Author's Note

Note that this chapter is heavily based on Star Trek The Next Generation, but this story is not a crossover, that may change, but for now it is not.

Federation Class M Planet: Eques

The moment Chris entered the upper atmosphere, the ship changed into fighter mode and as requested, the nano bots that made up the ship, reconfigured into a second seat for Zecora. "Spike, I believe it is safe for use to activate the subspace engines." Said Chris.

Spike nodded as he placed Zecora in the others seat. "Good, plot a course for the Orion and get us there before Donchan blows a gasket."

"Affirmative, course set, activating subspace engines." The ship was then propelled away from the planet and all the poor zebra could do is watch as her home became smaller.

Once the planet was nothing more than a small ball, Spike turned to look at Zecora and gave her a warm smile. "So, how are you?" But Zecora was still trying to process that she wasn't on Eques anymore. "Zecora, hello?" Spike started snapping his fingers in front of the silent mare, but nothing was working. "Ok, I guess I'll start, this is a Federation mark 715 prototype starfighter, fully equipped for any mission that is needed. Last night, he and his original pilot were completing a transport mission, when they ran into the Goliath, a... Chris what classification was the Goliath?"

"World Destroyer."

"Really, why not just change the empire's name to 'Hey, I'm Evil, fear me.' But a large World Destroyer class starship named the Goliath, from the Black Star Nebula Empire. In the attack Chris's former pilot was killed, but Chris was able to reach Eques and land. I was out last night watching the sky after a hard days work, and I noticed him land in the forest. Granted it was stupid, but I thought that if I found something cool, it would make my life more interesting. So after going into the forest, I found Chris in his default state, and again stupid on my part, I touched his hull, and got pulled into the cockpit. Then this blob of bots tells me that the Goliath had followed his emissions and had entered the system. That left me with two options, the first was to let the planet become enslaved by the Black Star Nebula Empire, where they would destroy our home. Or I connect with Chris and risk my life to protect the world. I chose number two. I destroyed the Goliath and the federation arrived last night, but I was tired and wasn't in the mood to deal with any more of this crap, so I left and went to bed. But this morning, I contacted the captain of the Federations...Chris?"

"Galaxy class."

"Thank you, the Federation's galaxy class starship the Orion, and he tells me to meet him in..."

"We have around 2 minutes now."

"In two minutes to see what is going to happen... You get all that?" Asked Spike.

Zecora nodded her head but also shook it at the same time. "Good, then we're in the same boat." Said Spike and he turned his chair to pilot the ship. "Chris, open communications with the Orion, tell them we have visual on the ship and are requesting permission to come aboard."

"Communications are open."

"This is the Federation Starship Orion, Captain Donchan speaking."

"Donchan it's me, permission to come aboard?"

Donchan sighed as he was just about to yell at Spike for being late, but he was right on time. "Granted, head to Shuttle Bay 4 and I'll have one of my senior staff meet you."

Spike nodded as he let Chris take control. "Thank you." The communication channel was closed and Spike looked at Zecora. "So, here's the deal, you stay here, don't touch anything, don't press anything, and don't even think about leaving the ship."

Zecora nodded her head, she didn't even want to breath on anything less it blow up. "Spike, what are you going to do?"

"Right now, I'm not sure."

When Spike landed in the ship, Chris formed a door on the side for Spike to leave. He looked to Zecora and smiled at her. "Look at it like this, first Zebra in space, and pretty sure we'd be dead by now if they didn't want to talk."

Zecora smiled slightly at the joke. "Thank you Spike."

Spike nodded. "Suit off." Said Spike, and the moment he did, the suit turned back into a slime and entered his body. Zecora sighed at seeing this happen as she just flopped down in her chair.

"Chris, please tell me this is all a dream?"

"I can not, I was programed with the thought that the universe is a simulation, a joke from my designers, but the more I see of the universe, the more I begin to believe it."

Zecora sighed as she just had to follow Spike into the forest.

Spike walked out of the ship into a large room with a energy shield that was keeping the atmosphere inside of the ship. There was a large industrial sized door in front of him and standing right by the door was a tall rabbit like creature with a clipboard in her hands, she had a blue uniform, white hair that ran down her back, but her fur was yellow, and she had 2 very long but swept back ears. "Hi." Said Spike.

The rabbit smiled at Spike. "Hello, my name is Monica O'Hare, I am the chief of interspecies interaction on the Orion. My job is documentation and interaction with established and undiscovered sentient worlds. Captain Donchan has asked me to show you to our medical office to take some standard readings before we meet him."

Spike nodded. "Cool." They left the shuttle bay and walked to the medical deck.

