Chapter Five: Reception
Chapter Five: Reception
A number of picnic tables marked the area the orange pony had led them, with a barn-like structure and an orchard nearby, most definitely of the red fruit. On each were what could only be foodstuffs. The striking similarity in these pastries' appearance to those found in Earth cuisine, such as round pies, what appeared to be fritters, and more as part of the assortment, puzzled the Skipper. His mouth watered slightly, though he kept it shut and was happy to be unable to smell the visually tempting treats through the air filter of his helmet. Undoubtedly, they couldn't eat this food, as Kathy had quickly determined that there were elements of the cellular structure of organisms here that appeared to be incompatible with human digestive systems. Each of the present farmers bore marks on their rears that indicated methods of preparing the fruit, and other farming-related imagery. Orchard workers, the Skipper thought.
"Have they laid this out for us?" Kathy asked, evidently to nobody in particular. The answer was unclear to each of the humans, and Killian, technically the only non-human of the group, appeared to be gazing into space. "Killian, is something wrong?"
"I haven't smelled pie in almost twenty years, that's all," Killian replied, inciting a chuckle from the biologist.
"Oh. What's it smell like? Any particular kind?"
"Kind of like cinnamon," Killian continued, before correcting himself, "apples, I smell prepared apples."
"That's not the only thing apple-like about these fruits. I never would've figured that we'd find something so closely analogous on this planet as to smell like it and look like it, to a tee."
Killian felt quite privileged to be able to consume such tasty-smelling things. The regular diet of everyone aboard Eclipse was devoid of things like pies and pastry. Often, what they ate was mostly corn, with variety in tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, peas, and lettuce in a rotation which differed with each of the ship's eight modules. These plants were more filling, larger, grew faster, and were more nutritious than their natural counterparts, but it was repetitive, only partially mitigated by seasoning packets, issued scarcely on occasions such as Earth holidays and journey milestones. More plant seeds had been brought along for use after landing, such as those of various fruit trees, but it was certain that it would be a significant while before anything like that which he smelled could be prepared by the colony.
The orange pony had apparently waited for them to stop talking before turning to the lavender unicorn beside her.
-----
"I'd figure we'd better show 'em what we mean. They look kind of nervous," Applejack whispered.
Twilight nodded. "You've explained things here?"
"As best I could. The folks were glad to help out with this. It ain't every day you get to meet aliens and hold a little bit of a welcome for 'em, after all." Twilight nodded again at the response, and Applejack turned to face the numerous ponies standing in groups nearby the tables. "Alright everypony, don't be shy! Make sure they feel welcome!"
The silence broken, small conversations sprang up amongst the ponies, as they began to make picks of the refreshments laid out. The atmosphere was uncomfortable, tense. Applejack looked back at the aliens, who themselves were surveying the scene. With a gesture, she asked them to follow.
-----
The orange alien led them to the nearest table, and with surprising ease, managed to pick up with one of her front hooves a... fritter, from the look of it, from the table. Making sure she'd shown it to all involved, she swiftly put it in her mouth, then pointed at them, and again at the table, nodding.
"That answers that question," the Skipper said, "Killian-" Killian's digestive system was known to accept the local variety of plant life, and had subsisted on a paste derived from the samples recovered since his transformation. Needless to say, he wasn't overly happy about eating plant mush.
"I know, I know. I've got to eat some, because you guys can't." He smiled, "I'm not complaining." In an attempt to imitate the orange pony, he tried to pick up one of the fritters in a hoof, but ended up dropping it on the ground. He sighed as the purple alien whispered something to the other, inciting a nod, in response to which Killian rolled his eyes. Deciding better of the matter, he decided to pick another one up in his mouth, and this time, succeeded in securing his prize. The Skipper was now beset by the orange alien's expectant gaze, as though it was his turn.
"In offering us food, we have further evidence that these aliens mean us no harm, unless, of course, we have misjudged their way of thinking somehow. This is encouraging," Sanders said into his recorder.
