A Day in History
“Good morning, ladies and Spike. We’d like to take this moment to thank you for flying Marcus Frude airways,” Mark said over the noise of the systems booting up in the Hopper. “We’d like to remind all passengers to keep their hands, hooves, wings, and horns in the cabin at all times. The emergency exit is the way you came in, and there will be no meal service on this flight. We’re looking at about a twenty minute flight today, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the trip.” Mark gave his headset a slight adjustment. “You there, Des?”
“For you, sir, always,” he heard her reply in his ear.
“Alrighty, we are about to start heading your way.”
“Acknowledged. Better start here in the next couple minutes or you’ll miss the window.”
“Solid copy,” Mark said as he pressed a few buttons, “We’re on our way up.” He looked over his shoulder. “Hang on, things might be a little bumpy.” Turning back, they began their ascent.
The six ponies sat as comfortably as they could in the open area behind the pilot, doing their best to strap themselves in with the belts. Spike insisted he sit in the navigator’s seat. “Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! This is going to be so awesome!” he nearly screamed into his own headset, unable to hold his zeal in anymore.
“Haven’t seen anything yet.” Mark gave him a glance. “Just wait ‘til we break the ionosphere. Then things get weird.”
The Hopper began its flight toward the sky, flying above the clouds in less than thirty seconds. The sound of a nervous clatter of teeth made its way through Mark’s earpiece. “Doing okay back there?” he asked, swiveling his head to see his passengers.
“Just about as well as we can!” Applejack shouted, holding a very shaky Fluttershy. The others were being rattled in the harnesses, noticeably uncomfortable.
“We’re about halfway past the worst of the turbulence, then it should be smooth sailing.” A few minutes of flying passed before the Hopper broke into the stratosphere, bringing the bumps to a halt. “There we go. Shouldn’t be too rough now.”
“We’re really high up,” Dash said, observing the ground through the small window on the hatch. “What would happen if we opened the door up here?”
“You sure you wanna know?” She enthusiastically nodded. “There’s not enough air or pressure up here to be able to breathe. We’d suffocate.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t expected that answer.
“Yep. So as long as the hatch stays shut, we’ll be fine.” There was an awkward silence that lasted until the sky changed from blue to black, revealing the morning sun’s true brightness. “Feel free to move about the cabin if you want. Just try not to push any buttons.” Mark heard the clicks of belts being unfastened before hearing gasps. “Oh, yeah. We’re also gonna be weightless until we get to the ship, so… that’ll be a thing ‘til we get there.”
Spike unfastened his harness to join his other friends in the newfound weightlessness of space. He heard their laughter as his precious cargo relished the new experience. “Is this what it’s like to fly?” Applejack asked.
“Kinda,” he heard Dash answer, “but with a bit more--” the familiar sound of a head hitting the ceiling made Mark huff with a laugh, “--Ow! A bit more control.”
A moment later Twilight awkwardly managed to fill the co-pilot’s seat, flapping her wings with limited effect and hitting Mark with her tail several times. For a moment, Mark thought she was going to faint as she looked back at the planet. “Wow… it’s so…”
“Amazing? Beautiful? Blue?” Mark attempted to finish her statement.
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” she said. “And the world… it’s so…”
“Big?”
“Exactly. I can see everything.” She squinted and looked away as the light from the Sun moved out from behind the beam holding the glass in place. “Well, almost everything.”
Mark noticed her hiding from the light. “Sun’s a bit brighter up here without the atmosphere to filter out the light. We usually wear helmets with special filters when flying in a star system.” The light shifted as the Hopper banked, and Twilight’s gaze returned back to the ground. “Kinda makes you feel tiny, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s quite humbling. Everypony and everything I’ve ever known is down there.”
“I felt the same way on my first exoatmospheric flight.” His eyes drifted up, “And there’s everything I’ve ever known.” Mark pointed to the now visible Caprica. “Right on time.”
Four other sets of eyes moved forward to view the rapidly growing vessel. “Des, this is Shocker. We’re on final approach.”
