A World Apart

Cheyenne sat at her desk staring at her screen. She lightly slapped the side of her head with her hoof. She needed to concentrate on the homework but it was too pretty a day for sitting at her terminal. She was only 7 years old but already knew what she wanted to do in her life. She wanted to fly into space. She had been born on the same day the first pony had gone into orbit. The time of her birth was the exact time of the launch. She always took that as a sign she was destined for it. But destiny was one thing, getting there took hard work. Since she started school two years ago the had gotten nothing but straight A's. But she hated having homework on pretty days like this. She decided to turn on some music on the radio and found a new pop song playing. Music helped her concentrate. After a few songs she was back on track with her homework. An hour went by without her noticing. Then the music faded out and was replaced with a strange noise. Then came the sounds of talking. Most made plenty of sense but there were words she had never heard. Impulse reactor, warp field coils, dilithium, she had no idea what any of that meant. After about 3 minutes the words faded out and the music returned. “I wonder what that was all about?” she said aloud, and then went back to studying.

At that same moment across the city from Cheyenne, ponys were going crazy. The government was demanding answers about the strange broadcast. As the ponys poured over the data it seemed to make less and less sense. Everything in the data said the signal came from off the planet. But there were no space capsules in orbit so there should have been nothing up there to send any signals. In an attempt to understand what was going on, one pony pulled out a telescope to scan the skys. At first he didn’t see anything out of order. Then after five minutes he saw something. A strange shape was floating in orbit!

On board the USS Challenger, Capt Dewayne Morgan was worried. His first command and less than a month into a simple survey mission his ship had been crippled by a stray ion storm. Warp was out, impulse was at half power, supply’s were low, and they were weeks from any ship that could help them. And now a planet in what was supposed to be an uninhabited part of space suddenly had life forms no one had recorded in the last trip thru it. As he shook his head he wondered if he would be able to stay above ensign when this was over. Starfleet had finally responded to his message about the ships condition but it would be three weeks before a tug could tow them to a starbase for repairs. But the food supply would last for only two. He headed for this planet to forage for extra food to hold them over only to find there was a civilization here. And by some of the data the sensors had picked up the natives had spotted them. Prime directive seems to be out the airlock, he thought. And no one on board had any experience with first contacts. Help from Starfleet was at best three days away by sub space. It was still ten minutes till the senior staff meeting but he got up to go to the meeting room. The Miranda class ship was small but he wandered the corridors for the whole ten minutes. As he arrived the other five officers looked at him. He was the captain, he was supposed to have the answers. But at the moment he was as lost as any of them as to what to do.

“Report” the captain said

The officers looked at each other, none wanting to go first.

The Vulcan science officer stood up, “Captain, as our initial scans showed, there is intelligent life on this planet, apparently of what appears to be equine decent. And it also appears they somehow picked up the message we sent to Starfleet when we entered the system. Since that time they have also gotten visual conformation of our presence. They have tried several methods of contacting us. So far we have remained silent and monitored their transmissions. The universal translator has had little trouble with their language. Their intelligence level seems to be on par with most spacefareing societys. Their technology is strange in what has and hasn't been developed. Their radio and aircraft seem to have been developed over centuries while basic rocketry seems to be a new development. They also appear to have gotten into space only over the last ten years. And they also seem to have some strange mental powers. Until we can have more open contact with them I can not tell you any more than this.” Tavik stated.

“Thank you Ms Tavik, and how about you Mr Durant?” the captain asked

“I just don’t get this place captain.”The tactical officer said, exasperated. “I can't find any signs of war or conflict. Without more information from the surface all I can say is the most dangerous weapons they have are pointed sticks.”

“What do you mean, they have technology without having weapons?” the captain asked

“Yes sir”

“How is that possible? Every other planet if heard of technology was advanced by conflict. With no conflict what drive do they have to improve?” the captain asked, confused

“It is most illogical.” Tavik stated

“Anything else?” the captain asked

“If we do go down there I want to have a look at some of their aircraft. Nothing looks like a fighter plane but they have the most interesting racing and aerobatic machines I've ever seen.” the chief engineer said

“But why do they have them? If their not building the planes as fighters then how have they gotten them so fast and maneuverable?” Durant asked

“Thats what we have to find out. This place seems so odd.” the captain mused

“Lets hope its odd in a good way.” Doctor Lindsey added

Star Dancer grabbed her helmet off the shelf. Everything was going way too fast. A normal launch took months to prepare. It had been just under three weeks. She was going up to try to contact the weird ship that was in orbit. Nothing the scientists had done from the ground seemed to work. So eldest Rock Hammer had decided to send a pony up to them to try. The capsule had been fitted with all kinds of radios and lights. She had orders to approach and try everything she could. And being the good flier she was she would do everything short of ramming into it to get their attention. As she finished putting on her space suit she called in for a radio check. “Radio check. How do you read?”

The pony on the other end responded “Loud and clear”

“Very good” she replied

“Are you ready to go to the pad?” the ground crew pony asked

“Affirmative”

She walked out to the van and rode out. She had done this several times before. But never for a mission as important as this. Visitors from space. No pony had even thought there was any other life out there. Then the strange message over the radio and the odd shape in the sky. In the weeks since every pony had had time to rethink the universe. Maybe even the myth of Equestria was true too. Who knows what was true any more.

As she arrived at the launch pad she looked in awe at her craft. She had flown before but never for so important a mission. She had been hoof picked for this mission because she had more hours in space than any other pony. It paid to be the best. And now hopefully she would be the first pony to talk to the new strangers

The ponys on the ground crew strapped her into the capsule. Once that was done they sealed the door and left the pad. The countdown commenced at one hour. As she sat there she tested her crafts systems. Everything checked out. The countdown hit ten seconds and everything started. When it hit zero the engines lit. The rocket leaped off the pad. She was on her way.

“Sir, there has been a launch from the surface!” the young ensign said

“Is it hostile?” the captain asked

“It appears to be a manned craft” the science officer stated

“Crap” the captain muttered

“Sir?” the Vulcan asked

“If they had waited 2 more days.....” the captain replied

“The tug would have gotten us away before they could send a flight up” the tactical officer finished

“Dammit” the captain said

“Sir, the craft is on a direct course to us” the ensign said

“What the hell are we gonna do?” the captain said