FTL: Valiant Star

Chapters

Chapter One: Just Getting Started
Chapter Two: Pacifism Run
Chapter Three: Tough Little Ship
Chapter Four: Living off the Land
Chapter Five: Take no prisoners!
Chapter Six: Diplomatic Immunity
Chapter Seven: The United Federation
Chapter Eight: Ballistophobia

Chapter One: Just Getting Started

Chapter One: System Failure

F T L***VALIANT *STARChapter One: System Failure

The crew of the Valiant Star stood in the ship's bridge, eyes wide. Some said the most beautiful sight in the universe was of the beautiful Pillars of Creation or other such magnificent nebulas. To the assorted Federation personnel aboard the ship however, the final explosions ripping through the burning hulk before them would suffice. The warning klaxons and sirens echoing in their own ship did little to distract from the sight before them. Brightly-coloured flashes of light blinked in and out of existence as the hyperdrives aboard the battlecruiser went critical, tearing the few remaining sections of the ship apart in a frenzy of gravitational fluctuations. After weeks of intensive fighting, the rebels had finally been forced onto the back foot with the destruction of their flagship.

"Captain, shouldn't we, um, stop our own ship from going the same way? I'm fairly sure that those klaxons aren't a good thing," said one of the crew with concern.

"Agreed. Severe atmospheric ventilation throughout ship. Oxygen depleting," finished another being, looking at a panel with what the captain assumed was concern.

"Very well, we'll watch the playback on sensors later. All of you get back to your stations and get things running again. I'll see if the Federation has a shipyard in the area that can patch up the hull damage. Speaking of which, they should be jumping into the sector shortly..." No sooner had he finished his sentence than several new lights lit up on the command console before him. "Finally. Looks like they're bringing in the whole fleet this time! Once you've got your systems back online, head up to the mess. I'll be there soon."

The crew hastily acknowledged his command and headed out of the cockpit, leaving him alone in the quiet, cramped room. He turned his attention to the screens and displays lined up against the wall with a sigh. This mission had been one too many for him. After all, saving the Federation was a task usually expected of their elite combat frigates, not the small corvette he commanded. Hundreds of years’ worth of research had been poured into the field of space combat, and it had come down to a repurposed exploration ship to save the entire Federation. A wry smile crossed his lips. He expected a rather extensive bonus when he returned to true Federation space.

A series of flashes caught his eye through the front camera screens. The large high-definition screens provided views from a series of cameras dotted around the outside of the ship, providing a panoramic view of the space around his ship. "About time you arrived," he shouted at nobody in particular as he laughed with relief. As if plucked from the ether, dozens of Federation cruisers filled the empty space surrounding the jump beacon, releasing a withering volley of lasers at the remnants of the enemy flagship. The ship's captain let out a loud cheer, routing the video feed of the fireworks display through to the various terminals and subsystem screens throughout the ship. He smiled as loud shouting and whooping echoed through the ship. The barrage of fire lasted almost a minute, leaving nothing but a few lumps of molten slag by the time they were shut off.

A few seconds passed before a blinking light appeared on his command console. They were being hailed. "Crew of the Valiant Star, this is Admiral Tully. We watched your battle through the long-range scopes. That is some of the best fighting I have seen in all my years commanding the Federation's fleet. You have the thanks of the entire Federation. The shipyard 'Radiant Dawn' will be jumping into the sector shortly and has agreed to provide a fleet of repair drones to get your vessel FTL-capable again. We will continue your debriefing on Earth, Captain Davies." The communications set clicked, indicating a disconnect.

"So much for that reward," he muttered, patching himself through to the ship's intercom. "As you all just heard, we're heading back to Earth shortly for a debriefing." He smiled wryly to himself. "However, Admiral Tully didn't specify which route we have to take, or how quickly he wants us there. I want everyone in the mess in half an hour." Once again, the ship's crew responded with a series of acknowledgements.

After a minute or two, his command console began to light up with a series of messages. The ship's systems were back online, with the exception of some of the harder-struck systems. "Sara, I'm rerouting power from the shields over to the medbay. Get over to the engine room and give Emily a hand repressurising it. I'm going down to patch up the hull breach in the drone room, so patch any requests through to there."

With a resigned sigh, Alan stepped away from the ship's helm. The autopilot subsystem was a sparking, smoking mess of cables in the corner. "Huh. Well, we don't need the autopilot anyway. I always hated that guy." With one last glance, he stepped through the doors of the cockpit, walking briskly through the narrow corridor towards the drone bay. He hated hull breaches. Sometimes it was necessary to go into an unpressurised part of the ship just to stop precious oxygen from leaking into space. At least the standard-issue Federation uniform offered some protection against the freezing lack of atmosphere.

A metallic voice spoke out as he crossed the sensor station. "Captain. Stocks of Insta-Hull running low. Request we purchase greater amounts. Liu Jun prefer atmosphere in ship, not space."

"Agreed. I'll make a note of that." Alan looked across at the thick access door to the drone bay, noting the flashing red light above it. The light indicated the room was depressurised. "Hey Liu, would you like to patch up the hull breach next door?"

"Negative. More entertaining to watch captain spray himself in face with Insta-Hull," the Engi said emotionlessly, handing Alan a can of the cursed repair foam.

"Hey, it was one time! It's not my fault they didn't specify which side of the can the nozzle was on," he retorted, pushing the can back towards his Engi technician.

"Records indicate captain swore for twenty-five minutes straight. Captain threatened to fire Liu Jun from airlock. Liu Jun does not regret drawing angry face in setting Insta-Hull." Alan smiled grimly, remembering the incident with complete clarity. He had accidentally coated his oxygen mask with the grey Insta-Hull foam, which had formed a rock-solid mask across the visor. Liu Jun had decided to etch an angry face into the hardening foam. He'd been forced to hail a nearby merchant wearing the mask, and a video of him swearing at the poor merchant had won several competitions aboard a nearby space station. "Captain should repair hull breach now. Liu Jun has ensured nozzle is clearly marked for the captain."

He slowly looked down at the can, noticing the bright pink arrow painted onto it. "Liu... that was slightly unnecessary." The Engi let out a heartless chuckle as Alan crossed the room to the door into the drone bay. A few oxygen masks were strapped to the wall, with leads feeding into the ship's oxygen system. They provided oxygen when it was necessary to enter a depressurised part of the ship. Liu Jun strapped one onto her face, watching Alan with a hint of anticipation.

"Well, here goes..." He strapped one around his face, punching in the access code to the door. It slid open with a quiet hiss, followed by a considerably larger one as the oxygen began to leak out of the sensor bay. He took slow, steady steps towards the fist-sized hole in the ship, thanking the gravitomagnetic generation system for keeping him from exiting the ship with the atmosphere. There were some rather nasty stories about failed gravity systems, and crew being sucked out of the ship through a hole not much larger than this one. The laser that had created this hole had thankfully missed all of the sensitive cables running along the wall, instead conveniently punching through the room's intercom panel.

He began to feel the deathly chill of space entering his suit and freezing the parts of his head not protected by the mask. With a hasty click of the button, he fired the can at the hole, spraying it with a thick stream of hull sealant foam. Some of it was sucked away by the vacuum, but was replaced by another torrent. Within a few seconds, the hole was patched. "Ship, divert oxygen production into room 26B, repressurise ASAP!" he shouted to the ship's AI, waiting for the atmosphere to enter the room again. The ship's computer silently complied, opening the doors to the room and sending the maximum amount of oxygen through the room's three air vents.

Alan quietly surveyed the damage, looking around at the smashed racks of drones and the charred hole punched through the drone control panel. "Liu Jun regrets the loss of drones. Liu Jun should have disabled laser system first. Liu Jun diverted power from weapons to overclock oxygen during conflict."

'Well, that's the drone system completely wrecked. I guess we'll need to buy another one somewhere," he thought, looking at the sparking electronics. "Don't worry about it Liu, we had to sacrifice some lesser systems in that fight. Nothing we can't replace, eh?"

"Liu Jun apologies for the mistake, but acknowledges the captain's attempt to lessen the severity of Liu Jun's failure."

"Failure? Hardly. If we're gonna play that game, I should have evaded that laser hit. You're a bloody good weapons officer, Liu, and I wouldn't have anyone else operate those systems. Come on, get up to the mess. I have a proposal for everyone. I'm gonna stop by the medbay to heal some of these vacuum burns, but I'll see you there." He smiled at the Engi, quietly cursing their inability to show basic emotion.

