Chapter 29: Mounting Expeditions, part I
Onto the Pony Planet
Chapter 29: Mounting Expeditions, part I
Admiral Biscuit
Dale woke up feeling somewhat apprehensive. He’d had nightmares about Princess Celestia becoming offended at his conduct during their meeting yesterday. Now that he was awake, it seemed really odd to him—he'd thought things had gone pretty well, aside from some of the strangeness when the blue unicorn dentist had showed up.
He pushed the covers off and got out of bed, put on a pair of pants, and went down the hall to the bathroom. On his way by Lyra’s room, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar and she was nowhere to be seen. She wasn’t typically up early, which meant she must have been gone all night.
He knocked on the bathroom door before pushing it open, just to make sure that there wasn't anyone inside—the construction ponies had never bothered to add a lock to the door—and since it was unoccupied, he went in.
It was one of the few complaints he had about the house, and one that he had had no luck addressing. The ponies seemed unfamiliar with the concept of a lock, or else his poor illustration skills were to blame. He couldn't rule that out: he'd tried to sketch out a few different types of keyway, but those had just been met with blank looks.
Maybe they don't bother with locks because the pegasi can get in through a window whenever they want. He glanced over at the window, half expecting to see a pony flying outside, but there were none.
He finished up and washed his hands, then went downstairs. He'd beaten Starlight and Diamond Mint out of bed, but he didn't feel like attempting to start the stove and make coffee for himself. It was a skill he was going to want to learn, once he’d figured out the most important stuff. It would be one less thing that Starlight had to do in the morning, and she’d probably be happy about that.
Dale crossed the living room and pushed open the door to his office, and sat down in his chair, contemplating what he should do with his time.
It didn't take long for him to start dozing, and he drifted off into a half-asleep state until he heard the sound of hooves above his head. A few minutes later, he heard hoofsteps on the stairs, and leaned forward enough that he could see Starlight making her way down to the kitchen.
The chair creaked as he shifted his weight, and he saw her ear turn towards him, so he gave her a little wave, got up out of his chair, and followed her into the kitchen.
They exchanged pleasantries, then Starlight opened the dampers on the stove and started building up the fire. Dale noticed that the wood rack beside the stove was low, so he went outside to bring in more cordwood.
He paused outside by the small wagon that she had. It was something that would have been intimately familiar to his grandfather, but to him it was a strange anachronism; a largely unfamiliar object.
Dale ran his hands over the smooth wood, and crouched down to admire the craftsmanship of the wheels. A pinstripe ran around the felloes, with a matching stripe on the hub. He could see slight variations in the thickness of the stripe, which meant that it had been painted by hand instead of a machine, and was kind of an odd detail to have included on what was clearly a working wagon—the rest of it didn't have any fancy work to speak of.
There was a simple brake arrangement of angled wooden shoes that could press on the steel tire, and the mechanism extended forward to a linkage on the shafts, where Starlight could use it with her mouth. That was a little bit different than the fancy carriage he'd ridden from the hospital, which had a drover who presumably controlled the brakes. He regretted not giving it a closer look when he’d had the chance.
He went over to the wood crib and picked up an armload, then took it inside the kitchen and stacked it neatly in the rack next to the stove for Starlight.
Diamond Mint, he noticed, had come downstairs while he was outside, and she was busying herself setting the table, even though Starlight hadn't even started cooking breakfast yet.
Dale had just started drinking his morning coffee when there was a polite knocking on the door, and Diamond trotted off to answer it. A minute later, the unicorn doctor and Nurse Redheart entered the house and spoke quietly with Diamond Mint before heading up the stairs.
He wasn't sure what to make of that—he thought that Kate had been healed, and it seemed awfully early in the morning to be performing a follow-up exam.
"Is Kate, um, good?"
Diamond nodded, then shook her head. Her ears dropped down and then perked back up, and she lifted a glass off the table with her aura. "Was potion," she said, pretending to sip from the glass. "No more potion for Kate." She reached up a hoof and patted her own mane, then shook her head and set the glass back down.
It took him a moment, but then the message sank in. "They're going to wean her off the drugs," he said.
"That's going to be interesting."
Princess Celestia sometimes wished that there were more hours in the day. Granted, that was a problem that she could solve if she had to, but ponies got worried when the sun didn't move on schedule, and it was something she'd only change if there were dire need.
Kibbitz had already rearranged today’s schedule once, and she couldn't ask him to do it again, so she finally nodded to Raven and got up from her chair.
The two of them had been working most of the morning on a note which was suitable to include with the photographs of Dale and Kate. Normally something that both ponies excelled at, this time neither of them was fluent in the language, and Princess Celestia worried that there would be some subtlety of their words that would not come across as well as she hoped.
Besides the constant re-writes, she and Raven had gone back and forth on the urgency of the message. On one hoof, every day that they delayed meant that they learned more from Dale about his people, and slightly improved their grasp of his language. In that regard, it was wiser to take their time, and be sure that they got it right—after all, this would be the first message that Dale's people would receive directly from the ponies.
On another hoof, she was certain that his people were worried about Dale and Kate, and the sooner she could assuage their fears about the two, the less likely things were to get out of control. While it seemed evident that Dale was somewhat of a loner, the same couldn't be said about Kate, and her fellow soldiers were no doubt concerned about her loss. She was sure that they would rest easier knowing that she was safe, at least. Even if they couldn't return her yet.
"Perhaps you should send a copy of the letter by telegram to the embassy in Ponyville," Raven suggested. "Dale could read it and make sure that we are not saying anything that we don't mean to."
"I had meant to send you to help set up the embassy," Celestia mused. "I had told Lyra that it would be a week, but if you don't object to leaving sooner, you could go now and take the letter with you. It would be better if you could talk directly to Dale—sometimes it's hard to grasp subtleties in a telegram."
Raven shifted on her hooves. "I hadn't expected to go so soon." Even though I am quite curious to see Dale and Kate. "Although of course I am willing." She glanced down at the schedule book she kept. "Let's see, you've got the meeting with the minotaurs this evening, and then the griffons in two day's time, and—"
"And I still need to meet with General Helm Wind and with my court mages." Celestia smiled. "I think I can manage without you for a couple of days, and there is still time for you to pack and take the train to Ponyville. Would you like me to have a couple of librarians help you search the stacks for any books which might be useful in establishing a new embassy?"
"I already did that, yesterday when you were in Ponyville. I thought that I would be needing them soon." She rolled up the final copy of their message, and slid off the bench.
"I think I'll send a pegasus messenger with you. That way, as soon as you and Dale have finished the message, she can fly it straight to the castle, and we need not worry about curious ears intercepting a telegram."
"That’s probably wise," Raven said. "Although I don’t know what they’d make of this."
