> Purple Star > by TAD2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Never Wish Upon A Star, It Could Be A Starship > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A large 18 year old purple and green dragon walked out of his home, well more like his castle home, and it was not his per say, it was more his older sisters. But she wasn't his real sister...look it's complicated. This is Spike, he has little to no social life in the form of a few friends, but they rarely get together anymore, because they are either in a relationship, or are so unpredictable that they can never set a date to hang out. Tonight was going to be a night where they would hang out, but Big Mac had to cancel because he and his new wife are enjoying their honeymoon, and his other friend Discord, was traveling the 7th and a quarter dimension, and hadn't been seen since tomorrow. Spike groaned at seeing that his social life was pretty much over now, he had no girlfriend, no real paying job, he did work, but that was for his sister, who gave him an allowance but nothing too much, and he was pretty much out of options for tonight. Spike looked to the sky, it was starting the transition to the night, and the towns street lights were starting to turn on. "Maybe the park will have something." Spike then laughed. "Maybe I'll run into Rarity and..." He sighed. "Who am I kidding, it's taken me 5 years and she hasn't even taken an interest in me." Spike started walking to Ponyville Park, giving the ponies of the town a friendly smile and wave as they went home for the night. By the time he made it to the park, the night was in full swing, and the moon was new, giving those who were still out at this time, a great view of the stars above. Spike took a seat on a park bench and leaned back so the only thing he saw was the star filled sky. "My life is pretty boring, all I do is work, I don't see my friends as much as I want to, and my friends are much older than me, I have no girlfriend, and I'm talking to myself...." Spike groaned. "How is this my life? I've saved an entire kingdom from slavery, I was the dragon lord, I'm a fucking prince of Equestria, and I'm...Still talking to myself." Spike closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, there was more to him than just his work, but right now Spike was having trouble finding it, the only thing that he was known for was being the donut eating champion at Pony Joe's, being the hero of the Crystal Empire, and being the dragon of Ponyville, but that last one was more because he was the only dragon in Ponyville, and more over most of Equestria. Spike opened his eyes and noticed that there was a meteor shower above him. "Oh, cool." Spike shrugged as he made a wish. "I wish my life was more interesting." Spike looked around, hoping that worked, but he was still in the park, there wasn't a mare that was looking for a dragon, it wasn't raining gems, and he didn't get a million bits. "I guess that was a little too much, but Aunt Luna sure did make a great night." "WARNING...PILOT DECESED, LOCATING CLOSEST HABITABLE PLANET IN SEARCH FOR NEW OPERATOR, HULL DAMAGE MINIMAL, JETTISONING CARGO NOW!" Said a robotic voice as a large ship flew towards a planet. Spike was still watching the sky, when suddenly he noticed a very large star that was a lot lower than the rest, normally that was no problem, it wasn't that much bigger, so it would burn up in the atmosphere. But the star was much different from the rest seeing as it was purple. Spike blinked as he watched the star grow, and going off the trajectory, it was going to impact the planet. "Oh crap." Yelled Spike as he took cover behind the bench. Spike stayed there for a few minutes but after not hearing a loud crash, he noticed that the star was hovering above the Everfree forest. "What the hell?" The star started descending to the ground and was soon hidden in the large forest. "I should probably go tell Twilight...but, how cool would it be to be the first one to discover whatever that was?" With that decided, Spike started walking towards the forest. "Landing successful, proceeding with planetary scan, and data gathering. Warning, planet not in federation data base, adjusting scan for all living, intelligent life forms." Said the robotic voice. Spike was about half way to where he thought the star landed, and noticed that there was no fallout from the crash. "Ok, there should be some damage, but so far nothing." Spike kept walking and soon found what he was looking for. Sitting, or more like parked in a clearing was a large black spherical object, there was no crater underneath it, but it was making a loud hum. Spike got closer to it, he wasn't feeling sick, and it wasn't making him crave brains. "What are you?" Asked Spike as he placed his hand on it's surface. But instead of meeting some sort of resistance, the surface was more like a liquid, and it pulled Spike into the mass. The next thing Spike saw was a very dark room, with a window that showed a view of the forest. So the first thing you should do, when in a situation like this, is panic. Spike ran to the wall that he fell through and started banging on it. "Let me out! Let me out!" Yelled the freaking dragon. "Greetings." Said the voice. Spike looked around. "Who was that?" "I am the CH mark 715 interstellar starship." Spike was confused. "So, this is a spaceship?" "In layman's term, yes. I am a series of starships produced by the interstellar federation, in their hopes to eliminate the tyrannical Black Star Nebula Empire." Spike had calmed down enough to stop banging on the wall, and he walked to the center of the ship. "Ok, then why are you here?" "I activated emergency warp drive, before I was destroyed, and my remains captured by a Empire war ship. My pilot did not make it." "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." "I have logged his death in the database, and he was rewarded with many honors." Suddenly the ships alarm started blaring. "WARNING, EMPIRE WARSHIP DETECTED IN SYSTEM!" Spike looked at the ship. "YOU LED IT HERE!" "They tracked my warp signature, and the nearest Federation battel cruiser is too far to arrive and defend the planet." "THEN GO FIGHT THEM!" Yelled Spike. "I can not reach outer orbit without a pilot, I suggest, that to save your world, you become my operator." "If I don't?" "Your planet will either be destroyed, enslaved, or left barren after the empire strips the world's natural resources, and leave the inhabitants to die slowly." Spike groaned. "What do I do?" "Step forward and place your hands on these interface modules. I will then reconfigure the system to allow for the best interface." 