Slowly, the Skipper motioned at the treats, then at himself, then shook his head. In response the alien only turned her head, so he elaborated further. Motioning again at the treats, and mocking a motion of putting things in his mouth, he ran a finger in a horizontal line across the neck protector of his helmet.
The lavender unicorn reciprocated with her standard motion for asking why. Kathy intervened, "I'll handle this." She opened her sample backpack, kneeled, and pulled a sample of ship-grown corn and one of a local plant, holding one in each hand, allowing the unicorn to examine each before setting them down. Next, she pointed at one, the corn, pointed at the sky, and nodded. Then she pointed at the other plant, pointed at the ground, and shook her head.
-----
"What's that mean? They won't eat the food from here?" Applejack asked, flabbergasted. "They grow that corn wherever they come from?"
"I think they mean to say that our food is toxic to them," Twilight explained, "but the earth pony there seems to be just fine eating it. Maybe-" Applejack interrupted her.
"Don't worry, it'll all be fine. Now, let's focus on lettin' these folks know that they're welcome." Welcome, Twilight thought, but what do they want?
-----
The unicorn nodded at the farmer. It occurred to the Skipper yet again that this alien's specific occupation was unknown to him, as had been the two pegasi's. Given the apparent disposition of the leader figure to her, did she hold a public office of some sort? What of the pegasi? Butterflies didn't appear to signify an occupation or talent, and a rainbow-colored lightning bolt? Magic may have been the new catch-all term for all of the unexplainable happenings here, but how did these marks relate to the individual? How were they formed? Killian had finished the first of his treats, and, apparently deciding to break the tension, grabbed another one in his mouth. "Good move," he whispered to the navigator, who nodded in return, chewing slowly, as though savoring the treat.
"The lead native seemed to be concerned greatly about something," Sanders said to his recorder, "this indicates that they are not taking our arrival lightly. Their capacity and usage of inflection appears to be extremely similar to our own, something that I've only now taken notice of. With so many ways these people mirror our mannerisms, we should be cautious, and determine what we do not share to avoid miscommunication."
"I wonder what that over there tastes like," Killian said, almost excitedly, "Skipper?" The Skipper nodded in approval, and the group followed several meters behind as he proceeded to another table, which already had a group of natives around it. They appeared to regard Killian with curious glances and appraising looks. He'd never taken the navigator for one to particularly enjoy food, or anything, for that matter. Although, this was the first prepared food he'd eaten in years, and it could stand to reason that it simply didn't matter what he thought of food in general.
"Oh, they taste like apples, too, more or less," he said, taking another sweet from the table. It was a tad messy, but he did not complain about the method. However it was that the aliens had learned to grasp things well enough to build tools, and apparently to write, Killian had no such skill, at least not yet.
"So similar, but so far apart... it's uncanny!" Kathy exclaimed, picking up a specimen of the apple-like fruit from the nearest table in her hand. The Skipper smirked. Science wasn't just a job to Kathy: she loved her work, everything about it. Numerous times already she'd brought up the idea of just taking one of the shuttles and going to the surface for a few days, and they'd just gotten there and had two crew members afflicted by strange ailments courtesy of local flora and fauna, which she had also been happily studying. However, she appeared to know full well the implications here, and had exhibited restraint in her curious spirit so far, though that left the rest of the scientist's manners to deal with. "I really should take one of these back. We didn't find any of these in the forest."
Killian swallowed. "Pack a few for the road."
"What, did you not like your alien plant paste?" She chuckled, placing several of the apple-like fruits in sample containers and into her backpack. "And I thought I was a good cook."
"The only things you know how to cook are beakers full of chemicals, bacterial cultures and weird-tasting, mushed, alien spinach."
"Well, actually, that particular plant has more in common with an Earth dandelion." Killian glared at her.
-----
"Do you think they like us? I mean, they don't look unhappy, 'cept for that pony. Poor fellow must be so confused. How long did you say he's been a pony for? How long's it been since he got exposed to poison joke? Do you know?"
Twilight shook her head. "I have no idea, Applejack."
