Liftoff [Part 3]
Floyd looked down, examining his new fatigues. The reality of his decision had finally hit him and he couldn't help but feel on edge. It was almost like every one of his cells had been poked by a cattle prod. He then looked around the room, seeing all the representatives from the other countries of the world all around him.
Each race had their own uniforms with slightly modified SGC logos, though humans dominated the group. From what Floyd was able to gather, he'd be told who was in his squad today.
The door at the far end of the room opened and Carter stepped inside, putting herself at the head of the crowd.
"Hello everyone," she began, "I don't want to waste any of your time so allow me to brief you, briefly." She smiled at the small joke and a courteous laugh made its way around the room. "As members of the SGC, you will be heading through the gate to other worlds. The natures of your missions will be varied, but they will have a common goal. To paraphrase our mandate, you will seek out and recover intelligence and technology to assist our worlds in their defense against alien aggressors."
"Just tell us where the treasure is." The room went rather quiet, and everyone's gaze landed on one of the shrunken down dragons.
He moved to speak again when Ember punched him in the gut. "Keep your trap shut, important people are talking." She resumed her stance, nodding at the General.
"The 'treasure,' as you put it, will be found during your missions," Carter told the dragon. "And, as a reminder, the discoveries made by teams are to be shared with all allied forces of the Shangri-La alliance. No one takes priority, not even us humans." She looked around the room. "Does anyone else have any questions?"
A minotaur heifer spoke up, "Will we be divided into groups based on our species, or just our skills?"
"An excellent question." Carter smiled. "We'll be doing a little of both. We won't have actual missions for some time, so, we'll be breaking everyone into groups we think will work and spend a few weeks doing practice missions. We want to make sure each expeditionary team has a balanced skillset, so performance during training may lead to team restructuring. That said, there will also be some teams that will specialize in one area, who will be fielded as support to other teams as needed."
"Will this training include the use of your advanced weapons?" the largest of the minotaurs asked.
"We'll be using a variety of non-lethal weapons for those able and interested in using them during this training period," Carter explained.
"And where do we all fall in the terms of the power structure here?" a young buck asked. "Are we all just supposed to be grunts?"
"No, your ranks will be respected here," Carter assured him. "None of you are just grunts. I know firsthand how dangerous this job can be; before my promotion to General, I was a member of Earth's flagship expeditionary team, and it seemed like we got into one major scrape or another every week."
"And what about the leaders of each group?" Ember asked. "Are we to defer to you, or will we have some say in the goings-on around here?"
"Yes, you will be able to offer your input in decision making. You will be considered members of the senior staff," Carter replied. "Anything else?"
"I believe we are satisfied," a zebra mare started, "All that is left is the squads in which we will reside."
Free to proceed, Carter started with the first team. "Team SL-1 will consist of Bon Bon, Lyra Heartstrings, Floyd Hendrix, Calvin Higgs and Devon Manley."
Floyd quirked a brow at the last name while the general continued to call out team assignments. He looked over to find Lyra and Bon Bon sharing a hoof bump and walked over to them.
"Looks like we're gonna be a team," he said, getting their attention.
"Looks like it!" Lyra said excitedly, her tail almost wagging behind her.
"She was like this all last night," Bon Bon said with a giggle. "I had to sneak some sleeping pills into her late night snack so we could get plenty of sleep."
"So that's why I fell asleep mid-sentence!" Lyra replied with a gasp. "I was talking about the potential of uncovering more history of the Teachers." She pouted at the other mare.
Bon Bon rolled her eyes, "Lyra, I love you. I understand you have your foibles, but I'm not going to let you stay up all night. Especially when we have something important to do the next day."
"I know," Lyra stopped pouting and sighed, "but you didn't have to feed me sleeping pills without me knowing."
Bon Bon put a hoof to her temple, shaking her head. "You're right, that wasn't right of me to do."
Lyra wrapped an arm around her. "Don't worry about it, Bonny. I know you were just looking out for me. Just, don't do it again."
Bon Bon nodded, giving Lyra a quick nuzzle. "Trust me, I won't. Pinkie Promise." She made a few quick motions Floyd couldn't decipher and placed a hoof over her eye.
Floyd watched curiously, "You know, we have Pinky Swears back home too."
Lyra arched a brow at him, "Are they named after a person named Pinkie on your planet too?"
"Uh, no," Floyd shock his head. "I don't actually know how it started. You'd be surprised at how dark weird cultural artifacts used to be."
"Cultural similarities aside," Lyra started, looking around the room, "don't we have two other members of our squad to find?"
