Chapter 17: The Council of Four Kingdoms
Kirk straightened his uniform one final time, incessantly fiddling with the various sparkly golden trim that was associated with the uniforms of high-ranking officers. It was of course green, the most stylish color known short of brown, but it had to be perfect. Which of course it was.
He turned to Spock. “How do I look?”
“Slightly overweight. Which is to be expected for a human of your age.”
“Apart from that, Spock?”
“Captain, I would say that your appearance meets at least the bare minimum of adequacy for a critical diplomatic meeting.”
“Yes, Spock, I know you don’t approve of it, but this is our only option!”
Spock raised an eyebrow. “I had not said that, Captain.”
“No, but you were thinking it.”
“I certainly was, Captain. Your human intuition is astounding. However, my assessment of the situation is indeed correct.”
“And so is mine.” Kirk brushed the wrinkles out of his dress uniform yet again. “And considering that, Spock, I could really use your help in there.”
“And what, exactly, would you expect me to accomplish, Captain? I am a scientist, not a diplomat.”
“And now you’re starting to sound like Bones. You were never one for excuses, Spock. I’d almost say you’re afraid.”
“Of public speaking, of embarrassing myself before the god-rulers of a planet, or of creating a cataclysmic galacto-political situation from performing duties beyond my training? No, Captain, I am not afraid in the slightest, considering that I would never personally attempt a task so inadvisable.”
Kirk sighed. “Thanks, Spock. I feel MUCH better.”
Kirk was not normally one to feel nervous about much of anything in particular. Diplomacy, though, was most certainly not his forte. Mainly because Spock was right—as usual—and it was not the correct duty of a Starfeet Captain. At least not on this scale. There were diplomats for a reason. The Council and the offices of the Federation government had their own special operatives for this. Individuals dedicated specifically to the complicated minutia of interfacing with complex cultures and forging treaties, rules, and policies. It was, ironically, something the Vulcans excelled at. Supposedly because they were so incredibly and infuriatingly level-headed. Or, in Kirk’s opinion, because their long lifetimes gave them the ability to outlast other races during the paperwork.
That said, emergency situations were indeed within his purview. And this was one. A negotiation that required a rapid response without the red tape—or tape of any color, for that matter. Straight to the point. And, in that respect, Kirk was excited. This was something new. He had never done it before.
The hardest part, he was sure, was just finding the place. The castle had unusual architecture, with a design that was ornate and beautiful but quite possibly physically impossible. It was astounding that small horses had managed to construct a castle like this into the side of an enormous dilithium-packed cliff, let alone the city around it.
So, in effect, he became mostly lost. Until he felt a strange sensation and smelled something similar to vanilla cake. Still unsure how she could possibly be so silent, he turned before she could startle him.
This, however, did not work. Upon seeing her, Kirk was startled—just in a different way than he had expected. His first and most immediate thought was that he had come under-dressed.
She was beautiful, and also terrifying in a way that made Kirk feel uncomfortably confused. Her normal minimalistic clothing had been replaced with a dress of exquisite detail, or perhaps a robe of pure-white silk, draped over a breastplate and leg armor that appeared wrought with various abstract shapes, apparently from gold or something similar. Despite wearing the robes and cloth, it was apparent that this particular costume had been derived from a period when a Princess had served a far more violent role in world politics. An age where diplomacy required armor and lethal magic. It was the style that her younger sister wore constantly—but on Celestia, it was somehow desperately frightening. As if where Luna wore her armor as a symbol and a threat, Kirk got the impression that Celestia’s, though shiny and polished now, had seen a great deal of “diplomacy” in the past twenty centuries.
She smiled. “Oh my, don’t you look stunning!”
“I—uh—am—what—big—pony—”
Celestia covered her mouth go giggle. “Oh my, you’re embarrassing me! I hardly ever get a chance to wear this, and to be honest I’ve put on a bit of weight in the past two hundred years since the sugar beet was invented.”
“You...um...” Kirk bowed. “Your Majesty. Good morning.”
Celetsia giggled again. “Oh my, so formal! Why don’t you walk to the chamber with me, Federation Diplomat James Kirk?”
Kirk smiled. “I would be honored to, your Majesty.”