2 waist high polls with large bulbs popped out of the floor, and started pulsating a faint purple glow. "Once the system is finished, you will be enveloped in the same nano tech that I am comprised of, to form a suitable atmospheric suit, that will allow for interstellar travel." Spike nodded as he got to his feet and placed his hands onto the polls. "I'm Spike." "My previous operator designated me as Chris. Configuration complete, starting construction of atmospheric suit." Soon a black slime started flowing up Spike's legs, but he didn't flinch, it was this or let his world die, and he wasn't willing to let that happen. Spike's legs were then covered in a pair of armored pants and boots, the slime covered his tail in air tight holes that allowed his spines to show, but the rest of it was covered in a flexible fabric that felt like it could take a boulder before tearing. The slime moved up Spike's chest, and it covered his chest and arms in a similar body armor as his pants. Lastly the slime engulphed Spike's head. "Interesting, constructing several pocket dimension generators to compensate for the cranial protrusions." Once the slime was finished, Spike looked at his armor, it was purple and green, and even without his head spines, his new helmet had slicked back green plates. "Wow, that is cool." "Gawk at it later. My sensors are telling me that the warship has entered the system, and is headed right for this planet." Spike nodded, it was time for action. "Ok, how do I fly you?" "Activating neural training, this may sting a bit." Spike felt a vary painful pinch at the back of his head. "What the hell?" Yelled Spike. "I have just uploaded neural images and scenarios that comprises 50% of all federation training." Spike looked into his memories and found information about basic controls and weapons. "Ok, lets go." Spike placed his hands back on the polls and they merged into the front window, a chair formed underneath Spike and he took a seat. "Chris, activate fighter mode, and divert power to the shields and weapons systems. What are we equipped with?" "Phasors, plasma charges, and a sup space warp drive, capable of reaching the ship in 5 minutes." "I think this is going to be interesting." Said Spike with a large grin on his face. "Welcome to the Federation, Spike." The ship took off and that night, many ponies saw a large black and purple object fly into the sky. > The Purple Star > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike was passing the moon, and getting ready for the battle. "Chris, ETA to the warship?" "ETA is 4 minutes, all power diverted to specified systems." "Good, send a message to the Federation informing them that their aid will be needed, and tell them to make it snappy?" "I sent that the moment I landed, the Starship Orion has engaged emergency warp 9 and will be arriving in the system in less than 2 hours, but that is still too long." "I know, set scanners for the warship and give me a reading of what the hell I'm getting myself into." "That is unwise, they will be able to pinpoint you and that will make it harder." Spike groaned at hearing that. "Really, but its the same one that took you down before. Don't you have some readings from last time?" "That I do have, but that's not what you asked." "Chris, just tell me what I need to know." "Empire warship, Goliath, is the pinnacle of the Empire's technological development, crew capacity of 50000, armed to the teeth with advanced weapons, protected with some of the strongest shields ever developed, and has a fighter capacity of 100." "Chris, one question, why the hell did your last pilot decide to take on this thing?" "We did not, my mission was to transport cargo to a nearby system, when we ran into the Goliath. Spike, I am a new model, and with this technology I am able to transform into 8 different forms, each with special weapons, and skill sets. We are in fighter mode, it is meant to hold small battles, while taking a few shots. But when I was taken down, I was prepared for cargo transport, so I was in my freighter mode, slower, but with a large pocket dimension generator to store tons of cargo." "Ok, that's awesome, tell me more when and if we make it back." "Very well. We are being hailed by the Goliath." "Open communication frequency, but don't make a sound." "Opening now." Soon a projection screen popped in front of Spike, and oddly enough there was no one sitting in front of it, all he saw were two long pointed things. "Hello?" Asked Spike. "Greetings, I am Captain Resnick of the Black Star Nebula Empire, we are happy to in form you that from this moment on, you and your planet are now under the protection of the Great Emperor, Darnaka." Said a voice. "Thank you, but we must humbly decline the protection. We have no interest of being a part of your empire and dying because of it." Said Spike. "Very well, I wish you would see the error of your ways, but that will be hard when you are nothing more than space dust." The call was ended and the Goliath was moving into position. "Spike, they know you are here, but they do not perceive you as a threat yet, so they are only sending out a squadron of fighters to destroy you, immediate action is advised." Chris then showed Spike a group of 5 ships heading towards him. "They will be within attack range in 30 seconds." "Understood. Are we faster?" "No." "Are we tougher?" "No." "Are we more equipped than them?" "Marginally, their shields are just as strong as ours, but our weapons systems are able to punch through them." "So it all comes down to if I'm able to out pilot them and get some shots in?" "Pretty much." "Mother fucker, I'm screwed." "The calculations are not in our favor. I predict a 86% chance of death." "Any way we can lower that?" "I can lower that to 80% if we take out the Goliath's communication array but we would first need to deal with the shield." "While we have a lot of guns pointed at our tail?" "Correct, any ideas?" Spike sighed. "Just one, how long will it take you to change into Bomber mode?" "That is highly unadvisable, the Bomber mode is slower and we are not able to out run them as it is." "How long?" "if I start programing the configuration now, we can change in less than 5 seconds." Spike smiled. "Perfect. Start that now, and hold on." Spike engaged the thrusters and sped to the squadron leader. "Open fire." Spike pressed a button that shot out his phasors, the phasor landed on the leaders ship and punched through the shields, landing right on the ships hull. "Hull damage detected, starship offline, life sign is no more." Said Chris. Spike nodded, he just killed a living creature, but it was to save his home, he would dwell over it later. "Ok, once we take out 2 more, were going for the Goliath. How goes the configuration?" "80% done." "Good, divert 20% power from the weapons, and send it to the thrusters, and cycle it between those 2 at 10 second intervals." "Oh, what have I gotten myself into?" Asked Chris. "Just do it." Said Spike, he noticed that the rest of the squadron didn't take it well that he took out their leader. Suddenly Spike felt a surge of thrust push him faster, and just like Spike predicted, the rest of the squadron pushed their ships faster so they didn't loose track of him. But after 10 seconds Spike lost that extra power and he was overtaken by the ships. "Firing phasors." Spike shot at the 4 ships and actually damaged 3 of them. "3 more down." Said Chris, surprised that actually worked. Spike smiled at seeing that his hair brained idea worked. "Just like I planned. Are you done with the Bomber configuration?" "Yes, we can change the moment you give the word." "Good." Spike turned the ship and started heading for the Goliath. "Captain, squadron 1 is almost wiped out, and sensors are detecting that the target is flying straight for us, what are your orders?" Asked a officer in the helm of the Goliath. "Forward shields to maximum, and set all weapons on to the ship." Said Resnick. "Spike, they are readying their weapons, and they are all pointed at you." "Chris, what does the Bomber have?" "Plasma charges, silent running, and a short time cloak." "Understood, right before they fire, I want you to change us into the Bomber, drop a single charge, and activate the cloak for as long as we can take it, then engage silent running. If they think they took us out, then they might drop the shields." "You weren't hugged enough as a child were you, because any mother would call this plan crazy?" Spike laughed. "No, I was hugged just enough, I'm just very creative." Chris sighed. "Their weapons are charging." "Change into Bomber mode." Said Spike. The ship's cockpit went black as the nano tech made the changes for Bomber