Floyd looked around the room as well. After a minute he spotted the young man he had stepped through the gate with. "Yo, Devon!" he called out, waving him over. "We're over here!"
Devon turned and perked up when he saw Floyd. He waded through the crowd and stopped in front of his new squadmates. "Hey, glad to know I've got some familiar faces heading through the gate with me." He turned to Floyd, "So, how's it feel to be a magic man?"
Floyd grinned, waggling his fingers, "About as well as you'd expect me to feel."
Devon chuckled, "You're one lucky SOB. Looks like you got the same offer I did to join the SL teams."
"It was that, or just be bored here."
Devon nodded, "Yeah, I'd heard they were keeping you holed up in the infirmary after you passed out in the empire. Sorry I didn't visit, I was swamped with working on getting the city ready to move."
Floyd waved him off, "It's fine. We were all sorta busy."
"Now we just have to find our last member," Bon Bon cut in. She turned to Devon and held a hoof out, "Good to have you on the team by the way."
Devin took her hoof and shook it. "It's nice to meet you in person."
She smiled at him and retracted her hoof after a few moments. "Based on what you just said, I bet you're going to be the one handling any alien tech we come across."
"Yup, technical officer for this squad, at your service," Devon told her, grinning and giving her a small bow.
"It's always nice to meet a professional," Bon Bon returned his bow. She herself, despite her enthusiasm, didn't exactly feel like much more than a foalsitter. Devon seemed to have a bit of experience, but Floyd and Lyra didn't. They were as green as spring leaves. It didn't help that Floyd had the magical skills of a young foal either. The last thing she wanted weighing on her was either of their deaths.
"Halla to Bonny!" Lyra's voice called, followed by a poke to Bon Bon's nose. "You okay? You're kinda just glaring at the floor."
Bon Bon shook off the heavy thoughts, flashing the mint mare a smile. "Sorry 'bout that, got lost in thought for a second there. What were we talking about again?"
"Just talking about what we think we'll find out there," Floyd explained. "I'm saying pony Predator."
Bon Bon tilted her head. "You do know that ponies aren't predators right?"
Floyd chuckled, "Predator is the name of a movie. I'll have to show it to you sometime. Basically, I was saying that there'd be ponies that look like the titular character in the movie."
"Are we gonna have to get used to you making references we don't understand?" Lyra questioned with a giggle. Not that she minded at all. Every little reference was a hint at a larger context. She just had to remember to ask about them later. Taking notes on all the references he made would probably be a good idea.
Floyd then turned his head to Bon Bon, "So, Bon Bon, how'd you get on a team? Bribe the general with some candy? Bet she likes dark chocolate."
Bon Bon giggled, "Princess Celestia would be easier to bribe with candy, she's got a notorious sweet tooth." She looked around the room, frowning at all the other squads packed into the room. "I'll tell you later, too many ears here."
Lyra blinked. "Bonny... are you hiding something?" She stepped back, as if she had been slapped. Ears pinned to her head, Lyra pouted, "Bonny, I thought we shared everything with each other..."
Bon Bon winced, biting her lower lip as her own ears pinned to her head. "I'll explain everything later, I promise. There are too many people around, this is for you guys only." She turned to Lyra, "You have to understand, Ly, I didn't want to hide anything from you."
Floyd and Devon shared a look, shuffling on their feet as they suddenly felt uncomfortable around the two mares. Devon motioned between Floyd and the mares, signalling for him to do something.
Floyd cleared his throat, getting the two mares' attention. "Maybe we should let Bon Bon explain whatever this is before we judge her?" He gave his best smile, trying to diffuse the situation.
Lyra took a deep breath, sitting on her haunches. "You're right, Floyd." She turned back to Bon Bon, "After everything we've been through, you deserve me hearing you out," Lyra flashed her a weak smile.
Bon Bon nodded, letting out a long sigh, "Well, we have some time to kill..."
"Then should we step out of the room away from all the ears then?" Devon suggested, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder towards the back of the room.
"We could go to my room," Floyd offered. "It should have enough room for all of us."
Lyra nodded and got to her hooves, "That sounds good to me. Just remember we've gotta be in the gate room in a few hours."
"If that's the case, I'll introduce you to Predator," Floyd said with a grin. He turned to walk out, motioning for the others to follow.
Before they could get very far, they were stopped by General Carter.
"I'm glad I was able to find you four," she said. "There's something I wanted to tell you. Higgs has been helping set up the training grounds for the practice missions you'll be undertaking. He's already planetside and will meet up with you there."
Floyd nodded. "Thanks for that, General. We were wondering where he was."
"Not a problem, just be sure to get back here in time," Carter warned. "It would set a bad precedent if the flagship team was late for their first trip through the gate."
