Horse Play

by Alden MacManx

Chapter Nine

Two days after visiting the planet of the explosive rocks, Captain Somers went on a tour of Sciences, to see about what had been discovered about the stones and the strange life form they found. First stop was the geology lab, where Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie were looking over the gems. The ponies had discovered a way to dissolve the stone matrix from around the gems, freeing said crystals for closer examination. “Twilight, what have you found out?” he asked.

Twilight started some from the captain’s question. “Captain Somers! I didn’t notice you come in! Full details are stored with Hurin, but here’s the short form,” she replied.

“The crystals are of a type that absorbs the general magic field of the planet and stores the energy inside them. However, the energy is stored in just such a way that any breaking of the crystalline structure causes a catastrophic release of the mana in a rapid undifferentiated fashion.”

“Meaning, you break it and it goes BOOM!” Pinkie said excitedly. “My sister would find this very interesting!”

“Is it possible to pattern the energy, so that breaking the crystal casts a spell?” Jamie asked.

“That is what we are trying to do, Captain. It’s not easy, because the energy storage is so chaotic, but we think we can do so, given time,” Rarity said. “We can’t do it on the smallest crystals. We have hope some of the larger ones can do such a thing, but we have not gone that far yet. What with the explosive tendencies, you can understand why we are being careful. It’s a shame, though. The iridescence would make such a lovely accent on a dress!”

“Can you not polish and mount the smaller stones?” Jamie asked.

“Mounting we can do, but polishing them is difficult without them blowing up,” Twilight said. “Plus, if they get bumped against something hard enough, they blow up. Would not be good to the wearer now, would it?”

Jamie grimaced at Twilight’s words. “You do have a point there, Twilight.”

“Hey, captain, is that planet safe to live on? Has it been long enough? Huh?” Pinkie Pie asked, bouncing some on her hooves. “I would love to get some more of that moss! It’s bouncy!”

“From what I have gathered from Biosciences, there does not seem to be any pathogens that are immediately harmful to living beings as we know them. However, that does not mean they are not there, just that we have not found them yet. It generally takes about a year’s time to clear a planet for habitation,” Jamie explained.

Pinkie looked a little baffled. “What did you say, Captain?” she asked.

Twilight sighed. “He said that it takes about a year to prove a planet’s safety. We didn’t find anything yet, but there may be nasties lurking where we have not looked yet,” she explained.

“Oh, okay! What about that thingie we brought back up?” Pinkie asked, losing her confusion.

“That’s going to be my next stop. I know Fluttershy has latched on to the thing and is working on taking good care of it. So far, it seems to be healthy, but it’s only been a couple of days. I just hope it’s not harboring any diseases,” Captain Somers told the ponies.

“I’m sure Fluttershy is checking that out frontwards and backwards, Captain,” Twilight said. “Now, if you will pardon us, we have some more testing to do.”

“Of course, Twilight. Will I see you at dinner, or do I have to send Major Ryudan down to,” Jamie coughed a little before continuing, “’escort’ you all to the Wardroom?” he asked with a small smile, having had to have Twilight, at a minimum, brought to dinner several times already, which irritated the Mess Officer, Ensign Farrago, a rather emotional Acuna. (The Acuna, a raccoon-like species, generally do not show emotions in public, and have carved themselves a niche as clerks and paper-pushers in the ISA. Their skill in such fields is rivaled by only a few. Farrago is an exception to the general Acuna rule.)

“Better Major Ryudan or Lieutenant Blendar (the Supply officer, a ‘normal’ Acuna) than Ensign Farrago,” Rarity said. “At least those two have manners!”

“Farrago is a perfectionist, Rarity. She likes everything ‘just so’, and she worries that the meals she is making for you are not suitable for you,” Jamie said. “Still, since she reported aboard, the mess tables have seen an uptick in quality.”

“We’ll be there for dinner, Captain!” Twilight said with a small laugh before turning back to the lab tables. Jamie took that as a cue to leave, so he did.

