STAR TREK: PHOENIX
S02ME04
“Sex on the Beach”
Jacqueline Cadeneza found herself grinning as the debriefing finished. Excitement trickled through her senses, like little jolts of lightning tingling from head to toe. She had a challenge presented to her. A new, intriguing challenge.
Find the Dazzlings.
While Hill busied himself with the boring part of tracking ion trails and warp signatures from the stolen Dominion shuttlecraft, Cadeneza had been assigned to track the far more scientifically challenging and thus, interesting, magical readings. Between the tricorder readings she gathered from the Dominion base and the decade’s worth of research Starfleet had on Sunset and Twilight’s magic, she had plenty of data to work with.
She whistled casually as she strode into the turbolift and rode it down to her primary science lab. “You’re doing good, girl,” she muttered to herself. “Betcha if you can crack this one, they’ll finally start calling you Doctor Cadeneza, just like you deserve. Least till the Academy course credits finish playing catch up.”
The turbolift opened, snapping her out of her reverie. She tapped her combadge. “Cadeneza to Sparkle. Please report to the xenobiology lab.”
“Already there, ma’am.”
“Perfect.” Cadeneza swept into the lab a minute later to find Twilight and several other members of her staff waiting. Her usual smirk crossed her face as she addressed them. “Alright everyone, listen up. We’ve got some freaky fish people to track down.”
Confused faces met hers. “Did you mean the Antedians?” asked one scientist.
Cadeneza rolled her eyes. “What? No, not them. These are much sexier freaky fish people.”
“Err, what do you mean?” Twilight asked. To Cadeneza’s relief, the mare wasn’t wearing the steely, cold look she always carried when Sunset was around. Instead she was more like the old Sparkie: cool, and relaxed. Calm. Studious. And obnoxiously curious.
“What I mean, Sparkie, is this.” Cadeneza smacked her PADD against the table, and brought up a three dimensional view of the Dazzlings.
“Meet the sirens, everyone. According to Commander Shimmer, they’re magical beings just like her and Sparkie here. Look familiar to you, Twi?”
Cadeneza gigglesnorted as she watched Twilight stare in awe at the Dazzlings. “But… but they’re humanoid!” Twilight objected.
“Yep. And Shimmer said the same thing, 'that they’re not supposed to be'.”
Twilight nodded and frowned. She brought up one hoof to scratch behind her ear. “I don’t… remember a lot about sirens, but what I do remember said that they looked nothing like this. They were sea creatures, able to fly, long and lithe, with a lizard-like shape, covered in scales.”
Cadeneza peered closer at the image. “Which explains the dragony fishy things all over ‘em.” She flung her hand towards the image in a lackadaisical manner as she examined it. “Like those tails. Those are huge.”
“Ma’am,” said another scientist. “They don’t look anything like Commander Shimmer or Ensign Sparkle. How’s their magic work?”
Twilight cast her a curious look. “If I remember correctly, sirens feed on negative emotions. That’s how they fuel their magic. They use it by singing. But what were they doing on a Dominion base? And how did they get here in the first place?”
“That’s a question we’re gonna have to ask them, Sparkie,” Cadeneza said. “‘Cause that Vorta we captured? He ain’t talkin’. That guy was scared to death of them.”
“So now we’re going out of our way to find some creatures that even the Vorta are scared of?” asked one of her junior officers, a very self-assured Barzan biologist who Cadeneza swore woke up every day with the same smartass smirk on his face. “Are we gonna tell them to stop destroying Dominion bases or something? How would we even track them anyway? Use their magic?”
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do, Vorhn,” Cadeneza replied. She flashed him a quick glare, then softened it as she took in the others. “Captain Liang made it clear: this is a priority mission straight from headquarters. We have to find them, and fast. If the Dominion knows they have magic, then not only are they in danger, but so is our ability to win if their magic falls into the Dominion’s hands. So we’re gonna cook ourselves up a magic detector.”
Twilight’s expression brightened. “You mean a thaumometer,” she said.
Everyone, Cadeneza included, gave her a confused look. “Uh, Sparkie, I don’t think their temperature is going to–”
“No, no, not a thermometer. A thaumometer,” Twilight said. Then her cheeks flushed. “Err, sorry ma’am, I shouldn’t… sorry.”
Cadeneza stood up straight, staring at Twilight. Did she just apologize? Someone program rainbows into her coffee this morning or something? Cadeneza waved off her own thoughts and drummed her fingers atop the table. “No, it’s fine, Ensign. Please continue.”
Twilight’s face seemed to light up like a kid who had just been given the keys to the candy store. “So, in Equestria, we measured magic in units called thaums. It’s an old word with roots in Ancient Ponish. I was quite surprised to see such a similar word in the languages of Earth. It’s really quite fascinating how similar some aspects of our languages–”
“Err, that’s great, Sparkie,” Cadeneza said, holding up a hand as an amused grin crossed her face. “But focus.”
“R-right.” Twilight held up a hoof to her mouth and coughed as another flush turned her cheeks rosy. “A-anyway, a thaumometer, as its name implies, measures thaums. It’s kind of like a voltmeter, in that it measures the difference between the thaumic potential of the environment and the actual thaums being produced by the subject being read. There’s actually a lot of different kinds of thaumometers for various purposes, whether it’s converting magic to electricity, or monitoring the power put into a spell, or measuring magical contamination in an environment, or-or…” She trailed off, shrugging. “Those are just some of the most basic uses, and I admit my memory’s a bit fuzzy on the more complicated types. The public library in Canterlot had dozens of books on this alone.”
