After arriving at the portal, Commander Radiance Point finished his interviews with the apprentices before assigning them to their respective departments: Radiant Steel and Pholus to Engineering, Gradient Test and Star Watcher to Sciences, Twinkle and Gravy Train to Hydroponics, Wanderer and Xandros to Control, Triska and Furox to Ship’s Services, and Zorya and Hexanerax to Medical, where they will receive more intense instruction in their fields of choice. Radiance and Sunrise will remain their technical supervisors but would not be responsible for their direct educations.
This action freed up Radiance to do two things that he wanted to do, they being assisting Princess Twilight with her studies of the runic magics of the portal, and spending some time each day teaching his grandson, Radiant Steel, the ways of Engineering with actual models rather than theoretical discussions. “You don’t learn a ship by sitting in an office and studying plans, you get out there and get a hooves-on approach to FEELING how the ship operates,” he advised Steel before going on to discuss situations where his feelings proved vital in repairing the ship. Thanks to his eagerness to both teach and learn, he stayed awake for almost forty hours before being persuaded to get some sleep, said persuasion being administered by a sedative placed in his coffee mug.
“Does he do this often?” Radiant Steel asked Apastron as he carried his grandfather back to his quarters in his glow.
“More often than I like to see. He is a supremely dedicated individual who needs to be protected from himself on occasion,” Apastron replied, opening the door to Point’s cabin.
“Supremely dedicated is an understatement. I would call him almost obsessive in his drive to understand both the portal and the warp drives, as well as caring for the ship and its crew,” Steel said as he put his grandfather on the bed.
Apastron snorted. “I was trying to be polite, Steel. Better than calling him a self-destructive lunatic who would stop at nothing to get a job done, no matter what the cost.”
Steel thought as the pair exited the cabin. “You’re right, Apastron. That’s one thing I have to learn, finding the right words for the situation.”
“Point has the manners of a saint in public,” Apastron told the apprentice, “but never treats himself with the same respect.”
“I trust you will warn me if I start showing some of those traits.”
“I will, because Point asked me to before you came aboard. Hopefully, you’re not as hard-headed as he is.”
“I’m not. My mother and sisters had a way to get me out of obsessive tendencies. Let me tell you, getting whacked with a rubber hose by an earth pony does get your attention,” Steel said quietly.
“Whacked with a rubber hose. I’m going to have to remember that.”
“It does not leave a mark, but it sure does get your attention. Earth ponies are strong.”
Once Radiance woke up from his nap, he found that the Lotus had been placed in Chakonan orbit, near a large radio telescope array. The apprentices were in phase two of their training, learning about their respective departmental duties. This phase was to last for four weeks, with Radiance and Sunrise overseeing their training in large, but leaving details to the respective departments. One thing that Radiance emphasized with the individual departmental trainers is that the apprentices were to be trained on Federation equipment and methods as well as Equian styles, to help speed integration of the two technologies. Younger, more flexible minds and all that.
Radiance was not idle during those four weeks. He did have a department to run, students to teach, and a grandson to bond with, but what gave him the most pleasure was assisting Princess Twilight in the study of the runes on the portal moonlets and runic magic in general. His study of the runes gave Radiance some ideas on how to defend against the mana discharges of the Swarm ships, but a lot of testing was needed before his ideas were to be deemed successful.
He thought that since the beams fired by the Swarm ships were raw mana, why not take that mana and use it to power a shield to defend against the disruptive effects of the raw mana? It took fourteen days, twenty-two attempts, thirty-one pots of strong coffee, and three times getting sedated by either the Princess, his sister, or Apastron before he was ready to release his idea for trial. A rune to receive the raw mana, another rune to absorb and store the energy, and a third to release it in the form of a defensive shield around the small craft.
Once that was done, Radiance was ready for some shore leave. Ready without much coercion, it must be noted. Ever since the Lotus’ arrival, requests had been received for him to come down and lecture again at Dewclaw University. He accepted the offer, with a couple of added stipulations, they being Sunrise being asked to lecture as well, and his apprentices be given a chance to study with the Dewclaw student body for four weeks.
Permission for the away group was swiftly granted by all sides, and within two days, Radiance, Sunrise, and the apprentices were getting off the train at the Dewclaw University station. Reporting in, the group were assigned rooms in a dormitory, two to a room, even Radiance and Sunrise, who admitted they preferred a small room to a guest house.
