//------------------------------// // These Are the Voyages... // Story: Scrawled on the Back of a Sea Chart // by MrAskAPirate //------------------------------// Seated at the desk in her ready room, Captain Sunset Shimmer’s shoulders heaved with a heavy sigh as her eyes skimmed over the latest after-action report from the Klingon front. Four more starships lost in as many days… three in direct combat with enemy forces, and the last discovered adrift with all hands lost after disappearing on a routine patrol two weeks ago.  She tapped a key on her terminal to bring up the detailed report. Initial findings indicated that the derelict ship had not been attacked by the Klingons, but the investigation as to what did happen was still ongoing and currently inconclusive. “Dammit.” She switched off the terminal a little more forcefully than she had intended to and leaned back in her padded chair, rubbing tired eyes with both hands. The galaxy was a dangerous stage, and risk was part of the life one chose when joining Starfleet. Every cadet who’d ever put on a uniform knew that… but it didn’t make the loss of life any easier to deal with. In fact, as Sunset had spent the last three weeks discovering, being stuck on the sidelines made it ten times harder. The situation along the Federation-Klingon border was worsening by the day. Not for the first time, Sunset considered striding out onto the bridge and ordering Rainbow Dash to lay in a course for the nearest contested system at maximum warp… but once again, the practical concerns of completing the Harmony’s shakedown cruise stayed her hand. She had already managed to negotiate Starfleet’s required minimum ninety-day tour down to a single month; pushing her luck beyond that would anger the brass just as surely as it could spell disaster for an untested ship. No… that’s not why you’re hesitating… not really. Sunset glanced around the ready room with a grimace, taking in the still-vibrant blue of the carpeted floor and the unblemished grey sheen of the tritanium walls. She took a deep breath, lungs filling with air that still carried the faint odor of plasma welding and that strange, sterile smell that permeated every new vessel constructed within the shipyards at Utopia Planitia. Truth be told, both ship and crew had performed admirably so far; beyond expectations, in fact, and Starfleet Command was unlikely to raise more than a token amount of resistance to the idea of putting another able ship on the front lines. No, it wasn’t the ship, or the new members of the crew, or even Starfleet that kept her from jumping back into the fight, Sunset forced herself to admit. The real reason was-- A soft chime pricked up Sunset’s ears and pulled her from her thoughts. “Come,” she said, swiveling in her chair and folding her hands on the desk as the doors slid open. In strode her new Chief of Security, a young Human officer with spiky blue hair by the name of Flash Sentry. He approached and met her eyes with a calm gaze as he held out a medium-sized PADD. “The revised duty roster you requested, Captain.” “Good timing,” Sunset accepted the PADD with a nod, “this should be the last major change we need to make before everyone starts settling in. Thank you, Lieutenant.” She began scrolling through the first few pages, only to glance back up when she realized that Flash was standing at full attention and making no move to leave. “Was there something else?” He appeared to somehow tense up even more, his mouth opening as if to speak only to clamp closed again for several seconds. Sunset raised an eyebrow as one of her ears twitched. “Permission to speak freely, Ma’am.” “On this ship? Always,” she said with a warm grin, “but do me a favor and lay off the ‘Ma’am.’ Rank and regulations aside, I’d like to think I have a few good years left before I’ll be ready to hear people calling me that.” “Understood, Ma--Captain.” He finally seemed to relax a little, shifting to stand at ease. “I know it’s been three weeks since we left spacedock, but I guess I’m still just… a little surprised to find myself here. Serving aboard the Harmony, I mean.” “Why’s that?” Sunset tilted her head. “Well,” Flash cleared his throat as he tensed up again. “I’ve noticed that the entire senior staff aside from myself is… uh…” A knowing smirk wormed it’s way onto Sunset’s lips. “Female?” She finished for him. Flash blinked. “Actually, I was going to say ‘Equestrian.’” “... Oh.” Sunset frowned as she felt the lightly-furred, pony-like ears atop her head--one of the few visible differences between Human and Equestrian physiology--twitch involuntarily. “Is... that a problem?” “No, Captain!” he blurted out. “Not at all, I just… I