Every schoolfilly has heard of the Federation - the tall, mysterious, magicless beings from another world, who visit only rarely and briefly; waiting, they say, for 'stable planetary political unity'.
This is the story of when they first visited Equestria; of early contact between the Princesses and the Federation. It is also the tale of how Princess Luna, with some help from the House of Sparkle, managed the first fully Equestrian warp jump; and of how Spike became the first dragon in space.
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Additional note: There is an alternate ending for this story, which can be found over here. It follows on directly after the chapter titled Further Communications (and there is a note in the author's notes for that chapter to that effect, with another link).
The reasons for the split are contained in the comments to this story. (Note: Said reasons contain spoilers)
Intriguing, but it seems like the ending just sort of peters out. It needs a bit better sting on the end than that, I think.
Oh this is good!!
And with the Next Gen crew.
I live the interactions of Captain Picard with PRINCESS
LOUDLUNA'Very rare.' he says.
3203366
Yes, I quite agree.
I wasn't quite sure how to end it, but now I'm having some thoughts about a continuation...
3203474
I always liked the next gen crew. Particularly Data.
3204351
The Federation knows of exactly one solar system that works like that. That's pretty rare.
...of course, as per the Prime Directive, Picard is not supposed to be giving the Equestrians knowledge of what's outside their solar system (as far as possible). "Very rare" is less informative than "Unique",while remaining true, so "very rare" is the phrase that Picard uses.
I'm just waiting for Picard to meet Discord.....Things will get quite interesting.....
great story, can't wait for more
3207996
The current storyline is after The Return of Harmony but before Keep Calm and Flutter On, so... he's currently a statue in Canterlot.
That doesn't prevent the Q continuum from playing a part, mind you. Or I could put Discord in a sequel...
3341170
I'm glad you're enjoying it! There will certainly be more, sooner or later.
Your story is good enough that I want to read it at 01:28am.
.....by the way, Pog isn't the Ferengi that kidnapped Lwaxana Troi, is he?
Oh boy!! What a crossover that could be!!
Not that I'm saying you should make/change this to fit, but imagine the crossover possibilities if they were kidnapped with Deanna & Lwaxana Troi and Riker.
Ha.
Or maybe I should go to sleep.
3342084
Yay!
Nnnnnope. Pog's cargo on this trip is entirely Equestrian.
There are possibilities there, that's true... but it's not where this fic is going.
I am really enjoying this
Excellent chapter!
.....you ponies are just full of surprises.
3342579
I am glad to hear it.
3368297
Some ponies more so than others...
Oh, this is fantastic. I love the way Equestria's contact with the Federation is just a normal part of the background that both sides are adjusting to well, allowing the two "universes" to interact without getting too hung up on all the details of first contact and such. And how both the Ferengi and the ponies have tricks that the other are unaware of, allowing for some nice even cat-and-mousing.
There's one other fanic I know of that uses this sort of premise, if you're interested in reading another; Just Plain and Simple Tailors.
It's also quite interesting how you've had Chyrsalis replace Cadence so far back along the timeline. Shining will need to re-propose to her right before the proper wedding, I guess. :)
This is a beautiful union of trek-science and mlp pony magic!
It's all in how you you've taken two impossible worlds (warp speed star trek and mlp magic) and managed to fit them together.
I never thought I would hear Starswirl's laws used in the same sentence as warp field mechanics.
And the characters aren't OOC either. Keep it up!
3378722
Thank you, that's the nicest sort of comment to get.
It makes a lot of sense to me that they should both adjust well; Starfleet often meets other, previously unknown civilisations, from virtual cavemen right up to the Q Continuum. They've got entire fleets of diplomats trained in hundreds of First Contact scenerios, and enough problems that the last thing they want is another war. And, on the other side, the ultimate authority is Celestia, who's a great believer in the power of Friendship and knows exactly how not to start a war (and, should that fail, how to end a war with a decisive victory). It seems far, far more likely that they should adjust well than not.
I enjoyed that story you linked; though I kept expecting Rarity to quietly report back to Twilight on Garak's esionage in an epilogue...
3382621
Thank you, this is also the nicest sort of comment to get.
Even without using DisQord, these universes can be made to fit well... simply assuming that their seperate magics (and subspace is magic, never let anyone tell you different, it's simply sufficiently studied magic so it seems sciency enough to look like science) run off the same basis usually works. If I were to ever cross over MLP with Star Wars, then unicorns in that crossover would be gaining their magical powers by using the Force.
