> Star Trek: You Can't Go Home Again
>  by Aceman67
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 - Any Landing You Can Walk Away From...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Personal Log, Stardate 62261.9

I'm a couple hours into my four day journey to visit my sister on Trill. I haven't seen Melanie since I was promoted last year, and I intend to surprise her on her birthday by showing up on her front door.

As much as I love what I do, I mean really, who wouldn't like driving three million metric ton starship for a living?; I do miss being able to just drop everything and go visit family. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't give up my commission on a whim, I'm proud to be in Starfleet, I just miss my family sometimes. 

There has been a number of times in the past few years where things had gotten down right dangerous and actually made me think about resigning and moving to Trill to work for her husband's shipping company; Deep Space Nine being destroyed, the Assassination of President Bacco; to name a few. Those really gave me pause. 

Given the current political situation, I.E, our de-facto cold war with the Typhon Pact powers, was I really doing the right thing putting this uniform on? Could I be doing something else to help others? It's been six years since the Borg invasion and we're still picking up the pieces, and the cargo runs my brother-in-law does with his company is doing a lot to alleviate that suffering. I don't know; just food for thought I guess.

End Log.

I stretched and relaxed in the pilot's seat. Closing my eyes, I listened only to the sound of the shuttle Nichola Goddard around me. The soft, steady thrumming of the warp core, the almost inaudible pulse of the torque sensors, and the ever present sound of flowing air from the environmental systems. All of it was soothing and peaceful, and any deviation from that sound meant something was amiss. 

Living aboard a starship did take getting used too. Some of my classmates had spent a few sleepless nights on their first academy cruise, unable to rest because of the 'buzz' the ship made, but not me, I slept like a baby. Born on a tramp freighter between Andor and Tellar, I spent the majority of my life in space and ironically found it harder to sleep in my 'quiet' dorm at the academy, much to the annoyance of my roommate.

Grabbing the PADD I left for a moment on the top of the pilots console, I resumed reading the twenty-first century novel my Captain had recommended. Authored by a guy named Stephen King, it was an intriguing story about a High School English teacher who uses a portal through time in the basement of a local diner to travel back to stop the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963. When Captian Rosenthal suggested the book to me, I chuckled at the premise, but a few chapters in after a slow dry start, I was hooked. 

A soft notification from the navigational computer annoyingly dragged my attention away from the book. A quarter light-year away, an ion storm was picking up in intensity and the shuttle's course went right through the middle of it. "Well, you don't look too friendly, lets just leave you be, shall we?" I said to no one, entering the commands needed to plot a new course around the storm. Satisfied with the correction and only adding forty minutes to the journey, I filed a notification of the course change and new time of arrival to the Starbase on Trill, set the shuttle to auto-pilot, grabbed my book and went into the aft cabin to see a pillow about some sleep.





My eyes flung open as an odd sensation washed over me, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. The sound of the shuttle, while to an untrained ear was normal, to me, something was off. There was a soft buzzing vibration in the air. Making my way to the cockpit, the deck under me bucked, sending me flying at the bulkhead. Unable to get my arms up to brace myself, my head met metal and I saw stars.

It took me several minutes to recover. The ringing in my ears was unbearable, but that was nothing compared to the cacophony of alarms sounding from every direction. Taking in my surroundings, I found the cockpit filled with smoke from burnt out consoles, the smokes acrid smell burning my nose. "Computer, Report!" I managed to croak through the smoke.

"Impulse propulsion offline; Warp-Core has been ejected due to containment failure. Structural Damage to port nacelle, uncontrolled venting of drive plasma in progress. Port Anti-Matter containment pod ejected due to containment failure. Navigational Deflector damaged, operating at twenty-two percent efficiency. Shields offline. Communications Offline. Environmental Systems damaged, operating at sixty-three percent efficiency."

"Well, what is functioning? What isn't damaged?"

"Reaction Control System Thrusters, inertial dampeners, replicators..."

"Oh, shit." I exclaimed, looking over the navigational data before me. The shuttle had been thrown off course by... something; and was headed right into the heart of the ion storm, and I had less than twenty minutes to figure something out or I would be literally toast, fried by the storms ionizing radiation.

I had two options: try and get impulse drive back online and hope I can get around the storm in time, or attempt to get shields functioning and try and ride the storm out. I was no engineer, but I knew my way around an engine better than I knew the shield systems, so I set to work on the impulse drive.

"Computer, launch the distress beacon." I ordered, opening the access hatch in the center of the deck near the aft hatch. 

"Unable to comply, beacon launch assembly damaged, beacon destroyed."

Lovely. Grabbing the tools I needed started replacing burnt out components with spares and bypassing damaged conduits in an attempt to jerry-rig the non-functioning machinery back to life. Placing the final spare component needed, the impulse drive thrummed to life, and along with it the ambient light of the cabin noticeably brightened. Running to the cockpit and jumping into the pilot's seat, I quickly took control of the small vessel and started to pull away from the edge of the ion storm. It was going to be close, only grazing the outer-most edge of the deadly storm.

Or so I thought. 

A surge of energy flashed towards the string of plasma venting from the shuttle's port side, its light overwhelming the shuttle viewport's ability to filter ultra bright light, leaving me temporarily blinded. Then everything, every part of me, felt like I was electrically charged and my head started to spin from intense vertigo. Drawing from my pilot training, I clenched my jaw and focused on a single point on the console in front of me, easing some of the dizziness, but that too was short lived, as I was nearly thrown from my chair as the shuttle's inertial dampeners were suddenly overwhelmed, triggering the activation of the chairs automatic restraints. 

Through the viewport I saw a tumbling star-field, and only briefly catching a glimpse of what could be a planet.

"Computer, Scan the planet!" I Scream, straining my arms forward to activate the RCS thrusters to get the shuttle's tumble under control.

"Class-M, gravity zero point nine gee, atmospheric pressure zero point zero five percent above earth sea-level."

"Well, seems I don't have much choice..." I told no one, as I brought the nose of the shuttle up and in line with the planet. Picking the center of the main continent that seemed to have plenty of grasslands, I began my atmospheric decent, praying that  the battered shuttle would hold up in such a damaged state.





"Come on, Scootaloo, it's getting late! I'm tired." Sweetie Belle said in protest to her fellow crusader. 

Lit by a single candle, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were laying in a circle in their clubhouse in sleeping bags. Scootaloo had her face close to the flame to add intensity to the horror story she was telling, or at least she was attempting to tell, judging by the fact that neither Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle were impressed.

"Come on! It can't be that bad." Scootaloo said in resignation. 

"It's al'rite Scootaloo, I guess we aren't good story teller's-" Apple Bloom began to say as a rumbling that started to shake the clubhouse interrupted her. Jumping out of bed, the three fillies crowded the window and stared out at the sky. Above them, a fiery ball streaked across the sky, and when it passed, a loud sonic boom exploded in the air, its shockwave rocked the tree that held the clubhouse and rustled the leaves of every tree in all of Sweet Apple Acres. The pattering of apples falling from trees could be heard for several seconds afterward. It was soon followed by a low crash in the distance with a flash of light on the horizon.

"What in Tar-nation was that?" Apple Bloom exclaimed

"It looks like it fell near Fluttershy's place!" Scootaloo yelled, making her way to the clubhouse exit.

"Where're ya going Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Where do you think!" she responded. "I'm checking that out, it'll be so AWESOME!" she said, imitating Rainbow Dash.

"I want to see it too," Sweetie Belle said meekly, but with enthusiasm in her voice as she followed Scootaloo out of the door.

Reluctantly, Apple Bloom followed her friend and jumped into the back of the wagon they had attached to Scootaloo's scooter just as the young pegasus took them on their way.





Arriving at where they thought the thing they saw landed, they found a long and wide divot in the ground leading up to what looked like a large silver colored box with smoke rising all around it. 

Curiosity got the better of the three fillies as they made their way towards the large object. On the back of it there appeared to be a large door with what looked to be a doorbell beside it. In an uncharacteristic act of courage, Sweetie Belle touched the doorbell with her hoof, causing the back hatch of the shuttle to open. Smoke billowed out, revealing the darkened interior, briefly lit by the flashing overhead lighting.

"Hello?" Sweetie Belle called out, slowly taking tentative steps inside, her fellow crusaders following behind. "Is anypony in here?"

Making their way to the front of the shuttle, all three of them jumped back in fear as a pained groan emanated from something in one of the two chairs in front of them. It had weird bare pinkish skin with brown hair on its head, and it wore black and gray clothing with a red collar that had two gold dots affixed to it. Its eyes fluttered open. It appeared to look around then winced in pain as it tried to lift both arms to its chest to undo the chairs restraints. Only one arm was able to accomplish the task. Now free of the chair, it fell to the ground, letting out a cry of pain, causing the crusaders to take another step back. The creature before them rolled over and its eyes met theirs.

"Lani ist," it said, making no sense at all to the three fillies, their confusion showing on their faces. "Lani ist, biten tir eri-tac." It said, pointing at the bulkhead behind them. Getting more confused looks, he rolled his eyes and reached for the gold and silver broach on his chest, which was visibly broken. After pulling himself up to a sitting position, he took his working arm and used two of the... claws? Talons? None of the crusaders had seen anything like it before, it looked like a minotaur's hand but smaller; on his hoof and pointed at his eyes, then theirs. Sweetie Belle seemed to understand what the creature was trying to convey, stepping forward. It smiled and pointed again at the bulkhead behind them.

Looking to where he was pointing, Sweetie Belle saw a gray box with a red cross on it. "A First Aid Kit!" She cried out. Grabbing the med-kit off the wall with her magic, she levitated it over to the creature before him, who looked on in wide-eyed wonder, but his amazement didn't last long as he quickly opened it and grabbed a cylindrical device from it, put a small tube in it and pressed it to his neck with a small hiss, causing his shoulders to visibly relax, the tension on his face melting away. 

Pulling another device from the kit, he opened it, turning on all sorts of lights and sounds. Pressing a few buttons he started to pass the front of the device in front of himself then turning it to look at its front, causing the look of tension to reappear. Pressing a few more buttons, he pointed the device at the three fillies. "Ras lytegnpbvz." it said, pointing at his mouth then at us.

"Are you ok?" Apple Bloom said. Getting an encouraging look from the creature and more motions directed at us.

"We can't understand you." Scootaloo said. This time the device gave off a positive sounding chime and a smile returned to the creatures face.

"Oh, thank god, the universal translator works," the creature said, surprising all three ponies. Turning to the three of them, he began to speak. "I'm hurt really bad, I need help."
> Chapter 2 - Join Starfleet They Said... See New Worlds They Said...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke to sunlight shining through the window onto my face, making me squint and turn my head. Big mistake, as the muscles in my neck protested and causing me to grunt in pain. At this moment, I'd be hard pressed to find some part of me that wasn't in pain.

"Oh, my. You're awake!" A pleasant sounding voice from across the room. Biting through the pain, I turned to face the other being in the room and was greeted by a winged horse with a brilliant pink mane and a light grayish golden coat. "I'll go get Nurse Redheart," the female voice said, with both concern and a tiny bit of fear in her voice.

"No, wait," I managed to say, the motions of my jaw making head throb. The, I can't believe I'm seeing this, pegasus stopped mid-flight out the door. "Where am I?"

"Oh..." she squeaked, her cyan eyes darting back and forth as if she was looking for a way out. "You're in the Hospital in Ponyville. We brought you here after the girls found you. You passed out." She said quietly, barely audible, and very quickly. "I'llgogetNurseRedheart." she said after a short pause and flew out the door.

Now alone in the room, I looked down to see that I wasn't in my uniform, and I had a sling on my left arm. Raising my eyebrows at seeing this, it felt like something had been wrapped around my head, and sure enough, feeling my forehead with my hand, I had a gauze bandage wrapped around my head, with a large pad over my left temple. It felt dry and crusty, most likely partially soaked through with blood that had since dried. Thats right, I had a concussion. I remembered vaguely, thinking of the tricorder scan I did on myself after I woken up in the shuttle.

"Very good, you're awake." A polite male stallion wearing a white doctor's lab coat said. "I wasn't sure how you'd react to the treatments we gave you since we've never encountered your species before. Thankfully your physiology not all the dissimilar to minotaurs, with some obvious differences." The horse doctor told me. Did he say Minotaurs?! "I'm Doctor Horses," Oh, this is too much I thought, smiling to myself. "I'm your attending physician. You seemed have had a rough go of it last night. We treated you for a concussion, a dislocated shoulder and some bruised ribs. I'm most concerned about the concussion, so I'm going to insist that you stay here another night for observation." He told me, holding a clipboard in his... Hoof? How the hell? "I'd like to ask you some questions if that's alright." I nodded yes. 

"Whats your name?"

"Lieutenant James Scott." I told him, and he jotted it down.

"Military, huh? And what species are you?" 

"I'm human." 

"This is the point where I ask you what year it is, and where you think you are to gauge if your concussion has caused any complications, but since you're obviously not from around here, I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"Well, aside from a headache and being sore all over, I don't feel any worse than I look," I told him coherently, getting a pleased smile from the doctor, affirming to me that he had a hunch I was going to be fine, so I decided to set him even more at ease. "There was a rectangular device with me, it has to be in the room with me since that's what's allowing us to communicate, where is it?"

"I think the nurse put your belongings in your side table," Dr Horses said, trotting over to the table and pulling the tricorder out of the drawer and handed it to me. I opened it up and showed it to him.

"This is an emergency medical tricorder. It's a diagnostic device designed to help those without medical training treat injured people." I told him while activating its diagnostic program and scanned my head. The lack of any alarms, as well as the readout confirmed that my concussion was well on its way to healing.

"I can't read what it says." the doctor said.  

"Can I see your clipboard?" I asked, and he tentatively passed it to me. I activated the tricorder's universal translator subroutines and scanned the contents of the page. After a minute of processing it began translating the medical readout in the language these horses use.

"By Celestia, this is amazing. Your concussion is almost healed!" 

"So, is he well Doctor?" A voice from the door asked, startling both of us.

"Yes he is, all things considered." He said, greeting the new horse at the door. "Lieutenant Scott, this is Mayor Mare," What is with this world and puns?

"Lieutenant?" She said with some trepidation in her voice. 

"Ahem," another voice said, causing the Mayor to step aside to reveal a... Unicorn?! With wings?

"Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle,"

"Princess," Mayor Mare corrected, causing the unicorn to roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet both of you. Allow me to formally introduce myself." I responded. "I'm Lieutenant James Scott of the Federation Starship Juno Beach, I'm a member of Starfleet and I represent the United Federation of Planets."

"And ponies thought my name was a hoofful..." The mayor remarked, getting a sideways glance from Twilight.

"The words you used... You mentioned Planets, Ships? Where are you from?" Twilight asked with a serious inquisitive glint in her eyes. She's like my sister when she wants to know something.

"I'm not from this world," I told the Princess flatly. "My species comes from a place very far from here called Earth in a solar system called Sol."

"You're from Space?!" The winged unicorn gasped in total shock. "But that's impossible! Traveling to the stars is the stuff of science fiction!"

"Why would I lie about that?"

"Good point." She conceded.

"Ordinarily we wouldn't be having this conversation," I told her, causing her ears to flip up. "My society has a strict non-interference policy when it comes to contacting races who have not yet attained interstellar travel so as to not interfere with the natural development of their culture. We call it the Prime Directive and is Starfleet's general order one."

"Then what brought you here?" Mayor Mare asked me.

"To be honest, I don't know. My shuttle was struck by something and was sent off course towards a bad ion storm,"

"Ion Storm?" Twilight asked

"A spatial phenomenon that's comprised of extremely high radioactive energy that can heat substances to the point of ionizing it at the atomic level." I explained in layman's terms, and to my surprise, Twilight seemed to understand what I was talking about.

"Sounds dangerous."

"Very. The next thing I knew the shuttle was out of control and my only option was to land on your world. Well, crash would be the appropriate  term..." I said, scratching the back of my head.

"It would seem that your concerns were unfounded Mayor, I think we can send the guards home now." Twilight said, addressing the older horse.

"Very prudent." I remarked. "I would have had me under guard too if the situation was reversed." I continued, getting a nod from the mayor who then left the room.

"So, Lieutenant," Twilight said.

"James is fine."

"James, is there anything we can do to help you? You must be wanting to get home." 

"I'd be grateful for whatever help I can get, but I won't know what I need till I get back to my shuttle. I need to see if I can fix its communication device to see if I can contact my people."

"Well, for now I think we should listen to Dr. Horses and rest; then we can both see what we can do about getting you home tomorrow."

The next thing I knew, three small ponies dashed into the room and started bombarding me with questions.

"I'm sorry Twilight, I couldn't keep them away any longer, they wanted to see our... guest." The same pink haired pegasus said, talking over the three youths, who I still couldn't understand as they were clamoring to talk over one another.

"Its no problem, Fluttershy." Twilight said, addressing the pegasus. Guess that explains her behavior. "Girls." Twilight said, trying to get their attention, to no avail. "Girls!" Not enough. "GIRLS!" She yelled, this time grabbing their undivided attention. There was something odd about her voice when she yelled. It sounded like something artificial had amplified it. "Girls, thank you. Now, one at a time."

And again, I was assaulted by three fillies tossing questions my way simultaneously, causing the older horses to do their equivalent of a facepalm.
> Chapter 3 - Well, Thats a Thing...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Small Spoiler Warning for for those who haven't read the ST: Destiny trilogy novels, but intend to.

Sunlight! I thought to myself, stopping for a moment after exiting the hospital. The weather outside was perfect and beautiful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature was more than comfortable. 

"Beautiful day today, isn't it?" Twilight asked, turning to face me after she noticed I had lost pace with her.

