//------------------------------//
// Questions Answered 
// Story: Cosmic Lotus 
// by Goldfur 
//------------------------------//

Starry and Wandering were immensely relieved when their comms had reconnected once the Pegasus dropped out of warp.  In discussions between Twilight Sparkle and Commander Silpurr, it was speculated that the unique, immense strains on space-time within the wormhole had been the cause of the damage to their original comms, while dropping out of normal space into hyperspace merely caused them to lose their connection.  Thus they were able to talk with Equus to request the specialist help that they required.  They had also brought along a mana beacon for just this contingency, and it was not long before Destined Path appeared in the alicorns’ stateroom.

“Hello!  I didn’t expect to come visiting again so soon,” Destined greeted them.

“Did we get you at a bad time, Des?” Starry asked.

“Nah.  In fact, anything to do with the Cosmic Lotus expedition has priority at the moment.  Big things in the works!  So what’s up?”

The couple described their recent encounter with the Swarm ships along with visual aids of recordings of the event.

“As you saw, the Swarm did not hesitate to fire upon us although we took no offensive action against them.  Bearing in mind that we were obviously part of the enemy fleet, it still shows a lack of reluctance to attack on sight,” Starry said.  “I tried to disable all the ships that I fired upon, but as Boyce told us, they all self-destructed within a couple of minutes rather than be captured.  We desperately need to learn more about those ships and their crew, but we only have a tiny window of opportunity to do it.”

“Ah – and that’s why you needed me in particular.  Hmm – tricky, but doable.  I can slow down the passage of time for me and a couple of others while we explore the Swarm ship.”

“Only a couple?  I hoped that we could take a whole team.”

“Sorry, Starry, but it’s going to quite a strain with just three people.  I’m a lot stronger now than when I first started doing this kind of thing, but it still takes a humongous amount of power to do it.  The more people in the time-field, the greater the power draw.  I can take Wandering plus one of the Federation people, I assume.”

“Huh?  But I wanted to go.  And I’m the science expert of us two,” Starry objected.

“Yes, and you’re also the stronger when it comes to defensive shields, as you pointed out yourself.  I don’t want to be left unprotected while we’re in the Swarm ship, and we may need every second that you can buy us if the Swarm catches on to what is happening.”

Starry looked crestfallen.  “Outsmarted myself, didn’t I?”

Wandering put a wing around her consolingly.  “Don’t worry, Star – I’ll record everything for you to view later.”

“I suppose that will have to do,” Starry sulked.

“Let’s go see Boyce and tell him what we have in mind,” Wandering said.

The three of them headed to Boyce’s ready room.  After he had formally greeted Destined, he called in Rosepetal and they discussed the plans that had been made.  Boyce nodded thoughtfully.

“Yes, that should work.  I’ll be your third team member.”

Rosepetal looked shocked.  “You can’t do that, sir!  You have a responsibility to the Pegasus.”

The human gave his First Officer and wife a grin.  “You know it won’t be the first time that I haven’t followed standard operating procedure.  Besides, I have the engineering qualifications to be useful.”

“And you know I hate it when you put yourself at risk like that.”

“My unorthodoxy is why we ended up as mates and I earned my rank.  I consider the risk to be small enough to justify going along.”

“Star Fleet Command won’t like it,” the Caitian tried one last objection.

“Just like all the other times, and yet here I am.  Don’t worry, Rose – we’ll be careful.”

Rosepetal sighed.  “I can’t stop you, I suppose, but if anything happens to you, I won’t ever let you forget about it!”

“That’s my Firstwife!  Now, please organize another raid with Lieutenant Karnok while I dig out my personal life-support suit and run diagnostics on it to make sure it’s in full working order.  It’s been a while since I’ve needed it.”

“That reminds me,” Destined said.  “I need to get fitted for one also.  While I am capable of protecting myself, I want to be able to concentrate on my time spell and let the suit do the work.  If you don’t need me for anything more right this moment, I’ll get that underway.”

When there were no objections, Destined lit up his horn and teleported home.

Boyce shook his head in wonder.  “Teleporting a couple of thousand light-years and stopping time means little to him.  I’m so in awe of Destined Path.”

“Don’t be,” Wandering said.  “He hates that.  It’s his special talent, and he trains it constantly, but he wants to be known as just a pony like the rest of us.”