The squad snapped a salute and exited the gate room, letting Floyd lead them to his room. They all took a seat while Floyd pulled out his laptop.
"Alright, before I start the movie," Floyd started, turning to Bon Bon, "I believe a certain pony promised to share something with us once we were alone."
Bon Bon gave a weak smile, her ears pinning back. "R-right..." she gulped shifting on her hooves. "Well I uh..."
Lyra put a hoof on her shoulder, giving her a soft smile. "Bonny, you can tell me anything. You and me against Equestria, right?"
Bon Bon shrugged her hoof off, "First things first, my name isn't Bon Bon. It's Sweetie Drops."
Lyra's ears pinned to her head, "Wh-what are you talking about? Why didn't you tell me your real name?"
"Because it became classified information," Bon Bon replied. "Before we met I was a member of S.M.I.L.E., the Secret Monster Intelligence League of Equestria." A dark look crossed her face, and suddenly, she couldn't look at any of them. "We... do bad things, to keep ponies safe. When a bugbear I caught escaped Tartarus, I was... decommissioned and sent to Ponyville."
"So you've been an ex-secret agent this whole time?" Lyra gasped, her eyes widening. "This is insane. Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
"Because I couldn't," Bon Bon stared down at the floor. She had wished before that this moment would never come to pass. Chancing a glance up at Lyra, a stab of guilt shot through her heart. That look of betrayal... Bon Bon averted her gaze again.
"W-well," Lyra paused, looking down and taking a deep breath. "Okay, I get it. Equestrian security and all that." She tilted Bon Bon's head up to look into her eyes. "Is that everything?"
Bon Bon frowned. "What do you mean 'is that everything?' You should be mad at me! I've been lying to you about who I really am since we met!"
"You gave me a fake name and backstory, but everything else was real, right?" Lyra questioned, a small smile on her face. "All the support for my theories, the shoulder for me to cry on when yet another board laughed me out of the room. That was all how you really felt, right?"
"Yes!" Bon Bon cried, grabbing Lyra by her shoulders. "I meant every single word of it!"
Lyra's smile grew and she put her hooves on Bon Bon's shoulders. "Then the way I see it, I've got nothing to be mad about. You didn't lie because you wanted to, and you didn't lie about the important stuff. Now there are no secrets between us." She pulled Bon Bon into a hug.
"There won't be any more secrets, I promise," Bon Bon nuzzled Lyra's cheek.
Lyra grabbed Bon Bon's head, pulling her into a kiss.
Devon and Floyd looked away, the awkward feeling returning with a vengeance. Floyd busied himself with getting the movie ready while Devon stared at a particularly interesting spot on the ceiling.
Lyra pulled away, giving a dazed Bon Bon a smile. "We can do that thing you like later." She winked, attempting a sultry look, only to fail fantastically.
Bon Bon giggled and smiled at her. "I'm looking forward to it." She then turned to Floyd and Devon. "But maybe we should save talk like that for when we're alone?"
Lyra froze, her eyes going wide while her face turned red, "Uh... y-yeah, that sounds good Bonny..."
"So, who wants to watch a movie?" Floyd asked, pointing at his laptop.
Lyra nodded, quickly diving onto his bed, attempting to hide her embarrassment. Floyd pulled up Predator and set up his projector. He aimed it all the wall, hitting play. Devon gave a silent prayer of thanks that the awkwardness was over and settled in to watch the movie. Lyra stared on, eagerly anticipating what she could learn about human culture.
What she wasn't expecting however, was how violent the movie was. Or for the quality to be so high. It wasn't like any movie she had ever seen. She knew human technology was more advanced than pony technology, but she didn't expect it to translate into entertainment too. Despite making her squeamish at times, she did find the movie enjoyable.
"Are the human weapons shown here really capable of all this?" Bon Bon asked when it was over.
Floyd looked down, unhooking the projector. "Yeah, but, keep in mind Predator was made more than twenty years ago."
Lyra gasped. "Are you saying that this isn't even the pinnacle of human entertainment technology?!"
Floyd smirked. "Nope~ Just wait until you see Jurassic Park."
"Can't go wrong with that classic," Devon agreed. "It's a shame the sequels all bite though."
"Hey, Lost World was pretty good," Floyd countered. "Better than the novel, that's for sure."
"Are we sure we saw the same movie?" Devon asked, raising an eyebrow. "Ya know, the one where a pre-teen girl kills a raptor with the power of gymnastics?"
Floyd gave him a look, "You can't deny how good the scene in LA is."
Bon Bon cut in before they got much further, "I think we should keep an eye on the time, boys."
