EPISODE SIXTY-FOUR
OLD CUSTOMS...
Rocky finished a mouthful of cake and washed it down with a sip of coffee.
“Yeah well we're glad you're back in one piece but, sheesh, it's not as if you've been gone on a month of Shore Leave or anything!”
I freshened my own tea and slid my cake over to the delighted Tyllae.
“As far as I can tell we've were gone for better than half a day. Better get comfortable and listen to this!”
I gave them the tale, personal breakdowns and wardrobe malfunctions not included, and finished up with my encounter with The Prism and our rescue from the Werewolf with the fate of The Doctor as a post-script. Sunny provided color commentary and Tyllae chimed in with 'Yep, yep, yeps!' in between bites of cake!
By the time I wound down everypony I was the subject of narrow looks, frowns, frank astonishment, and an arched Vulcan eyebrow!
Bob was leaning against a wall, munching on a piece of cake he held in a napkin.
“What 'bout Der-... Ditzy?” He corrected himself grimly. “The little Sheila get out OK? Helluva thing to have happen to a noice kid like that!”
I shook my head. “She rode the TARDIS down to whatever happened to it. She got us back before it went up.” I cleared my throat quietly.
“I dropped the spatball on that one! I should have called Kyrk in for this to find out what happened when the Werewolf went up. With everything else that just happened I didn't...” I shrugged. “I had a purely Equine moment in response to the stress. Merry, could you page Lieutenant Kyrk?” I gestured to the terminal at her end of the table.
She wiped her mouth quickly and waved a hoof at thing.
“No sense toying up the circuits, eh? Prolly havin' a bit o' tucker even as we speak! Won't be a tick!”
She got up and made her way to the door leading to the Galley. When it opened she leaned through it.
“Oi!” Her voice cut through then stilled the chatter outside. “Lieutenant Kyrk in 'ere? ...Oi, Lieutenant! Boss-Lady wants ya insoide-loik! G'day, you lot!”
She came back and plopped down in her seat, hooking a thumb over her shoulder.
“On 'is way, Boss! That oughta be worth a real sloice o' cake fer me trouble, whaddya say, Mate?” She held her plate out to Bob.
“Yeah, yeah!” He muttered, scooping another portion up for her.
“Roight decent of ya, Mate! 'Preciate it!” Merry tucked into it at once!
“Oy'll get another chair.” Bob said quietly. “Anypony need anything?”
Nopony took him up on it and he left the room just as the doors opened and Kyrk entered to stand at parade-rest just inside.
“Lieutenant Kyrk reporting, Captain.” A stray lock of his mane fell forward onto his forehead as he scanned the room as casually as he could manage. Well, getting called into the Captain's presence before breakfast qualifies as a traumatic experience... it happened to me more than once!
“At ease, Gorge, and thanks for coming on such short notice. There's a chair coming for you in a moment.” I smiled my best reassuring smile.
“We're just 'andin' out court-martials in 'ere an' thot we'd share the ruddy wealth, didn't we? Eh, eh?” Merry winked and nudged Xantippe again!
The Zebra closed her eyes and sighed.
“I know when I am beat! Miss Dazzle may I switch to your seat?”
Dazzle leaned in and stage-whispered...
“Altair Station!”
“Oi! Sittin' purty, hoofs to meself! This is me behavin', behavin, behavin'!”
“Didn't hear a thing.” Kyrk declared, having the grace to look innocent.
“As I was saying...” I gave Merry my best Caper glower as Bob came back with a folding chair. He set it up and set it down next to me. Tyllae dragged her food in front of me and nearly upset my tea cup as she hopped up and down, waving at the Lieutenant!
“Here go, Mister Kyrky-Kyrk! Plenny room right here, yep, yep, yep!”
Bob plied his cart silently, setting out another breakfast.
“Ahem!” I pointedly slid my cup a few inches out of harms way staying as still as possible while my crew swept into action. “I should have invited you to breakfast with us. In the rush of yesterdays excitement I never bothered to get your report. In my defense, I was sure you would have alerted me if anything, um, untoward had happened. Sit down, Gorge!” I waved him down as Bob withdrew.
Bless his old-fashioned heart, the stallion held my chair for me before settling into his own. He nodded, exchanging non-verbal pleasantries with the rest of the company before turning to me.
“Yes, Ma'am! If anything had gone sour I would have been on the horn at once!” He nodded emphatically. “As it was, after I got your confirmation, I energized the transporters and deposited four photon torpedoes... two in Engineering and two Forward... and headed off on our original course as maximum acceleration. There was no pursuit or scanning detected. We secured the Ship and kept running. Before that...” He paused for a moment, gathering his recollections.
