//------------------------------//
// The Procedure 
// Story: Faster Than the Stars 
// by Erie 
//------------------------------//

Nox stared at the bat pony who was currently nervously shuffling on the full-body scanner. She had picked up very quickly on what they had meant with their gestures and had even seemingly attempted to communicate with them, making strangely musical noises that didn't match up with any known languages, more definitive proof of her intelligence. 

Though chances were they were quite afraid of them, they might be a completely new species but their tells seemed to be glaringly obvious and comparable to earth horses in many ways. A shift of their hoof there, the constant flattening of their ears, and the way their tail was consistently clamped down. It could just be that they were misinterpreting her, but nonetheless, It bothered Nox. Though there was nothing to be done about it at the moment but continue on the course.

Nox glanced down towards the pad in their hands and the new data displayed on it. The readings were strange to say the least, but they were readings nonetheless. And while a good deal of them were messy and unreliable at best, like how it showed her with two completely different circulatory systems. One based around the standard heart most biological creatures had and one based around some organ in the brain which kept changing position somehow, likely a misread of some sort, the most important things seemed just fine. Specifically, around the parts of the frontal lobe, the nano medi-bots would need to interact with during the procedure.

Of course, this was far from the ideal time to perform said procedure, there was some potential that even the seemingly set information gained from the recent scans to be unreliable as well. Not to mention how little time they had been able to dedicate to modifying the original design that Dr. Edenburg had created for an internal translator. They had taken care of the glaring issues which plagued it like the permanent memory loss or lack of impulse control experienced by volunteers, an incredibly simple fix that only required a more refined method for the procedure and subsequent installment that actually accounted for the differences in the various species brains. But many of the smaller issues could not be dealt with as swiftly.

But even with all these potential issues, Nox had estimated that this had far better chances for both the Kestrel and the bat pony to survive. Because simply put, both Teron and Veran were vastly underestimating how much trouble the sector ahead was going to be. Even before the war, reports had it pegged as a hotbed of piracy and with the last Federation report being years ago, chances were that trouble was to be around every beacon that lay within the sector. The trouble that could easily spell the end for the bat pony, or for either of the humans if they were preoccupied with trying to protect the bat pony. Something that was simply unacceptable.

Though it would still likely be far safer than traveling right through rebel territory, there would be no time to spare for ensuring a smooth procedure within such a place. And the Kestrel simply could not afford delays or potential losses without risking everything. So the odds simply had to be rigged as much as possible towards both the survival of the bat pony and the Kestrel as much as possible, taking what calculated risks needed to be taken. And that required communication to be possible first and foremost, even if Teron and Veran would likely both object to them rushing the procedure.

Nox after a moment of thinking about how to best approach the next step, simply gave a few instructions to the nano medi-bots from the pad they held and they quickly began to release an invisible sleeping gas into the medbay. Within a few minutes, the nervous bat pony quickly grew drowsy, swaying on their hooves. Seeing this work effectively, Nox moved towards the next step and picked her up to bring back to the medical bed. Her eyes widened a bit when they did that, but the gas had done its job and had made her sufficiently drowsy enough to stop any sort of panicked response.

They laid her down onto the medical bed as they looked back towards their pad to double-check everything was as ready as it could be for the procedure while they waited for them to truly slip into unconsciousness. Everything they checked seemed to be good and soon enough the bat pony was unconscious. With that, Nox began the procedure.





"Nox, when I gave you permission to perform that procedure on her, I assumed you meant, no wait you did actually tell me you were going to actually take the time to ensure it would be as safe and smooth as possible. So in what galaxy does that actually mean you're going to rush this and do it in less than a day!"

My ears twitched and my head was positively throbbing while I woke up. What in the stars had happened? I tried to think about what I had done yesterday, but that only made my head hurt even more as I laid wherever I was with my eyes closed.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, what do you mean you gave Nox permission to do this shit in the first place Teron! This procedure is already so messed up that the few who actually had it done on them for testing purposes ended up having so many problems that it was shot down almost instantly and that 'Doctor' almost had his medical license revoked in short order. How could you even authorize that?!"

The migraine in my head only worsened as the unfamiliar voices yelling around me continued. Why did they have to be so loud? Still, I tried to shut them out while I was dealing with the pain.

"Veran, while I have not fixed every problem with the procedure, I did solve or at least greatly lessen the impact of all the major flaws. I would not have even done this procedure in the first place had I not been mostly confident that she would not end up like those first subjects of Dr. Edenburg. And captain, this is the safest time I could've done it. If I had waited longer, there the odds we end up in an altercation with pirates that might prove deadly for the bat pony or one of you in your efforts to protect her were too great. So I-"

"Decided to perform an experimental procedure on her instead that you gave Nox permission to do in the first place Teron. And if we end up in some fight, we just lock the goddamn blast doors to the medbay while we deal with 'em! Simple and easy! Not this-"

"Can you all be quiet, please! I'm having enough trouble with this migraine and figuring out what happened as it is, I don't... need..." My voice trailed off while I stared in shock at who actually lay around me, memories flooding back to me. What had I just done! I had just yelled at more wardens and the strange metal thing that had been with me last time I had awoken. There was fear in my eyes while I stared at them, waiting for their rebuke at what I had done.

Strangely, they all just stood there. The wardens simply stared back at me with their small eyes while the metal thing impassively watched before its claw rose up as it waved at me with it, a monotone voice coming from it that I understood somehow. "Greetings, it seems you have recovered from the procedure faster than expected. You mentioned you had a migraine and trouble remembering what had happened?"

My jaws flapped uselessly for a moment while I tried to figure out why it was asking me that and not yelling at me? Was it always able to understand me? My migraine only grew worse while I tried to make sense of it all. "I.. what?"

The metal thing merely kept looking at me before it began again. "As I said, you mentioned you had a migraine and memory problems? How severe are these issues and are there any more you are experiencing at the moment? It is vital you inform me of any such issues."

I stared at it for a moment before I slowly shook my head. Was I dreaming of this maybe? Why weren't the wardens doing anything? And why did speaking feel so weird so now? "They... they're not too bad. The migraine's painful but I'm managing for now and I can remember things just fine, I think. It just took a moment for everything to come back to me... I-"

I abruptly stopped and shrunk back when the warden with a brown mane interrupted me and leaned closer. "You remember everything just fine? That's a relief, I do hope no more issues than that migraine come up. And if they do you better take care of it Nox, ya hear me?" It then extended one of it's strangely shaped claws towards me. "I'm Veran, what about you girl?"

I stared at Veran for a moment while my head was trying to wrap itself around the fact they were being friendly, before I absentmindedly responded to them. "I, I'm Star Dancer."

This time it was the black-maned warden who spoke as the brown maned one awkwardly pulled their claw back. "Veran, hold up for the moment. And Nox, we're going to continue our discussion later." They then turned towards me. " And Star Dancer was it? Well, I'm Teron, and let me be the first to properly welcome you to the Federation ship, The Kestrel. I apologize for whatever it was you experienced at the hands of those pirates you were with originally, but I can assure you that you're safe here. There's nothing to fear anymore."

I looked up to Teron as I stared at him with unbelieving eyes as tears began to form in them. Was it really true, was it actually over? "I-I'm safe now? I can go home?"

They paused for a moment then nodded. "That you are and while I can't promise we'll be able to find your home anytime soon with how many other matters are forcing our attention towards them at the moment, we will be doing everything in our power to help you get back once we are free and able to do so. You have my word as the captain of this ship on it."

I felt tears of happiness begin to run down my face despite the bad migraine I was currently experiencing. It might finally be over. I might be able to go home.