Going up two decks and more to the center of the forward hull, Captain Somers entered the Bio labs, where, as he expected, he found Fluttershy with the critter they found planetside. The critter resembled a tortoise, but with legs and feet which are suited for digging into loose sand or soil, and an iridescent shell that glittered in light, and did radiate a faint light of its own, but only in darkness. Fluttershy was offering the critter a carrot, and it was slowly taking a bite from it. “Good day, Fluttershy. How is your new friend?” Jamie asked, startling the shy pegasus some.

“Oh! Captain! You surprised me! I didn’t hear you come in!” she exclaimed before answering the question. “Well, Digger appears to be healthy, and does enjoy vegetable matter. However, its diet needs more than vegetable matter.”

“How much more, Fluttershy?” Jamie asked.

Fluttershy tapped a hoof, thinking of her next words. “It also eats small stones, which it stores in its stomach. The stones slowly dissolve in the digestive acids, and Digger uses the minerals to do two things, they being building up its shell, and… this,” she explained, holding up a lab slide in her wing.

Jamie too the lab slide and slid it into a scanner scope, projecting an image onto a monitor. It appeared to be like the crystals Twilight was busy examining in the geology lab. “Digger apparently excretes these micro-crystals that it does not use in its shell. I have found that the shell is not explosive, but it does generate a protective field around itself when it feels threatened. It took me a while to calm Digger down so it would accept me.”

“What sort of field? One powered by magic?” Jamie asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. Chief Lovell and Petty Officer Vasquez verified the presence of a magic field in Digger, and how it seems to be under its control. Just what it really does, we can’t tell yet. I don’t want Digger to feel scared,” she explained, patting the tortoiseoid gently with a wing. It slowly raised its head to look at Fluttershy, trust in its eyespots.

“Have you had the biologists and doctors examine Digger yet?”

“Yes. Doctor Harris did the initial readings, and Ensign Mooloo… Muru…” Fluttershy stumbled trying to say the name.

“Muruloogu.” Jamie supplied, referring to a relatively new xenobiologist who came aboard at the last crew rotation. Skilled, but young. She is also a Ryuu, a leonine species first encountered early in Earth’s spacing, before the formation of both the ISA and its predecessor, the ISU.

“Yes, her. She looks intimidating, but she’s not. I like working with her,” Fluttershy declared as Digger crawled off, going under the shelter of some leaves Fluttershy had placed in its enclosure. “Digger does not like being in light much.”

“Okay, Fluttershy. Don’t forget about dinner tonight. I’ll stop by and see Ensign Muruloogu for a detailed report on Digger. Do you mind if I do?”

“Not at all, Captain. I’m sure she can give you a different report than I can. She used the equipment to scan Digger’s insides, something I would like to learn how to use and read.” Fluttershy told him.

“Sounds like a plan, Fluttershy. Let Hurin know to contact me if something different happens, okay?” Jamie said with a warm smile, looking down at Fluttershy.

“Of course, Captain. See you at dinner!”

After dinner, which Twilight avoided being dragged to by the simple expedient of having Spike go get her ten minutes before start, Captain Somers had the ponies (and Spike) gather in a briefing room. “I have called you all here to give you preliminary results of the surveys of the planet we all visited.

“First, there are no extreme pathogens detected in our air and water samples, so living there should be safe. If we go back there, decontamination procedures will still be followed, but environment suits will not be required.

“Second, I have been informed by Xenobiology that our sample of a life form that was brought back is apparently based on a different life system than we are normally familiar with. Mainly that it needs magic to survive, and gets it from its environment. Further study is indicated.

“Third, I have been in long-distance consultations with both your Princesses and the ISA. It has been decided that, if you are to join the ISA, and all indications seem to be pointing in that direction, the planet will be granted to Equestria for colonization, with any assistance from the ISA that is requested.” Jamie looked around at the ponies, who were all looking back at him intently. “Do try to curb your enthusiasm,” he added, which had the effect of breaking the ice in the room, sending the mares into fits of laughter. When the laughing settled, he went on.

“I do stress the word ‘requested’ when it comes to the assistance, because Princess Celestia will oversee the colonization efforts, probably designating someone to handle that chore.” He then looked at Twilight Sparkle. “If she takes suggestions, I will have one for her.

“I am now open to questions from the floor,” he concluded.

Three hooves and three wings immediately went up. Jamie looked around the table. “Twilight, you first.”

Twilight then stood up. “To whom do we owe this gift of a whole new world to colonize?” she asked.