“After you left the Bridge with The Doctor we maintained passive scanning. Call it six minutes after you left we detected a massive energy spike on the Werewolf. Arcane sensors went off the scale! Right on the heels of that we picked up a massive subspace disturbance almost like some sort of... singularity that fractured the spaceframe of the Klingon ship and gutted their Engineering Section. Good news as far as we were concerned, but with the way the damn thing could repair itself I wasn't in the mood to take chances. Especially with you beaming over there!”
I chuckled. “We didn't use transporters, The Doctor took us over there... eventually!”
Kyrk gave me a questioning look.
“Long story, Laddie!” Sunny put in. “Drop by Sickbay n' Ah'll fill ye in on th' details!”
I shot her a warning glance. “Just the, ah, pertinent ones!”
“Oh, aye!” She flapped a hoof at me and took a sip of her tea. “Ah wouldna dream o' sayin' aught t' impugn yer reputation as a bloody tactical genius!”
Kyrk saved me from saying anything that would have put me in the proverbial doghouse.
“At that time I thought you were still on the Hermes. I didn't want you... going over there while the place was falling apart! I paged you repeatedly. I was glad when you responded... I was this close to taking matters into my own hooves!”
“Don't worry about it, Gorge. I would have done the same in your place. All part of the job when you have the Center Seat! ...How many times did you page me, anyway?”
“Three times. I wanted to give you every chance to respond. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, call it independent verification of The Rule Of Three. Three strikes, three chances, I was just struck by an insight into how old the custom is!” I backed up from the table far enough to cast a look at the little Fey who had helped herself to more jam-slathered biscuits.
“Am I right or am I right, kiddo?”
Tyllae swallowed a mighty elfin mouthful and noddled exactly three times for emphasis!
“Yep, yep, yep! Little Trees all grow in likeness to the seed, Starry!”
I shook my head, smiling down at the Fey.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Shouldn't be, nope, nope, nope! Faeries wanted alla Trees to grow right, Starry!”
“Touche, kid!” I agreed, pausing to roll my apple over to her before scooting my chair back to resume my conversation.
“Pardon me, Gorge, but its been a... surreal last twenty-four hours. I'm still processing it all!”
Gorge was too good a Junior Officer to presume to prompt a Senior ones conversation.
“Not at all.” He said smoothly before adding with a grin. “You have even more on your plate than I do at this moment!”
I couldn't help but to laugh. I really had come to like this buck!
“Welcome to Command School! Let me ask you just one more thing before your food gets cold. ...The Doctor was setting up some scheme to siphon those poor damned souls off the Werewolf using our Sensory. What became of that?”
Kyrk frowned. “Again, when you left the Bridge our shields had been collecting some sort of Arcane charge, like Saint Elmo's Fire! Sensor logs have it recorded, a flickering golden aura around the Ship. I think the Doctor was setting us up as a sort of plasma containment bottle for whatever he was extracting.” He rolled his eyes and shrugged.
“That's the way Milky Way explained it to me, anyway. I'm not any sort of Engineer! After you answered my hail we picked up an energy spike on this ship, in Cargo Bay Two. We never detected that TARDIS when it arrived. Maybe he had it Stealthed or something but when it came back it was blazing all over the subspace spectrum... and a whole lot of others! Again, according to Milky Way. I was worried it was some sort of feedback from what was happening over there! It was there for precisely seven seconds then it just went off our scopes... which was especially weird since it was growing in strength all the time it was here! That much energy couldn't have just gone away... but it did, along with whatever we'd been collecting around the Hermes! Then you came over the intercom, I sent those bombs on their way, and we got the Hell out of Dodge Junction!”
He shrugged with his hooves palm-up.
“I just figured he took off and took it all with him. It's been smooth sailing since... aside from picking up the pieces after the roughing we took from the Werewolf, that is. That's my report, Ma'am.”
I digested that for long moments. Tyllae maintained that the Diamond Dogs were only constructs made by the Prism according to Discord's mad image. ...But the strength of the Prism came from the millions...billions, maybe... of souls sacrificed to the damn thing against their will. The Doctor indicated that nearly six million souls... people... were powering that ship. Where were they now? Were they back in the Prism... or was the price of our survival the equivalent of a metropolis?
I shut my eyes and The Mare In My Head hit the overrides on my Emotional Matrix. She didn't delete the thought, she only archived it. Six million people didn't deserve to be forgotten and it made me feel ill to think that Discord could afford to... waste so many lives as if they were cardboard tokens on a game board!
Breakfast was a cold lump in my suddenly too-full stomach as I opened my eyes again.
“The Doctor didn't make it.” I said quietly. “Discord speared him with the Prism right through the hull of the TARDIS. It was fatally damaged. Ditzy brought us home before it went up.”
Gorge put down his fork.
“Oh. … Damn!” He finished softly.
“Yeah.” I agreed flatly before asking. “... Sensors didn't pick up its destruction?”
“Only the Werewolf as far as we could see.” Kyrk contemplated his food, choose a single biscuit , and ignored the rest. Bob looked annoyed and Tyllae looked interested. “No other energy discharges... or lifepod beacons for that matter. We would have picked up a transporter trace and detected an environmental suit if Ditzy bailed out.”