"It'd be much better if we had some way of communicatin'. I'm sure they came here for a reason, but we can't speak their language, and they can't speak ours, neither. It's a mighty pickle, if you ask me."
The unicorn brought a hoof to her chin in contemplation. Applejack was right; they didn't know what they wanted, because she still hadn't asked them what they wanted. "Aha! How did I not think of this sooner?" Her vocalized realization had drawn the attention of the aliens.
-----
The purple alien first did her gesture for not knowing; a cock of the head, then pointed at the Skipper. She hesitated, gestured toward herself, then at the area around her.
"I think she wants to know what we want with them," Sanders said.
"Well, I'd imagine so. It's not every day some spaceship comes landing in your backyard," Killian added.
The Skipper nodded, and picked up a stick. He kneeled beside a patch of dirt, and began to draw. First, a rounded shape, with the rough shape of the continent picked as a landing site in the center. The unicorn levitated a stick, and added the planet's moon, between it and the large circle, she placed a small circle. She had noticed us?
-----
The alien nodded as though indicating that she was right, and began drawing lines in the dirt. He drew seven lines, then a large diagonal cross shape. He drew three sets of ten lines, each with another cross shape between them, encircled it, gestured to his group, and drew an arrow from the line sets to the small circle she had drawn.
"This is... math!" Twilight exclaimed, "I think it means thirty-seven." Twilight levitated her stick, and drew thirty-seven lines in the dirt. The alien stared at them for a moment, before shaking his head. He used his stick to draw three lines, a cross, then another three lines. He made a cross shape between them, drew two long horizontal lines, and drew nine lines on the other end of it. Multiplication, was it? Seven thousand? "Applejack, there's... seven thousand of them up there." The alien nodded at her, and drew a dotted line ending in an arrow from the small circle to the center of the large one, then marked it with a horizontal cross. "They want to land here."
-----
The unicorn's contemplative expression had become well-known to the Skipper, as she wore it perhaps more often than any other he'd seen her have. A long pause, punctuated by whispers from the various aliens nearby, followed. The unicorn let out a deep breath, and nodded slowly, yes.
"Are you sure she understood, Skipper?" Killian asked. "I don't know if I would in her place." He began to munch down another morsel from the nearby table.
"She was thinking about something, that's for sure," Kathy added, "and she doesn't seem confused."
"She's certain of her decision, whatever that decision concerns. We should try to clarify," Sanders said.
The Skipper picked up his stick again, and on a clear patch of dirt, traced a long, slightly curved line. Above it, he placed a rectangle, then drew a crude stick figure inside it. He then drew an arrow to the center of the curve, and looked at the unicorn.
Another nod. "That was easier than I thought it would be," Killian murmured, licking the corners of his mouth clean of the leftovers of his snack. The natives had just given their permission for Eclipse to land, or, at least, their ambassador had. Still, this left two more objectives; getting help for Powell and transforming Killian back to his normal self. He nodded at the unicorn, and pointed at Killian, then at himself. The unicorn nodded, and motioned for them to follow.
-----
Twilight hoped that Zecora and Fluttershy were ready at the spa, where it had been determined they would meet if anypony ever needed a potion of some kind, as it provided facilities for topical application of said potions. "Applejack, thank you for doing this, I think they appreciate the sentiment. They want to help their friend, so I'm taking them to the spa, alright?" The orange earth pony nodded in reply and bowed at the group. Twilight was surprised to see the lead figure return the gesture.
*****
-----
Throughout their guided journey into the alien town, stares met each of them, inciting just a slight uneasiness in Killian. Where is she leading us? he wondered. This question would be answered by their stopping in front of a pleasant-looking building, where two natives were standing; the yellow pegasus from earlier, and one with drastically-different color patterns, more akin to a zebra than a colorful horse. She wore various golden ornaments, not unlike those worn by the large alien from the landing site. Why had she left the purple unicorn in charge, anyway? There wasn't an air of authority about this one that he could detect.
-----
"Zecora, are you ready?" Twilight asked.
