Equestria's first warp drive - Alternate ending

by CCC

Chapter 31: One-sided negotiations

“...and a good champagne is traditional, of course,” said Rarity. “But you can't go wrong with a nice red – oh, you're back.”

“Indeed we are!” agreed Flim.

“We've been talking,” said Flam

“Thinking,” said Flim.

“Considering our futures,” added Flam. He trotted around to the far side of Red Dawn (who had been nervously backing away from him for some reason) and threw one foreleg over her shoulders. “Perhaps expanding Flim Flam Enterprises!”

“Now, just a moment there -” said Applejack, quickly.

“Oh, as an equal partner, of course!” said Flim, just as quickly.

“With decision-making power equal to either of us!” agreed Flam.

“Why, from what my brother's told me...”

“...her talents will make her a valuable part of the team!”

“An' what talents exactly are y'all talking about?” asked Applejack.

“Oh, we've been working together a few days now,” said Flam, dismissively. “And I've got a very good memory – I remember everything she's told me.”

Red Dawn looked a little pale.

“Of course, we wouldn't dare try to force this on the poor mare,” said Flim.

“Quite. If she doesn't like our offer, we'll not hold her back,” agreed Flam. “Not after all the help she's been in our escape.”

Red Dawn almost breathed a sigh of relief.

“But I'd have to do something to thank her for looking after my brother,” continued Flim. “If she refuses our offer, perhaps we could ask Princess Celestia if she would find a suitable berth for this lovely lady.”

Red Dawn's smile froze.

“I'm certain that if I told the Princess all I know about Red Dawn, she'd find the perfect place,” concluded Flam.

“I'm, er, I'm sure she would.” said Red Dawn, nervously. “But, um, that won't be necess- I mean, um, well, Flam's been talking a bit about the, um, I mean, the benefits of...”

“The life of a travelling salespony!” said Flim.

“The romance of a life on the open road!” added Flam.

“Yeah, um, that,” said Red Dawn.

“'Scuse me a minute.” Applejack pushed Flam to one side, and gently led Red Dawn just a little out of earshot. “Listen, those two – they ain't blackmailin' you or anything, are they?”

“Um, no?” said Dawn.

Applejack looked at Dawn for a long moment before speaking again. “Right, well, if they are, or if you got anything else you need help with, you come talk to me, okay? Ah've come across those two before, and they've never struck me as being entirely honest, so t'speak... but Ah owe you for looking after mah sister as well, so anytime you need help, you come talk to me, okay? If it's legal trouble o' some kind, Ah can get a letter to the Princess in about twenty minutes, and she knows her way around a legal conundrum like you wouldn't believe.”

“I'll, um, I'll keep that in mind,” said Red Dawn, nervously. Did everypony here have a private line to the Princess?

* * *

Half an hour later

“We've got two very dazed Ferengi in the brig, Admiral.” said Captain Anderson, talking to a data pad on the small table in his quarters. “And by 'brig', I mean the broom closet. We have a very small ship, and very few internal doors that have actual locks on them. Our... celebrity guests are taking shifts watching them. The purple one has schedules, Admiral. Schedules like you wouldn't believe – she's trying to arrange that five of them share the same two beds, sleeping in precise eight-hour shifts!”

Captain Anderson took a deep breath. “They've also rescued three juveniles and two adults, one apparently a sentient buffalo, of all things, and some kind of reptile which I am assured is a dragon. Not to mention a half-dozen or so miscellaneous wild creatures that we can't bring to this ship, due to safety concerns. So we've tractored the direlict Ferengi ship, and are towing it behind us; our warp bubble's just large enough. The, um, creatures are remaining in the brig on the Ferengi ship, except the dragon, who isn't actually a creature because he's sapient. And breathes fire, incidentally. And... somehow, he scares the Ferengi like you wouldn't believe.”

On the screen, the Admiral nodded. “Thank you, Captain Anderson.” he said. “You have gone above and beyond what I asked you to do when I paid you, and I am exceedingly grateful. I will be adding a substantial bonus to our agreed payment, and if you ever need any reasonable help from Starfleet, just let my office know.” He grinned slightly. “I'm even willing to consider slightly unreasonable.”

“Um, thank you, Admiral.” said Anderson, nodding. “I'll, um, I'll keep it in mind.”

“One last question.” said the Admiral. “How long will it take you to get back to Equestria?”

“Well, we're not nearly as fast as the Ferengi without someone supercharging our engines – however they did that – and Mr. Trent tells me that our warp drive took a bit of a beating on the way here, so we're going to take it a bit more slowly on the way back. Maybe two weeks?”

“Thank you, Captain.” said the Admiral. “Incidentally, there will be a small ceremony when you return. I understand the Princess wishes to award you medals.”

“I, um, really?” asked Captain Anderson, nervously.

The admiral smiled broadly, and nodded. “Really.” he said. “Keep a close eye on those Ferengi, Captain, and it should be smooth sailing from here on.”

Comments

[JDunk1971]

it should be smooth sailing from here on.”

Famous last words...

[PostPony]

it seems like this version is about ready to get wrapped up.

[wolfdreamer]

Wouldn't a buffalo be a cow not a mare?

[FanOfMostEverything]

I'm not sure what would be worse for the crew: something else happening, or two weeks spent trapped with the Equestrians.

Looking forward to more.

[Orbiting Kettle]

4799554
We humans have a few basic reactions to new things. We see something and ask:
1)can I eat it?
2)can I copulate with it?
3)can I get high on it?
4)how can it help me to achieve one of those other 3 things?
The order of the questions is dependant on the nature of the thing we are inspecting. Iterate and apply recursively for 10.000 years and hop, you have a spacefaring civilization.

By the way, wonderful story!

[Cross Lament]

This (and the mainline story) has been an amazing read so far. It has vastly fewer 'likes' than it deserves!

[Bahamuttone]

Put this on follow, but I'm afraid that it won't proceed further unfortunately.

[Kevin Lee]

5079000

it should be smooth sailing from here on.”

Famous last words...

Most noted for being only slightly less ominous as "What's the worst that can happen?"

Yeah, the Borg-timeline was pretty good, but this one was fantastic!

[Angelform]

Better than the original, although sadly unfinished.

I feel that the fundamental problem with both stories is that they try to shoehorn antagonists in. The whole Ferengi incident is useful as it gets things moving. However both the Borg and Changlings merely detract from what makes the story actually enjoyably, the interactions of two distinct settings.

[Six String]

7961469 Yep. Morph in the1990's X-Men Animated series pilot "Night Of the Sentinels Part 1 & 2"

[Shadow_8472]

I'm so sad this one is unfinished. Even though it shouldn't be too hard to guess the rest.

I guess it's off to read the Borg timeline now.

[tsaukpaetra]

And then they went stir crazy!

[Weirdly Normal Human]

Tracking this in case of a miracle!!

[Kentavritsa]

Okay, you have my Woot, currently a total of 111.

[Okie Brony]

I first read this story over a year ago, when I only had occasional internet access, and was downloading stories to read on my kindle. I've always wondered why this version ended so abruptly. At the very least, the author could've posted a comment explaining why it was being left Incomplete.

I honestly prefer the Borgified ending, largely because it's finished.

[Snowdrifter]

9953258
What if they break open the console and take out the rocks?