//------------------------------//
// Chapter 34 
// Story: Return to Sender 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

Felicity was far from pleased to be going back into a tank, particularly one that was constructed from salvaged material and scrap. There was a single comforting factor involved in this particular transition: this machine was built only to interface with her mind, it didn't put her into stasis. With enough reflex control, she could probably remove it.

There were two cells—one for her, and one for Delta. Both were made of scraps of packing material for blankets, and so much repurposed hardware she wouldn’t be surprised if it just caught fire as soon as she switched it on.

"I will be out here watching you," Manny said, as she stopped beside one machine. She nudged it with a hoof, and nothing exploded. "I will also join you. I do not require an interface like this in order to project alongside you."

"You're doing so well with the whole... person thing," Felicity said. "But what happens when this is over? Will you just go back to being part of Harmony?"

"No," he said. He smiled as he said it, though his tone remained flat. "I have distinction of experience, and now I have a name given to me by those who are less complex. I am an individual." He pawed at the ground, and for a moment she could almost imagine he was just a little unicorn colt. 

"Wait, was that why you made me..." she trailed off. "I don't mind. You put in a lot of work, you deserve to be a person. It's gonna make things weird if I get another implant someday."

He chuckled. "Not for a long time. I may not be Harmony's whole self, but I believe I know how it will react. This misadventure proves that it is far too lax with its minds in colonization. As others expand through the stars, it will need to send a proper version of itself. The Harmony is so wise and powerful... it would not have been tricked as we were."

"I am... confused," said the earth pony beside her. She was still standing, though every so often she would flick her tail at nothing, or nearly fall over. She didn't do a good job staying focused on one thing either, and slowly rotated in place to see as much of the world as she could. It might've been adorable if Felicity didn't need her to focus so badly. "You told me we would be speaking with my kind on the Starseed, yes? We are going to... make peace? With predators..."

She said the words as though they were in a language she didn't know. Technically, they might be. "Yes," Felicity said. She guided her a few steps over, to the first open pod. There wasn't much inside, just a place to lay down, and a few exposed interface-pads meant to touch against the skin. There weren't even goggles to cover up the eyes. "That's what we're doing. Climb in here."

"I do not understand." Delta did climb in, standing in the center atop the makeshift blankets and insulation. "Is this some... travel mechanism?"

"Yes," Felicity answered, climbing into the pod beside hers. She didn't lay down yet, but at least being there should hopefully help the other creature to relax. "We don't have enough time to wait for a rescue ship to fly us up. Instead, we're going to..."

She trailed off, considering. How could she possibly explain a concept like this to a species that barely even understood spaceflight? "This machine will give us vision of another place. We are going to meet with the leaders of my people. When we lay down, we will be able to talk to them, and explain how to negotiate the..." total surrender of your planet.

"And convince them to stop fighting," she finished lamely. 

"That is... strange," Delta said. "Why don't we just swim there?"

"Because there has been a lot of fighting up in the sky," she explained. "If we don't make them stop, more growing things are going to wither and more of my kind will die."

"That is a lot of... pressure." She paced around in a slow circle, without leaving the inside of the tube. Her tail whipped about nervously, ears flat against her head. But whether it meant the same thing, Felicity didn't know. "I'm just a Grovetender, Tea. I do not know how to... I don't even think there is a role in all of Effervescent Meridian for something like this!"

Felicity reached over with one wing, embracing her. Not very tightly, since she had to lean out some distance first. It was the closest thing to a familiar gesture the plant was likely to experience. "I know, Delta," she said. "But that's what friends are for. We can do things together we never thought we could handle alone. Both of us want peace, even if we come from different cultures. Together, we can help them see."

Delta didn't know how to reciprocate, but at least she didn't shove Felicity away. She seemed to enjoy the contact, the closest thing to a proper plant hug they could do without tentacles.

"I hope so," Delta said. "I can barely... what do you say, walk? I can barely walk."

"You won't have to worry about that where we're going." Felicity finally let go. She dropped down slowly, lowering her head into place. She didn't actually set it there, waiting for Delta to go first.

"You will look like what you imagine you should. But every creature will know your language, and you will know theirs. It's a... mental space, more than a physical one. You'll see."

And indeed, they both did. Felicity finally settled into place. She barely had time to close her eyes before she felt the pressure against her head, like an imminent headache. There was a flash of light, and suddenly she was elsewhere.

Felicity landed on all four hooves, though this time the body waiting for her was much more familiar. She stood at the proper height, which meant that she was no longer crammed into a much-too-small body. Her wings opened to their full size, and a glance up at her forehead told her that her horn had returned as well.