As Spike was walking around the ship, he noticed that the floor was carpet, the walls were hard, but there were lights in them, and the rest of the crew was looking at him like he had 2 heads, which was odd coming from a blue alien with 2 heads. But Spike just smiled at them. "Monica, why is everyone looking at me?"

"You took out a war ship that has damaged and destroyed half a dozen galaxy class ships, all by yourself. The moment the crew heard that you were going to come aboard, that was the only thing that anyone has been talking about for the last 12 hours."

Spike sighed. "Ok, I'll leave that one for later, tell me about yourself, seeing as this is like first contact, I think we're screwing things up a bit."

Monica giggled. "Well, I am a Lopin, from the planet Lopin 6, in the delta sector. It is around 135 light years from here, and I like flowers, reading, and learning new things. But more on that later, we have arrived."

When Spike and Monica arrived at the medical deck, Monica motioned for Spike to lay down on a table. "Spike, please lay down on the table."

Spike nodded as he climbed onto the table and it started to creak. Spike winced at the sound. "Sorry, I'm guessing these things aren't built for dragons in the 300 pound range."

"No, they are not, but they are designed for 500 pounds, so it should be fine. Just lay still and it will be over in a matter of moments." She lowered a device over Spike's body and then started pressing some buttons on the device. Soon Spike could hear humming coming from the medical device. "Ok, no infectious diseases detected, no bodily damage, DNA is similar Terrain, brain chemistry is very similar to the Dreg's, but this energy signature is weird. Spike, does your planet have some method of energy production that could account for these reading being in your DNA?"

Spike shook his head. "No, but a few races have the ability to use magic. I was actually hatched by said magic 18 years ago and it was mixed with my DNA."

"Spike, there is no such thing as magic, magic is just science that has not been explained." Said Monica.

"Tell that to my mother, she literally moves the sun."

Monica hummed at the statement, there were only a few creatures alive that had that much power, and they had been around for eons. "Captain, can you please scan the star in the system, and check if it has a rotation."

Soon Donchan responded. "Scans indicate that neither the sun nor the planet's moon are producing a strong enough gravitational field that would allow for an orbit or rotation, but that seems impossible, the planet should be dead in these conditions."

Monica looked at Spike. "Spike, I wish to examine the planet in more detail, is there a chance that I can return with you?"

Spike nodded. "Sure, but lets see if the captain will allow it?"

Monica nodded as she removed the device from Spike. "Well aside from the energy readings, you seem to be perfectly healthy."

"Good, now lets head to the captain." Spike looked down at his body. "Um... Should I have something on when I meet him?" Spike was pretty sure that showing up in his hatchday scales was not a good idea.

"Wait, you've been naked this whole time, but you show no signs needing to cover up?"

"Dragons, have a slit right where you think it is and it holds everything in. Other races have the ability to keep it inside or use magic to conceal their bits. As for the rest of the world, we don't really care about clothes, well aside from parties and events, but aside from that, we don't bother."

Monica blushed at the idea, but she was a doctor, and she had seen her fair share of medical diagrams during her training. "Spike, I think it would probably be best if you wear something."

Spike nodded. "Sure, suit on." The slime seeped through Spike's scales, and he was back in his armor. "Helmet off." The slime that comprised Spike's helmet retreated back into his scales. "Better?"

Monica nodded. "Yes, now please follow me to the helm, but would you mind if I ask you some questions as we walk?"

"Sure, ask away." Said Spike as he followed Monica to the helm to meet Donchan.

"Well, first off, how old are you?"

"Well that's tricky, I was hatched 18 years ago by my older sister's magic, but I was in my egg for much longer, in fact not even my mother, who found my egg, knows exactly how old I was at the time, but she found me almost 600 years ago."

Monica nodded. "Long life spans, similar to the Dregs. Now this magic, is it a natural thing, or is it learned or acquired."

"Well magic is in all living things, but certain races are able to display it better than others. Dragons are able to breathe fire and swim in lava." Spike shot out a bit of his flames. "We are one of the races that aren't able to display it so well. But the Equine's are the best. My mother, aunt, sister, cousin, and niece are known as Alicorns, they are the strongest magically. We have unicorns, they are able to use magic to project shields, cast spells, and even teleport. Earth ponies are in tune with nature, so they have massive strength and stamina, and the pegasi are able to fly and control the weather. Then there is Discord, he pretty much can control the fabric of reality and shape it to suit his sense of humor."

Monica nodded as she made a note on her chart. 'Possible Q in sector, be on alert.' "Now tell me about the planet, what stage in development are you at?"

