in a language he didn’t know.

One of the horned ponies took a couple of steps forward. “You will to home take us?” she asked, the box speaking STE out of synch with the mare’s words.

Jamie got down on one knee, the better to bring his head down closer to the horse’s level. At two meters in height, he towered over the little horses. “Yes, I will take you home. We have to find it first. The ones who took you are of a species known as Ratzi. They take without consideration of who or what is there. We have been fighting them for years.”

The horned horse’s horn glowed a deep blue. The glow passed over Jamie for a few seconds before fading. “This one speaks true. Intent to bring us home is true,” the green and blue horse said to the other horses before turning her attention on Jamie. “I am Corporal Steadfast of the Solar Guard. The Empty Ones dragged us from our home with some sort of magic that put us all to sleep, magic I could not feel. The Empty Ones were curious, but also afraid. Why is that?”

“What you call the Empty Ones we call Ratzis. They do not use magic, cannot use magic, cannot defend against magic, and are afraid of magic. You were more than likely stunned and brought for examination to find out how you work, Corporal. Now, what I want to know is, are you all right staying here for now? Is there anything you need, and now we know the translation matrix is functioning, I will have others come in to see to your comfort and see if you know anything that can help us get you home,” Jamie asked and stated.

“Yes, there is. Some more food would be good. Do you eat fish aboard? The pegasi need some fish in their diet to maintain health” Steadfast replied.

“We can do that,” Jamie said, standing up. “I will see that you get more supplies, and others will be in to talk with each of you.”

‘Please, do not send the Dark One back. He is anti-life, and his presence is frightening, even to me, a veteran guard,” Steadfast said with a bit of a plea.

“The word you are looking for is ‘vampire’, and Doctor Harris will not harm you in any way. He is my Chief Medical Officer, and if his presence disturbs you, I will request he watch you from a distance until we find some way to make it so he could interact with you without fright. Acceptable?”

Steadfast nodded vigorously, her mane and ears flapping some. “Yes, Captain. Even thinking about a vampire still makes me nervous.”

“Stand down as much as you feel safe, Corporal. I have to get back to my job now. Thank you for not lashing out at us.” Jamie said as he backed to the door.

“You are not the ones who took us, nor do you mean us harm. Stunning you without cause would not be according to rules laid out by the Princesses,” Steadfast said.

“Princesses? Now, that is interesting. Others will find out more from you,” Jamie said, bowing slightly to the ponies before going through the door to the compartment. Once back in the corridor, he removed the translator and gave it back to Chief Lovell. “It works well enough, Chief. Find out what foods they like, and have some fish brought down. Report to Commander Sardon or Commander Seiryuu your findings at end of watch.”

“Aye, Captain,” the chief said as she took the translator.

Captain Somers’ next stop was the main science lab, to get a report from Commander Sardon. “Apparently, the Ratzi commander had enough time to wipe the main computer’s moletronic memory core. However, he (all Ratzis being males) did not get to the navigation banks in time. We know where that scout ship was, but not what the orders are. I still have some of the science records to go through yet,” the red-brown Sasquatch told his captain and long-time friend. They have worked together for fifty years and on four starships together.

“Let me guess, this ship came from deep within the cluster, close to the star mana source?” Jamie asked.

“I cannot say for sure, but that is the likely way to bet. I’ve sent the coordinates up to Navigation. At full power, we can be there within an hour, at the risk of letting any Ratzi within thirty light-years know there is a ship out here.”

“That’s a good observation, Sardon. We’ll head there, but at about five per hour. Our sensors won’t be blinded by our own noise that way. Once we get close, we can camp in-system and send some probes out to look what we can find,” Jamie thought out loud.

“That, and we can see what the Star Elves can sense, closer to the node.”

Jamie smiled. “Good! Now, we have a bit of a goal, so, let’s go see!”

“It’s what we’re out here for, Jamie,” Sardon said as Jamie left the lab, heading for the Bridge.

Author's Note

Okay, scratch those Ratzis. Did they get word out about their find? Are more coming? the answers will be found in upcoming chapters!

Chapter Four

Princess Luna tossed some in her bed. Ever since the kidnapping in northern Equestria, she had felt restless, scanning the skies at night for any signs of the Intruders or the Helpers, but not really finding anything yet. Her sleeplessness was obvious to her sister and to Twilight, Cadance having returned to the Crystal Empire after the initial conference. Their support was a big help, but it did not completely ease her agitation.

Luna closed her eyes again, humming slightly, trying to relax herself enough to get at least a little sleep. The humming helped, it being a lullaby she remembered from when she was a foal. She had achieved sleep when she became aware of a presence watching her, a presence that conveyed both respect and curiosity. Quickly, she made a dreamscape of being on the moon, standing there, watching, ears perked, eyes looking about.

She heard a distant voice speaking, a voice barely above a whisper. “Can you hear me, my Lady?”

“I can now. Who are you?” Luna asked.

An image appeared in front of Luna, an image of a bipedal figure that had to look up to look in her eyes, with large ears, long black hair, and sparkling violet eyes, wearing some sort of neck-to-toe outfit of a dark blue color, relieved by a little silver bar on each collar tab and two multi-colored strips over the left breast. “I am Lieutenant J.G. Velvet, of the Star Elves, currently attached to the exploration cruiser Hurin Tascheter. I had to wait until we were close enough to the star magic node before I could call out to you. Do you have some missing citizens that were taken a few days ago?” the image asked.

“Yes! What do you know of them? Are they all right?” Luna asked, both concerned and relieved.

“We have them aboard, and want to return them to you, intact and unharmed. Corporal Steadfast is to be commended for keeping her discipline while a captive of the Ratzis. She is a good source of information. Limited, but we don’t pry much. Secrets are secrets, and we have no need to know all of them, just what was needed to ensure the health of the former prisoners and finding out who to contact. Since you are asleep, you were the easiest for me to find,” Velvet told Luna. “We are always looking for friends to join the Inter-Stellar Alliance. Currently, we have forty species as members of the Inter-Stellar Alliance. May your species make it forty-one, if you so choose.”

“You make an interesting offer, Lieutenant Velvet. That is not my decision to make now. Others will have to be consulted before I agree or not,” Luna told the Star Elf.

“Of course, Princess. For now, know that we are on our way, and once we get close enough, we will wait until you call me before we decide how to bring your lost citizens to you. We have time. Now, maybe you can sleep easier. I can feel your relief,” Velvet said with an easy smile.

“Yes, I have your signature, and I will be able to find you again. One of the alicorns will be in contact with you, once some decisions have been made. I cannot say when that will be, though.”

Velvet’s image relaxed some. “Of course, Princess. The longer you take, the more time we will have to learn about your species. Less chance of making a mistake that way. I look forward to your call, or you can contact my twin sister Silk. I will let her know your pattern, in case I’m off duty at the time. One of us will be awake and aware, listening for your call. Do have a good day.” The image bowed gracefully before fading from Luna’s vision.

Luna stood there, thinking as she looked around at the moonscape before coming to a decision. She forced herself to wake up, clean up and rush down to speak with Celestia about what she had learned, despite it being noontime. Twilight was summoned shortly after to be informed as well. Their meeting lasted through dinner well into the night before they broke up, Celestia to get some sleep, Luna to run Night Court, and Twilight to prepare.

Meanwhile, the crew of the Tascheter had parked in the Oort cloud surrounding the star system that contained the node. The star system was very peculiar in many respects, the main part being that the system primary is a brown dwarf star, which contained the star magic node, while a very small bright star circled the planet, along with a moon. Commander Seiryuu’s first thought was that the instruments were giving false readings, but then he witnessed both the sun and moon move extremely rapidly in their orbits at one point, then stop. After that happened, Luke saved the readings and his impressions of what he had witnessed, proceeded to his stateroom and opened his safe, pulling out a hundred-fifty-year-old bottle of scotch his grandfather had given him when he graduated Officers Candidate School, with instructions to only drink from it when he really, truly needed a reality check. The bottle was nearly full, only two shot’s worth having been consumed in fifteen years. The empty space in the bottle doubled in volume within half an hour.

Captain Somers let his crew work, only occasionally looking in on the ponies, as he found they preferred to be called. Reports he was given included the capabilities of each of the three types of pony, a summary of their history, and a very detailed report about their kidnapping by the Ratzis. He was considering that information when he received a call from Lieutenant J.G. Velvet, detailing her brief chat with the Princess. He agreed that both Velvet and Silk keep a listening watch out for a call from the Princesses, and until then they will hang back and observe. After getting the report, he got up and headed aft, to where the ponies were being kept. Along the way, he checked out the guest quarters available on deck four forward upper.

At the guest’s room, Jamie found he had walked in on a rather lively conversation between the ponies and about ten of his crew, of all rates. The conversations paused when he came in. “I want to inform our guests that we have communicated with Princess Luna. We are awaiting a call back from the Princesses as to exactly where and how you are to be returned to your homes.”

There was a brief pause as the translation matrix did its work, changing STE to the pony’s language. A loud cheer went up from all nine, most of them stomping their forehooves into the deck plating, something Jamie understood as applause, going by their expressions. Corporal Steadfast then walked up to the Captain.

“Captain Somers, that is the best news we could receive. I know that deciding take time, so let the time be taken. The Princesses will want to know what to do when we come home, and that takes a little time. We are content to wait here. Your crew is exceptional. You have our thanks and gratitude for all the kindness you have shown us,” she told the Captain.

“Corporal Steadfast, I am in the business of making friends with unknown species and bringing them in to join our Alliance,” he told the unicorn. “I’ve done it three times already. Ponies will be the fourth, in my seventy years of service.”

Steadfast looked up at Jamie and smiled. “Nice to know we have been rescued by professionals.” Everyone in the room laughed at her words and tones, including the Captain.

“Professionals we are, Corporal. One question- would you like to remain together here, or would you like to stay in guest staterooms until the time comes to return you home? I grant you all the freedom of the ship, with one caveat. When first entering an area of the ship you have not been to, make sure you have an escort, to tell you what is safe and what is not. Agreeable?” Jamie asked.

Steadfast nodded immediately after the translation. “I can agree to that, Captain. As for going to separate rooms, I would suggest we remain here. It will be easier on you and your crew, and we feel better together. Also, anyone who wishes to visit may do so, during the daytime hours,” she said.

“Done and done, as my mother says. Tours of the ship are available on request. I’ll just make sure anyone who guides you has a translator with them. A good day to you all, back to work for me,” Jamie said with a happy look on his face.

“Ponies work from sun to sun, but the paperwork is never done, as my Lieutenant says. She must be up to her plot in paperwork detailing our departure,” Steadfast said wryly.

Jamie laughed a little. “Looks like some things are common among all species. Many times, I have heard that line, from many species. Until later, everyone,” Jamie said as he took his leave.

Captain Somers spent the next few hours in his office off the Bridge, catching up on his paperwork before reading reports. After about four hours, Sardon came in. “Have some news, Captain.”

“Good news or bad news, Sardon?” Jamie asked once the door was shut.

“Up to you to decide, Jamie. I’ve gone through the science databases we took from the Ratzi ship. They stumbled across the world by accident, and were intrigued by the use of magic here,” the big sasquatch said, taking a seat across from Jamie. “They have reported in to the Ratschancellory, but I found no word if there was any reply.” ‘Ratschancellory’ being the word the ISA has given to the Ratzi high command.

“So, for all we know, there could be a fleet coming this way, to obliterate the world just because there is magic here,” Jamie mused.

“Yes. The Ratzis hate and fear magic, because they can’t use it or defend against it. I suggest sending out probes around the cluster, scanning outwards along the usual lines of approach, so we can get some warning if they do,” Sardon advised.

Jamie started working on his desk console. “Two cutters with probes. Each can carry four. I’ll have two set in unusual places just in case the Ratzis try to do an end around,” he said as he wrote.

Sardon snorted. “Since when do the Ratzis do something original?”

“They found this place, yes? How did that come about?” Jamie asked, not looking up from his console.

“You have a point, Jamie,” Sardon sighed.

Captain Somers sent two of the ship’s four cutters, the Dysart and the Invergordon, out to seed probes at the edges of the cluster. The probes have much better range than ship’s sensors, because they are not blinded by self-noise. They also have directional transmitters, so they can report in when they detect a Ratzi ship’s power intake. The cutters are twenty-meter-long, five-meter diameter bullet-nosed cylinders, capable of stardrive, outfitted with a beam weapon and Exar fields, and have a duration of several months with a minimal crew. At their top speed of three light-years per hour, seeding the probes will take about two days. In the meantime, he, and the ship, waited for a communication from the planet. He was prepared to wait a while.

Lieutenant J.G. Silk was on duty, visiting with the ponies when she felt a tickle at the back of her mind. Excusing herself from the ponies she was chatting with, she sought out a quiet spot to compose herself and felt along the line of contact, using her star magic senses. She could feel it was a pony trying to contact her, so, she opened contact. “This is Silk. I know you are there,” she whispered.

“I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship of Equestria. We are ready to have our citizens returned. How can we do that?” she heard in her head.

“The how is easy, Princess Twilight. My lead question would be where to do so. Do you have maps at hoof, so I can figure out how to accomplish this?” Silk whispered, more as a concentration focus than for any real need to speak.

“Of course, Silk. If they can be brought back to their home town, that would be appreciated, but we would understand if you would want to meet with us and do the return at the same time in the same place.”

“That decision would be more up to Captain Somers than myself. I can ask him. What is your preference exactly? We can do both in series, visiting you for the initial diplomatic visit, then bring the ponies home,” Silk stated, while also trying to wake up her twin sister through their mental link. Sometimes, it would not work, especially if one or the other was sleeping deeply.

“That would be great, to do them like you said, in series. Ready for the maps?”

“Ready!” Twilight pictured the maps and Silk asked some questions about them, where on the planet the country was, where the cities were, and when would be a good time. The two chatted for about an hour, getting positions fixed and directions set before Silk asked for an hour’s pause to discuss matters with the Captain. The request was granted, and the two synchronized clocks before breaking contact. Silk immediately went to the Captain’s cabin for discussions, stopping only to pick up a visualizer, a device that would enable Silk to project images she had in her mind onto a screen and into Hurin’s mainframe.

Captain Somers was immediately receptive and looked over the maps Silk projected into the visualizer. Their talks soon involved Commanders Seiryuu and Sardon and lasted until Twilight called back. In this case, Silk acted as a conduit, allowing Twilight to speak, hear and see through her to the senior officers aboard. That discussion did go on until Silk tired, a good four hours plus. In that time, the senior officers decided how, where and when to return the ponies. It was decided to do so the next day, early morning Canterlot time, using a cutter to bring the ponies back. Permission was granted to put the Hurin in orbit over the planet, which was done soon after the meeting broke up. Commander Seiryuu went to arrange for a cutter and to move the ship, while Captain Somers went to tell the ponies they were about to head home.

Author's Note

Okay, the captives head home. Time for the diplomacy to begin.

Thanks be to Goldfur for the brown dwarf model of the Equestrian solar system. Only one that really makes sense to me, too. Damn astrophysics lessons...

Chapter Five

The Princesses were waiting, along with a crowd of ponies, at a piece of land at the foot of Canterlot Mountain shortly after sunrise, awaiting the arrival of the Visitors. A special run of the Crystal Express was done that night, so relatives of the captives could be present as well for the landing.

Twilight was in communion with Velvet, who was riding with the former captives, as well as being linked with Captain Somers, who was riding forward with the cutter’s pilot. “Estimated time of arrival is five minutes, Princess Twilight,” Jamie said quietly. Not being a mage nor a telepath, he could not quite communicate mentally without vocalizing, at least not without great effort.

“We’re here, ready and waiting, Captain,” Twilight replied as she heard Rainbow Dash shout “There it is!”, pointing a little to the left of the risen sun.

“Please pardon the noise, Princess. An unavoidable side effect of the drive system,” Jamie said as thrust was increased, the rumble and shudder inside the cutter Encanto getting louder as well.

“So you have warned us, Captain. That’s why we chose this clearing at the foot of the mountain. Surely your rotolinear drive cannot be as loud as you claim it to be!” Twilight replied.

Jamie chuckled slightly. “Oh, yeah? That’s what you think!” was his answer. He then focused on watching the pilots work. Good a time as any to supervise them, what with a first landing on an unknown planet, without navigation aids. Jamie was prepared to jump in as needed, but he was pretty sure it would not be necessary.

Less than a minute later, an irregular thumping was not so much heard as felt by the waiting ponies. The thumping increased in both volume and pitch as the cutter closed in, shedding its orbital speed via dynamic thrust as well as some aerobraking. Some of the ponies tried to cover their ears as the Encanto came to a smooth landing in the cleared space.

Twilight was told by Velvet that all was being made ready, to please wait a moment more. As she passed the word, a large hatch on the side of the cutter began rolling up, as a ramp extended to the ground. Atop the ramp stood Corporal Steadfast, flanked by Captain Somers. Lieutenant Velvet was actually astride Corporal Steadfast’s back, her much smaller size, compared to the Captain’s two-meter-tall figure, making the bareback riding possible.

Slowly, the three figures came down off the ship, stopping at the foot of the ramp before touching the ground with their feet, the rest of the North Point ponies behind. Giving a court-formal bow, Jamie said in slow, measured tones, “Princesses of Equestria, I, Captain Sir Jamie Brennan Somers, have returned your citizens as promised! May this be only the beginning of a most wonderful relationship between our cultures!”

After a brief pause for the translation to take place, Princess Celestia spoke. “Consider yourselves welcome to Equestria, Captain Sir Jamie Brennan Somers! You have Our thanks for returning our citizens from the grasp of the Empty Ones! Please, descend from your craft and join us!”

Without hesitation, Captain Somers, Lieutenant J.G. Velvet astride Corporal Steadfast, and the other victims of Ratzi action descended the ramp, followed by the rest of the ten-being contact team, all wearing translators. Once down, introductions were made all around, and the contact party broke up, Princesses Celestia and Luna flying back to the castle, Princess Cadance leading the former captives to meet with their families, and Princess Twilight and her friends approaching and mixing with the crew of the Encanto.

Before the cutter left late that day, Captain Somers left one gift behind: a set of communications gear, so groundside could coordinate with the ship in orbit without the need to overstress the Star Elves. A larger, more formal welcoming party was planned in a week’s time, at the Palace, to officially welcome the new friends from deep space, and to allow both sides to prepare the necessary paperwork involved in making formal First Contact with the ISA. Offers were made and accepted to both bring ponies up to tour the ship, and to allow parties to come down to visit the planet, but such were deferred for a minimum of two days, to allow for plans to be made on both sides.

That evening, Captain Somers had a long discussion with his commanding officer, Admiral Gordon Chambers, back at Fleet headquarters in the artificial planetoid Camelot, in orbit around Epsidani Three. Admiral Chambers was not only his boss, he was technically Jamie’s nephew, Gordon being a son of Jamie’s eldest sister Sophia. There is a great disparity in their ages, Jamie being about ninety while Gordon is pushing a hundred and seventy.

“I’m going to go with your feelings there, Jamie. You’ve already proven your capabilities in First Contact scenarios, getting knighted after finding the Acuna forty years ago and getting them into the ISA,” he said after the technical details were hammered out.

“Not to forget the Gelatinoids a decade before that, and the Mephit six years after,” Jamie added. “I’ve resisted anything more, because groundside politics bore me. I’ll let Dad be a Saganian Duke, with Dylan being his seneschal. Staying in one place for that long will get dull.”

“As you’ve said now for the past few decades, Jamie. I’ll have the Gilgamesh head that way in three days’ time. No real rush yet, and I’ll have them bring along a full diplomatic team. It’s putting one together that’s going to be hard,” Gordon said.

“I know who would be great for the job, except for the fact that she’s a vampire,” Jamie said.

“I was thinking of Grandma Raven, actually. You know her, nothing is impossible, as she says.”

“It’s masking her vampire nature from their perceptions that’s going to be hard. Lee’s champing at the bit to meet the ponies, but they all run in terror from him,” Jamie told his nephew. “We’re trying to come up with some sort of perception filter, but none of my mages can cast a strong enough spell.”

“If Grandma can’t, Salem can,” Gordon said, referring to Raven’s familiar, Salem, a large black cat that has been Raven’s companion since shortly after her creation, thousands of years ago back in Sumeria, and a very powerful magician in his own right.

“Salem,” Jamie snorted. “I still have not forgiven him for getting me to wager my last bottle of Raktokvik in a poker game last year, then winning it off me! That bottle was two centuries old!” Raktokvik is a fine liqueur distilled by the Ryuu, a leonine species discovered back in the early days of the old Inter-Stellar Union, before it became the Inter-Stellar Alliance.

“Salem cheats, Jamie. Always has, always will. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? Get some sleep. I need some myself,” Gordon said with a yawn. He may be pushing a hundred seventy years old, but he looks at most forty. Jamie himself, by looking at him, one would say he was thirty, when he was actually past ninety.

