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// Chapter Eighteen- ...And Faery Makes Three! 
// Story: STAR TREK: EQUESTRIA 
// by Alicorne 
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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN



…AND FAERY MAKES THREE!


Sunny came back with a couple portions of dandelion-rice casserole, steamed carrots, and a pair of cookies for dessert. I wasn’t particularly hungry and left most of mine for our new roommate. Just for the record, I didn’t even touch the cookie. Sunny herself only managed a few bites, eschewing her own cookie, before going to bed.
Because I keep the room so warm she runs a small fan at night, a habit she got into when she was a foal. Living as she did in fallout shelters during her formative years she became acclimated to the sound of the air recycling systems blowing. Now she can’t get to sleep without listening to it. I could understand the habit. I have an Aunt who wears eye-covers at night to this very day. Oh, well, the white noise is rather soothing…	
She gets by with just a sheet. I keep the blanket on my side of the bed, hardly necessary since Sunny invariably ends up sleeping more onto rather than next to me by morning and she makes an excellent, exquisitely snuggly blanket. Me, I sleep on my back and never stir. No need to since I lay so lightly, compared to Home, on the mattress that I never have to find a more comfortable position. I tucked Tyllae away in my cleavage, I didn’t have the heart to make her sleep somewhere else, (Creating an unintentional precedent, it turned out!) and pulled the blanket up snugly. Sunny was quite correct, Tyllae slept like, well, if not a log, then a toothpick. (We don’t have trees on Equestris but I’m told they sleep soundly. Someday I’ll have to brush up on my xenobotany. They sound like fascinating plants!) 
I woke up because I was being prodded in the mammary. Fuzzily, I thought it was Sunny who isn’t above giving me a grope or two in her sleep. (Alicorns!) But this groping was distinctly damp… and warm! I cracked an eye open and saw our littlest houseguest hard at work scrubbing me down with a washcloth. She apparently had ponyhandled the thing out of the bathroom after she wet one end and set out to indulge in a little housework. She worked the cloth diligently with and against the grain with her hooves, whipped it away quickly to inspect her progress, then applied the dry half. She paused, cocking her head back and forth, seemingly pleased with the results. It was at that point she noticed me.
“Hi-hiii!” She waved and whispered. “Tyllae was cleaning Starry up. Tyllae made Starry all messy when Tyllae was all sobby.” She flitted up to give my muzzle a hug. “Tyllae wants to thank Starry for being so nice! ” She positively beamed at me. “Starry even sang to Tyllae like Tyllae’s Momma used to! Starry is a very, very, very Good Pony! ” She administered a brace of little kisses as a bonus.
“That’s all right, short stuff! ” I kissed a fingertip and applied it to the side of her elfin face, making the adorable little mite giggle! I stretched a little and turned to look at the tray Sunny brought back. “Did you get anything to… oh, you did.”
The majority of the casserole was gone, the carrots had sustained major damage, and both cookies had vanished. Now that I was more fully awake I noticed a noticeable bulge in the little Fey’s tummy.
“Yes, yes, yes! Tyllae found the food when Tyllae woke up. It was very, very, very good.” She sat in mid-air and rubbed her bulging stomach with both fore hooves. “Tyllae left some for Sunny an Starry… ’cept for the cookies. Tyllae kinda ate both of those. Tyllae is sorry.” She became very somber and resolute as she prepared to make a Major Sacrifice. “Nex time Tyllae gets cookies, Starry can have Tyllae’s. Tyllae promises!” She sketched another ‘x’ in front of her chest again.
I squelched an urge to chuckle. “That’s all right, kiddo. I’ve got a feeling you burn a lot more calories a lot quicker than I do anyway!” I wriggled aside, easing Sunny’s head down onto the pillows as I slid out of bed. She merfed and stirred but never woke.
“Oh, yes!” Tyllae nodded sagely. “Tyllae does! …Wassa ‘kal-o-ree’, Starry?”
I did chuckle at that point, then frowned as something scratchy sifted down from between my breasts as I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Tyllae had apparently had her dessert in ‘bed’. I cocked an eye at her.
“Ehhehe!” The mite grinned sheepishly. “Tyllae is not done cleaning up yet. Hold still! Tyllae will fix!” She zipped down and grabbed the washcloth in her teeth and flitted a beeline (Do bees really make lines? And, if so, why? Xenobilogy will have to be added to my list of things to do someday!) for my bust.
