That sci-fi thing.

This is just a collection of loosely connected oneshots that aren't intended to be read in any particular order or follow directly on from one another. If you notice any errors please scream obnoxiously in the thread to attract my attention so I can correct them.

 

I may change much of this around as an anon that seemed to be very up on physics kindly pointed out some of the numbers and imagined technologies are somewhat far-fetched.

 

 

QUALITY NOT ASSURED.

 

 

 

 

>"Anon, I realise you have a lot to deal with already but there is growing concern amongst the some of the more influential Canterlot nobles regarding what they call the 'unlawful abduction of unicorns' by your people."

>Setting down your holo-pad you rub your eyes tiredly, the stinging senstaion reminding you of how little you had been sleeping lately.

>Sighing and looking up the princess you regard her for a few moments before standing from behind your desk and making your way over to the window of the room you had been so kindly provided in the palace. You have to admit the view is nice.

"Those unicorns were all volunteers who agreed to help our scientists' continuing studies of this 'magic' as you call it. They were all suitably compensated for their time and cooperation and are being housed comfortably aboard the science vessel Icarus in high orbit as we speak. They're all free to return whenever they choose."

>"I understand that Anon, however I'm having trouble convincing the more outspoken of the populace that your people mean no harm. Perhaps if you and I were to appear for a joint conference with some of the leaders of the protest groups?"

>You can't help but chuckle at that.

"You really think they'd listen to a word I said? They already believe I'm controlling you somehow with threats of invasion."

>"We cannot do nothing Anon, the human opposition groups will only gain more support if we refuse to acknowledge their concerns."

>This is such bull. You were never trained for this.

"Look princess, I have my own problems. My superiors on Earth are pressuring me to get results and are saying that if our scientists aren't able to provide answers soon they'll consider sending a representative to replace me who's a lot less patient and a lot more willing to use heavy handed methods."

>You can tell your somewhat blunt answer angered the princess slightly, as was obvious in her response.

>"No you look, Anonymous. Captain or not you're still a guest in these lands at my convenience and you'd do well to remember it."

"Princess-"

>"And when I request you appear with me in a conference to quell my pony's concerns you would do well to remember that I have more political weight at my disposal than you may think."

>Sometimes it was tempting to remind Celestia that at your order you could have half the planet bombarded from orbit and this was indeed one of those times.

>Yeah right, who were you kidding? You knew full well doing so would mean the end of your career. The admiralty board would never approve the unprovoked extermination of intelligent beings.

>And no... it wasn't in your nature to give such an order anyway.

>Sighing loudly you give the princess a forced smile and respond the only way you can.

"Yes... of course princess. Forgive my outburst. I'll gladly appear by your side to address the nobles' concerns.

>Well you were a representative for humanity after all, and you had to act like it.

 

 

 

>"Yes I have a question for the alien."

>The princess seated at your side rolls her eyes slightly but otherwise maintains her diplomatic expression.

>"You mean our esteemed guest Anonymous, of course."

>"Of course princess."

>The pony who already strikes you as a grovelling snake in the grass lowers his hoof and clears his throat before fixing you with what you assume he thinks is an intimidating glare.

>"So Anonymous, or should I say ~captain~ Anonymous, how do you respond to the reports that a group of your soldiers attacked an unarmed group of ponies not three day ago in broad daylight?

>You were expecting that to come up.

"I would respond by pointing out that those 'unarmed ponies' were throwing rocks at our personnel and persisted despite being warned several times to desist immediately. Upon refusing to cease their actions a group of our soldiers fired several non-lethal crowd dispersion rounds into their midst which succeeded in resolving the conflict with no major injuries to either party."

>This answer doesn't seem to have been satisfactory apparently as another pony speaks out.

>"So you admit you deployed military personnel in response to a situation that should have been handled by our local law enforcement?"

>You glance quickly to the princess who gives you a supportive nod before responding.

>Remember Anon, be polite and diplomatic.

"Despite the good work the royal guard do on a daily basis they simply can't be everywhere at once, and in this situation none were at hand. In their absence yes, military units were called upon to respond to the incident and as I have said previously, they brought about a end to the altercation with no serious injuries having been sustained to either party concerned.

