Chapter Twenty Seven- Remembrance, Suspicions, and an Anthem!
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Remembrance, Suspicion, and an Anthem!
The Ceremony itself was almost anticlimactic. The dilithium crystals, eight perfect specimens of rose-grey, octagonal exo-geology, were formally presented to the Hermes by the Executives of the Red Opal Acres Mining Company. Daddy, looking distinctly uncomfortable in the brand-new formal outfit he’d bought just for occasion, brought the case out and gave it to Captain Caper. Fully half the Concourse was roped off (Though not the half with the Garden! Special though the day was, there would have been a minor riot if all Equestrins weren’t allowed access to the biggest display of greenery on the planet!) for the event. Equestris Newsnet covered the event as well as several Federation Databases, the latter reps having to mount their avi feeds on antigravs that floated over the heads of the Equestrin crowd. A few more daring individuals, wanting more dramatic coverage, knelt beneath the legs of unsuspecting Equestrins to get their pictures! Well… drama they certainly got!
The Mare of Equestris, named Tourmaline, presided over the proceedings with an anxious eye. Her term of office was nearly up and she wanted everything to go just right. (On Equestris, the Mare is chosen randomly from among the First-Tier Citizens. If she does a good job she’s allowed to step down when she’s done. If not she has to stay on. If her performance doesn’t measure up by the end of her next term she gets booted out and is reduced to a Second-Tier Citizen! Hay! It’s no more crazy than some of the political setups I saw on Earth!)
We were resplendent in our Class-A uniforms. Caper wore shimmering yellow with gold trim, his awards and pips adorning his blouse just under his Cutie-Patch. I wore deep blue while Sunny was decked out in a metallic lighter shade of the same as well as the yellow-and-black striped kilt of the Alicorne Clan. (The same thing she wanted me to wear! Well… at least it came to her knees!) Even Tyllae got into the act, Stimbolt having cajoled the replicators to produce a Medical tunic based on the measurement Sunny got complete with a somewhat oversized Hermes patch on her breast as well as a cute Medical-blue bow for her tail. The little thing was in transports of joy and would have happily showed off her ensemble to everypony if Sunny and I didn’t keep her under tight rein!
There was a very nice buffet table set up but I didn’t do it justice. I did a few interviews with the various Newsfeeds and rubbed elbows with the Important Ponies until things began to thin out but I always had one eye cocked toward The Aluminum Horseshoe. I slipped away as soon as I politely could with Tyllae in tow, Sunny having already having made her escape!
I was surprised not to see her when we arrived. Daddy was there, of course, and was chatting with Chrys as the latter plied his taps for the better-than-usual crowd that thronged the place today. Daddy’s collar was open and his sleeves rolled back in an effort to get comfortable, a process that was being helped along by the half-empty cider mug at his elbow!
Chrys saw me first since he was, after all, looking out at the customers! “Now then, Starry!” He drew off a two pint mug of Tumbledown Lode and slid it my way, waving off my credit chip with a quiet “Bugger that!”
“Blinky!” Daddy fetched me a big hug and made a point not to muss up my mane. “We’ve been watching you on the Newsfeeds.” He nodded to the video screen over the Bar then turned his attention to Tyllae who flitted up into his face! “Hay there, Little Gem!”
“Looky-look, Jacky-Jack!” Tyllae trilled, modeling her new ensemble. “Tyllae gotta uny-form just lika Starry an Sunny! Isn’t Tyllae beeyooteeiful?” The little ham struck a pose in mid-air, turning in profile and flirting her new bow! The crowd at the Bar cocked interested looks her way, too polite and reserved in their Equestrin way to butt in on the conversation.
“On you it looks good!” Daddy smiled then tipped me a sly wink. “You didn’t meet my friends here yet. Why don’t you go say hello and introduce yourself? Hey, Bucks! This is Tyllae from my Daughter’s Ship. She’s from Earth, I ain’t jesting nor joking!”
The gregarious Fey zipped in for a landing on the bartop and waved a little hoof! “Hi-hiii! Any friend of Jacky-Jack is a friend of Tyllae! Yep, yep, yep!”
It wasn’t long before there was a nice, Equestrin-sized donut as well as a mug of cider complete with a dainty straw set up for the little Fey as she held forth before an attentive audience of miners and shopponies. She was very taken by one particular old cobber with silver streaks in his mane and a white beard who looked old enough to be one of the First Landers. The little mite had dragged her goody and drink up close and, when she wasn’t dashing around, settling down to rest on one work-gnarled old hoof. The Old Buck was smiling like a foal on Hearthswarming Day and was the envy of the growing throng!
Daddy gave me a nudge and tossed his head toward the end of the Bar. We edged our way down while he fished out his old stone pipe, a truly venerable old thing that belonged to his father made of dolomite and carved to look like a Dragon’s head. Not many of the younger Equestrins smoked and Daddy didn’t get it out in deference to my friends last night. Since it was just the two of us just then he dug out his ‘Baccy pouch and lit up before he spoke.