Cadeneza stepped around the table to give Twilight a reassuring clap on the shoulder. “No sweat, Sparkie. We all know you didn’t get much of a chance to pack your books before coming over here.”
“I didn’t know–”
“Shut it, Vorhn,” Cadeneza interrupted without missing a beat. “So, we get what Sparkie’s saying? We need to make some kind of magic thermometer thingy and use it to track down these sirens.”
“Err, pardon me, Lieutenant,” said another one of her officers, this one a Vulcan ensign who worked primarily in Applied Physics. “But are we not already able to detect magic with a tricorder? Can we not simply expand that function to the ship’s sensors?”
Cadeneza shook her head. “Nope. I wish it was that simple, Ayhan, but it’s not. Starfleet’s never been able to pin down what exactly it is we’re detecting when we read magic. We’re picking it up using one of a number of different radiological sensors, and usually only when it’s very strong and in use in front of us. We only read the magic on the Dominion base because those sirens used a ton of it blasting the place apart. Nearly every inch of that place was saturated with the stuff.”
She held up a tricorder. “Sparkie?” At Twilight’s nod, she pointed the tricorder right at Twilight’s horn. “Okay, see how we’re reading her magic? We can keep reading it so long as I focus on her nervous system. But the instant I move it away...” The readings vanished. “Not a thing. Sparkie here is full of magic, but unless she’s usin’ it or it’s right in our face, we can’t see it. And that’s the problem we need to solve. We gotta figure out how to passively detect it from a distance.”
Ayhan arched an eyebrow. “It is curious given that Starfleet has had sixteen years to solve this problem that it would be assigned to us. With respect, Lieutenant, what makes you think we can solve something the rest of Starfleet hasn’t yet?”
Cadeneza beamed at her junior officer. “Oh they tried, Ayhan, believe me. I’m sure Sparkie can attest to spending quite a few hours in one Starfleet lab or another. But she and her sister weren’t lab rats. They had lives to live, duties to attend to.” Cadeneza clicked her tongue. "Plus they never actually asked me to solve it, either."
“And Sunset and I, we didn’t really want to be tested all the time,” Twilight interjected. “We were just kids... and once we joined Starfleet, we were officers. The Federation respected our rights.”
“Exactly. We’ve got a ton of data and a pile of hypotheses, but not much experimentation. But that’s where you all come in.” Cadenza tapped on the keypad next to the display and pulled up a database. “I had this loaded before we left Earth. Figured it’d come in handy.”
She spent a few minutes distributing copies to everyone’s PADDs, then said, “Okay, here’s how we’re gonna divy this up. Vohrn, you and Ayhan are going to work on the biological aspect of the magic, how it works inside of Sparkie’s body. Dive into these readings and look for anything that could be valuable, no matter how small. Then you two,” she pointed to another pair, “You’re going to work on the tricorder itself, test every last little sensor this thing has, figure out which one it is that’s picking up the magical signature. If what I read in the database is anything to go by it’s going to be several different ones in different circumstances, but we’ve gotta verify that before we move on.”
“What are you going to need me to do?” Twilight asked.
“Glad you asked, Sparkie. You’re gonna be the most important of all.” Cadeneza said. “Today, you're going to be our beautiful lavender guinea pig. Anything anyone needs you to cast or do for these tests, you’re gonna do.”
Cadeneza circled around the table and clapped Twilight once on the shoulder. “If ya need to rest and recoup, let me know and I’ll get Commander Shimmer to take your spot for a while.”
The instant Cadeneza said Sunset’s name she regretted it, because she saw Twilight’s eyes harden, her jaw tighten. “I’m not sure that’ll be necessary, ma’am,” Twilight said, her words coming out with just a touch of a growl to them.
And then Cadeneza took a step back as she watched Twilight’s demeanor soften, her eyes suddenly full of regret. “Err, that is, I mean…” Twilight smacked her lips together and sighed. “I’m sure she’s busy with other duties. But I see your point. I’ll let you know if I run into any issues.”
Cadeneza’s eyebrows rose. “Alright, Sparkie. But don’t push it, okay? I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“Aye ma’am,” Twilight said with a swift nod. Cadeneza swore for a moment it looked as if Twilight was going to add a salute to that.
“Okay people, let’s get to work,” Cadeneza said, turning back to the group. “The sooner we come up with something, the better. Dunno how long the trail will last.”
Twilight paused at the door before heading out and looked back.
Cadeneza held out a hand. “Was there something else?”
Twilight’s eyes turned hard, and her horn lit up. “Err, about that lavender thing…”
Ooooh shit. “Sparkie, sorry, that was probably a little too–”
Twilight held up a hoof. Two PADDs floated off a nearby table, revealing why her horn was lit. “Not that. It just… it reminded me of something my dad used to say, that my coat color reminded him of lavender. I… think it was my mom’s favorite flower.”
Cadaneza stared. I thought she didn’t remember anything about her original parents anymore.
“Anyway, I’ll get to work. Excuse me.”
This sudden revelation left Cadeneza so shocked she never remembered to ask Twilight what the hell was up with the change of attitude. She figured someone must’ve spoken to Twilight, but who? It wasn’t as if Wattson or Cadeneza herself had done it. She knew the Captain had said something to Twilight, but that couldn’t have been it either; Liang didn’t come across as that much of a hardass, at least not in public.
She resolved to ask Twilight when she got a chance. “Whatever’s going on with you, Sparkie,” she muttered, “I like the change.”
The rest of the day seemed to pass by in a blur. Cadeneza hadn’t even realized it was more than an hour past the normal end of her shift until Ayhan stopped by with his initial report. Vorhn followed soon after, as did the rest of her team.
