The Citidel Councilors Valern, Tevos, Sparatus, and Udina stood in wait at the space port. Anyone with even a basic understanding of galactic politics would realize that the four most powerful people in Citadel Space, the Citadel Alliance being the most powerful individual government in the galaxy to boot, being in one place besides the chamber where they met meant that something big was going on. Of course anyone with an understanding of politics would also know why the Council was gathered like this. A new species had joined the Citadel as a Client member, and their ambassador was being formally welcomed. It was the details that hadn't gone fully public yet that would shock people, but that was for later. Right now the Council had other, simpler issues.

"They're running rather late." Sparatus, representative of the Turian Hierarchy, grunted. "They should have been here three standard hours ago. I hope this lack of punctuality doesn't reflect on this species attitude and typical behavior, or scheduling will be a nightmare."

"Species, plural." Councilor Valern of the Selerians noted. "It is an unusual status for any world to bost more than one native sentient species, let alone so many as is present on Ungula. Working out a means of fair representation was a nightmare on our end, and I'm sure it's causing them no end of trouble on theirs."

"Yes, the advisory board with the other major powers advising the ambassador and bringing their petitions to him before the ambassador brings them to us. If he wants to." Udina, representative of Humanity and newest member species of the council, noted with a sniff. "Quite frankly, I don't think we're doing whoever was chosen any favors. They're going to have to present grievances that go directly against their interests on behalf of other species or face the political repercussions of ignoring them. I still don't see why we couldn't just give them all embassies."

Tevos, representing the Assari Republics, just smiled. "Ah, but they all come from one planet, and as such share a joint responsibility to it. It would be unfair to give a single planet multiple ambassadors. Their sheer numbers would give them an unfair political advantage, especially if they collectively applied pressure on any one target."

Udina snorted. "From what I hear of the five races present on their advisory board, two have client races and a third is representing a number of tribal species. If they could get their act together like that I should think they'd deserve it."

"Yes well, the race that got chosen isn't exactly unified, even if it claims to be. The STG noted five distinct species that operate under a single racial name." Valern noted. "Despite operating as a single political body and working well together, the sheer physical variation prevents them from being the same species. Horn, wings, fangs, or lack there of being clear indicators. They even confirmed male and female members of each race in case of genetic dimorphism to prevent embarrassment on that end. They seem to present themselves as one for political and social reasons, but they do have seperate names for each of their member species."

"Ah yes, the 'ponies', the ones we chose to provide the ambassador on the grounds that they're the largest of the political powers and had the most member species. I read about them." Sparatus said, pulling up the file on his data pad for a quick double check. "Pegasus and thestral, both arial races capable of true flight. Showing avian wings and mammalian wings respectively, the later is also nocturnal, has larger ears, and apparently fangs. Surprising that the pegasuses are the warrior culture according to what limited data we have, what with them being herbivores and all."

Tevos gave her fellow councilor a look of reproach. "Pegasi. The plural form of pegasus is pegasi. If the ambassador turns out to be so, please keep that in mind. Still, I doubt it. From what we can tell, most political positions are filled in either with their natural biotic members, the unicorns, or the numerous 'dirt ponies', though that is probably a translation error as it sounds somewhat insulting."

"From what I read, they seemed to lack any natural advantage. Just because they're numerous doesn't mean they are in charge. They could be a second class majority for all we know at this point in relations. Personally I'm expecting one of those horned unicorns. Their biotics would make it easier to interact with technology not make for quadrupeds." Udina shook his head in exasperation. "Really, quadrupeds I could handle, if they had arms! How does a society of armless quadrupeds even function?"

"Quite well if their position as the dominant power on the planet is any indicator." Tevos smirked. Then her face took on a serious tone as she frowned. "Although I must admit, this has been quite the wait. I know they are still rather new to space travel, I hope nothing unfortunate happened."

Almost as if on cue, the coms clicked on. "Council this is Citadel Control. We have an inbound flight with a transponder code matching the one for the new ambassador's ship that you provided to them, but I'm getting some odd readings on the...I think it's a ship."

Valern sighed. "Is the object about thirty meters in length, have an ezzo signature about the size of a golf ball, reads as containing almost no metal, and has all the electrical energy of your toaster?"

"Um, yes sir." the hapless Controll officer reported, baffled by how the Cuncilor knew all of the anomalies ahead of time.