“The Federation newsnets didn’t interview her, I noticed.” He inclined his head toward the screen which was dedicated to Equestrin news and gave me a Significant Look.
“Well it is pretty hard to get her to stay in one place for more than an Andorian minute, you know! May I have that a bit?”
I took the Old Stallions proffered pipe and had a puff, taking the smoke deep in and dribbling it out slowly while I handed it back. Yep, he was still smoking ‘Rockfarmer Red’! I’d given up my own pipe when I joined Starfleet. It was a fairly expensive thing to do on Equestris and the Ponies from Earth don’t go in for it much at all, ponies like Amber Rose being the notable exception! If I hadn’t more pressing matters on my mind back at Alicorne Keep I would have gotten myself a neat little meerschaum number like his. Sunny wouldn’t approve but between modern tobacco and my Augmentation the stuff would be harmless. I had a sudden inspiration, since I was so flush with credits nowadays, to order one for Daddy. It would get here just in time for Hearthswarming Eve, too!
“You know what I mean, Blinky!” The Old Stallion admonished, discretely wiping the stem before popping the pipe back into his mouth. “You’ve heard what she talks about and what Ponies ask her! It’s true, isn’t it? She’s from Back In The Day.” A swirl of smoke underlined the capitalization of his words before wafting up to the ventilators.
I sighed, letting go of the last of the smoke. “Yeah. As far as we can make out. Sunny checked her DNA and she’s definitely from Earth… and there’s no genetic evidence to show that she’s been cobbled together by somepony else for just this purpose.” Before I realized it, my gaze fell upon the Fey enjoying herself with her newest friends.
“That’s one little pebble that can set off one hell of an avalanche… or a cave-in!” He regarded the little tyke thoughtfully and puffed up another cloud. “What did Starfleet have to say about her?”
“Well, we filed out reports to Starfleet Command days ago. Still no word one way or the other.” I shrugged, trying to fend off an ugly suspicion, and took a drink. “There’s not much they can do about it now. The isotope is well and truly out of containment, right?”
Daddy said just what I was afraid he would say in just the tone I didn’t want to hear.
“…I hope so.”
“Dad! This is the Federation we’re talking about here!”
“Ponies are Ponies no matter what their political affiliation, Blinky!” Daddy admonished me with a wave of his mug before taking a deep pull. “Brush just a few stars out of your Starry Eyes is all I’m saying! Remember, even though we’re Ponies here on Equestris, the Federation had to vote on allowing us to be members. After two centuries there’re still enough Ponies who don’t… or won’t… forget or forgive us for something we didn’t have a hoof in! Now, even after twenty-two centuries, I’d bet my last ration ticket there are some who won’t forgive the Goddesses for abandoning them. I’d even go so far as to say that they’d even had a vested interest in keeping them as a myth! Can you see the Earth President just stepping down without even shaking her mane? And what would the Vulcans, Tellarites or Andorians do if Earth became a Theacracy? Would there even be a Federation? What would the Goddesses have to do with aliens?” His pipe and his rhetoric having gone dry, he set both aside to finish off his drink.
Ok, maybe I had been intentionally keeping myself from dwelling on the ramifications of Tyllae’s existence. Daddy’s musings on the subject, though, shook me. It’s one thing to mull thoughts over and over in your head, but to hear somepony speak the same thoughts out loud is another story! How many Ponies on Hermes were thinking the same things? How long until Equestrins started following suit? …And what about Earth itself? Billions had died in the course of the Eugenics Wars when thirty-thousand Augments made their bid to take over the world…
The Mare in my head gave me a jab! Tyllae most assuredly did NOT want to conquer Earth or anyplace else. All she cares for is being happy with the Ponies she loves. Earth native or not, her motives and outlook just aren’t compatible with modern politics.
…But what of the Ponies who rallied around or against her? I countered the Captain of the Bridge In My Mind. Visions of ‘Believers’ versus ‘Non-Believers’ fought out a bloody pageant on her screens. There is, I reminded her, historical precedent for Ponies to act out of real or imagined fear of the unknown… or change! I paraded the images of the Roaman Empire, Neighpoleon, Hitter ,Stallion Joe, and Chaircow Moo to illustrate my point.
But, if Ponies are so inherently flawed and evil, how is it that Good survives at all? …Unless the Potential was always there to begin with! Depictions of the Reinassance, The Enlightenment, and the Founding of Neighmerican Republic rolled across her screens in rebuttal. A final image came and stayed. An image from long, long ago. Six Mares in a Magical Land called Equestria. The Living Embodiments of what makes Ponies Ponies! Evil dies, the Mare in my Head reminded me, Virtue Does Not! Her point made, she looked insufferably smug and stuck an orange tongue out at me!