“But he’s also a Prince of Equestria; he can’t be just another pony.”

“That is what makes him a great third member of the ruling triequirate.  Destined was barely respected as a Prince when he started royal duties long ago, but it is his very closeness to the ordinary pony that balances out the trio.  He might not have the thousands of years of Auntie Celestia, nor Mama Luna’s broad experience, but he lends a touch that neither of the others can.  And he does that by staying humble, a hallmark of House Path.  He does not want anyone to think of him as a mighty alicorn Prince, but rather as a pony who has the means and the willingness to help a good cause.”

“I see.  Would Destined care to have dinner with us after the mission?”

Wandering smiled.  “I’m certain that he’d like that.”





When Destined returned with his brand-new Cosmic Lotus-style spacesuit, Boyce informed Commodore Harkness of their intentions, and then he and the three ponies headed to the launch bay.  Karnok was a bit more formal with her salute and treatment of her passengers this time, but otherwise, it was much the same as when Starry and Wandering first went out to encounter the Swarm.  Karnok took them to the edge of the battlefront rather than into the melee as previously, and the Commodore’s fighters temporarily opened a gap in their defenses.  As expected, a couple of Swarm ships quickly took advantage of this, and they rapidly closed upon the Defender ship.

Starry teleported outside the ship as she had done previously, and let the Swarm ships fire their mana weapons.  Once again, she absorbed the raw mana and returned it in the form of concise fire designed to disable both ships.  She chose different targets for each though, just in case it made a difference, but each ship was left with a gaping hole in their hulls.

“We’re up!” Wandering announced and wasted no time teleporting himself, Boyce, and Destined to the edge of the hole in one of the ships, allowing the older alicorn to conserve his magic.  Destined cast his spell to encompass the three of them, slowing down the passage of time to a crawl for the Away Team.  Wandering then used telekinesis to move them within the hull.  One thing was fairly obvious from the start.

“This looks organic,” Destined said.

“That matches all our most detailed observations from the outside,” Boyce replied.  “However, I wonder how many guessed that it would be like this inside?”

The passageways and the rooms were all rounded and unlevel, seemingly flowing randomly from one point to another.  The frost-covered walls were definitely not metallic, but neither did they look like common artificial materials such as plastic, and doors were conspicuously absent.  Dim light seemed to radiate from nearly every surface, alleviating the worry that they might have difficulty seeing with just their spacesuit lights.  All this was quickly forgotten when they came upon the first of what they presumed was one of the Swarm aliens.

The creature was definitely insect-like in appearance, with a three-segmented torso plus a head.  Two pairs of legs supported the rear, largest segment; another pair of limbs with pincers on the ends were attached to the next segment, and the final one had another pair of what were clearly manipulators with a cluster of fine digits on the ends.  The torso and head were not chitinous but appeared to be covered with coarse hair, and there was no sign of wings.  The creature had two pairs of eyes – not compound as they may have expected, but not quite the same as the ponies’ or the human’s either.  One pair faced forward, while the other two were on the sides of the head just below two feathery antennae.  Mandibles surrounded its mouth and there was no sign of a nose.

“We need that specimen!” Boyce said urgently.

Wandering took the cue to teleport it to a specially prepared holding cell on the Defender.  While it was not known if it would survive being exposed to vacuum, if it could, they wanted it alive for study and perhaps even find a way to communicate with its species.  An analysis of the air vented from other Swarm ships indicated that a standard oxygen-nitrogen mix was suitable, as was expected due to the way they took over planets with similar atmospheres.

After that, they encountered several more in what they supposed was a control center, although the organic look to it made it hard to be conclusive despite the electronic apparatus that seemed out of place.  That was not their main goal, however.  After teleporting a couple more specimens, they continued to penetrate further into the ship in the direction of their best guess as to the location of the mana weapon.  The lack of straight corridors hampered this effort, and Wandering began to worry if they were going to have enough opportunity to do so.  Destined was tight-lipped, but the strain of maintaining the temporal freeze was beginning to show.  Nevertheless, they pushed on and eventually came to the first door they had found on the ship so far.  It was more like a hatch with a single, leathery hinge, and it was closed.  Boyce tried to pull it open, but it did not budge.