He slid the food away. Tyllae looked at it hopefully. Well... she burned up a lot of calories the day before.
Given the state of our Sensory one environmental suit wouldn't have stood out very much against the background of four photon torpedoes and the breakup of the Werewolf. If she'd gotten out somehow and was alone in just a suit in proximity to all the radiation...
“She didna leave.” Sunny said. It was obvious she was replaying that last terrible moments in her mind. “She stayed wi' th' Doctor.” She fidgeted with her teacup, staring down at it for a few moments. Then she lifted it up to the table in a toast.
“T' Ditzy Doo n' Th' Doctor, an' they be dead!”
We raised our various drinks and saluted their memory. Sunny drained hers then quite deliberately gave her cup an underhoof lob into the wall behind her, shattering it. Bob looked pained and Dazzle jumped at the sound.
“What the Hell, Doc!”
But Sunny only dabbed her lips... then her eyes... with a napkin and said not a word while the rest of us stared.
The Vulcan cleared his throat quietly. Then, instead of a statement regarding the illogical behavior of Ponies, he said.
“It is an archaic custom on Earth in several cultures.” He stated. “A tribute to the solemnity of the toast. The gravity of the occasion has, in essence, consecrated the drinking vessel to the honor of the subject. Therefore it would be considered dishonorable to ever use the vessel again for any other purpose since that would detract from the honor bestowed upon it. ...As I am given to understand, that is.” He considered his empty juice glass.
“Vulcan has had no such tradition since before the teachings of Surak. We honor the memories of the deceased in our minds.” He wrapped his glass carefully up in his napkin and held it before addressing the table again.
“However, to coin a Terrestrial phrase and to honor the efforts of our fallen companions... 'When in Roam...'”
He closed his paw, crushing the glass with a series of brittle snaps and cracks before laying the bundle neatly next to his empty plate.
“Your information is out of line.” Xantippe clasped her hooves and bowed from the neck with averted eyes to the Vulcan, correcting him in her unobtrusive Zebrican way, before she wrapped her own drinking bowl up. “In Roam we use such as this to make a shrine. To keep fresh in our minds their memory from day to day, we light incense and bow our heads to pray.”
She set the swaddled bowl before her, bowed her head and clasped her amulet bag with both hooves and paid silent respect while the rest of us made up our minds.
In deference to Sunny I sent my cup to ceramic Valhalla. Tyllae carefully put her glass on the edge of the table, turned around, and dealt it a buck against the back wall!
“Wheeee!”
Dazzle shrugged and tossed hers over her left shoulder. “Works for me!” She looked expectantly at Star.
“Eynope!” He shook his head. “Wasn't raised to make a mess.”
“Barbarians!” Bors snorted. “Smashing crockery in uncivilized. On Mother Tellar we fight to assuage our grief!”
Merry dropped her mug to the floor and stomped it to bits with her boot! She cracked her knuckles at the truculent Tellarite.
“Well, Mate, if yer offerin'...”
“I wouldn't dream of depriving the Crew of its Communications Officer when all hands are so desperately needed.” Bors said smoothly, pointedly putting his glass back on the table and refilling it. He took a sip and smacked his fuzzy lips!
“Count yourself lucky!”
“Izzat so, Fuzzy-Wuzzy?” As I believe I stated earlier, Merry never did warm up to Bogan. She balled one fist and smacked it into the opposite palm. “Wot say you n' me pop on down to the ruddy gym fer a little bit of playful murder? Eh, eh?” She brandished her fist over Xantippe's head as the Zebra ducked.
“Merry!” I fixed her with a baleful eye. “ If I thought you were serious I'd put you on report. Both of you behave yourselves.. and the point to Bogan!” I nodded to the Tellarite who only chuckled, shaking his shaggy head.
“Point to you, Captain! Truly you could give lessons on Tellar!”
Merry looked at the two of us suspiciously, rubbing her jaw.
“... Oy think Oy'm missin' sumpin' 'ere.”
“Maybe...” I began delicately. “You and Bors could sit down and have a civilized... in the Federation sense of the word... discussion about The Tellarite Way. You might clue him in how things work Down Under.” I treated both of them to a Significant Look. “...I'd rather not make that an order.”
Merry blinked. “Wot? Me and this 'ere choom?” She gave the Tellarite a distasteful look. “Well... since you asked all polite-loik...”
Bors pounced at once!
“Hah! She's afraid of being shown up as a backwards brawling barbarian! I on the other paw, being a sophisticated citizen of the Federation, will heroically rise to the occasion as any good child of Mother Tellar would to educate a member of a less advanced race.” He gave Merry a scornful look under his shaggy eyebrows. “Like those from Down Under A Rock!”
