11 Parties and Plans
Events came and went, James expanding on parallels for some of them and experiencing others for the first time. But one event confused him as the invitation showed up in the the box reserved for Celestia and Luna. It was only one ticket with a plus one included. Clearly Celestia was trying to stir up trouble as she knew just how large James's immediate family was, however James would happily work with this.
It wasn't even a debate on who he would bring to the event with him. Celestia was likely expecting Tali or Lucca, James was going to bring Tenyo. Mischief was bound to occur and he wanted to be in the middle of it. James took a moment to review his daughter's video collection just to ensure the time line was right for the event he expected. And it gave him a reason to spend time with his daughters watching something they loved, and that was growing on him. Even if not because of the show itself.
He remembered back when he was making first contact, he dreaded the visit. But for his daughters he would do it. Now he found himself visiting as much for himself as he would for them. Once again he joked to himself that it was further proof that they were truly evil.
***
James's ship materialized at the edge of the wormhole overlooking Deep Space Nine. He was quite thankful that the Jurians had been able to adjust their engineering to improve his Galaxy Class star ship and modify key details so that it would go unrecognized as a ship he picked up from a depot nearly a century further into the future. If he recalled correctly his ship was still in commission as the USS Neptune.
“Sir.” A burly dwarf wearing a New Guardian service uniform said as he checked his console. “Temporal jump complete. Epoch engine cooling down. we're just ten minutes from Deep Space Nine at full impulse.”
James nodded as he looked at the Space Station from his chair, Tenyo in the seat on his right. “Let's take it at quarter impulse, just so they have time to prepare for me.”
“Aye sir.”
“Why’s Garrik back on DS9?” Tenyo asked as they began their approach. “Didn’t he go back to Cardassia?”
James shook his head. “His Cardassia is gone. DS9 is all the home he has left anymore.” James answered, a tinge of dissapointment in his voice.
“We’ve both seen too many wars.” Tenyo said as she shook her head.
“You’ll get no arguments here.” James said, hoping for a change of subject.
Tenyo looked to James as they approached. “So is there a reason you're not just asking Rarity?”
James smiled as he leaned back in his chair. “Well, I'm willing to bet she's overworked at the moment, and I don't want us wearing anything with jewels. She loves making things shiny.”
“This has something to do with the episode you just watched with Amber and Sara, doesn't it?”
James's only response was to chuckle as a halfling at the comm system announced that they were getting a hail from Deep Space Nine.
***
“A pleasure to see you as always James.” Garrik said as James and Tenyo entered his shop. “Ah, and his lovely wife Tenyo I presume. Sorry if I'm mistaken, he normally only brings by Lucca and on a rare occasion Tali.”
Tenyo laughed. “Oh he brought Tali. We're going to have to drag her out of the Jeffery’s Tubes when we leave.”
Garrik's tone was completely serious as he answered her remark. “Then I hope you're staying here for a while. Chief O'Brian could use the break. Well, I suppose that's enough banter for the moment. I'm guessing you didn't come all the way here just to enjoy some witty conversation.”
James smiled at the cunning tailor, always looking to get some tidbit of information, even by deflection. “That's quite true, though I wouldn't mind getting a drink later. I came because Tenyo and I need something to wear to a political event coming up.”
Garrik pretended that he didn't know James meant for him to make completely new garments fitted to some new form as he showed off several outfits. One of which Tenyo bought for herself.
“Now Garrik, you're smarter than that. I came because I need someone with your talent to create more clothes that will fit an altered form.” James said, playing the game.
Garrik smiled at the quip. Of course he was smarter but he had to play the fool, if he didn't nobody would dare speak around him. “You really are one of my favorite customers, you always bring me an interesting challenge. I assume that you don't need these hurried along.”
James shook his head as he brought out a small data chip. “No, but I did bring a little bonus. A few names and a bit of information that might interest you is all.”
Garrik had no idea how James got his information, but it always proved reliable and important. If there were names, he wanted that list. “You'll have my best work.”
Tali scurried through the Jeffery’s tubes towards the junction that O'Brian was having trouble with. He'd fixed that power conduit four times in as many weeks and his only other option until now was to reroute the power carried through it which would put a heavy load on the other conduits near by and probably fry them too.
“Would you mind waiting for me Tali?” He called after her.
“Come on O'Brian, already regretting not taking that position back on Earth? There were hallways smaller than this back on the flotilla.” She happily said turning back to him.
“The Flotilla that you no longer live on.” He reminded her.
“Yes, I don't live there anymore. But it's what all Quarians called home for over three hundred years. One ship I visited with my father when I was younger looked like it had been built from spare parts and welded together on the move. Turns out that wasn't far from the truth. It's actually a pity they had to retire it and use it for salvage, it had character.”
“Basically it made DS9 here look like a new shuttle I'm guessing.” He quipped.
Tali laughed as she opened up the panel. “Please O'Brian. We never saw a ship in this good condition in the flotilla. A crew of Quarian engineers could have this place running better than new in a month.” Tali had her omnitool out and was scanning the conduit. “Keelah, no wonder it's been burning out. Do you only have these cheap things or are the better ones for more important parts of the station?”
“Cheap? Those are brand new from Star Fleet just to solve this problem.”