Destined spoke up.  “Don’t try to move it.  It’s outside my time field and any force that you apply to it would seem to take forever to affect it.”

“I can do a blind teleport to the other side,” suggested Wandering.

“You know that’s risky,” Destined replied.

“You may be the expert, bro, but I’m no slouch.  I’ll feel the space before materializing.”

“If Boyce is willing to take the risk, I say do it.”

Boyce nodded.  “This is too important to not take a calculated risk.  Go ahead.”

Wandering teleported them all with more care than he could ever recall using before.  He heaved a mental sigh of relief when his senses told him that there was sufficient room for all of them beyond the door, plus one other detail – there was air in there!  They materialized in front of what appeared to be pens for some kind of furry creature that resembled a capybara – if capybaras had tentacles around their muzzles.  There were dozens of them crowded together along most of the walls, but there were also two more of the Swarm creatures.  Because they had not been exposed to the vacuum, they almost certainly were completely unharmed, and Wandering teleported them both to another holding cell.  He also grabbed a couple of the cages and sent them to a separate cell.  He would have taken more, but all the teleporting that he had done so far was beginning to take its toll on him, and he needed some reserve to take them all back to the Defender.

“I’ve been looking around for some kind of weapons system, but all I can see is this tube,” Boyce said.  He took many photos of it from several angles, wishing that his scanners would work through the temporal field.

Wandering took a closer look at the composition of the tube.  It had a sheen that looked vaguely familiar, and he reached out with his magic, only to have the spell fizzle upon contact.  “Nullstone!” he gasped.

“What’s nullstone?” Boyce asked.

“It’s a naturally occurring material that neutralizes magic,” Wandering explained.  “We use it to control criminals, especially unicorns, to stop them from using their magic to escape custody.”

“What has that got to do with these animals though?”

Wandering took a good look at the inside of the tube, comparing it to the penned beasts.  Then he saw the two rods that protruded from the hinged cover of the tube.  A horrible thought occurred to him.  “Sweet Mama Luna, no!”

“What’s wrong, Wander?” Destined asked.

“I’m almost certain I know what this is for and what the weapon is.”

“Then can we go back now?  I’m reaching my limit.”

“Let me grab a couple more of these creatures, and we can go,” Wandering replied.  He teleported two more cages to the same cell as the first two and then nodded to Destined who dropped the temporal freeze.

In the brief moment before Wandering teleported the team away, their ears were assaulted by the keening wail of the remaining terrified animals.





“Take us back to the Pegasus,” Boyce ordered as soon as they materialized on the bridge of the Defender.

“Aye, sir,” Karnok replied, nodding to the human at the helm.  “How went the mission?”

“Amazingly successful.  We learned an enormous amount, and we have captured several specimens.”

“That I want to see!”

His words were highlighted by the self-destruction of the Swarm ship that the away team had just vacated.

Wandering had not waited for the explosion nor for the exchange to complete.  He immediately hastened to the holding cells, but his interest was not in the Swarm.  He headed straight for caged animals that he had rescued and found them wailing in their cell.  It was dying down even as he scanned them thoroughly, something that he could not do properly while within Destined’s time-field.  His initial guesses were confirmed, and tears of rage flowed down his cheek.

“Wander – what’s wrong?” Starry asked as the others joined him at the cells.

Wandering lifted his hoof to point at the animals.  “There’s your mystery weapon, Boyce.”

The human gave him a puzzled look.  “What do you mean?”

“Those creatures are virtually bursting with mana energy.  I have never seen so much concentrated mana outside of Celestia and Luna.”

“Are you saying that they’re magical creatures like us ponies?” Destined asked.

“No, more like the changelings.  While they thrive on emotional energy, these seem to use raw mana instead.  Don’t ask me how – that’s just what I got from scanning them.”

“So, how does that translate into them being used as weapons?” Boyce asked.

“Those rods that I pointed out on the tube hatch?  They’re electrodes.  Give these mana-beasts a big enough shock and all that mana gets released in one burst, disintegrating the animal. The nullstone cylinder can resist the raw energy and confines the mana so that it shoots out the muzzle.  That’s why the Swarm ships always had to be pointing at their target – the tubes are fixed.  That’s why they don’t have magic weapons instead of raw mana – they only understood that they could get a near-unstoppable weapon by murdering these beasts one by one as living ammunition!” Wandering ended with a sob.

