A World Apart

As Star Dancer and Dr Lindsey entered sickbay the doctor looked around for a bio-bed to use for the alien. All of the beds were at the standard height for most species in the Federation. Star Dancer's head came barely up to her waist. The ship wasn't equipped to handle children so she didn’t have any low enough for the pony to get on. “Um, let me call engineering and get you a step ladder.” the doctor said.

“Ok, I don’t mind waiting.” the pony replied

The doctor called chief engineer Brant. He said he would gladly bring one up for her. She knew he would want a chance to talk to the pony about their aircraft. But she wanted to make sure the pony was in good health before he tried.

“Can you remove your space suit for me? It will help the scanners get a good reading on you.” The doctor said.

“No problem.” the pony replied and used her magic to start removing it.

“How are you doing that?” the doctor exclaimed

“Doing what?” the pony asked

“Making the suit come off without touching it.”

“All ponys can do this.”

“Is it some form of telekinesis?”

“No, its just magic”

The doctor looked confused. Star Dancer became worried again. Had she done something wrong? Magic was a part of day to day life for ponys. Did the strange aliens have no magic? Would they feel threatened by her for it? Would they become hostile with her over it?

“Well, that’s amazing. No human has anything near that. The Vulcans have some mental abilitys but I don’t think even they can do that.” the doctor replied

“Your not mad at me for it are you?” the pony asked

“Not at all. Its a part of what makes your species unique.” the doctor replied “I bet Tavik would be interested in talking to you about it. She is a Vulcan.”

Just then engineer Brant came into sickbay with a small step ladder. He placed it by one of the beds while the pony finished taking off her suit. The doctor looked at her strangely and asked “Whats that mark on your leg?”

“Its my cutie mark.”

“Whats a cutie mark?”

“Its a mark that appears on a ponys flank when she or he discovers their special talent.”

“Wow, your race is very interesting. Id love to learn more about your people.” the doctor said

“Your race seems interesting too. I hope our people can be friends.”

The doctor smiled. “As long as two peoples want to be friends then they will be.”

Star Dancer climbed the ladder and laid on the table. She asked “Will this hurt?”

“Not at all. Just lie still and it should be done in a few minutes.” the doctor said, setting the equipment on record and running as thorough a scan as the machine was capable of.

On the bridge, the captain stepped off the turbolift. All eyes were on him. Tavik spoke first. She and the captain had known each other for many years. Back in the academy they had many classes together. They studied together and had grown close as friends. She could tell there was relief in his eyes. “I take it the contact went well.”

“I know the saying is 'dodge a bullet' but in this case I think I dodged a supernova.”

“So the being is friendly?”

“Pony actually. And yes so far she seems much more afraid we weren’t going to be friendly.”

“Pony?”

“Yes, pony. It was a little strange to be having a conversation with something that so resembles an animal, but she is an intelligent being.” the captain said

Just then the comm sounded. “What now? Did the nacelles fall off?” the captain sighed

“No, they still appear to be attached.” the Vulcan said, a hint of a smile in her eyes

Rolling his eyes, he hit the receive button. “Captain here”

“Captain, can you and Ms Tavik come to sick bay?” the doctor asked

He looked at the science officer. She gave a slight nod. “On our way” he replied and both of them headed to the lift

Once the doors closed he looked at the Vulcan. “I wonder what's gone wrong now.”

“It is illogical to speculate at this point.”

The rest of the ride was silent. When the lift stopped they walked down the corridor to sick bay. The doctor met them at the door. “The readings on her physiology are astounding. And they have some strange mental ability’s. They just call it magic but id like to study it more deeply. So far I've seen her manipulate her suit and levitate objects but nothing as far as telepathy. Ms Tavik, would you like to go over the readings?”

“Yes please.” and followed the doctor to the console.

“What did you need me for?” the captain asked

“Well, I’m done with her here. You can take her to go contact her government.” the doctor replied

“Oh, thank you doctor.”

The captain walked over to the pony. It seemed so small and fragile. How could anything like her be hostile? Then he remembered the tribbles and shivered. “Miss Dancer, if you’d like to come with me we can go contact your government and make the necessary arrangements.”

“You can just call me Star. All my friends do.” Star replied

She seemed to be much more relaxed. Again hope entered his heart. Maybe when all this was over no one would end up on the chopping block. As Star followed him to the communications room he asked “Are you sure you don’t want to put your suit back on?”

“Do I need it? Its kinda uncomfortable and restricting.”

“Well, we really don’t have any other cloths for you to wear.”

“Thats ok, we don’t normally wear any.”

Wow, they just walk around naked? Chalk up another strange thing about these people. “I have no problem if you don’t.”

“Thank you.”

The two of them walked into the communications room. The officer on duty saluted the captain and then looked to the strange creature with him. He smiled at her. The captain groaned inwardly. The saying was all too true. The only thing that was faster than sub space was gossip. Did everyone on board already know about the pony? “Mr Chou will be able to contact your people. Could you tell him what frequency and where on the planet to contact?”

