Beyond Harmony's Edge

by Shadow Quill

3 - Who Are You?

Applebloom was feeling very nervous about the whole situation she and her friends had found themselves in. First off, they were aboard an alien ship in a system that was light-years away from any allies that could help them if they got into trouble. Second, their ship was nearly destroyed and would take weeks to fully repair even if they could find the parts to fix everything. And finally, they were being escorted by a group of aliens that for all intents and purposes could be the exact same creatures that attacked them, given the shared design of the fighters in the hangar compared to the ones back in the other system. Based off these facts, she made an oath to herself that if things got hairy, she would do everything in her power to protect her friends, even at the cost of her own life. A quick glance at the heavily armed aliens marching along on either side and behind them told her just how small her chances of survival were if such a thing happened, but by Celestia she would still try if she had to.

She wasn’t going to let these aliens get away with anything without giving them a good Apple-style bucking for their trouble.

They traveled down corridor after corridor, even getting into a lift that took them up several levels before opening into a more spacious part of the ship. Open tiers met the ponies’ eyes that went up several floors before terminating in an arched roof. The open space in the middle was taken up by what looked like a huge indoor garden, with trees and bushes interwoven with paved paths and wooden park benches. The captain led them into the garden proper, passing by dozens of other aliens that all turned to look in awe at the new creatures in their midst.

Applebloom sensed Sweetie as she walked up next to her, although she made no move to look at the other mare as she spoke, “So what do you think they’re going to do with us?”

“Ah don’t know.” Applebloom replied, “Ah was expectin’ them to take us into some kind of interrogation, not a garden. Ah have a feeling somethin’ is going to happen, but as to what Ah have no idea.”

They continued until they were deep in the garden, surrounded by scattered trees and bushes that gave off subtle scents to the ponies’ strong sense of smell. The captain turned around and sat on a bench, motioning for the ponies to do the same on another one across the walkway. Applebloom shared a glance with her friends before nodding, stepping up and climbing onto the bench as the girls followed suit. The guards that had been following them fanned out to create a perimeter, leaving them alone with the captain save for the one guard that stood at attention at the captain’s side.

For several minutes the group sat in place, seemingly waiting for something as the captain checked what looked like a watch on its foreleg every other moment. While they sat there, Sweetie and Scoots engaged in a whispered conversation, leaving Applebloom to think for her own as she inspected the aliens before her. Up until this point, she had no idea what to think of these strange creatures, but now that things had slowed down a bit, she was getting the feeling that there was more to them than met the eye. For starters, she figured by the tone of voice and the more rugged features that the captain was probably male, if what she knew from home was anything to go by. The guard at his side, on the other hoof, was a complete mystery. The armor was too thick, and the visored helmet made it impossible to get a good look at the alien’s features to know for sure.

Finally, after waiting for what felt like forever, the panting breath and pounding steps coming down the walkway announced the arrival of yet another alien, this one dressed in what was unmistakably a lab coat. Applebloom looked over Sweetie’s shoulders to get a better look and was surprised to see that the newest alien looked nothing like the captain. Firstly, its mane hung down almost to the middle of its back and was a bright gold color, and while the coat did some to hide the creature’s figure, it did next to nothing to hide the two bouncing mounds centered on the alien’s chest. Applebloom felt slightly mesmerized by the twin globes as they jiggled up and down with the alien’s movements, and she had to shake herself out of her daze as the alien came to a halt next to the group. The presumed female dropped her hands to her knees and gasped for breath for a few moments, only to bounce back up with a beaming smile on her face as her bright blue eyes danced with excitement.

The female turned to the captain and gave a swift salute, one he returned with a sharp nod as she spouted off a long string of unintelligible words. After she dropped her salute, she immediately spun to face Applebloom and the others, a nearly manic expression lighting up her face as she bounced on her hooves like a foal in a candy store. Applebloom got the distinct feeling she was staring at a science version of Pinkie Pie, and she felt a shiver of nerves run up her spine as the alien walked up to them and held out its left foreleg.

The girls shared a look before Sweetie took the initiative and offered her own hoof to the alien, her eyes widening slightly as the female gripped her hoof and gave it a few excited shakes.