She took a moment to adjust her uniform, settling the sleeves into place. Not that there was anything wrong with the uniform she imagined—it was just good to have it back.

She stood on the arrival platform, styled as though she had just stepped outside of a fancy elevator. The air was thick with incense, the room arranged with carefully-sculpted trees and fine paintings on the walls.

There was also a plant in the room with her, though calling it that alone would have made it sound far too normal. Instead, it resembled what Felicity had seen of the plants on the surface, with a body that was almost a gel giving shape to the leafy tentacles within.

Instead of a humanoid shape, as the plants had grown into on their home planet, this one was shaped into the outline of a pony. But only loosely—every few seconds her outline would fuzz, and it seemed to cost her visible effort to stay together. 

There was no water to serve as a medium between them—Felicity should not have been able to smell her emotions so clearly. She could anyway. There was a powerful fear in the air, one she would have recognized from her own experience even if the computer wasn't doing all the translating for her.

"It's okay, Delta," she said, holding out one hoof towards the strange creature. "Remember what I said? This body isn't real, it's only in your... imagination. You haven't been changed again."

Anyone else would not have been able to read the subtle shifting in Delta's leaves, the way some parts of her body contracted away from Felicity as she said it. Though direction itself wasn't what mattered, it was the way some leaves opened, and others closed. Saying that brought no comfort to Delta, no matter how much she intended it to. 

Right, you probably wanted your body back. You weren't trying to be a pony.

"Where is this?" she asked. There was no sound produced, only the familiar array of smells with no ability for them to travel through the medium. Felicity still understood them. The creature might be vaguely pony-shaped, but she was still a plant with many low-quality eyes assembling a picture of her environment. That head had nothing in it, and she didn't have to spin to face those empty eye-sockets at anything.

If I hadn't been one of those things for years, it would be horrifying. Felicity gestured towards the door with a wing, then hesitated. "Actually, do you think you could wait in here? I think the admiralty might be frightened if they see you at first. Just as... you see them as predators, they look at you as... dangerous." 

Now there was confusion from Delta, a subtle acidity in the air like souring fruit. It didn't physically make sense, but that didn't matter here. "If you think so. I just want to help, Tea. You're the star-traveler."

She patted the creature with one wing, though she soon wished she hadn't. The strange gelatinous membrane that held her plant body in shape clung to her feathers. It wasn't as cold as the real thing, which probably would've frozen to her soft tissue on contact. But it still wasn't exactly pleasant. 

"Thank you," she said, grateful that her body's emotional signs were subtler. She wouldn't be a good negotiator if everything about the aliens made her feel sick. Or at least, not if they knew that. "I will call for you. Listen for your name."

She walked through the door, pushing it open just enough for her to slip through, and settling it closed with her magic again. She found another pony waiting on the other side—Manny, standing far shorter than she was. His body hadn't changed since moments before, he was still the same red unicorn with the stubby little horn. He didn't even have a uniform.

"I thought you'd be an Alicorn," she muttered.

He giggled. "I am the most complex being in this space. The shape of my essence would not be comprehensible to the other guests, or to you. What does it matter what costume I choose to wear?"

She couldn't argue with that. There was still some conflict there—this being was apparently a person now, at least so far as Harmony's rules were concerned. But regular people couldn't change their self-perception like a costume. Even after years among the plants, Felicity’s greater experience still made her feel like a pony.

Except... wait. She reached up with a hoof, and felt at a few leafy strands in her hair. They might've been real leaves, or maybe they were just decoration. They felt real, though. She squeaked, spinning around in time to see the same was true of her tail. She could guess the rest of her mane had similar changes, though it was subtle enough to easily miss. 

Manny did not laugh, or even smile. He just watched her, waiting for her to be finished. He could be upgraded into a person it seemed, without losing the mechanical patience of Harmony. Harmony didn't judge you, it just wanted to keep everyone safe.

"Sorry." She straightened, using her magic to brush her mane again. "I assume Gant is waiting for us?"

Up ahead, the hall continued into a wide space, with a sliding rice-paper door. She could hear music from beyond, and smell the smoke of alien spices. At least he'd designed this digital space realistically enough that she had somewhere to collect herself.

"Eagerly, I assume. There are fewer generals this time, and more scientists. Those are the ones you will have to convince."

She sighed. "Scientists. I thought we were going to negotiate with the plants. Shouldn't they send their diplomats?"

Manny giggled again. "I already said the admiral was here. The Varch'nai don't do well with negotiation, he's the best they have."

He didn't have to say the rest for Felicity to understand it. Which means I'm the best we have.