mode. The out side of the ship became shorter, the wings were longer and more spread open. Once the out side was finished, the nano bots changed the inside of the ship. Spike was now laying on his stomach, his hands on 2 touch pads, and his face right at the window. "Bomber mode enabled." Spike nodded as he looked into his mind to find information on how to fly this type of ship. Soon his hands started moving, Bomber mode's 2 pads were simple, the left was for direction, the right was for speed, pitch, and weapons. "Dropping charge now." The ship dropped a glowing ball of plasma. "They're firing." Said Chris. Spike gunned it and activated the cloak. There was a large explosion and it looked like the ship was destroyed. "Captain, target is destroyed." Resnick smiled. "Good, recall the fighter, and prepare to move to the planet." "Dropping forward shield, and preparing engines." Spike watched as the fighter returned to the Goliath. "Chris, how much longer will the cloak last?" "We have 2 minutes, but I can give us another if we turn off silent running." "Don't, they could detect us. Divert all shield power to the weapons and thrusters, once they finish dropping the shields, we're moving." They didn't have to wait long. "Spike, all shield's are dropped." Spike nodded as he made his way to the ship. "Locate shield generator, communication array, and any other part that could be a pain in the ass." Soon a screen was displaying the location of 5 different components. "Cool, we head for the shield generator, then the hangar, next we hit the weapons, then the engines, we'll leave the communication array for last." Once Spike was close enough to the Goliath, he dropped the cloak and bombed the shield generators. The war ship shook at the explosion. "Captain, we've lost shields." "What? HOW?!" Yelled Resnick. Then there was another explosion. "The Hangar is now out of commission, we cannot launch our fighters." "Ready weapons and fire in all directions!" Ordered Resnick. "Weapons are charging." Then another explosion. "Weapon systems down." "GET US OUT OF HERE!" Yelled Resnick. "Turning ship and readying the warp engines." Then the final explosion. "Engine has been disabled, we're sitting ducks." "WHAT IN THE EMPEROR'S BEARD IS GOING ON? There was no sign of any Federation support, and we destroyed that fighter." "Captain, we are being hailed." "On screen." Spike was smiling under his helmet. "Hey, Resnick was it, sorry about your ship, but I didn't take it well that you decided to invade. So, I'm going to make this quick, I'm going to take out your communications, but leave your life support on, then in a few hours, the Federation Starship Orion will be showing up and taking you all." "What is your name? I wish to curse it until the day I die." "Call me the Purple Star." "CURSE YOU PURPLE STAR!" Yelled Resnick. "Chris, end the call and prepare for final run." The screen closed and Spike bombed the communication array on the ship, leaving it a floating hunk of metal in space. Once the Goliath was now a giant hunk of metal, there was really not much more for Spike to do. "Chris, what happens now?" "I do not know, we have gone so far off Federation guide lines that anything is possible, but seeing as you have engaged the Goliath, it is more than likely that the Empire and Federation will now be looking straight at this planet. My recommendation is to return to the planet and inform the leaders of the world what is going on." "Yeah, not going to happen, if they find out about this, then we're all screwed." "Then the best course of action is to wait for the Orion to arrive." Spike shrugged. "Cool, change back into fighter mode and keep an eye out for the Orion." > Did you see that thing last night? Pt.1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike was sleeping peacefully, he was tired when this whole thing happened, and once the excitement was over, the dragons lack of sleep hit him like a ton of bricks, but then it was interrupted by his ship. "Spike we are being hailed by Federation Ship Orion." Said Chris. Spike groaned at being woken up, it was late and he was having a great dream about eating a pile of gems. "Tell them to screw off, I'm sleeping." Chris, took the request literally and sent a message to the ship. "Very well, transmitting message. They are responding. They are not happy about what you said." Spike groaned, now he had to deal with this. "Chris, open communications." "Open." Said Chris. Soon the screen popped up and sitting in a large helm was a creature with green hair, 2 long red horns on it's head, and dressed in what only could be the federation uniform. "Greetings, I am Captain Donchun, of The Orion, we are responding to a distress signal in the sector." Spike rubbed his eyes as he looked at the captain. "Look, first I'm sorry about the screw off thing, I'm really tired, and you interrupted my dream. "Pilot, state your emergency." Said Donchun, this was a uncharted sector, and god knows what could happen out here. Spike shrugged. "Yeah about that, The Goliath is right over there, but it's not a problem anymore." "Ensign on screen." Said Captain Donchun. Spike had no idea what was going on, but he guessed that someone pulled a image of the wreck. "But that's the Goliath?" Spike nodded. "Right, I took it out, be a pal and go grab the crew, I left their life support on, but I took out almost everything else." Donchun was really confused as his horns went limp. "But that's impossible, that is captained by Resnick of the empire, he's one of the greatest strategist and captains the empire has." His horns then went back up, and a angry face was all Spike saw. "I do not believe that a single pilot was able to destroy a warship that has plagued the Federation for months." Chris sighed as he sent telemetry and video of what happened. "Captain, I have sent a transmission of video feed I captured while my pilot was fighting, please look over it and add it to federation records." "Captain, transmission received, it was sent from a CH 715 fighter, the records show that the pilot should be dead." Said a voice. Donchun growled. "Pilot, this is a violation of Federation regulations, as the highest ranking person here, I order you to return the ship, and report to me. Lieutenant open Shuttle Bay 2. Pilot, proceed to the shuttle bay, and land. You will be escorted to me." Spike looked at the angry face of Donchun, and decided it was too late for this. "No, and for a few reasons. A: I have to head back to my planet, B: I am not part of the Federation, and 3: I'm really tired. Sooooo...Bye. Chris end the call and set course for the planet." Chris sighed as he ended the call and set a course back to Spike's home. Captain Donchun was silent as he watched Spike fly away from them, but then he got pissed. "Ensign track that fighter, and once we have the crew of the Goliath on board, we're going to follow him where ever he is." "Yes sir, tracking engine signature." Said the ensign. With Spike, he was arguing with his ship. "That was not a good idea." Said Chris. "I know, that's not hard to see, but right now, I'm not in the mood, and I was right, I never joined the federation officially, you landed on my planet, I found you without a pilot, I got pulled into you, you gave me a choice to save my planet or die, I didn't want to die, so you uploaded a lot of stuff into my head, and we fought the Goliath. No where in the last few hours did I ever go to a school, sign up, or pretty much anything that would consist of joining a military or conscripted service. Run that through your processors and see if that makes me part of the Federation." Chris was silent as he really didn't have a