>Having finished your response you see that five other ponies in the crowd have raised their hooves with questions.

>It was going to be a long day.

>You wander if you could put in for a pay increase? After all you were technically performing first contact diplomatic negotiations which where far above your pay grade.

>Looking over the gathered ponies Celestia looks to a light blue unicorn seated at the far end of the hall.

>"Yes, Sir Cloud I believe, is it not? What is your question?

>"My thanks your highness. I too have a question for our guest if I may?

>You nod, though it's not like you could refuse to answer unless you wanted to commit political suicide.

>"Is it true you are holding several of our citizens aboard one of your ships?

>Well that went about as well as expected, which is to say it was painful and lasted far too long.

>You're sure you could make a joke out of that if you weren't so exhausted.

>At least it's over and you can return to your chambers for a few hours of sleep. The mere idea of a soft pillow below your head seems a luxury beyond compare these days.

>You can't remember the last time you felt this stressed, not even during your officer training.

>Entering your room within the West wing of the palace you swiftly strip yourself of your uniform, not even bothering to shower before making your way over to your bed.

>Perhaps you could arrange a shuttle to take you to the USV Head in The Clouds one of these days? Surely a night away from your new responsibilities aboard the finest space brothel in the quadrant would do you some good. And just a few hours isn't enough time for anything major to go wrong, right?

>To Hell with it. You'll let the entire world be glassed because you forgot to dot one of the i's on your latest status report if it means you can have a good night's rest.

>This again?

"It is true that we have twenty unicorns staying voluntarily aboard the Icarus in order to help our scientists with their continuing work. I would like to point out that there ponies are entirely free to leave if they wish and are in no way being held against their will, and have in fact been in constant contact with their families on the surface via our holo-communication systems."

 

 

 

Celestia's POV

 

>Walking through the halls of your centuries old home you can't help but shiver slightly as a the late evening chill seems to cling to the ornate the marble walls.

>Though bright and airy during the day the long corridors seem to funnel the cold night winds into every part of the palace,

>After a long day of dealing with petty squabbles and land disputes you want nothing more than to curl up in front of the roaring fire in your chambers and read your student's latest report.

>Despite your tiredness you smile at the thought of the bookish unicorn pouring over every book in her library.

>Dear Twilight. She's just as enthusiastic as ever when it comes to her studies and with the once in a lifetime event of alien life visiting your world she's given herself over completely to learning all she can from them.

>Rounding the final corner before reaching your private chambers you see two of Anon's soldiers coming down the hallway towards you, seemingly not to have seen you as they converse amongst themselves.

>Normally you'd think nothing of the sight of the humans in their strange armour. Indeed their presence in the palace and the area's surrounding their ground based facilities was quite common these days, and you suspected these two were part of Anon's guard detachment.

>Something about the way the pair were talking though made you stop in your tracks, deciding to stay out of sight behind a large statue in a dark corner you listened in to the ongoing conversation.

>"I've got nothing against these natives man, you know that. I mean yeah they look weird but they're nice enough."

>"Well what then?" asked the other with a shrug.

>"I'm just saying that... Well lets be honest, how often do we come across a garden world like this with a stable ecosystem and breathable air that doesn't taste like shit?"

>"Shit I don't know. The last one was KOI-6466-0.4 wasn't it."

>"Exactly, and that was more than five years ago. So why aren't we colonising the shit out of this planet?"

>That doesn't sound good. Up until now the humans have never talked about anything more than their research into the magic that according to them was unique to your planet.

>Tucking yourself further into the deep shadows behind the statue you continue to listen in.

>"I doubt the natives would take kindly to that. I mean what do we say? 'Sorry but we're landing a few million of our surplus population on your planet. If you don't like it please fill out forms 3 through 6 and file them to somebody who gives a shit?' Yeah that'd go down well."

>The other human scoffs at that, shaking his head before rejoining his friend as the make their way towards you.

>"Well what do you honestly think they could do to stop us? You've seen their defence capabilities."