The alien gave off a high-pitch squeal that could have only come from pure joy and stepped back before pulling out what looked like a cube of blue crystal with circular holes cut into the sides. She placed it on the ground between the captain and the mares, stepping back as the cube began to glow with a bright blue light. Applebloom’s eyes widened in awe as a beam of light shot out of the circle on the top of the cube, watching as the beam slowly expanded into a large floating rectangle that rested just below chest height for the mares and even with the captain’s midsection. At first Applebloom didn’t know what she was looking at, before the scientist produced a duo of styluses from a pocket in her coat. She passed one to the captain and then turned to face Applebloom and company, only for her expression to fall as her eyes landed on the trio’s hooves.

Sweetie smiled, her horn lighting up as the same soft green glow enveloped the stylus in the female’s grip. The alien yelped as she dropped the stylus, only to watch in amazement as it floated over and hovered next to Sweetie’s head. The captain and guard were similarly shocked, although the guard at least managed not to flinch at the initial moment Sweetie used her magic.

After a moment where everyone pulled themselves back together, the captain cleared his throat and then lowered his stylus to the table of light. What shocked the ponies this time was that the pen-like object didn’t pass through the light, but instead pressed against the surface with an audible click. The captain drew a quick square with the stylus and the trio watched as a command window opened on the tabletop, allowing the captain to then draw a series of images onto the surface before spinning it around and sliding it across the table to rest in front of the mares. Applebloom leaned in close as Sweetie and Scootaloo did the same, curious as to what the captain had drawn.

The series of images were a bit rough, but they all combined to make a somewhat cohesive message. There was a crude image of the pony ship, and a model of the system they most likely found themselves in now. There was an arrow pointing from the ship to the system with a question mark over it, and there were a few other images with question marks beside them, like what looked like a cannon turret and another that resembled an engine of some sort. All and all, it seemed the aliens wanted to know why the ponies were here, and what they had with them in case they proved to be a threat.

Sweetie turned to face Applebloom as Scoots leaned in to listen, “I don’t think they want to hurt us, at least not yet, so I think there’s something I can do to make this go easier.”

“Really,” Applebloom replied, “what’s that?”

“Yeah, can you do some crazy magic to mind-control them into fixing our ship?” Scootaloo asked with a wide grin on her muzzle.

Sweetie sighed while cuffing Scoots over the head with a hoof, much to the surprise of the aliens, “No we’re not going to brainwash them. I was hoping I could get a translation spell to work that would allow us to speak to them in their own language and vice versa.”

Applebloom narrowed her eyes at the white unicorn, “Are ya’ll sure ya can do that kind of magic? Ah’ve seen a few of yer spells go wrong when we were younger, and Ah’d rather keep my brain the way it is thank ya very much.”

Sweetie scoffed, “Of course I can do it. I’ve done it before while I was in my spell theory class in Canterlot. I just haven’t done it with a completely unknown language before. The last time I did it I had to translate Equish into Prench with one of the professor’s aides as the subject.”

“So, can you do it or not?” Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sweetie nodded with a slight hesitation, “I’m pretty sure I can. I’ll just need to focus on the basics, so I get it right the first time. The only problem is if the aliens will let me do it.”

“Why not ask ‘em?” Applebloom said, “Use that little stylus thingy and draw a reply.”

Sweetie nodded, copying the captain’s actions from before until she got the hang of working the light table with the stylus. She drew a series of images, the first one of a pony speaking with a square in the speech bubble with an alien talking back with a circle. She then drew a horn with an aura of magic, followed by an image of the square and circle switching places. Finally, she drew a pony speaking circle while the alien was speaking square. It was crude and rather simplistic, but hopefully it would get the message across.

Sweetie rotated the command window around and slid it over to the captain, who immediately called over the scientist to examine the drawings with him as they spoke in long and complicated sentences. They cast several glances at Sweetie’s horn, although their expressions were too guarded for Applebloom to make anything of them before they returned to their conversation.

It took several minutes for the duo to reach a decision, although when they turned to face the ponies, their expressions were surprisingly open. The scientist was understandably excited, although the real surprise was that the captain seemed to have the same enthusiasm, although more restrained than his female counterpart. The scientist pointed to the drawings Sweetie had made and then to her horn, followed by a series of motions between her head and Sweetie’s that went right over Applebloom’s head. Apparently, Sweetie was able to understand the crazy motions, or at least pretended she did, because she simply nodded with a smile and lit op her horn.