“Then you should probably ask the Cardassians for replacement parts. This was their station after all. Do you still have the old ones, I might be able to build something that can handle your power needs if I take a look in them. And maybe if I can use a replicator too.”
“They were completely fried, unless you needed the casing there's nothing to salvage.”
“Keelah, it doesn't matter the universe; humans are wasteful. I can promise you I could have salvaged enough from three of these to get what I need. I can tell you exactly how it's going to fail and what you can save from it to do more repairs later or even build a new one. No point staying here, let's get back to Engineering. Maybe I can fabricate something that will get the job done.”
“I just got here.” O'Brian said as he slumped against the wall.
“Yes, and we can't solve the problem from here. So now we're going back.” Tali said as she shifted around O'Brian to get back the way they came. She loved crawling around the insides of this place, the mix of technologies, the fact that there was always a new challenge. It was exciting. It was also how she had convinced O’Brian to stay. It had taken a long time for her to convince him to let her scurry around the insides of this station and she wasn’t about to start from scratch with a new chief engineer.
Tenyo stood in front of Garrik in her pegasus form as he walked around her pinning material and making notes. “You'll be the most fetching horse at the ball Miss Tenyo.” Garrik said as he pulled another length of material to pin to the dress.
“I don't know how important that is, I'm not trying to impress anyone.” She said calmly.
“Nonsense, a lady like yourself should always look her best, even when she doesn't look like herself.” Garrik said with a smile.
“Careful James. He's a sweet talker.” Tenyo said with a grin.
“I'll be careful if he tries sweet talking me.” James answered moments before he began laughing.
Garrik was quick to quip with a smirk. “There's no reason to worry about that. I don't imagine I'll be able to do anything about you.”
James's laughter intensified. “Ah, there's the reason I like coming to you Garrik. The abuse.”
Garrik continued without missing a beat. “Oh, I haven't gotten to the abuse yet. I wanted to remain civil in front of the lady here. It's just poor manners to insult a man in front of his wife, even if he has three others.”
Eventually James's laughter died down enough to hear that there was an open comm channel between him and Colnel Kira.
“I hope you let me in on the joke James.” Kira said, her voice as upbeat as it gets. “I was just letting you know that the delegation from Bajor is here to meet with you. And the Klingons would like a word with you after that.”
James grimaced as he held his hand up, silently counting down from three. “And we just got a message from the Federation. Admiral Janeway wants to hear from you at your earliest convenience.”
“I had my comms off for a reason.” He grumbled before answering Kira. “I'll be right there, I just need to get ready. Thanks for letting me know.” Once the comm channel was closed James looked to Tenyo. “Now do you see why I prefer to go places where nobody gives a shit who I am?” He was venting more to himself than to Tenyo, she just happened to be the one right there. And he wasn’t about to start baring all his frustrations to Garrik, partially because of how attentive a listener he was.
Tali closed the new conduit and did a quick power check as she made sure it could handle power surges at least double the current that they would need to put through it. Once it passed her checks she just needed to see if the replicators could fabricate several more.
She placed the conduit on the bench and looked to O'Brian. “Okay, now just use that tricorder thing to analyze the new conduit and have the replicator make however many you need.”
O'Brian looked at her confused. “I'd need the schematics to make another one. You can't just get those from a Tricorder.”
Tali put her hand to her face mask as she listened to the excuse. “Keelah Salaigh … Alright just give me a moment.” Tali's omnitool blinked into life as she analyzed the conduit and created a set of schematics that her Omnitool's microfacturing would be able to handle. She looked to O'Brian again before she resumed typing. A nearby console blinked on and began displaying the schematics as Tali looked them over again.
“Wait, what did you just do?” O'Brian asked as he saw the screen light up.
“Tachika just hacked into your database and added the conduit's schematics.” Tali calmly explained.
“What do you mean you hacked in?” O'Brian was shocked, nobody just hacks into a Star Fleet system. At least nobody he knew of.
“Your cyber warfare suite is laughable, if I wanted I could have full control of this station already. A few Geth could probably operate the whole thing with less of a system load than you're using right now.” Tali ildy commented. “At least they could handle all the routine systems and diagnostics for you.”
“If all Quarians are as talented as you I'd certainly like to have a few on my engineering team to take some of the pressure off. Maybe even get the station up and running right for a change.” O'Brian said with a grin.
“Oh, no. I mean any Quarian could have fabricated that conduit, it's kind of important that we all know how to do things like that. But they're not all as skilled as I am, I just happen to be a pretty good engineer.”
“Even still, it would help things run a lot smoother here.”
“There are definately a few who would leap at the opportunity. Unfortunately there are food and medical needs that from what I understand cannot be met in this universe. I mean, we could probably scale back the medical needs now, but we still have to eat and there's nothing in your universe that we can eat. It took James and Lucca months of work just to make one replicator that could create dextro food. Your technology is simply not compatible with our needs.”
“Hey, I was just thinking out loud. You don't need to worry about it.” O'Brian said as he didn't want to try putting any pressure on her. She had probably just saved them a lot of work and a bureaucratic headache.
James now stood in front of Garrik trying to decide on a style that would work with Tenyo's dress. “I'm glad Janeway understands my distaste for politics, and the Klingons are good with a show of force. But those Bajoran delegates seem to collectively have the same stick up their ass. Even Salarians give up on protocol eventually.”