The next few days were filled with preparations for the formalized opening of relations between Equestria and the ISA. The cutters Dysart and Invergordon returned from their sowing mission and were docked in their bays. Telemetry from the probes showed no Ratzi activity inside or within ten light-years of the cluster, so the Captain had his ship not stand down, but had Sensor division maintaining a full monitoring watch and kept Weapons department on standby, meaning the weapons could be manned at a moment’s notice.

One of the first cutters down to the planetary surface carried a Teltrans platform, which was set up in a park not far from Canterlot Castle, to allow for rapid transportation between the ship and the surface. Another load brought down several prefab buildings to use as a pre-Embassy as well as a nav beacon for the landing field. Other than the two departments, he allowed shore liberty, allowing his off-duty crew to Teltrans down to the surface, and allow ponies to come up for visits and tours.

Princess Twilight was a frequent visitor, along with her friends. Captain Somers took both pride and pleasure in showing them what he could about the ship, some areas being declared off-limits, with the acceptance of the ponies. “Not until all agreements are signed,” Jamie explained about the reasons for some areas of the ship being classified, to which Twilight replied that she understood and would be happy to see what she could of the ship.

The ponies were surprised at the sheer variety of species aboard the ship, all of them getting along harmoniously. One species that surprised them were the Meesers, small white rats who were not only intelligent, they had phenomenal memories. They also had an archaic way of speaking STE, which was described as a choice the species made for themselves. Soon, the six ponies had Meeser companions riding with them.

One problem they faced was Lieutenant Commander Harris, the Chief Medical Officer. Twilight, being an alicorn, was not as affected by his presence as the others, which instilled a phobic reaction in the other ponies, though she still found his aura disturbing. That first night, she went back down to Canterlot to start working on some sort of charm to shield others from the dark aura the vampire emanated.

Jamie got word the third day after arriving that the Gilgamesh had departed Canterlot with a full diplomatic team and should arrive within a week. He was also made aware that his mother, Raven Somers, was also on her way there, if not there already. Raven has connections with ‘higher powers’ and can do many things most people find impossible. His father, Christian, also has connections, but not as deep as his mother does. Exactly what the connections are, Jamie himself has little idea, being told only that his part in the Great Bureaucrazy will be revealed ‘in the fullness of time’. Jamie also knows when not to push his parents on a topic.

Before the Gilgamesh’s arrival, Jamie and his crew had a good opportunity to mix and mingle with the population of Equestria. The three mages aboard were having a field day, learning what Equestria knew of magic, and sharing what they could. Twilight came up with a charm for Doctor Harris that masked his vampiric nature enough for him to get off the ship and meet ponies, which made him happy. It turned out that the ponies, once screened from his vampirism, liked him and his music skills. However, Jamie’s best music ambassadors turned out to be Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx and Lieutenant Khaball. The two were the best musicians on the ship, and both had graduate degrees in music. Annelise has the better voice, L’Dan the better instrument range, but Lee Harris has the widest musical range. Comes with being raised by two classical musicians who part-timed being in an orchestra. Lee owned a truly ancient saxophone rumored to have been owned by someone named Kenny G centuries before. (it was really owned by someone named W. J. Clinton, whoever that was).

Sensors detected the Gilgamesh several hours before it entered the cluster, giving Jamie the heads-up to talk to the expedition commander, a senior Erkudu ambassador who went by the name of U Po. (Erkudu, and several other species, adopted ‘use names’ to use in ISA society, because their native languages proved to be difficult to render proper names into STE). After talking to the ambassador, Jamie then spoke to the ship commander, Commodore Bev Harkennon, a former student of Jamie’s.

“I’ve ordered more drones sowed around the cluster, to give more lead time in case the Ratzis head this way,” Bev, a distinguished-looking redheaded human woman, reported to Jamie. “Fleet Headquarters is also looking into trying to get more intel on Ratzi movements. So far, we have not found anything that includes anything out this way.”

“My guess is that either this is something fairly new, or it could be a side project being done by an alpha-class rat trying to advance his position in the Ratschancellory,” Jamie mused. “CyberTaps of the moletronic cores we have recovered don’t lead in any particular direction, so all we can do is guess.”

“They can guess all they want. Our ships together could decimate a Ratzi fleet, if one came this way.”

“I know. I remember doing so with the Gilgamesh and the Hurin working together at the Second Battle of Brigadoon four years ago, Bev. Glad I picked the right bastard for the job back then,” Jamie said, a faint smile playing about his lips, remembering the trap he had laid for a Ratzi fleet. Eighteen ships went in. Two came out. None reported back to the Ratschancellory.

“Let them come. The Ratzis are very slow on the learning curve. We’re not,” Bev replied, not bothering to hide her smile. “We’ll be there in a couple of days, once we’ve sown the probes.”

“We’ll see you when you get here, Bev. Keep your eyes open. Somers out,” Jamie said before breaking the connection.

The next day, after heading down to the surface via Teltrans, Jamie went to let the Princesses know that the Gilgamesh would be arriving within the next two days, with the full diplomatic staff. He gave them the comm links so they could talk directly to U Po before arrival, to set up any protocol arrangements they desired. After that, he sought out Twilight Sparkle. He found her in a workroom in the castle, running experiments, and talking with her pocket Meeser, Gwenhumara, about magic as it is used on Equis.

“So, of thine species who use magic, it is all aspected to thine natures, is that not right?” Jamie heard Gwen ask as he stood by the door.

“That’s correct. Earth ponies are able to influence the earth and plant life, unicorns are the manipulators, spellcasters, and innovators, pegasi can control the weather as well as fly, zebras are excellent potion-makers and magic crafters. I can go on and on, but I don’t think I will need to,” Twilight said as she set up another demonstration.

“While among the peoples of the ISA, magic use is rather uncommon. All species we have met have individuals who can wield magic, it is rather sporadic,” Jamie said as he entered the lab. “For instance, my mother is a skilled sorceress, yet I am not magically inclined.”

“Hello, Captain!” Twilight said, looking up from her lab table. “Any news?”

“Yes. I spoke to the Gilgamesh last night, and it will be here within a couple of days. They are leaving probes and sensor arrays first, in case the Ratzis come calling again,” Jamie said, getting down on one knee, to bring his head down to Twilight’s level. “Still interested in taking a spacing trip?”

“You bet!” Twilight laughed. “To actually go into space and see other stars close up is a dream come true for me!”

“Well, once the Gilgamesh is in orbit, and the diplomatic team gets in place, I will be happy to take you and your friends on a trip around your local star cluster. We’ll also teach you some of our spacing methods, so you and yours won’t get hurt by doing something you don’t know is dangerous,” Jamie said diplomatically.

“How wilt thou cometh up with space suits for the ponies to wear, Captain?” Gwen asked.

“Chief Lovell has come up with something she is sure will work, Gwen,” Jamie told the Meeser. “She will need to do some measurements and checks next time they come up, to see if it would work.”

“Good. Thine uniforms do such for you, whilst our bracelets suffice for mine own,” Gwen said, holding a paw out where Twilight could see it, a plain band around her right foreleg. “This generates a field that will keep me alive in case of decompression, for a time. Thou should think of such things, too, Twilight, ere you join the stars forever unintentionally, or thine friends.”

“I can feel the spell in it, if I look close enough. How do you put that spell into the band, and how does it work?” Twilight asked with interest.

“I doest not put spell in the band, just wear it I do. Other Meesers have spell craft and learned this spell long ago. Simple and reliable to put on the bands, and the bands on Meesers. Every ship has a supply. Rapid turnovers in Meesers, there is. Short life, but busy one,” Gwen told her pony friend.

Twilight blinked some at the news. “That’s not good, only living a short period of time,” she said.

Gwen waved a paw in the air. “Think not of it, friend Princess. Our lives are our own to use. Plus, what we learn is not forgotten. Our children carry the memories we have, and add to them, to pass to their children. With many Meesers going in and out of main nests in Camelot and Pendragon, no knowledge is truly lost, except in certain circumstances.”

“Still, only three years to live. Does not sound like much can be done in that time. Have efforts been made to extend your life span?”

Jamie nodded. “It’s been worked on for over a hundred years. They’re up to three years now. A century ago, their lifespan was only eighteen months. They are also working on increasing their size. Right now, they are so small, they are easily overlooked,” he told Twilight.

“Not to mention getting stepped on, attacked by wild animals, treated as pests by those who know nought better… Tis why most Meesers reside on ships and stations, where life is safer and we can continue functioning as the Memory of the Alliance,” Gwen said pompously.

“So, Twilight, you may want to round up your friends and ask them if they want to go on a great space adventure, courtesy of myself and the ISA. Departure will be a day or so after the Gilgamesh gets here and expect to be gone a week or so. Think you will be ready?” Jamie asked.

“Oh, we will be! Rest assured of that, Captain!” Twilight said eagerly.

Author's Note

Now, the formalities begin. First Contact always brings about paperwork...

Chapter Six

The day of the Gilgamesh’s arrival in Equestrian orbit, a lavish, pompous, formal welcoming ceremony was held on the landing flat, which was renamed ‘Welcoming Park’. The diplomatic entourage, led by the renowned Erkudu diplomat U Po, Teltransed down from the Gilgamesh. The Erkudu are a rabbitlike species, with long flop ears, and stand about a meter tall, with fur colors ranging from black to white and everything in between. Carrying a staff, U Po approached Celestia, where he bowed formally. “Princess Celestia, may this be the start of a long mutual friendship between your people and the Inter-Stellar Alliance,” he declared in a surprisingly loud voice for someone his size, the STE words only a beat ahead of the translated Equish coming from the translator.

“Ambassador Po, We welcome the chance to make new friends from beyond our world. May you and yours consider yourselves welcome while we handle the necessary business before true relations can begin,” Celestia declared in formal tones.

Po leaned against his staff, an impish twinkle in his eyes. “So, when does the after-hours party begin?” he said in a voice that did not project farther than Celestia.

Celestia hid a laugh behind a hoof. “After sundown,” she told the little gray and white Erkudu.

“I’ll bring the video player, you bring the wine?” Po asked.

“Consider it done,” Celestia said in low tones before raising her head and speaking aloud, so all gathered could hear, “The Greeting Ceremony has been concluded! The Welcoming Party will be held at Canterlot Castle in two hours! All those who wish to meet our friends from afar should attend!”

U Po moved to stand alongside Celestia and raised his voice as well. “We of the Inter-Stellar Alliance wish to make friends with the Ponies of Equestria! Today, my staff and I will be available at the party for all who have questions! Bring your doubts and questions and leave assured of our intentions!” The cheer and hoof stomping that arose from that announcement shook the ground enough that U Po had to plant his staff to remain upright.

“Are your people like this routinely?” Po asked Celestia quietly.

“No. You bring them reason to cheer, after what happened at North Shore. They have reason to hope, and are showing it,” Celestia replied, steadying Po with a wing.

“If this is optimism, may I never see pessimism.”

The next three days, Captain Somers was kept busy at the talks, more as an observer than being a real participant. After all, this IS the fourth species he has brought into the ISA. The crew of the Hurin were kept busy, doing more greeting tours with the population of Equestria as well as bringing the crew of the Gilgamesh into the picture.

Twilight was kept busy as well, working with unicorns in Canterlot as well as the mages on the two ships on making a translation spell that will give those who had it cast on them the ability to know STE and Equish without having to use the translators, which did have a bit of a lag. Said lag was a point of humor both sides agreed on, a point which drove both sides to get rid of. The spell did work, as testing on both Twilight Sparkle and Chief Lovell showed, but there was an unintended consequence. The spell brought both participants, the sender and receiver, up to the same linguistic levels, meaning the spell gave each other the languages they knew. Chief Lovell knowing four languages meant that Twilight Sparkle learned STE, French, German and Scots Gaelic. A day later, they put the translator spell into a crystal, which when worn on the body, would translate spoken STE into audible Equish, and vice versa. Much better for all involved.

Once enough crystals were made and disseminated to the crews of the two ships and the negotiating party, plans were made to have the Hurin tour the probes and drones in the cluster, bringing Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Mane Six along. The Gilgamesh would remain in the Equestrian system to monitor the talks and see about building an embassy somewhere in the vicinity of Canterlot. The Gilgamesh, being several times larger than the Hurin, has enough cargo space to set up a good temporary embassy. A Meeser swap was also done, to spread the knowledge learned so far.

The diplomatic personnel were a big hit with the nobility of Canterlot, the various members reaching out to the nobility to learn how systems worked in Canterlot. The nobility of the ISA in general and Camelot station in particular, ran in a remarkably similar way.

The Hurin Tascheter broke orbit, heading out to check out the remote observing points set up in the cluster, and to do a quick survey of any possible habitable worlds there. Each of the ponies, and Spike, were paired up with an officer, as a first contact point. Twilight Sparkle was paired up with Captain Somers; Spike with Commander Seiryuu; Applejack with Commander Davis; Rarity with Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx; Fluttershy with Lieutenant Commander Harris; Pinkie Pie with the ship’s senior psychologist, Lieutenant Mulholland, a Kitsune; and Rainbow Dash was paired with the Flight Officer, Lieutenant Khaball. The pairings were made so that each of the two had something in common, no matter how tenuous the linkage.

Commander Seiryuu led Spike to the gymnasium that spanned a large part of decks five and six. “Why was I assigned to be with you, sir?” Spike asked when they got to the door to the gym.

“Because, Spike, I, too, am a dragon,” Commander Seiryuu said as he keyed open the door. “I was born like you see me now, but when my Sagan power erupted, I became a dragon. A blue dragon.”

“You don’t look like a dragon, sir,” Spike said as he followed the Commander inside the gym.

“That is because I can change between my human and dragon forms at will. I stay in my human form much of the time, because the ship is designed for those with a more or less humanoid physique. Only in here, or down in an empty cargo bay, when we have one, can I shift into my dragon form, which I shall demonstrate now,” Commander Seiryuu said before triggering the shift.

The tall, slim red-headed human vanished, to be replaced by a dragon with blue and green scales, blue wings, and a green ridge down his head and back. He flapped his wings some with a sigh of relief. “MUCH better!”

“Woww…” Spike breathed in awe. “Do you breathe fire? Do you eat gems? Do you fly?” he asked rapidly.

The big blue dragon let out an easy laugh. “No, I ‘breathe’ two things, one is a bolt of electricity and the other a gas which affects humanoids in a way that should not be possible, yet it does happen. We shall not discuss that now, maybe later. No, I do not eat gems, although I do admit to the occasional craving for battery acid. Yes, I can fly, but in here, I am extremely limited. Here, at least I can stretch out some and relax for a while. At least, until someone else wants to use the gym,” he explained as he stretched out, his joints letting out crackles, before lying down on the padded floor, his body now twice his regular height, from tailtip to snout, and a bit rounded in the middle. Not much, but it was obvious.

“Is this why the Captain assigned me to you?” Spike asked, going up to the blue dragon’s snout.

“Yes, it is, Spike. There is one other dracoform aboard, that being the Marine officer, Major Ryudan, but he’s not a true dragon. He is what we call a dracoform, a dragonlike body but built on a humanoid frame. Yes, he has wings, and yes, he can fly. He is a warrior, like your Princess’ Guards, and not given much to talking to small dragons,” the Commander said, propping his chin on his forearms. “However, I do like talking to small dragons, or anyone in general. I know you must have a million and one questions to ask, so ask away.”

Spike let out a big grin as he settled under the big dragon’s nose. At first, he resented the assignment to go with Twilight Sparkle, but now, the job didn’t look so bad after all…

“This thing back heah is what we call a zero-point energy rectifier, or a ‘zipper’ fo’ short,” Commander Davis explained to Applejack. “It takes in the energy of the cosmos and changes it into electrical powah we use in heah to run the ship and its stardrive with. All ya gotta do is apply a little powah here, across the screen intake leads, to prahm the pump so to say, fo’ one second befoah the screen starts suckin’ in powah.”

“Ah’m sure it is all interestin’ an’ such, Sugarcube, but whah are you the one to lead me around the ship foah? Ah is an apple farmer, not an engineer, lahk you is!” Applejack protested.

Beau smiled at the little orange pony’s words. “Ah’ll tell yew, darlin. Out of all fahv hundred or so bein’s that call this ship home, only ah grew up on a farm, back on mah home world of Dogpatch. It was thought bah the Captain, who is a good ole friend of mahn, that if you have any trouble understandin’ matters aboahd the ship, ah could be the best one to explain matters to you.”

Applejack thought for a little time before replying. She consulted her feelings, to see if he was telling the truth, and got a solid confirmation of it. “Yew know, suh, ah can believe that,” she said with a smile of her own.

“Now, that sounds lahk somethin’ to drink on. What y’all lahk?” Beau asked, reaching a hand into the pocket of a rather baggy overcoat he wore constantly.

“How about apple cider? Y’all got any?” Applejack asked.

“Ah should. Ah know ah put some in heah some tahm ago,” Beau muttered, reaching in and around. Applejack noticed that while she should be seeing his arm reaching into the pocket, she didn’t. “Ah HA!” he shouted, pulling out an earthenware jug, a big jug. A very big jug. Beau pulled the cork out of the top and sniffed. Immediately, Applejack could smell some very good apple cider.

“Where in tarnation did yuh get that from?” Applejack asked, mystified.

“Oh, well, that theah is mah Sagan talent. Ah can reach into a ‘pocket dimension’ heah and pull OUT anything ah have put IN to it, so long as it can fit in the pocket to begin with. Always nice to be able to go about and always have the tools ah need to get the job done,” Beau explained as he put the jug down and reached into his pocket again. “Will a mug do ya?”

“Sho ‘nuff!” Applejack said with a big smile. Looks like this fella is worth chatting with!

“So, what do you think of the medical area, Miss Fluttershy?” Lieutenant Commander Lee Harris asked the little yellow pegasus.

“I’m sure you can heal all sorts of sick animals and ponies and others with all you have in there, Doctor Harris,” Fluttershy answered in her small voice. “One thing I do not understand is why the ponies you brought home earlier seemed afraid of you. You’re not scary at all!”

Lee sighed before sitting down, bringing his head down closer to Fluttershy’s. “It’s because I am a vampire, Miss Fluttershy. You would be running in fright, had not your Princess Twilight made me a charm to wear that will mask my vampiric nature from other ponies. Yes, I drink blood to survive, but I get it from a bottled supply, or willing sources. Would you believe me when I say I will willingly starve myself before I would ever take blood from an unwilling source?”

Fluttershy put her forehooves into Lee’s lap and stared into his eyes while Lee looked back. “I do believe you. You do not want to harm any pony, you want to make the sick and injured healthy again. I can feel that. May we be friends?” she asked.

Slowly, Lee reached out, to pet Fluttershy around her ears. “Of course, we can be friends, Fluttershy. How about we teach each other our methods of healing the sick? After all, if we’re not careful, we just might learn something.”

“If you have any further questions, Miss Rarity, please do not hesitate to ask,” Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx said in cultured tones to the white and purple unicorn.

“I shall, Mister M’Ranx. I must say, you have been such a perfect gentlestallion on this tour!” Rarity replied, looking up at the tall gray-furred Baastari.

“Thank you, Miss Rarity. On my last tour of shore duty, I was assigned to Camelot, as adjutant to the Fleet liaison to the Royal Court of the Inter-Stellar Alliance. Other than the Captain, I have the most exposure to culture. It was thought I would be a suitable escort for you while you are aboard,” M’Ranx said formally.

Rarity let out a little musical laugh. “Oh, it shows! Your manners are impeccable! Tell me, what hobbies do you have, to take a break from work?” she asked as they arrived at the Deck Four Officer’s Lounge. The guest quarters were on that level, and some of the fittings were changed to Equestrian standards, for their comfort.

L’Dan sat down in a chair which he had pulled up to the table Rarity had stopped at. “I have my music, Miss Rarity. I’m a descendant of six generations of Baastari bards, and I am familiar with music of many cultures. Occasionally I will put on a small show, either by myself or with other musicians on board. Would you like some coffee?” he asked.

“Yes, please. Coffee sounds delightful after that walk! I do indulge in music… too…” Rarity trailed off as the Baastari reached a few feet over to the coffeepot, his arms elongating to do so. Turning his head to look at what he was doing, he poured two cups, put them on a tray with cream and sugar, and brought the tray back.

“You do? What sort of music?” L’Dan asked as he snapped back to normal proportions before noticing the look on her face. “Are you all right, Miss Rarity?”

“Just… what did you do?” Rarity asked, still surprised at what she had just witnessed.

L’Dan had the grace to blush some. “Oh. That’s my Sagan talent. I’m elastic, able to extend any part of my body up to about ten times normal length, with perfect flexibility. It comes in useful when I have to get in to tight areas to do repairs,” he explained. “How do you like your coffee?”

Rarity swallowed before making an effort to come back to reality. “I’ll fix it, thank you,” she said, using her violet glow to add cream and sugar to her coffee before stirring and sipping. L’Dan took his coffee straight, black and bitter.