response to that. "Fine, but I am a Federation fighter ship, that means I am part of the Federation." "Granted, but technically you crashed, for lack of a better term. I found you first, meaning that you are just some really well preserved scrap, that I just happened to salvage. I'm not saying that you are scrap, but where I'm from, that means that the only affiliation you have is to me." Chris sighed, as he looked up regulations and laws of the federation, and since there was nothing to do with his situation, the law dictates that the laws of the pilot's home world is the highest power. "Very well, by federation regulations, I am no longer under federation sanctions." Spike smiled but he yawned. "Spike, you are showing signs of sleep depravation and exhaustion." Spike yawned again, it was probably very late on the planet and knowing his life, he was going to be up in a few hours. "Yeah, sorry, I'm really tired, and this is not helping matters. Chris, listen, I want to learn more about the federation before I jump head first into this, so let me get some sleep, and we can discuss this in the morning." "Very well, but just to inform you, records show that Donchun is not the easiest man to say no to." "Well, for his sake, I hope he doesn't do something stupid, I'm pretty sure that would not end well for him or the Orion. Chris prepare for atmospheric reentry." Said Spike as he reached his home, and started going to the ground. When they landed in the same location as before, Chris opened a door on his side to let Spike out. "Spike, I will reside here until a more suitable location can be found." Spike pointed to the old castle. "There's an abandoned castle about a mile west southwest of here, it has a canyon and a lot of caves, why don't you take a quick fly there?" "Very well, activating localized auto pilot." The ship took off again and headed to the old castle, it was safer than where it was, but that left Spike alone, in the Everfree, the same Everfree that was full of creatures that would love a dragon for a snack. So not wanting to end up a meal, Spike got his tail out of the very dangerous forest. Spike ran across town, thank full it was dark and no one was out, and once he reached his home all he wanted to do was head to his room and sleep. But he stopped when he noticed that in the time it took him to make it to the castle, he was still in his armor. "Crap, how do I get this off of me?" The moment Spike wanted it off, the nano suit retreated into his scales. Spike watched as the suit was now gone. "Ok, that's convenient." Spike opened the door and the moment he did, he was being glared at but Twilight. 'Oh fuck my life, I forgot about her.' He thought, but he smiled at his sister. "Twi, what are you doing up?" "Do you have any idea what time it is?" Asked the very upset all powerful alicorn of friendship, overprotective sister, and overall bookworm. She had been up waiting to make sure that Spike got home after he left almost 5 hours ago to go on a little walk in town. "Well, I'm waiting for an explanation Spike." Spike looked at Twilight and had an idea. "Twi you won't ever believe it, I was sitting in the park, then I saw a large shooting star fall from the sky, it landed in the Everfree and I went to go investigate. It turns out that it was a space ship, I got pulled into it and we bonded. Then it informed me that an alien race was coming to destroy the planet. So it gave me control, and I went into space to fight off a massive ship." Spike was hoping that it sounded so half assed that even while it was true, Twilight would just assume it was just an excuse. Twilight looked at Spike, and even to her sleep deprived mind, the excuse was just a load of bull. She rubbed her eyes out of tiredness. "Go to bed, we'll talk about this in the morning." Spike nodded as he ran away, happy that she fell for it. Twilight sighed, she was too tired to get to the bottom of why the hell Spike wasn't home before midnight. "I swear, all he needed to tell me is that he was seeing a mare, but where does someone come up with a lie like that?" She shook her head and decided to just stop thinking about this for now. "I'm going to bed." Inside of Spike's room, he was looking at the ceiling of his room. "Holy crap this really happened didn't it?" "Affirmative." Said Chris. Spike was surprised to hear Chris in his room. "Chris, how are you here?" "I have a neural link with you now, this is so I can communicate with you while on missions." "Oh....cool, but I'm tired, so can you not keep me up?" "Fine, but just so you know, I wasn't the one who was still awake." "Noted, good night Chris." "Good night, Spike." Spike closed his eyes to finally get some sleep. > Did you see that thing last night? Pt2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Spike woke up from his sleep, he was met with the face of Twilight. "Ok, I'm not sure where this is going, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not in the mood right now." Said Spike as he tried to pull the covers over his head. Twilight used her magic to keep the sheets down as she placed down a cup of coffee on the nightstand. "Talk or I'll take drastic measures." Spike sighed as he released his covers. "What could you even do?" Twilight smirked. "Spike, I love you like a brother, and I'm not an idiot, so don't think of me as one. I know about the Playcolts that you have taped under your drawers, I know about the fake wall that you carved out to store some late night gems, hell I know about your secrets marefriend, so why are you trying to avoid it?" "Wait, hold on, marefriend? I don't have a marefriend." It was true, he really didn't, but now he needed to move his gem stash and his magazines. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Really, then why were you out so late last night?" Spike sighed as he looked at Twilight. "I told you, I was in the park and..." But before Spike could finish his lips were pinched by Twilight's magic. "Spike, I'll respect your privacy and not delve any deeper, but I was really worried last night, so please no more lies after this one. If you love me, then you'll be straight forward with me." Said Twilight, she was worried last night, and hearing Spike lie to her was not helping. Spike sighed, he really didn't want this to happen to their relationship, but he couldn't give this up, he nodded and Twilight released his lips. "Ok, her name is Strawberry Wild, she lives in the next town over, and I met her when we were both coming back from Canterlot. I haven't told her anything about who I am, and more over who I'm related to. All she knows is that I'm a dragon that likes to live in Equestria, and lives in Ponyville." Twilight smiled. "Thank you Spike, I know that you didn't want to tell me anything, but I promise I will not tell anyone else, and when you are ready to introduce her to me and your mother, I'm sure that everything will be just fine." She got off her chair and walked to the door. "Well, I'm going to the library to start my studying, have a nice day Spike." She walked out of the room with a smile on her face, and once she closed his door she smiled even wider. "Oh, I'm so happy for you Spike." Spike sighed as he looked at the door. "Spike, I was unaware that you were in a relationship." Said Chris. "Good, because I made Strawberry up, I didn't want to make it worse by keeping up the truth, that sounds so crazy that only one pony in the world could see through it." Said Spike as he sat up. "Interesting, so you lied to the one known as Twilight, by creating a more believable lie, than the truth." "Yep." Said Spike as he reached for his coffee. "A fascinating tactic, I will add it to the