Each one achieved a modicum of success that could be summed up as 'jack shit', as far as Cadeneza was concerned. Oh, Ayhan’s team figured out which sensors picked up the magic, confirming what past testing had accomplished. Vorhn’s determined magic was some kind of radiation or particle effect that showed up on a lot of radiological scans and a few other ones. But they still couldn’t solve the basic problem.
“How the heck do we quantify any of this?” Cadeneza gently dropped the last PADD onto the growing stack on her desk and sagged in her chair.
Privately Cadeneza wondered if that was because none of them had magic… maybe there was something to magic that let you see it when scanning for it. Except Twilight had never said a word about seeing something no one else had, so that idea was stupid.
“Alright everyone, good work today, and thanks for working late, ‘specially you, Sparkie. Go get some rest, all of you, come back fresh in the morning.”
She trekked back to her own room. Once inside she stripped off her uniform and tossed it aside. Stretching out her limbs like a cat she grunted as they popped. “Oh that’s better,” she murmured as she went to retrieve her lucky jacket.
She donned it over her Starfleet issue underwear and wandered over to her replicator. “Computer, up the temperature three degrees, would you?” she muttered as she tapped a few buttons on the replicator, then added, “Tequila Sunset.”
“Acknowledged.”
She smiled as the heat flooded into the room, then plucked up her colorful drink and plopped herself down at her desk. “Okay, you stupid magic,” she said as she cracked her knuckles and brought her hands down on the terminal keypad. “Let’s figure you out.”
She was eyes deep in data and halfway through her second drink, a Summer Sunset, when the door chime rang. “Who is it?”
“It’s Sunset,”
Cadeneza’s cheeks flushed a bit as she slightly zipped her jacket, then said, “Come on in.”
The doors swished open, revealing Sunset still in her uniform, a deeply troubled look on her face. In her magic she floated a single PADD. “Hey,” she said, her voice low and heavy. “Mind if I… hang out here a bit?”
Cadeneza shrugged and gestured to the sofa. “Sure. Grab a seat. What’s up, Sunny?”
Sunset slumped onto the couch and let out a low moan. “I messed up. Bad.”
“Hm?” Cadeneza spun in her chair to face Sunset, eying the mare. She frowned as she noticed the tear stains in Sunset’s facial fur. “What happened? It wasn’t Twilight again, was it?”
Sunset shook her head and sighed heavily. “No… no it… wait.” Sunset blinked. “What the… are you seriously wearing only underwear and your jacket?”
Cadeneza dismissed that with a wave of her hand. “Yeah but that’s not important. Keep going. What’s wrong?”
Sunset gulped and held up the PADD in her magic, floating it over. “Here. Just… just watch.”
Cadeneza plucked the PADD out of the air, located the message on it, and hit play. She recoiled instantly as she recognized the person on the screen. “Oh shit, it’s Smith,” she whispered.
The longer the message played, the angrier Smith sounded, until she was screaming into the camera. “Ah’ll be waitin’ for your reply, Sunset. And it better be good. Or so help me God Ah’ll never hear another word you have to say to me. Ever!”
The PADD’s screen turned to black as the message ended. “Damn, girl,” Cadeneza said as she set the PADD down next to Sunset. “Yeah, you messed up really bad.”
Sunset shoved her face between her forelegs as she groaned. A few quiet sobs reached Cadeneza’s ears. “I didn’t mean to do that to her,” Sunset whispered. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Cadeneza watched the poor mare cry for a couple of moments before she sat down next to her on the couch and wrapped an arm around Sunset’s shoulder. “Hey. Hey, listen to me, Sunny. I know you didn’t.”
Sunset nuzzled her way into Cadeneza’s chest. “I didn’t,” she wailed. “But I hurt her anyway. Again!”
“Yeah.” Cadeneza stroked the top of Sunset’s head, running her hand through her voluminous mane. “Yeah, you did. It sucks. Pretty hard.”
Sunset pulled her head up to glare at Cadeneza with eyes reddened from crying. “Gee, thanks.”
“Hey, I’m here comforting you, aren’t I?” Cadeneza replied, pulling Sunset back into the embrace. “You made a mistake, but I get it. Forgetting about your ex is pretty common, you know.”
“It’s not that simple though, is it?” Sunset let out a heavy sigh. “How many of your ex’s have come back from the dead? I broke her heart, got a second chance, and I broke it all over again!”
“So hey, you forgot. She’s mad. What’re you gonna do about it?”
Sunset shifted around and leaned back against Cadeneza’s chest, until her chin came to rest atop Sunset’s head between her ears. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Alright.” Cadeneza wrapped her arms around Sunset’s middle, the better to hold her up. Cadeneza thought this was rather funny, holding Sunset more like she was holding a great big dog than anything else, but now wasn’t the time for laughing. “What do you want to do then?”
Sunset snorted. “Hide until all my problems go away.”
Cadeneza lifted one of her hands and tapped Sunset on the tip of her nose a few times. “Remember the dorm rules from the Academy. You make the mess, you clean it up. Hiding isn’t a plan, Sunny.”
This time a laugh accompanied the snort. “No... no I know it isn’t.” She glanced up at Cadeneza and gave her a soft smile. “What I really want to do is apologize to her. I just dunno how.”
“You want my advice?” Cadeneza ruffled Sunset’s mane. “Be honest. Tell her flat out. You screwed up. You’re begging for forgiveness. Don’t hold back.”
“Is that going to work though? Will she even believe me after everything I’ve done?”