>The pair pass right by you now within a few meters.

>"Fuck man, you really think command would sign off on something like that after what happened on Argis 4?"

>"No, but you gotta admit this place is a prime candidate for colonisation."

>"Besides, you know Anon would never allow things to come to that."

>"Yeah I know, I'm just saying. The captain's steered us right so far so he's solid in my books, but between you and me he's pussyfooting around playing diplomat when he should be acting like the captain he is."

>As the pair disappear out of sight around the corner you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.

>If that's how Anon's people feel then you're glad he's the one in charge.

 

 

 

"So essentially what a mutual trade agreement between us would mean, Celestia, is that we'd gain access to the large deposits of uranium-238 our preliminary scans have shown lie beneath the mountains on your Northern border and in return our government would be willing to share some of our non-military technology with your people... mainly agricultural and medical in nature.

>"Non-military? Surly you're not afraid of my little ponies, are you Anon?" asked the princess with a playful smirk.

"Lets just say we've learned from our past mistakes when it comes to arming he natives."

>The princess adopts a thoughtful look for a long while, the quiet ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of the room the only sound as she thought your proposal.

>"Very well Anonymous, I believe this trade agreement could work. However there are several po-"

>The princess is interrupted by a knock at the door, obviously your order to not be disturbed was ignored.

>Oh well, better see what they want.

"Come in."

>Swiftly a private marches into the room and closed the door behind himself, giving a crisp salute and awaiting permission to speak.

"What is is private? I assume it's important otherwise it could have waited until I was done here.

>The soldier casts a suspicious glance to the princess beside you, which you pick up on.

"Speak private, the princess is our ally here."

>"Sir, an intruder was apprehended attempting to gain access to a restricted area inside our ground station."

>Well that's just great, more paperwork to have him transferred out of your custody and into that of the local government. Damn natives.

>"Sir."

"Something else private?"

>"The intruder was wearing the armour of the royal guard."

>That was... troubling.

"Leave us private."

>Snapping another salute the soldier lets himself out leaving you alone once more with the princess.

"So... Princess, is there something you wish to tell me?"

 

>"Anon I assure you that I had no idea of this, nor did I order it."

>You really want to believe that. This reminds you far too much of what happened on Dorn 3.

"You understand what would happen if this was to get out? It'd be very... problematic, for both of us."

>"I give you my word Anon that if it was indeed one of my guards then there will be a full investigation carried out."

>If only it were that simple.

"There's a problem princess. My orders only authorise me to turn civilian trespassers over to their local law enforcement, and this guard isn't civilian. As military personnel his trespassing technically counts as an official act of attempted espionage from a native power, and as such I'm required to turn him over to our own interrogators.

>Pinching the bridge of your nose you think of a way to end this potential diplomatic nightmare before it even starts.

"Okay look, my superiors expect regular reports from me regarding any and all breaches of our ground security... But there's a small window in which I can delay my report if something requires my attention, perhaps a day at most. So here's what I'll do. I'll tell them our talk of a trade agreement took a little longer than I expected, meanwhile if you can ascertain if this guard of yours is actually one of your own or just somebody in a stolen uniform?"

>"What then?"

"Then if he turns out to actually be one of your guards you discharge him on the spot, stripping him of any rank he may have.

>"That would allow you to report the incident as having been carried out by a civilian and have him turned over to us."

"Exactly."

>The princess swiftly stands and begins making her way out of the room.

>"I will see to it at once."

>Waiting a few moments after Celstia has gone you activate your comm-link

"Sergeant Lewis, have one of your men bug Princess Celestia's private chambers. I want to hear everything she says from now on."

>You wish you could trust her, you really do.

>Life doesn't work that way though and no matter how sure you were that she was telling the truth when she said she had nothing to do with the trespasser you simply can't take that risk.

>At least you managed to secure the trade agreement though. Your superiors would be very happy to hear that, and who knows, they may even approve that pay rise you requested.

 

 

 

>This was nice. A quiet dinner with the rulers of the nation in which you were currently dwelling while trying to engage in peaceful relations with a pre-flight planet.

