The turbo lift doors opened and the ponies were greeted to a sight the likes of which had never been seen before a large circular room with multiple control stations the helm controls and the most important part the Captains chair, the look the ponies faces said it all they were impressed and amazed at the sight.
"Wow so amazing what is this place" Cadence asked
"Welcome to the bridge, the T'lava's primary control center" Xiramek said as he stepped past Cadence.
"Admiral on the Bridge" Satra said
"Ah good Satra your here, Eveyone meet my Chief medical officer Sub-commander Satra" Xiramek said
"Julan Tru" Satra said before eyeing the four fillies "By the elements you are just so adorable" She squealed as she scooped them up in her arms.
Xiramek chuckled at Satra's display of happiness "Forgive Satra she is fond of small animals especially ones that she finds cute"
"While that is nice can't breath" Scootaloo said as she tried to breath
"Sorry I got Carried away" Satra said as she put the them down "So these are the Natives then Admiral?"
"that would be correct, believe me I was surprised as well when I saw them" Xiramek said "they have however given a new source of scientific knowledge to learn and study"
"So what are we doing here then" Rainbow huffed as she crossed her fore hooves
"I believe it is simply to show what life is like aboard a star ship and if I assume correctly what your world looks like from space" Sarcon said
"I believe I can arrange that, Z'teis bring up a live image of the planet on screen" Xiramek ordered
"Aye sir" Z'teis replied as she punch a few commands into her console bringing up Equus three on the main viewer
"My stars is that...our world" Celestia stuttered as she saw her home for the first time from space.
"Indeed it is Princess" Xiramek said as he stepped closer to the view screen cupping his hands behind his back " Beautiful isn't it, it reminds me of the first time I set foot on Mol'Rihan when we were over a year ago"
"Mol'Rihan what the hey is that" Rainbow asked the name having caught her attention just because of how cool it sounded
"Our new home, but to you the name translates to New Romulus it is our new home world were we can finally live in peace away from Sela and the remnants of the empire" Xiramek said with vigor for he had been the one to help start the settlement of New Romulus after having been instructed by D'tan the Republics leader to search for a new world to which the Remans and Romulans could live together on.
"But enough of that, I think we should at least begin our tour here starting with the tactical station" Xiramek said as he gestured the ponies over to the tactical console
"From here all security measures onboard can be activated and deactivated including deflector shields internal force fields and the ships weapons" Xiramek said
"Weapons?, Why would you need weapons isn't the Federation and the republic friends with each other" Luna enquired
"We are but not every race in the galaxy is friendly, in fact some are rather warlike" Sarcon said " Our ship even down to the smallest cargo freighter have some form of weapons to defend themselves with"
"S-So W-What kind of weapons does the T-T'lava have" Fluttershy asked
"I believe since you wish to know Miss Fluttershy, it may shock you what this ship is packing" Xiramek said as he tapped a few buttons on the console before an automated recording and file popped up on the screen showing the T'lava's technical data
" R.R.W. T'lava Ship type Ha'feh class heavy assault warbird
Length: 850meters
Wingspan: 600 meters
Crew size: 500
Primary power plant: 1 MKXII Dyson field stabilizing singularity core
Impulse engine type: MKXIII Combat Hyper impulse engines
Shielding: MKXII Romulan Prototype covariant shielding array
Maximum speed: Warp factor 9.99
weapons load out twenty Mark XIII plasma banks , two forward and two aft Mark XII torpedo launchers"
"What in tarnation are those are all of those doodad Ah am completely lost ya hear" Applejack asked
"The plasma banks are beam type energy weapons while the torpedo launchers fire explosive projectiles" Xiramek said "Everything else is hat we use for propulsion and defend from hostile forces
"Oh well why didn't the whatsit say that then" Applejack retorted as Xiramek concluded the tour of the bridge showing what each station and having to trap Pinkie in a stasis field when she started to press buttons while running around the bridge almost causing a collision between the T'lava and the Dawnstar when she started mashing the helm controls. After her little escapade the next destination was the crew decks and medical bay.
"Here we are the medical it is sort of like the ships own onboard hospital crew members mainly come here for injuries or when they get sick" Xiramek said "But in this case I would prefer something for you all"
"Why we're totally fine the last time I was sick was three months ago" Rainbow said as she laid back in mid air
"I believe Xiramek is moving for a medical scan so that we may further understand your anatomy better and biology " Sarcon said
"I don't see how could hurt, besides Twilight I know you would like to see the wonders the have" Rarity said
"You Bet Rarity oh this is going to be so fun" Twilight said as she jumped onto the exam table. The exams went rather well Twilight being first gave a general basis to work with showing the advantage Alicorns have over other ponies being as the represent all three races of ponies. Fluttershy seemed to become terrified when she saw how the medical scanner worked as she let out a terrified whimper when the pencils thin been of blue light that was as wide as a piece of paper moved from front to back of her friends . unfortunately when it was her turn things didn't go so well for her.