I pondered the thought. Those who would lay blame at the Hooves of the Goddesses conveniently forget that the all They are guilty of is giving Ponies the freedom of making Choices. Sometimes, as a Species, we make the wrong choices. We learn, though, and choose wisely more often than not. The Federation and its mandate of Peace Through Friendship is proof of that. Stubborn Earth Ponies, thoughtful Unicorns, decisive Pegasai and a relative hoof-full of inspirational Alicorns ultimately unified a world and held it up as an example for other worlds to follow. All on Faith based on what we were taught Once Upon A Time. Those ideals still hold even after the Romulan War even if the Faith is more of a tradition than a rational fact these days…
I watched Tyllae try her hoof at a game of darts. She would carry the dart in all four hooves, back a good six feet from the throw line, and zoom in to release the thing in a graceful loop like an old-style jet delivering a bomb! The nuances of scoring were beyond her and all that cider wasn’t helping her accuracy, but she was having one of the times of her little life!
I was struck by a sudden thought. The Universe is vast and inscrutable but things happen for a reason. Tyllae happening here and now at this pivotal point in the history of the Federation just seemed too much of a coincidence! The Equestrin in me balked at the concept of omens or signs ...but wouldn’t let go of the fact that she was important somehow.
Part of the reason Ponies went among the Stars was the hope of finding a pair of beloved faces Out There. …Was Tyllae somehow the key to finding Them? Who, if anypony, wouldn’t want Them found? …And why?
“Blinky?”
I, well, blinked and came out of my reverie to find Daddy watching me thoughtfully as he refilled his pipe.
“Sorry, Dad! I was woolgathering.”
He frowned over the expression as he lit up. “Gathering wool? From ‘sheep’, right? Some sort of animal?”
I searched my mind for an Equestrin equivalent. “I was just scaling rust is all!”
“Ah! Gotcha then!” He settled back as Chrys exchanged our empties for full one, refusing Daddy’s chip till he thumped the bar top emphatically with a finger. (Given the choice, Equestrins Pay Their Way.) I pushed his out of the way and replaced it with mine.
“I got it, Dad. I’m a big Filly now. Whatever Tyllae wants just tack in onto my bill, Chrys!”
Dad cocked a hairy eyebrow at me. “Put that away or you’re gonna find out you’re not nearly too big to put over my knee, Little Filly! I can buy my own Daughter’s drinks and the little Flutterbugs, too!”
“Cram it up your assay, the both of you!” Chrys retorted. “This is my slaggin’ Bar and I’ll do what I crumblin’ well please so the two of you sit down and drink up! As far as Short-shanks there…” He gestured toward the dartboard. “She not taking anypony’s last nugget so let her be. Ponies’ll be happy to buy her drinks till the Station spins in. ‘Sides, she’s good for business! Between herself and that shindig outside I’m rolling in credits! Two Tumbledowns coming up!”
“When did you get so cantankerous?” Daddy grumped.
“When did we get so old, Cobber?” Chrys slid the drinks down the Bar and we saluted the Buck with our mugs. I poured a good quarter-mug of foamy, apple goodness down my throat before turning back to Daddy to pick up where I left off.
“I guess I’m just counting on basic Pony goodness, Dad! It’s stood the old Species in good stead for a long time now.”
Daddy echoed Sunny’s words. “Good and Evil are choices, Blinky. A lot of evil is done in the name of good. ‘The portal of Hell’ and all that!”
“The Hell with ‘all that’!” I said firmly.
Daddy chuckled. “You and your Starry-Eyes, Blinky!” He raised a mug to me. “I hope you’re right!”
Our attention was diverted back to the Bar. Tyllae, having done with darts, had retreated back to the Old Miners hoof and composed herself for a nap. The old buck shooed away some of the throng.
“Na then! Give the little ‘un a bit of peace for a bit, will ee?” From a back pocket he shook out a huge red-with-white-polka-dot hoofkerchief and draped it over the napping Fey. Some of the others drifted away reluctantly while a couple picked up a recorder and a squeeze-box, getting ready to strike up a tune for a song.
“Nay, nay!” The old buck jutted his grizzled jaw at them. “None of your new, flash stuff then! Let her sleep to this ‘un!”
He took a pull from his mug and cleared his old throat. Then his quavering, sweet voice rose to sing a very, very old song from Earth itself… from Equestria!
“Blessed Bodies of the Heavens,
Sun and Moon of Greatest Light!
Bathe us in your warm embraces,
Shield us with your Peerless Might!”
The players picked up the tune, being careful to neither wake the sleeping Fey nor to drown out the old singer. The Ponies nearby ceased talking and strained to hear the half-forgotten words.
“Help us to stand firm as mountains,
Doing Right while shunning Wrong.
May we find our strength in Friendship,
Unite our Herd as one group strong!’
The zone of silence grew as a few of the older Ponies began to add their voices to the song. Somepony began to clop his hooves on the Bar in cadence while I held my breath…
“Kindness save our Herd from Sorrow,
Laughter lift us through the day!
Honesty will purge our anger,
Gen-er-ous we’ll be in our ways!”
More voices chimed in as Equestrins, stirred by the lyrics they were remembering, perhaps, were moved to sing…
“Loyal to our Roots remain us,
Day by day the Magic swells!
Love and Tolerance shall lead us,
O’er the seas and hill and dells!”
Ponies stood and came closer and mugs were being swung softly in time to the music…
“In Brotherhood we stand together,
In Sisterhood may we find Grace!