"No need to worry, there's a clock on the laptop." Floyd pointed at a corner of the screen. "We've got plenty of time." He hopped onto his bed, looking over to Lyra, "So, what do we do now?"
Lyra tapped her chin with a hoof, "I dunno, I'm sure we'll be getting to know each other during the course of our training. Though we could do a bit of that now."
"Right then," Floyd sat up, cracking his neck, "who wants to start the exposition first?"
"I already started seeing as I talked about my big secret," Bon Bon pointed out.
Floyd nodded, looking between Devin and Lyra. "Question still stands."
"I guess I'll start since it was my idea," Lyra chirped. "I suppose I could share why I was always so insistent on my research despite all the failures. See, my grandfather was an archaeologist and he took me out to a trip in the desert just outside where Appleoosa is now. It was just supposed to be a normal camping trip to get away from work, but while we were looking in a cave, we found ancient Buffalo art depicting them along with some creatures we didn't recognize. When we got back home, we tore through everything we could and found the story of the Teachers. Ever since then, I made it my mission to prove that the Teachers were real." A bright smile spread across her face. "Which I did. It felt so good to say 'I told you so' to everypony who rejected my ideas."
"That's a pretty cool story," Floyd said.
The four continued to swap stories for a while, almost losing track of how long they were talking together. Luckily, Bon Bon managed to look at Floyd's laptop and got them to the gateroom just in time.
The entire gateroom was full of people from various species. The quartet took up position at the back, which left the ponies unable to see what was going on.
"Oh come on!" Lyra whined, trying to look past the groups in front of her. She even ducked down in an attempt to peer through a minotaur's legs before Bon Bon gave her a sharp tug on the tail. "Why do humans, minotaurs and dragons have to be so tall?"
"Why do ponies have to be short?" Floyd shot back.
"You're not gonna miss much," Bon Bon assured Lyra, patting her friend's shoulder. "What's more important right now is being able to hear the general." Bon Bon looked forward, "You'll just have to live with looking at a minotaur's waist for a while."
Lyra grumbled, perking her ears up as the crowd quieted down.
"I'm glad to see that everyone made it on time," Carter's voice called out. "In a few moments, you will step through the gate and your training will begin. I want all of you to put your all into this, you're going to need it if you wish to be successful in this program. This training will not just be for you newcomers. Your COs will also be learning from you. Your magic and natural talents are going to be valuable assets." She paused for a moment. "Start the dialing sequence!"
All eyes turned to the gate as it lit up, its inner ring starting to spin. A voice called out that the chevrons were being encoded as they slid over the symbols along the ring. After a few moments, the last one locked into place and the event horizon shot out before the wormhole stabilized.
A wave of awe spread through the collected species, chattering amongst themselves.
"I can't believe I didn't see the gate turning on!" Lyra pouted, her ears pinning to her head. She then turned to Bon Bon, "You said I wouldn't miss anything."
"Lyra, we're going to be using that thing a lot," Bon Bon pointed out. "You'll get more than used to it."
Before Lyra could rebut, a familiar voice cut in. "Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." The quartet turned to see Sunburst with saddlebags stuffed to the brim with books.
Floyd raised an eyebrow, "Sunburst, what are you doing here? Are you part of a squad too?"
"Oh no." Sunburst shock his head. "I'm going with you to continue your studies. I'm not exactly cut out for military life." Lighting his horn up, he levitated a pair of books out of his saddlebags. "These are for you, a beginners book on magic, and a language guide."
Floyd nodded, "Glad to hear that you're gonna be helping me. I'd rather not be a ticking time bomb." Floyd plucked the language guide out of the air and flipped through it. "Sunburst," he gave the unicorn a flat look, "this language guide is for toddlers."
Sunburst adjusted his glasses, "Well, the more age appropriate ones are written in languages native to Halla. Doctor Jackson offered to help me translate one, but it wouldn't have been ready in time."
The other three members of the squad started to snicker. "I don't know, Floyd," Bon Bon chimed in, "I think that guide's just about your speed."
Floyd snapped the guide shut, giving Bon Bon an unamused look, "Ha ha ha."
"On the bright side, at least you'll be able to pick up the basics of the language quickly," Devon offered. "It's not like that thing'll confuse you." He took the guide from Floyd and skimmed it, "It even has pictures." He gave the guide back to Floyd.
"Come on, you two, let's not tease Floyd too much," Lyra said. "Learning new languages takes baby steps. I've read my share of similar guides before."
"Anyway," Sunburst cleared his throat. "I'll be going with you. I won't be doing any of the hard stuff, but, Doctor Jackson suggested I take the basics."