"It's perfect," I told her, reaching up to rub my aching shoulder.

"I'll be sure to pass that along to the town's weather team, it'll mean something to them that a visitor appreciates their work." 

"You have weather control technology?" I asked with surprise coming through in my voice then picking up my pace to catch up with her.

"No, all pegasi have an innate ability to manipulate clouds, allowing them to affect the weather." She told me in a matter-of-fact tone. Wow, she really is like my sister. "How does your society control the weather?"

"We didn't always have the ability to do so, so we were at the mercy of nature in that regard. A little over three hundred years ago we developed means to artificially manipulate weather patterns and were able to stabilize Earth's climate. It was a good thing we did too. At the time our species had started weaning ourselves off of our reliance on burning fossil fuels for energy, which produced a lot of pollution causing what we called the 'greenhouse effect', the pollution trapped the heat from our sun in the atmosphere and raised temperatures globally." I explained, having her undivided attention. "But don't ask me how it works, I'm not an engineer or a scientist."

We continued our pleasant walk towards the field where I had crashed when a thought dawned on me.

"How are you so calm?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"About all of this. You, and everyone else who knows about me, just found out that you're not alone in the universe. You're whole world view just changed." I told her. "I've been part of two first-contact situations before this, and both of them were with species who had no idea there was really alien life out in the cosmos. One of them couldn't handle it and to this day their government has taken a xenophobic isolationist stance and cut off all outside communications."

The winged unicorn next to me, who's head came up to my shoulders, just laughed. "Would you believe me if I told you that I've been through weirder things?" I met her gaze with my own that was laced with skepticism. "Two weeks ago I traveled through a mirror that links this dimension with another one where there are copies of everyone in this town, but they were human like you." She stopped in her tracks and looked up at me as I processed what she told me.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on that one, but you're going to have to tell me about that later. Next you're probably going to tell me that I wasn't hallucinating when I saw that small unicorn I met yesterday levitate something with her mind."

"No, you weren't, telekinesis is an easy magic spell to learn, even for a filly her age."

Don't say it. My brain told me. You get rude sometimes when you don't believe something.

"You're shitting me." Oh, here we go.

"All unicorns can use magic to varying degrees, even alicorns like myself can use magic; although we can perform it more powerfully." She told me without missing a beat. Everything about her voice, her mannerisms, the look on her face; it all told me that she was telling the truth. "In fact, all ponies have at least some magical affinity. It's how pegasi can manipulate clouds and control the weather. It's how earth ponies have a natural affinity for growing plants." 

Then a mischievous smile crossed her face as her horn was bathed in a soft lavender glow and she literally blinked out of existence and appeared several feet away where she lapsed into a fit of giggles as she stared at my face that, embarrassingly, was left slack-jawed.

"What... How'd... What?.." I stammered. Feeling dizzy, my knees weakened. "I think I need to sit down." Twilight then, teleported I guess, back to my side and allowed me to place my hand on her withers and helped me sit on a nearby boulder.

"Now who's world-view just changed?" She asked, not even bothering to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

"Well. That's a thing." I finally said after a long pause.

"Humans must have some magic as well," Twilight stated, sitting on her haunches next to me.

"I'm afraid we are somewhat lacking in that department."

"Every species in Equestria has some innate talent that's common to all its members, what's the one thing humans are known for?"

"Probably our curiosity. Discovering the unknown," I started explaining. "You know, it's funny, I joined Starfleet right after the Dominion War. It was a bloody conflict that waged for almost three years, just over a billion people lost their lives. There was a big push for new recruits after the war, recruiters were making bold promises of seeing the galaxy, exploring new worlds, and making first contact with unknown cultures." I continued, lightly elbowing the, She said she was an... Alicorn?, beside me. 

"I was assigned to the USS Galatea, a dream posting for a new officer fresh from the Academy, it was everything I was promised when I signed up. The Galatea was sent into an unexplored region of space, I saw things that can only be seen to be believed." I paused for a moment, my expression became sullen, soliciting a concerned look from Twilight. "Then news came that the Borg, a cybernetic race who's sole goal was to assimilate or destroy other cultures in their pursuit of perfection, had begun invading the Federation. One of the first planets to fall was Ramatis III, they wiped everyone out, I lost my parents there.

"And here I was, onboard the Galatea, we were a month at maximum speed from Federation space. There was nothing we could do. A lot of the crew, myself included wanted to head back and join the fight anyways, but Captain Sigrengar told us that Starfleet had ordered us to stand by and wait for orders, so we listened to her."

"That's terrible." She told me. After a moment of silence, she began to speak again. "How bad was it?"

"They killed sixty-three billion," I told her flatly. "After that the Galatea was recalled and I requested a transfer to the Juno Beach and now here I am." Getting up, I straightened the front of my uniform and turned to Twilight. "Well, enough of this, we've got work to do."

It didn't take us long to get to where they were going, but the silence made it seem otherwise, and what I saw next didn't help either.





"Well, she'll never fly again," I said aloud. 

"That thing could fly?" A scratchy voice said from above. "It doesn't even have wings!" a blue female pegasus with startling rainbow coloured hair said, landing on the ground in front of them.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight admonished.

"What?" Rainbow said, feigning innocence.

"No one's been inside?" I asked Twilight.

"The guards we passed on our way here have been keeping the towns ponies away, and I asked Rainbow Dash to keep an eye on it till we got here." She answered. "Dash, this is James. 

"Nice to meet ya." Rainbow Dash greeted, extending a hoof towards me. I started to extend my arm to shake it, but before I could open my fist, she gave it a bump with her hoof. "So, what'ya got in there? Ray guns? Ohh! Lasers! Tell me you have lasers in there!"

"I have to have a look first to see what survived the crash," I told the eager pegasus. "I'll let you know when I'm done." 

Stepping up to the aft of the shuttle, my nose was again assaulted by the acrid smell of burnt electronics. Despite the damaged appearance of the exterior, the cabin had faired remarkably well. It took a few tries testing every computer interface panel in the shuttle till I was able to find one that works next to the emergency transporter. The burnt hanging wires coming from the top of the transporter told me that it was most likely damaged beyond my ability to repair.

After working through a few subroutines and transferring what little emergency power remained, I was able to bring the main computer online.

"Computer, give me an assessment of functioning systems," I ordered, getting confused looks from Rainbow and Twilight

"Impulse reactor in standby mode, replicators offline but undamaged, short and long range sensors online." An omnipresent disembodied female voice responded, shocking both ponies.

"That's a short list," I remarked quietly. "Status of subspace communication systems."

"Destroyed."

The news hit me like a ton of bricks. Leaning back on the bulkhead, I slid down and sat on the deck. Twilight caught the look of despair in my eyes and walked over to my side. I looked up at her eyes which were full of concern. "Looks like I'm going to be here a while."
> Chapter 4 - Amicitia Ubi Minime Exspectes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I didn't say much after I found what state the communication system was in. Not that there was much to say anyways. Had I been an engineer, things might have been different, but I was never quite smart enough in my studies to pursue that course. If I had the right parts, I'm sure I could build a new system, but the shuttle's replicator wasn't designed for fabricating anything more than lunch or the odd needed tool, and then there was the raw materials that would be needed if it was even possible. Odds were that this planet just didn't have the materials needed.

"So, what now?" Twilight asked me, her voice soft and caring.

"I don't know. I just don't know. Without the communications array, there's no way to contact my people to let them know where I am since I'm going to miss my scheduled arrival, and that's in a little over a day," I told her, my voice on the edge of panicking. "Then factor in a few days to search my logged flight plan to see if they can find where I ran into trouble; if they can even do that!

"There's a very real chance that the ion storm destroyed any evidence I was there." I handed Twilight a PADD that had star-chart data of the area the storm occurred that was translated into her language, which she took in her magic and began to look it over. "That area of space has a half dozen uninhabited star systems that are candidates for where I could have gone, each of them with several habitable worlds and double that when you factor in moons." I continued, the panic in my voice giving way to resignation. "The emergency beacon for the shuttle was destroyed, I have no subspace communications, and this shuttle isn't going anywhere, ever; they're never going to find me. After a month searching, I'll be declared missing. Year after that, legally dead."

"But you're not dead. As long as you're alive, there's always hope. That and you have ponies here who are more than willing to aid you in any way they can. We may not have the technology you have, but we'll surprise you."

"Yeah, what she said." Rainbow Dash chimed in. I flashed the pegasus a glare that made her flinch, but slowly began to crack a smile which seemed to ease the mare. 

"It's getting late, why don't we see about getting you something to eat and finding you a place to stay for the night," Twilight told me, offering me her hoof to help me up off of the deck. I take it and together, we pull myself up.

"Alright, but I have to get a few things," I informed her, to which she gave a nod and followed Rainbow Dash outside.

While I did trust Twilight when she told me the town's guards would keep anyone away from the shuttle, there were things in here that couldn't be left unattended. Grabbing an empty duffle bag from a storage locker, I keyed my command code into the shuttle's armory locker and took out the two Type III phaser rifles, four Type II hand phasers, all their extra power-cells and the five photon grenades. With the contents of the armory loaded into the bag, I grabbed my suitcase that had my belongings, which thankfully wasn't damaged in the crash and headed out the aft hatch. After closing it, I turned to Twilight. 

"Where too, Princess?" I said with a sly grin.





"Darling, just who designed that uniform? It's positively ghastly." The white unicorn introduced to me as Rarity commented.

"You know what? I don't know. I never really liked the look of it either, but it is comfortable." I told her, taking another forkful of my salad, mildly surprised that they even had forks, given their lack of hands. Erring on the side of caution, I didn't bring up the fact that the cafe Twilight brought me too didn't have any protein on the menu, and ordered what I guessed was a garden salad. Everything in it, the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, all of it tasted like what you can get on Earth, which I found odd. Something to think on, I guess. "I just wear what they tell me."

"Don't go worry'n yourself, sugar cube, ah think it's just fine. Wouldn't wear it out in th' sun though, you'd pass out from th' heat!" An orange pony wearing a stetson reassured me. Applejack! That's her name.

"Rag on it all you want, it is comfortable, and functional. It's flame retardant, tear resistant, breaths well in the heat, and keeps heat in when it's cold." I tell them, taking another bite of my salad, wishing it had some grilled chicken.

"Have you found out where you're going to stay," Rarity asked.

"Twilight said I could stay with her at the library," I told them, not even looking up from my meal,  but a loud, exaggerated, gasp drew my attention to the other side of the table. 

"But all Twilight has is a couch, and the library is no place to throw a 'Welcome-to-ponyville-we-totally-aren't-afraid-of-the-alien-please-don't-abduct-us-extravaganza'!" The one Twilight told me was Pinkie Pie said, her voice getting louder as she spoke, then ended with a 'squee'. What struck me as odd is that while she was directing her speech at me, she seemed to stare past me knowingly at something or someone else. Now I know what Twilight was talking about when she said she was odd.

"Twilight, surely you were not expecting your guest to sleep on your couch?" Rarity asked in a chiding manner.

"The Inn doesn't have a spare room, and as far I know, none of you have any room to spare either," Twilight explained. "Applejack you've got family visiting,"

"That's true," Applejack confirmed.

"We couldn't dare impose on Mister and Missus Cake with the twins running amok." Twilight continued, turning to Pinkie Pie, who had stopped smiling at the mention of Pound and Pumpkin, the circles under her eyes becoming more and more visible. 

"I have a spare room." A quiet, meek voice said.

"Rarity, you have that clothing order you're filling," Twilight said to the unicorn next to her, carrying on.

"Indeed, I'll be working through the night."

"Excuse me, I ha-" The quiet voice said again, even softer, only to be interrupted.

"So I guess he's staying with me." Twilight finished.

"Ahem." I coughed, getting everyone's attention. With everyone at the table facing in my direction, I turned to the pegasus next to me. "Fluttershy, you were saying?"

"I have a spare bedroom. I've been using it for storage lately, but with some cleaning up, it'll work." She said quietly, with some annoyance showing through in her voice.

"I'm sorry Fluttershy, I didn't know that closet was a bedroom, so I didn't think to ask!" Twilight said in surprise. "And I'm sorry I didn't hear you."

"It's alright, really," She assured everyone. "If you would like James, you're welcome to stay with me, and my place is the closest to where you crashed."

"That'll be just fine, thank you. I'll even help you clean up." I told Fluttershy. As great as Twilight had been today, spending the night on a couch didn't sound at all appealing, even if it meant working through the pain from my shoulder.

"Hey, no one thought about asking me!" Rainbow Dash pointed out loudly.

"And who's going to fly him up there? Surely not I." Rarity said not even bothering to hide the sarcasm. The moment when Rainbow realized what she had said, and the dumbfounded look that it brought, was priceless.

"Oh." She said finally, drawing laughs from everyone.



 

The night was crisp and quiet, and like the day before it, not a cloud was in the sky. The moon was brilliantly bright and made the walk to Fluttershy's cabin a simple task. Breaking the silence, Fluttershy began to hum to herself as she effortlessly glided through the air beside me. The soft melody was in perfect key and very pleasant. 

"Thank you." I said to her.

"Oh? For what?" She responded, settling down to the ground, keeping pace with me.

"Scootaloo told me that you were the one that brought me to the hospital. Thank you."

"It's no trouble at all, I would have done it for anypony." She told me with a genuine smile. "I'm just glad you were ok."

"Twilight tells me you take care of animals?"

"Oh yes, I'm sure they'll be happy to meet you, although I do have to warn you-" Fluttershy was saying, right up until she walked right into my back.

What had stopped me was a small white rabbit with a death glare.

"Angel can be a little protective of me." She explained. "Angel, this is James, he's going to be staying with us. Be nice." She cooed at the small creature.

Kneeling down, I got as close to his level as possible. Pulling a piece of carrot from my salad out of my pocket, I gave it to the little mammal as a peace offering. Gingerly sniffing it, he quickly took it a scampered off into the house. 

"How'd you know?"

"Twilight warned me about him," I said with a wink.

The main living area of Fluttershy's house had a way of instantly setting you at ease, everything placed with care, giving off very homey atmosphere. A soft cooing drew my attention to the rafters where a small family of birds was sleeping soundly. 

"Your room is upstairs, across from mine, if you want to get to work," Fluttershy told me, making her way to the stairs.

Placing my bags by the front door, I followed her upstairs.





It took about two hours to clear out what was needed to make the room livable, but it felt great now that it was done. 

"Would you like some tea?" Fluttershy offered, giving her wings a light flap to get the dust from cleaning off of them.

"That would be great." I told her, then watched as she flew down the stairs. Walking down, I took note of all the pictures she had lining the staircase, ones of her with her friends, others with her animals. One did draw a laugh from me though, in one there was Fluttershy and Rainbow dash, looking to be about teenagers I guessed, and there was Fluttershy next to her friend with a bright smile, her teeth covered with braces. A very candid picture.

Sitting down on the couch, I instantly found myself with company. Beside me sat Angel, and he was poking at my pocket. Reaching back into my pocket, I pulled out the last remaining carrot I had and gave it to the rabbit, who set upon it like a ravenous beast. Stretching out on the couch, I let out a sigh. For the first time since I got here, I felt relaxed. It didn't take much to drift off to sleep.

"James, I made some chamomile tea to help you sleep," Fluttershy said walking into the living room carrying the tea tray her back. "Oh my, I guess you wound up on a couch after all."

Before her, sound asleep was myself and Angel, who had snuggled up next to my chest. Gently setting the tray down, she carefully covered us both with warm blanket.
> Chapter 5 - Something Wicked This Way Comes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you feel the need to spoil things in the comments, please use the spoiler tag, you're ruining the fun for everyone else.





"Oh, that feels awesome..." I moan as a pair of pale gold hooves work their magic on the kink in my neck. Unintentionally, I had fallen asleep on the couch, and had woken up with a screaming ache in my neck. 

"It's no trouble at all. It is partially my fault, I just couldn't bring myself to wake you, and with Angel Bunny sleeping with you, I... really didn't have a choice..." Fluttershy responded, her voice trailing off near the end. "He doesn't like to be woken up." She continued, her voice quiet so Angel couldn't hear. "Well, I think that should do it. How do you feel?"

"Much better, thank you," I tell her, giving my neck and shoulders a stretch, eliciting a few satisfying cracks and pops from my joints. Looking over a Fluttershy, I found the mare staring at me with an unsettled look in her eyes. "Sorry... force of habit," I told her with a  reassuring smile. "Do you have a shower?" I ask.

"Oh, uh, yes. Last door on the right upstairs." The pegasus told me. "I'll start making breakfast. Would you like me to cook you some fish? It's the only meat I have at the moment."

"That... would be lovely." I responded, a little shocked. "How'd you know my species ate meat? I didn't tell anyone." 

"Just a guess. I saw your teeth at dinner last night, they reminded me of canine incisors." She explained with a satisfied smile, pleased that her guess had been correct.

"I just didn't know how to broach the subject, it was clear from the cafe's menu last night that you're all vegetarians."

"Well, it can be a touchy subject with some ponies, but we are aware that there are those that eat meat. Equestria's closest neighbours are the Griffon Republic to the west and the Diamond Dog tribes to the south." She explained. "Also, many of the animals I care for eat meat."

"Well, thank you all the same," I said, picking up my bags that I had left at the front door the night before. Giving a Fluttershy a wave, I headed up the stairs to the bathroom.

Undressing in front of the mirror, I took note of the large, dark bruise around my shoulder from where I had dislocated it. It was still sore and tender, but the doctor had done his job very well and it was well on the way to healing. Next I slowly took off the tension bandage that had been wrapped around my torso to help with my bruised ribs, and they too had a purple bruise but now a day later, they were not giving any trouble. 