The assignment Radiance gave the apprentices was simple. “Go out there and learn about the Federation, its species, and their technology. Remember, you are at all times ambassadors to Chakona from Equus. Keep your comm units close and your good will on high. We are among friends we barely know yet. So, go make friends. We will meet as a group once a week, on Sixthday in mid-afternoon for a meeting, then break for the weekend.
“We have a wonderful opportunity here. Let’s make the best of it.”
Both Radiance and Sunrise gave two lectures a day, on various topics, to very attentive audiences. The apprentices audited two to three classes a day in topics they were interested in, as well as two general technology classes a week, to learn how to operate, repair and comprehend Federation equipment. Evenings were set aside for socializing, to get to know the various Federation species and to allow the Federation to become familiar with the Equians. The pegasi and griffons demonstrated flying, to the enjoyment of the students, who could not fully picture how a pegasus or griffon could fly.
On the weekends, Radiance and Sunrise went to Marpletown, to their campsite, to relax. The first trip, they took Radiant Steel with them, so he could do something he had never done before, namely camping. Steel admitted that he enjoyed the experience, and even taught his grandfather something about cooking over an open fire. Not so much how to cook but spicing the meal while cooking. Steel did find he liked swimming, something he had seldom done before, because it was generally too cool in Vanhoover to do much swimming. Other apprentices decided to come on other weekends, just to see what it was like. The final weekend, all the Equians camped out, to have a fling together before reporting back to the Lotus.
At the University, the days were occupied with classwork, while the nights were taken with social appearances. The crew were approached by many curious students, almost in awe of the ponies’ presence. That awe was swiftly dealt with, replaced by friendship.
Each of the apprentices made many friends with the student body, as well as the faculty. Radiance was sought out by Tormyn, the skunktaur who asked a question on his first lecture. “Poppy would like it if you went to Amistad with me one evening, so he can show you his ship, as well as get a chance to show you some of what civil technology is like,” hy offered at a meeting.
“When would be a good time for it, Tormyn? I intend to spend my weekends camping with my sister.”
“Any evening would be all right, just let me know the day before, so I can have him ready for you.”
Radiance pondered his schedule for the next week. “How about Fifthday, after classes let out for me at 14 hours? We could be at Amistad by fifteen fifty.”
“That can work, Professor. I’ll call him tonight, and I will meet you at Berdoovia Station at fourteen twenty-five on Fifthday.”
“Done and done, Tormyn.”
That Fifthday, Radiance was waiting at the station for Tormyn right at fourteen twenty-five. The train ride was spent discussing not schoolwork, but music, Tormyn’s family having musical tendencies. The music Tormyn knew was different than what Radiance knew, and he found it quite lively indeed.
The two were met by what Radiance had to say was the biggest human he had ever seen, easily over two meters tall, with silver and copper hair and very wide around the waistline. “Commander Radiance, I’m Third Officer Julius Crusoe, late of a merchant space line, long since retired,” the big human said, getting down on one knee to bump fist to hoof with the surprised pony.
Radiance quickly regained his composure and hoofbumped the big fellow back. “I definitely am looking forward to seeing your ship. Tormyn says it’s a bit unusual.”
“Just a bit,” Julius said with a smile. “It was my home for two decades while I was a location scout and surveyor for a private company. I had lots of time to tinker.”
“I look forward to seeing it. How do we get there?”
Julius led Tormyn and Radiance to the spaceport shuttle train and paid for their fares before boarding. “This way, then at the spaceport, I have a PTV waiting to take us to the Nannewitt. It’s a nice little ship.”
“I certainly hope it is big enough for you.” Radiance said.
“It is, Commander. Big enough for me and my family, two mates and four cubs.”
At the spaceport, Julius took Radiance and Tormyn to the ship. It was small, about forty meters in length, twenty in width, and ten in height, with Nannewitt II boldly painted on the sides and rear section. “The first one became a little small when we decided to vacation together, so I traded the old one in for this one. I’ve done the same mods on this one,” Julius said as the front cargo bay hatch opened.
“Big enough for us, for sure. How far can you go in this ship?” Radiance asked.
