In Space, We Don't Abandon Innocence

by David Silver

23 - Dragon Speak

In the dark between the stars, there was only silence and darkness. On a tiny starship that sailed across the vast cosmos, that was changed. It was changed by light and sound and movement. Namely it was the smallest members of its ship. Having found one another, they scurried through the hallways with plotting giggles and quick dashes on feet and hooves.

The adults had work to do, but the children had not yet learned that part of life, so they played. There was no maliciousness in their pranks, and few were any more than mildly upset by the sudden things they did. Most that saw them were more likely to smile than not, shaking their heads as the pitter patter of hooves faded away.

Humans and ponies loved having children aboard their ship, and this was doubly true with the inclusion of a dragon. They had expected some friction with their new guest, but Dawning Star had grown close to the young ones quickly. She met them at the birthday party, and their bond become only more firm each day as she met them and played with them. Exploring the ship, casually wrestling, or even just learning things.

One child trotted into the deck, dressed in a too-big uniform, heading straight for Roger. "Excuse me, Captain." She tilted her head back to look up at him. "Do you know where Mom is?"

Roger glanced down at the growing filly. Fortunately, they were cruising through largely nothing. He had time to smile at the filly. "Hello there. Your mom—" He glanced away a moment. "Ah, she should be in the botany lab, floor three. Do you know the way?" He didn't even get to finish asking the question, the filly already racing away. He watched her go with a faint chuckle. "She'll be all right."

Twilight appeared in front of him. "Captain, the children are wandering the ship freely."

Roger blinked at her. "Yeah, I can see that." He gestured towards the door. "They haven't caused any problems, and I'm sure it's good for them to get out and about. Have available aides keep an eye on them, just in case."

"Of course." She dipped her head. "As the historical reports state, they are in a state of advanced growth. Growing accustomed to their physical and mental states occupies all of their waking hours. Once this passes, I estimate we will have well-adjusted children on our hands."

Roger pursed his lips. "Do we have anything like school here?"

Twilight spread her wings with a flick of her tail. "No. However, we do have crewmembers who are qualified to educate, and a fully stocked library. Being the proud mother of one of the children, the information specialist shouldn't oppose assisting in this task."

Roger patted Twilight on the back. "Sounds good to me. We'll get them enrolled, and off they'll go to school. Thank you, Twilight."

Twilight dipped her head to him. "Of course. This is, after all, for their own growth." She vanished, only to appear before Sunset.

Being in the library, she was suddenly human, standing on two legs instead of four. "Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset started at her full name being spoken. "Oh, Twi. Hey. What's up?" She glanced around as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

Twilight walked slowly towards Sunset. "I have been studying this situation. Our children have been maturing very quickly. It is all within norms for the spell that created them. They will require information." She pointed at Sunset. "Information you have. I would like you to create lesson plans for the children."

Sunset put a hand on her chest. "Me? Why me?"

Twilight perked at that. "One. You have access to all required information. You are the information specialist, after all." She stepped closer to Sunset. "Two. You are one of the mothers of these children. You are more likely to want the best for them." She tapped Sunset's chest. "Three, you have expressed some amount of boredom with your current workload." She huffed gently. "You know, you could just go idle, like other aides when they have nothing to do."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "It feels wrong to just sit there doing nothing when I know there's things I could be doing."

Twilight spread her arms. "Well, now you can make lesson plans, and spend time with the children. Your skills are required, and you have time to accomplish this. Are we in agreement?"

Sunset took a breath as she crossed her arms. "Alright. I'll try my best. We want to give the kids the best, after all."

Twilight nodded once at that. "Your support is much appreciated." She turned away, just to look over her shoulder. "Is having a pony form so uncomfortable? You still have permissions set in this room to only permit human aide shapes."

Sunset glanced down at her hand, closing it. "It's not uncomfortable. I just..." She met Twilight's gaze. "My history with ponies and humans were complicated before I even got here, but I was used to being a human, okay?"

Twilight lifted her hoof at that. "Just, remember you're always welcome here. We're all the same now." She vanished without a sound.

"Mmhm." Sunset wandered along the fake books, eyes roaming. "Now what will work for little learners?"

---

Rainbow Dash perked an ear. "What the?" She leaned in towards a sensor that was barely picking up something. "Reveal your secrets!" Her console switched to readouts she could understand, and it confirmed her suspicions. "Captain! I've got movement out there. Single source. Slow but getting closer."

Roger sat forward in his chair, hearing Rainbow coming from a nearby console. "Can we get visuals on it?"

Rainbow worked quickly at her console. "Working on it, Captain. Working on it." She flicked through several menus. "The sensors are picking it up, but I can't see anything with our cameras yet. Here's a view of it in infrared."

The main screen flickered to show a round object with lines of brighter spots running across its largely cool form. As it drifted closer, Rainbow Dash enlarged the image. "We are receiving enough energy output to maintain life support on a ship, and possibly more. Whatever this is, it is still active."

Roger shifted in his seat. "Yellow alert. It could be dangerous."

Twilight appeared next to him. "It could be fascinating, or even helpful, Captain."