I waved her off, that washcloth was bound to be cold by now! “Don’t worry about it, Tyll! I take a shower every morning at this time anyway. But… “ I leveled a finger at her. “ For future reference we don’t eat in bed! Well…” I rolled my eyes away. “Not cookies, anyway…” Sunny sometimes saved pudding or chocolate sauce to have ‘dessert’ later. Ok I know I’m an uncultured Mare from Equestris but, ... Alicorns!
Tyllae covered a giggle with both forehooves! “Tyllae has seen what Starry and Sunny eat inna bed before!”
“Hay!” I gave her as severe a glare as my embarrassment would allow. “And no more watching us when we want to be alone!”
“Awww! But Starry looks sooo cute when Starry makes that face when Starry…”
I growled and made a grab for the little mite who evaded me easily. She flitted up and gave my neck a teeny hug, laughing.
“Starry can’t fool Tyllae! Tyllae knows Starry isn’t mean!” She backed away to where I could see her. “Tyllae promises to be good! Tyllae won’t looky-look any more! Tyllae promises!” She crossed her heart again, then giggled. “But Starry does not need to be so embarrassed. Starry just needs more practice at having sexy-fun! Don’t worry! Starry will get better at it! Sunny is a good teacher!”
“Waitaminnet! What’s wrong with the way…” I glanced around anxiously and lowered my voice even more. “With the way I have sex? …And what the Hell do you know about sex anyway?”
“Silly Starry! Faeries happen the same way Ponies do! Tyllae is not a foal. …Tyllae had a foal once. Tyllae hopes little Dendi is still safe.” After seeing how Past and Present were so much one and the same for the little Fey I was worried that she was going to relive another unpleasant episode. Thankfully, I was wrong. The little mite shook herself and picked up where she left off. “Starry had lots of energy but needs more work on style! Like Tyllae said, stick with Sunny an Starry will get better!”
“Hay! I admit I’m not the most talented lover but I never heard Sunny complain!”
“ ‘Course not! Sunny loves Starry very, very, VERY much!” Tyllae flitted up to give me a little punch on the shoulder. “Tyllae never said Starry was a bad lover, just needs more practice. Starry should not be so sensitive!” She perched herself high up on my shoulder, worked her way through my mane and gave my ear a nuzzle.
“Yeah, well, I’m going to get a shower in. Then we’ll go to breakfast so we can break the news about you to the Captain and everypony else.” I headed for the bathroom, snagging a washcloth and towel on the way. I heard the little mite clap her hooves together excitedly.
“Yay! Tyllae gets to eat again!” In a different room the little thing didn’t think it was necessary to keep her voice down anymore. “This is why Faeries like to live with nice Ponies so much. Ponies grow an make food that Faeries have to work so much harder for.”
I cocked a skeptical eye even though I knew she wasn’t in a position to see it. “So you and yours would just swoop in at night and eat what they cooked? That’s not exactly what I would call a symbiotic relationship.”
Tyllae zipped out in front of me suddenly, to defend Faery Honor, no doubt. “No, no, no!” She waved both forehooves and shook her head so that her rose-petal mane waved! “Faeries are not mean! Faeries help! Faeries keep mices an’ rats out of pantries. Keep nasty spiders outa house! Fix cracked jugs an’ plates an’ windows, too! Faeries keep watch on foals playing in forest an’ heal poor sick farm animals! Faeries find hard-to-find herbs in deep woods in places only Faeries know an’ bring back to Ponies to make medicines. Faeries help watch over crops an’ keep crows an’ gophers an’ bunnies an’ deers from taking too much away from poor, hard-working Farm Ponies! Faeries do all sortsa things! In return, nice Ponies would make food an’ leave for Faeries to eat. Good food! Fresh bread an’ yummy butter an’ jam an’ jelly! Hot soup on cold, cold days! An’ pies an’ cakes an’ cookies, too! No more nuts an’ little berries an’ raw vegibles anymore. Nuh-uh! An’ nice Ponies would let Faeries stay in house all snug an’ warm an’ dry alla year long! Faeries work very, very, very hard for nice Ponies! …An’ no fair using big words Tyllae does not know! Wassa ‘sim-bee-ot-ick‘?”
