//------------------------------//
// The Enemy Within - Part 3 
// Story: Song of the Stars 
// by Jacker 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight and her friends stood in awe as the massive ship that was their ride descended to the ground before them, finally resting upon it on a series of long, metal stilts, it kicking up a multitude of dust as it did so. It made a tremendous amount of noise as it landed, though Twilight couldn't exactly tell where that noise was coming from. She worried for a second that this might attract the unwanted attention of the army soldiers stationed around the Dragan ship's crash sight or even the town, but she soon shrugged it off. They would likely be long gone by the time anyone got there. 

Steadily, she and her friends made their way over to the ship, gazing warily at its menacing exterior. Hanging off the sides of it were small, roundish platforms that twin pairs of tubes sat parallel to each other upon. Twilight took a guess that these were some sort of weapons. At the back of it, or what she assumed was the rear, was a rectangular box, its means of propulsion. A shiver went up her spine when she realized it could probably easily burn down her entire treehouse if activated nearby it.

Unsure where to go, she began to make her way around the vessel, looking for any signs of the Terrans or an entry-way. However, it seemed the Terrans didn't believe in the concept of windows, and she couldn't tell what were doors and what were not. After a moment of confusion, a mechanical hum began sounding near the rear of the ship. Curious, Twilight began making her way over to it, her friends following her, them keeping a steady watch on the propulsion systems to make sure that wasn't what the sound was. Luckily, that didn't seem to be the case.

When she came to the end, she saw a ramp descending from the rear belly of the vessel and towards the ground. Five Terrans stood upon it, them gazing as uneasily at her as she was at them. In their hands there appeared to be rectangular devices of some sort with small triggers attached to their backsides. Their fingers seemed to be resting upon them. Every one of them wore odd black clothing that extended around their torsos save for the one in the middle who seemed to be wearing a light gray uniform of some sort that was decorated with a few ribbons and medals.

She took a look at her friends. All save for Fluttershy seemed to be gazing at the Terrans with more curiosity than fear. After a second or so, the Terrans seemed to put on the same expressions, and she could see them move their fingers off the triggers of their strange rectangular devices. She noticed one in particular, who she somehow knew was a female, seemed to be gazing at Spike with an adoring expression on her face. Spike seemed to take notice of this after a moment and blushed.

After a second more, the one wearing the gray uniform broke the silence, clearing his throat slightly before saying, "Um... hello there! Is one of you Twilight Sparkle?" His expression seemed to change to one of slight amusement at saying her name.

"That's me!" Twilight said. "Are you... Captain Julius?"

"That's right," he said.

A beat.

Well, this meeting was turning out to be a bit more awkward than she expected.

"We're here to take you to the Javis system," he said, pausing for a moment afterwards as if not really knowing what else to say. "Are you and your friends ready?"

"Ready as ever!" Pinkie Pie beamed, bouncing over towards a somewhat disturbed Terran. Twilight noticed the four Terrans near him seemed to fidget their rectangular devices slightly, though Julius seemed to remain calm. "Man! Your big metal box thingy is so huge! Like bigger than my house huge!"

The Captain coughed slightly before forcing a smile. "Heh, it's actually one of our smaller ships, not to brag or anything. Not the biggest or best in the fleet but we love her."

"Woah?! You mean you have bigger flying metal boxes?! That is so crazy!"

"Yeah, you should see our dreadnoughts." He winced slightly. "Er you know what that is, right?"

Pinkie shook her head. "Nope, but I can't wait to see one! This is going to be so cool! I bet we'll all be super best friends after a day or so!"

Every single person and pony at the gathering sweat-dropped.

"By the way, these are my friends! That's Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rainbow Dash," she said, pointing to each. Rainbow Dash glancing away from the Terrans when Pinkie's hoof fell upon her.

"Well, howdy there," Applejack said, smiling slightly. "Sorry for keeping so silent, we're just kind of new to.... aliens and all that."

"Don't worry about it, It's a bit... awkward for us too, to be honest. We don't usually deal with aliens either on a personal basis."