federation database." Spike shrugged, he really didn't care what Chris did. "Chris, status report." "All systems are within safety standards, the evacuation of the Goliath is nearly complete, and I was approached by a large bio organic canine creature last night, but I am unharmed." Spike nodded at the news. "Good, that was a creature called a Timberwolf, they live in the Everfree, and they are normally very aggressive. But I guess since you are not a living thing, they see you as part of the scenery." "Acknowledged. Spike, I believe it would be best if we return to the Orion and interact with them in a more hospitable manner. We would not want them to be seen as a threat when they arrive to this planet." Spike groaned, but Chris was right. "Fine, can you open a communication line with them from here?" "Affirmative, establishing communication." Said Chris. On board the Orion, Donchan was overseeing the transport of all 300 members of the Goliath over to the Orion. "Ok, that should be everyone, I want them in the holding cells until we reach Federation Star Base 86." Said Donchan. "Yes Sir." Said a crewman as he was escorting a bunch of short, long eared, flat headed, creatures to the brig. "Captain, we are being hailed, please report to the bridge." Said a ensign from the helm. "On my way." Said Donchan as he walked out of the transporter room and headed for the bridge. Once Donchan arrived at the bridge, he took his seat in the captain's chair and signaled for the ensign to open communications. "Open it." "Sir, it is only audio." Said the ensign "Let's hear it." Said Donchan. "Hello? Is this working?" Asked Spike. "It is functioning just fine, please keep going." Said Chris. "Are you sure, this seems kinda stupid, and will they be able to even talk back to me?" Asked Spike. "Well, this is not how I thought this would start." Said Donchan as he rubbed his eyes. "Chris, why didn't you tell me they connected?" Asked Spike. "You didn't ask." Said Chris. "Oh, I'm going to scrap you." Said Spike. Donchan cleared his throat. "So, you wish to talk now Pilot?" Spike chuckled. "Yes, and forgive me about last night, it was late, I got roped into all of that, and that was on top of a full day's work. Then you come and wake me up from the first bit of sleep in almost 20 hours, I was not the happiest at the time. How goes the evacuation of the Goliath?" "The ship is now being inspected by our engineering crew, and all personnel are in Federation custody. But many are talking about a mysterious star fighter that single handedly took down the whole ship. Purple Star?" "Yeah, probably not the best name, but like I said, I was roped into all of this at the last moment. I didn't have much time to think about a cooler name." "So tell me about your world.... Spike." Said Donchan as he looked at a monitor with Spike's file pulled up. "How did you...?" Asked Spike. "Your record was uploaded to the federation data base, it contains all pertinent information about you, including the fact that you are now ranked as an officer in the federation." "Any chance I out rank you?" Asked Spike with hope that he could have a rank that made him the boss. "Yeah, not on your life Spike. You are only a Lieutenant Commander, so don't get a big head." "Dang, so what can I do for you Captain?" "Report to the Orion by 1000 hours, I wish to talk with you directly and discuss a way to establish first contact with the world." Spike looked at the clock on his wall. "So you want me to get to the ship, fly to the Orion, and meet you in an hour? Sure I can do that." "Spike, he is referring to Standard Galactic Time, 1000 hours is in 15 minutes." Said Chris. "Correct." Said Donchan. "Yeah, then we're going to have a problem, I need to make breakfast, clean the kitchen, and then go get the ship, so give me until 1100 hours and I'll be there." Donchan sighed as he rubbed his head. "Fine, 1100 hours it is. Just be here." That was one problem with SGT it works great for tracking time in space, but planets are always a pain to account for. "Yes sir." Said Spike. "Chris end the call." The call was ended and Donchan groaned at how crazy all of this was. "Medical Officer O'Hare, please report to the bridge for assignment." Said Donchan. Back on the planet, Spike walked out of his room, and headed for the kitchen. "Chris, how did my life come to this?" "You want the long answer or the short one?" "Rhetorical, look it up." "Rhetorical: relating to or concerned with the art of rhetoric. expressed in terms intended to persuade or impress, (of a question) asked in order to produce an effect or to make a statement rather than to elicit information." "Really, you pull up the definition of it." "That is what you asked me to do." Said Chris. "Do you take everything so literal?" "Yes." Spike sighed as he just had to ask. "Chris, can you set a timer for our meeting?" "Yes, and I have set reminders for you to make sure that nothing happens." Spike sighed as that was not going to last long. "Chris a little advice. In Ponyville, it strange to have a normal day." "Who's Chris?" Asked Starlight, she was coming out of her room, headed to the kitchen for some food, but she noticed her friend walking down the hall and talking to himself. Spike turned around and looked at Starlight. "Um... he's a figment of my imagination that helps me cope with all the work that I do around here?" Starlight sighed as she looked at Spike worried. "Spike, are you feeling ok?" "Yeah, just fine Starlight, what's up?" Starlight looked straight at Spike, worried. "Spike, listen to me, it's not healthy to listen to those little voices in your head, so maybe you should talk to me, I am a councilor and it's my job to help others." Spike gave a chuckle. "Star trust me, I'm just fine, a little tired, but that's it." Said Spike worried that she'll talk to Twilight and then he'd need to go to therapy. "Fine, but remember, you are my friend and I want to help, so if you ever need me, my door is always open." Starlight gave Spike a warm smile as she walked past him. Spike smiled at seeing that Starlight cared about him so much. "Spike, why did you not use the same lie that you gave Twilight, for the one known as Starlight?" "Chris, Twilight is dense, but Starlight is not that easy to get pass." When Spike got to the kitchen, he started to cook breakfast for him, Twilight, and Starlight. But once it was over, the other two left Spike to clean the kitchen. "Spike, our meeting is in 30 minutes." Said Chris. Spike nodded as he was cleaning the pan that he used to make the hay bacon. "Good, can you start the configuration for bomber mode, we don't want to scare the ponies with a large flying thing in the sky." "Affirmative. I will meet you at the landing site." Once Spike was done with the kitchen, he walked out of the castle and b-lined it for the forest. "Chris, how much time?" "You have 15 minutes to get to the Orion." Said Chris. Spike nodded as he walked into the forest and headed for the landing site, unaware that a certain zebra was walking into town to do some shopping. "Spike? What is that drake doing at such a gait?" It was clear to her that he was not headed for the path to her home. "I should inquire on his desire." Zecora knew that aside from the path that lead to her home, the forest was very dangerous. She ran over to the tree line that she saw Spike run to and followed him as best as she could. Spike was walking through the forest and since he was alone, it was best that he get ready for the trip. "Suit out." Soon the nano suit was coming out of Spike's scales and formed around his body. Spike kept walking to the ship and soon he arrived at the landing site. Chris was