The Sun and Moon will ever guide,
Our ne-ever ending Pony Race!
Why should we fear threats of Discord,
Standing now all here as One?
We shall find our Strength in Friendship,
Unite our Herd as One..Group..Strooong!”
The recorder player ended on a flourish not unlike the birdsongs I heard back at Alicorne Keep. The old buck barely had enough time to wet his throat again before the murmuring crowd urged him to begin again. This time, though, many voices joined him, those who didn’t remember the words hummed the bits they forgot. Voice, hoof, recorder, and concertina rang out together as Chrys muted the newsfeed. My heart swelled! It was so… right!
Amber Rose had observed, once, that the Magic lay in the Third Time. So it seemed so fitting and proper that all in the Bar, from the old Buck to the Patrons in the back booths, came together for the next singing! Tyllae woke up somewhere in there and added her trilling voice, capering and dancing above their heads and ending the Song with a pretty burst of pink and yellow fireworks. Any other time such a gauche display of Magic would have been frowned upon. But she had, I hoped, inspired something in all our hearts.
“I’m right, Dad! I’m right!” I rubbed the moisture from my eyes. Mine weren’t the only ones in need of drying, either! The Old Buck was dabbing at his own with his kerchief as he was clapped on the back time and again.
“The Federation came from this! It wasn’t all forgotten, you’ll see!” I hugged the Old Stallion because I just needed to share what I was feeling just then!
Daddy hugged me back and couldn’t resist mussing my mane! He settled back and began filling his pipe.
“A lot of Ponies do remember, Blinky!” He cautioned, then fixed me with one eye while he tamped his pipe down. “But there’s bound to be some after all these years who’ll want proof. It’s not just Ponies involved anymore!”
We don’t do premonitions on Equestris, we just don’t! Nearly two hundred years of hardscrabble existence made us ruthlessly pragmatic. And yet, watching the little Fey frolic fearlessly with her new friends, I was taken by a feeling of… certainty! The Mare in my head frowned at the validity of that word but I shushed her!
“I think…” I began slowly. “Somehow this mission will give us that proof, though I can’t imagine how!” I shrugged and had another drink. “After all, if They were out on some planet just sitting there somepony… or alien… would have mentioned seeing them. Starfleet would have heard something!”
“But you’re going into unexplored space, right?”
“Space,” I conceded the point. “That has been felt out by Traders for decades. Besides, a lot of that space Out There may already be claimed by somepony, er, somebody else. All we know is that the Vulcans, Tellarites, or the Andorians have never seen Them.” I sighed. “Where could They be, I wonder?”
Daddy raised an eyebrow at me. “I thought you just said you were certain they were going to be in sector you’re headed for.”
“I know! I know!” I smiled sheepishly. “It’s just that the sector we’re headed for, while it hasn’t been thoroughly explored, had been at least been under observation for some time now. Any M-Class planet in there has at least had an unponied flyby if not an actual survey by a civilian ship. Hermes, despite its refit, isn’t set up to make it very far into truly virgin space. The new Constitution-Class ships that can do just that are just now being built and won’t be available for some years yet. We’re all Starfleet has in the meantime… but we’ll Get The Job Done, somehow!”
Daddy squeezed my arm. “That’s my Filly!” Then he grew more serious. “Let’s hope they let you do it!”
“I can’t see Starfleet calling us back at this late date! What are they going to do, censor the whole damn ship? Eighty-five Ponies, one Tellarite and one Vulcan have already seen and heard Tyllae. What are they going to do, brainwipe the whole Crew and two alien scientists? Colonel Green himself wouldn’t have been able to get away with that even in the name of his ‘Greater Good’!”
“There’s always the good old ‘unfortunate accident’.” Daddy put in, then waved his hoof at my stricken look! “I don’t mean they’d gun down the Hermes or sabotage it… though I wouldn’t put it past them if buck came to shove! If I had to do it…” Daddy looked thoughtful. “I’d quietly alert the Klingons of the location of the ship through covert means and let them do the deed! After your little set-to a few days ago I’m sure they’d jump at the chance.”
I gaped at my Dad who sat there smoking grimly. I shut my mouth with an audible ‘clop’ only after I realized it fell open!
“Hol-lee Luna bucking meteors! Daddy! When did you get so paranoid?”
“When did I get to be so old… and how did I make it there?” My Dad, who most assuredly had no stars in his eyes, smiled a grim little smile. “All I’m saying is be careful. You, Sunny, and Tyllae. Be careful for her! After all, you can lead a Pony to Truth… but you can’t make him Believe.”
Shaken, I sat and just thought about what Daddy was implying. The Mare in my head rejected the concept entirely… but she was even less world-wise than I. And it was more than a little disconcerting to realize that Loving and Tolerating the heck out of someponies was no guarantee that they would reciprocate in kind! I beckoned for Daddy’s pipe and he filled and lit if for me then just sat back and drank while I puffed in contemplation. The Old Stallion’s eyes kept what he thought was a covert watch on me as he let me mull it all over. I was, forever and always, his Little Filly and he would always be there when things got rough. But he never once in his life tried to do my thinking for me, we were both too Equestrin to let that happen!