"That fits with the STG's description of their ships. It's them, radio them in. You should have the frequency in your notes. Please don't try to tight beam as usual, they do not have the technology." he then signed off with a sigh. "I just don't understand how a race that has had radio for three hundred years has never advanced beyond broadcast and receive?"

"Maybe the same reason that their technology seems all over the place? They have space flight and can use the Mass Relays, but they still have cannons and spears as weapons and write using ink and parchment. I've never heard of such sheer discrepancy in technological development." Sparatus noted. "You have to admit, it is interesting to meet a race that got out here without any Prothean aid. I imagine it would require a different mind set to develop that sort of technology, but still."

"Or it could be the result of religious influence on technological development. Every pony met insists that their planets sun and moon not only revolve around their planet, but a pair of goddess figures are directly responsible for managing the celestial bodies. Other goddess figures included one of love, or friendship. It's unclear which, as both have been used as distinct terms, so it might be relationships in general. No one  makes seperate divinities for love and friendship." the Salarian continued. "There is supposed to be a fourth one, conflated with the third one a bit, but is apparently she is some sort of great leader figure and mighty warrior who has vanquished numerous horrors."

Sparatus smiled "Sounds like your typical war goddess. Sill, it is a bit worrying that they are that religiously fanatical, even with the natural evidence of space travel concerning orbital mechanics. The fact that they won't reveal what relay leads to their home system is also disconcerting. That we had to conduct discussions on a neutral planet in the system we ran into them is annoying enough, but that they insisted on not revealing how to get to their home world is making me paranoid."

Udina rolled his eyes. "Or they could be paranoid about us. We all technologically dominate them hands down. Would you tell a vastly more technologically advanced society that controls multiple planets, and has client species, where your poorly defended home planet was?"

Any further discussion was tabled however as a large object floated in. Udina and Tevos recognized the design, an inflated envelope over a cabin structure, imediatly as an airship from their own worlds' pasts. Having read the briefing, they knew it was partly just for show, because there was no need to float on gasses in space. Instead it held the crews air supply and sensor array, two vital functions for the basic survival of any ship. The cabin section, which composed about half of the ship instead of a fraction like with a true airship, was not much to look at from a technology standpoint. It was a metal box with windows, including a large one at the front where the captain steered, with a traditional naval wheel no less. Of course looks aren't everything. The windows weren't fragile glass but pure high grade diamond, and the captain was often piloting the ship at a significant fraction of the speed of light relying on just his skill, some sensors, and no mass effect. These ships also boasted some impressively strong shields, often rivaling other races war ships twice their size, though none were quite certain how this was achieved.

Finally there was a certain cultural value to the craft's design. With Ungula boasting few ships, only a couple dozen for each major power all told, they were naturally customized by their captain as a means of identification and pride. This particular ship was painted a deep purple and had gold accents and decorations, including what appeared to be sculpted columns. In addition, the columns had a sequence of large gems placed vertically on them, always in the same color order. Purple, blue, pink, orange, yellow, and white from top to bottom. Lettering on the side noted that this ship was the ERS The Harmony.

The inclusion of a 'The' in the ship's name was chalked up by those present to be either a translation error, or the result of cultural differences that resulted in ships not being addressed in the same manner. It didn't occur to them until later, after having actually met the ambassador who owned the ship, that the name could simply have been the result of an owner who had no idea how to properly name a ship. Incidentally, this last one was the case in a way. When filling out the commission forms, she hadn't filled out the name properly, but none had dared to correct her. And so the ambassador had the oddest named ship in the fleet...or second oddest...or third...okay there were five ships competing for that title. That third of the Equestrian Armada was all technically personal ships, so the owners personalities shown through to a degree, and that included the name. And when the The Harmony was the only one not deliberate, that says something about their personalities.

The Councilors standing there knew nothing of this at the time. This was information that would be learned weeks later. For now they waited as the ship came to a stop and, being unable to magnetically dock, proceeded to launch out mooring lines that seemingly attached themselves to the posts that had been set up in advance for this very situation. Another example of the bizarre technological disconnect these people had. Opening the door and lowering an actual gangplank, the captain stood aside as various passengers came forward and waited. And waited. The Councilors wondered if something was wrong, as their guests also seemed agitated. Some quiet discussion followed before some sort of consensus was reached and one of the crew members darted back into the ship. The others got into a rough line, and the Council realized that planed introductions had gone astray, somebody wasn't there and they had to rearrange things. Hopefully it wasn't a serious problem.