"Nor do I, but I’m sure it would bite me in the tail sooner or later if they got wind of it." Celestia sighed. "Luna would suggest—well, never mind. Since you’re going to Ponyville, you ought to take a formal ambassador contract for Dale to sign as well. I left one there, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a second. That way, you could just telegram whether he signed it or not, and simply bring a physical copy back upon your return."
"I can have Ka-th-rin sign the extra one."
Princess Celestia shook her head. "She is currently in no condition to sign such a contract. She would, I’m sure, but it would carry no legal weight, since she would not know what she was signing. I could not accept such a contract.
"Dale will probably want to take his time reading through it and making sure that he knows exactly what’s in it. Let him. And if he wants to make minor changes . . . I trust you in my stead. Allow him to make any reasonable changes he feels necessary."
The morning had gone by uneventfully. Lyra didn't return, which was slightly worrying, and Dale alternated between puttering around his office and not really getting anything accomplished, and getting in Starlight's way, all while listening for the signs of a Kate explosion. She'd had breakfast and then gone back upstairs to her room and that had been the last he'd heard of her, which was quite a relief. She hadn’t been too much of a handful, and he assumed that they had her on some sort of anti-drug. He couldn’t remember exactly, but methadone sounded familiar.
Dale finally got kicked out of the kitchen when it came time for Starlight to start preparing lunch—she hadn't said anything to him, but he'd gotten good enough at picking up her body language to figure out that she didn't really want him there, getting in her way.
There wasn't a TV to watch and distract himself with, and he'd at least skimmed through every book he had. In the back of his mind, he knew that he could go through them again, even without Lyra's help or Cheerilee's teaching, but he just didn't feel like it, so he sat down at his desk and started doodling on some scrap paper, wondering if the ponies had games.
There was only one way to find out, so he took a couple of blank pieces of paper into the dining room and sat down at the table there and drew out a tic-tac-toe grid, then he got Diamond Mint to sit down with him.
Dale was surprised to find that she knew the game.
It didn't take either of them very long to figure out that both of them knew it well enough to bring each match to a draw—the first few games didn’t count, he figured, since he hadn’t been quite sure that she understood the rules exactly, and she probably had the same problem.
Dale thought about trying hangman next, but he wasn't sure she'd understand the rules, and he also wasn't confident enough in his language skills to try to explain it, or to come up with accurately-spelled words for her to guess. Instead, he started drawing a grid of dots, while trying to remember how dots and boxes was played.
After a few false starts and a slow explanation, the two of them finally got the hang of the game. At first, Dale had a big advantage, but once Diamond got more familiar with the game, she began to start winning more frequently. To his frustration, he couldn't figure out what strategy she was using, and had no idea how to prevent or exploit it, but it was undoubtedly true that she'd figured out some secret in the game that he was unaware of.
Nevertheless, it was still an enjoyable way to spend the rest of his morning. Just watching Diamond use her magic to interact with the quill was amazing, and he realized when he was considering a move that she must have had the same thoughts—she was watching his hands closely while pretending not to.
The strangeness of the situation wasn't lost on him—he couldn't think of any sci-fi story he'd ever read where an alien culture was discovered and the main characters took a break to play a dumb kids' game—and yet here he was. Hundreds of things that he could be discovering or exploring, and he was in the dining room playing dots and boxes with a unicorn. Losing dots and boxes to a unicorn.
He looked over at her and wondered, not for the first time, just what her instructions regarding him were. Obviously, she hadn't been told to let him win, so there was that at least. But did she really want to play with him, or had she just been told to humor him and do what he wanted? If he decided that he wanted to have a race through town, would she join him? Would Lyra? Was there anything that they wouldn't do for him, if he asked?
That was a dangerous road to go down, he decided. Maybe they had been instructed to do whatever he wanted. Maybe even if he thought he wanted some companionship they were ordered to do it . . . maybe they were slaves, but he didn't think so. He didn't want to think so, and he decided that even if they were he wasn't going to act like it. He was no better than they were, and he would not treat them as if he was.
She cocked an ear in his direction, and he picked up the quill, dipped it in the inkpot, and carefully drew a line along the side of the board, completing a box, and realizing as he did so that whatever move he performed next would lead to her capturing the majority of the board.
Diamond didn't even bother drawing the lines when he set the quill down; instead, she just tapped it on the boxes she would win, and he nodded.
When he was in Boy Scouts, his father and the other leaders had played euchre and all of them were good enough at it that they just dealt the cards, picked the trump suit, and then all four would simply lay their cards on the table and decide who'd won, and by how many tricks. He smiled at the memory. Sometimes there wasn't any point in playing the game to completion because it was obvious where it was going to go.
I wonder if chess masters play like that? They think dozens of moves ahead of time, so surely they'd know when the game was won or lost even if it wasn't obvious to the amateur.
He drew out a new grid, this one five by five, because it felt important to know if Diamond Mint really knew some overarching strategy for the game that would let her win every time, or if she'd just figured out the best way to win on a four by four grid.
As they played the new game, it was quickly obvious that whatever strategy she'd figured out worked on any size of grid, although it was interesting that it didn't become apparent until the last moves in the game that she was going to win.
That game turned out to be their last; Diamond had to go set the table for lunch and he got up and put the papers back in the office, intent on helping her when he came back, but he was too late—she had the whole table set before he could return, so instead he decided to be helpful in a different way and go upstairs to let Kate and her doctors know that they were ready for lunch.
When they opened the door, Dale noted with idle amusement that both Redheart and the doctor now sported braided manes and tails.
The whole troupe followed him down to the dining room: Kate and her doctors, all of whom seemed relieved that there was something to do, even if it was only lunch.
It hadn’t taken Raven too long to pack—she’d long since grown accustomed to accompanying Princess Celestia on short notice, and kept an extra suitcase packed with the essentials at all times.
Ponyville wasn’t a usual destination for her, and she wasn’t sure if Ponyville had a hotel or inn, but that probably didn’t matter: as an employee of the Crown, she could simply stay at the embassy, which would ultimately be more convenient anyway.
After she’d gotten her belongings and checked to make sure that her saddlebags were loaded with any documents she might need, she met with Lavender Sunrise, the pegasus messenger who would be traveling with her, and the two of them together made their way to the train station. She could have easily gotten a taxi, although it wasn’t terribly far and since they had ample time before the train was due to depart, they walked instead.
• • •
Once they’d gotten their tickets, the pair of ponies boarded the first class car, where they got their own compartment. Most trains to and from Canterlot kept one or two compartments available for traveling diplomats, and while she wasn’t technically nobility or a diplomat, as Princess Celestia’s personal assistant, she got the same perks.
