My Little Serenity: Misbehaving is Magic

by Trachyon

Chapter 8: The Long Night

"Twilight Sparkle, my name is Malcolm Reynolds. I'm the Captain of this Firefly class ship, Serenity. This here's my first mate, Zoe." Zoe nodded, only slightly uneasily. "Her husband, and pilot of this ship, Wash." Wash did as Zoe, only with more smiling. "You've already met Book, and Inara." Twilight turned to each in turn, smiling bashfully. Appearing in front of a person by exploding in their face wasn't always the best way to make a good first impression. "Over there is our doctor, Simon Tam, and over there is his delightful sister, River Tam."

River looked over to Pinkie. "Like I said: soft."

"She... has issues." Mal's voice trailed off, but returned as he glanced over to the next person to be introduced. "And this here is our mechanic, Kaylee. You've, uh, met, I guess."

Twilight glanced over at Kaylee and Pinkie. The pink pony was still holding hooves/hands with the kneeling human, animatedly asking questions aimed at the mechanic.

"...What does that do?!"

"Well, that's what supplies the coolant to the secondary reactor system," Kaylee said with a smile. Of course she'd be comfortable talking about the ship, even to an alien-horse-thing.

"Uh-huh. What's a coolant?! And what's a secondary reacty-sytem-thingy?!"

"Well, a coolant is something used to stop the parts of the ship from getting too hot, and the secondary reactor system..."

"...Uh huh... Uh huh..."

Twilight had no way of knowing wherever it not Pinkie actually was listening to what Kaylee what saying, or if she was just happy to make a new friend. Although, Twilight found herself again wondering how exactly this ship worked. With the initial fear of the aliens dissipating, to be replaced by careful curiosity, the basic urge to understand more about these 'humans' came back in full.

Of course, could she have listened to the human mechanic's explanations of the ship, she would have. But just as she found herself tuning into the almost-one-sided conversation between Kaylee and Pinkie, Malcolm started up again.

"'Course, there's Jayne as well. He's sleeping in the infirmary, after our run in with..." Mal hesitated.

Twilight's ears perked up at the pause in his speech.

Mal sighed. He knew that he'd have to navigate these waters at some point, he was just hesitant of knowing the two aliens reactions. Nevertheless, his plan had been to see how far cooperation could get him. Might as well bite the bullet. "See, our comin' here was sorta an accident."

Twilight thought back to the massive crater that the ship, The Serenity, currently sat in. "You... don't say..."

"Yeah, we came down pretty hard, lost some parts, too. We'd all 'ppreciate it if you'd be willin' to help us search for 'em, then we'd be out of your hair. Or manes. It's just..."

"You had a 'run in' with something?"

Mal nodded, the mood in the room darkening considerably. "What do you know about Reavers?"

"Uh, 'Reavers'? Can't say I've heard of anything like that."

That knowledge somehow didn't surprise Mal. But how to inform these most likely innocent and childlike creatures that a whole bunch of flesh eating monsters was most likely on the hunt for their blood?

"They're... Bad."

"Just 'bad'?" Twilight gave a small smile. "We might look small, but we've dealt with some 'bad' stuff in the past."

Mal shook his head. "Doubt it. These Reavers... They're monsters. They'll paralyse or poison you from a distance, and eat you alive, if you're lucky. They are strong, fast, entirely unpredictable, and will catch you in seconds if you ain't ready for the worst. Then you'll wish that you'd died fighting 'em."

Twilight stared, more than a little taken aback, as Mal continued with his speech. "Now, we'll most likely be forced into fightin' off these things, and for that, we need your cooperation. We tell you to run an' hide, you do so without questionin'. You do as I say, else I might end up shootin' you myself, y'hear?"

"S-shooting?!"

"'Course, you do as I say, we can be all friendly-like, an' we can be off without a problem."

Twilight nodded uneasily, despite herself. She was slightly shaken up at the description of the Reavers, and the threat Malcolm had mentioned, but the humans didn't seem too bad... So far. Indeed, she wondered if these creatures weren't just pulling some form of trick.