“No way! You? A cat? Can FLY?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Lieutenant Khaball just smiled. “Yes, I can. Nowhere near as good as you can, but yes, I can fly,” she said with the cool confidence that a Baastari (or just about any cat, for that matter) could project.

“This I gotta see!”

“Well, then, come with me and I will show you!” the yellow Baastari female said with a happy purr in her voice. “We’ll have to go to a gym to show you.”

“Just how can you fly?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Almost three hundred years ago, the first expedition from Earth to Mars, the next planet out in their solar system, brought back a virus, a plague that affected certain people, by gifting them with different powers and abilities. It does not affect all species humans have encountered, only a few. My father and I are two of the few Baastari thus affected, and that is because, about seven generations back from me, I have a human ancestor, a Saganized human,” Annelise explained as they walked to the upper decks gymnasium.

“Does your father fly, too?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Annelise shook her head. “No, he has another talent completely, one I share in, a little bit. He is what they call a ‘rubbercat’, able to elongate parts of his body.” She then looked in the window of the gym door. “Uh, I think we should go to the lower decks gym…”

“What for?” Rainbow Dash asked, flapping up a little to look in the window. There, she saw Spike chatting amiably with a large blue dragon. “Who’s that with Spike?”

“The executive officer, Mister Seiryuu. He can shapechange into a blue dragon, which enables him to fly and control electricity, to a small extent. Come on, let’s head down to the lower gym,” Annelise said, leading Rainbow Dash to a turbovator.

Finding the lower gym unoccupied, the two went in. There, Lieutenant Khaball composed herself, then inhaled deeply. Her body grew to twice her normal height, remaining completely proportionate to her reduced height. Then, she rose up off the floor. “Once I’m like this, I can fly. Not fast, not well, but it does give me the ability to fly. It also helps me when I pilot the ship, or one of the smaller craft, because I already know how to fly, and my instincts are trained to handle flight and navigation, in any craft.”

“That’s awesome! Can you get any bigger than this? Maybe more will help you fly better!”

“No, it won’t. This is about my max height. Any more air and I will start rounding out, still able to fly, but having less and less control of my body. At least like this, I can still move,” Annelise explained, rising up to the ceiling of the gym, Dash following.

“Can you walk on clouds like this?”

“I don’t know, I have not tried to. I can go THROUGH clouds with little problem, but I’ve never tried to walk on a cloud. Why do you ask?” That led into a long discussion of just how awesome pegasi are, how they control the weather of Equestria, how she is a member of the Wonderbolts and how awesome they are, Annelise resting easily against the ceiling, paying rapt attention to Rainbow Dash’s words.

Captain Somers and Twilight Sparkle settled in to the Captain’s ready room, just off the bridge. “So, where would you like to start learning?” Jamie asked the purple alicorn.

“I don’t know… there’s so much to be learned here! Just where CAN I start?” Twilight asked in reply.

“I think that the first thing I should do is introduce you to Hurin. He will be able to answer just about any question you could possibly have,” Jamie said with a relaxed smile.

“Hurin? Who’s Hurin?” Twilight asked, a little confusion coming into her voice.

“Hurin, attend!” Captain Somers called out. Appearing in front of Twilight is a foxlike being, standing just a little taller than Twilight, not counting his peaked ears, wearing a linen shirt, black trousers and a black shiny coat that came down past his knees. The face was coated in reddish fur, as were the ears and the bushy tail that came out the back of the coat, which flapped slightly in a breeze she could not feel.

“Hello, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I am Hurin Tascheter, famed seafarer of fair Kitsu’s oceans and the ship’s holo-avatar,” the image said, bowing in a courtly manner in front of Twilight.

“You mean, you’re the ship?” Twilight asked, more confusion coming to her voice.

“Actually, that can be debated, Twilight,” Jamie said from his desk. “What you are seeing and talking to is the ship’s computer, the machine that keeps the ship running. Without it, we could not operate the ship at all. It was programmed to be the representation of the REAL Hurin Tascheter, a famous explorer and seafarer of about a millennium ago on his home world of Kitsu. It’s just easier to work with him when he uses this particular hologram as an interface.”

“Can you take me on a tour of the ship?” Twilight asked the holo-avatar.

The red Kitsune smiled and bowed to Twilight. “Of course I can, and grant you access to the ship’s library systems.”

“That’s why I asked Hurin here, Princess. While I am your official point of contact, I am also in command of this ship, and I have duties to perform. With Hurin by your side, any questions you have can be answered, save those that are classified or personal to members of the crew. Do you find such an arrangement acceptable?” Jamie asked.

“Captain Somers, I would have to say yes. I would like to spend some time with you, to learn about you and your ship and its diverse crew, but I also understand your time is not always your own. I’m sure we can contact each other at need, yes?” Twilight asked.

“Any time you feel the need, just ask Hurin. I’m giving you access that is equal to mine, in most respects. Seeing as you are a Princess, I figure such an arrangement would be fitting. Now, if you would please pardon me, I do have some work to get done,” Jamie said, pointing to his desk and associated papers on it.

“Of course, Captain. Hurin, can you take me to the library?” Twilight asked.

“I can take you to the ship’s library, but you will find that what we call a library is not what you would call a library,” Hurin said as he led Twilight out of the Captain’s office.

Once the door was shut, Jamie let out a sigh of relief, followed by removing a cup of coffee from a lower drawer of his desk and a small brown glass bottle. Adding a slug to his coffee, he sipped from the steaming mug, sagging back in his chair. “Now that THAT is over with, back to the regular grind,” he said before turning to the first item on his desk. Blinking slightly at what he found, Jamie looked to the far corner of his office. “Okay, Mother. What have you done NOW?” he asked in tones that said he was probably not going to like the answer he would receive.

About Pinkie Pie and Lieutenant Mulholland, one thing needs to be asked- just how did they get that party cannon into the Wardroom without anyone noticing? During dinner? Also, how was it that no confetti got into anyone’s meal or drinks? The pink pony and gray Kitsu soon found themselves best of friends, because each has an impish sense of humor, and could be counted upon to not let life become dull!

Author's Note

The Mane Six get to go out to space. Can the ISA (and space itself) be able to handle the strain about to be put on them? Can the Ratzis handle them as well? Or will chaos ensue?
Pinkie, put that cannon away!

Chapter Seven

The first few days of the cluster check went by smoothly. No reports from the border sentries, and they checked the nearest six star systems without finding any habitable worlds. Chief Lovell, after an hour’s work with Twilight, came up with emergency ‘suit charms’ for the ponies to wear, which will provide life support in case of accident or hostile environments for about fifteen minutes. Design was underway, with Rarity’s help, to make better space suits for the ponies to wear for longer-term space walks.

The seventh star system they visited did have a habitable planet- cold, dry, with an orange sun and three moons, the biggest one in a close orbit and two smaller ones farther out. The air was breathable, and there was life to be found, mostly plant life, but insects and lizard life was also present. “Captain, is it possible for us to go down and check out that planet for ourselves?” Twilight Sparkle asked once the preliminary surveys were done.

“I do not see any reason why not, Twilight,” Captain Somers replied. “However, there are certain protocols we follow when checking out a new planet. First of all, a strict quarantine will be in place until it is proven that no hostile pathogens are present. That means this will be a good chance to see if your environment suits will work as advertised.

“Second, nobody goes alone. That means each person down will have a buddy along, and no one gets out of sight of their buddy, and vice versa. I don’t like recovering bodies.

“Third, every suit will have a Teltrans locator beacon turned on and worn at all times. If trouble should occur, request for beam out immediately and we’ll put things together later.

“Fourth, cutter crews stay with the cutters, period. The cutters will be prepared for immediate launch at all times. In case of trouble, call out and head back to the cutter. That also means if the recall is sounded, drop what you’re doing and get back to the cutter.

“Think you and yours can agree to that, Princess Twilight? It’s your safety we are worried about.”

Twilight nodded. “Understood, Captain. When do we go down?”

“Have your friends report to the cutter Invergordon in two hours time, WITH your suits. Commander Sardon will be in charge of the away mission, so take your orders from him. I will remain in orbit, monitoring. This will be just a quick mission to take samples and do a biomonitor check. However, it gives you ponies a chance to walk on a strange planet for the first time,” Jamie said with a smile.

“Well, not exactly…” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head with a forehoof. “I’ve been to a different world before, using a magic mirror. I can explain that to you later, if you would like.”

“That would be a good idea, Princess. Now, gather up your friends and brief them in. Cutter Bay Five in two hours. Don’t be late!” Jamie cautioned before going back to his paperwork.

“Yes, Captain!” Twilight said, saluting smartly with a wing before heading out of the Captain’s office.

Two hours later, the cutters Invergordon and Dysart slid out of their docking bays and headed down to the new planet, which had been given the provisional name of Cold Hearth. In the Invergordon, the ponies (and one little dragon) were getting their suits checked out under the critical eye of Master Gunnery Sergeant Mudd.

“Okay, your suits are good for four hours of life support. Since we’re only staying down for two, you should be safe in that respect. Exercise caution that you don’t catch or tear your suits on anything, because the fabric may be tough, it is NOT invulnerable,” Gunny Mudd cautioned the ponies.

“Seeing as I sewed them, I know they are very tough indeed, Master Gunnery Sergeant,” Rarity said, looking up at the Marine.

“Ya did a good job at it, I have to say,” Gunny Mudd replied. “Now, let’s practice putting the helmets on and taking them off.” That took twenty minutes before Gunny Mudd was satisfied with their performance.

The Invergordon landed in a shallow rocky depression, with a stream going into it from a small cave in the rock wall on one side and pooling in the center. Once the ship’s drives had gone to idle, Gunny Mudd released several drones to hover over the landing site. “Okay, ponies and dragon, you may now go outside and look about. Take samples if you wish, just make sure they are securely sealed in your sample cases before returning aboard. When I sound the recall, you drop what you are doing and report back to the cutter. No excuses. Got it?” she told the ponies, using every bit of her experience in training neophytes. Her glare would make a timber wolf think twice. It worked.

“We understand, Master Gunnery Sergeant,” Twilight said, glancing around at her friends to make sure they understood. Spike was under Twilight, grasping her forelegs, avoiding Gunny Mudd’s glare. Even Rainbow Dash was impressed, having gone from her usual hover to landing when she was looked at.

“Okay, then,” Gunny Mudd growled as she first glanced around to make sure the rest of her squad was suited up. “Put your helmets on and I’ll open the airlock.” Quickly, seven helmets were emplaced and locked down. After a quick look and a nod of approval, she pressed the button that opened the side door of the cutter. “All yours, Princess Twilight.”

Cautiously, Twilight went down the ramp to the end of it, looking at the greenish-blue mosslike substance that carpeted the ground. She tapped at the moss with a suited hoof, then stepped out onto it. “Today, ponies first set hoof on a new… RAINBOW DASH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” she shouted as Rainbow Dash took off, flew around to be in front of Twilight, and started making faces at her!

Dash was joined by Pinkie Pie, who bounded out from behind Twilight onto the springy moss. “Wow! This moss has a lot of bounce to it! Maybe we can take some back to Ponyville and build a bouncy castle out of it!” Pinkie shouted gleefully.

Twilight’s teeth ground audibly for a second or two before she snapped out, “Girls! Behave! This is a serious scientific expedition here, not a place to clown around yet!” Immediately, Rainbow Dash landed and Pinkie Pie stopped her bouncing around. The two ponies stood next to each other, wearing innocent expressions that didn’t fool anypony.

“We only have two hours here, so let’s make the most of them, okay?” Applejack suggested. She wanted this done and over with so she could put her hat back on.

“Good idea, AJ,” Twilight said. “Pinkie, Dash, you go one way. Rarity, Applejack, you go another way, Spike and Fluttershy, you’re with me.” The three groups headed out, looking at the alien world.

Gunny Mudd stood in the open hatch of the cutter, watching the ponies explore the depression. Twilight headed for the stream and pool, Spike and Fluttershy in her wake. Off to the right, Rarity and Applejack were looking at the stream and its surroundings, while Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash made for the cave where the stream issued from. The rest of her half-squad fanned out, alert for trouble.

Connie Mudd may be a career Marine sergeant, but she did have her hobbies, one of which is geology. She took her love of gemology and expanded on it. She looked at the rocks scattered about, and the cave the stream issued out of. After about ten seconds, two things hit her at once. One, the rocks scattered in the depression did NOT have any moss on them, and they seemed to have been sprayed in a pattern from the cave. Connie went to the nearest piece of rock to the cutter and looked at it closer. It was sharp, clean and unoxidized.

“Pinkie! Dash! Stay away from the cave!” Master Gunnery Sergeant Mudd said in her best command voice. “Sirrath, Tomkins, break out the analyzer and check the cave out! Briscoe, deep scan on the cavern and surroundings!”

Pinkie and Rainbow both stopped in mid-motion, turning to look at the Gunny. “What’s going on, Sergeant Mudd?” Twilight asked.

“There may be something in the cave, Princess Twilight. These rocks here are freshly scattered. What threw them out?” Sergeant Mudd replied.

The two privates brought the analyzer out of the cutter and set it up, antennae pointed to the cave mouth. As they started their scan, Briscoe reported from the cutter. “Gunny, there is something in that there cave that should not be there.”

“Thank you, Briscoe. Is there enough room to move around in there?”

“Sure is, Gunny. Just be careful, okay?”

“You got it, Briscoe. Holloway, Takahashi, with me, weapons ready!” Gunny barked. The two troopers, who were wearing heavy armored suits, headed for the cave while Gunny stopped at the analyzer to look at the readout. “Hmmm… Princess Twilight, keep your friends away from the direct line of the cave mouth until I say it is safe to come near. In fact, all of you, put the cutter between yourselves and the cave mouth.”

“Will do, Sergeant Mudd. You heard her, everypony, back behind the cutter!” Twilight ordered. Swiftly, the six ponies and one dragon did so, Rainbow Dash flying up so she could see over the cutter at what was going on.

“Okay, let’s go in!” Sergeant Mudd declared before doing so, the two privates trailing her, weapons drawn.

Author's Note

First Landing on a new world for the ponies. What will they find?

Chapter Eight

Meanwhile, aboard the cutter Dysart, about ten kilometers away, Commander Sardon had been monitoring the actions of the other cutter’s compliment while also observing his crew set up the camp where he was, getting samples of the air, water, moss, rock and whatnot. “Commander Sardon to Gunny Mudd. What are you doing?” he asked.

“Mudd to Sardon. I’ve picked up what seems to be blast traces here. I’m checking to see what caused the kaboom. Was it natural or artificial?”

“Sardon to Mudd. Do you want any backup?”

“Mudd to Sardon. Not right away, but keep yourselves on ready one launch, just in case.”

“Sardon to Mudd. Will do.”

Behind the cutter, the ponies gathered, waiting. Spike looked down at the moss and saw something glitter. Curious, he picked it up. It looked like a shard of glass, but it was iridescent, glowing from within with a faint rainbow light. “Hey, look at this!” he called out, holding up the shard.

Twilight looked over at Spike. “What did you find, Spike?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s pretty!” Spike said, holding up the shard.

The ponies all gathered around Spike and his prize. Rarity looked at it, using her gem sense. “Spike, may I see it?” she asked, her voice shaking a little.

“Sure, Rarity! Would you like it?” Spike said eagerly, willing to give Rarity anything she could ask for that he could provide.

“Yes, please,” Rarity said, taking the shard in her glow.

“What are you feeling, Rarity?” Twilight asked.

“This gem shard is full of energy, and is very unstable,” Rarity said. “If I drop it against something hard, or break it, it will detonate.”

“Detonate?” Rainbow Dash asked, increasing her altitude slightly.

“Yes, detonate. Where did you find it, Spike?”

“On the ground, right here,” Spike said, pointing to where he found the shard.

The ponies then heard Briscoe call out over the radio link, “Gunny, carefully come out of the cave. Don’ step on any crystals you see. All the gemstones in the area have a high-power charge in them! So, back out of theah, y’all!”

“You got it, Briscoe!” Gunny Mudd shouted before saying, “Holloway, Takahashi, slow step out of here!”

“Sardon to Gunny Mudd. I copy that, and we’re finding similar readings at our location. Get everyone aboard the cutter and lift off. I will send a survey party down, with proper insulation.” The Science Officer said in his usual bass tones.

“Copy that, Commander! Okay, everyone, into the cutter, and don’t stub a toe! Princess Twilight, please carefully bring your find aboard for further analysis,” Gunny Mudd ordered.

“Yes, Sergeant! Rarity, please bring it aboard carefully! Don’t drop it!” Twilight said, sounding a bit edgy.

“Of course, darling. Shame I can’t use this in one of my designs. The iridescence is fabulous!” Rarity said as she, along with the others, slowly picked their way through the moss around the cutter to the airlock.

“Are you telling me that the rocks down on that planet have absorbed enough magic charge to become explosive on impact?” Captain Somers asked Commander Sardon and Princess Twilight after they had undergone decontamination and returned to the Hurin.

“That is correct, Captain.” Twilight said. “I had a chance to examine the crystal shard on the way back to the ship. While I am familiar with the process of having gemstones absorb spells for various uses, I have to say this is the first time I have encountered something like this. It’s just that the crystal structure has absorbed nothing but raw, unpurposed magic, but in such a way as to render it highly unstable. Why that particular shard did not detonate when it was thrown to where it was found, I do not know.”

Sardon just nodded. “What she said,” he added.

Jamie thought for a few seconds, looking at the sasquatch and the alicorn. “Would you consider it worthwhile to go back down for some more samples of these crystals?”

“I would like to see exactly what sort of crystals hold this charge. Is it any form of crystal, or a gem structure? Can they be tapped for their magic or not?” Twilight spoke up eagerly. “This is something quite unknown to me, and I do know magic!”

Sardon just grimaced before saying, “What she said. I’ll just take a shuttle down, with some of the science staff and the Princess. I’ll scan for a good concentration of these crystals so we can bring back a varied sample. I had best take plenty of stasis boxes for sample containers.”

“Very well, Commander Sardon. Take the Lexow, it has the best sensor suite of all the shuttles,” Jamie suggested.

“I had planned on it, Captain. I plan on departing in two hours. Princess, can you be ready by then?” Sardon asked.

“Yes, I can! We had best take Rarity along as well. She can find gemstones, and I feel she would be of assistance to us.”

“Let her know and be ready at Shuttle Bay Six in two hours, with your suits. Bioscans have not yet been completed, and I refuse to take any chances with unknown pathogens.”

“I understand, Commander. See you in two hours, then! I have some studying to do first!” Twilight said eagerly before heading out of the Captain’s office.

Captain Somers and Commander Sardon looked at each other after Twilight left the room. “Are you sure your mother has not talked to her, Jamie?” Sardon asked.

“As sure as I can be, which is not very. I know she has been around once already. What she’s doing now, I don’t have ANY idea,” Jamie sighed.

“And you don’t WANT to know. How many times have you said that already?”

“Too damned many, but it works. Or, rather, she and Salem do a great job.”

Two hours and a bit later, the shuttle Lexow left its bay aboard the Hurin and dropped towards the planet’s surface, under the expert pilotage of Lieutenant Khaball. Rainbow Dash was in the co-pilot’s seat, with the control consoles inerted. Commander Sardon manned the sensor suite console, with Twilight and Rarity standing near him, suited up. “Miss Rarity, can you sense the gem fields from up here?” he asked politely, as is his wont.

“Not really, Commander,” Rarity replied. “I can get a vague sense from this distance, but I can’t detect concentrations yet. We will need to get closer.”

“Very well. Lieutenant Khaball, get us down to four kilometers altitude, and slowed to normal atmospheric speeds. Please do so smartly,” Sardon ordered.

“Get us down in a hurry, aye! Everyone sit down and strap in! Gee forces are going to be sharp!” Annelise called out. Waiting just long enough for the ponies to strap in, she proceeded to dive on in, the shuttle’s rotolinear drive making an unholy racket, the grav compensators struggling to maintain cabin gravity, and Exar fields up full. The little shuttle dropped like a proverbial stone tern, catching itself up short at the desired altitude and velocity, four kilometers above the depression where the Invergordon had touched down before. Twilight and Rarity struggled to maintain their seats, Sardon sat impassively, his large Sasquatch frame easily able to handle the gees. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was having the time of her life.

“That was awesome, Annelise! I couldn’t do much better!” Rainbow Dash called out exultantly.

Annelise glanced at the cyan pegasus. “I told you I could fly, just not well by myself. It does enhance my piloting capabilities. Now, if any of my juniors tried this, I would have them over the coals so fast, they would not have time to get their fur singed before deep burns set in!” she said with a big grin on her feline face.

“Expect a talking-to from the Captain later, Miss Khaball…” Sardon said drily. “not to mention your father.”

Annelise razzed her superior officer, who is also a family friend she had known since she was a kit. “Sardon, Captain Somers knows my capabilities. He won’t be upset.”

“You may be right, Miss Khaball,” Sardon sighed before looking back at his instruments. “Miss Rarity, can you sense gems now?”