“From what I am told, lobbying on the ISA side was led by my eldest brother, Christopher Robin Somers, a past High Chancellor of the ISA. I am sure our mother talked him into helping.” He then looked around the table. “I know Mother has talked with both U Po and the Princesses on Equestria. This gift is speeding up relations and dealings between the ISA and your world.

“Your mother has to be a very influential person, to do this,” Twilight added, the others nodding in agreement.

“She is. She has played a big hand in the founding of the ISA since the beginning, and the predecessor organization. She has an instinct for finding friends in any species. The only one she has not been able to do anything with are the Ratzi. Why, she hasn’t told me, and I don’t blame her.”

“Why do you say that, Captain?” Spike asked.

“Because Mother operates in different circles, different planes, than I do. She has connections I can only guess at, both her and Father. She likes using them to help build a better galaxy, so, I help her in my own way,” Jamie explained.

“Is it possible to grow food on that there world, Captain?” Applejack asked.

“From what I have been told by the bio labs, there should be no problems at all. However, there are some things, like how the micro-crystals that little Digger uses react with Equestrian life forms, we do not yet know. Like I said, it takes a while to prove a world is safe to inhabit, and that is one thing to look for,” Jamie told her, which seemed to satisfy the earth pony enough that she settled back down, looking thoughtful.

“I would like to go back and look closer,” Fluttershy said in her quiet voice. “It seems to be a nice world, and I would like to learn more. I’m sure that Digger would like to go home at some time.”

“Me, I’m wondering what sort of bangs I can make knocking rocks together!” Pinkie Pie said.

“Just be careful doing so, Pinkie. It could be that one wrong knock and you’ll get a bigger bang than you were expecting,” Twilight cautioned.

“That would spoil the party, right, darling?” Rarity added.

Pinkie settled back down in her seat, but her mane did not deflate. “I’m looking forward to finding out!” she said with a giggle.

Jamie looked across the table at the cyan pegasus. “You have not said anything, Rainbow Dash,” he said. “Do you have any opinions?”

“Oh, I know that living there is going to be just awesome. How awesome, I’ll find out when I’m there. No sense doing an egghead thing when there’s a lot we don’t yet know about the place,” Rainbow Dash said with a bit of a bland tone, but then she straightened up and took off, hovering above her seat. “I’d rather be doing than thinking!”

“You’ll get your chance, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said just before the sound of a bosun’s whistle cut through the air.

“Bridge to Captain Somers!” came the voice of Commander Seiryuu.

Jamie touched the intercom panel at his place at the table. “Go ahead, Bridge.”

“Captain, this is the Exec. We’re getting activity on sensor buoy G-113. A large Ratzi fleet has been detected at extreme range, velocity one point zero. Waiting on vectors to firm up, but I’m willing to say they are coming into the cluster,” Commander Seiryuu said in his clipped tones, which indicated to those familiar with him that he was working hard to keep himself under control.

“Are you sure of the velocity? Have you got a range calculation yet?” Jamie asked.

“Range is about twenty light-years out from cluster boundary. Whatever they are sending, it’s big and relatively slow, and they don’t care who sees it.”

“Okay, Commander. I’ll be in Tactical in a few minutes. Send a message to the Gilgamesh and let them know. I will await a call from Commodore Harkennon there. Somers out,” he said before breaking the connection. Jamie then turned to the ponies. “Pardon me, but it looks like the Ratzis are trying to crash the party. Time for me to get to work. Dismissed.”

Author's Note:

Here comes trouble. How much, is not yet known.

Comments

[harts fire]

this sounds to be fun and vary interesting.

[erictheblue]

oh, i just remembered a nasty old book where some rat-like aliens with mind-control abilities were apparently hypnotizing multiple planets.
the story starts with a lone refugee trying to warn the people of their next target that they are coming...but gets captured by VERY nasty corrupt rulers who INTENTIONALLY try to drive him and his friend CRAZY!
(that's the nasty part, REALLY bad stuff)
eventually they overthrow the rulers and defeat the mind-controlling aliens with some re-programmed killer robots.
it's a rather silly ending, they exhaust themselves trying to hypnotize the robots, and effectively knock themselves unconscious!