>Well okay when you said it like that it didn't sound all that relaxing, but honestly with the added stress your new position as human liaison officer to the entire planet was putting on you it really was good to have a casual evening with some of the more agreeable leaders without it being about some impending diplomatic crisis.

>The food was surprisingly good, though you're sure you're breaking several dozen regulations by eating it. You're chief medical officer would probably lecture you about the potential for allergic reactions or foreign bacterial hazard if he knew. You could imagine the look on his face.

>"Anonymous?"

>Snapping out of your daydream you noticed the younger of the two rulers, Luna, looking at you expectantly.

>"You were telling us about your homeworld."

>Taking a sip of your wine you offer a smile.

"Sorry Princesses, I zoned out there for a second. As I was saying, I myself was not born on Earth, my species' home planet. For the last several hundred years the overwhelming majority of humans have been born on various colony worlds, some never even visit the capital though I believe everybody should see the world that gave birth to them at least once in their live."

>"Is your people's empire really that large?"

"It is, Luna, though it is preferred if we don't refer to it as an empire... Command believes it gives the the wrong impression."

>"You still haven't told us of your own home."

"I was getting to that Celestia. I myself was born on the world of New Presden, one of the nicer garden worlds about two thirds the size of Earth but with a surface gravity of much the same due to an abundance of heavy metals."

 

- Ten minutes later -

 

"-it was only the abnormal movements of your systems sun that led us here."

>Celestia laughed at that.

>"Guilty as charged."

 

 

 

"Okay Twilight, so to calculate escape velocity you must first determine the mass and radius of the planet you are on. As an example assuming you are at sea level on Earth the radius is 6.38x10^6 meters and the mass is 5.97x10^24 kilograms. You will need the gravitational constant (G), which is 6.67x10^-11 N m^2 kg^-2. It's required to use metric units for this equation."

>Huh, the purple mare in front of you looks a little hot. Maybe you should open a window?

>Nah, she's probably fine.

"Anyway, using that data you calculate the required velocity needed to exceed the planet's gravitational potential. The object must have greater energy than the planet's gravitational energy to escape, so 1/2 mv^2 = (GMm)/r can be used for the escape velocity as follows: V(escape)= squareroot[(2GM)/r] where "M" is the mass of the earth, "G" is the gravitational constant(6.67x10^-11) and "r" is the radius from the center of the planet(6.378x10^6 m).

>Oh crap, she must be really sick! She's panting and everything.

>She must be oxygen deprived. You'd better wrap this up quickly and get her to the palace infirmary.

"Uhh... so basically the escape velocity of Earth comes to about 11.2 kilometres per second from the surface."

>Oh god what's happening?! She's fallen to the floor convulsing and clasping her lower abdomen while moaning.

>She must be in pain!

"Medic! Celestia! Phil! Anybody?

 

 

 

>Back aboard your vessel the USV Maxwell in low orbit over the planet far below, you stand impatiently waiting for the pair of soldiers before you to finish their account of how, after a night of drinking on shore leave, an altercation with a local led to a griffon being rushed to intensive care in a critical condition.

>"-At that point sir, the griffon currently in hospital drew a knife and advanced towards us."

"Go on."

>The other soldier standing at attention in front of you continues the story in place of his comrade.

>"Clearly intoxicated and despite several warnings he continued to advance, however in his inebriated state he lost his footing on the curb and fell to the ground. The fall causing the injuries he sustained, sir.

>Oh really? You aren't stupid and know for a fact that wasn't what happened, but you can't prove it and these two know it.

>Giving a little thought to the matter it may be worth allowing this one to slide for the sake of avoiding the ensuing diplomatic nightmare that would follow if the truth were leaked to the public.

"So privates you're telling me a fall from a four inch curb led to your would be attacker sustaining, and I quote 'two broken legs, a broken wing, three broken ribs, a fractured skull and several severe lacerations to the abdominal area?"

>"Yes sir."

>In the long run it'd make sense to keep the truth a secret, you know this. Still these two need to be punished.

"Well thank you private, for that very entertaining and I'm sure very well rehearsed story. You two are lucky that reporting this to command is more trouble than it's worth."

