Chapter 3: Fission
After a while, the TOGOs did their job and eventually they were able to pinpoint names properly. For some reason, Amelia and Twilight kept using the same names to refer to each other. Her name had become entangled with her, and Amelia found it hard to refer to her by her proper name. Amelia suspected Twilight had the same problem, but they both made the effort to change, even though there were a few slip-ups here and there.
Twilight had been an avid conversant. Almost everyday, Amelia met Twilight to have stimulating conversation on space-travel, cultural perspectives, and even hypothetical scenarios for other forms of first contact. They had broken down information on government, command structure, technology, and everything in between. Each session Amelia left exhausted, but satisfied. She knew she would miss the little chats they had. Underneath, of course, she saw that it was important for their decision on how to approach humans as a representative of the ponies… but she couldn’t help but derive pleasure from the discussions. It was a nice sandbox, full of open ideas and accepting discourse.
Though Amelia was curious about the ponies, ultimately their fate didn’t concern a private ship on a scouting route at the outer edges of the galaxy. They were unaligned. A third party. Merely an unlucky observer that by accident found the first signs of sapient life. Amelia was acutely aware that she was simply a part of—but didn’t represent—humanity. Unlike the Princess, which was an actual diplomatic authority, Amelia was the Captain of a transport vessel.
Nothing was official.
Nothing had been written down.
Their interaction wasn’t even likely to be recorded in history as more than a footnote.
Alex had reported only a few more days until they could detach. The next time she would see the ponies would probably be on the next system-wide broadcast. It would be a monumental event. A true first contact that would live up to its own epoch. Strangely, Amelia felt sorry to see them go. She never thought the exchange would be so pleasant, despite the circumstances. She never thought that they would be so similar.
Sometimes, she’d catch the crew laughing or conversing about the weird and wonderful aliens. There were regular exchanges of food, conversation, and soon Amelia had found ponies ubiquitous among humans on both ships.
Amelia had met Alex as she rushed down the corridor with an insane giggle. She thought about stopping the crazy engineer, but thought twice about it and lowered her half-outstretched hand. Alex had then catapulted down the hallway and disappeared around a corner. Amelia had heard from Twilight that Alex was known as the ‘Pleasure-Demon’. The engineer had made a firm stipulation that while working there should always be at least one pony to pet while she worked. Fortunately, Twilight hadn’t made a big deal out of it, and even mentioned that there were a few that were particularly willing…
The Captain shook her head. Despite Alex’s eccentricities, even she had shocked the crew with how fast she had managed to rig together an air-lock field that worked off their power systems. Alex had managed to work with our technology and their own. Once she had caught her speaking up a storm of technical jargon with the ponies. Most of the terminology flew right past Amelia as she struggled to understand the basics. Eventually, she gave up and trusted Alex with doing whatever was necessary. Twilight had felt uncomfortable with Alex installing new technology without ‘proper diplomatic trade agreements’ in place, but Amelia told her they had to share schematics anyway. They were learning from each other. Soon though, they would be saying their goodbyes.
——————
“You’re not going to stop them, Princess?” Cross sat across the table with a few of the senior officers on board. There was the head engineering, the sergeant of a small attachment to accompany the Princess, a few key personnel, but highly representative of the small crew of a small ship.
“No…” Twilight trailed off. “I think this is right thing to do.”
“They’ve already acclimatised themselves to us, we know about them, they know about us. They can smooth the transition greatly.”
Surprisingly, Stark came to their defence. “We’ve got data, we’ve got the basis of their language and we’ve even gotten their translation devices to keep. I think we have enough to establish relations in our own fashion, with minimal risk.”
Cross didn’t look so certain. “I’d like to reduce risks as much as possible. We could signal the main fleet and escort them back to their ‘Core Worlds’, as they call them.”
“No,” Twilight said firmly. “I won’t do that to them.”
Cross sighed. “I’m sure if you ask them, they would agree.”
Perhaps if she did, they would. Undoubtedly, it would benefit Equestria. Those reasons were painfully clear.
After a moment of silence, Twilight shook her head sadly, staring at the table. “You do not cage a bird because you wish to fly.”