Zecora was staring at the aliens in an appraising manner. "With the assistance of your friend, we have come to our desired end." She pulled a pouch from her saddlebag, and then put it back. "This is a cure for the one who appears here today," she took another object, a liquid potion, from her saddlebag, "and this is for the cockatrice's prey."
"Excellent. We'd better get started. How does that potion work?"
"You pour it on them," Fluttershy elaborated, "right?"
"That is true, now let us cure this one who appears so blue." She was looking at the alien earth pony, who returned her gaze with his regular stern one.
-----
Potions, Killian thought. The zebra alien was some kind of witch doctor? The unicorn waved them into the building. Inside, the walls were brightly colored; the smell of it was, unmistakably, that of perfume. Bottles of things lined several shelves, a pool of water in a sort of large tub was steaming, and two very similar-looking aliens, differing seemingly only in coloration, stood behind a counter of sorts. Their reaction was of rather obvious surprise. After a lengthy conversation with the unicorn, they nodded. "Looks a lot like some sort of spa," Kathy said, "or some other place meant for beautification of oneself."
"Smells like it, too," Killian added. What could this place have to do with curing his condition? They followed the striped alien and unicorn to the pool of water, into which the former added the contents of the pouch she'd produced earlier. As he watched it dissolve, the water changed color.
"They can't possibly-" Killian began.
"They do. Get in, Killian," the Skipper ordered.
The unicorn pointed at him, then at the water, and nodded. Killian sighed, and hesitantly dipped a hoof into the water. One at a time, he put his legs into the water, standing as tall as he could before lowering himself so that the water was at his neck. "Go under," Kathy instructed. "If this is some topical application of some sort of medicinal cure, then you will want to submerge the entire affected area to the best of your ability."
A peculiar tingling took hold across his entire body as he dipped his head into the water. A sensation unlike anything he'd ever felt before followed. Slowly, he felt his limbs elongate, and before long, he could feel his hands and feet. He poked his head up to the surface, took in a breath, and realized something; he was naked. "Agh. Skipper, grab me that towel."
"That was remarkably quick," Kathy noted, discreetly taking a sample vial of the diluted water.
-----
The aliens were quite the hairless bunch, as could be clearly seen in the uncovered alien, who wrapped his midsection with a towel the lead alien had provided as he rose to his feet and stepped out of the pool, shivering slightly and dripping. Still, this provided insight on their anatomy. Limbs terminated in hands and feet, now known to have extremely short claws on the ends of their digits. A better and alternative view to an alien's head had also been provided... A more detailed summary could be written later on, though. There were more pressing matters at hoof; she'd yet to show the aliens where they could land. She took note now of a slight hissing noise that came with each helmeted alien's breaths, but that was not present in the helmetless one. A filter?
Suddenly, the naked alien moved a hand to his belly, and his face contorted slightly.
-----
"Killian, we'd better get you back to the ship," Kathy said, "we'll probably want to remove the alien food from your system as soon as possible."
The Skipper nodded, and tapped the unicorn lightly. She appeared surprised, but he had her attention. He gestured at their group, and pointed upward. She held a hoof up in the air, slammed it down audibly, and galloped toward the door.
-----
"Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
"No time to explain. They want to go back to their, uh... their spaceship, and I've got to show them where they can land. Make sure they stay here. Thank you, Zecora!"
"It was a simple request," the zebra replied, "return quickly, do your best."
Twilight bolted out the door, steering herself toward the library. She would need her Danger Suit if she was going up there. If they wore helmets down here, then she should wear a helmet up there, and have an oxygen supply.
She burst into the library. "Twilight, where'd you go?" Spike asked as she began levitating her saddlebag and filling them with pencils, paper, and several books.
"No time to explain. Can you get my Hazard Suit from the basement?"
-----
Sanders spoke for the first time in nearly half an hour. "I've just noticed something." He turned on his recorder. "Another alien, with a striped coat and mane, appears to speak in rhymes."
"Killian, still feeling alright?" Kathy asked.
"Fit as a fiddle," he deadpanned. He had dried off by now and continued to hold his gut. "No worse than I was a few minutes ago."