“Merry!” I said sharply as the Comm Officer's face clouded up in a scowl. “ That was a challenge ...are you going to let him play you into giving him a victory or is there another way to make this work? You get this one clue for free. Bors...” I pointed to him. “ You're on your own. Just remember my buttons took more effort to push!”
Rocky toyed with his coffee, giving the pair of them a skeptical look.
“You sure about this, Starry?”
“Oh, I think I can trust them both to imagine the consequences if Security has to be called or if anypony ends up in Sickbay! ...Can't I, Filly and Gentlebeing?”
“Read ya foive-by-foive, Boss-Lady!” Merry gulped and nodded.
“Of course, Captain.” Bors made an expansive gesture to Merry, almost bopping Xantippe on the nose in the process! “We will be the soul of diplomacy and discretion!”
“I never had a doubt. I have the uttermost faith in my Officers and Guests.” I coughed into my fist. “... To make things go smoother I can see my way clear to double the alcohol ration on this one occasion. At the end of the Watch.” I amended.
Merry brightened and Rocky rolled his eyes.
“Oh, Sister Celestia on a slalom...!”
“Can it, Rocky!” I leaned on the table with my fists. “I had it in mind to have a meeting with the Department Heads during breakfast... but things seem to have worked out differently. The best-laid plans of mice and ponies oft go astray...”
“Oft gang awry.” Sunny corrected me quietly, taking a ladylike sip of tea.
“Ahem! Unless there are matters that can't wait until the end of the Watch...?” I scanned the faces around me. Only Xantippe stirred, glancing at Bob. I wondered what was up with that for just an instant before shoveling on.
“... Then lets meet at fourteen hundred twenty hours in the Briefing Room. Before you finish up your meals I have one last item I wanted to bring up.”
I paused, gathering my thoughts.
“You know who and what we're up against. Recent events have given us an edge in our dealings with Discord and the Prism. Gorge, I'll fill you in on the fine details later!” I smiled apologetically at the Lieutenant who looked, frankly, interested.
I returned my gaze to the rest of the table. “Like I said, you all know what we're up against. I just wanted to show you, well, what we've got going for us! You were all here when she came aboard but only a few of us have seen what Tyllae is all about. I think it's time that situation was rectified.” I cleared my throat and stood off to one side, making room.
“Fillies, Gentlecolts, and Interested Beings... I'd like you to meet Tyllae!”
The little Fey gulped the last bit of apple from the core she was working on and launched herself into the air. Her bright button eyes smiled at the assembly before she went into a twirl. In a burst of golden radiance she returned in her full-sized state! The results were all I could hope for!
“Bloody 'Ell!”
“...Fascinating.”
“Whoa.” Star said quietly.
“Fabulam venit ad vitam!” Xantippe whispered, clutching her amulet as Bob came to stand behind her and laid his hooves on her shoulders.
Kyrk, to his credit, kept to his seat though he sat stock-still with his hooves clamped to the side of his chair as he froze and regarded the transformation with wary eyes.
“... I heard of what happened on the Bridge but I had no idea...” He whispered.
Dazzle leaned back and looked around Kyrk.
“Hey, kid!” She waved at the Fey.
Evee leaned forward and goggled across the table!
“Hol-lee Celestia! OK, I know I was only looking out of the corner of my eye but weren't you smaller on the Bridge?”
The Fey's antennae quested tentatively as she huddled as she stood, trying to make herself smaller and shot me a troubled look before nodding to her friends.
“Here where we all first met We greet thee again. ... Though one of thee we hath not met before.” She raised a cautious hoof toward Gorge. The Lieutenant recovered quickly and accepted it gravely, giving it a brief shake before releasing it as the Fey continued.
“We are called Tyllae, friend Kyrk. Starry speaks well of thee and We are pleased to make thy acquaintance.” She smiled shyly. “We have seen thee often as We, in Our less complicated Self, played among the Crew. Thee saw Us not and it would not have been proper... as Our other Self perceived it... to show Ourselves to thee. We would like to make amends for that and beg thy indulgence for Our behavior. We are what We are whatever form We wear but in this form...” She gave him a wink and a smile. “We can behave in a manner more to the understanding of thee and thine! Shall we be friends, Good Mister Kyrk?”
Her eyes strayed to his plate with a wistful glance. “... And, pray, wert thee intending to finish that? We would be more than happy to take it off thy hooves...” She glanced at the now silent throng before adding. “Aye, aye, aye, verily!”
It was the single most reassuring thing she could have said in that moment!
“That's ol' Tilly, all roight!” Merry guffawed, pounding on the table! “Gets a lot more mileage outa her words now, don't she?”
“Feh!” Bors snorted. “Quality at the expense of quantity! She spouts like a Federation Diplomat now!”
Tyllae conjured into being a pale yellow pillow with green trim. She settled her hindquarters onto it delicately before turning toward the truculent Tellarite.