guess I’m not sure why you requested me instead of another Equestrian officer. It’s seems kinda weird to just buck the trend.” Sunset’s eyes narrowed, her ears laying back. “Was that supposed to be a joke, Lieutenant?” She had never before seen someone’s face go so pale so fast. “I-I am so sorry, Captain,” Flash stammered. “I didn’t mean… I mean, it wasn’t my intention to…” He trailed off, shoulders slumping. “I’m… just gonna shut up now.” Sunset stared at him for another few seconds before she felt herself smile. “Apology accepted. You don’t seem like the xenophobic type anyway.” Sunset set down the PADD and gestured for Flash to sit in one of the available chairs as she leaned back in her own, crossing one leg over the other. “To be honest, the fact that all my other officers are Equestrian is more or less coincidence. Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and myself were all in the same class at the Academy, and we were all assigned to the Canterlot during the…” she hesitated with a grimace, searching for the right word, “the ‘incident’ at Vega colony. I assume you’re already familiar with it?" “Of course; everyone’s heard the story,” Flash said, the exuberance in his voice making Sunset wince internally. “After Captain Easy Glider was killed, you took command of the training vessel and the other cadets, and together with only a handful of other Federation ships you managed to hold off a Borg invasion force long enough to evacuate more than two thousand colonists. It’s the stuff of legend, really.” “I don’t know if I would go that far but, yes, that’s pretty much what happened,” Sunset admitted with a sigh. “Applejack was a colonist on Vega... after the evacuation she had no place left to go, but she’d demonstrated such an amazing technical aptitude that I asked Fleet Admiral Celestia to offer her a commission and allow her to stay on as my Chief Engineer. We didn’t have an official Chief Medical Officer until Fluttershy came on as part of the regular crew rotation, and she took to the role so naturally I decided to make it permanent.” Flash nodded along with Sunset’s explanation. “And… what about Ensign Pie?” Sunset let out a laugh, fully understanding Flash’s nervousness. Even mentioning the vibrant woman’s name was sometimes a prelude to her impending, overly-energetic arrival. “Pinkie is… well, she’s Pinkie. Believe it or not, she actually approached me while we were still in Spacedock. She told me she thought I needed a…” Her face scrunched up in thought. “What did she call it… a ‘supply and morale’ officer, and that she’d be perfect for the job. She said not to worry and that she’d take care of all the details.” Sunset shrugged. “I just kind of nodded along with her at the time, but the next day sure enough, the transfer orders came down and she was officially part of the crew. I still don’t know how she pulled it off, but after all that it didn’t seem fair not to make a place for her.” “That… does seem fitting for her. Somehow.” Flash admitted with a slow nod. “So then, what about me? I’m pretty sure we never met until the day I came on board. What made you choose me out of all the other potential officers?” “Your record,” Sunset's answer came without hesitation. “You’ve had a fairly average career so far, but one item in particular caught my attention. During an outbreak of Dramian plague at the new Jouret IV colony, you disobeyed a direct order from Captain Spitfire to return to the ship.” “That’s correct, Captain.” Flash admitted with a slight bow of his head. “It was going to be a two week round trip for the Wonderbolt to reach the nearest starbase to pick up additional medical supplies and personnel. Leaving the medical relief teams unguarded for that whole time just… didn’t sit right with me. Heh,” he half-laughed, rubbing the back of his head with one hand awkwardly. “Ended up spending a week in the brig when they finally got back.” “For disobeying orders, of course... but the situation on Jouret IV was extremely volatile. You saved the lives of several aid workers over those two weeks, repeatedly putting yourself between them and a desperate, panicking populace,” Sunset said,  “Not to mention that, unlike the Vulcan aid workers, you were in constant danger of contracting the disease yourself. Dramian plague is almost always fatal for humans.” “We had a supply of hexacortaline suppression shots-” “Which the report of one Nurse Redheart states you stopped taking after only four days.” Flash’s expression fell as surely as his gaze did. “It was… it was hard being there and watching those colonists suffer knowing that I was using up some of the medicine that was supposed to be for them. A lot