>"Sir?"

"Report to staff sergeant Haugen for NJP duties and consider all shore leave cancelled for the next month."

>"Sir, permission to speak?"

"Denied and dismissed, get out of here."

>Once your men are gone you let out a frustrated sigh. Why does your job never seem to get any easier?

>You can't blame your men for defending themselves, but you have to set an example that hostilities with the natives are to be avoided at all cost.

>Hell, even the off duty clothing of your men is required to be stab proof by no less than three seperate regulations, so you have a hard time seeing why the pair even deemed their "attacker" such a threat that needed such force to put down.

>On the other hand they are trained soldiers, so expecting them to react with anything less than overwhelming force was foolish. You remember all through training your instructors would drum the importance of "swift and decisive action" into you when defending yourself.

>You'll have to offer the griffon some form of compensation to stop him talking though, that's is he survives.

>Oh well, you'll have to worry about it later because right now you have a shuttle to catch.

>It wouldn't look good to be late for your first official meeting with the Minotaur king.

 

 

 

>Surveying the aftermath of any firefight is never a pleasant thing, especially not when it's mid-summer and the heat is causing the bodies to stink to high heaven.

>All around you the bodies of several dragons of various ages lay amidst the charred and blackened grass, the grisly scene the result of a run-in with one of your armed convoys.

>With the stench of death clawing into your sinuses you turn to the group of soldiers following behind you.

"Okay lieutenant , fill me in on the details."

>"Sir, at this time we believe it was a simple attack by some of the more militant members of a dragon human opposition group attempting to target some of our civilian personnel being transported across the border."

>That sounded about right. The dragons were the least co-operative race you;d encountered thus far, believing your people to be arrogant and weak.

>Their theory doesn't seem to hold up when faced with the sight before you, the legendary toughness of dragon skin seemingly no defence against modern plasma-rail hybrid weaponry.

>The attackers should have at least realised that you never transport civilians without a military escort, but perhaps that was giving them too much credit

"No other motive?"

>"It doesn't appear so, sir."

"Any of our personnel hurt?"

>"Not seriously sir, though one of our men, a private Lester, suffered minor burns to the torso. Apparently he'd forgotten to wear his thermal protection harness."

>Well that was something at least.

>Walking a short distance away from the group you activate your comms-link.

"Patch me through to intelligence chief Harding."

>Lets see if you can't get this sorted out discretely.

"Harding, give me everything we know about dragon politics and governmental structure."

>After a ten minute lecture you believe you can salvage this situation before it gets out of hand, though doing so will be rather grim.

>Apparently the dragons lands lack a centralised government, instead being led by several warring feudal lords who maintain power by intimidation and shows of strength.

>That'll make covering this up much easier because whoever ordered it, if anyone, will be hesitant to allow it's outcome become public knowledge, lest they appear weak and a prime target for deposition.

>That makes things simple on your end.

"lieutenant !"

>The soldier comes jogging over to you.

>"Sir!"

>This reminds you far too much of many atrocities carried out throughout history, but it has to be done.

>Peace MUST be maintained.

"I want these bodies burned and buried by tonight. You and your men are to tell nobody of what happened here."

>"Yes sir."

"And have anybody who was in the convoy who believes they were attacked convinced that they must have imagined the whole thing. The convoy passed the border without incident, understood?"

>"Yes sir."

>With any luck this is far as word of this incident will go.

 

 

 

>In the mess aboard the USV Maxwell lance corporals Hayes and McGillard, two of the ships off-duty marine detachment, sit at one of the tables.

"So did you hear, dude?" Asked Hayes. "The Damocles is entering the system tomorrow, meant to make orbit some time after midnight."

>Looking up from his meal, McGillard raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you mean the battlecruiser Damocles? I thought it was undergoing repairs at Titan station."

>Taking a sip of his drink, Hayes shrugged dismissively.

"Yeah, well now it's coming here."

>"Why, is the captain expecting trouble?" questioned McGillard, before taking another bite of his food. "Ships like that almost never leave the core systems these days."

"Fuck if I know, but if you ask me it's probably just a deterrent."