“Copy, Shocker,” Des responded, “Deck is clear, cross-traffic is secure, and no exiting vehicles. You are green for bow-approach hands-on landing on the port landing pod. Call the ball.”
“Solid copy. I have the ball.” The lights on the deck began to blink, “There’s a force field that keeps the vacuum of space out. When we pass through it, you’re gonna feel a bump, and we’ll be in the Caprica’s artificial gravity,” he heard a series of hooves steady themselves on the base of the cabin, “Breaking the field barrier in five seconds--” a bump “--and we’re in.” An unoccupied landing area among the row of other Hoppers began to flash red. The craft spun ninety degrees, hovering above the marked zone before setting down. “All ashore!” he called out as the hatch opened.
“Nice flying,” Dash commented as the party began to step down from the Hopper.
“Thanks. It’s a favorite hobby of mine,” Mark said with a grin. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he started as he hopped off the craft, “I’d like to welcome you to the Battlestar: Caprica, or as I like to call her… home, sweet home. Feel free to roam.” Curious eyes began darting from the deck up toward the ceiling bulkhead, observing anything worthy of grabbing their attention. “Also, welcome to space.”
Des’ form materialized on the landing strip. “Welcome back, captain. Landing number nine hundred thirty-four.”
“So close,” he muttered.
“Close to what?” Twilight asked.
“The coveted thousandth landing,” he started to explain. “It was once a tradition that when it happens, most ship operations stop and we celebrate.”
“It’s that rare?” Dash inquired.
“Not really. Once upon a time, it was. Now it was more of a milestone for tradition’s sake. Most of mine came during the Driden invasion, running recon pickets and patrols.”
“I should have counted all mine,” Dash added.
“Knowing you, you’d be well over a thousand by now,” Twilight said.
Applejack gave a huff of a laugh. “‘Course that’d depend if ya count crash landings or not.”
The group all shared a laugh before Mark looked to Dash. “Hey, any landing you can walk away from is a landing in my book.”
“Des, good to see you again,” Twilight said to the hologram. “How are you today?”
“All is fair--” a screen formed in front of her “--though I wish your visit would have been under better circumstances.” Des noted the others’ stares. “Oh, uh… by the way, I’m Des, ship’s A.I.”
Pinkie Pie trotted up. “Ooooohhh… shiny!”
Rarity, too, seemed fascinated with Des’s glowing figure. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, and I sincerely do not mean to be prude, but… might I ask who, or… what, are you?”
“Basically,” Mark called out from the other side of the Hopper, “a really, really, really advanced computer program than can learn, and refract light in a way to have a visual form.”
“Mark explained her to me the other night.” Twilight walked over to Des. “Think of her like another person, but not able to interact physically like you and I would.”
Mark came around from the Hopper, hauling a hose before attaching it to the craft. “Some have even ventured to say that she’s the soul of the Caprica.”
Des gave a toothy grin. “A soul isn’t so easily transferrable, or capable at running large numbers of computations while keeping a Battlestar in orbit without its crew.”
“Well mine isn’t, anyway. I’m just a dumb pilot, according to my sister.”
“Hey, Mark,” Dash shouted from the other side of the landing tarmac, “what’s all this stuff?”
He quickly walked over to where Dash was hovering. “This is just a tool storage area and diagnostics bay. Tells the technicians which bird needs attention, what needs to be fixed, and what tools to fix it with.”
“Speaking of birds, which one of these tin cans is yours?” she asked as she pointed to the nearest Cobra. “This one?”
Mark shook his head. “No, this one belonged to First Lieutenant Chieverre, callsign ‘Deadeye.’” He pointed to the nameplate below the cockpit. “That’s what this says here.”
During Rainbow’s question, Fluttershy had come to join them. “Why did you call them a different name than their given name?”
“‘Deadeye’ is easier to say and to remember in battle than Lieutenant Chieverre… and because he was the worst at shooting on the ship.”
Dash looked confused. “I thought a deadeye was a good shot.”
