Horse Play

by Alden MacManx

Chapter Six

The day of the Gilgamesh’s arrival in Equestrian orbit, a lavish, pompous, formal welcoming ceremony was held on the landing flat, which was renamed ‘Welcoming Park’. The diplomatic entourage, led by the renowned Erkudu diplomat U Po, Teltransed down from the Gilgamesh. The Erkudu are a rabbitlike species, with long flop ears, and stand about a meter tall, with fur colors ranging from black to white and everything in between. Carrying a staff, U Po approached Celestia, where he bowed formally. “Princess Celestia, may this be the start of a long mutual friendship between your people and the Inter-Stellar Alliance,” he declared in a surprisingly loud voice for someone his size, the STE words only a beat ahead of the translated Equish coming from the translator.

“Ambassador Po, We welcome the chance to make new friends from beyond our world. May you and yours consider yourselves welcome while we handle the necessary business before true relations can begin,” Celestia declared in formal tones.

Po leaned against his staff, an impish twinkle in his eyes. “So, when does the after-hours party begin?” he said in a voice that did not project farther than Celestia.

Celestia hid a laugh behind a hoof. “After sundown,” she told the little gray and white Erkudu.

“I’ll bring the video player, you bring the wine?” Po asked.

“Consider it done,” Celestia said in low tones before raising her head and speaking aloud, so all gathered could hear, “The Greeting Ceremony has been concluded! The Welcoming Party will be held at Canterlot Castle in two hours! All those who wish to meet our friends from afar should attend!”

U Po moved to stand alongside Celestia and raised his voice as well. “We of the Inter-Stellar Alliance wish to make friends with the Ponies of Equestria! Today, my staff and I will be available at the party for all who have questions! Bring your doubts and questions and leave assured of our intentions!” The cheer and hoof stomping that arose from that announcement shook the ground enough that U Po had to plant his staff to remain upright.

“Are your people like this routinely?” Po asked Celestia quietly.

“No. You bring them reason to cheer, after what happened at North Shore. They have reason to hope, and are showing it,” Celestia replied, steadying Po with a wing.

“If this is optimism, may I never see pessimism.”

The next three days, Captain Somers was kept busy at the talks, more as an observer than being a real participant. After all, this IS the fourth species he has brought into the ISA. The crew of the Hurin were kept busy, doing more greeting tours with the population of Equestria as well as bringing the crew of the Gilgamesh into the picture.

Twilight was kept busy as well, working with unicorns in Canterlot as well as the mages on the two ships on making a translation spell that will give those who had it cast on them the ability to know STE and Equish without having to use the translators, which did have a bit of a lag. Said lag was a point of humor both sides agreed on, a point which drove both sides to get rid of. The spell did work, as testing on both Twilight Sparkle and Chief Lovell showed, but there was an unintended consequence. The spell brought both participants, the sender and receiver, up to the same linguistic levels, meaning the spell gave each other the languages they knew. Chief Lovell knowing four languages meant that Twilight Sparkle learned STE, French, German and Scots Gaelic. A day later, they put the translator spell into a crystal, which when worn on the body, would translate spoken STE into audible Equish, and vice versa. Much better for all involved.

Once enough crystals were made and disseminated to the crews of the two ships and the negotiating party, plans were made to have the Hurin tour the probes and drones in the cluster, bringing Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Mane Six along. The Gilgamesh would remain in the Equestrian system to monitor the talks and see about building an embassy somewhere in the vicinity of Canterlot. The Gilgamesh, being several times larger than the Hurin, has enough cargo space to set up a good temporary embassy. A Meeser swap was also done, to spread the knowledge learned so far.

The diplomatic personnel were a big hit with the nobility of Canterlot, the various members reaching out to the nobility to learn how systems worked in Canterlot. The nobility of the ISA in general and Camelot station in particular, ran in a remarkably similar way.

The Hurin Tascheter broke orbit, heading out to check out the remote observing points set up in the cluster, and to do a quick survey of any possible habitable worlds there. Each of the ponies, and Spike, were paired up with an officer, as a first contact point. Twilight Sparkle was paired up with Captain Somers; Spike with Commander Seiryuu; Applejack with Commander Davis; Rarity with Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx; Fluttershy with Lieutenant Commander Harris; Pinkie Pie with the ship’s senior psychologist, Lieutenant Mulholland, a Kitsune; and Rainbow Dash was paired with the Flight Officer, Lieutenant Khaball. The pairings were made so that each of the two had something in common, no matter how tenuous the linkage.

Commander Seiryuu led Spike to the gymnasium that spanned a large part of decks five and six. “Why was I assigned to be with you, sir?” Spike asked when they got to the door to the gym.

“Because, Spike, I, too, am a dragon,” Commander Seiryuu said as he keyed open the door. “I was born like you see me now, but when my Sagan power erupted, I became a dragon. A blue dragon.”