They began walking. Celestia of course knew the way to go. She lived in the castle for millennia--and, unknown to Kirk, had been the one who built it.
“You seem very energetic,” observed Kirk.
“I am! This is so exciting! I hadn’t even thought of calling a diplomatic meeting with the Equestrian Council. This NEVER happens. It gets so dull with the day-to-day operations, you know, but now...” She paused. “Well, it may seem strange for me to say...”
“What is it?”
“Well, it just makes it so REAL. Like, aliens. Are real. But you don’t just exist, this is...oh, this is actually happening!” She cleared her throat, and tried to regain her formal composure. “I’m sorry. I’m getting too giddy. But I feel like I’m ninety again!”
“Well, if the others are as cheerful as you are, then this should be a great time.”
Celestia’s expression fell. “Well...I mean, I don’t want to scare you, but...they might not be so enthusiastic. But you’ve already met Luna, and she seems to like you.”
“Really?”
“As much as she likes anypony I suppose. But the other two monarchs are...harder to predict. And they don’t like to be in the same room as one another.”
Kirk chuckled, and Celestia seemed surprised.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Why? Your Majesty, if this were easy, there wouldn’t be a challenge. And if there wasn’t a challenge, how would it possibly be fun?”
Celestia stared at him in awe, then cleared her throat—but part of her own apprehension seemed to have left her.
The chamber had, of course, a door, and in accordance with pony designs it was enormous and striking. Adding to the mystical atmosphere, there were two gold-clad unicorns with heavy spears standing by it. They pulled back the spears as their sovereign approached, and the door opened inward silently by some unseen and probably incomprehensible mechanism.
“I will introduce you personally,” said Celestia. “Technically I’m sponsoring you for the meeting, which is procedural minutia that you don’t need to worry about it.”
“Is there anything I should know?”
“That’s up to you. You need to figure that part out. If it helps, imagine us all naked.” She smiled. “Or, at the very least, imagine me naked.”
Kirk did not have a chance to rebut. He found himself in the chamber, and realized that it was far more imposing than he had expected.
He had interpreted it as something like a conference room, with a table, but in fact found something more similar to an amphitheater or lecture hall. Or an angular arena. He and Celestia were at the bottom, a region surrounded by sheer walls about ten feet high to an upper terrace. That was where the delegates sat, waiting, and watching him enter.
There was of course Luna, dressed in her own silver-white armor. The design was like a heavier version of Celestia’s, at once more practical and somehow less so. There was no pretense of using it as anything except a tool for combat, but with its high segmented collar and round helmet it had somehow the opposite effect, making it seem almost silly—a silliness which was negated entirely by the piercing gaze of her cat-like, turquoise eyes.
At her side stood Tempest, the unicorn with a broken horn, and Spitfire, both in ceremonial armor. Advisors or guards, or both, Kirk assumed. Because the other delegates had similar personnel.
Celestia was meant to sit to the left of Luna, and to Celestia's left left there sat a thin pony. Like Luna and Celestia, she was a winged unicorn—although smaller than the other two, with a mane that did not have the same plasmatic effect that Celestia and Luna’s did.
Whatever culture she came from, it was apparent that it was cold. She wore a heavy coat with a hood, its shoulders trimmed with a strange white fur. Her jewelry was made from an unknown bluish metal but consisted mostly of crystal which, to Kirk’s horror, was probably dilithium—carved ornately into jewels and gemstones in various colors, some luminescent and some oddly dark. The design, though, was ominous in its own right. It did not look like jewelry. It looked like restraints.
She had brought two with her. One was, in Kirk’s view, a shambling mass of crystal in the shape of a pony. A crystalline being that was apparently alive and that regarded him with its strange, large eyes. The other was a pony as well, but one that was smaller than usual, with a slightly flattened slouching appearance. A pony whose entire body was covered in an onyx-colored pressure suit and who wore an extensive respirator mask. Kirk also noted that on his chest, he wore an intricate mechanical device consisting of a disk of strange white metal. It matched the one that the Crystal Princess wore on her chest, and both ticked quietly in unison.
The Crystal Princess looked up, and Kirk shivered. Her gaze was icy, filled with complete and utter disdain for having been brought here—and she at once seemed to be regarding him with that same disdain, and looking though him, dismissing him as something irrelevant that had interrupted her own activities. Her sclera were stained a strange and unnatural color, and her tiny pupils seemed almost luminescent.