I decided to take a quick shower, enticed by the lovely smell wafting up the stairs from Fluttershy's cooking. Returning to my room, I eschewed my uniform in favour of light blue jeans, a grey 'Property of Starfleet Academy' t-shirt and my gym workout shoes that I had packed for my trip. Before leaving, I looked at the chest in front of the bed and opened it, finding it empty save for its key. Placing the duffle bag inside I brought with me and locking the chest, I headed back downstairs to find a plate of skillet-fried fish with a side of scrambled eggs and toast. The smell was intoxicating, there was really something to be said about real prepared food over replicated fare. You just can't recreate that smell.

"Bon appétit," I said before picking up my fork. "It's a phrase from my world, it means good appetite, it's said before a meal to wish everyone enjoyment of the meal," I explained in response to the raised eyebrow I got from Fluttershy. "Is there anything you need help with? I don't want to stay here without earning my keep."

"Oh, it's no trouble," She told me, her cheeks changing to a light shade of pink. "You really don't have too." I just gave her a smile after putting another forkful in my mouth and continued eating. "Oh, alright, if you could help me feed the chickens, I am a little late with my chores this morning."

"That settles it then," I told her in between bites of my meal. "Oh, I locked some of my things in the chest in my room; if that's alright," I asked, holding up the chest's key.

"I thought you might need use of it, so I cleared it out last night after you had gone to sleep." She responded.

We finished the rest of our meal in peaceful silence, which in my family was a compliment to the cook.





"Now, you're being a very naughty bear." I heard Fluttershy scold loudly. Did she say bear?! "Now eat your breakfast!" All she got was a loud growl.

Putting down the bag of feed outside of the chicken pen, I walk over to where I heard Fluttershy.

"Don't give me that, you love fish I prepare this way!" Fluttershy said in response, stamping her hoof down forcefully. The bear, as large as a Kodiak, just turned his nose.

Without even thinking, I quickened my pace and walked right up beside the frustrated pegasus. "What's the meaning of this?" I ask, directing my question to the bear, getting a puzzled look from the creature. "Fluttershy made this meal for you and you're turning your nose up at it?" I got a forceful growl in response, the animal then bared its teeth at me. "That is enough of that," I told the bear, my tone switching to that of an officer commanding a subordinate. "You will eat this fish, and you will like it!" I commanded, pointing at the dish, getting in the bears face, a scant few centimeters from his muzzle. "Have I made myself clear?"

The bear recoiled in shock as I just glared back. He then sheepishly began eating, his ears tucked back and keeping an eye on me.

"He never listens to others, and he almost never listens to me," Fluttershy said in amazement.

"I... I don't know what came over me," I said, slowly walking away. Stepping up under a tree, I sit on the ground. Fluttershy glides through the air and settled down next to me, putting a hoof on my shoulder. "I just... just stared down a bear three times my size, what the hell was I thinking," I said, staring through the grass in front of me.

"Well, you were a big help. Thank you," She told me, pulling me into a hug. "He'll be thinking twice about turning his nose up at his food for the foreseeable future." Getting up and with a flap of her wings, Fluttershy hovered in front of me, "Dinner's going to be at sunset, I'm going into town to run errands." She told me. I gave her a nod and she flew off in the direction of Ponyville.





With nothing else to occupy my time, I decided to take a walk into town. After only seeing a part of it yesterday after sunset for the dinner Twilight had treated me too, I started walking towards town. It was a quiet hamlet village with brightly coloured, western European, country themed buildings that reminded me of backpacking through Europe on summer break during my second year at the Academy.  

I got plenty of stares and odd looks from the town's denizens, but most carried about their business and paid me no heed. But two ponies did catch my attention, a mother and child, both with grey fur and greyish-white manes, wearing thick rimmed glasses. The mother glared at me then stuck her nose in the air and trotted past. Her daughter, who had a jewelled silver spoon on her flank took notice of her mother's actions and emulated her.

"Nice to meet you too," I mumbled to myself and continued down the street which gave way to an open market. The smells of fresh fruit and vegetables filled the air as the sounds of shopkeepers hocking their wares to those passing by. Then I noticed that everyone was exchanging gold coins. They use money, great.

Normally, when a Starfleet ship enters orbit of a planet they are making first contact with, a basic trade of valuable materials, like gold or other precious metals/minerals for instance, for an equivalent amount of currency is made, then distributed evenly to any crew members going ashore. 

That was not the case here, and I was flat broke. 

"Hey'ya tall stuff, think fast," a thickly accented voice said as I found myself with an apple being thrown in my direction. "Come to see what our fine town as to offer?"

"Something like that," I told Applejack. "Partaking on the other hand is another thing entirely. I seem to be broke." I laughed, then took a bite of one of the moistest apples I had ever had. I actually had to use the collar of my t-shirt to dry my chin. "Oh, wow; that's good." 

"Well, that'll be two bits," Applejack said, her voice deadpan and serious. She extended her hoof towards me. I looked at her in shock, then I smiled as her serious look gave way to a mischievous grin. "Just kidd'n sugar cube." she told me with a chuckle. "Say, if you're no stranger to hard work, Big Mac an' I are removin' some tree stumps later today over at the acreage. There'll be some payment in it for ya."

A light bulb went off in my head as an idea came to fruition.

"How much?" I ask, slyly.

"Depends on how much work we get done." She said, catching on that I'm trying to haggle her. "Fifty bits a stump." She said after a pause, her eyes narrowing as she met my gaze.

"Throw in a home cooked meal, and we have ourselves a deal."





I almost felt bad about taking Applejack's money, especially this way, but she didn't necessarily say how to remove the stumps, did she. Walking back to Fluttershy's cottage, I noticed that there were no lights from the windows, but judging by the height of the sun in the sky, it wasn't going to be sunset for another few hours, so I walked in the front door using the key Fluttershy had given me.

"Anyone home?" I ask aloud. Getting no response, I head over to the staircase, and there sitting on the first step was Angel. Hopping over to me, he sniffed the air around my legs. He obviously was looking to see if I had anything on me for him to eat, which wasn't the case. He just glared up at me with his front paws crossed in front of his chest, then scampered off towards the kitchen. Sorry buddy. With the rabbit disappointed, I headed up to my room.

Fishing the key for the chest out of my pocket, I grabbed one of the hand phasers and a power cell. Attaching the phaser's holster to my waist and pocketing the power cell, then headed downstairs. 

Remembering that Fluttershy mentioned that dinner would be at sunset, I thought it would be best to leave a note, So I rushed back up to my room and grabbed the PADD from my suitcase and wrote out a message telling her I was Applejacks helping her out and would be having dinner with them, translated it and left it on the kitchen table.

Following the directions that Applejack gave me to get to her farm from the cottage, I started down the path next to the river west, past the school house, where I should see a sign she said pointed to Sweet Apple Acres, and it was right where she said it was. I couldn't read the sign without translating it with my tricorder, but the red apple painted next to the text was a dead give away.

Following the signs direction, I headed down the path and came upon sprawling fields of growing corn and vast orchards of apple trees with a large Red barn in the centre. Walking through the arch at the entrance of the property, a sound to my right drew my attention, coming towards me at top speed was a cloud of dust wearing a pink bow. Reminded of my niece, closing my eyes I braced myself for an inevitable tackle hug that never came, instead I heard skidding in the dirt stop just at my feet. Upon opening my eyes, I found myself staring at smiling golden eyes.

"Bet ya thought I was gonna tackle you, huh?" Apple Bloom asked in between breaths. "Fluttershy told us that you still sore so I decided not too."

"Well, thank you very much kiddo," I told the filly, ruffling her mane with my hand.

"What are you doing here?" She asked innocently, but it came off accusatory by accident. Realizing this, her ears folded back apologetically. "Sorry, Granny said ah should be mindful of my tone, I didn't mean anythang by it."

"No offense taken, I knew what you meant. Applejack said there were some stumps that needed clearing." I told her. "I'm here to help." Apple Blooms eyes opened wider when I mentioned that.

"Oh! I'll take you to where you need ta go!" She told me, loudly, then ran off along the edge of the apple orchard.

It took a bit of running to catch up, and I was a little bit winded when I got to where Applejack and a huge red stallion I guessed was Big Mac. Damn. He's huge.

"Apple Bloom, why'd you make him run here, we've got hard work ahead of us," Applejack said, scolding the filly mildly.

"It's no problem Applejack," I told her, having already caught my breath. "It's been a while since I've had to run that fast, but it's nothing I'm not used too. When I was in the academy, I ran the Boston Marathon, came in  five hundred and eighteenth,"

"That doesn't sound very impre-" Applejack began to say.

"Thirty thousand runners participate." I clarified. Applejack's eyes widened, to which I just gave a satisfied smirk. "But I was twenty-one at the time, I don't think I could do that again." 

"When yer done show-boat'n, we got some work to do." A gruff, deep voice said from Big Mac's general direction.

"You don't waste any time, do you?" I asked

"Nope."

"The stumps we have to clear are from a batch of trees we had to fell because that area had a bad infestation of honey fungus, rotted the roots and killed the trees. We burned the ground around the stumps to stop the spread when we found it, and we're gonna to till th' ground to treat the soil with a natural fungicide when we're done clearin." Applejack explained.

"Sounds simple enough," I said.

"You've never done this before, have you?" Big Mac asked, sizing me up.

"Nope," I said, doing my best to imitate him. "But I'm not one to back away from something hard."

"That's all we need to hear," Applejack said.

"Twenty bits says I can clear that stump there," I said, pointing to one five feet away from us. "faster than you can say 'apple cobbler'."

"This I gotta see," Big Mac said with skepticism.

"Apple Co-" Applejack began to say as I pulled my phaser, set it to level twelve and fired at the stump. The stump disappeared from existence in a haze of smoke and embers, leaving a smoking hole in the ground. "-bbler-Sweet Celestia, what the buck did you do?!"

"Mac, sister said a bad word!" Apple Bloom chimed in, and Big Mac let out a hearty laugh.

"I believe that'll be fifty - no - seventy bits," I told Applejack, who just grumbled.

"I'll go get the plow, I expect those stumps to be cleared by the time I get back," Big Mac called over his shoulder as he walked off to the equipment shed, still laughing.

It didn't take long for Mac to come back with the plow, and he got right to work tilling the soil after I had cleared the remainder of the stumps. Applejack chided me for cheating, but when I reminded her that she didn't specify exactly how we'd clear the stumps, she conceded; although she was a little concerned when I told her that the phaser was a sidearm, and not a farming tool. When I explained that I kept them under lock and key, it seemed to put her mind at ease. That was when Granny Smith called us into dinner. The look on her face was priceless when Apple Bloom told her that all the work was finished.





On the other side of Ponyville, Berryshine said goodbye to Comet Tail, who was standing behind the bar cleaning glasses, letting him know she was heading home now that her waitressing shift was over. It had been a very hard day for her. For the last couple days, she'd been waking up feeling exhausted. It honestly felt like she had only just put her head on her pillow when she woke up to her alarm. Thankfully Comet was understanding when she messed up a few drink orders and just told her to get a good nights rest.

Stifling an enormous yawn, she fumbled with the key to her house before managing to let herself in. Not even bothering to shower, she dropped her saddlebags by the side of her bed and climbed into bed and promptly passed out.

Unbeknownst to the mare, a soft clicking noise could be heard coming from nowhere as a shimmering vortex formed near the front of her bed. An unseen forced lifted Berryshine up in the air and silently pulled her through vortex's aperture before winking out of existence.
> Chapter 6 - Longing For Better Times
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A two days had passed since helping Applejack with her farm and I found myself drawn back to the shuttle. Yesterday had been better, Pinkie Pie had helped immeasurably with that by throwing me an impromptu party when she heard that it was my Sister's birthday, and judging by the hangover I had, I guess I had a little too much fun.

But today was different. 

I stood on the ground around the shuttle and surveyed the expansive meadow. Aside from the large rend in the soil from where the shuttle had crashed, it was beautiful land. Tall prairie grass with wild flowers nearly as far as you could see. In the distance, I could see the tree line of the Everfree Forest. Twilight had warned me to not venture into it alone. Seeing as I had no reason to go there, I decided to heed her advice.

Taking out my tricorder and using the shuttle as a center point, I measured out a half acre and walked out to the farthest point north of the shuttle, turned west and walked one-quarter that, placed a wooden stake. Turning south, I walked a full half acre, placed another stake, and repeated until I had marked the four corners of what was now my property. 

Earlier that morning over breakfast I had asked Fluttershy how much land sold for. She reacted confused at first, then worried that she had done something wrong, fretting that something she had done had caused me to want to leave. I even got a nip at my ankle from Angel for upsetting his mistress. Reassuring her, I told her that she had done nothing, but since I was not going anywhere soon, I didn't want to continue to impose myself on her kindness. I needed a place of my own.

"Oh," was what she said, and she told me to go and speak to the Mayor's office. So, with the four hundred and seventy bits I had earned helping Applejack, I walked into town and spoke with the Mayor's assistant, a very irritable unicorn stallion with a grayish blue coat, and a forgettable name. After haggling for almost an hour, I walked out having spent slightly over half of the bits I had, then set off to the shuttle, deed in hand.

Stepping inside the shuttle, I touched the input panel of one of the two working computer terminals and activated the impulse micro-fusion reactor. After replicating a glass of ice-cold water, I sat down at the terminal and began to take inventory of the shuttle's systems, what could be salvaged, what I could repair, and so on. But staying focused proved to be hard, as memories started to seep their way into my mind.





Starfleet Academy - Earth - 2379

"Good morning Cadets, please be seated," Commander Tomlinson said, addressing the small group of young cadets gathered in one of the Academy's many lecture halls. "These Senior Cadets with me have recently finished their qualifications required to be certified flight instructors and have volunteered their spring leave to assist in instructing those of you who have not completed their basic flight certification required for graduation this summer." He said, gesturing towards myself and four others to his right.

"Who's she?" I asked, my voice barely over a whisper, the cadet next to me, Micheal Taylor, who also happened to be my dormmate.

"Who?" 

"Third from the right, front row."

"The Vulcan? I don't know. Why?"

"She's cute." Getting a raised eyebrow in response, I shrugged. "What?" I answered with a question, rhetorically. 

"Ahem," came a voice to my left, realizing it was the Commander, I straightened up.

"Sorry, Sir."

"As I was saying, here are your assignments. Cadet sh'Zac, you're with Taylor. Cadet T'Pomei, you're with Scott..." Tomlinson continued, but I stopped listening, feeling my face become a light shade of red as a young Vulcan woman with short cropped black hair wearing a sciences blue uniform approached me.

"This way Cadet," I said politely, a friendly smile sliding onto my face. We made our way to the academy's shuttle hanger and boarded our assigned shuttle for the day. T'Pomei showed a great amount of skill as she proceeded through the pre-flight checklist, lifting the shuttle off and taking us into standard orbit.

"Excellent work," I told her. "Now, break orbit and make your course two-three-four by one-five six, speed full impulse."

"Two-three-four by one-five-six," She answered flatly, inputting the commands into the conn needed to swing the shuttle out of orbit and on course towards the Moon's south pole. "Speed, full impulse. ETA twelve minutes."

"So... What's your major?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Astroparticle Physics." She responded, flatly, again. Turning her head to meet my gaze, she realized that I had absolutely no idea what that meant. "I study elementary particles of astronomical origin and their relation to astrophysics and cosmology."

"That's researching stuff like radiation from stellar objects and dark matter, right?" I asked, with her explanation jogging my memory from last semester's stellar science class.

"Crudely put, but that is a correct generalization." She answered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the starfield shift slightly, and glancing down at the co-pilot's instruments, my assumption was correct.

"We're listing slightly to port, can you level us out?"

"I had not noticed," T'Pomei said has she worked her controls to level the shuttle's attitude. But sure enough, the shuttle began to list again.

"We're listing again," I said, a smile on my face.

"Indeed." She responded, her jaw clenching slightly and her lips pursed in concentration. "What is causing this?" She asked, turning towards me.

"Just a little quirk this shuttle has," I explained. "Every vessel, from the smallest shuttle pod to large starships, every one of them has their little quirks. Things they do that no other vessel does. This shuttle rotates on its zee axis point zero five degrees every two minutes. Set up a macro with the RCS thrusters to fire a point zero one second burst every one and half minutes." I instructed. "This is something you need to keep in mind if you have to pilot anything, something to keep an eye out for. Also, that macro recommendation was in the maintenance report that you didn't read before you started the pre-flight checklist." I continued, docking two points off her score.

"I will remember that for the future." She said, following my recommendation. "Why has this defect not been addressed?"

"It doesn't affect the shuttle's safety, and its a training vessel," I tell her, getting an understanding nod. "Have you gotten your assignment for after graduation?" I asked, since all cadets at this point had reached all the academic requirements needed for graduation, making the final months at the academy a mere formality filled with final certifications needed to qualify for whatever postings each cadet had applied for. Basic pilot certification being a qualification required for serving on a starship.

"I have been assigned to the Luna-Class Starship Galatea as part of its Sciences division."

"Wow, me too, Captian Sigrengar wants me for beta shift helmsman," I told her. "Small universe."

"It is, most assuredly, not, but I understand your metaphor." She told me.

Reaching our destination around the Moon's south pole, I told her to change our course for Lagrange Point two orbital habitat where we would go through the final obstacle course. T'Pomei completed it flawlessly, then set course back towards San Fransisco.

On our trip back we made small talk, or as much as you could really with a Vulcan. I found out that we both were born in space, her parents serving in Starfleet but were now retired to Vulcan. Her sister, like mine, was married to someone who also owned a freighter company. We discovered that we had a lot in common. During the last leg of the trip, we settled into a pleasant silence.

