Exploring Equestria

by A_guy_from_Earth

6. Taking a Pegasus

“How is she?” asked Kor.
“Yeah, it’s kinda worrying…” nodded Sheim. “Because she looks so… weak and helpless.”

They looked at the camera of particle scanner. Behind the working manipulators blue pegasus with rainbow-colored mane and tail lying unconscious on its floor was visible. Her head was turned to the side, her wings were spread. She breathed very slowly and quietly – it was almost unnoticeable. It seemed that life was ready to leave her.

“Different species have different reaction for universal anesthetic, you know,” answered Max in calming voice. “But don’t worry: she’ll be fine. She may just wake up too late next day, that’s all.”
“I confirm this,” said Affi. “Her mental signals are weak, but they are stable. She is dreaming now.”
“Well, as you say, as you say…” uttered Sheim.
“I don’t know…” said Oma nervously. “I think that we shouldn’t take her…”
“Yeah,” agreed Karin. “She’s our friend now, after all…”
“It is so, but…” Bluve began, “we have instructions according to which we have to take not any creatures what we can find, but seek for the best representatives. And she is one of the best.”
“Yes. Student of Academy of best flyers in whole this country… Has several rewards… It says a lot,” noticed Edez.
“Wait, where did you learn all this?” surprised Karin.
“She said about this herself.”
“Really? When?”
“During our excursion around Ponyville. When we were… near the town barber shop.”
“Wow. You remember it, and with such accuracy?”
“We, dreketanians, are taught always listen very carefully since the early childhood,” said Edez. “So, what about the scan?”
“A couple of moments, and it’ll be finished,” answered Zet’rar.
“Good. Because I’m tired of waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” wondered Kor.
“Waiting for the answer to the question how the heck they can fly with such tiny wings!”
“Yeah, that would be very interesting to learn,” admitted Zet’rar. “Oh, the scan is finished!”

Manipulators with scanning devices stopped. They straightened, and then began to move downwards. In few seconds they disappeared in their holes. Hatches on the floor near the camera closed.

Researchers approached monitors and screens of the terminal and began to explore the holographic scanogram that appeared right after the end of the procedure.

“Well, in general, the results are very close to our first scanogram,” admitted Bluve.
“Yes, differences are minimal…” agreed Max. “The same organs, except that they belong to a smaller creature. Skeleton structure, muscles… All this is similar. What about wings… Well… Bone basis, quite difficult network of muscles and blood vessels, covering of feathers – mostly – and fur… Their structure is very similar to bird wings of ordinary terran birds.”
“Eh, not completely.”
“Not completely?”
“Well, usually winged creatures have a carina, a basis for flight muscles. They, pegasi, seem to have no such bone.”
“Yeah… They haven’t it, but… Wait…” Max with gestures made the projection of chest region bigger. “There are several small protrusions on their sternum that act like a carina. See, they have almost all the flight muscles that terran birds have. But they are smaller and weaker, comparing in a scale.”
“Indeed… Well, then their wing system is really almost identical to terran birds.”
“With the only difference that back muscles are more important for them than for terran birds.”
“Yeah…”
“Excuse me, but what about… Um… Eh…” Oma faltered.
“About what?” surprised Bluve.
“About… Well, gender differences.”
“Oh, this…”
“Let’s see,” Max changed the view of the hologram again. He looked at it for a half of a minute and then said. “Well… Absolutely no differences from terran organisms.”
“What?” exclaimed all non-physiologists.
“Absolutely no differences?” Kor was taken aback.
“On the planet which situated in seven million light years from Terra?” exclaimed Karin.
“Yep,” dazed Max gave a nod. “Sexual dimorphism, organs… All this is the same for them and for terran creatures. How to explain it? I don’t know…”
“Incredible…” uttered Oma.
“Agree,” nodded Sheim.
“An article about this surely will make hundreds of biologists puzzled at least,” said Bluve with face of an one who started to get tired of surprises.
“No doubt,” agreed Max.
“That’s boring,” Kor got upset. “Absolutely no additions to “Particularities”!”
“Yeah,” nodded Zet’rar. “For both versions.”
“What? “Particularities”? Ew!!!” winced Affi.
“How can you think about such thing now?” exclaimed Oma.
“It’s just a thought, nothing more,” answered Kor.
“And we weren’t the ones who started to speak about this,” added Zet’rar.

Girls didn’t answer.

“It’s really incredible, but let’s pass to the main question: how they can fly,” interrupted Edez.
“Right,” said Bluve and Max.
“Well, you said that their muscles are quite weak. Considering their wing area, it’s even more mysterious how they can hover and move in the air. As a physicist I just don’t see the possible reason!”
“We neither,” said Sheim, Zet’rar and Bluve.
“Hm… And what about this… second conducting system?” supposed Kor.
“You mean ETS? Their energy transportation system?” Max asked again.
“Yes!.. Ehm, you call it ETS?”
“Yeah, for simplicity.”
“That can be it! Having environment full of energy and necessary organs, although it could be just a simple mutation, they could develop such ability!” exclaimed Edez. “Max, Bluve, show us the ETS network in their wings!”