“Ah that may be true, but at least you always know where you stand with the Bajorans.” Garrik countered. “Since we went with silver and gold for Tenyo, perhaps for you something ivory and silver along the lines of a modified Ferengi ensemble?”
“Ferengi?”
“Yes, rich but not showy. Comfortable but not casual. And it handles the transition to quadruped better than other styles.” Garrik said before adding. “It would have to with all of the groveling that they do.”
James began to laugh again as he nodded. “Alright, you sold me.”
“Always trust your tailor.” He commented.
“Tailor yes. A designer just wants to make something showy.” James said.
“I'm hurt. You've been taking your business elsewhere?” Garrik said completely unconvincingly.
“I come to you for the important work.” James said as he shook his head.
“You don't need to spare my feelings. I understand that I'm just the man who sews your clothes.” Garrik was laying on the false injury.
“Plus, you don't ask questions when I ask for hidden pockets.” James added.
“Those pockets aren't hidden, they're just conveniently out of sight.” Garrik said offhanded.
***
“Okay, James. The Epoch engine is ready for the jump back to our time.” Tali said as she examined the readout on a translucent display floating in front of her.
“Alright. Once we get back you can take Einherriar in. Tenyo and I will be heading out for the event.” James said as he walked to the ready room.
“What if I want to take it out for a spin?” Tali joked.
“Then just be sure to not start any interplanetary incidents.” James said with a smile. He was serious about her being able to take the ship for a trip, but he also knew she would rather run engineering experiments than actually go somewhere. She had learned so much working on the ships James had brought from other universes and finding compatible technologies was quite exciting for her.
The trip complete, James once again cast his modified polymorph spell on himself and Tenyo. From there they had the computer transport them directly to Canterlot.
“CO has left the ship. Acting CO is Tali Zora.” The halfling said into the comm system.
The Gala was predictably a dull event, particularly as James and Tenyo were among the first to arrive. However, with both being versed in political events like this neither had any trouble navigating the ins and outs as the night wore on. James was mingling with Lyra Harpstrings and two others when he heard the announcement of Discord's arrival.
James grinned at the announcement as he looked to Lyra. “Well, it seems as though things will get interesting. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to watch this unfold. There's no telling just what's going to be happening now.” Which was a lie. James knew what would happen and he wanted the best view possible.
Tenyo approached James as he watched Twilight's confrontation with Discord. “I see why we're here now.”
James shook his head. “No, we're here because we were invited. I'm just taking an interest because he's here.”
Tenyo shook her head as she looked to James. “You going to get involved, or just watch?”
“Just watch for now, unless there's some way I can make things just a bit funnier.” James whispered as he brought a small vial out of a hidden pocket in his sleeve and collected some of the ooze.
“He's going to be tricky to follow blinking in and out like that.” Tenyo whispered back.
“Nah, he likes attention too much to not let us follow.” James said.
“Quite true.” Discord added as he stood behind them. “I'm glad at least somepony appreciates my company.”
James smiled as he looked to Discord. “On those lines, I think I saw Fluttershy in the other room. I'm sure she'd be quite happy to see that you're here.”
Discord sighed as he snapped his fingers and teleported away.
With the exception of Discord everything about the Gala was predictably standard. James found himself analyzing the ooze just to break up the monotony between Discord's stunts. Not that there was a great deal of time between them. Every other minute he was doing something to get Fluttershy's attention.
The only thing that really gave James a moment to leap in was when Discord removed Rarity's clothes. Even then all he did was use his wings to provide her cover while she changed.
“Do you always have back up clothes?” James whispered as Rarity got dressed behind him.
“You'd be surprised at just how often it's necessary.” She grumbled. “Thank you for your help there, dear. But I'm decent now.”
James joined the crowd that gathered as Discord attempted stand up comedy.
“He's really desperate now isn't he?” Tenyo whispered at the first couple jokes.
“Yeah. Think I should throw him a Senzu? He's dying out there.” James joked.
As the routine continued James and Tenyo made a game identifying the comic Discord was mimicking amongst each other. Even whispering their own jokes in the appropriate style.
“Of course, you know what's coming up now.” James whispered.
“I don't watch the show, so no. I don't.” Tenyo answered as she kept looking forward.
“Redrum.” James quietly said.
“Seriously?” Tenyo asked, turning his way.
“No, just the elevator scene. You might want to get to high ground now if you don't want to be walking through sludge.” James said as he turned to look behind him.
“If it breaks things up I'm fine with it.” Tenyo deadpanned.
“What … is that?” Twilight said as the laughter from Maude's heckle died down.
James leaned over to Tenyo and whispered in a high pitched voice. “Redrum, redrum.” Smiling as the green tide washed over them.
“James.” Twilight called out. “Celestia's and my magic won't work on this ooze, do you have any other magic that might?”
The scene was still fresh in his head as he turned towards the Princesses and quickly devised a reason not to act as he waded towards them. “Most slimes like this that I know of are weak to magic of all kinds. If this one's resistant then I'm afraid we just have to come up with another solution.” He quickly said.
As James and Tenyo waded around in the ooze they could hear Treehugger say something before she began to whinny.
“Is she high?” Tenyo asked as she gave a cockeyed stare at the unusual pony.
“I honestly don't know. But she's definitely a hippie.” James commented as he stared at her too.