"Your comments, back in the lecture hall were inappropriate," She began, breaking the silence. I balked at what she said, the hairs on the back of neck standing on end. She heard me? "But after our conversation today, I have decided..." She continued, pausing and turning to meet my gaze again. "They were not unwelcome." She said finally as we entered Earth's atmosphere.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I decided to push my luck after she landed the shuttle. "Micheal, I mean Cadet Taylor, and I were going to get drinks at the 602 Club when we're done today." I started. "Would you like to join us?" I asked.

Taking a few moments to think on her answer, she tilted her head slightly. "That would be agreeable."





Smiling at the memory, I accessed my personal database I had copied to the shuttle, originally to show my sister pictures of things we had seen along the Tzenkethi DMZ. Going through old photos, I found the one I was looking for. In it was Micheal with his arms stretched above him and shouting something I couldn't remember. Next to him was myself, my face in my palms over my friends idiocy. Next to me was T'Pomei, stoically taking a sip of her drink. The image made me laugh, Moving on to the next photo, I smile warmly. 





It was T'Pomei on the academy grounds right before we were to beam up to Earth Spacedock to report for duty on the Galatea. It was my favorite photo of her. At this point we had been in a relationship for a couple months. When asked what she saw in me, she responded saying "His lack of logic is worth tolerating." A Vulcan with a sense of humor, leave it to me to find one.

Scrolling to the next photo, the smile on my face lessened somewhat. It was of T'Pomei and I sitting in the Galatea officers lounge, a beautiful gaseous nebula filling the viewport behind us. While it appeared to be a pleasant photo, the memories associated with it were not, because of what happened after.





USS Galatea - Somewhere in the Beta Quadrant - March 2381

I sat in the Galatea's lounge, having found the only dimly lit corner. I wanted to be by myself. I took another shot of scotch, the real stuff, not the synthetic shit and stared at the PADD in front of me. On it was a list, millions of names long. 

But two names were highlighted. Edward James Scott and Maria Lucile Scott. My parents.

I tried to rub my eyes to rid them of the stinging irritation, both of them long since left dry after sobbing in my quarters when the XO woke me in the middle of the night to deliver the news.

I poured myself another glass and downed it. It was then that I noticed I was no longer alone. Standing in front of my table was T'Pomei. Instead of her uniform, she was dressed in a tasteful two-tone navy blue pantsuit. It was a gift from my mother on T'Pomei's birthday shortly before we graduated from the Academy. I had tried explaining to her that getting her a gift wasn't needed, it wasn't a Vulcan thing. But my mother insisted. After the party, T'Pomei told me in private that the clothing was 'satisfactory' and that if she were human, that was the same as 'liking' it.

Seeing her wearing that made my expression crack and my lip began to quiver as I found myself on the brink of crying once again.

"I was just told the news." She told me, sitting down next to me in the booth along the wall. Placing her hands on the table, she started to speak. "I will miss your parents. I found their company stimulating. Despite the short time I had known your parents, I counted them among my friends." She took my hand in hers, and placed her other hand on top and stared into my eyes. Her face was that of concern but betrayed no emotion. But something was off in her eyes. The look of inquisitiveness that I admired was gone. It was replaced with... nothing. Then it occurred to me, it was sorrow. I squeezed her hand.

"They're gone," I said simply, breaking down. She quickly pulled me into an embrace as I sobbed into her shoulder.

"I know. I grieve with thee, my love," She spoke softly, a single tear of her own trailing down her face as she held me tighter.





"What ya dooooing?" An upbeat voice said, breaking me from the trance I was in. I wiped a tear from my eye and turned towards a Pink pony with physics-defying hair to match. "Are you alright?" She asked, noticing that I had been crying.

"I'm fine, Pinkie," I said, turning to face her. "Just some memories from going through some photos," I explain, and instantly, I had her beside me.

"Oooo... she's pretty! What's her name? Why are her ears pointy?" Pinkie asked in quick succession. 

"Her name was T'Pomei," I start to explain. "Her ears are pointy because she's a Vulcan, her species' ears are like that." I continued, scrolling to the next image. My heart skipped a beat in my chest.





Earth's Moon - Tranquility Settlement - November 2381

"I do not see how this recreational activity is an efficient way to spend our shore leave." T'Pomei said, sliding her hand into an EVA suit glove.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" I tell her, only to get a deadpan stare in return. I pick up her suits helmet and locked it into place, then doing the same with mine. Pressing a control on my wrist, I turn on the suit's comms. "Testing comms."

"Confirmed."

Hitting the airlock control, the room depressurized and the outer door opened up onto the lunar soil. "Just humor me, ok?" I ask her, taking her hand.

"I endeavor to do that every day we are together." She said with out emotion, but I know sarcasm when I hear it. I then pulled her out of the airlock and we both started hopping along the Moon's surface in its lower gravity, much the same way astronauts from Earth's past had done. Following a trail of lights we soon found ourselves at our destination. In the distance was the location of the Apollo Eleven  landing site. We couldn't get close to it, the entire area where the Apollo crew had set foot was cordoned off with a ten foot transparent aluminum fence and a force field dome to preserve one of mankind's most treasured historical sites. 

Getting close to where the Lunar Module had touched down was, we could see the flag, long since bleached white by the sun's radiation, and just on the other side of the fence, a trail of footprints could be seen going to and from the LM. T'Pomei kneeled down to get a closer look and placed her hand on the transparent fence.

"Hey, say cheese!" I said, pointing my holographic camera at her.

"No." She responded flatly in her way that I knew was really teasing. 

I took the picture anyways.

"It is a testament to human ingenuity that your species landed here so early in your history of space exploration. Vulcan's already had orbital habitat's before we landed on T'Khut, and only then to explore the possibility of extracting resources." She told me. "What was it your leader Kennedy said?"

"'We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.'" I quoted. Speaking of things that are hard. I thought. "Listen, T'Pomei, I have something I have to say." I told her, reaching to scratch the back of my head out of a nervous habit, only to remember I was in an environmental suit.

Standing up, she turned to me, her face illuminated in her helmet's faceplate. "You know you can always speak your mind when you are with me."

I stepped up close to her and took her hands in mine. "T'Pomei, you're the love of my life. Your serenity is the perfect foil to my brashness, keeping me grounded. You bring me such happiness and joy that shudder at the thought of not being with you." Getting down on one knee, I look up at her with the earth visible over her shoulder. It was perfect. "T'Pomei, my love. My t'hy'la," I said, using the Vulcan word for closest friend or lover. "Will you marry me?"

I did not receive an answer right away, nor did I expect one. The woman I love wouldn't take a question like this lightly, and I knew she was thinking it over in her mind. 

"Yes, I will." She said, finally. 





"Where was this taken?" Pinkie asked.

"Earth, my species' home planet, which is a lot like yours, has a moon, again, a lot like this world's. A little over four hundred years ago, we sent explorers to land on it. Only ten years before, the very idea of doing that was considered impossible. The picture was taken where they first landed." I explained. "It's also where I asked her to marry me."

"You're so romantic!" She said, putting her head on my shoulder, then she reached forward and touched the control that was supposed to bring up another picture.

Instead, a video recording began to play. One that I had forgotten I saved.



Greetings T'hy'la
I am certain that this message finds you well. I expect that this will reach you shortly after your sister's birthday. Please convey my regards in this matter. 
My temporary assignment at Utopia Planitia is proceeding as expected. Calibrating newly constructed components for Quantum Slipstream drives is a simplistic use of my talents, but it is rewarding.
I am, however, to use the human term, eager for the Juno Beach's return from its patrol schedule so that I may complete my assignment transfer and join you.
My parents have been in contact with your sister and have insisted that Stanley Park in Vancouver is an acceptable location for our wedding. I do not think they truly understand that the planned date is during that area's rainy season. I will speak with them on this matter and change their decision. 
I must now return to my duties. If anything changes regarding the wedding, I will contact you again.
Until then, peace and long life, my love.



I had not realized that I was crying until Pinkie Pie shook my shoulder. I had forgotten I had saved this. It was the last time I had heard her speak. Unable to get a response out of me, Pinkie simply pulled me into a hug, unsure what had brought on such sadness.





USS Juno Beach - Romulan Neutral Zone - April 2382

My eyes darted open at the sound of my door's ringer going off. Struggling to get out of bed, the door rang a second time. "Yeah, hold on, I'm coming," I yelled, pulling on a robe. Opening the door, I wince at the bright light, only to find both the Captain and the XO standing at my doorway. 

"Lieutenant, may we come in?" Captain Rosenthal asked, and I stepped aside, letting them both in.

"Computer, lights, fifty percent illumination," I ordered. "What's going on?" I ask.

"At 0930 yesterday morning at Utopia Planitia," Commander Zarva, a middle-aged Bolian woman, began. "A Breen Operative posing as an engineer murdered two scientists and stole the plans for the Slipstream drive. He then set off two explosions to cover his escape in a Romulan ship equipped with phased cloaking."

"Hold on, what are you saying?" I ask them, in complete shock.

"James," Captain Rosenthal said, addressing me directly. "I regret to inform you that..."

And with those words, my world fell apart.
> Chapter 7 - Red Sky at Morning...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The room was a sea of darkness save for the single shaft of light in its center. In its center was a single table, upon it lay a lone pegasi mare, unmoving except for the steady rising and falling of her chest as she drew breath. 

Surrounding her were several hooded figures, clicking and chattering amongst themselves as they focused on the subject before them. One of the figures reached down and picked up the pegasus’ wing, now severed from its body. With the help of a second, it extended the feathery appendage while a third ran a blinking device over its entirety.

The clicking and chattering intensified as they discussed what the readings told them as a pair of glowing yellow eyes observed.

Unknown to these figures that were masked by darkness, a pair of cherry red eyes, unseeing but aware, stared into the blinding light and blinked. From them a single tear flowed.





It was a perfect day. Not too warm, not too cold. Just the right amount of clouds with a soft, gentle breeze. Perfect.

“AJ, can you toss me the tape-measure?” I called out. 

“Sure!” I guessed she said since she had three nails in her mouth as she continued nailing in the beams that would become my cabin’s rafters. 

It had been a few days since construction began, and things were proceeding at an impressive pace. With the help of Big Mac, the foundation was completed quickly the first day and the basic framework of the structure finished the second. While AJ was working on framing out the roof, I was cutting the floorboards, and passing them off to Twilight, who looked ridiculous in a yellow hardhat and oversized safety glasses, so she could install them using her magic.

“Tall stuff, y’all got any more nails down there? I’m fresh out.” Applejack called out from above.

Putting down my hand saw and placing the pencil behind my ear, I looked over to where the pail of nails sat, and found it empty. Rainbow Dash should have been back by now. I thought, glancing down at the watch on my wrist, confirming that only two hours had passed since I had sent her off into town to get more.

“Dash hasn’t come back yet with more,” I told Applejack.

“Well, ‘am not that surprised that she hasn’t come back yet, she probably got distracted by sumth’n.”

“Well, we can’t do any more work without them, why don’t we call it a day and go get something to eat,” Twilight said, levitating her PPE off her head and placing them on the makeshift drafting table. “I’m sure we’ll find her somewhere in town.”

After I helped Applejack down, the three of us started walking towards town. 

“Thank you for the lumber, Applejack,” I told the orange mare.

“It was goin’ to waste anyways, Big Mac ordered too much when we built the extension onto th’ barn.” She told me, “You can pay me back with some sweat equity come applebucking season.” She continued, a sly grin creeping onto her face.

“Now, Applejack, that’s rather opportunistic of you,” Pinkie Pie said, now walking beside me.

“What the fu… Where’d you come from?!” I exclaimed, startled by the sudden appearance of the pink mare.

“You get used to it,” Twilight and Applejack said simultaneously. 

“Pinkie, I thought we were going to see them together, why’d you run off?” An out of breath Fluttershy called from the distance as she flew towards us.

“I saw them walking this way and I thought I’d go and walk with them because that's what friends do and I wanted to ask them how the work was going--TAIL TWITCH!” She said suddenly as she tackled my chest, forcing me onto the ground as a pail of nails dropped from the sky and landed precisely where I was walking.

Staring up at the sky, a single cloud drew my attention; The tortoise with a helicopter strapped to its back circling made it difficult to miss.

“I think we found Rainbow Dash,” I said, drawing the attention of my companions towards the sky. “Pinkie, ya mind?” 

“Oh,” She said, getting off my chest. Those of us who couldn’t fly watched as Twilight and Fluttershy flew up to the cloud. We waited as the two winged mares looked as they were trying to wake her. After a few minutes, I saw Fluttershy fly off towards town faster than I had ever seen her move as Twilight levitated Rainbow Dash down to the ground bathed in lavender magic. 

“She’s hardly breathing!” Twilight called out, her voice full of concern. “We have to get her to the hospital!” She continued with panic slipping into her voice.

Picking up the surprisingly light pegasus in a fireman carry, I started running towards town in a dead sprint.





The tone in the emergency room waiting area was quiet, but you could cut the tension and worry with a knife. In a corner, Fluttershy sat with tearful Scootaloo, trying to keep her calm as a white unicorn with a dark purple mane burst through the door.

“Where is she? Is she alright?” Rarity asked, practically crying.

“Rarity, calm down, Dr. Horse and Nurse Snowheart are with her now, they’ll let us know shortly,” Twilight told her, trying in vain to hide her own concern. 

“Well, you won’t have to wait much longer,” A new male voice said as Dr. Horse walked into the waiting area. “Rainbow Dash is recovering, but it was fortunate that you brought her to us when you did.” He explained. “She was in what we call a hypoglycemic coma. Her blood sugar levels were dangerously low and she was close to death. We’ve given her a glucagon injection to raise her blood sugar, but she’s still unconscious.” 

“She seemed fine when she was helping us this morning,” Applejack told the doctor. “But she was a little tired. We all thought it was because it was too early, least fer her.”

“Thank you for letting me know, but for now I must apologize, she can’t see any visitors at this time. Why don’t you all go home and get some rest.” The doctor told them, then turned to me. “Lieutenant, a word?”

Standing up from my chair, I watched as Twilight ushered her friends out the door. She gave me a worried glance, then left herself. “What do you need, Doc?”

“That thing you had, you wouldn’t happen to have it with you?”

“Yeah, I do.” I told him, pulling my tricorder out of the back pocket of my jeans. 

“I’m sure I can count on your discretion, but I need your help.” He told me. “I didn’t want to cause a panic, but we have a bit of a medical mystery on our hands. Rainbow Dash isn’t the first pony to come in with her symptoms, and there are others with varying other issues that have all come in over the last three weeks. The common theme is that they all have been tired, exhausted.” He explained. “They all claim that they’d been getting enough rest, but all of them show signs of sleep deprivation.”

“Lead the way,” I told him, and he brought me first to Rainbow Dash’s bed. The rainbow maned mare had a tube down her throat to assist in her breathing and a IV with fluid inserted into her foreleg. Activating the tricorders medical scanners, I ran it over her still form, and all the data I got only confirmed what Dr. Horse had told us: hypoglycemic induced coma. “What the hell?”

“What is it?”

“Did you do anything to her wing?” I asked.

“No, her wings are fine.” He told me, confusion seeping into his voice. I translated the read out and turned the tricorder to face him. On it’s display was an image of bones near the joint on her back. “That? That’s from where she broke her wing two years ago.”

“No, not that, this.” I told him, magnifying the image. Now clearly visible was a line transecting the bone.

“That… That’s impossible, it’s like somepony…” Dr. Horse started to say as his voice trailed off. He walked over to an instrument tray and grabbed a razor in his hoof and shaved away the fur revealing pale, beige skin. Right where he suspected, there was a ring of irritation in the skin that circled the entire wing. “Somepony surgically amputated the wing and reattached it.”

“Who would do something like this?” I asked, turning off the tricorder’s medical scanners and inadvertently activating its passive scanning suite, causing the device to give off an alarm. Scanning Rainbow Dash again, the readings I got confused the hell out of me. Something about it seemed familiar, but I just couldn’t place where I’d heard of these set of circumstances before. “You said there were other patients.”

“Yes, this way,” The doctor told me, leading me into a general recovery room with eight other ponies. I walked up to the first bed, where Berryshine had identical symptoms as Rainbow Dash, then the second and third beds, where two unicorns were showing bacterial infections around their horns, all of them showing the same reading: tetryon particle exposure.

“This isn’t possible.” I said, “All these ponies have been exposed to a particle that just doesn’t exist naturally in our reality.” Acting on a hunch and remembering where I had read about something similar to this before, I tapped my newly replicated commbadge. “Scott to shuttlecraft Goddard. Computer, search Starfleet mission logs… late twenty-three sixties, for any reference to tetryon particles and medical experimentation.”

“Working.” The computer’s female voice responded. “Logs located. On stardate 46154, starship USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D, while charting the Amargosa Diaspora globular star cluster attracted the attention of solanogen-based lifeforms residing in a tertiary subspace manifold with newly enhanced sensors. Instances of crew abductions and experimentation by these lifeforms occur in these logs. One fatality recorded.”

“Forward all logs to my tricorder.” I ordered.

“Can I see the log about the fatality?” Dr. Horse asked, his voice solemn. Handing over the translated log, the doctor read it, then gave it back. “Exactly the same.” He told me. “Yesterday, an earth-pony was brought in having been found dead in his home after not showing up for work. Autopsy showed that his blood had been replaced with some liquid we’ve never seen before, but according to these logs, the liquid has the same chemical makeup.” He explained. “What the buck its going on?”

“I can’t answer that, but what I do know, we’re in danger.”





In that dark room, beneath that unbearably bright light, lay a young unicorn filly. Her bright pink and purple mane appearing almost as dull as her grey coat under this harsh light.