All that in the time it took me to pick up soap, cross the bathroom and draw back the shower curtain! I stepped into stall. (A snug fit for me, but Sunny can always find a way to make room for herself, too!)
“Is that what you were doing for Bob? Didn’t seem like you were ‘helping’ much. …And ‘symbiotic‘ means working together for the benefit of all. ” I wasn’t being mean. I was being stern. There’s a difference!
Tyllae drooped a little in mid-air and looked troubled. “Tyllae tried to help! But Tyllae could not find much to do. Tyllae has not seen even one itty-bitty bug since Tyllae came here. Tyllae thinks this must be a very, very, very new an’ big house! Tyllae did help keep aprons all clean an’ tried to make things all neat.” She frowned. “But Bob an’ other Ponies were always cleaning. An’ when a bowl or plate cracked or chipped they would put in little box inna wall an’ it would just go away before Tyllae could get to it! New stuff would come in another box. Very, very, very strange kinda magic Tyllae has never seen before!”
I stopped in the act of drawing the shower curtain, startled. “Good Luna, kid! That ‘box’ was a recycler! If you got in there at the wrong moment you’d be just so many quantum bits in matter storage and came back as a napkin or a plate! The other is the replicator. One takes things apart and the other makes new things. It’s not magic, it’s technology.” I explained, stifling a chuckle at the look on the Fey’s face.
“… Eeep!” She squeaked. “Tyllae would have been safer hiding inna oven!” Then she looked thoughtful. “Tyllae wondered why Tyllae never saw anypony washing dishes…”
“And that’s another thing!” I draped the towel over the top of the curtain. “Why were you hiding? You could have come to Bob and offered to help for food. You’re so damn cute he would’ve given you something to eat just on general principles. For that matter…” The thought just occurred to me. “Why didn’t you tell Sunny or me you were here? And why didn’t we ever notice you weren’t sitting on the table?”
The little mite looked scandalized! “ ‘Cause that would be against Faery rules! Faeries must never been seen! Faeries get eaten if Faeries get seen! Faeries hide to be safe!”
“And who, pray tell, came up with that rule?” I gave the hovering runt a look.
Tyllae opened her little mouth then shut it again. “Is just… the way it always was. Tyllae does not make rules, Tyllae just does as Tyllae’s Mommy an’ Daddy taught! Like Mommy an’ Daddy learned from parents. So there!” She crossed her forelegs defensively.
“New time, new rules, kiddo! I can personally guarantee that nopony on this ship is interested in making a Faery sandwich! You’ll be safer if ponies know where you are. Remember the recycler!” I paused, reaching for the shower knobs. “Uh, you’re going to get awful wet if you hang around in here. I’m going to wash.”
Tyllae peered at the walls suspiciously, giving the shower knobs a distrustful look. “How gonna do that? Tyllae does not see a tub… or does Starry have a box that will make a bowl of water in here? … A big bowl!” She amended.
“Not all of us can take a bath in a measuring cup.” I hooked a thumb up at the shower head on the ceiling. “I never said I was going to take a bath, I’m taking a shower.” I explained patiently, then waited for her to leave. And waited…
“… You aren’t going to leave, aren’t you, you little pervert” I sighed, already knowing the answer.
“Whyfor Tyllae wanna leave Starry? Tyllae loves Starry! ‘Sides, Tyllae wanna see how ‘show-wer’ thing works! Tyllae must learn these things so Tyllae does not get ‘ree-sy-killed’! ” She flitted up to one side of the showerhead and waited. Then she looked back down at me and tilted her elfin head. “… And wassa ‘per-vert’?”
“Short for ‘Curious Faery’ .” I set the temperature for a nice, warm Equestrin shower. It would have made Sunny yelp, but she wasn’t here this time! And I had the distinct impression it would be right up the little Fey’s alley.
Tyllae looked around as the exhaust fans purred to life then pranced back as the water sprayed out and the steam rose. While I worked the shampoo into my mane she stuck a tentative hoof into the stream and gave a delighted whoop!
“Warm! Warmwarmwarm!” She launched herself into the cascade and cavorted in a splashy circle ‘round my head. I couldn’t help laughing. “Starry!” She hove to just off my muzzle and waved her hooves at the falling water in open amazement and delight. “Thissa wonderful idea! Just like a waterfall, but so warm! Tyllae likes! Wheee!” I watched her zoom off to play in the droplets as I rinsed my mane and soaped up.