Rarity sat up straighter in her seat, quickly brushing her mane back to its proper shape. “In just a moment, Mister Sardon. I have to get my breath back first,” she said in a light tone before focusing, her horn glowing purple.

“You mean, get your composure back,” Rainbow Dash quipped.

“Rainbow, not now…” Twilight growled, unstrapping from her seat to get back to Sardon’s console to watch.

“Okay, I can feel the concentrations I felt before. We need to go about a kilometer to the north, and we will find a large concentration of crystals. It’s getting to them that will be a problem,” Rarity reported.

“Miss Khaball, get us to the position Miss Rarity described, and hover,” Sardon directed.

“Will do, Commander!” Annelise replied, bringing the shuttle to the desired spot, using much less force than the descent. “How’s this?”

“Excellent, Miss Khaball. Please to hover while the scanners do their work,” Sardon replied.

“What do you feel, Rarity?” Twilight asked her friend.

Rarity focused her talent, her horn glowing faintly. “Okay, there is a large quantity of gems under the surface in this area, most of them in a matrix of rock. The main problem I see is getting the gems out of the matrix without setting them off,” she said, her eyes staring off into space.

“How much power is in them, Rarity?”

“If I’m seeing them right, a gem that could fit inside my hoof has the potential of blasting a hole through the shield wall of Canterlot Castle. Fortunately, there are not many that size,” Rarity said before blinking as she sensed something more. “When the gems are encased in the matrix, they are far more stable than when they are freed of them. If we can find some encased in a boulder, we can just bring the boulder and wait to free them later.”

Sardon spoke from his console, where he had been patiently watching the sensor displays. “That explains some of the variances I am detecting. Miss Khaball, please land the shuttle where you can see the ground is clear of stones.”

“Will do, Sardon,” Annelise said before doing so, the shuttle’s rotolinear drive doing some clanking and banging as she set the shuttle down. Nobody understood WHY the rotolinears produced such a racket but using a drive like that was far more economical than using reaction drives, and can be made in many sizes, from miniature to drives that moved the Gilgamesh at high-gee acceleration. All they needed was electricity to spin the rotors.

Once down on the ground, the five beings aboard all put on their helmets, making sure they were secure before opening the doors to the outside. “Miss Rarity, you and I will be spotters. Princess Twilight will gather for you, while Miss Khaball is with me. Please to use the stasis boxes provided to transport the samples. Miss Rainbow, you take overwatch. I do not expect anything to be here, but I have been mistaken before,” Sardon directed as Annelise gathered up the stasis boxes, which in their unfolded state, resembled flat sheets of cardboard. The boxes were of different sizes, from that of the size a ring would be transported in, to boxes about half a meter on a side. Once unfolded, the box edges would seal together, the stasis part not starting until all sides were sealed. When that happened, the boxes could not be opened until a special tool is used to break the seal. Good for transporting all sorts of hazardous materials, if you could afford the prices of the boxes to begin with.

They fanned out from the shuttle, the two teams going in different directions, while Rainbow Dash went up. She flew in a lazy circle above the landing site, watching for anything that would catch her attention.

They gathered rocks for an hour, choosing the most energetic stones they could detect, stacking the boxes inside the shuttle. “We should save a few of these to take back to Equestria,” Twilight mentioned after carrying several boxes back to the Lexow.

“What are you thinking about, Twilight?” Rarity asked as she chose some more rocks for an open sample box.

“I want Maud Pie to look at some of these. She’s one of the best rockologists I know, and she should find these fascinating,” Twilight said as she readied another box.

“You have a good point, Twilight.”

From above, Rainbow Dash noticed a bump in the ground, a bump that was slowly moving along towards the shuttle. “Hey, what’s that?” she called out.

“What’s what, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked. Dash pointed with a wing at the bump, which Twilight could barely see. She moved to see the lump, which appeared to be moving under the moss. “Commander Sardon, I think we have a problem here…” she said as she watched the lump move.

Sardon looked up from his portable scanner. “What did you find, Princess?” he asked.

“I think we have found some native life here, living under the moss…” Twilight said, pointing with her wing at the bump. Sardon scanned the moving bump.

“It is alive, but photophobic, if what I am seeing is right. Apparently, our activity has stimulated it,” Sardon commented.

“Should I grab it and put it in a box?” Twilight asked as the lump neared the shuttle.

“Please do, Princess. Your telekinesis is very useful at this point,” Sardon replied.

Twilight reached out with her glow and snapped up the lump, as well as a clump of moss and soil surrounding it. Quickly, she put it in an open box and sealed it. “There. Now we can examine it. What sort of readings did you get from it, Commander?”

“Whatever it is, it is surprisingly energetic for something of that size. I wonder how it lives here,” Sardon mused.

“Maybe it eats the magic-powered gems for sustenance,” Lieutenant Khaball suggested.

“That is for further research to decide, Lieutenant. However, you just may be closer to the truth than we realize,” Sardon commented. “Okay, let’s all pack up and get in the shuttle. We still have decontamination to do before we moor.”

“Aye, Commander,” Annelise said, stowing the latest loose samples into a box and sealing it. Rarity did the same as Twilight loaded the ‘critter box’ in the shuttle. Within ten minutes, all were back aboard the shuttle as Annelise took off, setting the little ship to home in on the Hurin before starting the decontamination protocols, which took about fifteen minutes before it was considered safe to unseal the suits.

“I’m concerned about the life form. I thought initial scans did not show anything this large on planet,” Twilight commented as she stowed her helmet and hooked up her life support pack to the recharger.

“They did not, Princess. However, scanning from orbit only gives a quick reading about what could be there. With this being found under the moss, it may have been masked by the moss’ life readings. That’s for Science department to analyze, along with the rocks.” Sardon said as he did the same with his suit.

“That would be interesting to watch being done. May I ask permission to observe?” Twilight asked, looking up at the tall Sasquatch.

“Of course, Princess. You and whoever else you feel will be useful,” Sardon replied.

Author's Note

Never put blind faith in sensors. They may not tell the full story.

Chapter Nine

Two days after visiting the planet of the explosive rocks, Captain Somers went on a tour of Sciences, to see about what had been discovered about the stones and the strange life form they found. First stop was the geology lab, where Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie were looking over the gems. The ponies had discovered a way to dissolve the stone matrix from around the gems, freeing said crystals for closer examination. “Twilight, what have you found out?” he asked.

Twilight started some from the captain’s question. “Captain Somers! I didn’t notice you come in! Full details are stored with Hurin, but here’s the short form,” she replied.

“The crystals are of a type that absorbs the general magic field of the planet and stores the energy inside them. However, the energy is stored in just such a way that any breaking of the crystalline structure causes a catastrophic release of the mana in a rapid undifferentiated fashion.”

“Meaning, you break it and it goes BOOM!” Pinkie said excitedly. “My sister would find this very interesting!”

“Is it possible to pattern the energy, so that breaking the crystal casts a spell?” Jamie asked.

“That is what we are trying to do, Captain. It’s not easy, because the energy storage is so chaotic, but we think we can do so, given time,” Rarity said. “We can’t do it on the smallest crystals. We have hope some of the larger ones can do such a thing, but we have not gone that far yet. What with the explosive tendencies, you can understand why we are being careful. It’s a shame, though. The iridescence would make such a lovely accent on a dress!”

“Can you not polish and mount the smaller stones?” Jamie asked.

“Mounting we can do, but polishing them is difficult without them blowing up,” Twilight said. “Plus, if they get bumped against something hard enough, they blow up. Would not be good to the wearer now, would it?”

Jamie grimaced at Twilight’s words. “You do have a point there, Twilight.”

“Hey, captain, is that planet safe to live on? Has it been long enough? Huh?” Pinkie Pie asked, bouncing some on her hooves. “I would love to get some more of that moss! It’s bouncy!”

“From what I have gathered from Biosciences, there does not seem to be any pathogens that are immediately harmful to living beings as we know them. However, that does not mean they are not there, just that we have not found them yet. It generally takes about a year’s time to clear a planet for habitation,” Jamie explained.

Pinkie looked a little baffled. “What did you say, Captain?” she asked.

Twilight sighed. “He said that it takes about a year to prove a planet’s safety. We didn’t find anything yet, but there may be nasties lurking where we have not looked yet,” she explained.

“Oh, okay! What about that thingie we brought back up?” Pinkie asked, losing her confusion.

“That’s going to be my next stop. I know Fluttershy has latched on to the thing and is working on taking good care of it. So far, it seems to be healthy, but it’s only been a couple of days. I just hope it’s not harboring any diseases,” Captain Somers told the ponies.

“I’m sure Fluttershy is checking that out frontwards and backwards, Captain,” Twilight said. “Now, if you will pardon us, we have some more testing to do.”

“Of course, Twilight. Will I see you at dinner, or do I have to send Major Ryudan down to,” Jamie coughed a little before continuing, “’escort’ you all to the Wardroom?” he asked with a small smile, having had to have Twilight, at a minimum, brought to dinner several times already, which irritated the Mess Officer, Ensign Farrago, a rather emotional Acuna. (The Acuna, a raccoon-like species, generally do not show emotions in public, and have carved themselves a niche as clerks and paper-pushers in the ISA. Their skill in such fields is rivaled by only a few. Farrago is an exception to the general Acuna rule.)

“Better Major Ryudan or Lieutenant Blendar (the Supply officer, a ‘normal’ Acuna) than Ensign Farrago,” Rarity said. “At least those two have manners!”

“Farrago is a perfectionist, Rarity. She likes everything ‘just so’, and she worries that the meals she is making for you are not suitable for you,” Jamie said. “Still, since she reported aboard, the mess tables have seen an uptick in quality.”

“We’ll be there for dinner, Captain!” Twilight said with a small laugh before turning back to the lab tables. Jamie took that as a cue to leave, so he did.

Going up two decks and more to the center of the forward hull, Captain Somers entered the Bio labs, where, as he expected, he found Fluttershy with the critter they found planetside. The critter resembled a tortoise, but with legs and feet which are suited for digging into loose sand or soil, and an iridescent shell that glittered in light, and did radiate a faint light of its own, but only in darkness. Fluttershy was offering the critter a carrot, and it was slowly taking a bite from it. “Good day, Fluttershy. How is your new friend?” Jamie asked, startling the shy pegasus some.

“Oh! Captain! You surprised me! I didn’t hear you come in!” she exclaimed before answering the question. “Well, Digger appears to be healthy, and does enjoy vegetable matter. However, its diet needs more than vegetable matter.”

“How much more, Fluttershy?” Jamie asked.

Fluttershy tapped a hoof, thinking of her next words. “It also eats small stones, which it stores in its stomach. The stones slowly dissolve in the digestive acids, and Digger uses the minerals to do two things, they being building up its shell, and… this,” she explained, holding up a lab slide in her wing.

Jamie too the lab slide and slid it into a scanner scope, projecting an image onto a monitor. It appeared to be like the crystals Twilight was busy examining in the geology lab. “Digger apparently excretes these micro-crystals that it does not use in its shell. I have found that the shell is not explosive, but it does generate a protective field around itself when it feels threatened. It took me a while to calm Digger down so it would accept me.”

“What sort of field? One powered by magic?” Jamie asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. Chief Lovell and Petty Officer Vasquez verified the presence of a magic field in Digger, and how it seems to be under its control. Just what it really does, we can’t tell yet. I don’t want Digger to feel scared,” she explained, patting the tortoiseoid gently with a wing. It slowly raised its head to look at Fluttershy, trust in its eyespots.

“Have you had the biologists and doctors examine Digger yet?”

“Yes. Doctor Harris did the initial readings, and Ensign Mooloo… Muru…” Fluttershy stumbled trying to say the name.

“Muruloogu.” Jamie supplied, referring to a relatively new xenobiologist who came aboard at the last crew rotation. Skilled, but young. She is also a Ryuu, a leonine species first encountered early in Earth’s spacing, before the formation of both the ISA and its predecessor, the ISU.

“Yes, her. She looks intimidating, but she’s not. I like working with her,” Fluttershy declared as Digger crawled off, going under the shelter of some leaves Fluttershy had placed in its enclosure. “Digger does not like being in light much.”

“Okay, Fluttershy. Don’t forget about dinner tonight. I’ll stop by and see Ensign Muruloogu for a detailed report on Digger. Do you mind if I do?”

“Not at all, Captain. I’m sure she can give you a different report than I can. She used the equipment to scan Digger’s insides, something I would like to learn how to use and read.” Fluttershy told him.

“Sounds like a plan, Fluttershy. Let Hurin know to contact me if something different happens, okay?” Jamie said with a warm smile, looking down at Fluttershy.

“Of course, Captain. See you at dinner!”

After dinner, which Twilight avoided being dragged to by the simple expedient of having Spike go get her ten minutes before start, Captain Somers had the ponies (and Spike) gather in a briefing room. “I have called you all here to give you preliminary results of the surveys of the planet we all visited.

“First, there are no extreme pathogens detected in our air and water samples, so living there should be safe. If we go back there, decontamination procedures will still be followed, but environment suits will not be required.

“Second, I have been informed by Xenobiology that our sample of a life form that was brought back is apparently based on a different life system than we are normally familiar with. Mainly that it needs magic to survive, and gets it from its environment. Further study is indicated.

“Third, I have been in long-distance consultations with both your Princesses and the ISA. It has been decided that, if you are to join the ISA, and all indications seem to be pointing in that direction, the planet will be granted to Equestria for colonization, with any assistance from the ISA that is requested.” Jamie looked around at the ponies, who were all looking back at him intently. “Do try to curb your enthusiasm,” he added, which had the effect of breaking the ice in the room, sending the mares into fits of laughter. When the laughing settled, he went on.

“I do stress the word ‘requested’ when it comes to the assistance, because Princess Celestia will oversee the colonization efforts, probably designating someone to handle that chore.” He then looked at Twilight Sparkle. “If she takes suggestions, I will have one for her.

“I am now open to questions from the floor,” he concluded.

Three hooves and three wings immediately went up. Jamie looked around the table. “Twilight, you first.”

Twilight then stood up. “To whom do we owe this gift of a whole new world to colonize?” she asked.

“From what I am told, lobbying on the ISA side was led by my eldest brother, Christopher Robin Somers, a past High Chancellor of the ISA. I am sure our mother talked him into helping.” He then looked around the table. “I know Mother has talked with both U Po and the Princesses on Equestria. This gift is speeding up relations and dealings between the ISA and your world.

“Your mother has to be a very influential person, to do this,” Twilight added, the others nodding in agreement.

“She is. She has played a big hand in the founding of the ISA since the beginning, and the predecessor organization. She has an instinct for finding friends in any species. The only one she has not been able to do anything with are the Ratzi. Why, she hasn’t told me, and I don’t blame her.”

“Why do you say that, Captain?” Spike asked.

“Because Mother operates in different circles, different planes, than I do. She has connections I can only guess at, both her and Father. She likes using them to help build a better galaxy, so, I help her in my own way,” Jamie explained.

“Is it possible to grow food on that there world, Captain?” Applejack asked.

“From what I have been told by the bio labs, there should be no problems at all. However, there are some things, like how the micro-crystals that little Digger uses react with Equestrian life forms, we do not yet know. Like I said, it takes a while to prove a world is safe to inhabit, and that is one thing to look for,” Jamie told her, which seemed to satisfy the earth pony enough that she settled back down, looking thoughtful.

“I would like to go back and look closer,” Fluttershy said in her quiet voice. “It seems to be a nice world, and I would like to learn more. I’m sure that Digger would like to go home at some time.”

“Me, I’m wondering what sort of bangs I can make knocking rocks together!” Pinkie Pie said.

“Just be careful doing so, Pinkie. It could be that one wrong knock and you’ll get a bigger bang than you were expecting,” Twilight cautioned.

“That would spoil the party, right, darling?” Rarity added.

Pinkie settled back down in her seat, but her mane did not deflate. “I’m looking forward to finding out!” she said with a giggle.

Jamie looked across the table at the cyan pegasus. “You have not said anything, Rainbow Dash,” he said. “Do you have any opinions?”

“Oh, I know that living there is going to be just awesome. How awesome, I’ll find out when I’m there. No sense doing an egghead thing when there’s a lot we don’t yet know about the place,” Rainbow Dash said with a bit of a bland tone, but then she straightened up and took off, hovering above her seat. “I’d rather be doing than thinking!”

“You’ll get your chance, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said just before the sound of a bosun’s whistle cut through the air.

“Bridge to Captain Somers!” came the voice of Commander Seiryuu.

Jamie touched the intercom panel at his place at the table. “Go ahead, Bridge.”

“Captain, this is the Exec. We’re getting activity on sensor buoy G-113. A large Ratzi fleet has been detected at extreme range, velocity one point zero. Waiting on vectors to firm up, but I’m willing to say they are coming into the cluster,” Commander Seiryuu said in his clipped tones, which indicated to those familiar with him that he was working hard to keep himself under control.

“Are you sure of the velocity? Have you got a range calculation yet?” Jamie asked.

“Range is about twenty light-years out from cluster boundary. Whatever they are sending, it’s big and relatively slow, and they don’t care who sees it.”

“Okay, Commander. I’ll be in Tactical in a few minutes. Send a message to the Gilgamesh and let them know. I will await a call from Commodore Harkennon there. Somers out,” he said before breaking the connection. Jamie then turned to the ponies. “Pardon me, but it looks like the Ratzis are trying to crash the party. Time for me to get to work. Dismissed.”

Author's Note

Here comes trouble. How much, is not yet known.

Chapter Ten

Ten hours later, Jamie called a conference of his senior officers in Briefing Room One, along with Princess Twilight. “Okay, I have some intelligence on what is coming our way,” he said from the head of the table before picking up a note pad.

“A large Ratzi fleet, about three-quarters the size of what hit Brigadoon, is on the way here from the Ratzi home space. The center ship of the fleet is something new to us, an old system writ large.”

“What would that happen to be, Captain?” Twilight asked.

Jamie reread his note pad before answering. “One of the Ratzis main weapons is a beam that shuts down our power intake screens, essentially rendering any ship caught in it powerless, except for its batteries,” he explained.

“From what we have been able to figure out, the same beam makes spellcasting, or much magic use at all, ineffective inside the confines of the beam,” Lieutenant Commander Hartens added.

Commander Davis joined in the explanation. “What our power intake screens do is essentially take in ambient galactic mana, converting the mana into electricity which we use to power the ship. Let me tell ya, the stardrive is a real power hog. The rotolinears less so, but you can’t go far between stars on a rotolinear.”

“Plus, once they get a lock on you, it’s difficult to get out of the path of the beam long enough to allow the systems to recover, unless you destroy the beam emitter,” Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx added. “That can be done. Captain Somers here did it, in our first engagement with the Ratzis.”

“It was a lucky shot, enabled by Lieutenant Khaball’s skill at altering the ship’s spin with a cutter's drive unit just enough to allow me a sun gun shot right up their emitter array,” Jamie said as Lieutenant Khaball’s ears turned reddish.

“That is the same weapon they used on the ponies at North Shore, right? A beam that came out and caused the ponies to go unconscious,” Twilight said.

Lieutenant Commander Harris spoke up. “They passed out because the Ratzis shocked the magic that is in the ponies enough to cause them to go unconscious. If the beam was held on them longer, it would have killed them." The vampire did not look happy, a fang descending out from under his upper lip to poke the lower lip a little.

“What would the Ratzis want to do with a much larger beam? Hit Equestria with it?” Twilight asked.

Commander Sardon spoke up. “Knowing the Ratzis like we do, that is a possibility. Something that is also possible is not firing the beam at the planet, but either at your sun or the brown dwarf that is the gravitational center of your solar system. It does contain the galactic mana node for this region of space, and it is a powerful node. Take that node out, and there is a good possibility that the mana flow in this area of space will be disrupted for quite some time.”

“That is something we cannot allow to happen, and we will not,” Commander Seiryuu said, looking serious.

“He’s right,” Captain Somers said, indicating Commander Seiryuu with a nod. “The ISA is mustering up two fleets, one of which will be on its way within twelve hours, the other about three days later. Every combatant craft and supply ship that is not needed in the other fronts against the Ratzis are heading either here or to their port, for resupply and scrambling.

“The other two battlestarships, the Union and the Alliance, should be here within one day of the Ratzis arrival in the Equis system. We should be glad they can muster up speeds better than what this ship can do and are much more heavily armed. The Hurin is an exploration cruiser, one with armament, but more dedicated to science than war.”

“I have noticed that, Captain. Your laboratories on this ship make me more than a bit jealous,” Twilight admitted. “What I would like to know is, why would you do all this for a species you only just met less than a month ago?”

“Why? There are two reasons, Princess Twilight,” Commander Seiryuu said. “The first one is, disrupting this galactic mana node could have repercussions throughout the galaxy. Something no one I know of would want to see.”

“The other reason is even simpler,” Captain Somers added. “What sort of friends would we be if we didn’t do anything to help you?”

Twilight let out a bright smile. “Friendship is magic, as it appears that you know full well, Captain!”

