A World Apart

Captain Pete Daniels looked at his new orders. Then he smiled. A new race, and his ship was chosen to go there. The Seeker had been on a mapping mission for the last six weeks and this would be a nice change of pace. He told his helmsman to lay in a course for the starbase where they would pick up the diplomat for this mission. Once they were underway he pulled up the information on the planet. “Ponies?”

“Sir?” the helmsman asked.

“Nothing, just something odd in our new orders.”

“Yes sir”

This was going to be interesting. It would be his ships fifth first contact mission. But ponies? As in miniature horses? That was a new one for him. He continued reading.

Ambassador Smith went over his notes. Everything seemed to be in order. This was possibly going to be the easiest job he had ever done. The ponys were already peaceful and willing to accept them. But the problem of their past still nibbled at the back of his mind. What were the leaders hiding? And how best to approach it? For the time being he would put that on the back burner. He was excited to actually get to meet the ponys. The reports from Captain Morgan made it look like they would be easy to talk to. It was still a day till the Seeker arrived but he had nothing left to do. He called up the recording of the race with the ponys. On almost any other planet that would have been nearly disastrous. But here it seemed to make relations better. He decided to call it a day and leave early. He had to be up early to meet the Seeker. He had an early dinner and retired to his quarters.

Rock Hammer had a big decision to make. He had to pick somepony to deal with the people from the federation. Yet he had no idea who. He rubbed his temples with his hooves. Then like a bolt of lightning it hit him. Who had more time than anypony dealing with the aliens? It was so simple. He called his secretary into his office.

“Please have Star Dancer meet with me tomorrow.” Rock said

“Yes sir”

She probably wouldn’t like the idea but she was the best he could think of. She had been aboard their ship for almost a day. She was the only pony that had. She would know things about them nopony would.

The next day Star entered his office. She seemed nervous. But that was to be expected. He invited her to have a seat. “Star, I have thought long and hard about who should represent us to the people from the federation. And after much deliberation I have chosen you.”

“But eldest, I have no experience with relations with other races.”

“But, you do have more experience with the people from the federation.”

“That is true, but do you think I’m the best choice? There must be other ponys with experience dealing with other races.”

“In our entire history we have never met another intelligent race. Nopony has ever had to learn how to deal with it. But now we have to improvise. I know from your background you know how to improvise well.”

“Very well eldest. I shall do the best I can. And thank you for your confidence.”

“It is well placed. You were the first pony in space, and the first pony to contact the newcomers. And now you will be the first ambassador to another intelligent race. I want you to meet with Dusty Scroll and ask him for any material that may help you. His archive has the oldest texts on our world. There may be something there that can help you.”

With that Star left his office. It would be difficult for her but when the eldest called upon you for a task you did the best you could. Plus she might even get to travel with the federation people in space. To see a new world, that would be something. No pony had made it as far as their nearest moon. Yet now she had the chance to learn about the universe.

Cheyenne almost freaked when the aliens came to her planet. She watched the videos of them over and over. They looked strange but they could travel from planet to planet. And they had people from many races that traveled with them. Maybe one day she could fly from planet to planet too. Then she heard her hero Star Dancer was to be her peoples ambassador to the federation. Could life get more exciting?
She wanted to learn all she could about the new people. A building across the capitol city was chosen to be the federation embassy. She could get there easily by bus. She wanted to go but she had homework to finish. But one day soon she would go there. Maybe she could even meet Star Dancer again. She had met her once before at a parade. She sent her letters before almost every mission. She had even gotten responses to her letters. She framed each one. Her prize possession was one that Star wrote while still in space. One day, she vowed, she would join the Starfleet. And she would fly to far away stars and meet people from them.

The Seeker flew into orbit of Pliohippus. Captain Daniels sent a radio message to the surface to announce their arrival. The response was that they had established an embassy and had appointed an Ambassador for them. These ponys were efficient, Daniels thought. The captain called ambassador Smith to the bridge to inform him. He was pleased. It would make things easier for him to have these preparations already taken care of.

“Seems the ponys are well organized.” Smith said

“Yes, more so than most races. This might just be even easier than we thought.” Daniels agreed

“Still, I am confused to their background. The sensors confirm what captain Morgan said.”

“So what do we do?”

“I'll approach that later. For the time being I think peaceful relations are the first priority. The rest will work it self out.”

“We have arraigned to beam down to the embassy in an hour.”

“Very good. I’ll get my paperwork ready and meet you in the transporter room then.”

“Yes Ambassador.”

An hour later the away team met in the transporter room. An office was cleared so they could transport in. It would be used for the duration of their mission. Once they beamed in the opened the door. Several ponys were waiting for them. A blue coated purple maned pony stepped forward.

“I am ambassador Star Dancer. I welcome you to our world. Please follow me and I'll show you to your quarters.”

Ambassador Smith replied “I am ambassador Smith from the federation. I am pleased to meet you. I believe we have much to discuss.”

“As do I. I will be happy to meet with you at your earliest convenience.”