This rail coach wasn’t as nice as the ones that Raven was accustomed to; Ponyville was still very much a second-class destination, and the railroad equipment reflected that fact.
The two ponies sat in silence until the train began to move, then Lavender Sunrise leaned forward in her seat. "Have you seen the Dale?"
Raven shook her head. "I’ve seen pictures of him."
"He was in all the newspapers." Lavender Sunrise tapped her hoof against the seat and then looked out the window for a moment before turning back to Raven. "The newspaper says that he’s big like a minotaur. I hope I get to meet him."
"You probably will." Raven set her papers on the bench beside her. "He’s really friendly with everypony, and from what I know, he likes to meet new ponies."
"What about Ka-th-rin?" Lavender Sunrise pronounced her name slowly and carefully. "What’s she like, do you know? Is she big like him? I’ve never seen a minotaur cow before."
"She’s a little bit smaller and more slender. She’s still recovering from her injuries. I don’t know much about what she’s like." That wasn’t entirely true; Princess Celestia had given Raven a report of her meeting with Dale and Kate. However, Raven knew what it was okay to gossip about and what wasn’t, and she wouldn’t violate Princess Celestia’s trust in her.
"Neither of them speak very much Equestrian," Raven added. "And not terribly well—Dale has a very deep voice, almost like a dragon."
Lavender Sunrise brightened. "I know. Some ponies are starting to have lessons in his language. Prince Armor thinks it’s a good idea."
That was an unexpected piece of information. Raven nodded just the same. It was smart, and there was nothing to lose by starting early. She wondered if Princess Celestia had given the order, or if it was something that Shining Armor had come up with on his own.
"Have you had any?"
Lavender Sunrise shook her head. "I’m not any good at languages. When I was in school, I took some Prench, but I can’t remember any of it. It’s frustrating, especially ‘cause my dad can speak like five different languages." She sighed. "I listened in to one lesson but I didn’t pick anything up."
• • •
The train slowed down as it passed by a field of heather in full bloom, and then the tracks curved around into Ponyville proper.
Once the two mares had detrained, Raven realized that neither of them knew where the embassy actually was, and while Ponyville was a small enough town that they would have undoubtedly found it eventually, Raven decided that the wisest option was to ask the stationmaster.
Unsurprisingly, the stallion knew exactly where it was, and gave her directions towards the center of town. Luckily, the first landmark he gave them was the rotunda, which was visible from the station platform.
Lavender Sunrise took the lead, while Raven trailed along behind her. The two of them got a few sideways looks as they passed through town, although everypony was friendly to the pair.
They skirted around the edge of the market square, and reoriented themselves at the statue of the pony balancing a ball.
Raven had expected the embassy to be plain; although she didn’t know exactly what it looked like, she did know that it had been converted from a house. Nevertheless, even with directions they might still have missed it if it hadn’t been for the guard standing by the front door. There were no other signs of the building’s purpose.
Lavender Sunrise frowned when she saw it, but Raven was nonplussed. "Embassies suit the needs of their inhabitants, not the Crown," she informed her pegasus companion. "If this is what Dale and Ka-th-rin find comfortable to them, then it is appropriate."
"But how do we know?" Lavender Sunrise lowered her voice so that the door guard wouldn't overhear.
"Princess Celestia surely asked when she visited. And if they wanted something different, she would have informed me."
Raven walked up to the door and nodded politely to the stallion. Although she carried identification with her, it was unnecessary; the stallion had served in the palace and recognized her. He knocked on the door, and a moment later, it was opened, and a cerulean-coated unicorn looked at her with mild suspicion.
"Raven, personal secretary to Princess Celestia."
The unicorn’s eyes widened, and she took a step back. "Oh, I’m, um, Diamond Mint. Welcome to the embassy! I wasn’t expecting you so soon. Is there anything I can get you?"
"I would like to meet with Dale as soon as possible. Also, if the embassy has any spare rooms, I would like to stay here—I suspect that my business might take a couple of days."
"Yes, of course." Diamond frowned. "We have four rooms, but they’re all in use at the moment. Ambassador Lyra has one, and both Dale and Kate have their own rooms. And right now the fourth room is being used by Dr. Stable and his nurses." She glanced outside at the pegasus, who was standing somewhat awkwardly in the street. "Is she with you as well?"
"Lavender Sunrise, pegasus messenger. She can bunk with the Guards if she has to."
"Yes, the Guards, of course." Diamond backed up to let Raven enter. "Forgive me, we weren’t expecting a visitor, not so soon after Princess Celestia. I could—if you don’t mind sharing a room, you can have my bed for as long as you need it. It’s upstairs and quite convenient. I can sleep on a chair in the living room."
"You don’t have to," Raven said. "There are inns in town, aren’t there?"
"They’re not nearly as convenient. I insist—it won’t be any bother at all." Diamond lit her horn and pulled Raven’s suitcase inside the embassy. "Dale is in his office right now and Kate is up in her room. It’s not really a good time to meet with her; she’s with the nurses and is not feeling well. I’ll show you upstairs, and give you a chance to freshen up, and then you can meet with Dale."
Raven sighed. She felt bad taking Diamond’s bed, but it was obvious that the mare wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
Fancy Pants’ ears perked as he heard a polite knocking at his door. He frowned and set down his quill. He wasn’t expecting any company today, and as far as he knew, Fleur wasn’t either. If she had been, she would have warned him, or else not gone out shopping.
He didn’t reply—their butler knew to just come into the room, and his knocks were merely to be polite.
A moment later, Tindal entered his office and levitated a small white card onto his desk. Fancy Pants glanced at it for a moment, and then nodded. "Admit him to the sitting room. I’ll be along shortly. He may have any refreshments he desires."
"As you wish." Tindal bowed respectfully and took his leave.
Fancy Pants picked the card back up and twirled it idly in his aura. What game are you playing?
It would not be too much of a breach of protocol to leave his visitor in the sitting room for a few minutes, perhaps even a full turn of the hourglass. After all, the two had similar station in all but title, and he had arrived uninvited . . . unanticipated. But Fancy Pants was not a rude stallion, nor one who took protocol overly seriously.
Just the same, he did take a moment to put his cufflinks back in, and on his way out of the room glanced briefly at a mirror on the wall—Fleur had insisted on putting it there, and while at first he had not seen the value, it had wound up being worth its weight in gold. Even though Fancy Pants didn’t always care all that much about the impression he gave visitors to his estate, Fleur did care, and he had discovered that there was much to be said about always looking one’s best.
His visitor was sipping a generous measure of spiced whiskey when he arrived, contemplating the dancing flames in the fireplace. Tindal stood in the corner, patiently awaiting any further orders.