Most of the beings around the table smiled as well. “That we do know, but the lesson was long in learning. Now that we know the value of it, no reason not to increase the magic, right?” Commander Davis drawled, sitting back in his chair.

A few hours later, new orders were cut for the Hurin, sent by conventional FTL radio, the PurpleComm setup, and a scroll that was sent to Twilight, via Spike. The orders are to intercept the Ratzi fleet at long range, and to use all the scrying measures at their disposal to learn more about the Ratzi fleet, but to not get caught doing so. Upon receipt of the orders, the Hurin changed course to intercept the Ratzi fleet.

Setting up in a star system a little way off from the Ratzi line of approach, the Hurin settled in. The Star Elves, Lieutenants Velvet and Silk, along with the long-range telepath, the Mephit named Veronica, got to work. The three mages did what they could as well, but their talents were rather erratic at long range, like from one star to another. It COULD work, but don’t bet the house on it.

The Gilgamesh also sent out two scout craft to investigate the fleet, deliberately attracting the Ratzis attention so that the Hurin would hopefully remain undetected, at Captain Somers’ suggestion and Commodore Harkennon’s concurrence. The first report came from the Star Elves.

“Captain, the fleet consists of ninety ships, ranging in size from scouts to battlestarships. A senior Ratzi is in command of the fleet, at least a level Three, if not a Two. Veronica’s trying to dial in on him now,” Silk reported.

“Thank you, Silk. What about their megaweapon?” Jamie asked.

“They must have been working on this for some time, Captain. Odds are good it would snuff a planetary mana field. A galactic node, chances are it would do a lot of damage to it. It’s not something we should have around, in my opinion,” Silk said truthfully.

“Get back to monitoring. I’ll check in with Chief Lovell next.” Jamie did just that, finding out the mages had detected the fleet, but their best scries were too erratic for much detail. He thanked the Chief and told her to keep trying.

“Is this normal, all this waiting around to figure out what to do?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, it is, Princess. While we know a lot about the Ratzis, there is a lot we don’t know about this particular fleet, what its orders are, and just how determined they are. With a level-two Ratzi in command, I do not think he would be willing to sacrifice himself. Either he is on the largest battlestarship in the fleet, or on one of the smaller scouts set up as a command ship. They have gone both ways in the past,” Jamie explained.

“What do you mean by a level-two Ratzi?”

Jamie sighed a little. “The Ratzis are a species that reproduce by flash cloning and programming. There are as many as five level-one Ratzis, who are the supreme leadership. Level-twos are slightly less intelligent and willed, and so on down to the level-nine shock troops, who are trained to fight and follow orders. As far as we know, below level four, the Ratzis do not have individual wills or personalities, just programming and competence to handle their assigned tasks.

“A level four would command a ship, and below him, the level fives run departments, and so on down. Talking to anything lower than a level four is an exercise in futility. Nobody home to answer your questions,” he told her, tapping his head with a finger.

“How could such a species ever come to be?” Twilight asked.

“We don’t know for sure. From what we have been able to gather, from salvaging wrecked computer cores, was that there was a war some time back. A catastrophic war, from which few survived. Details are lacking,” Jamie said with a sigh.

He was about to speak some more but was interrupted by a whistle. “Lurt to Captain!” came over the speaker.

“Go ahead, Ensign. Report,” Jamie said crisply.

“The lead Ratzi is not a level two, it’s a level one! A member of the Ratschancellory! The Science Minister! He’s leading the expedition to wipe out the star magic node here!” Veronica said a bit breathlessly. “I broke contact after that, because I was getting nauseous. In fact…” the communication stopped after that.

Jamie let out another sigh, rubbing his eyes. “Veronica is a good Long-Range Telepath, but she gets ahead of herself at times. She goes too deep into a mind and gets repulsed by what she sees.”

“Young and eager to please, right?” Twilight said.

Jamie sighed as he sat in his chair. “Years ago, I was the one who found the Mephit and brought them into the ISA, the same as I am doing to your world. However, the Mephit, unlike the Acuna and the Gelatinoids, have a bit of hero worship, especially when it comes to me. I am held in high regard by many of the Mephit species, but Veronica takes it to a whole different level. No matter how much I try to settle her down, she always displays eagerness in doing the best she can do for me. It does get tiresome, even after being aboard for a year. She does do excellent work, so I am not willing to transfer her off the ship.”

Twilight nodded in understanding. “So, you suffer in silence, yes?” she said with a little wry smile.

“No, not in silence,” Jamie said. “The senior officers all know how tired I am of her adulation, but she never seems to understand when she’s told to settle down around me. I deal with it.”

“Lurt to Captain. Back on station. I’ll try to deep probe the Science Minister again,” Veronica reported via intercom.

“Very well, Lurt.”

The probing of the Ratzi fleet continued as it flew past the Hurin’s location, getting some more data on the Ratzi fleet. They also found a significant problem, when Veronica let out a screech, her fur stood straight out from her body, and she passed out. Velvet and Silk brought her to Medical for examination. A little later, Captain Somers went for a report.

“The only explanation I can give you, from what I have found, is that she underwent a psychic assault by another, more powerful telepath,” Doctor Harris told the Captain.

“The Ratzis are not telepathic, Lee. You know that,” Jamie said, looking just a bit confused.

“That is true, they are not. However, this may explain some inconsistencies we have found in the Ratzis. Like, their flash-cloning and instructional technology, their drive to work together, the fact that the senior castes have little trouble controlling their subordinate castes, I think there is something unknown behind the Ratzis. Maybe some form of mechanical telepathy, operated from the home world?” Lee suggested.

“Entirely possible. Mother has not been able to get close to the Ratschancellory, no matter how hard she has tried,” Jamie said. “She could just barge on in, but that’s not her style.”

“Yes, she does like her finesse. Father has told me about it. Maybe I should send her a copy of my analysis.”

“Would not hurt to do so. How long before Veronica wakes up?” Jamie asked.

Lee looked Jamie in the face. “I don’t know for sure, Captain. It could be an hour, it could be a couple of days. With telepathic trauma, recovery times are always guesstimates.”

Jamie snorted. “Not always. Remember Lieutenant Flaherty, when we first found out about the Ratzis?” referring to the Lurt aboard six years before.

“That is a little more straightforward, Captain. In his case, the telepath he was in rapport with died in the Ratzi bombardment of New Edmonton. When that happens, especially in a two-ended long range telepathic contact, it almost always kills the other end. In this case, Veronica underwent a psychic assault. There is a difference,” the vampire told him.

“You have a point. Look after her. Time for me to find out what’s next on our agenda.” Jamie said before leaving Medical.

The Hurin was ordered to take a roundabout course back to Equestria, increasing speed once clear of the Ratzi’s sensors. That took about a day, while the Ratzi fleet plodded onward, at one light-year per hour. They made it back to Equestria with thirty-six hours to go before the Ratzi fleet arrived in system. Jamie Teltransed down to the surface for a strategy conference with Commodore Harkennon and Princesses Celestia and Luna.

“There is something I would like you to attempt, should the opportunity present itself,” Princess Celestia said once battle plans were drawn up.

“What would that be, Your Highness?” Commodore Harkennon asked.

“I would like Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends to accompany Captain Somers aboard his ship. I want them to try the Elements of Harmony on these Ratzis. If it works, it could remove the evil in the upper castes of the species. If not, there should be no harm done. The only harm is not trying,” Celestia explained.

Jamie looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. “I will agree to it, if Princess Twilight and her friends agree as well. How close do they have to be for these Elements to be effective?” he asked.

“I am not sure, Captain. Never before have we needed to try this at a distance like what has been described to me for space combat. I will leave that to my former personal student to discover,” was the reply.

“You put great faith in these Elements, Princess Celestia. Since you do, I can do no less,” Jamie said firmly.

“Are you sure you want to risk the lives of a new species to the ISA like this, Captain?” Commodore Harkennon asked, more than a bit surprised.

“If they are willing, and it could possibly stop the war with the Ratzis, then yes, I will take that risk. Remember, I have faced the Ratzis before and survived, Bev.” Jamie said.

“Yes, you have. I just worry about the repercussions if anything happens to them.”

Princess Celestia spoke up. “There will be no repercussions, Commodore. If it happens, we will mourn the loss and keep on going. But, if it works, it will be of immense benefit for us all.”

“You do bring up a good point, Princess Celestia. If you are willing, we will support your decision. With our reservations noted, of course,” Commodore Harkennon said to Celestia.

“Of course, Commodore,” Celestia said with a nod of approval. “It seems that in your own bureaucracy, you have those who would criticize any decision you make or any action you take. It happens here, too.”

“I, too, would like to go along as well, to observe combat in space for myself,” Luna spoke up with. Holding up a wing to stop objections from the other three, she went on. “I know that I should remain here and take charge of our counter-attack, if they should decide to come close to Equestria, and I will do so. Does not stop me from wanting to see for myself.”

“Smart of you to say so, sister. I, too, want to see such a sight for myself, but I shall refrain from doing so and instead listen to Twilight Sparkle’s descriptions. I am sure they will be detailed to the last flicker of light,” Celestia said with a beatific smile.

Commodore Harkennon chuckled some. “I take it Princess Twilight is… detail oriented?”

“You can say that, Commodore. Now, I have a few ideas I want to talk to you about, should the Ratzis get close enough to try them,” Princess Celestia said, her smile disappearing.

Jamie rose from his seat. “I think I should take my leave of this conversation. What I do not know, I cannot factor into my defense plans, and more importantly, cannot let slip.”

“Good idea, Captain. Have your ship ready to break orbit within twelve hours,” the Commodore ordered.

“Will do, Bev.”

Author's Note

Ho boy. Here comes the three-ring circus, led by one of the master ringmasters. Good seats available, just call Galactic Box Office to reserve yours!

Chapter Eleven

Twelve hours after the conference, Captain Somers was back aboard the Hurin, with Princess Twilight and her friends. “Prepare to break orbit, Helm. Destination the Ratzi fleet. Comm, signal the Darkling and the Rubicon to maintain station with us as we go. We’re taking this right to them, no holds barred,” he ordered from the command chair.

After readiness was reported, he gave the order. “Let’s get a move on. Speed four over one.”

“Four over one, aye, Captain,” the helmsperson acknowledged before engaging the stardrive, the two smaller destroyers falling into formation as the ships left the system.

“Captain, you know that once we get close, the Ratzis will know we are not only here, but where we are coming from,” Commander Seiryuu said to his captain quietly from his chair.

“They probably already know, Commander Seiryuu. Right now, we want them to know we’re coming, and madder than hell about it,” Jamie replied in equally low tones.

“Right. You want the destroyers to go headlong after the big weapon while we try to seek out the Level One. I’m sure I can handle that from the cyber lab.”

“That’s why you were picked to handle the job, Commander. You are one of the best cyber pilots in the Fleet. Now that we are on our way, we should be in contact with the Ratzis within five hours. Now, I have to go conference with the Equestrians. I’m not positive of their plans, but I’m going to give them a fair shake. Their world, their call.” Jamie said as he got up. “Commander Davis, you have the conn.”

“Right-a rootie, Captain,” Beauregard said as he came down from the Engineer’s console to take the Command chair.

Jamie met with the Equestrians in the Forward Lounge, a recreation area situated in the frontmost point of the octahedron that comprised the forward half of the ship. The Lounge was unique on the ship because it has something no other place on the ship has, that being a large transparent window that looked out of the ship in the line of flight. The window, like the Lounge, was two decks in height, a balcony circling the unwindowed sides of the room, equipped with tables and chairs so that crew members could dine or play cards with a magnificent outside view. They gathered at the largest table on the balcony, which is just to port of centerline. After greeting the ladies, he sat down and looked at Princess Twilight. “Okay, run by me again just what you and Princess Celestia talked about. I know you want me to get you close to the leader of the fleet, but that’s about it.”

“Captain, the idea is to get a fix on the Commander of the oncoming fleet and focus the Power of Harmony on him. To do that, it is best to have an unobstructed line of sight between us and the target, because none of us have actually SEEN a Ratzi, much less a high-level one,” Twilight explained.

Jamie did not have a happy look on his face. “You realize we are going at a velocity of four light-years per hour, while they are coming at us at one light-year per hour. I have two questions for you. One, how much time do you need to call up your Harmony power, and two, how much time do you think we will have in contact with them, if neither of us stop or only one fleet stops?” he asked the ponies.

Both Twilight and Rarity looked thoughtful, then Twilight’s face fell into a frown, followed by Rarity’s. “Too long for the one, and too little for the other,” Twilight said in a sad voice.

“Correct. That’s why all combat is done at sub-light speeds. It’s too easy to avoid engagement otherwise,” Jamie advised them.

Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Then, what’s the purpose of coming out here?” she asked. “How can we make them stop and fight us? There are two more ships out there with us, what are they for?”

“The Darkling and the Rubicon are unmanned probe ships, under computer guidance. They will blast through the formation, sowing probes that will mix in with the Ratzi ships, broadcasting findings back to us via a magic-based communications system we call PurpleComm. The odds of the Ratzis stopping when they detect us are slim, seeing as our telepaths and farseers have picked up on their determination, but whatever we learn from the flyby will aid us when they get to your home system. We will know their fleet composition, and hopefully some more about their super weapon.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have some surprises waiting for when the Ratzis arrive. Our job is to bring them intelligence on how best to spring the surprise,” Jamie concluded.

“I get it!” Pinkie squealed, bouncing in her seat. “What we’re doing now is to help set up the party when the Ratzis come knocking at our door!”

“Yes!” Jamie shouted back. “Now, let’s figure out how to do it!”

Five minutes before contact, the crew of the Hurin were at battle stations, while Twilight and her friends were in position on the upper deck of the Forward Lounge. Hurin himself highlighted the position of the approaching Ratzi fleet as a pulsing scarlet dot projected on the window. They brought up the rainbow lights of Harmony and aimed it at the dot and through it to the Ratzi fleet. All of them felt a strong… force of some kind, harmonious but based on different principles. They latched on to that force and bent their wills to study it. Easier said than done, because the closer they drew to it, the more jarring it was to the ponies. Just before flyby, the rainbow effect shattered and dissipated, leaving only Twilight still conscious, the others screaming under the ‘impact’ of the negativity before passing out. It was not long at all before Doctor Harris arrived on scene, with two orderlies and a crash cart.

“What happened, Twilight?” Lee asked as he scanned Fluttershy, who happened to be nearest to him.

“Anti-Harmony. Sheer, directed anti-Harmony, focused on one being. We tried to counter it, but the harder we tried, the harder it fought,” Twilight said, rubbing her head with a hoof. “Are they all right?”

Lee finished scanning Fluttershy, looked at the readouts, then started scanning Rainbow Dash. “It’s some sort of psychic trauma, as far as I can tell here. Similar to what happened to Veronica, but lesser intensity,” he reported as he looked at the readings on his scanner. “Pretty close to that.”

“Veronica is still unconscious, right?” Twilight asked. “Got anything for a headache?”

“I think we should get you to Medical first. Can you help me get them there, or should I call for some more crash carts?” Lee asked as his two orderlies scanned the other fallen ponies.

Twilight sighed. “Better call on the carts, Doctor. I don’t dare use my magic yet. My head aches too much,” she admitted.

Lee took the orderly’s scanners and looked them over. “Why do I have to be right? Vickers, Ellarath, go get two more carts. I’m sure we can get two on each one. Tell Shylock I want him ready to help when I get there,” he told them with a touch of a growl and glower. The two, a human and a Gharlesh, did not waste any time leaving.

Lee then scanned Twilight. “Alicorns must be especially tough, compared to the other species,” he commented.

“We do have the magic of all three wrapped up in one, Doctor,” Twilight groaned, relaxing into the pad she had been lying on.

“Saved you from an intense psychic shock, it did. I’m sure I will be able to clear your head once we’re in Medical.”

“What about the rest?”

“After a more thorough exam, I will be able to answer that question. Hopefully less than three hours.”

Lieutenant Commander Harris’ estimate was close to the mark, everyone being revived and cleared of residual pain in just over three hours, only because Lee was being very cautious in his treatment of the ponies, never having worked on one before. During that time, the Hurin had increased speed to eight light-years per hour, flew ‘under’ the flight path of the Ratzi fleet and made it back to Equestria shortly after the ponies left Medical. Immediately upon establishing orbit, Captain Somers and Princess Twilight Teltransed down to Canterlot Castle, for a conference with the Princesses, the Commodores commanding the battlestarships, and the fleet commander, Admiral Chambers.

Princess Celestia took charge of the meeting. “Twilight, what did you find out?” she asked.

Twilight hesitated for a moment, gathering her thoughts before speaking. “What we found, using the Elements, is that the Ratzis are backed by what I call an anti-Harmony, that being a functioning Harmony, but instead of being based on the Elements we know, they being Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Honesty and Magic, their Harmony can best be described as being based on Blind Devotion, Selfishness, Hatred, Grim Inquisition, Deceit and Power.

“The fleet is being led by Inquisition, and its purpose is to eliminate the single greatest threat to itself, namely us. It aims to accomplish that by wiping out the source of our power. It is ruthless, determined, and will stop at nothing to accomplish its goals, no matter how many lives are lost doing so, on either side,” she concluded, looking most unhappy.

That unhappy look was echoed by everyone around the table. Admiral Chambers was next to speak. “Captain Somers, what intelligence do you have on the fleet composition?” he asked.

Jamie stood up. “The linchpin is the super-sized jamming field. It is extremely powerful, more than enough to snuff the magic of either the planet, the sun, or the galactic magic node at the center of the system. We have one big advantage, that being while it is very strong, it has a very short range. Estimates by my mage and Star Elf staff, so kindly augmented by the battlestarships, show that its maximum range is little more than the orbital distance from the planet to its sun,” he reported.

Before he went on, Celestia let out a little snort of laughter. “That can be very problematical for them. What we need to do is to make sure they come here first before going to the magic node.”

“That will not be a problem, Princess Celestia,” Twilight said. “When we scanned them with the power of Harmony, they became aware of us, and are determined to get us first, because it thinks of us as the greatest threat. Once we are eliminated, the rest can be destroyed at leisure.”

“What about the composition of the approaching fleet, Captain?” asked Commodore Sirrath, the commander of the battlestarship Union.

“Ninety ships all told, seventy combatants. Two are of battlestarship size, but one of them contains the jammer. They show no signs of stopping, and all weapons are ready,” Jamie reported. “This looks like Brigadoon all over again, but with higher stakes.”

Admiral Chambers then stood. “What I propose is a defense in depth but letting them approach. The Alliance fleet will take the outermost ring, then the Union, with the largest fleet closest to Equestria led by the Gilgamesh. We want them to get to Equestrian orbit, where another surprise will be awaiting them.”

He looked to the commodore commanding the Alliance, Commodore Willacht, a metallic-green haired Gharlesh female. (Gharlesh are humanoid in appearance but have body and head hair of metallic colors.) “Commodore Willacht, station your fleet seven hundred fifty million kilometers out along their line of approach. Take out as many as you can. Commodore Sirrath, station the Union and its fleet two hundred fifty million kilometers out, with the same orders. Commodore Harkennon, your station is one million kilometers out. Let the largest ships approach Equestria but take out all that’s left.”

“Leave the most dangerous ships to us,” Princess Luna said.

“We have a big surprise waiting for them,” Princess Celestia added.

“What would you have me do, Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked.

“Stay after the meeting, Twilight. We have some ideas we need to discuss,” Celestia told her former student.

“Captains, to your ships! We don’t have much time to get ready!” Admiral Chambers said in a loud voice. The council room was momentarily filled with the sounds of scraping chairs, commlink chirps, requests for Teltrans locks and orders to ready the fleets. Within two minutes, the only ones remaining in the room were Admiral Chambers, Captain Somers, and the three Princesses.

“Now, for some serious skull sweating,” Jamie said when the room quieted.

“Let’s get started,” Princess Luna affirmed.

Author's Note

The Ratzis are coming! The Ratzis are coming!

What does Princess Celestia have tucked up her metaphoric sleeve? What is this Anti-Harmony? Does Equestria stand a chance? Tune in next week!

Chapter Thirteen

A glow started at the bows of the battlestarship with the magic-killer. As it brightened, something inexplicable to many appeared on the monitor. Equestria’s moon smashed its way through the formation, destroying all the ships except the two battlestarships, and they were set spinning, losing focus on the planet. Less than a minute later, Equestria’s orbiting sun followed, prominences reaching out and striking both battlestarships, reducing the massive ships to vapor.

After both the sun and moon returned to their previous positions, total silence reigned over the commlinks for a good two minutes before everyone started talking at once. The Hurin’s comm officer, George Jurgens, tolerated the babble for thirty seconds or so before yanking out his earpiece, staring at it in disgust. “Really, people, a little discipline!” he snorted before putting the piece in his other ear and began working to restore order on the comms, aided by some of the other comm officers.

“Fleet command to Hurin Tascheter,” came over the command frequency, piped direct to the Captain’s comm unit.