“You don’t look like a dragon, sir,” Spike said as he followed the Commander inside the gym.

“That is because I can change between my human and dragon forms at will. I stay in my human form much of the time, because the ship is designed for those with a more or less humanoid physique. Only in here, or down in an empty cargo bay, when we have one, can I shift into my dragon form, which I shall demonstrate now,” Commander Seiryuu said before triggering the shift.

The tall, slim red-headed human vanished, to be replaced by a dragon with blue and green scales, blue wings, and a green ridge down his head and back. He flapped his wings some with a sigh of relief. “MUCH better!”

“Woww…” Spike breathed in awe. “Do you breathe fire? Do you eat gems? Do you fly?” he asked rapidly.

The big blue dragon let out an easy laugh. “No, I ‘breathe’ two things, one is a bolt of electricity and the other a gas which affects humanoids in a way that should not be possible, yet it does happen. We shall not discuss that now, maybe later. No, I do not eat gems, although I do admit to the occasional craving for battery acid. Yes, I can fly, but in here, I am extremely limited. Here, at least I can stretch out some and relax for a while. At least, until someone else wants to use the gym,” he explained as he stretched out, his joints letting out crackles, before lying down on the padded floor, his body now twice his regular height, from tailtip to snout, and a bit rounded in the middle. Not much, but it was obvious.

“Is this why the Captain assigned me to you?” Spike asked, going up to the blue dragon’s snout.

“Yes, it is, Spike. There is one other dracoform aboard, that being the Marine officer, Major Ryudan, but he’s not a true dragon. He is what we call a dracoform, a dragonlike body but built on a humanoid frame. Yes, he has wings, and yes, he can fly. He is a warrior, like your Princess’ Guards, and not given much to talking to small dragons,” the Commander said, propping his chin on his forearms. “However, I do like talking to small dragons, or anyone in general. I know you must have a million and one questions to ask, so ask away.”

Spike let out a big grin as he settled under the big dragon’s nose. At first, he resented the assignment to go with Twilight Sparkle, but now, the job didn’t look so bad after all…

“This thing back heah is what we call a zero-point energy rectifier, or a ‘zipper’ fo’ short,” Commander Davis explained to Applejack. “It takes in the energy of the cosmos and changes it into electrical powah we use in heah to run the ship and its stardrive with. All ya gotta do is apply a little powah here, across the screen intake leads, to prahm the pump so to say, fo’ one second befoah the screen starts suckin’ in powah.”

“Ah’m sure it is all interestin’ an’ such, Sugarcube, but whah are you the one to lead me around the ship foah? Ah is an apple farmer, not an engineer, lahk you is!” Applejack protested.

Beau smiled at the little orange pony’s words. “Ah’ll tell yew, darlin. Out of all fahv hundred or so bein’s that call this ship home, only ah grew up on a farm, back on mah home world of Dogpatch. It was thought bah the Captain, who is a good ole friend of mahn, that if you have any trouble understandin’ matters aboahd the ship, ah could be the best one to explain matters to you.”

Applejack thought for a little time before replying. She consulted her feelings, to see if he was telling the truth, and got a solid confirmation of it. “Yew know, suh, ah can believe that,” she said with a smile of her own.

“Now, that sounds lahk somethin’ to drink on. What y’all lahk?” Beau asked, reaching a hand into the pocket of a rather baggy overcoat he wore constantly.

“How about apple cider? Y’all got any?” Applejack asked.

“Ah should. Ah know ah put some in heah some tahm ago,” Beau muttered, reaching in and around. Applejack noticed that while she should be seeing his arm reaching into the pocket, she didn’t. “Ah HA!” he shouted, pulling out an earthenware jug, a big jug. A very big jug. Beau pulled the cork out of the top and sniffed. Immediately, Applejack could smell some very good apple cider.

“Where in tarnation did yuh get that from?” Applejack asked, mystified.

“Oh, well, that theah is mah Sagan talent. Ah can reach into a ‘pocket dimension’ heah and pull OUT anything ah have put IN to it, so long as it can fit in the pocket to begin with. Always nice to be able to go about and always have the tools ah need to get the job done,” Beau explained as he put the jug down and reached into his pocket again. “Will a mug do ya?”

“Sho ‘nuff!” Applejack said with a big smile. Looks like this fella is worth chatting with!

“So, what do you think of the medical area, Miss Fluttershy?” Lieutenant Commander Lee Harris asked the little yellow pegasus.

“I’m sure you can heal all sorts of sick animals and ponies and others with all you have in there, Doctor Harris,” Fluttershy answered in her small voice. “One thing I do not understand is why the ponies you brought home earlier seemed afraid of you. You’re not scary at all!”