Fancy Pants nodded briefly to him, and then took the bottle in his own aura and poured himself a small measure. The unspoken words were clear; Tindal vanished silently through the door like a puff of dandelion fluff.
"I suppose you wonder why I came," his visitor said.
Fancy Pants took a sip of his whiskey and nodded.
"I need your help."
"Do tell."
"I’m not the most diplomatic pony," he said simply. "You know that. You’re good with the common pony. You know how they think, you know what they want . . . I don’t." He sighed. "You did a masterful job defending Lyra."
"Thank you."
"I suppose you know that Graphite hired Noble Voice."
"I did."
"And I suppose you also know that he was supposed to drag Lyra—Ambassador Lyra through the mud, to make sure that something stuck in her fur. Maybe not in the court; there wasn’t enough evidence, but there was innuendo, and you know that the newspapers will print that. And ponies who don’t know better . . . they believe it."
Fancy Pants nodded. "The battle was won in the courtroom . . . I cannot say if it was won in the court of public opinion. Fleur and I tried to limit the damage, but ponies gossip; rumors spread."
"Half the Council thinks that Lyra is fucking Dale," Blueblood said. "Maybe they’re not sure enough to say it, not out loud, but they’re thinking it. And it’s only a matter of time before they start clamoring for her replacement. Graphite and Sky Dreams are going to get more and more council members on their side with every libelous article that gets published in the Baltimare Sun."
And it’s going to be you. Fancy Pants didn’t have to say that out loud. He didn’t have to; they both knew it.
"What can we do? How can we fight back?"
Fancy Pants took a sip of his drink. "How far are you willing to go?"
"How far will we need to?"
"If it comes to it, are you willing to sacrifice the ambassadorship to Prance?" Fancy Pants finished his drink and set it on the bar. "Because the easy way to win is to prove that you’re more unfit than Lyra, leaving the obvious next choice as Graphite—and I think that’s a case I could make."
Blueblood sighed and slumped in his seat. "I want the Prench ambassadorship. I—I’d do well there, I think. Better than Graphite. He’s hasn’t got the temperament for someplace bigger than Baltimare. He only wants it because he thinks it’ll give him prestige, and he thinks he won’t ever have to do anything except drink wine and go to art museums. I don’t think it would be good for Equestria if he got it."
"You’re probably right, but I could say the same about you, you know."
Blueblood nodded miserably.
"It probably won’t come to that," Fancy Pants assured him. "The citizens of Ponyville will require no persuasion. When it comes down to it, they’re going to believe Lyra over anypony from a big city who doesn’t know her personally. And they’re proud that they have the embassy, as well. To them, it’s not only recognition from the Crown that they’re an important town, but it’s also a labor of love. I can assure you that everypony who had a hoof or horn in building the embassy did their very best, and will not easily surrender it.
"I suspect that by now, they have started to accept Dale as their own, as well. Apple Honey has written several articles about him in her newspaper, and she is likely to continue to do so."
"She’ll change her mind as soon as she reads The Baltimare Sun," Blueblood said bitterly.
"On the contrary, she’ll double down. And who are they going to believe—some reporter from Baltimare who’s never even been to Ponyville, or their local handimare, who’s a direct descendant from the founder of the town?"
"Earth ponies don’t care about bloodlines."
"Not like unicorns, no. Nopony in town has a Silver Book that traces her lineage back to Smart Cookie, but that doesn't matter. As far as they’re concerned, the Apple family tree started when Granny Smith’s father planted the first seedling in Sweet Apple Acres . . . to them, there is no history before that. All the settler ponies got a clean slate the moment they turned the first furrow.
"We’re lucky that Lyra has an earth pony marefriend, and even luckier that Bon Bon is also related to the Apple family." Fancy Pants leaned back in his chair. "I think that they’d be on our side even if she wasn’t, but it makes things easier."
"So how do we use that?"
"In two parts." Fancy Pants smiled. "They don’t like you; I suppose you know that. You’re a stuck-up Canterlot noble, and you’ve directly offended a well-respected member of their community. You’re one of ‘them.’" He waved his hooves in the air to make his point. "But that doesn’t matter. Most of them don’t know you, and as long as you aren’t actively working against what they hold dear, they won’t think about you at all. For nearly everypony in town, you’re just another faceless noblepony who doesn’t know a thing about getting his hooves dirty and doing actual work."
"I could go there." Blueblood leaned forward in his chair. "I could be photographed poking around in some mare’s garden, and maybe do a couple of ribbon-cutting ceremonies—has the embassy had one? Ponies love those. I could visit during the Summer Sun Celebration and make some speeches; I bet they’d love that, too."
"They’d hate it." Fancy Pants reached over to the bar and poured himself another drink. "They’d know you didn’t actually want to be there, and they’d know that you were trying to score some political points."
"What if I—"
"The only thing worse would be if you went and picked up a couple foals for a photo op."
Blueblood’s ear’s fell. He’d been about to suggest that.
"Actions speak louder than words. Don’t be seen in Ponyville holding up a newborn foal for the press; instead, stick with what you do well. Speak out at the Nobles’ Council. Defend Ambassador Lyra as if she was your own daughter. Push through paperwork. Make sure that Ponyville and other farming villages get the funding that they need. Not directly—they like to think that they’re completely independent, that they don’t need the Crown to help them out, and they’ll resent it if you earmark funds specifically for them. They’ll see it as a bribe. Instead, listen to the farmponies who come to Court. Listen to Poppycock when he speaks at the Council. Support his proposals, and be seen doing so. If you’re a friend to the farmmare, you’re a friend to half of Ponyville."
"He’s hardly nobility. He’s on the council because his grandmare was a landed unicorn who—" Blueblood took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Fancy Pants swirled his drink, then spoke again. "I—I’ll tell you what. I think that in the next few months, as word of them spreads, there’s going to be a market for trinkets, things that are unique and unknown. I have been considering selling a copy of a wand that Ka-th-rin carried, just in time for Hearth’s warming. This is just a thought, but maybe if you were to publicly persuade me to distribute it exclusively through Barnyard Bargains." He regarded his whiskey thoughtfully. "Perhaps not; that could be seen through. I’ll have to run it by Fleur. That’s the kind of things she does best. Oh, speaking of her, did you know that Rarity is the sole seamstress for both Dale and Ka-th-rin?"
"Nopony wears clothes like theirs," Blueblood said. "A peplos . . . that hasn’t been in fashion for a thousand years."
"You ought to wear one at the next Council meeting," Fancy Pants said. "I could commission one; we’re practically the same size. I doubt that Rarity would make one for you." He regarded his drink one last time. "No . . . she’d see through that attempt to curry favor. What if I wore one, and you had a shoddy imitation?" He swirled around the ice in his drink. "Hmm, I’ll have to think on that."