“This is Tascheter. Go ahead, Command,” Jamie answered.

“Tascheter, go ahead and investigate the Ratzi command ship. Fine tooth it as best you can, and have the Equestrians help in questioning the Level-One aboard. We want him alive and talking,” Admiral Chambers ordered from his command post aboard the Gilgamesh.

“Will do, Command. On it. Tascheter out,” Jamie said, breaking the contact while looking at his pilot. “Ms. Martens, get us to the Ratzi command ship. Stutter-step.”

The willowy Gharlesh with shiny lead-colored hair answered briskly, “Stutter-step to the command ship, aye,” before plotting the course to the disabled command ship. Getting a fix on it and the ship that was holding it under traction, she flickered the stardrive under minimal power, bringing the cruiser to the desired location in about fifteen seconds, a procedure referred to as ‘stutter-stepping’. Doing so to a specific target takes a skilled hand at the flight controls to do it successfully, unlike coming into a system, where distance from target was more desired than going to a specific point.

“Mister Seiryuu, Mister Sardon, assemble an Away Team to check out the command ship. Advise Medical and the Equestrians. Sardon, go after the moletronic memory cores, Mister Seiryuu, go for the level-one. Twenty minutes. Go.” Captain Somers ordered.

The human and Sasquatch stood up from their stations. “Will do, Captain!” they almost chorused, Seiryuu saluting, before leaving the Bridge. A Sciences subordinate sat behind Sardon’s console, while Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx got into the XO’s seat.

“Just like old times, Master Chief,” Jamie said quietly.

“Not quite, Captain. Before, I was in your seat, and you were aboard the Gilgamesh. Still, I like what we’re about to do,” the old Baastari said quietly in return, examining the XO’s displays. “Just hope the kid can handle it.”

“If I didn’t think he could, he would not be leading the team, Master Chief.”

Fifteen minutes later, Commander Seiryuu’s team Teltransed aboard the Ratzi ship, Princess Twilight, Rarity and Spike in tow along with Doctor Harris and an orderly. All were wearing their standard ship uniforms, which will provide life support for up to an hour, if needed. The space they materialized in was some sort of mess hall, several Ratzis drifting around the compartment, the ship being under zero-gee, emergency lights on.

“So, this is what a Ratzi looks like,” Twilight said, looking at one of them. The creature was bipedal, not quite as tall as Commander Seiryuu, with the head of a rat and a long ratlike tail. The creature’s snout and head had a coat of black fur on it, its eyes open, but vacant.

Commander Seiryuu looked around at the other Ratzis drifting aimlessly in the compartment. “Level nines, all of them, except that one. That’s a level seven,” he said, shining a light in the seven’s direction.

“How can you tell the difference, sir?” Spike asked.

Commander Seiryuu pointed at the seven’s face. “Look here, Spike. See how the snout of this one is white back to the second set of whiskers? That’s how we can tell.”

Doctor Harris picked up the lecture. “The Ratzis reproduce by flash-cloning and programming. Level nines are black all the way to the tip of their snouts, eights have a white nose, sevens have more white on their heads, and so on. The highest we have studied, a level four, is white back to the ears.”

As Spike nodded in understanding, Commander Seiryuu asked, “Where is the level one, Lee?”

Doctor Harris checked his scanner. “This way,” he said, indicating the door to the compartment, “then left two doors.”

“Let’s get this done,” Commander Seiryuu said, kicking off in that direction, the others following, Twilight pulling Rarity gently with her telekinesis.

“Thank you, Twilight,” Rarity said, her voice unruffled. “This is definitely odd, flying without wings. Hard to get going the way you are used to!”

“Zero gravity, Miss Rarity,” Lee said. “It does take some training to get used to.”

The group came to a rather ragged halt outside the door Lee had indicated. “He’s in there. His life readings are markedly different than the others,” he said, passing his scanner to the orderly. “Let me get this door open.”

Lee found the emergency door override crank, braced himself, and started cranking. The door protested, creaking and groaning as it slowly slid open on its tracks. Vampires ARE stronger than they appear to be, compared to a normal human. Inside, the room was almost filled with some sort of esoteric equipment, leading to a chair where the level one Ratzi sat. This Ratzi was the same size as the others, but instead of being black furred with white head markings, this one was white all over, with a head that was a bit bigger than the others. The Ratzi was unconscious, slumped over some, with an expression on his face that everyone took to be pain, lips curled back to reveal some small pointed teeth on the jaws.

“I’m going to call this in to the Captain. See if you can get it free of those straps. We’re taking this one back for examination,” Commander Seiryuu said as he drifted out of the compartment.

Lee Harris took the scanner back from his orderly and checked out the Ratzi. “He’s still alive, but he has suffered some sort of telepathic trauma. Thing is, Ratzis are not telepathic,” he said, sounding confused.

Twilight had been looking over the equipment in the room. “That’s what I think this gear is for. Those two long things, pointing to the Ratzi’s head, could be some sort of telepathic transceiver. I could be wrong, but I would love to examine all this!” she said, hooves and wingtips fluttering in eager anticipation of days and days of research.

Spike let out a groan. “Oh, no, here we go again…”

Over the next four days, the combined fleets did a cleanup of the battle zones, stripping the ships of all forms of records, and moving the survivors to Equestria. Research showed the Ratzis had a lot in common with changeling drones, so the Queens of the Changeling Hives were brought in to consult. It did take some effort on the parts of the queens and princesses to establish control of the surviving Ratzi lower echelons. Up to the level fives, once control was established, the Ratzis were like very dumb drones, constantly needing guidance. Level fours and up had more volition, more will, and resisted domination by an alien force. None of them survived the attempts.

The level one was moved groundside to a hospital for examination. He did show signs of what is called ‘brain burn’, but he did not yet wake up. Mind probing showed a rather sophisticated mind shield in place, one the ISA psychotechs were hesitant to try to bore through. So, the ISA teams continued to observe him, not trying to wake him up.

During that time, Twilight Sparkle was in the state that can be called ‘hog heaven’, blissfully digging in to the mysteries of the complicated machine the level one was seated in. She worked with the ISA scientists, carefully digging in to the guts of the machine, learning what it did and how it did it. That lasted for three days before the ISA team, in desperation, appealed to Princess Celestia, through channels, to get her to SLOW DOWN. That goal was achieved by Celestia summoning Twilight to Canterlot for a progress report. When she arrived, Celestia hit her with a sleep spell. While Twilight slept, Celestia sent a suggestion to the science team that they switch the portable coffee maker to something that has much less caffeine than the blend they are currently using.

When Twilight woke up, she was persuaded to give a report to the assembled ISA representatives about her findings. Her report backed up the ISA scientists and technicians, that the device was some sort of psionic amplifier, but where it connected to was purely speculation at this time.

As research and investigations continued, Admiral Chambers decided to return the Combined Fleet to port, bringing along a delegation from Equestria to present their credentials to the ISA general assembly and High Council, currently led by High Chancellor Robedlea, a leading politician and military leader from the planet Sixtus, whose inhabitants resembled humans, but the ‘dominant class’ had six fingers on each hand, while the ‘subordinate class’ had only five.

He left the Gilgamesh in the cluster, with twelve smaller ships in attendance, to help map the cluster and watch out for any more Ratzi activity. The rest of the ships were sent back to their home ports, except the Alliance, which he boarded, along with the Equestrian delegation, destination Camelot, the fifty-kilometer diameter artificial planetoid in orbit around Epsidani Three. Before leaving, he called Captain Somers and Commodore Harkennon in for a conference.

“Word from the other Ratzi fronts show the Ratzis became very confused and uncoordinated shortly after the combat here, after which they dropped all their fighting and rapidly retreated, destination the Ratschancellory. They have never done that before, and it is my suspicion that whatever-it-is that is on the other end of the psionic amplifier the level one was using seems to have soiled its britches at our successful attack,” he told the two officers.

“One thing that we found out is the device lost power suddenly, when one of Captain Somers’ shots severed the main power coupling to the device. It acted like a sudden interruption of a psi-link, which can conceivably damage the telepaths at either end of the connection,” Commodore Harkennon reported after consulting her notepad.

“Jamie, I don’t know how you do it,” Admiral Chambers said to his uncle. “Grandfather trained me in weapons, and I have practiced diligently, but making a shot like that from a million kilometers? How do you do it?”

Jamie just leaned back in his seat, smiling. “Dad always told me to lead the target. Sure, there was a three second lightspeed delay, but the principle is the same as skeet shooting.”

“The last time you missed a clay pigeon, it was shortly after you graduated from the Academy, and you missed ONE after a night’s partying! I have not heard of you missing one since!” Gordon said with a groan.

“Pardon me, sir, but are the two of you related?” Bev asked.

Jamie and Gordon pointed at each other. “He’s my uncle,” and “He’s my nephew,” were said simultaneously, in identical dry tones of voice, like they had done this many times before.

“Oh, my…” Bev said, looking at the two. “I could not tell.”

Another week went by, studying the Ratzis and their gear. The changeling queens said the Ratzi drones they had control of only have limited knowledge, a lot of which they did not comprehend, not having the technological background to understand. Understanding was achieved when the queens met up with representatives of the sole insectoid member of the ISA, the Mantilla. The queens and Mantilla were able to conduct telepathy on a different level than the mammalian, lizardine, avian or crystalline members, and were able, with changeling help, to mentally probe Ratzi minds. There, it was found that each of the lower echelons of Ratzis, as speculated, only had ‘programming’ to do specific tasks and follow orders from higher echelons.

A combined task group, composed of changelings, ponies, Mantilla and humans got to work on the mental screens around the level one Ratzi. They took their time, peeling away one layer of the screen, checking, then moving deeper. It was a good thing Princess Twilight was present when they penetrated the last shield. The Anti-Harmony influence was found lurking deep in the level one’s subconscious, and it took alicorn-level power to keep it in place while the other Bearers of Harmony were summoned and brought to the examination room. It took Pinkie Pie’s Element to penetrate her opposite number’s Anti-Element, effectively eliminating the Anti-Element from the Ratzi. The Ratzi woke up, looking around in confusion.

“Alone…” he said in a whispery form of Equish.

“Alone? How so?” Twilight asked, coming down off her power use.

“No Master in my head, giving me directives. No amplifier, so we cannot reach each other. Master will presume me dead and assemble another Inquisitor to replace me. Why am I not dead?” he asked.

“What do you last remember, Inquisitor?” Twilight asked in reply.

“Directing the fleet. Objective to get the annihilator close enough to remove dark magic sources found in this area. Contact with fleet and Master lost at same time. Shock put me out. I wake here. All I know.”

“Rest, Inquisitor. Here, you are among friends, those who do not wish to hurt you, but learn from you,” Twilight told the rat. “We know nothing about your species, and why would you want to destroy our magic?”

“Dark Magic threat to stability of Master. Must eliminate threats so Master may be supreme, to conquer all Master surveys. Friends. Unusual topic but have referents. Must consider. Leave to think,” Inquisition said, closing his eyes and lying back on the exam bed.

“Well, tarnation! That fella believed everything he said as the truth. Ah think when we hit him with the rainbow, we done put something in he hadn’t thought about before,” Applejack observed.

“He thought just knowing about everything is fun!” Pinkie Pie squealed. “He doesn’t know what he’s missing, but he will!”

“Right now, we should report what we have found out to the Princesses and to the ISA,” Twilight said. She looked up to the Violet Changeling princess. “Princess Iralia, please look after Inquisitor, and alert us if he wakes up.”

Iralia moved closer to the rat’s bed. “I shall do so. His thoughts are… contemplative… now, figuring out concepts that are new to him. Being isolated from his Master is unknown, but he has enough awareness to not completely shut down. A fascinating subject, he is.”

“Hopefully much more than that, Princess Iralia. Time will tell. Let’s make our report,” Twilight said, leading the pack out of the exam room to the Castle.

The report Twilight gave to the Princesses and the ISA representatives did not have the effect of a tactical nuclear strike in midtown Manhattan, but it was a near thing. Commodore Harkennon immediately ordered more resources from Camelot, mainly Mantilla espers of a higher grade than the ones she had available as Gilgamesh crew. When she was told that there would be a week’s delay getting them out to Equestria, the Commodore started to get angry, but calmed down when Captain Somers said he could get them here by tomorrow night at the latest. When asked how, Captain Somers just gave a thin smile and said, “I have relatives in strange places, Bev.”

“That you do, Jamie. I’m surprised that your family can pull off virtual miracles, but they have been doing that regularly since the Sagan virus started showing up almost three centuries ago,” Commodore Harkennon replied.

“Yes. Your mother has been keeping my sister and I informed through her ‘back channels’,” Luna said with a snicker, which was echoed by Celestia.

“Mother does what Mother wants,” Jamie said with chagrin. “Just be glad you don’t know GRANDmother. She can be worse, if she puts her mind to it.”

Examination and questioning of Inquisitor, once the more powerful Mantilla arrived and were briefed in, led to the formation of plans that were quite daring, but had the potential of ending the Ratzi threat to the ISA. Princess Celestia called Commodore Harkennon, Captain Somers and Princesses Luna and Twilight to a secluded conference.

“With what we have learned from Inquisitor, the Master Ratzi is located on their home world, what you call the Ratschancellory. The Master is someone or something left over from the Ratzis Final War, centuries ago. What I propose is that, using plans and data provided by Inquisitor, The Master can be located and either converted to Harmony, or eradicated completely. Preferably converted, but the threat The Master presents offers us few options,” Celestia told the assembled.

“Captain Somers, thou and thine ship are requested to bring Princess Twilight and her friends to this Ratschancellory and let them do their act of Harmony,” Princess Luna added. “Barring that, destroy the Master from space.”

“There are two problems I can see, Princess Luna,” Jamie replied. “The first is that we have no detailed plans of the Ratschancellory, and the second is that we would not be able to approach within five light-years of the Ratschancellory without being detected.

Twilight then spoke up. “Captain Somers, thanks to our conversations with Inquisitor, I can provide maps of not only the space around the Ratschancellory, but high-quality maps of Center City itself, where the Master resides. Inquisitor has been in the Master’s chamber, but has not truly seen the Master. No one has, in a long time.”

“That will be of help, but what about being detected?” Captain Somers then asked.

Princess Celestia held up a large diamond in her aura. “Install this, Captain, against the structural frame of your ship, and it will render it invisible to almost all known detectors. The sensors that it will not render invisibility to, it will scramble the readings, so what they see is not what you are. Come with me, and I will enable you to turn the screens on and off.”

“How about some smaller ones, in case I have to launch some small craft?” was Captain Somers’ next question.

“It is hoped that all the work required can be done from your ship in orbit around the planet,” Princess Celestia said gently.

“If we can stop the war with the Ratzis, it’s worth any possible risk,” Commodore Harkennon added.

Jamie can only nod, accepting the situation. “You’re right, Bev. It is worth the risk.”

“If any ship and crew can do this job, you and the Hurin Tascheter can.”

Author's Note

Anyone who called 'bug on windshield time', you were right! Come on up and claim your cheap cigar!

Next chapter, it's in to Ratzi space, going to the core of the problem. Will Harmony prevail, or will the Anti-Harmony obscure our heroes? For this and the answers to more questions, stay tuned for the next chapter! Same rat-time, same rat-channel!

*gets a pie thrown in my face from an indignant roomie* Chill it, Doomsday Desmond!

Chapter Fourteen

Planning, equipping and readying the ship and crew of the Tascheter took a week. Additional personnel were sought out from the rest of the fleet around Equestria that could possibly be of use on the upcoming expedition, mainly enough telepathic specialists to keep the ship shielded while near the Ratschancellory. Supplies were laid in for Princess Twilight and her friends to do additional research while on the trip, which at a speed of ten light-years per hour would still take a bit more than two hundred hours to complete the trip from Equestria. One additional passenger was embarked as well, that being Inquisitor, safely hidden behind the strongest psi shield that both the ISA and Equestria could come up with.

The trip itself was uneventful, racing to the Ratschancellory. Intelligence reports from the ISA showed that the Ratzis were still in turmoil, all ships taken from combat fronts and going either to known colonies or to their home world. It was hoped that by reducing velocity starting twenty light-years from the Ratschancellory would keep the ship’s approach masked from the Ratzi’s sensors.

Twilight worked with the specialists aboard to come up with enough personal psi-screens for everyone on the crew, twice over. Fortunately, she could use a batch process, but seeing as the crystals were species specific, it still took a few days to make enough. On their off time, the ponies questioned Inquisitor some more and spent time with their ‘escorts’ aboard ship, pursuing an idea Princess Luna gave them, an idea that seemed to have some merit. Inquisitor spent time not answering questions with his ‘counterpart’, Pinkie Pie, as well as Lieutenant Mulholland, the Kitsu lead psychologist aboard. The party that was held three days before estimated arrival can best be described as EPIC. The ship and crew needed a day to recover from it! As many of the ISA crew said, the sight of a Ratzi laughing in sheer pleasure could best be described as discomforting. The worst descriptions sent the four sufferers to Medical for treatment.

The Tascheter came out of stardrive at the edge of the Ratschancellory system and waited there, letting passive sensors gather information about the disposition of ships around the star system. Captain Somers triggered the invisibility screen, having been assured that it could last for days, thanks to the ambient mana field aboard the ship. After ten hours, Sciences had developed a report which was delivered to Captain Somers. He requested a conference of senior officers, along with Princess Twilight and Inquisitor, to review the data. Just before the conference started, the Captain received a call from the senior Star Elf aboard, Commander Diaphane, who joined the expedition from the Gilgamesh.

“Diaphane to Captain Somers! I can feel magic being generated from Ratschancellory! It’s… wrong.”

“Magic being generated? Explain yourself, Commander.” Jamie replied.

“The mana I am detecting feels too… regimented… to be natural. Too orderly. Too precise. Whatever it is, I am reading it from a point source on the planet. A very discrete point source.”

“Commander, report to Briefing Room One. This is an unexpected factor.”

“Three minutes, Captain. I’m transferring data to Hurin now. Once that is done, I will be on my way. Diaphane out.”

Captain Somers, as did the rest of the command staff, looked at the intercom for a moment. “Generated magic? I’ve never heard of such a thing,” he said, watching the conference attendees.

Not surprisingly to Jamie, Inquisitor was the first to speak. “If it is coming from where on the planet I think it is, then there is only one thing it can be. Master’s power source,” the white Ratzi stated.

“Power source? What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked.

“Ever since the early days, after the Great War against the Heretics that almost killed us all, the Master has remained in one spot, never leaving his command center. No one of us has ever seen the Master, not even our Leader, Power. The command center is entirely self-contained, never needing anything sent in or taken out. There are not even power lines going to the command center, but plenty of data lines leaving,” Inquisitor said, almost as if reciting a lesson, his eyes half-closed.

“You have said you had been in there, Inquisitor,” Commander Seiryuu stated. “What did you see while in there?”

“Nothing remarkable. Just a room with a chair and a blank screen. When I sat in the chair, colors and shapes form on the screen and the Master talks to me, giving orders and removing information from me.”

“A chair like the command chair we found you sitting in?” Twilight asked.

“No. Just a small office, a chair and a screen. No transceiver nodes visible. Master’s command center is a large place, but all we have ever seen is a short hallway and the small room. No other doors visible from the inside. Outside, there are more doors, but they seldom open unless Master has something he requires us to have, like transceiver nodes, growth machines and programming modules,” Inquisitor replied.

As the door opened and Commander Diaphane came running in, Jamie asked a question. “How confident are you in getting us inside to speak to the Master?”

“I could open the door with a pawprint. You could not,” Inquisitor said bluntly.

“Well, we will see about that,” Captain Somers said before looking at the Star Elf with long, shimmering silver hair. “Your report, Commander Diaphane?”

The Star Elf worked some display controls at his seat. The wall display lit up with several overlays of the city and of the mana readings. Centered in the city was a large, low, circular building that easily measured over a kilometer in diameter. The mana pulse reading was fixed on the building, becoming more centered as Diaphane worked the zoom control. “That’s where it is, Captain. It took us some time to get a good enough fix on it to develop this. This generated magic rapidly diffuses outside the system, getting lost in the generalized background magic of the galaxy.

“I felt something odd when we emerged from stardrive, but it took quite some time to get all this information using passive sensors only,” Commander Diaphane concluded.

“You did well, Commander. We don’t want the Ratzis to know we’re here until it’s too late for them to do anything about it,” Captain Somers told the senior Star Elf. “Now, what can we do with that data?

“Commander Hartens, given what we know about the size and construction of that central building, would a sustained sun gun barrage be enough to penetrate it?” the Captain asked his Weapons Officer.

“It is certainly possible, Captain,” she replied with her characteristic South Brigadoon accent, which to most of the ISA sounded like old English. “However, to be completely honest with you, everyone here, and myself, I do not think we would have enough time to do so before we get attacked by any ships in orbit.”

“Well, so much for that idea,” Jamie muttered, which caused some quiet laughter around the table. “Anyone else have an idea?”