“This was all you could find? A CHILD?!”The figure with glowing yellow eyes yelled. “I will help you free yourselves from whatever realm this is, but I need more than this mere youth! This one has not even realized her destiny! Her magic is weak!” All that he got in return was a intense smattering of clicks and chittering. “No matter, soon with my power returned, we will leave this place."

Opening his mouth, his white fangs glinted in the light as he inhaled a stream of pale green energy from the young filly on the table. When he was done, he stretched his arms, audible cracks emanate from his joints, power and life returning to his frail frame.

“Send this one back, I want no more death. One cannot rule over a populace of corpses.” The figure said, stepping into the light and giving a sinister smile. “Equestria will be mine.” Lord Tirek vowed.
> Chapter 8 - First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All The Lawyers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: For the more geeky treknobabble, I have linked relevant Memory Alpha Wikia pages in the story

Five Years Later...

"Like hell you're him!" Melanie screamed at me, right in my face poking her index finger into my chest. "He died a year ago testing some damn new shuttle! I don't know who or what you are!" She continued, her prodding forcing me back towards the door of my sister's home.

I don't know why I decided to come and visit her without contacting her first. I knew what Starfleet had told me when they investigated the area where I went missing and found that there were tell-tale traces of dust-form dark matter. Further study of my shuttle and it's sensor logs determined that my warp field had collapsed when it passed through a particularly thick cloud of it. After, the shuttle apparently hit a sizable rock of the stuff, shearing off the front portion of one of the nacelles causing the shuttle to veer towards the ion storm I was originally trying to avoid. 

Fate was a funny thing. Sensor records from other Starfleet vessels in the area concluded that the storm was safe to pass through,  even for a shuttle, with the right shield modifications. If I had OPS training I would have known that, but since I didn't, I did the sensible thing and changed course to avoid it, which put me into this entire mess in the first place.

But apparently, I, or rather another James Scott, survived the whole encounter. He was able to get a distress signal off and was rescued within a few hours. Meanwhile, I wound up where I crashed. I and the entire shuttle; had been copied right down to the molecular level.

I didn't believe it at first, but apparently this happened before to another vessel, USS Voyager, when she was lost in the Delta Quadrant. Their vessel was duplicated in a similar fashion when they exited a plasma drift. When I desperately tried to avoid the ion storm, I skimmed its outer edge and the drive plasma discharging from my damaged nacelle was ignited at the exact moment the shuttle's ejected warp core breached. All those events occurring at the same time produced the right set of circumstances allowing for the shuttle to be duplicated.

But that's not the weirdest part. Because of all the dark matter in that area of space, and its interaction with the ion storm, it all played havoc with subspace in that region. Right after the shuttle was duplicated, my copy was pulled into a pocket of normal space in a layer of subspace, which contained three stellar bodies: A star, a class-M planet, and a moon.

I originally thought that I simply crashed on a planet in one of the nearby star systems, but it wasn't until I salvaged the shuttles long range sensors a year after I had crashed, mostly out of curiosity, only to find that according to the sensors, the exact dimensions of the universe was a sphere four point two AU in diameter. 

If fate thought it was funny, it must also think its fun to be a vindictive bitch. There I was stranded on a planet, no way to get off, no way to call for help, and then finding out that I was possibly somewhere other than the universe I came from. 

Now fate, it seems, is doing it's best to kick me in the teeth. 

I stood by the door of my sister's home, staring into the eyes of who I thought was family. The one person I thought would have welcomed me back after years away with open arms. Instead, I found anger and disbelief staring back at me.

"I know that I'm not the exact same James that you knew the last few years, but I'm still your brother. I have his memories, his personality, everything that made him, him, I have too." I told her. "I'm sorry that I showed up unannounced, this proved to be too big of a shock for you and I apologize. But try and see it from my point of view. I was stranded for five years. I had no idea what happened, I couldn't have predicted that. I thought that I had been declared missing and presumed lost. I came to terms with that, I thought I would never see you again." I continued, my voice becoming sullen. "After losing mom and dad, and then T'Pomei, that hurt, a lot. It took me a long time, but I moved on. So you could imagine my state of mind when I found myself with the chance to see you again."

After all I said, my sisters expression hardly changed until she let out a protracted sigh and rubbed the center of her forehead.

"I don't know what to believe, I need time to think on this. Until then, don't contact me, I'll contact you." She finally answered. "Please leave." She said coldly.

So I left. I took a few seconds to stare up into the sky above the Trill Capital of Leran Manev when I heard muffled voices through the door.

"Who was that Mom?" an adolescent female voice said that could only be Mellissa, my niece.

"Someone who knew your Uncle and wanted to talk to me. Go back to your homework."

While not surprised, my sister lying to her daughter about me hit like a ton of bricks.

"It didn't go well, did it?" A gentle voice asked me. Looking to a pair of kind cyan eyes made some of my stress go away.

"No, Fluttershy, it didn't. I don't even think I know that woman anymore." I told my dear friend.

"I heard some of your conversation through the door..." she said meekly. "It was kind of hard not too, but I think she's just shocked by this whole mess. She's family, I'm sure she'll come around."

"Thank you, 'shy, that means a lot," I told her, getting an affectionate nuzzle on my shoulder in return. "It's almost time for us to go, we should head back to the ship."

"I know that you have to attend this hearing, but you haven't told me what it's about."

"Well, it's an informal meeting to discuss what happened when I was stranded on your world," I told her. "Depending on how it goes, I could be in a lot of trouble. I didn't exactly follow the rules on some things." I pulled Fluttershy into a hug after I noticed her worried look. "It won't be that bad. All I have to do is tell the truth, and everything should work itself out."

"Ok, but I'm still worried." She told me, feigning annoyance.

With a smile, I tapped my comm badge. "Scott to Sutherland, two for transport."





"Thank you all for coming here today. I'm Rear Admiral Corbyn Matthews, Judge Advocate General for Starbase Eighteen. I want to extend welcome to our visiting dignitaries and guests to this proceeding." The Admiral said to all those gathered in the starbase's courtroom. "Please be seated." He continued, sitting down himself, then using a small hammer, he rang the tiny bell on the table in front of him.

"I now bring this hearing to order. The purpose of this hearing is to determine if there is sufficient evidence or cause to proceed to Article 32 proceedings, a court martial, under the Starfleet Code of Military Justice. Lieutenant James Matthew Scott, please stand. According to your own records of the ordeal you underwent, you are suspected of committing two counts of violating Starfleet General Order One, The Prime Directive. Specifically, interfering in the natural development of a pre-warp civilization by the sharing of knowledge and/or technology, and interfering in the internal affairs of said civilization." The Admiral continued, addressing me directly. "These are very serious charges, and should you be found guilty in a full court martial, they carry a sentence of no fewer than ten years in a penal colony and a dishonorable discharge from Starfleet." He explained. "Do you understand the gravity of these charges, Lieutenant?"

"I do, Admiral."

"Very well, let's continue," Admiral Matthews answered.

The first hour of the hearing droned on as the circumstances of how I wound up where I did where explained. In excruciating detail.  The next hour dealt with how I was found, only a week before.

Considering that magic had everything to do with how I got home, I don't know what I would have done if Twilight hadn't volunteered to explain just what unicorn magic is, and how it works. Well, volunteered isn't really the right word, really. She had already made up her mind when I told her that some of the federation's top exobiologists would hang on to her every word. She got so excited that she teleported to her room to pack for the trip before I finished telling her.

"...I trust that is enough information you need to understand how our magic works." Twilight finished.

"Thank you, Princess," The Admiral said. "That was very informative, I'm pretty sure when you're done here, there's going to be a line of people wanting to speak with you. But before that, I have some questions how you managed to contact the Enterprise, and the subsequent events after."

"Where would you like me to start?"

"How about the beginning."





"You want me to do what?" Twilight asked, sitting on my couch taking a drink from the tea I had replicated. She did let me know previously that it wasn't as good as the real thing, but just between her and I, it was still better than the stuff Spike had been making her recently.

"We both know you can focus your magic better than any unicorn or alicorn I know. You don't have the sheer power of Celestia, the finesse of Luna or the gentleness of Cadence, but what you do have is control. I've seen you do it." I explained. "What I'm asking is if you can try and focus and adjust a simple magical energy beam or whatever you call it, to a specific frequency."

"I'm following you, but I still don't understand why."

"I told you that I hypothesized that the region of space this planet is in resides within subspace, and that makes sense, it explains how easily the Solanae were able to interact with our realm from their own." I continued. "Starfleet as well as every other spacefaring civilization that we know of uses subspace as a conduit or medium for faster than light communication, and each one uses a specific frequency that identifies what civilization sent the signal," I told her, getting to my point. "If you can adjust your magic to the standard Starfleet subspace frequency, and aim it back along the trajectory my shuttle took when I entered this system, we might be able to catch the attention of someone," I concluded. "If we're lucky."

"That's a lot of ifs and mights," Twilight told me. "But I'll try." She told me with a smile.

It took us a few days of trying for her to focus her magic to a specific frequency, and it proved to be very taxing, but we were finally able to succeed. Unfortunately, maintaining that level of magic left Twilight drained as well as not being able to project it very far.

That's where Spike chimed in with an idea neither Twilight and I had thought of: asking for help.

"Couldn't Princess Celestia help you power up the spell?" He asked. I looked towards Twilight, my eyes mirroring his question.

"Doesn't hurt to ask, Spike, take a message: 'Dear Princess Celestia...'" She began,  dictating the letter to the diminutive purple dragon who wrote it all down on a scroll of paper before engulfing it in green flame.

Later that week I found myself on the top of the tallest tower in all of Canterlot with three Princess' gazing into the night sky.

"Hast thou chosen what message to send?" Princess Luna asked.

"Because of the physical stress that this causes, I think we should just keep it short and simple." I answered, turning to Twilight. "Just keep your magic going for as long as you can, and oscillate it in this pattern," I told her, clapping my hands in old morse code for SOS. "Repeat it as much as you can."

"What does that mean?" Celestia asked.

"It's an ancient form of communication on Earth called Morse Code. Originally, all letters and numbers are represented by a series of either short or long oscillations of an electric current carried by wires." I explained. "That pattern represents the letters SOS, the universal distress call. The hope is that a vessel will detect the effect Twilight's magic will have on subspace and investigate."

"And what chances dost thou expect for success?" The Princess of the Moon asked.

"That it'll be detected at all? Finding the same drop of water in the ocean again would be more likely. But if a Starfleet vessel is in the area, their automatic passive sensors will pick it up as an artificial signal, and they'll stop to investigate, especially since it'll be on a Starfleet frequency."

And with that, with the help of Luna and Celestia, Twilight aimed her magic at the stars. It was an amazing sight to see. Twilight was bathed in an aura of mixed gold and cobalt blue, the surge of magic given to Twilight had caused her eyes to turn completely white, with a stream of brilliant raspberry colored light shot out of her horn into the heavens. She was able to keep it up for almost twenty minutes before all parties involved agreed to stop to rest. After that, we all agreed that we'd only try again for ten minutes in the future at the same precise time every night.

I had set the shuttle's long range sensors to detect anything that might be construed as a response, and to notify me if any was found. We tried every night for six days with no response. But on the seventh, boy, did we ever get a response.

I couldn't believe my luck as I looked at the message on my PADD, translated from morse code.




Distress call received
USS Enterprise responding
Reply with status
Standing by




Not only had I beaten the astronomical odds of contacting someone, it was the God-damn Flagship of the Federation! But my excitement gave way to worry when I realized what that could mean. I had gone missing near the Tzenkethi DMZ. For the Enterprise to be in that area, relations with them must have taken a nose dive. I shook it off and ran to tell Twilight.

We kept the responses short to prolong how long we communicate. We sent them my Starfleet serial number with the word stranded, along with the phrase 'planet in subspace pocket - hypothesis'.




Lieutenant Scott
Sensors confirm hypothesis
Investigating methods of traversing to subspace pocket
Stand by




We didn't receive another message until three days later when they informed us that a Trill scientist by the name of Lenara Kahn had traveled from Trill to assist, apparently, she was prominent in the Trill Science Ministry and had experimented in creating artificial wormholes. She was confident that her theories would prove useful here, postulating that, like her previous attempt at creating a wormhole using a subspace tensor matrix interacting with a magneton pulse, could be targeted at our specific subspace layer and create a stable, traversable wormhole.

Two nights later, we got our answer.

Twilight watched in wonder through her telescope as a cloud of red energy appeared out of the aether, and through it flew the majestic Sovereign-Class Enterprise.

"How big is that thing?" She asked.

"How tall is Equestria's tallest building?" I responded.

"Forty-Five floors, the Unification Tower in Manehatten"

"Well, the Enterprise would equal about Twenty-Nine of those." I told her, eliciting a whistle of amazement. 

"Enterprise to Lieutenant Scott, this Captain Picard. " My comm badge suddenly sounded, I had never activated my comm badge so fast in my life as I rushed to respond.

"Captain! You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words." I said with enthusiasm inundating my voice.

"I can imagine. Our sensors show that you're currently in a population center."

"Yes, I am. The citizens of Equestria have taken care of me since I crash landed near one of their smaller settlements a little over five years ago. I've been living with them ever since."

"Five years you say? I guess that adds to the greater mystery."

"Sir?"

"According to Starfleet records, there was a Lieutenant Scott who had his shuttle damaged in the area where we detected your signal five years ago, but he was rescued. Unfortunately, he was killed in an unrelated shuttle accident last year." Picard explained. "So, you can imagine our surprise when you gave us your ID."

"I'm... dead?" I said, trying to process that revelation.

"I'm sure there's some explanation for that, but we can discuss that later."

"Yes, sir."

"Now that we're here, can you ask permission for us to beam down an away team? Despite the circumstances of this encounter, I feel that a proper first contact is in order; if only to thank them for the hospitality they have shown to you."

"You're most welcome to visit us, Captain," Twilight chimed in with a little too much excitement. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. If you give us some time to prepare for your arrival, the Princess' and I would be glad to receive you." She said, with a little more poise to her voice.

"Thank you for your offer, Princess. Contact us again when you are ready, Picard out."

"Well done Princess," I said with all the sarcasm I could muster to tease her.

"James?" Twilight asked, to which I responded with a smug look. "Shut up." She told me, sticking out her tongue followed by a giggle as we descended from the observatory tower of Canterlot castle.

Thankfully it was still early in the evening, Luna having only raised the moon an hour prior, so a rushed semi-formal reception was arranged in the castle's vast throne room. Arranged in a semi-circle around the center of the room stood Princess' Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight, as well as the Ambassadors of all the other nations that inhabited this world: Steel Talon of the Griffon Confederacy, their kingdom having recently underwent a democratic referendum, giving way for a Constitutional Monarchy to arise. Next to him stood the Foreign Affairs Minster of Saddle Arabia, Aldebaran, who was idly chatting with Ankia, the graceful Zebracan Ambassador, and Representative Owethu from the Zibraca Diamond Dog tribes. Standing with his arms crossed in front of his chest was the imposing Stout Heart from the Minotaur Republic.

Donning my uniform for the first time in years, I nervously adjusted my collar. Getting a permissive nod from Celestia, I tapped my comm badge.

"Scott to Enterprise, you are clear for transport."

In a swirling cascade of light, four figures appeared before them. 

"Captain Picard, on behalf of the representatives of the nations gathered here, welcome to Equus," Princess Celestia said, bowing her head in greeting, with everypony else following suit. Mirroring the gesture, the away team from the Enterprise returned the bow.

"Thank you for your warm welcome, Princess. I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. With me is my First Officer, Commander Worf, my Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Beverly Crusher, and our Contact Specialist, Lieutenant T'Ryssa Chen."

With formal introductions concluded, everyone was escorted to the castle's dining hall where an assortment of refreshments were prepared.

"I always find it better to conduct diplomatic business over food," Celestia stated. "Especially cake." She continued with a smile, making a beeline for her favorite dessert. 

"I have a feeling our son would agree with you, Princess," Crusher said, wrapping an arm around her husband's waist.

"Oh yes, Rene does have quite the sweet tooth," Picard said, continuing his wife's train of thought. "Tell us, what has Lieutenant Scott done to afford such company?"

"Well before Lieutenant Scott's arrival on our world," Cadence began. "Members of all of our nations were falling ill, some dying of strange ailments." She continued.

"Some of us suspected the other, which lead to increased tension between our nations," Steel Talon added. "But when it was revealed that no nation was being spared, we kept the knowledge from the public to prevent panic while the situation was investigated."

"Shortly after James arrived, one of my friends fell victim as well, who was left in a coma. Showing concern for Rainbow Dash, James, with the help of his tricorder and his shuttle's computer records, was able to find the true cause of all these problems." Twilight explained.

"It was the same solanogen-based lifeforms that the Enterprise-D encountered," I said, addressing Captain Picard directly. 

"They are without honor, attacking like thieves in the night." Stout Heart declared.

"On that, we are in agreement," Worf said, giving the Minotaur an approving glare, apparently each sensing the other's warrior pride. "I too was once a victim of their cowardice."

"The vile creatures were in league with one of Equestria's most vexing foes, one long thought imprisoned," Luna said, continuing the conversation. "With the help of these Solonae, Lord Tirek was able to escape his prison, promising them a place on our world free from the dimension from whence they came. Through abductions and experimentations most heinous, he was able to gather enough strength to take his revenge upon our land." 

"Tirek once sought to steal all the magic, the very essence of every living creature on our world, and rule with an iron fist, and for that he was imprisoned. When he began again, he was swift and brutal." Celestia explained, her voice grim. "Nopony was spared, young or old, and he nearly succeeded."

"With the help of the citizens of Ponyville, your Lieutenant did battle with Tirek, and slew him like the demon he was," Stout Heart said loudly, giving me a hard slap on the back. "The tales of the battle are glorious, and will be told for generations to come!"