harder than I expected it to be.” He drew in a deep breath and raised his head, looking Sunset in the eye with stolid determination. “They needed it more than I did, and I was fully aware of the risks.” “And that’s exactly my point,” Sunset said as she stood, reflexively tugging at the hem of her uniform’s shirt. She clasped her hands in the small of her back and walked casually to the room’s single, narrow window, looking past the faint outline of her own reflection in the pane of transparent aluminum and out to the starlines streaking through the inky blackness beyond. “This ship isn’t quite like other starships, Lieutenant. The members of my crew aren’t just workers or soldiers to me. They’re my friends; my family… and over time, I’ve come to care for them all a great deal.” She gave a short laugh. “This goes against everything we learned at the Academy about maintaining emotional distance and the importance of the chain of command... but friendship and harmony are central concepts in Equestrian society with good reason. If there’s anything that the incident at Vega taught me it’s that a group of true friends who believe in and trust each other implicitly can accomplish things beyond what any normal crew would even consider possible. “Recently, I… made a mistake. I let my pride and my temper get in the way of my judgement, and it nearly cost me everything. To paraphrase something Admiral Celestia is fond of saying, ships can be rebuilt, but courageous, steadfast friends are hard to come by.” Sunset shook her head slowly. “I used to think I understood what that meant and that I knew how to protect the people that mattered most to me, but… now I know that I can’t do it alone. I need help.” Her last words hung heavily in the air for a long moment before Sunset turned to face him, her sea-green eyes filled with a smoldering resolve that matched well with her fiery hair. “The role of Chief of Security exists to safeguard the ship and crew. To fill it, I need someone who will treat that responsibility with the utmost seriousness, and who is willing to do what’s right regardless of the personal consequences… even if that means sometimes disobeying my orders. I believe that someone is you, Flash Sentry.” In that instant, Flash found that he could do little more than give his commanding officer an open-mouthed stare. “I… wow,” he managed after several seconds. “No pressure, right?” One side of Sunset’s mouth twisted up into a smile as the two of them shared a mutual chuckle. Flash rose from his seat, clicking the heels of his boots together smartly as he stood at attention. “Thank you for having such faith in me, Captain. I’ll do everything I can to make sure it isn’t misplaced.” “Sunset.” Flash frowned and tilted his head slightly. “When we’re on the bridge or otherwise on duty, ‘Captain’ will do,” Sunset explained, “but when we’re off duty and there isn’t anyone around to be impressed, just ‘Sunset’ will be fine.” She rolled her eyes with a begrudging smirk. “The rest of the senior staff already does it anyway. I’m used to it.” “Understood,” he confirmed with a nod. “Does that mean I can look forward to you calling me Flash?” “‘Look forward to?’” Sunset echoed, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow as Flash blanched. “O-or Lieutenant; Lieutenant is fine. Or Chief. Or Mister Sentry. Or… why don’t you just call me whatever you’d like. Captain’s prerogative.” Sunset regarded him for a moment longer before a lighthearted laugh bubbled up from within. “I suppose I’ll do just that,” she said with a smile, followed by a curt nod, which Flash interpreted as his dismissal and began to take his leave. “Oh, Flash, one more thing…”  Flash stopped and turned just as the door hissed open. “Yes, Ca- uh, Sunset?” “You might want to keep an eye on Rarity.” Sunset’s mischievous grin said as much as her words. “She can be… a little forward sometimes.” Flash instinctively turned to look out onto the bridge, toward the command stations, only for his baby-blue eyes to meet with the half-lidded cerulean gaze of the Harmony’s alabaster-skinned First Officer, her inviting smile strutting down the line between provocative and predatory with perfect confidence. Suddenly looking like the proverbial deer in the headlights, Flash Sentry--with some difficulty--turned back to Sunset. “N-noted.” He gave her an awkward nod and took up a brisk pace back to his station, and Sunset caught a glimpse of Rarity tracking his every step just before her ready room door slid shut. Shaking her head, Sunset allowed herself a laugh that came out half-mixed with a snort as she returned to her desk and computer terminal. “Yeah… he’ll fit in just fine.”