Twilight nodded at that. At least the Captain was trying to break the ice. However, she knew the real reason for their awkwardness was that these Terrans were probably used to fighting ponies and not interacting with them. However, she still held hope that a new relationship could bloom from this. The more Terrans they could befriend and show ponies weren't something to be hated, the better. Perhaps word would spread around the human fleet that their enemy wasn't as bad as she suspected they felt they were. She just hoped it wasn't the Terran's nature to hate. She didn't expect to end the war, but she did want to open the Terran's eyes a bit. Unfortunately, the back of her mind that had come forth in anger when she was talking with Ventus still held a great amount of mistrust for the Terrans. Perhaps she should learn a bit more about them first to silence it.... unless the voice was right.

"We have a few supplies we need to bring aboard," Twilight said, telekinetically moving a few wooden crates over towards the edge of the ramp from where she was standing before. "I wasn't sure if we could eat your food, so I packed two week's worth for us. Do you have room?"

After what she suspected was the initial shock of seeing her moving the supplies, the Captain nodded. "We have plenty of room in the cargo hold. However, I'm not sure if its necessary. Us humans eat apples too, you know. I did a little research on Trinity before we came."

"Wah?!" Twilight said, shocked at this. "Wait, are you sure? Maybe we just have the same word for two different fruits." With that, she telekinetically lifted the lid off of one of the nearby wooden crates before lifting one of the many apples within.

Twilight began hovering it over to the Captain, him gazing at it warily as she did. She could see the other human's tiwtch their rectangular devices once again at this. She then realized what exactly they were, remembering the Dragan had similar weapon their Pegasi used. Her eyes widened slightly at this. Those were laser weapons. She shook her head inwardly, trying to put the thought to the back of her mind. No need complaining about it, they were just being cautious. The Captain, in the meantime, looked over the apple briefly before saying, "Yep, that's an apple alright."

"Whelp, shucks," Applejack sighed. "Did all that work gathering em up for nothing."

The Captain lifted one of the five strange tendrils hanging off the end of its hands. She couldn't think of a word for them, though she knew they weren't claws. They seemed somewhat similar, though. The humans seemed to have had something in common with Spike at the very least. "Actually, we are a bit low on food at the moment... if you bring them aboard it could save time in the trip since we won't need to make a supply pickup on the way. I'd understand if you didn't want to, however."

Applejack smiled. "No problem, partner." The Captain lifted an eye at the last word. "We don't mind sharin'. Plus, I bet ya haven't eaten apples as good as we got for a long time," she said, a hint of pride in her voice.

"Can we just get this over with," Rainbow Dash groaned.

"My thoughts exactly," one of the humans holding a laser rifle replied. Julius shot him a look, Twilight doing the same to Rainbow Dash who simply huffed.

"As... delicately as my crewman put it," Julius said. "We are a bit behind schedule. You and your friends are welcome aboard." He then turned to the same Terran female who was glancing at Spike earlier before saying, "Ensign Kelly here will show you where to put your supplies."

"Thank you, Captain. Rarity, would you mind handling them?"

"Of course, darling. You dragged them this far, after all."

At that, Twilight could detect a hint of approval in Julius' eyes. She smiled inwardly at this, the Captain seemed to appreciate generosity despite what species presented it. The little mistrusting voice in the back of her head's words became a little more hollow.

With that, the fashionista lifted the numerous crates, impressing Twilight slightly. She didn't know Rarity had this much raw telekinetic power. 

Ensign Kelly looked towards her at that, gazing at Rarity's magic as curiously as she had with Twilight's. "If you could follow me, miss."

Rarity nodded before walking towards the ramp, slightly nervous but nonetheless but nonetheless confident. With that, Kelly gestured for her to move to a certain area in the cargo hold. "Thank you, miss... Kelly is it?" 

"That's right. And you're.... Rarity?"

Rarity nodded before following the Ensign into the hold. Twilight could see a number of large crates within it lined up in rows. On the cieling was a massive three-thronged claw attached to a wire of some sort. Its size suggested it was for moving said crates. 

"I do say, you are wearing a most interesting outfit," Rarity said. "Would you mind telling me a bit about it?"

The crewman glanced down at her own outfit before looking towards Rarity, "Oh this? It's just standard Imperial medium armor."

"But it looks so comfortable and light! How could that ever be armor..." With that, Rarity's voice began to trail off into the distance as they made their way to the back of the hold.

The Captain turned back towards Twilight and the rest of her friends, him having been gazing at Rarity's ability curiously, or what she hoped was curiosity and not some sort of tactical analysis. She held hope the Terrans wouldn't take advantage of the opportunity to learn the capabilities of their enemies, though she supposed it couldn't be helped. It might be an automatic sort of thing to them at this point, though she was no soldier.