The aliens watched with wide eyes as a ball of swirling green energy began to form over the tabletop, slowly growing until it was about the same diameter as a hoofball. Sweetie narrowed her eyes in concentration before splitting the ball into six smaller balls. These then moved up and hovered in front of each mare and alien, floating in front of their chests as Sweetie lifted a hoof and touched the ball.

Applebloom and Scoots followed her example and touched their own magic spheres, followed quickly by the scientist and the captain. The guard hesitated for a bit before touching its own orb, and that was when everything snapped into focus. Applebloom gasped as countless words and definitions she had never heard before assaulted her mind, and she shut her eyes tight to fight the pain as she hissed through her teeth. She couldn’t move her hoof away from the spell even if she wanted to and was forced to endure the pain for several more minutes before the flood of information came to a sudden halt.

Applebloom’s eyes snapped open as she struggled to stay seated, her mind spinning with all the new information it had just absorbed. Sweetie sagged against her as she breathed deeply in and out, while Scootaloo growled under her breath as she pressed her hooves to her head.

“Oh, my head.” Scootaloo hissed out as she peaked one eye open to glare at Sweetie, “I thought you said that wouldn’t hurt Sweetie Bell?”

Sweetie pushed off Applebloom’s side and turned to face the irate pegasus, “I never said it would be painless. Compared to the first time I did that spell; this was a walk in the park. Last time I nearly passed out from the pain.”

Applebloom was about to add her own two bits to the pile, when a sudden intake of breath across the walkway caught her attention. She turned to face the aliens and saw the scientist scribbling in a mad fury over a note pad that had somehow appeared from thin air in her grip.

“This is so fascinating,” the now decidedly female voice muttered to herself as she recorded something down, “the aliens seem to be able to perform advanced psionic abilities using their horns as a conduit for some unknown form of energy. Further study is recommended for all applicable fields.”

Applebloom snickered as she turned her attention to the captain, “She does realize we can now understand everything she’s sayin’, right?”

The captain’s eyes widened at Applebloom’s words, “So my ears weren’t playing tricks on me. We really can understand you now.” He stood and performed a salute with his hand, “Then it is an honor to formally introduce myself. I am Admiral Lion Connors, commander of the 3^rd Defense Battlefleet, and I welcome you aboard the USF Silver Star.”

“Oh, and I’m Doctor Kelly Dion,” the scientist chirped as she looked up from her notes, “head of this ship’s xenobiology lab and linguistics department.” She bowed her head as she held her notepad to her chest, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Well, my name’s Applebloom, and these here are my friends Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo.” She indicated the other mares with a hoof before turning to face the admiral, “We’re on a mission of exploration from the Harmony System to discover new planets.”

“Although we weren’t expecting to find anything like you once we got here.” Sweetie added as she placed a hoof on the hard-light table, “We expected to find a planet that might be capable of supporting life, but nothing like this.”

“So, you’re an exploration unit sent to find habitable planets,” Dr. Kelly repeated as she wrote down the mare’s words in her notebook, “that explains why you have so little in the way of weapons and shielding. From what our border station told us it was easy to punch through your shields as long as they could avoid your main weapon.”

Applebloom’s eyes widened, and she jumped off the bench to place herself between her friends and the aliens on top of the table, “So it was you who tried to kill us back in that other system! Why did ya’ll bring us here? Are ya’ll goin’ to try and finish what yer fighters couldn’t?”

The guard took a step forward but was stopped by the Admiral’s raised hand, “We have no intention of harming you, now or in the future. The attack our fighters initiated in the Sigma system was due to our protocols concerning unknown ships. Your ship would have registered as something we have never encountered, and due to the current situation, our people find themselves in, we have little choice but to shoot first and ask questions later.” He bowed his head with eyes closed, “Please accept my most sincere apologies for what our people did to your ship, and I hope you will allow me to explain why it was we attacked you without provocation.”

Applebloom cast an uneasy glance over her shoulder at the others, who slowly nodded their agreement. She turned to face the aliens and relaxed her stance slightly, moving back to the bench while the Admiral began fiddling with the command screens again. She watched with rapt attention as he created a three-dimensional display above the hard-light surface that was about ten hooves cubed. In fact, it took up almost all the available space the table provided.

“This is a star map of the closest one thousand systems,” Admiral Connors narrated as the space inside the cube lit up with multitudes of pinpoint lights, “and this is the area that humans, our species, have colonized over the last six hundred years of space exploration.”