But, that wouldn't happen! Twilight (and maybe Pinkie) would help them get the parts they'd lost, and the humans would leave the ponies in peace. Yep. They'd just leave, with all their knowledge, and that'd be that. The Reavers would be chased away like just another pesky monster. The ship, and everything Twilight could possibly learn from it, all sailing off into space, never to be seen from again...

"Sure, I'll help!" said Twilight, a strained smile across her face.

Mal nodded. "Right. I noticed it's night outside, so we'll wait until day to head on out. You'll stay on board here 'til then. For your safety, 'course." he hastily added.

"You mean we're going back in that last room you locked us in last time?" Twilight asked uncertainly. Sure, the humans hadn't eaten them or anything like that, but the thought of spending the rest of the night in a cold, hard room like that wasn't exactly comforting, either.

The Captain paused for a second, weighing his options, before turning to face the rest of the crew. "Wash, we ain't using that spare cabin for anythin', are we?"

The rest of the humans, save for Kaylee, who had been running a private conversation with Pinkie, had been silent during the whole exchange, most likely from shock or confusion. Or both. Definitely both. Wash glanced up sharply, surprised that he had become the centre of the conversation. "Huh? I, yeah. I mean, yeah, there should be a bunk down there, I think."

"Good" Mal turned back to the ponies, raising his voice enough to interrupt Kaylee's conversation with the pink one. "You two, follow me."

With that, Mal turned towards the far doorway, signalling for the two ponies to exit. Twilight passed Mal through the exit, as Pinkie said a cheery farewell to Kaylee, bouncing away after Twilight. Mal followed behind, instructing the two equines on which path to take. The whole time, his hand never moved from the gun by his side. He'd been deceived before.

---

"Well, here y' go. It ain't much, but I imagine these'll be a might comfier than sleepin' on a pile of hay."

"Right..." Twilight replied uncertainly. Was that a joke of some sort? Or did he really think ponies slept on piles of hay? Twilight ignored it for now, instead focusing on the two hammocks strung up to the sides of the small metal room. If it weren't for the small tables Twilight might've used as stepping stones, it would've been impossible to reach the hammocks at all. As it was, Twilight hoped that they wouldn't be as awkward to sleep in as the trip down the ladder into this room had been.

"Right then. You two stay in here until mornin', then you can help us out." Mal went to leave via the ladder, before turning back to Twilight. "Say, uhh, when is mornin'?"

Twilight thought for a second. She realised that since she and Pinkie had entered Serenity, not even two hours had passed. Yet it felt to Twilight, or rather her body, that she had been awake for a full three days, so exhausted was she.

"Well, the Sun rises in... six hours, I think."

"Right." And with that, Mal left, climbing up the metal ladder, and sliding the thick hatch closed behind him. The latch clicked locked behind him, but Twilight couldn't really see herself manipulating the fiddly latch set into the high up door, anyway. Her hooves and mouth simply didn't provide enough dexterity, and her magic... What had happened to her magic, anyway? All her life, no matter where she had travelled, the world around her had been saturated with magic for her to draw on. That was just how the world was. It was as fundamental and constant as the air and land itself. But the moment the humans had crashed down on her planet, she had been unable to draw on any of it for her spells.

But that wasn't true, either. When the *Serenity* had crashed, Twilight had brought up a shield to protect herself and Pinkie, right? Since then, she had recovered from the shield spell enough to cast a draining teleportation spell. So, it was when she had met the aliens. Had they somehow stopped her from drawing magical power? Somehow, Twilight doubted it. The humans had wanted her and Pinkie confined in that other room, and they probably would've been aware of Twilight's ability to teleport. So what was causing it?

Even now, Twilight felt... Empty. Drained. Maybe even a bit hollow. She had used the magic within her own body as a substitute for the magic she was unable to absorb, and it had left her exhausted and frail. She hoped that even a short rest would be able to refresh her, and clear the fog from her mind. But for now, casting magic was out of the question.

"They seem nice, don't they, Twilight?"

"Huh?"