"Miss Fluttershy I assure that this procedure is perfectly safe, if it was not we wouldn't be doing this nor would we have this technology" Sarcon said trying to reassure Fluttershy
"Come on Flutters me Rainbow and twilight have all done it an we aint hurt, ya got nothin to be fraid of I promise" Applejack said as she smiled.
"O-Oh okay, b-but you promise to stop if something goes wrong" Fluttershy asked feebly
"You have my utmost guarantee that you will be safe" Xiramek said "Proceed Satra" Fluttershy closed her eyes and shook hard as the scanner activate and moved the beam from multiple angles, but it didn't hurt in fact it felt like a warm blanket was being wrap around her while sitting in front of a warm fire in the winter.
"You see Miss Fluttershy nothing to worry about" Satra said as she helped Fluttershy off the table. the rest of the scans went well, that is until it was Pinkies turn and things got rather strange fairly quickly. When she was scanned the equipment starting throwing up error message's
'Uh Admiral you may want to see this!" Satra said as she motioned to the read out on the scanners screen.
War@#^^%^&% Unable to $#$%%$^& P!nki8 $ie
error error error error
A System failure has been dectected in your-
Sparks flew and the screen literally blew out sending glass very where before the machine caught on fire, setting the fire suppression system coating everyone and everypony to be covered in fire retardant foam.
"This is most un-expected" Sarcon said as he wiped him self off before helping the others especially their guest get cleaned and some what dry.
"Indeed, Miss Sparkle do you have any insight to why this would happen" Xiramek asked
"Yes and you can call me Twilight, if there is one thing we've learned about Pinkie , is that it's best to not question it" Twilight said as she rubbed the back of her head
"Hmmm interesting Satra, what is your conclusion on our guests anatomy" Xiramek asked
"Well your not going to believe this Their internal organ structure is identical to a humans" Satra said as she handed Xiramek her PADD only for Xiramek to gain a puzzled look.
"Very interesting, how this has happened is quite a mystery in its self, would you agree Sarcon" Xiramek said as he passed Sarcon the PADD
"Indeed how such a thing came to be is most unusual and fascinating, perhaps there is more to them than meets thee eye" Sarcon said reviewing each file.
"Is there something wrong?" Luna asked the way Xiramek and Sarcon had been discussing what seemed to be important was starting to worry her
"No, in fact quite the opposite we've made an astounding discovery thanks to your bio scans" Xiramek said
"Oooooo, what is it?" Pinkie ask hopping up and down with excitement
"It seems that for reasons currently still unknown your internal organs and bodily functions are approximately 95.456% similar to that of humans" Sarcon said as he handed Luna the PADD who eyes went wide as it showed a side by side comparison of a humans and ponies internal structure, passing it on so that the others could see, however when Twilight got a hold of it the information seemed to be more than she was able to hand.
"Bu bu but that not possible" Twilight stuttered out as her left eye twitched and her wings ruffled quickly before she hd a complete brain over load and promptly passed out from the shock
"quick I need three cc of trymetazine" Satra yelled at one of the present nurses and was handed a hypospray which she hurriedly placed on twilights neck and administeredit. a whole minute went by before Twilight groaned and groggily woe up rubbing her head albeit confused
"Wha -What happened" She asked
"It would seem that this new information we have found proved to much for you to handle Princess" Sarcon said
"Ow I think I hurt my brain" Twilight said as she stood up and brushing her self off
"I hope you are alright princess, I am to assume correctly that you wish to finish the tour" Sarcon said
"most certainly I for one wish to see what thee other wonders this ship contain" Luna said clopping her hooves
"I should be fine, so where to next" Twilight asked only for Xiramek who was about to answer to be interrupted by a rather loud growling coming from the stomachs of four fillies and one dragon who all blushed slightly
"I think it would be best if we headed to the crew lounge on deck Ten as I am sure many of you must be getting hungry" Xiramek said
"You could say that again" Nyx said as her stomach let out another loud gurgle causing some of the med staff to lightly chuckle.