The Skipper switched communications channels. "Eclipse, prepare quarantine procedures." He then switched to their Luna's channel. "How are things over there? We'll be heading back shortly, I think."
"A trio of aliens–children, from the looks of it–tried to get into the ship, but they scampered off when we raised our voices," came the reply. Can't blame them, I suppose, he thought.
An alien burst through the door, clad in a full-body suit of its own, filter included. From the see-through faceplate, horn-shaped covered protrusion on the forehead, and bag it wore on its back bearing the mark seen on the rear of the purple unicorn, it was evident who had returned. The Skipper couldn't help but smile; she intended on going with them. Where she had gotten such a suit, he could only guess, though it could be argued that their technological progression hadn't exactly followed humanity's. It was the Skipper's turn to motion for her to follow.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kathy asked. The zebra placed the liquid potion into the unicorn's bag. From what he could guess, it was for Powell.
"No, but they have shown us their home and given Killian his regular form back, we should show ourselves to them. It's a courtesy I'm fairly certain they'll understand. She may also be able to help us pick a landing site," he replied.
Single-file, they left the spa, Killian taking his towel with him, and headed in the direction of the shuttle.
*****
"Skipper?" one of the linguists asked on the channel as they came into view of the site. "Is that one of the natives? Is Chief Reynolds alright?"
He answered to the affirmative, and guided the team into the shuttle. The unicorn was hesitant, but joined them after a moment.
-----
The statue of the afflicted alien was as it was when she'd left the landing site. She levitated the potion of anti-petrification, uncorked it, and poured it onto him.
Slowly, the curse wore off, and the alien fell to the floor of the contraption, letting out a groan. The aliens looked at their colleague, and again at her, before moving to their fallen, who opened his eyes and let out a loud noise at the sight of her. His friends responded in soothing tones and explanations, and before long, he was sitting in one of the seats inside the ship, rattling off questions in a somewhat-shaky voice.
Twilight turned her attention to the interior of this craft, apparently the one they'd be taking to their larger one... in space. She had never been in space, nor had any regular pony; Princess Luna had been banished to her moon, and that was the only case she'd ever heard of. The interior of this one was mostly gray or white, with some outliers: a blue cross adorned a box mounted on the wall, a red handle on the door they'd just entered through and had just closed.
It occurred to Twilight that she was heading into the purely unknown, into places ponies had only dreamt of going. The craft shuddered, the ground fell away from view through the several windows of the craft, and she fell into a sitting position. She swallowed. This is it.
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As far as I can remember this is one if not the first time I've encountered a story were the local flora just looks like that from Earth and inedible to boot. nice
Twilight the 1st pony to go to space.... nice chapter man I like it =D
Oh snap!
Alt. Title: Total Eclipse Of The (Featured) Box
1769202 aside from luna and her moon walking days!
Keep being awesome.
Great chapter, nice to see first contact protocols being followed.
1769136
I can concur with that, not many remember that it won't be like Star Trek in which we all speak English and the food won't kill us. Remember it only looks like a potato.
So far I am pretty impressed, this is very realistic in the actions of both the ponies and the humans, and you haven't fallen for some of the standard sci-f cliches yet. We don't speak the same language, we can't eat the same food, and something in the air could kill us, don't see that often.
i'm gonna scream if twilight says ''its a small trot for a pony but a big trot for pony kind''
she knows of no gravity because of season 3... where in the point of the series did the humans landed on equestria?
1769496 After the beginning of S3, but it's not set in stone. This is hinted at by Twilight asking whether or not her assignment as ambassador was 'another test'.
1769514
seems legit
cant wait for the look on twilight's face when she sees you pumping his stomach empty
and the relation of something that insanely big need a place to land
the first time seeing equestria in its orb form from a other position
the ideas!!! argh its driving me nuts!!
Awesome chapter anfd story, I eagerly wait for the next one.
1769425
They haven't been following first contact procedures at all, and they wouldn't be dealing with the poison joke fiasco if they were using proper space suits and decontamination procedures.