"They have weird names, though. I mean, 'Malcolm', 'Zoe', 'Simon', 'Inara', 'Kaylee'... Those aren't even things! Oh, but Kaylee seems really nice, though! She told me all about the ship! Did you know that the ship uses Elements to fly?"

Twilight's ears perked up at that. "It does?"

Pinkie nodded exuberantly. "Uh-huh! Except they don't have Elements like Magic or Loyalty or Laughter or Generosity or Kindness or Honesty!"

"Really...?" As interesting as this was to Twilight, Pinkie's voice was beginning to grate against Twilight's nerves, and she could feel a headache coming on.

"Yeah! Kaylee said that they use the Element of 'Hydrogen' to power the ship! Except the Hydrogen gives off ray... Ray-dee-ay-shee-on, so other Elements called 'Tongue-stem' and 'Helium' are used to contain it! Kaylee said it's not the same used to blow up balloons, though, which is a shame, because this place could reeeally do with some balloons! Don't you think so, Twilight?"

Well, Pinkie was right about that, at least. The room was less of a room, than it was a four-by-four-by-four metre box, with sloped edges on the ceiling to provide the illusion of space. There was a single metal table, and a small metal box, just like the ones Twilight had seen in the first room they had been trapped in.

"Yeah. Hey, Pinkie, I think it's best we got some sleep, okay?"

"Okie-dokie!" Pinkie turned to her hammock, coiled herself like a spring, and launched herself straight into the comfy hammock... to fall right back out of it, landing painfully on the hard metal floor.

"Are you okay Pinkie?!" asked Twilight, exhaustion replaced momentarily with concern. But Pinkie bounced right back up again, as if nothing had happened.

"All good!" Pinkie attempted another jump before Twilight could protest, and landed in the hammock again. It swung wildly, but Pinkie remained in, waving her hooves as she swerved dangerously backwards and forwards. "Whee! You should try this, Twilight!"

Twilight smiled at Pinkie's ability to remain upbeat, but shook her head. "Thanks, Pinkie, but I think I'll just sleep." She climbed up onto the table, and used it as a stepping stone to clamber into the hammock. It was awkward getting in, but she was comfortable enough in it, if she curled up. Pulling up a blanket sheet with her mouth, she prepared for a long and restless night of sleep.

"'Night, Pinkie," whispered Twilight.

"Goodnight,Twilight."

Twilight wondered if she'd be able to sleep with the light still on overhead, when-

"Eek!" The lights had just gone out! Had they done that by themselves, or had the humans...

"Hey, Twilight?" Pinkie's voice hissed through the sudden, and all too claustrophobic, darkness.

"Yeah, Pinkie?" came Twilight's hushed reply.

"I found the light switch."

Twilight sighed. Of course.

---

Mal made a quick stop at the cockpit of the ship, securing the hatch to the room the two ponies were held in. The console reported that they were still in the same room he had left them in. Something told him they wouldn't try another botched escape attempt again, though. Still, no chances taken.

That done, he made his way back down into the living area of the ship, where the rest of the crew, save for Jayne, were still present, talking uneasily between themselves. Upon Mal's entrance, all eyes turned to him, silence rapidly returning to the room.

"They're secure. Wash, do what you can to secure the ship from the outside. Don't want any more surprises."

Wash stood, and left the room from where Mal had just entered.

"Now then, to business. Firstly, I bet most'a you are wonderin' about our... guests."

Simon stood up. "You think?! I mean, what the hell are they?"

Mal shrugged. "Aliens? Robots? Damn good costumes? You tell me."

"B-but... They can't be real! I mean, come on!" Simon scoffed. "Aliens? Just, all of a sudden, happening to us, of all people, for no apparent reason?!"

"What's so unlikely 'bout it happenin' to us?"

"I just... It's impossible! Did you get a look at them?! How can something like that even exist? It looked cartoonish, for crying out loud!"

Zoe chose this time to interject. "Not to object, Simon, but we live on a spaceship, and your sister's psychic."

"But that- that's not the same! Those 'pony' things were impossible!"