“These callsigns can also be ironic. Take in point--” he stepped two Cobras down, “--‘High Life.’ Probably the most reclusive person I’d ever met.” They continued down the row. “Some people’s call signs denote where they’re from, like mine. I’m called ‘Shocker’ because I grew up in a primarily wheat-growing area, and the people who used to bundle wheat behind a harvester were called ‘shockers.’”
“Whatdaya think my call sign would be?”
Mark gave the pegasus a look-over. “Ya know, ‘Dash’ suits you, so I think you would luck out.” A quick beeping came from the Hopper. “Ah, shit,” Mark grunted before running back over.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight called to a frantically running Mark.
“I was refueling the Hopper when I got caught up in old thoughts.” He disconnected the hose. “Melancholy can be a slippery slope sometimes.” He moved to the hose reel, setting it to auto-roll. “Des, I need our list of things to do,” he said as he reached for a nearby tablet.
The day of repairs and a thousand questions from the ponies led them everywhere from the flight pod to the hydroponic farm, the crew lounge, the library (much to Twilight’s excitement), pilot’s quarters, eventually ending on the bridge. “So, that’s basically it, at least the exciting parts. I’m sure you don’t want to see the lavatories or the gym.”
The ponies had scattered throughout the bridge, investigating the individual systems. “It’s a mighty fine vessel you have,” Twilight said from the communications station.
“Aye, she's a grand ol' lady,” Mark said as he admired the once again occupied bridge. Pinkie Pie stood at the center navigation console, seemingly fascinated with the ability to manipulate objects on the touchscreens. Applejack had moved into damage control, doing her best to make any sense of the red and green lights displayed. Rarity and Des stood at the sensor controls, the latter showing the former a visual image of the planet below. Fluttershy stared at the tactical station, giving Mark a gut feeling she knew what it was for. Dash and Spike were looking over the helm while Twilight managed to don a communications headset.
Do you think… Mark began to think. Nah… there’s no way.
Don’t sell yourself so short, he heard a presence in his mind say. A flash appeared in the center of the room, leaving the strangest creature Mark had ever seen in its wake. “Fluttershy! When you told me you were going on a trip, you neglected to tell me you were going off-world!”
“Uhh…” Mark began to say. “Intruder alert?”
“Hello, Discord.” Fluttershy trotted to the hodgepodge creature. “I’m sorry. If I would have known this is where we were going, I would have told you.”
Mark cleared his throat. “Ah, so this is the bringer of Disharmony.”
Discord’s unsettling eyes found their way to Mark. “And you must be the one who gave me the latest magic imbalance tremor.”
Mark’s left eyebrow shot upward. “Come again?”
Five days ago
Celestia and Discord stood in the dying light of the day. “I honestly think it would look better if it showed Twilight overpowering Tirek with that friendship cannon she used,” Discord commented on the newest stain-glass installment in the throne hall.
“These are meant to tell stories to the future generations, not to be read like some silly comic book,” Celestia replied, growing weary of Discord’s “suggestions.” A wheeze came from the draconequus, but as she turned to face him, the last of Discord’s spasms had already ceased. “Are you well?”
“Yes. I, just, well…” Celestia noticed he seemed to be at a loss for words. “I can’t explain what just happened.”
“You looked to be having one of your magical imbalance tremors again.”
“Yes, but this one was different.” He shook his head. “Usually I can pinpoint the source of the imbalance, but this time, it simply came and went.”
“Perhaps this wasn’t a magic shift at all. It is getting late after all.”
“Perhaps,” a visibly frustrated Discord added. “It’s just irritating when I don’t know where this tremor came from. Now I know what it’s like to be Twilight, not knowing the answers all the time. It’s terrifying.”
Present day
“Intriguing,” Mark said as Discord finished his story, “but I fail to see what this has to do with me or my ship.”
“Maybe it’s because you’re out of place here,” Rarity suggested.
“Possibly.” Twilight rose from her console. “It would explain why Discord only felt the shift of power for only an instant, then nothing, but the tremor continued.”
“But more to the point: Just what manner of creature are you?” Discord asked Mark.
“I’m a human. I’d ask the same to you, but I don’t think you could give me just one answer.” Mark said as he gave Discord a head-to-toe lookover.
