//------------------------------//
// Chapter Eight (Part Two) 
// Story: Star Trek: Equestrian Rescue 
// by Blake Skies 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Eight (Part two):
Intermission


“Holy cow!” Rainbow Dash said, her voice quivering with joy.
The ending’s power was still rattling around her as with many others within the mess hall. Joyful and impressed laughter filled the room from all the ponies and colts. The prevailing feeling was nothing short of shock and awe.
“Simply remarkable, oh I never thought theater could ever be that powerful!” Rarity amazed.
“Ah gotta agree there Rarity,” Applejack agreed.
Twilight wanted to say something, but she was still taken by the performance to even get out more than impressed “Ah.”
Even Trixie was stunned, “Trixie must say, that story was powerful. No wonder the Admiral decided to use it.”
“Oh my gosh did you see the size of those monsters!” Fluttershy shouted, “That was simply stunning.”
“Now you know that it was awesome if Fluttershy’s acting like Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie smiled.

Across the room at the Admirals table, Princess Celestia was beaming ear to ear as the performance came to an end. “I must say, I am very impressed.”
“Indeed sister, oh that sent chills down our spine.” Princess Luna nodded.
“Speak for yourself,” Princess Cadence laughed, “Shining Armor almost wet himself at the sight of those Martians.”
“What?” Prince Shining Armor stammered, “No I didn’t…stop lying honey.”
Blaze couldn’t help but laugh, “Well it has that effect on people.”
Quells meanwhile had taken her leave of the table to head back to the stage to announce the crowd. Once she got the ponies to settle down she spoke, “Now I hope you all enjoyed part one of our performance. While we have our intermission, dinner will be served. We will begin again in about one hour and fifty nine minutes.”
A soft applause came from the crowd as waiters headed over to the tables with the food for the ponies and crew. 

In no time at all, the entire mess hall was abuzz with ponies and humans discussing topics over dinner. The stories ranged from history, to the performance, to how good the food was. Over at the Admiral’s table, Blaze and Quells were getting a kick out of Princess Celestia’s enjoyment over a plate of sushi. But soon after the princess finished one plate of veggie rolls, she turned to Blaze.
“So tell me Admiral, were the Martians the first species Humans encountered in their travels?” Celestia asked.
“Actually it was the Vulcan’s who made first contact with the Human Race.” Sul’Vin answered before Blaze could.
“Officially,” Quells whispered.
Celestia looked confused, “Yet we just witnessed the first part of a story depicting a Martian invasion. While yes the story is fictional, all fictional stories hold some merit of truth, do they not?”
Blaze chuckled, “Well yes and no, throughout its history Earth has never been invaded by an alien force. The truth behind the War of the Worlds is it’s a play on the way the world was back in the late nineteenth century. The book was written at the height of one of Earth’s greatest empires: the British Empire. At the time it was probably the largest and certainly the strongest. And yet history has shown us that Empires that large do not last very long, and the British knew that then which made them very paranoid.”
After taking a bite of his tuna salad, Blaze continued, “The story is a play on how all Empires fall. The Martians not only represent England in its hay-day, but also… well wait until you see the end of the performance then it will be easier to explain.”
“But what of the Martians, are they not real?” Princess Cadence asked.
“Well for three thousand years every Earthman thought they were in some form or another. Imagine our surprise when Earth sent probes to Mars and found out the planet had been dead long before we walked among Earth.” Blaze answered.
That fact seemed to shock the royal family, who looked at each other with wide eyes. Once Shining Armor swallowed some of his food he spoke next, “But wouldn’t that make your story implausible?”
“Quite the opposite,” Elal answered, “It makes it all the more frightening, now the reader can imagine the Martians as an allegory to whatever species his or her race is at quarrel with.”
“The story still has merits to this day, it even frightened Klingon’s when they first read or heard the tail.” Blaze agreed.
Thatak nodded, “It is the only Human story that Klingons are supposed to read when they are young.”
“In fact no greater example of this is the Thunder Child. She’s the only fictional ship to have a namesake in Star Fleet, and the name also adorns a Klingon and Romulan bird of prey.” Blaze continued.
“Amazing, simply amazing, I cannot imagine a story, a fictional one at best, holding such value in a society long evolved from the time period in which it was written.” Princess Celestia said.
“Quells said it best when she said the story stands as a warning, a warning that we Humans must still take to heart. And one we must never forget.” Blaze finished. His sight caught the greatest example of human complacency and Federation short sight; Three of Five.
But the liberated Borg said nothing to the Admiral as she sat at the table gracefully. And as quickly as she looked upon her, Blaze turned his attention back to his guest.