STAR TREK: EQUESTRIA

by Alicorne


STAR TREK: EQUESTRIA supplemental Shipboard Life 2

STAR TREK: EQUESTRIA

Shipboard Life -Two

Sunny was running late in Medical that night. One of the Engineering Techs, a Unicorn named Spanner, tripped while performing maintenance on the one of the shuttlecraft. His skull failed in its attempt to put a dent in the super-hard composite material of the port drive nacelle and he ended up with a depressed skull fracture. He was rushed to Sickbay just before Sunny’s watch ended and she elected to stay and assist Doctor Willowbark with the surgery. The prognosis was excellent and the poor buck could look forward to nothing worse than a headache and the gift of a helmet from his fellows afterwards.
After dinner I took Tyllae back to our cabin. I changed into my old spatball shirt and sweatpants and set the little tyke up with her favorite padd full of Three Stooge Ponies episodes before settling down on the bed with one of Sunny’s old-style books and a tumbler full of Sparkle-Cola Rad to while away the time till Sunny returned.
Reading with a Faery in the room is an exercise in interruption. Tyllae has the attention span of a gnat at the best of times and the two hundred year old slapstick antics of those Stooges… and the huge chocolate-chip cookie she’d retrieved from her magical stash… did nothing to calm her down. Thus she zipped from here to there in our room, tending to Myrl the Geeva, indulging in aerial dance numbers, and exhorting me to watch choice scenes involving the maneless Stooge undergoing what seemed to be variations on epileptic fits complete with whooping noises. I managed to keep up with the events in The Fellowship of the Horseshoe nonetheless, pausing only when she’d conjured a long straw to refresh herself from my cola. I’d rather stir antimatter and deuterium with my bare hooves before I’d mix sugar and caffeine in a Faery crucible!
I snatched the giggling little twerp out of the air and roughhoused her over to the replicator for a cup of decaffeinated peppermint tea with lots of non-caloric sweetener. It tasted like liquid candy so she allowed herself to be reigned in to sit with me on the bed. I tucked her into my mane up on my left shoulder after she got a tummy full of peppermint sweetness. Not being able to read she asked me questions about what was happening in the story. I had to explain to her about Halfling Ponies, a concept she took as a given rather to my surprise.
“All kindsa Faeries are shapey-shifters, Starry!” She admonished. “How does Starry think so many Ponies have Magic? All comes from Faery grandparents, not just from Alicornees! Faeries make look like Ponies an’ have all sortsa foals to make Pony Tree grow strong an’ healthy. Faeries very very very wise, Starry!”
“Uh-huh!” I grunted skeptically. “I’m an Earth Pony and an Equestrin on top of that. I’m about as Magical as a bowling ball, kiddo. Hate to burst your bubble!”
Like all small things, Tyllae balances one hour of frenetic activity with four hours of sleep… and she’d been going strong for hours now. I heard her yawn as she nestled into my mane.
“Silly Starry!” She said sleepily. “Earthy-Ponies gotta special magic alla own. Very subtle, very secret an’ special. Earthy-Ponies do anything Earthy-Ponies puta mind to. Make do big things nopony thinks of before. Build housies, build machinys, build star-shippies…” She yawned hugely and I smelled peppermint. “…Makea awg-mints, all sortsa stuff! Whatever thinka ‘bout, Earthy-Ponies do sooner or later!” She gathered my mane to her and nuzzled the soft curls.
“Mmmm! Softy-soft-soft! Tyllae likes Starry’s nice, nice, nice mane. Very, very, very snuggly!”
I reached up and stroked her with a forefinger. “Why don’t you catch a nap, Squirt? I’ll wake you when Sunny gets in. Then we can all go to the Rec Deck. I think Sunny has a role-playing game going tonight. We’ll cheer her on and you can help her roll dice, she says you’re lucky!” More Terran Pony entertainment nonsense. I mean, really now! Pretending to be the descendants of mutant survivors of an arcanotechnological holocaust in a warped and twisted future world where Magic and Science have gone wild is a bit too much like the actual reality of the post-Eugenic Wars! What some Ponies call ‘entertainment’! As games go it’s hardly what I’d call fun, too much pointless work involved to be relaxing by my way of thinking. Still, watching and listening to the players is like attending some weird fantasy play. I’ve never allowed them to talk me into ‘rolling up a character’. I’m just there for the snacks and to be moral support for Sunny. Tyllae gets to roll the dice for the Game Master, ostensibly to ensure impartiality on his or her part. Watching her choose the prettiest dice to roll like they were exotic bowling balls is a big part of the night’s entertainment!
“Yay! ‘Gammy World’! Tyllae gonna rest up so Tyllae can make alla important rolls! Night-night, Starry!” She planted an elfin kiss on my ear and snuggled in eagerly.