“I do, Captain,” Twilight said. “I have to say that this idea is not without risk, because there are too many unknowns to give an accurate projection.

“What I am proposing is that we shield that central building with a counter-magic field, one designed to block the magic flow required to power the thought transceivers. That way, this Master will find it hard to call for help while we go inside it to face the Master head-on, using the power of Harmony against it.”

“How do you propose we get inside, Princess Twilight?” Commander Seiryuu asked.

“Via your Teltrans system. I propose we do a flyby of the planet and the city, enabling us to get a good look inside the building to get an idea of its layout, find a large enough chamber, go in and hit it hard,” Twilight explained. “Your magical scryers should get enough resolution for a pass.”

“Dicey, risky and downright dangerous,” Captain Somers said, addressing the table. “But the idea has been laid on the table. Anyone else have an idea?”

Inquisitor raised a paw. “While doing the flyby, I suggest you also use your CyberTap device to read the main information database, which is stored nearby. I do know where to look to try to find some more information about the Master and his control complex,” the reedy-voiced Ratzi said.

“Think we can pull that off?” Jamie asked his Exec and Science officers.

“It is possible,” Sardon rumbled. “It will require Inquisitor’s assistance to find and read the desired databases while we are within range of the flyby. I doubt we can do the flyby many times without having something go wrong.”

“Point made, but it will be something we have to do, despite risks. We can’t mask a cutter.”

Lee Harris spoke up then. “No, we can’t mask a cutter, but we can do the next best thing.”

Everyone’s attention focused on the vampire doctor. “What is it you are thinking about, Doctor?” Captain Somers asked.

“We took on a spare cutter from the Gilgamesh, an armed one. What I propose is that we send it in on autopilot or under remote guidance. We release it in one area, relatively distant from the planet, and let it go in, guns blazing. We have it do a flyby of the planet, in an important sector of course, so as to have the planetary forces see it as a credible threat. While they are looking that way…” Lee paused for breath, but Twilight jumped in at that point.

“We head in to do our flyby over the central city, hopefully relatively cleanly, because their attention will be diverted elsewhere!” Twilight said, notes of optimism in her voice.

Captain Somers traded looks with his Exec, Science and Weapons officers, all of which said the same thing, namely ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’. He took a deep breath, thinking fast. “What are the chances of success on a venture like this?” he asked Inquisitor.

The white Ratzi thought before replying. “I am willing to say that such an idea has merit. I know of several locations on different continents that can fulfill your needs. Doing so once would more than likely work. A second time MAY be successful. Three times, well, the Master would learn and compensate for such maneuvers. Sad that you have no other ships to use, to make the threat even more credible.”

“Yes, but there is something we can do to increase the threat potential. We can mount a sun gun, with a full magazine of mixed rounds, in the cutter, with a gunnery program running, taking pot shots at any ships within sight. That ought to attract attention,” Captain Somers said, to nods of approval from the ship’s staff.

“I’ll get a working party started on the job right after this meeting, Captain,” Lieutenant Commander Hartens said, a glint of eagerness in her eyes. Her home town fell to a Ratzi kinetic strike from orbit during the invasion of Brigadoon six years before. Her seat was the farthest from Inquisitor, because she did not trust herself around him.

“Very well, then. Weps, get the cutter ready. Expedite the installation. The rest of us, I suggest getting some sleep. We’re going to have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. Dismissed!” the Captain ordered. Everyone stood and saluted the Captain, except Inquisitor and Princess Twilight. They were not his subordinates, just allied support.

The next day, the crew of the Hurin Tascheter got to work. First thing that was done was to charge all ship’s atostors, as well as the cutters and shuttles. This would allow the ship to turn off their ZPE generators and go in on atostor power only, to deprive the Ratzis of being able to trace the zippers, which is how most deep-space tracking was done. The ‘curdling’ of space caused by the draw of the zippers is detectable for a long way out, and the Ratzi and ISA fleets, while using similar systems, did so at different ‘frequencies’, so telling friend from foe, on long-range sensors is a rather easy task. Estimates done by Commander Davis and Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx said the ship could operate on atostor power, at full capability, for about forty-eight hours before needing to restart a zipper.

The cutter Acoma was cast free, allowed to head in on atostor power, the Tascheter not far behind at first, then, after giving the cutter a good shove with the pressor beams, drifted off some, on its own course in system. Driving in with rotolinears took eight hours at six gravities acceleration, the gravar fields handling five of them.

The ship was at combat stations the last half hour of approach, all stations manned and ready. Princess Twilight was in the Forward Lounge with her associates, setting up Harmony but not sending it out, just using it passively, to feel what was around. That plan lasted less than two seconds before Twilight ordered it to stop, because she and her friends felt the presence of the Master, and dropped Harmony before the Master could sense them, it being occupied by the cutter’s pass through Ratschancellory orbital space, firing at ships, stations and the planet.

On the Bridge, the crew was kept busy, passing through orbital space for a flyby without hitting anything, sensors active to glean as much information from the pass as they could. With Inquisitor helping to guide CyberTap, Sardon grabbed what data he could before passing out of range.

To their surprise, the cutter made it out unscathed, the Ratzi fleet still in disarray more than two weeks after recalling their ships home. Of the sixty sun gun rounds fired, all struck ships, with ten being virtually destroyed by shots piercing a power station or a magazine. One hour after flyby, the command staff and observers gathered in Briefing Room One for consultations.

“Well, that went easier than we anticipated,” Captain Somers said when all were assembled.

“Ah ain’t gonna complain none,” drawled Commander Davis. “We’s good on charged mercury for the atostors fo’ at least anothah day. Y’all just say when, and ah’ll pull the zippers up.”

Twilight Sparkle got a strange look on her face as she listened to what the Chief Engineer had just said, then relaxed when she remembered that the main generators were nicknamed ‘zippers’. Captain Somers noticed that, but said nothing about it as he said, “Thank you, Eng. Inquisitor, did you get the information you wanted from the databanks?”

The white rat nodded. “I did, and my access coding is still valid. It will be some hours before I can separate out the precise data we are looking for, due to the sheer volume of information acquired. Data that has been there, but I had absolutely no reason to look for it,” he explained.

Twilight snorted a little. “I’m more willing to say that your Master did not want you to look there, Inquisitor. When you were planetside, was not your Master present in your mind all the time?”

“Yes, he was, but not directly controlling me. I was my own self, but his presence was always there. He could if he wanted to, like the rest of the Six, but it was just something we really did not pay attention to. When the command chair was damaged, it was the first time I can remember that I was truly alone in my head. I like it that way.”

“Keep wearing your shield crystal while we’re here, and you should remain so,” Captain Somers told the rat before addressing Twilight. “What did you feel, Princess?”

“We felt the Master. His attention was diverted because of the cutter’s attack run, but I broke off contact in case he did decide to take notice. One thing I did notice was that there seemed to be a…” she reached for a word and found it. “Dissonance… in what I felt, like there was something missing, and it was highly disturbed. Like you are listening to a seven-piece orchestra, and one piece is missing.”

Captain Somers nodded. “In essence, there is. Inquisitor, we know your species reproduces by flash cloning and programming. Why have you not been replaced yet?” he asked.

“The only reason I can think of is that when my connection to Master was disrupted suddenly, it must have deranged my… recording… you could say. I know bodies are kept in storage for the Leadership castes but downloading my mind print into the new body should not take more than three or four days, maximum. Plus, recalling the entire fleet is something unheard of. Master must be seriously worried to something that drastic,” Inquisitor advised.

“Okay, then. Let us reconvene in twenty-four hours, to allow us to read through the data and recharge the atostors before we decide fully on what to do next. There could be something in the data that could throw all our plans into the recycler. Sciences, coordinate with Inquisitor on reading through what you grabbed today. Engineering, once we reach the edge of the system, fire up Zipper Twelve only to recharge the atostors. Helm, maintain position and stealth modes until further notice.

“We have the Master running around in circles right now. When we are ready, we will trip him up. Until tomorrow, dismissed!” Captain Somers directed. He sat there as his staff filed out, watching their expressions carefully as everyone left.

“A bit for your thoughts, Captain?” Twilight asked as she reached Jamie’s chair.

Jamie looked at Twilight before speaking. “May I ask you to come to my cabin, please? I want to ask you some questions about this Harmony of yours. I’m wondering if my instincts are leading me true, or going up a blind alley,” he asked

“Of course, Captain. Right now, we have time. I’m always willing to help a friend!”

“As am I,” Jamie said with a smile as he stood up. “Why else would I risk all this to help a friend like you and yours? I just have this feeling we will need every hare-brained illogical plan we can come up with to win out over this Master.”

Author's Note

Okay, time to get the ducks in a row before diving in headfirst. May they not be setting up in a shooting gallery.

Chapter Fifteen

Twilight and Jamie entered the Captain’s cabin. Once the door shut, Twilight asked, “What is it you want to know about Harmony, Captain?”

Jamie sat at his desk, reaching in to a lower drawer and pulling out a dusty bottle. From another drawer he pulled out two small shot glasses. As he poured, Twilight could smell blackberries and something else. “I am aware that your Harmony relies on six elements, that being Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness and Magic. When you first came aboard, I assigned minders to each of you that I hoped would complement you, despite the fact I am not a magician, I figured Leadership could be a good substitute. Would you agree that I did a rather good job in picking your minders?” he asked as he finished pouring and slid one of the small glasses towards Twilight.

“I would say that you have done an exceptional job in doing so, Captain. My friends have nothing but compliments about their assigned guides. Why did you assign Commander Seiryuu to Spike? Is it because you wanted to put the dragons together?” Twilight asked in reply, picking up the shot glass in her glow and sniffing it before tasting.

“Correct, Princess. I did not want Spike to feel left out. I have little brothers, as well as a twin brother, and having been a little brother myself, I wanted Spike to have someone he could relax with. It seems to have worked,” Jamie observed before sipping the blackberry brandy carefully. “When it comes to this Harmony, I feel that you could use some backup when we go down to visit the Master. Do you think the six of us, along with the six of you, reinforce your Harmony to the point where it would be of assistance to you?”

After one taste of the potent brandy, Twilight hurriedly set the glass down, but not spilling a drop. “I do not know, Captain. It has not been tried before. Are you sure you want to risk yourself and the ship’s officers to something unknown and unproven?”

Jamie took a deep cleansing breath before replying. “Yes, I do, Twilight. This war with the Ratzis has gone on for over six years now, ever since I found their first encroachment on New Edmonton. Commander Hartens’ home world was devastated in a Ratzi fleet action we did not see coming and matters there got worse before it got better. If I can end this war with them and bring peace to the ISA again, then yes, my officers and I are more than willing. Does that answer your question?”

Twilight can read not only Jamie’s determination, but also his fatigue at the thought of war, war and more war. “Yes, it does, Jamie, but I still have some related questions. You strongly believe in friendships between different species, correct?”

“Very much so. Yours will be the fourth species I have brought in to the ISA in the past four decades plus, and I hope to keep doing so for the rest of my days. While I can be hard as adamantite at need, I prefer the comfort of friends and relatives. For instance, my senior staff aboard, apart from Commander Seiryuu, have served with me for decades. Commander Seiryuu I first met when I took command of the Gilgamesh before the battle of Brigadoon, when he was a lieutenant. Even then, I saw his potential and guided his career to here,” Jamie said before leaning forward at his desk, looking Twilight square in the eyes. “Don’t you DARE tell him that. Gottit?” he growled.

Twilight could feel the intent behind Jamie’s glare and smiled. “Your secret is safe with me, Captain!

“Now, as for your idea, I do not know if it will work, but I cannot see how it will harm anything to try. If you want to, I will allow it. I advise you to essentially be receptive to everyone in your Harmony and focus on your purpose in uniting. If you can, follow my lead,” she advised, going serious.

“I can assure you, Princess Twilight, that we will all do our best to help you and yours. Our goals coincide now, and I would vastly prefer being your friend in spacing and exploration without the threat of the Ratzis looming over our heads,” Jamie said before tossing down the rest of his blackberry brandy. His eyes crossed and he gasped. “Want the rest of your shot?” he wheezed.

“You can have it, Captain. It’s a little strong for my tastes.”

The next day, the command staff met again, this time with the information they had retrieved via CyberTap. While it had lots of historical and technical data that was previously unknown about the Ratzis, there was not as much data about the Master’s bunker as they had hoped. Still, there was some.

“This area here is where those of us of the Six would go for our conversations with The Master,” Inquisitor said, pointing out the corridor and door where he would go in the building. “Here, here and here are the subordinate class briefing areas, what you call Levels Two, Three and Four.”

He then pointed out several of the larger doors on the sides of the kilometer-wide building. “This is where the equipment we cannot build ourselves come out of, that being command chairs, creators and imprinters. Without them, our species will fade in a matter of a few decades, when the ones we already have wear out. Everything else, we have decentralized production, but the information about those three key systems has been held by the Master alone,” Inquisitor told the group.

“So, we must all be cautious when we are inside the command bunker,” Captain Somers advised. “What we need to do is find the Master. How can we conceivably do that? The floor is open to suggestions.”

“We could do another cloaked flyby, to allow the mages to take a look with clairvoyance. No other ship of the ISA has been this close before,” Commander Seiryuu suggested.

Commander Diaphane replied to that inquiry. “We were doing that during the first pass. The regimented magic coming from that building essentially put up ‘static’ that blocked our direct sensing.”

“While we did not use active scanners on the flyby to maintain stealth,” Commander Seiryuu said with a sigh. “So much for that idea.”

“However, we do have details as to the location of the tunnels and corridors. We have a good Teltrans lock, so we can get there with room to spare,” Captain Somers said soothingly to the Exec.

“Cap, y’all got any idears on what ya wanna do once we can get down theah?” Commander Davis drawled.

Captain Somers smiled at his Chief Engineer. “Ah shure do, Beau,” he drawled back. “After consulting with Princess Twilight, the landing party is going to consist of thirteen beings.”

“Oh, what a lucky number…” Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx said under his breath.

“Those on the away team will be Princess Twilight and her group, all six of their advisors, and Inquisitor. It is hoped that when Inquisitor does what he does to talk to the Master, the Master will be so confused he will be open to an attack with Harmony. That’s the plan, at least,” Captain Somers told the personnel in the conference room.

“And if it does not work?” Commander Seiryuu asked.

“Step one, get us the hell out of there. Step two, bombard the place. Step three, we run like heck, doing as much damage as we can, leaving an opening for the Fleet to come in and sterilize the planet down to bedrock,” the Captain said firmly.

Inquisitor stood, drawing attention to himself. “Captain Somers and I talked about this last night, and we both agreed that the suggested course is the only smart move. Once the Master gets his senses back, he will push very hard indeed to eliminate any and all opposition, anywhere in this galaxy. The only safe life is his life,” he said, quashing any opposition to the plan.

“Captain, if I may,” asked Lieutenant Khaball, the lowest ranked person in the conference. “Why are the advisors going along?”

“Princess, if you would explain,” the Captain said, sitting down.

Twilight stood up. “Lieutenant, you have witnessed us calling up Harmony more than once. It is hoped that you and yours can also generate Harmony among you, to reinforce my Equestrian version and help counter the Master. Friends do help friends, right?”

“That they do! Besides, I have promised Rainbow Dash I would teach her how to fly ships and shuttles. This will be the best way I can keep my promise,” Lieutenant Khaball said firmly.

“Hell and damnation! Ah ain’t gonna let mah friend Applejack go in alone! Us farm folk stick together!” Commander Davis declared as cheering began.

“It would be rude to let Rarity go into trouble without a suitable escort,” Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx said. Lieutenant Mulholland and Doctor Harris stood up to show their support.

“Okay, then!” Captain Somers said when the noise subsided. “We head in, starting in one hour. Commander Davis, double-check the atostors are fully charged. Everyone dismissed, except for the Exec, Sardon, Commander Hartens, Lieutenant Khaball, Princess Twilight and Inquisitor. A little last-minute orbital planning before going in won’t hurt.”

The away team appeared in the corridor that Inquisitor used to talk with the Master. Seeing as it was dark, the two unicorns lit up their horns as the rest of the party broke out hand lights. Inquisitor walked to the door he used and put his paw on the marked plate. With a hiss, the door snapped open, to reveal the cubicle with a screen and a chair, as described to them.

Inquisitor sat down in the chair and said something in the Ratzi tongue, which everyone’s translator rendered into STE. “I am here, Master, and I demand an accounting,” he stated.

The screen lit up with a chaotic jumble of colors and shapes. “Looks like something Discord would come up with,” Fluttershy said quietly before a voice came from a speaker.

“Inquisitor. I do not sense you. I see you, but do not feel you. Why?” a voice came from nowhere and everywhere in the room, some of the shapes on the screen jittering in time with the words, said voice sounding both confused and stuporous.

“I am my own being now, Master. I have broken free. The mission was a failure and only I remain to return to tell you how flawed and faulty you are!” Inquisitor asserted. “You are not fit to lead us anymore! You have been in disarray ever since your failure and our forces are in retreat throughout space!”

“Report to me, Inquisitor. Report to me and the dissonance shall be repaired. I shall be repaired. I shall be whole. We shall be whole,” the voice said, a white line appearing on the floor. “Report to me.”

“I shall report to you, Master, and prove your incompetence to everyone!” Inquisitor said, getting up out of the chair. He followed the white line deeper into the complex, the others following.

Twilight shivered some as they followed Inquisitor. “This regimented magic is getting stronger the farther we go, but the order is… changing… like more than one order is trying to impose itself,” she reported as they walked.

“How many order sources are there, Twilight? Lieutenant Khaball asked.

“One dominant and… five others,” Twilight said after a few steps.

“That gives me an idea,” Captain Somers said. “Inquisitor, where are your… compatriots, to give them a name?”

Inquisitor answered quickly. “They are most likely in Central Command, doing what we would normally do, which is overseeing the rest of the species at their tasks. Master wanted me to supervise the destruction of the dark magic source personally, so he could witness, through me, its destruction. When you severed the power connectors, we broke contact and that seems to have been the start of the dissonance.”

The group kept walking, now going down a large spiral ramp. “I’m beginning to see how your species ran matters. Master at the top of the pyramid, going through the six of you and your compatriots, who oversaw six main domains of your existence, and so on down the line. Has it ever happened where one of your compatriots, or yourself, has ever been killed in action before?” Captain Somers asked.

Inquisitor nodded. “Oh, yes. More than once, while combating other species in other parts of the galaxy. However, those times, Master was prepared to lose one of us, because he knew we stood a chance of losing. This time, he apparently was not prepared for my sudden loss of signal. You were not expected to put up much of a fight, our orders being to get the nullifier in range and shooting. After that, he was prepared to lose me, but not before.”

“Good to see we’re not as predictable as you thought,” Lieutenant Mulholland said from where she was walking next to Pinkie Pie.

“Good for you, yes. Good for Master, no,” Inquisitor said before Rainbow Dash called up from where she was, leading the pack.

“People, we’re coming up to a big door,” she said as she flew back to the group. “It’s got some writing on it that I don’t understand.”

The group hustled up to the door. Commander Davis pulled a more powerful light out of his pocket and shone it on the door, which was large enough to fly a cutter through without worrying about scraping the paint. He shone it up at the top left corner of the writing and tried to illuminate it.

“Other way, Commander,” Inquisitor said patiently.

“Sho ‘nuff,” Commander Davis said, adjusting the light’s position.

“Main Army Strategic and Tactical Emulator for Responses,” Inquisitor said out loud before the door shuddered and slid aside, squealing loudly. “This dates back to before the Great War.”

The white line led farther in. “Step into my parlor, said the spider to the fly…” Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx grumbled from where he stood next to Rarity.

“Ah done got insecticide, Master Chief.”

“Get it ready, we might need it.”

The white line led them farther inside the complex, going off the main corridor into smaller ones before terminating at a sliding door barely wide enough to allow three ponies to stand side by side. The door slid open to reveal a room large enough for everyone, brightly lit, with seats and consoles all around the room, and doors inset in the center of each wall. Once everyone was inside, the door began to slide shut, but stopped after a few inches.

“Inquisitor, you must rejoin the collective,” said the voice of the Master from overhead speakers. The door to their right opened. “We are waiting.”

Twilight and the other ponies looked inside, to see five Ratzis, all looking like Inquisitor, standing in alcoves, a reddish light over each of them, a sixth alcove standing empty. Twilight and Rarity could feel the magic on them when the door opened, the regimented order of the magic grating on them. “Harmony! Now!” Twilight called out.

Captain Somers looked at the officers with him. “Let’s do this!” he ordered.

The rainbow aura of Harmony quickly built to surround the ponies, lancing in to the room with the other Ratzis. It took longer for a dimmer aura to form around the Hurin’s crew members, but not much longer. When the aura finished forming, Captain Somers felt like he was the center of consciousness for the other crew members, being their director without manipulating them directly.