Dale had let the white pony into his office right away, although he had to suppress a snicker when she introduced herself. With her mane up in a bun and the glasses she wore on her face, she reminded him of Sarah Palin. If she says she’s a ‘maverick’ or ‘you betcha,’ I’m kicking her out.
She didn’t say either of those things. She spoke her name and position slowly and carefully. Dale could make out a bit of an accent in her speech, slightly different than how most of the ponies around town talked, although he wasn't sure if it was just caused by her attempt to speak slowly and clearly to him.
He offered her a chair right away, and she seemed slightly reluctant to take it, although she finally did.
It didn’t take her long to get down to business.
"Ambassador Dale," she said slowly in their language. "I believe that yesterday Princess Celestia informed you that we cannot send you home. Not until we learn what went wrong with the magic that brought you here."
Dale nodded.
"Princess Celestia has been worrying that your family and friends are concerned about your absence."
"I . . ." Surely there were people who had noticed he was gone. He tended to wander during the summer, although normally not for more than a few weeks at a time. How long had it been? It didn’t seem like all that long, although it probably was. He started counting back on his fingers—the ponies surely had calendars, although the embassy didn’t currently have any.
When he didn’t answer right away, Raven pressed on. "And Ka-th-rin, as well."
Reluctantly, Dale nodded. While it was no skin off his back if everyone thought he’d taken his canoe out on Lake Michigan and drowned, the Coast Guard and Kate’s family deserved to know what had happened to her. Even if they couldn’t send her back, something would be better than nothing.
"Twilight said that we could return some photographs to the island. A guard could give it to somepony, or if there were nopony there, he could leave it behind in a box to be found later."
"Yes." It would be like a missing dog poster, except it would be a found dog. And presented by a pony. Dale suddenly found himself imagining them making lots of copies and pasting them to the trees on the island. ‘Two found humans, one male one female. Friendly. Housebroken. Female is very affectionate and good at braiding manes.’
That would confound whoever found it.
"We thought we should send a letter as well . . . but Princess Celestia and I are not good at your language, and we might cause more worry if our words were bad." She flicked her ears. "You, your people write letters, yes?"
"Do you have it?"
Raven reached into her saddlebags and produced a letter.
Dale skimmed through it quickly—it was short and to the point—and then tapped his fingers absently on the desk. A dark part of his mind was imagining it being interpreted as a ransom note. An extremely formal ransom note, written on heavy paper, but a ransom note nonetheless.
He remembered when the Pueblo had been captured by North Korea the crew had given the cameraman the finger, to show that they hadn’t really defected, despite what the Koreans claimed. Given that the ponies didn’t fully understand English, it would be reasonably easy to add a phrase to indicate that he’d actually been kidnapped and was being forced to do this against his will—but of course he didn’t want that. He wanted the opposite, some kind of way to indicate that as crazy and unlikely as the message seemed, it was true.
There wasn’t a single phrase he could think of that would prove it beyond a doubt. Even if he wrote hundreds of pages detailing all his experiences with the ponies, no one would believe it except perhaps for some nutty conspiracy theorist. There had to be some kind of proof.
Further complicating matters was the question of if people were ready to know about the ponies. Sooner or later they’d have to be; sooner or later there was going to be contact again, regardless of what Dale did. They’d figure out a way to return Kate, or maybe they wouldn’t, but one way or another, sooner or later, they’d make another attempt. They’d gotten there once, and clearly they could return. Dale was reasonably confident that any future visits—at least in the near future—would be visits of peace. If he was right in thinking that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were the ponies in charge, they did not appear to have visions of conquest.
Although if they were good politicians, they’d always keep that behind their masks. An outstretched hand—hoof—of welcome, and a knife in the other.
But suppose that there was no conquest planned. Suppose that they were absolutely sincere. Suppose that they were honestly hiding nothing from him—what would the people on Earth think? Would the letter, no matter what the contents, be seen as a declaration of war?
Or would it be dismissed as a bizarre hoax?
If it had been him alone, there might have been a rudimentary search, and maybe it would have turned up his campsite . . . or maybe that would have remained undisturbed until the fall, when some deer hunter discovered it. But there had been witnesses, and he was sure that the Coast Guard would not so easily forget one of their own.
Was there an armed presence on the island, even now? Were Coast Guard boats circling the island like angry hornets, waiting for him to return—or a pony? Had a fleet of battleships sailed up through the Welland Canal to guard the island against further incursions? He didn’t know. Anything was possible.
He did know that when you had a hornet’s nest, you backed away and did nothing to disturb the little bastards.
"Is it not good?"
Dale jerked out of his thoughts. He’d lost focus and completely forgotten that she was here.
"Um, I am not sure. I must think on this." He put his hand over the paper, anchoring it to the table, and slid it towards himself. I wish Lyra was here.
"Princess Celestia would like to send a pony soon," Raven said. "So that your people do not worry."
Oh, they’ll worry. Perhaps more than you or I can imagine.
I was worried. I was worried that they’d kidnap me. Dale let out a short laugh, almost a cough. And I guess they did.
The police must have investigated, and they’re no fools. They must have found the letter I left, and the hair by now. But what did they make of it?
They wouldn’t have really believed it, he thought. Not a chance—it was too far-fetched, even if it was true. But they would have found it; they would have been mystified by it, and if they were willing to believe that the entire thing wasn’t some bizarre hoax, then maybe another hair that went along with the letter would give it credibility. And if he was reading Princess Celestia right, she wouldn’t mind contributing.
"My people are skeptical," Dale said, and Raven frowned. Figures she wouldn’t know that word. "They sometimes have a hard time knowing if things are really true. If Princess Celestia put a piece of her hair with the letter, it would be better."
"Her . . . hair?" Raven lifted up a lock of her forelock.
Dale nodded. "People are strange."
While Raven was thinking about this, he studied the letter again. It honestly wasn’t that bad on his second read-through. It was still hard to believe, of course, but in general, they’d actually done a decent job. There were probably ponies in the palace that were really good at writing diplomatic dispatches, and they’d just had to translate them to English as best they could.
"Can I write here?" Dale tapped the letter with the felt-tipped pen to make sure that Raven got the idea.
She nodded at him. "I can write again with better words."
He made sure that his penmanship was neat, and that he was absolutely clear on what needed to be eliminated. Once he was done he read through it a couple more times and made a couple more corrections, until he was finally satisfied.
Dale had expected Raven to roll the letter back up and put it away. Instead, she got out two fresh sheets of paper and began writing.
It was quickly obvious that the first sheet wasn’t the letter, since Raven didn’t consult his editing at all.
