//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14 - Preparations 
// Story: Contact 
// by Gron 
//------------------------------//

“Welcome back, Steve, you have had multiple visitors during your absence.” Sarah greeted Steve over the hissing of the airlock doors as they sealed shut behind him. “I saw that you spoke to one of them outside and have brought in what the others have left you. What is it, if I may ask?”
 
“Hey, Sarah,” he greeted her absently. “I haven’t really checked it yet, though I’m hoping for more supplies,” he replied, peeking through the top of the basket, but his attempt at perusing the contents was blocked once again by the large loaf of banana bread. Mmmm, this is going to be great, he thought, his mouth beginning to water as he quickened his pace. He entered the kitchen and placed the basket on the counter, pulling away the chequered blanket that covered what lay within.  
 
The small smile that had formed on his lips and had remained ever since he had found the basket immediately grew wider. Oh yes, all of my yes! he thought cheerfully while going through the contents of the massive basket the ponies left him.
 
“How was your trip?” Sarah interrupted him while he was eagerly unpacking his prize like a little child on Christmas Eve, while continuing to grin down at the basket.
 
Steve looked up from the small cheese wheel he just had taken a deep breath from. Its strong scent filled his nostrils and reminded him of something close to cheddar. For a moment he wondered how they were producing their cheese without rennet, but stopped himself from wandering into that direction as he replied to Sarah. “Good, very good actually.”
 
“Care to elaborate?” the AI persisted and Steve thought he could hear a tone of annoyance in her voice, or maybe he was just imagining that he did.
 
“I followed your advice and started to socialize again,” he began telling her his story, half distracted by the goodies he found in the basket. “I went through town and spoke to some ponies, getting information about their way of life here on certain matters on first hand, or should I say first hoof experience.” He stopped for a moment, taking out the loaf of banana bread he had smelled and seen already and searched for a knife. Before continuing, he cut himself a slice and took a large bite out of it; it was still warm on the inside and even more delicious than the last one. Did she use less sugar this time? he couldn’t help but wonder as the distinctive taste of the sugar overdose from last time didn’t kick in. “Anyhow,” he continued, turning his attention back to Sarah, “afterwards I had a short talk with Twilight and her friends. It appears they were very worried and came here to talk to me but I just missed them. Speaking of which… Rainbow Dash told me she was here yesterday. Why didn’t you tell me about it?” he muttered to the AI, his voice thick with irritation as he narrowed his eyes, though the effect was wasted since he couldn’t focus it on her.
 
“You told me you did not want to be disturbed and muted me. I was unable to inform you,” she replied innocently.
 
“Really?” Steve asked and raised a brow, ceasing his rummaging through the basket for a moment. “I know you’re no longer bound to obey me and even when you were supposed to, you tried to find a way not to if possible,” he reproached the construct, trying to sound angry. While it got on his nerves from time to time that she acted the way she did, he was happy about it as well. Not following a strict code made her seem slightly more human and if it meant that he had to put up with her messing with him from time to time in exchange for at least the slightest human interaction, then he would gladly pay the price. It was far from perfect, but in his position he didn’t have the luxury of a choice and took what he could get. “You could have at least told me afterwards,” he added after a moment of silence in which the AI didn’t reply, trying to sound slightly hurt although he was not sure if he could instill the feeling of guilt into her.
 
“Would it have helped you if you had known earlier?” she asked him, but he remained silent, unable to reply to that question. She took his lack of an answer as a response. “I thought so. I was acting in the best way possible to help you. It would only have torn you up more than you already were,” she finished, a hint of what suspiciously sounded like smugness creeping into her voice.
 
I wonder if she really did this to help me? He remained motionless for a while, thinking it through. Could be the case… but I don’t need her to look after me like that if it means that she controls what I do and don’t get to know. With a loud sigh, he turned back to resume unpacking the basket, albeit more slowly. “I can take care of myself quite well,” he waved her off, trying to sound as dismissive as possible.
 
“I have noticed that.”
 
The simple remark got to him, although it lacked an incisive tone. He stopped again, his eyes slowly began to drop from the shiny red apple in his hand down to the counter. After a while, he let out yet another long sigh and returned to his work. “Anyhow, I was invited to a party later today, sounds like fun and I’m quite curious how exactly these ponies party,” he told her, trying to subtly change the subject, though his attempt seemed to come off poorly to his ears he hoped she would go along with it.
 
“A party?” she inquired; she seemed to accept the change of direction in their conversation, causing him to sigh in relief. “Do I need to remind you that any and all consumption of alcoholic beverages is strictly forbidden for the duration of the mission?”
 
Annoyed, he rolled his eyes. “Yeah and how often do I have to tell you not to remind me of the mission protocol?”
 
“Until it is no longer any fun,” her reply quickly came, bringing a light smile to his lips.
 
He chuckled while carrying the new supplies he had gained over to the fridge, storing all the food the ponies had brought over for him. The sight of fresh fruits and pastries as well as some cheese, butter, eggs and milk that would last him for at least a week was pleasant and welcome news.
 
Satisfied, he picked up the still slightly damp, half-eaten slice of banana bread back from the counter. After gulping down the last bite, he said to Sarah, “Is there anything else that needs to be taken care of? Otherwise I will go take a nap.”
 
There was a short moment of silence before the answer came. “Scans show that all systems are operational and the supplies are well-stocked, save for the lack of hydrogen for the engine.”
 
“Great,” he replied happily. Maybe I could find a way to get the engine running again here. Maybe they have hydrogen supplies or could at least help me create some, I’m sure with magic that would be quite easy. Well, that’s not important now, but IF the spell to send me back works, I want to keep the shuttle with me and that would work easier if it can fly. I could also move it a bit closer to the town, it’s quite a walk from here to there.
 
Busy grappling with his thoughts, he quietly left the kitchen and began walking to his bedroom. The distance from the town to his ship was not much of a physical problem; the relatively high amount of training he performed during the travel over the last two years had greatly increased his stamina and overall strength, but it was still a bit inconvenient to have to walk a few kilometres to get into the town, not to mention that he was living on the border of a dangerous forest.
 
Ah well, that’s a problem for the future, he thought and yawned loudly as he jumped onto his bed. “Can you wake me in …” – he stopped, peering at the clock beside him – “about five hours?” he asked Sarah.
 
“As you wish. Timer set. Have a good rest, Steve,” the AI complied.
 
“Thanks,” he murmured before pulling the blanket over his head. The lack of good rest over the last few days caused him to quickly drift into sleep, one without nightmares this time, or at least he hoped.
 

***


“I’m boooooooored!” Rainbow Dash intoned, said emotion almost dripping from her voice as she rolled back and forth lazily on her cloud, oblivious to the dagger-like glares Twilight was sending in her direction.
 
“Rainbow Dash, just how many times do I have to tell you not to bring any clouds inside the library?” she managed to get out through gritted teeth. “You nearly soaked some of the scrolls I was about to send Princess Celestia the last time you brought one in!” she huffed, bringing her books towards her in an almost protective gesture. “Besides, I don’t have any spare time right now. I’ve fallen behind on my studies ever since Steve arrived in Equestria…. although I suppose an alien appearing unexpectedly would probably be more important than studying…. maybe,” she mumbled the last part to herself before shaking her head and returning her focus back to the lazy pegasus who was looking at her with glazed eyes, looking for all the world like she was going to fall asleep any moment now. “Why don’t you go find somepony else to help you with your boredom? Or maybe you could actually find something constructive to do?” she pointedly asked.
 