A lumpy bubble of blue filled in a large portion of the cube’s interior, surrounding what had to be almost two hundred systems within its borders. Yet as Applebloom inspected the lumpy mass, she noticed that a portion of it seemed to be oddly flat, like it was pressed up against a surface in the void of space.

“What’s goin’ on there?” Applebloom asked, pointing to the malformed section of the bubble, “It looks almost like ya pressed a ball against a pane of glass.”

Admiral Connors nodded, “Indeed, that is what I was about to show you. You see, humans aren’t the only sapient life forms that have access to interstellar travel. There is another race, one that threatens our own with conquest and slavery if we were to lose the war we find ourselves in.”

He activated another bubble, this time a bright red in color, that encapsulated a much larger portion of the systems visible inside the cube. While the blue bubble had to hold over two hundred systems, the red one must have been at least twice that, even going so far as to partially encircle the smaller bubble.

Applebloom gazed on with wide eyes as Sweetie and Scootaloo did the same. “So, yer tellin’ me that this other race wants to conquer yours?” Connors nodded, “Then why did you shoot at us when we came into yer system? Ah don’t get it.”

This time it was Dr. Kelly that spoke, “The Lacertera, as they call themselves, are a lizard-like race that lives for warfare. If they aren’t busy fighting with us, they slaughter each other for nothing more than sport or glory.” A visible shiver ran up her body before she continued, “They’re ships outnumber us ten to one, so the only advantage we have is the fact that our ships have better shielding and weapons. Without that advantage we would have lost the war long ago.”

“That is what brings us to how you became involved,” Connors added as he highlighted a system on the edge of the blue bubble, near to where the red and blue intersected, “you entered our space at one of our border relay stations, and thus were classified as an invading craft. Standard protocol states that any ship deemed hostile is to be disabled or destroyed before it can access any of the more vulnerable core systems. Your ship was classified as hostile and therefore was slated to be disabled until we could learn more about you.”

Connors paused for a moment to look each mare in the eye, “Take it from our point of view. A new and previously unknown ship enters our space by an unknown method and begins moving further into populated space with an unknown objective. You can see why we would be worried, given the only race we know of, or rather knew of, was the Lacertera. To say nothing of what could happen if that ship had turned out to be an advance scout for a much larger force using the same travel method.”

Applebloom shared a look with the other Crusaders, and a flash of understanding passed between them as they thought about what the Admiral had just told them.

“So, you weren’t trying to kill us?” Sweetie asked as she turned her gaze back to the humans.

Both Connors and Dr. Kelly shook their heads. “From what I gathered from the report,” Connors replied, “the fighters were trying to shut down your engines so they could capture your ship for study and possibly interrogate the crew. Survivors would have been placed under military arrest and your ship would have been reverse engineered in the hopes that we could use the tech ourselves. We had no idea another sapient race was out there that was capable of interstellar flight.”

“Ten years ago, that wouldn’t have been true,” Scootaloo said. “The Midnight Song is the first ship in the fleet capable of FTL. We were actually taking it on its maiden voyage when this whole mess started up.”

Dr. Kelly’s eyes widened in glee, “So that ship is your race’s first attempt at an FTL-capable craft?” She squealed in a very filly-like way when Scootaloo nodded, “Oh this is so exciting! I can’t wait to compare notes with the designers to see how it works.”

“But I thought you were the head of xenobiology and linguistics?” Sweetie asked with a raised eyebrow, “What do you know about ship design?”

“Oh, it’s not much,” she replied with a wave of her hand, “I just dabble into that sort of thing as a hobby. Keeps my mind from getting too bogged down in the minutia of biology and language. Call it a pet project of mine to keep my brain sharp.”

Admiral Connors chuckled at the mare’s dumbstruck faces, “She has that effect on people who don’t know her. Dr. Dion here is our resident genius when it comes to the sciences, although she tends to get a bit overwhelmed when she encounters something new or interesting.”

The blonde woman blushed but didn’t deny the claim, “So what do you plan to do now, knowing that the planet you came to investigate has space-faring life?”

Applebloom glanced at Sweetie, who shrugged before they both turned to face Scootaloo. As the captain of the mission, she was technically the one who led the crew’s chain of command, so it would come to her to make the final decision.