The other delegate sat to Luna’s right. He was male, a rarity on this planet, and lacked wings. He was a white unicorn—and he looked horrifically unhealthy. His body was disturbingly gaunt and pale, the shining white of his coat replaced with a gray pallor. His blue mane, tied back neatly, was now mostly silver. His eyes were empty, cloudy green—and probably blind from whatever disease was consuming him. Like Luna, he wore armor—but it was not made of metal. Kirk was not completely sure what it was made of, but it was dark gray with green components at the joints—and Kirk took it to be the chitin of some vast insect.
His guard, though, Kirk had seen before—but this time the stallion was making no pretext of being a pony, or the pretext that the chitin that covered his body was actually armor. His face was still roughly that of a white unicorn, but his eyes were those of an insect.
The other he had brought was seated beside him. She wore the same armor, but had a much more pony-like appearance, with pale yellow fur and cyan hair tied back neatly. She had a quill in her mouth and was quickly documenting the meeting on a scroll.
“Introducing,” said Celestia, “Captain James T. Kirk of the Starfleet vessel Enterprise, delegate of the United Federation of Planets. He is a human, from the planet Earth.” Celestia stepped forward and looked to her sister, then to Kirk. “Luna, Princess of the Night, Empress of the Moon and the Lunar Empire, Guardian of the Dream Realm.” She gestured to the thin, pink-colored mare. “Princess Mi’Amore Cadenza. Empress of the Crystal Empire, Queen of Depths, and Lady of Eternal Frost.”
The Cadenza nodded slightly, finally acknowledging Kirk’s presence with anything except a glare. Celestia then turned her attention to the gaunt, sickly stallion.
“Shining Armor, Second-Scion of House Twilight, King-Consort of the Changeling Imperial Hive.”
The king bowed. “My wife sends her regrets that she cannot attend this meeting in person.”
“We do not,” snapped Cadenza, quietly, earning her a glare from the king.
Celestia spread her wings and, much to Kirk’s surprise, proved that they were actually functional. She took flight to her own seat between Luna and Cadenza. She, unlike the others, had no advisors or guards—but there was a smaller chair next to her. One marked with an image of two overlayed six-pointed stars. A chair that stood empty.
Kirk was not the only one that noticed this.
“Will my sister not be attending?” asked the king, his dull eyes turning toward Celestia.
Celestia sighed. “I’m afraid she is busy with reworking our FTL prototype.”
“She could not be bothered to attend her own brother’s wedding,” growled Cadenza, her voice icy. “I don’t see why she would bother with a pointless meeting like this one.”
“You would be wise,” snapped Luna, “dear niece, to not disparage this sacred convening. Our sister hath called it, and we hath taken the time to attend. Showeth some respect.”
Cadenza sighed, and stood up. She gestured to Celestia. “Princess Celestia, Lord of the Sun, the Divine Light of Equestria, Conqueror of Chaos, Slayer of the Death-God Daybreaker, Eternal Champion of Harmony.” She said the mandatory introduction with respect, but with no apparent reverence or emotion beyond what was necessary.
“Thank you, Cadence,” said Celestia. “But you don’t need to use all the titles--”
“You have the most out of all of us. Why shouldn’t I use them all?” She said this while staring straight at Luna.
The pony writing with her mouth set down her quill and leaned to her king, whispering into his ear. He nodded.
“My stepdaughter would like to submit a request, Captain Kirk.” He nodded to her. “Ocellus would like you to hold up your hand, if you would, so she can get a better look at it.”
Kirk found this strange. “Sure,” he said, holding up his hand and flexing his fingers.
The secretary girl held out her own hoof, mimicking the gesture, and in a flash of green light and the sound of bone splitting and reconfiguring she closed her own hand into a fist. Where a pony had been sitting before now sat a mousy human teenager, dressed in the human equivalent of her gray-black chitin armor. She gave him a weak smile and picked up her quill. “Thank you,” she said. “That will make it a lot easier to write.”
Kirk nodded. “That’s a neat trick.”
“Thank you,” said the king, nodding. “She is very talented. Almost as much so as her mother.”