"Great gallantry and selflessness was shown that day. To James Scott, a debt we owe, one such we cannot repay." Ankia said in rhyme, getting nods of agreements from all of Equus' leaders.

"That's quite the tale, one I look forward to hearing, Lieutenant," Picard said in a diplomatic tone, but his eyes showing concern.





"Shortly after that meeting, James was told by Captain Picard that a hearing, such as this, in all likelihood would be held," Twilight said in conclusion. "My friends and I are here today to speak on his behalf."

"Do you believe that he is guilty of what he is being charged?" The Admiral asked.

"Having read your laws and previous cases regarding this situation, he is, according to the letter of the law. But past cases have shown that exceptions have been made according to the spirit of the law, and for when it benefited the Federation, the Capellans for example." Twilight answered, impressing the Admiral greatly. "Your Prime Directive was put in place to protect both yourself and the civilizations that you come in contact with, and for good reason, interference in the past has been met with disaster. In this case, however, I believe that an exception should be made since the results have been nothing but positive." She continued. "James saved our world from a race of beings that without his knowledge aiding us, we would have known nothing about and been left with no warning.

"And now that our world is aware that there is an even larger universe out there, a transformative effect has taken hold. Even now, as we speak, in an unprecedented show of unity not seen in a thousand years, leaders of our nations are in negotiations to draft a constitution for what will become Equus' representative body to the galaxy. Our world is heading into a scientific golden age. Now that we know we aren't alone, new fields of research are opening up. Unaided, we're starting to develop the technology needed to start our own space exploration program, and we will succeed. 

"One of the core values of our society is Harmony through Friendship, and now that we know we aren't alone, I think we all could do with more friends."

"Very well said, Princess. Thank you for your time." The Admiral said, dismissing the Alicorn. "I believe that I have heard enough to make a judgment on this matter. This hearing is adjourned until tomorrow, 0930." He said, ringing the small bell.
> Chapter 9 - Grace Under Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My heart swelled with pride as I watched my darling Sweetie Belle trotted along with Dr. Horse. Thankfully he was one of the few in Ponyville to escape Tirek with his magic intact, unlike most gathered in this cellar, and made his way to the schoolhouse where many were hiding. Sweetie Belle followed the doctor, hanging onto his every word and helping him when asked. I couldn't help but look at the new cutie-mark she bore. The more I looked at it, the more it made sense. The young filly had always been the one who thought things through carefully, most of the time, and more often than not, she kept her friends and herself from getting hurt in whatever scheme they had come up with that week. Sweetie Belle had never liked seeing other ponies hurt.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have doubted the story had it come from somepony else. Earlier that day, only hours after word had reached Twilight that Tirek was making his way to Ponyville after rampaging through Canterlot, the front door of the boutique burst open and in staggered two fillies. Leaning against a distraught and crying Silver Spoon, was Diamond Tiara who's face was soaked in crimson from a deep gash above her right eye. Both of their coats and manes were dull and lifeless, just like Sweetie Belle.

"He.. He... He got our parents!" Silver Spoon wailed, her voice near panicking. "They told us to run... I... I... I didn't know where to go!"

I ran into the kitchen to try and find a cloth to stop Diamond's bleeding but stopped at the threshold when the sound of ripping fabric caused my heart to skip a beat. Turning around, I saw Sweetie Belle holding the makeshift bandage to Diamond Tiara's forehead. Both Silver Spoon and I watched in awe as colour returned to Sweetie Belle in a cascade of light from every colour in the spectrum.

"Sweetie... Your flank..." Silver Spoon began to say, her words catching in her throat. 

Sweetie Belle looked down at her flank and a small smile crept onto her face.





"You can make fun of it later, let's take care of your friend first." Sweetie said, not bothering to hide her sarcasm.

"Rarity." A voice said, snapping me out of the memory I had lost myself in. It was James, the human I had first thought strange, but now, when everypony else was scared, he had an air of confidence about him. He had kept everypony he could find from panicking and lead them to the schoolhouse's cellar. It was calming and reassuring just to be around him. "Do you understand what I need you to do?"

"Yes," I said, my voice faltering slightly, but then I picked my head up and stared him in the eye. "Yes, I do."

"Good," James said, giving me a nod then turning to the pegasus stallion next to him, Storm Front, the last of Ponyville's town guard. "You good to go?"

"Following your lead, Lieutenant." The stallion responded, snapping to attention.

"Let's move out," James said, pressing a button on the long device he had in his arms causing it softly hum, then made his way to the cellar door, with the pegasus close behind. Following them outside, I saw James climb onto Storm Front's back. "Rarity, I'll see you in the center of town." He told me before the two of them flew off towards the hamlet of Ponyville.

Scared out of my mind, I somehow managed to walk into town, the rage welling up inside me the only thing keeping my composure.





"Hey! Ugly!" I screamed, getting Tirek's attention, his ghastly yellow eyes boring into me. "That's right, I'm talking to you!"

"What's this, another unicorn come to try and stop me?" The monster bellowed before bursting into a frightening laugh. "Even your Princess' were no match for my power! Oh, how they screamed when I took their magic from them!" He gloated, shaking his fist at me.

"You'll pay for what you've done!"





My horn flared to life as I ripped the statue from the fountain off its base and hurled it at him with all I had. It crumbled to dust when it hit him in the chest.

"Is that all you have? Throwing pebbles?"

I grabbed the nearest thing with my magic, a wooden bench, and hurled it as I started a steady run towards the beast.

"That's for Twilight! And Fluttershy! And Rainbow Dash! And Pinkie!" I screamed, throwing any object I could get my magic on, finally ripping a lamp post from the ground and throwing it like a spear at his throat.

"And that's for Sweetie Belle you bucking son of a bitch!"





Tirek caught it with his hand and crushed it. 





"You petulant little whelp." He said quietly, his icy voice sharp enough to cut. "I've taken great care not to kill anypony, but for you I'll make an exception. I'm going to enjoy crushing the life from you!" He roared as he charged at me, bringing his backhand down on my head.





I woke screaming, my breath heaving, my mane soaked with sweat. I couldn't breathe, I struggled for air with every gasp, but it wasn't enough as I felt my hooves begin to tingle as they started to go numb.

"Rarity!" somepony yelled as I felt somepony else get onto the bed with me, I still couldn't breathe, Oh, Celestia I can't breathe! I felt two hooves grab either side of my head making my gaze meet theirs. Oh no, they can see it, I have to cover it up! I thought as I tried to fight the grasp of whoever was holding me. "Rarity, you're having a panic attack, just look at me and focus on my voice." Sweetie Belle said. "Just breath in and hold it." I did as she told me. "Now let it out and take another deep breath. Good. Now another. You're doing great."

The numbness in my extremities faded away as my mind began to clear. I wiped the tears from my eyes as I looked at my teenaged sister, who had a worried look in her eyes.

"Still having that nightmare?" She asked, bringing her hoof to my face to wipe away a stray tear I had missed. I nodded and she pulled me into a tight hug. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Sweetie Belle said with a reassuring smile. It was then that I noticed, to my embarrassment, that the bed was wet with something warm.

Helping me off the bed, the young mare took my weight on the side where my foreleg couldn't bare it, and guided me to the bathroom of the quarter's Starfleet had given us during our stay at Starbase Eighteen. It annoyed me that a room so garishly decorated could be called 'guest quarters', but I let it slide. She helped me into what James had called a 'sonic shower', not really explaining to us what it was, only saying 'Turn it on, you're in for a treat.' That first night on the Enterprise on our trip from Equus had been a treat indeed. I had never felt so refreshed after bathing.

Content that I would be ok in the shower, Sweetie gave me my privacy and headed back into the room, no doubt setting about cleaning the soiled linens. It wasn't possible for me to have more pride than I had for Sweetie Belle right now. She was growing into an outstanding lady. After the crisis had ended, she started volunteering at Ponyville's seniors home, learning from the health care aides. Now she was shadowing the nurses at the hospital, and if her grades were any indication, she was well on her way to graduating school at the top of her class. Already, Sweetie was making plans to apply to Manehatten University's pre-med program. She had her heart set on becoming a Doctor, and I wasn't going to stand in her way.

"Sweetie Belle, darling, could you bring me my leg brace, I'm done in here," I called out, and right on queue, Sweetie came in with the unattractive thing in her magic and started strapping it on to my leg. The doctors had done what they could to mend the shattered limb that day, but they said that I would need this brace to walk for the rest of my life because the damage to the ligaments and nerves were too great. Even worse, the thing was just hidious.

"There you go," She said, after securing the last strap. "Let's get you up." Using her magic, she only gave me enough assistance to keep me steady as I got up onto my own four hooves, and I followed her out of the bathroom. 

Stopping me in front of the mirror, Sweetie Bell started to brush the tangled mess that was my mane, and I was left to stare at my face. The reason I hadn't seen who it was when I had first woken up was that I couldn't see out of that eye. Tirek's strike had crushed my eye socket and left the eye damaged. Thankfully there was no scar, but where once there was a beautiful blue eye, there was now a sightless cloudy orb. Humming to herself, Sweetie carefully began to brush my mane into the style I now preferred. A sense of relief washed over me as locks began to cover the right side of my face.

Glancing at the clock, I gasped. "Is it that time already? We have to go, the hearing is about to begin!"





Sweetie Belle and I only just made it in time for the beginning of the hearing, thanks to a woman carrying a baby and her daughter holding the door to the... turbolift? Odd name for an elevator. All of us got off on the same floor, the woman included. After a few steps, it didn't take us long to realize that we're headed to the same destination. I politely smiled and let the lady enter first before taking our seat next to Twilight and Fluttershy. Glancing back, I saw the woman we had walked with take her seat at the back of the room. 

I understood why Twilight and Fluttershy were here, but couldn't figure out why James had invited me. Twilight had volunteered to testify for him, and Fluttershy was James' closest friend from Ponyville. He only told me that he was making some calls and would let me know after the hearing was concluded. All I could do was wait and hope that my friend walked out of this legal business unscathed.

"Thank you for coming again this morning." Admiral Matthews began, ringing the bell in front of him. "I bring this hearing to order. Lieutenant, upon consideration of the oral testimony, written statements from the planetary leadership of Equus, and the evidence provided, I have reached a decision. Mr. Scott, you found yourself in a situation that I feel any officer would be ill-prepared for and did the best you could under those circumstances. There was no avoiding exposing the advanced technology in your possession to a pre-warp civilization, and thus, I am dismissing the charge of interfering in the natural development of said civilization.

"However, on the second charge, interfering in the internal affairs of a civilization, I have found cause for concern. As a Starfleet officer, you should have taken a strict non-interference stance when it came to Equus' matters of state. After going through all the documentation provided to me regarding the incident with Tirek, there is no mention of a government official formally asking for your assistance, yet assist you did. 

"On this count, I was prepared to recommend that we proceed to an Article 32 trial. That is until early this morning when I was provided with incident reports dating back almost thirty years. According to these reports, there have been instances of disappearances, abductions, strange illnesses and fatalities on worlds and starships, both Federation and non-aligned, along a clear path that leads directly to the location of where you originally fell into trouble five years ago. Most, if not all, of these reports fit the modus operandi of the beings now called 'Solonae'.

"It is the opinion of Captain Picard, the Science Officers aboard his vessel and that of Starfleet Command that the incident which alerted these 'Solonae' to the presence of our reality, and subsequently their actions against the population of Equus, was caused by the actions of the ship and crew of the USS Enterprise-D between Stardates 46154 and 46191. 

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, on behalf of the crew of the Enterprise, Starfleet Command and the United Federation of Planets, we apologize for the role that Starfleet played in the events that lead to the attack on your citizenry.

"Furthermore, upon review of your personal logs and previously mentioned written statements corroborating those logs, Captain Picard has recommended that you receive a commendation for valor for your actions during the Tirek incident.  I concur and have since approved it. This does not, however, excuse you from your actions. You still knowingly and willfully interfered in the internal affairs of a foreign civilization, but in light of the results of said interference, I find no cause for an Article 32 proceeding at this time, and have instead opted for summary punishment fitting to this charge, allowed under Article 61, Section 5 of the Starfleet Code of Military Justice. Lieutenant James Matthew Scott, step forward." Admiral Matthew ordered, moving out from behind the table at the front of the room.

"It is the judgment of this hearing that you, James Matthew Scott, be reduced in rank two grades to that of Ensign," The Admiral said while reaching to James' collar and removing one gold pip. "and that a letter of reprimand be placed in your service jacket. This hearing is concluded, Ensign Scott, you are dismissed." 

James snapped to attention, turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"That's it?" Twilight asked.

"It went better than I expected," A young woman in a Starfleet Uniform said, a Commander Jesse Williamson, who was James' lawyer. "Captian Picard really pulled James' ass out of the fire here. Without the reports, he was looking at ten years in prison." She told us. "Thank you for your testimony, Princess, and safe journey home." She said in goodbye before gathering up her belongings and exiting the room.

"Excuse me, are you Uncle James' friends?" A young girl asked.

The four of us turned to face the new voice and found a girl about Rarity's height with long braided hair and what looked like spots going from her temples down her neck. 

"Why, yes, darling, we are," I answered with a smile. "Thank you for holding the Turbolift for my sister and I, and I must say you look lovely in that dress." I told her, causing the young lady to blush. "Oh, goodness me, where are my manners? I do believe introductions are in order. This is Sweetie Belle, my sister, and this is Fluttershy and Twilight. I'm Rarity, dear."

"I'm Mellissa, I'm Uncle James' niece." She told us.

"Where is your uncle?" Twilight asked.

"He's outside the room talking with my mom."

"Oh, I do hope everything is alright," Fluttershy said softly. "They had a terrible fight when we visited before."

"Everything should be fine." Mellissa started to explain. "Two days ago my Mom got a call from some man named Thomas, he said that he had gone through something similar to Uncle James. They talked for a long while. Then my Mom, brother and I caught the next transport here." She said. "I'm just glad I have my uncle back. Do you want to go talk to them?"

The four of us followed her outside the room and into the foyer of the Starfleet JAG offices, and there was James sitting in a waiting room chair with a small human in his arms. The look of pure joy on his face was unmistakable. With his cheeks soaked in tears, he beckoned us over to him.

"Oh, he's so tiny!" Sweetie Belle said ecstatically, getting a giggle out of the infant. "What's his name?" 

"James," Melanie said with a smile. "He was born two months ago, so I named him in memory of his Uncle, and now he finally gets to meet him." She said, her voice cracking as she started to cry. Passing the infant off to Mellissa, James pulled his sister into a hug. "Oh, Jim, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like that!"

"It's ok Mel, it's ok. That was the shock talking, and I forgive you. We good?" He told her, pulling away from her and holding her at arms length.

"Yeah," She answered with a sniffle. "We're good." James pulled her into another hug and kissed her forehead.

"So..." Twilight said, a mischievous grin sliding across her face. "Jim..." She continued, her smile widening even further.

"Princess?" James said, getting a smug look from the alicorn. "Shut up." James said, sticking his tongue out at her as they both broke into laughter at their in-joke.

"So, who wants lunch?" Fluttershy said, getting the attention of everypony.

"I'm starving, we didn't have time to eat when we got off the transport this morning." Mellissa said.

"Sorry to interrupt, but are you Lieutenant Scott?" a tall Starfleet officer with black eyes wearing a blue medical overcoat asked.

"It's Ensign now, but yeah, I am." James responded.

"I'm Dr. Nikael, I'm the head of surgery here at Starbase Eighteen. You said that you had a friend who would benefit from my services."

"Yeah, I do," James said, turning towards me. 

"And you are, Miss?" The doctor asked.

"Rar... Rarity." I fumbled to answer. 

"Well, Miss Rarity, while I am head of surgery, my specialty is stem-cell tissue regeneration. To put it in layman's terms, I can take the base building blocks of your body, stem-cells, and with them I am able to grow replacement tissue, like internal organs such as the heart, lungs, even eyes." He explained. 

I turned to James with a questioning stare. "Can he? Is that possible?" I asked.

"Yeah, Dr. Nikael is the reason I asked for the hearing to be held here." James said, answering my question. Grabbing him in my magic, I pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you," I said, crying into his shoulder.





Along the way to the Starbase Hospital complex having left Twilight, Fluttershy, and the others, James explained what happened and how I got injured. He even explained the events after I was hit. The plan was for me to distract Tirek while James' lined up a shot with his rifle to take Tirek out, and Storm Front was the back up plan, carrying a satchel of five photon grenades if either of us failed. After I was hit, James was able to lure Tirek away by shining his rifle's targeting laser in his eyes while Storm Front dropped the grenade satchel on Tirek's horns. Before he could react, James shot the grenades and that was the end of Tirek. When he died, all the stolen magical power left his body, returning to those he had stolen it from, leaving behind the body of a frail centaur. 

"James, setting our ranks aside, can I say something, man to man?" Dr. Nikael asked.

"Sure, Doc," James answered, getting a swift slap upside the head as his response.

"What the hell were you thinking using a Lady as a decoy?" 

"He did the only thing he could do. I was the only choice. No other unicorn could provide the distraction he needed." I told the doctor, coming to the defense of my friend. "He hurt my Sweetie Belle, Tirek got what he deserved, and I regret nothing."

"Very well, if Miss Rarity is willing to defend you, I'll forgive you, but don't let me hear about you doing this again," Dr. Nikael said. "Thank you for walking with us, Ensign, but my team and I need to examine Miss Rarity, and you don't need to be present."

"Yes, sir." He answered. "Let me know when you're done Rarity, and I'll come pick you up," James said to me, before heading off towards the food court on the Starbase Promenade to join the others. 