already there, ready for Spike. "Chris, lets get this show on the road." Chris opened the door and Spike walked into the ship, he walked over to the chair and got into the seat. "Chris change into bomber mode and lets get to the Orion." "Warning, sensors detecting life signs, displaying on main screen." Said Chris. Spike looked at the screen and noticed that there was a certain zebra looking at the ship with a mix of worry, anger, confusion, and wonder. "Spike, what should we do?" Spike was not sure himself, but he couldn't just leave her there, she would go straight to Twilight. "Chris, open the door." Chris complied and formed the door. Zecora took a step back in fear, but then Spike pulled her into the ship and she started fighting back. "Unhand me, and give back Spike!" Cried Zecora as she tried to punch the figure that grabbed her. "Zecora, calm down, you're safe." Said Spike. Zecora was not listening. "LIES, WHERE IS SPIKE!?" Spike sighed. "Helmet off." The helmet went back into Spike's scales and Zecora looked at Spike's face. "Spike, are you ok?" Asked Zecora. Spike nodded as he released the mare. "Zecora, it's a very long story, but I am, but I'm late." "Spike, the meeting is in 5 minutes, we need to take off right now." Said Chris. Spike looked at the zebra in his ship, he didn't want to make things worse. "Chris, lets leave, but the moment we are out of sight change into fighter mode and pop in another chair of Zecora." "Very well, please sit in the chair and get ready for an uncomfortable few moments." Spike nodded and wrapped his tail around Zecora. He sat in the chair and plopped the mare into his lap. "Zecora, look, I'm sorry to what is about to happen, but I don't want anyone else to find out about this. Chris lets go." The ship changed into bomber mode, and Zecora was now laying under Spike. She was very confused, but right now Spike didn't have time to explain everything. "Chris are all systems green?" "Affirmative. Launching." The ship engaged it's thrusters and cloaking field. "Ok, lets go meet some aliens." Said Spike, he turned the ship and started flying into the sky. > Federation Class M Planet: Eques > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The moment Chris entered the upper atmosphere, the ship changed into fighter mode and as requested, the nano bots that made up the ship, reconfigured into a second seat for Zecora. "Spike, I believe it is safe for use to activate the subspace engines." Said Chris. Spike nodded as he placed Zecora in the others seat. "Good, plot a course for the Orion and get us there before Donchan blows a gasket." "Affirmative, course set, activating subspace engines." The ship was then propelled away from the planet and all the poor zebra could do is watch as her home became smaller. Once the planet was nothing more than a small ball, Spike turned to look at Zecora and gave her a warm smile. "So, how are you?" But Zecora was still trying to process that she wasn't on Eques anymore. "Zecora, hello?" Spike started snapping his fingers in front of the silent mare, but nothing was working. "Ok, I guess I'll start, this is a Federation mark 715 prototype starfighter, fully equipped for any mission that is needed. Last night, he and his original pilot were completing a transport mission, when they ran into the Goliath, a... Chris what classification was the Goliath?" "World Destroyer." "Really, why not just change the empire's name to 'Hey, I'm Evil, fear me.' But a large World Destroyer class starship named the Goliath, from the Black Star Nebula Empire. In the attack Chris's former pilot was killed, but Chris was able to reach Eques and land. I was out last night watching the sky after a hard days work, and I noticed him land in the forest. Granted it was stupid, but I thought that if I found something cool, it would make my life more interesting. So after going into the forest, I found Chris in his default state, and again stupid on my part, I touched his hull, and got pulled into the cockpit. Then this blob of bots tells me that the Goliath had followed his emissions and had entered the system. That left me with two options, the first was to let the planet become enslaved by the Black Star Nebula Empire, where they would destroy our home. Or I connect with Chris and risk my life to protect the world. I chose number two. I destroyed the Goliath and the federation arrived last night, but I was tired and wasn't in the mood to deal with any more of this crap, so I left and went to bed. But this morning, I contacted the captain of the Federations...Chris?" "Galaxy class." "Thank you, the Federation's galaxy class starship the Orion, and he tells me to meet him in..." "We have around 2 minutes now." "In two minutes to see what is going to happen... You get all that?" Asked Spike. Zecora nodded her head but also shook it at the same time. "Good, then we're in the same boat." Said Spike and he turned his chair to pilot the ship. "Chris, open communications with the Orion, tell them we have visual on the ship and are requesting permission to come aboard." "Communications are open." "This is the Federation Starship Orion, Captain Donchan speaking." "Donchan it's me, permission to come aboard?" Donchan sighed as he was just about to yell at Spike for being late, but he was right on time. "Granted, head to Shuttle Bay 4 and I'll have one of my senior staff meet you." Spike nodded as he let Chris take control. "Thank you." The communication channel was closed and Spike looked at Zecora. "So, here's the deal, you stay here, don't touch anything, don't press anything, and don't even think about leaving the ship." Zecora nodded her head, she didn't even want to breath on anything less it blow up. "Spike, what are you going to do?" "Right now, I'm not sure." When Spike landed in the ship, Chris formed a door on the side for Spike to leave. He looked to Zecora and smiled at her. "Look at it like this, first Zebra in space, and pretty sure we'd be dead by now if they didn't want to talk." Zecora smiled slightly at the joke. "Thank you Spike." Spike nodded. "Suit off." Said Spike, and the moment he did, the suit turned back into a slime and entered his body. Zecora sighed at seeing this happen as she just flopped down in her chair. "Chris, please tell me this is all a dream?" "I can not, I was programed with the thought that the universe is a simulation, a joke from my designers, but the more I see of the universe, the more I begin to believe it." Zecora sighed as she just had to follow Spike into the forest. Spike walked out of the ship into a large room with a energy shield that was keeping the atmosphere inside of the ship. There was a large industrial sized door in front of him and standing right by the door was a tall rabbit like creature with a clipboard in her hands, she had a blue uniform, white hair that ran down her back, but her fur was yellow, and she had 2 very long but swept back ears. "Hi." Said Spike. The rabbit smiled at Spike. "Hello, my name is Monica O'Hare, I am the chief of interspecies interaction on the Orion. My job is documentation and interaction with established and undiscovered sentient worlds. Captain Donchan has asked me to show you to our medical office to take some standard readings before we meet him." Spike nodded. "Cool." They left the shuttle bay and walked to the medical deck. As Spike was walking around the ship, he noticed that the floor was carpet, the walls were hard, but there were lights in them, and the rest of the crew was looking at him like he had 2 heads, which was odd coming from a blue alien with 2 heads. But Spike just smiled at them. "Monica, why is everyone looking at me?" "You took out