"No where near as you all, but we have light, buildings, boats, trains, that sort of stuff." Said Spike.

Monica made note of this news. "Is this the first time you have interacted with creatures outside of your own planet?"

Spike shook his head. "Nope, my sister actually has a portal that allows us to go to a place called Earth, a place were creatures called humans live, but the weird thing is that the portal that takes us there will change the form of all who enter it. I'm a dragon here, but over there I was a dog."

Monica groaned as she made one last note. 'This planet is fucked up.' "Ok, well, all that seems quite interesting, I really hope that I get the chance to investigate it soon."

"Officer O'Hare, please bring the pilot to observation." Said a voice in the ship.

Monica nodded. "Thank you." She looked to Spike. "Ok, it looks like we are heading to Observation for the meeting. Step into the lift please."

Spike and Monica entered a small room. "Deck 1." Said Monica and the lift was moving to the destination.

Soon the door opened and they walked to a set of doors. The door opened and sitting in a large chair was Donchan, the room was decorated with a large table and many chairs, a large window showing the debris of The Goliath, and Eques. "Spike, it's nice to finally meet you, please have a seat." Said Donchan as he motioned to a chair. Spike took a seat, and Monica took the one closer to the Captain.

"Spike, would you like something to eat or drink while we talk?" Asked Monica.

Spike's stomach growled the moment food was an option. "Sure, I didn't have time to eat much because of this."

Monica smiled as she got out of her seat and walked over to a wall. "Lets see, the Dregs are known to eat meat, is that ok with you?"

"NO!" Yelled Spike, but then he realized the outburst. "Sorry, where I'm from, we don't eat meat, it's one of our big taboos. Do you have any gems?"

"Gems?" Asked Monica and Donchan.

Spike nodded. "Yes, gems."

Monica looked at Spike. "Like sapphires?" Spike nodded. "Sapphire." Soon a sapphire the size of Spike thumb was created right under the opening. "Like this?" Asked Monica as she held the gem in front of Spike.

Spike nodded. "Looks right, but it's smaller than the one's I have back home." Spike used his long tongue to grab the sapphire and pull it into his mouth, he took one bite and regretted doing it the next moment. He looked for the closest trash can, but seeing nothing, he kept chewing, and once it was small enough, he reluctantly swallowed the gem. "That was the most disgusting gem I've ever tasted, can I get some water?" Asked Spike.

"Water, cold." Said Monica, every moment with Spike, led to new questions. She grabbed the water and handed it to Spike. "Spike, how did you do that?"

Spike took a large gulp of the water before answering. "What? Dragon's eat gems, and our tongues are stretchy." Spike then slithered out his tongue and moved it around. "We can stretch it out by about half our body length."

Donchan sighed as he rubbed his head. "O'Hare, I want you to go down to the planet with Spike, and find out what the hell is going on down there."

Monica nodded. "Yes sir." She then ran out of the room to get her stuff ready for the mission.

Donchan looked at Spike. "Spike, The Orion has been called away for a mission, so for now, we are going to release you, it shouldn't take more than a week to finish and for us to return, so in that time, I want you to watch over O'Hare. There is a lot in her report that doesn't make sense, but I've seen some weird stuff. In that time, Chris is yours to command, but by the time we return, the Federation should have come to a decision about what will be done with you. Please do not inform the rest of the planet about what is going on. If everything goes well, we will introduce ourselves, and then the leaders of the world can decide if they want to join the federation or if they wish to be left out of it."

Spike nodded at the captain. "Yes Sir, but what about Monica? On my planet there are no creatures that look like her, and I can't just say that I found a new species?"

Donchan nodded, that was a big concern and they had faced similar issues before. "Spike, Lopins are shape shifters, that can change their appearance, just as long as it is smaller than their natural forms."

"So the race of rabbit people can change their form?" Spike shivered as he thought about a certain rabbit on the planet that could destroy the world if he had that ability.

Donchan looked at Spike. "Spike, what is wrong?"

Spike shook his head. "I know a rabbit that would be in charge of the whole planet if he had that power, and it terrifies me."

Donchan sighed, the more he learned about the planet Spike was from, the more Donchan was sure that the planet was more impossible than any other planet in the galaxy. "Spike, just make sure to keep the Federation's existence a secret from the planet, and make sure to keep Chris and O'Hare safe." Spike nodded.

O'Hare walked back into the observation room, this time she had a small box in her hand and her ears were tied in a pony tail. Spike looked at the weird way to tie her ears. "Um... doesn't that hurt?"