"If you'll follow me," The doctor said, leading me into an examination room. "Now, before we begin, I have to be honest with you. I'm a Betazoid, we're a race of telepaths. Some of our race can only sense emotions, while the more powerful of us can sense the thoughts of others. I fall into the later." He told me, getting a nervous look from me. "That's generally the reaction I get. I'm very discrete with the thoughts I do read and I do the best I can to restrain my abilities. But the more powerful the emotion behind the thought, the harder it is to ignore.

"How long have you been having these panic attacks? Keep in mind that I'm bound by Doctor/Patient confidentiality and cannot tell anyone about it." He asked after a short pause. I was left stunned, not knowing how to answer, but I shook it off.

"Since it happened," I told him, meekly. 

"Does your physician know about them?"

"No, I've been... too embarrassed." I answered, my voice barely above a whisper. 

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Rarity. What you're suffering from is what we call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's common among those who experience a particularly traumatic event like yours, and one I am, sad to say, all too familiar with being a military doctor." He explained. "Now, before we met, I was sent the medical database given to us by your planet's medical community, and I've found that they have a very good anti-anxiety medication that will help, and I'm prescribing it to you." He said, hitting a few buttons on a terminal in the exam room, making a piece of paper appear in the replicator. He gave it to me, and it was written in my language. "Give that to your Doctor along with the medical files I'm going to send home with you. You also need to speak with a counselor about this, promise me that, will you?"

"I will, Doctor, thank you," I answered after thinking on his words.

"Is this her?" A female doctor asked, walking into the exam room. She was tall, and covered in white fur and had a short muzzle like a cat. Like Opalescence. Exactly like Opalescence. All I could do was try and hide my laughter. "Is something funny?"

"She thinks you look like her cat," The Doctor answered before I could respond, leaving me slack-jawed, my face flush with embarrassment, but he just smiled and shrugged at me.

"Here I thought only humans got that reaction when they see a Caitian. I'm Dr. R'Miia, I'm an Orthopedic surgeon. While Dr. Nosey-pants here is going to fix up those peepers of yours, how would you like to get rid of that leg brace? Hmm?" The cat like doctor asked, her voice sounding like she was purring.

Unable to speak, all I could do was smile.

"She says yes," Dr. Nikael said, making R'Miia slap him on the back of his head. 

I just laughed.
> Chapter 10 - Home Is Where Your Heart Is
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four Months Later...

The brisk autumn wind brought a chill to the air as it blew through the tall, overgrown grass that was slowly turning brown. In an open meadow, a modest wooden cabin sat alone. Gone was the wreckage that once sat near it, the only sign it was once there were the depressions in the soil from where it came to violent rest. The windows were no longer covered in the blue curtains that Rarity had made, its interior stripped of all personal belongings when he left. All that was left that said he was here was the small cabin in the meadow.

James had turned over the deed to the land to me and asked that if anypony needed a place to stay, to make use of it. So far, I had every intention to make good on my promise, but as of yet, no pony had needed shelter. Another gust of cold wind blew through the meadow, sending a chill down my spine, causing my wings to shiver. I unfurled them and gave them a good stretch before tucking them back close to my barrel for warmth as something soft brushed against my foreleg.

"Oh, hello Angel. What are you doing here? It's a little cold to be out, you should be back at home next to the fire." I told him softly. 

The small white rabbit looked up at me, thumped his foot and pointed at the cabin.

"No, James doesn't live there anymore," I answered.

Tilting his head to the side and crossing his forelegs across his chest, Angel stared back up at me.

"I don't know when he's coming back," I told him solemnly. 

He got back down on all fours and layed down in the grass, staring at the cabin.

"I miss him too," I said, a small tear forming at the corner of my eye. Another breeze blew, this one colder than the last, carrying with it a few scattered leaves from the Everfree.  I felt Angel climb up my leg, across my back and tunneling his way through my pink mane, gathering up as much hair as he could for warmth. "Yeah, it is pretty cold, isn't it. Why don't we go home, OK?" I told the creature now shivering atop my head.

Taking one last look at the cabin before flying off, I spoke softly to myself.

"Happy Birthday, James."





USS Rio Branco - En route between Earth and Vulcan

I stepped off the transporter pad, duffle bag slung across my shoulder. Unlike the starship I had just been transported from, the age of the vessel was readily apparent. The panels covering the bulkheads were dull and showed telltale signs of age and the computer panels displayed dated interfaces. What have I gotten myself into?

"Hello, Ensign! Welcome to the Rio Branco, I'm Commander Gianna Cruz, ships Executive Officer." She greeted in a thick Puerto Rican accent, then paused as she observed me taking in my surroundings, the silence in the room made the enlisted transporter technician appear nervous. The Commander was an elderly woman, easily in her late fifties with hair that had long since turned gray. Seems the ship isn't the only thing that's old.

"Nice ship," I said, mustering the best smile I could fabricate.

"You don't have to play nice with me, Mr. Scott, the Rio Branco is an old lady, like her XO. She sure ain't an Akira or Luna like you've flew before, but this old Oberth will fool ya. Walk with me, Ensign." She ordered. "Other ships call her a rust bucket, but she's our rust bucket. Starfleet assigned us to her and said get the job done, and that's what we do." The commander continued, her voice taking on a serious edge. 

She let out a sigh when she noticed my unenthused face and stopped to face me, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Ensign. I know this is a shit assignment. We get the rejects, troublemakers, loaners and what not that no one else wants. I read your record, Scott, you're an exemplary officer and an insane pilot. But Starfleet, in their infinite wisdom, shat on you for doing the right thing." The elderly officer told me, her affable if somewhat salty personality already starting to endear herself. "Just keep you head down, do your job, and come evaluation season, some other vessel might want to take you away from us, maybe with a replacement half pip on that collar of yours."

"Thank you, Commander. That's what I intend to do." I told her with an appreciative nod.

"None of that, Gia's fine," She said with a smile. "Least when the Captain's not around, and never on the bridge."

"Will do, Gia," I replied, emphasizing her name.

"Outstanding," She exclaimed. "Anyways, this here is your quarters." She explained, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at the door behind her. "Stow your gear and report to the bridge in forty minutes for the start of gamma shift." She ordered then headed down the corridor and disappeared into the turbolift.

Dropping my duffle on my bunk, I took stock of my quarters. As far as rooms went, this wasn't bad. It sure wasn't the shared quarters T'Pomei and I had on Galatea, or Senior Officer stateroom I had on the Juno Beach. Compared to those two, this was a closet. All I had was a small desk and chair, a living area complete with a two-chair dining table and a couch off to the side, and a chest-high divider blocking the view of the queen-size bed and the door leading to the head.

I sunk down into the couch and let out a drawn out sigh as I tried to rub the stress out of my eyes. As late as the early 2370s, a posting on an Oberth-Class starship was a plumb assignment. Back then, this class of ship would most likely be tasked with scientific, archeological, and anthropological research or routine diplomatic missions, a great place for scientists to continue their work, or those on the command track looking to cut their teeth and work their way up the ranks. 

But the aging class gave way to its replacement, the Nova-Class, and the venerable Oberth was put 'out to pasture' so to speak, most being decommissioned, the rest being repurposed for basic transport and courier duties. Which was a damn shame; despite its size and small crew compliment, this class of ship was a work-horse. With 13 decks and a maximum crew complement of eighty, it was a fast ship to build, simple to maintain, and easy to crew. Especially since this class can effectively be run largely through automation with a skeleton crew of five. It's no wonder that this class has seen service for over a hundred and ten years. 

But now, aging vessels like the Rio Branco have become simply the go to ships for the milk runs, and dirty jobs that fit the very description of 'crap rolls down hill', crewed by the undesirable, of whom I seem to be a part of. Fuck my life.

Getting up I looked myself in the mirror and straightened my uniform. Checking that my appearance was well kept and that nothing was out of place, I left my quarters and got on the turbolift to the bridge, which consisted of a five-second ride up two decks. Stepping out onto the bridge, I approached the center chair.

"Ensign James Scott, reporting for duty," I stated smartly while standing at attention, addressing the Saurian Captain.

"Very good to see that you're on time, Ensign," The purple skinned officer said in a dull monotone, contrasting sharply with his affable XO. "I'm Captian Maltuvis. You'll be relieving your direct superior, Lieutenant Lydia Johnson." He ordered, gesturing to the officer seated at the Conn who was already standing up to greet me.

"It's good to meet you, Ensign." She said. Lydia was a head shorter than me. Her bright, fiery red hair contrasted sharply with her pale white skin and abundance of freckles. Her cerulean blue eyes completed her cherubic face, which was unmistakably very young, and her demeanour was oh so very green, the half pip on her collar denoting the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade was most likely less than a week old. 

"Likewise, ma'am." I responded, nodding at my supervisor that was probably ten years my junior. "I'm ready to relieve you."

"You seem very by the book, Ensign," She said with a smile. "I stand relieved." She then walked off the bridge with a youthful bounce to her step.

Taking the helm, I quickly acclimated myself with the antiquated interface, taking note of our position, current heading and previously logged destination.

"Helm, resume our course for Vulcan, warp factor six." The Captain droned.

"Aye, course laid in for Vulcan, warp speed at your command," I said professionally, garnering a few stares from the other officers on the bridge.

"Proceed," The Saurian said flatly, devoid of any emotion. Not even T'Pomei had displayed that amount of emotionlessness. Had I not been on the bridge, I would have rolled my eyes and buried my face in my palms. Using a single finger, I dramatically hit the large flashing indicator button on the helm marked 'engage' and let out a long exhale to hide my dissatisfaction.

A warm hand placed itself on my shoulder as Gia leaned down to talk in my ear. 

"In case no one has said it today," She started. "Happy birthday, Ensign." She said with a smile and a wink, and I smiled back.

I guess some parts of this assignment won't be all that bad.





"This your sweetheart?" Gia asked, holding the photo I kept of T'Pomei I kept on my desk.

I had been on the Rio Branco for two weeks now, and I'd like to think I was settling in. Lydia, my supervisor in the Flight Operations department, was a decent officer and good pilot in her own right, but I knew I could fly circles around her. She had potential, and this assignment wasn't helping her realize it. She needed to be somewhere else to test her mettle, not on this ship where careers go to die. The Captain, well, he's 'indifferent' in every sense of the word. Maltuvis was not your typical Saurian. I really had no idea why he was the way he was. Gia, on the other hand, we had become quick friends. Smart, great sense of humor, and a razor-sharp wit tempered with sarcasm. But like any good XO, she knows when to crack the whip. She gave respect when it was due and commanded it in return, and I was all too happy to oblige.

"She... she was my fiancé. We met just before we graduated from the Academy." I answered flatly.

"Was... oh," Gia said quietly, setting the photo frame back to its place of reverence.

"Ah, it's ok, Gia. You didn't know." I responded.

"How'd she die?" The Commander asked, carefully, sitting down on the opposite end of my couch.

"She was killed in the attack on Utopia Planitia," I answered. "We were due to be getting married two months later."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said gently. "How'd you two meet?"

I thought on her question for a moment, mulling over if I even wanted to have this conversation. Then I decided what the hell and got up to grab something from the small temperature controlled cabinet I kept near my quarters replicator.

"You know what, if I'm going to tell you that, I need a drink, and since we're both off duty tomorrow, I gotta ask: What's your opinion on hard apple cider?" I said with a sly grin holding a large labelless bottle of golden liquid that was a farewell gift from Apple Jack.

"Why do I get the feeling that I should be wary about what I'm getting myself into?"

"What's wrong, can't hold your booze?"

"Ho-hoo... Pour me a glass, Ensign, that's an order." She said, tapping her knuckles on my glass coffee table.

"This here is Sweet Apple Acres Black Reserve, Granny Smith's special recipe. Carefully aged ten years in bottles sealed with corks made from the wood of trees near the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest." I explained dramatically, carefully pouring the beverage, chilled to fifteen degrees celsius.

"Sounds ominous, but I call bullshit, cider that old would be vinegar by now," Gia said, taking her glass and giving it a tentative sniff.

"Granny Smith has been making hard cider longer than you've been orderin' Ensigns around. What was Captain Kirk like, by the way." I retorted, making a jab at her age, getting Gia to start laughing with a snort. "But seriously, the Apples have been doing this for generations, they're famous for it." I explained further, and then I watched as she took a sip of the beverage. All I could do was smile as I saw the painful wince on her face. Then she took a longer drink of the beverage.

"Smooth," Gia said with a raspy voice, offering her glass for a refill. "How'd they keep the flavor while getting the alcohol content so high?" 

"The Commander knows her stuff," I stated, taking a drink from my glass, savoring the sweet taste followed by its sharp burn.

"Brother owns a brewery outside of Camuy in Puerto Rico."

"I asked Granny that and here's what she told me," I started, clearing my throat. "This old mare does not kiss and tell," I said, doing my best impression of her.

"Mare?"

"Mare, as in a female horse. The largest population on Equus are similar to horses on Earth. I thought you read my file."

"It didn't say anything about who lived on that planet you made an 'improvised landing' on."

Grabbing a PADD off the coffee table, I pulled up a photo from Apple Bloom's cute-ceañera of her opening a new chemistry set which was a present from Twilight, since the photo had Granny Smith in it and handed it to Gia.

"The green one with the white hair is Granny Smith."

"Huh..." Gia grunted then took another drink. "Now, back on subject mister. You. Pretty Vulcan. How."

"I was her evaluator for her basic pilot's certification. Before she got assigned to me, I made a comment to my dormmate about her being cute, her Vulcan ears overheard and... well, she wasn't offended and I asked her out to drinks with my friends." I told her. "I thought that would be the end of it, but it was she who asked me out on a second date, to a screening of a 1960's film, Night of the Living Dead!

Apparently when she first got to Earth to join the Academy, she got the idea of watching old horror and comedy movies to better understand how humans deal with living lives devoid of logic." I lied. 

I wasn't going to tell Gia that in our most intimate moments; when she was free to let down her emotional guard along with her facade of logic, T'Pomei admitted that she loved comedies and thought horror films were fun, having enjoyed them since she was a child when she would sneak off to watch them with her childhood friends on the various Starfleet ships her parents were assigned to. Remembering the sound of her joy-filled, tender voice she had during those moments brought a smile to my face. God, I miss her laugh.

"Your Vulcan fiancé was a movie buff?" Gia asked skeptically, taking the cider bottle and refilling her glass.

"Why's that so hard to believe? I've seen weirder things."

"Oh, really? Like whut." Gia retorted, her speech slightly slurred.

"A race of colorful talking horses who have abilities that can only be logically described as magic."

"Bullshit."

"The one in the photo I showed you, the one with the white coat and purple hair," I said, struggling to reach for the PADD in my tipsy state to point at the photo. "Rarity, tha one. I watched 'er throw a twelve ton granite statue twenty feet with 'er mind! I saw it through the scope of my rifle. Swear ta god." I said, raising my hands in the air then I downed the rest of my glass.

"Now, that, that I wuld love ta see." Gia said, wearing a shit-eating green. We both just laughed and sat in silence for a while, enjoying the warmth of our drunken state and the comradery of sharing a drink with a friend. Breaking the silence, Gia turned to me. "James, stop me if I'm go'n outta line 'ere, but what th' hell are you doing here?"

"What?"

"In Starfleet! I mean, it's obvious yer not happy, and as assignments go, this one takes the prize. Me, I'm just here to watch Malty's back, I owe'm, tha' scaly bastard saved my hide a few too many times than I'd like to admit. But you! You should be an Exec by now! Not take'n orders from someone green'r than grass!"

"I dunno Gia, I do not know. Before that whole mess years back I was think'n 'bout resigning, hell, look where staying in got the other me! I just don't know anymore." I said, expecting an answer. I looked over at Gia, and she was passed out. I got up, willing the room to stop spinning, and grabbed a blanket from my bottom drawer and covered my snoring superior officer.

I stumbled over to my own bed, and looked back at Gia. Just what the hell am I doing? I asked myself. 

Then I collapsed onto my bed, sleep quickly taking over.

"Mmmm... soft..." I moaned before the blackness took me.




***

To say I was uncomfortable, well, that would be understating it. By a country mile. The pounding throb assaulting my head felt like taiko drums reverberating inside my skull. I won't be touching the hooch for a while.

It was early in the morning, and the ship's galley seemed to be the quietest place to be to eat, my quarters currently being occupied by one snoring Starfleet Commander. How I managed to sleep through that ruckus I don't know. The communal dining hall on board was quiet, with only a few people mulling about in the early hours before the start of Alpha shift. Soon this place would be full of officers getting their morning meal before heading off to their assigned duties. 

Ignoring my surroundings, I shoved another spoonful of oatmeal from the bowl I was hunched over into my mouth. I savored the near textureless slop of replicator fare, thankful that no chewing was required because I didn't think I could take the pain that would come from having to use the muscles in my jaw. I take another spoonful in an attempt to ignore the new sound assaulting my ears. I focused on my meal until a shadow fell over the table, making me look up.

"-ott, you ok?" A female voice asked me in a normal tone, but far too loud for my condition. I put a single finger to my lips and made a shushing noise before grabbing my half full glass of orange juice and proceeded to chug the contents.

"Sorry, hangover." I responded in a hushed tone. Having never seen her out of uniform or with her hair down, it took me a bit to recognize Lydia, who now resided in the chair across from me. 

"So that's what you and the commander were doing..." She responded in a more reasonable volume this time.

"Word of advice, Lieutenant: Best leave inquiries about the off-duty activities of your superiors alone..." I told her. "But if you must know, the Commander and I shared a few drinks. Particularly strong drinks." After taking another spoonful and swallowing, I look up at the Ginger on the other side of the table. "Is there something I can help you with, Lieutenant?"

"You've been in Starfleet a while right?" Lydia asked, dipping a piece of her breakfast sausage into the liquid yolk of her sunny side up eggs then popping it into her mouth.