The captain, a blue unicorn, cleared her throat. "Presenting the Griffon Advisory Member, Gregor Ironclad." The first representative headed down the gangplank a fierce mix of grey feathered avian predator in the front half, and grey furred feline predator in the rear. If the STG was correct in their reports, the Griffon Kingdom was the second largest power on their planet, and was rather militaristic. The fact that Gregor's head only came up to Sparatus's shoulder did nothing to dispell that impression, as sharp claws and tense muscles indicated a dangerous predator. The fact that he was actually armored, his garb reminding Udina somewhat of the conquistadors of his own planets past, only added to the image of his people's warlike nature. Gregor simply did a militaristic salute, and stepped off to the side.

The captain cleared her voice again for the next introduction. "Presenting the Unified Tribes Aliance Advisory Member, Fluffy." Fitting the rather odd name a heavilly furred robed figure hurried down the stairs. Standing shorter than a volus with oversized hands, the brown bipedal canid creature was notable in that his robe was covered in various small gems, none of which blended together. At least, it appeared garish to the members of the Council, especially Sparatus, and they noted the other Ungulans seemed to avoid looking directly at it as well. Apparently, the design aesthetic was species specific. Fluffy, for his part, hurried down the ramp, looked the Councilors over a few times and, seemingly unimpressed, walked over to stand next to Gregor, looking rather bored.

"I do believe we've been snubbed." Udina whispered to his assari counterpart.

Tevos smiled a little, noting that they other Ungulans looked shocked, upset, or glared at the U.T.A. members actions. "Maybe we weren't shiny enough?" she whispered back. "If his people wear their wealth, we might look poor to him, or maybe even insulting, like he wasn't worth spending money on." She was satisfied to see Udina grunt slightly in consideration. When dealing with a new race, there was always the risk of getting into what humans called a 'blame game' of who first unintentionally insulted who. In situations like this, a certain level of unspoken trust was required: that the person across from you who has never encountered your culture before is not deliberately insulting you. It was very possible that the U.T.A. Advisor was unaware of this idea, and if so she didn't want their side to be the ones to cause escalation.

"Ahem, due to matters of deliberation at the time of departure, the representative of the Draconic Coalition has yet to be appointed." the Captain announced. "Our apologies for any inconvenience at this, but they seemed to have difficulty in finding someone willing to fill the post."

The Council exchanged concerned looks at that. It seemed that the Coalition would be a problem, few had political fighting over people not wanting a position of authority. Being an advisor in this instance seemed to be a dead end career to them.

"Presenting the Republic of Zebrica Advisory Memeber, Sabala." The newest representative was a quadruped,dressed in a pale yellow robe with a broad, long orange sash, which contrasted sharply with the already sharply contrasting black and white striped fur of the dignitary. She smiled lightly as she gracefully descended the gangplank.

Sparatus frowned. "I thought that the ponies were the actual Ambassador?" he asked rather bluntly.

The entire delegation stopped, looking shocked. Even Fluffy looked at Sparatus like he was a moron. There was a serious sense of tension in the air as all eyes pasted onto Sabala, waiting for her response.

Sabala's response was to close her eyes and take several deep, calming breaths. "I am going to let the insult slide, in deference to diplomacy and this being your first encounter with my people. I, am a zebra, not a pony. Our species are related I admit, but we are not the same."

"My apologies, it seems I was not properly briefed." Sparatus said, unflinching. "My staff will be disciplined for this...mishap."

Sabala glared at him a bit, then snorted and smiled slightly. "Apology accepted. As a quick reference, ponies coats are a solid color. Zebras have stripes. Admittedly there is the rare pony with colored patches, but again that is rare. There are none with stripes."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Sparatus said, still standing as though nothing had happened.

Sabala took her place with the other delegates, trying to regain her composure.

"I'll just handle my own introduction if your don't mind." said the last member, a minotaur with a deep brown coat and a large gray beard. He was wearing a rather loose brown suit, a brown overcoat draped over his shoulders like a mantle. He walked with the aid of a wooden cane, coming to stand before the Council, tipping his derby hat. "Name's Steel Mind, I'm here representing the interests of the Iron Throne. I have to say, pissing off the zebra and the ponies in one go? I have to say, you aren't making the best first impression. But like Sabala said, we need to give you the benefit of the doubt."