“He’s a draconequus,” Fluttershy answered, “and he’s very sweet when you get to know him.”
“Hmmm…” Mark’s hand found his chin. “So I’m guessing you’re a magic user as well?”
“Only one of the best,” Discord snapped his fingers, and suddenly there were multiple copies of himself running around the bridge, reading instruments and commanding input screens. This is what you want, isn’t it? Discord’s voice rang throughout Mark’s mind, A return to normalcy? Back to the way things were? He stopped his mental speech when his copies started to look to him in confusion. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he walked to the helm copy.
The copycat helmsman pressed the screen interface control, only returning buzzes from the console. “Mind explaining what’s going on?”
“You’ve been locked out of all the command consoles--” Des materialized on the bridge “--and I’m the only one that can unlock it.”
All of the copies vanished in a brilliant flash of white light, and a spasm went through his multi-creature body. “There it is again. A tremble without a feeling of magic. That means…” He eyed Des. “It has to be you.” Discord slithered to where Des stood. “What are you, glowing so brilliant and blue?”
“I’m Des, ship’s A.I..” She folded her arms. “Do please be so kind as to ask permission before touching any systems. You could have unintentionally sent us spiraling out of control and burning us up in the atmosphere.”
“Oh, well we can’t have that. My apologies. But I will have to keep my eyes on you. You are… something else.” The ponies in the room were almost dumbfounded by the serious tone of Discord. “Where are my manners. Welcome to Equus!” Another snap of his fingers left a lit cigar in Mark’s mouth. “I’m sure you’ve already had the complimentary Pinkie Pie party.”
“Well, duh!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t attend. Twilight gave me a royal decree to make sure that Tirek would never again leave Tartarus.” he turned to the princess. “And I’m happy to report that it will be a very long time before he’ll ever stand another chance of escaping.”
“How long?” Twilight inquired.
“About the lifespan of an alicorn, with the occasional touch-up or two.”
“Well done, Discord,” she praised. “You’ve done the great service of protecting future generations.”
Mark remembered the story of Tirek from the night before. He remembered Twilight telling of his conquest through Equestria, absorbing the magic from all who crossed his path. He had also devised at least fifty-seven different solutions during the night that would have put an immediate end to Tirek. He took a long draw of the cigar, tasting mellow flavors of leather and tangy wood notes, with a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon, before blowing a perfect smoke circle. “Why didn’t you just kill him?”
Eight heads quickly snapped to stare at the lone human. “Because we are NOT the barbarians you are!” Rarity snipitly responded. “We believe in redemption and reformation, like for our dear Discord here.”
“So I was told.” Mark took another drag before removing the cigar and holding it between two fingers, “Still, it feels like you’re only delaying a problem, not solving it.”
An eyebrow raised on Twilight. “Oh? And just how would you solve the problem with Tirek?”
“One unguided rocket-propelled high-explosive ordnance via Cobra delivery.” He took another drag, blowing the smoke on the lit cherry. “By the way you make great cigars.”
“Doesn’t that seem a bit excessive?” she asked.
“Not really. It’d probably leave a smaller crater than the ones you did.”
“You do realize he had his own magic, right?” An instruction manual was pulled out from beneath the console in Twilight’s magic. “Telekinesis is a basic level spell. He would have caught this missile and turned it against you.”
“I don’t believe so. You didn’t know what a missile was until two days ago. And I have Rule of Engagement number sixteen on my side.”
“Which says…”
“‘Your enemy cannot defend against an attack they are not expecting.’” Mark pointed with the ashes in Discord’s general direction, and an ash tray appeared on the nearby star chart. Laying the cigar down, he continued. “Attack from the direction of the sun, launch and leave, and confirm your kill. Done and done, back in time for drinks at the bar.”
A belch and gout of green flame came from Spike, forming into a scroll. The rolled paper was quickly snatched up by Twilight. “I’ve been summoned to Canterlot for a meeting of the princesses tomorrow.” She continued down the note. “Cadance will be there… growing tension in the Griffon Kingdom… be prepared to travel?” She lowered the parchment. “What does that mean?”