"Thirteen years this June, why?"

"And you're a flight instructor to?"

"I have to recertify, but yeah... where is this going?" I asked, looking to the woman in front of me nervously moving the contents of her plate around with her fork, avoiding eye contact. "Lieuten-- Lydia, what's up?" I inquired with concern.

"My evaluation is coming up in a few days and I'm worried about it."

"Seriously? You're a good pilot, you'll do fine."

"No, I don't do well when I know I'm being evaluated. It's silly, I know, but I almost flunked out of the academy." She told me in earnest. "Can you help me out?" She pleaded, genuinely worried. "I could lose my promotion if I don't do well, I didn't do that well on my eval before I got promoted..." she trailed off.

I mulled over what she asked in my mind. Do I help her? If she does poorly, I could be next in line to take her place. Could I live with being that callous though? Ruining her career to further my own? I thought. I let the notion sit on my mind for a few more seconds before I remembered what Gia had asked me last night. Do I even want to continue my career? Despite the seriousness of it, the decision was surprisingly easy.

"Meet me in Holodeck One at thirteen hundred hours. Don't be late."

"Thank you!" She said with excitement but caused me to wince in pain at the sudden increase in volume. "Sorry..." she apologized. "So, what was it that you drank that caused Gia to stumble out of your quarters this morning?" 

I almost spit my oatmeal all over the table.





"Helm, get us a firing solution on that Galor!" I ordered from the center chair of what was a very convincing replica of the Rio Branco's bridge. The lights were dimmed and awash with pulsing red lights from the status alerts. The current simulation had the ship engaged in combat in a reenactment of 'Operation Return' from the Dominion War where Starfleet and Klingon forces successfully took back Deep Space Nine and prevented Dominion reinforcements from coming through the Bajoran Wormhole. "Tactical, lock on torpedos and fire when you have a shot."

"Captain! Jem'Hadar fighter on an intercept course... They're going to ram us!" The holographic officer reported from the Operations station.

"Helm, take evasive!"

"On it!" Lydia said, her hands dancing across her console, just as I felt the sensation of vertigo as the inertial dampeners struggled to keep the ships occupants where they were instead of smeared on the bulkhead as Lydia pulled the ship into a high-speed emergency dive. I had to give her points for effort, it was a good move, and on a different class of ship it would have been the right call. But not this time.

"Computer, freeze program," I ordered right at the moment of impact. Now frozen in time, the bridge was in the middle of exploding around us. Consoles were erupting with sparks and plumes of flame. Two officers were thrown from their stations at such a velocity that would certainly kill them. I walked up to the helm where I found Lydia staring at the forward viewscreen, her arms crossed over her chest in frustration.

"What happened?" She asked, unable to check the readouts on the helm, which had gone dark, its surface beginning to crack and distend, frozen at the very moment before it would have exploded from a power surge.

"When you took the ship into a dive, the Jem'Hadar vessel clipped the tail end of the secondary hull," I told her, getting a surprised look from her. "Computer, take us out into space so we can look at the Rio Branco," I ordered.

The bridge faded from view as we found ourselves standing in the midst of a pitched battle, hundreds of starships doing their best to destroy themselves. Directly in front of us was the Rio Branco, now in its death throes from the collision with the enemy ship.

"That was a good maneuver and would be a good call on any other class of ship the Branco's size, like a Steamrunner or Saber, but you need to take into consideration the Oberth's unique dimensions when you're piloting her. The secondary hull juts out quite a ways." I explained. "Computer, rewind to the point where Ops reported the enemy vessels collision, then resume, instead rotate the Rio Branco thirty-five degrees on its z-axis to starboard while pulling forty-five degree bank to starboard."

Both of us watched as the battle rewound itself, paused, then resume, this time the ship turned hard instead of diving, causing the Jem'Hadar vessel to narrowly miss with only its shields grazing that of the Rio Branco. 

"Computer, end program," I ordered, causing the whole simulation we had been in for several hours to fade away. I took a few steps away from Lydia and rubbed the bridge of my nose, trying to put what I wanted to say in the most tactful way that I could. "Lieutenant." I began. "This is my professional opinion: You're going to bomb your evaluation if you intend to keep your current position of head of flight ops." I told Lydia flatly. I watched as the look of defeat crept onto her face. God damn it, she looks like I kicked her puppy. "But it'll look favorably on you if you ask for a transfer to another vessel where you wouldn't hold the same posting. You'll get to keep your rank. 

"You have the raw skill but what you lack is experience," I told her. 

"So, what do I do?"

"Exactly what I told you, ask for a transfer. Explain that you do not think that you have the requisite experience to continue as head of flight operations. I'll talk to Gia about it, discreetly." I answered, getting a slight smile in return. "Listen, I'm owed a few favors, and I don't mind calling them in to help you. I'll see what I can do to grease some wheels in your favor."

Lydia agreed with me, and we parted ways after leaving the holodeck. I headed back to my quarters and took a seat at my desks computer terminal. 

"Computer, open a subspace communique to Captain Sigrengar on the Galatea," I ordered, then watched the screen turn on displaying the insignia of the United Federation of Planets for several minutes before I was greeted with the toothy smile of a female Gallamite. Captain Sigrengar is a friendly, talkative woman who never hesitated to defuse someone's unease with her transparent skull with humor. She had me in stitches when I first met her, having been left awkwardly staring at her brain when I reported for duty on the Galatea.

"James! Is that really you?" She asked.

"It's a long story, Captain, and I'll tell you in a bit, but this isn't a social call," I told her. "I got a favor to ask, word has it that you're galavanting around the Romulan border for the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps."

"Yeah, I'm playing chauffeur to those suits in the Dip Corps." She answered with annoyance. "I miss being in the Beta Quadrant. How can I help?"

"You wouldn't be looking for a good flight officer would you?" I asked.

"You looking to get back here, Jimmy?"

"No, not asking for me, this is for someone else. That and I think any transfer request I make wouldn't be approved." I told her, my voice becoming serious. "I got busted down to Ensign a couple months ago and my current assignment is somewhat of punishment of sorts."

"I was wondering how you wound up on the Rio Branco. Maltuvis still in command?" I nodded. "So, who's this pilot you speak so highly of?"

"Her name's Lydia Johnson, Lieutenant Junior Grade, she's currently head of flight ops. This ship is no place for a young pilot like her, it'll kill her career before it's even begun." I explained. "She's good, but she needs experience which she's not getting here," I told her, explaining the whole situation. My old Captain listened intently. When I finished, she explained that my old friend Ernie Bowman, who had been my department head on the Galatea, was retiring next month and that a spot would be open, provided the right recommendations were included with the transfer request. 

Our conversation turned to how I was still alive and kicking, my experiences on Equus, and how I got demoted. I also told her what I intended to do right after this call ended.

"Yeah, Admiral Matthews is an asshole." She said, spitting his name out like an epithet. "He's always been a hard-nosed, by-the-book judge and equally harsh with his sentencing. You're lucky you got off with what you did, he would have sent you to prison and slept soundly that night.

"Alright, have Ms. Johnson send me that transfer request when she can. James, it's good see you again. Take care of yourself."

"I will Captain."

"Good luck. Oh, one more thing, tell Gia I said hi," Sigrengar said with a wink then cutting the channel. I leaned back in my chair and let out a long sigh, using my hands to rub the stress off my face. Now for the hard part.

"Computer, compose the following letter then transfer it to PADD..." I ordered, grabbing one of the PADDs off my desk and read off its serial number. "Six-Four-Delta."




Attention: Captain Maltuvis, Commander Cruz - USS Rio Branco, Starfleet Command

This letter is to inform you and serve as my official notice of intent to resign my commission as an officer in Starfleet, effective immediately as of stardate 68952.

Ensign James Matthew Scott
Flight Operations Officer
USS Rio Branco



As soon as I affixed my thumbprint to the document, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and a smile graced my face. Of course now I had to go give it to the Captain, but that could wait. Taking the PADD in hand, I left my quarters and headed to go talk to Gia.





"You sure about this?" Gia said, holding the letter in her hand.

"Yeah. I think we both know my career is done."

Explaining Lydia's situation was the easy part, and she agreed wholeheartedly, promising to speak with the Captain about it. But this gave Gia pause.

"Alright. Well... Despite the short time, it's been a pleasure, Ensign." Gia said, shaking my hand.

"Likewise, Commander," I said with a smile.

"Let's go tell Malty, shall we?" 





Vulcan - One Week Later

I stood under the burning gaze of Vulcan's three suns, the breeze coming off the Varoth Sea did nothing to alleviate the heat. Before me was a six-foot tall, eighty-foot long wall of obsidian colored stone. Behind it was five more just like it. On them, evenly spaced in both Vulcan and Federation Standard, were the names of every Vulcan Starfleet officer that had died in the line of duty. 

I could see other Vulcan's reading names off another part of the wall, quietly mourning in their own way. Having been told that the silence of the  memorial in the city of Kwil'inor was serene, I hadn't expected it to be unnerving as well. It was so quiet that you could hear the waves crashing on the coast.

It took me several minutes to find it, but there it was written in small text. I had to kneel down to read it, placing my hand on the shockingly cold stone.




T'Pomei, Daughter of Tes and Voris, Betrothed of James Scott
Lieutenant Commander
Utopia Planitia, Stardate 59264




With no body to bury, no grave to visit, all I had was a name etched on a wall. She didn't deserve this, I thought, clenching my fist as rage welled up inside me, wishing I could focus that rage onto the bastard that murdered her.

"It would seem that the universe has shown us once again its capacity for infinite possibilities." A Vulcan woman said quietly, referencing the Vulcan philosophy of 'Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations'. "It is... good to see you again, James." 

I had sent her a message after I resigned, letting her know what had happened and that I was coming to see the new memorial. 

"Hello, Tes. It's good to see you too." I told T'Pomei's mother, managing a smile. If age wasn't a factor, Tes would be a mirror image of her daughter. The smile didn't last though.

"You seem troubled," She observed. 

"She deserved better than this. All I got was a memorial service and now a name on a wall. And now all I can think about is strangling the life out of the bastard that did this."

"Anger is an understandable emotion in this circumstance. Even though we both have had time to grieve for T'Pomei, being here does 'open old wounds' as you humans say. I would be lying if I said I too had not had thoughts like yours." She told me. "As a security officer in Starfleet, I was once tasked with protecting my fellow officers. To have my daughter taken from us in the manner she was, despite logic telling me that there was nothing I could have done, my training left me wanting to have done more."

"I know, but it's hard for me not to think about. It's just that there was so much that we had planned. She wanted to give you grandchildren." I explained, my lip quivering. "Then she died and all that was taken away." I continued, tears running down my face. "Oh, Tes, I miss her. I want her back." 

The last thing I expected was the woman, who until now I had known to be one of the most stoic Vulcans I had ever met, to pull me into a tight hug. 

"I know, my son. Know that you are not alone in this." She spoke softly. Gently pulling away from her, I looked into her eyes.

"Son?"

"Yes. You were the one my Daughter chose to spend her life with. Your progeny would have been our grandchildren. It is only logical that Voris and I consider you family."

"You have no idea how much that means to me," I told her. 

"My husband mentioned the significance that would have for you. You are welcome. Now, Voris and I have made ready a room for you to stay with us during your time on Vulcan. He has also prepared this evening's meal and invites you to join us."

"I'd love too... Mom." I answered with a smile, which got a raised eyebrow and a nod of approval in return.

"I have learned that your sister has given birth to a new child. Would you tell me about him?" She asked. Wearing a big smile, I started telling Tes about my nephew.





Trill - The Following Week...

I stood on the stoop of my sisters house, having just rang the door bell. I could hear a child crying in the house. Suddenly the front door's electronic lock released and the door opened slightly.

"James, I know it's you, I'm a little busy, come on in!" My sister yelled from somewhere within.

"Uncle Jim!" Mellisa yelled as she ran down the stairs and jumped into my arms.

"Hey there, munchkin," I greeted, squeezing her tightly. "I missed you so much."

"Is it true you left Starfleet?"

"It is. Don't have to take orders anymore, that means I get to do whatever I want, and that includes visiting my favorite niece!"

"I'm your only niece!"

"Are you?" I asked in jest, poking her nose with my index finger before setting her down.

"Well, as I live and breath. James Scott, back from the dead. It's good to see you." 

"Timor! You ugly son-of-a-bi--" I started to say, before noticing Mellisa still standing in the room. "Gun. Been too long." 

"Nice save. How long are you staying?"

"How long can you stand me?"

"That a trick question?" The stalky Trill asked before grabbing me in a hug. "You need work?" He asked.

Timor had been asking me to work for him for years, but until now I had always had a reason to decline. So I didn't dismiss the idea out of hand.

"I actually came for the Scott Free," I told him, asking him about my parent's freighter which was left to me in their will. I left it in the care of Timor's company when it was bequeathed to me, but now I had use for it.

"Yeah," Timor said, scratching the back of his head. "About that. The Scott Free is in mothballs at the moment, she needs a new navigational deflector and her warp core is long past due for a refit."

"What the hell did you do to it?" I asked, a little shocked.

"James, that ship's pushing almost forty, takes a lot of maintenance to keep her going."

"Well, what would I have to do to get you to get her going again?"

"I've got a cargo run to Bolarus and back. It's a three-week round trip, you command it for me and I'll have the Scott Free ready for you when you get back." 

"Done and done," I said, shaking his hand.





It was a long time coming. Being back here was giving me chills. The good kind. 

The Scott Free was functioning perfectly. Timor had done a bang up job getting her and the trip here had been uneventful. He even had his engineers rig the ship for a great deal of automation. 

But he hadn't added the best deflector dish available outside of Starfleet, normally equipped on civilian research vessels. I had sold the freighter's detachable cargo modules after running several cargo runs on my own to pay for it, but it was all for this moment. After contacting Lenara Kahn to ask about how I would need to reproduce the method to return to the subspace fold where Equus was located, she helped me program the deflector to automatically create the 'wormhole' I needed.

"Computer, execute program Kahn-Zero-One," I ordered. On the viewscreen, I watched as a golden stream of directed energy target a specific point in space, followed a pulse of white energy impacting it, causing a swirling vortex to open. With a smile, I engaged the vessel's engines and traveled through the hole in reality.

After a few moments of the viewscreen only showing a miasma of orange  strings of energy, it all suddenly snapped away, revealing the blackness of space again, and in the center was a yellow main-sequence star, a blue-green orb and its silver moon. 

"Time to head home," I said as I brought the ship on course for landing.





The Everfree forest had always been a dangerous place, but that made it the best place to hide. I knew that I was one of the most wanted unicorns in Equestria, so staying here in the forest that most sane ponies was the best course of action.

Approaching a small pond of water to take a drink, a small object, partially covered in dirt on the other side caught my eye. 

It was a small wooden box, but something was off. I touched it with my hoof only to be shocked with crackling magic. But this was not ordinary magic. No unicorn made this and it wasn't the same as that purple alicorn could do. No, this was Zebracian Shamanistic curse.

Taking the wooden box in my turquoise magic, I easily dispelled the curse and opened the container. Intense crimson light filled my vision, and in the center of the box was a silver amulet depicting a unicorn with wings surrounding a glowing red jewel.

"This can't be... No..." I said to myself, picking the unassuming piece of jewelry in my hoof. It felt powerful. I felt powerful. If this was what I thought it was, I could take my revenge. That bitch Fluttershy and her meddlesome friends would pay.

A deafening roar above me drew my attention away from the object in my hoof. Donning the amulet, I ran through the woods in the direction the sound traveled, all the way to the edge of the forest that opened up into a verdant meadow.

A large metal structure descended from the sky, and from the direction of Ponyville, several ponies were gathering near a small cabin where the metal... thing, landed.

One of the ponies caught my eye. A yellow pegasus with flowing pink hair, and I felt rage well up inside. She ran towards where an opening appeared on the large structure. A bipedal creature descended, and was quickly embraced by Fluttershy. Was she kissing it? Could taking revenge be that easy? Could taking something away from her be the best way to make her pay for exposing my plan?

The amulet glowed, and with an evil smile and glowing red eyes, Starlight Glimmer plotted.


James Scott will Return

> You Won't Go Home Again...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Scott Free shook almost as if she were about to fly apart, but the old girl was as sturdy as the day they laid her keel almost forty years ago. A smaller, two-decked variant of the venerable Antares-Class civilian freighter, she handled well in the atmosphere; as much as what amounts to a falling brick could. If it wasn't for the warp core powered anti-gravity generators and shield emitters, the Scott Free would be torn asunder on her decent.

Thankfully this time around the landing would be controlled and safe. My sister would kill me if I let anything happen to this ship, it was all that is left of our parents, and it was what we called home for most of our lives, raised as what is colloquially referred to as 'space boomers'.

With the meadow where I had built my cabin in sight, I pulled a slow U-Turn to bring the ship into position for a soft touchdown a hundred meters from the cabin. 

"Any landing you can walk away from..." I said to myself quietly with a chuckle. "Computer, power down all non-essential systems and activate planetary stand-by."

"Planetary stand-by activated." The male computer voice droned.

"I really need to change that voice... creepy." I said while making my way to the outer hatch. With the push of a button followed by the loud hiss of equalizing pressure, the hatch opened up into the warm Equestrian spring.

In the distance, I could make out several approaching ponies that I could only assume were my friends. My heart jumped in my chest as I saw Fluttershy coming at me in a dead run. She leapt into the air and flew the last several feet right into my arms, causing me to back peddle. Taking me in an embrace, she placed her lips on mine. Momentarily caught off guard, I eagerly returned her affections.


Read the rest in this story's next exciting installment: You Won't Go Home Again...