“I can go from here to Earth (or, as he said the word, Oith) in eight days at cruising speed, five if we hurried. The engines will need retuning after doing that, though,” Julius explained.
“I’m impressed,” Radiance said. “It takes the Lotus a good thirty plus to get there. Just shows what you can do when a ship is designed from the keel up with warp drive.”
“Got that right, Commander. Let’s get to Engineering and I’ll talk you through the warp setup.”
The human and pony, plus skunktaur, spent hours walking through the systems, Radiance getting to see a warp drive that was built from a different viewpoint than he had learned so far. He asked a lot of questions and got answers he could understand. After four hours, Radiance and Tormyn had to hurry back to Berdoovia for the next day’s classes, but not without sincere promises to remain in contact with each other, Julius being self-employed as a systems diagnostic and repair technician.
On the train back to Dewclaw, Radiance asked Tormyn, “So, he’s not your biological father, right?”
“That is correct, Professor. Humans cannot cross breed with chakats or skunktaurs, so Poppy joined a three-way relationship with my biological parents long before they mated to produce me. He’s done a good job raising me, my sisters and brother. I love him a lot. It’s because of him I am pursuing an engineering degree, as is my older sister Coppertop,” Tormyn explained.
“I can’t say I have met her. The name is not familiar.”
“That’s because shi is currently up on Chakona Gateway, learning paws-on after graduating last semester. Shi’s a chakat.”
Radiance looked thoughtful for a moment or so. “I have an idea I’ll have to bounce off Captain Path. I successfully lobbied for the apprenticeship program on Equus, so why not take on a couple of apprentices from Chakona to learn Equestrian ways?” he mused.
“If it can be arranged, may I ask that Coppertop and I be considered? You are a fascinating teacher. I would enjoy the chance for more one-on-one learning,” Tormyn requested.
“I will definitely put that forward. If your family agrees, then I will accept you and your sister as apprentices. Of course, we must go through the Captain and the Princess first, to see if it can be done. What they have in mind, I do not know. Despite my stripes and rank, I stay out of the upper-level planning. I only accepted the position so Commander Bluequill could focus more on being Captain Path’s Executive officer. He had both jobs before. Now, Engineering is mine, the ship is his.”
“Here’s hoping, Professor. I’m sure Coppertop would like you as a teacher as much as I do.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Tormyn. I just hope I’m worthy of it.”
Back at the university, Radiance sent his request up to the ship for consideration before prepping his next day’s lesson plans. He only got an hour’s sleep that night, but he felt it was worth the effort. Three cups of strong coffee at breakfast, plus a mug after, helped him through the day. That day being Sixthday, they were going camping that night, returning on Firstday in time for classes. This weekend, Steel was going to stay at the university, but Gradient Test, Wanderer, Triska and Hexanerax showed interest, so the six spent two days at the campsite, relaxing from the week’s learning. Radiance and Sunrise showed their students how to camp, fish and cook in the wild, learning some tips from Triska, who was raised in Griffonia, and knew how to live in the wild.
When Radiance started teaching classes in elementary magic, he received an unusual response from it. The student body liked the lessons, even though none of them can do anything with magic, they found the subject fascinating. Elementary magic led to how magitek worked, which led to observations about the similarity between spells printed in crystals and circuit chips and programming, which led to a week of lively discussions, culminating in a visit from Princess Twilight Sparkle on Fifthday to join in the discussion. The morning lecture ran twice as long as scheduled, but neither the students of Dewclaw University nor the faculty objected.
After the lecture, Princess Twilight met with Radiance and Sunrise in their office at the University. “I originally thought that coming here to lecture about magic would be a mistake, but I’m glad I was proven wrong. That discussion was one of the best I have had in a long time!” The Princess gushed, showing her enthusiasm.
“I’m glad you liked it, Twilight.” Radiance said, using her name in the privacy of the office. “I figured that while I may have a ThD, you are the Princess of Magic, and who better to discuss the topic than you? Of course, we had to prep the student body beforehand, so they could participate in the way you just witnessed.”
“Students who are eager to learn something new to them always makes me happy. Thank you for giving me a chance to see them and to teach them.”
“I, er, we owe you, Twilight. It makes us feel good knowing that one of your plans worked out right,” Radiance said. “How goes the rune studies?”