Floyd grinned, "That's not a bad idea," He poked Sunburst in the side. "You might turn that flab into muscle."
Sunburst blushed, looking away. "Er, right..."
Floyd chuckled and patted Sunburst's back. "Calm down, I'm just messing with ya. It'll be good to have you along."
Sunburst adjusted his glasses, "I do have a responsibility to make sure you're in control of your magic. The princess herself asked me to teach you." Puffing his chest out, Sunburst continued, "I won't let her down."
"I'm sure you won't," Floyd told him, putting his hand back at his side. "You've been doing a good job so far. I haven't teleported randomly anymore thanks to you."
Perking up, Sunburst gave Floyd a smile, "I'm glad to help! It might not seem like it but, our lessons go both ways."
Floyd quirked a brow at him, "What's that supposed to mean? What could you possibly be learning from watching spells blow up in my face?" He glanced at his teammates, "Literally in a couple cases."
"Well, I get to apply my knowledge to help someone, and document magical development of a human." Sunburst perked his ears up, "Wait, I think we should be getting ready to go through the gate."
Bon Bon nodded, "He's right, we can talk more once we're on the other side. Right now, let's make sure we don't miss our turn through." She turned to face the faint glow of the gate that peeked through the crowd.
Carter's voice rang out again, "SL-1 you may step through the gate!"
The squad and Sunburst pushed their way through the crowd, stopping for a moment to watch the wormhole ripple. Bon Bon stepped forward, sucking in a breath as she took a step through the gate.
Bon Bon emerged from the receiving gate, a cold chill running through her. "That's definitely weirder than a teleport," she muttered. Moving to the side, she took in her surroundings.
She found herself in an empty field with rolling hills to her right and a dense, verdant forest to her left. She took note of a hastily-made trail that led from the gate to a point in the distance.
A moment passed and Lyra came through the gate, shivering. "Wow, that is not what I was expecting," she said.
"Yeah, it'll take some getting used to," Bon Bon agreed.
Floyd and the others came through next, with Sunburst looking a little sick. Sunburst thumped his chest for a moment, gulping loudly in an attempt to resist the urge to puke.
He then perked up as his head whipped around, "Astounding! We really are on another world!"
"What? Did you think we were lying?" Floyd asked, standing at the start of the rough path.
Sunburst shook his head, "That's not it. I guess going through the gate myself made it feel more… real." He adjusted his glasses and made a face, "Does that make sense?"
Floyd nodded, "Makes total sense. It's about as real as multicolored midget horses."
"I'll take being a midget horse over a hairless ape," Bon Bon shot back.
"Ooh," Floyd winced, "shots fired."
"Come on you two, let's keep our species out of this," Lyra said with a giggle, stepping onto the path. "Before we know it, the term 'mud pony' might get thrown around."
"Quite right," Sunburst took the lead. "Come, come. We don't want to clog up the path."
The rest of the group murmured in agreement, falling in behind the unicorn. There was some light chatter between them as a set of buildings steadily grew in their sights. They varied in size but were all made of the same crystal found in the empire. Several soldiers were there, making the last of their preparations.
One or two crystal ponies lingered around, mostly checking around the buildings. Floyd grinned a little as he saw a familiar face talking to one of the crystal ponies.
"Hey, Higgs!" he called out, waving at the man. "You finally escape the Doc?"
Higgs looked up from his conversation and waved back at Floyd. "Hey there, Hendrix. Yeah, I got free just in time to help with preparing this place for the training," He pointed over his shoulder with a thumb at an obstacle course. "What about you, how's it feel to be out of the infirmary?"
Floyd rubbed his hands together, "Like summer break just started." Taking a look around, Floyd locked onto the nearest building. "How'd you get this stuff out here anyway? Magic?"
"A little bit of that and supplies traded with the crystal ponies here," Higgs waved his hand over to the crystal unicorn he had been talking to. "The crystals they plant take a little magic to grow. After that, we've got sturdy structures in the time it would take to make a basic camp of this size."
"Doctor Jackson said the Crystal Empire reminded him of the Tok'ra tunnel systems," Floyd said. "So...which one is ours?" he put his hands in his pockets, watching a crystal unicorn trot by.
Higgs turned to his left and pointed at a pair of long, blue buildings at the corner of the group of buildings, "Those are the bunkhouses where we'll be staying during training."
Sunburst glanced over, "Will I be staying there as well?"
"Unless you feel like sleeping out under the stars," Higgs grinned and chuckled.
"No, no, there is fine," Sunburst assured him, throwing Higgs a smile.
"Glad to hear it," Higgs turned back to face the group. "By the way, nice to officially meet you, team."