Granted, most first contact procedures that I know of assume that both sides have radio. We don't know if the ponies even have a periodic table of the elements, they haven't even bothered attempting to determine the ponies hearing and vision ranges, etc.
I do like this story, it seems kinda clumsy.
1769477
I probably would have worded it in a different manner but yeah you have a good point.
All Im gonna comment on what you said is that different authors handled this in their own way. Some worked better than others, which is which is something I leave to someone more qualified to decide.
I have no issues when stories wave realism, done properly of course, but the difference in this story is refreshing.
1769693
What? That it only looks like a potato?
I cant believe I marked this 'read later' and went on to other stories! this is to good for such blatant disrespect
waiting on more chapters
1769706
No its just that I found how you said it to be a little harsh that's all.
1769833
Ah... my bad
1769909
You don't need to apologize for that.
This story is a gem. I need moar
I mean, if it's okay with you 
How does Twilight's suit look like? Because when she said "Hazard suit" my brain immideatly loaded HEV suit from Half Life and I can't get it out of my head.
Oh, nice aversion of no biochemical barriers.
All I know is that I want, no, need more.
This story is getting up there with my top ten favorites, it's really good.
update!
I expect a lot of screaming and wonder from a purple unicorn very, very soon. Also, envious RD.
1769477
Hopefully, the air is non-lethal. It would be a shame if something nasty were to happen to Killian. He's been through a bit as it is, don't you think?
1772053
It would be, and I think they may have wore the masks for the natives protection as well.
1772079
Well, yes, I suppose it's true. Then again, whether they like it or not, the containment has been breached when he regained his human form. Or maybe even when he landed as a pony. We don't know the effects of Poison Joke on the bacteria that were already inside of him nor the new ones, acquired during the stay. Oh, well... we can only hope it's not going to be a problem (or the author is simply not going to incorporate it into the fic, also negating the problem).
And, overall I agree with you agreeing with the direction taken by the author. Highly probable scenario here, quite obvious one, actually, yet still so rarely seen in fics here... and bonus points for not making it, so the bacteria and viruses are not capable of attacking humans. While I read a great book series that is pretty much based off the idea, and it's doing it great, I don't think it would be that easy. Viruses I can see, as they need key structures present to work, but bacteria... they can dissolve any loose matter they need, pretty much, so it wouldn't be that unbelievable for some strain to simply eat through, say, human skin. Because, why not? It's a giant universe. Chances are, some bacteria can easily devour this particular set of particles. It's a matter oh having the correct enzyme... and let's say ponies have different tissue or some sort of counter-enzyme...
I'm rambling, am I not?
Sorry...
Especially sorry, since it's been explained in the story or comment section, kind of forgot which one, by now...
1772267
Yes you were rambling. It could be possible with viruses, going to a book series I've read there were at least two cases of native viruses discovering Terran cellulose being tasty (and causing a famine), and jumping species lines to infect humans (and nearly causing the colony to collapse), and I trust David Weber to get that right. The receptor proteins just have to be close enough to allow for a species jump.
It is better to be safe than sorry, as Twilight understands. Also we do have flesh eating bacteria, a good reason to watch the water.
1770791 Probably like the ones the other ponies were wearing in the episode where Applebloom got the fake cutie marks. (Sorry, I can't remember the title for the life of me.)
1772318
... how could I forgot we have those flesh-eating bastards on Earth?
And yes, if the proteins are close enough, then it's possible for viruses to work. Though I guess it's less likely than bacteria scenario. And viruses eating? Cellulose? How? Not really possible given their way of 'living' (which I believe is still a subject of arguments as it's in-between alive and dead matter) which is to infect a living cell and 'trick it' into creating more copies of the virus instead of progressing with normal metabolism. Bacteria? More likely. Easily possible, even.
Now that I think of it... ebola is a virus and it's not human-only but primates-wide. Granted, ponies are not primates but it is possible to... darn it... that negates most of what I said in my previous post... Oh, well. I shouldn't ramble... though I did it again...