I wondered how fair it was to apply Pony notions of maturity to something like a Faery. She seemed to act like just a foal, most of the time, but how much of that was just plain innocence? And she, herself, claimed to have borne a foal! How old is Tyllae… and how odd would I seem to a civilization of Faeries? My musings were cut short as Tyllae, who had found the soap, flitted up just beyond the spray looking like a foamy parasprite!
I scooped up the giggling suds-ball gave her a good rinse then turned her loose to cavort in the warm waters as I rinsed myself off. Later, Tyllae didn’t need a towel to dry. She soared and kited in the warm air draft on the platform just outside the shower. I scrubbed myself down and stood in front of the mirror brushing out my mane.
Tyllae’s mane and tail had turned into wild poof-balls. My manebrush was more of a full-body scratching-post for the little Fey so, on an inspiration, I called up a soft toothbrush from the synthesizer and did a passable job of making her presentable. She seemed to enjoy it, admiring herself in the mirror as I worked so much like Sunny I just had to smile! As a piece de resistance I gave her a dab of perfume after I’d put some on. It was Equestrin and the little tyke frowned as she fluttered her wings, trying to place the fragrance.
“When Sunny has perfumy it smells lika flowers!” She declared. “Wassa this? Tyllae cannot tell for sure…” She fanned her wings and sniffed again. “Smells kina like some … herb?” She cocked her head at me in the mirror.
“Close!” I scritched her tummy and sent her into wriggling giggles. “We don’t have flowers on Equestris. We hardly have any real sort of plants at all. The Colonists didn’t have room on the ship for flowers. They brought grain and some fruit trees instead. Oh, they had some roses… but they never had much smell to them after a few generations. What we’re wearing is a synthetic based on sandalwood oil and an Equestrin moss. Quite the popular fragrance back Home! How do you like it?”
“Um….” The little Fey turned her eyes away, trying to be diplomatic. Then she brightened when she found a way out. “… Tyllae smells better than any moss Tyllae has seen before an thassa fact!”
I laughed. “It’s ok, Squirt. I would have used some of Sunny’s but some of that stuff costs two hundred credits for just a sniff! I wouldn’t have felt right giving it away without asking her first. If it’s any consolation though…” I leaned in and gave her a sniff. “I think you smell just fine!”
The little mite beamed! “If Starry thinks so then that’s good enough for Tyllae! Tyllae will be happy to smell like sumpin’ growing onna tree!” The little sycophant declared brightly.
I shook my head. “Come on, you little suck-up! Let’s get Sunny out of bed. You don’t want to miss breakfast, do you?”
Tyllae zoomed out of the room at Time Warp Three! 
Sunny, by now, was sprawled face down over the covers hugging my pillow while wearing hers jammed over the top of her head her horn pointed out at ten o' clock. Before I could say anything the industrious Fey had launched herself through the air and onto her bottom, prancing from cheek to cheek caroling, “Wakey-wake, Sunny! Time for brekkist!” My Love wriggled in annoyance and flailed her tail at the evasive Tyllae!
“I’m up! I’m up! Gerroff me, ye lil’ flibbertigibbet!” She pulled the pillow off her face and yawned, working her mouth and looking around blearily. She stretched and sat up, her mane hanging in glorious disarray all around her face as Tyllae came in for a landing on her knee and waved!
“Och! ‘ Tis yourself, is it?” She paused to yawn a truly awesome yawn. “Celestia presairve me! Another bloody morning Pony!” She smiled sleepily as she said it, though, and gave the little Fey a pat to show no hard feelings. “What’s the bloody time?” She wondered. I swear! The same question every morning!
“Time to get moving, sleepy bones!” I gave her the same answer I gave her every morning. “Come on! Up and at ‘em! Hup, hup, hup! Hubba-hubba one time! Time and tritium wait for no Pony!”
Sunny heaved herself into a standing position and scratched her head muzzily. “Bugger th’ bloody tritium!” She growled. “An’ I got yer bloody hubba-hubba right here!” She smacked herself on the rump as shambled off like a zombie pony I saw in one of her old 'entertainment' shows toward the shower. I stopped her long enough to collect my first kiss of the day. Just for the record, like every morning, there were no hard feelings there either!