“Hush thyself, Fatty-fatso! Lest We will never tell thee where thy purple chin ribbons are!” She stuck her tongue out at Bors before turning her dark eyes on the Zebra next door. “Fair Xantippe, wouldst thee pass the strawberry jam... and the biscuits?”
It was Bors turn to bang on the table, making the Zebra jump in her seat!
“It was you!” He squealed, clutching the lurid lime-green ribbon that dangled beneath his jaw. “You turned them into something else, didn't you? I can't find them anywhere!”
“We most certainly did not!” Tyllae said patiently. “It is as We said, they are hidden in thine own room. Tell Us once again how much better the eyes and noses of Tellarites are than a Fey's!”
“Bah! You used Magic, admit it!”
Tyllae let him stew for a moment as she used her Magic to open three biscuits just in time to intercept three pink blobs of jam. She rubbed her forehooves together eagerly as she watched the process, pausing just before popping one into her mouth to address Bors.
“Thee knowest The Rule! Ask three times and We will tell thee... and thee shalt admit defeat.” She added sweetly, popping a biscuit into her mouth and chewing blissfully!
She drummed her forehooves on the deck like an oversized filly before turning to Bob... who had left only to return with a broom and a dustpan. As the Tellarite blustered he began sweeping up broken drinkware, muttering to himself and casting dark looks at most of us!
“Oh, We do love thy cooking, Noble Bob! Aye, aye, aye, verily!” She beamed veritable Alicorn Eyes and the Chief! “We regret not telling thee so earlier, but Our vocabulary was limited. Truly thee art a Prince among Ponies!”
Bob, singled out, stopped what he was doing and straightened up. He looked pleased, but a scowl still lingered on his brow.
“Well...” He drawled. “Oy'm glad you loike the tucker. Me and mine do our best and that's a fact. But...” He gave a select few of us a disapproving look. His accent became more pronounced. Bob was more than a little irritated at our behavior! “Woyle Oy 'preciate the sentiment, Oy run a clean shop 'ere! Now, lessen' ya want to be eatin' mealpacks or synthetics at this table fer th' foreseeable future, you'll keep yer smashin' stuff up antics fer Shore Leave! Oy know Oy ain't got the stuff goin' on in my Department loik Engineerin' does but Oy take pride in wot Oy do! 'Nuff said!” He nodded curtly and went back to pointedly sweeping up.
Sunny, as the ringleader, looked embarrassed and scooted her chair back to help with the cleanup. Bob waved her back with a wink meant only for her.
“You just keep yer seat, Missy! Mare in yer condition don't need to be bendin' and fetchin'. Me Mum 'ad six foals in fifteen year and Oy know 'ow it is with 'ormones and suchloik. Oy don't 'old it 'gainst ya! … But the rest of this able-bodied lot of Officers coulda least begun to clean up after themselves!”
“Told you-all so.” Star said.
“Crumbs! Any you lot ever seen them synthetics? Wouldn' 'it a doyin' dingo in the butt with 'em! S'cuse me, Mate!” Merry slid off her seat and began gathering up fragments, giving the Zebra a nudge on the ankles to give her room to work.
“Above the table and now below!” Xantippe complained, moving her hooves. “Why I sit here I do not know!”
“Sorry, Bob!” I reached for the broom. “Let me get that.”
Dazzle didn't waste any words, hastening to gather up her own pile of fragments.
I don't know how much stock the rest of us put in Bob's threat, but Tyllae was genuinely alarmed!
“Pray, friends! Allow Us!”
With that, the pips of her antennae lit up and each and every shard... as well as Sekkack's carefully wrapped bundle... glowed with rosy light as they were wafted up off the floor and out of the dustpan! The dancing fragments whirled through the air and collected into a spinning miniature galaxy of glass and ceramic that twirled every faster within the blazing nimbus as it contracted into itself. As it condensed the whole thing grew brighter and brighter until it went up in a soundless pink explosion!
...In its place, sitting next to the model of the Hermes, sat an elegant crystal vase in the shape of a daffodil bloom containing three perfect daffodils in what I was certain was precisely three inches of water!
We blinked in the wake of the flash. Dazzle winced and grabbed at her horn while Sunny looked pained. Evee was the first to say anything.
“What's up with the lights?” She asked, pointing to the ceiling.
I looked up with the rest. Three light panels ran across the space and the middle one was out.
I heard Jerry sigh.
“Arcane safeties tripped... if we're lucky! One third of the light panels on the ship are permanently enchanted in case of power failure. The excess energy of that spell overwhelmed their enchantment.” He gave the Few a wry smile. “At least it didn't trip the Sensors!”
As if on cue the Bosun's whistle of the paging system sounded from the terminal as Lieutenant Speculum, who had the Bridge on the Third Watch, called!
“Bridge to Captain! We're showing an Arcane Energy spike in the vicinity of the Galley. Seems like an unauthorized Spellcast. Is everything all right down there?”