“At shapeshifting into disgusting monsters?” Cadenza laughed. “Of course she is, she doesn’t need to even shift for that, does she?”
Celestia slammed her hooves down on the ground, causing all present to jump in fright.
“Need I remind you that this is a FORMAL diplomatic meeting with an alien delegate?” she snapped. “A delegate that you just insulted, as well as insulting an allied queen? This meeting is meant to SOLVE problems. If I failed at raising you and you’re going to be a brat, GET OUT OF MY CASTLE.”
“We second our sister’s opinion,” added Luna. “Although we respect your brash audacity, dear niece.”
Celestia turned to Kirk. “My apologies, Captain.”
“It’s not a problem, Your Majesty. I’ve been called much worse, but never by a Princess before.”
“Not to thine face, no,” noted Luna.
Celestia cleared her throat. “I’ve called this meeting at the request of the Captain,” she said. “Tell us, Mr. Kirk, what is it the issue you wish to bring before the Council?”
Kirk stepped forward, producing an object. A formality, one that some races found absurd or even insulting—but he had already gained enough understanding of pony culture to know that they would prefer this format over others.
He stepped forward and held out the scroll. Celestia’s horn glowed, and the scroll was lifted from his hands and to her.
Celestia smiled. “What is this?”
“This is a formal invitation to you, and to your world, to join the United Federation of Planets.”
The smile fell from Celestia’s face. “Excuse me?”
“If it would please Your Majesties, I would like to plead my case before this Council.”
“It would not please me,” sighed Cadenza. “I have a great deal of work to do, ruling my Empire. I don’t like being above ground this long. It’s bright and smells like insects.”
“I would be interested in hearing what the Captain has to say,” suggested Shining Armor, calmly. “I’m afraid I don’t really know what he is requesting.”
“We do not wish to take the time," sighed Luna. "We know our answer already. But we think we are going to hear it anyway.”
Celestia nodded. “Go ahead, Captain Kirk. I think this is something we all need to hear.”
Kirk nodded back to her, grateful for the opinion. “It came to my attention recently that this planet contains a significant quantity of natural resources. Specifically crystals. I saw them first-hand in the abandoned mines under the castle.”
“I am familiar with them,” growled Cadenza. “I was held prisoner there while a giant insect married my fiance.” She shot a withering glare at Shining Armor, who sighed.
“A legally binding marriage through which I was able to finally negotiate peace between Equestria and the Imperial Hive, ending a thousand-year cold-war and allying the two most powerful nations on the planet.”
“Yes. Impressive for a stallion who couldn’t tell the difference between his ten-year marefriend and a BUG. Or maybe you just like being surrounded by a society entirely of sterile females?” She said this while staring at Ocellus, who shrank partially beneath the table.
Shining Armor just stared at her, and then smiled weakly. “I did what I had to do.” He turned to Kirk. “My apologies, Captain. The political situation here is...messy. Please continue.”
Kirk nodded. “The crystals are what we call dilithium. If Spock were here, he could tell you the specifics of it, but essentially it produces the containment necessary for our warp-drives to operate it. Without it, our faster-than-light technology can’t function.”
“How peculiar.” Celestia actually seemed intrigued. Kirk was vaguely aware from Scottie's reports that whatever system they used did not require dilithium at all—which was completely absurd, considering the fact that their planet had a higher concentration than any known in the galaxy. “Do you need some?”
“Thank you, but no. It’s more...complicated.” He sighed. “Dilithium is normally extremely rare. We can’t manufacture it. It has to be mined.”
“The crystals in that cavern are depleted,” said Cadenza. “They are worthless.”
“To you, maybe. But to us, they are still pure, high-grade dilithium.” He paused. “We do not normally invite a planet this quick. This is a very unusual situation. But--”
“You are concerned with plundering our resources,” sighed Luna. “How typical.”
Celestia seemed gravely concerned. “Jim, is that true?”
Kirk shook his head. “No, but her insight isn’t wrong. The Federation is a peaceful union of independent planets working toward a common goal of exploration and scientific achievement to benefit all races on all worlds. But I’m not going to lie. The Federation would be interested in that quantity of dilithium—and that’s the problem. Because so would everyone else.”
“Everyone...else?”