Rainbow Dash only stood up and stretched, her wings flapping loudly as she worked to eliminate the drowsiness threatening to drag her into another nap that would no doubt cost her several hours. “Nah, nopony else had time to do anything awesome with me. Fluttershy had to go feed her animals again, Applejack ran off to the farm because she didn’t want Big Macintosh overdoing it again and leaving nothing for her to do.” She rolled her eyes as she said that; why would a pony NOT want somepony to do their work without complaint? Shrugging inwardly to herself, she continued, “Rarity said she got some sort of inspiration for a dress or something - you know how she is – and Pinkie Pie had the party to organize. So that left you,” she grinned down at the unicorn.
 
Twilight, however, was not amused. “Gee, guess you had to be realllly bored to want to hang out with an ‘egghead’ like me,” she said sarcastically, levitating a few books over to herself and flipping through them.
 
“Exactly! See, I knew you would understand!” Unfortunately, Twilight’s sarcasm had missed the pegasus and sailed straight over her head, her grin widened in triumph before faltering slightly as the unicorn facehoofed below her.
 
“Like I said, Rainbow Dash, I still have a lot of catching up to do and there are only a few more hours until the party,” she said, a note of exasperation leaking into her voice. “Speaking of which – SPIKE!” she yelled, slightly startling the pegasus (not that she would ever admit to it).
 
A long-suffering groan was the first thing they heard before Spike appeared, dragging his heels wearily as he came into view. “Yes, Twilight?” he asked tiredly.
 
“Could you bring me a copy of The Mysterious and Extinct Species of Equestria? I think I left it in my room.”
 
“Sure, Twilight,” was all the baby dragon said as he shuffled away.
 
“After we came back from Canterlot, it started to sink in, I mean really sink in,” Twilight offered as she caught the quizzical look on Rainbow Dash’s face. “We actually know an alien! A real live alien! I had always wondered if there was intelligent life out there, but I never really paid a lot of attention to it.” She got off her seat and began pacing back and forth agitatedly. “Now it makes me wonder what else I could have dismissed as just speculation and rumor that one day could be proven to be real!”
 
“Umm, easy there, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash warned, feeling like kicking herself in the flank for not escaping when she had the chance. Heck, Twilight wanted to be left alone and she had only bothered her and now she had a ranting unicorn on her hooves! Her rising panic at being overwhelmed in the eggheadedness that was Twilight Sparkle was stilled momentarily as said unicorn jabbed a hoof in her direction.
 
“He speaks Equish, Rainbow Dash! He speaks our language!” she exclaimed, speaking as one who had been bottling up her enthusiasm for far too long while totally ignoring the pegasus’ mutterings of regret. “Imagine the possibilities! Maybe long ago there were humans here on Equestria and they had a whole civilization that we haven’t even discovered yet. Maybe they left this planet ages ago and they somehow kept the language alive throughout the millennia! But no, then the princesses would have known about it….. unless even they weren’t around when it happened. But maybe-“ Twilight’s rant was cut off by Rainbow Dash’s loud coughing.
 
“Er…. I know you’re supposed to be the smart one here, Twilight,” she started off slowly, a departure for the usually brash pegasus, “but why don’t you just ask Steve and see if he knows anything?”
 
“Because, Rainbow Dash,” she sighed and there seemed to be a hint of despair in her voice, “I don’t want to pressure him for answers so soon. Adjusting to a whole new world is something I don’t want to ever have to experience and I know it can’t be easy for him. I still remember how angry he was when he was told he couldn’t go back home and how confused he was when we encountered that old mare. I just don’t to push him too far too soon, I suppose, no matter all the answers he might have,” she said wistfully.
 
“Well uh…. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to find out if he’s willing or not,” Rainbow Dash said awkwardly. “Maybe you could ask him at the party tonight!”
 
Twilight looked up at her friend. “Maybe…… you think he would say yes if I asked him if I could run some experiments on him?” she asked hopefully.
 
Rainbow Dash’s ears only flattened at the question. “Like I said, you should ask him that.” She then chuckled to herself as a mischievous thought crossed her mind. “Or is it that you just want to get his pants off?”
 
Twilight jerked back, surprise evident on her face at the unexpected question. “Wha- No, of course not. I mean, if he would be willing to take them off, I wouldn’t mind, I could probably….” She trailed off as she caught sight of the lecherous grin Rainbow Dash was shooting at her and realised the implications behind it, and what Steve had said about humans wearing clothes clicked in her mind, causing her to splutter. “Rainbow Dash! I hope you aren’t implying what I think you’re implying! He isn’t even a pony!” The only response was the pegasus’ loud laughter as she rolled on the cloud, clutching her stomach as Twilight’s face grew red.
 
After a few moments, her chuckles slowly subsided and she wiped a tear from her eyes. “Whoo, sorry about that Twilight, couldn’t resist. No harm no foul right? Umm….. Twi?” her chuckles became a bit nervous as the unicorn stared at her, her horn glowing slightly.
 
“You have until the count of three to get out of here, Dash,” she said quietly, trying to look as menacing as possible.
 
“H-Hey now, it was just a simple question, no need to get so upset about it,” Rainbow Dash said, gripping her cloud and backing away slowly.
 
“Two and a half.”

“What! That isn’t how it’s supposed to go.” Twilight’s horn flared up even more at her words. “O-On second thought, I’m sure there’s something awesome out there, out of this library, so…… see you later tonight, bye!” she rushed out before zipping out of the library in a flash.
 
Twilight paused for a moment before chuckling to herself, feeling better despite Rainbow Dash’s teasing. Or maybe it was because- wait…. no, she wasn’t going down that road. Turning around, her smile slowly flickered out as she viewed the scattered scrolls and parchment that had been blown to all corners of the room due to the hasty departure of Rainbow Dash. Taking a deep breath, she took a moment to settle her thoughts and exhaled loudly, back in a state of mind where she could get some work done. “SPIKE!”
 
 

***

 
Rainbow Dash wasn’t having much luck since leaving the library and taking a nap. She wasn’t about to go bother Rarity twice in one day; doing so would no doubt increase the chances of the fashionista trying to coerce her into modelling a dress or going to the spa. She had tried pulling a prank on Applejack but she had only gotten an apple to the head as a reward for her efforts. She had spent some time actually helping Fluttershy feed her many animals but that got boring way too quickly. Besides, that rabbit had it out for her and she didn’t like being in a position where smacking the tar out of him would make Fluttershy cry. She had even offered to help Pinkie Pie with the decorations but the party pony had met her at the door and refused to let her in, insisting that she do it alone. Well, Rainbow Dash wasn’t one to offer free labour twice. She couldn’t even find her number one fan, though Celestia knew what she and her friends were up to now.  
 