And from Weber, I believe I only read The Apocalypse Troll. I'm not too keen on long book series. You have to keep track of too many world details to understand the setting and the plot... And I have enough useless information in my head as it is. I don't need another fictional universe there... not like there is not many in there already... no offense to anyone but this is still a work of fiction and, while relevant to real life is not really that useful. Or maybe it is? A subject to discuss. Though I do believe this is not a place to do so. (He said after starting the discussion himself and even adding fuel to it...dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/lolface_Celestia.png )
And, as I said, I did it again! Rambling and over analysing everything...
So let me finish with some praise for the author:
The story is great! Keep it up!
After reading the story thus far, I have concluded that this is by far one of the best and most accurately detailed and unique Sci-Fi HiE story I've read on FIMfiction.net or even Fanfiction.net. You got into such great detail on human's stand point, including their background and setting, without trying to do a setting-dump. Also, not only have you given both the human and equestrian parties the language barrier, as was done with MLP's first Battletech crossover "The Thessalonica Legacy," but you also went further with the alien-world concept by using quarantine, and not having our humans guest eat any of the native food, for fear of getting sick from the alien bacteria and other microbes. You even had our human friend Killian get sick from the food as an example. Never, in any HiE story that featured Sci-Fi elements have I ever seen anyone do that until now. This, my friend, is a first for such a story, and for that, this is going to making the story "quite the ride."
As for what's happening so far, I must ask - have you thought of how the humans and equestrians will be able to communicate verbally in the future? Will they be given a spell, like in "The Thessalonica Legacy," or will they actually learn the language, like Twilight did in "Arrow 18 Mission logs: Lone Ranger"? Maybe a bit of both?
Anyways, on a different note, when I started reading, and picturing the Eclipse colony ship coming into the system, I was listening to this, and for some reason, I keep picturing it like the beginning of a movie, like in Serenity: At the 1:12 mark, the title of the story appears and becomes the name on the ship's hull as the camera backs out to view part of it's port-side hull. The name is on the hull of the last colony module as the camera starts to give us a 200+ degree view of the ship, staring from port and moving to the stern. At the 1:39 mark, we are giving a breath-taking starboard-side view of the Eclipse in its entirety, ending as we move in close on the bow and to the bridge module.
This song even seems proper for the ship's theme as a whole. Just listen and you'll see what I mean:
Anyways, great job on this story thus far. Keep up the good work.
1772520
"The Cutie Pox" - Season 2, ep. 6.
1775812 I'm happy that this story appeals to you, your input is very nice to have, thank you very much. As it happens, this story has been 'conditionally approved' for posting by EQD's pre-reading staff, it just needs some edits and it'll be set. I'm overwhelmed by how this story has been received so well, but I cannot say I am at all unhappy.
Magic will not solve the language or biochemical barriers; science and mutual exploration will be applied instead. Those are realistic challenges for them to overcome, and to simply have them disappear through magic--which is already used heavily to explain the excessive amount of impossible happenings of the system and its planet--would be unsatisfactory if I wanted to maintain a shred of sci-fi hardness, which I intend on doing, because it's more fun that way!
As it turns out, I have not read "Arrow 18: Mission Logs: Lone Ranger" nor have I read "The Thessalonica Legacy." Heard of them, and I'm interested in both, but I have difficulty getting into a read, which is ironic considering what I do for a hobby.
The reason the humans don't eat the food is because of differences in cellular structure; their biomolecular advanced building block (their DNA equivalent) is different from theirs, and has been observed to be, to an extent, incompatible with their biochemistry, so measures are taken not to consume it, when possible. The air is less of a problem, but a more constant one; aerial bacteria could cause untold havoc in a human immune system that was unprepared for them, and even the beefed-up engineered immune system found in the colonists couldn't possibly provide full protection.
Communication will likely be established by having the colonists learn Equestrian, and a few ponies (Twilight especially, seeing as she is their ambassador and has had the most contact with them so far) will most likely learn Earth language. I tell ya, though, Sanders and his crew are going to be mighty busy deciphering a language that shares none of its historical background with anything they know, which is a major help in learning Earth languages. I suppose, though, one could argue it'd be only marginally more difficult than learning Chinese if you only know a Latin-based language, but there are complexities to the subject that stretch further, I'd imagine.