“Dunno,” Cadeneza said, shrugging, “but it’s the right thing to do either way.”
Sunset sighed and slumped deeper into Cadeneza’s embrace. “You’re right. I just hope she listens.”
She gave Sunset one last squeeze then gently pushed her aside so she could hop off the couch. “You want a drink? You look like you could use one.”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t going to be more real alcohol, is it?”
Cadeneza stared right back. “Of course it is. You think I’m gonna sully my throat with synthehol?” She stuck a finger in her mouth and gagged. “I’d rather gargle sulfuric acid than synthe-crap.”
Rolling her eyes, Sunset gestured to Cadeneza with one forehoof. “Fine. I guess I’ll drink some cider.”
“You and cider… is that the only thing winged ponies drink or something?” Cadeneza teased as she waltzed over to the replicator. “Come on, you can drink something else. Lemme introduce you to something. Malibu Sunset: peach schnapps, coconut rum, and a bunch of different fruit juices. It’s fruity, you’ll like it.”
Sunset took it in her magic and frowned deeply at it. “That reminds me. I know for a fact the replicators are locked to keep you from making real alcohol. How did you--”
“Wattson hacked it for me.” Cadeneza beamed. She turned back to the replicator. “Meanwhile, I’m gonna drink a little something special. Sex on the beach, please.” She picked up her cocktail and returned to her desk, winking at Sunset. “Enjoy.”
“I ought to write both of you up for that,” Sunset said as she took a long drag off her glass. She wiped off her mouth with her forehoof.
Cadeneza flashed an innocent grin over the rim of her glass. “Write us up for what, Commander?”
Sunset glared first at the glass, then at her for several seconds. Finally she sighed and took a another drink of her fruity beverage. “For not wearing pants in the presence of your superior officer. Just don’t give any of this to Twilight, got it?”
Cadeneza winced. “Yeah, about that… I should’ve known better than to suggest that. I’m sorry.”
Sunset shrugged. “I’m the idiot who followed through with it, even after your warnings. If I’d realized she was such an alcoho--”
“Stop it right there, Sunset.” Cadeneza set her glass down with a thump and held up a finger. “Let’s get one thing straight. I got Twilight into drinking, yes. But she’s no more an alcoholic than I am. Trust me. I routinely do questionable things, but letting my friend become a real drunkard? No way!”
“Then why’d she get so drunk with me in Ten-Forward?”
Cadeneza dropped her finger and turned back to face her terminal. “‘Cause she was mad at you, but she also didn’t know what to do with you at that moment. So she acted out. She was trying to push you away so she didn’t have to deal.”
“What do you mean?” Sunset asked as she dragged a free chair over to sit down at the desk.
Cadeneza took a sip from her glass and rocked it in her hands, listening to the ice clink. “There was this girl I knew back when I was a kid. Super sweet, but she had some serious problems underneath the surface. See, she had been backstabbed so many times that every time she sought comfort in someone, she'd turn into an asshole and violently push them away. ”
Sunset’s brow furrowed. “Really.”
“Yeah.” Cadeneza shrugged. “‘Course she had other problems... Smart as a whip but too sharp of a tongue, and all wrapped up in a fiery temper. Took a lot of therapy, but she figured it out eventually.”
Cadeneza sipped from her drink again. "Good thing too, because she grew up super hot. Would be totally wasted potential otherwise."
The sudden whiplash elicited a bark of laughter from Sunset. “So what happened to her?”
Cadeneza grinned from ear to ear and held up her cocktail glass, clinking it against Sunset’s. “You mean the smoking hot part wasn’t a dead giveaway? She spends all her time talking to sapient ponies.”
Sunset’s eyebrows shot to the top of her head as she reared back. “Wait, seriously?”
“Yup.” Cadeneza drained her glass and set it down. “I can’t speak for Sparkie, but if she’s being anything like how I was back in the day? She’s so afraid of getting hurt again that she’s desperate to keep the source of it from affecting her. And ‘cause she can’t escape it, she’s lashing out like a lunatic.”
Sunset rocked back on her heels and didn’t respond for several minutes. “...wow. I… I never thought about it like that.”
“Uh huh. And what’s more, I know exactly what the worst part of all of this is for her.” Cadeneza leaned closer to Sunset and whispered, “She still wants her big sister around. She wants what she used to have, but she can’t have it anymore because she’s acting out. So it’s a negative feedback loop. She’s mad at herself and mad at you and acting out ‘cause of it.”
She pulled back and shrugged. “Granted the issues with my sister are nowhere near similar, but I’ve been where Sparkie is right now, believe me.”
Sunset nodded. “R-right. Thanks, I guess. That’s… you’ve given me a lot to think about. And, wait. You have a sister?”
Cadeneza nodded as she turned back to her terminal and pulled up the research. “Gonna get back to work on this now. You can hang out if you want.”
Sunset peered at the terminal. “Is that the magic detector? How’s it coming?”
“Eh, it’s kind of… not.” Cadeneza launched into an explanation of the details. “...and like I said, I keep thinkin’ it’s because none of us have magic, so we can’t get the damned thing to work.”
“You might be onto something with that, actually,” Sunset said as she leaned over and started typing at the terminal. “I think you’re closer than you realize. I…” Her face flushed a solid crimson. “I don’t remember a lot about this anymore, but I know a good thaumometer needs to sync to the user’s magic field first in order to work at all.”
Cadeneza blinked. “Wait a tic. I thought your planet had a lot more’n just unicorns. Like it was some type of mythological orgy, except most don't get magic, or something.”