a war ship that has damaged and destroyed half a dozen galaxy class ships, all by yourself. The moment the crew heard that you were going to come aboard, that was the only thing that anyone has been talking about for the last 12 hours." Spike sighed. "Ok, I'll leave that one for later, tell me about yourself, seeing as this is like first contact, I think we're screwing things up a bit." Monica giggled. "Well, I am a Lopin, from the planet Lopin 6, in the delta sector. It is around 135 light years from here, and I like flowers, reading, and learning new things. But more on that later, we have arrived." When Spike and Monica arrived at the medical deck, Monica motioned for Spike to lay down on a table. "Spike, please lay down on the table." Spike nodded as he climbed onto the table and it started to creak. Spike winced at the sound. "Sorry, I'm guessing these things aren't built for dragons in the 300 pound range." "No, they are not, but they are designed for 500 pounds, so it should be fine. Just lay still and it will be over in a matter of moments." She lowered a device over Spike's body and then started pressing some buttons on the device. Soon Spike could hear humming coming from the medical device. "Ok, no infectious diseases detected, no bodily damage, DNA is similar Terrain, brain chemistry is very similar to the Dreg's, but this energy signature is weird. Spike, does your planet have some method of energy production that could account for these reading being in your DNA?" Spike shook his head. "No, but a few races have the ability to use magic. I was actually hatched by said magic 18 years ago and it was mixed with my DNA." "Spike, there is no such thing as magic, magic is just science that has not been explained." Said Monica. "Tell that to my mother, she literally moves the sun." Monica hummed at the statement, there were only a few creatures alive that had that much power, and they had been around for eons. "Captain, can you please scan the star in the system, and check if it has a rotation." Soon Donchan responded. "Scans indicate that neither the sun nor the planet's moon are producing a strong enough gravitational field that would allow for an orbit or rotation, but that seems impossible, the planet should be dead in these conditions." Monica looked at Spike. "Spike, I wish to examine the planet in more detail, is there a chance that I can return with you?" Spike nodded. "Sure, but lets see if the captain will allow it?" Monica nodded as she removed the device from Spike. "Well aside from the energy readings, you seem to be perfectly healthy." "Good, now lets head to the captain." Spike looked down at his body. "Um... Should I have something on when I meet him?" Spike was pretty sure that showing up in his hatchday scales was not a good idea. "Wait, you've been naked this whole time, but you show no signs needing to cover up?" "Dragons, have a slit right where you think it is and it holds everything in. Other races have the ability to keep it inside or use magic to conceal their bits. As for the rest of the world, we don't really care about clothes, well aside from parties and events, but aside from that, we don't bother." Monica blushed at the idea, but she was a doctor, and she had seen her fair share of medical diagrams during her training. "Spike, I think it would probably be best if you wear something." Spike nodded. "Sure, suit on." The slime seeped through Spike's scales, and he was back in his armor. "Helmet off." The slime that comprised Spike's helmet retreated back into his scales. "Better?" Monica nodded. "Yes, now please follow me to the helm, but would you mind if I ask you some questions as we walk?" "Sure, ask away." Said Spike as he followed Monica to the helm to meet Donchan. "Well, first off, how old are you?" "Well that's tricky, I was hatched 18 years ago by my older sister's magic, but I was in my egg for much longer, in fact not even my mother, who found my egg, knows exactly how old I was at the time, but she found me almost 600 years ago." Monica nodded. "Long life spans, similar to the Dregs. Now this magic, is it a natural thing, or is it learned or acquired." "Well magic is in all living things, but certain races are able to display it better than others. Dragons are able to breathe fire and swim in lava." Spike shot out a bit of his flames. "We are one of the races that aren't able to display it so well. But the Equine's are the best. My mother, aunt, sister, cousin, and niece are known as Alicorns, they are the strongest magically. We have unicorns, they are able to use magic to project shields, cast spells, and even teleport. Earth ponies are in tune with nature, so they have massive strength and stamina, and the pegasi are able to fly and control the weather. Then there is Discord, he pretty much can control the fabric of reality and shape it to suit his sense of humor." Monica nodded as she made a note on her chart. 'Possible Q in sector, be on alert.' "Now tell me about the planet, what stage in development are you at?" "No where near as you all, but we have light, buildings, boats, trains, that sort of stuff." Said Spike. Monica made note of this news. "Is this the first time you have interacted with creatures outside of your own planet?" Spike shook his head. "Nope, my sister actually has a portal that allows us to go to a place called Earth, a place were creatures called humans live, but the weird thing is that the portal that takes us there will change the form of all who enter it. I'm a dragon here, but over there I was a dog." Monica groaned as she made one last note. 'This planet is fucked up.' "Ok, well, all that seems quite interesting, I really hope that I get the chance to investigate it soon." "Officer O'Hare, please bring the pilot to observation." Said a voice in the ship. Monica nodded. "Thank you." She looked to Spike. "Ok, it looks like we are heading to Observation for the meeting. Step into the lift please." Spike and Monica entered a small room. "Deck 1." Said Monica and the lift was moving to the destination. Soon the door opened and they walked to a set of doors. The door opened and sitting in a large chair was Donchan, the room was decorated with a large table and many chairs, a large window showing the debris of The Goliath, and Eques. "Spike, it's nice to finally meet you, please have a seat." Said Donchan as he motioned to a chair. Spike took a seat, and Monica took the one closer to the Captain. "Spike, would you like something to eat or drink while we talk?" Asked Monica. Spike's stomach growled the moment food was an option. "Sure, I didn't have time to eat much because of this." Monica smiled as she got out of her seat and walked over to a wall. "Lets see, the Dregs are known to eat meat, is that ok with you?" "NO!" Yelled Spike, but then he realized the outburst. "Sorry, where I'm from, we don't eat meat, it's one of our big taboos. Do you have any gems?" "Gems?" Asked Monica and Donchan. Spike nodded. "Yes, gems." Monica looked at Spike. "Like sapphires?" Spike nodded. "Sapphire." Soon a sapphire the size of Spike thumb was created right under the opening. "Like this?" Asked Monica as she held the gem in front of Spike. Spike nodded. "Looks right, but it's smaller than the one's I have back home." Spike used his long tongue to grab the sapphire and pull it into his mouth, he took one bite and regretted doing it the next moment. He looked for the closest trash can, but seeing nothing, he kept chewing, and once it was small enough, he reluctantly swallowed the gem. "That was the most disgusting gem I've ever tasted, can I get some water?" Asked Spike. "Water, cold." Said Monica, every moment with