“The galaxy is...well, I guess it’s like this planet. If you think of the Federation like Equestria. But there’s other people, and not all of them are nice.”
“So you claim,” said Luna. “If there are, let them come. None shall pillageth our resources, for we shall repel them with maximal vigor!”
“You’re not understanding me,” snapped Kirk. “You’re sitting on the largest supply of dilithium in the known galaxy, but your planet is in unclaimed space--”
“It is claimed by us. And all who dispute said claim shall meet their fate at the end of a sword.”
Kirk shook his head. “No. No they won’t.”
Luna stood up. “You doubt our VIGOR? Our very VIM?!”
“Your planet is a unique case. Your technology...it didn’t advance the same way as it did everywhere else.”
“So you’re calling us primitive,” sighed Cadenza.
“Yes.”
Luna sat up. “Excuse us--”
“You have one prototype warp ship. Just one. And your only space weapon is space laser with a power output just high enough to run a coffee replicator. Celestia. Your Highness. How many ponies are on this planet?”
“Oh my...well, we only conduct the census once every seven years, but...about five hundred thousand.”
“And another fifty thousand upon mine moon,” said Luna. “Far more than on your so-called ‘advanced’ vessel.”
“That’s right. On ONE vessel. We have over eight thousand.”
The eyes of all present widened in shock, save for Shining Armor. He only listened, diligent or perhaps dead, having been finally depleted of all his various juices.
“Surely such is...” Luna shook her head. “That would be...”
“The population of Earth alone is over twenty billion. The Federation has over one hundred fifty planets. And that’s just the Federation. The Klingons, the Romulans, the Skorr, the Breen. Billions upon billions of them.”
Celestia stepped to the front of the ledge. “What are you saying, Captain?”
“That they will come. For the dilithium. And they will bring armies. And...” He paused, not sure if he wanted to say it, but decided that it needed to be said. “It’s not just the dilithium they’ll take.”
“What, then?” asked Shining Armor, sounding intrigued.
“Dilithium takes months to mechanically mine. It needs to be cut on multiple dimensions at once.” He looked to Celetsia. “But your people can do it almost instantly.”
“What...what are you saying?”
“That we will be enslaved,” said Shining Armor. “Unicorns, at least. That whatever force takes Equestria will force us to mine for them.” He faced Kirk. “Or be exported. Sent to whatever mines they use now for their ships. Be they habitable to ponies or not.”
“Exactly,” said Kirk. “Princesses. King. My only concern right now is protecting this planet. If you accept the invitation, I can transmit the acceptance right away to Starfleet HQ. Granted, your status will be preliminary, but they’ll produce an injunction, and this system will become provisional Federation Space. They’ll send ships to protect it.”
“So that they can harvest the crystals themselves, surely,” said Luna. “We do not believe thou, Kirk. Not entirely. Although our sister trusts you, we do not. This is in effect the deed to the planet. An army of aliens be an army of aliens, be they of your type or another. And we are not appreciative of them attempting to abscond with any part of this planet. Or getting near our moon.”
“We would protect your planet. Open up communications with the Federation, give you new technology and get you established on a galactic scale. Help you become a member of the galactic community. You can hide your heads in the sand if you want, but that won’t make us go away. It’s something you’ll have to face sometime. It’s better now than later. Because there might not be a later.”
Celestia stared at him, clearly thinking. Slowly, she turned to Cadenza. “What is the situation in the Crystal Empire?”
“We have barely surveyed beyond eighty kilometers deep,” she said, after a moment. “But the rough indications show a crystal network nearly seven hunred million times the volume of the Canterlot mining complex. All high-grade magic crystals, some Magnificent or even higher.” She paused, looking aslant at the pony in the respirator. He said nothing, but Cadenza nodded.
“And,” she said. “We believe that if we could find a way to activate the Crystal Heart, we may be able to manufacture this so-called ‘dilithium’ at will. In addition to making the surface habitable, giving us a place where miners can life instead of in the underground city.”
Kirk frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I’m not,” she snapped. “I am informing my aunts and ex-fiance that there may be a substantial economic benefit to non-membership. Especially considering the value they place on useless depleted crystals. We could mine, process, carve and export them on demand. For a profit.”