Dale had trouble reading her writing—it was upside down, and in a script he hadn’t learned to read. He’d seen a few things written that way, and had nicknamed it 'pony cursive', since the letters were rounder than the ones Lyra had taught him.
Once she’d filled up half of the first page with her dancing quill, she made a mark at the bottom that was undoubtedly her signature. It glowed and sparkled in the same magenta as her field for a moment, before fading to the dark tan of their ink.
It took her much longer to transcribe the letter. Clearly, her speed was at least partially based on her familiarity with the characters, and while she was obviously good at pony cursive, she hadn’t had very much practice with English.
He didn’t realize until she was halfway through with the letter that she was putting serifs on the letters, and he realized that she must have had copies of his books that she’d learned that from. He hadn’t taught Lyra the alphabet that way, and while he didn’t know for sure, he doubted that Twilight was doing that when she copied his notes. It felt like something that would be useful to know, although he couldn’t say why.
That was going to confuse whoever wound up getting the letter, and it just might be another little bit of evidence that things weren’t what they seemed.
When she’d reached the end, she made her sparkling signature-mark on it again, and then she floated the quill across to him. "Dale sign," she said, as if it wasn’t obvious what she intended.
He hesitated for a moment—if he ever got back, and if he were to be tried for treason, this would be Exhibit A without a doubt. Then again, it was probably far too late for second thoughts, so he took the quill and carefully signed right under her name. This time the ink didn’t sparkle or glow at all.
Raven got out of her chair and headed for the door; Dale had nothing better to do, so he followed her, vaguely curious of her destination.
She didn’t go too far—she crossed the living room and knocked on the door to the Guards’ barracks.
While she was waiting for an answer, she took the two letters and rolled them up, letting them hover in the air while she got a tube out of her saddlebags. She unscrewed the top and slid the documents inside, then sealed it back shut.
By the time she’d finished, Lavender Sunrise had come out of the room, and Raven didn’t need to give her instructions. The pegasus let Raven slip the tube into her saddlebags and cinch the flap shut.
It evoked a memory of tying notes to carrier pigeons, and Dale supposed that that wasn’t far from the truth.
"Is she going to carry the message to the island?" Dale asked.
"Only to Canterlot," Raven explained.
Dale turned to Lavender Sunrise. "Good luck. Safe flying." He crouched down and stuck out his fist; after a moment’s hesitation, she bumped it, and then turned to Raven, putting her foreleg up into a near-salute. Then she trotted out the front door, and he caught just a glimpse of her taking to the sky before Diamond Mint shut the door again.
He was hoping that he could relax now, but Raven had a different idea, and reached back into her saddlebags again.
"Princess Celestia would like you to sign the formal contract that says you are willing and able to be an ambassador for your tribe." She placed it upon the table, turned to face him.
Dale took it and glanced at it quickly. Of course it was written in their language. He wished again that Lyra was at the embassy, but she wasn’t—she wouldn’t have come back without greeting him—so he’d have to have some other pony help him. Of those who he knew were still in the embassy, Starlight would have been his first choice, although she was undoubtedly in the kitchen right now, preparing dinner. Diamond Mint, on the other hand, was just outside the door.
He called her in, and she came right around the corner. He couldn’t help but wonder if she’d had an ear pressed up against the wall, although with the office door open she probably wouldn’t have had to.
"Can you help me with this?" He motioned to the contract on the table.
Diamond frowned, then picked the paper up with her aura and he watched as she scanned down the lines of writing.
Raven waited patiently until Diamond set the contract back on the desk, and then looked expectantly at him.
"You are my lawyer now," Dale said. "Because I don’t have anyone else, and I want to make sure that I understand this contract."
"I do not know lawyer."
He sighed. One tiny part of him wished that Cheerilee had decided to devote a day to legalese and contract law; then again, if she had, he would probably have fallen asleep within a half hour, if not sooner.
"It means that you help me. You make sure I understand exactly what this says."
Diamond’s ears fell. "Lyra is better."
"I know, but she isn’t here." Dale resisted the urge to pet her head. "Maybe she will help when she comes back."
"I will help." Diamond slid a chair over next to Dale’s and perched on the edge of it, then lifted one of the felt-tipped pens that Fancy Pants had given the embassy. "Here, it says that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are making the contract." She pointed with the pen.
• • •
They’d made it about halfway through the document when Starlight finally stuck her head in the room and announced that dinner was ready. Dale and Diamond Mint shared a guilty look, especially when Dale noticed that the table was set—that was normally Diamond’s job, and Starlight must have had to do it in the middle of cooking.
He vowed that he was going to make it up to her, somehow.
Lyra returned midway through dinner, in the company of a guard. That gnawed at Dale—had she gone off the reservation and been escorted back? Surely, if she’d been absent with leave, and they needed her back, they would have just called her.
With what?
He thought about that while he was eating his dinner. His house had three telephones in it, not counting his cell phone. There was one in the office, one in the dining room, and a third in the bedroom . . . but now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen a single telephone since he’d arrived.
Granted, he didn’t know for sure what a pony telephone would even look like. Obviously, a touchtone or rotary phone like the ones he knew would be impractical for hooves, but he was fairly sure he would have noticed if somebody from the embassy were talking into a machine of any sort, or if there had been a teenaged pony walking down the street looking at some device in their hoof, like so many kids did these days.
Did they not believe in them?
Had they somehow failed to invent them?
Dale couldn’t believe that. They had space travel. There was no way that they could have invented space travel without some means of communicating between the space ship and the ground, and it logically followed that even if they hadn’t thought of some kind of long distance communication device before that, they would have thought of it before the first rocket launched, and furthermore, it would almost certainly have been something that had a good market value. Hadn’t Fisher made all their research money back and then some on Space Pens? He’d bought one.
The conundrum bothered him all through dinner, and he finally pushed it to the back of his mind when he trouped back to the office to finish going through the contract. Lyra came with him; to his surprise, Diamond Mint did as well.
He wasn’t upset that she’d decided to continue helping him; as far as he was concerned, the more eyes on the contract the better off he’d be. He was worried that he was being unfair to Starlight; however, as he gathered around chairs and sat down at his desk, he noticed that Starlight had recruited one of the unicorn Guards for KP duty.
• • •
The four of them worked late into the night. Dale, Lyra, and Diamond Mint picked the contract apart piece by piece, sentence by sentence. He thought overall that it was quite fair, all things considered. Unless Lyra and Diamond were both lying to him, there were no surprise provisions in it, and whoever had written it had understood that when contact with Earth was reestablished that he might not actually be allowed to make binding treaties on behalf of America.
It was suspiciously good. No contract lawyer on Earth would have ever come up with something like that.
When they’d finally reached the end, a collective sigh of relief went around the room. Lyra turned her head away and covered a yawn, while Raven gently used her aura to nudge the inkpot and quill in his direction.