“Techbird and Galena made some discoveries on Earth. They asked for Cosmic Dawn to come and help them, so we sent her. Still waiting on good answers from them, while here, I’m making slow progress on understanding what the portal moonlet runes mean. I’m glad Admiral Kline provided me with high-resolution holography of each moonlet, on both sides, so I can study them in detail,” Twilight explained with a smile.
“What about my idea for using runes to power shields for the Federation?” Radiance asked.
“It’s not a bad idea, but it’s not exactly working the way you proposed it, and we’ve been studying the portal runes so much, I don’t want to divert the effort from there to finding out why your plan won’t quite work,” Twilight said apologetically. “I’m still impressed that you even tried.”
“I’ll look into it when I get the chance. At least my other ideas are pleasing you.”
“Good thing you’re happy, Princess.” Sunrise said, she not being as comfortable around Twilight as her brother is. “Any word about Brother’s idea about taking on a couple of students from here?”
“Oh, yes! We’re taking some other observers from Chakona when the Lotus next pulls out, so you can bring two students with you from here.”
“I know exactly which two to bring, Twilight,” Radiance said. “One I know, the other is hys sister. Both grew up around starships, and I think they will help bridge the gap between what we know and what the Federation knows, so we can eventually find the best of both and put them together.”
“You have my backing and my blessing, Radiance. Or, should I say, Professor Pucker Butt?” Twilight said with a smile.
Radiance’s face twisted into a grimace. “Just where did you hear that, Twilight?”
Twilight giggled some. “From more than one of your students, when they were standing watch in Sciences.”
Radiance glared at his sister, who was trying to hide a snigger behind a wing. “I’m going to get you for that, sister dear.”
“Promises, promises, big brother.”
Third week weekend had half of his apprentices camping with them, plus Tormyn and Coppertop. Coppertop came down from Chakona Orbital to learn about the Lotus before reporting aboard. While shi knew about the ship in general, shi had not looked at it in detail. Both Tormyn and Coppertop planned during the fourth week to depart aboard the Lotus for an indefinite time, Tormyn receiving assurances from the school administration that he can credit time aboard the Lotus toward his academic time.
The fourth week at the university was just as busy as the other three, if not more so. It seemed like by the time Fifthday rolled around, Radiance and Sunrise had met just about everyone at the university, students and faculty. The faculty members were intrigued by how Radiance kept discipline in his classes, with inattentive students getting bonked by the small balls. After the third ball, the red one, the student getting bonked was unceremoniously removed from the class. Fortunately, that only happened once. Unfortunately for the faculty, few of them had the telekinetic capability or skill to wield the balls without missing their intended target.
The evenings of the last week were nearly all solid parties, receptions, and meetings. Fortunately, Radiance never needed much sleep, and the apprentices had long since learned to get sleep when they could. The goodwill and friendships gathered that last week more than made up for the lack of sleep.
After four weeks groundside, the Lotus’ apprentices plus two more got a ride back to the ship, this time using a shuttle that Coppertop was able to wheedle out of a friend on Chakona Gateway. Once aboard the Lotus, the apprentices were given the rest of the day off to get reacquainted with the ship, while Radiance and Sunrise gave a guided tour to Coppertop and Tormyn before showing them to their cabin, one originally designed for griffons, because a chakat and a skunktaur sharing a cabin designed for ponies would be a bit cramped. The two were suitably amazed by what they found aboard the Lotus and were eager to get started on their learning.
“Chill down, you two!” Sunrise laughed, holding up a wing. “First, you two have to do a couple of hours of book learning and classroom training, so you will know what to do in case of emergency, and more importantly, what NOT to do. Let’s get to the classroom!”
In the classroom, Sunrise ran the visiting siblings through several simulations and audio programs, followed by measurements for ship uniforms. “The uniforms not only provide protection, they can also be used as space suits by themselves. Once you have them, I will then run you through the learning program on how to use them safely.”
Coppertop raised a hand. When Sunrise nodded to her, shi asked, “How can we work magical devices when we do not have any magic to use on them?”
Sunrise smiled at the question. “But you do have some magic. Not much, but you do. Every living being has some magic in them. Remember the language lesson Big Brother gave you on Chakona, so you could speak Equish up here?”