I savored a fragrant lungful as a thought occurred to me. I glanced at the silent newsfeed then took in the crowd at the Bar.
“The Equestrin newsfeed is carrying Tyllae!” I stabbed at the screen with the pipestem. “And she’s certainly making herself well known here! Everypony in this bar is going to spread the word of what they’ve seen here… I puffed and did the math then let a smile light up my face! “Anypony in Starfleet is going to have a rough time trying to stifle all of Equestris, aren’t they? And the story’s going to get out on all the ships that come and go from here each day. I’d say that avalanche has already begun, Dad!” I tried my hoof at blowing a smoke ring, feeling pleased. Well… I was waaay out of practice! I watched the twisting blob of smoke waft up to the ventilators.
“I was thinking the same thing, Blinky.” Daddy nodded. “But Equestris is just one Colony. Hmmm….” He thought for a bit. “Seems to me that if we stoke this furnace it’ll be that much harder to put it out. Tell you what! I know some Ponies who know some Ponies in the local Media. I think we can keep this going. And nopony is about to accuse we ‘sober and unimaginative’ Equestrins of concocting a story, now are they?” He supplied the air quotes with an ironic twinkle in his dear old eyes. Really! Most ponies think we’re right up there with the Vulcans!
“This is going to work, Dad! I just know it!”
I was so caught up in the topic that I never saw Sunny coming!
“What in th’ name o’ all things Pony’re ye doin’?”
Damn Earth-normal gravity! I must’ve jumped four inches on my seat! Hoping to sly, I popped the pipe out of my mouth and tossed it to Daddy who caught it against his body, cussing under his breath as he swatted the coal before it burned through his new suit!
“Hi, Sunny!” … All the leftover smoke puffed into my Love’s face as the last hope of pulling the deception off wafted away exactly like smoke in the wind. The Mare in my head raised the Bridge Shields and braced herself in her chair in anticipation of a force-ten Ion Storm!
But Sunny only looked on in mild irritation her mind, mercifully, being on something else.
“ Och fer th’ Science Officer! D’ye no ken tha’ yon will stunt yer growth?”
“Too late!” Daddy chortled and rolled his eyes to avoid the murderous look I gave him.
Sunny had come in with no fewer than two potted plants cradled in her arms! One was an ivy of some sort and the other was a squat, evergreen shrub. More surprising was the sight of an Equestrin youth, almost my size, standing patiently behind her his arms hardly encumbered by the assortment of packages Sunny had accumulated. Sunny had dragooned him, doubtlessly, to act as a bearer. From the look in his eyes he didn’t mind a little bit!
“Just be a-puttin’ it all up here, Laddy-me-Buck!” She waggled an elbow at the Bar. “N’ gimme yer chip fer a tick so I can gi’ ye a reward fer yer kindness! Chrys, lad, draw this fine fella…” She ran a critical eye over the colt. “A sarsaparilla ‘r a cola or summat on me!”
The young buck, clearly under my Dears’ spell, had reached for his chip reflexively and had it out of the pocket of his jumpsuit before he realized it! He blinked and froze.
“Nay, Ma’am! I was glad to help! No trouble at all…” He stammered.
“Well I don’t know anything about a ‘sarsaparilla’,” Chrys rumbled. “ much less a cola!” He actually shuddered at the prospect! “But if he has a chip that means he’s got a job and he’s a workin’ Buck. And on Equestris workin’ Bucks drink cider! Or beer…?” He cocked an expectant eye at the youth, an empty mug in his hoof.
The young buck took a quick look at what everypony else was drinking. “Cider’d be great! Thank you, Ma’am!”
Sunny offered her chip to Chrys who shooed it away. She looked hurt and was just about to give the Barkeep a dose of her marvelous eyes when Daddy took the pipe from his mouth.
“Forget it, Sunny! He’s being cantankerous today!”
“Slag off, Jack! Here you go, kid!” He slid the mug down the bar. “Pull up a stool and take a load off! That loudmouth over there is Jackhammer, the filly next to him is Starry-Eyes. She’s his daughter! You’ve already met Sunny here! My name’s Chrysoberyl, call me Chrys!” He spotted the taupe-and-pink blur coming our way. “And this is Tyllae, the hardest drinking Faery that ever came from Earth!”
“Hi-hiii!” Tyllae zipped up in front of his muzzle and waved manically. “Tyllae can drink a whole, BIG cider alla by self, yep, yep, yep!” The little mite shrugged. “But Tyllae has to sleepy-sleep after. Still issa pretty good for a little Faery like Tyllae! Ooh! Prezzle-sticks good, good, good with cider!” She zipped off to retrieve one from a bowl and ponihandled one back to hover in front of the young buck, making heavy weather with the burden with her wings going at Warp Speed! “Dippit inna cider an eat! Yummy-yum-yum!”
“What’s your name, kid?” Chrys eyed the black crystal patch with the flowing pattern on the young buck’s shoulder. “Obsidian? Onyx? Jet…?”