Treason exhibit two. Dale put his hand flat on top of the contract. "I must sleep. I am too tired."
Raven’s ears fell when he said that, and he was half expecting her to switch to high-pressure salesman mode.
"It is not good to make contracts late at night," Dale added, idly wondering if he was perhaps pushing his luck a little bit. Being difficult when buying a car was one thing; with everything that the ponies had done for him thus far maybe he wasn’t making the wise choice. But he was tired, and he needed time to clear his head; time to think.
Surely they’d understand that he couldn’t be expected to fully understand the contract and make an informed decision immediately after it had been painstakingly translated for him.
The inkpot lit up with a glow again, and then moved back across the desk. "I understand," Raven said. "Think tonight. Think if there are changes that should be made, and then sign tomorrow."
Dale hadn’t expected that.
Before they split up their meeting, Dale reached across the table and lightly bumped Raven’s forehoof. She smiled back at him, and then slid out of her chair and headed upstairs.
"Thank you," Dale said to the two unicorns. "Thank you for helping me."
"I’m sorry," Lyra said. "I didn’t know that Raven was coming, and—"
"That’s okay," Dale said. "We got through it."
Kate woke up in the middle of the night, soaked in sweat. She kicked the blankets off of herself, and rolled on her back to try and cool off a little bit.
Her head was throbbing, and she looked over to the pony dozing in the chair in her room, wondering if she should wake it. She’d been feeling miserable half the day, and began to wonder if she was coming down with the flu or something. Or maybe they were messing with her and they’d decided to turn up the heat.
They were drugging you and now they’re not, her mind insisted. Because you were hurt. Because you wouldn’t comply.
She twisted around in bed a little bit, trying to get more comfortable, and finally found comfort lying on her side, her legs pulled up against her belly and her back against the wall. The plaster was cool, and being right against the wall kept her out of the damp spot on the sheet where she’d been sleeping. She’d had to turn the pillow over.
Kate fell back asleep, but it was a fitful sleep. She thought she kept hearing a voice, and she suddenly woke up shivering with cold.
She pulled the blanket back on, although it didn’t seem to be doing much good—she was still cold, and the blanket was still damp with her sweat.
Kate didn’t know where the extra blankets were kept, or if there even were extra blankets. Just the same, she got up and went across the room to her dresser.
Aside from some clothes, there weren’t any new sheets or blankets in there.
She yelped in surprise as she felt a warm muzzle brush against her hip, and looked down to see Pink looking up at her, concern on her face.
"Cold," Kate said, hugging herself in the hopes of getting her message across.
Pink nodded, and reached into her dresser, pulling out a new johnny. "Kate wear. I get blanket."
She vanished out into the hallway, and a minute later came back in with a bundle of sheets and blankets across her back.
Kate stopped changing long enough to watch her strip all the linens off the bed and push them into a pile in the corner, then expertly tuck the new blankets onto the bed.
As soon as she was done, Kate finished dressing and hopped back in bed. She pulled the covers up over herself, then tapped her hand on the side of the bed hopefully. "Come?"
At first, Pink ignored her, stretching the old bedsheets across the floor and draping the blanket across the back of the chair. Kate had almost given up when she felt the bed shift and Pink hopped in with her.
Kate wanted nothing more than to pull her into a tight embrace, but before she could, she felt a hoof pushing gently against her forehead. She crossed her eyes, and tried to focus on it, but it was too close and too dark for her to really see.
After a minute, the pony took her hoof off of Kate’s head, and then leaned against her chest, which was much better. Kate put her arm over Pink’s back and pulled into her, trying to get as much of her body in contact with the warm pony as she could.
Before she could even get all the way asleep, she started to feel too hot again, and pushed back from Pink, then shoved the covers back down. Kate rolled towards the wall, in the hopes of finding a cooler spot in the bed.
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hmmm neat. hope everything goes well!
OMG AN UPDATE! D:
Anyway, onto the chapter title!
Mounting Expeditions, eh? I'll bet mounting is proving to be an 'expedition', eh? Ehhhhhhhhh?
(Alondro has a filthy mind, doesn't he?)
(Spews his tea all over) I WAS BUCKING JOKING!!! When did ponies learn such language!? The contamination has already taken place! Equestria is polluted with humanity's (as Spock put it) more colorful metaphors! Soon they'll become sullied with evil and start raping each other and eating their own foals! IT'S ALL OVER!!
(Alondro twiddles his thumbs through all the political backstabbing and mind games) Oh buck it... (he releases Discord) He can't possibly hurt matters! (Discord starts devouring ponies...) Oh, this is one of THOSE alt-universe Discords... my bad!
Alondro glowers. He lifts his right hand. His fingers snap. Suddenly, a tower figure appears in the middle of Ponyville, boisterously exclaiming, "WE'RE GONNA BUILD A BIG BEAUTIFUL WALL TO KEEP OUT THE CHERNGELERNGS!!"
Alondro grins, "Have fun, Dale."
I can safely say that this story is one of the few I am genuinely excited to see updated. There is a couple of thing I am glad to read more of, but that really managed to get my attention.
And having to wait for a year does create a hype of some sort whenever I can finally get my fix of good ponyfic.
HYPE!!!!
Most of the time they do, some of them even choose to concede the game rather then play the inevitable. Although, it is considered rude.
But some times, THE turning point is not so obvious. I remember back in ches class, we studied one of the Kasparov-Fischer match, the turning point was a collossal mistake from Kasparov that apparently many saw while he didn't. The game all went downhill from there even if it was still more or less salvagable in theory.
I so loved the part with Blueblood and Fancy Pants, theses pony politics are getting fun and develloped. It's great!
I guess next time we will get to see the message being sent to earth and hopefully the mess it will undoubtely create for Moller. Poor guy. I don't think he is being paid enough for this.
Yay! Update ... very happy right now
- and sleepy. It is past 2am here ... 😴
Another great chapter, but I am a little confused about Kate--if she's off the morphine for the first time, and thinking straight as she comes off her drug addiction*, shouldn't she be confused about talking pastel ponies?
*Sadly many people develop one when on pain killers--my co-worker's father was given a box of pills and a card for help getting over the drug addition that would come from them.
Except they aren't allowed in the great lakes. Come on Dale!
But to be fair I wouldn't be surprised to see a small fleet of frigates and destroyers there.
YES!
It lives!!!
New chapter!
Aw, silly Dale, ponies use wormholes for their interstellar travel!
Not that you could know this, though, so of course you still think they have spaceships.Poor Kate. Withdrawals...
And poor Dale, he doesn't know that they think he kidnapped her.