* * *

The crew of the Valiant Star assembled happily in the mess, taking some time to compliment each other’s' actions during the fight, and to trade stories of what had happened. Alan looked around at his crew with pride. Even the Federation's most advanced battleships had been unable to confront the rebel flagship, and his crew had managed it without a single causalty. Some funky Zoltan music was playing through the ship's intercom network, and Emily, their resident chef, had prepared some food from the supplies they'd dug out in cargo. Normally they just consumed whatever the ship had processed in the food vendors. Real food was a treat, but this was certainly an occasion worthy of celebrating.

"Alright you lot, I want a round of applause for your valiant actions today. Then I want another round of applause for Emily for preparing this amazing meal. Emily, great job!" The Zoltan smiled happily as the crew cheered and applauded. The crew before him always struck Alan as rather amusing. Most ships carried a single race - Federation ships aside - and only recruited other races if they were good at operating essential systems. He, however, enjoyed the cultural variance aboard the Valiant Star. He and Sara were the two humans aboard, Liu Jun represented the Engi, Emily represented the Zoltan and the two menacing creatures at the back of the room were mercenaries he'd hired at a seedy orbital complex. They were Mantis, and they took great pleasure in being his two combat experts.

Alan took a seat at the cramped table, looking at the roast slug on the table before them. Slug was a delicacy in most sectors. Finding the non-sentient slugs was difficult and they were very hard to farm outside of nebulas. They had captured a ship with a rather extensive pantry, and they'd saved this meal for the defeat of the rebel flagship. Emily had prepared herself a simple salad-based dish, refusing to consume the flesh of another creature. He'd never understand vegetarians, but he accepted the Zoltan passive mentality. It was hard enough to find a Zoltan willing to work aboard a combat ship such as his, and Emily was an expert with the 'Faster than Light' warp drives aboard his ship.

"You mentioned a proposition, Alan. We'd very much like to hear it," said Kara, one of the Mantis boarders, clicking her mandibles together. Mantis were freaky anyway, but the whole mandible thing made Alan wince. If the mercenaries decided to forget the contract and claim the ship for themselves, his crew would be dead within seconds. Thankfully, the power of the contract was vital within the mercenary world. A mercenary would never be hired if they broke a contract.

"Ah, yes. Now, I am under the impression that Admiral Tully wants us to return to Earth for a debriefing. This will likely take a few weeks, followed by us Federation personnel being reassigned and you mercenaries being dismissed. I'd like to propose that we take a brief break from the Federation, and go and take a small holiday. I, for one, would prefer to keep this ship and my crew rather than handing everything over to the Federation for recategorisation. Besides," he rubbed a hand affectionately against the wall, "they'd probably take the Valiant Star from us and decommission her. However, some of you might want to pursue a different career now, or settle down. I can't promise safety from now on, as the rebels are still holding sectors nearby. If you want to follow your own life, I'll happily drop you off at a space station or nearby planet. If you do want to stay aboard, there are some particularly nice planets logged on the ship's navigation computer. Tropical paradise, anyone?"

The two Mantis glanced at each other. "Captain, our contracts are now complete. We wish to leave the ship, and continue our mercenary lifestyle. We're in the business for fun just as much as killing, and you don't do nearly enough of either." Damn. Having two Mantis aboard was an excellent boost to the ship's fighting capability as they were fearsome combat experts. Their razor-sharp limbs and mandibles were incredibly useful for boarding enemy ships, and he liked being able to loot vessels without destroying them entirely. Less destruction meant more salvage, and salvage was vital towards ensuring a safe future.

Emily frowned at them. "I will happily remain aboard, captain." Alan mentally sighed with relief. Losing Emily would be a massive blow to the ship. It'd take months to find another engine technician with her skill. The Zoltan were living conduits of energy, capable of running that energy into the ship's systems. They also had a very peculiar appearance, stemming from the fact that they were green, glowing humanoids that looked like they'd spent too long hugging the fuel rods.

"Engi motivation: exploration. Subject goal: exploration. Captain's goals are compatible with Liu Jun's goals," the Engi said, looking at Alan strangely. He assumed it was a smile and thought nothing more of it. The Engi were a strange race, indeed. Part machine and part living tissue, they were incredible engineers. While he regretted the loss of two trained boarders, he still had his weapons and engine technicians.

"Sara?" he asked, looking at his human companion. Her approval would make a hat trick of vital systems personnel.

"Huh? Oh, I guess I'll stay aboard if we return to Federation space after we take our holiday. You're not planning on going mercenary, are you captain?"

"Of course not. We're still members of the Federation fleet, but we're taking a small detour on the way back to Earth," he said reassuringly, smiling at Sara. Perfect, he had his whole crew with him. Now he had some chance of reaching the sector he had in mind, although overclocking the FTL drives would make the journey significantly shorter. "Now, you guys tuck in. I'm going to head down and make sure the orbital shipyard Tully is bringing in has our location. Oh, that reminds me, did any other systems get critically hit?"

The crew exchanged some guilty glances. "I ran some system diagnostics. It appears... some of the systems are entirely offline. The ship's computer overclocked the reactor and damaged almost every system. Some of it will be fixable, but some won't. We've lost half of our shield capacity, three quarters of our engine capacity, the oxygen distribution upgrades, our tier-three medical theatre and three-fifths of our weapon capacity. Our burst lasers are damaged and one fire bomb detonated in the launcher and wrecked the system. Also..." Sara looked around nervously, "I can't find the ship's cat. He may have, uhm, been fired out of an airlock during the battle."

Emily shot a horrified look at Alan, searching the room quickly for Crew Chief Mittens the Fourth. Alan sighed, looking down at his wrist-mounted computer. The 'system function device' allowed crew members to access the ship's database and basic functions while moving around the ship, and his had accompanied for almost a decade. The system was usually used alongside a small headset, allowing for broadcast through the ship's intercom. The intercoms were much more reliable, but the headset was useful for receiving alerts and alerts was exactly what it was receiving. It was true, almost every system was frantically flashing, displaying error messages, warnings and threats, in some cases. "O...kay, I guess we can always earn enough to replace those systems again..." At least the universal translator hadn't been hit. That certainly would be a setback. The systems were one of the most expensive aboard, and he'd paid almost an enitre year's salary into integrating the shipboard translator into the SFD's earpiece and headset.

Alan walked mutely out of the mess, looking down at the device in disbelief. He knew the ship was hit hard, but this was going to require half the scrap in the galaxy to repair. Well, at least the orbital shipyard would be able to repair some of the hull damage. 'That shipyard should be here by n--'

"Valiant Star? This is the Federation shipyard 'Radiant Dawn'. We have your ship locked and confirmed, and we're standing by to dispatch repair drones to you. Please confirm your current location to ensure our data is correct. Admiral Tully has ordered us to provide a full hull repair, along with an FTL upgrade for your current system. We will dispatch a shuttle to teleport the FTL upgrade to you."

"Radiant Dawn, this is the Valiant Star. Stand by for current location statistics, I'm making my way to the helm now." Alan slid down an access ladder in a practised motion, stepping onto the battle deck. Doors parted as he strode briskly towards the cockpit, mentally calculating exactly how much scrap would be required to restore a good amount of power to the engines. As he entered the cockpit, he stared at the ship's viewing computer in awe.

Only a few kilometres away from them, the massive shipyard was preparing to receive a badly damaged battlecruiser. Two massive doors parted at the front of the capital ship, lights blinking as the battlecruiser slowly inched into the dock. The shipyard was easily the largest vessel he'd ever set eyes on, and the engines strapped to the side were larger than some of the Federation frigates lazily circling it. It looked large enough to hold several thousand personnel, which it probably did. The dark cockpit slowly lightened as a set of panels turned blue, bringing up lists of information.

"Radiant Dawn, this is the Valiant Star. Stand by for location transfer," he sighed, preparing to read off the long list of data. Giving precise details in a three-dimensional format was a long, boring task. At least he had an incredibly rare sight before him to keep him interested for the next thirty minutes minutes.

* * *

Twilight Sparkle sat in her comfortable study, deep in thought. 'Aliens... how could we have been prepared to discover not just one, but four new sentient races in such a short amount of time? It's amazing! And... we even have a specimen to *study! We could learn so much about so many things! Princess Celestia must be so busy trying to keep the nation calm. Maybe I could write her a letter to see if she's coping...'* Twilight giggled, instantly dismissing that idea. 'She's a princess, she's ruled the country as far as anypony can remember. She must be fi-

A deep, rumbling noise snapped her out of her thoughts. A letter! 'Princess Celestia must need my help with something! Maybe research, or a field expedition, or maybe she wants me to write a report!' The librarian danced with excitement, waiting for Spike to enter the room.