Mal remained perfectly composed in the face of Simon's outburst, and spoke evenly and surely, despite the doubt he felt himself. "That's why, tomorrow, I want you to examine them. Just, perform some tests, see what you can learn."

Simon's mouth hung agape. "I... What?! That's not even... Dammit, Mal, I'm a doctor, not a vet! Nor am I an astrobiologist, or a xenobiologist! Do you even know what you're asking?"

"Yeah I know. I'm askin' you to stick 'em with a needle, get some blood, or whatever they have, and take a look at it. I'm not askin' for you to cut 'em up and hang 'em on display, doc."

"But I-"

"Understood?"

Simon hesitated, before conceding defeat. "I understand."

"Good." Mal went to address the whole room. "Now, no doubt, you noticed that our guests... aren't exactly normal. Probably some of you hopin' that you'll wake up, 'n' this all will be some crazy dream. That'd be nice, but the universe isn't known for being nice. So here's how it is: We have crash landed on an uncharted planet, quite possibly not entirely normal. I have no doubt that the Reavers have followed us here, and that they'll be hunting us. We'll at some point have to fight 'em off. Serenity is broken, and the parts are scattered somewhere around where we landed, so if we get those, then Kaylee'll be able to fix 'er. Right, Kaylee?"

"Uhm..."

"You'll be able to fix her, right?"

"Well, I guess I'll be able to make her fly again, but there's so many things I haven't checked yet, I'm not sure if I'll be able to manage..."

"Well, we'll find a way. Tomorrow, we're takin' those two... ponies, to help us find our parts. They seem friendly, but I wouldn't for a second take your eyes off'a them."

Mal paused.

"Look, I know, this is impossible. But it's happened. Is happenin'. Against every odd an' possibility, this situation is as real as anything we've found ourselves in. It feels more than strange, I know. I feel that way too. But we accept this to be real, maybe we can find out jus' what the hell has happened here. I reckon y'all get some sleep. If we wake up still here, and if we ain't all dead, we'll all feel a bit better. Dismissed."

With that, everyone slowly stood up and left, all leaving for their respective rooms. All, save for Zoe.

"Still rather surreal, isn't it?"

"Damn right. Hey Zoe, you still sleep with a gun by your bed, don't you?"

"Never stopped, sir. As a matter of fact, I sleep with three by my bed."

"Good. Y'know, just in case."

---

Up in the mountains, the manticore growled again. Fires lit up the many craters that littered the small, high-altitude canyon. The manticore stalked past all of the small fires, past the pieces of strange, hard rubble that was strewn about in every direction. The pieces that weren't brown and burnt reflected the firelight into the manitcore's eyes as it prowled towards the thing that had fallen from the sky. The thing was big, maybe as big as an Ursa Major. Maybe bigger. The manticore saw it as a trespasser, and the fire and noises it gave off made it a threat.

The manticore stopped, a distance away, and roared. The smell of flesh filled its nostrils, and made it hungry. It pounced at the shape that had appeared to its left, behind a large rock. It was small, and easy prey. Larger than a pony, but that meant a bigger meal. It hit the ground, and stopped as it met the eyes of the prey.

The manticore hesitated, and the prey screamed. The scream was worse than anything the manticore had heard, and it made it scared. The prey wasn't prey; it was a predator. The manticore turned to run from the predator, but it felt the predator's sting. The manticore stumbled and fell, as it felt the predator's many claws tear its fur and skin away from its muscles. The manticore moaned in pain.

---

Many, many miles away, past the sea of creeping trees, in the middle of a field, at the bottom of a crater, inside the metal halls of a crashed ship, River Tam had nightmares.

Comments

[Trachyon]

So, I was a struggling with this chapter. Luckily, I was inspired one night after having thirty-seven consecutive wet dreams in which I was a bondage-loving toaster having an affair with a humanised Rainbow Dash wearing nothing more than two pieces of string, and that I wanted nothing more than to be shoved so full of bread that I'd be able to feed more people than Jesus. /sarcasm

I'll finish this absurdly long intro soon, guys, I swear!

Also, the Dresden Files is a great book series. I encourage you all to go to your local library and read Storm Front.