Starry gaped in shock.  “How many thousands of them have died just to kill so many others?”

“Not thousands, Starry,” Boyce said soberly.  “Millions, judging by our own experiences and what we are guessing was done to other races before the Swarm reached Federation territory.”

“They must breed those mana-beasts intensively just for this purpose.  I wonder how they discovered them?” Starry mused.

“Probably by accident while conquering a planet.  I’m guessing that these aren’t the only creatures that they’ve enslaved for their purposes.”

“Not that I’m arguing with you, but what leads you to that conclusion, Boyce?” Starry asked.

“Their ship.  Did you notice the organic nature of it?  And how the electronics and other equipment seemed out of place with the rest of the vessel?  I believe that their ships are living creatures too.”

Wandering gasped.  “That explains the odd readings that I was getting inside the ship.  I put it down to distortions due to Destined’s time-field.  It still seems incredible though – a creature that that can live in outer space!”

Boyce nodded.  “I’d be skeptical too, except that I know of others.”

All the ponies looked at the human in surprise.  “You do?” Starry asked.

“Yes – they’re called Stariionae, and they put our best starships to shame with regards to speed and maneuverability.  They spend virtually all their lives in space, only coming to planets to get raw materials for food.  There’s also a predator species that prey on them.  So it doesn’t surprise me that there are other species.  It helps answer another question too.”

“Which one?” Destined asked curiously.

“Why did their FTL speeds never improve?  It must be their ships’ natural speed limit.  The Swarm probably has no idea of warp theory; they just know that these creatures can go faster than light, making interstellar flight practical.  For all we know, the Swarm may have been confined to their planet of origin until one or more of these living spaceships landed to take on raw material and they were captured somehow.”

Destined nodded.  “And you never could tell what they were because the Swarm always annihilated their disabled ships.  I’m guessing that all they have to do is electrocute all their mana-beasts in their cages to release enough energy to completely destroy their vessels.  They seem to be a paranoid and/or xenophobic species.”

“Speaking of which, let’s get a closer look at the enemy.”  Boyce turned to one of the other cells which contained the first Swarm creatures that they had grabbed.  They were just as immobile as when they were taken.

Wandering scanned them and said, “They’re dead.  No big surprise.  Let’s check the others – they should still be alive.”

The Swarm creatures in the second cell were certainly alive.  They were skittering around the cell, apparently looking for a way out, then stopping to touch antennae briefly before repeating the sequence again and again.

Wandering scanned them like the others, a look of puzzlement growing on his face.  “They seem to be behaving more like ants than intelligent individuals.  They appear to be operating with default behaviors rather than anything showing sapience.”

“Maybe they’re a collective intelligence?” Starry suggested.  “It might take an entire crew, or perhaps a coordinating mind like changeling queens to act intelligently.”

“So – not only do they look insect-like but they also behave like them?  That sounds plausible to me,” Boyce said.  “Now that we have some actual prisoners to examine, I’m sure the experts will discover a lot more about our enemy.  Meanwhile, we have made some amazing progress in our fight for survival against the Swarm.  Star Fleet Command is going to love hearing what we have discovered, and your contributions are going to go a long way towards opening full relations between Equus and the Stellar Federation.”

Wandering sighed.  “I just hope that we can find some way to rescue the mana-beasts from their enslavement.”





Wandering was a little depressed as the Pegasus started its journey back to the Chakastra System.  On the one hoof, the mission had been an outstanding success.  On the other though, it had revealed a far more sickening situation than he had anticipated.  Both Starry and Destined had been a bit more stoic about it and he wished that he could be more like them.  However, his ability to scan living things and imitate them came with a burden – a deep empathy for them.  He could no more ignore the mana-beasts plight than he could a pony’s.  He took some consolation in the fact that the four animals that he had rescued had all calmed down and seemed relatively happy in their new circumstances.  Boyce had promised that the Pegasus’ biologists would figure out how to feed them and keep them happy and healthy, so that was one burden off his mind.  Ironically, he felt no such empathy for the Swarm.  He speculated that the same near-mindlessness of their captives was sparing him that unwanted feeling.

“A Fedcred for your thoughts,” came a familiar voice from beside him.

