Just a small note, handling a shuttle in this form, is hard. I guess I'm happy for the panels, the way we have them set up, even with these hooves, I still can do make a few adjustments, but the best part right now still is the vocal interface.
Then I'll have to make adjustment, I need to react to my undercover name, I'm Gleaming Engines, not la'Forge. At least the new name does have a nice ring to it, from my current perspective.
I have numerous other words to adjust, like it is anypony, not anyone, now. All the little details, things that would be dead give-aways, if I was to make a single slip.
“Open bay doors!” I pronounced, trying to keep my voice calm and clear, considering all the changes made to my body, in order to pass me off as a Pony, one that could manoeuvre a star ship, nonetheless, not to mention, converse rationally with other Ponies just like me.
It is mind-boggling to see, just how far our surgery had gone, just to help me pass for yet another of all the life forms we've encountered in this quadrant of our galaxy.
The bay door soon slide open, and I get a green sign, allowing me to initiate take off.
“Initiate thrusters, then take me to three feet above the floor. Steady, and out the shuttle bad!” I pronounced clearly, slowly guiding the shuttle out of the bay.
Right now, I'm happy I have several minutes to practice and rehearse, the words are not coming as easy to me, as I would have preferred. Speaking Equestrian was a challenge, as it turned out, despite the fact that it apparently is almost identical to our standard English. Maybe part of the problem is it is too much alike, but still just enough to make it difficult.
“Slowly, bring us about. Take us to the small ship named 'the Harmony'. Slow, we don't want them to get any ideas, we're not hostile. Besides, our main defence is the Enterprise behind us, even if we do have shields!” I continued, the last part more for myself, and to practice speaking Equestrian, than actual instructions to the shuttle.
I had the words coming up on a monitor before me, and the voice pronouncing them for me, and I repeated them, one by one. I hope I'll get them just right in time for the docking. However they were to handle these things. I had no idea, since we hadn't managed to figure the details out. What means would they have, old time docking ports, a shuttle bay, and if so, would they have room for even my small shuttle. There is always the chance they were beaming me over, with whatever device they could have created for the purpose.
The seconds and minutes passed me by as I worked on practising the Equestrian pronunciations. Then I found myself face-to-face with the ship. It sure wasn't a big ship, but it's the only ship we had detected. If it is for good or bad, this is a part of what my mission would be. I hope they are as friendly as we had made them out to be, going over the reports.
“Shuttle to the Harmony, I would like to request to board, or if it is impossible, to dock!” I spoke with a fairly confident voice, trying to hide my original self behind the authority I was to have.
“This is Commander Twilight Sparkle of the Harmony. Please identify yourself. I'm afraid I can't recognise you, or your ship. I may have missed something!” she responded.
“I'm Engineer Gleaming Engines, and the ship I'm from is 'the Enterprise'. I hope I can clear up any further confusion, and answer any questions you may have, in a few minutes, or so!” I replied.
“Engineer Gleaming Engines of the Enterprise, prepare to board momentarily. Do you require guidance? I'll be arranging an escort for you, in order to avoid any further confusion and problems. Though I never heard of either your ship, or your name, but that will be cleared shortly after your arrival!” she pointed out.
I could clearly see the face of the Commander before me, but to my surprise, not only does she have wings on her back, but also a horn in her forehead. Is this what an Alicorn is like?
As I look at her, I'd have to admit, she is looking attractive to me, if it is because I had become changed in order to pass for a Pony, or if I had seen the same signs before I changed, I had no idea, but I put forth an effort, pushing this confusion to the side.
I clearly had not come here and put up all the effort, just to make out with this Commander. I knew as much. I have a job to do, answers to the questions had to be pulled out of the hat.
Guiding my shuttle in, with hooves where my hands used to be, that isn't as easy as it may have seemed. Now I just had to manage it, or I would have made a complete fool out of myself, and everything I stood for.
This is when it happened and I should have known it would, even if I didn't know how they were to pull of the trick for me, but the gigantic maw as in a shark, or rather a Manta Ray opened up and abruptly swallowed my shuttle whole before I had realised it. Then it wasn't such a hard thing to go the few more yards, before I found myself on the floor of the shuttle bay. Just like back at the Enterprise, the air is apparently fully breathable.
After I had quietly powered down the shuttle, I moved to the back, opened the hatch and slipped out, jumping the foot down onto the floor. Then I noticed a door opening, and two Ponies in guard uniforms entering, approaching me in crisp motion.
“We're here to escort you to our Commander, Twilight!” the white Pony to the right announced.
“Right this way, Gleaming Engines!” the guard to the left informed me, as she motioned towards the door she had just come through.
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