Tevos was concerned. "How have we insulted the ponies? It wasn't our intention."

Steel smiled as he hobbled over to the other advisors. "You dictated that they were in charge. They don't like that sort of dictatorial policy, you should have gone with letting us elect. In all honesty, I think Equestria's revenge was the best I've seen in a while, so I'm not too mad."

"Revenge?" Udina asked, concerned. If this was to be some sort of attack...

Gregor smiled darkly. "Their choice in ambassador. You must have really upset them for the Princesses to choose her."

Valern naturally felt some concern. "If they chose somebody unqualified, you all suffer."

Fluffy broke out laughing.

"Oh she is highly qualified." Sabala said, smiling. "That's the worst part. She's a master diplomat. It's everything else she does that's the problem."

Udina groaned. He was familiar with the tactic described. A mind brilliant at law and the machinations of politics, the personality of an ogre. An insult you don't have the grounds to dismiss. The late appearance was probably a calculated insult.

Then a shout came from within the ship. "What do you mean we're already here?! We should still have a couple of hours...I'm late!! Why didn't any pony tell me?!" The sounds of rushing footsteps could be heard echoing within.

"Your highness, you clothes!"

"No time! I'm late!"

The ship's captain sighed, and seemed to give into the inevitable. "Presenting the appointed Ambassador to the Citadel Council, Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle."

And then there was a naked purple pony. Well, she had a small crown perched over her horn, but that did nothing to cover her body. "Sorry I'm late, I got caught up in a book. Were they waiting long?"

The captain put on a kind smile as he bowed. "Not at all your majesty. I just finished introducing the last advisors only a couple of minutes ago."

"Oh thank goodness." the princess said, fluttering her wings a bit. "I was nervous I'd blown it for a bit."

Udina frowned. Speaking quietly, he asked his fellow Councilors "Do we have anything on ones with wings and horns? I thought it was one or the other."

"It is." Valern said, frowning. "Clearly some sort of hybrid. Probably a living symbol of unity between the species."

"It probably had a few...mental side effects." Sparatus added. "Just the sort of diplomat you pick as polite revenge."

Udina nodded. "Royalty, a living symbol of unity, and having issues? We dismiss her for any reason, they have multiple avenues of political attack."

Any further discussion was put on hold as the princess walked over, a large open smile on her face. "Hi there, you must be the Citadel Council. Sparatus, Tevos, Udina, and Valern." she said, positing a hoof at each of them in turn, identifying them properly. "My name is Teilight Sparkle, it's a pleasure to meet you. I mean, this is so exciting. First official ambassador to an alien civilization, you know. Big historic deal. Hoo, sorry about the rambling, just a bit nervous." Twilight said, flashing a nervous smile.

Tevos smiled and noded back. "It is understandable. It is a weighty responsibility."

"Thanks." Twilight said, smiling even bigger. "Huh, you know for something like this, I expected more reporters...or any reporters really. Where is everyone?" she asked looking around quite confused.

"Where you not informed?" Sparatus asked. "This is a private greeting to welcome you and help you get settled in. You won't be meeting the press for a couple days, when we will have a press conference to introduce you to the public. We can discuss the scheduling at a later date."

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, I guess it makes a lot more sense than to do the interview while recovering from the trip or being stressed out by setting things up." Turning to face the ship, she shouted "Apple Cobler! Why didn't you tell me there wasn't going to be any press today?"

Gslloping out of the ship, gasping slightly, was a brown pony wearing overalls and a Stetson hat over a blond mane. "Sorry, your, Twi, didn't know."

"Well anyway, bit of a relief. Don't have to dress up now." Turning back to the Council, she smiled. "Well, I need to go make sure everything gets packed properly. It should have been packed while we were traveling, but well, I lost track of the time. Anyway, see you later." And after a quick wave, she popped back off into the ship.

The Councilors looked at each other, showing various degrees of concern. "Interesting method of revenge." Sparatus noted, smirking slightly. "My compliments to their government." Next Chapter: Prologue 2: Working out the kinks. Estimated time remaining: 9 Minutes