Roger chuckled softly. "Looking on the bright side of possibilities? It could also be an approaching attacker. We don't know, but it is approaching in hyperspace, which does not sit well with me."

Tela came into the room. "Captain, what's going on?"

He pointed at the screen. "Unknown object is approaching us in hyperspace. You've got the conn." He headed for the door. "Rainbow, still with me?"

"Of course, Cap! How can I help?" She moved from screen to screen to keep up with Roger's movements. "Where are you going?"

Roger frowned. "I'm going to talk to Dawning Star." He stopped. "Actually, call her here." He closed his eyes as he spoke, knowing she would hear him.

Moments later, the door opened, and a small dragon stood before him. "Hello, Captain." She raised a hand in a light wave. "Heard you wanted me? What's up?"

Roger pointed down the hallway. "There's an object in hyperspace. We want to know what it is. We're going to have a chat with it."

Dawning inclined her head left, then right. "Sorry, but why do you think I can help with that?"

Roger pointed at her. "I recognized the heat lines on it. It's the crest of the Dragon Empire. If anyone's going to say hello to it and get a reasonable response—"

"—It's the dragon, right." She rolled her brown eyes with a little smile of a smirk. "I get it. Sure, I'll be your face if you need me to be." She started off down the hallway with him. "How fast is it approaching?"

Rainbow Dash answered as they walked along. "Still speeding up. We have a few minutes to respond, I'm sure, but we'd rather not let it get too close without saying anything. Want me to get Casey on the line? She's better at comms."

Roger lifted his chin as he walked. "I trust you, Rainbow. Send a standard hail over our current course, but that's it. Don't want to cause an accident or make any new enemies."

A screen near them lit up as a dragon's face appeared, glaring at them. "Identify yourself!" he boomed without room for argument.

Dawning Star snorted with annoyance. "Dawning Star, what's it to you? We're flying here, and you're getting in our way. What's the deal?"

He straightened up. "Who is we?" He moved to peer at the screen more closely. "Wait a minute, I recognize you. You're that dragon who went missing on a vacation trip." He stepped back with a grin. "This is my lucky day. I can't wait to see the look on everyone's face when they hear that I found the Dragon Empire's lost stowaway."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not 'lost', jerk. I'm here because I wanna be. And you're still in the way, so get moving, or we'll crash through you."

Roger tensed at her harsh words. "Easy," he whispered. "We're not trying to start a fight."

"That's alright." The dragon on the screen had a smirk on his face. "I could do with a new trophy ship. We'll give you a moment to transfer over and power down."

Dawning snorted in laughter at that. "I think not!" She stomped towards the monitor with her hands on her hips. "Listen here, rocks for brains. We got places to be. We're going to those places. You're not invited!"

"Oh yeah?" The dragon pointed at her. "Listen here, knucklehead. This is a Dragon Empire ship, and we're taking you back where you belong. Get over here now, or I'll have my gunners make a new pothole in your hull."

Dawning jammed her finger against the screen, clacking with her claw. "We already have permission to go! They already know I'm here. It's not my fault you lot are too far away to keep up with the news. We're going, you're getting out of the way, now!"

He stared at her with wide eyes, ears going back. "Are you challenging me?" He straightened up with a flare of his nostrils. "Fine. I accept. This is on you, punk."

The panel went dark. Roger threw his hands up. "I wanted you to defuse the situation, not enflame it! What were you thinking? What was I thinking asking a pre-teen to handle this? Rainbow, are they charging weapons?"

Rainbow appeared on that same screen. "Surprisingly, no. They seem to be matching our speed and heading."

Roger furrowed his brow. "And what's their plan once we get to wherever we're going? Drag us back in chains? Great job making friends, Dawning."

Dawning shuffled as she hugged herself. "No, I just challenged him to a personal match. He'll come over soon, looking for me. If I win, well, I get what I want. If he wins, he'll probably drag me back."

"Mmhm." Roger frowned with concern. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Dawning cracked a smile. "Who, me? I'm great at fighting." She paced away from him with a tense laugh she hoped convinced him that she knew exactly what she was doing.

Even as the ship shuddered with the arrival of their guests, she slapped her hands together. "Time to put up, or shut up." Like most dragons, shutting up felt like a terrible option. "I can do this."

Author's Note:

This is how dragons work things out.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

And thats how the cargo hold full of Dragon Eggs was made?

[geomease]

For a second there I thought this would be a ship based game of chicken haha

[David Silver]

11934945
Also a valid option.

[PrincePegacornV]

It truly is a game of chicken. That is how dragons measure each other, by who will be the first to blink. Let us hope that Dawning Star is one lucky dragoness. Next chapter should be exciting...

[Okie Brony]

"Great job making friends, Dawning."

My thoughts exactly.

Looking forward to Sunset the schoolteacher.

Since the Doctor's daughter wasn't named in the previous chapter, does anyone else think she should be "Jenny"?

[BestinDworld]

11933797
Nice looking dress though I was hoping for something in black

[David Silver]

11935030
i.postimg.cc/TPrwz4Zb/image.png

[katarjin]

A Batchall eh?

[David Silver]

11935122
Basically, yep!