"Now back to business," Dr. Velchiek said, once the muttering had died down. "We need to get a sense of the pony society. How is it organized? What are the people... er... ponies like? Are they religious? Do they have any needs that we could supply for them, in return for letting us live there? Are there any large areas of land that we could move our populations to? Basically, we need vast amounts of information. More than we can get by pushing probes out there and watching through the occasional window. And that's why I called you all together."