[CommanderCupcake]

Dammit, Mal, I'm a doctor, not a vet! Brilliant!

[RedShirt047]

Nice Star Trek reference.

[psychicscubadiver]

691229
Hang on a sec.
*Also, the Dresden Files is the best book series.* There we go.

Anyway, another great update. Though, I would hate to be the person doing your laundry. I mean, thirty-seven? Wow.
Oh well, anything that inspires you to write more of this fic can't be all bad.

[Trachyon]

691335
Meh, I was just hopping aboard the bandwagon. You might've seen a while back, a story got featured in which the description was of how the author had conceived his ideas through wet dreams involving Scootaloo (OH GOD WHY).
Then someone did a parody of it, involving a ridiculously over the top description in the same vein.

But to avoid having to do all that icky laundry, either do it into a tissue, or while showering!

I feel dirty after typing that.

Also, isn't Cold Days coming out sometime this year? I might have to re-read the series to remember everything...

[psychicscubadiver]

691513
It's actually started when somebody put that in the description of a R63 spike clop-fic which got featured, then came the Scootaloo fic, then the parody.
Now I feel dirty for knowing that.

Anyway, yes I am psyched abotu Cold Days. But the wait is so hard.

[Trachyon]

691551

Wait, wasn't the Scootaloo one the parody? I don't remember reading it, so I'm probably wrong.

Cold Days might be coming out during the Fall (insert early Winter pun here), as Jim Butcher said that the manuscript is due by the 1st of July.

[CharginChuck]

Weird you should mention going to the library and reading Storm Front, as I did just that a couple weeks ago. Now I'm just waiting for them to get Fool Moon (I had to reserve it; they had every book EXCEPT the second one, as is my luck).

I am continuing to be in love with this story. Eagerly anticipating the next installment now, I can't wait to see the crew's reactions when they see Ponyville!

[Trachyon]

768106
I'm not really too knowledgeable on guns. I know which end to hold, at least. Anything I could change to make it more accurate?

As for the knocking sound, I'm going to try and save face here by saying that noises could be heard from outside. Remember in that one Firefly episode, "The Message"?
The Alliance officer was going after Serenity because of Mal and Zoe's old war friend hidden on board. Wash flew the ship in under a rock formation, and the officer tried to flush them out by dropping bombs. If I remember correctly, River was counting them like booms of thunder during a storm. In atmosphere, the ship's not entirely soundproof, and I imagine something hard enough (like, say, a hoof) would be able to cause the metal to reverberate loud enough to be heard throughout the ship. I'm probably taking some liberties here, but that's the way I see it.

[jasoncookies]

768452

For the most part, if you want to know more about guns and calibers, just use wikipedia. However some common calibers (in no particilar order) used today are:

Pistol: .22LR, .45 ACP, 9mm/9x19mm, .357 mag/.38 special, .44 mag, .45 Long Colt, .32 ACP, 9x18 Makarov, .380 ACP

Shotgun: 12 gauge, 20, gauge (some less common gauges are: 18, 16, 24, 10, 8, and .410 bore)

American/NATO Rifle: .22LR, .308 Winchester/7.62x51 NATO, .223/5.56X45 NATO, 30-06, 30-30, 45-70

Soviet/Eastern/Russian Rifle: 7.62x39, 5.45x39, 7.62x54r

I gave you different cartridge names incase you live in Europe where things are different. Do not talk about a .308/7.62x51 rifle or you will sound like an idiot.

Since Firefly happens in the future you can be somewhat creative with firearms but I'll give you some tips. Shotgun gauges will likely get bigger with better recoil control mechanisms, you could make up cartridges like a 10 gauge fireball or Ackely Improved. Military standard issue firearms will likely have smaller, faster, hotter cartridges that will likely use metric dimensions (5.56). Civilian big-game rounds have been .30 caliber/7mm or larger and usually use standard measurements (.375 Ruger). For cartridge names you could make up a realistic metric dimensions (5.34x45) you can also use the names of planets or regions for a cartridge name (.30 Airiel)

Remember in Firefly their are still old guns such as Winchesters and Kalashnikovs(AKs) alongside future firearms. Just do basic research and use imagination and you will do fine.