“Sounds like one of you is going to play diplomat.” He reached for the cigar. “Rule of Engagement number thirty-seven: ‘To fully know a situation, get boots on the ground.’”
“It’s gettin’ mighty late,” Applejack commented. “We should start headin’ back soon.”
“Indeed,” Twilight agreed. “Discord, if it’s not too much to ask, can we get a teleport back to my castle?”
“No problem at all,” he replied with a bow.
“All except me,” Mark added. “I’m gonna hang around for a while.”
“As you wish.” A snap of a finger, and the ponies disappeared in a flash. Discord remained, however. “Between you and me,” he gave Mark an elbow nudge in his ribs, “I liked your solution better.”
“I don’t think they did.”
“Oh, pah, they’d be lying if they said the thought didn’t cross their mind during Tirek’s rampage. It crossed mine when he stole my magic.” A flash came off his body, and he now wore an old timey pilot’s outfit, complete with scarf, goggles, leather jacket and boots. “But I’ll be off to leave you in your memories and thoughts. Oh, and by the way--” the sound of a single-engine prop plane came from Discord as he hovered in air. “--you should ask Celestia about that thought you had. She can be a very progressive leader… sometimes.” And with one last flash, Mark stood alone with Des.
“Well,” Des started, “that was a thing.”
“Quite.”
Post-Equus arrival, day 97
04:56 hours
The first rays of the day had yet to break the horizon, and Mark had already risen from his bed. Wonder what I won’t be doing today, he thought to himself as he moved to his bathroom. More boring reading, more boring strolls around Ponyville and seeing all the sights for the nth time.
Mark’s morning routine had now become wake, shower, say hello to the commander of Twilight’s night watch, eat breakfast, say hello to Twilight when she woke, then go to the library and read… and read, and read, and read. Often times he would see a guard of the night’s watch pass through the hallways, greeting them as they passed. Occasionally one would converse with him, sometimes leading Mark to tell entire stories of battles he had fought. One morning an entire platoon had gathered just to hear how his previous carrier, the Maelstrom, had escorted a convoy of war supplies while fending off a single Driden carrier.
“Three of the eleven freighters were actually empty. They were about to be decommissioned and scrapped for their parts and alloys. We were doing our best to keep the carrier and her fighters bracketed, but there were too many. When we had lost two freighters, Commander Grenald came up with an ingenious solution. We would evacuate the crew of one of the empty ships and remote pilot it into the carrier’s hangar, smashing it into pieces.
“Now some of you may be asking why would we burn one of our own. Driden fighters are small, relatively slow for their size, and lightly armed. They just had a LOT of them. So when one would run out of ammunition, another would launch, the other would land and be rearmed, and rejoin the fight. This cycle of one in, one out was one of the things the Dridens did well. So, the order was given, a Hopper was dispatched to retrieve the crew, and it was remotely driven into the hangar. We could see the bright orange explosions silhouetted against the Maelstrom, and we knew the freighter had hit its mark. The Maelstrom’s flak cannons and remaining fighters mopped up the rest of the Dridens, and we safely landed and jumped away.”
During the second month, Mark almost had a mental breakdown because of his boredom before Twilight suggested supplemental work on the Apple family orchard. It wasn’t a hard pitch for Mark to make to Applejack, who welcomed any kind of additional assistance. He didn’t necessarily consider the work “hard,” but there was some physical strain and lifting, and the manual work made him feel useful. But there was always something biting at the back of his mind.
He wasn’t a farmer, he was a soldier, through-and-through; bred from soldiers, raised by soldiers, and trained by soldiers. Every memory he could recall involved the SSDC in some way, whether it was indirectly with his family, or when he went through his time at the academy.
This particular morning Mark was scheduled to speak with Celestia for his official integration into Equestria as a full-fledged citizen. It was also the day for the weekly brief on the status of the Caprica. His walk to the Hopper was nothing more than uneventful, passing the guards coming in for the day watch. The sun was beginning its rise over the eastern mountains, its first light striking the tallest spire of Twilight’s castle as Mark reached the Hopper. When the hatch opened, he was surprised to hear the repetitive beeping, signifying an incoming transmission. He pressed a button after hastily donning a headset. “Hey, Des. How are things up there?”
