In the distant future, year 2205, the United Earth Government Expeditionary Fleet has spread the roots of mankind across planets in the most remote of places. Along the way, we have documented the life that thrives on these exotic worlds, learned much about the greater galaxy.
Expansion is key, and knowledge is power in this day and age.
Never before in any documented finding has man seen another sapient species beyond himself. When the scouting crews from the U.E.G.S Clarke suddenly find that they are not truly alone in the universe, it will be time to put to the test the First Contact situation they had never prepared for.
Chapters (9)
I want to see where this goes... So I shall track for now.
Ooo, potential. Hopefully you won't go throwing war upon the ponies.
Same here, i just love these type of FIM&Scifi fictions.
Who is Private Vickers and what happened to him/her?
Other than that double 'and' and a few not-really-pristine wordings, s'all fine.
As the others said, this thing has potential. Keep it up man.
I would comment further, but my dog just killed my sense of smell.
2565530 You don't want to know what happened to Private Vickers.
2565664 I don't know what you are talking about, but okay. Sure...
2565537 I know, and that's why I need a proofreader so that these things don't distract from the story. But thanks for letting me know!
2565782
But I do!
2565801 Oh my- you... favorited my story. I didn't realize who you were until I took a good look at your profile pic. Thank you! Thank you!
As to what happened to Private Vickers: It was just kind of a joke thing from me, not really much thought in the story behind it. It's supposed to be vague. But I'll give you the story if you want me to.
2565819
Nah. It's one of those things that's better left to the imagination. You tell us, and odds are that it will be nowhere near as amazing as what the readers come up with.
poor private vickers i wonder what happened to him
I love stories like this! It reminds me of the debates I always have with my brony friend about the CB universe, he would want to be a pony, I would rather die then abandon my species.
I
ponies, but I like my feet and thumbs too much. 
Keep writing, you rock!
sounds interesting. can't wait to see where this goes! also, I am wondering if you have a set plotline, or if you're writing it as you go.
2565980 "This just end. Private Vickers was recently discovered lying in a pile of carnivorous cacti. Military investigators have determined that these dangerous plants, when eaten, cause your organs to melt. That is all."
I'm thanking you all for giving me 117 views! For those of you who know what I'm talking about, I want you to know this is a tremendous occasion for me. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Google it.
Thanks again!
. . . I know I keep saying it, but it's sapient not sentient.
I blame the Sci-Fi channel!!
2566973
sen·tient - adj.
1) Self-Aware
2) responsive to or conscious of sense impressions
3) finely sensitive in perception or feeling
The definition is correct. Your argument is invalid, friend.
2566986
Yes. That's what sentient mean. But remember our species Scientific name. Homo sapiens.
Sapiens.
Sapient.
We are both Sentient and Sapient.
But we have never encountered sentient species besides ourselves. Sapient is merely a synonym for wise.
2566986
And, while Sentience may be Self-Awareness, Sapience is Wisdom, or the ability to better act upon that.
There are many Sentient creatures on Earth, Dogs, Cats, Dolphins, all of them are Sentient. We however, are Sapient as well.
2567005 I tend to disagree. Merely that we have differing schools of thought should not deter a person from enjoying a story. I will leave it be.
2567016
All right then. Good day to you sir.
A good start. There is just one little detail that raises an "alarm" in me,that being the oxygen level, 41% is extreemly flammable given that in Earth's history 23+% oxygen level resulted in wildfires that made todays fires look like a bonfire.
Then again, this is fiction so ill let it slide.
2567035 Man, I'm just botching details left and right, aren't I?
2568948 You've caught it. I suggest you say nothing. Keep it like a rare coin. Never speak of it until prompted.
If I'm right, they're in the Everfree. If so, the night is going to be absolute hell.
I'll heat up some popcorn and watch.
NO, NOOOOOOO The first creature encountered manicore...
what is this HiE # 300 that i have read with that being first encountered?!?
I shall follow.... *mumbles* Manticore, so cliche...
2569013 I know. It burns. Want some water?
2569029
Fluttershy isn't going to be happy you killed Mr. Nibbles (Manticore) and Henry Wood (Timberwolf).
2569039 It's digital, so I can't guarantee flavor. Or the possibility it won't explode upon rematerialization. But it's ice cold!
Oops, double post, sorry.
2569052
*is soaked by Mr.pipp, shivers* It twas cold....
heh heh heh poison joke
2567005
A man that acts as a child, a friend without a name. Entwined in the battle of belief is his only sanctum.
2565482
What is so wrong with a little disharmony?
Usually stories like this are pretty bad, in both character execution and grammar. I can say I was pleasantly surprised when I read this, and am looking forward to more
2568958
It's not exactly subtle. There's only one kind of blue flower in that forest anyone knows about and it's ALWAYS one of the first things the earthlings blunder into.