“Not only do I remember the lesson, I remember the headache I got from it,” Coppertop said drily, Tormyn nodding in agreement. Hy also got a bit of a headache from the lesson.
“In order for the spell to work on you, it has to have something to latch on to. Your innate magic is what it hangs on to. Otherwise, the spell would not have affected you, and you would not be able to understand the other crew up here.” Sunrise explained.
“So, we will be able to use magitek items?” Tormyn asked.
“That, I honestly do not know for sure. We’re going to have to try it and see. While we show you the magitek, you two can, in exchange, teach us about your magicless technology. Big Brother is quite exceptional when it comes to learning, but he can be an absolute idiot at times when it comes to commonplace stuff,” Sunrise said before continuing. “We will teach you what we accept as commonplace, and we hope you can do the same for us on your equipment.”
“Commander Point said something similar earlier, when he told the class what to do at the university, right?” Tormyn asked.
“That’s right. How did you find out about it?”
“I asked Radiant Steel. He said something similar while we were at a party together, and I asked him where he came up with the idea.”
“Big Brother does have good ideas, sometimes. Other times he goes off on wild tangents and won’t come back until he is given a big reality bitchslap.”
“Sounds like Poppy at times,” Coppertop said. “If he gets too wrapped up in his work, my mother has to go into the system and give him a kick.”
“Into the system? What do you mean?” Sunrise asked, obviously confused.
“Poppy is a technomancer,” Tormyn told his teacher. “He is able to mentally enter a computer system and control it, spoof it, or make virtual repairs to it. Firesox has the same talent, but all shi can do is enter a system and ‘feel’ where the issues are.”
“Does Brother know of this?” Sunrise asked, getting more dumbfounded by the second.
“Yes, he does,” Tormyn said. “Poppy demonstrated, Commander Point’s horn lit up, and the two were in a trance for thirty-seven minutes. After that, the two were discussing system architectures at a level I’m not yet ready for.”
Sunrise shook her head hard, her white mane flying every which way. “He could have said something to me about that…” she snorted.
“Are you going to sell tickets?” Coppertop asked. “This should be interesting.”
“Not a bad idea. I’ll tell CONN to let you see the recording of our discussion.” Sunrise said almost in a snarl. “You two are on your own until 0700, here in the classroom. I have to go have a talk with my brother.”
As Sunrise stormed out of the classroom, the siblings looked at each other. “This is going to be interesting,” Coppertop told hyr brother.
“She is either going to kick the piss out of him, or burn his ears with a shouting match,” Tormyn said to hyr sister.
“Shall we go see?”
“We can try,” Tormyn said as the two left the classroom together.
Radiance was in his office in Engineering, catching up on departmental paperwork. Fornax did a good enough job of it, but Radiance still had to read it all. Sunrise stormed into the office, closing the door behind her. “Just who is this fellow that is the parent of our Chakonan apprentices?” she snapped out.
“Julius? He’s a cyber technomancer. A seldom known talent over here, and one he puts to good use as a systems technician,” Radiance said calmly, trying to settle his sister’s temper.
“You could have told me about it, you…” she snapped before letting fly with a stream of foul language that made Radiance’s mane blow back some.
“He asked me not to, sister. One thing he does not want right now is to be examined by a whole lot of mages to see how his talent works. He has too much work backed up to take the time off,” Radiance explained. “Please do not tell anypony else about it, okay? He likes his privacy.”
“Still does not change the fact that you are…” as she let fly with a different stream of foul language. “Don’t you trust me to keep a secret?”
“You know now, and I know you well enough that when you are asked not to discuss something, you won’t. I’m asking now.”
“You’re… DESPICABLE!” Sunrise hissed before heading out of the office, destination the Park.
“Love you too, sister,” Radiance said quietly before the door closed.
Coppertop and Tormyn were outside Engineering when Sunrise stormed past, her wings semi-raised. “Oh, she’s pissed, all right.” Tormyn muttered.
“I can definitely feel it too,” Coppertop said quietly. “The Professor does not feel upset, but she is.”
“Shall we explore the galley?” Tormyn asked. “I’m hungry!”
“Taking after Poppy again?”