"This way then" Xiramek said as he was about to leave only for Satra to stop him
"Xiramek a moment please there is something on one of the scans that requires your attention" Satra asked
"Of course, Sarcon I believe you now where the lounge is if you would lead our guest to it for some refreshments" Xiramek asked
"Of course, come with me everyone" Sarcon said as he ushered the ponies out towards the turbo lift to head to the crew lounge on deck ten as Xiramek turned to face Satra
"What is it?" Xirmek asked the medical officer
"I was looking over the data from Fluttershy's scan and I noticed this" Satra said as she handed her PADD to Xiramek as he looked he saw what she meant in Fluttershy's upper jaw were to small elongated canine teeth their purpose was unknown to them. but, a bigger question is why would a creature that is clearly an herbivore have teeth that are normal found on a predator
"Very strange I'll look it to, thank you for bringing this to my attention Satra" Xiramek said
"Of course sir, now I believe you may be needed in the lounge" Satra said with a smile as she went back to analyzing the new data
Oh Satra you always were the one to make sure everything was in order" Xiramek said with a chuckle as he headed for the lounge
Crew Lounge Deck ten
"Wow Whee so is this like where everyone comes for lunch and parties" Pinkie asked as she started bouncing over to the bar counter
"Not quite crew members can use the replicators in their quarters to receive food and drinks but this area is more for social gatherings and time in between shifts" Sarcon said as he stepped up next to pinkie and helped put the remaining ponies who didn't have wings in a seat
"I don know I aint really sure as ta what we can eat seein as well your not from our world no offense" Applejack said with a small blush
"No insult taken but, I Am confident I will be able to find something suitable for you to eat" Sarcon said "Waiter I believe I shall have the house salad and a Dagger fish sandwich"
"Of course sir" The waiter replied only for the ponies to stare at Sarcon with a look of dread until he noticed
"I s there something I have done to offend you?" Sarcon asked a bit concerned as to why the ponies were starring at him a if he were a ghost
"Y-you ordered a sandwich with m-meat" Nyx squeaked out shaking slightly
"I assure I won't eat you, many races in the Galaxy including Vulcans are known as omnivorous meaning that we can consume both plant material and meat" Sarcon explained which seemed to calm the ponies down only for the lounge doors to slide open and Xiramek walk in sitting down next to the ponies.
"So Have you all been enjoying the tour thus far?" Xiramek asked
"Indeed we have" Luna said smiling like a child "though may I ask what is was that you had to discuss in private with the Doctor?"
"It was just a small anomaly that fluttershy that was unexpected" Xiramek said
"I am glad for your concern, but is this anomaly?" Celestia asked slightly concerned for her subject
"Nothing that is life threatening its just something we never expected to see as part of her" Xiramek said as he moved to were he was standing behind Fluttershy who in turn had spun her seat around and had a terrified look on her face
"Oh come now Miss Fluttershy I mean you no harm I just want to double check" Xiramek said as he pulled out a small exam light and a tongue depressor he had grabbed on his way out of the medical bay.
"Now if you could please open wide I can show you all what is was that Satra found" Xiramek said as he pressed down with the depresser and pulled up on Fluttershy's upper lip to reveal two small fangs.
"My word, how did this happen to you Fluttershy" Luna asked
"Eh heheh that was partly my fault" Twilight said as she rubbed the back of her head "It was about a half a year ago when Applejack was having problems with some vampire fruit bats and, well the spell I used sorta back fired and Fluttershy became a vampony for a little bit"
"I see" Celestia said "But I am glad to know that one of my ponies is unharmed now just let me know about something like this when it happens from now on"
"I will Celestia" Twilight said
"Now how about some lunch" Xiramek said as he took as seat and ordered his meal.
"Uh I don't really know what to get what could you have that we could eat" Nyx asked still not knowing what to get
" all you must do is asked for what you want and you shall receive it" Xiramek replied
"Ooh ooh do you have cupcakes? Pinkie asked desperately in need of the sweet treat.
"Yes, we do waiter three cupcakes please" Xiramek asked the waiter who keyed the order into the replicator churning out three vanilla chocolate cupcakes much to the amazement of the ponies.
"Who what but how Twilight asked all but stumped as to how cupcakes could be made out of thin air
"the replicator can reproduce anything as long as the base elements are available" Sarcon said
"So in others words it can create anything out of nothing" Sweetie Belle ask
"If that is how you wish to understand it then yes it is capable of it" Sarcon said
"Hmmm ah still don't buy it can this here whatsit make apple cider" Applejack
"Certainly" The waiter said who had been listening in creating one tankard of Cider and promptly handing it to Applejack. taking hold of it with her forehoove much to the amazement of Xiramek and Sarcon applejack drank the whole think in a single gulp before slamming the tankard on the table
"Now that hit the spot" Applejack said "Think ah'll take another with a side a apple fritters"
With that everyone began ordering food, yet Twilight couldn't help but wonder how could these beings know about all the food items they were ordering if they have never been to her planet. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and had to ask
"Okay I have to ask, how do you know about all these different foods if you've been to our planet?" Twilight asked
"That my Dear Twilight is because many of the foods you and your friends have requested are native to Earth, how you ended up knowing of them is currently beyond our knowledge" Sarcon said trying his best to show them that he did not know how such a thing could have occurred but, there was one possibility but he would look into it latter. As every one ate Rainbow dash had a question just how was the runabout able to appear out of nowhere.