Physiologists nodded and with gestures changed the projection again. They removed holographic covering tissues, muscles, bones, blood vessels and nerves – only ETS channels and contours of the wings remained. When the last item was hidden, Team One gasped.

“Wow…” spelled Max, Bluve, Oma and Affi.
“That’s something…” grinned Kor and Zet’rar.

Density of energy channels in the wings was at least threefold greater than in other parts of the body. They pierced not only muscles, as it usually observed, but covering tissues too – some outgrowths stretched to the ends of feathers. These channels were thinner, but conduction in them was even more intensive than in usual ones.

“Check their sensitivity,” Max asked Bluve.

She nodded and gave the command. In a second machine began the processing.

“Give me one moment…” she spelled. “Yes! It’s finished.”
“So what’re the results?” asked Edez with impatience.
“Channels in pegasi’s wings are much more sensitive than in other parts of their body. It seems that they are able to feel the smallest fluctuations of energy. And they… also have a repulsive ability.”
“What? Repulsive ability?”
“Well… Yes. Great part of energy conducting through these channels is reversely charged to energy in environment.”
“Reversely charged… Then…” Edez paused. “They are flying like a…”
“Flarecrafts,” Zet’rar predicted the thought of curator.
“Yeah, flarecrafts… Energy flarecrafts! Incredible!”
“Well, that’s really unusual,” said Bluve.

Max after these words suddenly and sharply straightened and moved to the monitors of the terminal.

“What are you doing?” wondered Karin.
“Just one test…” he answered, continuing to type commands. “I wonder…” he stopped to type, waited for a couple of seconds, and then, when new set of data appeared on the monitor, said. “Like I expected.”
“Expected what?” surprised Oma.
“Yes, tell us!” said Kor.
“Well, if you remember school biology courses, you should know that genetic code has information not only about the individual, but also about norms for a species,” explained Max. “I checked for average density of energy channels in pegasi’s wings and… it turned out to be less than our friend has.”
“Less?” surprised Edez. “Well, then it is clear why it’s so easy to her to be good flyer.”
“Yes.”
“Oooooooohhhh…”
“What was that?” researchers shuddered and quickly and quietly asked each other. Then, having realized that source of the voice was behind them, they turned back.

The taken was waking.

“Shit…” they thought.
“Oooohh… Oooww… My head…” Rainbow Dash muttered. “What a dream…” she raised her head and looked around. “Where am I?” She noticed Team One. “Guys? What are you doing here?”
“Ehm…”
“You see…”

They were confused.

“Yeah, what are you doing in my dream?” Rainbow Dash continued. “Jeez… What a weird place!”

And then, before she looked around again, Affi jumped forward and stared right at her. They made eye contact, and then three appendages appeared from Affi’s mane. They stood up and formed some kind of crown on the back of her head. In a moment appendages began to tremble, and soon Rainbow Dash after weak “Ah…” fell down unconscious back on the floor of the camera.

Affi breathed deeply, but with relief.

“Phew! That was close!” she said.
“Did you…” Oma uttered. “Use the shutdown?”
“Well, yes.”
“You what???” exclaimed Max and Bluve.
“Did I have a choice?” resented Affi. “She could realize that all this is real!”
“Yeah, but…” Bluve began.
“…now nothing will be able to wake her until dinner,” finished Max.
“Or even more,” sighed Kor.
“Yeah,” agreed Karin and Zet’rar.
“I understand, but I had no other choice!” said Affi.
“Okay, okay,” Edez interrupted. “We see the point. Let’s finish with this.”

Other looked at each other and after this gave a nod.

“Good,” said curator, and then a pause followed.
“So, what next?” Sheim rubbed his hooves.
“Is the scanning completed?” asked Affi.
“Well, automatic processing has been started and will be finished in sixteen supramoments,” answered Zet’rar.
“We got our data,” said Max, and Bluve nodded in confirmation.
“So, we are done, right?” asked Edez.
“Yes.”
“If so, then… let’s return her,” suggested Kor.

His colleagues looked at the pegasus and said:

“Agree.”
“And let’s make Teams Two, Three and “Kelkerdez-Unaad” a call” grinned Edez. “Tell them about our finding…”
“Of course!”

They activated the teleportation beam, and soon Rainbow Dash was in her bed, sound asleep. Researchers stayed on the ship – the processing will be finished in the morning, so they will have some time to check the final results. But before this they have waiting. And so they began to while away their time.