“Night-night, kiddo!” I got comfortable and found my place again. Listening to the little Fey’s breathing lapse into soft snores made my own eyes heavy after a bit, it was a lot like listening to the white noise of Sunny’s fan. I closed my eyes just for a little rest and let the book rest on my chest. Just as I began the warm slide into sleep I felt her stir and heard a soft, muted noise from the Fey.
“Cover your mouth when you burp, kiddo.” I admonished with a yawn.
Tyllae giggled sleepily. “Oopsie! Didn’t burp!”
I opened one eye in alarm as I caught a whiff of something besides peppermint!
“Damnit, you little gasbag! In my mane? Ick! Out, out!” I shooed the little Chemical Warrior from my mane and stomped off to the shower.
When Sunny came in I was still in the shower with Tyllae apologizing from the other side of the divider. I filled her in while I lathered up for the second time… with lots of green apple scented shampoo!
Sunny couldn’t keep the mirth out of her voice. “Sure n’ it sounds likes a case o’ just desserts! Ye told me t’ be philosophical ‘bout it as I recall.”
I rinsed off and shut the shower down. I slid the divider aside and was greeted by Tyllae flapping her wings at Warp Speed with my towel clutched in all four legs. She looked so woebegone that I couldn’t bring myself to growl at her as I relieved her of her burden and began scrubbing my mane.
“Tyllae did not mean it, Starry!” She said earnestly; ready to flit away at any sudden movement on my part. Despite the situation I was feeling more like a bully with each passing second. “Tyllae was all sleepy-sleepy an’ it just happened. Tyllae wasn’t being mean, honest!”
“There!” Sunny pointed out reasonably. “Ye see? T’was an accident is all! I survived n’ so will ye. ‘Tis no like ye never broke a no-so-wee wind yerself on occasion. Remember that chili last week? I’dve made ye sleep on th’ couch if we had one. Good job I had the fan. Bloody ‘bout blew blanket right off th’ bloody bed! ‘N th’ smell! Could’ve knocked a Manticore down at twenty paces upwind! S’truth, talk about yer bean-fed horses!”
“I never had habeneros before, ok? And we don’t grow beans on Equestris! You’re the one who says I should try new things as I recall.” I peered out from under the towel at my reflection in the mirror, comparing my much larger physique to hers. The comment about being a horse; an overgrown, crude, good-for-only-physical-labor, stupid Equine never fails to make me self-conscious of my size.
Tyllae stopped tittering and jumped up and down on Sunny’s head three times, her way of bopping somepony on the back of the head no doubt. She sometimes has a low sense of humor… as evidenced by her taste in antique comedy vids… but she also has a highly developed sense of fairness, bless her elfin heart!
Sunny! Don’t be mean an call names on poor, poor, poor Starry! Starry didn’ mean it, either! Be nice or Sunny can roll own dices an have all sorta bad luck!”
“Oh, dinna get yer antennae in a twist, ye little flitterbug!” Sunny snatched the Fey out of the steamy air with a practiced gesture and held her up to her cheek. “I was only gettin’ point across through that thick Equestrin skull that she’s no really mad at ye! Am I right ‘r am I right?”
I draped my towel over my shoulder and stopped trying to hide in it. The effect I created in the mirror was not unlike that of certain ancient sculptures I’d seen in museums on Earth depicting partial nudes. It was certainly catching Sunny’s attention, at least!
“All right, all right!” I sighed. “I’m sorry I yelled, Tyllae. I know you didn’t mean it. I was half-asleep and you startled me. Ok?”
The little tyke flitted into my mane in a microsecond, nestling in the damp curls! “Tyllae is sorry, too! If Tyllae was more awake Tyllae would not have done it. Everthing all oakey-dokes!” She tickled my ear with a Faery nuzzle that made me squirm and reach up to poke her tummy in retaliation, making her giggle and squirm!
Sunny adjusted my towel, smoothing it down and observing the effect. She had to collect herself before speaking.
“Right! Now all that's done you should shake a leg n' get dressed or we'll be late for game. I have it on good authority that there will be bean dip n' corn crisps for snacks...” She managed to catch us both with one stern eye. “So there'll be a wee pill I'll be thankin' th' both o' ye t' take afore we start! I'll be wantin' t' get a good nights sleep for a change!”
“Sounds good to me! Howabout you, Squirt?” I pulled the Fey out to sit on my palm where she beamed up at Sunny.
“Sunny-Sunny gotta pill for everthing! Tyllae wonders if issa pill for snoring? Tyllae needs a good night sleepy, too!”
“I dinna snore, ye half-pint hobgoblin!” Sunny made a grab for the giggling Fey who zipped out of the bathroom. “Get back here, ye sawed-off pixie, 'r it'll be in me t' tell th' others ye put a hex on their dice!”
I chuckled and began getting dressed. The Players, I reflected, are more fun than the game!