“Like dragons, griffons, pegasi, and whatnot?”
“Yeah them.”
Sunset smiled. “They do, actually. Nearly every living creature on my planet has some kind of magic within them. Just don’t tell that to some of the snooty unicorns in Canterlot though. Their heads are so far up their asses they think magic stops at the city’s gates.”
Cadeneza’s scientific interest rose up to the forefront. “Really. How exactly does that–”
Sunset held up a hoof. “Another time, I promise. Let’s not get off track. We’ve got to focus. Like I was saying, the thaumometer has to sync to the user’s magic to calibrate it. In other words, it needs to learn the user’s magic so the magic being used to hold it, or manipulate it, doesn’t get picked up. Otherwise it gets overwhelmed by signals and throws a fit..”
“That might be a problem,” Cadeneza said as she turned back to the terminal. She brought up some of the more specific results and pointed them out. “If we’re gonna find the sirens we have to get this thing hooked into the ship’s long range sensors. And it’s not like we can just plug you into the ship like a battery.”
Sunset cringed and reeled back in her chair. “N-no. Let’s… I don’t…”
Cadeneza bopped herself upside the head. “God, sorry, Sunset. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“No, I know you didn’t,” Sunset said with a shuddering breath as she held out one hoof. The other pressed squarely against her chest. “Sometimes the flashbacks are bad though.”
Cadeneza patiently waited out Sunset till the mare had fully calmed herself. “Okay, so, tell me this. If we could power it with magic, does this design–” she pulled up what she’d been working on just before Sunset came in “–work? And if it does, could we scale this up into the sensors, not just a tricorder?”
Sunset shifted the terminal over so she could take a look. Cadeneza watched quietly as Sunset spent several minutes tweaking components of the diagram, muttering to herself the entire time. “Yes. If we can power it somehow, it’ll work… I think. Hang on a minute. I’ll be right back.”
Cadeneza threw her arms up impatiently as she watched Sunset canter out the door. Shaking her head, she decided now was a good time for a snack and went over to the replicator to get one, along with two Malibu Sunsets, one for her and a second for Sunset.
By the time she laid that all out on her desk, the doors slid open to reveal Sunset, carrying a tricorder and a boxy device about a quarter the size of the tricorder, covered in bare circuitry. Sunset plugged it into the tricorder as she sat down, then showed it to Cadeneza. “Sorry. Had to go down to engineering to use an industrial replicator to make our prototype. Figured we could test with it.”
“How’re we supposed to do that?” Cadeneza wondered.
“So I’m going to try to measure myself,” Sunset said. “I’ll cast a few light ball spells and place them around the room, then try scanning both with and without the thaumometer attachment. Then I’ll have you do the same thing and we’ll see what happens. If we’re right, it’ll work for me, but not you.”
It took them close to half an hour, but by the time they finished Cadeneza whistled. “Wow. You were right,” she said as she ran the altered tricorder up and down Sunset’s body, then pointed it away. “Just like before. If it’s not pointed right at you or the signal’s not strong enough, I can’t detect it.”
Sunset plucked it from her hand and did the same test, then showed Cadeneza the results. “Whereas I can. So it does need magic in order to detect magic.”
“Great!” Cadeneza snapped her fingers. “So all we gotta do is scale it up and have you or Twilight be the one using the sensors, right?”
Sunset shook her head. “No. No, that won’t work. I can use this the way I am because I’m holding it. But the long-range sensors? Those are part of the Phoenix itself. The Phoenix powers them. So the Phoenix has to somehow produce its own magic to do so.”
“Well that’s not happening,” Cadeneza snorted. “It’s not like the warp core… produces… oh. Ohohoho. Ahahaha!” She broke into laughter. “That’s it!”
“What?” Sunset said, blinking.
“So, like… I know what we said earlier,” Cadeneza said as she knelt down to place her hands on Sunset’s shoulders. “But you used the warp core to make magic, when you saved the Enterprise, right? Converted it to magic.”
Sunset sighed and held her chest again. “Yeah… by absorbing it. Fatally. I hope you’re not suggesting–”
“No, of course not, don’t be stupid.” Cadeneza straightened up and walked over to the desk, finding a spare PADD. She opened up the compartment near the bottom and popped out a small circular disc. “Look, this is a battery, right? It charges itself wirelessly, like everything else on the ship. It’s how we keep these things running.”
Sunset glared at her. “Yes, thank you. I’m an engineer, remember? I know how that thing works better than you do.”
“Yes, that’s my point,” Cadeneza said. She held up the battery. “But to use the electricity, it has to be converted, right? ‘Cause most of the electricity in the ship goes through the EPS conduits. It’s got to be stripped down then transformed into a voltage this thingy can use.”
Sunset cocked her head, her ears flattening against her skull. Her tail lashed out as she frowned hard enough to show her teeth. Then she let out a groan and laughed. “Of course! I see what you’re saying. We need to build a converter. Have the ship make its own magic via the warp core.”
“Exactly!” Cadeneza said, beaming. “It won’t be efficient and it won’t be able to do much, but all it’s gotta do is make the thaumometer work, right?”
“Right.” Sunset rubbed her chin with one hoof. “It’ll be dangerous, but I think if we engineer it right, this can work and be safe to use, at least to a point. From what I remember, dilithium’s lattice system is similar to many of the gems we’d use as batteries back in Equestria, so it can probably accommodate the spell matrix. And we can use platinum and palladium to…” She dropped into a low murmur as she hustled over to the terminal and started working. “Come here, I’ll need your input.”