Wandering looked from the cold cup of coffee that he had been nursing for the past hour to see a Rakshani gazing at him.  “Nothing worth talking about, Lieutenant,” he replied listlessly.

“That’s not the way I hear it,” Baneth said.  “You’ve been in a funk for a day now, but you should be proud of what you have achieved.”

The alicorn snorted in derision.  “I’ve uncovered just how much more horrific this Swarm invasion is in actuality.  All I can think of is how many beings, both sapient and otherwise, have succumbed to these invaders.”

The Rakshani’s lip curled in scorn.  “How about all the lives that you will save because you gave us the knowledge to fight them?  How many colonists from threatened planets?  How many other Federation home-worlds?  What about you starting us on the path of liberating those mana-beasts of yours?  You will be of no use to them if all you can do is mope over what you cannot change.  Start thinking positively again!”

“Easier said than done, Baneth.”

“Then let me help you take your mind off all that.  You owe me a bout, Ambassador Wandering Path.  Or are you going to find another excuse to weasel out of it?”

Wandering stared at the stern Rakshani for a long moment before a half-smile grew on his face.  “You’re right – I do owe you a bout.  Alright – let’s do this.”  Anything was better than thinking about the Swarm right now.  He got up from the table and headed out of the mess hall in the company of the smug Security Officer.

When they reached a small gymnasium which was set up with mats on the floor, Wandering removed his uniform and set it safely aside.  Baneth followed suit, although she did not get completely naked like the alicorn.  A sports top and briefs left her modest but free to move without confining clothing.  She positioned herself at one side of the gym and Wandering followed suit on the opposite side.

“Before we begin our bout, I would like to revisit your unfair advantage,” Baneth said.  “Would you care to levitate me like you did when we first met?”

“As you wish.”  Wandering lit up his horn and a glow surrounded the Rakshani, lifting her off the floor.

Baneth gave him a predatory smile.  “Let me show you why it is unwise to reveal an advantage to a Rakshani before you actually need to fight one.”  She abruptly contorted in mid-air and her feet shot out, striking the wall and sending her hurtling towards the surprised pony.  She was abruptly halted again by his telekinesis almost within striking distance.  She grinned toothily.  “Just imagine if I had done that at half the distance.”

“I would have stopped you much sooner, but your point is made.”

“Good.  You may put me down now.”

Wandering simply stopped levitating her, but the Rakshani was not caught by surprise.  She made a controlled landing on the mat, coiled to spring at him.  Her grin had not faded, and she gave him a wink.  He grinned back.

“Shall we start getting serious?” Wandering asked.

Baneth stood up.  “Yes, let’s do that.  No telekinesis though.”

“Agreed – no telekinesis.”

Baneth returned to the other side of the room and turned to face the pony.  She turned and gave her opponent a final assessment.  Quadrupedal – fast at running and turning but lacking in hands to grasp.  Flexibility greater than other four-legged creatures, but nevertheless a limiting factor.  Wings capable of flight – must watch for an aerial attack.  Horn – banned from levitation but still a dangerous natural weapon.  Unknown but presumably high level of skill in unarmed fighting – cautiously feel him out.

Meanwhile, Wandering was doing much the same as the Rakshani.  Tall, well-muscled physique – strong and with a long reach.  Very flexible and very fast reactions – don’t presume she can’t attack in a manner that he could not.  Long tail – tripping hazard, might be used to sweep his legs.  Vicious-looking fangs – might not be used, but nevertheless should not be ignored.  Skill level – presumably excellent.  He was in for quite a fight.  Hopefully, the decade spent on the Cosmic Lotus had not dulled his abilities.  Not that Eon had let any House Path warrior-scholar get soft.  He was as ready as he would ever be.  “Go!” he said.

They approached each other cautiously, watching how each other moved.  Then the alicorn spread his wings and charged.  Baneth leapt, aiming high in anticipation of an attack from above, only to see Wandering go into a flat dive that took him under her. In the fraction of a second that it had taken her to land and twist around to face him, Wandering had planted his forehooves into the mat and pivoted around to kick with his hind legs to send him hurtling at her again.  Baneth threw herself backwards, bringing her feet up to push him up and over her.  She felt the air ruffle her fur as his hoof barely missed her skull, but otherwise, he was thrown out of range.  They both sprang upright immediately and faced each other once more.

Baneth grinned.  “Nice feint.”