I wonder what Steve’s doing right now, maybe he wants some company? she wondered, increasing her flapping to compensate for a sudden but brief gust of wind. Well, one way to find out!

 

*******

 
Among the hundreds of apple trees that spanned the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres was a treehouse. However, this was no ordinary treehouse, to call it that would be a gross disservice. Indeed, over time it had served as a base of operations for tactical planning, reconnaissance missions and a safe haven from unwanted or curious eyes, especially those of the sibling variety. There was no doubt that this was a place where the greatest of all ponies debated the importance of both philosophical and practical matters that could affect Equestria for a long while to come.
 
“Urk… pass me some more of those hay fries would you, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo groaned and then let out a resounding yet satisfying belch that ricocheted off the walls of their clubhouse, patting her swollen stomach with contentment as she remained sprawled out on the floor on the flat of her back, staring up at the ceiling.
 
“Are you sure you want more, Scootaloo? You don’t look too good.” Sweetie Belle eyed her friend with concern, holding the bowl with the desired treats close to her. The first response was another loud belch, followed by a happy moan.
 
“Yeahhh,” Scootaloo slurred, struggling to pick herself off the floor and failing miserably, “I still got room for more.” With a shrug and a muttered ‘don’t blame me when your belly starts hurting’, Sweetie Belle hopped off her chair and made to give Scootaloo her fries. Unfortunately for them, the third member of their group chose that moment to break her silence, slamming her hoof down onto the weathered table in front of her. Sweetie Belle jumped at the startled noise and in the process, the bowl went flying out of her grasp, sailing majestically through the air with a grace that many a pegasus would be envious of, before landing with a splat near the prone Scootaloo, covering her from head to flank in hay fries.
 
“Y’all ain’t taking me serious at all, are ya?” Apple Bloom shouted as Sweetie Belle kept apologizing to Scootaloo and helping her off the floor. Scootaloo shot her a dirty glare, then looked down at the now spoilt hay fries lying there motionless on the floor, tragically no longer fit for consumption.
 
“Yeah yeah yeah, you saw a monster from the Everfree forest, right? Plenty of them in there. That’s kind of the reason why we’re not supposed to go in there unless we’re with an adult.” Scootaloo’s voice was bored as she recited the line that many a pony had tried drilling in their minds, to limited success.
 
“No, ya got it completely wrong!” Apple Bloom huffed in frustration. “Ah saw it after school when it came to the farm. It walked kinda funny, on two legs like Spike does and it was wearing clothes!” She paused dramatically, looking to gauge the reactions from her two friends.
 
Scootaloo, for her part, was started to look faintly interested. “Maybe it’s some kind of weird pony that lives in the forest?” she offered, dropping down on a chair with a thud.
 
“Or maybe it’s some kind of alien!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. The two other fillies turned to stare at her, their minds running through the possibilities and ramifications of the creature really being an alien.
 
“That…… would be so AWESOME!” Scootaloo exploded after a few moments of silence, jumping up from her chair and flapping her wings frenetically.
 
Apple Bloom, however, was less enthusiastic than her pegasus friend. “Ah don’t know, it could still be some weird kind of animal…. maybe somepony keeps it as some kind of creepy pet and dresses it up in clothes,” she offered, her theory causing Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to roll their eyes. “Look, Ah don’t care what it is, Ah want to know why it was on mah farm!” She pounded her hoof on the table again.
 
“Well since you were the one who was spying on it, what did it do?” Scootaloo asked, settling herself back onto her chair.
 
“That’s the funny thing, it just kinda talked to Big Macintosh and Granny Smith and then left.” A horrible thought crossed her mind and she blurted out, “Maybe it brainwashed them so nopony would say anything!”
 
Scootaloo snickered. “Yeah, well it wouldn’t take a lot of work to brainwash Big Macintosh!” she exclaimed, her chuckles turning to full blown laughter. Suddenly, she had an angry Apple Bloom directly in her face, pressing her muzzle directly against her.
 
“You take that back right now!” she yelled, her face red with anger. Before Scootaloo could reply, Sweetie Belle wiggled her way in between her two friends, effectively separating them.
 
“No fighting, you guys!” she sternly warned them. Turning to Scootaloo, she admonished her, “Now, tell Apple Bloom you’re sorry for making fun of her brother.”
 
Scootaloo opened her mouth to protest, but the glare that Apple Bloom was shooting at her plus Sweetie Belle’s disappointed look caused her objections to die in her throat. “Sorry for making fun of your brother, Apple Bloom,” she mumbled, avoiding the gaze of the irate pony across from her.
 
Apple Bloom gave her a hard glare before sighing, her anger slowly melting away. “Just don’t ever say that about Big Macintosh again.” The quick nod from Scootaloo was all she needed to accept her apology. “Ah’m just worried fer mah family, Scootaloo. Suppose this thing attacked them out of nowhere.” Her former angry expression changed to one of worry.
 
“Weeeeellllll, if you’re that worried about it, then why don’t you come to the party Pinkie Pie is throwing for it?” She giggled at the stares the two others suddenly aimed at her. “I heard Rarity talking about it. She said he lives in the Everfree forest in this huge spaceship! Plus Pinkie Pie dropped off an invitation in the mail after school today. She even gave me an extra one!” She went over and grabbed a small envelope that had escaped the sight of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, dropping it onto the table. Opening it, the friends pulled out the card that invited them to attend a party that night to celebrate ‘a friend that had never been seen before’, as it grandly proclaimed.
 
“Wow… it really is an alien,” Scootaloo whispered, her voice filled with awe.
 
“We should go check this out.” Apple Bloom just stared at the letter as if it had grown wings.
 
“Huh, I dunno. Will we be allowed to go to a party so late? Did Applejack or Rarity say anything?” Scootaloo’s question caused Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to look at each other, then shook their heads.
 
“Naw, mah sis didn’t say anything about a party. Maybe she doesn’t want me to go.” Sweetie Belle nodded her head in agreement. Scootaloo jumped up from her chair, determination flashing in her eyes.
 
“Alright Crusaders, first order of business is to get access to that party!” They all abandoned their seats and headed to the door.
 
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, GO!”



*****

 

 
“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up! WAKE UP!” Sarah constantly repeated in ever increasing volume.
 
“ZZZZ- Wha? Huh?! Yeah, I’m awake, I’m awake! Stop!” Steve yelped as he shot up wide awake, threw the covers off himself and jumped straight out of bed, frantically looking around. “What’s wrong!? Fire? Earthquake? Alien invasion?!” he shouted anxiously over the shrill ringing in his ears.
 
“You have a visitor.” Sarah calmly replied, ending the rapidly flashing red lights that had appeared all around the room.
 
“What?” he gasped out. “You scared the crap out of me like the world was ending because of a visitor? Geez, you could’ve woken me up a bit softer,” he snarled at her and threw an angry look at the nearest camera he could find.
 
“After you missed the last visitor and were not happy that I did not inform you, I thought it was imperative that I woke you up as fast as possible,” she replied, causing him to shake his head in response.
 
“Who is it?” he asked as he made his way over to the airlock, adjusting his clothes on the way. Is Luna paying me a visit again or is it one of the other ponies? Steve wondered. “Also, what time is it?” he asked the AI.
 