“For YOUR profit,” added Shining Armor. “Making the Crystal Empire the wealthiest nation on the planet.”
“So you recommend we join the Federation,” suggested Celestia, hopefully.
“No. I reject the idea of it. Why should we sell to just one government? It isn’t our war or our conflict. We’re neutral.”
“Until they decide to stop paying and take it for themselves,” added Kirk, darkly.
She turned toward him. “And you, human, underestimate us. You claim that we’re primitive, when your species never developed even rudimentary magic. We may not be able to enter space, but let them try to invade. I have the crystals. I have the engineers. Give me the word, and we shall cannons that can tear down the very stars. No ship will ever dare enter our orbit, let alone attempt to trespass on our land.”
“So you would be willing to start a war?” Shining Armor looked horrified. “That’s madness.”
“Not a war. Political metastability. Followed by galactic symbiosis.”
“Sure,” said Kirk. “If you don’t mind putting your technological development behind by three hundred years.”
“It is thou who art delayed, mortal,” said Luna. “Thou simply hath no understanding of thine own weakness. Our technology shall advance. And we shall form our own government, our own space empire!”
“Assuming,” said Shining Armor. “That you actually mean ‘us’. Instead of the royal ‘we’.”
“Be there a difference?”
“I can’t force you,” said Kirk, not to them all but directed mostly at Celestia. “And I won’t. It’s your decision. I can only make my case. But please. There’s one thing I absolutely, ABSOLUTELY need to know.”
“What is that?”
“Have you been in contact with any other space government? Any other civilization? Has anyone given you any other offers?”
A slight change in expression crossed Celestia’s face, but she hid it well—although she suddenly could not look Kirk in the eye.
“Have you met with any other alien races?”
“No. Most certainly not.” Luna puffed slightly. “What arest thou accusing our sister of?”
“I promise,” said Celestia. “I have not contacted any alien races. You are the first. This, I promise.”
Kirk smiled. “That’s all I needed to know, then.”
Shining Armor walked to the edge of the wall and looked down. “But I was once a captain myself, although in the cavalry, not the navy. So a very different rank.” He looked up at the Princesses. “With that said. I understand the threat he’s referring to, and I strongly urge you to take his offer. Regardless of it, the Hive will begin cooperation with the aliens as Queen Chrysalis sees fit. Although we cannot join their government without your signatures.”
“And I am voting ‘no’,” said Cadenza. “We do not need this. We can handle this on our own.”
“We also reject this proposal,” said Luna. “We bow to no master. We kneel to government except our own, and all lesser governments kneel before US. The Moon shall persevere, for now and for eternity.”
Kirk sighed. “Then you reject it.”
“No,” said Celestia. “We are not voting today. There needs to be a period of consideration. To discuss it with our respective advisors.” She looked to her sister. “To think it over. Carefully.”
“We have spent one thousand years thinking, sister. We require no more.”
“But you’ve never thought about this.” She turned to Kirk. “If I may, I would like to request more information on the Federation. More documents, in detail. For all of us.”
“We do not need--”
“Yes. We do. Because this isn’t just about the crystals. It was one thing when we thought the universe was empty and we could put an Equestrian flag on every planet, moon and asteroid we found. But it’s not. And for once, we’re not the ones in power. Not on that scale. This isn’t a mandate, it’s an opportunity. One we might only get once.”
“Opportunity for what?”
“To finally get to work on real space travel.” Celestia smiled to her sister. “So that our dreams of peace and exploration finally come true.”
Luna’s expression remained harsh, but she sighed and looked away. “Yes,” she admitted at last. “Indeed. This is not a decision to be made rashly.” She looked over her shoulder at Tempest and Spitfire. “Indeed, it must be discussed. In detail.” She puffed up, making herself look large. “Our version of the list! It ought to contain a list of every known moon in Federation Space! With pictures! So that we can choose which moons we will be taking!”
Kirk smiled. “We can do that, sure.”
Cadenza sighed. “So be it. I need to spend time here anyway. We need more supplies. Eating crystals only gets us so far, and we still need to find a solution to the Balrog problem.”