Spike, led to new questions. She grabbed the water and handed it to Spike. "Spike, how did you do that?" Spike took a large gulp of the water before answering. "What? Dragon's eat gems, and our tongues are stretchy." Spike then slithered out his tongue and moved it around. "We can stretch it out by about half our body length." Donchan sighed as he rubbed his head. "O'Hare, I want you to go down to the planet with Spike, and find out what the hell is going on down there." Monica nodded. "Yes sir." She then ran out of the room to get her stuff ready for the mission. Donchan looked at Spike. "Spike, The Orion has been called away for a mission, so for now, we are going to release you, it shouldn't take more than a week to finish and for us to return, so in that time, I want you to watch over O'Hare. There is a lot in her report that doesn't make sense, but I've seen some weird stuff. In that time, Chris is yours to command, but by the time we return, the Federation should have come to a decision about what will be done with you. Please do not inform the rest of the planet about what is going on. If everything goes well, we will introduce ourselves, and then the leaders of the world can decide if they want to join the federation or if they wish to be left out of it." Spike nodded at the captain. "Yes Sir, but what about Monica? On my planet there are no creatures that look like her, and I can't just say that I found a new species?" Donchan nodded, that was a big concern and they had faced similar issues before. "Spike, Lopins are shape shifters, that can change their appearance, just as long as it is smaller than their natural forms." "So the race of rabbit people can change their form?" Spike shivered as he thought about a certain rabbit on the planet that could destroy the world if he had that ability. Donchan looked at Spike. "Spike, what is wrong?" Spike shook his head. "I know a rabbit that would be in charge of the whole planet if he had that power, and it terrifies me." Donchan sighed, the more he learned about the planet Spike was from, the more Donchan was sure that the planet was more impossible than any other planet in the galaxy. "Spike, just make sure to keep the Federation's existence a secret from the planet, and make sure to keep Chris and O'Hare safe." Spike nodded. O'Hare walked back into the observation room, this time she had a small box in her hand and her ears were tied in a pony tail. Spike looked at the weird way to tie her ears. "Um... doesn't that hurt?" O'Hare looked at her ears. "Oh, these? No." She moved her hair and showed that she had a pair of human like ears. "They are just growths that are more esthetic than anything. Now Spike could you please describe a form that would look normal in your home?" Spike nodded. "Ok, Dragon's are rare where I live, so that's out, Changelings are similar to you, but ever since Thorax took over, many of the Changelings have banned the use of transforming into other races." Spike hummed as he tried to figure out a way to describe what the average mare looked like. "Um... I'm not really sure how to describe a mare from my home." "Then allow me to show her." Said Chris. "Wait, you can do that?" Asked Spike. "Yes, because of our link, I have access to your memories. I can pull a image from them and put them on the nearby view screen if you would like?" Spike nodded, if it would help make this go faster then Spike was all for it. "Sure." "Accessing... Displaying images of 'Mares' now." Soon images of a few dozen mares that lived in Ponyville showed up on the view screen. Monica looked at the mares. "Interesting, each of them is unique. Spike tell me what is the male to female ratio, I see instances of the same mares in the image backgrounds." Spike nodded. "Well, in Ponyville, we have a 1 to 6 ratio. I have no idea why, I've never really questioned it. It's just part of daily life for us." "I will note that in my system. Officer O'Hare, I believe that it would be most appropriate that you take the form of the ones called Earth Ponies. Lopin bone structure would not allow for flight, and from my viewing, this magic is a daily part of the ones called Unicorns." Chris removed the images of all the mares with a horn and wings. That still left about 18 mares. Monica looked at all the mares and started changing her form. Her fur changed into a light green, as her ears and hair changed into a single mane colored red. She looked at Spike to get his ok. "Spike, how does this look?" Spike looked at her new form. "Perfect, all we need to do is lose the clothes and boom you're a pony." Monica blushed as she'd rather not strip in front of the Captain. "Spike, I'll do that when we leave." Spike sighed. "Right, sorry, like I said, clothes are not the standard on the planet." Monica looked at the photos and sure enough all the mares were naked, but nothing was showing. "Wait, where are the reproductive organs?" "They're there, but like dragons who have everything inside, both males and females from all the races, use their natural magic to hide their bits. Mares use it to reduce the size of their breasts, and magically hide their marehood, while males absorb their parts into their crotch." "Fascinating, that is why your world sees clothes as unnecessary, without the worry of objectification, the populace has shifted from the need to find a mate out of desire to one that inspires the development of a relationship, without the need for physical attraction." "Um... I guess, we just go on dates and let it go from there if that's what you meant." Monica sighed. "Yes Spike, that is what I meant." "Cool, and I think I have a name for you, but I'm warning you now, my sister is going to be grilling you a lot." Monica smirked. "Spike, I have fought off a pack of Valovian Death hounds, how bad can your sister be?" "Well, seeing as your my nonexistent marefriend that I have never told anyone about, I'd say the hounds were easy. But good luck Strawberry Wild." Said Spike. "Strawberry Wild, what kinda name is that?" Asked Monica. "Yeah, I'm not going to ruin that surprise." Said Spike. "Spike, Zecora wishes to talk with you." Said Chris. "Right, forgot about her. Patch her in." Soon Zecora was connected. "Spike, can you here me?" Asked the zebra. "Yes Zecora, what's wrong?" "When I left my home, I was in need of some mushroom dome. I thought my trip would be done quick, but then all of this just clicked, we must return or my brews will be more of a stew." Spike sighed. "Ok, hold on." Spike looked at the aliens. "So, we need to leave. Chris, get ready to depart." Said Spike. "Understood, ready to depart, eta to touchdown is 8 minutes. Warning, per orders it is very unadvisable to land in populated area, setting landing target to previous landing location." Spike nodded as he could deal with any dangers that showed up while they walked back to Ponyville. "Sure, but make sure that there are no lifeforms too close to the landing site." "Understood." Said Chris as he powered up his engines. Spike looked at Monica. "Well, are you ready?" Monica nodded as she looked to Donchan. "I will have a detailed report upon my return." Donchan nodded as he saluted Monica. Monica saluted back. After returning to the ship, Spike and Monica boarded, and the first thing that happened was Zecora freaking out that there was a pony on the ship. "SPIKE!?" Cried the mare. Spike sighed. "Zecora, Monica, Monica, Zecora, talk while I fly us home." Spike took a seat in his chair and flew out of the Orion. "Safe distance from the Orion has been reached, proceeding to engage thrusters." "Engage." Said Spike, he then blinked. "Why did I say that?" Spike shrugged it off and floored it.