It took them several long hours, long into the night. At some point they switched the colorful drinks for raktajinos, and the desk was littered with as many empty mugs as glasses. “Alright, I think we’ve got it!” she said as she showed off the final product to Sunset.
“Heck yeah, we did it!” Sunset agreed with a whoop. "Way to go, Cadeneza! You rock!”
Cadeneza flushed. “Err, thanks. It was really my staff that--woah!” She flinched as Sunset lunged for her, wrapping her in a tight hug.
Then to Cadeneza’s shock, she felt Sunset plant a kiss on her cheek.
Both of them paused, staring into each other’s eyes. Tentatively, cautiously, both leaned forward and touched their lips together. Sunset purred as she met Cadaneza’s lips several times in light kisses, only to stop when Cadeneza uttered, “Uuuuh, Sunny?”
Sunset pulled away instantly, her pupils turning to pinpricks. “Wait, what the hell am I doing? I’m sorry, that was completely inappropriate, I–”
“Hold on a second there,” Cadeneza said. She grabbed Sunset’s forehooves, holding one in each hand, as much to keep Sunset from running away as to help make her point. “I didn’t say it was bad.”
Sunset cringed and tried to pull away. “No, no, this is the same stupid stunt I pulled with Smith. I’m not going to do this again.”
“Do what?” Cadeneza’s eyes fluttered, lowering to half-mast as she gave Sunset a sultry grin. “I ain’t Smith. You want to have a roll in the hay, let’s do it. I told you I’ve wanted to.”
“But… you said… you have a crush on me,” Sunset whispered as she shook her head. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings. I can’t. I won’t.”
“And you won’t, you silly mare. I know you don’t plan on datin’ me or anythin’ like that. I think we both know what this is.” Cadeneza laughed, hard, as she pulled Sunset in closer. “We’re just a couple of friends about to have some fun together, s’all.”
Sunset’s whole body heated up, judging by the sudden warmth Cadeneza could feel from her hooves. “Okay...let’s say I do want a roll in the hay. There’s still the little problem of my being the First Officer here.”
“I'm the one coming onto you here, so I don’t see any authority being abused right now. Unless you’re into the authority thing in more ways than one.” Cadeneza leaned in close. “Not like anyone needs to know. Besides, Liang's been doing some fraternizing of his own.”
“Really?”
Cadeneza nodded. “Yeah, I heard it through the grapevine. While we were on the Dominion base, Liang and Doctor May were hooking up in Ten-Forward. He took her on a long walk through the arboretum. Didn’t take long before they were kissing under the trees.”
Sunset’s breathing sped up as she brought herself closer to Cadeneza. “R-really. So then this is… this is fine. We can do this.”
“Uh, yeah, duh.” Cadeneza giggled at the glare Sunset shot her way. “Look, let’s both agree: just a one night thing. And if we wanna do it again in the future, we can. No strings attached. Just some fun.”
That seemed to do it. Sunset leaned her head up, their lips a hair’s width apart. “Jacqueline…” she whispered. “This isn’t another one of those ‘questionable things’, is it?”
Cadeneza looked into her beautiful teal eyes and smiled. ”Not a chance in hell.”
Sunset hurtled herself forward, and her lips met Cadeneza’s, full of longing and a deep-seated lust that sent surges of warmth throughout Cadeneza’s body. Damn, this is even better than I thought it would be, she thought as she pulled Sunset closer and closer to the couch.
Then Sunset ripped Cadeneza’s jacket off her and dove right in.
“Hangovers suck,” Cadeneza muttered as she glared daggers at the clock display next to her bed. She blinked her bleary eyes, keeping them open as little as possible even in the dim lighting. That did little to ease the pounding in her head, or the utterly parched feeling in her mouth. She was usually smart enough to drink plenty of water to stave these off, but her usual habits were discarded as quickly as her clothes had been last night.
She rolled over in bed to take a look at Sunset, who snored away peacefully on the pillows. A trickle of warmth accompanied by a tingle ran through Cadeneza as she grinned at the sight. Leaning forward she placed a gentle kiss atop Sunset’s forehead, then sprung out of bed. She stopped at the doorway to give Sunset one more look. “Thanks for last night, Sunny. If only things were a bit different for us both.”
She shuffled out to the living room in a hungover version of her usual saunter and called up some hangover cure juice, downing it in a hurry along with some pain reliever pills she kept in her cabin for just this kind of thing. She slumped into the nearest chair and sighed while she waited for the concoction to start working its own brand of magic.
Beats going to Sick Bay at least.
The early morning calm was shattered by the door chime, which thanks to her headache now sounded as loud as five red alert alarms at once. She hunched over and clapped her hands over her ears. “Shit. Who is it?”
“Twilight Sparkle, ma’am.”
Cadeneza groaned. Awwww hell. And Sunset’s still here. “Err, yeah, gimme a sec okay?” She hurried back to the bedroom and located a Starfleet issue bathrobe, tossing it on over her naked body. She tied it tight, making sure nothing was peeking out, checked to make sure the bedroom doors had closed, and only then said, “C’mon in.”
The doors swished open, and in walked Twilight Sparkle, her uniform without a single crease, her hair brushed to regulation perfection. Her single ensign’s pip gleamed on her collar, as if she’d polished it to a shine. She took a brief look at Cadeneza and averted her eyes instantly. “Sorry to bother you so early, ma’am,” she said. “I-I can return later if this is a bad time.”
“...what do you need, Ensign?” Cadeneza growled.
“Er, um, well,” Twilight said as she continued to keep her eyes firmly anywhere but looking at Cadeneza, “I think I may be onto something with the thaumometer. I was hoping I could discuss it with you before presenting it to the rest of the team.”