Celetsia blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Not your concern, I don’t think. We just need to dig deeper.” She stared at her aunt. “And I think you have already made your decision. So let me give you a warning. Don’t let love or attraction sway you. Ever. I already made that mistake once.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying don’t be a fool, Celestia. The only things that matters in this world are money, power, and crystals, which are the marriage of both. Don’t let yourself get tricked.”
Celestia frowned, but then smiled. “I’m sorry,” she said.
She instead faced Kirk and spread her wings, dropping to his level with surprising and frightening grace. “Thank you for your consideration, Captain Kirk. And for your kind invitation. I understand that time is of the essence, but this is an enormous step for us. So please grant us the time we need to consider it.”
Kirk smiled. “Of course. The Enterprise will be here as long as it takes. We’ll keep the planet safe. I promise.”
Celestia smiled back. “Thank you, Jim. I’ll sleep well knowing you’re there for us.”
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Oh boy, something absolutely went wrong with the sequence of events here, and I feel a lot of it traces back to Twilight, and whatever may have happened to her, because I doubt this... seclusion, is voluntary in an uncoerced sense...
UhOh.
Did Celestia make a certain statue and put them in the Castles Statue Garden?
And going for pervasive Harmonia network?
In one of the ST:OS short story collection books, Spock builds a Chaos computer. There is recent decades published research to back some of the theory up.
This just went from Ulruu-Ujuur, through Kricket, and straight into Excession.
This raises a number of questions, especially regarding the capabilities of earth ponies.
In any case, Kirk has supplied the galactic ultimatum: You are not alone, and everyone’s going to make that a problem one way or another. Make your choice. Some understand the scope of the opposition. Others are blinded by pride, grief, or rage in some combination. And Celestia clearly has some secrets she’s not willing to share.
Alien interference has wildly thrown Equestria off track. Let’s see if a little more can actually help it.
Interesting, Cadenza and a mystery pony (Flock?) both using technetium dials? Knowing how you like to connect your stories I'm now wondering if a certain somepony might show up.
Okay. So the Wedding went sideways and Shining got married to Chrysalis. Twilight never went to Ponyville, and now Flim and Flam have more authority than they ever should have. Luna never went Nightmare and maintained a relationship with her sister, albeit a rocky one. And Cadance has apparently gone full Sombra out of sheer bitterness.
...
WHEE, CLUSTERFUCK! Somebody start playing Get Jinxed and reinforce the fans, because the fecal matter is about to be flying towards them at Warp Factor 5!
I think I understand why Kirk didn't mentioned this right now, but if Kirk mentioned that the Klingons might already be aware of their existence and that a Klingon Bird of Prey is currently in stealth orbiting around their planet it probably would have caused a panic or not believe Kirk.
I pray that the best character (Queen Chrysalis) isn't just a footnote by being ousted or crushed or made insignificant when all else escalates.
Because everything seems to believe that she has a vague power in the assembly, is not really appreciated by anyone and does not seem to have a strong point compared to the other.
Second prayer is that betrayal is not the solution to the problem.
Interesting choice of words there.
So is the Darth Vader lookalike Sombra?
The need for the Element bearers being superseded really did a number on the timeline.
Meanwhile...
Flam: They didn't make a proper warp vessel. They treat dilithium as worthless. And we are still stuck on this planet!
Flim: It's not my fault they didn't listen to me about how to go about it.
Flam: The Federation is here, and they will find out about this planet having dilithium sooner or later, and once they do, the Klingons or Romulans will likely learn about it shortly after. We NEED to get out of this system before it becomes a warzone.
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I'm guessing she's sensed something in the vicinity of the planet for some time now, just never knew exactly what. But with Kirk now asking a very pointed question about contacting other aliens... She put two and two together.
That, or she was confused by Flim and Flam's grand leap in technology, until now.
Kirk has left out the fact that Klingons are already observing the planet and Celestia's comment and Rarity's weapon suggests they may have visited the planet already just not officially.
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Still, Rarity seems to be too well-versed regarding the Federation, its members, technology, etc...and probably the other factions too. Does she work for Celestia, or any of the other alicorns?
Hehehe. Lovely little word play here!
Just because Celestia hasn’t contacted any alien races, does not mean that she hasn’t been Contacted by one! She’s answering the question in such a way that one could think that she is saying one thing, but in actuality, she is saying something else entirely.
A politician at her finest.