She paused for a moment as she held a hoof to her chin, “Well, most of our equipment is no longer needed, not to mention our ship is pretty well trashed.” The humans had the decency to look abashed as the pegasus sent them a pointed glare, “I guess we could do our best to repair the ship and then work from there. Maybe take some time to learn more about humans before we head back home?” She glanced over at Sweetie and Applebloom, who nodded, “Yeah, I think that sounds about right. We’ll fix the ship and learn about you guys so we can share what we know with the races of Equis once we get the Midnight Song up and running again.”

Sweetie nodded her agreement while Applebloom added her two bits, “Ah think we might want to hold off fixing the ship just yet. If we don’t have all the parts Ah’m not goin’ ta be able to put it back together no matter how hard Ah try.”

“We can help you with that,” Dr. Kelly added as she reached under the hard-light table and deactivated the projector, “after all, it was our fighters that shot your ship to pieces, it’s the least we can do to help you get it back up and running again.”

Applebloom smiled at the taller female, “Thank ya’ kindly. Ah could really use the help with the hull and power core fer sure. What kind of magitech do ya’ll use to power yer ships, Stable-flux or Fusion Matrix?”

The humans looked at her like she had grown a second head, although oddly enough it was the guard that spoke first, “Magitech?” It was a surprisingly female voice that came out of the intimidating armor, “As in magic fused with technology? You’ve got to be joking. Magic isn’t anything more than sleight of hand and misdirection made to fool the gullible.”

All three mares stiffened at the very idea of magic being written off as fake, especially since Sweetie had just used magic to control the stylus. To demonstrate that fact, she picked up the stylus from its position at her side and held it up at head level.

“Then what do you call this?” She asked in a pitch slightly higher than normal, “How do you explain this levitation spell?”

Dr. Kelly was the one who interjected this time, “While I don’t fully understand the implications of your abilities, I can state with utmost certainty that you are most likely using some form of psychic ability, not something as archaic as magic.”

Sweetie groaned as she placed the stylus back on the bench, “Then how about this?” She ignited her horn as picked up a leaf that had fallen from one of the nearby trees, holding it aloft in front of her as she narrowed her eyes in concentration.

In a flash the leaf was transformed into an apple, ripe as if it had just come from one of Sweet Apple Acres’ trees. Sweetie let out a gusty breath that she had apparently been holding, and smirked at the dumbfounded humans as she levitated the apple into the Doctor’s hand.

“Go ahead and eat it.” She said through her smile, “It’s just an ordinary apple.”

Dr. Kelly inspected the apple in her grip like it was some radioactive substance, before pulling out what looked like a scalpel from her coat pocket. She carefully cut into the skin of the apple and watched as thick juice began running down the side of the fruit. The intoxicating smell of fresh apple permeated the air, and Applebloom had to swallow the drool that had accumulated in her mouth at the scent.

Taking a moment to inspect the apple once more, Dr. Kelly cleaned the scalpel on her pant leg and then took a big bite of the fruit. As soon as her mouth closed and pulled the bite free, her eyes went wide, and she froze in place.

The guard immediately acted, racing up and pointing the end of her weapon in Sweetie’s face, “What did you do to her? Was that some kind of poison or something?”

Sweetie’s eyes narrowed into pinpricks, and Scootaloo’s wings flared in challenge as she turned to face the guard, “Move that thing out of my friend’s face or I’m going to shove that thing so far up your flank you’ll have to clear your throat to clean the barrel.”

For several moments no one moved. Just as the tension in the room seemed to be reaching critical mass, the soft sound of someone chewing could be heard from behind the guard. All eyes turned to Dr. Kelly, who had a dreamy look on her face as she swallowed the bite of apple in her mouth.

Before anyone could ask her what she was doing, she took another bite and made a sound that resembled a moan in the back of her throat, “Besf abble ah’ve eber eashen.” She swallowed the food in her mouth and reiterated, “Best apple I’ve ever eaten.”

She turned to face Sweetie as the guard lowered her weapon, “I don’t know how you did it, and frankly I don’t care. If that was an example of what your magic can do, then I think we could learn a thing or two from believing in your word.”

The guard smirked as she walked back and took her post next to the Admiral, “Typical, always thinking with your stomach. Who was it that came up with the idea to cook hot dogs next to the reactor core again?”

Kelly’s cheeks flushed as she rounded on the guard, “Oh you’re one to talk, falling asleep while on duty guarding the medic’s quarters.”