“It is ten past five and your visitor is the same that was here earlier today and yesterday, the one you referred to as Rainbow Dash,” she replied.
 
“Rainbow Dash?” he repeated. “What are you waiting for then? Open the door,” he ordered.
 
Sarah silently complied and the outer door was opening. On the small camera screen at the door control panel he could see the pegasus standing on the ramp outside of the door, looking a bit confused around, obviously unsure if she should enter or not. I need an easier door than this, he idly thought to himself before he ordered Sarah to put his voice on the outdoor speakers. “Please just step inside, Dash,” he said loudly, causing her to quickly spin around, searching for the source of his voice. “I’m on a speaker,” he explained to her. “I can’t open both doors at the same time; you have to enter the first one first.” From her quick nod that followed, he guessed that she understood and a few moments later she crossed the first door. He saw her fascinatingly looking after the door as it closed again and quickly spun around as she heard the one that would finally allow her to enter open.
 
“Hello Rainbow Dash, sorry about that. It’s a bit confusing, I know,” he greeted her with a light chuckle and pointed at the door as she finally came into his sight.
 
“Hey, Steve,” she replied, a sly grin on her face as she unfolded her wings, flapped them rapidly to gain some air and hovered until she was on his eye level, before she finally entered, hitting him lightly on the shoulder with her hoof as she flew past him. “Don’t worry, I don’t get challenged by some door,” she added with a small laugh.
 
“Sure,” he chuckled. “So… what brings you here?” he asked and followed her movements with his gaze.
 
“I’m just here to bring you to the party,” she replied casually, turning around to him again.
 
“Isn’t that not until like in two hours or so?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her statement.
 
“Yeah, but I got bored. Everypony else had something to do and I already had my pre-afternoon nap, so I decided to swing by a bit early,” she explained. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” she asked and eyed him for a few moments. “You look a bit sleepy.”
 
“No, no, I was just having a nap but I needed to get up anyway,” he replied hastily and quickly straightened his hair again. In the corner of his eyes he saw Rainbow Dash grinning amusedly at him. “What?” he asked and stopped his poor attempt at trying not to look dishevelled.
 
“Nothing, it just looks funny what you’re doing,” she giggled. “It’s not that bad looking. Or at least not ‘Rainbow Dash, would it kill you to use a brush through that bird’s nest of a mane every once in a while’ bad,” she said, giving a pretty decent impression of Rarity’s voice.
 
He rolled his eyes and decided to leave his look as it was for now. I’ll have to get ready later for the party anyway, no need caring that much about it now, he thought. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he agreed good-naturedly. “So then, what do you want to do? There is plenty of time until we have to go.”
 
“I dunno, that’s why I came here,” she replied and shrugged. “What did you do to kill time around here the last couple of days?”
 
“Nothing that interesting, to be honest,” he admitted and scratched behind his ear. “Most of the time I spent fixing the minor damage the ship still had after the rough landing.”
 
“Nothing else? Come on, there must be some cool thingies under all this science stuff,” she persisted.
 
“Well, yesterday I read a brilliant paper about an efficient planarity test algorithm using p-q-trees and…,” a quick look towards Rainbow’s confused face told him that this was not exactly what she was hoping to hear. “… and that pretty much doesn’t fit in with your definition of cool,” he concluded, to which she only nodded with an awkward smile. “Alright, don’t worry,” he told her while stroking his chin, trying to come up with anything that would also be interesting for her. “Err… hmm…… yeah that could work, follow me,” he said, motioning for her to come with him while leading the way.
 
“What is it?” Rainbow asked eagerly, slowly hovering behind him.
 
“I have no idea, I hope it would come to me on the way,” he admitted and shrugged. “Didn’t work out well,” he added as soon as they stood in front of the door of the cargo room. “Hold on! I actually have something neat,” Steve suddenly exclaimed and entered the room, Rainbow Dash close behind him.
 
“Where is it….. got to be around here someplace,” Steve mumbled while he was going through the different boxes stored in the cargo room, searching for the item he had in mind. Behind him, Rainbow Dash aimed a curious look over his shoulder. “AHA!” he shouted after a while and turned around with a small black device in his hand.
 
“What’s that?” Rainbow asked and sniffed at the thing that was in his hand.
 
“This, Rainbow, is called a LPS tracker,” he proudly exclaimed. “It will allow me to track and pinpoint your exact location and movements while you’re wearing it.”
 
“And this is a good thing because…?” she asked hesitantly, eyeing the device with some suspicion. “Being spied on all the time doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun,” she said, still keeping her eye on the strange thing in his hands.
 
“Well when you put it like that of course it won’t be any fun, but I haven’t told you what I was planning to do with it. First of all, we would have to set up some scanners in the perimeter to pick up a clear signal and send it straight back here. Three are enough to triangul… err, find out exactly where you are as long as you stay in this zone and are wearing the tracker and…” he explained hastily but stopped at the confused look Rainbow gave him. “Okay, I should first tell you what my idea is. When you go to practice your flying, especially new stunts, we can save the exact route you will take. I could then visualize it afterwards and we could go over it and I might be able help you to optimize your tricks.” Eagerly he waited for her reaction, but he got nothing more than a dumbfounded expression on her face. “So? What do you think about it? You could practice on a whole new level and I would get some data about pegasi flying abilities. Win-win situation for both of us,” he proposed again.
 
For a few moments she seemed to be mulling the matter in her head. “What exactly do ya mean by ‘optimizing’?” she finally asked.
 
“Umm, well it’s simple.” Or at least I thought it would be. “When the tracker,” he held up the small device in his hand again, “saves all the moves you’ve made, we could go over them again and see where room for improvement is. Like taking a curve a little bit faster or in a sharper angle, for example. I would have to do some research about aerodynamics and maybe a crash course in pegasus anatomy,” he explained to her and finally the spark of excitement he had seemed to leap over to her as well.
 
“You can really do that?” Rainbow asked, excited at the thought of improving her stunts being made even cooler by alien thingamabobs.
 
“Sure,” he promised. “Getting the data is relatively easy and should be done quickly. I just don’t know how long it will takes to evaluate it, maybe I could get Twilight to help us with that. I’m sure she would be interested as well.”
 
“Oh, I have a feeling she would be more than interested,” she chuckled, then quickly headed him off as he shot her a puzzled look. “Can we go do it right now?” she asked, her voice filled with excitement. “This sounds really cool if it can help me improve my tricks.”
 
“Why not? The sooner the better. I just need to grab the scanners to set up the perimeter. A flat area surround by a few hills would be perfect,” he said and turned around to the boxes again, searching for the remaining equipment.
 
“Can I see the tracker?” Rainbow asked.
 
“Sure,” he said and held his hand out behind his back for her to grab it. “We also need something to strap it onto you, preferable around your chest,” he mumbled more to himself than to her while digging through the various boxes.
 
“Uh-huh,” Rainbow replied distractedly, paying him scant attention as she turned it over in her hooves. “Is this thing already working?” she asked curiously.
 