O'Hare looked at her ears. "Oh, these? No." She moved her hair and showed that she had a pair of human like ears. "They are just growths that are more esthetic than anything. Now Spike could you please describe a form that would look normal in your home?"

Spike nodded. "Ok, Dragon's are rare where I live, so that's out, Changelings are similar to you, but ever since Thorax took over, many of the Changelings have banned the use of transforming into other races." Spike hummed as he tried to figure out a way to describe what the average mare looked like. "Um... I'm not really sure how to describe a mare from my home."

"Then allow me to show her." Said Chris.

"Wait, you can do that?" Asked Spike.

"Yes, because of our link, I have access to your memories. I can pull a image from them and put them on the nearby view screen if you would like?"

Spike nodded, if it would help make this go faster then Spike was all for it. "Sure."

"Accessing... Displaying images of 'Mares' now." Soon images of a few dozen mares that lived in Ponyville showed up on the view screen.

Monica looked at the mares. "Interesting, each of them is unique. Spike tell me what is the male to female ratio, I see instances of the same mares in the image backgrounds."

Spike nodded. "Well, in Ponyville, we have a 1 to 6 ratio. I have no idea why, I've never really questioned it. It's just part of daily life for us."

"I will note that in my system. Officer O'Hare, I believe that it would be most appropriate that you take the form of the ones called Earth Ponies. Lopin bone structure would not allow for flight, and from my viewing, this magic is a daily part of the ones called Unicorns." Chris removed the images of all the mares with a horn and wings. That still left about 18 mares.

Monica looked at all the mares and started changing her form. Her fur changed into a light green, as her ears and hair changed into a single mane colored red. She looked at Spike to get his ok. "Spike, how does this look?"

Spike looked at her new form. "Perfect, all we need to do is lose the clothes and boom you're a pony."

Monica blushed as she'd rather not strip in front of the Captain. "Spike, I'll do that when we leave."

Spike sighed. "Right, sorry, like I said, clothes are not the standard on the planet."

Monica looked at the photos and sure enough all the mares were naked, but nothing was showing. "Wait, where are the reproductive organs?"

"They're there, but like dragons who have everything inside, both males and females from all the races, use their natural magic to hide their bits. Mares use it to reduce the size of their breasts, and magically hide their marehood, while males absorb their parts into their crotch."

"Fascinating, that is why your world sees clothes as unnecessary, without the worry of objectification, the populace has shifted from the need to find a mate out of desire to one that inspires the development of a relationship, without the need for physical attraction."

"Um... I guess, we just go on dates and let it go from there if that's what you meant."

Monica sighed. "Yes Spike, that is what I meant."

"Cool, and I think I have a name for you, but I'm warning you now, my sister is going to be grilling you a lot."

Monica smirked. "Spike, I have fought off a pack of Valovian Death hounds, how bad can your sister be?"

"Well, seeing as your my nonexistent marefriend that I have never told anyone about, I'd say the hounds were easy. But good luck Strawberry Wild." Said Spike.

"Strawberry Wild, what kinda name is that?" Asked Monica.

"Yeah, I'm not going to ruin that surprise." Said Spike.

"Spike, Zecora wishes to talk with you." Said Chris.

"Right, forgot about her. Patch her in." Soon Zecora was connected.

"Spike, can you here me?" Asked the zebra.

"Yes Zecora, what's wrong?"

"When I left my home, I was in need of some mushroom dome. I thought my trip would be done quick, but then all of this just clicked, we must return or my brews will be more of a stew."

Spike sighed. "Ok, hold on." Spike looked at the aliens. "So, we need to leave. Chris, get ready to depart." Said Spike.

"Understood, ready to depart, eta to touchdown is 8 minutes. Warning, per orders it is very unadvisable to land in populated area, setting landing target to previous landing location."

Spike nodded as he could deal with any dangers that showed up while they walked back to Ponyville. "Sure, but make sure that there are no lifeforms too close to the landing site."

"Understood." Said Chris as he powered up his engines.

Spike looked at Monica. "Well, are you ready?"

Monica nodded as she looked to Donchan. "I will have a detailed report upon my return."

Donchan nodded as he saluted Monica. Monica saluted back.

After returning to the ship, Spike and Monica boarded, and the first thing that happened was Zecora freaking out that there was a pony on the ship. "SPIKE!?" Cried the mare.

Spike sighed. "Zecora, Monica, Monica, Zecora, talk while I fly us home." Spike took a seat in his chair and flew out of the Orion. "Safe distance from the Orion has been reached, proceeding to engage thrusters."

"Engage." Said Spike, he then blinked. "Why did I say that?" Spike shrugged it off and floored it.