Her assistant walked into the room, looking nervously at the bouncing mare. "Uh Twilight? You've got a le-" She plucked the letter out of his grasp in a scant second, breaking open the wax seal with a practiced motion. Her eyes hungrily devoured the page, making Spike back away slowly. "Twi, it's not gonna disappear. Slow down!"

She gasped, looking around the room. "Spike! Princess Celestia is sending me part of the crashed spaceship to study! This is..." Her voice faltered as she tried to find the right words. Twilight shrugged, squeeing. Spike smiled in return, but the nagging feeling in his chest refused to leave. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be with Twilight in an enclosed space with an important research task to work on. She could get... weird... about her studies. As he pondered this, Twilight raced over to the table and pushed the contents onto the floor, levitating a series of heavy tomes over and dropping them onto the desk.

Several newspapers were thrown onto the floor along with the other papers, one of which floated over to Spike's feet. He looked at it curiously, picking up the oversized broadsheet with an interested look on his face. Media establishments around the planet had been reporting constantly on the crashed alien ship, and the story had dominated the headlines for weeks. However, scientists had only been able to access the ship since another contact a few days ago, where another alien ship had come and recovered the pilot. A mischievous smile crossed Spike's lips. "Twilight? What's the big deal about getting inside the ship?"

She spluttered, whirling around. "W-what's the big deal? Y-you... I..." Spike burst into laughter, earning him a disapproving look from his caretaker. "Spike! This is important! I need to focus on getting my information together for when the... spaceship parts arrive!" She grinned again, flipping open the first book. "I need you to look after the library for a while, Spike. Can you do that for me?"

Spike smiled at her, already making a mental list of chores he'd have to finish before he could take on running the library for the day. That's one skill he'd certainly learnt from Twilight; how to mentally arrange all of his tasks to give himself more free time! Which was, of course, consumed by more chores. He sighed, nodding. "Sure Twilight, I can do that for you!"

"Thank you Spike! I don't know what I'd do without you! Maybe I can speak to Rarity about getting you some gems as a treat..." Spike licked his lips subconsiously, already drooling. "Well, I'd better get started on my reading! I have to make notes on ancient languages, just in case any from inside the ship bear a resemblance. Maybe I can cross-reference the new language with my compendium about..."

Spike zoned out, already daydreaming about the delicious ice sapphires Rarity had bought in surplus. He could certainly eat a few of them, that was for sure...

* * *

"Repairs complete, Valiant Star. Our drones have repaired the extensive hull damage and have repaired your laser arrays. However, we have not been authorised to repair your ship's internal systems. You will have to find a local sector merchant to do that for you. Our scans show you will have enough power from your reactor to operate your basic systems, but a reactor overhaul will be required if you wish to make effective use of yo-"

"Yeah, I know. We'll get the reactor overhauled soon," Alan muttered, irritated that he would have to finance the extensive repairs needed.

"Very well. I would suggest testing your systems before you progress, to ensure that they are still in working order. We've been authorised to dispatch two outdated repair drones to act as targets." Almost instantly, two drones detached from the shipyard's hull and accelerated towards the ship. Alan smiled grimly, walking over to the central console. From there he could command all of the ship's systems, including the weapons.

"Ship? Divert reactor power from the medbay to the weapons, divert reactor power from the shields to the engines and lock onto the two approaching targets." The computer silently complied, powering up the two burst laser arrays mounted to the ship's wings. He then tapped in some commands to the console, opening airlocks within the ship to test the door controls. As expected, the air in the corridor between the cockpit and the rest of the ship vented into space. He then re-sealed the doors and repressurised the room. Perfect.

"Ship, fire both laser arrays at the drone to the right. Direct sensors to report on the damage, then redirect the weapons to target the drone to the left." Six pulses of light crossed the screen, ripping the first drone apart with a small flash. "Excellent. Now target the drone to the left." The ship shuddered slightly as the weapons discharged again, shredding the second drone. The console in front of him showed the extent of the damage, salvageable materials the drones had left behind and the nitrogen cooling system for the lasers. All was working perfectly.

"Valiant Star, your systems appear to be in full working order. We're taking receipt of our drones now." A loud hiss echoed through the ship, followed by a series of loud bangs and jolts. Alan watched the drones pilot themselves through space, back towards the shipyard. Well, that was that. He switched his comms channel over to the ship's intercom with a smile. "Crew? Get the ship ready for a series of FTL jumps. Navigation has our destination locked in and our systems are all in order."

Emily's voice echoed back through the intercom. "Confirmed, captain. I'll have the FTL drives online in... two minutes, give or take. Where exactly are we going?"

"Ask Liu Jun. It's where we re-activated her, after all. Small verdant planet that the ship charted as T-972. Inhabited by a primitive race of equines that shouldn't be too much of a hindrance. If they are, we can just find somewhere else. They were fairly docile though so we should have a pretty easy time. It's one of the nicer planets logged, and it ain't one of those tourist hotspots. I hate those places."

Sara's voice chimed in as well, transmitting from a different intercom station. "Sounds like a nice place. Maybe we could give them some Federation materials. It'd be a good idea to give them some knowledge of the Federation before they become spacefaring. It's not first contact, either! I mean, technically the crashed Engi ship we rescued Liu from was the first contact, so we won't be breaking Federation guidelines."

"I guess so," he replied absent-mindedly, daydreaming about having the chance to breathe non-filtered air for once.

"Liu Jun remembers purple equine disconnected Liu Jun from ship's interface. Liu Jun wishes to interface Liu Jun's handgun with purple equine's oral cavi-"

"Now Liu, that's hardly necessary. The poor horse probably thought you were a... carrot, or something."

Alan could picture Liu's sigh of annoyance from the other side of the intercom. The Engi didn't have a sense of humour most of the time, and he would probably receive a twelve-page report on how an Engi looks nothing like a carrot, along with a request for a mental examination.

"Captain, Liu Jun does not understand how Liu Jun could possibly resemble a carrot. However, Liu Jun accepts the captain's recommendation of pacifism on the planet. Liu Jun has no desire to be licked by equines." Alan let out a small laugh, imagining Liu's reaction if a horse decided to lick her. It'd probably end up as a pile of brightly-coloured ash on the floor.

"Captain, FTL drives are charged and ready to fire. Just waiting on you, sir," Emily confirmed. The large 'FTL' button on his console pulsed, bringing up a sector map alongside it. He carefully picked out a course that would hopefully navigate away from frequently-attacked beacons. If they stuck to his route, they'd be at T-972 in a week or so. Once the preparations were sorted and the route was decided, he looked at the FTL button eagerly.

"Well, at least things can't get any crazier than a goddamn three-stage capital ship that got destroyed by a repurposed exploration corvette." He patted a nearby bulkhead lovingly. "I'll have you fixed up in no time, and then we can go blow up more rebels. Well, assuming that was their flagship and not an oversized orbital strip club." He winced, realising he'd just said that on the intercom. "Uh... right, let's get out of here!" The FTL drives purred in reply, sending the ship hurtling towards the next beacon.

Chapter Two: Pacifism Run

Chapter Two: Second Contact

F T L***VALIANT *STARChapter Two: Second Contact

The ship jolted one final time as it reached the beacon. Alan smiled to himself, setting a course for the impulse engines to follow. The system was conveniently hidden behind a particularly dense asteroid field, which probably explained why they'd existed for so long without being discovered by rogue pirates or rebel forces. He was looking forward to letting fresh air into the ship and venting the stale, moisture-less air that had become the norm.

Their trip from the newly-christened Federation sector hadn't been too trying, especially as the two sectors were adjacent. They'd easily navigated between beacons, devastating any pirates stupid enough to try and hinder them. Now they were coasting towards the system they'd selected by using their impulse engines to save fuel rods. He'd realised early on that he could fire both laser arrays quite easily if he rerouted power away from the medical bay and the engines, seeing as Emily provided enough power to give basic evasion. Still, he'd feel much better with enough power to run all of his systems at once.

The two Mantis boarders had been dropped off at a deep space beacon, one that he wholly intended to visit again. There were some pretty ore-rich asteroids that he could mine, if he managed to get his hands on a scrap recovery arm again. Hell, he was even considering flying the shuttle out, but they'd run out of time. Unfortunately, they'd come to the subject of payment rather more quickly than he would have liked. The Mantis had insisted on a bonus for aiding them in the destruction of the rebel flagship, a bonus that he was unable to provide. He'd had to drain the oxygen from their room until they frantically agreed to leave with their lives and the pre-arranged sum of scrap. Alan shuddered, remembering some of the threats they'd made over the ship's intercom. He certainly hoped they wouldn't encounter each other again.