>"For who? The natives?" McGillard scoffed.

"Fuck no, what are some kind of idiot?"

>"Up yours, Mitchell."

>Snorting, Hayes briefly glanced towards the entrance of the room before leaning in closer to his friend.

"Look," he spoke in a hushed voice, "command's got some of it's best scientists here looking into that weird telekinesis thing the natives can do. The rumour is if we can harness it it could lead to the greatest advance in technology since they cracked cold fusion."

>"And?"

"Command's keeping the discovery of this place a secret for now, but it's only a matter of time until something gets out."

>"You think Anon's nervous?"

"Well can you imagine what would happen if one of those 'humanity first' purest groups found this place?" Asked Hayes. "You know how much they hate the idea of aliens having power, and from what a pal of mine aboard the Kingston says they're gaining a lot of support out in the far colonies."

>"This the same friend of yours who said that he got given crabs by piraxian chick when he was stationed on Lathe?"

"I'll admit the guy's an idiot but the information's solid, man."

>"Well shit, dude, if it's that bad why isn't the Damocles getting here sooner?" Asked McGillard.

"I was talking with one of the petty officers yesterday and he said it's because it's against regs to exit slipspace so close to an inhabited planet, apparently it messes with the electromagnetic field or some shit, so they have to jump to a minimum distance then come in on impulse"

>"You know my brother was almost assigned to the Damocles?"

"Oh yeah?"

>"Yeah but he got deployed to deployed to the Braubach instead a day before the Damocles was supposed to leave orbit." Said McGillard. "He ended up getting a posting on Isis 4."

"Shit, that sucks man."

>"Yeah, talk about a harsh detail." McGillard agreed "But he did get to see the test firing of the Damocles' spinal mounted railgun when it was first commissioned."

"You're shitting me?" Asked Hayes, clearly envious.

>"I shit you not, dude. He said it damn well blew a hole straight to the core of the proving world."

"That's fucking awesome."

>"Yeah it is." Concurred McGillard. "A gun with the the ability to accelerate a projectile weighing thirty kilograms to three percent the speed of light. It kicks ass dude. It can pierce the shielding of any known capital ship in a single hit.

"No wonder the rebels are scared of it." Said Hayes, the awe clearly evident in his voice. "You know most of their ships don't even have three point kinetic shielding?"

>McGillard smirked at that, taking a sip of his coffee. "That's what they get for using second hand junk that should have been decommissioned fifty years ago."

"Guess that's why the don't engage in fleet actions."

>A moment of silence passed between the two, the only sounds in the room the scraping of cutlery on emptying plates, and the faint humming of the atmospheric stabiliser.

>"I heard the new Leviathan class capital ships they're building at Tesla station can actually survive crashing into a star. Some kind of new thermal dissipation layer in the armour or something."

"Well from what I hear one of the natives down the thinks she can control this system's sun," chuckled Hayes, "so maybe they'll even send us one of those too, eh?"

>"Yeah right, whatever. Controlling a star? I'll believe that when I see it."

>Again a period of silence passed between the pair, giving both time to finish their food.

"You know I almost wish one of those purest groups would try something here." Said Hayes, eventually breaking the silence. "I haven't seen action against them since Argis 4."

>"Damn, I didn't know you were deployed there." Said McGillard "I heard it was rough.

"Rough?" asked Hayes "We got our asses kicked for four whole months until command decided to stop jerking one another off and send reinforcements."

>"I was assigned to the Remington at the time. Never saw a single shot fired outside of training for more than a year"

"You hear about the bombing at the embassy on Virgil?" Asked Hayes.

>"Yeah."

"Jensen lost a sister there."

>"Jensen?" Replied McGillard. "The new guy?"

"That's him."

>"That's rough. He only finished training a few months ago. How's he taking it?"

"About as well as you'd think. He's not talking to anybody and just sits in his bunk when he isn't on duty."

>"Damn... I mean I don't really know the guy but you gotta feel for him. I don't know what I'd do if my family got caught in something like that."

"The captain's already arranged transport, the poor guy's going home in a few days."