[Trachyon]

769881
Woah, awesome, thanks! I'll probably refer back to this at some point, but I'll do some additional research on Wikipedia too. I'll get around to editing that mistake as well.

[Trachyon]

826304

Mm-hm. It's been a while since the last update, but I'm still working on it. I've just sort of hit a rut, so I'm taking it on one paragraph at a time right now.

I'm just constantly fretting over the quality of it, which is probably why I've been trying to put it off.
What if the characters act out of character (which is damned hard to quantify, given how you'd never see these characters in this situation) and the readers notice it? What if there's a plot inconsistency, or something which ignores the events in either one of the series' canon? Why am I so terrible at phrasing? Have I got the layout of the ship down correctly? Mal wouldn't say that in that situation, would he?!
I can't help but ask all those questions whenever I type out the story. I mean, arguably it's a good thing, because it mean I'm always striving for quality. But on the other hand, it means that I'm never going to produce a chapter in a reasonable amount of time, which feels just as bad to me personally as producing a story which falls below the standards I expect. I can't help but feel judged when I write, even though I know the people reading are undoubtedly nice and understanding.

But I'm getting off topic, and nobody wants to hear me rant on about that. Once I'm past this long-ass introduction, and we have humans conversing freely with ponies, I think it'll get better.

-This wall of text brought to you by a jug of coffee, four straight hours of essay writing, and the need to vent.

Have a Luna.
cdn.derpiboo.ru/media/BAhbBlsHOgZmSSJVMjAxMi8wNi8yNi8xOF8wOF81OF8yMTdfMjE3NDJfX3NhZmVfcHJpbmNlc3NfbHVuYV9kYW5jZV9hbmltYXRpb25fYXJ0aXN0X3dhcnBvdXQGOgZFVA/21742__safe_princess-luna_luna_animated_dance_artist-warpout.gif

[LittleSallyDigby]

Yaaay, formal introductions! Hopefully this round will hold out until morning.

... Between asking Kaylee questions and her previous mechanical expertise, Pinkie's going to build one of those engines in somepony's backyard by the time this is over. And then it's only a few short steps to Pinkie Pie vs. the Universe. I for one welcome our new pink fluffy overhorse.

Twilight thinks of Mal as "Malcolm". That's adorable. If I were writing this we'd get some focus on the different usage patterns in human and Equestrian names, like how "Rainbow", "Dash" and "Rainbow Dash" are all interchangeable in conversation whereas "Mal", "Malcolm", "Reynolds", "Mal Reynolds" and "Malcolm Reynolds" all mean slightly different things while still referring to the Captain. These introductions are killing most of that by only giving the most common identifiers in most cases, but there are probably still a few jokes and/or cultural exchange moments to be had with Twilight calling Simon and/or River by their full names.

Interesting that Simon and River are mentioned as brother and sister, but the fact that Wash and Zoe are husband and wife seems to so far have escaped the ponies.

Ohboy. Twilight Sparkle, caught between abject terror and the promise of new knowledge. This won't be pretty.

And Mal still trusts nothing and nopony completely. Makes sense. Saffron, Tracey, etc.

"a might comfier" should be "a mite comfier".

Bahaha, ponies on ladders. There's an amusing image. Alien enough for you, Twilight?

"Say, when is mornin'?" Good question! Always ask that sort of thing when marooned on strange planets. Now that I think about it, Firefly is a really good 'verse to take the extraterrestrial approach to HiE with- they already have any number of English- and/or Chinese-speaking planets out there, and no aliens with their own languages, so you can just ignore the lack of a language barrier and the characters will run with it, because when they meet new people they expect to share a language or two.

I look forward to Twilight and any member of the crew discussing how the sun rises, by the way.

... Twilight and Pinkie alone in a strange situation is comedy gold. I must remember this.

I also like that Pinkie notices the weird names. On the other hand, "Shepherd Book" practically fits right into an Equestrian census. Three syllables and everything.