"Captain, how long until we reach the planet? How exactly are we going to get down to the planet, as well? We've already been down and breathed the atmosphere, so we don't need to send the shuttle down again. We could land the Valiant Star in that fie-"

"Thank you, Sara. Emily and I will take the shuttle down and check the area out. If it's all clear, we'll signal you and you can guide the ship down. You and Liu are probably better off on the ship for this, anyway. I don't mind those horses poking around, but bringing down the Star first might not be such a good idea. Yeah, we'll check it out first." Alan sighed. Sara was eager, but he didn't want to run the risk that Sara might scare the horses into doing something stupid. Emily was a much calmer, collected individual and would be better suited for making second contact with the horses. "Emily, meet me down in the shuttle bay. The navigation computer has the route plugged in, but the autopilot is dead. I'll keep an eye on the navigation through my SFD." Emily quickly acknowledged his request, barely audible over the cooling FTL drives.

Alan headed out of the cockpit, heading over to the nearest access ladder. This one was the one he'd used earlier to access the mess, but he wasn't going up this time. The ladder linked the three decks of the ship; the essential battle deck, the crew deck that contained living quarters, the mess and other facilities, and the utility deck which contained the water processing plant, the weapons lock-up, the gravitomagnetic generation system and the shuttle bay. As he descended into the guts of the ship, he let out a small sigh. Perhaps making second contact with a species wasn't as good an idea as he'd originally thought. It was supposed to be a holiday, after all.

Alan shrugged as he stepped into the weapons lock-up, looking around at the supplies on the walls. Ceramic body armour, medical kits, pump-action shotguns, chunky plasma pistols, hefty laser rifles... he selected the body armour without a second thought. He didn't want to go down in his Federation ship uniform purely because he'd be defenceless. Also, the black body armour did look imposing without being threatening. If those horses were sentient, they'd be pretty stupid to attack him. He grabbed a shotgun as an afterthought, setting it aside as he donned the black clothing. The shotgun was the only non-lethal weapon in the armoury, safe to use against civilians if it was equipped with softer rubber pellets. "Emily, are you on your way down yet?"

Rather than speaking over the ship's intercom as he expected, she spoke from down the corridor. "Already here captain. I strongly doubt that level of weaponry will be required for a peaceful mission. I'm fairly sure you chose the shotgun as usual. You're very predictable, captain."

Alan deadpanned at the wall, trying to figure out how Emily had guessed his choice of equipment. "You're... right, I guess. I'll leave the shotgun behind for this one." He smiled wolfishly, sliding a handgun into a shoulder holster. Emily may be a pacifist, but he wasn't taking any chances. He stepped through the automatic doors, walking down the dimly-lit corridor towards the shuttle bay and stepping inside, smiling warmly at Emily. She was the only member of the crew he always got on with. He and Liu sometimes fell out over engineering matters, and Sara occasionally threatened to lock down the shields until he let her visit a space station for 'a change of scene'.

"Captain, I suggest we take some of the spare SFD headsets in case we need to communicate with the natives. We can't rely on them being as docile as last time, especially if those settlements were as widespread as the scanners detected. Then again, the scanners are on the blink. Remember, it thought those horses had six legs!" They shared a brief chuckle, remembering their first encounter with those weird little ponies.

The views through the set of external display screens shifted slowly, indicating that the ship was rotating. They must be on approach in that case. "Ship, how long until the... ship... is in position to launch the shuttle?" As always, the computer remained silent, sending the information to his SFD. He glanced down. Two hours. He could wait that long.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the planet below the Valiant Star, Twilight Sparkle was preparing to close the library for the night. The package had arrived early in the morning, along with several stone-faced Royal Guards. They'd handed the package over to Twilight and had taken up positions around the library. To the best of her knowledge, they were still there. 'Well, it is late. Maybe I should get some sleep too, so I'm ready to continue in the morning!' A sudden knock on the door snapped Twilight out of her reverie. "Twilight? Is... is the library still open?"

With a sigh, the unicorn opened the door. 'I guess the sleep can wait until later...' As the door opened, Twilight's jaw dropped. Raindrops was stood on her doorstep with two spears pointed at her head. "W-what are you doing? Raindrops is my friend!"

The guards reluctantly lowered their weapons. "Standing orders, Miss Sparkle. Would you like us to remove her from the property?"

"What? No! Raindrops, come in!" The jasmine-coloured mare trotted in, sighing with relief. "Are you ok? You haven't visited the library in a while, and I certainly wasn't expecting you at this time!"

"Oh, sorry Twilight... I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?" Raindrops trotted inside with a sigh. Twilight moved towards her, ready to offer her friend a hug. "It's just... well, my life's really gone downhill and I don't know where else to go."

Twilight looked at her with concern, face etched with worry. Raindrops wasn't lying. She'd spent the last few weeks confiding in Twilight, making up reasons to visit her. Sometimes she'd say that she'd found a book in the street, or that Twilight had dropped something. With every day came another problem, and Raindrops was slowly growing more depressed. She'd first lost her job in the removals business, which was swiftly followed by her coltfriend dumping her for another mare. She'd become distracted and had lost her newest job in the weather team. Following that... incident, she'd tried to make it big at the Wonderbolt Academy. Twilight sighed as she remembered the discussion she'd had with Rainbow Dash about Raindrop's performance.

"What's happened today, Rainy? Do, uh, do you want a drink?" The pegasus nodded quietly, lost in her own thoughts. Twilight trotted into the kitchen, setting some colourful mugs aside to make tea. She smiled at the 'World's Greatest Librarian' mug Spike had bought her, before placing it back in its size-coordinated position. "Do you want to talk about it? I'm happy to listen, as always!"

"Thanks Twilight. I... it's just, I've kinda been sleeping rough for the last few nights. I got kicked out of my flat, and the landlord kept all my stuff as payment..." Raindrops lowered herself onto the floor, sighing with a dreary sadness. If Twilight didn't know better, she would have said Raindrops was a post-Sombra Crystal Pony, or at least a very depressed one.

Twilight froze, mind filled with shock. "R-Raindrops! Why didn't you say something? We have a spare bedroom here if you need it, and I'm sure I can find you some work to help you get back on your hooves." However, the unicorn was still mentally reeling. 'Sleeping rough? I don't even remember the last time somepony here was forced onto the streets...'

"It's... it's nothing, Twilight. Thanks for being here for me, though. You know if I had a real problem, I'd come and let you know..." Raindrops smiled sadly, trying to convince Twilight that she was ok. It failed spectacularly.

"Oh no Rainy, you're not getting out of this that easily. You don't get much more serious than sleeping rough! Please, promise me you'll spend a night or two here until you get something arranged, ok? We have plenty of space, and it's not a problem, I swear! We will have something to eat in a little while, ok? And then I'll get the spare bedroom set up for you." Raindrops nodded slowly, watching Twilight pour the tea.

"Are you sure, Twilight? I know you're probably busy with whatever warrants all those guards outside. Why are they out there, anyway? is it something important?" She gasped, looking at Twilight with much more interest. "I-is it to do with the crashed spaceship?" A faint glimmer of excitement entered Raindrop's eyes, making Twilight smile.

'I guess it would be ok to show her some of the parts. Celestia has always maintained that friendship is the most important duty of mine, and this might cheer Raindrops up! I'm sure a small peek won't do any damage,' Twilight thought, stirring the freshly-poured tea. "Actually, it is! Princess Celestia asked me to study some fragments of the spaceship, and I have them upstairs. Would... would you like to take a look?"

Raindrops' eyes widened and she nodded her head enthusiastically. "Really? I mean, that'd be awesome! Thanks Twilight!" Raindrops rushed forwards, wrapping her forelegs around Twilight's neck in a joyful hug. The librarian smiled, rubbing a hoof on Raindrops' shoulder reassuringly.

"Shall we take our drinks up and have a look? You like ancient history, right? You might be able to help me with the translation!" Raindrops nodded again, looking thoughtful. "You ok Rainy? Have... have you had enough to eat the past few nights?" The pegasus nodded, trotting eagerly towards the staircase. "Hmm, well... you're spending the night here anyway. I won't take no for an answer! We can have an all-night study session!"

"Yeah, that sounds fun! I doubt the language will be Nordic in nature, but I can take a look anyway!" Raindrops grinned, racing up the stairs. Twilight smiled to herself, glad to have cheered Raindrops up somewhat. She knew from her experiences in Canterlot what it was like to feel alone and unwanted, and having a friend close by made all the difference in the world. The two mares spent the next half-hour creating a study space in Twilight's bedroom, filling the space with a multitude of objects. Books, snacks, blankets, pillows, more books and even a desk or two were crammed into the room by the two excited mares. For a brief, memorable period of time, they were both fillies again, creating a fort to keep out the disturbances of the world.