Giving a thumbs up, Floyd grinned, "Word."
Higgs chuckled, "That's not how one typically responds to their commanding officer, Hendrix. But I'll tell you what, as long as you follow my lead, you guys can talk to me however you want." He looked between his squadmates, "How's that sound?"
"Aye aye, cap'n!" Lyra saluted, a goofy grin on her face.
"It's Major, actually," Higgs corrected, a grin on his face as he watched her. "Let's hope we can keep that enthusiasm up during training."
Bon Bon elbowed Lyra, snickering, "I give her a day before she starts whining." Amused by Lyra's pouty glare, Bon Bon looked up at Higgs, "We have a bit to fill you in on."
"We've got plenty of time for that," Higgs assured the mare. "With as many teams that are coming through the gate, it'll take awhile to get them settled in."
"Are we starting our training once everyone's here?" Floyd asked, glancing at the obstacle course.
"Nah, today's gonna be all about getting you settled in. Tomorrow, though, we'll be up bright and early to begin our training. Hope you've got plenty of stamina!" Higgs shot them a playful smile.
Celestia sat at a long table, a set of folders in front of her. She glanced around the table, finding several well dressed ponies along it with similar folders in front of them. Each of them were the mayors of the major coastal cities along Equestria's eastern seaboard. By her side was General Carter in her dress uniform.
"I'm glad you all could make it today." Celestia put on her practiced smile. "General Carter and her superiors have agreed to sitting with us and working out some sort of trade agreement."
"Equestria has plenty to offer," an earth pony mare with bright yellow fur and a burnt-orange mane done up in a bun chimed in. She looked at Carter. "What sort of goods were you interested in?"
"Food, mostly," Carter replied, recalling that the pony in question was named Harvest Moon.
"We've got plenty of that to trade," Harvest replied. She then flashed her a mischievous smile, "Just as long as you humans don't mind getting mostly fruits and veggies."
"I'm sure we can make do, however, humans have a few special needs." Carter shifted, looking at Daniel. After nearly two weeks of being holed up with the city's holoroom, Carter had finally managed to drag him away.
"If you give me a list of what you want, I can see if I can get my hooves on them," a unicorn stallion going by the name Silver Ledger at the end of the table spoke up. He had dark gray fur and a lighter gray mane that he kept swept to the side.
Daniel caught Carter's look, taking her cue. "Humans are an omnivorous species. In particular, we need vitamins C and B12; the former we normally get from plants, while the latter is only really available from animals."
"That shouldn't be an issue," Silver waved off. "One of my contacts is a trade caravan led by a griffoness. I should be able to get a decent sized shipment to you within a month's time. Of course, the price will be affected by the meat she has available. She caters to a clientele whose tastes can be somewhat exotic."
Daniel blinked for a few moments before nodding, "I'm sure we'll come up with a suitable payment for the shipment. How exotic are we talking?"
"Things like gazelle, crocodile and other big game," Silver explained. "I wouldn't recommend using this contact if I even thought there was anything questionable about her." He adjusted his tie. "I put principles over lining my pockets."
"Thank you, if you can introduce us, we'd be very grateful."
Silver nodded, "I'll see what I can do. I believe her caravan is in the northeastern part of Zebrica at the moment." He tapped his chin with a hoof. "I'll be sure to explain who you are before you drop in one of your ships... though the thought of her actually getting scared is tempting."
"A warning would be nice," Daniel said. "I'd rather not have her try to attack one of the Jumpers."
"Aside from food, is there anything you'd be interested in trading?" the third mare asked, adjusting her glasses. She was a dark purple earth pony with a black mane that she had swept over one of her shoulders. She had been introduced as Poe.
"Considering we're sending out teams into potentially hostile environments, wear and tear will be inevitable on uniforms," Carter stated, adjusting herself in her seat. It was funny to think that in this day and age an expedition would need to worry about such things. The fact of the matter was, they couldn't keep opening the gate for resupplies from Earth. Which meant Shangri-La had to deal with clothing themselves. Carter barely understood how Atlantis got by before they reestablished contact. "So fabric will be an essential."
"That will be a simple matter," Silver assured her. "Manehattan is the fashion capital of Equestria. Just give me a list of the fabrics you'll need and you'll have as much as you require."
"I'm sorry if I come off as rude," Poe cut in, "but we've been talking about what Equestria will be giving Shangri-La. But not once has the topic of our compensation come up."
Daniel spoke up, "Of course, we're not the type to cheat anyone. Like I told Princess Celestia previously, the expedition is willing to trade in medicine and technology," he waited a beat, "just not weapons."
The three mayors nodded at that piece of information.