“Rhyolite, Sir.” The buck relieved the little Fey of her burden and dutifully dunked it in his cider.
“Yeah, that was gonna be my next guess! Drink up, Rhyolite!”
“I dunno…” Sunny eyed Rhyolite narrowly. “Seems that we’re a-contributin’ t’ th’ delinquency o’ a minor.”
“Oh, but I’m not a miner, Ma’am! I live here on the Station and work in Tech Support. In Sensory and Scanners, mainly.” He explained, looking embarrassed while the rest of us, Tyllae excluded, chuckled.
Sunny’s ears drooped and she rolled her lovely eyes. “Och! Everypony’s a comedian! He who’d make a pun would pick a pocket! Yer all a frivolous lot th’ bunch o’ ye!”
Rhyolite startled and blushed… Sunny has that effect on lots of Ponies! “Oh, no! I mean..”
“Dinna fash yesel’, Laddy! I’m only havin’ a wee bit o’ fun wi’ ye!” She gave the hapless youngster a playful push that made the poor buck bury his muzzle in his mug to hide the blush! I decided to come to his rescue.
“Are we starting a botanical garden now, Sunny?” I poked at the ivy.
“Which these are no fer oursels’, ye greedy thing! These’re presents!” So saying, she deposited the ivy on the Bar and slid it toward Chrys… who nearly dropped the mug he was filling! “Here ye go, Chrys-me-Lad! In ‘preciation o’ th’ finest cider t’ be had this side o’ Earth, grand stuff that it is!” The other pot she deposited in Daddy’s lap with a little-filly grin. “N’ this ‘un if fer yerself, Father Jack!” She gave Daddy a peck on the cheek and batted her lavender eyes at the Old Stallion who was so stunned he nearly dropped his pipe out of his mouth!
“Between the two of us Fyng is gonna retire early!” I commented dryly.
“Oh, I dinna ken! Got th’ whole lot fer two hundred credit!” Sunny said breezily, looking pleased with herself.
I choked on my cider! “What!?”
“Oh, yon Ferengi lad is no so hard t’ get along wi’! Tickle his braw, great ears n’ he’ll be a-doin’ backflips fer ye t’ be sure!”
I remembered how the little runt behaved when I scratched his ear… and suddenly wanted to wash my hoof! Well, between that and Sunny’s eyes, the little fink never stood a chance! Still…
“Sunny.” I fixed her with a look. “You’re absolutely scandalous!”
She put her nose up, looking superior. “Takin’ advantage o’ folks works both ways! Why should th’ wee shyster be a-havin’ all th’ fun? Sairves th’ bugger right!” She twinkled an eye at me. “Just chalk it up t’ th’ exchange o’ cultural nuances!”
“Well… he was asking for it, wasn’t he?” I subsided. “And, thanks to me, he still came out ahead I’m sure… if only a little bit. Maybe he’ll think twice before he tries to swindle anypony else in the future!”
“Aye! Those F’rengi’s need a-watchin’ t’ be sure!”
Chrys was staring at the ivy in awe! “Are you sure about this, Sunny? I know you got a clinker of a deal but…wow!” He touched one green leaf with a tentative hoof as if he were afraid of breaking it. I had to smile! On Equestris, this was a princely gift!
“Oh, aye! ‘Tis our own great pleasure t’ be sure! Just put a wee trellis up there by yer mirror n’ I expect ye’ll have t’ be prunin’ it back in no time ‘tall! Be a bonny conversation piece for th’ Bar, doncha know? Ye’ll be th’ talk o’ th’ Station!” Sunny winked! “’N who knows, ye could be a-rafflin’ off cuttings t’ drive yon Florist daft!”
Tyllae was flitting around the ivy, arranging the leaves just so. She cocked her head at the plant intently then zipped up into the Barpony’s face!
“Giml likes being here, Chrys-Chrys! Likes alla ponies being ‘round, yep, yep, yep! Just needa little light!” The little Fey found the sunglobe and rapped the activating switch with a tiny hoof. She followed it into the air and moved it to just the right distance! “Yes, yes, yes!” She beamed! “Giml one happy, happy, happy ivy now!”
“Uh… ‘Giml’?” Chrys looked at the Fey.
“Giml is ivy’s name!” She pointed to the plant. “Giml told Tyllae so! Yep, yep, yep! Don’t forget to talk to Giml, Chrys-Chrys! Make Giml feel at home!”
The older Barpony appealed to us with his eyes!
“You have to trust her on this one, Chrys!” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s a Faery Thing, it would seem!”
Daddy was looking at is shrub closely. “Does this one have a name too, Tyllae?”
The little mite zoomed over to Daddy’s pot and sat in the dirt to stroke the needles and ruffle the branches.
“Coursa do, Jacky-Jack!” Tyllae scolded, “ Everything alive hassa name. Parta Magic! Biggy-Big Ponies very, very, very smart making all sortsa stoopid machinies but Tyllae thinks Biggy-Big Ponies wrong about Magic. All Ponies have Magic, even Biggy-Big Ponies!” She paused and cocked an ear to the shrub, listening intently for a few seconds while Daddy and I exchanged glances concerning the concept of Equestrin ‘Magic’!