Radiance, in the privacy of his office, set up watch schedules for the apprentices, allowing lots of time for the younger ones to spread out among the ship’s crew to pass on what they learned while at the University. Coppertop and Tormyn also had schedules made up for them, but in their cases, it would be pairing up with Engineering and Technical staff to demonstrate some more Federation technology, spreading their knowledge among the crew. “This should do it,” he said to himself as he inputted the last of his notes into CONN. “Let’s just hope this idea works out well.”
He made sure his coffeepot was turned off before exiting his office. When he did, something large and gooey fell from the ceiling onto his head, dripping off the sides and his nose, plastering down his mane. Cautiously, he licked at a drip falling off his nose. “Raspberry. Only one pony would dare give me the raspberry… SUNRISE!” he bellowed, tearing out of Engineering to go after his sister.
Sunrise and Apastron came out from the Decel station, where they had been hiding. “Thanks for the help, Appie.”
“No problem. He needs some taking down, does he not?”
The apprentices stood their watches and attended their classes, slowly becoming more proficient at their duties, even standing some lower-tier watches on their own, once they qualified. Coppertop and Tormyn ran through their knowledge of the Federation systems they could access aboard and started learning on the Lotus’ own systems. Coppertop found herself adept at handling Control, while Tormyn was more comfortable in Engineering, but both learned at a rate that gave the Equian cadets a challenge when it came to grade and progress.
Radiant Steel sought out his grandfather after a month or so back on the Lotus. “Can we chat for a while?” he asked, catching Radiance in his office.
“What’s on your mind, Steel?”
“I just have some questions I would like answered. Like, is it normally this boring on board? We’ve been here at Chakona for three months. All we’ve been doing is training, drilling, and lectures.”
Radiance sighed. “Steel, be glad you weren’t on the flight out. We cruised for over TEN YEARS, watch after watch, not having much to do other than keeping the ship running. Don’t look at it as boring, look at it as making yourself, and the ship, ready to handle ANYTHING that gets thrown at you.
“When we passed through the portal the first time, nearly destroying the ship, do you think we had a procedure to follow? Did we have time to figure out what needed doing? We just had to buckle down and get to work so we could survive long enough to think our way out.
“That’s how you should view this time. Not as boring, but as learning. To make your brains and horn function together as one unit, to get matters repaired so you could have the time to look back and think about what you just did.”
Steel thought about what his grandfather had said for about half a minute before speaking. “Put that way, I can see what you mean. Looks like the trip out was not as exciting as the news made it out to be.”
“Keeping public interest is one thing. Actually getting the job done is another. Hope you’re not too disappointed,” Radiance said.
“Oh, I’m not, Grandfather. Going on this trip has taught me a lot and shown me some things that few ponies have seen before. I’m glad you were able to bring me along.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Still bored?”
“Some, but that is my problem to overcome. Thank you for the talk, Grandfather,” Steel said soberly.
“Any time you need to, you can ask me or your Aunt Sunrise for advice. Part of being a family is looking out for each other.”
Steel smiles some. “And part of being aboard here is that us being family has to be behind closed doors. In public, I’m just another student.”
Radiance smiled back. “Knew I had a smart grandson.”
Work and training continued unabated, broken by occasional trips groundside, for weeks. During that time, Captain Path had connected with a local teleporter and was out on some sort of Grand Tour of the Federation, doing something Radiance didn’t stick his nose into. Something about an early warning system, he had heard. The peace and quiet lasted exactly seventy-one days before the sewage met the screws and spread itself all over Tartarus, something the denizens of that realm barely noticed.
Radiance called his students to an assembly in the Classroom. “Gentlebeings, now is the time we earn our bits. Or credits, as our friends would say. The Swarm has been spotted, in an unexpected direction.
“Each of us may be called upon to do what is required to stop the Swarm, up to and including our very lives, if necessary. When I say ‘each of us’, that includes myself and my sister as well. There is NO way we are going to allow the Swarm to harm ANY of our friends! Is that right?” Radiance asked with a near shout.
“THAT’S RIGHT!” everyone in the classroom shouted, Coppertop and Tormyn both feeling the determination of not only Radiance and Sunrise, but ALL the Equians there, to keep the Swarm at bay.
Coppertop whispered to Tormyn, “Looks like friendship truly is magic here.”
Tormyn whispered back amongst the whistling and hoof stomping. “Took you this long to notice?”