“Not good, captain,” she replied with a detectable tone of worry. “We’ve had an issue come up.” a schematic of the drive appeared on a screen in front of him. “Remember when we thought that the slipspace drives were not functional?”
“Yeah. You said that they had been destroyed due to the shearing of the jump here.”
“Well… that’s technically still true.” A blue line began to blink, “Power is still being fed into the drives, but the drives themselves aren’t responding like they should. They’re taking the power and charging for a jump, but then they stop, and the power vanishes as as the slipspace field collapses. It’s putting a strain on the main power supply, and is affecting sublight.”
“What’s your orbital situation?”
“Steady… for now.” another image came up, showing the orbital pattern of the Caprica. “But I'm concerned about the slipspace drives. If even one of them should ever reach a full charge, they just might jump, and not necessarily take the ship with it.”
“Send me the detailed notes of what has happened, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Mark!” he heard Twilight call down, “We’re going to be late for the train!”
“My research into humanity was insightful, yet notably uneventful. Mark has been bringing down the accumulated works in the Caprica’s library for me to study, as well as taking us up on one occasion. To spare you a lavish explanation, humans and ponies are similar in many ways. Sure, they may have had a longer history of violence, but when they gained the ability to go faster than the speed of light, all that seemed to change.” Celestia listened with great anticipation as Twilight delivered her report. “The only notable flare up of violence since that time are the Dridens and this group called the ‘Colonial Insurrectionists.’”
“Basically, pirates,” Mark explained.
“I see,” Celestia said.
“Mark’s military record is near perfect in performance and punctuality,” Twilight continued, “except for one incident aboard a ship called the Thor’s Hammer. Says here you engaged in a physical altercation with a fellow pilot.”
Mark gave a small laugh, remembering the incident. “The pilot in question was making certain unwanted advances to a female officer, so I punched him.”
“He could not be reasoned with?” Celestia asked.
“He was pretty drunk, and wasn’t taking ‘No’ for an answer.”
“Ah,” was all Celestia could say, slightly amused by the short story. “Very well. I see no reason why we cannot allow you to become a citizen of Equestria.” Her steward levitated a paper before Mark, to which he quickly signed his name. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you, your highness.” Mark gave a shallow bow. “As a citizen, my first request is to join the ranks of the Equestrian Navy.”
Celestia was taken in surprise. “That is an odd first request, but it is granted nevertheless. And I grant you your former rank of Captain, given your previous military career and experience in the field.”
“Thank you. Now that that’s out of the way,” Mark took a step toward the throne, “I present to you, and to the ponies of Equestria, the Type 271-BXR Battlestar: Caprica.”
If their jawbones hadn’t been contained in their cheeks, Celestia and Twilight would have had to go scurrying after theirs had hit the floor. “You are giving us your ship!?” Celestia asked in flustered disbelief. “Why?”
“I received a troubling message from Des just this very morning. Something has happened on board, and... well, we require assistance.”
Celestia looked to Twilight. “So what do you require of us?” Twilight asked.
“I, myself, do not require anything,” Mark said. “It’s the Caprica that needs something. She needs a crew.”
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did you just copy the last bit of this chapter from the last one
4909834 He did! He did! HE DID JUST COPY THAT LAST PART!
And that folks was my imitation of Tweetie for the day.
I have a very distinct feeling that Des isn't that normal for an AI, if Discord of all beings has taken note of her existance.
Should be interesting. also get the feeling that the damaged engines are acting as beacons
NEEDING MOAR!
What about the Griffons? You mention them, then don't!
A crew ey? This is promising to become an interesting story! Now, continue writing or I might have to choke you.