“I don't get hippies.” Tenyo said as she shook her head.
“You were born to soon and I was born too late to get them.” As James spoke the ooze began to recede and even what he would have assumed would stain their clothes left to rejoin with it's primary mass. He felt a slight tug from his pocket as his collected sample attempted to leave it’s container.
“Perfect nonsense.” James muttered as Treehugger spoke.
He watched as Discord got angry and tore a hole between dimensions. Not quite the universal travel James was used to but something he definitely was interested in learning more about. As Discord was talking to Fluttershy James quietly tossed a small scanning device through the portal where he would connect with it's signal later and collect the data.
James motioned for Tenyo to follow him behind Twilight and the rest of the group as they stood ready to fight Discord. Until the disco ball bounced past.
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash yelped as James grabbed her and jumped back as Tenyo did the same with Pinkie Pie. “What was … Oh.”
“Rainbow Dash, this is Discord. Just trust Fluttershy to handle it. Now I'm going to get Applejack out before she drowns in there.” James said as he placed her down and quickly walked over to the Smooze.
James flew over and offered his hoof to Applejack who was now only stuck to the surface, offering his other one toTwilight. However Discord appeared and with some magical effort pulled out everything Smooze had absorbed that night, reducing it to it's original size.
A quick motion had James underneath Twilight as she was going to land on her neck if she fell the whole distance. Spreading his wings to cradle her so she didn't just slip off his back and land on her neck anyway as Rainbow Dash caught Applejack mid air and Tenyo caught Rarity just before she hit the ground. “Not that I mind, but how many times am I going to find us in this position Princess?”
Twilight closed her eyes as she moaned at his joke.
“Just remember James, you have to ask all of us before you marry her.” Tenyo said with a smile.
James feigned disappointment as he countered. “Like your brother had to ask all of them.”
Tenyo turned to him, she was always a better actress and loved one upping him I a joke. “My brother didn't need to ask.” She said, smugly.
“Really, you're doing this here? Now?” Twilight asked, exasperated as James allowed her down.
“This is the second time I've caught him cradeling you princess, what kind of wife would I be if I didn't start to question it?” Her grin clearly showed she was joking, even though the rest of the ponies couldn't see.
“Even I have to start questioning if you're doing this on purpose.” James added to Twilight’s mounting frustration and Rainbow Dash bit her lip as a couple laughs escaped.
In the distance Celestia openly laughed at the exchange.
There was a bit of clean up before the Gala resumed much as it had earlier though with a lighter atmosphere more conducive to actually enjoying the affair.
“I may actually grow to like this multiple friend thing.” Discord happily said.
“I like it too.” Maude said in her flat tone.
“Hey, it's not a party until somepony spreads magic resistant ooze uncontrollably over the ballroom.” Pinkie said before escorting the Smooze out to dance with her.
James smiled as he watched. “If you do want to discuss Chaos based magic sometime I'm actually rather interested in the subject.” James offered before walking out to the dance floor with Tenyo beside him.
Tenyo looked to James as they got in step for the dance. “Really? Why not liven things up a bit more. There's plenty of dance partners here, just bring up the tempo a bit and do your trick.”
James smiled as the music began to change, much to the surprise of the musicians. James and Tenyo danced off as James split away from himself. A technique he had learned in another universe that let him create temporary duplicates of himself. Each one left him weaker but he didn't really need strength for this since he wasn't fighting. Another turn and another clone of James broke away to collect another dance partner. Eventually there were seven clones of himself. He danced with Twilight, Celestia, Rainbow Dash, Lyra Harpstrings and Bonbon, and one clone danced beside Pinkie and Smooze.
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
James walked into the mail room as he made a habbit of doing as the girls each wrote him regularly. He collected the normal letter he always got from Fluttershy this day of the week as well as the Letter from Applejack. One he wasn’t expecting was a letter from Twilgiht.
“Dear James, I would like your help with a diplomatic mission given to me by Princess Celestia. Beyond the Crystal Empire is the kingdom of Yakyakistan. This is the first time in hundreds of moons that they've opened up their borders with Equestria. You've made it clear that you deal with first contact missions all of the time and I could use any advice you can give me. Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle”
James read the note as he walked back towards his study where he was working on propperly classifying the substance he had collected from the Smooze. “Damn, so close to going the whole letter casual.” He mumbled as he collected several sheets of paper. He sat at his desk and began to write.
“Dear Twilight, Glad to hear that you're acting in a diplomatic capacity. First, you need to understand that not all will be successful, no matter how hard you try. While I wouldn't consider this a first contact mission as Equestria has had relations with Yakyakistan before and you do in fact live quite close to each other, there are some steps you can take that should help you out. The first is important and should be something you can really throw yourself into. Study. It's important to understand all that you can about a culture when you're trying to make allies, you can then take common or shared practices, beliefs, history, etc. and build on those to start a dialog. I still have observation V.I.s in Canterlot studying the books available to help me understand Equestria better.
Honesty is important, they need to be able to trust you. Another thing that shouldn't be too hard for you.
A little secret that's helped me with some of the more irritable species I've dealt with is food. Many are slow to anger with a full stomach.