Cadeneza’s grumpiness factor amped up another ten as she glared at the mare standing before her. Nothing about Twilight’s demeanor was disrespectful. In fact, judging by the slight frown on her muzzle, Twilight was obeying decorum to the letter. Far better than she had been lately, even better than she had the previous day.
All of that combined to piss Cadeneza off. The last thing she wanted was for Twilight to know she’d slept with Sunset. “If that’s all you’re here for, Sparkie, don’t worry about it. It’s finished. Just gotta do some final testing.”
“Finished?” Twilight blinked. “Err, really? How?”
Cadeneza let out a wordless growl as she stomped over to her terminal. “Fine. Come here, I’ll show you the prototype.”
Twilight hesitantly stepped inside, trotting directly over to the terminal. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Here.” Cadeneza showed Twilight the graphic for the prototype for about thirty seconds then switched it off. “Now come on, I haven’t even showered yet.”
“I can tell,” Twilight said, sniffing. Then her frown deepened as she sniffed again, longer this time.
Cadeneza noticed this and stiffened. Of course they’d have sensitive noses too. Great.
“Wait, what is that? Ugh, that’s way too strong.” A look of disgust crossed Twilight’s face. “Did you make out with a bottle of musky cologne in here or something?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I had amazing sex last night,” Cadeneza grunted back. “Look, beat it, Sparkie. Now’s not the–”
“Not just someone.” Twilight ignored her, sniffing repeatedly, then froze in place. Cadeneza followed the mare’s eyes to the couch… and the tailored Starfleet uniform that was still draped over the top. Twilight gagged. “Oh god. Ooooh my goodness. What did you do?”
All sense of decorum vanished as Cadeneza froze in place. “Shit,” she whispered.
“You slept with Sunset, didn’t you?” Twilight said as she whirled about. A spark arose in her eyes, threatening to light up the rage Cadeneza had seen all too frequently. “So, what, you’re going to string her along like she did to Smith? Indulge that crush then run?”
Cadeneza grit her teeth and stepped right up to Twilight, looking over her. “Watch your tongue, Sparkle.” She held up a finger, cutting off Twilight’s attempt at a response. “One, I’m not Smith. Two, we both know what this is and what this isn’t. If you don’t believe me then ask her yourself. And last, but most important, none of this is your business in the first place. Got it?”
Twilight gaped. The brief flash of anger vanished from her eyes, replaced with what looked to Cadeneza like contrition. “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry, ma’am. That was out of line.”
Cadeneza blinked in surprise, not expecting that result. “Err, good. Glad you see it that way.”
Twilight stiffened to attention once more. “Permission to speak freely, ma’am?”
Sighing, Cadeneza threw out a hand. “Well, since you asked nicely this time, go ahead, berate me all you want.”
It took a moment before Twilight continued, “You’ve...obviously gotten close with Sunset lately. Has… Has she ever said anything about me to you?”
Cadeneza blinked again, then did a double take. Of all the things she could’ve expected Twilight to say, that wasn’t it. “Err… yeah. Yeah she has, Sparkie.”
Twilight turned away for a moment, then faced Cadeneza again, her features drooping with what looked like regret. “What did she say?”
Cadeneza bit her lip, trying to think of the right kind of response. Then she waved Twilight over to the desk. “C’mere, sit down.”
Twilight did so, sitting down in the spare chair while Cadeneza joined her in the other. “Err, ma’am, did she…”
Reaching over to Twilight’s chest, Cadeneza plucked the combadge off and set it on the desk. “Forget ranks for a moment, Sparkie. Your sister, she… she cares about you a lot, you know.”
Bowing her head, Twilight replied in a near whisper, “I know.”
“Oh you do, huh?” Cadeneza scoffed. “She’s been really hurting lately, Twilight. Hell, she came in here last night ‘cause Smith sent her the angriest vid I’ve ever seen.”
Twilight winced, and set a hoof on her face. “...that was my fault. I told Smith that Sunset was alive.”
“Not sure why you did that, but whatever, it no longer matters,” Cadeneza said. “She was really upset at herself for not telling Smith. And we talked about you and she became even more upset. She wants her little sister back and she’s tired of fighting with you.”
“...I know. I’m tired of fighting with her too.”
Cadeneza arched an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? That why you’ve been so nice all of a sudden?”
Twilight recoiled, wrapping both forehooves around the top of her head. “... yes. I… I had a long talk with Belle and Innana.”
“Well damn, it’s about time,” Cadeneza muttered. “Glad to hear you listened to them for once.” She set one hand on Twilight’s forehoof and pulled it away just enough to see one of Twilight’s eyes. “You two gotta make up. She’s your big sister. Don’t you want her around?”
Twilight sniffled, tears forming in her eyes. “...yeah. Yeah I do. But… Cadeneza, it hurt so much when she was gone, I…”
“I know, Sparkie. I know. Trust me, I was there for it all, remember?” Cadeneza set her hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Look, I’m not gonna tell you it’ll all get fixed right away. You hurt her, Sparkie. You hurt her a lot. And she made mistakes too. It’s going to take a long time for the two of you to make amends, to get back to where you were before she died. But you won’t get there if you don’t take the first step.”
“I…” Twilight broke into quiet sobs, falling against the desk. “I know,” she breathed, shuddering with every fresh tear. “I know.”
“Twilight?”
Cadeneza jumped in her seat as she turned to see Sunset blinking, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Why now?” she muttered.
Twilight looked up from the desk as Sunset stepped closer. “Izzat you?” Sunset murmured. “What’re you doing here?”