3383256 Oh, indeed, I think the Federation and Equestria would get on wonderfully. It's just that the "normal" fanfic pattern would be for the two groups to meet, and then immediately some horrendous world-threatening event would occur that the two would have to work together to defeat. Or one would be horribly threatened and the other would have to save it. Like it turns out that those crystals under Canterlot are dilithium and the Romulans want to destroy Equestria to mine it or something like that.
It's very refreshing that the Federation makes contact and then everything goes fine. To such a degree that the first hint of trouble is six months later, when a couple of kidnappers show up to nab some foals and a baby dragon - the sort of "threat" that is really kind of routine in the grand scheme of things, and can be resolved with a court case and jail time rather than a battle for the survival of the galaxy in which Luna is swinging Equestria's Moon around like a mace smacking Borg cubes out of the sky while Geordi frantically tries to channel the Elements of Harmony into the Enterprise's main deflector dish and Discord duels with Q.
I mean, there's certainly a place for those sorts of scenarios too. But MLP is a slice-of-life show as well as an adventure show so it's nice to see this side of things. :)
3385056
Ah, the epic adventure genre. Yes, I see what you mean... (though the nitpicker in me is thinking that Celestia's sun makes a better anti-borg weapon than Luna's moon, unless the Borg cubes are too close to the planet).
I think that the saddest part about this crossover, as it is, is that Celestia can never leave Equestria, never go on holiday through the Federation. Her subjects can, and Luna might even be able to talk Celestia into letting her take a week off every decade or so (as long as the Bearers are there, for security)... but Equestria hasn't been in a stable orbit for centuries, and putting the planet in a stable orbit is probably at least as difficult as balancing an egg on the point of a needle... so Celestia is basically trapped by her responsibilities. I mean, there are others who could move the Sun (Discord, after being reformed; probably Luna; possibly Twilicorn) but I don't see Celestia as someone who'd be comfortable leaving her responsibilities in someone else's hooves.
3385916 The Moon is more fun because you can use the glowing craters to keep score.
I wonder if perhaps the Federation's resources and technology might be able to help the Equestrians develop a more secure and less "hooves on" method of managing their Sun. For one thing, I have always assumed in these sorts of "science fiction but Celestia's nevertheless really moving the Sun" scenarios that it's not a *real* Sun, not as we know them anyway, but is some sort of much smaller artificial Sun. My impression is that the Equestrian Sun and Moon are of roughly similar size. And Equestria itself might be smaller than most Earthlike planets, further reducing the scale of what needs to be done. But that's just me, of course, it's your cosmology in this particular sub-universe to do with as you please. :)
Even if Celestia never leaves Equestria, contact with the Federation and other stellar civilizations is going to bring plenty of wonders right to her own doorstep. So don't feel too bad for her. It's going to be exciting and interesting times for Equestria in the decades to come.
Fastest.
FTL!
Development!!
EVER!!!
Not a good lesson for kids: "accept candy from strangers." SB more subtle perhaps by tricking Spike into eating it somehow, rather than as blatant gift from a complete stranger. Perhaps by Pog "accidentally" tripping or breaking something of Spikes, and giving the ruby as an apology.
And the Ferengi are suddenly blase? Equestria isn't crawling with humans or ferengi, it says so right in the story. This is the first time anypony has seen these aliens, they'd cause more of a draw than spike did when all the ponies were bothering Twilight to look at the dragon as it says in this story.
Pog would have to be masquerading as a pony somehow using holographics if he really wanted to pass undetected. He's definitely trying to be sneaky.
Still - I'm interested. Will be reading the next chapter. Keep it up!
3386278
Oooh, that's a good point. I hadn't even been thinking about score. Also, another thought occurred to me; if we assume that Equestria's sun is a similar size and distance from the planet as Earth's sun, then it's approximately eight light-minutes away. Given that it must remain eight light-minutes away (give or take a few percentage points) for the safety of the planet, and assuming that Celestia can't move the sun faster than light, and rounding pi down to 3 (which is probably about as accurate as the other assumptions I'm making), it could not take less than twenty-four minutes to safely swing the Sun around from one side of the planet to the other. So if two Borg cubes approach Equestria from opposite directions, then as long as they can get through the Sun-zone in less than twenty-four minutes, at least one of them is guaranteed to be able to get through.