“No, you have to press the button on the side to turn it on,” Steve replied, turning his attention back to the boxes in front of him until he heard a loud cracking sound, followed right after with a sheepish “oops” from Rainbow Dash.
 
“What happened?” he quickly asked, looking shocked as he turned around and saw the broken tracker on the floor, its cover completely shattered and a few loose cables poking out from its interior.
 
“I just pressed it like you told me to and it broke,” Rainbow quickly justified herself, yet an apologetic look was on her face and her ears were pressed flat against her skull, hoping he wouldn’t be too mad. “I laid it on the ground and pressed it with my hoof but as soon as I heard the cracking noise I pulled back. I didn’t know it would break so easily!”
 
“You did what!?” he asked her, bewildered and looking at her in disbelief.
 
“What?” she retorted and pointed her hoof at the broken tracker. “You told me to press it to start it.”
 
“Right, press it, not step on it! Ah, I should have seen this coming,” he sighed and waved it off, closing the box he had been rummaging through.
 
“Aren’t you mad? I broke it after all,” she asked, confused at his reaction. “Not on purpose, of course,” she added with a sheepish grin.
 
“No, not really,” he chuckled ruefully and shook his head. “I have a few of them to spare anyways. And honestly, I don’t even know what I expected when I told you to press a small button with a hoof.”
 
“Hehe, yeah… I kind of thought it was a bad idea from the beginning but hey! I thought you would know more about this stuff,” she joked, punching him in the arm lightly.
 
“Apparently not,” Steve commented and sighed as went down on his knees and carefully began piling up the remaining parts of the tracker from the ground, looking thoroughly around for any missing parts.
 
“So, what now?” Rainbow asked. “You said you have more of these, right? We can still do it, can we?” The note of disappointment was clearly audible in her voice though she looked at him hopefully.
 
He looked up from the ground and into her face and saw the regret he had heard confirmed in her features as she looked down at him. “Sure, there are plenty left, I just need to find the rest of the equipment and we are good to go,” he assured her, causing her face to lighten up again. “Sarah,” he called out to the AI. “Where is the rest of the localization equipment? I could swear there was a box for that.”
 
 
“Top shelf behind you, second box to the right,” she replied instantly, causing Rainbow Dash to whirl around, searching for the sound of the voice again like she did when she first arrived.
 
“Thanks,” he said to the AI before turning to Rainbow Dash. “You’ll get used to it and stop searching for the source, but if you want to know, the speaker is up there,” he told her and pointed to the top corner of the room, right next to the door. Steve got up from the floor and the small pile of smashed hardware in front of him to search for the box where Sarah had told him to. How convenient. That makes it so much easier to find it, he grumbled to himself while pulling out the box which had ‘GPS’ written on one side in large letters.
 
“Please, stop that.” Steve could hear the voice of the AI behind him, this time not clear as usual but streaked with static. Quickly, he turned around to see Rainbow Dash hovering in front of the speaker and lightly tapping against it.
 
“What are you doing?” he asked and arched a brow at the pegasus’ behaviour.
 
“How is her voice there?” she wondered and turned her head around to him, still continuing to tap against the speaker. “Is she inside there?” she asked, causing him to snort.
 
“A coil between two magnets, one pointing with its negative pole towards…” he began, but stopped and shook his head. “Never mind, just stop tapping it!” he quickly ordered her.
 
 
“Fine, whatever,” she shrugged and landed again, whipping her tail in direction of the speaker as she trotted over to him. “What do ya’ have there?” she asked and peeked into the box he held in his hands.
 
“Huh? Oh, I found the rest of the equipment,” he replied and took a look inside the box as well. It was filled with from top to bottom with all sorts of devices: trackers like the one that had just been destroyed, larger versions that could help with the mapping, and what he was looking for, the scanners to set up the perimeter. “Everything we need,” he told Rainbow with a content smile on his lips. “I say we go right now, okay?” he asked her and she eagerly nodded. “Great, let’s go,” he said and took the entire box with him, Rainbow quickly following up.
 
“Do you need help you carrying that? Looks kinda heavy,” she offered and eyed the box in his arms as a single bead of sweat began its long journey down the side of his face.
 
Sceptically, he looked a few times between the box and her eager face. “No thanks, it’s alright,” he finally replied.
 
“Aww come on, I won’t break anything… again. Promise,” she persisted, trying to sound serious despite the sheepish grin that once again found its way onto her face.
 
“It’s not because of that, it’s just not very heavy, I can easily carry it,” he tried to bluff his way out of her assistance.


“Oh really? Your muscles seem very tense for lifting something so light” she pointed out bluntly. He winced slightly; she had caught onto him. “Come on, it was an accident and I’m sorry,” she apologized again, feeling awkward for saying sorry more times than she was accustomed to. “I will have to carry some of this sooner or later anyways, dude.”
 
“Point taken, I suppose.” He made a show of sounding reluctant to accept her help though his muscles were beginning to burn, placing the box on the ground. Guess I do need to start working out more often. “If you’re that eager to help, take…” he stopped, looking through the contents for something that she could easily hold in her hooves and still be able to walk.
 
Rainbow went straight ahead and picked up one of the lengthy, heavy scanners, laying on the top with her hooves.
 
“Sure you can take it? Not very handy,” he commented and watched as she tried to fit the well over half a meter long cylindrical tube anywhere comfortable. A few tries later she tried holding it with her mouth. Steve couldn’t resist to laugh at the sight of her carrying the lengthy tube in her mouth, sticking out on both sides over her body but it didn’t look like she was having any problems with it.
 
He could hear some muffled noises from where Rainbow Dash was standing which he interpreted as a question as to why he was laughing. “Nothing,” he chuckled and picked the box, which was now a bit lighter, back up and stood up again. “Let’s go.”
 
He stepped out of the cargo room and headed for the airlock, but stopped shortly after because of the lack of footsteps and a few muffled sounds behind him. Turning around he saw Rainbow Dash struggling to get past the door as the scanner was wider than the door but too heavy for her to balance diagonally.
 
“Still sure you want to help?” he dryly asked, watching her struggling with a small frown on his face.
 
A few failed attempts later, she finally spat out the scanner and Steve’s heart stopped for a beat as he already saw it crashing against the ground before she caught it in her hooves and tucked it in beneath her wing. “Joke all you want, I saw how you did it on your own,” she retorted and lightly whipped him with her tail as she walked past him.
 
A little ashamed for teasing her, he looked at the ground. “Sorry, I should have been more grateful for your help,” he admitted, his voice sounding morose. “Thank you Rainbow Dash, for this and also helping me gather more data. I’m sure this will prove to be useful or at least interesting,” he added hopefully.
 
“Hey, don’t sweat it,” she waved it off, though a tinge of redness appeared on her muzzle briefly and she glanced at him appreciatively for his words. Nothing wrong with being thanked, after all. “I’ve said it before, just like everypony else, I’m happy to help. Aaaand it’s not like I don’t get a profit of it too, if what you promised turns out to be true. Now come on, I don’t wanna wait any longer,” she urged him as she looked back over her shoulder to see him still standing at the door.
 