So many different things going on is makin my head spin. Court room drama, the press/media, kidnapping, attempted to contact the humans etc. Good luck with the rest of the story! Can't wait to see where it goes!
8351837 Hey, humans. All of the fun and none of the foals. (Yes, I'm planning on using that phrase in my 1940 story)
Yes! Great to see this story back on track. More please!
Wow that was sudden when you revealed it was Blueblood. I wonder how long until both sides realize the technological gap and how that changes everything. Now, how long until the professors show on the island and they meet the pony team leaving the message?
I believe it would be spelled fucping in this case. Unless, of course, the acronym came from the crystal empire, or during Discord's reign. I think the latter disturbs me with it's implications, while the former makes a depressing kind of sense. Also, congrats on getting this past the editing stage! They still missed the "One one" though
8352069 Centaurs happen... and then lots of half-human hybrids start happening!
And then you get "Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou"...
Oh sweet! This is one of my all time fave story and I'm glad it's still going. :)
I look forward to next year's chapter.
Excellent! This story is continuing! If it had not--entire worlds would lie desolate and waste from the sheer vacuum force of "What happened then?"
Very wise not choosing Hangman. Just imagine the letter to the princesses...
They believe in capital punishment for SPELLING ERRORS!!!
We have liftoff!
I have one of those! The .375 H&H Magnum Silver Bullet model, to be specific.
Huzzah, Pony Planet picked up again! I have to admit, as interesting and monumental a work as Silver Glow's Journal was, I did regard it with a bit of secret jealousy as the story that had taken Admiral Biscuit's attention away from my true love and was hoping this would happen when it finally ended. :)
One hopes Dale eventually thinks of another means of authenticating letters from Equestria before Celestia winds up bald. Maybe stamp the document with liquid rainbow, that's not something that's common on Earth.
Update
At this point I forgot what the story is about.
silly Dave, your premise is wrong and it's breaking your understanding! Ponies didn't and won't follow the technological progression of man.
Bah, politics. At least it kinda seems they're intending to help?
Poor poor Kate, it's just begun... At least part of her is steady, let's hope it stays that way all the way back to the end...
Keep going! ;)
8352595
I'd be more worried about running out of trees before running out of hairs on her head! If they're pushing that much paperwork back and forth they should really switch to digital correspondence.
8352644
Dale really should have read "The Road Not Taken" By Harry Turtledove. It would have changed his perception of these ponies.
Kate is living the dream of getting pony snuggles in bed, but let's hope she'll get well enough so that she can beat up all those gryphons that will inevitably try and sneak into the embassy.
Not sure how Dale is viewed in the public opinion will ever be relevant to the story, because it's not like they can vote a foreign ambassador out of office for being unpopular. Right?
I recognize the obscure mention that ponies don't care about locks.
Holy shit it's alive
I love this story. And I'm rather anxious about Dale and Kathrine's conversation. Her point of view will be crucial for him to understand magic, I guess. And her reaction to finding out she petted the Princess of the Sun will be hilarious
Can we have more soon, please?
8352256
Works a lot better if The Sirens had arrived back in Aincient Greece. Would explain not only all the mythological beasts, but why so many civilisations were destroyed back then.
Mentioning the effect of sending such a letter that the Canterlot diplomatic corp created when Dale read it leads to all sorts of unsettling ideas. Such as one ot the more milteristic senatorsgetting a university to research that effect, them saying they can force open one for a thousandth of a second, and one of his assistants saying that thats long enough for the railgun to fire a package through. So starts Project TikTac.
this is going to be interesting when earth gets this letter let alowin sees the delivery pony.
a vary good chapter, I see plans in the works that are going to be vary interesting to see play out.
Great to see you return to this amazing series. And well done, once again.:D
It's alive, IT'S ALIVE!!!!!! Lol
So glad it's back!
8351949
Don't be silly. That's not how humans work.
"Imagine you're on Earth, and you see a human in front of you. Doesn't look too threatening, like a particularly ugly minotaur. And that's when the attack comes - not from the front, but from way over the horizon from the humans you didn't even know were there. See, humans are pack hunters, who like long range weapons and are great big fans of explosions. And because they're pack hunters, they don't send these explosions over one at a time..."
Though I've been assuming for a while that Kate is going to end up shooting someone. Probably in defense of the embassy, and problebly that group of griffons who seemed to be up to no good a few chapters back. Either way it's going to be fun when the ponies learn exactly what her hand gun does.
Heckuva lot of worldbuilding. Nice part is, it's utterly seamless, as far as I can tell - doesn;t bog down the storytelling even a little bit. Kudos!
I really like the part were Shining had some of the army learn English. Smart cookie there preventing misunderstandings.
While there might have been no action I found the chapter very satisfying. Xd
I can only hope I wont have to wait as long for the next one. Lol
Its alive. Yes yes yes yes. Looking forward to the next one.
Kate must braid all the manes and tails!
Dale's idea of including hair with the letter was a good idea, but some already got left behind when Celestia was rushed away. If something larger, like a gem, or better yet, an enchanted gem was included... Doesn't even have to be much more complicated than play some notes or shine some colored lights in a repeating pattern. It'd only take a moment to realize that it's emitting something with no visible means of power or electronics of any kind-- well, assuming it also doesn't throw off so much electromagnetic interference that it blots out radio/cell signals for miles. Heh.
8352977
Run, you fool! It's a trap! Biscuit is nothing more than a time-sync in auto-mechanic brony's clothing! We're doomed! Doomed, I tell you!
...now, if you'll excuse me, I have another chapter to go read.
good to see this update again. I'm looking forward to seeing Kate weaned off the drugs and aware of what's going on. I'm also looking forward to seeing how things are going on earth and how they react to the message.
...still waiting for the reveal that muppets aren't real.
But I'm happy to see Kate actually becoming cognizant. Hoping to see her become more active in the story, as well as find out what kind of person she is.
YESSSS IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!
Nice Chapter!
Will be funny when he realizes she will be one sad pony with nothing to do.
I just hope someone intelligent sees this thing when it gets there
Still rooting for purple smart here as well.
The thing is Dale does not understand that ponies are backwards scientifically and use magic to make up for it.
8356359
They don't use magic to make up for anything. Their "magic" is simply another branch of physics and science, right alongside such things as electromagnetism, levers, and the internal combustion engine.
Don't think of it as a wildcard thrown into the mix; rather, consider it a fundamental mechanic of the universe and their ability to use it as they will.
I am really wondering when the shoe is going to drop on Earth about what is actually happening. And how pear shaped things will go when it does!
It's not dead!! Thank you JESUS! I love this story and it has been way too long since it updated. I sweet mercy, I have missed this. Please, do not wait so long before you update again.
Things getting a bit too meta.