...at which point Luna's moon, being closer to the planet and therefore easier to quickly swing around to the other side with, becomes very useful.
And yes, I'm sure the Federation could help Celestia find a better way to handle the Sun. At the very least, they could tell her how stable a given orbit was or wasn't. But will they? From the Federation's point of view, the Equestrians are doing incredible and amazing things; if the Federation shares all their technology with Equestria, then within a generation or two, Equestria would become merely another Federation world, like the however-many-thousand Federation worlds they already have. On the other hand, if they share the bare minimum of technology - enough to merely hint at the possibilities and stimulate a frenzy of Equestrian research and development, tailored along their strengths - then, within a generation or two, Equestria will probably start turning out some even more impressive things. Then they can start trading technology in earnest...
And yes, I agree, Celestia's cage is a very nice cage, and she'll likely be seeing a whole lot of wonders over the next few centuries. It's still a cage of duty, though. (Of course, she'll probably figure out some sort of solution in a century or two).
3387273
I saw the lesson as more like 'if you accept candy from strangers, they might kidnap you and lock you in a cage'. I think that's a reasonable lesson.
I'd imagine that Ferengi would be more-or-less as blase as minotaurs. It's clear, in Putting Your Hoof Down, that minotaurs are basically unknown in Ponyville (everypony keeps referring to Iron Will as a 'monster'), and presumably they come from far away. Ferengi are also basically unknown in Ponyville, and they come from far away. So I'm assuming that the average pony's reaction to Pog is similar to the average pony's reaction to Iron Will. (Given what he's done, the next Ferengi in Ponyville will probably be treated more like Zecora was). He's hardly undetected; and he doesn't really care about that, since he doesn't believe that the Equestrians have any chance of following him off-world.
3386278 Huh. A conversation between two guys without profile pics; it's like watching a couple of clone troopers having coffee together LOL
3207996
or more the lines for Q to meet discord since her will most likely be intrested
3401476 There, better? :) I've never been much of a profile pic sort of person, but I guess I comment often enough here that I should get one. That'll do temporarily.
3401755 My good sir, you could not have chosen a better profile avatar.
3401755 I think I said that a little more condescendingly than I meant to, oh well.
Good idea.
I didn't expect the rainbow. But I was wondering how they would track the Ferengi.
Also to answer your previous comment, I agree that DisQord isn't needed in this fic. Would ruin it actually, you've got a good story flowing & a sudden DisQord would change the focus too much.
So.... when does Twilight hit warp 9 ??
Of course it isn't.
Sufficiently analyzed magic indeed.
Well, so far this looks good. Not seeing any serious errors, got a few chuckles. Will keep reading.
There are no words in the languages of men, gods, or devils for how utterly fucked these Ferengi are. Q might have a few words. Maybe.
3402089
He makes good sequel fodder, though.
3406292
It never is. Prisons aren't made for escaping from.
3425233
3425259
Yeah, they're in deep trouble and they're going to find out sooner or later just how deep...
I thought to myself "hey, there's a star Trek Crossover on the front page. I should check that out, I've seen a few good ones."
To be honest, the first couple chapters felt a bit... rushed, plot and pacing wise, but this is going to be AWESOME. You've set up a BUNCH of little plot twists here, with Flam and especially Red Storm, (Borg/changling comparisons, eeeeeee) and I can't wait to see where they all lead. The kidnapping makes the comparison/interaction between the ponies/Equestrian society and Starfleet a bit of a backburner thing, but Twilight's magi-science babble makes up for that.
Also, I got a terribly awesome vision for a scene that will never happen. A different Ferengi ship shows up in Equestrian space after this whole story is wrapped up. Celestia immediately teleports aboard personally and asks them to leave, politely, because their people, most especially thier business is not welcome. This is a business related warning, because if Celestia was to get justice or vengence involved, she wouldn't be asking politely. She'd be hurling their ship into her STAR.
Also, what the eff is up with the Feringi? Seriously, profit is everything can only excuse so much... shouldn't it be patently obvious that pissing off an entire species and ruining your reputation with the galactic government is a terrible business model? If you have no respect for your customers feelings/beliefs (ei, kidnapping and slavery is wrong, and even if you would sell your own children, other Species might not think like you.) they won't do business with you! and war is kinda costly!
Ah, sorry. I don't know as much about Star trek as I'd like.