“Well, the frequency is 135.8 and you can send the message to the same place I launched from. Tell them to contact Rock Hammer. He is the current eldest. He can make any needed arrangements for you.”

“Mr Chou, did you get all that”

“Yes sir. Do you want to call now?”

“No time like the present.” the captain said

The officer punched in the info and handed the ear piece to the captain. “This is Captain Morgan of the Federation starship USS Challenger. We have your pilot here and have been told to ask for eldest Rock Hammer to arrange her return and the return of her ship. Please respond on this frequency.”

Rock Hammer was very uneasy. First the strange message then the strange ship in orbit. Then the total lack of response to their attempts to contact them. Then it had gotten worse. They sent up a capsule to try to contact them. But something had went wrong and the pilot ran out of air. And the latest news was than the capsule had been swallowed up by the strange ship. Had any eldest dealt with anything bigger since Clipper himself? He tried to concentrate on his paperwork but it was a lost cause. He had started out life in a mining family. When he was old enough he went to work there just like his father. He was just another pony beating away at the rocks for the materials needed to run their society. Then the accident happened. It was just another day in the mine. But then out of nowhere there was a cave in. It was one of the worst ever. Almost a mile of tunnel had fallen. Rock was trapped with 35 other ponys. They were all scared. But Rock stood up to the challenge. He led all 35 as they dug a new tunnel around the cave in and made it to safety. He must have had a talent for leadership, because without his knowledge the next election he was elected to the town council. He took the job and worked as hard there as he had in the mines. Before he knew it he was up for election to the position of elder. Then he was called on by the counsel of elders to take up the title of eldest. He never was driven to seek power but he would always do whatever job he was called on to do the best he could. But how best to do this? Did any pony know how to deal with aliens? He was willing to bet even the great and powerful Royal Sisters would be at a loss. He was jerked out of his musing by a pony crashing thru his door. “What are you doing?” he asked

“The ship is calling us!”

“What?”

“The ship in orbit is calling us!” the young pony repeated.

“What do they want? Did they save Star? Are they friendly?” Rock asked all at once.

“They have her and her ship. They want to return both. And they have asked to speak to you by name.” the messenger replied.

“Well what are we waiting for?”

“Come with me please eldest”

Rock followed. If they asked for him by name then they had to have Star. But what would they want to return her? Would they just send her back? He just didn’t know. But that she was alive told him that the aliens might be friendly. As he entered the radio room in the capitol building, he saw the face of the pony in charge of the space program on the screen.

“Whats going on?” Rock said

“The aliens want to send Star and her ship back. They also want to talk to you about arranging a peaceful treaty.” the other pony said.

“Put me on with them.”

“Yes eldest.”

The screen scrambled and cleared. There was a strange face in a strange room. Behind the strange creature he saw Star. She looked to be ok. “I am Rock Hammer, eldest of planet Pliohippus. I'm told you saved our pilot when her ship malfunctioned. I am grateful for it. I also am told you wish to establish friendly relations with us.”

“You have heard correctly. I am Captain Dewayne Morgan of the Federation starship USS Challenger. I'm sorry for not responding before. I can explain more about why if you'd like. Is there a good time and place we can have a face to face meeting? And we can return your pilot and craft at that time.”

“How long would it take you to prepare to land? And what requirements do you have for landing?”

“Our ship is not capable of landing. Instead we have smaller craft to travel to the surface of planets. It takes about 30 minutes to prepare one. That would be the best way to do it with the capsule. And all we need is a solid surface about 30 feet square to land and take off. I believe you have such a place at the facility you launched your pilot from. That would be perfect.”

“Then could we have this meeting tomorrow at 10 in the morning. We can signal you an hour before to let you know the local time. I would be glad to fly down there to meet with you and discuss the matters before our people's.”

“That would be very acceptable. We will prepare our shuttle to transport your capsule and your pilot and myself and a few of my crew. We look forward to seeing you then.”

“Very well, then until 10 I bid you good day.” Rock said. He would have to leave immediately to make all the arrangements. What would he need to prepare? He had no idea what passed for proper decorum with these strange beings. Would they want a quiet meeting or a lot of pomp and circumstance? “Is there someone on your ship my assistant can contact about any other questions about the preparations for our meeting?”

“I'll assign an officer to be at your disposal until your meeting. They will contact your assistant on this channel within the hour. Please feel free to ask anything you may need to know.” the captain replied

“Then till tomorrow,” Rock bowed to the screen as it went dark. He instructed his assistant to monitor the channel till the officer called back.

The captain sighed, that could have gone worse. Now all he had to do was not screw up tomorrow in front of the whole planet. He called an ensign to come to the communication room and deal with the preparations. Then he turned to Star. “Since the meeting isn’t till tomorrow, are there any special needs you would have as far as quarters for the night?”

“Um, if you could bring the step ladder the doctor used in sickbay, I believe any quarters you would use would be fine.” Star replied

“I'll have it done right away. And what kind of food do you require?”

“Some carrots and apples would be really nice.”

“I'll have some brought to your quarters.”

“Thank you. Your people seem really nice. I hope your federation and my planet can be good friends.”

“So do I”