“Hey!” the guard yelled back indignantly, “you said you would never tell anyone about that!” She froze as she slowly turned to face the Admiral, casting a nervous glance his way as he slowly lifted an eyebrow, “Um, I can explain?”

“We’ll talk about your little mishap at a later date, Commander Baker,” he said with finality, “right now I believe we have more pressing issues to deal with.”

The newly named commander nodded her head slowly, a glint of nerves shining through her visor as she returned to attention.

Connors shook his head slightly before returning his gaze to the three ponies, “Sorry about all that. My senior crew can get a bit rowdy when they get too comfortable around others. Now, as you were saying, you were going to fix your ship and learn about humanity while the repairs are being completed?”

Applebloom shook herself out of the shock that had run through her system at the sudden action, “Ah think that’s ‘bout right. Ah believe Ah can fix the ship if’n Ah can get ahold of all the parts Ah need. The good news is that most of them should be in the cargo hold, assumin’ that none of them got sucked out when those fighters of yers punched a hole in our hull.”

Sweetie bopped her on the head with an admonishing glare, “Don’t hold that over their heads. It was an honest mistake and they apologized for it. Let. It. Go.”

“Said the mare who doesn’t have to fix the hole.” Applebloom muttered under her breath, only to get another hoof to the back of the head, “Alright, alright, Ah’m done gripin’! Would ya lay off the corporal punishment?”

Sweetie nodded, although the cold look she sent the earth pony’s way warned against any future action.

Admiral Connors nodded as he stood up, clapping his hands together as he turned towards the two women, “Well, I think this concludes our little discussion.” He turned towards the mares and spoke with a clear and precise voice, “Do you solemnly swear that you are not here to cause harm to the crew of this ship or to the human race as a whole?”

Applebloom nodded as the other Crusaders did the same, “We swear by Celestia’s Sun and Luna’s Night we will not bring harm to the crew of the Silver Star or the human race as a whole,” they chorused.

Connors nodded, “Then I will have Dr. Dion and Commander Baker escort you to the civilian quarters of the ship. Commander Baker will act as your liaison while you are aboard the Silver Star and will be escorting you wherever you wish to go. For now, I’m afraid you will have to stick together, but in time I hope you will earn enough of our trust to be given more leeway about the ship.” He glanced at the Commander with a pointed glare, “Think of this as your punishment for falling asleep on duty.”

Baker hung her head slightly as she nodded, “Yes sir.”

“And as for you,” Connors said as he turned to face Dr. Kelly, “You are to do everything in your power to teach our guests about humans, barring any classified information. I understand you want to know more about them as well, so think of this as your standing assignment for the foreseeable future. I am officially releasing you from your other duties in favor of this assignment, so you don’t have to worry about the lab or the linguistics team while also dealing with these creatures.”

“Ponies,” Sweetie supplied, causing the Admiral to pause as the humans turned to face the unicorn, “our race is called ponies.” She indicated Applebloom and then Scootaloo, “Applebloom is an earth pony, Scootaloo is a pegasus, and I’m a unicorn, but they all fall under the same title of pony.”

Dr. Kelly’s eyes lit up, “Did you say earth pony?” Sweetie Bell nodded, “What a strange coincidence, our home world was originally called Earth before it was re-named Terra in 2185.” She wrote down her thoughts in her booklet as she muttered to herself, “I wonder what other similarities there are between our worlds?”

Connors smiled as he turned, the rest of the guard falling next to him as he began walking away, “I look forward to hearing of your progress soon. Do keep me updated of any new developments should they come about, Dr. Dion.”

Dr. Kelly made a noncommittal grunt as she furiously wrote down notes and thoughts in her booklet, leaving Commander Baker to return the Admiral’s command with a crisp salute.

With that Applebloom found herself being left alone with two humans that she barely knew, the presence of her fellow Crusaders notwithstanding. Try as she might, she couldn’t get over how these same beings, albeit a different group of them, had been responsible for the near destruction of their ship and had nearly killed Applebloom and her friends. Sure, they had a good reason, but that didn’t change the fact that these beings were dangerous. Especially if they were being honest when Dr. Kelly mentioned the superiority of their ships. If humanity got wind of Equis’ exact location, Applebloom had no doubt in her mind that they would want to bring the Harmony System under their influence. Although now that she thought about it, would being under the protection of the humans be all that bad, especially when compared to these Lacertera things the Admiral had mentioned? Not to mention the technology boom it would provide the species of Equis. The trade agreements would be a huge boon to the system’s economy, plus it would introduce a vast array of goods that would otherwise be unavailable.