Try to be understanding. Obviously there's limits to that, but you need to understand something inoffensive, or even polite in one culture may be obscene in another. Be ready to apologize, I've done that far more than I care to admit, but when it's necessary do not let pride hold you back. Comfort is important, if they feel welcome they're more likely to be agreeable. And most important, Don't Panic. Hopefully things go well and you get to report your success to Celestia. Sincerely, James.”
James returned to send the letter before he got back to work. It was easy to lose track of time as James began testing small amounts of the viscus green fluid with various stimuli. Recording each reaction and non reaction he could find. He’d need to get to his workshop in the guild later for propper testing though.
It wasn't until late that day that the door to his study finally opened, Airi walked in and casually leaned against a nearby shelf. “You know, it's not good for your complexion to hide in the dark all day.” She said finally breaking James's concentration.
James barely raised his eyes from the microscope to check the time as he spoke. “Oh come on it not that – Holy crap, where did the day go?”
Airi smiled at him. “Like I said, you've been hiding in the dark all day. Come out for a bit, Tenyo and I are working on something.”
James grinned as he stood then promptly caught himself on his desk as his legs immediately lost sensation. “If you two are working together it's either really good, or really bad.”
“Why can't it be a bit of both?” She responded as she helped James stand until he was able to move his legs again.
The next week James had another letter waiting for him, once again from Twilight. It was an invitation for him and his family to attend a friendship party in Ponyville centered around the Yaks.
“Think your advice helped her with the Yaks at all?” Lucca asked, remembering where they were in the time line.
“No idea until we go there.” As James spoke he ran through everything he could remember about the scenario. “But my guess is that it didn't. She's a bit neurotic.”
Lucca nodded as she thought about it. Thankfully Twilight wasn't as neurotic as some they knew. Just enough to be predictable. “True enough. Well, it's a chance to let the girls have some fun in a safe place and we can take a break while we're there. Also, Airi wanted me to bother you about working on the project some more.”
***
James stood out in the daylight, Lucca and Tali standing next to him as Amber and Sara ran around playing games. Tenyo and Airi were back in New Guardia working on their project again.
“Now Yaks happy. No declare war.” Prince Rutherford said, wiping a tear from his eye.
Celestia was taken aback at the statement, never realizing just how close to war they had been. James smiled at the entire scene.
James leaned in as Twilight smiled at Celestia. “Now this will be a good story.” He whispered. “I've got a few of my own too if you want to hear them later.”
“Friends for a thousand moons!” Prince Rutherford declared, causing a cheer to rise from the gathering.
“I am very impressed Princess.” Celestia said warmly.
Twilight's reply was awkward as she forced a nonchalant laugh. “Just doing my best to spread friendship.”
Celestia knew it wasn't as smooth as Twilight wanted it to appear, but she appreciated everything they had done. “And you did a wonderful job of it.” Celestia paused to add emphasis to her statement. “You and your friends.”
James caught Twilight as she started to walk off. “I knew you could do it.” He quietly said to her before walking away.
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
James got an alert from his primary V.I. in Canterlot's library. Clearly something needed his attention.
The images he got had nothing to do with any of the V.I.'s research, instead they showed him pictures of Twilight trying to talk to Moondancer. James had noticed her in reports that had been filed, and recognized the look on her face. One he had seen in the mirror hundreds of times. With that he gave the V.I. a secondary command to alert him if her routine changed at all. Even knowing how things went in the show, James wanted to be sure that everything turned out well. He'd already had an impact and wanted to ensure he didn't make things worse.
James's omnitool blinked to life as he checked his schedule for the next few days. Thankfully there was no summit that would tie him in the present. He didn't want to get directly involved, it was weird enough that he knew about this, even the explanation wouldn't help much.
James spent the next couple days checking on Twilight's Castle, if he wasn't going to get involved he could at least make sure it turned out well. These were Twilight's friends after all, not his.
The second day James came he waited until long after sunset, he had an idea about what was going on but that wasn't enough to settle his nerves. If his influence caused things to go south here he would have to reevaluate his interaction with them. Dawn came and went and James sat in the foyer of the castle, imagining each way things could have gone wrong, with only a few ways it could have gone right.
Twilight's magic brought James out of his introspection and he watched her enter the castle smiling with Spike.
“Oh, James. Hello, I wasn't expecting to see you.” She said more than a little surprised. “Is everything alright?” Clearly James's night sitting and thinking showed on his face.
James took a breath and decided to skip right to the reason he was here. “That depends. How's Moondancer?”
Twilight's mouth dropped. How did James know Moondancer? How did his being here have anything to do with her? When did he meet her? Why hadn't this come up earlier?
“You know Moondancer?” Twilight eventually asked.
James shook his head. “I know of her. I've made connections throughout Equestria, and the V.I. I have in the Canterlot library brought her to my attention. I recognized the look on her face immediately and told the V.I. to alert me of any changes in her routine. Well it let me know you were there when you disrupted her routine. … I just want to know that she's alright.”
Twilight had so many more questions now, and not the least of which was about just how serious James sounded at that moment. Moondancer had been in good spirits when she left, and had realized that she had friends whether she intended to or not. What was it James recognized about her face?
“She's doing well, she just needed to know she had friends.” Twilight said. “What was it about the look on her face that you recognized?”
James shifted uncomfortably. “I've seen it hundreds of times and it doesn't have good connotations. I'm glad you were able to show her she had friends.”
Twilight was still confused, James was never this serious. “You should have told me you were concerned for her, I'd have invited you to her party too and you could have talked to her yourself.”