"I think that's a fair deal," Harvest replied. "I wouldn't want to risk unsavory types getting their hooves on your weapons and flooding the streets with them anyway." Poe grabbed a pencil in her mouth, writing a few lines down. Keeping it in her mouth, she gestured for Daniel to continue.
"There is one other thing that we'll need as far as trading goes in order to placate the IOA," Daniel stated, opening his folder. "Princess Celestia mentioned during negotiations that she'd be willing to give us magical artifacts to study."
"That I would, Doctor Jackson," Celestia agreed. While she had given them the Alicorn Amulet, neither she nor her fellow princesses thought it was a good idea to give their new allies anything else of great import. "Since you're still new to magic, we'll limit it to minor trinkets and charms. At least until your understanding of the subject matures."
Carter turned to face Celestia, "That'll be more than fine. Honestly, the only reason we're even asking is to keep the IOA out of our hair for as long as possible. We'll also be asking our pony operatives about magic to further our understanding. Not to mention what we can gather from Floyd's lessons."
Rising up from her seat, Carter stepped over to the box she had brought. "As a sign of good faith, we would like to present Equestria with this." She placed the box on the table, lifting the top off. Inside sat a large black box, with a small screen and number pad on top.
Celestia peered over the top of the box to examine the device. "You're giving us a piece of your technology?" She lit up her horn and pulled it out of the box, "What is it?"
"That is a Mark Five Naquadah generator," Carter explained. "Behind a ZPM, it's the cleanest and most powerful energy source we have. One of these can power a city for a decade or two."
"I think this is a fantastic gift," Celestia smiled and gently sat the generator down on the table. "I'll be sure to have this sent to the top scientists in Equestria. If we're lucky, we can have recreations of it set up in all our major cities."
"I don't know how common naquadah is on Halla," Carter gestured to the generator, "but it seems like alicor is close enough for Shangri-La to see them the same way. In any case, I’ll loan you one or two of our technicians to show you how it works." Which was beneficial to both of them, really. Alicor was lighter, more conductive, and a generator fueled by it would most likely be more cost-effective.
Celestia bowed her head and smiled, "I believe our scientists would love to work with your technicians. I will inform my brightest minds of this project."
"I believe there is one last thing that should be brought up," Harvest chimed in. "Though, this doesn't have anything to do with trade. Since your city is in our waters, we were thinking of holding welcoming ceremonies for you."
Carter and Daniel exchanged a look. "Ceremonies?" Daniel asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Yes, one for each of our cities," Poe explained. "It's a gesture of friendship in honor of our new trade deals and alliance. The specifics of the ceremonies will vary between cities, but in general: you'll be on a stage with the city's mayor, be formally welcomed as friends of the city, be given a plaque and then there will be a small celebration."
Carter put on a smile. "I think we can clear our schedules. Can't we, Daniel?"
Daniel nodded and shared her smile. "Considering I wouldn't want to risk offending our new partners, I think I can pry myself away from my work for a few days."
The three mayors nodded and put away their folders. The talks continued for a while longer, mostly revolving around setting up dates for the ceremonies. When all was said and done, everyone in the room walked away satisfied.
Stats
Page generated in 0.031 seconds
Total duration
624 users online
819,205 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
That went well.
It’ll be QUITE interesting if they can come up with a replacement\stand in for a ZPM
8252660
In at least one universe, they had a Mark XII that powered Atlantis' shield for about 800 years.
Cool, man. Good to see another chapter.
This is such a cool story.
Copacetic.
Yay! New chapter!
Called it for the flag team! Even if it was pretty obvious from the beginning.
Oooo, ouch xD hahaha
I can't helpt but worry about this.I feel like someone is going to get greedy and try sneaking some weapons away from them, and then shit goes down. I can just taste it.
Good show!
Nice to know things are going smoothly for now.
How long before the Minotaurs start bumping heads over lines of command and inane demands as the operating manuals are rewritten to deal with the various species combination possibilities?
Could a Minotaur throw a griffon like a rapid deploy drone?
Wow, a multileader meeting where it doesnt collapse into total chaos with requiring Discord within minutes. Celestias Good.
So far we have Pinkie, Balloon guy, Pinkie, Weird Al, and Pinkie maybe handling things? That is, as long as Pinkie is doing the classic She Who Walks Behind trick with video gear, mirrors, lampposts, windows etc?
this is going vary good, in setting up cross training and the trade garment.
How many sgt soldiers are thete?
8253469
that... and the girl wasn't a pre-teen.... she was at least 15
Do love Ember's style of diplomacy.
Bit of a fillerish chapter this go around, and it doesn't try to hide it either. But at least it also progresses the story onwards still, so that's good too.