When Twilight has the energy, she and Kaylee are going to have a very excited talk. We know Equestria has chemistry to some degree; I guess Pinkie Pie just hasn't memorized much of the not-immediately-relevant bits.

You're missing "try" in "Whee! You should this, Twilight!" Also there's no opening quotation mark on one of Pinkie's lines.

Good talk, Mal. Very good talk. Good precautions, too. Only question with regard to all that is what in all the stars is gonna happen when Jayne wakes up.

... I was wondering if there were going to be Reavers. So that question's answered.

[Trachyon]

914476

Hey, neat review! Thank you for this! I'll try to keep these points in mind, and I'll get around to correcting all the mistakes pointed out.

I will most likely be late in posting the next chapter, because...
A. I'm busy as hell at the moment, and don't have enough time.
B. I think I might need to re-watch Firefly again to refresh my understanding of the characters, which takes time.
C. I'm overly critical of what I write, and spend too much time double-guessing myself.
D. Why is writing this so hard?

Rest-assured, though, that I haven't stopped working on this, nor will I, until the story's conclusion. Again, though, thanks for the critique! It's heartening to see someone write a good review!

[zaptiftun]

Hmm....
*adds to his watch list*

[Samusbot]

, an update!

Trachyon, from what I've read here (and what I remember of the dialogue from the other chapters as it has been a little while), you have everyone and pony perfectly in character. You're doing just fine, keep up the good work.

[Trachyon]

985767

Thank you! It's reassuring to hear any positive feedback like this, and your niceness hasn't gone without heed!

Y'know, all this time I've been worrying about the characters of the crew, and getting their personalities down... Funny thing is, I watched Serenity just two nights ago, and I haven't watch an episode of FiM in at least a month...
The crew of Serenity arguably have more intricate and complex characters, or at least much more established personalities, but I feel much more familiar with them than I do with the ponies. Maybe I should re-watch some episodes.dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_Sparkle.png

[Trachyon]

1039154

Yeah, the hull would've been hot. That's a slip-up on my part, sorry. If you need justification, then I'll say that Twilight and Pinkie were knocked for a loop longer than they thought, giving the hull time to cool down. Also, the hull's made out of space-metal.dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Rainbow_Dash.png

I'll get around to fixing up the errors you've pointed out, as I did previously. I may submit this to EqD at some point, so I'll neaten it up as much as I can.

Wait, did I allude to a fight between River and a Manticore previously? I don't remember doing so... Even though I've had an epic fight scene planned for a while.

Also, the next chapter currently has 3910 words and counting, so it's hopefully almost done.

[Samdamandias]

Read this, and realized that you made the crew far too trusting. Still leaving a thumbs-up 'cause Firefly.

I'd give a solitary, unarmed Reaver 50/50 odds against a manticore. Bets that the stare won't work on Reavers?

[Trachyon]

1320023
Yeah, the whole trust thing still bugs me, although I’m not too sure if I should be changing something like that at this point. I’ll try to handwave/justify it somewhat by saying that the crew still don’t trust the ponies entirely, although the bizarre situation they’ve been thrown into has left them all somewhat dazed.

It’s been a while since I posted the last chapter, and I’ve gone through all the previous chapters, making minor corrections and improvements, though nothing story-changing. A new, hopefully better-quality chapter coming within the week, then.

Honestly, I don’t see a single Reaver standing up to a Manticore well. Assuming that an adult pony is about 3-4 feet high, then the average Manticore is a damn sight larger than an Earth lion, if memory serves. I’d say about 6-7 feet high. As dangerous as Reavers are, a lone, unarmed Reaver simply wouldn’t be able to kill a lion, let alone a Manticore, in my mind.

I do actually have ideas for the Stare, though. I’m just not entirely sure how much it’s going to backfire on Fluttershy when she tries it.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

691333
What Star Trek refrence? Wait

Simon's mouth hung agape. "I... What?! That's not even... Dammit, Mal, I'm a doctor, not a vet! Nor am I an astrobiologist, or a xenobiologist! Do you even know what you're asking? "

Never mind.