James stared blankly at her for a moment. “I don't think that would have gone well.” James said as he began to improvise a scene as he saw it occurring.
“Hi Moondancer, I'm James. A machine I built has been showing me pictures of you and I just wanted to ask if you were feeling alright.” James cocked his eyebrow as he finished.
“Anything sounds bad when you say it like that.” Spike said as he jumped down from Twilight's back. “But showing concern for somepony else isn't weird.”
Twilight nodded in agreement before adding. “Exactly. It would also be just as true to say that you noticed she looked down and you wanted to know how she was doing.”
James gave her a half smile. “Would she have been receptive to some crazy guy walking up to her and trying to make friends?”
Twilight couldn't exactly deny James had a point, but how did he know that. And how was he able to guess her words so accurately. “I get what you mean, but sometimes that's all you need.”
James chuckled. “Sometimes. But I told you, I've seen that look hundreds of times. In my experience that almost never works, and has on occasion made things worse. Besides, you were already her friend once.”
How did he know that?!
Twilight's look clearly told him he had to come up with some excuse to know that. “Tali's friends with Lyra and Minuet.” He said with a shrug. It was the truth, Tali was friends with most of the mares in Ponyville now. And as much as they talked it was bound to have been mentioned in passing at least once.
Twilight couldn’t deny that, Tali did love talking about fond childhood memories, she'd even suggested a girls night where they would all watch her favorite movie Fleet and Flotilla. So far it was only her Fluttershy and Rarity who accepted. “Well James. You should at least meet her sometime.”
James nodded. “Sometime.” He calmly said.
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
James was used to getting mail from Equestria, mostly from individuals he had met while he visited. But an invitation certainly cheered up his day. This was for him alone and it was expected to last only a couple hours. With a shrug James gave his RSVP and got himself ready. He thought about how rarely there were events he would attend up in New Guardia, and how these ponies were making a genuine effort to include him. He couldn't help but feel a little strange at the whole situation, but quite flattered.
Did they really think of him as a friend to try to bring him around so often? He expected Fluttershy to keep him informed about what was going on around her so he was always up to date on recent events. Pinkie Pie would occasionally drop in, often in the middle of the night, and had somehow managed to rig her letters to spray confetti when opened.
He would go help Applejack and Big Mac often enough that they would sometimes jokingly call him Green Apple again. Twilight would write him at least weekly, there was a lot she wanted to know. Rainbow Dash had even invited him to a Wonder Bolts event, she didn't fly in it but she still got him in.
Rarity would write him asking for materials only he could get for her, and subtly suggest that he bring them personally and visit for a while. James had even made a mail box for the CMCs to keep in touch with his daughters, who were overjoyed at not only having pen pals but being able to send them letters whenever they wanted.
Around the castle they began to joke that James was planning another big wedding. Teasing him by saying that's the only reason he would be overcoming his notoriously reclusive nature. Or that he intends to live up to his namesake and sleep with as many sentient species as he can. It was easy enough to laugh off.
James decided that he should make a regular event where he could bring them up to New Guardia, something like a movie night that they could all attend, maybe a game night would be better. He'd work out the details later. He had a boutique opening to get to. Mercifully he didn't have to dress up for the event.
James waited patiently at the Canterlot station for the train from Ponyville to arrive, he had the address Rarity had included on the invitation but he'd rather arrive with the whole group and not strangely early, despite opting to come directly to Canterlot and not stop in Ponyville first. James marveled at just how small Equestria really was as he thought about how long it took Pinkie Pie to travel from the rough center to it's northern most edge. It was entirely possible that the whole population could comfortably reside in his smallest park on the station. The entire current population of the station took up less than one percent of the space available in it's largest park where they now lived.
He pushed those thoughts aside as he heard familiar voices coming his way. Without as much as a shrug he approached them and they walked to the new Boutique. James smiled as he looked at the building's design. Not whimsical even with it's peacock like desire for attention. James genuinely liked the design, if not the décor.
He quietly watched in the background as everyone marveled at the boutique. Satisfied at his unusual ability to be ignored as Sassy Saddles didn't even acknowledge his presence as he stood behind the group. James bit his lip at every smart ass comment he wanted to make while everything was explained. He didn't want to be rude after being invited here. He wasn't able to hold it indefinitely, but his comment on Rarity's alliteration seemed to pass without notice.
James's eyes crossed and he literally bit his lip as he held himself back from making the joke that Sassy intended for him to wear the dress. More than one sour look graced the faces of the group as the doors opened and Sassy stole Rarity's thunder. “Maybe she needs to be reminded of who pays her.” James commented after Applejack murmured similar distaste for Sassy.
“Is it just me or is that guy by Rarity way too excited? … Probably just me.” James whispered as the mini fashion show went on. James litterally bit his lip to keep himself from saying something horribly inappropriate as the overly excited unicorn seemed to only get more excited.
James buried his face in his hooves as he listened to Sassy completely dismiss Rarity's role not only as dress maker, but as the owner. Cursing himself that if he interfered it would likely make things worse. He actually growled as he heard Sassy manipulate Rarity into doing things how she wanted.
James approached Rarity as they were getting ready to leave. “Just my opinion, so do with it what you will. But it sounds to me like Sassy needs a reminder of just who owns this boutique. Take care, I'll see you when I can.”