"If the rest of you could follow Ensign Felix, he'll show you to your quarters." 

"Oooh! Oooh! Will mine have a window?! I totally want to see what space looks like!" Pinkie Pie beamed.

"Heh, I just realized that. I'm going to get to see what my planet looks like, aren't I?" Applejack said, smiling. 

"Yeah, the first time you seen it's the best," Felix said, a nostalgic smile crossing his lips. "We actually have holo-windows though, not real ones. They're a structural weakness."

"Holo-wah?"

"Heh, you'll see."

It suddenly hit Twilight as well. They were going to be the first Equestrians in space. She'd finally be able to see the universe in all its glory, though she only wished they weren't going to be so confined to one route. She wanted her own ship, her own freedom to go where no pony had gone before.

With that, Twilight and her six remaining friends began walking up the ramp and into the cargo hold, following Ensign Felix as the other two Terrans beside Captain Julius gazed at them warily. She could see Rainbow Dash doing the same. Before they made it too far, however, Julius caught Twilight's attention.

"Actually, Twilight. I'd like to speak with you before you get settled in; about the mission in particular."

Twilight halted at that, turning towards him. "No problem, Captain." She then turned back towards the rest of her friends. "I guess I'll catch up with you guys later?"

"Sure, Twi. We can check the ship out together," Applejack said. She simpered slightly, turning back towards Julius, "If that's alright?"

The Captain shrugged. "I don't see why not," he said, gaining a few wary looks from his company.

"Well, alright then," Applejack said, smiling.

"See you, Twilight!" Spike called, and with that they began to follow Ensign Felix once again. 

"If you'll follow me, Twilight," Julius said, gesturing for Twilight to do so. Twilight nodded and began to follow him to door on a perpendicular side of the cargo to where her friends had exited. Along the way, Twilight noticed a few curiosities within the massive room, such as wheeled, somewhat rectangular objects in the back. They were massive looking, twice the size of a horse-carriage. On the tops of them were another disk-shaped object with two tubes similar to the weapons she had seen attached to the Terran starship, she supposed they shared the same purpose.

When they reached the door, Twilight let out a small gasp as it divided into two sections, them retracting into the walls. She turned towards the Captain curiously. 

"Automatic doors," he said. "You'll get used to them."

Twilight nodded slowly at this. The wonders of this ship were truly taking her in awe. She had been told the Terrans were technologically advanced, and examining the alien weapons from the battle had brought her a great deal of understanding, but seeing an entire ship was something else. It amazed her that something that large could make it into the air, let alone travel two thousand times the speed of light. Her kind may have had magic, but this technological innovation more than made up for it.

With that, they made their way into the hallway. She found it odd how high their ceilings were. It made sense though, the Terrans were simply taller creatures while she was about half their height, but it was still going to take a bit of getting used to. Along the ceiling stretched a series of wires and pipes unceremoniously with no particular pattern. Obviously this ship wasn't built with aesthetics in mind.

"So, I'm told you know your own ruler, personally?" he asked, trying to make small talk. "Her prized student."

Twilight nodded, trying her best to hold back a prideful smile. "Well, prized is a matter of opinion, but I am her student."

The Captain shot her an approving smile at this before gazing ahead of him. "Must be quite an honor." He then looked towards Twilight. "So your rulers... are sisters with our own?"

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, pretty strange isn't it?"

"Heh, no more strange than everything else about our Emperors. Don't get me wrong though, I really appreciate their dedication to us. I've gotta admit, sometimes I think we're not even worth the effort, like we're below them."

Twilight sighed. "I feel that way too sometimes. However, Princess Celestia does make every effort to be close to her subjects. She's very approachable."

The Captain nodded, contemplating something for a second before saying, "I wish ours were the same way, at least the one who handles most of the politics. Emperor Ventus, who you've met I believe can be pretty open, though Ignis, his brother, on the other hand..."

A moment of silence followed as they walked on, the Captain seemingly lost in deep thought. They passed by a pair of two humans dressed similarly to the Captain, though their uniforms seemed a bit less elegant. She saw one of them shoot Twilight a suspicious glance as he passed, though the other seemed to hold a curious, perhaps even bemused expression on his face. 