——————
Time flew by quicker than Amelia liked. The few days gave her just enough time to prepare a small something for the little aliens that had entangled fates with.
“Industrious?”
A small grin fought its way to the surface. There was only one living being that called her that.
“Yes, Dim-light?”
The pony smiled at the name, then turned serious, her mirth dying down as she approached.
“We’ll be done with our makeshift repairs soon, maybe less than a few hours. I can’t begin to express my gratitude for lending both your services and your technology to help us out. If all of your species are anywhere near as kind, I believe the introduction will go more than smoothly. Thank you, Captain.”
Amelia smiled. “I’ve never seen cooler heads than yours. I’ve never thanked you for the forbearance you’ve shown. Especially with regards to Alex, Princess. You’ve also been more than accommodating and you’ve shown us just how intelligent and collected you can be, despite the stressful situation. We also greatly appreciate the assistance you’ve lent us for stabilising our fields and shoring up dangerous breaches. We’re just as grateful to you. I hope you take our well-wishes with you when you make contact… for a second time.”
Twilight smiled sadly. “I’ve enjoyed our conversations, it’s been a pleasure.”
Amelia chuckled softly. “Me too.”
Awkward silence smothered the two. Then Twilight spoke up as if a thought had suddenly occurred to her.
“Amelia, may I ask a question?”
Amelia nodded. “Of course.”
“I realise it might be insensitive, or even maybe classified knowledge, but I realised that during the time here, I’ve never asked and I thought about it, but it just came to me…” The pony trailed off and blushed profusely as Amelia raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, I’m rambling. I wanted to ask you—why did you choose to travel in space?”
“Well, I guess that’s a strange question, depending on who you ask on the ship.” Amelia flicked a few stray strands of hair out of the way as she considered how to frame her response. “For me, I’ve always wanted to explore. To find something new that nobody had ever discovered before. I don’t suppose you know how that would feel?”
Twilight’s eyes reflected brilliant intensity as she nodded emphatically. “No, I completely understand.”
Amelia laughed. “Sorry, I just—someday remind me to tell you…” Her next words died out as she remembered that there weren’t going to be any more days. “Ah, never mind. Let me show you something.” Amelia started walking down the corridor, beckoning Twilight to follow along. She continued as they walked. “I’ve never meshed well with the big mega-corporations, or the Common military ethos. I always wanted to strike it out on my own. For the others, most of my crew are with me for their own reasons. Some because they share my spirit. Some, like Soho, because of loyalty. Some, like Alex, for adventure. All a mishmash of goals, ideals, dreams…” Amelia entered the bridge, bringing Twilight aboard for the first time.
“This is Cobalt Blue’s brain. She’s made of Nida, Brian, Alex, Soho, the Doc., and over fifty other dedicated souls. Her Captain steers Cobalt Blue to explore the unknown.”
Nida and Brian looked up in surprise. Nida waved, uncharacteristically shyly, while Brian just smiled.
“Thanks for helping us out,” Nida said.
“It would have been a disaster otherwise,” Brian added with a grin.
Twilight blinked, but broke into a radiant smile. “We’ve all been taking care of each other.”
Amelia nodded. “I know, you’ve turned a disaster into an accident, and because of that I feel like you’ve been crew members on the Cobalt Blue, no matter how short the duration. As crew members, we’re like family. When one of our crew members leaves Cobalt Blue, we give them a little something to remember us by.” Amelia swallowed, bringing out a small glass cube tinted blue. “This is glass with cobalt impregnated in it. It’s made from the first cargo that Cobalt Blue ever carried. Cobalt-titanium powder.”
Twilight gently took the glass cube in her telekinetic grip.
“Thank you,” Twilight replied in a broken voice. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t think of getting you—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Amelia said, holding out her hand. “Just don’t forget us. Oh, and if you ever scrape together enough Common credit, we could use a donation.”
Twilight laughed, pocketing the cube in her saddlebag. “I’ll be sorry to see you go,” she said sincerely.
Then the pony wrapped her in an unexpected hug. Amelia stiffened, but then smiled, wrapping her arms around Twilight. At least hugs were a universal language that needed no words.
“Goodbye, Amelia.”
“Safe journey among the stars, Twilight.”