James came back in secret for the next few days, his daughters reminded him there was something worth rescuing from the trash. He knew how much that spark of creativity meant to her as she tried to get out from under the suffocating demands of her employee. James sneaked a small bag of coins into her Boutique before he went back to New Guardia. Perhaps Sara could wear it when she got older.
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
James, Lucca, Tali, Amber, and Sara gathered at Sugar Cube Corner. They'd all been invited to a party concerning the CMCs getting their cutie marks. As always Tali was socializing with anyone around her, Lucca was enjoying the festivities, Amber and Sara were practically glued to the CMCs, and James watched from the back. Not just because he was reclusive. There was magic he knew here, a faint distortion in the distance let him know that someone was using an invisibility spell to hide themselves.
He wasn't going to bring out his omnitool openly to scan, but there was something he could do.
Only one in the invisibility field noticed as James approached. He wasn't too concerned about it though, he knew exactly what was going to happen. He just let his two guests watch the party in peace.
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
Tenyo Airi and James finally had the first part of their project done. It took months of research, planning and scripting, but it was now time to begin the hard work. Evaluating candidates then moving on to training and finally execution. James had to admit he was nervous about this. Even the best candidate had problems they would have to overcome, as well as not having the most satisfying conclusion. But they had discussed everything as they worked. Even as they planned for the other candidates they were anticipating this. But it was something they were too far into to just back out of now. James just needed to discuss it with a few others before they could begin.
Celestia watched as James approached. While he would come and visit her and her sister, it was usually not preceded with a request for a private audience. Not even her guards were privy to the talk, he had insisted on it.
Luna was just raising the moon and would join them momentarily.
Celestia couldn't help but notice James's wide smile as he got closer. It was hard to tell if this was a good or bad thing, but it would certainly be an interesting talk this evening.
“Pleasure as always, Celestia.” James said as he bowed slightly.
“It's certainly a pleasure to see you in high spirits, James.” Celestia commented calmly.
James could hardly stand still as he spoke, his wings twitching as he attempted to sit before Celestia. “I understand that Luna will be along in a moment, but I am eager to start talking.”
Celestia nodded as she watched the chestnut alicorn. “I'll not stop you.”
James's face lit up at the comment as he levitated a book from his saddle bag. “Well, there's been a suggestion made in New Guardia. A suggestion made by Airi and Tenyo, agreed upon by Lucca and Tali, and signed off on by Liara.”
Celestia couldn't help but notice the specific list of names James had given her. “James, perhaps we should wait for Luna after all. If this suggestion is what it sounds to be, we'll need her opinion.” Her smile faded as she spoke, showing the concern just beneath the surface.
James nodded eagerly. “Of course, but while we wait feel free to look through the suggestion as it is written.”
Celestia took the book and began to read, her smile returning as she continued.
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
The next day found James in Ponyville, helping out however he could with the concert Applejack was arranging. Bringing his daughters along with Tali and Lucca and even some of his extended family just for the headliner, though he was interested in hearing the rest of the performers. And he was all too happy to help out the charity.
James didn't say much as he helped, offering only a comment here and there. Informing Applejack that one reason some musicians make bizarrely specific demands of small things like separating colors in fruit or candy is so if they see the small things were handled they don't have to worry about the important things.
That night James was surprised to find several lights beside him. Lucca and Sara had lit the tips of their horns and even Tali had her omnitool showing.
As the song ended Tali nudged James. “You were the one who wanted to come to this, why didn't you light up?”
James smiled as he watched the CMCs climb onto stage. “Mine's black, no one would see it.” He whispered, not taking his eyes off stage.
The next day James was once again in Ponyville, in addition to helping take down the setup for the concert, he was there for another purpose.
It was just as everyone started leaving that James approached Rainbow Dash. “Hey there. Feel like going for a fly?”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Sure, what's up?”
James couldn't help himself, it had been too long since he'd made a dad joke. “Us, soon enough.” With it out of his system his hooves lifted gently off the ground.
“If you're going to use flight as a reason to have wings, you might want to actually use them. Or not change your shape.” She deadpanned.
James just shrugged. “This is just the form they know me in now. And it's best to keep that I'm not a pony to just a group of those I trust.” He said as he and Rainbow Dash climbed higher into the sky.
“Like Zephyr?” Rainbow Dash dryly asked as they climbed into the air.
“Who'd believe him?” James said with a dismissive shrug. “You’re the one who told me he thought geometric clouds were going to be a thing. I mean they could be a fad, but a more natural look is so much more satisfying.”
“I guess I can see that. You can't let just anypony into New Guardia.” Rainbow Dash admitted.
“Along those lines, there's some people in New Guardia who'd like to meet you.” James said as they finished their assent. He spread his wings as a particularly large cloud slowly lumbered past. Allowing himself to glide slowly downwards. “Want to punch through that cloud?” He offered with a grin.
“Sure, it's supposed to be clear today anyway.” Rainbow Dash adjusted her angle and James matched hers and they both dove towards the white mass.
Rainbow Dash knew immediately when they shifted to New Guardia as the feeling of the cloud changed. It was much thinner and it didn't offer any resistance. As they came out of their dive she turned to James. “I didn't know you could do that anywhere you liked.” She said, genuinely surprised.