“Thank you.  I didn’t think that you would overlook my ability to fly, but as you must be unused to opponents who can do that, you might overreact.”

“Indeed.  One less thing that you can surprise me with though.”

Wandering chuckled.  “I suppose not.  Round two?”

“Go!”

This time both were a lot more cautious and they circled each other for a long moment before Baneth made the first move.  She spun around, whipping her long, thick tail around, the tip aimed at the pony’s head.  Wandering raised his forelegs in a blocking maneuver, only to discover that her tail was much denser than he had assessed.  There was much less fur and a great deal more bone and muscle, and he was knocked off-balance.  Baneth did not have it all her own way, though.  Her tail stung as it hit the braced forelegs which were far more immovable than they had a right to be.  Obviously, there was something she did not know about the pony physique.  Her spin was partially arrested because of this, and thus she was not in the proper position quickly enough to take advantage of her opponent’s momentary stumble.  He recovered soon enough to block her follow-up strike, and they both leapt back out of reach.

Panting slightly, Wandering asked, “What’s in that tail of yours?”

“Non-Rakshani tend to think it’s fluffy like a Terran cat’s, but it’s actually a powerful weapon.  So why do I feel like I hit a brick wall with it?”

“Earth pony stamina.  If I had been standing on the ground of a planet, you would not have been able to budge me.”

“Nice to know.  Are you starting to feel better now?”

Wandering was surprised to realize that he was, and said so.

“Good.  Ready for round three?”

“Whenever you are.”

“Go!” Baneth cried, immediately leaping at Wandering, hoping to catch him off guard.  Again she spun around, sending her tail at him.  He blocked again, prepared for its extra mass this time, but it was closer than the previous time, and instead, it whipped around his limbs, trapping them.  She dived away from him, rolling on the mat and yanking her tail, pulling the pony off of his hooves and sending him flying towards the wall.  He braked with his wings at the last moment, but still landed heavily.  He rolled onto his hooves to find himself facing Baneth’s fist a centimeter away.  She extended a finger and touched his nose.

“First strike to me,” she said.

“Conceded,” Wandering admitted as he straightened up.  “So – your tail is prehensile also?”

“It is,” she replied as she made her way over to her side of the room again.

“Nice to know,” the alicorn echoed Baneth’s earlier comment.  “Round four?”

“Go!”

This time Wandering leapt off the mark, jinking to the right slightly.  Baneth adjusted her weight to intercept him, only to see his left wing snap out.  She was unable to dodge in time, and the wing’s leading edge caught her on the temple.  Slightly stunned, she tipped over to her side and found a hoof planted on her chest.  Another came down to tap her on the muzzle.

“Second strike to me,” Wandering said.

“Conceded,” Baneth said, and the pony let her get up.  She took a couple of deep breaths and shook her head to clear her mind.  By the time Wandering was ready at his end of the room.

“Wings can do far more than allow me to fly,” the alicorn informed her.

“Foolish of me not to realize that sooner,” the Rakshani confessed.

“Ready for another round?”

“Yes, but let’s make this the final one.  No pulling punches this time.  Whoever incapacitates the other wins the match.”

“Agreed.”

“Go!”

They approached each other cautiously, both watching carefully for an opening but wary of a feint.  Baneth made the first move, leaping at the alicorn, but tucking into a forward roll.  This brought her tail whipping up and over her, bearing down on Wandering.  He realized that if he just dodged it, Baneth could barrel into him, so he reached up and hooked a hoof around it and yanked.  Surprised by how well the pony’s hoof could grasp her tail, her roll was disrupted, and she had to hastily twist around to avoid a vicious stomp, pulling her tail free at the same time.  Springing back out of the way, she set herself at the ready again.  She recognized that there was yet another thing to learn about how ponies could fight, and she wondered if there was anything left for her to surprise him with.  Coming to the conclusion that she did not, she decided to make the most of her speed and agility.