Right on the heels of that one of Bob's crew, a white and green Unicorn buck in a pale brown jumpsuit named Sugarcane sporting a neat mint-colored mustache, came in rubbing the base of his horn.
“S'cuse me, folks. Hey, Chief! Some of the lights are out in Food Prep and the Mess. We lost some minor foodkeeping spells as well...” He trailed off, eyes locking on the Fey.
“Hey! Is that... Tyllae?”
“Yeah.” Bob grunted. “All apples in 'ere. ...You bang yer head or something?”
“Nothing like that, Chief. Just got a Hell... pardon me, folks... a heck of a headache! Some sort of Magic backlash. Something in Engineering must've blown.” He shot Jerry an apologetic look. “Nothing in our systems, no sir!”
“Wasn't Engineerin'.” Bob nodded significantly toward Tyllae. “Not to worry. 'S all taken care of! You need Sickbay?”
“Nah!” Sugarcane shook his head, not quite able to take his eyes off the Fey. “Only hurt for a little bit. Just wanted to let you know what was happening is all.” He tore his eyes off Tyllae and bobbed his head to the rest of us.
“Sorry to butt in like that, folks, Captain!”
“No problem, Cane.” I assured him. I motioned to Merry to activate the comm button. She thumbed a switch and gave me a thumbs-up.
“Wardroom to Bridge!”
“Aye-aye, Captain!”
“We're all secure down here. Tyllae was demonstrating a spell for us that was stronger than we expected. Any damage anywhere else?”
“Emergency light panels and minor spell disruption in various systems in your location and adjacent rooms above and below...” She paused, consulting the Bridge Engineering Display. “Call it about a fifty foot radius. No critical systems affected.”
“Acknowledged.” I said. “Advise Damage Control. I'll be up directly. Captain out.”
“Aye-aye, Ma'am!”
Merry thumbed off the switch as Sugarcane hustled out.
“That...” I said in the silence afterwards. “Was a mere... what's the word for a minor magic spell?” I asked the room.
“Cantrip.” Sunny supplied. “Like basic telekinesis. A foal's spell, ye ken.”
“Right! You should have seen her on the Werewolf! All by herself she packs more Arcane megawatts than a Starbase's balephaser banks in this form. Between our Technology and her Magic we're hardly defenseless!”
“Yet it was not enough, dear Starry-Eyes.” Tyllae reminded me gently before turning her star-flecked eyes to the others. “The might of the Prism will not be overcome by force.” She stated solemnly. “And ,mad though he is, even Discord recognizes the folly of admitting Starry-Eyes unto the presence of the Prism again.”
“Meaning...” Rocky said. “That he'll stand off and paste us at a distance. That's what I'd do.”
“Discord has yet to display logical behavior. Since he has never done so it is only...” Sekkack glanced around the table and decided to refrain from stereotypical Vulcan behavior. “Reasonable to assume he will not begin doing so at this late date. It may be that he will engineer another confrontation. One that will enable him to show himself in a favorable light to the Prism.” He laid his paws on his knees an looked thoughtful before adding. “Though it is practically impossible to anticipate the actions of an insane being of such power. We also have no idea of the exact nature of the relationship between Discord and the Prism. Clearly it is not merely a tool. The question now becomes is it a pet, a slave, or a colleague?”
“Or a Master.” Tyllae let her next biscuit drift back to her plate. Her eyes sought mine. “Poor Discord even now hath no clue as to that which he brought into being. His madness hath blinded him.”
Merry made a frank rude noise. “Poor Discord moy hoof! Serves the bloody bloighter royt! Oy 'opes he gets gobbled up with lots o' ketchup, eh, eh?” She nudged Xantippe with an elbow. “ 'N Oy 'opes it 'urts, too!”
“He's got it coming, all right.” Rocky stated, sipping his coffee.
“Eeyup.” Star nodded. “Hanging's too good for him.”
Tyllae looked sad and Sekkack seemed to withdraw behind his neutral Vulcan expression, going to wherever Vulcans go when they have to deal with rampantly emotional aliens.
I looked out at the suddenly silent assembly, noting the expressions... or lack thereof... and examined my own feelings.
Discord was evil through and through. Who knows how many people went into the creation of his damned Prism? And what did he do with the doubly-damned thing once he got it? He started ripping up History, turning the Universe into his private playground regardless of the teeming multitudes living in it. Even worse he started taking out his private grief on innocent beings everywhere! Sure he's insane now...privately I wondered if he was ever sane. Can the Spirit of Chaos by its very nature be sane by the standards we measure it? Turn it around, are we sane in the eyes of Discord? Are We or He the norm... and in whose eyes?
The Mare In My Head frowned and reset my board. I shook my mental self. There can be no cohabitation between him and us. We are simply too different to exist side by side, like matter and antimatter. In our Universe... under normal circumstances...the distance between the two on the average keeps things safe. But now the Universe isn't big enough any more. The antimatter is seeking out the matter to the detriment of the latter!