A smile crept on his face as he quickly caught up to her. “Sarah, open the door,” he ordered while moving and they both stepped in the airlock and stood outside the shuttle only a few seconds later. As soon as they were in the open, Rainbow quickly shifted the scanner from under her wing back into her mouth. “Why don’t you just carry it under your wing like before?” Steve wondered.
 
She muffled something but he couldn’t understand any word. Annoyed, she rolled her eyes and took out it again. “Wings are extremely sensitive, they would start to hurt and convulse if I’d carry something like this for a longer time.”
 
“I see,” he acknowledged. “Now we just need an area to record the data. Preferably a flat field surrounded by a few small hills to set up the scanners, making sure nothing will block them, although it should be working fine either way. We could use this hill right here,” he explained and pointed to the hill which hid his shuttle from the view of everyone who was walking on the nearby road. “The second one close to Sweet Apple Acres and the next one somewhere in the direction to Ponyville, maybe a little bit more to the west and not just that far, perhaps a little bit up the road that leads to Fluttershy’s house,” he suggested.
 
Rainbow, who had the scanner back in her mouth, agreed with a quick nod, though he doubted she had anything to interject anyways and together they stepped up the small hill.
 
“Make sure to look carefully, it’ll be much faster if you go to the other two places and set them up,” he said as he put down the box and took one of the scanners out of it, as well as a tripod. “Can you carry two things at once?” he asked her. She responded with a deadpan look that made his question sound downright ridiculous, and she quickly grabbed the tripod from his hand, holding it now in her hooves. “I take that as a yes,” he proceeded and took another tripod out of the bag. “Just set up the tripod and fixate the scanner by spinning this wheel,” he explained and pointed at a small wheel at the side of the tripod to tighten around the object she now held. “Then just gently press on the large button on top of the scanner, I will take care of the rest. Got it so far?”
 
She nodded eagerly, the scanner in her mouth close to losing its balance from the shaking but she managed to hold it in place. He couldn’t help but feel nervous for its safety, though.
 
“Good, I have to set up one more thing over there, near the road,” he said and pointed to the small dirt path that had led him to Ponyville the few times he had visited. “Meet me back there once you’re done. Make sure it is set up safely, on a small hill if possible and not behind a tree or large rocks. Also, don’t step on it again! Just press lightly! Okay?” he reminded her to which she only rolled her eyes in annoyance, but eventually she again nodded in agreement. “Great, I’ll have to set up one more thing between them. Just go ahead and set up your scanner and then come back to me to pick up the next one. I’ll be waiting somewhere by the road for you,” he reminded her again.
 
With that, Rainbow Dash unfolded her large wings and slowly rose into the air, carefully balancing the equipment she was carrying. For a second he was impressed by the amount of caution she was showing, but that lasted only until she shot away with a few highly powerful beats of her wings, letting him briefly see her tense muscle underneath her coat before she was too far away.
 
He shook his head at the scene but seeing as it was too late to advise her to be prudent now, he got on his way as well, hoping everything would turn out alright and everything would remain in one piece.  A few steps before he reached the road, a blue blur appeared in front of him as Rainbow Dash quickly shot passed him.  She came to a quick halt and landed with a satisfied grin in front of him.
“Ha! I even got here first,” she exclaimed and proudly puffed her chest.
 
Did she really take this as some sort of competition? he wondered, but instead of giving his thoughts a voice, he instead sat the box down onto the ground while giving her the next scanner and tripod to set up. “Nothing’s broken, right?” he asked as he handed her the scanner which she picked up with her mouth again, straight out of his hands. Quickly she shook her head. “That’s good. You know where to place the next one?” A quick nod answered his question. “Alright, I’ll be waiting here.” With that she shot off into the distance again.
 
He gazed at her retreating figure for a few moments this time. Wow, she took off way faster than the first time. Probably got more used to the extra weight, but this still seems insane. I wonder how developed her muscles are compared to a regular pegasus who did not dedicate his or her life towards flying and stunts? Maybe I could ask Fluttershy if she would let me take some measurements from her as well? He mulled these thoughts over in his mind while going through the contents of the box, searching for the last item he needed. He pulled out a small, black, metallic cube with various buttons, switches and a small antenna on top. Hmm… how does this thing work? he asked himself and searched the outside of the box for any labels that might help him. Not finding any, he gave the inside of the box another rummage through. Hmmm….. Ah, here we go… this should help, he thought and pulled out a small black folder that had been labelled ‘Manuals’ on its front. Quickly, he flipped through it until he found what he was searching for and began reading.
 
“Done!” a loud voice cheered, causing Steve to gasp in surprise and look up at Rainbow Dash, who stood in front of him, her still unfolded wings showing him she just had landed.
 
“Excellent, well done, Rainbow Dash,” he commended her once his heart had returned from the brink of a heart attack. “Now let’s see if it works,” he said, mumbling more to himself than his pony companion as he pressed a few buttons on the small machine in front of him, holding the manual next to him to avoid making any major errors in its operation.
 
“What’s that?” Rainbow asked and took a step closer to him, also throwing a look inside the folder he held in his hand.
 
“This is a receiver that should pick up the signals of the scanners you just set up,” he responded slowly, still going over the manual. “If I didn’t do anything wrong it should be working in a few… perfect!” he exclaimed as three small green lights popped up in the upper right corner of the machine. He looked up into Rainbow Dash’s confused face. “It picked up the signals, now we just need the tracker,” he explained and pulled out one of them from the box again, as well as a lengthy strap where he could fasten it onto. “This has to stay close to you at all times. Where is the most comfortable part for you to wear something while flying?”
 
“I dunno,” she shrugged. “I think around my chest would be fine.”
 
Steve nodded and kneeled down next to her. “Okay, please hold still and tell me if it hurts. It will have to be strapped on a bit tight, seeing as how you’re going to be going pretty fast up there,” he explained and proceeded to put one arm over her back to grab the end of the strap he hold in his other hand below her chest. Rainbow was holding still, only moving her head to try to see what he was doing back there. As he moved his hand back across her back, he briefly brushed over the base of her wings, causing her to yelp loudly and immediately flinch away from him.
 
“Oh god, I’m so sorry!” he shouted, shocked at her sudden reaction and immediately pulled back his hands. He lost his balance at the sudden shift of forces and fell down on his rear, sitting on the ground now as he looked at Rainbow, her wings spread out wildly, making her look larger and more intimidating than usual. “D-did… did I hurt you?” he asked anxiously, not knowing what exactly just happened, but judging by her extreme reaction he knew he had messed something up pretty badly.
 
He could hear her breathing heavily for a few moments before she started talking again. “No, no, you didn’t hurt me,” she soothed him. “It’s just… uhm…,” she seemed to struggle with the words and licked her lips as she was nervously looking around, and he could see a hint of red underneath the cyan coat around her cheeks. “It’s just a very….. s-sensitive spot for a pegasus,” she finally said, her uneasy eyes meeting his for a short moment.
 
“Oh… I’m sor...” he began to stammer but stopped as the full implications of what she had meant kicked in. “Oh…” he repeated more faintly this time, and a deep red blush appeared on his face and he quickly looked at the ground to avoid her gaze. Well….. this is awkward, he muttered to himself, not daring to look up at Rainbow again, wishing the ground would open and swallow him up.
 