Lee sighed before sitting down, bringing his head down closer to Fluttershy’s. “It’s because I am a vampire, Miss Fluttershy. You would be running in fright, had not your Princess Twilight made me a charm to wear that will mask my vampiric nature from other ponies. Yes, I drink blood to survive, but I get it from a bottled supply, or willing sources. Would you believe me when I say I will willingly starve myself before I would ever take blood from an unwilling source?”

Fluttershy put her forehooves into Lee’s lap and stared into his eyes while Lee looked back. “I do believe you. You do not want to harm any pony, you want to make the sick and injured healthy again. I can feel that. May we be friends?” she asked.

Slowly, Lee reached out, to pet Fluttershy around her ears. “Of course, we can be friends, Fluttershy. How about we teach each other our methods of healing the sick? After all, if we’re not careful, we just might learn something.”

“If you have any further questions, Miss Rarity, please do not hesitate to ask,” Lieutenant Commander M’Ranx said in cultured tones to the white and purple unicorn.

“I shall, Mister M’Ranx. I must say, you have been such a perfect gentlestallion on this tour!” Rarity replied, looking up at the tall gray-furred Baastari.

“Thank you, Miss Rarity. On my last tour of shore duty, I was assigned to Camelot, as adjutant to the Fleet liaison to the Royal Court of the Inter-Stellar Alliance. Other than the Captain, I have the most exposure to culture. It was thought I would be a suitable escort for you while you are aboard,” M’Ranx said formally.

Rarity let out a little musical laugh. “Oh, it shows! Your manners are impeccable! Tell me, what hobbies do you have, to take a break from work?” she asked as they arrived at the Deck Four Officer’s Lounge. The guest quarters were on that level, and some of the fittings were changed to Equestrian standards, for their comfort.

L’Dan sat down in a chair which he had pulled up to the table Rarity had stopped at. “I have my music, Miss Rarity. I’m a descendant of six generations of Baastari bards, and I am familiar with music of many cultures. Occasionally I will put on a small show, either by myself or with other musicians on board. Would you like some coffee?” he asked.

“Yes, please. Coffee sounds delightful after that walk! I do indulge in music… too…” Rarity trailed off as the Baastari reached a few feet over to the coffeepot, his arms elongating to do so. Turning his head to look at what he was doing, he poured two cups, put them on a tray with cream and sugar, and brought the tray back.

“You do? What sort of music?” L’Dan asked as he snapped back to normal proportions before noticing the look on her face. “Are you all right, Miss Rarity?”

“Just… what did you do?” Rarity asked, still surprised at what she had just witnessed.

L’Dan had the grace to blush some. “Oh. That’s my Sagan talent. I’m elastic, able to extend any part of my body up to about ten times normal length, with perfect flexibility. It comes in useful when I have to get in to tight areas to do repairs,” he explained. “How do you like your coffee?”

Rarity swallowed before making an effort to come back to reality. “I’ll fix it, thank you,” she said, using her violet glow to add cream and sugar to her coffee before stirring and sipping. L’Dan took his coffee straight, black and bitter.

“No way! You? A cat? Can FLY?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

Lieutenant Khaball just smiled. “Yes, I can. Nowhere near as good as you can, but yes, I can fly,” she said with the cool confidence that a Baastari (or just about any cat, for that matter) could project.

“This I gotta see!”

“Well, then, come with me and I will show you!” the yellow Baastari female said with a happy purr in her voice. “We’ll have to go to a gym to show you.”

“Just how can you fly?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Almost three hundred years ago, the first expedition from Earth to Mars, the next planet out in their solar system, brought back a virus, a plague that affected certain people, by gifting them with different powers and abilities. It does not affect all species humans have encountered, only a few. My father and I are two of the few Baastari thus affected, and that is because, about seven generations back from me, I have a human ancestor, a Saganized human,” Annelise explained as they walked to the upper decks gymnasium.

“Does your father fly, too?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Annelise shook her head. “No, he has another talent completely, one I share in, a little bit. He is what they call a ‘rubbercat’, able to elongate parts of his body.” She then looked in the window of the gym door. “Uh, I think we should go to the lower decks gym…”

“What for?” Rainbow Dash asked, flapping up a little to look in the window. There, she saw Spike chatting amiably with a large blue dragon. “Who’s that with Spike?”

“The executive officer, Mister Seiryuu. He can shapechange into a blue dragon, which enables him to fly and control electricity, to a small extent. Come on, let’s head down to the lower gym,” Annelise said, leading Rainbow Dash to a turbovator.

Finding the lower gym unoccupied, the two went in. There, Lieutenant Khaball composed herself, then inhaled deeply. Her body grew to twice her normal height, remaining completely proportionate to her reduced height. Then, she rose up off the floor. “Once I’m like this, I can fly. Not fast, not well, but it does give me the ability to fly. It also helps me when I pilot the ship, or one of the smaller craft, because I already know how to fly, and my instincts are trained to handle flight and navigation, in any craft.”