Twilight stepped proudly into the space, looking around. They had everything they'd need for a comprehensive, efficient and fun study session! "So, shall we get started?" Raindrops nodded eagerly, trotting over to the small bed that had been created for her. As Twilight began writing down the various symbols on the metal slab, Raindrops crawled under her warm blanket with a book on ancient cultures of the North. This would keep her entertained for a few hours, at the very least!

* * *

Alan sat in the shuttle bay, looking thoroughly bored. Emily was stood nearby, placing supplies into the small shuttle. The small ship's four impulse drives and multitude of directional rockets sat motionless, paling in comparison to the Valiant Star's own engines. The entire craft only made up about a tenth of the ship's size, and usually served as a reconnaissance ship, despite its role as a 'lifeboat'. Alan smirked. He'd rather die aboard his ship than spend months floating in that cramped, lifeless room. The set of external display screens were now beginning to show pictures of the planet, zooming in on possible areas of interest. Small settlements, medieval townships... these creatures were nowhere near the space stage yet.

"Ship, how long until we're ready to drop?" Alan asked, rotating his shoulder in its socket. He'd been having shooting pains in that arm for a few days now. 'Maybe a few hours in the medbay might be warranted,' he thought idly, waiting for the computer to finish its calculations. A few seconds later, his SFD flashed again. Five minutes. He decided it'd probably be a good time to get into the shuttle, allowing time for fitting oxygen masks and setting up the ship's onboard navigation. He certainly wasn't flying the shuttle manually, that was for sure.

"Emily, let's get strapped in. Got all the supplies on board yet?" he asked, looking over at her. The Zoltan smiled, nodding in confirmation. Behind her, a few bottles of oxygen had been rested against the ship's hull, along with masks.

"Just in case the scanners were lying about breathable atmosphere, and in case the shuttle burns up on entry," she stated matter-of-factly, wedging them into the cargo bay. Alan smiled grimly as he walked over, clambering through the cramped cargo room to access the pilot's chair. Systems lit up with a warm, blue glow as he sat down, their screens displaying hundreds of lines of information. Emily eventually slid into the chair next to him, clipping on her five-point harness. "Excited, captain? Maybe these creatures are truly sentient, and we'll have discovered a new race to introduce to the Federation!"

"You're beginning to sound like Sara there, Emily. Calm down. It's just a quick stop-off to replace the ship's oxygen and to grab some real sunlight!" He sat back, sighing. Two minutes.

* * *

Twilight sighed with frustration, slamming her book shut. None of the languages they'd examined bore any resemblance to the mysterious text before them, so it would be nigh-on impossible to translate. As she levitated another book onto her desk, she began to ponder the origin of the spaceship. It certainly wasn't of Equestrian origin, or even from their planet. The metal the symbols were etched into was of a composition she'd never even learnt about, let alone seen. "Any luck?" she muttered, turning to look at Raindrops.

"Nope. I don't even think they're a picture-based language, because that doesn't look anything like anything I know..." Raindrops said resignedly, looking up at Twilight from her small mound of pillows and blankets. A small smile crossed Twilight's lips. They'd spent the first twenty minutes joking around and relaxing before hitting the books. She didn't even know what time it was, but Spike was fast asleep - surprise, surprise - and even Raindrops was beginning to look drowsy.

"You can go to sleep if you want, Rainy! I probably won't sleep tonight anyway, I've got to find something to report to the Princess by tomorrow. Anyway, we have as long as we need to look at it! It's not like the aliens are gonna drop out of space again, is it?" Twilight giggled, turning back to her book.

* * *

Alan and Emily sat in the cockpit of the shuttle, watching various messages scroll across the HUD on the windows in front of them. Unlike the Valiant Star itself, this ship had transparent 'glass' windows made from aluminium silicate. They were still several inches thick, but they would provide an excellent view of the descent. He began to feel the tingle of adrenaline entering his system as the sixty second countdown ticked away on the screen. He loved atmospheric entries. "All systems are clear my side. Engines warming up and are ready to slow descent. How are your systems?"

"All systems are looking clear, captain. It's a standard launch. I highly doubt anything will go amiss during this mission," Emily said reassuringly, tightening her five-point harness. Her lime-green glow filled the cockpit with a soft light, blending with the cool blue light from the display screens. "Ten seconds."

"Sara, keep the Star in position above the planet until we contact you again. We'll make contact with the species first, make sure they're still docile, and then we'll see about de-orbiting the Star," Alan said, adjusting his SFD earpiece with a hand. A soft hiss indicated the detachment of the shuttle, accompanied by a weak shudder. They were away. The second the shuttle left the Valiant Star, Alan began to feel sick. 'Oh please God no...' he thought desperately, looking around for something to vomit in. For a space captain, he couldn't handle zero gravity if he tried.

Sara sighed over the intercom. "Ok captain, just make sure you don't scare them too much. We'll see you in a few hours then, I guess..." Alan paid little attention as Emily replied for him. 'Come on, not now! Happy thoughts, healthy thoughts,' he tried to convince himself, clearing his mind. The sickness subsided after a few minutes and he was able to focus on the view outside.

"Really something, right? We don't find many green planets these days..." Emily whispered, looking at the expanse of emerald-green land and glittering sea below them. A few of the consoles before them displayed suggested landing sites, all of which were near small settlements. He chose one at random, sitting back to enjoy the descent.

"It certainly is. Some of these settlements look pretty developed, surprisingly..." The two discussed their opinions of the planet and its inhabitants as the shuttle continued on its planned path, carving a flaming trail through the clear night sky.

* * *

Twilight blinked irately, trying to clear her vision as she continued to read through a passage on ancient Zebrican glyphs. They bore some resemblance to the mysterious symbols on the spaceship fragment, but not nearly similar enough to be the base language, or some derivative thereof. It would be much easier if she could shift the lights flickering in the corner of her eye though. 'Stupid lights. Maybe I should sleep for a while now...'

She turned around, ear twitching. It sounded like some ponies were having a party outside. 'What kind of ponies have a party in the street at this time of the night? Maybe it's Pinkie Pie again... she thought irately, sliding the curtains open with her magic to take a look. "W-wha?"

The street was slowly filling up with ponies, all looking up into the sky nervously. A few guards were amongst the crowd but they didn't appear to be doing anything. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't a party. Even Pinkie's unmistakable pink curls were visible in the throng of ponies. A small pit of dread settled in Twilight's stomach, accompanied by the tentative tingle of excitement. Were the aliens coming back? "Raindrops, wake up!"

Raindrops' eyes shot open, darting around the room before settling on Twilight. "H-huh? What's going on? D-did you find something out?" She sleepily clambered out from the blankets, stretching out and yawning.

"Something's going on outside! Come on, we're going out to have a look as well!" Twilight said excitedly, grabbing her saddlebags and scarf from her desk. The scarf had been a gift from Rarity to keep her warm in the coming Autumn months, and she'd happily accepted it. After all, it did match her mane perfectly and was as comfortable as possible. Rarity's skill was only matched by her generosity and concern for her friends.

A few moments later, the two mares trotted down the thick oak stairs that were so familiar to Twilight. A few guards were stood nervously in the middle of the room, waiting for Twilight to approach them. "Terribly sorry ma'am, but there's a... um... slight situation outside."

"What kind of situation?" Twilight replied, looking nervously at the two guards. This was certainly beyond their level of training, and it reflected on their faces.

"Well, we received reports from Canterlot that a... meteor?" The soldier turned to his comrade, engaging in a few seconds of hurried discussion. They both paused thereafter, looking at Twilight with concern, before going back to their hushed whispers. "Yes, a meteor was reported coming this way. Princess Luna confirmed it herself, but it disappeared shortly thereafter. We just got word that it's visible again, coming this way. It's moving a lot slower than reported but it's still of concern. We need you and the fragment to come with us, Miss Sparkle.

Twilight glanced up and out of the window, murmuring, "I don't think that's a meteor..."

* * *

"Okay, let's see... guidance thrusters warming up, thrust nozzles are on swivel, landing vectors established... looks like we've got a crowd waiting for us. Fuckin' brilliant. Well, this is what we were expecting, so I guess there's no harm done. We'll go down, talk with them a bit, see if they've got anything worth discussing. Emily, swap us over to VTOL if you'd be so kind!" Alan sat back in his seat and watched the town on the ship's scanners. The Valiant Star was providing a satellite view, and the shuttle's cameras were displaying live images of the town as it approached.

A series of small jolts shook the shuttle as the guidance thrusters began to perfect their course, preparing for the moment when the glide wings would retract and the four thrust nozzles underneath the shuttle would slow them down, bring the ship into a safe landing position and drop them safely onto terra firma. The shuttle could take off and land vertically as he chose, or use the glide wings to belly-slide if the situation arose. "Ok captain, we're about one minute away from landing. The town should be directly underneath us now."