"Question how did that little ship appear out of thin air" She asked
"That mi Dash is a something that we Romulans are quite proud of, the Runabout as well as all Romulan ships have what is known as a cloaking device which allows a ship the hide in plain sight and not be detected"
"Uh w'at" Rainbow asked having gotten confused
"What ah think he means sugarcube is it makes their go invisible" Applejack said
"Oooooh" Rainbow said
"If I may inquire a question Admiral Xiramek, when we were at the bridge you mentioned an empire you were trying to free from, what empire?" Celestia asked
letting out a long sigh Xiramek ready him self to tell the story of the once mighty Romulan Star Empire " Before the destruction of Romulus, the Romulan people were the rulers of an interstellar empire as large as the Federation and almost two millennia were prospered we were strong, feared and respected, then Hobus exploded and Romulus was destroyed, the empire fell into turmoil with Sela a half Romulan half human back stabbing PetaQ seized control and ruled with an iron fist, even going as far as destroying colony worlds including my home in the Virinat colony for having supposedly given weapons to terrorists"
"That is terrible, but how large was you empire" Cadence asked having moved her chair closer to Shining during Xiramek's story
" The empire control over eight hundred solar systems all of which we had conquered" Xiramke replied " Almost half of which joined the Republic which offered the hope of a new life"
"And what became of Sela" Luna asked
"She was held for a brief time at a Federation prison station before she managed to escape about two months ago" Sarcon said "but aside from that who amongst you wish to go on with the tour" all the ponies raised a hoof in the air gaining a chuckle from Xiramek and Tovan along with Zarva and Commander Flores
"I think the next destination should be main engineering" Xiramek said as he stood up only for scootaloo to interrupt him
"Wait I know you have all that cool stuff to protect your ship but what happens when some unfriendly jerks get in it? Scootaloo asked
"I believe we can make a short stop at the armory" Xiramek said
Deck ten Section twenty one Armory
"To better answer your Question Scootaloo on how we defend the ship if it is boarded can be answered in here" Xiramek said as the doors to the armory slid open revealing rack full of weapons from plasma beam pistols to rifles even devastating plasma minigun's.
"Ooooo Shiny" Pinkie said as she raced around looking at every thing
"Well I am impressed, what ever are these things" Rarity asked as she picked up a pulsewave gun with her magic (Functions like a shotgun)
"What you is a Pulsewave type weapon, when fired the shot spreads out over a short range" Xiramek said
"Oh what exactly does it shoot" Rarity asked
"All weapons used through out the galaxy by warp capable races are energy weapons" Sarcon said
"hmm that would seem reasonable as you would have labeled weapons that fire projectiles out of date" Shining said
"indeed we haven't used them since- Sweetie could you please stop bouncing that Plasma grenade on the ground" Xiramek demanded
"Why I'm not hurting it or trying to brake it' Sweetie Belle replied
"No but I don't want you to set it of and have it detonate the rest of the grenades and powers packs, the explosion would kill us all" Xiramek said. Sweetie Belle's expression change to one of horror as she slowly put the Grenade back on the rack where she had found it
"I believe we should head to engineering now it may be more peaceful" Xiramek said
"Yeah I agree I don't really like the thought of being blown up" Nyx said as she gave Sweetie a hug to comfort the unicorn.
The tour on Main engineering went better than expected everypony was amazed to see what the heart of the T'lava looked especially Twilight, when she found out that the Singularity core was generating power thanks to an artificial black hole. She kept bombarding Veril with question after question wanting to know how they were able to harness the power of a black hole, how it was contained and what happened with there was a core breach. The answer scared her to the point she kept a good distance away from the core while here friends and daughter giggled at her action.
with the tour concluded Xiramek escorted them to the transporter room. the ponies were rather sad when he said he would not becoming.
"Are ya sure ya can't come?" Applebloom asked
"unfortunately not I must sent a report to my superiors on what we have discovered here, do not worry we'll meet again very soon" Xiramek said as Sarcon and his away team along with the ponies crowded on to the transport pad
"All set sir" the transporter operator said
"Energize" Sarcon said as they were all enveloped in the green energy beams of the transporter, their new Destination the USS Dawnstar