Cadeneza braced herself, her muscles going taut with tension as she waited for Twilight to explode again, for the shouting to begin, for it all to blow up in her face. Literally, this time.
Instead, however, Twilight shrank back from Sunset. “I… I was… I was coming to check on the thaumometer.”
“Oh.” Sunset shook her head and rubbed at her eyes some more. “Cadeneza and I finished it. We solved the problem.”
“I heard.”
Cadeneza slowly scooted her chair away from them, giving them space to close the distance between them.
Sunset glanced Cadeneza’s way, then gasped. “Oh no. Look, Twilight, this isn’t what it looks like, I–”
“Yes it is and yes you did,” Twilight interrupted. She looked between Sunset and Cadeneza for a moment. “It doesn’t bother me. I’m just going to have to trust both of you know what you’re doing.”
“It doesn’t bother you.” Sunset sighed. “Okay… that’s… that’s good.”
Both mares went quiet, just staring at each other. Cadeneza didn’t dare move another muscle, lest she break the moment.
“Um, listen…” both mares said at once, before both shut their mouths and looked away with matching expressions.
“...you go ahead,” Twilight said, letting out a heavy sigh.
Sunset looked back up, surprised. “Okay then. Er… I’m… I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you. I just wanted to… no, no it doesn’t matter what my intentions were. I’m sorry.”
Twilight stayed quiet for so long Cadeneza feared she was gearing up to scream.
“...I forgive you.”
Sunset inhaled a sharp breath as her wings popped out like toast from a toaster. “What?” she whispered.
Twilight closed the distance between them at once and leapt onto Sunset, hugging her so tight Cadeneza heard Sunset grunt in surprise. “I’m sorry!” Twilight wailed as she broke into fresh tears. “I’m so sorry, Sunset… I’m so so sorry…”
Sunset shed tears of her own as she wrapped a foreleg around Twilight, gently, delicately, as if afraid she’d break her. “It’s… it’s okay, Twilight, it’s okay.”
“No it’s not,” Twilight replied at once, pulling away just enough to look up at Sunset. “It’s not okay what I did. What I’ve been doing. I… I’ve been such a jerk…”
Sunset cocked her head to one side and nodded. “Yeah… you kind of have. But so have I, and I’m sorry too.”
Twilight let out a single bark of bitter laughter. “Glad we agree. It’s… I…” She started shaking, her knees knocking together.
“Hey, easy, easy,” Sunset said, running her hoof down Twilight’s back in gentle strokes. “We’ve both made mistakes lately. A lot of mistakes.” She gave Twilight a watery smile. “Just… please tell me… please tell me this means I’m getting my sister back.”
Twilight nodded rapidly, hard, shaking like a rag doll. “Uh huh. I’m… I’m gonna try, at least.” She shivered. “It’s… I know we can’t just turn the clock back, but if you can forgive me, I’ll… I’ll do my best.”
Sunset squeezed Twilight around the shoulders, and made a few tiny noises, like very quiet nickers. “That’s not going to be so easy, but… I’ll do my best too. Is that okay?”
Cadeneza’s jaw dropped. She could barely process what she was seeing. Despite her frequent jokes with Sunset and Twilight, she'd always seen them in her head as just other humanoids. She never properly understood what it meant for them to be equines until she saw that behavior here, in the flesh.
She wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or just keep watching silently.
Twilight nodded. “Yeah… that’s… that’s fair.” She let out a few giggles. “I uh, I guess we’ve got a long road, huh?”
“We’ll walk that road together, Twilight,” Sunset said, her smile turning warm and happy. “We’ll get there from here. Eventually.”
“Good.” Twilight smiled back. She let out a few more giggles. “Um, anyway, I should probably go. You need a shower, sis.”
“That I do,” Sunset laughed. She glanced up at the ceiling. “Computer, what time is it?”
“0725.”
Sunset nodded. “Twilight, would you please meet Cadeneza and me in the science labs at 0800? We’re going to put together the finished version of the thaumometer.”
“Yes ma’am,” Twilight said with a cheeky grin, one that slowly faded. “Though when on duty we should…”
“Remain professional, I know.” Sunset straightened herself up and put on her authority face. “Dismissed, Ensign,” she said with a wink.
Twilight straightened out as well. “Aye ma’am,” she said, winking back.
As Twilight departed, Sunset turned to Cadeneza, who’d been so embroiled with watching she was startled when it was over. “So uh… that went well,” Sunset said.
“Hell yeah it did,” Cadeneza said with a grin. “Good job, Sunny. If I’d known sleeping with you is what it’d take to bring you two back together, I’d have jumped your bones a long time ago.”
“Yeah, no, that wasn’t it,” Sunset said with snort. Her grin betrayed her amusement despite the harsh sounding words. “Mind if I use your shower? My quarters are about six decks down, and I’m not going to wander the corridors in a robe.”
“Go right ahead,” Cadeneza said. “Hell I might join you. Make it faster for both of us.”
“If there’s enough room,” Sunset said.
“Eh, you can just sit on me again if you need to. I won’t mind.”
Sunset reached back with a wing and playfully slapped Cadeneza in the rear. “Just go get the shampoo, would ya?”
As Cadeneza followed Sunset into the shower, she felt a bit of a spring in her step, like the weight atop them all had begun to lift. She could only hope it lasted, and that they managed to repair things altogether.
At least she hoped so anyway. The universe outside of the ship seemed to be fracturing more every day, but at least for the moment, Cadeneza felt, things inside the ship were finally beginning to come back together again.