Alan nodded in approval, disengaging the harness holding him in position. Emily tutted with disapproval as he clambered over his chair and into the cargo hold. "What? I might as well get ready to disembark when we land so we don't get set upon by crazy horses."

A loud whine signalled the rotation of the landing thrusters, accompanied by a soft thump as they ignited. "Thirty seconds, captain. Looks like the ponies are clustering around the landing zone, just like last time. I'll try not to flatten any of them with the landing jets. That might annoy them slightly."

"Only slightly, Emily. Well, this is it! Second contact with a race of wierd equines that somehow managed to find an Engi ship. And I believe they have wings, too. This is going to be so fun," he said sarcastically, mentally considering how much better Sara was suited to this. A true Federation supporter who loved nothing more than to educate new races on the wonders of Federation membership. He smiled wryly, donning an oxygen mask. Emily did the same, clipping hers into the ship's generator while Alan connected his to an oxygen bottle. It was a formality for any planet that the scanners hadn't mapped fully, just in case there were local factors that affected atmospheric quality. Their first landing site had been over fifty miles away, in any case.

"Ten seconds," she said with a hint of excitement barely noticeable through the oxygen mask. Alan walked over to the ship's doors, trying his utmost to be the imposing, strictly formal character the Federation manual suggested. He sniggered. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Three, two, one..." The only indication that they'd landed was the soft shake of the floor beneath him. A textbook landing. "The equines are still holding their distance," Emily confirmed, flicking off a series of switches to make sure the reactor shut off and the thrusters cooled down quickly.

"Alright, open the doors and wish me luck. If these equines have razor-sharp... tails, make sure you find a nice coffin for me." Emily laughed, still snickering as she hit the button to open the doors.

The reinforced metal bulkheads slid open, letting alien air into the ship for the second time. It'd take a few minutes for the ship's scanners to determine the chemical and biological composition of the air, but he wasn't willing to wait. He had an audience to address.

Chapter Three: Tough Little Ship

Chapter Three: Terran-972

F T L***VALIANT *STARChapter Three: Terran-972

A hushed silence fell over the ponies assembled in the field as they all stared at the mysterious craft before them. Twilight had hastily left the guards with the spaceship fragment, rushing out into the cold with Raindrops to get a glimpse of the returning alien craft. A light haze of rain filled the air, slowly dampening their coats as they stood expectantly, watching the mysterious ship float over the town before coming to rest in a small field just outside. "T-Twilight, are you sure this is a good idea?" whispered Raindrops, shuffling nervously from hoof to hoof. The librarian nodded, fixated on the spaceship before them.

"Hey, it's opening!" said a nearby stallion, awestruck. He was right! Twilight grinned from ear to ear, reminded of the few science fictions she'd indulged in on a day off. Maybe they were here to conduct diplomacy this time, rather than recover the remnants of their crashed ship. But what if they were here to collect them...

"Actually, maybe this isn't such a good idea," Twilight whispered fearfully, backing away from the ship. It made sense, she realised. They'd originally come to collect their comrade, and now they were back to reclaim the ship! At least she wasn't in the library with the ship fragment, like Spike was. Twilight's heart dropped as she realised Spike was fast asleep and not stood next to her. "Spike!" she cried, galloping out of the field with the fear of all in her heart. Raindrops simply stood in confusion, staring at Twilight as she swiftly departed, as did many of the ponies assembled. Most of them had expected Twilight to make the first introduction.

A sudden hiss of air caught their attention once more, and soon enough every pony in the field was completely fixated on the alien ship. This was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and they were some of the few ponies to lay eyes on the small, white shuttle. A faint green glow could be seen through the front of the ship, which some of the more daring ponies began to whisper about. Was it one of the aliens? A mysterious piece of technology? The metal walls of the spacecraft began to slide sideways, retracting into the ship itself!

A mysterious figure emerged from the craft, stepping down onto the grass and looking around. Raindrops gasped along with the rest of the crowd, trying to comprehend its odd features. It was much taller than a pony, clad in some kind of black carapace that extended onto its face. Well, Raindrops hoped it was just clothing. The creature's small eyes raked over the assembled ponies, a strange look flashing across its face. 'Is it confused?' she thought, trying to smile at it. All she could manage was a blank, awestruck, wide-eyed expression as her mind tried to comprehend the sheer absurdity of the thing in front of them. It turned around and looked at its craft, shouting something incomprehensible. Even its voice was strange. A few ponies giggled nervously, quickly silenced by their peers. Raindrops waited, watching the creature to see if it really was as intelligent as Twilight had theorised.

* * *

"Emily? They're doing that goddamn wide-eyed thing again!" Alan said loudly, turning to see if she was stood behind him. The imposing, formal figure he'd tried to pass off had seemingly failed, and some of the ponies were making strange noises. Perhaps it was laughter, or maybe some kind of secret 'kill' command. He really didn't want to have to kill something today.

"Captain, sometimes I wonder as to your perception. They're just staring at something that's burnt through their atmosphere, shattered their knowledge of the universe and they're probably worried about the weird bipedal creature that's currently shouting at nothing. Give them one of the SFD headsets so they can communicate with us, ok?"

"I guess that'd help, yeah..." Alan ducked back into the ship, grabbing one of the futuristic headsets from a rack. He had no idea how he'd get one onto an equine's head, but he was planning on dealing with that later. As he stepped back out of the ship, one pony was trotting forward. Highly unusual. Alan smiled awkwardly at the pony, watching its eye movements carefully. Now that he considered it, their teeth were pretty large. Perfect for eating humans...

He sighed with relief as the pony nervously returned his smile, looking absurd in the process. A smiling pony. He was going to have to document this later. It looked fairly docile, staring at him with those large, serene blue eyes. "Uh, anything on the atmosphere Emily? It might help if I take my respirator off for a few minutes while I try and convince these ponies I'm not here to eat them." He kept his eyes on the strange creature before him, initiating a small contest of wills. He had to hand it to that pony, she was pretty determined to keep Alan's gaze.

"Ok, there are some strange foreign bodies in the air, but nothing coming up as worrying. Just standard stuff for a Terran planet, I guess. You should be fine to take off your oxygen mask. I'm removing mine as we speak," Emily replied, accompanied by the sound of the straps being removed from around her head. Alan hesitated for a few seconds, waiting for Emily to approach from behind him. No movement came. "You can handle this bit on your own, captain," she chuckled over the headset, watching the scene on the screens.

He swore under his breath before turning back to the small creature before him. She was one of the freaky ones, a horse with wings. He wasn't sure if they were functional or just useless, so he disregarded them for the moment. 'Ok, how the hell am I going to do this?' he thought, holding an SFD headset in his hand If he tried to place it straight onto her, she might panic and attack him. Slow it was, then. "Uh, easy pony, good pony..." he said reassuringly, hoping the tones would relax the mare as he reached out, offering the headset to her. She tilted her head in confusion, face etched with fear and nerves.

Alan motioned to his own ears, hoping the resemblance would be clear enough to her. He wasn't going to sit and play charades with her for hours on end, in any case. He'd rather receive a good kick in the ribs. Thankfully she slowly complied; tilting her head as he tenderly placed the set on her ears. The other ponies in the field looked at her in concern, fear, happiness and awe. "It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, smiling as he did so. She replied with a sentence or two, lips moving rapidly as she tried to make her point clear.

"Just watching the translation program run now. It's found a few root words, so it should be done structuring their language in a few seconds, captain," Emily whispered over the mic, captivated by the scene as well. "Aaaand... we're done. Go ahead and say something Alan!" The fact that she'd used his name was unusual, but all was forgotten as he tried to create a sentence worthy of greeting a new, sentient race with.

"Uh... can you hear me?" he said, trying to look confident and imposing. He made a mental note to study the Federation guidelines for greeting new species again at some point. The crowd in the field looked on expectantly as the mare spoke again, but all that could be heard were a series of incomprehensible sounds. "Emily, did you remember to load the language onto the database?"

"Oh, no I didn't. One second then, it'll be online soon," Emily said nervously, aware that Alan would give her a reprimanding when they got back aboard the Star. As the language began to make its way through to the SFD database, Alan could begin to understand the mare's sentences.

"Please don't eat us, please don't eat us, please don't eat us!" the mare mumbled over and over again, looking at Alan pleadingly.

"We're not here to eat you. We are explorers, travellers of the stars. We wish only for peace and understanding between ourselves and those we encounter," Alan assured her, maintaining eye contact and his steady smile. 'Well, peace and understanding between anyone who isn't a rebel or pirate, anyway.' He smiled as Emily gave her approval over the mic, getting ready to exit the ship as well.