Applebloom glanced over at Dr. Kelly as she talked with Commander Baker in low tones and thought about her options. On the one hoof, she could suggest to her friends that they provide the coordinates to the Harmony system to the humans right now so they could get home. Or they could wait until they finished fixing the Midnight Song so they wouldn’t have to rely on the humans for a ride. On the other hoof, they could hold off and not tell the humans anything, return to Equis once their ship was fixed, and then pretend the humans never existed until they had sorted out what to do with the Princesses.

The more she thought about it, the more the last option seemed like the best course of action. The Crusaders weren’t equipped to be a diplomatic team, and they certainly didn’t have the authority to make any major decisions on behalf of the races back home. So, while the two women talked about whatever, Applebloom walked over and motioned for Sweetie and Scootaloo to come close.

“What is it Applebloom?” Sweetie Bell asked as they huddled up, “Something the matter?”

“Not really, just bein’ cautious,” Applebloom replied, “Ah’m thinkin’ it would be best to fix the ship and then high tail it back to Equis without telling the humans where we came from. We don’t know what they would do if we led them back home and we have no authority to tell them anything without contacting the Princesses first.”

“So, we use the communicator on the ship to call them once things get up and running,” Scootaloo added, “it’s got the range to reach back home without too much trouble. Why not ask them for diplomatic power? Maybe we could even get them to talk with the Admiral about what we plan to do between our races. They do speak our language now, after all.”

Sweetie nodded, “I think that might be a better idea than just running off once we fix the ship. It will look a lot better to the humans if we show them a level of trust.” She forestalled Applebloom’s interjection with a raised hoof, “I know they shot us near to pieces but that was a mistake that they already apologized for. As far as I’m concerned, we’re even when it comes to that, doubly so if they help us fix the Midnight Song. So,” she met each of the other mares’ gazes in turn, “are we in agreement?”

Scootaloo nodded, “I like it. It builds trust and hopefully will open trade between our races. If nothing else, they can help us if those Lacer-whatever things manage to find Equis. Imagine if those things found our home and we had no way to fight them off?” A shiver ran up the pegasus’ spine as she continued, “I’d rather not think of the outcome of that if I can help it.”

Both mares turned their gazes to Applebloom, who sighed in resignation as she realized she was outvoted, “Fine, but if this whole thing blows up in our faces Ah’m blaming you two.”

Scootaloo grinned as the trio separated, “How about a good old Crusader cheer, for old times’ sake?”

Sweetie Bell rolled her eyes but smiled anyway, leaving Applebloom to chuckle as she nodded her agreement, “Fine, Ah’m in.”

All three mares jumped onto their hind legs and brought their right forehooves together in a collective high hoof, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DIPLOMATS, YAY!”

Dr. Kelly and Commander Baker jumped at the mares’ outburst, which caused the trio to burst out laughing at their expressions. It took them a moment to get their bearings, but it was glossed over for the most part by the Crusaders’ giggles.

Commander Baker rolled her eyes as she waved for the ponies to follow, “Come along you three. If I’m going to show you to your rooms before it gets too late, we’d better get a move on.”

Applebloom nodded as she and her friends followed the armored human, leaving Dr. Kelly to wave goodbye as they exited the park.

“I’ll see you three later,” the scientist called after them, “I’ve got to get some notes compiled before we can begin our talks. I’ll meet up with you and Samantha later!”

Commander Baker grumbled under her breath as they walked away, “I told her not to call me by my first name while I’m on duty. Why doesn’t that woman ever listen?”

Applebloom filed away the Commander’s first name as they wound their way through the open space of the garden. They followed the pathway until they reached the lift from before, taking it up several more levels before popping out into a long hallway. The floor and walls were all painted an off-white color that reflected the overhead lamps well, nearly making Applebloom squint as they worked their way down the hallway. Doors and other hallways led to other sections of the ship, but for the most part the quartet followed the same hallway as they reached another section of the level. This one was painted a soft blue color on the walls while the ceiling was the same white as the floor, opening into a large square room that had seven doorways lining the outer walls. Each of the doors had a silver plaque in the center of its surface, roughly at head height for the human that accompanied them and outfitted with a quintet of human numbers. From what Applebloom could see, the rooms in this section of the ship were numbered from ‘5280’ to ‘5287’.