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oh and crystal ponies are in fact made of crystal, so integrating them into society is probably not going to work hence the need to exist deep underground at high pressure
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So, basically the Pony version of a Tholian?
bit.ly/3oLPgYx
Hmm, that could lead to some ... aggressive negotiations!
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A minor detail: Luna went and stayed Nightmare. Centuries after sending her to the Moon, Celestia resorted to diplomacy and technological development rather than the Elements...
.... or at least that was the official version. Tempest seems to believe there was more to that.
Could that have been the original deal between Celestia and the unknown alien party? A way to connect Equestria with the Moon in exchange for Deuterium?
Okay now this is just plain stupid. The ponies aren't acting at all believable. Not just out of character - they are so unbelievable that they're utterly off putting
I don't say this much, but this story has gone off the damn rails.
Dude.
This world building...
I love it.
Keep it up!
Now there's an idea, dig past the Balrog, see what's further down.
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I maybe misremembering things, but I thought a lot of the larger capital class federation ships that were designed to go on five plus year extended away voyages had their own antimatter forge
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Worse, they are rude, ridiculously OP, and pretty unlikeable in general.
Think a race comprised by variants of Wesley Crusher, but with the emotional maturity of a 8 years old spoiled brat and the overall need to remind everyone how much of a wunderkind they are compared to you.
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I... wow, that makes this even more of a clusterfuck.
Where's Sulu when you need him?
Holy fuckballs.
My previous assessments of Equestria's value and importance were off by eight orders of magnitude, and that's still just one area of the planet scanned to eighty kilometers of depth. If the various leaders reject the offer to join the UFP, it needs to invade and subjugate them now. They literally cannot afford for anyone else to have access to the planet. Kirk needs to get on the horn to the Federation Council and get a fleet to come blockade it from any other spacefaring races. He also probably shouldn't have told the ponies how valuable their world is.
Fun read, but god damn it does not hold up to a marathon read. I knew the story wouldn't be able to maintain its comedic start, but chapter 17 reads like it was written by a different writer working a different story.
OK, this was good! If this were actually made into a show, it'd require the Babylon 5 treatment and have each episode be part of a season-long story arc, because it's SO much bigger than any single episode could possibly cover!
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My Google-Fu has failed me on "Ulruu-Ujuur". Is that in fact spelled correctly? And if so, To what franchise is that attached so I may approach it from a different angle?
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Yup, dont help I forgot how many Us there were in there.
The advertising guided search suggestions are getting nastier. Took me a good bit to find this and I know what Im looking for. Lots of stuff from 20 years ago has been lost or buried.
Planet Ulru-Ujur mentioned
I've finally caught up on this and I'm hooked! I love that I have several competing theories on Celestia and Rarity's backstory. I look forward to unpacking them!
I hope somepony, relises that Twilight is being held against her will and request her
11081673 I have to agree. This is basically Bizzaro Equestria. I'm only continuing to read it because I want to see how it all goes to pieces.
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Assuming, of course, that Twilight IS being held against her will. She could just as easily be the Big Bad of the whole scenario.
This is getting interesting, the ripple effects of no Mane 6 showing in how bad things have gotten. Though this is still only the major equine nations, there are a lot of other sophants and nations that would need to come in on this, let's see a Klingon assault team try to raid a dragon hoarde.
But, their positions make sense. Cadance doesn't really grasp just how out of their league they are, Luna is still too NMM to not be just egomanical enough to not really grasp reality. On top of that, Kirk really didn't do a good job of selling the Federation as the best option, versus this coming off like a veiled threat.
Really, Cadance might be right In what their actual best option is, strict neutrality and being willing to sell Dilithium to all equally. The issue is the Ponies don't have the military might to back that up on their own. Instead they would need to get enough of the big powers involved that they are willing to agree among themselves to this, since any one of them taking over the planet would be enough of a threat to the rest that they'd become a huge target. So rather then fight an unending, resource straining war with whoever seems on top getting ganged up on by the rest instantly, they agree to share.
Again, Celestia giving a demonstration of the danger of getting within orbital range of a being able to move Celestial bodies around might help with that.
Still, tricky situating here, really should get word to Federation HQ to get their best diplomats out here STAT.
And yeah, Tia is being tricksie.