"S-so... what d-do you want from us?" she whispered, looking up at him with disbelief. She was shaking with nerves, and he felt pity for her. Why had the other ponies left her to come forward rather than sending someone more... confident? 'Maybe they're all this meek,' he thought, trying not to scare her.

"We wish to talk with you and your people, to learn more about your race and planet. In return, we can offer both trade and information as you desire, to a certain extent. We certainly do not have hostile intentions here. Please, if there is anything you wish to ask, do so. We want to be as helpful and tr..." Alan trailed off as the crowd began to murmur in shock, looking behind him. Finally, Emily had decided to show her face.

"Greetings, representative of Terran 972. We are the crew of the Federation ship 'Valiant Star,' and we desire to promote friendly relations between our people and yours." The graceful, elegant being walked past Alan, extending her hand to the equine mare. Her soft green glow shimmered through the wet mist, casting beautiful lights across the field. The entire field went silent as she spoke, despite the fact they couldn't understand any of it. Alan remembered that when the universal translator was disabled, a Zoltan sounded like a wind chime swinging gently in the breeze, their tones reminiscent of the peaceful, melodious noises made.

"I... uh... thank you," the pony whispered in awe, looking up at Emily. Alan was completely forgotten now, so he busied himself in raising communications with the Valiant Star. Her de-orbit would certainly be more spectacular than the shuttle's, so he hoped it wouldn't be for a few more hours. Having the ship come down as dawn broke would certainly captivate the ponies surrounding them.

"Am I correct in assuming you are the nominated representative of your people?"

"N-no. I'm Raindrops, I j-just live in town. Twilight was going t-to come and watch, b-but she left when you arrived." Emily looked down at Raindrops with concern, considering her next move. Now that the introductions were underway, she needed to speak to a pony representing their race as a whole. As pleasant as it was talking with a citizen, these introductions would likely form the basis of any future relations.

"That's absolutely fine, Raindrops. Thank you for finding the strength to talk with us. Now, where can we speak with Twilight?" Raindrops smiled weakly, pointing a hoof at a nearby shrub with a lavender horn poking out of the top.

* * *

"So you're not here to kill all of us, then? That's... good to know. I'm sorry about running away like that; I guess I panicked a bit!" Twilight said sheepishly, now wearing an SFD headset. They were all seated in the library around a large table she'd teleported in from a nearby cafe, and a ring of guards had formed a defensive ring around the building while they conferred. Raindrops had snuck in behind Twilight while she was talking to the guards, and although Twilight had initially disapproved, she'd allowed Raindrops to watch. She'd sent Spike to Rarity's though, just so he wouldn't intrude on the meeting. He'd probably prefer a few hours with her rather than negotiating with aliens, anyway.

"That's entirely understandable, Twilight. Now, as the non FTL-capable race here, Federation regulations dictate that you are permitted to take the leading role within this introduction, if you choose. We will happily answer any questions you choose to ask us, short of those aimed towards technologically aiding your society. Interstellar travel is something you must learn on your own." Emily smiled wryly at Alan, watching him control the Valiant Star's flight path from his SFD. "Captain, are you going to join in?"

He looked up innocently, quickly lowering his arm below the table and turning his SFD off, minus the headset. He could live without fiddling with the ship's course for a few minutes. "Of course. So, shall we get our personal introductions out of the way? My name is Alan Davies, and I'm the captain and pilot of the Federation vessel, the Valiant Star."

"My name is Emily, the Valiant Star's FTL engine technician," Emily affirmed after him, checking her own SFD for a moment to check on the engines aboard the ship. As friendly as she was with Liu Jun, she didn't trust anyone being alone with her engines.

Twilight looked curiously at them, tapping her headset. "Those are strange names. Strange for me, anyway. I'm sure they're perfectly fine for you!" she said, laughing. Alan smiled at Emily. She would almost certainly complicate matters now.

"Actually, that's just my name in Esperanto, the common language of the Federation when we're not using the universal translator. My actual name is," Emily made an incomprehensible sound, not unlike the wind chimes he'd thought of earlier. "You're Twilight, correct?"

Twilight looked at them with pride. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and student to Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, our country!"

"Element of Magic? Princess Celestia? Please could you elaborate?" Alan said bluntly, earning a glare of disapproval from Emily. He shuffled in his wooden seat, avoiding eye contact with Emily. Her disapproving glares were pretty brutal, to say the least.

"Y-you don't have magic where you're from? I guess... wow! Sorry, it just struck me that I'm talking to real aliens! We have so much to talk about, and to learn, and to study about each other! I have to make sure Princess Celestia knows you're here!" Alan cleared his throat, looking at Twilight sternly. "Oh right, sorry, I got a bit carried away there, heh. If I explain the Elements of Harmony and Princess Celestia, will you explain who the Federation are, and what FTL means?" Both Alan and Emily nodded in unison after spending a few seconds considering the value of the information they'd be imparting.

Twilight stifled a giggle of excitement, desperately trying to focus. "The Elements of Harmony represent the six elements of friendship! When the six elements are combined, they restore the balance of peace and order in our country. We only use them in times of crisis though, like when Nightmare Moon returned... anyway, the elements are wielded by myself and my friends, who also represent the elements they bear, which are honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty and magic!" Alan deadpanned at Twilight for a few seconds, before composing himself.

"So you have a... weapon powered by friendship?"

"Nonono, it doesn't hurt anypony! They are magical artefacts with the power to temporarily banish or imprison those that demand it, such as Nightmare Moon, the spirit of disharmony. Oh, while we're talking about the Princesses, I guess I'd better explain them!" Twilight laughed nervously, looking over at Raindrops to make sure she was still awake. Contrary to what she'd pictured, the pegasus was still gazing keenly at the two aliens. "Princess Celestia is an alicorn and the co-ruler of our country, along with Princess Luna. Princess Celestia raises the sun at dawn, and Princess Luna brings out the moon at dusk! Princess Celestia is also my mentor, and I make reports for her to read, to make sure that I'm keeping up with my studies. I'm actually studying friendship itself at the moment! Well, not since the spaceship crashed, that is..."

"Raises... the sun. Okay..." Alan muttered under his breath. Luckily Twilight was too distracted to notice. "We'll need to take a look at the crashed ship again, Twilight. But we can spend a few days in town, if you're willing. We need to take on more oxygen and food, anyway. I guess we can come to those subjects at a later time. So, I guess it's my turn to answer your questions. Let's see... the Federation is a union of planets and races with the goal of unifying the sentient races of the galaxy under a single banner, promoting enhanced economic, social, military and technological progression."

Twilight nodded eagerly, obviously storing and analysing every word he said. Emily piped up from next to him, happy to answer the next question. "Faster than light travel is what allows us to travel between different solar systems and sectors! In deep space, the Federation maintains a series of platforms that act as a guide for ships using FTL travel. Think of the beacons like small moons, floating in space."

The librarian paled, looking at Emily in disbelief. "You... you made your own moons? But... Princess Luna..." Emily winced, looking at Alan for support.

"There are still a lot of things we don't know about your race, Twilight. I'm not entirely sure why some of you have horns or wings, or why they work the way they do. They break many of the rules of physics as we know them. It's possible that your Princesses do have some influence over celestial bodies, but these powers are not far-reaching. On Earth, my homeworld, the sun and moon rise on their own." Twilight looked shell-shocked, trying to comprehend how a planet could have a complete absence of magic, and how the sun and moon could rise without the help of the Princesses! "How about I explain some of the more fundamental things we have learnt through space travel?"

Twilight was enthralled by the offer. "I want to know everything," she whispered, as Raindrops nodded eagerly beside her.

“Oh, one more thing. What’s with the horn? And with Raindrop’s wings?” Alan asked curiously, trying to settle the nagging feeling of uncertainty about them. He was sure he’d seen creatures like them somewhere before, on a different planet.

“Oh! That’s right, you’re aliens!” She giggled, trying to think of a suitable way of describing the various pony races. “Ok, um, first of all, there are unicorns. We have horns,” she tapped the appendage on her forehead, “ and we have an innate skill with magic! Then there’s the pegasi, who have wings and can use their weather magic to interact with the weather, like walking on clouds. Finally, there’s the earth ponies, who are talented at agriculture and more… physical tasks.” Twilight paused for a second, remembering something. “Oh yeah, and then there’s the alicorns! They’re a mixture of all three pony races, and they lead our country!”

Alan considered this for a few seconds. “Wow, that’s a lot of racial diversity for such a young race. Anyway, how about I tell you about space and space travel?”