“I figured the dive would make the vertigo more tolerable.” James shrugged.
“You know I didn't say I'd meet with them.” Rainbow Dash said with a grin as she adjusted to fly along beside him. While she wasn't paying attention her mind was reeling with the new information she was suddenly taking in.
“I know, I can take you back at any time. This is just to ensure we can talk without having to worry about my not paying attention to where I'm flying.” James said as he glided along.
“I'm here anyway so who're these people who want to meet me?” Rainbow Dash said nonchalantly.
James smiled. “Here, let me show you.” Once again James went into a dive, aiming for the castle.
Rainbow Dash landed just after James in the castle's private gardens, where James grew his fruits and vegetables. Waiting for them was a regal looking woman with long green hair and flattering elaborate white and purple robes.
“Rainbow Dash.” James calmly said. “May I present Lady Seto Kimiki Jurai.”
The name sounded familiar to Rainbow Dash, like something she had heard once but forgotten almost immediately. There was something important about the name too. She could tell by James's natural use of her title and full name that this woman was someone important. Rainbow Dash began to bow but James caught her and shook his head.
“It's a pleasure to meet you, Rainbow.” Lady Seto said. “There's been a suggestion made, and I would like to see how well you fit into the role that's been chosen for you. Be aware that this was not made lightly nor without a great deal of planning. Please follow me.” She said as she walked off.
Rainbow Dash looked to James confused and he just smiled. “You don't want to keep the Devil Princess waiting.” He said.
Devil Princess?! That she remembered but nothing about her, just that she had earned that name. Was she really powerful enough to make James do whatever she pleased?
Rainbow Dash hurried to catch up to her as she waited by a small platform. Once Seto and her stepped on they were surrounded by light, it was blinding but not painful and as it went away she noticed that they were no longer in any part of New Guardia that she knew.
“Where are we?” She marveled as she looked around the wooden structure. It looked as though it had grown into the shape it had now and had only needed to be smoothed out. Above them she saw a partial canopy confirming her belief that this was a tree and beyond the canopy was a field of stars. In the distance she saw a table that also appeared to be part of the structure where Lucca Tali Tenyo and a woman she vaguely remembered as Airi sat talking. There was one other woman, an Asari that she knew she should know but she simply couldn't remember.
“We're aboard my ship, I thought it best that we not have our discussion where others would hear us as this matter is one of total secrecy. Only bringing in others as they need to know.”
James had changed back to his normal form and was now in one of the holosuites playing Minecraft as he waited for their meeting to end. He was fairly confident about it's outcome but there was always a chance things could go south. He was fine in either event, but he had worked hard on this for months beside Airi and Tenyo. He was just beginning to place a layer of dirt on the floor to continue the slowly extending grassy field of his cavern when he heard voices approaching him from behind.
Lucca and Rainbow Dash approached from the forest that ended more than a hundred meters back. Lucca's expression changed suddenly as she looked his direction, a sly smile replacing the grin she had. James continued to lay dirt as they approached.
“You know, you could have just asked me yourself.” Rainbow Dash said as she got close.
“Yeah, but I thought they could explain it better.” He answered as he leaned back in the hole he currently stood in. “So what do you think about it?”
“I like it.” She said with a smile.
James nodded as he smiled himself. “So for now how about I come and get you once a week. And be sure to let me know about any plans you have and that come up. I don't want you to miss anything because of this.”
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Is it wrong that I kind of want to write a lunch conversation between Garrik and Applejack. These two polar opposites would be rather interesting. Garrik constantly lying but throwing in just enough truth to be believable and even being proud that he's lying when caught.
James has how many wives!?
9631002
This requires a lot of explanation.
Lucca: met her and married when young (comparatively). This is his wife. Married to her longest (nearly two centuries now) and they actually are a couple.
From here Jurai got political power over him and Lady Seto has used him as a tool to gain political influence in other universes. Every time I've seen her do this it's been through marriage.
Tenyo: Political Marriage. They're friends, that's it. Lady Seto's niece (removed by a bit) and her primary role in being there is to keep an eye on him for Seto.
Liara: Political Marriage. As shown in Mass Effect one she doesn't particularly care if she's with someone who's already in a relationship. But she's not involved with him, doesn't even live in the same building. Married only as a technicality. She's there because Seto wanted her skills and information web in her universe Liara is there because James's Technology and access to multiple universes provides her with resources she doesn't have access to any other way.
Tali: This time it's in a grey area, It was political at first on his part. As pointed out, women are his weakness and with all the traits Tali shares with Lucca he found himself in that part that so many jerks like him fall into. And he at first literally ran away from her. He still went out of his way to help her and Tenyo noted this. As an admiral in the Quarian fleet she was also a political figure. This served as too tempting bait for Seto to pass up and set a trap to get them together. She also worked to get Lucca on board, smoothing over the fight James and Lucca were having (that he admits to being on the wrong side of). For specifics, I don't actually know as in Tenchi Seto manages to get groups of women to go after the same guy and be okay with it in the end with no explanation.
I'm not trying to say James is a good guy, definitely not a moral guy. Also, pointed out later, none of these women are stuck with him. They're free to pursue other relationships.
TL;DR: 4
9631002
This will look much worse before it gets better. Just remember, Airi (I just realized I've been misspelling her name) planned this out with Tenyo.