I reached out for my tea, not really wanting a drink but needing to do something.
“As I see it, it's Him or Us.” I said decisively. “There's no middle ground. He's got to die... if he can die.”
The Fey regarded me with real pity in those improbable eyes.
“Oh, Starry! Others, Fey and Pony, hath made that decision of old. Hath thee and thine learned nothing from the Fey?” Alas for the Pony Tree!” She regarded her food sadly and pushed it away with a pink telekinetic glow.
I fixed her with my eyes.
“If you've got a better idea I'd love to hear it. What have I decided that you and your kind haven't before? You told me yourself that at the end of your Great War the Fey wanted him dead.”
The table went silent. More than a few eyebrows were raised. I've never bucked Tyllae on anything important before now. Although I kept my voice level the reaction from the assembly was as if I'd just bawled her out like a new recruit. I had the distinct impression I'd be getting the smallest piece of cake from now on, if the look on Bob's face was any indication!
But if the Fey was insulted or hurt she gave no indication. Still, she didn't meet my gaze. Her gaze was focused on the middle of the table... or on events long, long ago.
“We spoke in sooth, Dear Starry-Eyes. After the fight to contain the Dark Magic we Fey decided the Discord was too dangerous to be allowed free reign across a depleted and ravaged world. In the brief time after the fighting, as the Fey measure Time, he wrought so much mischief and delighted is defiling and undoing what had been brought about with so much caring and labor.” She wrenched her eyes away from the past and regarded me.
“He tormented the Pony Tree, the last surviving Good Work of the Fey!” Her eyes bore into mine trying to make me see! Age-old sadness and frustration sparkled in those enigmatic eyes for a timeless instant before she dropped her gaze to continue more softly.
“ ...That we could not abide. But there were so few of Us left, spent and tired and sore in heart at the scope of the devastation. In the end we crafted a mighty Magic. One that could not be wielded by the Fey! Nay, We who in our Wisdom or Folly almost destroyed all that we loved so much did not wish to wield such Power again!”
She sighed. “In any event, the Power... or the Wisdom... of the Fey was in question. We Fey doubted and were fearful. For all Our Good Intentions We failed time and again. We cultivated other Peoples, planted so many Trees and took them under Our wings and tried to impart what We, in our eagerness to Do Good, called Wisdom. We brought The Magic into the World to work Wonders and set in motion events that nearly ended it. Could we but raise a Power to end Discord We wondered if We could save this last cherished Tree once We had it? With such Power comes the temptation to use it. What harm might We, in our Good Intent, do the Pony Tree? We dared not risk the undoing of all We held most dear to Us.”
She shut her eyes, squeezing out two diamond tears that dropped and splattered like shattered gems, and leaned her head against my upper arm. Her mane sighed forward to cover her face. When the Fey Remember, they remember Hard!
Before I quite realized it, my arm went around her neck and I held her as firmly as I dared. Gorge raised a tentative hoof and, after a little hesitation, laid it on her shoulder. Sunny, less restrained than anypony else, circled me and threw both arms around her and squeezed her to her breast. In an instant Jerry, Evee, Star, and even Rocky were clustered around. Merry clumped around the table and ducked under my arm to add her moral support. I lost sight of Bob in the shuffle but my attention was drawn by the two aliens.
Both had risen, Sekkack peering intently from a stoically impassive Vulcan face with his paws behind his back while Bors fingered his chin locks with one paw while the other fidgeted on the table. His own features were a repeating loop of concern, disbelief, and frustration. He wanted to say something soothing … but the Tellerite language just isn't set up that way! He'd come up with something a moment later and his lips parted to impart it when Xantippe startled us all!
Seeing there was precious little room left on that end of the floor, she stood and leapt up onto the table in one fluid motion. The table was anchored firmly to the floor and was made of thick duraplastic. It didn't even quiver as she nimbly navigated around the dishes in three dancing steps. Again, in one move, she delicately pushed Tyllae's dishes to one side and knelt before the Fey and caressed her mane. It happened so quickly I didn't have time to blink... though I noted that she has a real predilection for sheer lace!
Only Xantippe spoke. In tender reverence she said,
“Do not weep Old One, what is Done is Done. Whatever burden you are heir we do not want you to go back there. Nopony here denies your love, our not-so-little dove!”
Three rhymes to drive the point home. To make the Charm, as Amber Rose would say. How old is the custom? Alicorns and Zebras remember, it would seem. The lesson never traveled the gulf to Equestris. We're too new a branch on The Pony Tree.
Tyllae stirred and lifted her head to give me a grateful look before she nuzzled Sunny and turned to beam at the faces gathered round her. Before she spoke, she delicately kissed the Zebra's palm. Xantippe curled her fingers round it and grasped her amulet, depositing there to keep it safe, no doubt.