* * *

Meanwhile, aboard the Valiant Star, things had taken a turn for the worse. An hour or two after the shuttle's departure, the reactor had begun to lose power. Sara and Liu Jun had spent all of their time since trying to use their combined knowledge to find a fix, before they completely lost power. The ship's impulse engines were one of the few things keeping them in a steady orbit, and they couldn't afford to lose them. The room they were both sat in was growing gradually darker as the lights began to fade.

"Liu, any progress?" Sara asked nervously, monitoring the reactor's status on the room's computer. Floor panels were stacked neatly in the corner, removed to provide access to both the ship's battery and compact cold fusion reactor. It was a relief, having an Engi working on the system, but Sara was still concerned for the wellbeing of the ship. If Emily got back and found her engines were offline...

"Probability of fixing reactor before de-orbit is zero. Liu Jun may be able to restore half power, enough for engines, basic shield, life support and subsystems.. Reactor requires overhaul. Liu Jun finished," the Engi muttered, hauling herself from the hole in the floor.

"Hey, where're you going? We need to get this fixed before Alan contacts us!" Sara reached out, trying to stop the Engi from walking out of the room. Liu Jun simply shrugged her off, continuing out of the door.

"Liu Jun requires coffee."

"But... you don't even eat! How're you even going to drink that coffee?"

"Liu Jun does not care, Liu Jun wants coffee. Liu Jun will return in four minutes and fifty-three seconds," she stated, walking out of the door. Sara sighed.

"Brilliant," she muttered, kicking a hammer across the floor. They'd spent nearly an hour now crawling around under the shield bay's flooring, checking the numerous failsafes and fuse boxes dotted around in the maintenance crawlspaces. "I'm probably gonna have to put all these panels back. Why couldn't the reactor be in Liu's weapons bay, so she had to deal with this?" Sara sighed, walking over to her computer console.

As she leant over to punch some commands into the terminal, she caught her reflection in a small mirror she kept nearby. Her mousey brown hair fell messily around her shoulders, the tips singed by fires from previous fights. Aside from some lubricant oil smeared on her cheek, she looked relatively well-presentable. That might come in handy if they had to make an appearance to the natives. "Ship? Status on shields?" A message flashed up on the screen; they were down to stage one shielding, the bare minimum required to disrupt ionic bombardments and basic lasers. They'd be able to deorbit safely with only stage one, thankfully.

A buzz from the ship's intercom snapped her to her senses. "How's it going up there? We're almost done with the initial introductions, so I want you to be ready to deorbit within the next hour or so. The Equestrian representative has offered to take us on a brief tour of the town, but I want you to bring the ship down as dawn breaks. The shields hitting the atmosphere should make a pretty light show for all these ponies, and it might help our stance down here. The ponies are still pretty nervous about us. I've marked the landing zone on the ship's computer, so follow those instructions. Gotta head off, we're setting off now. Let me know if you run into any problems."

"Actually, ca-" Sara was cut off as Alan disconnected from the network. "Damn it..." she muttered, sending a message to his SFD with a picture of the ship's reactor output. That ought to get his attention. Now, she had the excellent job of trying to deorbit a spaceship without losing control during the descent, especially as they had low power and no autopilot. Even though they still had engines and shields, there were still other dangers to the ship's wellbeing. It still wasn't clear as to whether there were unknown chemical compounds in the atmosphere of the planet, and these could potentially prove threatening to the ship. The shields had a very precise spectrum at which they operated, and they only disrupted energy weapons and ionic threats. If they deorbited while being bombarded by particles slipping through this protective net, they could risk damaging the delicate armour plating on the outside of the ship.

She sighed, thinking about the task ahead of her. She'd been sent the co-ordinates of the landing site, and she had a working knowledge of navigating the ship, but she'd always had complete control of the engines and the shields. If something went wrong this time, it certainly wouldn't be as safe as it had been when Alan was teaching her. Still, she had confidence in her abilities. The co-ordinates were very specific, so Alan was obviously trying to land on a very specific spot. "You sly bastard," she muttered, realising he wanted her to land the Valiant Star atop the landing shuttle to save the trouble of getting both of them back into orbit, and then carrying out risky docking manoeuvres. So, the task of landing the ship fell squarely on her shoulders. With this in mind, she set the shields onto their highest possible setting and strode out of the room, heading towards the front of the ship.

The corridor to the cockpit was eerily quiet, devoid of the usual sounds of crew running around or things exploding, as they often did. Only the gentle hum of the life support and the metallic sounds of her boots could be heard as she crossed the ship, suddenly feeling very exposed despite the cramped corridor around her. "Liu? You there?" she called, feeling nervous. Sara increased her pace, almost jogging as she drew closer to the cockpit's two automated doors. 'What's wrong with me? I'm never usually this jumpy,' she thought, looking around again.

Sara walked into the small room, sitting down in the pilot's chair. The screens around her lit up, making her feel as if she'd just been personally welcomed into the room by those little flashing error messages... "Oh shit." She hit the button for the ship wide intercom, frantically shouting, "Liu! Get your mechanical ass down to weapons! I've got two warheads that have just lit up as armed!"

A few seconds passed before a reply came through. "Impossible. Liu Jun disables warhead fuzes. Check system."

Sara swore, flicking a set of switches above her head to adjust the ship's angle of entry, keying in a new set of co-ordinates. "Just do it!" She no longer cared about Alan's 'wow them at dawn' idea; she wanted to get the ship on the ground as quickly as possible. They would need to 'slingshot' the ship once or twice before landing, using the gravity assist to slow them down to a suitable entry speed. It'd take them an hour anyway, so Alan wouldn't realise anything was amiss until they were on the ground. Hopefully.

* * *

"...and this is Sweet Apple Acres, where the Apple family grow, well, apples! Applejack, the element of honesty, lives here. You'll probably meet her later on, I guess." Twilight yawned, raising a hoof to stifle another. The sun was beginning to rise and the sky was gradually turning a striking pink, shot through with bands of soft blues and oranges. A few clouds dotted the sky, but it was a perfect backdrop for the deorbiting of the Valiant Star. He hoped, anyway.

"Very interesting. I imagine the produce is enjoyed by the populace, then? Captain, we may have to enquire about purchasing some of these. They look delicious!" Emily said happily, looking around. Twilight smiled proudly, though exhaustion was clear on her face.

"Maybe it'd be best if you got some sleep soon, Twilight. There will be plenty of time later for discussion! You look like you've been awake for days." Alan looked at Twilight with concern. The mare they'd met first, Raindrops, had grudgingly listened to Twilight's advice and had gone to sleep in the library. They'd spent at least three quarters of an hour wandering around the town, looking at the various sights and buildings. He'd acted interested in what Twilight was pointing out, but he'd been busy making notes on their technological progression. 'Wouldn't hurt to have some data on their civilisation,' he reasoned, nodding and agreeing every time Twilight finished a sentence. She cast him a few odd looks, but Emily had covered for him.

"But... there's so much to talk about! And so much to see! But... I guess you're right. Do you need to sleep as well? I-I'm sorry if I've kept you awake all th-"

"Twilight, it's perfectly fine. Yes, we do require sleep just as you do. There is only one member of our crew, my co-worker, who doesn't require sleep. Technicalities aside, I believe Alan has something to show you," Emily said kindly, looking over to Alan, who was busy keying in some figures to his SFD.

"Ah, yes. The ship we landed in was only an exploration vessel, one we use for small missions. Our larger ship, the Valiant Star, is currently entering the atmosphere. Her entry is going to be quite spectacular, as particles in the atmosphere collide with her shields." He paused for a second, looking up into the sky. As he expected, a distant speck of light was moving gradually closer towards them, beginning to shimmer with a vast spectrum of colours.

"Oh Celestia..." Twilight whispered, watching the beautiful ball of light soar through the heavens above, contrasting against the magnificent hues of the dawn sky. A few ponies tending the orchards and farms around them cut short their furtive glances at the aliens to watch the amazing sight unfold. Alan smirked, imagining the same response in the town behind them.

Emily gasped sharply from next to him. "A-Alan, have you checked your messages from the ship?" He shook his head in confusion. "The Star's lost reactor power and the latest message says they might not be able to keep the guidance engines online! If they're using the gliders, they might have to execute an emergency landing!" Twilight was still watching the sky beside them, completely oblivious to the drama unfolding next to her.

"Ah shit... well, I still get a fireworks display!" He laughed weakly, melting under Emily's glare of disapproval. "I'll see if I can do anything from here."

"I don't think you'll have time, Alan."

"What?" he replied confusedly, before noticing the glowing metal ship hurtling towards them. “Oh.”

Chapter Four: Living off the Land