Inquisitor was seen to go rigid when the door slid open, by turns raising his arms and lowering them, trying to remove the shield crystal from his head. Jamie told one of his crew to keep Inquisitor under observation and not to let him into that room. L’Dan took that job, his arms hanging loose, ready to pounce if needed.

Commander Davis, Doctor Harris and Lieutenant Mulholland watched the other three doors to the room intently, with Lieutenant Khaball inhaling slightly, enough to allow her to lift off the floor and watch from above.

Twilight found the Master, despite his confusion, was more than willing to put up a fight against the effects of Harmony. Fortunately for Twilight and the others, the confusion did allow Twilight and friends to force their rainbow deeper into the room, closer to the Ratzis. As the rainbow beam penetrated, Captain Somers observed the consoles around the room. He noticed two panels that had started to light up with red lights across them. While he could not read Ratzi handwriting, he did know when something meant trouble, and he was seeing it.

“Inquisitor!” the Captain called out. “Over here!”

When the white rat turned to look, Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx extended his arms and grabbed Inquisitor, pulling the rat to them. On touch, the rat was inducted into the gestalt the ISA members were part of. Jamie asked telepathically.

At a glance, Inquisitor took in the displays. he thought back.

Captain Somers requested. Without hesitating, Inquisitor did so, and he allowed the upper thoughts of his mind mix and mingle with the six others, enabling the rest to read the symbology on the consoles.

Jamie directed as he walked over to Inquisitor and used his left hand to grab the rat by the scruff of the neck.

Commander Davis looked over the panel he was in front of. It took only a few second’s study to determine his panel is a main processor control and indicator panel, similar to Hurin’s main processor aboard ship. He could tell the processor was not only drawing more power, it was seeking out more capacity as well. Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx’s panel proved to be a power distribution control system, indicating the main generator is in override potential while beginning power draws from outside networks. The human and Baastari shared a glance before getting to work. Nothing more was needed.

While Beau denied the main processor additional capacity, L’Dan opened the breakers leading outside the building, denying additional power. Immediately, the door in the center of the back wall snapped open, revealing some sort of armed security bot, two weapons atop it glistening with a building charge. To its misfortune, it happened to be facing Lieutenant Commander Harris. The vampire did not hesitate.

He lunged forward, grabbed the two weapons atop its chassis and twisted. The metal the bot was constructed of had deteriorated with age, and the two weapons snapped off with the application of some Armstrong Patent by the vampire, followed by a shove that propelled the bot back into the room it had tried to come out from.

Meanwhile, Twilight and the Elements of Harmony were having difficulty, until the ISA gestalt started their manipulations. The resistance to Harmony faded enough for the rainbow energy to engulf the five Ratzis inside. When that happened, Commander Davis’ panel lit with enough danger warnings to shock any engineer before fading rapidly. Power demands dropped rapidly as well, to a level that caused L’Dan to check over everything multiple times before being assured that power supplies were not damaged.

The rainbow light of Harmony started coming from the room the security bot had come out of. Twilight and company all let out a surprised gasp as they felt their power affecting a sixth Ratzi, one they could not see. Lee Harris saw the rainbow light coming from a domed structure in the middle of the room. The light appeared to come out of the dome over to a clear spot of floor before taking the shape of a Ratzi before fading, leaving behind a Ratzi like no other he had ever seen. This one was gray instead of black and white, with red markings near the whiskers and at the base of the ears, and the iris of the eyes were multicolored.

The strange Ratzi looked at Lee, gathering its wits before saying, “After ten thousand years, I’m out of the box,” then it collapsed in a heap at Lee’s feet.

Out with the ponies, the rainbow aura faded, causing Twilight and friends to fall to the floor in exhaustion. The five Ratzis inside blinked some before the reddish light went out, the iris of the eyes a different color, one being purple, one white, one yellow, one blue and one orange. The one with the purple eyes went over to Twilight. “Need a hand up?” it asked.

“Would not be a bad idea,” Twilight said wearily.

When Captain Somers saw the rainbow nimbus of Harmony fade out, he sent a thought among his own crew, Instantly, everyone was back in their own minds, the telepathic linkage dissolving. He looked in where the ponies were, then into the room with Doctor Harris. “Well, something happened,” he said before going to his knees as a migraine headache the size of a supernova (or so it felt to him) blossomed between his ears before he passed out.

Author's Note

I have to confess, this chapter had me sweating bullets. I'm still not 100% comfortable with it. Willing to take suggestions for alterations. crosses toes

Chapter Sixteen

Captain Somers woke up in his quarters, the formerly supernova-sized headache now down to a quiescent neutron star in size and intensity. Slowly, he let awareness and sensation flow back to him. He knew that if he tried hurrying the process, it would hurt more and take longer.

He gradually became aware of two presences in his cabin, two very familiar presences, one sitting on his chest, the other beside the bed. “Jamie, one thing we could always trust you to do is to plunge in to help somebody else, no matter what the price,” an older man’s voice said, from Jamie’s chest.

“But you and Mother taught me how to do so, Salem,” Jamie said quietly. “As Mother says, ‘If you have to cheat, cheat outrageously.’ I just hope my cheating is outrageous enough to win.” He opened his eyes to see a large black cat staring down at him with brightly luminous golden eyes, concern evident in the position of his ears and whiskers.

Having grown up with the cat being a constant presence, Jamie knew he could reach up and pet the cat between his ears without risking the loss of the offending hand, so he did just that. “Always nice to know you care, Salem. I’m ready for your tongue-lashing, but I believe Mother has first crack at me.”

“Damn right I do, Jamie Brennan Somers, and I’m going to take that crack right now!” Jamie’s mother Raven said from her chair next to the bed, taking Jamie’s free hand in both of hers. “I’m the one who is supposed to be running the cosmic Dirty Tricks department, along with Salem and your Uncle Gideon. Yet you didn’t hesitate when you saw a chance to slip in and end this damned war. For that, we’re all proud of you, as well as you getting the Equestrians into the ISA. The ponies are very good people, just a bit insular. Now, they know about the universe, and the universe is reaching back to greet them.”

“Just trying to keep up the family business in whatever ways I can, Mother,” Jamie said, looking at her. He could see the worry lines had become prominent in her face, but they were fading. He let his eyes follow Raven’s long black hair as it cascaded down to below the level of the chair seat. “I knew you were doing your usual behind-the-scenes meddling to ensure a smooth reception, so I focused on the Ratzis. Why could you not deal with them yourself?”

“The Ratzi Master’s power supply caused Harper to have fits if he got within one AU of the planet. He says it’s like he is allergic to it,” Raven said, referring to her personal high-speed starcraft and its AI controller. “Plus, Salem and I have trouble getting near the planet without our presence setting off all sorts of wards and alarms. You forced a hole and used it. Now, tell me about this Harmony stuff. You nearly blew more than a few synapses doing it. What prompted you to even try it?”

Jamie gently urged Salem to move over enough to let him sit up, keeping a hand around the big black cat so he wouldn’t go far. “Look at who took part, Mother. Xarenna Mulholland and Beau Davis have served under me for years, making it easy to form a rapport. Lee and I grew up together, and L’Dan and his daughter are distant relatives, also making it easy to go en rapport with them, then taking it the next step to the gestalt that is Harmony. We were able to react much faster that way.

“Yes, it was completely untried and unproven with us, but seeing the example Princess Twilight and her friends provided, I figured it was worth a try. Worked, didn’t it?” Jamie finished with a small smile.

“Not without a cost. You’ve been unconscious for over a week while your brain healed from the stress you put on it. Commander Seiryuu’s been doing a good job in your absence, and the ISA has sent a fleet out this way to help put the Ratzis to rights. They should be here the day after tomorrow,” Salem said from his spot on Jamie’s bed.

“Princess Twilight and her team have been working with the Ratschancellor, getting information from him and helping him not only right himself, but the entire Ratzi Dominion. It’s a good thing many of their colonies are set to run essentially autonomously, only needing minimal guidance,” Raven told Jamie. “I’ve been helping out as well, so long as I stay away from the planet.”

“The power source keeping you out? Is anyone working on that?” Jamie asked.

“Commanders Davis and M’Ranx have been down there, examining the power source. Their first report said, in essence, their version of a zipper has some teeth missing,” Raven said with a small smile. “L’Dan does have a way with words, doesn’t he?”

“Five to one says Beau dreamed that one up. Did anyone start my coffee pot? I can use some,” Jamie said. “That, and some breakfast.”

Almost as if on cue, the door to Jamie’s cabin slid open, to reveal Doctor Harris with a breakfast tray as well as some med scanners. “Coffee you want, Jamie, coffee you get! Hello, Aunt Raven. Let me check you first before you have your coffee,” Lee said as he put the tray down, picked up a scanner and looked Jamie over thoroughly. “Hope you enjoyed your nap.”

“You know I do, Lee, it’s just that I like to decide where and when. Is my head intact?” Jamie asked.

“Reasonably so,” Lee said as he put the scanner down, picked up a hypo and injected Jamie in the neck. “This should deal with the last of your headache. You may now sip your coffee. Any questions?”

“How’s the Chancellor?” Jamie asked as he sipped some hot black coffee. Raven also took a cup while a smaller one was for Salem, who handled it telekinetically, after adding a little sugar.

“Remarkably healthy, for being a brain in a box for thousands of years. Apparently, this Harmony grew him a new body when he got sprung from his habitat,” Lee said as he found a seat. “He’s quite concerned about the future of his species. Apparently, now that he’s out of the box, he’s having trouble operating the equipment needed to keep the species thriving in the long term. Beau, L’Dan and Sardon are looking into the problem, with help.”

“That’s good to hear. Now, since it has been a long time since we were all together, shall we just relax for a half-hour?” Jamie suggested, and the family members chatted about the family for the next half-hour while Jamie worked his way through ham, eggs, bacon and a rather large butter croissant.

Thus refreshed, Jamie went to check his ship over, first finding the Exec, Commander Seiryuu. Raven and Salem headed off in their own way, while Lee went back to Medical. Jamie’s chat with the Exec ran over an hour, with Jamie asking a lot of questions and being satisfied with the answers he got. “I knew I picked right, Luke. You haven’t disappointed me.”

“Thank you, Captain. I do try my best,” the red-haired Exec said, with a little pride.

“Well, it worked. Once we’re done here, we will be heading back to Equis, to return the Princess and her friends. I am going to suggest you become the liaison between the ISA Navy and the Equestrians. Think you can handle that?” Jamie asked.

Luke looked like he had just been hit by a cattle prod set on high. “Me? Liaison with a new species? Why do you think I can pull that off?” he nearly squeaked.

“Because you can change into a dragon, and dragons may not be common, but they are known and accepted. Tell me, How many dragons or dracoforms do you know well?”

“Not many. In fact, I’m not very close to Major Ryudan, despite his being a dracoform. Dragons are not too common in the ISA,” Luke said after a little thought.

“Well, now you know why I’m recommending you for this job. It will benefit you, by having more contacts, and they will benefit because you can change into a species they are familiar with, and you can teach all you want about the ISA and technology.

“I’ve had faith in your capabilities since we first met aboard the Gilgamesh years ago. Looks like my instincts are right. Once this hullabaloo settles down, I’ll get the paperwork started to put you off and find me a new exec,” Jamie finished.

“But, I’ve only been aboard for a few months!” Commander Seiryuu protested. “How can you be sure I’m ready for the next step?”

“I’ve been a commanding officer for a long time, Luke. Plus, I have long since learned how to read and gauge people. Call it my main Sagan talent, amongst others. You’re ready, even if you don’t think you are. Besides, it will give you a chance to be with Spike, right? Think about flying with him.”

Commander Seiryuu looked thoughtful. “Something I had not considered, Captain. Okay, then, pending approval from those higher up in the food chain, I will accept the posting. Besides, it would be good to fly around some. I’m getting out of practice, confined aboard a ship. Two flaps and impact into the side of the gym. Not comfortable,” he said with a small smile.

“Glad to hear it. Now, fill me in on the ship itself. How did the crew perform after I passed out? Who took charge of the landing party?” Jamie asked, putting on his commanding officer’s hat. “Details this time.” The Captain got his details, the Exec calling upon Hurin for backup and displays.

Next on the Captain’s to-do list is a meeting with the landing party members. Turns out all were on board, except Inquisitor, who was down in the Ratschancellory, working with his fellow level-ones and the Ratschancellor in setting the planet to rights. In the week Jamie had been unconscious, much progress has been done. He got reports from everyone and everypony involved with the landing party, asking for impressions both in and out of gestalt, then comparing reports with Princess Twilight to see how his experience compared to that of Harmony. To his surprise, everyone on the ship's crew said it seemed to be the ‘most natural thing to do’, as Commander Davis said.

“Captain, it looks like you were correct in your guess when we spoke the night before the mission,” Twilight said. “In your people’s case, Leadership is a good substitute for Magic. It is my theory that it is your crew member’s faith and confidence in your leadership led to you being able to form your version of Harmony. It could also be being in the presence of us when we entered Harmony enabled you to do so too.”

Rainbow Dash settled lower in her chair, next to Lieutenant Khaball. “And she’s off and running with the geek speak…” she muttered.

“This happens often, yes?” Annelise asked in a whisper.

“Too often,” Rainbow Dash muttered back as Twilight went into a technical description of a comparison between the two versions of Harmony. Every being present, except Captain Somers, assumed a position of glassy-eyed attention during Twilight’s discourse.

When Twilight began talking about how magic worked with the Ratzis, Captain Somers held up a hand. “Let’s make this a private conference in the dayroom, Princess. I’m sure everyone else is up to speed on that topic.”

Twilight blinked as her stream of consciousness talk was interrupted. “Of course, Captain. Let’s do it.”

“Meeting adjourned and the Officer’s Lounge is open for all here. Dismissed!” Jamie ordered. Hurin later complained he just barely got the doors open in time before the crowd reached them.

Next on Jamie’s to-do list, after dinner, is to contact the approaching relief fleet from Camelot, the mission under the command of his ‘nephew’, Grand Admiral Gordon Chambers. The two had a long discussion, about how to integrate the Ratzis into the ISA. “General consensus is to put them in a protectorate status until they get their act together, then move towards admittance,” Gordon told his uncle. “I’ve been getting frequent reports from both your crew and the Equestrians about the Ratzis. The guidance has been invaluable in making decisions AND getting them past the High Chancellor.”

“Let me guess, Robedlea is on a superiority kick again, right? I can’t deny his capability for being a leader, but he simply must get over his provincialism!” Jamie snapped.

Gordon sighed. “He is, and the other High Chancellors are getting sick of it. Elections are next year, but I think they’re going to pull a no-confidence vote on him. He wants the Ratzis, and their home world, blasted out of existence.”

“Thing is, we can do it, and he knows it. Give CR a call. As an Emeritus, he can settle Robedlea’s hash fast,” Jamie said, referring to his much older brother, Christopher Robin Somers, a past High Chancellor, who still retains a lot of influence. “I’ll call Dad,” referring to his father, Christian Raffaele Somers, the sitting Deputy High Chancellor.

“You do that, Jamie.”

After a short phone call to his father, who had similar feelings and thoughts about the High Chancellor, Jamie decided to head planetside to meet the level-ones and the Chancellor. He was met by a level-four Ratzi who brought him to where the leaders were meeting. Jamie did not think it unusual to be at a table with seven rats, six of which are identical except for eye color, which happened to match the primary color of their Equestrian counterparts. The seventh is the grey rat, the Chancellor, who was wearing a wire-mesh helmet with a lead that plugged into a console. “This is necessary to maintain my links with the planetary command circuitry, Captain Somers,” the Chancellor explained. “They were not designed to be operated from the outside without a staff of thousands operating and monitoring. Not having such a trained staff, I have to improvise. For this, I have to thank your Engineering and Science staff, as well as Princess Twilight.”

“I will be sure to pass your words on, Chancellor. Now I know why they were so pleased with themselves.”

“Please, call me Jack,” the Chancellor said. “New times, new body, new name. I like it, though I do not get the meaning.”

Jamie literally facepalmed himself. “I do know the meaning, and I can think of several beings who would give you such a name. I find it completely appropriate. Who bestowed the name onto you?” he asked.

“Doctor Harris did, during an examination. Just what does it mean?” Jack asked.

“When we have some time together to spare, I will explain just what a jack-in-the-box is, and how it applies to you. That will have to come later. Now, we have some talking to do before the ISA fleet gets here. Let’s get to it.” Jamie said, and the eight beings began discussions. The six level-ones have taken numbers instead of names, because their previous titles no longer fit. The discussions were serious, yet fitting, the Ratzis, in essence, will allow the ISA to step in and help manage the Ratzi Dominions until the Ratzis were able to generate enough leaders to have local control instead of remote telepathic control. The Ratzis also agreed to allow ISA scientists to look into their technology, which had stagnated since the Great War. They could maintain what they had, but they lacked the spark to innovate.

“In no way are we going to surrender completely to the ISA, Captain Somers,” Jack said towards the end of the meeting. “What we are asking is for help to maintain what we have. We expect to resume control of our dominions once we are capable of doing so. At that time, I will see about having my species join the ISA.”

“That is what the negotiating team would want to hear, Jack. The ISA will not tell you HOW to run your planets or society. We will make SUGGESTIONS, but it’s all up to you. The war will not be forgotten, and reparations will be asked for,” Jamie cautioned.

“And they will get the reparations, once we have our act together,” the level-one formerly known as Power said. “We did what we thought was right to protect ourselves. Now that we know we were wrong, we hope to atone for our errors.”

“Keep up that attitude and you will succeed,” Jamie told the group, stifling a yawn. “Is there any coffee down here?”

Four, the one formerly known as Inquisition, spoke up. “The investigating crews did bring some down. I’ll go see if there is any nearby. I must admit, I found myself becoming partial to the brew while I was your guest, Captain.”

“It is habit-forming, Four,” Jamie said as a level-five entered the room, bearing a tray with two cups of steaming black coffee.

“One advantage of being in the system is knowing where everything is,” Jack said as the two were served the coffee.

What with all the reorganization the Ratzis needed, the Hurin Tascheter was not freed to return to Equestria for a good three weeks, plus ten days travel time returning. The reception the Tascheter and her crew received upon their return could only be described as ‘monumental’. Much had been done in their absence, like the construction of an embassy building for the ISA representative and staff to live at, with generous allowances made for ponyforms. The party went on for several days, receptions being held at the Embassy as well as at Canterlot Castle. Every crew member on the Tascheter, all the way down to the lowest Spacer Apprentice, received a medal of appreciation from Princess Celestia, the Away Team members given ceremonial knighthoods in the Equestrian nobility, and Captain Somers was made a Baron in rank. All honors were seen by the ISA as legal and binding, so there was no trouble there.

The Officer in Charge of the Equestria Fleet Detachment, Commodore (soon to be Rear Admiral) Bev Harkennon, also had awards to be handed out to the ship’s crew, the successful First Contact badge (with repeat pips for those who already had one), the Medal of Valor for the Away Team members, and two officers getting promotions and transfers to Equestria, Commander Seiryuu becoming a Captain and Naval Attache to the Ambassador to Equestria, U Po, and Lieutenant Khaball becoming a Lieutenant Commander and put in charge of training those Equestrians who wanted to to fly ISA spacecraft.

“I’m holding you to your promise to teach me how to fly your ships, Annelise!” Rainbow Dash called out from the crowd.

“I will, so you don’t have a Rainbow Crash, Dash!” the Baastari shouted back, to much laughter from Rainbow’s friends, both ISA and Equestrian.

After the awards ceremony, there was a conference at Canterlot Castle, which included Princesses Celestia, Luna and Twilight Sparkle, Commodore Harkennon, Captains Somers and Seiryuu, and Ambassador U Po. One of the topics is the planet known as Cold Hearth.

“I have a preliminary survey crew there now, with the science vessel Shoemaker. In about three months, I’m going to send another ship out there for some crew rotation. I hereby extend the offer to Princess Celestia to select a survey team of Equestrian nationals to assist in the survey. Can you think of any ponies willing to go?” Commodore Harkennon asked the Princess.

Celestia looked to Twilight Sparkle. “Think you can handle some responsibility on your own, Twilight? You choose your team and train them, then go out and prove the planet.”

Twilight could barely control her enthusiasm. “Oh, yes! First I’m going to have to make a checklist to make sure I don’t forget anything, then to find out what I need to do a proper survey, then find the right ponies, then…” Twilight got cut off by Jamie’s loud hand clap and Celestia’s hoof stomp, both synchronized.

“That’s one reason why Luke is staying here, to help you guide the survey. He’s done it before,” Jamie told the startled alicorn.

“Great! That’s good! Someone I can learn from!” Twilight managed to say, recovering quickly.

“That’s why we’re here, right? To learn from each other,” Captain Somers said gently.
“We have a lot of planning to do, so let’s get started at it,” Princess Celestia said firmly, gathering everyone’s attention.

Author's Note

Finally, I get around to finishing this. First time in many years I have physically included Raven and Salem into a story. I miss you, Jennifer. You ARE the bird.

Hope y'all like it.