“That’s awesome! Can you get any bigger than this? Maybe more will help you fly better!”

“No, it won’t. This is about my max height. Any more air and I will start rounding out, still able to fly, but having less and less control of my body. At least like this, I can still move,” Annelise explained, rising up to the ceiling of the gym, Dash following.

“Can you walk on clouds like this?”

“I don’t know, I have not tried to. I can go THROUGH clouds with little problem, but I’ve never tried to walk on a cloud. Why do you ask?” That led into a long discussion of just how awesome pegasi are, how they control the weather of Equestria, how she is a member of the Wonderbolts and how awesome they are, Annelise resting easily against the ceiling, paying rapt attention to Rainbow Dash’s words.

Captain Somers and Twilight Sparkle settled in to the Captain’s ready room, just off the bridge. “So, where would you like to start learning?” Jamie asked the purple alicorn.

“I don’t know… there’s so much to be learned here! Just where CAN I start?” Twilight asked in reply.

“I think that the first thing I should do is introduce you to Hurin. He will be able to answer just about any question you could possibly have,” Jamie said with a relaxed smile.

“Hurin? Who’s Hurin?” Twilight asked, a little confusion coming into her voice.

“Hurin, attend!” Captain Somers called out. Appearing in front of Twilight is a foxlike being, standing just a little taller than Twilight, not counting his peaked ears, wearing a linen shirt, black trousers and a black shiny coat that came down past his knees. The face was coated in reddish fur, as were the ears and the bushy tail that came out the back of the coat, which flapped slightly in a breeze she could not feel.

“Hello, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I am Hurin Tascheter, famed seafarer of fair Kitsu’s oceans and the ship’s holo-avatar,” the image said, bowing in a courtly manner in front of Twilight.

“You mean, you’re the ship?” Twilight asked, more confusion coming to her voice.

“Actually, that can be debated, Twilight,” Jamie said from his desk. “What you are seeing and talking to is the ship’s computer, the machine that keeps the ship running. Without it, we could not operate the ship at all. It was programmed to be the representation of the REAL Hurin Tascheter, a famous explorer and seafarer of about a millennium ago on his home world of Kitsu. It’s just easier to work with him when he uses this particular hologram as an interface.”

“Can you take me on a tour of the ship?” Twilight asked the holo-avatar.

The red Kitsune smiled and bowed to Twilight. “Of course I can, and grant you access to the ship’s library systems.”

“That’s why I asked Hurin here, Princess. While I am your official point of contact, I am also in command of this ship, and I have duties to perform. With Hurin by your side, any questions you have can be answered, save those that are classified or personal to members of the crew. Do you find such an arrangement acceptable?” Jamie asked.

“Captain Somers, I would have to say yes. I would like to spend some time with you, to learn about you and your ship and its diverse crew, but I also understand your time is not always your own. I’m sure we can contact each other at need, yes?” Twilight asked.

“Any time you feel the need, just ask Hurin. I’m giving you access that is equal to mine, in most respects. Seeing as you are a Princess, I figure such an arrangement would be fitting. Now, if you would please pardon me, I do have some work to get done,” Jamie said, pointing to his desk and associated papers on it.

“Of course, Captain. Hurin, can you take me to the library?” Twilight asked.

“I can take you to the ship’s library, but you will find that what we call a library is not what you would call a library,” Hurin said as he led Twilight out of the Captain’s office.

Once the door was shut, Jamie let out a sigh of relief, followed by removing a cup of coffee from a lower drawer of his desk and a small brown glass bottle. Adding a slug to his coffee, he sipped from the steaming mug, sagging back in his chair. “Now that THAT is over with, back to the regular grind,” he said before turning to the first item on his desk. Blinking slightly at what he found, Jamie looked to the far corner of his office. “Okay, Mother. What have you done NOW?” he asked in tones that said he was probably not going to like the answer he would receive.

About Pinkie Pie and Lieutenant Mulholland, one thing needs to be asked- just how did they get that party cannon into the Wardroom without anyone noticing? During dinner? Also, how was it that no confetti got into anyone’s meal or drinks? The pink pony and gray Kitsu soon found themselves best of friends, because each has an impish sense of humor, and could be counted upon to not let life become dull!

Author's Note:

The Mane Six get to go out to space. Can the ISA (and space itself) be able to handle the strain about to be put on them? Can the Ratzis handle them as well? Or will chaos ensue?
Pinkie, put that cannon away!

Comments

[harts fire]

O fun times for every one.

just how did they get that party cannon into the Wardroom without anyone noticing?

just go with it don't try to understand it is pinkie.

[Starlight Nova]

What is this a crossover of?

[Alden MacManx]

9451186
An RPG universe I created about 20 years ago. The seed story sat idle for about 15 years before I found it again.