>"Well shit."

"Anyway I'm off to catch a few hours rest,"  said Hayes as he stood up from the table and placed his dishes in the cleaning unit, "I'm going planetside again at 0700 tomorrow.

>"Dude wait!"

"What?"

>"D'ya hear?" Asked McGillard, barely able to keep from grinning.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

>"Private Vhatug got caught engaging in 'inappropriate fraternisation' with a local again."  

"Ha! No freaking way!" Laughed Hayes. "That's like... what, the third time?"

>"Sure is. The sergeant's got him running laps around the cargo bay in full combat gear right now."

"And you just know he'll do it again as soon as he's let go."

 

 

>"Anonymous?" Asked Luna "What lies down that corridor? You haven't shown me there yet."

>You'll be the first to admit you have no idea how Celestia convinced you to give her younger sister a tour of your ship. Something about 'allowing Luna to gain a greater understanding of your culture in order to aid in diplomatic matters' and the like, though you're sure it was simply to sate the night princess' own curiosity.

>Over the last few weeks Luna had been coming to you with more and more questions about every aspect of humanity. At first you had thought she may have been attempting to garner classified information out of you, but now you're convinced it was simple, harmless inquisitiveness.

>Truthfully you found her enthusiasm infectious; reminding you of when you were a child witnessing a supercarrier breaking orbit over New Presden.

>"Anon, are you even listening?" Asked the princess with a pout.

>God that's cute.

"Sorry Luna, I was... sidetracked." You explain. You really are letting your mind wonder far too much lately, probably from lack of sleep. "What were you saying?"

>Huffing slightly the princess points a hoof down a long corridor lined with doors. "We were asking what was down there?"

"There? Oh, noting all that interesting, just the aft crew quarters."

>"We would like to see them."

"Princess, they're exactly the same as the fore quarters you saw earlier."

>It was no use; the blue mare already having begun making her way down the long hallway.

>Well it looks like there's no stopping her. Despite what you said earlier you do hope the aft quarters aren't EXACTLY the same. That picture pinned to one of your men's lockers drew more than a raised eyebrow from your guest.

>Infectious as her enthusiasm may be this tour had been going on for far too long. You had a meeting with your executive officer in an hour and you really couldn't call it off again due to 'diplomatic duties' like the last time.

>"Are you coming captain?" Asked Luna, having turned around and noticed you not following her

>Sighing to yourself you make your way after her, thinking to yourself that in another life perhaps you'd have the courage to chase her off your ship with a spray bottle.

>The thought brings a smile to your face.

 

>Another twenty minutes later after having grown bored with thrilling sights and sounds of the aft crew quarters, or lack thereof, the pair of you stand in the recreational viewing deck on the port side of your vessel.

>The sight of the sunrise over the planet far below you suspended amidst the pitch black of space like a shining jewel was truly breathtaking. It's profound beauty seeming to have a sombre effect of your companions mood.

>"Did you know, Anon, that we alone amongst all the inhabitants of the world you see before you have set hoof beyond its confines?" Asked Luna, looking up at you.

"I have heard of your.. uh, imprisonment, yes." You reply delicately.

>A long silence passes between the two of you, and you find yourself almost afraid of breaking it.

>You can't even imagine what an entire millennia alone would do to a person.

>Despite her brashness, her lack of social grace, and her outdated method of speech that, try as she might, she slips back into from time to time, Luna still retained her sanity throughout the whole ordeal... You have a great deal of respect for her because of that.

>Turning her gaze again away from the planet below, Luna looks up at you once again. "Thank you... For showing me your ship."

"It was my pleasure, princess." You reply with a genuine smile.

>"It was... nice, to be back amongst the stars again, of our own accord this time."

"Any time you want to come back you know where to find me."  

>Luna chuckles at that. "Yes, up to your noes in bureaucracy"

>That's truer than you like it to be.

>"Well I have certainly taken up far too much of your valuable time," said the princess as she turned and made her way out of the room, " and I expect you have much to attend to. Though if you'd be so kind as to show me the way back to this 'shuttle bay' of yours I'd be very grateful."