//------------------------------//
// Chapter 18: Tea and scenery 
// Story: Equestria's first warp drive - Alternate ending 
// by CCC 
//------------------------------//

Princess Celestia was not the only alicorn who had occasional tea with the Admiral; though in Luna's case, the Admiral had to stay up late(1).

“AND HOW FAR AWAY DIDST THOU SAY THOU WERE?”

“Several hundred lightyears.” said the Admiral, quietly turning down the volume on his speakers.

“AND THIS DEVICE TRANSMITS THY IMAGE TO ME?”

“Exactly, yes.” nodded the Admiral.

“PERHAPS THE DISTANCE IS WHY IT APPEARS SO BLOCKY, THEN.” suggested Luna.

“Um... blocky?”

“INDEED! THY IMAGE IS MADE OF TINY BLOCKS OF COLOUR!”

“...ah. That's a limit of the technology; we make the blocks so small that we can't tell them apart individually. They're called pixels, and if you can see them so easily, you must have very good eyesight.”

“THINE EYES CANNOT RESOLVE OBJECTS AS LARGE AS THOSE PIXELS?” asked Luna, peering at the screen. “THEN 'TIS A GOOD THING YOU HAVE MET US, FOR THERE ARE MANY THINGS TOO SMALL FOR THEE TO SEE! TO BEGIN, THERE ARE SMALL CREATURES KNOWN AS 'GERMS', WHICH ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY DISEASES...”

“We know what germs are.” said the Admiral. “We have invented devices that are able to magnify objects for us, so that we can see things that would otherwise be too small to see.”

“AH, HOW INGENIOUS!”


* * *


Cargo Bay Four, unlike the brig, had not originally been designed for the holding of prisoners, and had not been prepared beforehand for holding Spike. This had left it with certain flaws in its construction which an enterprising dragon could use to escape.

The cargo bay is not empty, despite Spike's escape. There are a few things left in it.

A dart lies in one corner, where it was flung in a fit of anger.

In the opposite corner rest two empty wooden crates, with a third balanced on top of them. One of the crates has a corner missing; apparently torn out by claw and tooth. The missing corner is not in the cell.

On top of the upper crate are three wingnuts and three bolts.

On the ground, near the crates, lies a grating. It bears a slight dent from when somedragon flung it into the floor.

Above the top crate is a hole. It is large enough that the grating would just cover it.

Inside the hole is an air duct. It is just big enough for a small dragon.

To the left of the hole, there are a few scratchmarks on the inside of the air duct, as if left by a set of claws strong enough to scratch a diamond.


(1) Due to the slight difference in the length of a day between Earth and Equestria, in about a month's time the Admiral would be having tea with Luna during his day and tea with Celestia during his night. Both alicorns found this a source of amusement.

(2) While dragons are not entirely immune to radioactivity, they are highly resistant. There was not enough radioactivity in the cargo bay to do any serious harm to Spike.