The little Fey suddenly nodded to the plant. “Oakey-Dokes! Tyllae tells!” She waved up at Daddy! “Jacky-Jack! This one…” She pointed to the shrub. “Issa called ‘Pe’! Tyllae told Pe that things all heavy where Jacky-Jack lives but Pe promises to try real, real, real hard to grow an be strong lika Awg-Mints are, yep, yep, yep! Pe wanna be good an issa very, very, very proud to be only Shrub where Jacky-Jack lives! Pe wanna have lots of little sprouts all over Ee-kwes-triss so Jacky-Jack gonna hafta help little Pe an pay special attention till Pe gets bigger!”
Daddy turned his head to cock one eye at the Faery. “You got all that in just a few seconds, Little Gem?”
“Yep, yep, yep!” The little Fey noddled. “Unspoken Words much, much, much faster thana Spoken Words! Ponies have Pony way, Faeries have Faery way! Ask Starry! Starry knows alla ‘bout different ways now. Tyllae issa very, very, very good teacher. Yep, yep, yep!” The little thing looked smug, polishing one hoof against her breast then admiring it. I gave her a poke in the tummy!
“Don’t get cocky, Squirt!” I said as the little thing collapsed into giggles. Then, to Daddy, “Looks like you have a shrub with plans on your hoof, Dad! Don’t ask how Tyllae knows, she just does! Apparently our plant…”
“Myrl!” Tyllae put in. “Usea right name, Starry! Myrl doesn’t call Starry ‘Pony’, nope, nope, nope!”
I rolled my eyes and gave the little tyke another poke! “Fine! Myrl has plans to be the biggest bloomer on the whole Ship!”
“Has anypony else had occasion t’ read ‘Th’ Day o’ th’ Triffids’?” Sunny wondered to nopony in particular.
Rhyolite lowered his head to the Bar and propped it one two stacked fists as he watched the little Fey in naked wonderment.
“She’s telepathic with plants? I knew they were alive but I never knew they were intelligent!”
Tyllae flitted up to perch on the end of his muzzle, making the buck look at her cross-eyed!
“Plants been alive since before Celestia an Luna, since before Faeries, Rhy-Rhy! All alive, all smart! Just in different way is all! Starry tells Tyllae allabouta mossy-moss on Ee-kwes-triss. Tyllae thinks mossy-moss all smart, too, but Tyllae has never gotta chance to talk to any yet! Nope, nope, nope! Does Rhy-Rhy got any mossy-moss inna house Tyllae can ask?” She trotted eagerly up his nose and the poor buck did his best to keep her in focus!
“Me own a plant?” He blinked in surprise. “I couldn’t afford enough dirt to keep an earthworm alive much less a plant!”
“Aww! Too bad! Plants like having Ponies take care of! Tyllae useto help other Faeries keep special gardens deep inna woods inna secret places for when Celestia an Luna to come visit an play with Faeries. It was very, very, very nice! Tyllae was ‘specially proud of one big, purple Lily that Luna…”
“Wait, what?” Rhyolite blinked and gave the Fey a doubtful look. “You ran around with… with the, uh, Goddesses?” He looked up quickly at the rest of us, looking for the smirks that would tell him this was some sort of joke. Needless to say, he didn’t see any!
“Why everypony so surprised when Tyllae says that?” The little Fey stomped a hoof on his nose, irritated. “Luna an Celestia visit Faeries an Ponies alla time back then! Tyllae sees lotsa times before… before…” The little Fey shuddered, then collected herself. “Tyllae went away! Just wait, Rhy-Rhy! Celestia an Luna come back again soon!” (Daddy and I exchanged significant looks!) “ Sunny tell Tyllae allabout when both leave. Celestia an Luna never said never coming back, nope, nope, nope! Ponies anna Biggy-Big Ponies just needa be patient lika little Faery! Alicornies liva long, long, long time! What is little time for Alicornies is long, long, long time for everypony else! Don’t worry, Rhy-Rhy! Tyllae maka sure to tell allabout nice Biggy-Big Ponies! Maybe come back an get some yummy, yummy, yummy cider and Tyllae can show all nice new friends off!” The innocent Fey hovered in front of Rhyolite’s eyes and nodded with antennae jangling!
Rhyolite sat back and searched all our faces simply at a loss for words!
Chrys asked the question the young buck could not…
“She on the level, Jack?” he eyed Daddy shrewdly.
All the ponies within earshot… and Tyllae’s voice carries… had given up the pretense of politely not listening.
Daddy puffed his pipe quietly for a moment before removing it from his mouth. “You’ve been around a while, Chrys. You all have.” He swept his gaze around the faces, his face carefully neutral. “Equestris doesn’t breed fools. We got our hooves planted hard on the ground and that’s a fact. Any you bunch think your leg’s getting pulled here?” He jutted his jaw toward the Fey.
Equestris doesn’t breed fools. Neither does it breed demagogues! Equestrins make their own decisions. Some of the Ponies there frowned, some drank their drinks, a couple rubbed their jaws but none of them looked to somepony else to make up their minds, bless ‘em!