“Thee knowest the Magic. Behold, all of thee show it so well! Three branches hath the Pony Tree and three deep roots! Three and three and a mighty trunk combining all three! We Fey couldst not let thy Tree wither and die when it showed such Promise! Aye, aye, aye verily! To that end we brought forth a Spell that could be invoked by Ponies and Ponies alone. A Spell to make manifest the best qualities of thy Blessed Tree and wield the Power that came of its long growth!”
“Celestia and Luna evoked it and turned its Power upon Discord. Yet, in their mercy, they slew him not. We Fey were so proud!” Tyllae drummed her forehooves on the deck and swept all of us Pony with tender looks.
“The trouble with Discord is that naught about him lasts long enough for him to dwell upon it. Being sealed into stone would force him to reflect upon the error of his deeds. That was the intent of Celestia and Luna and the Fey supported their Wisdom... though We hath come to learn firsthoof that becoming stone leaveth much to be desired!” Tyllae shuddered. “Stone is so cold. Aye, aye, aye verily!” She shut her eyes against the memory only to open them an instant later at the sound of Bobs' voice.
“'Ere, you lot! Comin' through! Give the Sheila a little room!”
The crowd parted, some to resume seats that they dragged closer while others simply backed up against the wall. Sunny released the Fey, but kept one hoof resting on her neck right under mine. I stepped aside just far enough to let Bob through.
In one hoof he carried a large bowl, bigger than the ones used for soup. He must have repurposed one of his mixing bowls, bless him! The other hoof held a dinner plate heaped high with coffee cake.
“Just a cuppa. Sounded loike ya could use one.” He drawled in his reedy Horsetralian accent. “Made it sweet loik ya like it. There's a bit o' cake to go with. Least Oy can do from th' sound of it, eh?” He quirked her a crooked grin. “Oy ain't complainin', mind.” He reached up and mussed her mane right between her antennae for just a little before dropping it and favoring the Fey with a warm, private wink. “ Yer awright in our book, you just remember that!”
He coughed and wiped his hooves on his apron before looking around at the rest of us.
“Now, ain't you lot got better things t'do? If ya don't want mealpacks fer lunch ya oughta let us get to cleanin' up. Breakfast's over with!”
I may Captain the Ship but Bob certainly commanded the Galley! Well... we did put him through a lot that morning!
“That's our cue, everypony!” I said in a lighter tone than I actually felt. “Meeting of Department Heads one hour after the end of the Watch. Bring your best ideas!”
I lingered by Tyllae who busied herself telekinetically lifting her tea to her lips and taking a long, bracing sip as the others filed from the room. I had misgivings about her resistance to killing Discord and I wanted a private word with her before leaving. I needed to know if she really did have a better alternative before I committed us.
The Fey smacked her lips and gave herself a delighted wiggle before wafting a choice hunk of cake into position. I saw her look out of the corner of her eyes at me.
“Fear ye not, Starry-Eyes. We will not oppose thy wishes. We only wish that another way kind be found. Killing Discord hath been tried before and it worked ill for the world!We cannot slay him and we cannot let him live, it is a riddle we cannot solve...yet!” She took a big bite and chewed blissfully.
I grimaced. “I'm assuming there's a reason for you just sitting there scarfing cake. Anything you'd care to let me in on? Or is it some Deep Dark Faery Secret From Before The Dawn Of Time?” I made the air quotes.
“Have Faith in thy friends, Starry-Eyes. Failing that, have Faith in the madness of Discord! His schemes are many and over-wrought and he may yet stumble ere the end... whatever that end may be!” She took another bite, nearly finishing the piece she had.
I reached into the pink nimbus and broke a corner off the remains and popped it into my mouth and to Hell with the calories!
“...It's my fault anyway. If I had been more on the ball when I had a chance to grab that damn Prism this would all be over. The Doctor and Ditzy would still be alive and I wouldn't be risking the lives of my Ship and Crew trying to gun down a demented devil with illusions of godhood!”
Tyllae nudged my arm with her muzzle to get my attention.
“Oh, Starry-Eyes! Thee art brave, but unwise! Look what the cursed Prism did to Discord... what hope hath thee against it?”
A line from one of Sunny's book occurred to me and a grunted a bitter laugh.
“I would throw down a Dark Lord with replace him with a Dark Queen?” I paraphrased. “'And all shall love me and despair!' Is that it? Well we'll never know now. It isn't likely I'll get close enough to it to try.” I smacked a fist into a palm. “I was so close! It... saw me! I know it did!”
“Aye verily thee art marked by the Prism. It hath tasted thy blood and knows thee now. ...We can only hope this is a good thing. Be wary, Starry-Eyes, of what thee wish for!”
“Wishing is all we've got now, isn't it?” I asked sourly.
“Despair not, Dear One! Hope sustainith in the face of Darkness.” She said in a voice just for me. “That as well is a custom. One of the eldest, aye, aye, aye verily!”