3428075
Yeah, I can see how that happened. The first chapter was originally supposed to be a one-shot all on its own, and then I had an idea for how to continue it...
I'm glad you're enjoying it.
And I really really hope I can live up to your expectations...
Or, alternatively, hurling her star into their ship. Celestia can do either.
It's not the first time that the Ferengi have traded in intelligent species. And they'll do just about anything for profit.
Pog and Frem are not exactly long-term thinkers; and they expect to be paid enough for these samples that they don't particularly care if the Equestrians don't like them. They've yet to find out that the Equestrians will be able to fight back...
You say that but, you sleep like 70% of the day.
3432008
Napping is a distinct and most importantly optional subset of sleep.
3432008
I like it but I'm somewhat miffed how magic just solves everything.
Need a warp drive for contact? Give me 5 seconds I create a spell.
Can't follow the other ship because the sensors you for developed in decades/centuries for just this aren't good enough? No problem, I've got a spell here to do something I never heard about before.
Ship too slow? Well, I studied warp bubbles for a week, I can make it faster with my magic.
I understand that you don't want to make the ponies useless and have them just sit around for half the story. I can't of better solutions offhand but it sill annoys me. Sure it's not unprecedented in Star Trek, just taking a look at the Q tells you that but I always disliked the fairy species in the series. The magic is a special ability they have but even when it only concerns the most powerful magic users so far I personally think they too powerful/versatile.
But I still like it enough to submit to it, so keep it up.
3452632
A very valid criticism. Let me explain my reasoning.
I've established that certain elements of unicorn magic (levitation, teleportation) involve messing around with subspace; that is to say, unicorns (and possibly other ponies) can directly observe and interact with subspace; and your average unicorn has been able to do so their entire life. (I'm pretty sure that moustache spells work by some other means)
This gives unicorns in general a massive advantage over Federation scientists, in terms of the precision of their manipulation of subspace. The Federation, due to their technical expertise, have a tremendous advantage in the amount of power they can apply to a problem; but no Federation scientist has ever managed to lift a teacup by messing about with subspace (they all know it's theoretically possible, it's just that getting every parameter right would take months of tweaking, and by then the tea will be cold and there's no real benefit to doing it).
It's like the difference between walking and making a robot that walks like humans do; the first is easy, the second is really, really hard.
It also helps that Luna had seen the Enterprise enter the solar system under warp power; she was basically just copying what she'd seen. (Only in a lesser form - she barely made warp one).
A wretched hive of scum and villainy??
They must be cautious!!
3468921 AW, shoot. That was my first thought as well.
great use of an easily overlooked ability with Spike being immune to the stun
3521669
Absolutely!!
I didn't see that coming - nice piece of headcanon
3521669>>3524105
He may be a baby dragon... but he is still a dragon, after all.
I imagine that, even with all the technology the Federation has, if they want to fight a full-grown dragon they'd prefer to do so from inside a starship (and with the starship being outside the planet's atmosphere), most certainly not hand-to-claw...
Just found this story. Good show.
Generally I stay away from Star Trek stories, but I particularly like this one. Looking forward to how things work out.
still think it would have been funny about the petrification of Discord if when he was turned to stone his arms reached out and a bowl formed in them
that way he'd have finally been useful for something, like a birdbath
Just saying, I LOVE the annotations. I'm a Pratchett fan, so I guess that's expected, but you still pull it off nicely!
I also like how you worked in the Q-Discord comparison everyone makes. Very funny reaction... and appropriate. Gotta wonder if that's gonna show up again.
Also, Scootaloo's argument over Dash? perfectly child-rant material. Really capture's the youth of these characters.
Can't wait to read more!
3527153
I'm really glad you're enjoying it!
It means a lot that someone who doesn't normally read Star Trek crossovers still enjoys this one.
3527518
Well, there's no reason a suitable bowl couldn't've been balanced on his arms after he was petrified...
3529261
Thanks!
Another author on this site who I think does a very good job with Pratchettesque annotations is RealityCheck; I don't know if you've had a look at his stories before; I find them most enjoyable.
3529349 RealityCheck does do pretty good on his stories! he does Nyx SO adorably, someone that does her pretty well also is jmkrebs30 in new-life-in-equestria though we'll have to see how equestrian-crossover-new-life-meets-a-new-home does
3529400
Hmmm. Going to have to put that on my Read Later list.
...136 stories to go, and it seems to be growing faster than I can keep up...