Writing has been good so far, but we've yet to reach first contact. I hope you're going the route of the language barrier and that this isn't one of those "instant friends" fics. The "colonists/explorers visit Equestria" plot is getting kind of overdone, so I hope you have a more complicated plan than that in the works.
MOAR!
Please? 
Dunno if anyone mentioned this but be careful of that 41% oxy mix. That's high enough to cause oxygen poisoning.
I'll give it a fav to see how it progresses... hopefully you won't overuse the 'scientist hate military and the feeling is mutual' trope.
2567016
The definition of sentient is "able to perceive/feel/sense", the definition of sapient is "to be or appear to be wise"
These terms are only ever used to refer to human-like qualities or level of intelligence in science-fiction. And they are both used. And since this is sci-fi, you could use either.
However, since law recognizes animals as sentient, and since "wisdom" implies a certain level of intelligence while "perception" does not, I would say that "sapient" is the far more correct term.
just my 2c
* Poison joke is used in every single "humans from space visit Equestria" fic I've read. So is the inevitable shootout with a manitcore. If you haven't already, you might consider reading a few other fics of this type and avoiding things that they all do.
* 41% oxygen is below toxic levels, assuming earth-normal atmosphere. But I would think they'd tend to get giddy and silly from aerobic activity, and it would present a serious fire hazard.
* Personally...the dark tag discourages me. There are some very good "humans from space visit Equestria" fics out there, but like others are saying...it's been done. None of your characters seem particularly likable so far, and I'm not really seeing anything unique here. If you want to hold reader interest...do something other than just having unlikable characters show up for reasons we don't care about shooting up ponies over some completely predictable misunderstanding.
Not a bad start.
That said, 2567005 is completely correct about the different between sentient and sapient.
2570446
1 - Nothing happened with the Poison Joke.
2 - I don't see any mention about this.
3 - Dark tags don't always imply bad things. The Dark tag can simply mean some things that happen (warfare, blood, hurting of some ponies that people disagree with even though it'd make sense) may be a little different for your tastes. Of course, you may see those things as bad, but I don't. Because I don't care that the precious ponies may be hurt by aggressive human beings known to kill things because they're "different".
Also, I don't see how you can judge the characters this fast. Nor do I see them "bad". At least they don't want to have "le sex" with the ponies.
That's a lot of comments in seven hours of sleep... I need to sit down...
Anyway, I should probably address this high oxygen content problem as it seems to be irking many of you. I did little research over this, so please forgive me on this detail. I will change this details should it become a public outcry rather than a small annoyance. To be fair, they are all wearing protective respirator masks. They are still breathing stable atmosphere.
No, there will be no of the stereotypical humans landing on Equestria stuff. To be fair, I thought this idea was fairly unique when I first thought of it, but apparently the brony culture has wandered in places I haven't even thought of. (I'm not a brony. Merely a writer.)
And as for storyline, I hope that what I have planned is sufficient and likable for a plot. It painns me to think of suddenly having people jumping ship because of slow plot development, so I will try to move quickly along.
Thanks to everyone for their input. It means a lot.
Holy crap, forty one percent oxygen in the atmosphere!? I hope they keep their respirators on, that high a concentration is not exactly healthy. And no smoking either, that entire planet is one gigantic fire waiting to happen. I'll take a nice airless moon over this deathtrap.
As for a proofreader, I don't think you even need one. So far, I've only seen one mistake in terms of grammar or spelling. That last sentence.
There are some very weird plants.
Oh, and great story so far.
:)
Yes we have. Dogs, cats, monkeys, earthworms and venus fly traps are all sentient, as are most forms of life detected so far. The word you are looking for is sapient, and even that's a bit of a grey area, what with some high inteligence apes, and our relatives the neanderthals and other members of the genus Homo posibly being sapient (although you could argue that since all the other species of human went extinct well before records began, they don't count).
Sentiance is the ability to percive the world around us. Sapience is the ability to percieve that we are able to percieve the world around us. Trippy stuff, I know.
Anyway, sorry about that little nitpick. I'm looking forwards to reading this.
One thing I noticed:
I find it odd that the UEG would use the US/Imperial system of measurements when the vast majority of its member nations would have used the metric system. Also, hull thickness wouldn't be expressed in length.
It would be more appropriate to say that the hull is a few centimeters thick, rather than an inch long.
"Sentient" means its aware of its surroundings, like animals. "Sapient" means its capable of wisdom or judgement, like humans and the ponies of Equestria. Common mistake, didn't know about it myself for a long time.
This story seems good so far. Always nice to see a sci-fi human fic. I think you got the attitude of the people here well.
There is some very weird plants here "Is" should be "are", because plural.