I made the bed up, keeping one ear cocked till I heard the shower running. (Sunny, once in a while will fall back to sleep on the toilet! So many things My Darling is, but she is not a morning pony!) Tyllae insisted on helping, grabbing one corner of the sheet and blanket in her teeth in turn and flapping backwards with all the Faerypower at her disposal. By the time I finished dressing she had settled down onto my pillow and composed herself for a nap.
I sat at the computer terminal and reviewed what was going on in my Department that day purely out of reflex. My mind was on what would happen when I revealed the existence of Tyllae to everypony. I mean, it isn’t as if Faeries were a recognized species in the Federation database! What would be her status, animal or person? Citizen or alien? We only had her word on it that she indeed came from Earth, after all. Intellectually I realized that it was just possible that she was, in fact, some bizarre alien lifeform playing on my maternal instincts for her benefit…
The Mare in my head raised a severe eyebrow at me as the line of reasoning scrolled across her screen. She reminded me that those were real tears and real fear trembling against me last night. And where could an alien have learned so much archaic Equestrian history? Why bother constructing an excuse to say on such esoteric terms? Surely it would have been just as easy to say she was an alien in the first place instead of going through this kind of song and dance!
I half-turned and checked on the snoozing little mite. She looked about as dangerous as a cupcake. She was cute, damnably cute as a matter of fact, but that wasn’t a crime. Every instinct I had told me that she was sincere. Just a lost and frightened little soul who got caught up in the devious machinations of others who didn’t even know she was there. The only thing Tyllae was guilty of was poaching food. Even then she stopped and even turned herself in when she thought she’d be making everypony else starve! I’d be damned if I’d let anypony toss her in the Brig… or a cage… just for that! If she had to be confined I vowed I’d confine her to the Science Department and let her have the run of the place. I was certain Sunny would do the same offering Medical. If worse came to worse I could push for confining her to our quarters…
I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. Daddy… and Sunny… tell me that I worry too much. Maybe I was working myself up for nothing...
But there were the implications she represented as a living, breathing witness to things that were little more than legends nowadays! Somepony who actually saw Celestia, talked with Luna, and suffered at the hooves of Nightmare Moon! This one little being could rewrite modern history and heal a schism that had been a sore spot with Ponykind for centuries. …It was just possible that Tyllae would be the greatest discovery of our entire voyage! I wondered how they would take the news on Equestris? Or in the rest of the Federation!
I took a moment to compose my thoughts and turned back to the console. I sent a message to Stimbolt and Dazzle to join us in the Wardroom for breakfast. They were there when Tyllae was found so I figured they should be among the first there to hear this. After a moment I sent another one to Xantippe. After all the mystery of the Phantom Snacker was tied up in this, too.
At least Tyllae would still have an appetite…
Sunny came back in eventually, fully awake and back to her… well, Sunny, self. I collected my second kiss of the day, a much more sincere and better tasting one than the first!
“Oh sure! I hae t’ get up while t’ little monster gets t’ sleep!” She whispered. “Well… all wee things needs lots o’ sleep, don’t they? Look at little thing, will ye no?” She gave me a little dig. “Ye should look so cute when ye sleep!”
I rolled my eyes off to the side. “At least she doesn’t snore!’
I collected my first bop on the head with a manebrush for the day. “Wag a civil tongue in yer noggin, wench! …I’ll show ye where t’ wag it later on!” She became more serious as she turned to me. “What’s t’ become o’ her d’ye ken?”
“I’m hoping for the best.” I tried to sound more confident than I felt.
“Aye, well, let’s no be borrowin’ trouble then. If they want t’ lock her up I’ll keep th’ wee one wi’ me in Sickbay! Sure n’ she’ll be a great help for recoverin’ patients… should we be a-gettin any, ye ken.”
I chuckled and patted her hoof. “I was thinking the same thing, only for the Science Department. Great minds do think alike, don’t they?”
Sunny buffed one hoof against her chest and paused a moment to inspect the shine. “Aye! I knew I’d be a-rubbin’ off on ye sooner r’ later!”
I fetched her a swat to her bottom that made her jump. (Why should Tyllae have all the fun?) “Get dressed already and let’s get this over with!”