Personally, I kinda share Mark's feelings on how to deal with Tirek and similar mega evil threats. If all you're going to do is lock them away forever and never release them...what's the point? Unlike Discord who was, even at his worst, basically a malicious prankster, Tirek and several other villains show no signs of being able to be reformed, and did far more evil things to begin with, so just locking them away is setting yourself up for them to eventually escape and be even more pissed at you. Plus locking someone away with no intention of releasing them means you have to waste resources keeping them locked up. So really it saves you all sorts of grief if you just blow their heads off or something. The only exceptions to this are if you CAN'T kill them because they're somehow rendered immortal or something, or if killing them would cause something worse to happen than them getting free.
Madgod is glad to hear from you after so long
Interesting story. You did neglect to mention what happened with the griffons. As the writer Chekhov once said, never put a gun in the middle of a parlor scene unless it ties into the story somehow. (or words to that effect... I'm paraphrasing.) Otherwise, you have an interesting story going on here. Keep up the work,
4911826
the griffon thing might crop up later. perhaps in a way to which the Caprica would be very useful.
also like the story thus far, keep it up :)
4911826 4912297
It's coming, children
But, no, it'll be addressed in it's full detail in the next chapter.
Im sure the griffons will just love that decision.
4912995 Unless the Griffon want the Driden to wipe out their planet, they should calm the fuck down
Now that the ponies have really advanced human badass-technology on their hooves, they could reverse-engineer it, build a huge fleet and conquer Equus. Oh, and I for one think that a rocket fired up Tireks' ass would be a proper solution as well.
Heh, I thought the last part of the chapter looked familiar.
Glad to see the update!
Six months for industrial-era like ponies to learn how to run a starship?... The Caprica is fucked.
4913536 heh heh heh, you underestimate their capabilities.
4914099 When the most complex technology thye know is steam engines? No, I do not believe I underestimate them. I do hope they succeed but it's rather unlikely I think.
4914163 what they lack in current knowledge of alien technology, they can quickly make up for due to the versatility of Magic, pre destined roles (farmers meant to be farmers and scientists are meant to be scientists) and it's not like they are going in blind after all they are obviously going to be taught and guided by the highly intellectual A.I. des. Now don't get me wrong, I understand that it's difficult for a person who (lets say) studied biology all their life to swap to something like particle physics.
Besides if any of the pony scientists/technicians are even half as studious as twilight is, then they have a huge chance regardless of such short time frame, not to mention you can cut teaching time by splitting the knowledge to specified groups ( metallurgy, theoretical physics, circuitry, fitting/mechanics etc) the ponies are good at working together so communication shouldn't be a problem between them (unless your blueblood), after the problem with the engines are solved, the time restraint becomes negligible (unless the nasties followed mark) so things such as piloting, hydroponics and the rest of what is required to crew the battlestar eventually become available as priorities.
It will be difficult, but not impossible.
Who knows? Maybe the battlestar will receive upgrades of the magical variety, though I doubt those would happen anytime soon.
Also twilight's computer might be more advanced than the steam engine, but only slightly.
What a twist!
Hello, I've read what you've written so far and I just felt like i had to make a few comments.
The pace of the story seems very erratic, at the start it drags for a bit, then suddenly it goes into overdrive when you get to Equestria and the interaction with the ponies, then it starts jumping around with abrupt scene transactions which make the story annoying to read. Given the name of the fic my guess is that you're trying to rush to something but if getting to that point in the story is important enough to gloss over so much build up perhaps the story should just start there with just a prologue to setup the world.
The other thing I can comment on is that you've got a huge amount of exposition through dialog by the main character. It feels unnatural that he would just volunteer the story of his life to beings he just met and it's feels tiresome to have all this exposition come at once and by reading about the character sitting there telling it to other characters, you know what they say, "show, don't tell".
Anyway, i'm not a writer so i can only offer my pov as a reader, but I feel like providing some feedback is better than a down vote, so those are my two cents. Cheers!
4918764 Yeah, it's a known issue that I'm trying to address. However, I feel like I'm actually getting into story that I want to tell, and am feeling that the overall tempo of the story will even itself out with this last chapter and this next one (which is way ahead of schedule, btw).
I'm working on it, I know a lot of the stuff that I wrote earlier is pretty rapid fire and choppy, but it's a good thing that I don't do this for a living. And as always, feedback is always appreciated.
Have a mustachio day