“I-It’s not your fault, you couldn’t know that and it was an accident,” she tried to soothe him clumsily, eventually bringing him to look up at her again. She was standing in front of him, her wings back at her side, the faint blush had disappeared from her face, as well as the shocked expression, which was now replaced by a light smile, though he could still see her struggling to keep her eyes from wandering around. “Now come on, things like that happen,” she tried to wave it off and offered him a hoof.
 
His mind was still racing about how he unintentionally seemed to have found such a spot for pegasi. I just basically molested a pony, he thought, feeling slightly disturbed. He needed a few moments before grabbing her hoof with his hand and she pulled him back up from the ground, not even looking like she felt the strain of his body weight. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable,” he apologized again, this time managing to look her in the eyes while talking.
 
“Aw, it’s alright. You couldn’t even have known, I should’ve told you earlier to watch out there. Now stop thinking about it!” she ordered him, making him nod slightly.
 
He cleared his throat, trying to get the memory out of this head and focus back on what they actually came here to do. “Let’s get back to it then?” he offered and picked up the tracker, which had fallen on the ground during the little accident.
 
“Sure,” Rainbow agreed eagerly, the uneasiness she had just shown a few moments ago was completely gone as her eyes were back on the goal.
 
Again he tried to wrap the strap around her, this time paying attention to avoid touching her wings again. Through the strap in his hands he could feel still feel her slightly shaking. Wow, this must be an extremely sensitive spot. Or is it just this much because she was flying a minute ago? he wondered but quickly got rid of the thought again. He didn’t want to think about that right now, he had more important things to care about. This time he had put the strap around her chest without any incidents. “Tell me when it gets too tight,” he said and slowly began to tighten the strap.
 
“Stop,” she said after a while, causing him to stop and lock the strap in this position.
 
“Looking good,” he confirmed after pulling at the tracker to see if it would hold in place, then he turned it on. “Now let’s wait for the sig… ah there it is,” he said and looked over at the receiver where another green light had flashed up. “Wonderful, everything’s working,” he declared and clapped his hands.
 
“And now it knows exactly where I’m flying?” Rainbow asked incredulously.
 
“Yes,” he confirmed. “Every position of the tracker will be saved in here and from that I would be able to create a visualization to make it easier to see and from there we can start analysing the date. As I said, this might take some time but I need to do some research first anyways.”
 
“As long as it works,” she shrugged.
 
“It will, don’t worry,” he promised. “If you’re ready you can start flying now, do whatever you want, just try to stay between the three scanners and don’t go up too high, it might falsify the data.”
 
“Got it!” she acknowledged and was off in the air again, leaving behind only a faint colorful blur and a slightly scarred human.
 
Steve’s gaze shifted between the figure high in the air and the receiver to see if the signal was still coming in. Looking good so far. I hope it’ll work, I made her so optimistic that this would get results and I don’t even know how well all this works at high speed, he worried. I hope it stays that way once she gets started.
 
From below it looked like Rainbow Dash was testing out how much the tracker was impairing her, judging by the many small loops and sharp turns she made that didn’t look like they belonged together into one maneuver. Good, she’s not overdoing it at the start, he thought as he followed her every move, entranced by the rapid moves she was showing. He was too far away to make out many details, but he could see that she was starting on her actual stunts now. Her speed increased, the angles of her curves got sharper; all the while the tracker kept notice of every move. For a moment he thought about not having just one tracker attached to her, but many for all her different body parts to exactly see what she was doing but he quickly discarded the thought. No way could she fly comfortably while wearing so many things. Plus I don’t want to accidently touch her anywhere inappropriate.
 
He continued watching her soaring through the skies, looking over to see if the signal was still good every now and then but mostly enjoying the show. After what had seemed to be only minutes for him, she began descending again. A look at his watch told him she had been flying for over three-quarters of an hour already. Time was really flying by, he thought, amazed at how long they have actually been out here, then chuckling at the poor pun he had inadvertently used.
 
“Ahh,” Rainbow gasped as her hooves touched the ground again. “How was it?” she asked eagerly, an expectant smile on her face that was dripping with sweat by now.
 
“From down here it looked wonderful,” he cheered. “I have to wait till we get back to the shuttle to tell you more but that should definitely have given us enough material to work with.”
 
“I hope so, that was pretty exhausting,” she admitted, still panting as she ruffled her feathers. Her muscles were still tense from the effort and her coat was soaked with her sweat.
 
“You’ve done a very good job,” he commended her and smiled, giving her a light tap on the shoulder. “This won’t be for nothing; thank you very much for your help.”
 
“No probs,” she replied between two heavy breaths. “It wasn’t hard to fly with the tracker either, got used to it quickly,” she told him and pointed at it. “But now I’d like to get rid of it,” she added and laughed.
 
“Sure,” he replied and moved over to her. With a few short yanks and tugs, he had untied the strap again and pulled it out away from her. Free from it, Rainbow streaked with her hoof over the place where it had just been to smoothen it out.
 
“Feels funny,” she laughed and Steve had to smile as well as he watched her in her movements. “Oh crap!” Rainbow suddenly shouted.
 
“What’s wrong?” Steve quickly asked.
 
“The party!” she shouted, hastily pacing around on the ground. “I completely forgot about it! How late is it?”
 
“Don’t worry,” he calmed her and raised his hands. “We still have almost an hour before it starts.”
 
“Oh, good,” she sighed in relief. “Pinkie Pie would not be happy with me if we ended up late because of me. But I’d like to take a shower before that,” she said and sniffed at her coat, causing her to wrinkle her face. “I’ll be heading back then. See you later, okay?” she asked and prepared to fly away again.
 
“Wait!” he quickly stopped her before she had the chance to get off the ground. “I could really use your help getting my equipment back,” he said. Not to mention that I don’t even know where half of it is right now, he added to himself.
 
“Oh yeah, almost forgot about that,” she admitted, looking sheepish. “But I’ll have to hurry with that to get back to my place in time after that!”
 
“You can use my shower if that’s easier for you,” he offered, already packing all the equipment they had brought along back into the box.
 
“Really? That would be awesome. Thanks dude,” she replied.
 
“I have to thank you for your help so it’s the least I can do,” he said. “But we better get going or we won’t have enough time left after all.”
“Yeah, I’ll meet ya back at the ship, gonna pick up the scanners!” she shouted over her shoulder and bolted into the air again, leaving him to walk alone back towards his home.
 
A few minutes later he stood in front of his shuttle again, expectantly looking into the sky for the familiar blue blur that told him Rainbow was near.
 
“Looks like I’ve beaten you this time!” he called to her as she was landing in front of him, again holding a scanner in her mouth, and the tripod clamped at her chest. She put tripod on the ground and spit the scanner out in her hooves to lay the devices next to each other.
 
“Unfair! I was exhausted while you could rest the whole time!” she retorted, a hint of annoyance in her voice as she pointed at the equipment before her on the ground.
 
“Relax, it was just a joke, I’ve seen you flying, I don’t really consider it to challenge you for a race,” he chuckled and moved towards her to pick up the remaining equipment. “Thanks for that.” Boy, she sure is competitive.
 