Wandering made the next move, however.  With a snap of his wings, he leapt into the air, flipped, and then sprang off the ceiling, hurtling at the Rakshani. Baneth twisted aside and threw her arm around Wandering’s withers and heaved backwards, throwing the pony over her.  The stallion’s wings were still unfurled though, and he corrected his flight to bring his hooves to the wall, springing off them in another attack. This time Baneth jumped straight up into the air and Wandering passed under her, his horn barely missing her left leg.  He swung around just as she landed, sweeping with his wing, but she let her momentum take her to the floor and let the appendage pass over her before grabbing it, pulling him off balance as she swept his legs with her tail.  As he fell over, she tried to hold onto the wing but it was too strong for her, and she was left holding a few red feathers.  They both recovered at the same time, leaving no advantage to either.  The two pulled apart, panting but grinning with the enjoyment of the bout.

As they circled each other once more, Baneth said, “Only one other on this ship has been able to beat me in unarmed combat since I took command of Bravo Team.  I don’t intend there to be a second.”

“And I said that I have an unfair advantage,” Wandering reminded her.

“You promised no telekinesis,” she retorted.

“Who said that was my only advantage?” he replied as he turned his back to her.

Sensing his vulnerability, she leapt.  Aware of the possibility of him bucking, she went high, intending to dodge that and land on his back… why were his back hooves glowing?

BOOM!

Baneth was slammed by something invisible that hurled her into the wall.  Dazed and confused, she failed to stop Wandering from pouncing on her and throwing his hoof at her jaw.  A second blow was halted as the alicorn realized that she was unable to fight back.

“Do you concede?” he asked, wary of a possible negative answer.

“I… concede,” she gasped.

Wandering got off Baneth and helped her to her feet with his telekinesis.

“What was that?” she asked, rapidly pulling herself together again.

“Papa Path named it the Thunderhoof technique.  We use our earth pony magic to focus our power in our hind hooves and release it as a concussion wave.  I actually toned it down because full strength can literally smash you.”

“Ha!  I bet that isn’t even the end of the surprises you could pull.”

“Not quite, no.  A word of warning though – don’t try challenging Eon to a serious bout.  He can wipe the floor with me; you wouldn’t last more than a few seconds.”

“I think I’ll spare my pride.  Meanwhile, you have bested me.  I sorely underestimated you and your skills.  Leaving aside the magic, your physical abilities are remarkable.  I find that… very desirable in a male.”

Wandering recalled the warning that Boyce had given him, and he realized what might be coming.  “In the interest of interstellar harmony and perfect understanding, may I ask your intentions?”

“I would be honored if you would bed me tonight, mighty warrior.”

There it was – plain and unambiguous, and he had yet to decide how he would respond to the request.  “Can I get back to you on that?” he asked.





“So that’s how it went,” Wandering explained.

“And did you tell her ‘yes’?” Starry asked.

“I said that I would get back to her with an answer and she agreed.  I wanted to ask how you felt now that it was more than a hypothetical situation.”

“Boyce told you that you were free to refuse without insulting her, so why do you feel you need me to decide?”

“Starry – I love you.  We have been mates for a decade, and I have enjoyed our relationship greatly.  I don’t ever want to do anything to spoil that.”

Starry sighed and leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the lips.  “Wander, you are everything that I ever wanted in a mate, and you are very sweet.  However, we are both alicorns and immortal.  If nothing kills us, we will live for thousands of years.  We can and will get bored with each other over that time if we are strictly monogamous.  Don’t turn down something new and exciting just because you think I’ll disapprove.  Take up Baneth’s offer and enjoy the experience.  I know that afterwards, you will still love me while she will probably be only a happy memory.”

“Have you ever considered taking another lover?” Wandering asked.

“Like you, none have appealed to me so far, and I have turned down all approaches.  One day I won’t, but only if I really like them and it won’t hurt you.”

“So you’re giving your permission for me to spend the night with her?”

“No – I’m telling you to buck the hay out of her and tell me all the juicy details in the morning.”

“Now that’s the kinky mare I know and love!”





“So?” Starry asked him the next morning at breakfast.

“So I’m not talking about it until we can chat in private in our room,” Wandering replied.

“Oh, come on!  Just one morsel?”  She gave him her most pitiful begging look.

Wandering sighed and said softly so that only she could hear, “Baneth informed me that apparently pony stallions are better endowed than Rakshani males.”

“Ooh!  Are you sure?”

“We measured it and tried it for fit several times,” he replied with a smirk.

Everyone in the mess hall was left wondering why the pony ambassador was rolling on the floor with laughter while her mate was rolling his eyes while smiling in chagrin.




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