This song, I like it. I believe it shall go into my writing playlist. It's interesting that you'd produce such imagery with it and the story, and that can only be a good thing.
1771302 1770942 1770392 1769768 It's nice that you're enjoying the story.
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I don't know about that...
1769670 I try to tell a good story in any way I can, and my ineptitude in storycraft is visible in the illogicality of their lacking fully-sealed attire for such missions. I believe it's too late to go back on that, however. Sorry about that.
>>>These plants were more filling, larger, grew faster, and were more nutritious than their natural counterparts, but it was repetitive, only partially mitigated by seasoning packets, issued scarcely on occasions such as Earth holidays and journey milestones. More plant seeds had been brought along for use after landing, such as those of various fruit trees.>>>
Hmm, you'd think they'd grow some herbs too. They're small, compact, many are drought-tolerant and can grow in poor soil (as many originated from semi-desert and Mediterranean climates with thin, rocky soils), and grow very close together in clusters; and only small amounts are needed at a time in foods. Not to mention many contain healthful compounds.
I would recommend dill, basil, fennel, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and anise hyssop (a very strong-flavored mint family member which is exceedingly easy to grow and produces thousands of seeds per plant for re-seeding.)
1776239 I'd imagine they'd have brought a significant seed bank of efficient crops, yeah.
1776022
Well, my question regarding the biochemical barriers/differences in cellular structure is will they be overcome? Will the humans and ponies find a way to be able to eat and sample each others food, water, and air with the fear of getting a disease? Because, if the humans are going to live on the planet, and the ponies and other natives visit the colony ship, I know that they can't live in a "colony bubble" and avoid each others' microbes and bacteria forever. Also, what if the comes a scenario where they have to breath the same air and eat the same food? No dough in my mind in the next 20+ chapters they'll break that those barriers down somehow. Also, have you consider that if the people do find a way to get past those problems, maybe their offspring and future children and fillies will develop natural immunity to each others' microbes and bacteria? If they do develop a way to make each other immune to the microbes and etc., do you think it's possible for the next generation to develop them naturally? Is that in any way possible?
Cause, as much as I'm liking the added barriers, part of me feels like it's turning into a no-win scenario for colonizing. Don't ask, that's just what I'm feeling here. ^__^;;;
1776353 I think they'd also grow green onions/scallions and garlic. Also very compact, and very heart-healthy. You can grow large numbers of them and use pretty much the entire plant as food.
1776384 They can get around it to some extent, it'll just take a little effort.
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If you don't like that Alt. Title, I have another: Eclipse: A Fic For Assorted Lunatics
And before you ask, this Alt. Title is a reference to the original title of The Dark Side Of The Moon.
1780397 How long's it been since you read chapter three? No matter.
It involved the cockatrice. It was no longer persuaded by Fluttershy, but instead kept sedated.
This has been interesting so far. Keep on going!
Incredible! When's the next update planned? :D?
1789679 Within the next two weeks, probably sooner, but I've proven unreliable. Eventually. Glad you like it.
1789834 I know exactly what you mean by unreliable xD
And I'm such a sucker for MLP first contact stories. Although, since there's no crossover tag, would you mind finding some pictures to illustrate some things in the story? Like the Eclipse, the Luna, their weapons and perhaps even their environmental suits?
1789844 Uh... it's all of my own design specs-wise, and they're supposed to look like whatever you want them to, with vague descriptions (ex. the environmental suits are dark blue). However, I guess I could find some rough equivalents to what I envision them as. I'll get back to you on that.
1790043
Great story so far!
Why do I have the feeling that the CMC somehow snuck onto the shuttle!
1789844 Ah, I got nothin'. They look like whatever you want them to look like. Twilight's probably going to give some visual description of Eclipse, though, in the next chapter. You'll get clearer pictures as time moves on, probably. Use your imagination!
MOAR