8255504
hmm well... 12 is technically preteen so yeah you are right
8252638
Just wait--chaos will ensue...
8252665
Great chapter--my only critique is that the ponies didn't respond more negatively to the violence in Predator. Lyra would have loved the quality of the production, but she would've had problems with the skinned human remains. Fake or not.
Bon-Bon, er, Sweet Drops probably could have stomached it better.
8253469
No hate against you, but the gymnastics demo was so ungodly lame that on her third swing around, I was dearly hoping one of the raptors would just fucking leap up and snatch her right off the pipe and put her out of my misery!
My cat would've done so. 
8259699
Agreed. But I have to say that if the raptors snatched her off the pipe would have been an awesome death
, and it would have delivered an important lesson to kids everywhere: "In life & death situations, don't be stupid!
If you must fight, stop showing off and just use lethal force to end it!
"
I know I wasn't the only one groaning in the theater when she started showing off her gymnastic skills, and I bet there would've been cheers from the audience had she been eaten in that scene.
8259699
True, though there are some instances in tv/Netflix series. Eleven from Stranger Things has a lot of awesome moments.
8252665
Along with highly advanced solar panels that benefited from the local star expanding near the end of its life.
I myself preferred the Jurassic Park books over the movies, especially in the case of the first book/movie. Jurassic World was okay but it had the potential to be much greater.
Always nice to see this continue, though I wouldn't have the teams be in too much of a rush to do off-world exploration.
Anyone else thinking...
Floyd - O'neill
Lyra - Carter
Sunburst - Daniel
Bon Bon - Teal'c
8267258 Sunburst isn't part of the team.
8267258
Paraphrased from a PM:
Higgs: CO
Bon Bon/Agent Sweetie Drops: XO/Cultural Adviser
Lyra: Cultural Adviser/Magical Specialist
Floyd: Research Specialist/Magical Specialist-in-Training
Devon: Technical Specialist
The minotaurs are going to love modern guns.
In another part of the world, a tiny gazelle village is led away in bondage by the evil griffons, all the members sobbing as they know they're to be brutally slaughtered for the trade in their flesh.
So evil. Dang beakies. Very bad.
Hmmm.... this is one thing I've seen a number of similar stories do, though some do it better than others. What I mean is incorporating equestrians into the military in some way.
Depending on how you deal with it this will either be a great read or an immersion breaker...
Personally, I can see the minotaurs and griffons fitting in fairly well, the dragons sort-of but not as well, and the ponies not very well save for the guards, and even then they would baulk at the blatant killing of enemies...
But that's my own ibyerpretation. I am my so arrogant as to say that is the best way, though it will break immersion for me of the ponies, who have been living in peace for at least a thousand years, would acclimatize instantly to the rigors of modern warfare.
Hell any if the races being acclimated to the modern form would be immersion breaking.
8274632
I would like to remind you, the expedition doesn't have any griffons
8274677
Merely including them as another of the equestrian races. I started to speak in about the equestrians (or hollaians?) in general towards the end there. And please don't take what I am sayin the wrong way, I am merely stating my veiws on the topic to provide you with feedback, not trying to be rude or condescendingg or anything.
8274686
Hollans
That's not correct, B12 available from rye bread and some cereals.
Sorry to throw a flag but that's an advertizing thing popular in some countries including USA (which , by the way nearly does not produce those types of foodstuff locally). They even say that cereal is "fortified" with it, or that buckweat got "extra iron". Good organic buckwheat got so much iron tjat it can be magnetized sometimes.
Same story with vitamin K which humans do NOT need all, like predators we use K2 produced by gut flora from food, or a vitamin D mixed with minerals: really? if that is a slow poison to rats, why it would be unconditionally good for humans?
Another thing from amerikas is claim that rabbit meat got zero nutrition value, or that bananas are bad for male potency. Legends with scientific explanation.
8267296
Carter is more of Twilight than Lyra :P
I'm honestly surprised they pulled out something as big as a Mark Five Naquadah generator to start with. It seems a bit beyond Equestria's technology level to reproduce if you ask me. A few of those generators should be sufficient to power Shangri-La's shield, or even allow for hyperspace travel if necessary. Combining magic with these kind of things might allow them to begin producing their own ZPM modules.
Half of me wonders how much of this was an intentional political gesture. Get everyone to agree to trade and such, then open up with a big item like the Mark Five to show them "Look how much we have to offer".
Rather strange because losing him in a mission would strand the City...
The celebration at the end will give them nice food and chances for socializing.
Great to see Earth trading clean energy technology.
We on real earth could really need it...