Cheyenne got off the bus at a stop a few blocks from the embassy. She had heard that the federation ambassador had arrived a little while ago. Maybe she would even get to meet an alien. As she approached the building, she saw the guards that had been posted. She didn’t want to get into any trouble but she really wanted to see the aliens. She snuck around the back of the building and saw an open door. It was a maintenance door. She looked around for any guards but saw none. She went through the door and looked around. There were hallways leading off from the room. She chose one as the most likely and trotted down it. Then she heard voices and hid.

“Did you close the door outside?” one pony asked.

“I thought you did.” the second replied

“Oh crud. I hope no one snuck in”

“I doubt it.”

“Still, better safe than sorry.”

As Cheyenne tried to hide herself better she bumped against a pile of pipes left by the plumbers. As they crashed to the floor she cringed.

“What was that?”

“We better check it out.”

Cheyenne knew she was going to be caught. Then she saw a door close to her. She darted through it.

“I know I heard something. It sounded like a door opening and closing.”

“Call security, we have an intruder.”

“On it.”

As Cheyenne darted down the hallway she looked for a place to hide. Then she saw an office door. It seemed quiet inside so she ran inside the office. She hoped not to be caught. If they caught her it would ruin all her hard work to make herself qualified for the space program. Then all her dreams would be over.

As Star and Smith sat in her office there was silence. Neither could figure out where to start. Just then the door opened and shut quickly. A teal filly with a blond mane say there staring at the door. The filly hadn’t noticed them. Star looked at her and wondered what she was doing there. Seeing that the filly had no ides they were there she cleared her throat.

Cheyenne heard a noise behind her. She slowly turned around and saw one of the aliens and her hero Star. Oh no, she was beyond busted, she was busted by the one pony she had idolized. In an instant she saw all her dreams collapse before her. “Um, I can explain.” she said, hoping to save herself from the trouble she was in

“I'd hope so.” Star said

“I'm Cheyenne and I just wanted to see the aliens. I’m your biggest fan. Please don’t be mad at me.” she rushed out.

“I know that name. You’ve sent me letters for years. But what are you doing here?” Star said

“I just wanted to see the aliens. They are so interesting. I want to fly to distant stars like they do.”

“Young filly, you have snuck into a foreign embassy, and possibly damaged relations with the aliens you came to see. You are in serious trouble.”

Smith spoke up, “Young lady, I have to respect your tenacity.” He turned to Star. “I don’t think a bit of curiosity is a bad thing, its the basis of exploration. And I don’t think our relations will be affected by the curiosity of a child.”

“Are you sure ambassador? I hope this doesn’t reflect badly on our security.” Star replied

“Not at all. Our people know as well as any about the lengths a child will go to to satisfy their curiosity.” Then Smith turned to Cheyenne. “What do you want to know?”

“Um, well sir, firstly, is there a chance I could join your Starfleet and fly to the stars?”

“Well, first your planet would have to be accepted into the federation. As of now I don’t see any problem there, but it may take a few years. Then you would need a recommendation from an official from your planet. And one from a ranking officer in Starfleet. And then you would have to complete the academy. But after all that you would be a Starfleet officer.”

“Then I could travel on a star ship?”

“Yes. In fact you have moved me to make you an offer. If Star agrees I'll write your recommendation. I’ll even help you by sending you some basic study material for your academy entrance exam.”

Cheyenne looked at Star. She now had the power to make or break her dreams.

Star thought for a moment. She remembered the letters she had received from the filly. And she remembered the hardships she had overcome in her youth. She replied the best she could think of. “I'll agree to this under a few conditions. First, your schoolwork comes first. If your grades drop, your out. Second, I don’t want you to spend all your time studying. You must bring three friends to vouch for your social skills. And I don’t want you getting in any more trouble. Any hint of it and your out.”

“Yes ma'am. I’ll do my best to make you proud.” Cheyenne said

“Now wait one moment.” Smith said. “Its not going to be easy for you. Being the first from a race to join Starfleet is really hard. You’ll get taunted and picked on. You’ll have to deal with a system that’s not set up to deal with you. You have to be strong enough to set the path for others who follow you. But if your up to the challenge then it will be the most rewarding experience of your life. And being from a non humanoid race wont help. It will be the most challenging experience of your life.”

“I'm up to the challenge sir. My dream before your people came here was to go into space. Now my goal is to go into space with you. I will meet any challenge to do so.”

“How old are you?” smith asked

“I'm seven now.”

“And what is the age of consent on your world ambassador?”

“Fourteen.”

“So you have seven years to prepare. It takes around five to arrange membership for a planet. But I will remember my promise. In seven years I expect to hear from Star about a promising young filly entering Starfleet.”

“You will. You have my work.” Cheyenne said

Just then the guards entered the room. They told the two ambassadors about the intruder. “We found the intruder. Shes not a threat. In fact we were going to call you to escort her out.” Star said.

The guards led her out to the street. After she left the ambassadors discussed the future of the federation, Pliohippus, and a certain teal filly.