"My apologies, I was just thinking about something," the Captain finally said as they turned into a hall perpendicular to the one they moved down.

"No problem, Captain. That happens to me all the time too," Twilight said. It was odd, really. She never expected to make any sort of connection to an alien so soon. Then again, this was an odd circumstance. The Terrans and Equestrians were already connected together in more ways than one. 

Finally, about halfway down the hall the Captain halted before turning towards a double-door nearby. It shot open the same way as the one in the cargo hold revealing nothing but darkness. However, after a second a light of some sort of the ceiling blared to life, revealing what was inside. She noticed a bed, strangely reminiscent to the ones the ponies used, as well as a small couch nearby facing a thin black-screened rectangle on the wall. A few paintings lined the walls, various pictures of what she assumed were Terran starships on them as well as a painting of what she assumed was a space battle, various geometric shapes trading laser-fire in the void above some distant world. However, the most personal thing in the room was on the far wall near a 'window' that showed the Everfree forest outside. It was a portrait of a blond, female Terran, her hair flowing elegantly from her scalp with a beautiful, blue star shining in the background. 

She saw the Captain glance it briefly as they entered, not really making any particular expression as he did so. However, she noticed something in his eyes as he did so, a small hint of pain. Perhaps she'd learn more about it later.

"Door close," he said, and the door complied with a wooshing sound. "Sorry for the personal setting, but privacy isn't usually something needed on this ship."

"It's alright, Captain. What do we need to discuss?"

The Captain paused for a second, a bemused smile coming upon his face. Twilight glanced at him curiously. "Sorry, I just never thought I'd be speaking with an equine..." He winced slightly. "Er pony one on one like this."

"It's alright. I sort of feel the same way. My planet has many different creatures on it, but speaking with someone from a different planet... I just have so many questions to ask."

"If there's anything you need to know, I'll help as much as I can," he offered. 

Twilight shook her head at that, "Thank you, but I don't want to take up your time. You must be oftly busy.  Being the Captain of an entire ship must be a tall order."

He tilted his head slightly to the side and back. "It can be, but there's nothing I'd rather do than that." He paused for a second before saying, "Anyway, what I brought you here for was to explain the... position of my crew."

"You think there's going to be tension between us?" 

The Captain sighed, turning towards the window showing Everfree. "Many of my crew are open to the possibilities of interacting with a people that we haven't had the opportunity to do so with for a long time," he said.

"What about the others, though?"

The Captain then turned back towards Twilight, looking away from her slightly. "Others have... experienced many losses in the past. This war has been hard on all of us," He took a short glance at the portrait of the human female. "It can do things to the mind. Hatreds flare up and never are extinguished." He then paused again. "What I'm trying to say is this: this trip isn't going to be easy for many. Try to stay clear of those who don't seem like they're willing to... smooth relations." He then looked directly into Twilight's eyes. "I can tell you're an intellectual, Twilight. I'm not one myself, but I know them. I know you're going to try to to try to change opinions on this ship by simply talking with people, trying to show you're not as bad as they perceive the Dragan to be." He paused again before sighing slightly. "Not everyone aboard is going to be open to change or even interaction. Many will be the way they are until they die."

Twilight looked away from him slightly at this. The Captain had read her like a book. However, she refused to believe his words. Any pony could change, their minds were never set in stone no matter what they had seen in the past. The same had to be true with the Terrans. They just seemed so... similar.

"Thank you for the advice, Captain," she said, not gazing directly into his eyes. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

The Captain nodded, though Twilight could tell he wasn't fully convinced. "Now, do you have any questions about the mission?"

"Princess Celestia filled me in on the details. We're to free the Dragan from the Wraith before you interrogate him." She paused for a second. "I do want to know what will become of the Dragan."

The Captain glanced away from her again. "He will be interrogated for whatever information he has about his own people's fleet positions and other tactical information. He will then be given a choice to return to Equestria with you or stay in one of our prisons."

Twilight's eyes widened at this. She fully didn't expect that the Terrans would be so willing to release him. The suspicious voice was beginning to fade.

"You weren't expecting that, were you?"

Again, the Captain read her like a book.

Twilight shook her head, not knowing what to say except, "No, I wasn't."

The Captain smiled slightly. "Despite what I said earlier, I'm sure there's much the two of us at least can learn about each other."