In the center of the room was a trio of black couches, fitted together in the shape of a ‘C’ with the opening facing a large flat screen. The screen rested on a black metal entertainment center and came with several other consoles that Applebloom had no knowledge of. Other than that, the room was mostly barren, save for what looked like another table off to one side that sported a low net that split the table widthwise. A quartet of paddles were secured to the sides of the table with special holders, and a collection of small orange balls rested in the holders as well. All and all it looked like some kind of game, but Applebloom had no idea how it was played.

“Room 5284 is currently empty, so you three can share that one until the Admiral decides what to do with you three concerning your living arrangements.” Baker walked up to the door and punched a pin code into the keypad next to the handle. It made an audible click, and she pushed the handle down before opening the door, “Your pin code is 5-7-3-1. Don’t tell anyone else your code and don’t ask for anyone else’s unless you have a personal relationship that I somehow missed. Other than that, I’ll be out here if you need anything, so feel free to ask me any questions if you feel you must.”

Given the Commander had not been too friendly up until this point, Applebloom was inclined to take some time alone with the girls before interacting with the intimidating human, “Um, thanks, Ah think we’ll take some time to get settled. Been a long trip an’ all that.”

She led Sweetie and Scootaloo past the armored woman and into their room, allowing Baker to close the door behind them. What met the pony’s gazes was a quant living room, with another tan-colored couch, what looked like a small kitchenette, and a duo of doors that led off to the left and right of the main room. Sweetie climbed onto the couch and sighed as she rested her head on her fetlocks, allowing Scootaloo to inspect the room on the left as Applebloom did the same on the right.

What Applebloom found was the bedroom, complete with a bed big enough for even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to share, and what looked like a walk-in closet for clothing. Although, given the only clothing the mares had was their jumpsuits, combined with the fact that ponies usually walked around in the nude, it wasn’t going to see much use. The bed had a collection of no less than five pillows at its head, each covered in a dark green case that matched the sheets. The comforter that covered the sheets was a navy-blue color and had a star pattern stitched into the fabric, although Applebloom couldn’t recognize any of the constellations. Other than that, it was a very comfortable space that she could be satisfied with. It also helped that the walls were painted a lighter shade of blue to make a more calming atmosphere.

Satisfied that they wouldn’t have to take turns on the couch, Applebloom returned to the living room just in time for Scootaloo to exit the other room while the flushing of a toilet could be heard.

“Found the bathroom.” The pegasus supplied unnecessarily.

Applebloom climbed onto the couch next to Sweetie and rested her head on one of the leg rests, “Ah think it’s ‘bout time we got some sleep. We’ve been goin’ for almost two days without getting more than a few hours of rest. Ah don’t know about you, but Ah’m bushed.”

Sweetie Bell let out a yawn that she tried and failed to suppress, “Yeah, I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

“Me too,” Scootaloo added as she climbed onto the far side of the couch and curled up into a ball, “too bad they don’t have any clouds I could use for a bed. Now that would make my day.”

Applebloom chuckled as her eyes began to flutter closed, “Now that would be something to see, clouds on a spaceship.”

“Hey!” Scootaloo replied, “It could happen. With how advanced these humans are, who knows what kind of crazy things they could come up with?”

Applebloom would have retorted, but she was too far gone to muster up the energy. Sweetie was already quietly snoring between them, and for all her bluster, Scootaloo was already nodding off as well. Applebloom smiled as she closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of her friends breathe as she drifted off to sleep.

Ah wonder if Princess Luna can see our dreams all the way out here? She mused to herself, allowing sleep to overtake her as the thought went unanswered. Little did she know what was in store for her and her friends come the following morning.

Author's Note:

And thus, we have reached the end of the original story, although now that I have had the chance to go through it once more, I know for a fact this is going to be a story I plan to finish, given it has spent enough time in cold storage to freezer-burn granite.

Let me know what you think in the comments and be sure to drop a like if you have enjoyed what you all have seen so far!! Hope everypony is having a good time and I hope to hear from you all soon.

See you next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.

Comments

[jmlop0]

I look forward to seeing how the story goes, a really solid start!