“Tyllae.” I said gently. “You seen awfully sure about that. …What brought you to this conclusion, kiddo?”
“Tyllae been thinking for a long, long, long time now, Starry!” She flitted up to sit in my outstretched hoof. “Tyllae jussa little Faery… only Faery now as far as poor Tyllae knows…” She shook her head sadly then bucked up. “But even a little, lonely Faery is wise enough to see, yep, yep, yep! Tyllae thinks Ponies feel alla lone for long, long, long time now. Ponies maka big, big, big cities an machines an build funny Star-shippies to fly ‘way out inna stars an meet all kindsa peoples. Some nice lika Mr. Sekkack anna Mr. Bogan! Some not, like nasty, nasty, nasty Kling-gone no-goods! But Ponies still foals, Starry! Pony-Tree not that old, nope, nope, nope! Foals still wanna see Mommies again, even if mostly grown-up! Tyllae is all grown but Tyllae would like to see Tyllae’s Mommy again. But Momma is gone, all dead an gone to Other Side an never come back to This One, nope, nope, nope!” She sighed. “But Celestia an Luna not dead, only go away a little! Tyllae come back onna Star-shippy inna this time anna this place ‘cause Tyllae thinks Tyllae can help Ponies. Bigger help than any Faery ever did before! Yep, yep, yep! Tyllae hopes Tyllae is up to job! Tyllae promises to help an promises to try real, real, real hard!” She sketched an ‘x’ in front of her breast earnestly! “Ponies needa find Celestia an Luna an soon, soon, soon! Tyllae thinks Tyllae is here to do just that, yep, yep, yep!” She nodded firmly to me, then to all around as deadly serious as a Faery can be!
Silence reigned all along the Bar. Some Ponies in the back were still talking but I had a feeling that all that would change and soon! First the Aluminum Horseshoe, then the Station, then Equestris itself. From there, who knows? A wind was beginning to blow that would sweep the entire Federation. A wind swept up by, not just tiny Faery-wings, but bigger wings. Much bigger!
The Old Pony at the Bar, Tyllae’s singing buddy, broke the silence!
“Well buck me all to Hell!” He quavered, then raised his mug. “Here’s to Good Times Comin’, Ponies! Am I right or am I right? O-er! To think I lived to see it!” Cautious smiles broke out that grew stronger as they were shared. More drinks were raised and a voice called out.
“Hay! Let’s hear that one again, Dad!”
“Oooh, goody! Come on, Sunny!” Tyllae tugged at Sunny’s hoof. “Gonna since nice, nice, nice song again! Tyllae thinks Sunny knows the words!” She flitted into the air above the throng and she lifted a hoof to be the Galaxy’s Teeniest Conductor!
“A one, a two, a one, two, three…!”
“Blessed Bodies of the Heavens….!”
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2657419 *Tyllae looks hurt and gives Big Faery Eyes to Tony cause she didn't get an Oreo!*
Looking at?! What did I log into? I swear! There are times I shouldn't be allowed near a computer!
I'm gonna have to try it again and try to find where I goofed up.
I'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that. Is she related to Tony DiNozzo (NCIS)?
At least there aren't any trees on Equestris, and where would they find a herring?
2657512
*hoofs Tyllae ANOTHER oreo that the Author didn't apparently see*
do yourself a favour, mate *slips readers to the author" you seem to be needin those more than I do *puts his bifocals on, grumbles something about Tia nor being there when he had to get them*
2657953 I've heard of the show but never watched it, I'm afraid. Who's Tony DiNozzo?
*Watches in anticipation as Starry marches up for the Fish-Slapping Contest dragging a Great White Shark! She balks as the (surviving!) crew of the Switchblade troop up swinging an Orca from a derrick!*
*Enter Sunny from the wings, tap-dancing and singing. "Oh, I'm a Rockfarmer and I'm O-kayyyyy!..."
*Author shouts* "Cut! We're done with that now! Too Silly!"
*Exit Sunny stage left, muttering Byreish maledictions*
2658484 Sorry, I didn't hear that one. I had my eyes shut!
(Dadburn Younger Generation
)
*Enter Tyllae from stage right, rolling an Oreo like a hula-hoop!* "Hi-hiii! Tyllae already has big, big, big cookie! Let Pinky-Pink have this one!" *Aims cookie at 4th Wall and bucks through screen!*
2661284 Tony's the "Guy on the make", or was. He's calmed down some.
His "schtick" is movie references; he tends to make at least one per show, and they're oddly appropriate.
2661290
"younger generation"? ROFL. dash has me hitting the mane dye already! (seriously, I'm forty)
leap noms the oreo
2661865 Dang! I just can't do anything original, can I?
2662519 Ah! I remember forty! ...Well, I know it happened anyway!
I'll be fifty-five next month so respeck yer elders! ...What was I talkin' about again...? *wanders off Granny Smith style*
*Tyllae runs up excitedly* "Looky-look! Raining choccy-milk nex door!!!"