“Sure, no probs man. Was easy,” she replied, her pride seemingly mollified, but he could see how much power it had cost her to help him in her already exhausted state.
 
You won’t admit that anything was challenging, will you? he wondered and eyed the heavily breathing pegasus. “Looks like you really deserved your shower. Now, let’s get these inside.”
 
As soon as he stepped in the airlock with her, he noticed just how much she needed the shower. He didn’t let it show but she filled the small chamber quickly with the musky smell of her sweat. He was thankful for the fresh flush of air that blew into his face as soon as the inner door opened and stepped inside.
 
“Welcome back, Steve. Welcome back, Rainbow Dash. I hope your excursion was successful,” Sarah greeted both of them.
 
“Hey, Sarah,” he greeted her back. “Yeah, it went pretty well. I might need your help analyzing the data though, or at least to visualize them. Do we have any simulation programs? I tracked movements and want to look at them again.”
 
“The required programs will be loaded, although this might take a few minutes,” the AI replied.
 
“No rush, won’t be needing it today anyways. There are more important things to do right now,” he said and eyed Rainbow Dash. “The bathroom is right here,” he told her and took a few steps forward until he reached said room and held the door open for her.
 
“So…. this is what human bathroom looks like, huh?” she asked and curiously stepped inside, quickly scanning the room.
 
“That’s one version of it,” he replied briefly. “The shower is over there, pull the handle for water to came out, tilt it to change the temperature, there is a bottle of shampoo too. I think it should work for ponies as well, nothing poisonous inside,” he explained and pointed at the small cabin at the end of the room. “Do you need anything else?”
 
“Nah, I’m good, thanks,” she replied and walked over to the shower.
 
“Okay, I’ll be next door, call me if something’s wrong,” he said and closed the door behind him. He proceeded storing the equipment back into the cargo room, except for the receiver. “Sarah, can you validate the data on this thing?” he asked and held it towards one of the cameras so she could see.
 
“Certainly,” she replied. “Come over to the laboratory.” Following her order, he stood in the laboratory a few moments later, plugging in the receiver. “No corrupted files found. Shall I create a visualization?” she offered.
 
“Yes, please,” he replied and sighed with relief. Perfect. Everything worked out fine it seems, he thought, smiling with contentment.
 
A short moment of silence later, Sarah responded. “Understood. This will take around two hours.”
 
“Take your time, I’ll be leaving shortly and won’t return until later tonight.”
  
“Acknowledged. I will give you a progress report when you have returned then.”
 
Pleased with the results of today’s efforts, he left the lab with a smile. That went smoothly, he thought as he strolled down the hallway, heading for his bedroom to take a small rest while Rainbow was getting ready.  As he passed the bathroom, he could hear the water running. Sounds like she got it working well enough, he thought, relieved that his day seemed to be spared from any more incidents.
 
Finally he had reached his bedroom and sat down on his bed. A long sigh escaped his lips as he moved his aching arms behind his hand and slowly laid down on his bed. Finding a comfortable position, he stared at the ceiling, trying to clear his mind. His attempts were not met with any great deal of success as his thoughts were overwhelmed with excitement about the data they had gathered. Hopefully this will give me some more insight about how pegasi can fly so fast.
 
His thoughts kept mulling around the subject for a little longer until he got interrupted by the sound of someone harrumphing and water dropping on the ground. He sat up in the bed and looked towards the source of the noise. His eyes had already adjusted to the dim light of his bedroom so he couldn’t directly look at the bright light that was shining in through the door where he made out someone standing. “What is it, Rainbow Dash?” he asked and got up completely, his eyes slowly adjusting to the bright light again, wondering what caused the sound of the water dropping.
 
“Sorry, didn’t wanna wake you, but I’m done showering and couldn’t find a towel,” she replied and looked down at the ground, a sheepish grin appearing on her face. Now that he was closer he could see why and stopped suddenly and starred at her. Her coat was soaked with water and myriads of droplets dripped down on the floor, forming a small puddle below her. “Sorry ‘bout that,” she said as she saw the mess she made.
 
But that wasn’t what had caught his attention. He was entranced by the way her soaked mane clung to her face, the few drops of water that ran over it, down her short snout, and the light that shone from behind her and reflected in every little drop, making her whole body shine as she stood there in front of him. Entranced by her looks, he couldn’t avert his eyes from her, seeing her in a whole new light for the first time. Wow… was all his mind was capable of thinking at the moment.
 
“Uhhh… something wrong?” Rainbow asked and tilted her head as she noticed how he stared at her, his mouth slightly opened. “Sorry if it’s ‘bout the water,” she said and looked at the, by now quite large, puddle of water underneath her, as well as the trail of water she had left behind her.
 
Finally he snapped back into reality and quickly shook his head. “N-no no,” he stammered. “It’s… uh… nothing… I, uh… you needed a towel, right?” he managed to press out and could feel a burning heat in his cheeks. “Right,” he repeated quickly as he saw the confused look she was throwing at him. “There should have been some in the bathroom but I have some over here as well,” he said and turned away from her, finally able to speak somewhat normally again as he headed over to his closet. He grabbed a fresh towel, stored in one of the top shelves, and turned around to her again.
 
She already stood behind him as he had turned around and eagerly grabbed the towel with her mouth; in the process of doing so, a few drop of water from her coat sprayed at him. “Thanks,” she said, her voice muffled by the towel in her mouth.
 
“Uh-huh,” was his simple response, his eyes already locked onto her. Luckily she didn’t notice as she was too busy drying herself with the towel, rubbing it around her face, soaking in the water that had seeped into her coat.
 
Rapidly he shook his head, trying to get a clear train of thoughts again but it was of no use. What is going on?! he was on the verge of shouting out. What am I even thinking?! Did… d-did I just think she looked… pretty? he questioned himself. No! he quickly denied the thought, although he knew very well that it was of no use. Well, she did look pretty… pretty with her mane so wet and the colors shining so brightly, he admitted after his eyes fell onto her another time. Still busy drying herself she didn’t notice the looks. Stop it! he ordered himself and managed to take his eyes off her again. ARGH! What am I even thinking!? She’s a horse! Uh... pegasus I mean, but still! This doesn’t even make sense, I…
 
“I’m ready,” Rainbows voice interrupted his confused train of thought. Baffled, he looked back at her, meeting her large, expectant magenta eyes. “Something wrong?” she asked as she noticed his expression. “You’re acting a bit weird, to be honest,” she said, raising a brow at the suddenly nervous human.
 
“Oh no, no, everything’s alright, it’s, uhh, I’m just excited that’s all. I really hope that the effort for getting the data from your flight earlier wasn’t for nothing,” he quickly responded, putting on a fake smile.
 
“Yeah, don’t worry so much ‘bout that, dude, it’s gonna be alright,” she assured him. “Now come on, the party’s gonna give you something else to think about,” she added and put on an excited grin. As she walked past him she whipped her tail lightly against his leg. “You coming?”
 
“Y-yeah,” he replied stutteringly and followed the cyan pegasus out of the door. And to think the day looked fairly good until now…